Consider this our sampler package, with some of our most popular photos, including; Battleships (BB), Large Cruisers (CB) Heavy Cruisers (CA), Light Cruisers (CL), Destroyers (DD & DE), Submarines (SS), Mine & Patrol vessels, Carriers (CV, CVB, CVL, CVE), Fleet Auxillaries, Naval & Army aircraft. The Army and Marines at the Battle of St Lo, France, Battle of the Bulge- Bastone, Saipan plus famous dignitaries of WWII.

FRONT LINE BATTLE ACTION  Catalog- 46 pages (thumbnails and lists)

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed to deploy and recover aircraft, acting as a sea-going airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power great distances without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations. They have evolved from wooden vessels used to deploy a balloon into nuclear powered warships that carry dozens of fixed and rotary wing aircraft.

Balloon carriers were the first ships to deploy manned aircraft, used during the 19th and early 20th century, mainly for observation purposes. The 1903 advent of fixed wing airplanes was followed in 1910 by the first flight of such an aircraft from the deck of a US Navy cruiser. Seaplanes and seaplane tender support ships, such as HMS Engadine, followed. The development of flat top vessels produced the first large fleet ships. This evolution was well underway by the mid 1920s, resulting in ships such as the HMS Hermes, Hōshō, and the Lexington class aircraft carriers.

World War II saw the first large scale use and further refinement of the aircraft carrier, spawning several types. Escort aircraft carriers, such as USS Barnes, were built only during World War II. Although some were purpose built, most were converted from merchant ships, and were a stop-gap measure in order to provide air support for convoys and amphibious invasions. Light aircraft carriers, such as USS Independence represented a larger, more "militarized" version of the escort carrier concept. Although the light carriers usually carried the same size air groups as escort carriers, they had the advantage of higher speed as they had been converted from cruisers under construction rather than civilian merchant ships.

During World War II the United States operated 24 Aircraft Carriers (Designated CV), 9 Light Aircraft Carriers (CVL), and 77 Escort Aircraft Carriers (CVE). Losses were as follows:

CVs Lost Four (4): CV-2 Lexington CV-5 Yorktown CV-7 Wasp CV-8 Hornet

CVLs Lost One (1): CVL-23 Princeton

CVEs Lost Five (5): CVE-21 Block Island CVE-56 Liscome Bay CVE-63 Midway CVE-73 Gambier Bay CVe-95 Bismarck Sea

Thus a total of ten (10) aircraft carriers of all types were lost. Note the Navy's first aircraft carrier Langley was also lost but was considered a seaplane tender at the time being redesignated AV-3. All data from Samuel Eliot Morison, History of U.S. Naval Operations in WWII, Supplement and General Index.

The RWP Aircraft Carriers collection consists of over 2500 carrier pictures most of which are available in the 47 pg Front Line Action Battle photos catalog or... (Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is $1.00 only! Go to Contact Us to order.)

Initially, when the U.S. entered the war in December 1941, it had no battleships available in the Pacific Theatre. Eight of them were sunk or crippled at Pearl Harbor and were sent home for repairs and reconstruction; they would not have been able to keep up with the carriers in any case. The new battleships of North Carolina and South Dakota classes were still undergoing trials. North Carolina and South Dakota were ready by summer of 1942 and provided crucial anti-aircraft defense during the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz islands carrier battles.

By contrast, the Imperial Japanese Navy had the advantage of a dozen operational battleships early in the war, but chose not to deploy them in any significant engagements. The Fusōs and Ises, despite their extensive modernization and respectable speeds, were relegated to training and home defense, while the Nagatos and Yamatos were being saved for Isoroku Yamamoto's "Decisive Battle" which never came to fruition on Japanese terms. In fact, the only Japanese battleships to see much action in the early stages were Kongōs, which served mostly as carrier escorts due to their high speed. During the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, battleships Hiei and Kirishima were driven off by a force of U.S. cruisers and destroyers. Several USN ships were lost and others were crippled, but they inflicted critical damage on Hiei, which was abandoned after being subject to repeated air attacks that made salvage impossible. The following evening, at the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942, the United States battleships South Dakota and Washington fought and destroyed the surviving Kirishima. Our 13 page catalog of Battleships covers ships BB-1 to 66.

The RWP BATTLESHIPS collection is 13 pages (listing only) for $2.00 or... (Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is only $1.00 each! Go to Contact Us to order.)

In the course of World War II, the United States employed hundreds of destroyers and destroyer escorts. The majority of these warships were built during the war, including the entire run of destroyer escorts. Whereas destroyer production in the years of 1932 to 1939 had usually been on the order of a squadron per year, in other words eight ships, by the 1940s the dire threat of war had necessitated an increase in destroyer production. While at the Navy's storage facilities the old World War I-built "flushdecker" destroyers were demothballed and modernized, modified and renovated, the many yards that were capable of destroyer production built new warships many times as powerful as the "flushdeckers". These ships, would serve as fleet escorts, convoy escorts, screening ships and patrol ships, as independent strike forces and gunfire support ships, as radar pickets and submarine hunters, certainly the most versatile element of the fleet. Our 65 page catalog contains both DD's (from 4 to 979) and DE's (from 5 to1040).

The RWP DESTROYERS collection (listing includes DD's & DE's) -  85 pages for $4.00 or... (Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is only $1.00 each! Go to Contact Us to order.)

During World War II 314 submarines served in the United States Navy. 111 boats were in commission on 7 December, 1941, with 38 of these considered modern "fleet boats", and of that number, 23 were lost. 203 submarines from the Gato, Balo and Tench classes were commissioned during the war, with 29 lost. In total the United States Navy lost 52 boats to all causes during hostilities, and 41 of the losses were directly attributable to enemy action. 3,506 submariners were killed or missing-in-action.

Operationally, two commands in the Pacific Theater, Submarines Pacific and Submarines Southwest Pacific, conducted 1,588 war patrols, resulting in the firing of 14,748 torpedoes and the sinking of 1,392 enemy vessels of a total tonnage of 5.3 million tons. Over 200 warships were sunk, including a battleship, 8 aircraft carriers of varying sizes, 11 cruisers, 38 destroyers, 25 submarines (including 2 U-Boats), and 70 other escort vessels. Submarines Pacific was assigned 51 boats in 1941; by the end of the war 169 boats were assigned. Monthly war patrols averaged 27 in 1942 and increased to 47 in 1945, with a high of 57 patrols dispatched in May, 1945. Our 30 page catalog of WWII Submarines covers ships SS-787 to 566.

The RWP SUBMARINES collection is 30 pages (listing only) for $2.00 or... (Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is only $1.00 each! Go to Contact Us to order.)

In September 1943 Donald Nelson, chairman of the U.S. War Production Board, went to London and talked to General Morgan and his staff about landing craft requirements. As a result of his conversations he cabled Charles E. Wilson his conviction that LST's and LCT's were the "most important single instrument of war from the point of view of the European Theater," and that the requirements for them had been "grossly understated."

In three separate acts dated 6 February 1942, 26 May 1943, and 17 December 1943, Congress authorized the construction of LST's along with a host of other auxiliaries, destroyer escorts, and assorted landing craft. The enormous building program quickly gathered momentum. Such a high priority was assigned to the construction of LST's that the keel of an aircraft carrier, previously laid in the dock, was hastily removed to make place for several LST's to be built in her stead. The keel of the first LST was laid down on 10 June 1942 at Newport News, VA; and the first standardized LST's were floated out of their building dock in October. Twenty-three were in commission by the end of 1942.  Our 17 page LST catalog covers ships from LST-1 to 1178

The RWP LST's collection is 17 pages (listing only) for $2.00 or... (Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is only $1.00 each! Go to Contact Us to order.)

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) was first established in 1905 to provide coaling ships for the Navy in an era when the change from sail to coal as the main means of propulsion meant that a network of bases around the world with coaling facilities or a fleet of ships able to supply coal were necessary for a fleet to operate away from its home country. Since the Royal Navy of that era possessed the largest network of bases around the world of any fleet, the RFA at first took a relatively minor role.

The RFA really came into its own in World War II when the British fleet was often far from available bases, either due to the enemy capturing available bases, or, in the Pacific, the sheer distances involved. WWII also saw naval ships staying at sea for much longer periods than had been the case since the days of sail. Techniques of underway replenishment, or Replenishment At Sea (RAS), were developed particularly by the United States Navy. The British auxiliary fleet was never up to the standards of that of the American fast carrier taskforces in the Pacific. The auxiliary fleet was a polyglot collection with not only RFA ships, but commissioned warships and merchantmen as well. However, the need for such a fleet was unambiguously demonstrated by WWII. Our 82 page catalog coves a wide range of ship designation from Tenders to high speed Transports.

The RWP FLEET AUXILIARIES collection is 82 pages (listing only) for $4.00 or... (Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is only $1.00 each! Go to Contact Us to order.)

A PT Boat was a variety of motor torpedo boat (hull classification symbol "PT", for "Patrol Torpedo"), a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet".

Torpedo boats, with displacement hulls, were first developed in the early 20th century as an inexpensive way to deliver torpedoes which could destroy ships as heavy as battleships without the massive weight necessary for large caliber guns. By WWII, the initial mission of the American PT boats was to battle destroyers, which themselves were originally created as a defense against torpedo boats. In fact the name "destroyer" is actually a shortening of the name "torpedo boat destroyer" from the World War One era. Though many would question the military effectiveness of the boats in this role, their psychological impact in deterring Japanese attacks was significant. The Navy's impetus for building the PT boat fleet was for both economic and material reasons. Ten PT boats could be built for the cost of one modest-sized destroyer escort. Another reason was a shortage of steel at the beginning of the war, which had to be conserved for building larger ships. Towards the end of the war, the US was able to build a massive naval fleet, and the wood construction of the PT boats enabled more steel to be used for that purpose. Later in the war, the boats were much more effective as gunboats against targets their own size, such as armored barges that the Japanese used to shuttle troops and supplies between islands.

The RWP PT Boat collection consists of 62 pictures from PT-8 to 601, and are available in thumbnail format. .

The United States Merchant Marine refers to the fleet of the nation's civilian-owned merchant ships — operated by either the government or the private sector — that are engaged in commerce or transportation of goods and services in and out of the navigable waters of the United States. The merchant marine is responsible for transporting cargo and passengers during peace time. In time of war, the merchant marine is an auxiliary to the Navy, and can be called upon to deliver troops and supplies for the military.

Merchant mariners move cargo and passengers between nations and within the United States. They operate and maintain deep-sea merchant ships, tugboats, towboats, ferries, dredges, excursion vessels, and other waterborne craft on the oceans, the Great Lakes, rivers, canals, harbors, and other waterways.

3.1 million tons of merchant ships were lost in World War II, mariners dying at a rate of 1 in 24. All told, 733 American cargo ships were lost and 8,651 of the 215,000 who served perished on troubled waters and off enemy shores.

The RWP Merchant Marine collection consists of 442 pictures available as a 12 page catalog (listing only) for $2.50 or...(Individual ship catalog with thumbnail photos is only $1.00 each! Go to Contact Us to order.)

The Navy's fighter pilots fought the entire war in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to the Home Islands. In 1942, flying F4F Wildcats, the Navy fighter pilots barely held their own against the Japanese Zeros. A handful of heroes like O'Hare, McCuskey, and Vejtasa scored some notable successes. The Navy contributed fighting squadrons to the Guadalcanal campaign, but did not achieve big results until late 1943, when the F4U Corsairs and F6F Hellcats arrived.

The Hellcats in particular, operating from the simultaneously-arriving Essex-class carriers, began to decimate the outclassed Japanese fliers. From the Gilberts, up through the Marshalls and the Marianas, the carrier-based Hellcats swept the skies. (One notable unit, VF-17, the Jolly Rogers, under its CO, Tommy Blackburn, flew F4U Corsairs from land bases in the Solomons. I've included its fascinating story.)

In the huge aerial battles of the Philippine Sea (Marianas Turkey Shoot) and Leyte Gulf, the navy aces essentially destroyed the Japanese aerial forces. After that, in the tough campaigns for Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the Home Islands, the U.S. naval aviators faced poorly trained, but deadly, kamikaze pilots.

The RWP Naval Aircraft - Fighters collection consists of 54 pictures for $2.00 , and are available in thumbnail format.

The PBY was originally designed to be a patrol bomber, an aircraft with a long operational range intended to locate and attack enemy transport ships at sea in order to compromise enemy supply lines. With a mind to a potential conflict in the Pacific Ocean, where troops would require resupply over great distances, the U.S. Navy in the 1930s invested millions of dollars in developing long-range flying boats for this purpose. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring runways to take off and land, in effect having the entire ocean available as its runway. Several different flying boats were adopted by the Navy, but the PBY was the most widely used and produced.