On September 18, 1943, Guards Junior Lieutenants Vladimir Bakulin and Anatoly Pakov took off in two MiG-3s from Murmashi airfield near Murmansk with the mission of photographing the Nazi air base at Luostari. The aircraft quickly reached the target, and the pilots began photographing. But within a few minutes, at an altitude of 5,000 m, Read more…
After fascist forces occupied Greece in April 1941, the British had no doubt that they would soon try to land on Crete. Fearing a seaborne landing, almost the entire British Mediterranean Fleet was urgently assigned to the island’s defense from the sea. But the Nazis, who held air superiority, “jumped over” the naval patrols and Read more…
The tram is one of the oldest modes of transport in Milan. Cars of several generations operate in this city. Alongside the most modern ones, Series 1500 trams built back in the 1920s still work here. And these are not isolated specimens — more than a hundred veterans enter regular service every day. As in Read more…
The last pre-dreadnoughts of the Second Reich received the names “Deutschland”, “Pommern”, “Hannover”, “Schleswig-Holstein” and “Schlesien” — when ordered they were listed as N, O, P, Q and R respectively. Ship Q was built in Kiel by Krupp’s Germaniawerft; she was laid down on 18 August 1905 (yard number 113) and launched with ceremony on Read more…
Sixty years ago, one of the most remarkable and progressive cars appeared — the Renault 16. It was produced for 15 years without major changes to its appearance and had a substantial influence on vehicle design in many countries, including the USSR. The Renault 16 entered history as the world’s first hatchback. That is not Read more…
Steam-powered submarines are regarded today as something of a design curiosity, although the motives for their creation were entirely rational. The French set the fashion here. Despite the concept’s rapid failure, these boats took a very active part in the First World War. And one of the most successful steam submarines of the Third Republic’s Read more…
Many famous French automobiles were created by aviators. The cars of the Voisin brothers and Farman are well known, for example. A worthy place in automotive history is also held by the light off-roader Citroen Mehari. It was designed by a pilot as well — Hero of the Soviet Union, Count Roland de la Poype. Read more…
By August 1914 the British Empire was bound by alliance treaties to France and Russia, yet after those countries entered the war against Germany it remained neutral for several more days. His Majesty’s Government needed a “worthy” pretext for declaring war, and it did not take long to find one. The Germans violated the neutrality Read more…
The British Valentine infantry tank was one of several tank types supplied to the USSR under Lend-Lease during the Great Patriotic War. In terms of the number of foreign combat vehicles, as well as its popularity with Soviet tank crews, it ranks second only to the American Sherman. By the end of the war, the Read more…
Work on jet engines was already under way in Japan before the start of World War II, although at first it was mainly exploratory in nature. Active interest in jet technology arose when Captain N. T. Tanegashima became head of the engine department at the Naval Aviation Arsenal in Yokosuka (an organization similar in status Read more…
