The Jugurthine War 112–106 BC: Rome's Long War in North Africa

By Nic Fields

Illustrated by Marco Capparoni

 

THE BATTLE OF THE MUTHUL, 109 bc

In this reconstruction, despite having spotted Jugurtha’s ambush, Metellus’ marching column has been badly compromised and his men are struggling to form a line-of-battle. As Numidian warriors come barrelling down the spur headlong into the disordered Roman column, Numidian horsemen are starting to menace its flanks. Jugurtha, accompanied by his royal bodyguard, is to seen up on the high ground watching the battle unfold.

Artwork requested by Daniel Figueroa Giraldez.

 

Kriegsmarine Atlantic Command 1939–42: Naval Group West's surface menace

By Lawrence Paterson

Illustrated by Jim Laurier

 

BEAUFORT OA-X/22 LAUNCHING A TORPEDO AGAINST GNEISENAU, BREST HARBOUR, 6 APRIL 1941

Flying Officer Kenneth Campbell and his three-man crew launched an audacious solo attack on Gneisenau just as dawn broke over Brest harbour on 6 April 1941. The ship had been reported by a French agent as having been moved from its dry dock at 0900hrs the previous day and moored, unprotected, in Brest’s military harbour. The use of an anti-torpedo net would be considered almost mandatory in such circumstances, but Brest’s naval arsenal could not provide one specifically for Gneisenau as stocks had been used up on spanning the entrance channel to the main harbour basin. The warship’s location was confirmed by photoreconnaissance Spitfire and the attack launched. It was planned to comprise six Beaufort bombers but reduced to one by weather conditions. All four of the Beaufort’s crew were killed when their bomber was shot down, but not before the torpedo struck Gneisenau on the starboard stern causing extensive damage. Over 3,000 tons of seawater flooded the hull causing a two-degree list to starboard as well as damage to the propulsion system. The concussion of the explosion significantly disrupted the ship’s electrical system.

 

Super-Battleships of World War I: The lost battleships of the Washington Treaty

By Angus Konstam

Illustrated by Adam Tooby

 

 

THE US BATTLE FLEET PREPARING FOR WAR PLAN ORANGE, C. 1934

In the aftermath of World War I, the US Navy was faced with a growing naval threat from Japan, which continued to expand its fleet while flexing its diplomatic muscles in the Pacific. As a result, the US Army and the Navy Board developed War Plan Orange which involved a potential war with Imperial Japan. This had been developed during the 1920s, and by early 1929 a basic war plan had been produced. Extensive wargames and exercises in 1933 revealed flaws in the American strategy, and so War Plan Orange was revised, and the US Navy’s base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii enlarged, as the obvious starting point of any American operation. This scene envisages a US Navy exercise in the Central Pacific, testing its ability to scout out and engage the Japanese Fleet. In the foreground is the Lexington class battlecruiser USS United States, while in the distance, off the battlecruiser’s starboard beam, is a South Dakota class battleship. This depiction also surmises that the logical plan to convert two of these Lexington class into aircraft carriers went ahead, as it did in the 1920s. So, astern of the battlecruiser is an attached aircraft carrier, the USS Saratoga. Above the surface ships, an air strike made up of Vought Corsair SBU-1 dive bombers has formed, escorted by Grumman F2F and Boeing F4B fighters. At this stage, naval air power was in its infancy, but the US Navy as well as Japan had realized its importance in any future war in the Pacific.