Andys naval post

So many believe post Jutland the High Seas Fleet sulked in its bases scared of its own shadow,  something we all know not to be true. Let's take one example of how the fleet still had some sharp teeth left after three years of war. In October 1917 the Germans executed a  naval operation  in the Baltic's Gulf of Riga. Russia was in the midst of revolutionary times and the army was equally disorganized, mutinous and large numbers were deserting to return to their homes. The choas allowed the German land forces to resume their advance eastwards and they captured both Riga and Dünamünde during early September. These success greatly enlarged the area of Courland coast then under German control, but it also turned the German eyes towards the prizes of Ösel and the other islands located within the Gulf of Riga. Russian naval forces retained control of the gulf, which exposed  the left flank of the German army, along  with the coast line  to naval...

THE GANGUT CLASS First let me apologise. The writing of this piece has been a nightmare, and more than once I nearly walked away from it. Western and Russian records conflict and translating Russian has given me white hair. Plus the classes changing of names is confusing. There will be errors in this piece for many reasons, but the core of it is solid, I think. To quote 'Boney-M', "oh those Russians!". There was amongst the worlds dreadnoughts, a class of four ships that were to be some of the longest serving battleships. They were to live through four wars and three revolutions, but they never fired their guns in angry at another of their type. In the First World War, they exchanged fire with their fellow Russians and with former allies. But not once at the Central Powers. The class only once sailed in one of the world's major oceans. They outlived all but one of their of their contemporaries and suffered 50% losses in the class, in the process. They were conce...