Cool pix!

Note Pola's larger superstructure; she was fitted to serve as a fleet flagship. Since the naval treaties precluded construction of new battleships, this was a way to get a modern flagship.

 

Note the excellent sky arcs of the after torpedo tubes
They eventually put a quad 40mm there, then a twin 3"/50, but as I've mentioned before, I think they would have been better off with #2 5" mount aft from the start and one of the quad 40s forward of the bridge.

 

Development of the Italian cannone da 149/35 began in 1896. Lacking a recoil system, wooden ramps and wheel belts were used instead to absorb the recoil energy. Despite its age, 923 were still in service in June 1940. And in this photograph a group of soldiers posed for a picture after climbing on top of the turret.



Erwin Rommel, known as the Desert Fox, (left) was photographed enjoying a toast with the officers of an Italian submarine, possibly the Foca Class Atropo, during a visit to Bardia. Rommel and his army developed almost legendary status for their efforts during the conflict, with many British generals expressing a begrudging admiration for him.

 

Huron has had her forward funnel of the original four removed. I found a reference to this being done in her sister Pittsburgh, but no indication how many of the class may had gotten this modification. It may have just been to economize on coal and manpower for their peacetime role on stations like the Far East.

 

The reference to Pittsburgh was in the wiki article on the Pennsylvania class cruisers:

Pennsylvania-class cruiser - Wikipedia

These and the following Tennessee class were changed from state to city names to free up state names for new BBs.

Trunking funnels, when it occurred, was generally part of a fairly major modernization, especially one which enlarged the bridge structure to the point where funnel gases became a problem. I don't see any sign of trunking or new bridgework in the photo. #2 funnel still appears identical to #3 and #4.

Friedman's cruiser book shows a sketch plan for a major rebuild (never proceeded with) of the Tennessee-class Seattle with the forward funnel removed to accommodate a tripod mast supporting new gunnery controls; also new oil-fired boilers in the remaining three (or six?) boiler rooms. That level of investment was not worthwhile for obsolescent ships, better to use them in secondary roles. Nor would the loss of a couple of knots speed be an issue for say a station ship in China.

Speaking of oil, it was not uncommon for oil-powered destroyers to have a boiler room converted to fuel storage. This was not feasible for a coal-fired ship since coal would have to be manually transferred to bunkers adjacent to the boilers.

Coal bunkers were also the reason for the arrangement in Jules Michilet, with the boilers split forward and aft of the engines. This helped keep the ship in trim as the coal was used up.

p.s. I once had a (maybe) interesting idea about the "Big Eight" in the post-WWI era. No longer fit for front line service, they could still be the "big guns" in areas like the Caribbean, Latin America, of Far East. Removing the 6" and 3" from the gun deck, along with the reduction in crew, would provide accommodations for Marines, evacuated civilians, or other passengers. Also room for a naval, military, or diplomatic staff. They would still have a useful assortment of guns: four 8/10", four 6" on the main deck, several 3", and a few automatic and antiaircraft weapons. Might be a handy thing to have around.