Naval History Forums

Gentlemen, Does anyone know anything about the Boys Anti-Tank rifle? I believe it was of .55 calibre and packed a mighty kick to those firing it, but what sort of tank would it be used against, as I cannot believe it would do much more than scratch the paintwork of a Panzer or Tiger and how would it...

Gentlemen, We could also add to the list the US aircraft that bombed a U Boat even though it had a large red cross on its deck and was towing a number of Laconia's lifeboats, As Wadinga said, in wartime the RN also to leave survivors of sunken ships for fear of being torpedoed, so except in certain ...

Gentlemen, My thanks to both Bill and Alberto for their comments on my last post, I do appreciate that they have taken the time to read and reply to them. I'm afraid that I am at a bit of a loss what to say next, I have in the past tried on several occasions to tone down the content of some of the p...

Gentlemen, This subject has gone way 'off topic', it was supposed to be about Bismarck's options after the torpedo hit on her rudder. I don't wish to be rude to Alberto, or any of our fellow contributors, but it seems to me that this argument (and I use this word in place of 'debate') is not likely ...

Gentlemen,
It seems like gross negligence by the Captain to me.
If the destroyers had picked up Conqueror at 1400 yards it seems that at only 22 knots they couldn't have caught her anyway, I wonder if, at 1400 yds distance Conqueror would have already fired her torpedoes and made off anyway?

Gentlemen, Just picked up on this thread while idly browsing through the forum. At the beginning some posts mention the New Mexico class ships that have 12x14" 50 guns and the possibility of it shooting holes in Tirpitz if she dared to come over the US shores. Elsewhere in the Forum there are numero...

Gentlemen, Would it be fair to say that the Bismarck survivor had just undergone what must have been a terrifying experience of a ship being pounded to bits by shells and had just abandoned the ship into rough seas contaminated by heavy fuel oil and therefore was probably not in a position to make a...

Double post again,I've deleted it, must keep my finger off the mouse!!

Thanks very much for your reply Bill, From what you say it seems that Yamato or her sister were both immune to deep penetration of their armour from even the heaviest 16" shells, so the Japanese managed to build two ships that were unsinkable in a straight ship v ship battle, I wonder if the extra t...

Gentlemen,
Without wanting to start another ship v ship discussion, would the US super heavy shells have penetrated Yamato or Musashi's armour at any range and while we are on the subject, would their 18" shells easily penetrate the armour of an Iowa?

Gentlemen, I was going to put this plea in the ‘Off Topic’ part of the forum, but as it mainly applies to the ‘Bismarck General Discussion’ bit I decided to put it there. Gentlemen, Yet another thread has been locked because some of the posts got out of hand with unacceptable comments. I don’t know ...

Marc, Thank you very much for posting this. So, if I understood that correctly, for the famous speed trial of 29 October, 1940, we have the following data: Draft forward: 8.5 / 4 = 9.85 meters. Draft aft: 8.8 / 4 = 9.80 m meters. Mean draft: 9.825 meters, which corresponds to a displaced volume of ...

There have been, over the years, a large number of attempts to in some way calculate or quantify things like the 'staying power' of a ship. Some attempts concentrate on offensive capabilities, others on defensive capabilities, i.e. essentially resistance to damage, and others on some combination of...

Fellow Contributors, The point of a forum is surely discussion and possibly argument. Not to constantly lock threads to no purpose, simply because there is some dissension. My original question was about the ships and the battle and we are still discussing a ship, submarine Ambra and its part in th...

Gentlemen, Thank you all for your input. However, once again this topic seems to be going the way of many of the others before it, some of which have been locked. My original question was about the ships and the battle, if it is going to get to the point where no one will agree and start arguing wit...