Naval History Forums

Interesting document covering US Army defenses on Oahu. I suspect there were probably more ground-based AA weapons than aboard the ships.

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals ... Harbor.pdf

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What if the torpedo missed? To be honest so many things could have made a difference to the entire outcome. - What if Bismarck had left with full tanks, and refueled. Bismarck would have been sitting slightly lower in the water and maybe the shell hits from POW may have played out differently Bisma...

My understanding is that an important concept underlying use of multiple armored decks rather than a very heavy single deck. IIRC, these multiple decks were intended to compromise the attacking projectile (or bomb) in several ways: The uppermost and thinnest deck was to hopefully - > de-cap the proj...

I'm trying to find specs for Babcock & Wilcox, Bureau Express, and any other Boilers that were used in the US battleships from South Carolina (BB 26) to the Colorado class (BB 44) In addition to other specs for the Turbine Plants. As usual any help, including but not limited to places to find the a...

The following book might be of help - "War, Mutiny and Revolution in the German Navy: the World War One Diary of Seaman Richard Stumpf", by Richard Stumpf. https://used.addall.com/SuperRare/submitRare.cgi?author=Richard+Stumpf&title=&keyword=&isbn=&order=PRICE&ordering=ASC&binding=Hardcover&min=&max...

The fatal torpedo hit that crippled Bismarck has missed. Now what? How does this alter the operational planning to bring Bismarck to bay? What are the chances of Bismarck reaching Lorient? Let's revive some interesting discussion here! It has been quiet too long and I have a raging case of cabin fev...

My pleasure, Sean. You will enjoy Buxton. As HMSVF says - "brilliant book".

If perchance you are interested in some of the nuts and bolts and issues of WW1 monitor operations, hunt up a copy of "The Dover Patrol 1915-1917" (two volumes) by Vice-Admiral Sir Reginald Bacon.

Byron

Firing charge for the Rodman 15-inch (IIRC) was originally 35 pounds of standard cannon powder. Rodman later developed slower burning "Mammoth" (pelletized) powder and then compressed and perforated "hexagonal" powder in cake form, both of which burned more steadily and slowly without a great initia...

Hi Marcelo, 3rd generation American of Greek extraction. Three grandparents were native Greeks; one was a Hellene born in Ottoman Turkey. Interesting photos of your Argentine Rodman. Thank you for sharing them. Quick question: You mentioned that the gun was cast from the 13-inch Rodman mold with an ...

Hi Marcelo, Quite by coincidence, the topic of modifications to Rodman guns came up in a different discussion with some other friends. I asked them what they might know of any such efforts connected to 15-in Rodmans and they very kindly shared some information which you may find interesting - "1n 18...

I am curious about the rifled 15" Rodman you mentioned. Do you have any more data? Only rifled Rodmans I know about were 8" made from 10" smoothbores by sleeve inserting, and the Argentine´s 10" with rifling cut directly on the cast iron core. Hi Marcelo, My sincere apologies for relying upon an ob...

The 15-in Rodmans actually remained in service for quite some time. Ultimately sleeved down into 12-inch rifled muzzle-loaders, they carried on into the 1880's as coast artillery. Also, they introduced a quite sophisticated (for the time) casting and cooling process that produced a very strong stron...

No problem Byron, we always learn something :D ! I imagined that you meant smooth bore! Marcelo, I understand that every language has such expressions ... so I may one day have need to consult you! BTW, speaking of 20-inch smoothbore cannons, the USA actually manufactured two such guns at the end o...

Byron, what do you mean for straight faces? My apologies, Marcelo. The phrase "with a straight face" is an English language slang expression (colloquialism) meaning that the speaker or writer was not making a joke, even though the subject of discussion might at first seem ridiculous. Example: "How ...

Guns of 20-inch bore were being discussed with straight faces in the post-WW1 period IIRC.

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