Naval History Forums

Supposing the Bismarck made it to Brest along with the other German ships involved in the Dash what are the chances of a successful escape under the same conditions and date as the original dash. I would think it would be about the same, but if the British were alerted in time in might set up for th...

I see the Royal Air force giving it plenty of attention, if it can survive that and be in good condition I also see it sitting in there until the Channel dash in which I think it will make it to Germany will maybe some damage due to mines or maybe a torpedo

With the same conditions and each side having the same strength with the exception the Germans at the time introduce wolfpack style attacks with the subs the had available at the time of the battle do the Germans break the British blockade?

I think the Bismarck was lost even if it was to hit the Rodney there was too much against it with the KGV with cruisers and destroyers not to mention there was swordfish torpedo planes circling overhead waiting to pounce if given the order to. it was too much if the Bismarck"s rudders were intact it...

I see your point with supply ships and oil issues for Germany, something you didn't mention was the aircraft carriers that Germany was to build say they had enough oil and supply ships for 2 separate task forces consisting of 1 carrier, 1 Bismarck class ship, 1 Hipper class cruiser, 1 Scharnhorst cl...

knowing everything about what the Royal navy came out with during WWII ship wise and had during the war, If the Germans had completed their plan Z how much of a difference would it have made during the war?

To me the Vittorio Veneto has a few things better than the Hood, it is more modern in almost every way the only thing the Hood has over the Vittorio is the crew seaman ship (knowing what to do and when to do it) and that is a big difference but this match up is still a toss up in my book whoever got...

I can certainly see the Germans taking more damage maybe even the Prinz Eugen sunk, maybe history would have been different if the Germans would have made a run back to Norway or Germany.

me to if for nothing else the Germans had more modern ships than what the British had in that battle and the Prince of Wales gunnery problems to.

Supposing that the Germans are on the course the British had and the British were on the course of the Germans would the out come of the battle been different? sea conditions and German and British strengths are the same as the original battle.

The British seemed to be better trained than the Italians they used their ships more effectively in the Med. sea the Italians had some beautiful ships just didn't seem to know how to use them, they should have had joint missions with the Luftwaffe or the Italian airforce so I would give the edge to ...

Bismarck, Tirpitz, Prinz Eugen, and the Graf Zepplein (I think that's how you spell it) would have been a great Rheinubung especially if it was coordinated with the Luftwaffe and U boats.

Hmmmm! Sloppy shooting vs. mechanical problems.... Before mechanical problems become significant, damaging hits can be scored (as happened in PoW vs. Bismarck reality). So, Tirpitz starts taking hits and she then uses her superior speed to try to escape (unless she loses that to an underwater hit!)...

The secondaries, the 5.9 inch versus 5.25 inch, are unlikely to be of much use to either side in view of the armour plating. Neither would torpedoes be available. It comes down to a long slogging match, damage slowly building up as the action proceeds. Sloppy gunnery would indeed be preferable to g...

I would still pick the Tirpitz the secondary were a little bigger than the Prince of Wales I believe and sloppy shooting is better than the guns jamming in my book