Naval History Forums

Well, the gunnery control, bridge etc were exposed positions by definition and these are the places they can be knocked out..... a situation on any ship. But it is often pointed out in debates as a particular weakness of Bismarck's compared to other BBs which are said to have "proper" pro...

@ Dave Saxton. You once wrote that the lightweight shell of Bismarck's guns actually gave better horizontal armor penetration at longer ranges as it decelerates more quickly and thus has a steeper angle of fall than heavier shells e.g. the US superheavies which were more designed for deck penetratio...

I frequently read at other places that Bismarck's com lines were a major flaw as they were located above the main armored deck without protection and thus easily knocked out early on in her final fight. There is a drawing which show the communication devices installed beneath the armored deck. So we...

Ah... I found some of the former or less present protagonists on other forums.

What happened to this forum? There was a time where there were many more posts by many more contributors. Why have they gone and where?

This is hardly a difference. I always had the impression that Tirpitz' bow was more pointed so it should have been longer, wasn't it?

@spicmart: Bismarck's torpedo defense system was rated to withstand 250kg of TNT, expectation was that damage inwards of the TDS from larger explosions would be contained rather than prevented - Bismarck featured extensive subdivision. The rating seems quite conservative; German assumptions of the ...

:cool: Did Vanguard have more protected volume than Bismarck? I always thought the Bismarck class were top in this respect. And were the British following the German paradigm in that by designing Vanguard as they did? KGV and Vanguard carried their main armoured deck one deck higher than on Bismarc...

Did Vanguard have more protected volume than Bismarck?
I always thought the Bismarck class were top in this respect.
And were the British following the German paradigm in that by designing Vanguard as they did?

Is it true that Richelieu, out of all modern BBs, was the only one that could reload without changing the elevation of its guns? The British 15" twin could. I'm not sure about the versions with max elevation increased to 30 degrees, however. What hindered the other navies from incorporating su...

Is it true that Richelieu, out of all modern BBs, was the only one that could reload without changing the elevation of its guns?

Sorry. I didn't differentiate between "ineffective" and "inefficient". Just took over "ineffective" that I read somewhere on this forum without overthinking. the french machinery needs roughly 8000 m³ in comparison to the german machinery which needs around 14000 m³, in...

As for the ineffectiveness I read it somewhere and just found this quote of Thorsten Wahl: On the other side the Richelieu had a very powerful machinery. The HP output was increased in comparison with the german machines. aditional the weigth was roughly 500 tons less according with the german piece...

And what if given the case that Richelieu's armor and armament were up to german standards? How would the comparison then be?

Did the ebonite mousse give any significant advantage compared to the german system?

And why was the german propulsion system so uneffective?

Thank you. But not too many answers till now. Had this been discussed before?
I coudn't find a specific thread.