Naval History Forums

Germany was preoccupied with quality, not quantity. They didn't have as many planes or pilots as the Allies, but they sure were very good. \ Were they? Seems like I've read a lot about the poor training of late war German pilots. Facts? Can you tell me how many planes/sortie those "poorly trai...

I'm waiting for reply regarding the issues that I've raised. It wouldn't matter if I did. I can tell from your attitude that your mind is closed. You are one of those people that believe for whatever reason that if it's German it's automatically the best. Quite the contrary. I'm waiting for facts f...

And still, the German pilots overcame those obstacles and won again and again and again. So, basically you are saying that an Allied pilot who never sees a German aircraft should still be able to achieve the same number of victories as a German pilot who sees his opponents every time he flies. Ther...

There is no question that German fighters pilots put up some prodigious victory scores. However, there are factors which must be taken into account when comparing their achievements to those of pilots from other nations. As as rule, the high-scoring German pilots flew hugely greater numbers of sort...

People who have actually studied Wittman's kills don't seem to think the numbers were that high for the one day. For one thing, they don't seem to agree with actual losses. There is no doubt he was a skillful tank commander ... maybe the best, but he wasn't fighting materially equal opponents. He w...

RF wrote:

Bgile wrote:

boredatwork wrote:I would argue the 'truth' is probably a combination of all 3.

Absolutely agree with this post.

I would concur with this as well.

Full year agree. This and Karl's extensive post are excellent points of view.

They didn't have to worry about the Italians "breaking out". The Italian BBs weren't going outside the Med and weren't contesting British heavy units for the most part. Of course the Italian's wouldn't break out. But still, they posed a big threat to allied convoys, expeditionary forces a...

"Bismarck had already received at least 8, if not 12 torpedoes and lots of heavy shells", Liddell Hart, History of the Second World War, vol 1, pg 495. There were the destroyer attacks (during the night and during the last battle), and Dorsetshire fired 4 torpedoes, not 2. Norfolk also lau...

The mistaken assumption is that the British BBs were badly needed elsewhere. Where do you think they were so needed? In the Mediteranean, for instance. Lacking armoured protection, 2 large convoys (operations "Vigorous" and "Harpoon")heading for Malta where severely crippled in ...

When talking/writing about such important historical issues, I think that clarity of thought and understanding are essential for learning. That being said, please excuse my numerous quotations and long post: alecsandros: Bismarck was not, as James Cameron regarded in his documentary: "The Death...

Reading various posts on the forum, I've seen 3 points of view regarding's Bismarck's class status quo in the BB realm: 1. Very good ship, good design, impressive toughness, good speed, very good artillery (range, rate of fire, precision), "best ship in the Atlantic" 2. Good ship, good spe...

Yes, in terms of kinetic impulse, both the 11" and the 12" guns looked ok. But in practice, the 330kg german shells proved to lack the punch necessary for destroying armoured opponents. It's not that they can't pierce armour - they sure can - but once they got inside, their explosion was f...

I'm not sure if either 12' or 11' guns where capable of doing enough damage for sinking a heavily armoured ship. The German combat record using 283mm is disapointing - to say the least - when fighting against units such as BC Renown or BB Duke of York. Beyond that, even if I'm a KGM fan, American da...

Hello all, I've been reading for several days on your board and it's great! So many nice info and pictures mostly about world war 2 naval battles - one of my oldest hobbies. I hope I can contribute to this forum's development. ================= My first post is concerned with the relationship betwee...