Naval History Forums

I like both Hipper and Sheer, they were clever, however they failed to understand until post Jutland that battleships had already had their day, and that u-boats (and air power) were now king of the hill. regarding Germany this story surprising is also true regarding World War 2. Don't get me wrong...

I agree with Karl, Heihachirö Tögö is my favorite, however sadly he seems a little forgotten, only getting 2% of the vote. I think given the differences in technology he proved himself both a great tactical and strategic admiral, his handling of his fleet at both Tsushima and Yellow Sea was classic...

Recently watched the 1991 TV film USS Indianapolis — Mission of the Sharks. Firstly I enjoyed the film, and think its a good movie, I wish they made more films about this sort of subject but I suspect money has something to do with it. I think I noticed a couple of telling (major) inaccuracies with ...

The problem with this is that it is done too close to the end of WW2, where the German side is based on assumptions and propaganda which are totally inaccurate, centralising on Bismarck being a ''nazi'' as opposed to German battleship. It is the same mentality that produced the Karel Stepaneck cari...

I completely agree with Marcelo. In any case, the USN made good use of the old battleships. Yes, the USN certainly made good use of their old ships, especially when compared to other navies which made poor use of their new ships. But this still does not get around the fact that aircraft carriers wh...

Sorry, but loosing a worthless machine in battle doesn´t imply that it was lost on purpose. Use they eventually had, as they were worth the repair work. I don´t either see how so big a conspiracy could go on. How did they make sure that the radar wouldn´t rise an alarm with so many contacts on scre...

Oberwarrior, don't forget that the boat itself was fictional, it was not based on an actual voyage. Also the resurfacing from the visit to the sea floor off Gibraltar avoids the conundrum that it was right outside the British base. As soon as it broke surface it should have been picked up by Britis...

Great drawings Antonio Bonomi.

Scharnhorst is one of my favourite ships, elegant and fast, goes to show not everything is about brute size and gun power. We was a real ship and had an great career, not just bombed and sunk by aircraft which sadly happened to many great ships in World War 2. )))

My point is that the USN had 15 BBs available in Dec 1941, plus two recently commissioned or about to. Why loose half the fleet? Which would have been the difference if the BBs had gone to sea? The attack on an empty harbour wouldn´t have been enough to go to war? Moreover, as somebody said in this...

Oberwarrior, you should also list the rest of the USN BB fleet. That would show that the fleet at Pearl was no more obsolete than the rest, as many people seems to believe. Yes, they were not new, but the Japanese blow deleted half the BB fleet for a while. As requested I have listed basic statisti...

Just a quick afterthought, the US were conducted and were conducting their Fleet Program XXI (1940) & Fleet Program XXII (1941) in preparation for war.

'When in peace plan for war'

Oberwarrior: Follow this link about the book. I buy it in this worthless place, Trinidad & Tobago, so it´s likely that you could buy it in Russia or via amazon: http://www.lewrockwell.com/woods/woods30.html It is a good lecture in these times in which the Obama and liberal agenda will try to re...

I would say a good battleship would have a peace time life of between twenty and thirty years, had Pearl Harbor not have happened I suspect the Americans would have retired a few of their old hulks sitting in Pearl within a few years. Even if you take the carries out of the argument and compare thes...

3) Pearl Harbor, certain the loss of a couple of old battleship of WW1 vintage is no great loss the the US I don´t agree with this. The new BBs of the USN were just entering service (or about to), so they were not ready. That means that ALL the 15 BBs of the USN were "WWI" vintage, and so...

Oberwarrior, Also we must acknowledge the afinity, during WWII, of FDR and his close colaborators to help out the Soviet Union from the nazi menace. Last year, when reading a book about the "political incorrect" history of the US many issues point out about FDR need to get into the war to...