Naval History Forums

Hi all, The "luck factor", when it comes to hits, has to be looked at in terms of the probability of the hit occuring in the given location. The actual occurrence of a hit anywhere is not really high in luck factor as this was the objective based on the use of science/mathematics, skilled ...

Thank YOU Como!

I hope you'll continue to give us your recollections of your wartime experiences, maybe in a new thread in the Naval History section....?

I for one am looking forward to hearing what happened next!

Paul

Hi All, I had sent an e-mail to the HMS Cossack Association to hear their side of this story and I got a reply from them. They have the story on their website http://www.hmscossack.org -click on "Memories" (their account even throws in Oscar going to the vet :cool: and being granted politi...

Hey Karl.... My dad always told me that the ships in service for the United Fruit were very reliable vessels and that once he was on board one that was into a hurricane. He used to work for the United Fruit in the 50ies. My grandfather worked for the United Fruit Company! I don't recall when, but it...

Thanks Marcelo, I missed that one. :oops: But I see it's another controversial issue! It would not surprise me that Bismarck's survivors might not recall a cat aboard - after all on a ship as vast as Bismarck with 2200 men aboard many may never have seen him! But why would anyone make up such a stor...

Hello all, I have today learned something that for me, as a veterinarian, is completely fascinating and almost defies belief. I am surprised that I have not come across it before and I wondered if any of my fellow Bismarck enthusiasts in this forum have - the story of Oscar, the Bismarck's cat. (I s...

Hi Como, I hate to have to say this, given your continuing great account, but the ship in the photo you posted is not the Exeter! That is a Colony-class light cruiser with X-turret removed giving her three triple 6-inch turrets. Note the large tower bridge and two slim funnels of similar size. Exete...

Hood's maximum speed ever attained was 32.07 knots in 1920. The speed ordered by Admiral Holland in the DS was 28 knots, but by some accounts she was miraculously pushed beyond that - close to 29 - by her chief engineer Terence Grogan - so much so that the brand new Prince of Wales had trouble keepi...

Como, Once again you've "blown me away"! But just a clarification.... The threat of Bismarck heading for the convoy would have been on the night of the 25th - 26th and her exact location was not certain at that time - only that she was heading in that general direction. The convoy seems to...

Well Como, all I can say is that it boggles the mind of those of us who can only imagine what it was like, to hear stories like yours. Thanks again for sharing. I didn't realize Bismarck came so close - if she wasn't making a bee line for France she could easily have intercepted! But that delay woul...

Hi Como, Once again THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your story with us! :clap: :clap: :clap: It helps to bring to life the operations and events we may read about on a simply factual level - putting on the human face. One question - the attacking aircraft you called the FW "Kurrier" - was th...

Wow, Wadinga! You just beat me to it!

I think you and I were writing at the same time with the same thoughts! Makes me feel good because "great minds think alike" but then "fools seldom differ", but yours is most certainly a great mind, so I must be doing OK!

Paul

Hi Como, Thank you so much for your post! It is always an honour for us to graced with the words of a veteran who was actually there when the events took place. Yours is just another example of the terrible shock that Hood's sinking caused across the Royal Navy. Now WS8B's heavy escort was supposed ...

The thing is, Roosevelt had issued orders that US ships were to assist the British in locating and tracking the German vessels, even before the Denmark Strait battle. IIRC around the time Hood & Prince of Wales sailed, the old battleship New York had put to sea with three destroyers (I think) an...

Hi RF, Mr. Churchill had much greater hopes for Prinz Eugen! After Bismarck's demise he was hopeful that the Prinz's foray might have pre-empted Pearl Harbor! Here's a top secret memo sent by him on May 28 - quoted in Kennedy's "Pursuit". (Thanks to Nigel Jackson over in the Hood Forum for...