Naval History Forums

from "the german fleet at war 1939-1945" by vincent p. o'hara, who is overall much in favour of the actions of the german surface fleet: "There were other factors that degraded German combat effectiveness. After the war one admiral reportedly remarked: "We Germans knew how to bui...

[quote="alecsandros"] ... But she needed 15 minutes to get the range right... against a target moving at 7kts... And as I understand it, she was not trouble-free at all during the engagement, with about 65% output throughout. [quote] one must not forget, that due to her rudder issue, Bisma...

Everyobdy thinks about the pounding Rodney gave Bismarck on May 27th. But have you thought about switching tables ? And having the Rodney crippled, alone, with 3-4 torpedo hits, jamed rudder, max speed 7kts and an exhausted crew after 3 days and nights of continous battles ? And... with the Bismarc...

Don' t forget that during the final fight between Bismarck & Home Fleet, the mighty guns of Rodney obtains more results than King George V on barbettes and armour of Bismarck... ! We are now shure of this, observing the films of Bismarck's wreck !!! Indeed, but with the Bismarck in good shape, ...

I don't doubt for one second that Tovey would've engaged with just KGV on her own if the Bismarck was heading for home at speed, if that's what it took. I also don't doubt that the pilots on Ark Royal wouldn't have wanted to deliver another airstrike, weather be dammed. I've also noticed that sinki...

Well, the destroyers kept Bismarck under observation throughout the night, and they noticed her very low speed. Even with the steering gear repaired, Bismarck couldn't do more than 12-15kts at the most [due to the 3 torpedo hits and the 2x14" shell hits below the waterline], and in that kind o...

We all know that after the rudder hit on the evening of 26th, Tovey decided not to start a night battle for several reasons: The danger of coming under friendly fire in the pitch darkness, his tactical advantages of the rising sun on the morning of 27th, and probably most important, an utterly exhau...

that is an interesting post - i never thought about the possibility of the rescue ship being taken over. i think they broke off the rescue operation for a variety of reasons. there were reasons to believe that u-boats maybe around, and the captain has the responsibility for both his crew and a very ...

E I am well aware for example of the Norfolk hit on Bismarck around the start of the final battle, which is believed to have knocked out Schneiders' gunnery control position. off topic: norfolk was quite good with decisive hits on much larger ships - she also knocked out scharnhorst's radar at the ...

Hi!

Regarding the Bismarck: There are absolutely no indications/observations from either the British or the Germans that Rodney's torpedoes hit their target - this possibly is as close as possible to 'Categorically'.

The French quad turrets were more properly double twins in which the guns in each pair elevated together, but could be elevated independently of the other pair. There was, somewhat unusually in the French arrangement, a slight amount of individual gun adjustment in each pair. There is this photogra...

not too sure about definitions, but from my knowledge the french richelieus (and perhaps the dunkerques?) were the only modern (post-dreadnought) battleships which had jointed guns. meaning, in their quad turrets the guns were paired, such that two guns had to be elevated simultaneously to the same ...

As I understand it, the IJN excelled at night fighting. The KGV class initially had problems with their 14 inch turrets. If your two KGV's were KGV and POW I would give them little chance, even with radar. However if we have Howe and Anson, things would be far more interesting. But all KGV vessels ...

If his death can have a meaning, then let it be as a warning. Agree 100% !! I guess, most people here, like me, are somehow fascinated by navy ships and the battles they fought. But we should never forget that this fascination is just one side, which also (for most of us) is looked at from safe dis...

but jean bart and bretagne were confined in the harbour, so i would not compare that to a real engagement.