Re: Bismarck/Tirpitz = most powerfull European battleships
Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 7:52 pm
Bgile:
About heavy kamikazeattacks you are correct. But not like Bismarck fighting the Swordfishs alone or like Yamato against 300+ planes alone or almost alone, the Iowas were always part of a gigantic, disproportionate fleet in which barriers of fighters, barriers of AA destroyers and cruisers and hundreds of batteries from the CV with the battleships worked together. So, you cannot compare Yamato in his last mission, the only capital ship of it's minimal force, with an Iowa and the tens or hundreds of friendly escorting ships fighting together. The Iowas were never in risk of being sunk, just look at their casualties.
You need to balance your comparisons. The USN vs the IJN is like comparing the army forces in Europe with what the russians had to fought, was like a ride in the park.
Again: Yamato didn't because the USN battleships never, ever, presented themselves to fight. It's like a boxer waiting on the arena for the opponent to show up. It's correct: Yamato never fought another battleship... because the USN unwillingness to risk one of theirs.
Yamato didn't fight another battleship. Neither did Vanguard. You can say all you want about fighting bravely, which the Iowas also did under intense Kamikaze attack.
About heavy kamikazeattacks you are correct. But not like Bismarck fighting the Swordfishs alone or like Yamato against 300+ planes alone or almost alone, the Iowas were always part of a gigantic, disproportionate fleet in which barriers of fighters, barriers of AA destroyers and cruisers and hundreds of batteries from the CV with the battleships worked together. So, you cannot compare Yamato in his last mission, the only capital ship of it's minimal force, with an Iowa and the tens or hundreds of friendly escorting ships fighting together. The Iowas were never in risk of being sunk, just look at their casualties.
You need to balance your comparisons. The USN vs the IJN is like comparing the army forces in Europe with what the russians had to fought, was like a ride in the park.