You have said:
But there's so much more to say! So many contentious assertions to be challenged. So many fascinating pieces of evidence currently ignored to be thrust into the limelight.By the way, I think the time is arrived to close this thread argument here.
You have quoted the following from Rowell
It is the signal which was not executed, ie not hauled down. It says nothing about any turn not being executed. We know Hood’s rudder is turned, therefore we know she started to turn. Leach knew he was intended to turn, but another hit had made impossible the issuing of the signal. He knew here was no intention for PoW to keep charging towards the enemy on 280T, he knew he had to turn to port as soon as possible.“The Vice-Admiral hoisted a second signal for another turn of 20 deg. away but before it could be executed the "Hood" was hit by another salvo.”
I see that instead of addressing Coates and Brookes’ testimony seriously, you have dismissed them with
Well, you can add another “unreliable” witness to the list, unreliable, like the others only, in that they report events which do not fit with your inflexible assertions.“I see your point about Coates and Brooke, but even if they believed what they wrote and stated, ... not ALL the witness are reliable”
Fritz-Otto Busch!
You were kind enough to provide the following material earlier in the thread.
And“In Busch's English language The Story of the Prince Eugen (1958) we have
The range was now changing as the British, obeying the last signal of their flagship to open the range, were caught while turning to port, and suddenly steered hard to starboard and towards the Germans, in order to avoid the wreckage of their badly hit comrade”
It would be useful to have a German speaker check the 1943 text in German as I interpret “shows bow left, then shortly thereafter bow right,” to mean PoW showed her port bow to Prinz Eugen then her starboard. This describes the wreck-evading starboard turn continuing all the way past the line of sight to PG ie to a heading above 330T before turning to port again and eventually away.“FO BUSCH on 1943 book Even the “Prince of Wales” has changed course after transiting the position of the sinking of her flagship, and she has turned hard to port. She shows bow left, then shortly thereafter bow right, and finally her stern, and seeks to flee at high speed.
One perceives from the strange manoeuvres of the “Prince of Wales” that the sinking of the flagship and the hits the ship had obtained itself, that someone has lost his head and could not quite figure out how to proceed next. Finally, it was decided to retreat and to rapidly escape from the horribly accurate fire of the “Bismarck”.”
Additionally Hunter-Terry must enter the sin-bin with the other “unreliables”. He says debris was still falling whilst PoW was turning to port. Since the guns, turrets and masts described by other witnesses would not have stayed in the air for very long, seconds after Hood’s explosion at, nominally 06:00, PoW was turning , not to starboard, but to port seconds after 06:00. Leach had to over-ride this turn with another hard turn to starboard, just as described by the witnesses.
There are two hits in this area see the excellent photos at http://www.hmshood.com/history/denmarks ... amage1.htm, the Crane and Funnel hit from forward (said to be 15") and the Boat Deck hit (definitely 8") which penetrated the deck (see photo), and bulkheads cleanly with measurable holes and ended up being picked up by two crewmen in the 5.25" handling room and thrown overboard. Comments are made about picking up debris in this Upper Deck area, which is originally thought to be debris from Hood but was later described as bits of the crane. Does anyone know of identifiable bits of 15" AP found in this area? This Crane and Funnel shell did not perform like a 15" AP as it's fuse should surely not have detonated above the Upper Deck, after a glancing blow on the crane, and even if it did the heavy AP head should have punched a mighty hole in the deck whereas there are merely shrapnel holes. Performance much more like an 8"HE in fact.What PoW Gunnery report called " Boat Deck " hit is just what you after called " After Funnel " hit, it is the same shell and on the attached scheme is the number 3 associated to a Bismarck shell ( in orange color ).
That shell hit the stb crane, than the after funnel and finally smashed the boat deck. It was one shell only ( Ref. PoW damage report official documentation ).
Food for thought?
All the best
wadinga