All,
Sorry that my exposure of the hidden motive behind the suggestion of some kind of parity in readiness between PoW and Bismarck has created so much heat. I thought by referring to Kapitan Lindemann's actual logged observations it would be perfectly clear Bismarck was as ready as she could be and it took 8 months.The only reason I said I couldn't be bothered to type any more is that the KTB I have is a pdf
locked copy from which you cannot cut and paste
. So I had to retype bits which is irksome. Childish nonsense indeed Harrumph!
Duncan- thanks for kindly including the extensive quote in which Lindemann reflects proudly and his calm feelings on the successful
conclusion of his 8 month work-up, and his tough disappointment in not being ordered to head off into combat immediately.
So rather than
he most certainly was pressured into the mission
he says himself he was disappointed not to be going a month earlier.
Yes it would have been so lovely if that nasty Flying Officer Campbell VC and equally heroic crewmen Hillman, Mullis and Scott hadn't given their lives to torpedo the Gneisenau, and the rotten RAF hadn't bombed her in dry dock subsequently. It was just very bad luck that after only a 17,800 mile cruise Scharnhorst's superbly engineered power plant was worn out requiring months of repairs.
If only, if only, the Tirpitz could have magically been ready to join in with less than 8 months work-up. But it wasn't.
Indeed wouldn't it have been wonderful if the whole Uber-task force had managed to get to sea altogether and slaughter the helpless convoys and their escorts. Tens of merchant ships and their democracy sustaining cargoes sinking under a blazing inferno of Teutonic firepower........... Ineffectual escorts throwing away their lives in hopeless charges against an irresistible force. The USA cutting off its aid since it was just being sunk in the Atlantic and starving the 8th Army of the resources it needed to throw back the Afrika Korps.
Except it never happened, which is why this thread belongs in the "might have been" category instead of one about real things that really happened in the Real World.
It would be statistically invalid (or very biased indeed) to consider only
drawn from this very specific and very short confrontation only
which is why the success of Renown's old 15" against the Twins and Warspite's against Guilio Cesare and Hood's against Provence and Rodney's 16" against Bismarck should be taken into account.
If the best in excuses that can extracted from the KTB (after extensive study) as to why Bismarck shouldn't have gone out was one of the cranes didn't work or some supplies (tropical kit I believe) were missing well many would think these are not valid reasons for not going to sea.
If Bismarck's temporary rudder failure is evidence she wasn't ready, that is a bigger subject. German naval engineering was very advanced and extremely complex. Sometimes too advanced and too complex.As Cag has observed German warships spent most of their time tied up in harbour waiting to make an attack, and therefore their equipment and crews were infrequently stressed by actual operations at sea. That’s gaining experience. I have worked at sea in complex ships and I know gear breaks down all the time. Prinz Eugen's engineering plant needed extensive repairs after the mission.
If Bismarck survivors don't think they had the right gear or enough AA training or practice to knock down 90 knot canvas Swordfish, well so what, that’s tough. We have established a large part of PoW's crew had never served in a warship before either. PoW went out and fought the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica to get supplies through the Mediterranean after the Bismarck chase, but the Japanese still sank her. Isn't the excuse of the loser always that they didn't have the right equipment or enough training? The KTB says Bismarck’s AA batteries were involved in the defence of Hamburg. The AA crews could have got their experience in E Boats or Flakships which were out fighting while Bismarck was sitting around in the ice.
Trying to retrospectively suggest that because Tirpitz took far longer to work up than Bismarck proves Lindemann is incorrect in his assessment is not valid. After the poor results of the Twins mission and the failure of Bismarck's, Kriegsmarine resources were being diverted to U-boats and other areas that might actually win in the Battle of the Atlantic or to other forces in North Africa or Russia. Tirpitz was already effectively demoted to coast defence ship that continued to absorb huge resources for very little return during the rest of her existence.
It is abundantly clear from her Captain's own signed writings that Bismarck was fully ready for war service, the day after PoW got Y turret working acceptably for the very first time.
All the best
wadinga