Hello,wadinga wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2019 4:47 pm Fellow Contributors,
It has been said:
Once again Mr Virtuani is at odds with Admiral Santini who he keeps quoting on PoW's performance, whilst apparently having a different idea of PoW's output. Which minutes did PoW match Bismarck's maximum and average output of 8 shells per minute? I presume the Weasel-word "effective" is supposed to allow for shells that would/could/might have been successfully fired if the turret had been bearing.as the effective output of PoW in terms of shells delivered against the enemy per minute was better than Bismarck's one
Alecsandros, welcome back, I hope you are feeling better.
All the best
wadinga
I am not back, just dropping by.
Bismarck registered 93 shells/14 minutes = 6,64 shells per minute
Prince of Wales registered 55 shells / 9 minutes = 6,11 shells per minute
Comnpensating for available guns to fire (remember PoW was initially firing with 6 guns, not with all her main armament of 10 guns), one gets practically the same output between the two battleships.
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The discussion is still centered on dry numbers. Numbers are very good, but number context is, IMHO, more important.
The best heavy weight boxer will not obtain victory if he has canon-balls tied to his anckles.
With this in mind, I must add that the context of the gunnery of Bismarck was different from the context of the gunnery of Prince of WAles.
Bismarck was firing from West to East, with all main artillery, against a faintly illuminated target (by the slowly rising sun), wind blowing her funnel smoke and gun smoke towards the enemy, and waves being produced and moved against the enemy by the wind.
Also of note is that the German battleship was doing little to no (?) course alterations - in any case no noticeable course alterations.
Prince of WAles on the other hand was firing from East to West, with 60% of main artillery (for the first 8 salvos), and with 100% of artillery (for the subsequent 10). She was firing against a poorly illuminated target (by the slowly rising sun), wind blowing own gun and funnely smoke further back. But the same wind was blowing sea water over the forecastle, bringing water inside the forward turrets , putting the gunners awash inside. The same wind was obscuring visibility through the optical instruments.
Also of note is that PoW performed 3 course alterations , of which 2 during the actual battle, plus a final "U turn", practically having little time on a steady gunnery course. Course changes naturally afected the firing solution, and possibly increased likelihood of shell jams inside the heavy battleship.
This is best understood, IMHO, when observing the conditions of the second battle, at 18:00: Prince of wAles was on a steady course, firing against the enemy battleship (which was well illuminated by the sunset), with little to no wind affecting the firings: in that engagement, executed from ~ 27-28km or so, Prince of Wales outputted 85% of ordered shots.