I agree. I have always liked the NCs more than the SDs. (I view the SDs as one step forward and two steps back.) The main draw back of the NCs is the relatively weak protection.LeopardTooth wrote:Besides Iowas and Yamatos, I cannot think of another class of WW2 battleship that I would rate as a clearly more powerful ship than Washington/NC. Really, only the Tirpitzes, South Dakotas, and Vanguard are even contenders.
Alex wrote:and a case might be held that they (Axis BBs) did not have a chance of playing a decisive role as long as the Allied yielded much more modern heavy ships....Yes, but as long as the enemy had modern fast battleships, they (SH and DNK) couldn't hope to play the role of capital ships. Imagine Scharnhorst against Washington, or DUnkerque versus Vanguard.
Doesn't these thoughts indicate just how useful the existence of the modern Allied BBs were? Note that SH had stronger armour protection than NC.