Naval History Forums

I haven't done any calculations, but my suspicion is that paravanes even if streamed at speed would not be able to exert enough transverse force to make any significant difference. They were, after all, only intended to move minesweeping wires outboard and to support a fairly light cable to cut the ...

The tug idea is interesting, but I doubt very much if even big salvage tugs could have made much difference. Towing speeds would be too slow. Most tug-work took place in still-water harbors at very slow speeds. Pushing on the bow of the Queen Mary at three-knots in harbor is very very different than...

Actually, now that I think about it more, there was one set of cases where ships were expected (rarely) to operate astern. Some early U.S. Navy aircraft carriers were, for a brief time, equipped with arresting gear forward as well as aft, the idea being that if damage to the flight deck occurred aft...

As a general rule, ships of that era were simply not designed to steam astern at any significant speed at for any significant time, so it's simply not a 'design case'. Basically, why would anybody want to do that? Even tugs, which spent a lot of time under astern power, never used that as any sort o...

deleted duplicate post from myself

Bill Jurens

I corresponded with the Baron, who lived here in Toronto, Canada, several times, and talked to him on the phone once regarding gunnery aspects and big-gun dispersion. A very nice gentleman indeed, but -- one must remember -- quite literally a professional diplomat who chose his words very carefully ...

Mr. Mercer wrote: "In other threads some of you have very patiently explained to me why a one ton bomb dropping vertically from an aircraft is more likely to penetrate deck armour than a one ton shell arriving at an angle, I regret that I'm still a bit puzzled on this, at Pearl Harbour I believe it ...

No 'blowing out of the water' required, or appropriate. Certainly the precise location of a particular shell hit, except in very unusual circumstances is largely a random process, which one might well characterize as being represented by 'luck'. What is little appreciated is the inherent variability...

I have to admit that I'm somewhat skeptical that the Naval Armor and Ballistics program "...is very useful and educational", at least for long-range naval gunfire. It appears to (still) be based on MCTRAJ, a small-arms ballistic program which, due to scaling issues, really doesn't model big artiller...

I would tend to agree that the idea of using a hangar door as a rudder of some sort was also more or less a fantasy, especially if one were trying to fit such a device in heavy sea conditions, at night, and with the British in hot pursuit. It is barely possible that Bismarck might have been able to ...

I have the detailed rudder drawings of Bismarck here. As you mentioned, blowing off the rudder -- or rudder(s) represents a complete fantasy. How might one place the explosive? How much might be required? Where in the wreckage might the explosive charges be placed in order to assure separation, and ...

Serigo wrote: "About Bismarck steering problems, It’s obvious that at least one of the rudder was still operational, mean attach to the pope, otherwise the ship wouldn’t have steering problems. So blow it up. Could you please clearify if that’s true because otherwise I don’t know what was the steeri...

Your observations are interesting ones, but are not -- at least in my opinion -- realistic. First, there was almost certainly no possibility of 'blowing off' the port rudder, as it was probably gone already, removed by the torpedo hit on the starboard rudder. The port rudder was not, to my knowledge...

I would not agree that the Cape Matapan torpedo damage to V.V. was in any way 'very similar' to that sustained by Bismarck. If I'm reading my drawings correctly, the V.V. hit actually took place about about 40 meters forward of the main rudder, and damaged only what might be best-described as an 'au...

I believe these stories are largely just that 'sea-stories'. Most or all aircrew approached a carrier using quite specific routines regarding courses, speeds, and altitudes, etc. These are unlikely to have been similar in both navies. Also, as part of the recognition system, most approaching aircraf...