Search found 141 matches

by Ersatz Yorck
Thu Aug 29, 2013 12:21 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck recovers its steering
Replies: 10
Views: 3063

Re: Bismarck recovers its steering

Another interesting question is how would functioning steering have affected the battle, supposing now that there is a battle? It would undoubtedly have helped the Bismarck, but how much?
by Ersatz Yorck
Mon Aug 05, 2013 1:57 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Beauty & the Beast
Replies: 30
Views: 17563

Re: Beauty & the Beast

To be fair, the Fritz X was a very heavy bomb, 1400 kg, twice as heavy as the bombs that struck the USS Arizona.
by Ersatz Yorck
Mon Aug 05, 2013 12:15 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Beauty & the Beast
Replies: 30
Views: 17563

Re: Beauty & the Beast

Yeah, but the Arizona suffered four hits and three near misses. Of course it only takes one bomb in the right location to set off a magazine, but still...
by Ersatz Yorck
Mon Aug 05, 2013 8:50 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Beauty & the Beast
Replies: 30
Views: 17563

Re: Beauty & the Beast

Gentlemen, Personally I would put my money on the German ship because I think their fighting capabilities and crew training would be far better than the Italians. I realy don't think the Italian ship could have lived with either Bismarck or Tirpitz, particularly if they started getting hit at regul...
by Ersatz Yorck
Thu Aug 01, 2013 2:22 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Beauty & the Beast
Replies: 30
Views: 17563

Re: Beauty & the Beast

Who is beauty and who is the beast? :think:
by Ersatz Yorck
Mon Jul 29, 2013 12:36 pm
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: French navy in general and BB richelieu in particular
Replies: 4
Views: 2383

Re: French navy in general and BB richelieu in particular

Thanks for the post Rayonx! I think most people on this forum are well aware of the performance of the MN in WW2, and that the French navy was far from inactive. It is for example interesting to note that the French Navy fought as many battleship vs battleship actions against the allies as the Germa...
by Ersatz Yorck
Mon Jul 22, 2013 12:47 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?
Replies: 414
Views: 82202

Re: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?

[ 4 ] The report is silent as to where Mr Leach himself was stationed in the ship and what his own specific duties were during the action, whom he interviewed in the preparation of the report and what effort he took to verify whatever testimony he took from other parties. As he was the captain I th...
by Ersatz Yorck
Thu Jul 18, 2013 9:20 am
Forum: Bismarck General Discussion
Topic: Lutjens' Intentions
Replies: 138
Views: 26140

Re: Lutjens' Intentions

You observation about the headings on different projections of a globe is correct, but with great circle navigation you cannot just follow a heading, you must actually continously adjust your course to get where you want to go. So the fact that a course at such and such a time ends up in North Afric...
by Ersatz Yorck
Thu Jul 11, 2013 10:57 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Scharnhorst vs a KGV
Replies: 62
Views: 26718

Re: Scharnhorst Vs a KGV

I wish people could stop referring just to "GKDOS". GKDOS is a security classification and means "Geheime Kommandosache". Stating that GKDOS says this or that is like saying in english that TOP SECRET says this or that.
by Ersatz Yorck
Wed Jun 12, 2013 12:00 pm
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: German naval commandoes?
Replies: 12
Views: 3989

Re: German naval commandoes?

The Germans did have a dedicated landing corps in the Baltic in WW1.... The force was never used for its intended purpose, and it was dissolved in 1915 when there were no opportunities for landings. In WW2, Here is the rub - there were plenty of potential targets available along the English and Sco...
by Ersatz Yorck
Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:54 am
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: German naval commandoes?
Replies: 12
Views: 3989

Re: German naval commandoes?

German regular army units did rather well when employed in island hopping in the recapture of the Dodecanese in 1943. Basically there was no serious opposition, as with the occupation of the Dutch offshore islands and also the Channel Islands in 1940. But the experience with Crete in May 1941 demon...
by Ersatz Yorck
Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:43 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?
Replies: 414
Views: 82202

Re: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?

At Jutland Beatty got his a....kicked because he engaged German battleships with his lightly armoured battlecruisers and I suspect same thing might have happened to Hood had she been in the line. Excuse me but this is manifestly false! The British battlecruisers engaged the German battlecruisers. A...
by Ersatz Yorck
Sun Jun 09, 2013 9:40 pm
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: German naval commandoes?
Replies: 12
Views: 3989

Re: German naval commandoes?

The Germans did have a dedicated landing corps in the Baltic in WW1, planned for battalion strength. It was organized by the army for cooperation with the navy and it's equipment included specialized horse-landing boats not unlike WW2 landing craft. The force was never used for its intended purpose,...
by Ersatz Yorck
Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:19 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?
Replies: 414
Views: 82202

Re: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?

). In this case, when chasing fleeing merchants, Bismarck would hardly sink more ships than a heavy cruiser, though two ships would of course be a considerable advantage. So I would say that 200,000 tons sunk by a raider in a convoy attack appears very optimistic. And any kind of escort, however we...
by Ersatz Yorck
Sat Jun 08, 2013 8:43 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?
Replies: 414
Views: 82202

Re: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?

Absolutely right. But the most successful raiders still sank far more than the average U-boat. That statement made me sit up. It seems a tad unfair to compare the best surface raiders with the average U-boat but, still... I can't find a summary of surface raiders tonnages sunk but I believe the Sch...