Search found 141 matches

by Rick Rather
Wed Oct 10, 2018 9:55 am
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal
Replies: 13
Views: 10874

Re: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

The 4 USN destroyers were leading, then Washington (flag) then SD. The destroyers were hit and set ablaze with Washington passing to port and SD to starboard where she was silhouetted by the fires. South Dakota's trailing position was a problem for Washington because the latter's surface search rad...
by Rick Rather
Fri Dec 29, 2017 3:57 pm
Forum: Bismarck General Discussion
Topic: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017
Replies: 9
Views: 7327

Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

...what do people think of his thesis that "The German battleship Bismarck mounted eight 15-inch guns, but the relatively light weight of her armor-piercing projectiles meant that contemporaneous battleships outgunned her". 100% of the contemporaneous battleships that were hit by Bismarck...
by Rick Rather
Sun May 14, 2017 10:19 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Washington v Tirpitz
Replies: 8
Views: 8023

Re: Washington v Tirpitz

Gentlemen, ...what if they met hand to hand ? The image comes to mind of the two great ships belt-to-belt as a couple of thousand sailors in foul-weather gear have a slap-fight across the life-lines. :D Seriously though, my usual prediction is that the first ship to lose a main battery turret will ...
by Rick Rather
Thu Feb 09, 2017 8:33 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck and Iowa
Replies: 49
Views: 25800

Re: Bismarck and Iowa

:lol: The phrase "potential capabilities" pretty much sums it up for most German technologies in WWII.
by Rick Rather
Thu Feb 09, 2017 3:46 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck and Iowa
Replies: 49
Views: 25800

Re: Bismarck and Iowa

Can we agree that

A.) Coastal artillery is irrelevant to the discussion of extreme-range battleship-to-battleship engagements, and

B.) That there is no historical data to suggest that such ship-to-ship engagements beyond 30km were considered practical or advisable?
by Rick Rather
Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:42 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck and Iowa
Replies: 49
Views: 25800

Re: Bismarck and Iowa

Dave Saxton wrote: In the past I have been rather zealous in pointing out the improbability of consistently scoring hits at plus 30km range, not because it is not possible, as it is possible and the Germans proved it...
The Germans were "consistently scoring hits at plus 30km range"? When?
by Rick Rather
Mon Feb 06, 2017 10:22 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck and Iowa
Replies: 49
Views: 25800

Re: Bismarck and Iowa

The German 38cm gun could penetrate 130mm of Wh deck at 30,000 meters. The Iowa's decks protection is 140mm worth of, in my opinion, a slightly inferior material. Once past 30,000 meters the angle of fall of the 800kg projectile increases at rapid rate, due to it carrying less momentum down range t...
by Rick Rather
Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:27 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Teleportation in time 2: NOrth Carolina takes place of Bismarck
Replies: 4
Views: 5649

Re: Teleportation in time 2: NOrth Carolina takes place of Bismarck

If I understand correctly, the gist of your post is that a ship configured differently from the Bismarck might have avoided the catastrophic damage from a single hit, but the British had enough units tracking her down that she would have been found and overwhelmed anyway before reaching port. Is thi...
by Rick Rather
Mon Jun 06, 2016 5:43 am
Forum: Naval History in General
Topic: Need Technical Assistance for a WWII Action Novel
Replies: 10
Views: 12261

Re: Need Technical Assistance for a WWII Action Novel

On December 5th the Japanese Task Force was ~600 nautical miles north-northwest of Oahu: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Map_of_Pearl_Harbor_attack_force.jpg Note that the dates & times shown on the map are Tokyo time, so 0130 December 8th is (iirc) 0700 December 7th at Pearl...
by Rick Rather
Mon Feb 29, 2016 12:39 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Battle of the Denmark Strait
Replies: 21
Views: 12506

Re: Battle of the Denmark Strait

@Rick Rather Well, in the historical battle BS+PE obtained 9 to 11 direct hits between 5:55 and 6:02/6:03, on both Hood and Prince of Wales. Unfortunately, Lütjens did not have the British damage reports available to him during those minutes to help him decide. The only data he had was what he coul...
by Rick Rather
Mon Feb 29, 2016 3:01 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Battle of the Denmark Strait
Replies: 21
Views: 12506

Re: Battle of the Denmark Strait

After 6:02/03, both German ships would target Hood, and the chance of a catastrophic explosion is still there. Why would they shift targets after only 6 minutes of firing? Bismarck probably damaged and slowed down to 22-24kts - and ripe for another attack later at night, by Victorious, KGV, Repulse...
by Rick Rather
Sun Feb 28, 2016 6:32 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Battle of the Denmark Strait
Replies: 21
Views: 12506

Re: Battle of the Denmark Strait

This dialogue from another thread just caught my eye: That poses an interesting proposition - what if Tovey and Holland had swopped commands, with Tovey on Hood at DS and Holland held back at Scapa Flow with KGV.... Given the tactical situation at 5.40 AM 24 May I wonder what tactical decisions Tove...
by Rick Rather
Tue Feb 02, 2016 7:45 am
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: Best rebuilt battleship?
Replies: 63
Views: 37435

Re: Best rebuilt battleship?

Gopher wrote: At Suriago strait the American battleships had 28 destroyers present...
...and you don't feel that the large number of destroyers available was in any way related to the presence of 100+ transports just north of the battle area?
by Rick Rather
Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:42 pm
Forum: Naval Technology
Topic: US WWII Battleship catapults
Replies: 5
Views: 5960

Re: US WWII Battleship catapults

There was a thread about battleship catapult procedures a couple of years ago. Someone posted a link to detailed instructions for operating one type of catapult.

:cool:
by Rick Rather
Mon Dec 14, 2015 5:15 am
Forum: Naval Weapons
Topic: Battleship powder ram question?
Replies: 3
Views: 8033

Re: Battleship powder ram question?

Q.:Will it be a problem if a gap is less than 4"? I thought that it is the only problem if the gap exceeds ... Subsequently, would the problem with bags position occur with raising the gun or when depressed? Would it have occur with 6 bags of full charge? Less than 4" is OK. You obsess ov...