Naval History Forums

Hi All! Since I'm an American and might be biased, I'll just say that the Western Pact soldiers in Desert Storm (mostly American) are one of the top two. They pulled off a successful massive land invasion although as attackers they were 1 to 1 with long entrenched defenders. Sure they had overwhelmi...

Hi RF and LWD! Point 7 should also include the discovery of refrigeration as a successor to the overuse of salt as preservatives.... RF you are right. Number 7 revised: 7. Food preservation methods (i.e. salt, canning, refrigeration), antiseptic washes (Anson and Hawke?) and dietary standards (Capt....

Hi All! Karl, Dave and Djoser have all ably noted in light of my post of the Raeder Trail Testimony that even if the Bismarck designers started with old plans for Baden, Mackensons or Ersatz Yorcks, they certainly would not have ignored 20 years of advancements in armor technology and made only mino...

Hi All! Perhaps information right from the horse's mouth - the testimony of Gr. Adm. Raeder at his trial at Nurenberg - can shed some light on this interesting topic. One of the bases for the charge against Raeder of conspiring to wage aggressive war was his involvement in the design and constructio...

Thank you Thorsten! That pretty much answers all four of my questions. Looks like the Germans were on the same track and timing as the US regarding FC radar. I guess they just lacked ships, interest or both to put it to work and make it better known. Looks like the biggest advantage of the US system...

Hi All! After reading the radar discussion above, especially where it got to the point of whether Bis had a radar advantage over other ships it would engage in 1941, the I have a couple of questions for Dave. But first a brief three point preface. a. It seems to me that the critical type of radar in...

Hi All! The following IMHO: History's Big Four: Salamis Lepanto Trafalgar Midway Order of gratitude for Midway: Spruance for his inspired decisions. Fletcher for having the good sense to defer to Spruance when conditions required that. Nimitz for giving them both the necessary tools, information and...

Hi All! LWD understands the nub of my plan well when he says: It's pretty clear that barring luck little on the KGV's will keep out Yamato's shells. The question in this one is whether the KGV's can do enough damage to the parts of Yamato that are vulnerable to their guns to disable her before they ...

Hi RF! You forgot to include the inventions of sextant and chronometer. You are absolutely right. Tortuously revised list, because I think sextant should come before packages incendiaries and the chronometer is Cap'n Cook's contemporary: 1. Water displacing hull shape (hollowed out log). 2. Oar. 3. ...

Please forgive me for this but taking the Tread Title literally . . . . Invention of . . . . 1. Water displacing hull shape (hollowed out log). 2. Oar. 3. Tiller. 4. Sail. 5. Packaged incendiaries. 6. Food preservatives (salt) and dietary standards (Capt. Cook). 7. Antiseptic washes. 8. Metal shapin...

Hi Bgile! Good point about cruising range. I agree that the Y is probably somewhat greater than KGV, but on the other hand her fuel consumption was so great and fuel scarce enough that the Japanese had trouble keeping her tank full. This is a significant potential problem for my plan because over en...

Hi Tommy! I've never heard of the KGV's losing speed in the tropics but it could very well be true, so the best answer I can give off the top of my head is I see no reason why that would be unique to that class. Yamato is basically made of the same stuff and likewise subject to all of the things tha...

Hi Bgile! Well, you seem to have put Yamato in an artificial position where her orders prevent her from firing back. No, not at all. My posts make it clear that she can try to fire back all she wants and that she may or may not be successful. It's just that if the British speed allows them to evade ...

Hih LWD! I agree about the 640 Yamato tactical radius. It's a problem for my plan because she is really quick on the turn to bring the fore guns to bear, whatever the effective angle is. I'm going to have to rely on the sharp eyes and other skills of my British crews to timely spot it, which has bee...

Hi Bgile! I suppose you can dream up any number of handicaps to make it possible for the British to win. I really don't think I have dreamed up any handicaps for the British to win. My scenario has all ships performing wartime missions with full operational capacity. It is premised on the Yamato bei...