Search found 29 matches

by George Gerolimatos
Fri May 26, 2006 8:11 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Belfast V Zara
Replies: 5
Views: 3019

Belfast vs Zara

Just a quick response, Much depends on the weather. In bad weather, with the help of radar and at close range (which might happen at night), the Belfast, with her quick-firing and numerous 6" guns, would probably win over Zara. On a clear day and with a real desire on the part of Zara's CO to d...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu May 04, 2006 7:25 pm
Forum: The Age of Sail (1571-1860)
Topic: Spain´s own naval victories?
Replies: 67
Views: 52926

Cool

Hi, Thanks for the heads-up on this book, though, sadly, I speak no Spanish. What's great about this website is that there are so many different nationalities so that we can get a more balanced appreciation of the naval strengths of many nations. I know very little about the Spanish navy in the days...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu May 04, 2006 7:20 pm
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: Capt Kennedy of Rawalpindi
Replies: 50
Views: 15590

VC

An interesting discussion. I'm not sure of the requirements for the VC, but it seems that we could compare the action between the AMC and the German BBs and the fight between the Admiral Scheer and another AMC (I've forgotten the name). In the latter case, the time it took for the German pocket-batt...
by George Gerolimatos
Sat Apr 29, 2006 4:36 pm
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: Pearl Harbor Conspiracy Theory?
Replies: 127
Views: 34557

Pearl harbor and Germany's declaration of war

I hope no one will resent my effort to steer this interesting discussion in a new direction, but I was wondering about one of the stranger aspects of the Pearl Harbor attacks namely, Hitler's immediate declaration of war on the United States. I have never been able to understand this move on Hitler'...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu Apr 27, 2006 11:47 pm
Forum: Naval History in General
Topic: The most beautiful name for a warship?
Replies: 50
Views: 51711

Names

Hi, Yes, I agree, documentaries can be sadly lacking in correct details. This is particularly offensive because there are great sites like this one and others which could correct all those silly mistakes. TV producers, just do your homework! I'm not sure if this site has been posted before, but ther...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu Apr 27, 2006 1:23 pm
Forum: Naval History (1922-1945)
Topic: Early aerial reconnaissance
Replies: 2
Views: 1838

Great photos

Hi, Interesting photos. I know that the Union forces in the American Civil War used observation balloons in some battles, but I'm not sure if they took photos. That was 20 years before these Prussian photos were taken, so I imagine the equipment must have been even more cumbersome. I wonder: did the...
by George Gerolimatos
Sat Apr 22, 2006 1:11 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Tirpitz instead of Scharnhorst in North Cape
Replies: 65
Views: 34487

Great info, Antonio

I also appreciate Antonio's comments. Has anyone read anything about Churchill's plan to trap Tirpitz, which directly resulted in the PQ 17 disaster? I've a bit about this in Alf Jacobsen's account of Scharnhorst, where he talks about Operation "Cobweb," where an MI5 double agent, working ...
by George Gerolimatos
Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:20 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Tirpitz instead of Scharnhorst in North Cape
Replies: 65
Views: 34487

Just DoY

Hi, This has been an interesting discussion. I am not aware of the availability of heavy units for the British at the time of late December 1943. May I ask why you don't think the British would have had more heavy units to deal with Tirpitz? With their clear superiority in numbers an intelligence, i...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu Apr 20, 2006 5:50 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Tirpitz instead of Scharnhorst in North Cape
Replies: 65
Views: 34487

Agree with Ufo

I agree with what Ufo said, There is no basis for saying Tirpitz's crew was better than Scharnhorst's. Both ships were stuck in the Norwegian fjords with little chance for exercises, let alone action. In Jacobsen's book on Scharnhorst he mentions that not much of the crew of that ship was new; on th...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu Apr 13, 2006 6:10 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: H-Klasse Battleship vs. 2 Iowas
Replies: 14
Views: 8664

FC

Hi, It's a common misperception to think that the superiority of American FC rested on radar. In fact, American FC was better by the much more sophisticated computers and mechanisms that directed the guns. To be honest, I don't fully understand the technicalities of it, but a wargame system called S...
by George Gerolimatos
Thu Apr 13, 2006 1:56 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: H-Klasse Battleship vs. 2 Iowas
Replies: 14
Views: 8664

FCS

I think we tend to focus on number of guns, weight of fire, and armor too much, especially when we forget other extremely important aspects like fire control. This was an area where American BBs and most other vessels FAR surpassed anything the Axis powers could come up with. It seems most of the hy...
by George Gerolimatos
Wed Mar 22, 2006 3:45 pm
Forum: Naval History in General
Topic: Greatest admiral of all time
Replies: 219
Views: 214385

Admiral Suffren

I would vote for Suffren, In the little I've read about him (in Mahan's The Infuence of Seapower Upon History ), he seems to have been one of the few French admirals who gave the British a really hard time in India. He ultimately lost, though, because his ships were out of supplies and wretchedly co...
by George Gerolimatos
Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:16 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Jean Bart vs. Tirpitz
Replies: 45
Views: 25005

Eh?!

I agree that Germany's long-standing enemy was France, but Germany hardly "always managed to defeat" France, if I read your post correctly. Napoleon certainly gave Prussia a good whipping (granted, there was no unified Germany back then, but Napoleon defeated the two most powerful German-s...
by George Gerolimatos
Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:34 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Jean Bart vs. Tirpitz
Replies: 45
Views: 25005

Germany, Hitler, and Britain

Hi, I'll join in a hijack of the thread (I think the argument was done anyway). I'm doing a research thesis on National Socialism, and part of it, of course, consists of Hitler's own beliefs. His books, Mein Kampf and his "unpublished second book" (from 1928. His publisher presuaded Hitler...
by George Gerolimatos
Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:04 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Tirpitz and Bismarck
Replies: 20
Views: 11249

immediate reaction

Well I'll make another post: The idea of two task groups is very interesting, especially with the opportunity for the Germans to surprise the Brits, with TWO powerful BBs when the British were expecting just one. However, though the idea of Tirpitz appearing out of the gloom in the Denmark Straight ...