Naval History Forums

The Japanese reports as well as the commentary by Adm Kondo cited by Frank, claim that the torpedoes launched against the BBs were fired under ideal conditions to obtain multiple hits. It is a puzzlement.

Gentlemen, I believe that one report said that the back of one turret (B?) was blown out, would a direct hit from a 16" have done that, if so how would that have occurred? I have heard of this incident, but the reported timing is much later during the battle. It was not at the time of the first hit...

Standard Displacement is a creation of the treaties. The Rs and the QEs predate the treaties so that was not factor in their designs. The Rs were probably designed to get more ships for less money per ship than the QEs. Standard displacement, according to the Treaties, was the ship fully stored and ...

IMHO, the 3 cruisers weren't capable of tackling Scharnhorst either. Only poor visilibty helped them , During the second skirmish of the historical battle, Scharnhorst swept the cruisers aside with ease, even without a forward radar. Bey broke off only because of the risk poised by destroyer torped...

Tirpitz, unlike Scharnhorst, had three radars that could see forward by late 43/early 44, one possibly with a PPI. Their reliable range was plus 30,000 meters. Only incompetence or very bad luck causes Tirpitz to be brought to battle under such favorable, to the RN, circumstances. If we go forward i...

US Washington class had as well alot of missions (Arctic convoy duty, Guadalcanal fight-to-the-death missions, AAA coverage of fleet carriers, coastal bombardment). Japanese Kongo class (4 units) also had ample war coverage, from carrier escort to coastal bombardment, Java battles, Indian Ocean for...

northcape wrote: ↑

Thu Sep 27, 2018 4:37 am

I like them very much, but still I think they had many deficiencies.

All one must do is look at the upgrades incorporated into Vanguard to identify the deficiencies.

Thanks again Dave for your input, poor old KGV class, they don't seem to have many supporters do they? I like the KGVs actually. They were fast and well armoured. They operated in adverse and diverse conditions and were capable of fighting at night. They incorporated many innovative design elements...

Type 284P would not have altered the circumstances in favor of Anson. Not even Type 274.

Scharnhorst operating with its radars switched off was most likely due to how pressed for time Bey was in getting the operation under way, rather than as a matter of KM doctrine. When Kapitan zer See Helmut Giessler began investigating why Scharnhorst's radars did not catch the approach of the enemy...

It is not what I think but what I have read.

284P was not deployed. They decided to wait until 274 was available instead.

Thanks Dave, I think you may well be right, however with 10 guns v 8 (and all firing properly!) would Anson not cause an immense amount of damage to Tirpitz's upperworks, including her radar, fire control systems etc even though her shells might not actually penetrate the main armour, in a similar ...

Gentlemen, We seem to have gone a little off track here, Given that there was not a huge difference in overall weight between the two, (using either Anson or Howe) and Tirpitz my original question was basically if they had gone head to head - both with fully working guns,radar, experienced crew and...

Gentlemen, I have taken a post from Alecsandros in the Bismark & Tirpitz myth and planted it here (hope you don't mind Alecsandros). 'KGV displaced 37500 tons standard and Bismarck 41700 tons standard. Yes, Bismarck was heavier , but not in the proportion usually considered. Tirpitz weighed 44200 t...