Hi Paul,Paul Cadogan wrote: " the open fire signal flag is an exception to the execution protocol"
thanks, I was not aware of this exception.
Well, having been an officer myself, for sure not before Lutjens had given permission to fire to Lindemann..... I guess the JD was raised together with the communication from Lutjens to Lindemann, so the question is still open...... For sure Jasper said he fired immediately after the "permission to fire" was given and I don't see any reason why the German admiral should have given different orders to his ships, having decided to keep PG in the line of fire.you wrote: "Bismarck may have fired before the JD signal was raised "
I do agree, thus it is still a mystery for me. My 2 cents opinion is that at 5:56 something in Hood gunnery itself went wrong and she was not anymore able to fire at GIC intervals with PoW, but it's just speculation.you wrote: "....."Hood out of action" notation.......Nothing had happened to her (Hood) to cause that."
For sure no shell had landed yet on Hood at 5:56, as just the first Vollsalve from PG and BS were landing at that battle-time (of course, if we finally accept that German ships both opened fire almost simultaneously at 5:55, as written in the official German GAR and KTB, as accounted by the Baron in a detailed sequence of events and as shown in photo NH69722.....).
Jasper account demonstrates that the Hood was still afloat (with just the deck fire) at 5:58, when he switched fire to PoW, and he was sure it was his Gabelgruppe salvos to ignite the boat deck fire, as very likely, due to Bismarck using APC shells that would have penetrated much more deeply in the Hood hull before exploding.
Jasper (from his GAR below) fired 2 Vollsalve (that are AFAIK full salvos with guns firing at different ranges, thus giving a "ladder" or "Gabelgruppe") but whose purpose is mainly to correct direction and to warm up the guns, not to find range). (1 and 2 below)you wrote: "Why would Jasper fire a gabelgruppe again....."
Only afterward, he fired a "bracketing group (= Gabelgruppe), as per German procedures, aimed at finding the range (3 below) , that hit Hood:
In the thread viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5752&start=360 this interpretation has been discussed at long and, AFAIK, confirmed, giving a total of 5 salvos fired at Hood by PG for 28 shots (8+8+4+4+4=28).
I'm afraid that I don't see any space to move the established timeline, but I still try to keep an open mind to any alternative reconstruction.
Bye, Alberto