"Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

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Patrick McWilliams
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"Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by Patrick McWilliams »

Season's Greetings everyone :)

I see that Robert J. "Bob" Winklareth, a former prolific contributor to this site, has an article entitled "The Not-So-Mighty Bismarck" in the above publication.

Has anyone else seen it and 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".

All the best,

Paddy
OpanaPointer
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by OpanaPointer »

You might post this at forum.axis.history.com. I would search the forums for an existing thread. :whistle:
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frontkampfer
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by frontkampfer »

I'm a USNI member and I have read the article and the author's book. I am not impressed by either.
"I will not have my ship shot out from under my ass!"
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Patrick McWilliams
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by Patrick McWilliams »

OpanaPointer wrote:You might post this at forum.axis.history.com. I would search the forums for an existing thread. :whistle:
Fair enough, but KBismarck.com is (one of?) the premier sites for Bismarck and I've been a member here for years - even if I've been quiet in recent times :whistle:[/
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Rick Rather
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by Rick Rather »

Patrick McWilliams wrote:...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's 15" shells would disagree with Winklareth's thesis.

Welcome back and Happy New Year!
Just because it's stupid, futile and doomed to failure, that doesn't mean some officer won't try it.
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OpanaPointer
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by OpanaPointer »

Patrick McWilliams wrote:
OpanaPointer wrote:You might post this at forum.axis.history.com. I would search the forums for an existing thread. :whistle:
Fair enough, but KBismarck.com is (one of?) the premier sites for Bismarck and I've been a member here for years - even if I've been quiet in recent times :whistle:[/
True, but Axis History gets a wee bit more traffic. I've been here for years, I like what I read here, for the most part. I'm always chary of single sourced information.
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Dave Saxton
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by Dave Saxton »

Patrick McWilliams wrote:Season's Greetings everyone :)

I see that Robert J. "Bob" Winklareth, a former prolific contributor to this site, has an article entitled "The Not-So-Mighty Bismarck" in the above publication.

Has anyone else seen it and 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".

All the best,

Paddy
This statement by Winklareth is based on the faulty assumption that the important metric of an armour piercing shell's potency is its weight. It is related to the common assumption that weight of broadside is a good indicator of firepower. What other things about Bismarck did he express assumptions about?
Entering a night sea battle is an awesome business.The enveloping darkness, hiding the enemy's.. seems a living thing, malignant and oppressive.Swishing water at the bow and stern mark an inexorable advance toward an unknown destiny.
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by OpanaPointer »

Speaking of that issue, was anyone else ... disturbed by the Imperial chrysanthemum on a certain warship drawing?
Bill Jurens
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by Bill Jurens »

Mr. Winklareth is the author of a variety of rather bizarre and off-the-wall 'theories', of which this is just the latest. I'm surprised (and somewhat disappointed) that Naval History even printed this article. This sort of editorial blunder is one reason I stopped subscribing to Naval History five or ten years ago.

Bill Jurens
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frontkampfer
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Re: "Naval History" Magazine, December 2017

Post by frontkampfer »

Bill,
Thank you for your post. As far as I am concerned it says all there needs to be said about this author.
"I will not have my ship shot out from under my ass!"
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