Not so sure about those comparisons as the Vanguard was by all accounts a well armoured ship and faster so had the option to run much as does the Richelieu. The Rodney was a slugger, no doubt about that, with heavy guns and armour but at the cost of speed. The Vanguard gets slammed for using Grandma's teeth but boy what a set of teeth. Still it does prove that a well designed ship can last through the ages. My beef is more comparing a radar equipped Vanguard of 1948 with a 1940 Bismark as the Vanguard could thump the Bismark at near the maximum range of its guns and the Biskmark would wonder what is hitting it. Now compare a 1948 radar equipped modernised Bismark and it would be a battle of the armour protection schemes given the higher probability of hits. The Bismark armour protection scheme especially of the turrets is not a good design compared to some of its contemporariness so. The question is what design gets the most bang for buck at the time and can be modernised.alecsandros wrote:Hi.Brett wrote:Hi All
I do find it rather shallow comparing design from say 1933 that appeared on the seas in 1939-40 to designs that first sailed in 1944
My impression is that the 1934 designed Bismarck would destroy the 1940 designed Vanguard most of the time, from a pure technological perspective.
And the 1922 designed Rodney would be a very tough nut to crack for 1936 designed Richelieu.
It is amazing that the the Arizona was a pre WW1 design that apart from speed got most things right so even in 1941 had not been sunk by air power it could have given a wildcard chance of knocking out the Bismark and definitely would account well against the two 11" fast battleships of Germany assuming that their Captains chose to close into battle.
A battleship is a capital ship so long life is a key element. The Warspite proves this but then again it could be argued that money spent refitting her and her sistesr would be well spent on more KG class ships.
A successful design is one that can be updated and part of that updating is having adequate electric power, internal space, etc. In a way the South Dakota was built too optimised for 35,000 tonne treaty constraint that this meant is could not be modified cheaply. Now if it was designed to be lengthen with the space used for extra engine capacity then I would be impressed. I love designs that can be updated over time. The Iowa class even now could run with the fleet and provide heavy hitting power. The Yamato might have been pensioned off much earlier. Though I believe the designers did consider fitting fewer but bigger guns. Now a 1946 such equipped Yamato against a 1946 equipped Iowa would be interesting. The armour of the Iowa would come under pressure. The deciding question would have Britain been so willing to share Radar with the USA if no war until then and likewise would the Germans been willing to do the same for Japan.
Cheers Brett