BS + PE = save return to france????

miro777 · Post by **miro777** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 3:29 pm

hey

if the PE would have not been dispatched, would the Bismarck made it home to France???

miro

Nellie · Post by **Nellie** » Fri Feb 10, 2006 9:59 pm

Certainly not! Even if the Prince Eugen had stayed with Bismarck they were outnumbered in ships against the British, for example hms renown a british battlecruiser was lying a short distance from Bismarck during the last battle and viewed the scenario with orders to not take action unless it was really necessary, she had probably sunk the Prince Eugen or at least make her escape, i don´t think Prince Eugen would have like the taste of 15 inch shells!

miro777 · Post by **miro777** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 5:28 am

hey

but don't u think the prinz eugen could have made a difference when the swrodfishs from the ark royal attacked the bismarck???

if the PE would have been there, there would have been more AA guns and the possibility of a torpedo hit would have decreased!

wat do u think?

miro

Nellie · Post by **Nellie** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 11:37 am

Well, the possibility of a torpedohit had, as you say, decreased with Prinz Eugen in company but remember how inefficient Bismarcks AA guns was, with that in mind i think the risk of a torpedohit had still been real big.

miro777 · Post by **miro777** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 4:19 pm

true

miro

iankw · Post by **iankw** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 6:02 pm

What if BS hadn't damaged her radar firing at the British cruisers? Then PE would have been behind BS, Hood would have been targetting correctly from the get go. Maybe Hood wouldn't have gone kaboom. What then? Does BS survive the concentrated fire of two British capital ships? Do the cruisers close on PE and engage? Interesting questions, I think.

Nellie · Post by **Nellie** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 8:48 pm

In this case i wonder if it had made any difference if Prinz Eugen had been behind Bismarck, this based on how bad Hood was finding the range, she fired 5-6 salvoes without a hit, then it doesn´t matter what position Bismarck had, i wonder why Hood had trouble with finding the target when POW with untrained crew and guntrouble managed to hit Bismarck several times.

iankw · Post by **iankw** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:29 am

Having PE in front made a huge difference imo, simply because it stopped the British cruisers being able to enage PE. Why did Hood have trouble? I don't know. There was some trouble with spray, I believe. Also, and I'm guessing here, if they thought PE was BS (which they apparently did), would they assume a longer range because of the smaller outline? Maybe the old fashioned range table was giving false solutions? I guess we will just never know!! Sad really.

Anyone else got any ideas?

RF · Post by RF » Fri Sep 29, 2006 7:23 am

miro777 wrote:hey

but don't u think the prinz eugen could have made a difference when the swrodfishs from the ark royal attacked the bismarck???

if the PE would have been there, there would have been more AA guns and the possibility of a torpedo hit would have decreased!

wat do u think?

miro

Knowing Sods Law there is also a chance that PE gets torpedoed instead of Bismarck. Remember that Ark Royals Swordfish in their first attack went for the Sheffield!

If PE does get immobilised by torpedo hits does Bismarck stay with her or is PE sacrificed in order that Bismarck scurries safely to port?

I think that if the two German ships hadn't parted they would both have been sunk.

The question of AA support is a valid point however. IF the Germans had operational 'Atlantic' long range destroyers to escort Bismarck they could have provided the AA backup - but these vessels served their duty on the drawing board, yet another lost opportunity by the Kriegsmarine.