Bismarck against BB-57 South Dakota
But we are hardly talking about a confused night battle in restrictive waters. If we were then the odds become pretty even. If we are talking open waters then SoDaks radar fire control give her a big advantage. If this is combined with a good search radar and stable center she has a huge advantage and can make use of it in ways Bismark has a hard time countering.
The problem for SoDak was that one of her crewmen chose to "cure" the problem of tripping circuit breakers by tying the circuit breakers down so they couldn't trip. It apparently didn't occur to him that they're designed to trip when there's a reason for them to do so. That's what caused the crisis off Guadalcanal.
Did the crewman get into trouble? (although his intentions were good, it did cause a rather large calamity for the ship!)
Did the crewman get into trouble? (although his intentions were good, it did cause a rather large calamity for the ship!)
God created the world in 6 days.........and on the 7th day he built the Scharnhorst
- _Derfflinger_
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These kind of "what if" discussions are always subjective by definition, and often come down to personal bias as much as to objective analysis, IMO.
In the real world, should Bismarck and SoDak have met, SoDak would win - because of the simple reason that it would be most likely that SoDak would not be alone - but would be with a North Carolina/Washington or another South Dakota class sister. Then, it is no contest.
If a one-on-one were to occur, I'd rate it a draw. The USN radar fire control and heavier firepower would be a match against the Bismarck's better armor, higher speed and optical fire control. Like many of you said, it would really come down to the early hits - who scores first, and how serious is the early damage.
I certainly agree with the comments noted that it would not be pleasant to be aboard either ship in this engagement. A lot of fine, young sailors would be lost.
Derf
In the real world, should Bismarck and SoDak have met, SoDak would win - because of the simple reason that it would be most likely that SoDak would not be alone - but would be with a North Carolina/Washington or another South Dakota class sister. Then, it is no contest.
If a one-on-one were to occur, I'd rate it a draw. The USN radar fire control and heavier firepower would be a match against the Bismarck's better armor, higher speed and optical fire control. Like many of you said, it would really come down to the early hits - who scores first, and how serious is the early damage.
I certainly agree with the comments noted that it would not be pleasant to be aboard either ship in this engagement. A lot of fine, young sailors would be lost.
Derf
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Capt Gatch was probably a joy to serve under, as he went to some lengths to benefit his people. Cynicism naturally leads us to think "It wouldn't exactly have helped his own career if it got out that his man had sabotaged the ship," but I'm not so sure about that. His ship did poorly, and he could have used this guy as a scapegoat.
- Karl Heidenreich
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Guadalcanal is probably a bad example because it was a confused night action.
Kinda like a bar room brawl with the lights turned off.
If these 2 ships met in a daytime encounter then SoDak would have to be the odds on favourite but hey..............nothing is guaranteed and Bismarck certainly shouldnt be considered a helpless opponent.
Kinda like a bar room brawl with the lights turned off.
If these 2 ships met in a daytime encounter then SoDak would have to be the odds on favourite but hey..............nothing is guaranteed and Bismarck certainly shouldnt be considered a helpless opponent.
God created the world in 6 days.........and on the 7th day he built the Scharnhorst
- Karl Heidenreich
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Gary:
Which makes me think that more than one in this forum, being given the command of an allied BB and given their "common wisdom" could end the same way if encountered Bismarck.
The odds that an allied warship could have a "bad day" are quite big and the odds that the Germans could do their work properly is, also, big.
If we see WWII history is relevant to note that the allies never aproached and engaged an equivalent enemy ship on a one to one basis but only with disproporcionate numerical superiority. And being the opportunity, as the sinking of Yamato plainly demostrate, the allies would never risk their own "unvulnerable" BB but used aircraft.
That´s plain that the allied commanders, who knew better than a theoretical naval penetration formulae, considered a great risk to engage their foes on an one vs. one basis, which would make us think what would happened if these commanders would have been in Nelson shoes at Trafalgar: being the British outnumbered 33 to 27?
Well, that why Nelson was Nelson and Admiral Nobody never showed up in the History books...
Gary, I don´t consider Bismarck a helpless opponent. The last man that, I pressume, did something like that rests in the bottom of the North Atlantic with the wreck of Hood (no offense considered in this comment).If these 2 ships met in a daytime encounter then SoDak would have to be the odds on favourite but hey..............nothing is guaranteed and Bismarck certainly shouldnt be considered a helpless opponent.
Which makes me think that more than one in this forum, being given the command of an allied BB and given their "common wisdom" could end the same way if encountered Bismarck.
The odds that an allied warship could have a "bad day" are quite big and the odds that the Germans could do their work properly is, also, big.
If we see WWII history is relevant to note that the allies never aproached and engaged an equivalent enemy ship on a one to one basis but only with disproporcionate numerical superiority. And being the opportunity, as the sinking of Yamato plainly demostrate, the allies would never risk their own "unvulnerable" BB but used aircraft.
That´s plain that the allied commanders, who knew better than a theoretical naval penetration formulae, considered a great risk to engage their foes on an one vs. one basis, which would make us think what would happened if these commanders would have been in Nelson shoes at Trafalgar: being the British outnumbered 33 to 27?
Well, that why Nelson was Nelson and Admiral Nobody never showed up in the History books...
An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.
Sir Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Churchill