Hello everybody,
Wadinga wrote: "He strangely contradicts his own observation in the same quoted sentence, "albeit with a rather low number of shots per salvo"."
Apparently Mr.Wadinga, after having written a wrong statement ("
As far as I can see he nowhere mentions a rate of fire for Prince of Wales") without admitting he has, does not get yet the difference between
actual RoF, effective RoF and effective # of shells delivered / minute....
Adm.Santarini speaks about PoW actual RoF (very high ("
two salvos per minute") and in line with Bismarck's, when assuming 108 ordered shots, any alternative is welcome from Mr.Wadinga) that has to be corrected to an "effective" RoF due to output loss, getting a worse figure than Bismarck but still close (1.4-1.5 vs 1.6-1.65). On the other hand, # of shells delivered / minute is favorable to PoW (7-7.4 vs 6.4-6.6) as PoW has 10 guns vs 8 for Bismarck. I hope it's clear now.
If the following figures/facts annoy who prefers to stick to the proven wrong "old story of the green ship with poor gunnery", I can't help in any way (but I still wait for any
measurable and supported argument to counter any of the following):
1) PoW actual RoF was very slightly better (
1.89 vs 1,85) than Bismarck (assuming 108 ordered shots for Bismarck, much better if less than 108).
2) PoW output loss was larger than Bismarck's (
26% lost shots vs
14%) due to mechanical problems / human errors
3) PoW effective RoF (
1,4-1,5) was slightly less than Bismarck's one (
1,6-1,65) but still in line with it (due to larger output loss).
4) PoW effective # shells delivered / minute was clearly higher than Bismarck's (
7-7,4 vs 6,4-6,6).
5) PoW found her target before Bismarck, hitting the enemy less minutes (
3) after having opened fire than Bismarck (
3.5-4)
6) PoW hit the enemy form a much longer distance (from around
4000 yards more)
7) PoW was initially heavily handicapped by having only the fore turrets bearing for the first 8 salvos, and despite that, she hit first.
8) PoW hit only
3 times vs the 5 probable hits achieved by Bismarck, therefore her hit rate was worse than Bismarck's
9) In addition Bismarck had to switch target (this had probably not much impact, but it has to be kept into account). PoW had no such a problem.
10) No ship was able to hit enemy when maneuvering in emergency (PoW turned however 20° to port without affecting much the gunnery).
11) The 3 hits of PoW inflicted more serious damages to BS than vice-versa (while BS was devastating against Hood).
All the above, except 1), 2), 3) and 4) depend also on luck (and as the moderator has wisely said, the sample is too short to get any definitive conclusion). 1), 2), 3) and 4) however depend only on own ship's gunnery efficiency that for PoW was good despite the failure.
Bye, Alberto