Naval History Forums

Hi Mustang, I don’t think that anyone would want to ban you from the Forum, most Forums have some ‘controversial’ subjects which are often quite useful in awakening interest, particularly when it has occasionally been a bit ‘dormant’ for a while, (one went to 151 posts on this Forum a while ago). I ...

Gentlemen. re the sinking of the Musashi, I read somewhere that while he sister ship Yamato has been discovered blown apart into two bits, the Musashi was completely destroyed (even more than Hood) because all four of her magazines exploded at once - would that be possible as it would have taken one...

Gentlemen,
Out of interest, I've often wondered if the long slender bows on the Iowa's would have been very vulnerable in fight either from shells or bombs?

Hi Byron,
Most interesting, I suppose how quickly it can be done depends entirely on the training of the crew and the competency of the officers, presumably in the days of sail the RN were some of the best!
With regard to the word 'Spanker', is that what is often referred to as the 'Mizzen'?

Interestingly, I watched the program again, and when it came to what to do with the German ships it actually said that both France and Italy wanted a quarter share, but the US did not want the UK to have any at all because they were capable of building enough new ships to enable them to have an Atla...

Gentlemen, don't forget HMS Sheffield attacked by Swordfish aircraft miss identifying her for Bismarck!

Gentlemen, Just watched a documentary on the scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, it stated that that after WW1 the US, France Italy and of course the UK all wanted a share of the ships particularly the British who actually wanted the lot! As it happened the agreement was for the ships to be...

back to Rodney versus Bismarck. Rodney was actually on its way to America to undertake a refit. Not withstanding the damage it had sustained (impacting it's speed, not it's armament), Bismarck was brand new. Bismarck had R.D.F. IIRC Rodney received her Type 284 set in July 1941. There was over 10 ye...

https://www.benjidog.co.uk/battleships/Rodney4.php about 1/2 way down the page is a complete copy or her Gunnery Action report against Bismarck. You'll note that one reply to the report is that Rodney scored no 16in hits for the first 20mins of the action: The last comment on Longley-Cook's paper, ...

OpanaPointer wrote: ↑Fri Jun 23, 2023 1:54 pm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kursk_submarine_disaster

Hi OpanaPointer,
Thanks for posting that link it made for some fascinating reading, what an almighty ..... up - and cover up by the Russians!

Apparently some large pieces of wreckage has been located, I presume they will be salvaged to find out exactly what caused the failure. I believe that the Magallen sub is being shipped from the Channel Islands by the US air force, this is apparently capable of lifting the wreckage to the surface. On...

Hi Michael, All this is becoming a bit confusing, are we actually discussing whether or not Tovey would have engaged Bismarck with KGV & Repulse and hope to slow her up enough for other heavy ships to come up and if so what the outcome might have been? If this is the case, I think that without d...

DOUBLE Post!

Hello Paul and Byron. I note your contributions. IIRC, when Bismarck broke contact early on 25 May, the ship put on a burst of speed to 27 knots as it did its lazy circle to the west, north and then east. I agree that in a tail chase action, with 10 RN heavy guns v 4 for Bismarck, there would have ...

Hello Mr dunmunro. True enough. 'The Admiralty was taking calculated risks when it ordered RN ships to maintain the hunt for Bismarck despite their fuel state, as the Admiralty had provide options to refuel ships at sea.' But I think you have forgotten the last piece of information/advice the Admir...