Search found 113 matches

by paul mercer
Tue Sep 16, 2008 8:05 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: RFC equipped Yamato vs. Iowa
Replies: 462
Views: 66453

Re: RFC equipped Yamato vs. Iowa

Hi Bgile: I took the hit probablilty from navweaps.com. I used two legs, one for the 35.000-40.000 yard interval (in which the deck CAN be penetrated) and the other for the 35.000-25.000 yards interval (in which the deck CAN NOT be penetrated). For the first leg the probability for Iowa, firing con...
by paul mercer
Tue Sep 02, 2008 11:26 am
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: RFC equipped Yamato vs. Iowa
Replies: 462
Views: 66453

Re: RFC equipped Yamato vs. Iowa

I believe that the Iowa's had a much faster rate of fire than the Yamato's, therefore presumably more shells mean there would be more chances of scoring a vital hit, not neccessarily penetrating the deck armour or turrets to any degree but by disabling the radar or fire control systems and upperwork...
by paul mercer
Mon Aug 04, 2008 9:11 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: KGV in POW's place on 10th December 1941
Replies: 39
Views: 9687

Re: KGV in POW's place on 10th December 1941

KGv would have been sunk just like PoW, no doubt about it I'm afraid - it might have taken just a little longer to happen.
by paul mercer
Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:07 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Tirpitz accompanies Bismarck in Operation Rheinubung
Replies: 112
Views: 19660

Re: Tirpitz accompanies Bismarck in Operation Rheinubung

Fleet action being in the Pacific - well, yes but of course there was an Axis fleet in the Med. It could of course have escaped into the Atlantic and joined the KM surface ships. Now how about an Axis force of Bismarck, Tirpitz, Vittorio Veneto and Littorio loose in the north Atlantic, with a neutr...
by paul mercer
Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:01 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Tirpitz accompanies Bismarck in Operation Rheinubung
Replies: 112
Views: 19660

Re: Tirpitz accompanies Bismarck in Operation Rheinubung

Some time ago, it seems light years ago, I wrote the following hypothetical scenario for a Bismarck + Tirpitz scenario (I reckon that there are some modifications from the original one): "1. Bismarck + PE steamed from Gotenhafen, via Great Belt, to Norway. Lutjens commands at Bismarck. The Squ...
by paul mercer
Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:17 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?
Replies: 414
Views: 82268

Re: Bismarck vs. Rodney: hand to hand?

But the chances of Rodney blowing up would I think be far less than that of Hood. However that scenario does throw up an interesting proposition - what would have happened if such a hit blew up Rodney in the opening minutes of the action on 27th May 1941? - say at the point of Bismarck's third and ...
by paul mercer
Fri Jun 27, 2008 1:01 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Rodney + POW v Littorio and Victorio Vento
Replies: 63
Views: 15372

Re: Rodney + POW v Littorio and Victorio Vento

One thing that puzzles me here, if the Italians has decided to have a to the last man(ship) stand up fight surely their speed would have been limited to the speeds of the slowest British ship (Rodney), given the normal ranges under which battleships would engage one another, (this would have been a ...
by paul mercer
Wed Jun 25, 2008 7:47 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Rodney + POW v Littorio and Victorio Vento
Replies: 63
Views: 15372

Rodney + POW v Littorio and Victorio Vento

Shortly after Rodney had been overhauled in the US after the Bismarck battle she was sent to the Med with Nelson, POW and Ark Royal on convoy duty. On one such voyage the Italians sent out a powerful fleet consisting of Littorio, Victorio Vento plus five cruisers and destroyers, Nelson was torpedoed...
by paul mercer
Wed May 28, 2008 8:00 pm
Forum: Bismarck General Discussion
Topic: 2,000 tons of seawater in Bismarck's forecastle!
Replies: 52
Views: 16487

Re: 2,000 tons of seawater in Bismarck's forecastle!

IF the shell had exploded, would it have set off another explosion in the fuel tank? Even if it did not, what other damage would it have caused to the bow and would it have slowed Bismarck down even more?
by paul mercer
Sat May 17, 2008 10:11 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: Falklands/Malvinas war naval scenario
Replies: 42
Views: 9198

Re: Falklands/Malvinas war naval scenario

I can imagine some satellite photo support, but AWACS? Where did you get this information? The BBC in Britain on one of the digital channels ran a series of programmes last year marking the 25th anniversary of the invasion of the Falklands. This included a dramatic re-enactment of the actual invasi...
by paul mercer
Sat May 17, 2008 9:20 pm
Forum: Books and Reference
Topic: New Books
Replies: 2
Views: 2235

Re: New Books

Have these books been published on the internet, as often extracts from newly published books are shown as a promotional trailer. Also if you can wait six months you should be able to request a copy from your local public library - newly published books should be available six months from publicati...
by paul mercer
Sat May 17, 2008 9:15 pm
Forum: Bismarck General Discussion
Topic: 2,000 tons of seawater in Bismarck's forecastle!
Replies: 52
Views: 16487

Re: 2,000 tons of seawater in Bismarck's forecastle!

Kennedy, in his book Pursuit wrote: "The third and most serious hit had...penetrated two oil tanks, come out the starboard side without exploding. This hit not only let sea-water into the oil tanks and quantities of oil into the sea, but knocked out the suction valves, cut off from the engines ...
by paul mercer
Wed May 07, 2008 11:42 pm
Forum: Books and Reference
Topic: New Books
Replies: 2
Views: 2235

New Books

Has anyone read the book HMS Rodney by Ian Ballantyne that has just been published? I had a quick look in a bookshop the other day and one of the pages I turned to described a large hit on Bismarcks stern, could this, with the addition of the torpedo hit, have caused the stern to fail? I have'nt bou...
by paul mercer
Tue Apr 29, 2008 7:33 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: An alternative Battle of the River Plate
Replies: 33
Views: 8037

Re: An alternative Battle of the River Plate

I'm afraid the answer is yes, either of the twins would have blown the British squadron out of the water even they took a number of 8" hits, none of which would cause much serious damage to ships of that size and with that armour, just look what Graf Spee did to Exeter. Mind you, if Cumberland ...
by paul mercer
Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:20 pm
Forum: Hypothetical Naval Scenarios
Topic: KG 5 class underestimated?
Replies: 116
Views: 44260

Here's another 'what if' for you to ponder!
What if the KGV's had been fitted with 8 x 15" or 8 x 16"?
Presumably this could have been accommodated in the design, so would this have made them superior ships compared to what was around with other nations at the time - including Bismarck?