alecsandros wrote:Bismarck and Washington did their job. Bismarck kept the British DDs at arms length, Washington cleared a way to Kirishima and saved South Dakota.
Littorio on the other hand, allthough heavily escorted, did not manage to stop the British torpedo attack.
Compare this to Massachussets handling of the situation at Casablanca - where all enemy ships were taken out at 10km or more.
This is not true. I think Mr Kennedy is very respectable author to be quoted here. Bismarck pursuit p183-184:
Maori: "... when he was abeam at a range of
two and a half miles, she opened fire, so at 1.21 a.m. he turned in and fired all four torpedos."
Zulu: "... at 1.37 a.m. he fired two torpedoes
at two miles, and at once opened fire."
Cossack: "Three minutes later, at 1.40 a.m. ... at a range of three miles he fired three of his four torpedoes."
Sikh: "at a distance of
three and a half miles fired all four torpedoes."
And final attack:
"At 3·35 a.m. Cossack, having moved to the northward of the enemy, closed in to fire her last torpedo... At a range of
two miles he fired his torpedo, this time claimed no hit."
So distances were 2-3.5 nm vs 3-4 nm at Sirt.
alecsandros wrote:Washington cleared a way to Kirishima and saved South Dakota.
Washington lost her position in the channel due to agressive attacks by DD's. And Japanese transports without resistance were beached at the same night. So she did her job partially. Also as Littorio.
alecsandros wrote:Littorio on the other hand, allthough heavily escorted, did not manage to stop the British torpedo attack.
Compare this to Massachussets handling of the situation at Casablanca - where all enemy ships were taken out at 10km or more.
Why I must compare the unlimited visibility at Casablanca with visibility limited to 6 miles during DD's attack on Littorio at Sirt. Only Bismarck has similar conditions (range 13,500 yds vs 14,000 yds opening range for Littorio).
alecsandros wrote:IIRC, 2 Italian destroyers sank on the way back to port due to storm damage ?
Anyway, Bismarck, Hipper and Lutzow all fought on rough seas...
- Yes. Some british DD's also suffered damage in the heavy sea.
- This is incorrect. According to O'Hara Hipper and Lutzov fought in calm sea. Look at quote below.
alecsandros wrote:
Are you sure about the hits on Onslow and Achates ? I remember at least 4 direct hits on Onslow and at least 6 on Achates.
I have two good secondary sources: '73 North' by Dadly Pope and 'Red sky in the morning' by Michael Pearson. I did check both books, they agreed about 2 direct hits and 3 near misses which caused splinter damage.
However O'Hara mentioned 3 hits (p 147/148) in final engagement with Achates.
I combined this data as 3 hits and 3 near misses. Maybe I made incorrect assumption but only primary sources would help here.
Below the drawing of Onslow from '73 North'. You might calculate how many hits she got.