How much damage...?

[richardkarlgood]

Say if the Bismarck got through too the North Atlantic, and found a large convoy.

What would the convoy do?scatter?proceed together?

Could the escorts do anything to the bismarck?

How many ships could the bismark sink? Would a merchant ship be indefinitally destroyed in one salvo?

How long would this engagment last?

Oh and this is my first post, so hello everyone, glad to be part of the community

~Cheers, Rich

[gunnut]

Please change all your "too" to "to"...thank you very much. That just drives me nuts.

Bismark could have done some serious damage, but I wouldn't say the escorts were SOL against her. Torpedoes from the escorts could have forced the Bismark to manuver or even damaged her. Those 3" peashooters were probably useless though.

[richardkarlgood]

Originally Posted by gunnut

Please change all your "too" to "to"...thank you very much. That just drives me nuts.

Bismark could have done some serious damage, but I wouldn't say the escorts were SOL against her. Torpedoes from the escorts could have forced the Bismark to manuver or even damaged her. Those 3" peashooters were probably useless though.

What does SOL mean?

Ya, the 3" can't even rip a hole in flag of the Bismarck

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by richardkarlgood

What does SOL mean?

Ya, the 3" can't even rip a hole in flag of the Bismarck

Stool Out of Luck.

Don't forget, prior to Lutjens taking command of the Bismarck (over the Captain), he did quite well with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and sunk over 20 ships.

But I personally don't think that was Bismarck's "mission" though. But my theory is far too contoversial, even for this forum.

[richardkarlgood]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

Stool Out of Luck.

Don't forget, prior to Lutjens taking command of the Bismarck (over the Captain), he did quite well with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and sunk over 20 ships.

But I personally don't think that was Bismarck's "mission" though. But my theory is far too contoversial, even for this forum.

Well, if you have the free time, write down your theory for the hell of it?

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by gunnut

Those 3" peashooters were probably useless though.

In terms of affecting her watertight integrity or knocking out her 15-inch guns? Correct, not a chance in hell.

But having 3-inch shells - assuming an escort got close enough to use them - exploding all around her superstructure would not have been fun either.

If you haven't read it, find Last Stand Of The Tin Can Sailors by James D. Hornfischer to find out what a small group of "little boys" can do against one of the most powerful Axis surface groups ever assembled.

[SnowLeopard]

We-ll......they might have done what the Gloworm did with the Hipper, rammed her. Granted, we are talking a BB, not a heavy cruiser.

But you might get lucky. Damage the rudder, bend a prop shaft. Force the ship to withdraw.

So, given the timing of this question ....... been watching much AMC? Saw Geoffrey Keen yesterday myself and that was enough to hook me for part of the afternoon.
-----------------------------------------
("Solid foot of armor plate, that's what the Bismark's got."--Suffolk lookout 1
"Who said so?"--Suffolk lookout 2
"The gunnery officer that's who. Said for all the good our guns would do, we might as well throw crumpets at her."
"I wish someone would throw crumpet at me.", (wtte), "Sink the Bismarck!")

[richardkarlgood]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard

We-ll......they might have done what the Gloworm did with the Hipper, rammed her. Granted, we are talking a BB, not a heavy cruiser.

But you might get lucky. Damage the rudder, bend a prop shaft. Force the ship to withdraw.

So, given the timing of this question ....... been watching much AMC? Saw Geoffrey Keen yesterday myself and that was enough to hook me for part of the afternoon.

You called it, I just watched "Sink the Bismark", great movie (god damn Dana Wynter is a fox )

How much damage would a destroyer ramming the Bismarck actually do...and is it possible? How would it get close enough without being blown out of the water?

Good night, ~Rich

[SnowLeopard]

Originally Posted by richardkarlgood

You called it, I just watched "Sink the Bismark", great movie (god damn Dana Wynter is a fox )

Yes, she .... was ...... 47 years ago.

Originally Posted by richardkarlgood

How much damage would a destroyer ramming the Bismarck actually do...and is it possible? How would it get close enough without being blown out of the water?

Good night, ~Rich

Gloworm sort of had an advantage of bad seas, visibility, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It did get blown out of the water. But it did ram.

But we are talking the North Atlantic .... a place known for bad seas, lousy visibility, so perhaps there is a possibility.
-------------------------------------------
("We do things the old fashion way ....... thru brute force!"--a desperation war cry of mine)

[richardkarlgood]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard

Yes, she .... was ...... 47 years ago.

errr, thats what I meant. Everyone gets old I guess

[SnowLeopard]

Originally Posted by richardkarlgood

errr, thats what I meant. Everyone gets old I guess

Well, Comme ce, Comme ca. We can all have our fantasies, placing them in time when we want them, placing ourselves in time where we want to be, maybe even taking some poetic license.

This is why I really don't care what so and so does in their personal life. That's not where I enjoy them. I care only what they do infront of the camera or immediately behind it if they are directing. Their personal lives are their own, as far as I am concerned, and no business of mine.

Now, all that said, I'd probably wouldn't be kissing 2nd Officer Anne Davis in the war room ................ but I do notice.
-------------------------------------------------------------
("Harper, I'm a warship. I always consider the military aspect first ..... but I do care."--Romi, (wtte), Andromeda "Bunker Hill")

[Dreadnought]

IMO As soon as it was known Bizmark was at sea they would have scattered the convoys. Unless ofcoarse the convoys had a battleship or battlecruiser escort. Pending the year this happened would have dictated wether Hitler would have allowed Bizmark to chance hitting the convoy or not. Bizmark was well suited as a raider however if an RN battleship was encountered they were ordered not to engage as Hitler himself was fearful of loosing the Bizmark. In addition the majority of the time Bizmark sailed the RN already knew because of the "eyes" they had through out those areas that the Germans favored for entering the Atlantic. The destroyers that ran escort service could only do so much against the Bizmark outside of torpedo runs at her. Bizmark could sit in the distance and pick em off by gunfire without the hassel of torpedo evasion. And the liberty ships if im not mistaken had either 3" or 5" deck guns (pending the year) at the stern but alas could only do 8 knots wide open so pretty much a siiting duck even against a destroyer not to mention the shear speed advantage of Bizmark.

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by richardkarlgood

Well, if you have the free time, write down your theory for the hell of it?

So far, only one other person and I have explored this theory and we are both convinced that explains the reasons for Lutjens mistakes (which we don't believe were actually mistakes). But it would cause so much controversy that nobody on this board would show up for work for the next two weeks at least.

[Dreadnought]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

So far, only one other person and I have explored this theory and we are both convinced that explains the reasons for Lutjens mistakes (which we don't believe were actually mistakes). But it would cause so much controversy that nobody on this board would show up for work for the next two weeks at least.

This I have to hear.

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

But it would cause so much controversy that nobody on this board would show up for work for the next two weeks at least.

So how is that a bad thing?