Another defect of the Bismark was the shells. Those that hit the Price of Wales failed to detonate properly. (Sorry ObjSRgtLw)

Originally Posted by perseus

Another defect of the Bismark was the shells. Those that hit the Price of Wales failed to detonate properly.

Thanks... -.-

This is a slightly unfair contest IMO, as Bismarck was heavily built on WW1 designs and restricted by the Washington Naval Treaty. The Yamato designers had no such constraints.

It would be more even if the proposed H-Class battleships and Yamato duked it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_class_battleship_(1939)

Originally Posted by Doppleganger

This is a slightly unfair contest IMO, as Bismarck was heavily built on WW1 designs and restricted by the Washington Naval Treaty. The Yamato designers had no such constraints.

It would be more even if the proposed H-Class battleships and Yamato duked it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H_class_battleship_(1939)

Your link is Broke.

what is a h class battleship, and who wanted to build it? i have heard of montana class, and sich...but h-class?

Originally Posted by ObjSRgtLw

come on guys... some voices FOR Bismarck please

Hey I would be happy to vote for the Bismarck, I tend to think that people are pushing the Yamato because of its size but I think that both the fire and damage control systems on the Bismarck were far superior to the Yamato so short of a "lucky" shot by the Japanese from long range the fight comes down to who hits first and to the Bismarck is the most likely to do that.

All this of course would change if we start talking air support but ship on ship I am giving the Germans a 1-0 win.

For some reason I feel people over rate the IJN, I can't think of one single engagement where they actually stayed a slugged it out in almost every case they charged in fired a few shots and promptly turned tail (Failure to launch 3ed and 4th waves at Pearl Harbor, the Taffy 3 incident), now I accept the Kriegsmarine never really showed much potential with its surface fleet either but when cornered they did at least stand and fight usually against horrible odds though.

I suppose everyone has seen this comparison of the various WW2 battleship classes? Perhaps this will help you to decide.

http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm

Originally Posted by perseus

I suppose everyone has seen this comparison of the various WW2 battleship classes? Perhaps this will help you to decide.

http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm

Yeah I found that website to be a little like the Olympic Gymnastics scoring for the home team, they get all 10s with an obligatory 9.5 from the Russian judge.

Looking at his scoring system it just looks a bit arbitrary.

Originally Posted by mmarsh

Your link is Broke.

Naw the link is correct, it's just that this website chose not to include the last ')' which makes all the difference.

Originally Posted by MontyB

I also do not consider armour a huge deal as non-penetrating hits from a large caliber gun or bomb will do enough damage to a ships systems to cripple it (Take the Prince of Wales, the bomb that crippled it did not penetrate it but it did enough damage to take out the hydraulics to the AA turrets).

HMS Hood blew up because a shell from Bismark penetrated her deck armour and exploded in one of the magazines. She should have been refitted with heavier deck armour but operational and goodwill cruises kept her out of the dockyards.

Many years ago a co worker of mine was aboard HMS Ajax during the Battle of the River Plate. He stated that his most vivid memory of the battle was steaming full ahead to get into range with their 6 inch guns while Graf Spee's 11 inch shell's were hitting the water around them. He also stated that he often had nightmares and woke up in the middle of the night bathed in sweat.

Sadly, a few years later I learned he had died from cancer.

Originally Posted by MontyB

For some reason I feel people over rate the IJN, I can't think of one single engagement where they actually stayed a slugged it out in almost every case they charged in fired a few shots and promptly turned tail (Failure to launch 3ed and 4th waves at Pearl Harbor, the Taffy 3 incident), now I accept the Kriegsmarine never really showed much potential with its surface fleet either but when cornered they did at least stand and fight usually against horrible odds though.

Battle of Tsushima
The Japanese engaged the Russian fleet in the Tsushima Straits on 27 May–28 May 1905. The Russian fleet was virtually annihilated, losing eight battleships, numerous smaller vessels, and more than 5,000 men, while the Japanese lost three torpedo boats and 117 men. Only three Russian vessels escaped to Vladivostok. After the Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese army occupied the entire Sakhalin Islands chain to force the Russians to sue for peace