I know they never met on the high seas, but who do you think would win in a ship vs ship engagement.

The Yammatto was a bigger ship with bigger guns with a longer range, and the Japanese sailors were very good at what they did. Now if the Yammatto stood out of Bismark's range and just dealt with Bismark until it had been badly damaged then closed in for the kill, then it would be the Yannatto that would have won. Still you never know how the captain would have fought the battle

I would say it could have been the bizmark over the yamato. 18 inch guns, and even a secondary battery with a slightly long reach doesnt indicate the smaller things...like a slow reload time for the yamato's main guns (40 seconds according to some sites), and supposadly 18 inch ammo that had a "slow" bursting time (indicates defective shells? i dont know). i believe both ships would have had a fairly decent battle...right up to the time the bizmark would have been with in primary gun range...and the yamato with in secondary range.

at least both had no radar that i have been able to detect that would have been worth a darn. it truly would have been a battle between the best eyes, and fastest gunners.

German battleship would have won- superior leadership

Originally Posted by TexasHighlander

I know they never met on the high seas, but who do you think would win in a ship vs ship engagement.

What a lot of people forget is this. The Japanese navy was second only to the Royal Navy in ships in the 30's. And though the Americans, Italians and even the French had large fleets, their maritime prowess was no where near that of the Japanese and British at that time.

The Bismarck was a quality battleship, but compared to the Yamato it was incredibly outgunned.

The Japanese sailors were very adept at what they did and they would have destroyed the Bismarck before the pride of the Kriegsmarine got close enough to use her guns

Winner: Yamato

I will go with a draw but lean toward the Bismarck, my belief is that given most battles were fought at around 20000 yards and any hits outside that range would have been pure luck the benefits of the Yamato's big guns are negated.

Overall I think this one comes down to who hits first.

One bright spot in all this for the Bismarck is the flatter trajectory of her guns which would have allowed for faster reporting of her shots and thus increased the over all fire rate, coupled with her predictor fire control system could have proved decisive.

Damage control, the Bismarcks DC was far better than the Yamato primarily due to an incredibly bad layout (narrow corridors, small hatches etc). In fact DC on Japanese ships was awful throughout the war.

Range I don't think was an issue as the Bismarck was faster and therefore could have closed on the Yamato rendering primary battery range advantage minimal at best.

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).

So over all while the Yamato has several major advantages going into the the battle any degradation of fighting ability on the Yamato pretty much negates them.

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).

Actually the Bismark had several major flaws, one of which is particularly relevant to this discussion. The ship was completed with some of her vitals above her armoured belt.This particular weakness left many communication systems, including her main damage control centre and foretop fire control director, open to destructionwhich contributed to her relatively rapid silencing in her final engagement.

I have the rate of fire of the Yamato's 46cm gun down at only one round per 90secs, although the Yamato was even more limited for practical logistical reasons.

Both these ships make it into Antony Preston's book of 'The World's worst Warships'. Seems to me to be a hypothetical battle between two overrated dinosaurs. In a practical fleet battle with an air arm, the Bismark would have been mincemeat to any bombs which impact on the deck or torpedo's hitting the weak stern, either which would have rendered her largely ineffective

This is why I said that the first hit would probably be decisive and I tend to think that the ship with the best capability of hitting first is the Bismarck.

I am going to say YAMATO by far.

Bigger guns 18" vs 15"
Much Better Armour 410mm Armor vs 130mm
Superb Night Fighting capabilities.

Better Trained Crew. Japan had more experience in surface engagements. That's not to knock the Germans, but in ship to ship combat the Japanese were second only the the Royal Navy. And their navy was RN trained. If you look at IJN is was much closer to the RN than anyone else.

Bismark only advantage was speed, and it was only 2 knots faster.

Remember Bismark was intended as a commerce raider (less firepower, armor, more speed) while Yamato was a true battlewagon. Bismark got hammered by modern British warships which easily penetrated her armor, knocking out her main armament.

come on guys... some voices FOR Bismarck please