Battle of the Battleships

Which Battleship would you like to have been on in a battle?


  • Total voters
    41

Rufus Excalibur

Active member
What were the best Battleships of the 20th Century. The epitomy of 'true' naval power (come on Carriers are not really naval ships!!)

I am a big fan of the King George V Class (Anson, Howe, Duke of York and so on) but New Jersey and her sisters had a blend of grace, beauty and power that seem hard to beat
 
The Iowa-class ships remaining during the Gulf War were the most powerful conventional warships in the world...they carried the same massive guns and added missiles. I vote Iowa-class.
 
I would say the tirpitz and bismarck, no other battleships in history have probably caused as much concern/worry as those two did!
 
If I'm gonna run around on a Battleship and I have my pick, I gotta go with one with the biggest guns, best armor and greatest overall size. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the Yamato takes first in all those.
 
Well, if you're going into a tournament of 1v1 battleship combat (obviously you would be fighting those that existed at the same time), then you want the most overwhelming. That's going to either be the Yamato or the HMS Dreadnaught. My pick is mostly cuz I'd want to be on the biggest. The Dreadnaught is probably the most overpowering for its time though.
 
You got any stats for the yamato, i agree size is good but i like the bismarck as the big girl did have a fair bit of speed which ifb it allows you to get more shells off between your enemys shots then thats always gd
 
SAINT said:
Yamato is very huge.. and safe. Of course, it's sunk anyway...
http://www.steelnavy.com/Yamato JG.htm
I believe that the Yamato was intentionally sacrificed in battle by the Japanese. I'll have to do some research, I don't remember the details.

Here's a start anyways: http://www.combinedfleet.com/btl_yam.htm http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/japan/japsh-xz/yamato-n.htm

Apparently, this moster Battleship was sent on a kamakazie mission. It's a shame really.
 
Dreadnought when launch in 1906 was like nothing seen before. If you had come up against certainly 2, probably three even 4 previous battleships in HMS Dreadnought you would have blown them all to pieces. No other Battleship has had that invincibility.

Bismarck though was a tough son of a gun, one shell - Hood no more only three men out of 1500 survived. It took, Rodney and KG5 plus destroyers and cruisers hours to blast it into total submission, a fleet of Bismarcks would have been hard to beat.

Yamato - 72,000 tonnes full load 18 inch guns.

Just imagine - Yamato and her sister, Bismarck, Tirpitz lining up against Vanguard, King George V, Missouri and New Jersey. Now that would be a battle of all battles
 
The Dreadnaught is the most potent Battleship ever (for its time). That much is pretty obvious.

The Yamato was so huge and powerful, it makes the Bismarck look tiny.
 
SAINT said:
First link= stupid Flamewar between idiots
Second and Third Links had some great info. Personally, I would not want to be onboard the single Iowa Class taking on the Yamato. I DEFINITELY would not want to be aboard the Bismarck as it goes head to head with the Yamato.

Silly cuz all three were made after Battleships had become obsolete for all intents and purposes. Of course, nobody knew that at the time.
 
Rufus Excalibur said:
What were the best Battleships of the 20th Century. The epitomy of 'true' naval power (come on Carriers are not really naval ships!!)

I am a big fan of the King George V Class (Anson, Howe, Duke of York and so on) but New Jersey and her sisters had a blend of grace, beauty and power that seem hard to beat

Bottom line. The US battleships had primitive computer FCS's already, 16 inch guns and one more of them. Faster reload times at 30 seconds per 16 inch tube. In a knock em out firepower fight the US battleships with the 50 or 55cal (which ever they were?) guns (Not the earlier 45cal ones) could put more firepower, more accurate, downrange.

I think the Bismark and her sister ship could deal with more damage. They used brass cased ammo which would not explode as on the Hood and proved safe on the Bismark as she was blasted. The armor on the Bismark was better as well. I think the Bismark probably could deal with more damage. Of course there are many other factors as with firepower as well.

The US ships carried superior aircraft compared to what the Germans had. But I believe the Bismark was faster with a longer endurance. No idea which could turn faster.

I know that the USS North Carolina was kept in the Atlantic in case the US had to deal with the Tirplitz. No matter what your opinion is, it would be a close fight if it were not for all the other factors like allied air superiority and overwhelming power with other surface vessles added to the armada which chased the Bismark with nearly 40 ships. But even one on one it would have been a interesting battle.

The Yamato had bigger guns yet but lower quality, less accuracy and even the armor belting though thicker was concidered inferior to what the US and Germans had. 6 inch steel does not equal 6 inch steel always. The Yamato was bigger in many ways but inferior compared to the Bismark or Jersey type ship.
 
The Bismarck made itself a legend by killing the Hood very quickly, but the Hood, once the pride of the Royal Navy, hadn't been kept up to date very well. Its armoring wasn't much better than a newly made cruiser. Also, the Bismarck got kinda lucky will killing the Hood that fast. But damn was that thing hard to sink!! Fact is, the Germans scuttled it.
 
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