Battleships or heavy cruisers?..you make the call

Had a long discussion years ago on another war forum about what capital ships, especially the Japanese, were better equipped or perhaps better suited navigating the narrow passages and islands in the South Pacific?...the big battleships or the more sleek heavy cruisers of the Mogami and Takao Class?. Sure the battleships had bigger guns, especially those Kongo class behemoths, but they seemed to be more suited for open water engagements, while turning on a dime wasn't exactly suited for the narrow channels, which dotted the Solomon Islands in 1942/43...just something to throw out while watching "In Harms Way" tonight.

 

I would just class them as the nation which owned them classed them, reduces confusion.

 

The poster is asking which are better in restricted waters. Not is a battleship a heavy cruiser.

IIRC, the turning diameters (KONGO & TAKAO) are roughly the same, although battleships take longer to respond to helm.

The US Navy was afraid to risk battleships in restricted waters is often what is said in the books. However, I have not looked at their turning circles in sometime. The Japanese were supposedly looking at their oil consumption post-Midway, for their reason on holding off on sending battleships down to the Solomons. Although, they were probably looking to another attempt at a "Decisive Battle."

The Kongos were originally battlecruisers, but they were converted to "fast battleships" in the 30's. While armor was increased, it was not increased to battleship standards, so I still see them as battlecruisers.

Which was better in the Solomons depends on what task the Japanese are trying to accomplish.

 

Indeed. I imagine that the tactics and strategy would dictate the weapons platform. ....and availability.

 

I so misread the primary post, in the fresh light of day how I did so will remain something of a mystery to me. ( Apologies folks).
I can offer no constructive view on the IJN cruisers / Battleships in restrictive waters, interesting question.

 

Don't worry. When I saw the topic, I thought is was "Battleship or Battlecruiser" And would be a discussion on the Scharnhorst, Kongo, etc.

 

Sorry if my question wasn't quite worded right....just debating if the shallow waters and narrow straits of the Solomon's were more suited for Japanese heavy cruisers, than say the Kongō or the Kirishima due to their larger size. I would think mining would somewhat nullify the situation but the IJN would plow ahead anyway.

 

Outside of the Kongos, the Japanese battleships essentially sat out the war.

 

.....they used the BBs there--so did the US... I don't recall any problems they had with the shallow waters/straits/etc--the problems were from enemy ships!....
..I thought the BBs were at both 1st and 2nd Guadalcanal Battles...I thought they bombarded Henderson 13 /14 Oct?
Oil and Japanese Strategy in the Solomons:
Oil and Japanese Strategy in the Solomons: A Postulate

Imperial Battleships
Kongo-class Battleship | Nihon Kaigun

 

....the PTs were very well suited for shallow waters,..they could ''turn on a dime''.... but they did very poorly in the Solomons regarding sinking or damaging ships

 

Well, PT-109 was turned into dime-sized pieces because she didn't turn on a dime.

 

.....what a coincidence: I have the Oct 2019 WW2 Magazine edition right here and it has the PT boats as it's Weapon's Manual story....with PT109 as the story's picture with the 37mm gun tied [ hahahahah ] to the deck
..I got it about 2 weeks ago before the library closed for the evil VIRUS
..actually it was cut into about 2 large pieces, if I remember correctly ..just saying.....I thought PT109 was idle/not full power at the time?

 

...they didn't turn because they didn't see the DD until '''too late''', if I remember correctly? .....if they had seen the DD, don't you think they would've ''turned on a dime''?

 

PT-109 had a rendezvous with Admiral Tanka's Tokyo Express...unfortunately the destroyer Amagiri got in their way. Strange part was that Lt. Commander Kohei Hanami, who commanded Amagiri at that time, attended President Kennedy's inauguration in 1961.