Royal Navy doesnt deliver fatal blow to the BISMARCK

The Rodney probably wouldve had to ram the Bismarck if they wanted to sink her. It didnt matter how many times the british shelled her. She wasnt going to sink. The Bismarck was probably the one true "Insinkable ship."

CvM

 

LoL more like an "unsinkable cullender"

 

Ahhh, editors just love contradictions!

Actually, it sounds like the British certainly COULD have sunk the Bismarck. Cameron suggests that since they got so close while firing, many of the shells did not have the correct angle to hit the lower armour belt.

"Unsinkable"? Don't think any ship was unsinkable.
And although the exact circumstances do seen ot have gotten slightly LESS clear, there is one fact here... The Bismarck rests on the bottom of the Atlantic. So "unsinkable" sounds pretty silly...

[ 12. December 2002, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: CrazyD ]

 

You must please realize that when i say unsinkable i mean unsinkable due to DIRECT enemy action. That means, i doubt the RN would not have sunk her, but it would either need to be Rammed, Blown up from the inside, or shelled for several days.

"Immer Etwas"

CvM

 

Well, 2 out of 3 sound pretty direct to me... (hey, that rymed! heh...) Not sure how you would get more "direct enemy action" than the Royal Navy shelling Bismarck for a couple days!!! Sorry, but that is kind of amusing- wouldn't ramming be the most direct form of attack for the Bismarck to suffer? I mean, when one ship rams another, they are smashing their own ship DIRECTLY into the enemy ship... NOt really like they are sitting back and watching

I think Cameron's point was that the British, in their desire to beat the crap out of the Bismarck (which they thoroughly accomplished), attacked it in a way that probably would not sink it. Most all the upper sections of the Bismarck were blown to sh*t- but both the upper and lower hulls only had two penetrations each, probably not enough to actually cause the vessel to sink.
Although one has to wonder, due to the fact that there was so much damage, and that the ship was listing slightly- for arguments sake, had everyone just went away and left the ship alone, would it have still been afloat in 3 days? A week?

 

Theres a topic in the what if forum: What if the Bismarck made it to Brest?

CvM

 

If the Royal Navy did not deliver the fatal blow, then who did?