Favorite ship of WWII

long live the

BIG E is far and away my choice. i will NEVER forgive the bas*rds that sold her to japan as scrap. i'm also pretty fond of PTs. as a side note i had a boss that was with JFK so i heard a lot of war stories about them.
the US fast BBs had to be the most manuverable BBs ever built. they could outturn their escorting DDs easily.

 

Re: long live the

I find that difficult to believe, given the differences in turning circles between ships of their respective sizes. What is your source for this information?

 

memory

right now all i can claim is memory. i read it somewheres but right off the top of my head i cannot think of where.

 

Re: long live the

Yes, it is commonly said the Iowas could turn inside a Fletcher. This is only partly due to the maneuverability of the Iowas; the other part would be the lack of maneuverability in US destroyers. This was dealt with in the Sumner class which had twin rudders and very good maneuverability.
If we wanted to pick a most maneuverable battleship, we might opt for the Tennessee/Colorado design. Their turbo-electric drive allowed rapid changes in propeller thrust. On at least one occassion, this prevented a major collision during a fleet exercise.

 

Re: long live the

Interesting. I had no idea that TENNESSEE and her sisters were that nimble. The prewar BBs all look so bluff and beamy that it's hard to imagine them turning on a dime, figuratively speaking.

 

Re: long live the

I don't think it's the sort of thing that would have much application to a combat situation. I would imagine it involved an extreme loss of speed. After all, Lexington could have tried something like that at Coral Sea, but who wants to be sitting dead in the water when more Kates are coming? Lex was known as the least maneuverable ship in the fleet.

 

along with her sister sara. both were a torp launcher's dream.

 

No one here loves the Bismarck?? (she is one of my favorites)
I thought there would be many people here who would love her looks!
So many people love the HMS Hood?? That is almost unbelievable for me....
Iowa class (New Yersey is on top of my list) and the Yamato/Musashi are also favorite for me!

 

I LOVE THE BISMARK! Just not as much as the Prinz. The Bismark got sunk. I gotta stick with the gun that outlasted the nuke. I do love the Bismark. For people who love stats.

Weapons 8 15 inchers in 4 turrets with over 20 mile range!
12 5.9 inchers
16 4.1 inch AA guns
32 20mm/30mm AA guns

she was 792 feet long, 118 feet wide, and could make about 30/31 knots.
her engine gave 136,200hp! The thing weighted 50,129 tons!

Her crew was 2,065. and just for kicks, she could hold 300 sides of beef, and 500 whole pigs in meat lockers.

That is why The Bismark is awsome. She was a HUGE BRUTE. It is no small wonder she was sunk. The brits sent 13 capital ships after her including the Hood which was blown away.

 

The 30mm cannon did not become general issue until after Bismarck sank. She had 20mm cannon and 37mm single-shot guns.
Bismarck's new-gun range was 38,880 yards. This beats KGV's 38,560 yards and the American 16in/45 when firing super-heavy shells (36,900 yards). Among the other modern WWII battleships, all others were over 40,000 yards.

 

I still stick with the Prinz Eugen

 

One thing about Bismarck that is beyond other ships is her story. I think there's a Shakespearean tragedy in there, if someone ever went ahead to draw it out. I think only Yamato might have a story of similar caliber. Her loss is a poignant metaphor.

 

Very true. I do, however, think YAMATO's loss also includes elements of complete idiocy and Three Stooges-style comedy.

 

actually the bismarck maximum displacement was 50,405 tonnes
the max. machinery output was 150,170 shp for a 30.8 knots speed
and the light flak was:
16 37 mm sk c/30
12 2mm mg c/30
8 mm mg c/38

 

I was not sure about the light flak after I wrote it.

I do have a reliable source that says the output of the engines and weight are as stated in my post, but they might be wrong.

 

so do i!!!! :smok: (about the reliable source)
cheers!!!!

 

The design shp for Bismarck was 138,000 metric hp, which equals slightly more than 136,000 "regular" hp.
The maximum machinery rating was 150,170 metric hp.
If you look hard enough, you can easily find a half-dozen other figures to play around with.
Statistics are evil.

 

yeap, i agree with that!!!!

 

I no this sounds strange but the U.S.S. Blue it was a destroyer in pearl harbor on December 7 shot down a enemy plane whent to Guadalcanal and unfortinaly was sent to iron bottom Sound IF ANY BODY ELSE LIKES THIS (I THINK NO ONE DOSE) E-MAIL ME or if u wana make fun of me also E-mail me

 

after all this discustion about the bishmark... i realy love her a lot!
its like... SHE BLEW THE HMS HOOD AWAY IN 2 MINS! think about that you hood lovers! :kill: :bang: :bang: :kill:

nr.2 on my list has to be Yamato... after her defeat the japs had allready lost! and they knew it! this shows just how important this ship was!

nr.3 Prince of Wales.... she is the most fearsome ship in BF1942 and got more guns that the entire swedish army (well....)