Posted on 12/13/2016 2:47:51 PM PST by Vanders9
Swordfish pilot Jock Moffat – credited with launching the torpedo which crippled the Bismarck in 1941 – has died at the age of 97.
The Scotsman, who always played down his role in the attack, was a lifelong champion of naval aviation and friend of the Fleet Air Arm.
2016 ends for Naval aviation as it began – with the loss of one of its greatest heroes.
After the passing of legendary test pilot Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown early in the year, the Fleet Air Arm community now mourns for Lt Cdr John ‘Jock’ Moffat – the man credited with crippling the Bismarck.
(Excerpt) Read more at royalnavy.mod.uk ...
Exactly.
God bless him, that took some courage.
Either way, mission successful. Godspeed.
The way I heard it...the Swordfish was too slow for the “advanced fire control” and the automatic cannon and machine guns to track.
...flown by a member of the Greatest Generation.
Historically, sometimes the “Oldies But Goodies” still work in modern warfare.
One Japanese fleet was T-boned by a group of WW ONE cruisers/battleships and blown to bits, something our modern battleships never did.
Morse code and CB radios are still low frequency backups to high-tech, easy to disrupt modern communications. If you don’t believe me, see “Independence Day” and a movie by Bruce Willis with a CB radio complex in some geek’s basement.
I’ll take an F-4 for firepower/napalm on ISIS’s ass over anything other than a Warthog.
Historically, sometimes the “Oldies But Goodies” still work in modern warfare.
One Japanese fleet was T-boned by a group of WW ONE cruisers/battleships and blown to bits, something our modern battleships never did.
Morse code and CB radios are still low frequency backups to high-tech, easy to disrupt modern communications. If you don’t believe me, see “Independence Day” and a movie by Bruce Willis with a CB radio complex in some geek’s basement.
I’ll take an F-4 for firepower/napalm on ISIS’s ass over anything other than a Warthog.
Unlike other nations battleships which were designed for the longer ranges of the WWII era, Bismarck was a warmed over 1913 design suited to refighting Jutland. Poorly arranged armour, bad torpedo defence system, marginal radar.
Love that song!
>The way I heard it...the Swordfish was too slow for the “advanced fire control” and the automatic cannon and machine guns to track.
Yep. They didn’t design it with WW1 planes in mind. It shot down or drove off all the other types of planes attacking it.
Of the 6 battle ships in Adm Jesse Oldendorf’s fleet 4 were veterans of the Dec 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. West Virginia, Tennessee, California and Pennsylvania had their revenge on Adm Nishimura’s fleet.
BTW, the other two US BB’s were Maryland and Mississippi.
A further historical note is that this was only one of two battleship vs battleship fights in the Pacific during WW-II. The other battle took place off Guadalcanal November 14-15, 1942.
The Battle of Suriago Straight was the last battleship vs battleship battle in history.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
The Bismark was a state of the art battleship for the START of WW-II. Of interest was that the Bismark’s main battery had a rate of fire 50% faster than any other battleship in WW-II.
For an in depth comparison of WW-II BB’s see here...
http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
I’ve heard that the Swordfish was so slow that the German antiaircraft guns couldn’t get a bead on them. Still, it must have been a sweat beading, butt puckering experience to lay a torpedo in like that.
Thanks for the update. I knew there was a “Strait” involved in one battle but didn’t want to write the wrong name.
The one in which we got clobbered was Salvo Straits?
Don’t have any history books with me right now.
Just FYI: I have a picture of my mother, sister and me (somewhere) on the Light Cruiser USS Baltimore, Nov. 1952, when it came into Baltimore. It would have made a nice addition to my models collection.
Also have pictures of me on the USS Pike Submarine and the USS Torsk, both of which were in Baltimore (I think the Pike is gone; the Torsk is still there, right across from the USS Constellation).
It’s funny but I’ve never been on an on-duty American naval vessel. Did visit a US Monitor or Gunboat in SVN in the Delta, and rode in a SVN speedboat to visit an artillery outpost. Other than that, I’m a landlubber re the Navy.
I can say that I was on a Sherman or Patton tank (1956) long before Dukakis made a fool of himself. Armed Forces Day at the Mondawmin Mall in Baltimore. The Black Watch Scottish band played for us. In those days, patriotism was shared by all.
How could he fit in that Stringbag’s cockpit, with brass balls that large?
Rest In Peace, Sir!
“To War in a Stringbag” is a fine book!
That wouldn't surprise me at all. They were called "stringbags" because of all the cables bracing the wings. There was a book, "To War in a Stringbag."
They were the epitome of "low and slow":
German gunners probably couldn't depress the guns low enough.
Back in the 80’s, a neighbor and I talked about his WWII experiences. He was at Salvo straits on a cruiser. He manned one of the smaller guns, but it was still in a turret (8-inch?). In any event, his overarching memory was of the near misses. He said, even if a shell hit a fair ways away, the concussion was terrific in the turret that he manned. His ship may have been hit elsewhere, I don’t know. But he said there were significant injuries from the near misses.
These guys were tough.
That whole “Combined Fleet” site is excellent; a longstanding favorite of mine. Thanks for the reference.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.