[Bryan]

The Bismarck AAA armament was unusually bad even among the other BBs designed at the same time as she was; largely a result of it being a dusted-off WWI design. Anyway, main point is the steady diet of crappy History Channel "Nazi Superweapon" documentaries has obscured over time what a horrible design Bismarck was. Yamato sort of has the same problem.

In my opinion, the American ships built around 1935 or thereafter (or significantly rebuilt) were the only ones that had substantial AAA. And even then, the ships had to be numerous and tightly-grouped to provide effective fire, unless you're talking about the Iowa-class and the Massachusetts-class battleships or the Essex-class carriers.

Otherwise, a large number of aircraft could still be overwhelming. The best defense against incoming bombers has always been fighter aircraft.

[Steelerfan]

http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm

Interesting site on the whole best of the battleship issue with lots of underlying explanation for the analysis. Not sure it is definitive, but it gives plenty of information to argue over.

[Jimmy Valentine]

Somewhere out there is an overhead picture of the old USS Missisippi toward the end of the war. Both sides of the main deck are lined with A.A. gun tubs; unbelieveable how much iron that old ship could put up into the air.

Regards,