Posted on 02/14/2003 6:26:20 PM PST by knak
THE Bismarck, the German battleship which sank with the loss of more than 2,000 sailors, was scuttled by her own crew, according to a news docu-mentary to be screened this weekend.
The Second World War flagship, the pride of Hitlers naval fleet, sank so quickly that it must have been deliberately aimed at the ocean floor by desperate commanders, according to the programme, made by the Titanic film director, James Cameron.
Semi-crippled after an aircraft-launched torpedo knocked out her rudder, the Bismarck was hounded across the Atlantic by a chasing British naval pack.
Then, on 27 May, 1941, in what many believe was turning point in the war, the helpless and cornered battleship sank to the bottom, almost five kilometers below, as it was torn apart by an unprecedented bombardment by the Royal Navy.
Sixty-one years after the sinking, Oscar-winning Cameron assembled a team of marine experts and survivors at the site where the ship was last seen disappearing beneath the waves.
The wreck is now a ghostly grave for the 2,100 German seamen who died either from drowning or from the British bombardment. Only 116 survived.
(Excerpt) Read more at thescotsman.co.uk ...
As far as comparing one battleship to another, I just tripped over a press release concerning a new, as yet unreleased computer game which may allow the player to actually put an Iowa-class ship up against the Bismarck. This might be worth watching for...
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Midway is a real-time 3D tactical/strategy game that adapts the naval battles of the Second World War. It introduces how the naval warfare changed during WW2 - from the dreadnaughts protecting the memory of Battle of Jutland to the forerunners of modern carriers. The player may control different vessels in real or hypothetical naval battles. The fleet consists of ships, captains, officers and crew of different abilities. In order to achieve victory, an effective team should be forged.
The episodes follow each other in a truly historical way. The player may choose the American, English, German or Japanese side to serve, which also determines his/her own, controllable character, the hero. During the campaign the player may climb up on the career ladder: from a captain up to the rank of an admiral.
Fact sheet
Midway - Naval Battles
Developer: Mithis Games
Genre: Tactical, RTS
Planned Gold master delivery date: 1 September, 2003
Revolutionary 3D engine with abilities never seen before 3D action and tactical battle on the surface, in the air and beneath water
Uniquely realistic spectacle: sea and weather effects, real movements of ships
Unmatched, detailed tactical gameplay
Weather effects that greatly influence the tactics
Fleet units, formations, group tactics
Simple- but realistic resource management
RPG-elements: unique abilities of the crew, officers and captains which are capable of developing during the adventure
Team management: the officers and captains of the fleet are managed by the player
Historical ships, equipments and battles
4 nations to serve with different career possibilities
More than 20 exciting naval battle
More than 40 different ships, submarines and planes
More than 100 types of weapons and equipments
Multiplayer options via LAN or Internet
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Okay! ;-)
The Prince of Wales, Bismarck and Yamoto (not to mention the Mushashi) all had several things in common: thier AAA was inadequate by US standards...and they all had NO air cover against unopposed air attack.
Drat! The old "the Ostfriesland wasn't defending itself" defense.
I'll counter with.....That's why the U.S. didn't need super-battleships. The enemy battleships were vulnerable to our airpower and super-battleships served no cost-effective purpose.
On the other hand, the BBs proved very useful for bombardment
Very true. "Bloody" Tarawa demostrated the consequences of skimping on bombardment. We are now hearing of policy battles in the Penatgon between the brass and Rumsfeld on how long the Iraqi bombardment should be with Rumsfeld urging a short bombardment. I hope the lessons of Tarawa have not been forgotten.
.....and protecting the carriers.
Unless Admiral Halsey takes his battleships "Where?...the world wonders." ;-)
Be that as it may, the CVE ("Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable") escort carriers of Taffy 3 still managed to beat off Kurita's battleships.
A web-search under Gunther Lutjens is fascinating. He was no incompetent.
BTW another oft forgotten bit of Bismark trivia is that the Rodney torpedoed her in the final melee. Rodney and Nelson had a couple 24 inch tubes to go along with their 16 inch guns. This was the only case in history in which one capital ship torpedoed another.
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