May 24, 1941 - Anniversary of the Battle of Denmark Strait
On May 1941 we saw the start of the Battle of The Denmark Strait. A naval battle between the the Battleship HMS Prince of Whales and the Battle Cruise HMS Hood versus the German Battleship Bismarck and its consort the heavy cruiser Prince Eugen
The German ships were attempting to break out of British containment by making a run for the GIUK line, but were spotted by British cruisers and British Radar which allowed the British to position a blocking force of 8 ships including the Hood and Prince of Whales.
Vice Admiral Holland's plan was simple, he wanted the Hood and POW to engage the Bismarck while the fleets smaller destroyers took on the Prince Eugen. He assumed that the Eugen would be behind the Bismark and he planned to attack out of the rising sun and get in the first shots.
at 5:52 the Hood and Prince of Whales opened fire with the first round, Holland mistakenly thought the the Eugen was the Bismarck and therefore opened fire on the wrong ship. As the Eugen was actually in front of the Bismarck
Because of that the Bismarck escaped the first volley and both German ships focused on the hood, at 5:55 one of the rounds penetrated the Hood and exploded its magazine taking 1412 of the 1415 members of the crew to their deaths including Admiral Holland.
This left the POW against a German Battleship and Battlecruiser. The POW took several hits and began to suffer gunnery failures and at 6:04 Captain Leach decided to withdraw and save his ship.
While the German's could be expected to pursue and destroy the Prince of Whales, The Bismark had taken several hits that caused a massive oil leak that allowed the British to track the ship. She also suffered propeller and boiler room damage
The Prince of Whales was a heavy battleship for its time and one of their newest commissioned in Jan of 1941. It gained notoriety as it because the first large combatant sank soley by naval air power as she was attacked and destroyed by Japanese aircraft On Dec 10,1941 in the South China Seas
The Hood was the last battlecruiser built by Britain and the only ship of its class that was completed. she was commissioned in 1920 and was the largest combat ship in the world for 20 years.
The Bismarck suffered serious damage to her boilers and guns and was pursued. British Swordfish bombers off of the Ark Royal torpedoed her and caused rudder damage that reduced her maneuverability to zero and she was forced to anchor and attempt to fight until help could come. Her luck ran out as she was reduced to wreckage by British air and sea attacks and her Captain ordered her scuttled.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
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Battle of some of my favourite Capital Ships. Incredible story. The shock of the Hood being suck so quickly to how doomed the Bismarck was during the fight.
Right up there with the Yamato IMO. Being deliberately beached on its maiden voyage. As horrifying as the naval battles were during WW2, they fascinate the hell out of me.
I don't have a lot of naval knowledge compared to the buffs, but, WW2 was the end of capital ships was it not? Aircraft carriers demonstrated their dominance and became the new "capital" ship replacing battleships at this point.
Battleships like the Bismark became too big and it was like all your eggs were in one basket in the water... too easy to concentrate on the one large ship?
Sorry, I may have phrased that improperly. Flagships is the better word I think?
But yes, Battleships weren't a thing after WW2 but I think that was due to the advent of the missile ship. Battleships just didn't have much point after that.
I've gotta see one in real life one day. I saw the Belfast (light cruiser) in London and that was very cool. A full sized battleship would be mind bending.
I don't have a lot of naval knowledge compared to the buffs, but, WW2 was the end of capital ships was it not? Aircraft carriers demonstrated their dominance and became the new "capital" ship replacing battleships at this point.
Battleships like the Bismark became too big and it was like all your eggs were in one basket in the water... too easy to concentrate on the one large ship?
Not really capital ships. But battleships sure, even though America used their battleships to great success in terms of in shore troop fire support.
Let me put it this way.
If I put a Battleship on the ocean and draw a circle around it based around 20 miles in all direction, anything in the bubble lives and dies by the commander of that ship.
Now if I put a WW2 carrier on that same map and draw a circle around it of lets say 250 miles, that carrier commander has absolute authority of what lives or dies within that circle considering the air wing that he has access to.
With a Battleship you are talking about a line of sight platform, with a carrier you are talking about over the horizon. It would be extremely difficult for a Battleship to fight through to gun range.
As well, the WW2 Battleship really didn't have terrific top side protection, a dive bomber would effectively trump a Battleship who's main protection were its think armor belts.
Now it wasn't the death of the capital ship as frigates, destroyers and even cruisers were really effective in terms of adding belts of protection as escorts.
Now, the American's continued to effectively use Battleship up to and including the Gulf War as troop support and bombardment vessels and one benefit is that their thick armor would make them almost impervious to underwater threats.
Now this whole theory could change again with missile development and rail guns could shift things away from carriers.
The Russians have heavily invested in upgrading their Kirov class nuclear battlecruisers which are in effect monstrous battleships with extreme missile capabilities
__________________
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Sorry, I may have phrased that improperly. Flagships is the better word I think?
But yes, Battleships weren't a thing after WW2 but I think that was due to the advent of the missile ship. Battleships just didn't have much point after that.
I've gotta see one in real life one day. I saw the Belfast (light cruiser) in London and that was very cool. A full sized battleship would be mind bending.
You are in luck. The USS Iowa, the flagship of the Iowa class battleships is docked in LA as a museum ship (San Pedro to be precise). I’ve been in the ship more than several times because it simply bottles the mind the magnitude of engineering and firepower. Standing next to one of the nine (nine!!) sixteen inch guns gives you pause.
Worth a trip to LA on its own. Never mind the fact that you have such gems as the Getty Museum and the Reagan Presidential library a short drive away if history tickles your fancy.
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May 24, 1941 - Anniversary of the Battle of Denmark Strait
