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You might want to check that again. Bismarck was not a pocket battleship but a full-fledged battlewagon. She and her sister ship the Tirpitz were the biggest, baddest and fastest battleships of their time, with a standard displacement (in 1939-40) of over 41,000 tons, a main armament of eight 15-inch high-velocity guns in four turrets, and a top speed of around 30-31 knots.
There were three German ships that the Brits nicknamed "pocket battleships." The German name for these ships was PanzerSchiffe ("Armored Ships"). In size they were more like heavy cruisers, and in fact the German Navy re-classified them as such in 1940. Even so, they carried a very heavy armament - especially for cruisers - consisting of six 11-inch guns in two armored triple turrets. These three ships were:
Deutschland (later renamed Luetzow because of Hitler's superstitions)
Admiral Scheer, which completed a number of successful commerce-raiding cruises over large expanses of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
Admiral Graf Spee, which was eventually scuttled in the River Plate near Montevideo Uruguay, after being chased and damaged by the cruisers HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles
If I remember correctly the Germans were trying to circumvent The Treaty Of Versailles by using a smaller ship displacement but arming the ships with very large and powerful main guns; of which six were 11 inchers.
Well we had the wimpy 5/54's crap on our ship both forward and aft as we only shot them around Puerto Rico. What was really cool to experience was when we would fire our Tartar SAM's at flying drones some 20 miles away as the whole ship would vibrate when they blasted off of the fantail as it was so friggin awesome when we shot them
I see the Iowa everyday, she's mothballed right across the river from where I work.....
That's way too cool Cali ..... and from what i keep hearing is that the Charles F Adams decommissioned destroyer is supposed to makes it's home on the riverwalk in downtown Jacksonville as that would be nostalgic as hell to visit the Adams Class Destroyer anytime i wanted
If I remember correctly the Germans were trying to circumvent The Treaty Of Versailles by using a smaller ship displacement but arming the ships with very large and powerful main guns; of which six were 11 inchers.
Yup, they were clearly designed (a) to circumvent the Treaty, and (b) as long-range commerce raiders. They were lightly armored, and their smooth welded hulls and diesel engines gave them the necessary range to fulfill the raider role.
At the time - the late 1930's - they could easily outrun anything they couldn't fight (battleships and battlecruisers). The six 11-inch main battery guns (3x2), and eight 5.9-inch secondary guns (8x1) enabled them to overwhelm anything they could fight (heavy and light cruisers, destroyers, etc). They also carried eight torpedoes in launchers near the stern (2x4), a placement that allowed them be used in a flee-and-fire engagement. One more thing: they were the very first naval vessels to be equipped with a radar FDC (fire direction and control) system.
Their abilities showed in many ways. Both Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee had extremely successful raiding expeditions in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. When Graf Spee was finally found and chased by a force of three cruisers, its extremely accurate fire caused severe damage to the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, forcing it to break off and return to port for repairs. Once Exeter was out of action, it also forced the light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles to stay out of range of its 11-inch guns, which of course rendered their 6-inch main batteries useless.
To be quite fair, however, most of the hits on Admiral Graf Spee came from the Ajax and Achilles. While Graf Spee was tending to the greater threat posed by the Exeter, they "sneaked in" and pounded her from different directions. In the running battle, Graf Spee's forward main turret usually could not be brought to bear, so her defense was limited to the rear main turret and some of her secondary 5.9-inch guns.
Last edited by Nighteyes; 02-17-2011 at 02:16 PM..
Yup, they were clearly designed (a) to circumvent the Treaty, and (b) as long-range commerce raiders. They were lightly armored, and their smooth welded hulls and diesel engines gave them the necessary range to fulfill the raider role.
At the time - the late 1930's - they could easily outrun anything they couldn't fight (battleships and battlecruisers). The six 11-inch main battery guns (3x2), and eight 5.9-inch secondary guns (8x1) enabled them to overwhelm anything they could fight (heavy and light cruisers, destroyers, etc). They also carried eight torpedoes in launchers near the stern (2x4), a placement that allowed them be used in a flee-and-fire engagement. One more thing: they were the very first naval vessels to be equipped with a radar FDC (fire direction and control) system.
Their abilities showed in many ways. Both Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee had extremely successful raiding expeditions in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. When Graf Spee was finally found and chased by a force of three cruisers, its extremely accurate fire caused severe damage to the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter, forcing it to break off and return to port for repairs. Once Exeter was out of action, it also forced the light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles to stay out of range of its 11-inch guns, which of course rendered their 6-inch main batteries useless.
To be quite fair, however, most of the hits on Admiral Graf Spee came from the Ajax and Achilles. While Graf Spee was tending to the greater threat posed by the Exeter, they "sneaked in" and pounded her from different directions. In the running battle, Graf Spee's forward main turret usually could not be brought to bear, so her defense was limited to the rear main turret and some of her secondary 5.9-inch guns.
Thanx for the info....I never knew they were the first to have Radar controlled Naval Weaponry.
The Admiral Sheer was one of very few Naval Ships to ever be referred to as a "he"; instead of the customary "she"......interesting bit of history.
Well we had the wimpy 5/54's crap on our ship both forward and aft as we only shot them around Puerto Rico. What was really cool to experience was when we would fire our Tartar SAM's at flying drones some 20 miles away as the whole ship would vibrate when they blasted off of the fantail as it was so friggin awesome when we shot them
Go Navy forever as we f*cking rule
Ahhh Rosie Roads... my first battle station was pointer/trainer inside a twin 5"38 gun mount... Was sitting right between the barrels..
Baltimore-class? What's really got me stumped, though, is the hull number...
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