Text 14148, 45 rader
Skriven 2005-10-04 19:58:10 av Ward Dossche
     Kommentar till en text av Roy Witt
Ärende: Bismarck vs Hood
========================
> Hood was sufficiently armored, just not as well armed.
 
Hood and Bismarck's main battery consisted each of 4 double-barreled turrets.
Hood's calliber was 15-inch while Bismarck's was 14.96-inch. Hood had longer
barrels and when using a full cordite-load (196 kg) could fire appr. 27
kilometer or roughly 30,000 yards. It could fire a volley every 15 seconds.
 
Bismarck's barrels were shorter, had a maximum cordite-load of 212 kg which
delivered its 800kg marine-shells up to 36 kilometer ... which technically is
behind the horizon I think. It could fire a volley every 23 seconds.
 
The battle itself took place at a distance of 15-16.000 meter, a pinch less
than 10 miles and at that distance they were fighting an even fight, none
outgunned the other. Hood nevertheless was not a battleship but a battlecruiser
...
 
Bismarck's armour was made of a chromium-nickel-steel aloy while Hood was plain
steel. Chromium-nickel is way superior therefor comparing both vessels'
effectiveness of armour by looking at centimeters of thickness is a wrong
approach. From that angle Hood was severely under-armored ... armor had been
sacrificed for speed.
 
The chromium-nickel aloy explains why Bismarck in the end took such a beating
without sinking. After HMS Rodney and HMS Duke of York had cleared the area for
reasons explained in a previous message, the cruiser HMS Dorsetshire moved-in
and unloaded all of its torpedoes into Bismarck, still she was not going down.
On the photos taken of the wreck in the meantime by a number of expeditions
torpedo-damage can be seen, but no gashing torpedo-holes.
 
Eventually Kapitän Ernst Lindeman, after Admiral Günther Lutjens had been
killed on the bridge, ordered scuttling-charges to be placed on the
propeller-shafts to make the boat sink stern-first allowing for an 'abandon
ship'-order. Apparently, the scuttling-charges were so strong and well placed
they blew off part of the stern.
 
I've been reading for over 40 years what's available about this particular
battle so please do not attempt to squish me with some hastily retrieved
information from the internet.
 
Take care,
 
 \%/@rd

--- DB 1.58/001877
 * Origin: "Leonard will be free" - http://www.leonardpeltier.org (2:292/854)