Battleship showdown (march madness)


  • If the countries of the 1940’s decided to solved WWII by a Battleship Duel, who would win. Here are the rules, nations get to pick the best ship in the fleet to match up. Consider this a “March Madness” with Battleships. After each duel the winner is dry docked for repairs and the losser is sunk. I gave strongest Navies the higher seats in the contest. Let’s say for contest infomation, the showdown will take play in Caribbean. Ships will start 35 miles apart and can use all technologly at hand, for example Radar.

    This is ROUND ONE

    1. British, Battleship Duke of York. VS

    8. Greek Battleship Kilkis

    2. U.S Battleship Missouri VS

    7. Soviet Union, Battleship Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya

    3. Japanese Battleship, Yamato VS

    6. Italian Battleship, Vittorio Veneto

    4. French Battleship, Jean Bart VS

    5. German Battleship, Bismarck

    Let’s have Round 2 in about a month. I’m curious how the showdowns will play out.


  • Its a very clever idea and i’d like to weigh in with a few predictions,

    1st round, UK v Greece; I believe the Uk will take this round as the Duke of York is modern (for that time) King George V class battleship that was built in the 1930-40’s while the Greek ship was built in 1908 and is of WW1 vintage. also I have a feeling that the British will have a strong psychological edge over their Greek opponents who might be rightly terrified at the thought of fighting the Royal Navy. The strong naval tradition of the UK and their vast experience in naval warfare will see them come out on top of this fight.

    2nd round, US v USSR; Again I think you’ll see the US come through this one in spades. Their opponent in the Soviet ship is older then the Greek ship and the Soviets have no experience in naval warfare in open waters. The Missouri is a first rate modern ship and while the crew may be inexperienced in naval warfare its officers will be competent, unlike their Soviet counter-parts who will be inept at best.

    3rd round, Japan v Italy; I believe the Japanese will have this round due to the sheer size and armaments on the Yamato. Its main battery of 9 18 inch guns (the largest ever fitted to a battleship) will devastate their Italian opponents at greater range then they could hope to match. Also the Yamato has armor that is up to 2 feet thick at places meaning it could shrug off several hits if the Vittorio could get close enough to land any.

    4th round, Germany v France; I really don’t know with this one its hard to pick a front runner as it were. The French battleship is powerful, fast, well armored, and fitted with all the latest technology however their curious design of all big guns on the front of the ship and secondary ones to their rear may be a fatal flaw. However the German battleship is very small by comparison with lighter armor and armaments but a more traditional build and just as much speed as the French ship. This will be the match to watch as its too close to call now

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    German Discipline always defeats French Complacency.  Even at low odds.

    Japan Definetly has the Edge on Italy.  They LIVE for naval supremacy…  their only downfall is their precision in elaborate planning… but with JUST a battleship to use.  They’ve got it.

    The US always loses it’s first small fight.  In every conflict.  The Russians are just more bodies for the fire of communism.  I’m going to give this brawl to the reds.

    UK is going to WIPE the floor with Greece.  They haven’t fielded heroics since Alexander the Great.


  • We may want to do a cruiser contest also, that would get a lot more countries in the game.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    Sub Contest!

    Or Tank Division…


  • Here’s a comparative study of WWII battleships that might be of interest:

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


  • Just break out your Naval Mini’s and see what happens trade sides and see if the results are the same and then see if you need a third round tie-breaker.
    Use the 3W rules from the sink the Bizmark game
      Just an idea


  • French Battleship, Jean Bart VS German Battleship, Bismarck is a very close match up.


  • @Gargantua:

    The US always loses it’s first small fight.  In every conflict.   The Russians are just more bodies for the fire of communism.  I’m going to give this brawl to the reds.

    This may be true, but the Russians don’t have the advantage of greater numbers here, and the Soviet battleship was the flagship of the Czarist fleet meaning its very old and outdated while the Missouri is brand-spanking new. I just don’t think the Soviets have a snowballs chance in hell to win this, they may get lucky and cause some damage but they won’t win it. If it were a fight between the 2 crews, fighting as infantry i’d give it to the Soviets, but between 2 ships the Reds are going to lose.


  • The old soviet Battleship had only 12’ guns, not much firepower againist Missouri.


  • @ABWorsham:

    The old soviet Battleship had only 12’ guns, not much firepower againist Missouri.

    12" guns.  :-D  12’ guns would have been deadly (“черт возьми!  Missed, comrade, but no matter, twelve foot shell is like hand grenade, only need to be close.”)  However, you couldn’t carry much ammo, so choose your targets wisely.


  • @CWO:

    Here’s a comparative study of WWII battleships that might be of interest:

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

    It is an interesting and extremely detailed analysis, but actual combat results suggest the weighting chosen in some areas, particularly fire control, might be less than accurate.  The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had pretty darned good gunnery at range.

    Too much weight is given to radar fire control in my opinion.  It was a valuable edge vs. those who lacked it, but not without its downfalls, particularly against experienced night fighting forces like the Japanese.  The South Dakota illustrates the problems with that when engaged vs. a battleship (the older Kongo class Kirishima).  South Dakota had some trouble with her radar and the Kirishima moved in range and hit her with the 1st salvo, destroying the radar and forcing her to withdraw.  Fortunately, the Washington then engaged Kirishima and crippled her.  Without the Washington, the South Dakota likely would have been in big trouble rather than the other way around.  But it was a 2 vs 1 BB fight (although there were the attendant cruisers and destroyers…and the Japanese commander did not realize he was facing BB’s until too late.)

    The author spends a lot of effort looking at the absolute penetration of a shell vs. the armour in various location, but it appears from combat reports that a ship could often be effectively taken out of action by less spectacular blows.  It doesn’t really matter if your belt is absorbing the hits if your command has been knocked out, the rudder is jammed, your fire control destroyed, and/or your main guns disabled.  At that point if you don’t have a helping screen to drive away your attacker(s) you are a dead duck.


  • just wondering, why is the British ranked first when the Missouri is clearly a better ship? bigger guns, better guns, more AA guns, better protection, faster, and more maneuverable. just curious


  • @CWO:

    Here’s a comparative study of WWII battleships that might be of interest:

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

    Some great info and comparison in that link, but I disagree with the weighting given in light of WWII engagements.  The Bismarck had some pretty good gunnery and even the cruiser Prinz Eugen was a match for the Prince of Wales (and bloodied Hood as well before the Bismarck ended the fight.)  She would have been vulnerable to plunging fire through the deck, but if she could close her high firing rate, excellent gunnery, and durable belt would have been a match for the more modern big boys.

    While important, the impact of radar ranging seems overstated.  For one thing it was not well developed yet.  And for another it was vulnerable to hits from even cruisers.  Electrical problems and hits on its radar could have finished off the South Dakota against the older Kongo class Kirishima.  Kirishima originally thought it would be engaging cruisers, but instead engaged two more modern BB’s.  The superior night fighting experience of the Japanese was nearly decisive and did sent the South Dakota into flight.  The BB Washington however had better results with its radar and crippled the Kirishima.

    There are so many intangibles to these fights.  Direct penetration of the main belt or deck armour doesn’t appear to be the primary consideration to me.  More important seems to be harder to quantify aspects such as ammo handling, damage control, hits to the vulnerable command bridge, hits on radar, optical range finding, turrets, rudder, etc.  Any could prove decisive.

    My admittedly limited reading is that Japan’s damage control was inferior to that of the USN.  Japan better utilized torpedo attacks.  The Royal Navy’s ammo handling was problematic.


  • WTF???  This is the 2nd time I’ve tried to post  the same basic info on this topic and I’m getting some sort of bullshit spam warning???


  • @poloplayer15:

    just wondering, why is the British ranked first when the Missouri is clearly a better ship? bigger guns, better guns, more AA guns, better protection, faster, and more maneuverable. just curious

    I ranked them by stength of Navies around 1941. Had it been 1945, U.S would have been 1.


  • so… what are the results?


  • @ABWorsham:

    @poloplayer15:

    just wondering, why is the British ranked first when the Missouri is clearly a better ship? bigger guns, better guns, more AA guns, better protection, faster, and more maneuverable. just curious

    I ranked them by stength of Navies around 1941. Had it been 1945, U.S would have been 1.

    Problem is that the Iowa class wasn’t launched until mid-1942 and commissioned in 1943.  So she’s the most modern of the class.  In 1941 the South Dakota class would be the U.S. entrant.

    The Jean Bart is an odd choice since she was incomplete and some of her guns were later placed on the namesake of the class, the Richelieu (which had lost some guns in action.)

    The Yamato was commissioned Dec. 16, 1941, making it in after the start of the Pacific War, but before the end of 1941.


  • you could use the North Carolina instead as well seeing as it was commissioned in April of '41


  • @poloplayer15:

    you could use the North Carolina instead as well seeing as it was commissioned in April of '41

    You are correct.  I had forgotten that the South Dakota wasn’t commissioned until 1942.

    Of course ABWorsham is ranking contenders on the strength of their navies in 1941, rather than limiting the contest to 1941 era ships, so by that criteria the Iowa also works.

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