• What’s your thoughts on this subject?


  • Convoys were the only way for England to get just about everything they needed. If that system failed then I think UK would have folded.  The Bismark and the Prinz Eugen would probably have been hunted down to the bitter end. Consider the force directed at Bismark after she blew the Hood out of the water. The Brits sent every possible thing they could after that behemoth. Even so it was one lucky torpedo hit that caused her to circle that spelled her doom at the end. How many times did the allies try to sink Bismark’s sister ship the Tirpitz before they finally pulled it off?

    U boats were a danger but their effectiveness appears to have decreased significantly as the war went on. Whether this was due to losses, better methods of detecting and sinking them, better armored ships on the part of the allies or some other factors I honestly don’t know. I do know that they were effective early on but like so much else in World War 2 in the case of the Axis they could not take prolonged war.

    I was stoked I got both The Bismark and the Hood early on for my WAS collection off topic but it made me happy.


  • Bismarck and Eugen were not a good match. It should have been Scharnhorst and Bismarck, which would have taken any two British ships down. I think it was stupid for them to send away Eugen.

    When Tirpitz was ready they could have sent both of them as a good tag team. Eugen was nothing but cannon fodder or live bait. They really could have caused alot more damage if they played to their strengths. The other waste was not pressing against Prince of whales. It could have easily been taken out and a huge victory secured.


  • @Imperious:

    Bismarck and Eugen were not a good match. It should have been Scharnhorst and Bismarck, which would have taken any two British ships down. I think it was stupid for them to send away Eugen.

    When Tirpitz was ready they could have sent both of them as a good tag team. Eugen was nothing but cannon fodder or live bait. They really could have caused alot more damage if they played to their strengths. The other waste was not pressing against Prince of whales. It could have easily been taken out and a huge victory secured.

    I agree with this assessment…i do believe that the Scharnhorst or Gneisenau would have been a better complement to the Bismarck…

    Its a good thing that the Tirpitz want ready at the time the Bismarck sailed…that would have made the Royal Navy a little nervous


  • Didn’t the English ships (Hood and Prince of Wales) mistake the Prinz Eugen for the Bismark initially?

    The other waste was not pressing against Prince of whales. It could have easily been taken out and a huge victory secured.

    Any idea why they didn’t do that?


  • Admiral Lütjens was too cautious of a commander. The captain wanted to pursue but the fleet commander would play his cards with too much caution. if he finished it off the British would have nothing to maintain any contact with Bismarck.


  • if he finished it off the British would have nothing to maintain any contact with Bismarck

    I still think they would have pulled out the stops to get Bismark. Whether or not they could have done so is a different story. Still, the loss of both the Hood and Prince of Wales would have been a terrible demoralizing blow.

    After Bismark and Titanic ship builders should refrain from declaring any ship built anywhere “Unsinkable”.


  • The building of Bismark and other huge battleships is evidence that the Germans didn’t understand modern naval warfare. Bismarck and other huge vessels would be sunk by the British or the Americans eventually.


  • Thats would also apply to the Americans and British too.

    none of them understood that air power can reduce ships to nothing unless the other side also has air power to protect the skies.

    Bismarck was made as a surface raider to sink convoys. The other ships that did it paid for their cost with countless success stories. Bismarck because too much of a target after sinking the hood. They sent the entire navy after her. If she made it to Brest it would have been much harder for the British to intercept her on her second sortie.

    of course latter in the war the Germans could not maintain the fleet at Brest. Thats when they made the so called “channel dash”


  • i sometimes wonder what would have happened if Germany had put together a massive battle fleet in the Atlantic like Japan did in the Pacific


  • Thats would also apply to the Americans and British too.

    none of them understood that air power can reduce ships to nothing unless the other side also has air power to protect the skies

    Billy Mitchell understood that….maybe a few others.  of course Mitchell made a few people pretty mad in his efforts to prove his point…


  • Dude: try to spell correctly!

    canadains

    Canadians

    If your really from Canada at least you should know how to spell Canadians?

    Make sure your post does not contain 5 or more spelling errors per sentence… ok?

    him us canadains and americans might be livin’ in a nazi TT

    what the hell does this mean anyway and what or how does it add to the thread?

    and another thing:

    “i am rommle the best german general in WWII”

    “I am Rommel the best German general in WWII”

    I don’t claim to be the master of grammar, but this is ridiculous.


  • @RJL518:

    i sometimes wonder what would have happened if Germany had put together a massive battle fleet in the Atlantic like Japan did in the Pacific

    They  didn’t have the naval knowhow that Japan and US had. The Germans had plans for building carrier vessels, but they weren’t able to do it.

    But if they had done it, it would be much easier to knock out UK pretty early, and then Barbarossa also would be easier, but far from guaranteed.

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