I was looking at old pictures of Hitler's office tonight - does anybody know who is in this painting on the wall? It doesn't look like Frederick the great to me.

@RJL518:

The real question to be asked is how would a battle have gone if the Missouri and Iowa took on the Super-Battleships Yamato and Musashi.  
As Samuel Eliot Morison, author of the History of US Naval Operations in World War II, once said…“What a brawl that would have been!”
Even though the Yamato and Musashi had 18.1 inch guns compared to the 16 inch of the Iowa class, the Iowas were still faster and still had better range.  
But who knows.  
IMO it would have depended on the tactics and strategy of the captains in a great battle at that time.

And it was a match-up that nearly happened.  Yamato and two of the Iowa-class battleships, Iowa and New Jersey, missed each other by only a few hours in the area of the San Bernadino Straight during the closing stages of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  And if Musashi hadn’d been sunk the previous day, there would have been the potential for a two-on-two fight.  I’d have given a lot to get tickets to watch a slugging match like that.

One interesting technical difference is that even though the belt armour of the Yamatos was thicker than that of the Iowas, its performance might not have been better by comparison.  Japanese industry wasn’t capable of producing 16-inch armour as a single block, so the Yamato belt armour was in two layers rather than monolithic, which reduced its effectiveness.  Also, the Class-A armour components of the Iowa’s defenses were more advanced than the grade of armour used on the Yamatos, and thickness-for-thickness had better resistance to penetration.  On the offensive side, the 16-inch AP shells fired by the Iowas were heavyweight designs, with a greater weight relative to their diameter than the 18.1-inch AP shells fired by the Yamatos (2,700 lb vs. 3,219 lbs), and they were fired at nearly the same muzzle velocity (2,500 ft/s vs. 2,600 ft/s) because the Iowa guns had longer barrels relative to their bore (50 calibers vs. 45 calibers).

There’s a scene in the movie Across the Pacific in which Sydney Greenstreet shows his pistol (I think it’s a 38-caliber gun) to Humphrey Bogart, who puts his Colt 45 pistol alongside Greenstreet’s and comments, “Mine’s bigger than yours.”

The defeat of Leningrad would have been easier than Stalingrad.

The loss of Moscow would have been much greater loss than Baku and resulted in a shortening of the front of which a latter southern drive could succeed without fear of getting cut off because at that point all logistical support for Soviets would be coming entirely east of the Don and this country is not too developed. The last Soviet Factories would be in range of Axis bombers and the front would have rolled up more easily, than committing the 6th to Stalingrad with all other Soviet logistical and political objectives are intact allowing easy reinforcement from rail heads running south from Moscow.

Am I missing something here?

HERO - a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

Tell me to lay down if I’m drunk but…

What’s so heroic about this?  The dude did his job?  Theres nothing particularily “distinguished” about it.  Other then the fact it was big H on the stand.

Hans was a lawyer and he cross examined Hittler rightfully on the stand, did a good job (But not good enough to convict?) and pissed off the Nazi’s, ok - cool.  But so what?

Whats the big deal?  For this Type A personality, it’s normal to be good at what you do, and not care what anyone else thinks - be stubborn and often RUDE in your interactions with people in general, which he was.

I’m still not seeing the heroics… ? ? ?  Heroic would be he put a luger in Hitlers face, and took one for the team.

Otherwise… where do you draw the line?  Is every footsoldier in the conflict a hero?  Is everyone who passed information, sent thier children to war, or baked applie pies for the troops a hero?

Everyone has parts to play, Heroic’s in my understanding is when you step up and above that?

I mean, is a paramedic a hero for saving lives everyday - or is that just his job?

It is wholly unheroic not to stand up in the face of tyranny, but that does not make it heroic to do the right thing everyday.

For someone with years of preparation, skill, and determination, What an idiot.

He deliberately goes to cross the border, with the BOMB making plans, his communist membership card, and everything needed to convict himself.  Then he tells the story whilst there.

He could have easily said nothing, and been denied entry - sent back to Nazi Germany, with likely no questions asked.  Or just stayed in Germany, planning his next attempt, no one would have caught him, or figured it out.

Too much Bone instead of Brain.

I vote with these guys!  It is not a tank but it is a very powerful armored vehicle.
I love that beast too… a real good self propelled gun to be more specified.

I’m lucky enough to have a great view of the Ohio River from my office and this morning I found The LST Memorial Ship docked at the local wharf. I think I’m going to have to take a tour.

It is somehow both smaller and bigger than I imagined. I think the smaller part is from how it compares to the Mississippi Queen and American Queen when they are docked and the bigger part is that the ship is taller than I’d thought.

@finnman:

@gnasape:

Looks like an episode of “Deadliest Warrior” on Spike TV!  Someone should contact them about doing this.

Best show ever, The SS just fought the veit cong.

Good show, not great show. Had the show had this face off ( Marine Raiders vs Waffen SS) it could hold the title: great show.