Our CEO is flying in for a site visit and meeting today and we all have to wear masks even though we’re all spread out in a warehouse because of corporate rules for offices.
I suggested Iron Man or luchadore masks but got shot down with a quickness. Everyone thought the idea had merit though…
Bismarck firing on HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales during the Battle of Denmark Strait 24MAY41 photographed from Prinz Eugen
Smoke from HMS Hood immediately after an explosion during the Battle of Denmark Strait 24MAY41
A sketch prepared by Captain JC Leach (commanding HMS Prince of Wales) for the 2nd Board of Enquiry, 1941. The sketch represents the column of smoke or flame that erupted from the vicinity of the mainmast immediately before a huge detonation which obliterated the after part of the ship from view. This phenomenon is believed to have been the result of a cordite fire venting through the engine-room ventilators
At 06:00, Holland ordered his force to turn once again to port to ensure that the aft main guns on both Hood and Prince of Wales could bear on the German ships; during the turn, a salvo from Bismarck, fired from about 9 mi (7.8 nmi; 14 km), was seen by men aboard Prince of Wales to straddle Hood abreast her mainmast. It is likely that one 38 cm (15 in) shell struck somewhere between Hood‘s mainmast and “X” turret aft of the mast. A huge pillar of flame that shot upward ‘like a giant blowtorch,’ in the vicinity of the mainmast, followed by an explosion that destroyed a large portion of the ship from amidships clear to the rear of “Y” turret, blowing both after turrets into the sea. The ship broke in two and the stern fell away and sank. Ted Briggs, one of the survivors, claimed Hood heeled to 30 degrees at which point ‘we knew she just wasn’t coming back’. The bow rose clear of the water, pointed upward, pivoted about and sank shortly after the stern. “A” turret fired a salvo while in this upright position, possibly from the doomed gun crew, just before the bow section sank.[nb 4] Splinters rained down on Prince of Wales .5 mi (0.43 nmi; 0.80 km) away. Hood sank in about three minutes with 1,415 members of the crew. Only Ted Briggs, Bob Tilburn and Bill Dundas survived to be rescued two hours later by the destroyer HMS Electra.
The Admiralty later concluded that the most likely explanation for the loss of Hood was a penetration of her magazines by a 38 cm (15 in) shell from Bismarck, causing the explosion. Recent research with submersible craft suggests that the initial explosion was in the aft 4 in (100 mm) magazine and that it spread to the 15 in (380 mm) magazines via the ammunition trunks. It has been suggested from examination of the wreckage, found in 2001, that the magazine explosion in the 4 in (100 mm) armament near the mainmast caused the vertical blast of flame seen there, and this in turn ignited the magazines of the aft 15 in (380 mm) guns that caused the explosion that wrecked the stern. This explosion might have travelled through the starboard fuel tanks, igniting the fuel oil there, setting off the forward magazines and completing the destruction of the ship.
The wreck of Hood revealed the bow section bereft of any structure. A huge section of her side is missing, from the ‘A’ barbette to the foredeck. The midship section had its plates curled outward. Moreover, the main parts of the forward structure, including the 600 long tons (610 t) conning tower, were found about 1.1 km (0.59 nmi; 0.68 mi) away from the main wreckage.[21] This has sparked theories that the 15 in (380 mm) forward magazines exploded as a result of the force, flames and pressure, caused by the detonation of the aft magazines.[22] However, a team of marine forensic scientists has found that implosion damage to the forward hull due to the rapid sinking of the Hood, is the most likely cause of the state of the forward hull, and they do not support any theory that the forward magazines exploded.[23]
If you have Amazon Prime, I found The Battle of Hood and Bismarck: The Sinking of History’s Greatest Warships to be pretty interesting.
I remember reading The Sinking of the Bismarck by William Shirer in 1979 when I was 8. I didn’t understand most of it but I liked the pictures and I thought the cover was cool yet sort of creepy. I think I need to track it down to add to the library.
This is the first of a 2 part post by Chuck Hill’s CG Blog. Part 1 uses The Battle of the River Plate to help explain the difficulties of just stopping a large ship, never mind actually sinking one.
Part 2 shows the potential weapons systems, tactics and difficulties today’s USCG could use to stop a large ship being used for nefarious purposes, either as a weapons carrier or as the actual weapon.
As a naval history buff Part 1 is the most interesting to me but both parts are well worth the time to read.
Photo: Heavy cruiser HMS Exeter seen after the battle, looking aft from the bow. Both forward twin 8″ gun turrets and the firecontrol system were disabled and the bridge destroyed by “splinters.”
Admiral Graf Spee in the English Channel in April 1939. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 89566.
Photo: After superstructure of Admiral Graf Spee showing 15 cm/55 and 10.5 cm/65 guns. Note the burned-out Arado Ar 196A-1 floatplane on the catapult and the after main-director rangefinder. Photograph taken at Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 80976.
Introduction:
Note, this has been edited from the original, based on feedback particularly with regard to the ammunition remaining on Graf Spee after the engagement. I don’t believe the thrust of the post has been changed.
This is the first of two parts. Part one will tell a story. Part two will talk about the implications of lessons learned, applied to how the Coast Guard might deal with the threat of terrorists using a medium to large merchant ship to make an attack.
These are themes that will be discussed in part 2 before looking at specific tactics to make the best use of what we have. Hopefully you will see these illustrated in the following story.
- In comparing guns, at any given range, the longer ranged weapon generally enjoys an advantage in accuracy.
- It is very difficult to sink a ship by gunfire alone.
- Ships’ structure provide a degree of protection that makes it difficult to comprehensively target the crew of a ship without sinking the ship.
- It is difficult to forcibly stop a ship with gunfire alone.
- You can run out of ammunition before you accomplish your mission. The depth of your magazine may be important.
But first the story: The Mk38 Gun Mount and Ballistics and Weapons Effectiveness Lessons from Pursuit of the Graf Spee, Part 1
The British frigate HMS CLEOPATRA (F28) in the Corinth Canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea, 1970. The rock walls, which rise 300 ft. above sea level, are at a near-vertical 80° angle.
More here: Cleo of Corinth
HMS MTB-263 (British Motor Torpedo Boat, 1940, ex-USS PT-14) Ready for delivery to The Royal Navy, circa Mid-1941. She has been modified to British specifications, with R.N. Type 21″ Torpedo Tubes, a 20mm machine cannon and other changes. (NHHC: NH 100911)
70′ Motor Torpedo Boat:
via NavSource
US aircraft in use with the RAF and FAA
The Brennan torpedo was the first effective guided weapon. Introduced into service in 1887, the Brennan was launched from a shore-side fort and powered by a steam engine which pulled wire off drums in the torpedo. As the wire was pulled in, the drums rotated so powering the propellors that drove it through the water.
Brennan torpedo sites were used to protect the entrances of naval ports. Its major advantages were that if the target manoeuvred, the torpedo could be steered to intercept after launch, by tracking a mast showing above the water. It also carried a large warhead that would strike below the heavy armoured belt. At least 8 Brennan sites have been identified, 5 in the UK and Ireland, 2 in Malta and one in Hong Kong.
Brennan torpedoes had a speed of about 26 knots, well in excess of the speed on the battleships of the time, and a range of 2000 yards. They carried a warhead of 230 (later 364) lbs wet guncotton.
Some details of the Brennan are still secret. The depth mechanism is sealed, and there are no drawings to show how it worked, so the movie shows one of the techniques available at the time. The single remaining original Brennan can be seen at the Royal Engineers museum, Chatham, England.
Animation of 16 inch torpedo, Whitehead design, built by the Royal Laboratories in about 1876. This torpedo has a warhead of 116 lbs (52.5 Kg) wet guncotton, a compressed air compound oscillating engine giving a speed of 9 knots and a range of 1,200 yards (1.1 Km). The animation shows the desk launch carriage that was used when HMS SHAH fired a 16 inch torpedo at the Peruvian armoured turret ship Huascar in 1877. Animation created using Cinema 4D.
The Development of Navies During the Last Half Century by Eardley-Wilmot, Sydney Marow, Sir, 1847-1929 Published 1892
Right elevation and deck plan as depicted in Harpers Monthly, February 1886
HMS Alexandra was a central battery ironclad of the Victorian Royal Navy, whose seagoing career was from 1877 to 1900. She spent much of her career as a flagship, and took part in operations to deter Russian aggression against Turkey in 1878 and the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882.
She was commissioned at Chatham on 2 January 1877 as flagship, Mediterranean Fleet, and held this position continuously until 1889. She was the flagship of Admiral Hornby in his passage through the Dardanelles during the Russian war scare of 1878. She ran aground in bad weather at the narrowest part of the strait; she was towed off by HMS Sultan in time to lead the squadron to Constantinople. She was present at the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882; in this action the Admiral’s flag was shifted to HMS Invincible, as she was of shallower draught and could sail closer to shore. In 1886, the Duke of Edinburgh hoisted his flag on board, and Prince George of Wales, later King George V, joined as a lieutenant. During this action on 11 July 1882, Gunner Israel Harding flung a live 10-inch shell overboard, an action which led to the award of the Victoria Cross.[1] She paid off in 1889 for modernisation.
In 1891, she was flagship of the Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves at Portsmouth, and remained so until 1901. Alexandra was featured in the first volume of the Navy and Army Illustrated in early c. April 1896 and was then described as a “coastguard ship at Portsmouth” with her principal armament being eight 18-tons guns, four 22-ton, six 4-inch and four six-pounder and six three-pounder quick firers.[2] At this time, she had a complement of 408 officers and men and was commanded by Captain W.H. Pigott. Her last sea-time was as flagship of the “B” fleet in the manoeuvres of 1900. In 1903 she became a mechanical training ship, and she was sold in 1908. HMS Alexandra
More including pics HERE
A Supermarine Walrus in testing, circa 1938. They were carried by most British battleships and cruisers during the Second World War, providing an independent reconnaissance asset. Ungainly as they were these things were actually the first British aircraft to enter service with a fully retractable main undercarriage, completely enclosed crew accommodation and an all-metal fuselage.
via apostlesofmercy
From laststandonzombieisland:
With the anniversary of VJ Day this week, I was brainstorming something. The jury will always be out on just what won the U.S. Civil War: the defeat of Lee in the North, Grant’s splitting of …
Source: Anaconda Plan, 1945 Installment
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International Association of Ghost Gun Forensic Examiners
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