Cruisers Battleships

[stug3]

HMS SCYLLA, at anchor on the Clyde

Sailors using steam hoses to clear ice from anchor chains and winches on board HMS SCYLLA during a cold spell on patrol in the Atlantic, February 1943.

Merchant ships of convoy JW53 passing through pack ice during the voyage. An escort destroyer can be seen in the background. View from the cruiser HMS SCYLLA.

View of a convoy in calm seas, seen from the bridge of an Royal Navy escort vessel believed to be anti-aircraft light cruiser HMS SCYLLA, a it passes the Iberian coast, July 1943. SCYLLA was part of the escort group for UK-Freetown convoys.

HMS Scylla was a veteran of the arctic convoys to Russia, where her crew had gained much experience of dealing with aircraft attacks. The Dido class cruisers were well armed with anti-aircraft guns and effective in this role. The crew would no doubt have appreciated their transfer to escort duties from Gibraltar and in the Mediterranean. The threat from aircraft remained no less deadly and now a new menace appeared. A 'glider bomb' was a true innovation for the time, a remote control missile, guided onto its target by radio control from the releasing aircraft. One of the earliest attacks, although unsuccessful, was most probably upon HMS Scylla, although they were not aware of what they had been attacked by at the time.

US Intelligence report on the Glider bomb

HMS Scylla Story, 1942 - 1943

 

[RCAFson]

HMS Scylla in action during PQ-18:
CONVOY TO RUSSIA - British Pathé

 

[stug3]

Thanks for posting that, Im sure there's all kinds of good stuff on the British Pathé site. Ill have to check it out when I get a chance. Ive seen the RAF Mustangs BP newsreel on youtube.

 

[vinnye]

Malta Convoy ; Pathe.

MALTA CONVOY BATTLE - British Pathé

 

[nuuumannn]

Twin 6 inch 50 cal Mk XXIII turret and gun director from the Leander Class cruiser HMS/HMNZS Achilles. This ship had a proud history, in action during the Battle of the River Plate. Was delivered to the Indian Navy in 1948 as INS Delhi and paid off in 1978. This turret survives at Devonport Naval Base, Auckland, New Zealand, another is preserved in Poona, India.

A model of HMS Achilles in the RNZN Museum at Torpedo Bay, Auckland.

 

[stug3]

5 Inch 38 Caliber Twin Gun Mount & Handling Room

 

[stug3]

16 ‌Inch Gun Turret

 

[Wurger]

 

[fastmongrel]

5.25 inch revolving mounting removed from the cruiser HMS Argonaut during repairs in the USA after the bow and stern were blown off by torpedos from the Italian submarine Lazzaro Mocinego

 

[Wurger]

 

[fliger747]

As to the Fritz X interesting that the Savanna survived a similar hit that destroyed Roma. As with Hood, a battleships greatest enemy was the explosives stored in it's magazines. I met a gentleman that was on USS Pringle (a destroyer) that was hit by a "Baka" in the Pacific, he though they got hit by a flying torpedo!

 

[fliger747]

Between the Battleship and cruiser were a few types. Panzerschiff was one. Battleships grew in size and capability. with the advent of the carrier, speed became a requisite. The early war types, US, UK and Germany were capable of maybe 28 knots, marginal. It took the 10,000 extra tons to buy a truly fast battleship. In the Pacific the Japanese had the somewhat elderly but improved Kongo's which as carrier escorts impinged on the USN calculations, certainly an overmatch for the USN cruiser escorts, fast battleships lacking. In the final event these ships were quite similar in size and capability to the Alaska large Cruisers. As the war really evolved, the Alaska's were probably just as effective as the larger semi and fast Battleships as carrier consorts, and being able to keep any fast cruisers at bay.