stuka1940
Recruit
Have to pick the USS New york BB34. Good ship, big guns 10x14" good range etc.
Most powerful ship
- Thread starter renrich
- Start date
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delcyros
Tech Sergeant
NEW YORK is a good pick. Unfortunately, the USN in ww1 does not use proper ammunition for any of its major calibre guns. Soft capped projectiles were in service all through ww1 and thus the AP-caps are not likely to work properly at anything other than point blanc range and without any allowances in angles to target. The Midvale unbreakable projectiles are tough bodies but the fuze is still defective. I would not expect BB34 to penetrate any other nations bb thick armour parts in a condition fit to burst.
And the wrecking effect from non penetrating damage is much less pronounced than for heavier 15in projectiles. Altough this problem is shared with many other combattants, it puts BB34 on a serious disadvantage against the latest RN and all IGN battleships, which were using hard capped and reliable delay fuzed APC in within ww1.
In top of this, US BB´s had a dispersion problem until fixed in the mid 20´s...
And the wrecking effect from non penetrating damage is much less pronounced than for heavier 15in projectiles. Altough this problem is shared with many other combattants, it puts BB34 on a serious disadvantage against the latest RN and all IGN battleships, which were using hard capped and reliable delay fuzed APC in within ww1.
In top of this, US BB´s had a dispersion problem until fixed in the mid 20´s...
The best way to have handled an engagement with any heavy units going mano y mano during WWI without any other fleet considerations to be dealt with is to do bow on and close the distance as quickly as possible to optimum range for plunging shell fire, turning ninety degrees to bring full broadsides to bear, and hope for good accuracy. Am I correct in this assumption? Were not the decks the least heavily armored? Especially in battle cruisers? I would think this would have been the best advice during WW2 as well. Certainly the Hood, which I understand that beautiful beast was just an overgrown battle cruiser and the Bismark was a full on BB, seems to demonstrate the outcome of a BB versus a BC in battle, slugging it out. Albeit, let's face it, it was a lucky hit, methinks, that the Hood was struck so quickly and in such a vulnerable area.
delcyros
Tech Sergeant
There is no"plunging fire" in ww1.
The technology didn´t existed to make it work.
Even in ww2 only base fuses with a special grace function allowed fuse action at impact conditions of as much as 70 degrees (=a 20 deg. angle of fall).
Most major naval guns in ww1 couldn´t even elevate to 20 deg.
The reason why the decks are thin in ww1 period designs is explainable by the need to provide protection against lateral, sideways directed fragmentation from projectiles rather than ballistic impact.
The technology didn´t existed to make it work.
Even in ww2 only base fuses with a special grace function allowed fuse action at impact conditions of as much as 70 degrees (=a 20 deg. angle of fall).
Most major naval guns in ww1 couldn´t even elevate to 20 deg.
The reason why the decks are thin in ww1 period designs is explainable by the need to provide protection against lateral, sideways directed fragmentation from projectiles rather than ballistic impact.
