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When you get a chance, give this a read:
Battle of the Bismarck Sea
The initial attack by the bombers at about 7,000 was intentional.
They knew it would scatter the ships, making them easy prey for the incoming low-level boys.
32 Tomahawk cruise missiles and 16 Harpoon A/S missiles was stanard compliment.Didn't the Iowas have cruise missiles so technically....
I was watching a documentary about the British Pacific Fleet in 1945.
The most powerful fleet the British ever mustered 100 ships.
And it was all about the Avengers.
End off. All about putting the Avengers where they need to be.
Attacking the oil refinery hundreds of miles away. No battleship can shoot as far as an Avenger can bomb.
R class - the end of 1943 saw 2 sent to reserve as they were worn out and the RN needed the crews to man more modern ships. Royal Sov refitted late 1943 in USA but still had problems so she went to the Soviets in May 1944 on loan until 1948. Ramilles used for bombardment purposes off Normandy and to reserve in 1945.No Renown or Nelsons. No QE or Rs.
So just the KGVs or the ones still afloat. So pretty much the vanguard (if you pardon the pun) of the battleship fleet.
But a lot of carriers.
So yeah if I was looking into that the. Maybe I would be making a decision based on this.
To say a battleship can offer flak support is valid but a cruiser can also do that at a cheaper cost. And a monitor can do shore bombardment.
So yeah.
Shore bombardment only works when your winning. Against a peer opponent, rocking up to your enemy coast is a surefire way of a one way trip to the bottom of the sea.
You clearly don't understand the speeds that carrier groups operated at in WW2. While individual ships might be capable of operating at speeds up to 33 knots in the case of US carriers, Task Group speeds were generally in the region of 15-25 knots. There are many reasons for thisThe KGV were also slower than the carrier they were escorting.
What you say is true but you must remember, at that time, the Naval Authorities categorically refused to believe that a battleship could be sunk by an aircraft under ANY circumstances. It would be a fair assumption that some of the naval staff witnessing the test refused to believe the results of what they saw. Historian Mr. Bernard Brodie consulted US Naval leadership for a book he published in 1941 titled 'Sea Power in the Machine Age' in which he quoted naval staff as saying"At this time there is no weapon that can be carried by an aircraft capable of seriously damaging a major warship." This book was released for sale just prior to December 7th of that year.Mitchell proved you can bomb an obsolete German battleship.
Which wasn't moving. Or shooting back. Or had no escort. Or any damage control. Or any air support.
And if you bomb it enough times it would sink.
I can be heavy weight boxing champion of the world based on the science of that test.
The Ostfriesland proves nothing at all. Nothing at all.
(Stupid Sexy Flanders)