Comments by "" (@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684) on "KMS Bismarck - Guide 017 (Human Voice)" video.

@richardbushey2666 First hit in Denmark Strait engagement? PoW on Bismarck. Bismarck achieved 6 hits from 98 380mm rounds expended... not bad, but made to look a lot better by the single "million to one" hit on Hood. Lütjens had the sense not to chase PoW after Hood's demise, the reason being the German B-dienst team both on board and ashore had given him absolutely ZERO warning of the approach of two of the Royal Navy's largest capital ships, and he righly suspected that more were on their way from the direction of Scapa Flow. Not that he could have chased PoW down, with his speed reduced, down by the bow & with the unrepaired damage in his bow threatening to collapse his forward bulkheads, on top of his suddenly dire fuel situation he had no choice but to continue south and make for France, much to the annoyance of all the "armchair admiral" wehraboos on these threads. Near stationary? Go check out a map for the final battle... and contrary to popular belief, she wasn't "steaming in circles" either. Aww poor Bismarck's crew had no sleep.... Rodney and KGV were in position to engage Bismarck on the late evening of the 26th May but decided to let Vian engage her through the night.... like a cat toying with its prey, leaving the RN "big hitters" rested and refreshed & ready to engage at first light.... fantastic planning by Jack Tovey in my book, not all battles are won with raw firepower (although they had that too). The only thing where Bismarck excelled was in her "running away power". As soon as she lost that and was engaged by contemporary British warships, she was shown for the mediocre 1930s waste of resources she really was.
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@richardbushey2666 27th May 1941 10.27 hours. Kriegsmarine equipped with "superior" stereoscopic rangefinders & "seetakt" radar. Hits landed - ZERO Royal Navy equipped with coincidence rangefinders and type 284 radar. Hits landed - >400
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@richardbushey2666 PS Casting around for specious arguments re: Mers-el-Kebir shows a lack of confidence in your defence of the question at hand.... mind you the RN were good at hitting moving targets too... Witness HMS Warspite on Guilio Cesare at Calabria.
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No accounting for "million to one" luck is there?
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@richardbushey2666 So what happened on the 27th? how come the "superior german stereoscopic rangefinders" failed to land a single hit? Bismarck was SMASHED by 14'/16' guns with coincidence rangefinders and Type 271 radar.
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Could you highlight examples of the content creator's "bias against German ships" please?
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@etwas013 Thank you for a most interesting post DDelete, lots there to think about. I shall cogitate at length and return with a response hopefully worthy of your input. All the best.
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@richardbushey2666 Hello Richard, Let me correct you. Hood fired 40-44 x 15in shells for 0 hits (0% hit rate). PoW fired 55 x 14in shells and scored 3 hits on Bismarck (5.45% hit rate). Bismarck fired 93 x 38cm shells for a total of 6 hits on Hood/PoW (6.5% hit rate). Prinz Eugen fired 158 x 20.3cm shells for 5/6 hits on Hood/PoW (3.8% hit rate). After the engagement closed, R/Adm Wake-Walker on Norfolk asked PoW for a status report, and PoW responded that Y turret traverse was jammed and only 3 out of her forward 6 14in guns were operational. Overall PoW's firing output was reduced by a total of 26% due to gunnery malfunctions. These are all recorded facts, please don't bother to try to dismiss them, you'll only highlight your own delusions if you do. P.S Despite being manned by a rookie crew, with a malfunctioning main arsenal, PoW had successfully, singlehandedly brought "Rhine exercise" to a premature conclusion. Job done !!! PPS Bismarck = updated Bayern.
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@richardbushey2666 What has the length of time got to do with it? So the Brits had "the drop" on the Germans did they? That'll be why they landed the first hit in the engagement then. A much more decisive factor is the fact that due to the dynamic operational situation prior to the engagement, Instead of Holland "crossing Bismarck's T" as he had hoped for, the German's had unintentionally "crossed Holland's T", and the gunnery numbers reflect that. Broadsides Vs half salvoes, increased density of fire from their 8 gun broadsides.... and in the course of events an incredibly lucky shot removed one of the main players from the equation. All this nonsense regarding "superior German gunnery" is mostly bullshit. A well trained Bismarck crew (who had been training aboard her since April 1940, including 3 months of sea trials during Sept-Dec 1940), was up against a brand new, untested ship with a mostly completely "green" crew, and yet Bismarck barely managed to outscore her if the hit rates are compared.... a country mile away from "outclassing" the Brits.
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What's that got to do with the price of fish? Iowa wasn't commisioned at the time of these events, you may as well state that USS Nimitz was over twice as heavy as Bismarck.
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