Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "War Stories" channel.

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  15.  @Doodle1266  Well, certainly your facts are confused. In the engagement in the Denmark Strait, Prinz Eugen was not damaged, but Bismarck was hit three times by Prince of Wales. On hit, forward, resulted in Bismarck losing access to her forward fuel tanks, and being down by the bows, reducing her speed. Although the trim of the ship was rectified, the loss of fuel was not, and Lutjens abandoned his operation at once, heading for St. Nazaire at reduced speed. He then detached Prinz Eugen to operate independently, but PE more or less immediately developed engine problems and made instead for Brest. On her way to St. Nazaire, torpedo damage to Bismarck's stern compartments crippled her steering and the rest is history. Prince of Wales didn't carry torpedoes, but Hood did, although they were not used. Certainly, an undamaged Bismarck did have the speed to avoid action in the case of the QEs and the Nelsons, but probably not the KGVs. By the way, the new Italian battleships of the Littorio class were actually faster, at 30 knots, than Bismarck's 29. That did not, of course, prevent the 'relics' of the QE class from engaging them on several occasions, and generally having the upper hand. I have already explained what 'modernisation' involved where those ships were concerned. If you cannot understand, the problem is yours not mine. In point of fact, Scharnhorst & Gneisenau actually fled from the unmodified and obsolete British R class battleships deployed on convoy escort duty on more than one occasion. By the way, the 'crappy' carrier aircraft actually sank a greater tonnage of axis shipping than any other allied type. 'She died because the commander was foolish went alone with no escort after the first engagement.' Nonsense, Had Prinz Eugen remained with Bismarck, she would almost certainly have met the same fate. Ever thought of buying a book about the Bismarck action, and reading it?
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  16.  @Doodle1266 You don't have a theory. You have a series of fantasies based on incorrect information, and your imagination. Bismarck was well equipped with AA batteries, which were rather badly directed. Hence her inability to hit any of the attacking aircraft from either Victorious or Ark Royal. German destroyers simply lacked the range for extended Atlantic operations. Unlike the Royal Navy they had no means of refuelling. Moreover, their AA weaponry was seriously inferior to that of Bismarck. The aircraft specially attacked Bismarck. Which is why they hit her, actually three times. Do you seriously suggest a destroyer or two could have driven off two heavy cruisers? Or heroically sacrificed herself to save the flagship? 'Assuming they could get to German waters where German air power could nullify the British aircraft carrier advantage.' A rather large assumption, given that the Royal Navy was determined to ensure that Bismarck never reached German (I assume you really mean 'Occupied French') waters. 'Bismarck would make it to Brest and be pounded by the British air force until France was liberated.' Aside from the fact that Bismarck was making for the Dry Dock at St. Nazaire, not for Brest, don't you know what happened to the German surface fleet at Brest? In early 1942, it fled back to German waters. Gneisenau never sailed again, whilst Scharnhorst's appeared in the Arctic once, to be sunk by Duke of York, and Prinz Eugen pottered around the Baltic, well away from the RN. The hits were not minor. They obliged Bismarck to abandon her mission. Simply as that. I wonder if your reading is restricted to comic books, as you seem remarkably ignorant of the events of Rheinubung.
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