Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 119" video.

@dimhal7840 You can get a feel for the effectiveness of axis AA by reading Ralph Barker's "Ship-Busters", published in the US as a Ballantine paperback "Torpedo Bomber". The book primarily covers RAF Beaufort ops, with an occasional mention of Swordfish. Losses to axis ship-borne AA were horrific. When the Scharnhorsts made their run up the channel, the first formation to attack them were a half dozen Swordfish. The stringbags were wiped out by German AA fire, with only 5 crewmen surviving and picked up by British MTBs. Beauforts suffered heavy losses in both the Med and North Sea, until they hit on the idea of bringing along some Beaufighters to strafe the ships to suppress AA fire while the torpedo planes made their attack. The man that really developed Beaufort tactics was Pat Gibbs (later Wing Commander, DSO, DFC and bar) who developed the tactics while commanding a squadron on Malta. He ended up launching mass attacks of Beauforts with torpedoes, strafing Beaufighters and Blenheims dropping bombs, all at the same time, to overwhelm the Italian convoy escorts.
2
@kemarisite I watched that video a while back. The book does have an advantage by being focused on the torpedo ops, and goes in to great detail as long as someone lived to tell the story.
2
@Kato Ho Ten Soeng the thinking at the turn of the century was that the large guns would not fire very often in an action. The standard ammo storage for the big guns on USN ships was only 60 rounds/gun. The reload cycle for a 12-13" was very slow also. So, the idea was the 8" on the upper level would keep up a hot, rapid, fire, while the 12 or 13" would carry out it's arduous reload cycle, and, occasionally, fire. But, the USN discovered that, if they worked on the ergonomics of the big gun mounts, and trained the crews a bit, reloads took a lot less time. The reload cycle time of the USN 13"/35 was reduced from 5 minutes, to 1 minute, vs the 30-45 second reload cycle for the 8" in the upper section. I have read a US Naval Academy gunnery text book from 1915 that compares different turret designs and it says that the only advantage they really realize from the superimposed turrets, vs two separate turrets, is a weight savings. Of course, by 1915, the Navy had figured out the real solution was superfiring turrets, rather than superimposed turrets. There were two USN classes with superimposed turrets: the Kearsarge class (identifiable by low freeboard and round turrets) and the later Virginia class (more reasonable freeboard and flat-sided turrets)
1
@dimhal7840 Bismark's performance could have been a function of it being a new ship with a green crew. Another factor could be that Bismark was alone. In the "channel dash", the Scharnhorsts had a destroyer screen. The Italian convoys in the Med also had destroyer screens, with well seasoned crews. All too often, the screen would shoot torpedo planes to bits, as they flew over the screen, before they got close enough to drop at the ship they wanted to hit. A single Beaufort penetrated Brest harbor and hit Gneisenau. The Germans were taken by surprise, but were awake when the torpedo hit. The Beaufort was shot down in the harbor basin, all crew killed. The pilot, Kenneth Campbell, was awarded a posthumous VC.
1
@kemarisite in the account I read, in "Torpedo Bomber", that group of 6 Stringbags was indeed attacked by a group of FW-190s. The Swordfish had Spitfires as escort, but some 190s did try to attack the Swordfish. According to that account, the Swordfish were so slow, and could turn so sharply, even carrying the torp, that the 190s could not really get in position and hose them down. The real damage was done by AA fire from the destroyer screen. Six Swordfish went in over the screen. Two made it back out over the screen, both flaming wrecks that went in the drink moments later. That book was one of the best dollars I ever spent. Picked it up at a surplus sale at a warbird museum near my home. Saw it sitting there, thought "airplanes and ships in one book? MINE!"
1