Re: Torpedoes (was: Helltank)

On Sun, 25 Jan 1998, DrRokter wrote:

> Well... can you think of a time when _any_  German capital ship other
than the
> Bismarck even put to sea? I could be wrong, and as I'm in the States
at the
> moment I don't have my reference books to hand (they're all back in
the UK),
> but I think germany only ever built the Bismarck andTirpitz. 

For this purpose, I was counting anything CA-sized and above as
capitals. 
Even if you discount the CAs, you're still slighting Scharnhorst, 
Gneisenau and the "pocket battleships".

> In the case of
> the Bismarck, leaving port without a serious destroyer escort was a
pretty
> suicidal move, though not so much because of the torpedo threat as
aircraft.
> Air power was the major threat to capital ships in WWII, hence the
reason the
> US navy operated in Task Forces: the destroyer 'screen' was primarily
an anti-
> aircraft defence.

I agree with the latter part. As for the former... lack of destroyer 
screen was not a major factor in the doom of Bismarck. German surface 
tactics required long range which DDs just don't have and escaping 
detection, which is better achieved with a smaller force.

> Jonathan was actually referring originally to WWI, where airpower was
not a
> factor, but destroyer squadrons were effectively employed, if only to
cover
> the retreat of the battleships.

In defensive manner -- exactly my point.

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