Re: [FT] Battlecruisers vs. battleships

----- Original Message -----
From: "Derek Fulton" <derekfulton@bigpond.com>
>
> It is important to remember that before the outbreak of WWI, even
though
> the cannon used had ranges measured in miles it was expected that the
> protagonists would approach to close range and batter each other much
like
> naval ships had done previously. Although the capability was there,
> tradition and a view of "how it should be" determined how people
expected
> the navies to fight.

Probably not just a matter of tradition. In the late 19th century,
gunnery
ranges had far outgrown the capabilities of fire control equipment. So
you
could shoot far, but were damn unlikely to hit anything, certainly not
something as small as a Battleship ;-) It was only fairly recently
before
WWI that fire control had caught up and the systems were not trusted by
a
lot of people. You know, unporven technology, peace-time tests, boffins'
wild ideas etc.

Though the battle of Tsushima (1905) with gunnery at several Kilometers
distance should have been a warning.

Greetings