Re: [FT] Battlecruisers vs. battleships

On Fri, 17 May 2002 08:06:01 +0200 "K.H.Ranitzsch" 
<KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de> wrote:

> 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. <

This could also have been part of why the Jutland BC's used those 
dangerous gunnery practices like storing charges in turrets, leaving 
flash doors open, etc. "Traditional" naval practice, reinforced in the 
RN's case by past experience (albeit mostly back in the days of sail) 
and the Fisher doctrine of speed and firepower over armour, stressed 
the importance of maintaining a high rate of fire: opening and closing 
all those doors and moving explosives around in a careful fashion 
slowed things down.

The problem was that while it helped speed up the rate of fire, said 
rate dropped to zero when the enemy hit back! For all the protective 
value of armour, the offensive-defensive balance had changed in favour 
of the former and getting hit even once could now destroy a ship -- 
unlike sailing ships, which were bl**dy hard to sink! Cripple or 
capture, yes, but sinking took a lot more effort or luck, such as a 
fire breaking out.

Phil
----
"If you let a smile be your umbrella... you'll get wet teeth!"
  -- a forgotten comedian, quoted by me: Phil Atcliffe