Re: [GZG] John's Shipbuilding

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l  The Germans had a
history in WW2 of using their capital ships unescorted primarily as
commerce raiders e.g. the cruises of the Sharhorst and Gneisenau (BCs)
– sinking of the Rawalpindi, their engagement of with Renown (she had
an escort of 3 DD), the sinking of the Glorious, the 1940 sortie during
which they sank 22 ships (116,000 tons) all unescorted. 
  The cruise of the Admiral Hipper (CA) in February 1940 sinking 7 ships
(32,8900 tons), not to mention the purpose built commerce raiders Graf
Spee, Admiral Scheer and Lutzow. 
   
  German DDs while heavily armed were poor sea boats and they did not
have that many and their range compared to capital ships were limited. 

   
  Ian
  
John Atkinson <johnmatkinson@gmail.com> wrote:
    On 1/16/06, laserlight wrote:

> > Of course, what throws the math off is that you'd never
> > find an SDN running around by itself.
>
> Bismarck? I concur, more or less, with the rest of John's
> post.

<snip>
   
  I submit that this was a freak event, caused by a number factors. 
First, the German Navy had a minimal surface combatant force and as a
result focused on fast ships intended for independant commerce raiding
rather than decisive engagements with the RN's battleline. Second,
the decision to ditch the escorts early on, which baffles me. Third,
the decision that getting the Prinz Eugene into action against convoys
was more important than nursemaiding the Bismarck back into port.

John
--
"Thousands of Sarmatians, Thousands of Franks, we've slain them again
and again. We're looking for thousands of Persians."
--Vita Aureliani

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l



		
---------------------------------
To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new
Yahoo! Security Centre.