How much do you know about WWII battles?

k0ua · Apr 29, 2016

clewis said:
Well, if I was asking about the RAF raid on Taranto that sank/damaged several Italian navy ships (that was later used as a model for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour), you'd be right.

No: 9 and 617 RAF Squadron flying Lancasters dropping 6 ton Tallboy bombs. An easy one: what was 617 Squadron also famous for?

As a kid in Toronto in the mid 60's, I saw 617 squadron on the ground at Malton airport during the annual Toronto Airshow before their "slot". The ground crew acting as guide was quite pleased I recognized the squadron number. Got to sit in the pilot seat of an RAF Victor, and while patting the side of what I thought was a fuel tank under a RAF Vulcan's wing, asked the ground crew what it was - seemed more solid than I expected. His response was "we're fully operational and could be called at any time". Ohhh.... I think I'll just step away ... carefully. 617 is due to be reformed with F35s this year.

I think I confused Tirpitz with Bismarck. I believe Bismarck was disabled by a hit from a Fairy Swordfish torpedo.

clewis · Apr 29, 2016

k0ua said:
I think I confused Tirpitz with Bismarck. I believe Bismarck was disabled by a hit from a Fairy Swordfish torpedo.

It's a bit more complicated than that, but essentially correct, the rudder was damaged and jammed for a wide turn, and it was forced to steam in circles. It tried to steer using differential propeller thrust, but ended up heading towards the pursuing RN. But the perhaps more critical hit was the previous day, when a superficial hit from another Swordfish caused an oil leak that they could track. Neither attack from the Swordfish proved fatal of course.

A tallboy hit on the Tirpitz bow damaged it and the engine room so severely, that the germans turned it into a semi-static artillery battery in Tromso Fjord. Two tallboy hits and 4 near misses two months later caused it to capsize.

dodge man · Apr 29, 2016

I got 30 out of 35 and consider myself pretty up on the subject. Some questions were pretty obscure and some were too easy.

Garandman · Apr 29, 2016

Interesting: Tirpitz Museum. Tirpitz - war drama in the North

What U.S. battleship fired the first 16" rounds in combat in WWII? The last?

clewis · Apr 30, 2016

Garandman said:
Interesting: Tirpitz Museum. Tirpitz - war drama in the North

What U.S. battleship fired the first 16" rounds in combat in WWII? The last?

Bad question. It wasn't a U.S. battleship that fired the first 16" rounds in WWII. It would have been HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson. Both used their heavy armament in Sept 1939. Rodney used its 16" guns on the Bismarck in May 1941 and generated the most damage, the US wasn't in the war until December. The German ship's max caliber was 15".

You're looking for USS Massachusetts, but it wasn't even launched at the time Rodney was firing broadsides line-of-sight on the Bismarck, and didn't leave the US until late 1942, participating in the sinking of the Jean Bart (French battleship) in November in North Africa.

Garandman · May 2, 2016

clewis said:
Bad question. It wasn't a U.S. battleship that fired the first 16" rounds in WWII. It would have been HMS Rodney and HMS Nelson. Both used their heavy armament in Sept 1939. Rodney used its 16" guns on the Bismarck in May 1941 and generated the most damage, the US wasn't in the war until December. The German ship's max caliber was 15".

You're looking for USS Massachusetts, but it wasn't even launched at the time Rodney was firing broadsides line-of-sight on the Bismarck, and didn't leave the US until late 1942, participating in the sinking of the Jean Bart (French battleship) in November in North Africa.

Thought "U.S. Battleship" would be clear enough to indicate I was talking about U.S. battleships.

The USS Massachusetts was not the first battleship to fire main batteries in WWII. She was the first U.S. Battleship to fire her 16" guns, against the Vichy French Jean Bart in Casablanca harbor. Jean Bart was not sunk) and was put back into service by the French Navy in 1955 and decommissioned in 1968.

The battle is described In [then] Major General GS Patton's "War as I Knew It." Patton, commander of the Western Task Force of the Torch landings, was on board. He describes that one shell [perhaps from Jean Bart's 15"] "Hit so close it splashed water all over me."

The last U.S. Battleship to fire her 16" Cannons is also believed to be the USS Massachusetts, against an industrial site in Japan. This is likely the last main battery engagement by any battleship in WWII.

dmccarty · May 9, 2016

Garandman said:
...
The USS Massachusetts was not the first battleship to fire main batteries in WWII. She was the first U.S. Battleship to fire her 16" guns, against the Vichy French Jean Bart in Casablanca harbor....

The latest issue of Naval History magazine has a photo of a US destroyer being shot at by the Jean Bart. The Bart's 15 inch guns produced a rather large splash. :shocked: Especially when compared to the ship she was trying to hit. Twas not going to take many 15 inch hits to make the destroyer cease to exist.

I think the last US battleship bombardment was against a steel plant in Japan. The pilots flying air cover thought it was a wasted effort since they could just as easily have bombed the plant instead of flying circles over ships attacking the plant. I think the air boys were correct from that perspective. Flip side is that the plant manager had a hard time getting workers to return after they had been on the receiving end of 16 inch shells.

Later,
Dan

2LaneCruzer · May 9, 2016

US Battleship Fires Away in Desert Storm.flv - YouTube

ArlyA · May 11, 2016

Nice to see people who actually know some history. In the video Lanecruzer posted was the USS Missouri or Wisconsin which used drones to watch and see where there rounds landed and of course make adjustments. Seems I recall some troops under fire from the ship surrendered to the drone..