Best Battleship of WW2

The Bismark wasn't that spectacular when it comes down to it, yes it worried the R.N. and destroyed the Hood but that was more due to mistakes on the R.N. part then abject supiriority on the part of the Bismark. Until the final battle the Bismark did not face one fully prepared battleship(the prince of whales was just out of port, civilians still on board working on fine turning the systems, the crew was very unfamiliar with the ship). The Royal Navy had ships that had better firepower and armour, the main weakness in their ships was speed, especially for the otherwise very potent Nelson class. For the best all around ship taking into consideration when it was built, I'd say Queen E class. Started contruction during WWI, armed with the excellent british 15" guns(very well made gun had better preformence then mere caliber would indicate) later upgrades gave it better AA defence, only one was lost with service of all 5 through the entire war.

never heard of lock wood
and frankly the idea of 3 subs going on thier own wi out comand from higher ups is at least a bit risky
i did not know these wolf pack tactics where used by americans
stupid history teacher!

Originally posted by devilwasp
never heard of lock wood
and frankly the idea of 3 subs going on thier own wi out comand from higher ups is at least a bit risky
i did not know these wolf pack tactics where used by americans
stupid history teacher!

Just read up on how Lockwood took Doenitz's idea and used it to just about shut down the Japanese ability to import goods. Japan was worse off then the English had ever been by the beginning of '45.

Japan was worse off then the English had ever been by the beginning of '45.

stop calling us damm english we are the UK get it !
4 countries mate! 4!

"stop calling us damm english we are the UK get it !
4 countries mate! 4!"

England is 98% of the UK! Scottland, Wales and Northern Ireland are more a problem for England than a benefit! Why do you think they are so keen on devolution! England is also better known, this is why people forget those other countries and just say England!


I cant wait to see a response from one of the other areas of the uk!

Originally posted by ppp
"stop calling us damm english we are the UK get it !
4 countries mate! 4!"

England is 98% of the UK! Scottland, Wales and Northern Ireland are more a problem for England than a benefit! Why do you think they are so keen on devolution! England is also better known, this is why people forget those other countries and just say England!


I cant wait to see a response from one of the other areas of the uk!

England isnt 98% of the UK. Dont only americans call the UK England?

First off the Bismark was a battlecruiser not a battleship, it pales next to Iowa or Yamato class battleships. Second the day of the battlesship ended in Jutland WWII and beyond the carrier ruled the sea. Tirptiz and Bismark fell to AIRPOWER!

[Edited on 13-5-2004 by Apollyon]

Originally posted by ppp
"stop calling us damm english we are the UK get it !
4 countries mate! 4!"

England is 98% of the UK! Scottland, Wales and Northern Ireland are more a problem for England than a benefit! Why do you think they are so keen on devolution! England is also better known, this is why people forget those other countries and just say England!


I cant wait to see a response from one of the other areas of the uk!

Are you completley brain dead.. have you ever even looked at a map of the uk
Im from wales and i can tell u this much wales N.Ireland and scotland take up more than 2% of the total area

Originally posted by Amur_Tiger
The Bismark wasn't that spectacular when it comes down to it, yes it worried the R.N. and destroyed the Hood but that was more due to mistakes on the R.N. part then abject supiriority on the part of the Bismark. Until the final battle the Bismark did not face one fully prepared battleship(the prince of whales was just out of port, civilians still on board working on fine turning the systems, the crew was very unfamiliar with the ship). The Royal Navy had ships that had better firepower and armour, the main weakness in their ships was speed, especially for the otherwise very potent Nelson class. For the best all around ship taking into consideration when it was built, I'd say Queen E class. Started contruction during WWI, armed with the excellent british 15" guns(very well made gun had better preformence then mere caliber would indicate) later upgrades gave it better AA defence, only one was lost with service of all 5 through the entire war.

So it only 'sunk' one ship but it badly dammaged HMS Prince of Wales and there was overwhelming force used against it.
There arent and will continue to be very few ships who can 'take on' and survive against 3 ships of similar size for the ammount of time the Bismark did

Making the assumption that this post intends BB vs. BB involving no Aircraft carriers, escorts or submarine's. In judging the best I would have to say its a toss up between the Iowa class and the Yamato class.

Pro's of the Iowa are good fire control radar and computer (rudimentary but effective) directed main 16" armament that worked night or day and in most weather conditions.

The armor inch for inch was more effective than other navys ships, however there are doubts about its ability to absorb the 18.1" then unknown to the U.S. navy. Of interest is the fact the original Iowa design called for 18" mains.

Damage control equipment and crew training in U.S. navy was far superior to any other in this time period making it difficult to sink U.S. capitol ships in the later half of WW II.


Pro's of the Yamato are thickest armor of any ship of its time. Very good visual direction of its main gun fire control.
A huge amount of large calibre secondary armament able to keep up a withering fire on it adversary.

The citidel internal armor arrangement meant the ability to take tremendous damage from BB vs. BB engagements.

Keep in mind that the Imperial Navy in desperation sent both ships of this class out on one way suicide missions without air support or proper escort. Even then it took multiple raids by hundreds of naval aircraft and hit after hit from submarine launched torpedos to sink these ships when caught on their own.

Imagine a two handed broadsword against a finely made traditional sword.

Brute force vs. Finesse, Long range over the horizon gunnery vs. heavyweight and massive firepower closer in.

Its hard for me to say which one would prevail in a one on one fight - probably come down to agressiveness shown by either captain.

I can see your point but i think it would come down to the crews operating them more than the captains aggressiveness

The IJN Yamato was probably the mightiest battleship. It is certainly the most impressive: 65000 tones, 9 x 18" guns, 3000 men, 265 m long, 4 planes.

I am also font of it for 3 reasons:

1) the Pagoda-style bridge tower

2) its tragic end

3) it give birth to Space Battleship Yamato, the best story ever written.

Bismark and the Iowa class. nough said

Originally posted by ppp
"stop calling us damm english we are the UK get it !
4 countries mate! 4!"

England is 98% of the UK! Scottland, Wales and Northern Ireland are more a problem for England than a benefit! Why do you think they are so keen on devolution! England is also better known, this is why people forget those other countries and just say England!


I cant wait to see a response from one of the other areas of the uk!

exscuse me we invented everythig in england today hell we supply u with 80% of ur water,60% of your special forces
and whered u get 98% thats a load of bull and the only reason ur so well known is because u stole the glory and blame everything on us
i mean come on oh we cant have our own country but its all right for england to rape ,pillage,murder and terorise scotland and ireland
also u damm english are useless the last time i was at bisely i almost got shot by half ur cadets !
also the national anthem? "oh with a mighty rush to crush rebelios scots!" oh aye ? i dont see no rushing to glasgow or edinburgh to crush us
and if we are so much of a problem y do u not want us to leave the UK i remember tony blair almost pleading to the snp's to not leave britain
also was there any need to open fire on civies in ireland ?NO
anyway if ur soo great then y is our top sub base up in the north of scotland? huh?

So it only 'sunk' one ship but it badly dammaged HMS Prince of Wales and there was overwhelming force used against it.
There arent and will continue to be very few ships who can 'take on' and survive against 3 ships of similar size for the ammount of time the Bismark did

I think you're missing my point, the Bismark never did take on proper Battleships, until the end and is certainly was armoured like a battleship, it was just fast, like the Iowa. The Hood was a battle-cruiser so it never should be sent vs. a battleship due to armour(look what happened). Also the Prince of Wales was not ready for combat so couldn't land many hits on the Bismark, its own resilience was proven in the fact that it took the Bismarks fire without real difficulty. The next time it met up with a battleship it was badly injured and badly outnumbered. I don't think the combat record of the Bismark should be used to judge it, it's too limited and none of the fights are good match-ups.

Bismarck: most famous
Yamato: mightiest
Iowa: has balance at a high level, the best.

[Edited on 24-5-2004 by bingo]

i think u guys misjudged Bismarck, does anyone know how was it sunk?? was it sunk by the RN???
the answer is: NO!!!
the Germans scuttled the ship themselves 'cause they dont want it to be captured. plus, dont forget churchill nearly send the entire royal navy to sink Bismarck

"In pursuing the Bismarck the British employed eight battleships and battle cruisers, two aircraft carriers, 11 cruisers, 21 destroyers, and six submarines. The Bismarck was finally sunk on May 27, 1941, a week after it was first sighted by the British, but not before it sank the English battleship Hood � then one of the largest warships afloat � with a salvo from its guns. One of the German shells exploded in the Hood's magazine, and the entire ship vanished from sight in less than two minutes."
www.occultopedia.com/b/bismarck.htm
btw, i am a chinese from mainland china, i dont prejudice either

[edit on 26-9-2004 by blitzkrieg]

actually that wasnt the whole RN if you look up we had a big navy.

Originally posted by blitzkrieg
i think u guys misjudged Bismarck, does anyone know how was it sunk?? was it sunk by the RN???
the answer is: NO!!!
the Germans scuttled the ship themselves 'cause they dont want it to be captured. plus, dont forget churchill nearly send the entire royal navy to sink Bismarck

"In pursuing the Bismarck the British employed eight battleships and battle cruisers, two aircraft carriers, 11 cruisers, 21 destroyers, and six submarines. The Bismarck was finally sunk on May 27, 1941, a week after it was first sighted by the British, but not before it sank the English battleship Hood � then one of the largest warships afloat � with a salvo from its guns. One of the German shells exploded in the Hood's magazine, and the entire ship vanished from sight in less than two minutes."
www.occultopedia.com/b/bismarck.htm
btw, i am a chinese from mainland china, i dont prejudice either

[edit on 26-9-2004 by blitzkrieg]

The Germany WWII battleship that scuttled itself was the Scharnhorst after being forced to leave Montevideo where it took refuge after the Battle of the River Plate. The Captain believed she was facing overwhelming odds so he scuttled to save his crew.

As regards the Bismark it was the Home Fleet that was sent after the Bismark not the whole navy by any stretch.

The Bismark only ever sunk one ship HMS Hood a WWI battlecruiser (Same guns as a Battlehip, but only thin armour sacrificed for increased speed)Because of the British numerical superiority in battleships, Hitler ordered the Kriegsmarine to target allied merchant shipping. Bismarck set off on this mission on her maiden voyage, leaving port on 18 May 1941. Three days later, she was spotted by Allied reconnaissance while refueling in a Norwegian fjord and was soon acquired by the patroling British cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk.

On 24 May 1941, accompanied by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, she was engaged in battle by the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and the newly commissioned battleship HMS Prince of Wales, which was still being worked up (Sea trial with new crew unfamilar with the guns etc). It is believed that one of Bismarck's shells penetrated the relatively thin deck armor of Hood and struck a powder magazine.

The result of the battle with Hood showed, most seriously, the effect of deploying a battlecruiser against a battleship, a role for which it was never designed.

Prince of Wales, half its guns out of action, escaped under a smokescreen, but not before striking the Bismarck three times, one hit causing water to be introduced into fuel storage. Bismarck headed for France and repairs, but continued to be shadowed by Norfolk and Suffolk and Prince of Wales, but eventually broke away and Prinz Eugen detached.

The British continued to shadow with an increasing number of ships, maintaining contact with radar. An attack was made by swordfish biplane torpedo planes from aircraft carrier HMS Victorious during the early evening of 24 May. The Bismarck sustained one hit. In subsequent maneuvering, it was able to break contact, though its crew was not aware of this, as they could detect British radar but did not know that the return signals were too weak. Bismarck was relocated, owing partially to her commander, Ernst Lindemann, foolishly transmitting a half-hour radio message. On 26 May, at dusk, she was attacked by British Swordfish torpedo planes from the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal. One torpedo hit jammed her rudder and steering gear, and she was rendered unmanoeuvrable. Throughout the following night she was the target of incessant attacks by the destroyers Cossack, Maori, Piorun (Polish), Sikh, Zulu led by captain Vian. On the early morning of 27 May 1941 she was engaged in an eighty-eight minute battle with HMS King George V, HMS Rodney, HMS Norfolk, and HMS Dorsetshire. After being struck by in excess of 300 shells and five or six torpedo hits she finally sank at 10:40 AM. Only 115 of 2,206 sailors survived.


I am surprise at the ignorance display by some of the posts on this thread.

The best Battleship was probaly the Iowa's as the combination of their high speed thickness or armour, excellent 16in gun used with the by the best fire control 'computer' with the radar meant it was the best complete package.