saber964 wrote:Fox2! wrote:Attritional warfare is all well and good until you find yourself the one being attrited. Like charging across No-Mans Land in the face of Maxim and Lewis machine guns, no nation can afford to build and man units whose sole purpose is to be destroyed for some incremental gain. Yes, destroyers are expendable to protect a capital ship, but (almost) no one made a habit of charging a battleship with destroyers Yes, Taffy 3, and the Polish destroyer (ORP Piorun) that charged Bismarck, while signaling "I am a Pole", but they are notable because that are exceptions.
Tatty 3 was a sacrifice to buy time for the escort carriers to escape. After the carriers launched anything with wings and loaded with what was available. They turned to head for rain squall to hide.
Which is why destroyer vs BB death rides are so memorable. A normal cruiser/destroyer torpedo attack is a high speed dash in, unleash torpedoes at some range, then a high speed dash out. Not continuing the advance until even the 20 and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns are in use. The CVEs, IIRC, were trying to protect not only themselves, but the transport force off of the invasion beaches, which would have been the real prize.