Dafmeister wrote:n7axw wrote:
Up to the moment when those torpedo planes managed to put Bismark's rudder out of order making it impossible for her to steer. That slowed her up considerably.
Don
True, and that's the only reason even KG5 could catch her in the end, let alone
Rodney. However, in the Denmark Strait,
Bismark could have avoided action against any capital ship we had except for KG5,
Prince of Wales and the battlecruisers, simply by going to full power. She would thereby have avoided the shell hit she took from
Prince of Wales which cut the feeds from one of her forward fuel tanks, and could have disappeared into the Atlantic instead of having to turn toward the French coast where recon aircraft were able to pick her up again.
A raider which everyone knows the location of, because it's being followed by units of the RN isn't *that* much of a threat. Convoys will be routed around it as much as possible, and many convoys where escorted by old R and QE class battleships anyway. Sure, Bismarck is probably a match for any one of those but if it's got one of those in front and KGV/POW or a battlecruiser behind it then engaging seems like a high risk option. (Remember Scharnhorst and Gneisenau together retreated from HMS Renown and refused to close with a convoy escorted by HMS Malaya.)
Even if the convoy doesn't have a heavy escort, there's still not guarantee of success. HMS Jervis Bay and HMS Rawalpindi (particularly the latter) pressed the attack with what can only be described IMHO as "suicidal bravery" and arguable succeeded in their missions - since the convoys they where escorting largely escaped. See also HMS Glowworm.
There's also something I remember from an autobiography I read some of. The author was serving on some class of sloop, 3 of which and an "armed yacht" consisted of the escort for their convoy. Their orders if attacked by a large surface unit where :-
[1] Convoy to scatter in the opposite direction, whilst sloops stream battle ensigns.
[2] Sloops to approach on a course that made their silhouettes looks like destroyers (i.e. threaten a potential torpedo attack).
[3] Sloops to load semi-armour piercing shells and aim for turret bases and range fingers (i.e. mission kill the opponent).
[4] Armed yacht to continue signalling an RRR distress call, and then "attempt to delay the enemy as long as possible".
They apparently did start this routine when a unknown surface contact came over the horizon near east Africa. They never did learn what the contact was because as soon as it saw them, it retreated back over the horizon!
- lol missed that one...