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Friday, March 27, 2015

The HMS Prince of Wales

New to me but I'm sure not to some here I just read an analysis on the death of this British Warship. State of art for the time, lost with one torpedo hit. 

World powers were painfully figuring out that what was the preferred projection of power on the seas was dated and prone to aircraft attack without air cover. General Billy Mitchel proved this long before this happened. I guess institutional inertia prevented everyone from figuring this out until grievous loss of life and capitol ships.

I read this today. "A Re-Analysis of the Tragic Loss of HMS Prince of Wales."  

A torpedo hit at 1144 hours was fatal. At 1210, she hoisted the "Out of Control" signal. 

If any of this interests you I suggest reading the investigation linked above.

   
 

2 comments:

  1. The one torpedo hit wasn't fatal in and of itself, but it did make the POW a sitting duck for the remaining attacking aircraft .

    Ironic, really, considering that her most famous opponent, the Bismark, was also immobilized by a single torpedo dropped from an aircraft, leading to her demise in the old-school fashion under 14 and 16 inch gun fire .

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  2. Well THAT was a time sink...LOL

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