A question for battleship experts

Thanks Mike! I never saw that photo before. And it's great to find a photo of her firing her main battery. I didn't really know what a muzzle flash/ fireball would look like coming from her, so I based the one I am painting off an Iowa's. Don't know how accurate that would be either.

 

Hint for other newbee posters.

This was as about as far and away from... and as far as possible from a "laughable post" as you could get.
In fact, it has turned into a very interesting and very, very educational thread. Thank you ULITHI;542335

 

Good Lord I can see why it was easy for the Navy fly boys to sink the "Hotel Yamato". The dang thing is so big it would be like bombing Long Island!!!! It probably generated it's own gravitational pull as well....

 

Which was bigger, the Yamato or the proposed Montanna's?

 

I should have known you were a connoisseur of fine art. King of the velvet paintings, do you have the dogs playing poker one?

 

Patron Saint maybe, there is only one King.

 

I don't believe that cable mentioned could be anything other than an antenna of some description - if it was a situation of rigging the ship overall for harbour it would be one of the first things taken down on leaving port. As an antenna - unless it's the only one or something really special - it would be taken down if there was time. If not it had a ceramic insulator at both ends that acted in emergencies as a 'shear pin' and the wire complete would normally be tied by a piece of non-conducting line in the middle and at a couple of places along it's length so it would blast free but not be lost. The design of ships like Yamato with the over long bow-bridge distance meant it was ideal for HF transmission antenna lengths for the distances and frequencies the Pacific needed.

As to firing directly forrard or not - I believe I read somewhere that only 1 gun at a time could be fired if firing directly forrard but not sure which ship that was for - IIRC was because the recoil could break the drive shafts/gearboxes if the ship was steaming forward when too many guns fired. Makes sense but can't find confirmation, sorry.

 

Would expect the most solid fastening to be such it would never get far enough aft for a screw foul even if gone all but awol - presumably if aft end of cable behind the guns that has good chance of staying attached if done properly whatever happens. - after all they didn't take down guardrails and the like before firing?

 

just thinking distance front of bridge to bow/ front of bridge to screw - even if entire cable survived so long as was attached somewhere would probably be ok - if detached completely then sure could foul a screw although would be bad luck - what about the gun sights? - would they be bothered by a cable in the way at all?

 

I guess warships had to be very careful indeed with keeping their props clean.

If I remember correctly, either Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, or Prinz Eugen got one of there screws tangled in sub netting when they were trying to break out of Brest.

 

I once saw a yacht full of Germans manage (while backing into a lifting dock) to suck a mooring line/chain up their screw shaft until it snapped the P-Bracket and then it pushed the shaft seal and a few square inches of hull up towards the gearbox. Does a lot of damage - I had work for nearly a month on that

 

Here is a site that should add to the confusion:

Ship Models - Model Reviews - Japanese Models - IJN Yamato - Bill Waldorf

A lot of lines aloft. My guess is that they just didn't shoot dead ahead or dead a stern.

 

I think we may have a challenge for 'Mythbusters' - can you shoot a big shell past a cable without it snapping?