Re: history channel:dogfights.


"WaltBJ" <waltbj01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1169955836.871671.252450@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
DD hull plating back in WW2 was usually about 1/2 inch (or less!) mild
steel. 50 AP will penetrate that. Since wing guns were boresighted to
converge at some range depending upon HHQ direction modified by local
tastes, at the convergence range the concentration of bullets could do
some real damage. The strafing also raised havoc with the AA crews who
generally had zero armor, and on IJN cruiser-sized warships and up
were generally densely concentrated in the center of the ships because
of main gun blast damage. The Japanese Navy paid more atttention to
this than the USN. Compare Yamato aaginst Iowa for this siting of the
flak guns. "A Glorious Way to Die", about the last sortie of the
Yamoto, discusses this.
Walt BJ


The USN realized that they never fired the main battery and AA at the same
time. if the main battery was to fire they just had the AA gunners move
away. this allowed the USN to pack many more AA guns onto a ship.


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