military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) (03/22/91)
From: military@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) Saturday, 22 March, 1941 The German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst return to Brest following their Atlantic sortie, "Operation Berlin." They have sunk 22 ships grossing 116,000 tons. Britain grants passage through its blockade to two American ships carrying Red Cross flour for emergency rations to Vichy France. The Grand Coulee Dam becomes operational in the United States. Completed 2 years ahead of schedule, it is the largest electrical source in the world. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Bill Thacker military@att.att.com Send submissions for "50 Years Ago" to military-request@att.att.com "This is only the start." - German Navy statement on British shipping losses
cew@ISI.EDU (Craig E. Ward) (03/23/91)
From: cew@ISI.EDU (Craig E. Ward) In article <1991Mar22.045134.24861@cbnews.att.com> you write: > >The German battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst... ^^^^^^^^^^^ I've noticed this a couple of times. Everything I've read previous to your postings has classed these ships as "cruisers" or "battlecruisers." The explanation given was that these ships lacked sufficient top armor (or displacement) to realistically compete with RN ships like the King George V or USN ships like the Iowa. Only the Bismark are Tripitz have been referred to as "battleships." Have naval historians changed their minds? One of the reasons given for why the German navy never gave the RN a good fight for the seas was that Germany lost too many cruisers in the Norway campaign. -- Craig E. Ward <cew@venera.isi.edu> Slogan: "nemo me impune lacessit" USPS: USC/Information Sciences Institute 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 1200 Marina del Rey, CA 90292