mpc@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Morgan Conrad) (11/06/90)
From: biosys!mpc@cad.Berkeley.EDU (Morgan Conrad) Since there has recently been some discussion about the final fates of American battleships, I went back through Breyer to compile a list of the fates of all post-Dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers sunk during wartime. For some, especially French ships, it is hard to define "sunk". For this list, that is when they are so badly (IMHO) damaged that they were not capable of sailing effectively for the rest of that war. This list is not guaranteed to be perfectly correct. It is organized by country, then (roughly) by date of commission. Ship Date Where Why, Notes U.K. Invincible 31 May 16 Jutland Lutzow(a) Vanguard 9 Jul 17 Scapa Flow internal explosion Indefatigable 31 May 16 Jutland von der Tann(a) Queen Mary 31 May 16 Jutland Derfflinger & Seydlitz(a) Audacious 27 Oct 14 N. Irish coast mined Centurion 9 Jun 44 Normandy used as breakwater(b) Iron Duke 17 Oct 39 Scapa Flow bombed in harbor(b) Barham 25 Nov 41 Egypt coast torpedoed by U 331 Royal Oak 14 Oct 39 Scapa Flow torpedoed by U 47 Repulse 10 Dec 41 off Kuantan Japanese air strike Courageous 17 Sep 39 W of Ireland torpedoed by U 29(c) Glorious 8 Jun 40 off Norway Scharnhorst & Gneisenau(c) Hood 24 May 41 S of Greenland Bismark & Prinz Eugen Prince of Wales 10 Dec 41 off Kuantan Japanese air strike U.S.A. Utah 7 Dec 41 Pearl Harbor Japanese air strike Oklahoma 7 Dec 41 Pearl Harbor Japanese air strike Arizona 7 Dec 41 Pearl Harbor Japanese air strike Lexington 8 May 42 Coral Sea Japanese air strike(d) Germany(e) Lutzow 31 May 16 Jutland Scharnhorst 26 Dec 43 N. Cape HMS Duke of York et. al. Gneisenau 27 Mar 45 Gotenhafen bombs, scuttled(f) Bismark 27 May 41 Bay of Biscay most of the Royal Navy :-) Tirpitz 12 Nov 44 Trosmo RAF bombs Spain Alfonso XIII 30 Apr 37 Santander mined Japan Kongo 21 Nov 44 NW Formosa torpedoed by USS Sealion Hiei 13 Nov 42 Guadalcanal cruiser shells, torps Haruna 19 Mar 45 Kure Harbor bombed Kirishima 15 Nov 42 Savo I USS Washington Fuso 25 Oct 44 Suriago Strait USS Pennsylvania et. al. Yamashiro 25 Oct 44 Suriago Strait USS Pennsylvania et. al. Hyuga 28 Jul 45 Kure Harbor bombed Ise 28 Jul 45 Kure Harbor bombed Mutsu 8 Jun 43 Kure Harbor internal explosion Kaga 5 Jun 42 Midway US air strike Akagi 6 Jun 42 Midway US air strike Yamato 7 Apr 45 Okinawa US air strike Mushashi 24 Oct 44 Luzon US air strike Shinano 29 Nov 44 Cape Muroto torpedoed by USS Archerfish(e) Italy Conte de Cavour 12 Nov 40 Taranto UK air strike Leon. da Vinci 2 Aug 16 Taranto internal explosion Roma 9 Sep 43 La Spezia German glider bomb Soviet Union Petropavlovsk 23 Sep 41 Kronstadt German air strike(g) Imp. Maria 20 Oct 16 Sevastapol internal explosion Ekaterina II 16 Jun 18 Novorossijsk torpedoed by Kertch Austria-Hungary Viribus Unitas 1 Nov 18 Pola Italian frogmen(h) Szent Istvan 11 Jul 18 S. Adriatic torpedoed by MAS 15 France Courbet 17 Aug 44 Ouistreham German minisub(b) Jean Bart/Ocean 27 Nov 42 Toulon scuttled(b) Provence 3 Jul 40 Mers el Kebir HMS Hood et. al.(i) Bretagne 3 Jul 40 Mers el Kebir HMS Hood et. al. Dunkerque 3 Jul 40 Mers el Kebir HMS Hood, Ark Royal et. al.(i) Strassbourg 27 Nov 42 Toulon scuttled Jean Bart 8 Nov 42 Casablanca USS Massachusetts(j) (a) The real reason these sunk is they were British battlecruisers :-) (b) These ships were not active battle line quality when sunk. (c) These were conversions from unreal capital ships. :-) (d) These were conversions from real capital ships. (e) The following ships were scuttled at Scapa Flow 21 June 1919: von der Tann, Moltke, Seydlitz, Kaiser, Friedrich der Grosse, Kaiserin, Prinzregent Leitpold, Konig Albert, Konig, Grosser Kurfurst, Markgraf, Kronprinz, Derfflinger, Hindenburg, Bayern. (f) Arguably, this ship "sunk" during the "Channel Dash", since it was never really in fighting shape afterwards. (g) The main battery continued to provide ground support fire. (h) This ship actually belonged to the new country of Yugoslavia, for one day (i) These ships did make it to Toulon, to be scuttled 27 Nov 1942. (j) By my standards, this ship almost started the battle "sunk". In any case, it was raised and recommissioned after the war. Morgan Conrad "Always keep your bowler on in times of stress mpc@apldbio.com and beware the diabolical Masterminds."
welty@lewis.crd.ge.com (richard welty) (11/07/90)
From: welty@lewis.crd.ge.com (richard welty)
a couple of notes on Morgan's list
In article <1990Nov6.042753.29732@cbnews.att.com>, Morgan Conrad writes:
*U.S.A.
* Utah 7 Dec 41 Pearl Harbor Japanese air strike
utah was no longer a BB at this time, but a target ship. probably
should have been labeled a `conversion' in this list.
*Japan
* Hiei 13 Nov 42 Guadalcanal cruiser shells, torps
i'm not sure that there were any effective torpedoe hits in this
battle (the first night of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal)
* Kirishima 15 Nov 42 Savo I USS Washington
now, is this intended as a battle name or as a location? Kirishima
was sunk near Savo Island, but not in `The Battle Of Savo Island',
but rather on the last night of the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.
see Hammel, _Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea_ for a detailed account
of the sinkings of Hiei and Kirishima.
* Kaga 5 Jun 42 Midway US air strike
* Akagi 6 Jun 42 Midway US air strike
these were both carrier conversions from capital ships, and so
should have been marked with (c) or (d) (i'm not sure which.)
* Shinano 29 Nov 44 Cape Muroto torpedoed by USS Archerfish(e)
this should have been note (d), not (e) -- Shinano was to have been
the third japanese super battleship, but was converted to a carrier
on the ways after the losses at Midway.
richard
--
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Allan Bourdius <ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu> (11/07/90)
From: Allan Bourdius <ab3o+@andrew.cmu.edu> >U.S.A. > Lexington 8 May 42 Coral Sea Japanese air strike(d) The USS Lexington (CV-2) was an *aircraft carrier* not a battleship! Allan [mod.note: Correct; but both Lexington and Saratoga were initially laid down as battlecruisers, and coverted to carriers while under construction in keeping with the Washington Naval Treaty. - Bill ]