"USS North Carolina vs Bismarck" Topic

"Throughout naval warfare there has been the "what" if question. What would have happened if two supposedly evenly matched warships fought a duel? Always we favor our own. But during World War Two when it was expected to have epic battleship battles there were very few, leaving us with many questions, few answers and much speculation. Most "what if" questions deal with the IJN Yamato versus the USS Iowa. That's for someone else to tackle. This paper will explore the strengths and weaknesses of the Bismarck and its contemporaries – those battleships launched between 1939 and 1941. All of these ships should be similar in capabilities. This is not the usual one paragraph comparison but a more in-depth study…"
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Amicalement
Armand

A friend and I were just talking about this last night, though in the context of USS Washington. Here is what we came up with:

Bismarck advantages:
Thicker armor and better subdivision
Faster
Better optics
Heavier secondary armament in (lightly) armored gunhouses
Slightly faster (but not really enough to matter) rate of fire for main armament

North Carolina Advantages:
Much heavier main armament (see below)
Very rapid fire secondary armament (remember, you do not have to penetrate armor to do damage topside – as Kirishima learned)
Better radar fire control
Better protection for fire control
Much more reliable machinery
Cruising range more than twice Bismarck's (17,500 nmi vs 8525 nmi), meaning North Carolina can steam at speed a lot longer than can Bismarck

Bismarck's 15" threw an 1800lb AP shell at about 2700 ft per second out to about 22 miles. That's a broadside weight of 14,400 lbs.

North Carolina's 16" threw a whopping 2700 lb shell at about 2300 ft per second out to about 23 miles. That is a broadside weight of 24,300 lbs. I give this to be a pretty serious advantage, considering Rodney worked Bismarck over pretty good with her 2050 lb 16" shells.

Bismarck could deliver (at maximum ROF) 48 100lb secondary shells, or 4800lbs of secondary armament per minute.

North Carolina could deliver (at maximum ROF) 150 55lb secondary shells, or 8250lbs of secondary armament per minute.

The issue then really is can Bismarck get a shell or two into North Carolina's vitals before those 2700 pounders level everything above Bismarck's armor belt.

My money would be on North Carolina.

What this misses is that the Bismarck has an armor scheme built to take fairly close-range hits that come in at a shallow angle. The armor is basically a big armored box surrounding the vital stuff. Luckily for her reputation, she didn't take any long-range plunging hits, just a lot of short-range hits (because the British were short of fuel and wanted to make it a short and sure-thing fight).

In contrast, the North Carolina class' armor is designed against long-range plunging fire. This had been standard on US BBs since the Oklahoma class. So in a long-range gunnery fight a North Carolina will have a significant advantage over a Bismarck class.

My bet would be on the NC, but both would likely take a pounding, before the Bismarck slipped beneath the waves.

Many thanks!.

Amicalement
Armand

The Bismark may have had better optics, but the US stable-vertical FCS was THE best in the world, bar none.

And nobody, not even a Yamato, likes catching flying Volkswagens (the 2700lb APC shells).

If the NC could get a couple early plunging hits that'd be game over for the Bismark.

If it turned into a close-range slugging match with secondaries in range, the NC would take a beating but still manage to sink the Bismark (or Tirpitz)

Most of the rare battleship-vs-battleship engagements seemed to be decided by a few lucky hits early on.