Graf von Spee
Member
Re: Geheim! German battle damage in WWI
"Come on, men! It's not so bad! Why this is nothing, compared to what the poor lads on the Blucher had to go through. So, Three Cheers for Kaiser and the Blucher and back in the turret! "
:nuts:
Imagine being the officer to order the men back into the turret after a hole like that!Well, here's what NJM Campbells says about that hit. Page 138 of Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting:
At 1710, the starboard wing turret was hit by a third 15in shell at a range of c19,000yds. This struck the turret face to the right of the right gun and holed the 10in armour, although the shell burst in so doing, and the effect of the explosion was mostly outwards. The hole measured 14in x 10in with concentric cracks , as well as some spalling above the hole on the outside, and below it on the inside. The plate was apparently not displaced, but the whole turret, trained right aft, was violently shaken, and fragments of armour, a piece of the shell body, and part of the driving band entered the turret, striking the elevating gear of the right cradle carrier of the right gun. The right elevation and training mechanisms were wrecked and the right cradle carrier and trunnion damaged, but it was possible to move the right gun by coupling it to the other. Fragments of armour plate thrown sideways struck the casemate range-finder, and others which entered the turret, seriously wounded one man, the only casualty apart from one slightly burned. Large amounts of gas entered the turret, but the gun-house crew put on gas-masks and were ordered to leave the turret for about 3 minutes until the gas had dispersed. No inconvenience was experienced in the working-chamber.
The hole, therefore, was not big enough for the shell to have penetrated completely. Depending on which navy you were in, that might or might not be counted as a penetration--some navies only considered shells to have penetrated if they got completely through the armor intact, and would call this at best a partial penetration. Other navies considered a shell to have penetrated if it made a hole like this, even if the shell itself couldn't fit through the hole.
"Come on, men! It's not so bad! Why this is nothing, compared to what the poor lads on the Blucher had to go through. So, Three Cheers for Kaiser and the Blucher and back in the turret! "
:nuts:
