re: Found: wreck of Yamato sister ship Musashi

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World war 2 is far and away more interesting to me.

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I think this is so for most because WW2 is in our recent past and the USA was involved in that naval war.

But the potential for decisive results in the Pacific in favor of the Japanese nation seemed to be almost nil, IMHO. Japan miscalculated.

On the other hand, in 1914, the British and German fleets were almost evenly matched. The German Navy had a decent chance of winning a battle and gaining naval superiority in the North Sea. Combine this with their chances for winning the ground war in France, 1914, and you have to conclude that Imperial Germany had a good chance to win the war.

Imperial Japan's chances to win the Pacific War of 1941 to 1945 were almost nil.

These are the reasons why I find WW1 history quite interesting, but I realize that I'm in the minority.

But, of course, WW2 naval history is extremely interesting and I hope that I've written nothing to suggest otherwise.

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They used dyes to color the water where a shell landed so that the spotters could know which ship fired that shell. A nifty idea when your fire control systems are all visual.

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Interesting. How would they be able to determine the color of the water at a 1000+ plus yards out? Also, if they used said dyes - would it be released at impact? There would have be a LOT of dye for that kind of thing - would it supposedly color the geyser or just the surrounding water? I seriously doubt the geyser itself could/would be colored... Its not like they aerial observers or the like.

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HMS Invincible exploded, over 1000 KIA

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Not the right name for the ship, obviously. Invincible was one of the two battlecruisers that destroyed the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at the Falklands.

Black Prince and Warrior were armored cruisers and not really capital ships. According to Wiki the Warrior did not explode and most of her crew survived when the ship was abandoned after the battle.

Badass optics, I suppose. And at rangee much more than 1000 yards. Battleships started engaging at ranges of about 20 miles.

The geysers were colored, I think.

Edit: I looked up the range of a Iowa Class Battleship's 16" guns. 23.4 nautical miles, which is 47,393 yards. With radar fire controls, the Iowas could engage at greater ranges than the Japanese, who were using visual fire control.

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Not the right name for the ship, obviously. Invincible was one of the two battlecruisers that destroyed the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at the Falklands.

Black Prince and Warrior were armored cruisers and not really capital ships. According to Wiki the Warrior did not explode and most of her crew survived when the ship was abandoned after the battle.

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Yes, it was the AC Defence that exploded, not the Warrior. I got the two mixed up. Loss of life was the same as I listed.

Armored Cruisers were arguably not quite capital ships in 1916. ACs were obsolete by then.

In 1914, The German East Asia Squadron based in China featured two ACs as their largest ships, so, for that fleet, I suppose that the AC might be called a capital ship. The two German ACs were Scharnhorst, and Gneisenau with superbly trained crews, but, they were no match for British Battlecruisers. AC main guns were much smaller than the Battlecruiser guns.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Not the right name for the ship, obviously". HMS Invincible was the name of one of the British battlecruisers that exploded at Jutland after being hit by German naval gunfire.

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The geysers were colored, I think.

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Great point.

That must be it -- the shell geysers were colored. What a great idea. Amazing that nobody thought of it during the First World War.

More than two ships firing at the same target was a real problem back then. If you could not identify your fall of shot, you could not adjust your aim and you'd continue to miss. If three or more fire at the same target, you have no way to adjust your shot without using dye.

That's why Crossing the T was not as decisive during the Age of the Battleship as it was during the Wooden Ship Age -- because the best way to bring accurate fire was to have each ship engage only one opposing target so you could easily adjust your aim.

As stated before, Battleship combat ranges reached very near the distance to the horizon.

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Imperial Japan's chances to win the Pacific War of 1941 to 1945 were almost nil.

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You're only saying this because of hindsight. The Japanese controlled the Pacific for quite a while, and it was not an easy struggle, and certainly not a fait accompli, for them to be defeated.

Wasn't the Japanese war plan based on destroying the U.S. aircraft carriers at Pearl Harbor and then trying to swiftly negotiate a peace plan? They knew they couldn't defeat the US in a protracted engagement - too much industrial capacity, too many resources and too much manpower.

I believe Arizona was the only battleship that was a total loss at Pearl Harbor. All, or most, of the others were refloated, repaired and put back in action. The same probably would have happened with aircraft carriers. Japan had no hope of winning a long war with the U.S. (and the British, Dutch, Australians, et al).

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I assume he was referring to the name being "Invincible" and then the ship exploding.

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Oh, yes, of course!

You are correct. Utah is still on the bottom of Pearl Harbor.