Saturday, November 22, 2008

Forum :: Equipment :: Battleship Discussion

Page 2 of 2 Battleship Discussion
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Nimrod1001 Joined: 04 February 2005 Posts in this thread: 5	Posted on 01 September 2005 11:52 PM Once again, I would like access to an "Edit" function. Sorry for everyone who had to read that :( Post Reply

Aquarius1001 Joined: 21 August 2005 Posts in this thread: 5	Posted on 02 September 2005 1:24 PM here is a web site that goes in to detail about the iowas armor layout. http://www.battleship.org/html/Articles/IowaClass/Armor.htm iowa's armor may have only protected 70% of the hull i only had a basic layout of the iowa's armor so i had guess. you will see on the website that iowa had a good armor layout and had a fare amount of armor to boot. it will also show you why on my super iowa i want to put maybe 3 to 4 inches of composite or tank armor like the M1 main battletank on the bottom of the ship and streghten the keel a little bit. Post Reply
Scamp1002 Joined: 25 October 2005 Posts in this thread: 2	Posted on 25 October 2005 2:18 PM I have a model of the Yamato that I built in 1973 that, even then, cost around $130.00. It is over four feet in length, and is EXTREMELY detailed. The question I have is, in regards to RADAR, my model has large rectangular radar antennae on top of the main turret rangefinder which is located on the very top of the superstructure. This rangefinder rotates with the 18" guns as they rotate. So were these guns radar guided or not? Another thing, all of the availlable photos of the Yamato do not show these radar screens at all! No matter how closely you look, they simply ain't there. Does anybody know if they really were there, or were they perhaps removed later on? It's strange to me that these antennas do not appear in ANY photographs! Any ideas? Mike C. Post Reply
Scamp1002 Joined: 25 October 2005 Posts in this thread: 2	Posted on 25 October 2005 2:20 PM I have a model of the Yamato that I built in 1973 that, even then, cost around $130.00. It is over four feet in length, and is EXTREMELY detailed. The question I have is, in regards to RADAR, my model has large rectangular radar antennae on top of the main turret rangefinder which is located on the very top of the superstructure. This rangefinder rotates with the 18" guns as they rotate. So were these guns radar guided or not? Another thing, all of the availlable photos of the Yamato do not show these radar screens at all! No matter how closely you look, they simply ain't there. Does anybody know if they really were there, or were they perhaps removed later on? It's strange to me that these antennas do not appear in ANY photographs! Any ideas? Mike C. Post Reply
Golf1001 Joined: 16 November 2005 Posts in this thread: 1	Posted on 16 November 2005 6:33 PM Yes. The Yamato from 1943 on was equipped with several radar systems. Because most of the close up photos of her date from early in the war the later sets are not visable...however, a very good photo of the same sets on the 15-meter rangefinder towers are available for her sister Musashi. The Yamato by February 1944 was equipped with the following systems (to my knowledge, she may have had more) Two Type 21, Mod 3 surface and air search radar. One mounted on either side of the 15 meter rangefinder. (the ones that rotate with the RF) Two Type 22, Mod 4 Surface search and gunnery radars (10cm at 1 Kw). One mounted on either side of the main control tower. (little horns) Two Type 13 air search sets (mounted on either side of her radio-spreader mast aft of the main funnel) Multiple E27 passive radar detection systems (copied German FuMB 1 Metox R.600) Her radar assisted (assisted, not controlled) the finest optical fire control system mounted afloat in WW2, which also had the best night fighting sets. She had both a special analogue computer and electronic firing delay between guns to lesson dispertion and tighten her salvo speads. The whole strategy was to land a tight, massive impact of Type 91 shells just shy of the waterline, to drive the shells through the water and deep into the hull. These shells were maximized for long water trajectories. At Samar her shells ripped through the Jeep carriers without exploding...had they struck heavy armor the impact would have been very severe...either penetration and detonation...or shell break up...3219 pounds of steel chunks tearing through the ship. Although I agree that the Iowa class is a more advanced ship...any type 91 strikes between the bridge and turret one...given the fine hull line...make me a little nervous! The insensitive Type 91 fuse may have been just about best WW2 shell to really penetrate the Iowa's belt armor and hit vitals. Halsey was right, take her with aircraft! Important point: To achieve high results the Japanese systems must integrate through a large, very sharp, rested and well trained fire-control crew. She lacked RPC and other automated functions...so errors in the data chain could be a problem if not checked. Yamato fired by radar assist at Samar at over 20km with great accuracy, coming on target very fast with very tight salvo spreads, confirmed by her spotting aircraft...even though she was only firing 3 gun salvos from the forward turrets. She was forced to break fire because of having to evade a torpedo spread. Although Japanese radar does not compare well with Allied sets of the same period, which were capable of full blindfire without optics, she was not blind either by any measure. The Yamato fired on aircraft and surface targets by radar, and almost even fired on surfaced submarines at night! She was always aware she was being tracked by Allied radar equipped ships and aircraft. Japanese radar was reliable and durable, withstood shock well...mostly because it was cruder, lower power and lacked as many sensitive advanced parts that superior Allied radar had. It is wrong to assume that Japan did not have radar at the start of WW2, several ships had test radars afloat in 1941. Japan was just behind the curve. Japan had dozens of effective (but inferior to Allied) radars, and produced them by the thousands. I hope that helps! Post Reply
Scalpel1004 Joined: 16 August 2006 Posts in this thread: 1	Posted on 16 August 2006 12:48 PM Hello All, Im a new member and was just searching the forums when I came across the "Battleships" a favorite topic of my own. Just wanted to introduce myself and say hi. Post Reply
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