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"4. The Battle of Tsushima was the last time ships lined up and attacked each other with their guns in a blaze of glory." Technically, I believe that honor bel

"4. The Battle of Tsushima was the last time ships lined up and attacked each other with their guns in a blaze of glory." Technically, I believe that honor belongs to the Battle of Surigao Strait in 1944. (Darn you, Halsey!)

dragontamer 5y ago
Oh, when I say "line up", I literally mean, "line up". Here's the Russian view of the battle: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Tsushima_27_May_1905.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Tsushima... Here's the Japanese view of the battle: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Battle_of_Tsushima_%28Chart_1-3%29_J.PNG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Battle_o... And later: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Battle_of_Tsushima_%28Chart_7-9%29_J.PNG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Battle_o... It seems insane, but for hundreds of years, "lining up" all your ships into neat little columns and firing all together was one of the main strategies. It was largely assumed that enemies would also try to do this, so you end up with big ships just broad-siding each other up-and-down the "line of battle". I have to imagine that radio-communications obsoleted the practice. But pre-radio, it probably made more sense to send signals to each other up-and-down the line and coordinate the fleet. Tsushima was one of those awkward transition points from semaphore flags into radio communications.
- nostrademons 5y ago
  Oldendorf's U.S. fleet at Surigao Strait also did this: https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=12162 https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=12162 Surigao Strait is actually very similar to Tsushima in that in both cases the victorious forces "Crossed the T" of the attacking force and inflicted heavy casualties. Actually had nothing to do with communications; battle lines are advantageous so that your force can bring all of its guns to bear on the enemy without worrying about hitting friendly forces (as happened disastrously in the 1st naval battle of Guadalcanal). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_T https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_T

dragontamer 5y ago

Oh, when I say "line up", I literally mean, "line up". Here's the Russian view of the battle: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Tsushima_27_May_1905.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Tsushima... Here's the Japanese view of the battle: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Battle_of_Tsushima_%28Chart_1-3%29_J.PNG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Battle_o... And later: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Battle_of_Tsushima_%28Chart_7-9%29_J.PNG https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Battle_o... It seems insane, but for hundreds of years, "lining up" all your ships into neat little columns and firing all together was one of the main strategies. It was largely assumed that enemies would also try to do this, so you end up with big ships just broad-siding each other up-and-down the "line of battle". I have to imagine that radio-communications obsoleted the practice. But pre-radio, it probably made more sense to send signals to each other up-and-down the line and coordinate the fleet. Tsushima was one of those awkward transition points from semaphore flags into radio communications.

nostrademons 5y ago
Oldendorf's U.S. fleet at Surigao Strait also did this: https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=12162 https://ww2db.com/image.php?image_id=12162 Surigao Strait is actually very similar to Tsushima in that in both cases the victorious forces "Crossed the T" of the attacking force and inflicted heavy casualties. Actually had nothing to do with communications; battle lines are advantageous so that your force can bring all of its guns to bear on the enemy without worrying about hitting friendly forces (as happened disastrously in the 1st naval battle of Guadalcanal). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_T https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossing_the_T