Thread:Golurk 88/@comment-30076690-20190524055114/@comment-34517845-20190603020556

Alias3002 wrote: actually, sometimes you do want to go broadside to a battleship in a cruiser - some CLs will be consistently overpenned from the side, whereas an overmatch from bow on results in a citadel and death.

and the angling of the thinner armor fore and aft allows shells to bounce when they don't overmatch.

and really, Hood was more than a little bad luck and poor shell design. Hood's 14 inch shells could penetrate the Bismark, they just didn't hit the vital points that result in detonation of the ammunition storage. Hood didn't go through the initial modernization that the Queen Elizabith class battleships did (Well, only two didn't get the same treatement, which lead to the lost of one of them). In fact, she wasn't well maintained. By the time WWII has started, her machinery was pretty weared out. This resulted in her efficiency reduced, being unable to reach her top speed of 30 knots (She could only steam at a maxiumum of 26-27 knots), which was mainly due to her fresh-water evaporator being poorly maintained to where it was only enough to feed the boilers.

Adding to her problems, Hood was based on WWI technology. One of her most fatal flaws was her deck armor. Although her belt armor was sloped, engineers initially planned the deck as a layer that detonated shells, then two armored decks below would abosrb metal splinters and the explosions. With the introduction of fused-type shells, this type of armor scheme was very ineffective against plunging fire.

Bismarck was well engineered by the Germans, having been well compartmentized. This lead to the extended survivability to her during her final hours (If her rudder didn't jam, she could have a chance to escape). In fact, her armor prevented most shells from penetrating certian areas.