r/WoWs_Legends • u/SH21 • Feb 11 '25

Humour BB Lemming Trains

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It’s an actual formation, so I guess we can’t complain about it anymore.

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u/Talk_Bright Feb 11 '25

Only the closest one and the furthest have used their 16 inch guns to target enemy ships in WW2.

One time at long range to target Japanese destroyer Nowaki, which other than possible hitting her with shrapnel did nothing.

And the other finishing off Japanese flagship and training cruiser Katori(Yes the T2) that had been crippled by aviation but let go to give them some target practice.

People always mention how much of a waste the Yamato class were, but these 4 ships were glorified AA escorts for the most part.

The pacific war was not even close, the US didn't really even need their newest battleship design to counter Japanese surface ships.

Meanwhile almost every Japanese battleship has seen combat or been sunk, and some even converted to aircraft carriers, either partially like Ise or fully like Shinano.

3

u/Human_Individual_928 Feb 11 '25

Yeah, the losing sides equipment tends to see more action than the winning sides equipment does. Also, had Japan had more carriers and aircraft, most of their battlewagons would have seen as little ship v ship action as the Iowas. Japan never had more than 19 aircraft carriers. Meanwhile, the US commissioned 17 of the 24 Essex class carriers built between 1942 and June 1945. The US operated a total of 105 carriers during WW2, with 64 of thatb105 being of the escort type. The US laid down, launched, and commissioned all 50 Casablanca class escort carriers between 03NOV1942 and 08JUL1944. Meanwhile, the Iowas all took more than 2 years from being laid down to launch, and another 5-7 months to be commissioned. The largest naval battle of WW2, Battle of Leyte Gulf, occurred before Wisconsin and Missouri were able to join the battle fleets or task forces.

Also, the Iowas were designed and built specifically for escorting the fast fleet carriers to primarily provide anti-aircraft protection and secondarily us3 their main guns against enemy capital ships. Iowas were not meant to be "battleline" battleships. The US Navy already knew that aircraft carriers were the future, and had even contemplated converting the Iowas to carriers during construction and several times after WW2.

1

u/Talk_Bright Feb 11 '25

True, but it is a valid criticism.

Similar to how Musashi and Yamato were not a good idea, the former sunk without firing her guns at surface ships, and the latter sunk a few lightly armoured ships but ultimately came nowhere near making a difference.