- Member since
March 2007
- From: Portsmouth, RI
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Posted by searat12
on Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:19 AM
Chuck Fan wrote: | searat12 wrote: | Sure! How many ships did Warspite sink in WW2? |
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3 directly, and 5 others by influence, all bonafide warships, at Narvik. A body count not rivaled by many other battleships. |
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As I recall, the warships sunk were in fact all destroyers, all of which were stuck in a fjord almost without ammunition, and almost without fuel (the five you mention Warspite 'influenced' to be sunk were in fact run aground out of fuel), and many of them in fact scuttled themselves. Two of the destroyers 'directly' sunk by Warspite and her escorts were in fact still tied up to the dock (Diether von Roeder, Erich Giese), and only one ( Erich Koelner) was actually maneuvering and fighting when it was hit and sunk by a torpedo, as well as shellfire (and my guess is the torpedo didn't come from Warspite!). Also, Many of the shipwrecked Germans were fired upon by British artillery and machine guns, and about 2,600 survivors were organised into an improvised marine infantry unit, the Gebirgsmarine, and fought alongside the 139. Gebirgsjägerregiment in the subsequent land battle. Altogether, not a particularly stirring effort for a ship the size and power of Warspite, especially when she was accompanied by nine RN destroyers against eight Germans out of fuel and ammo....
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