warspite1
Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008 From: England Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Zorch quote:
ORIGINAL: Orm Then we could discuss why HMS Warspite isn't the greatest ship ever built. I have often wondered why Warspite didn't end the war (either one) by sailing off the German coast and lobbing of few of her lethal 15" shells at Berlin. warspite1 Sadly by April 1945 HMS Warspite would have trouble sailing round the Isle of Wight let alone sailing to the Baltic...... After extensive, valiant service in two World Wars her body was shot, her machinery was capable of about 15 knots if that, and one of her turrets was broken, never to be repaired. This truly magnificent warship had done her bit for King, Country and the senior service. She'd seen action everywhere - Jutland, Narvik, Norway, Calabria, the Mediterranean, Malta Convoys, Matapan, Crete, Sicily, Salerno, The English Channel, Normandy, Biscay and Walcheren. She'd been mined, bombed, shelled, taken a glider bomb at Salerno and had countless near misses. She sunk or badly damaged battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines. She supported convoys, troops ashore and major amphibious landings. Frankly she deserved a bit of a rest. Sadly, after WWII Britain was broke and no one had the foresight to keep her for future restoration and a long comfortable retirement as a museum ship What a lady
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England expects that every man will do his duty. Horatio Nelson October 1805
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