Word: battleships
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Wrote one correspondent, who had the temerity to ride into the struggle on a battleship: "Hardened seamen on the battleship . . . cursed and shook their fists as German bombers, roaring in for the kill after scoring a hit in the magazine of a destroyer, dumped bombs around sailors struggling in the water and swooped down with their machine guns blazing...
Therefore, as the Bismarck and Crete demonstrated, British sea-air power becomes progressively effective as it moves away from shore. Two aircraft carriers, the brand-new Victorious and the still unsunk Ark Royal, were able to cripple the most powerful battleship in the world just before it came within danger range of land air bases in France. Conversely, the British did not dare expose vulnerable aircraft carriers, which they call "floating blocks of flats," in the confined waters of the Aegean; and ships without planes consequently took an unmerciful beating...
Within a week the Germans claimed, probably with exaggeration, to have sunk eleven cruisers and damaged six others; to have sunk eight destroyers and damaged four others; to have damaged one battleship; to have sunk five speedboats and one submarine...
This Tuesday morning at daylight or shortly after daylight the Bismarck was attacked by British pursuing battleships, including the Prince of Wales. Even in her crippled condition, the British battleships apparently had trouble sinking her with shell fire, for it was not until some 7 or 8 hours later that the coup de grace was delivered. If (as was at first reported) this was given by a torpedo plane, the Bismarck was the first modern battleship sunk from...
Said Mr. Alexander: "Great as is our loss in the Hood, the Bismarck must be regarded as the most powerful battleship in the world, and her removal from the German Navy is a very definite simplification of the task of maintaining an effective mastery of the northern seas and maintenance of the northern blockade...