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A and B turrets, HMS Hood 1940
HMS Hood’s forward 15" turrets, with a 4" gun’s crew under training in the foreground.

HMS Hood was the pride of the Royal Navy, she was a massively armed battlecruiser with what was thought to be armour equal to her armaments. To all intents, HMS Hood was considered to be one of the most powerful battlecruisers afloat in World War Two.

HMS Hood was 44,600 tons, had a crew of 1,419 and was faster than the Bismarck with a maximum speed of 32 knots. The Hood had been launched in 1918 and was armed with 8 x 15 inch guns, 12 x 5.5 inch guns, 8 x 4 inch AA guns, 24 x 2 pound guns and 4 x 21 inch torpedoes.

However, the Hood suffered from one major flaw – she did not have the same amount of armour as the Bismarck. The fact that the Hood was faster than the Bismarck by 3 knots was as a result of her lack of sufficient armour for a naval battle fought in World War Two. What had been considered sufficient armour in 1918 when Hood was built, was to prove a fatal flaw in 1941.

On May 24th, 1941, the Royal Navy tailed the Bismarck and Prinz Eugen when they attempted to break out into the Atlantic. If both of these ships had got into the Atlantic, they could have created havoc amongst the Atlantic convoys that were vital to Britain. The Hood relied on information sent back to it by the cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk. The Bismarck and Prinz Eugen had night time and sea fog on their side and for a while both cruisers lost both German ships.

However, by 02.47 on May 24th, the Suffolk had regained contact with the Bismarck. The information sent back by the Suffolk led the Hood to believe that she would be just 20 miles from the Bismarck at 05.30 on May 24th. At 05.35, the lookout from the Hood made out the Prinz Eugen and the Bismarck at a distance of 17 miles.

Admiral Holland, on the Hood ordered the battlecruiser to turn to the German ships and at 05.45 they were only 22,000 metres apart. At 05.52, the ‘Hood’ opened fire and shortly afterwards was joined by the ‘Prince of Wales’. At 05.54, both the Prinz Eugen and the Bismarck fired their guns primarily against the ‘Hood’.

The Prinz Eugen hit the Hood and set alight some anti-aircraft shells kept on deck. The fire this caused was not particularly dangerous for the ‘Hood’ even though it produced a great deal of smoke. At 06.00 a salvo from the Bismarck hit the Hood. The Bismarck had fired from 17,000 metres and the elevation of her guns meant that the shells that hit the ‘Hood’ had a high trajectory and a steep angle of descent. The Hood had minimal horizontal armour and one of the shells from the Bismarck penetrated the Hood’s deck and exploded in one of her magazines. A massive explosion tore the ‘Hood’ in half. Those who saw the explosion said that the bows of the ‘Hood’ were raised out of the sea before they sank. The ship sank extremely quickly – within two minutes – and 1,416 men out of a total crew of 1,419 died. (historylearningsite)

May 23, 1941. Operation Rheinübung

At 0722 hours, German battleship Bismarck and cruiser Prinz Eugen are spotted by British cruisers HMS Suffolk and HMS Norfolk in the Denmark Strait. After HMS Norfolk is almost hit by shellfire from Bismarck, both cruisers retire to a safe distance. They shadow the German warships using radar while battleship HMS Prince of Wales and battlecruiser HMS Hood close in from 300 miles to the South.

Photo: HMS Hood steaming toward the Denmark Strait, on or about 23 May 1941.

Pearl Harbor Attack - Sunday 7, December 1941
Panoramic view of Pearl Harbor, during the Japanese raid, with anti-aircraft shell bursts overhead. The photograph looks southwesterly from the hills behind the harbor. Large column of smoke in lower right center is from the burning USS Arizona (BB-39). Smoke somewhat further to the left is from the destroyers Shaw (DD-373), Cassin (DD-372) and Downes (DD-375), in dry-docks at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.
Observers quote, “This must be the second wave, because of all the flak that’s up. Apparently one of the reasons that there wasn’t a third wave was that American antiaircraft fire had greatly improved in effectiveness on the second wave, and that’s when most of the 29 Japanese aircraft were shot down.”
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog #: 80-G-32792
Color by Facundo Filipe

Christmas day at Bougainville
A group of RNZAF airmen are being served Christmas dinner by their superior Officers, as is traditional at Christmas time.
Christmas day, 1944
The man serving the drink (extreme right) is Laurie Counsell.
RNZAF Official photo
Colourised by Daniel Rarity

OPERATION ‘BARBAROSSA’
The invasion of the Soviet Union, June 1941
Operation ‘Barbarossa’ - named after the all-conquering Medieval Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I - was launched on 22 June 1941. Over three and a half million German and other Axis troops attacked along a 1,800-mile front. A total of 148 divisions - 80 per cent of the German Army - were committed to the enterprise.
Seventeen panzer divisions, formed into four Panzer Groups, formed the vanguard with 3,400 tanks. They were supported by 2,700 aircraft of the Luftwaffe. It was the largest invasion force to date.
(Colors by Irootoko jr., Royston Leonard, Richard Molloy)

28 November 1941: the BIG E leaves Pearl Harbor
Today, 80 years ago…USS Enterprise (CV 6) sails from Pearl Harbor for Wake Island to ferry Marine aircraft to the island. A delay due to weather on her return trip, the “BIG E” would not be at Pearl Harbor as scheduled on 6 December leaving no carriers left during the Japanese attack on 7 December.
This luck would hinder the Japanese for the rest of the war as USS Enterprise would become the most decorated WW2 ship in United States Naval History and fight the Japanese in just about every major engagement in the Pacific.
On three occasions during the war, the Japanese announced that she had been sunk in battle, inspiring her nickname “The Grey Ghost”. By the end of the war, her planes and guns had downed 911 enemy planes, sunk 71 ships, and damaged or destroyed 192 more. She is the one and only BIG E.

5/3/1945
A BF-109-E was successfully grown from root stock.

November 13 1941. Battle of the Atlantic

The Aircraft Carrier Ark Royal was launched on April 13th, 1937 by Lady Maud Hoare, wife of Sir Samuel Hoare, then First Lord of the Admiralty. The bottle of champagne thrown against Ark Royal’s bows did not smash until the fourth attempt. She was commissioned on December 16th, 1938.

Displacing 22,352 tons standard and 28,143 tons fully equipped and capable of 31 Knots, she had the capacity to carry 60 to 72 aircraft. Ark Royal’s armament was designed with anti-aircraft warfare in mind, as aircraft were expected to be the main threat.

On November 13th, 1941, while returning to Gibraltar after taking aircraft replacements to Malta, she was attacked by German submarine U-81. The torpedo ripped a huge hole in Ark Royal’s hull and she immediately began to take on water, with a list to starboard, reaching 18° from centre within 20 minutes. The crew were ordered to abandon ship and although it was towed the list reached 45° before Ark Royal capsized and sank at 06:19 on 14 November. Able Seaman Edward Mitchell was the only fatality, killed when the torpedo from U-81 struck the ship.

Photo: Imperial War Museum. Colourised by DB Colour

June 13 1944

On July 30 1945, USS Indianapolis CA-35 was struck by two torpedos from a Japanese submarine, having the ship sink within twelve minutes. After 4 days the Navy spotted survivors from this terrible tragedy. Out of 1,195 crew members, 316 had survived and been rescued.

“Japanese D3A dive bomber being shot down over USS Enterprise during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24 Aug 1942” (US Navy)

I was just trying to pm a member here and I noticed “reputation” on his profile. Does anybody know what that score is?

You guys have put up a hell of a fight but I believe this is over…

@barnee Merry Christmas!

On this day in 1942, Malaya, a 2-pounder anti-tank gun from Australian 2/4 Anti-Tank Regiment destroyed 9 Japanese tanks.
Source: RG Poulussen

Map of new game…https://retailers.renegadegamestudios.com/axis-allies-north-africa/

May 13, 1940. Western Front

Northern France. In the morning, Rommel sends motorcycle troops across the Meuse River over a weir & lock gate at Dinant, while Guderian’s troops cross in rubber boats at Sedan in the afternoon following intensive bombing of French defensive positions. Despite French artillery bombardment, they both establish bridgeheads and by the evening they have pontoon bridges in place and tanks are rolling over.

Holland. German 9th Panzer Division reaches the outskirts of Rotterdam and 22nd Flieger Division holds onto bridges in the city. Dutch Queen Wilhelmina leaves at noon on HMS Hereward. Her government exiles to London at 17:20 hours on HMS Windsor.

Belgium. Battle of Hannut continues. To cover the Gembloux gap, French tanks line up abreast in a long thin line. Large groups of Panzers easily punch through, causing havoc in the French rear and Prioux retreats to the defensive line at Gembloux. Over 2 days French lost 105 tanks, Germans 160.

Winston Churchill first enters the House of Commons as Prime Minister, accompanied by his predecessor Chamberlain who receives a better reception by far. Churchill gives his “Blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech.

Photo: A Panzer II and other motorised units of the 10th Panzer Division at Wadelincourt, head for the Meuse River on the left flank of the German assault during the Battle of Sedan. May 13 or 15, 1940

Colourised by Royston Colour

May 14, 1942. Eastern Front

Second Battle of Kharkov. Soviets continue advancing West out of the Izyum salient, but Soviet 28th Army, forming the Northern pincer advancing from another salient near Volchansk, is pounded to a standstill by Luftwaffe Fliegerkorps VIII, newly-arrived from the Crimea. Soviet fighters sent in to engage the Germans are decisively beaten despite being numerically superior. Hitler orders General Ewald von Kleist to counterattack with his 1st Panzergruppe. In the Black Sea, Soviet destroyer Dzerzhinski sinks on a Soviet mine near Sevastopol.

Source: worldwar2daybyday

A Panzer crew, belonging to 1./s.SS-Pz.Abt.101 “Leibstandarte-SS-Adolf-Hitler” are here seen camouflaging their Panzer VI ‘Tiger’ tank with tree branches in the vicinity of Villers-Bocage, Normandy, in June 1944.

Date unconfirmed but possibly taken on the 14th of June, on the Ancienne Route de Caen (the old Caen Road), where Michael Wittmann’s company spent the night of 12/13 June.

June 18, 1940. Western Front

Rommel’s 7th Panzer Division races 200 miles and reaches Cherbourg. However, they arrive too late to prevent the Allied evacuation and rest overnight before attacking the fortifications. Operation Ariel finishes at St. Nazaire (leaving behind all their equipment on rumours the Germans are poised to take the town) and at La Pallice where 2,303 British are evacuated.

With 5th Panzer Division only a few hours away, French cruisers El Djezair, El Kantara, El Mansour, Ville d’Oran and Ville d’Alger transport 1,200 tons of French gold from Brest. The convoy will arrive in Casablanca on June 21. In addition, the French move 198 tonnes of Belgian gold on the cruiser Victor-Schoelcher from Lorient to the port of Dakar in French West Africa. The gold should have been sent to USA and will ultimately fall into German hands (much to the chagrin of the Belgians who sue the Banque de France in 1941, demanding in return French gold being held in the USA).

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gives another charismatic speech in the House of Commons, commenting on the likely fall of France “the Battle of France is over” and prospects for a cross-Channel invasion by Germany “I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” He concludes “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’."

Source: worldwar2daybyday