About the gunnery itself, USS Texas in may 1941 was restricted to her Original 1400lbs AP shells, the old Mk-8 as the new Mk-16 of 1500lbs was not available untill late 1942. So the old Mk-8 AP round was the one facing Bismarck, which is not good, as the difference with the far more advanced British 14 inch Mark VIIB of 1590 lbs is very big. The British shell was even better in general performance to the equally good 15 inch APC Mark Ia (4crh) - 1,920 lbs. used by HMS Hood.
The Mark VIIB AP round had a better penetrating power compared to the old USN Mk-8 AP round, penetrating 11.2 inch side armor at 20,000 yards to 6,7 inch in the Mk-8 round on the same range. Deck penetration of the British shell too was much higher, at soem 3.7 inch at 20,000 yards to only 2.1 inch on the Mk-8 round. Note Bismarck had a belt of 12.6 inch thikc and a main armored deck of 3.7 inch to 4.7 inch, deep inside the vessel's hull, with a thick bombdeck above at upperdeck level. The vitals were quite immuun to both British and USN shellfire and even the upper deck would shield it form USN Mk-8 shells.
It is safe to say Bismarck was too hard a nut to crack for a New York Class guntub, which was outwithed in all aspects and far too obsolete to start with, even with the adding of new electronics and AA guns. the main weapons were the weak spot of the New York Class being obsolete and not good for anything more than shore bombardment at best, whcih could be done as well by lesser vessels with less crew and fuelneeds. In a one on one encounter and both intending to slugg it out, Bismarck was vulnerable on her unarmored parts mainly, but nothing vital, while her guns could defeat USS Texas at all ranges, besides having the choice of how, where and when to engage.
As for the torpedo element, the mere threat of a torpedoattack would force the defending side to counter measures, even when the torpedoes themseleves were worthless. Simply the presence of the potential to deploy torpedoes would force the German ship to run away, using her still superior speed to outrun the periodical USN DD's, mostly still the old obsolete 1919 type flushdeckers, which could not work well in the seastate normally found in the North Atlantic, lacking freeboard and beam.
The Mark VIIB AP round had a better penetrating power compared to the old USN Mk-8 AP round, penetrating 11.2 inch side armor at 20,000 yards to 6,7 inch in the Mk-8 round on the same range. Deck penetration of the British shell too was much higher, at soem 3.7 inch at 20,000 yards to only 2.1 inch on the Mk-8 round. Note Bismarck had a belt of 12.6 inch thikc and a main armored deck of 3.7 inch to 4.7 inch, deep inside the vessel's hull, with a thick bombdeck above at upperdeck level. The vitals were quite immuun to both British and USN shellfire and even the upper deck would shield it form USN Mk-8 shells.
It is safe to say Bismarck was too hard a nut to crack for a New York Class guntub, which was outwithed in all aspects and far too obsolete to start with, even with the adding of new electronics and AA guns. the main weapons were the weak spot of the New York Class being obsolete and not good for anything more than shore bombardment at best, whcih could be done as well by lesser vessels with less crew and fuelneeds. In a one on one encounter and both intending to slugg it out, Bismarck was vulnerable on her unarmored parts mainly, but nothing vital, while her guns could defeat USS Texas at all ranges, besides having the choice of how, where and when to engage.
As for the torpedo element, the mere threat of a torpedoattack would force the defending side to counter measures, even when the torpedoes themseleves were worthless. Simply the presence of the potential to deploy torpedoes would force the German ship to run away, using her still superior speed to outrun the periodical USN DD's, mostly still the old obsolete 1919 type flushdeckers, which could not work well in the seastate normally found in the North Atlantic, lacking freeboard and beam.
