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Post by dizzy on Feb 21, 2020 1:08:09 GMT -6
Don't need documentation. I've seen the bridge. Deck four of the con tower was the primary navigation center. The one with windows wasn't used in a firefight. It's called a flybridge and is where the secondary navigation is located.
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Post by dizzy on Feb 21, 2020 1:13:17 GMT -6
Really you cannot have all engeneering possibilities and tactical principles in game. This game is simplification and let you have big decisions not small ones. Right, there's a limit to detail and how much effort a dev wants in a particular area. I think this topic is dead. Fredrik clarified his answer. I do still think a checkmark box next to conning tower armor for an armored bridge would be something nice to have for ships you want to design that add the extra weight. They did exist. Iowa is one such example of many that had an armored bridge.
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Post by dorn on Feb 21, 2020 1:41:36 GMT -6
dizzyRead there. www.navygeneralboard.com/the-armoured-conning-tower-on-battleships/I think you misunderstood how it was used. Command center (conning tower) is used for several functions including ones of unarmoured bridge. Unarmoured bridge has not all this function however it provides superior visibility and thus awareness. You cannot have full armoured bridge which gives you that. You certainly did not want to command ship from heavily armoured conning tower with small slits while under air attack and need to evade torpedoes and bombs. You can have protection or awareness, not both in times of ww2 and even zhat protection is dubious as was found. Radar change that a little but not completely.
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Post by dizzy on Feb 21, 2020 5:30:14 GMT -6
No dorn. You are describing a 'Flybridge' which is what the Iowa has. A flybridge is an unarmored navigation station, basically. In addition, the Iowa has a cylindrical conning tower of 17.3 inches over multiple decks that includes a deck dedicated to 'Primary Navigation' to control the ship in the event of engagement with another battleship or air attack which acts as a bridge and station for an admiral. Look it up.
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Post by rimbecano on Feb 21, 2020 8:17:03 GMT -6
The big issue is one of design *intent* vs actual *use*. It's plain that the *intent*, over the entire period covered by RTW, was that the flybridge not be used in a firefight, but what actual practice was on various ships that saw combat is less clear. The British, at least, gave up on CT armor because combat experience showed nobody was actually using the CT. OTOH, For ships equipped with radar, like the Iowas (and even older ships refitted with radar), the crew actually using the CT was probably more common, but we really need something like an after action report from an actual engagement to know if use actually did match intent.
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Post by dizzy on Feb 21, 2020 16:50:21 GMT -6
The big issue is one of design *intent* vs actual *use*. It's plain that the *intent*, over the entire period covered by RTW, was that the flybridge not be used in a firefight, but what actual practice was on various ships that saw combat is less clear. Well, the intent was pretty clear. The reason they spent all that money and designed the ship around the armored citadel was to protect the crew from what happened to the Germans at Jutland. They were getting concussions from shells striking their armored bridge. In actuality, I’ve read most commanders preferred to stay out where they could have better visibility. So they had this amazing protection... and didn’t use it for the most part. There have only been a few documented cases in ww2 where battleships have shelled each other. One such instance, the Japanese were unable to employ accurate return-fire because they didn’t know where the Americans battleships were located. So unfortunately, history foiled our way of knowing if a commander would seek the refuge of the primary navigation located in the armored citadel. But if I were a commander and if the enemy had accurate fire control and if we were in a shelling match to the finish, I’d probably command from the conning tower. Lotta ifs. Otherwise, I’m a little claustrophobic and you wouldn’t catch me in that tiny coffin.
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