MGCN wrote:Southerner wrote:MGCN wrote:commission in 1909 and decommissioned in 1950 - 49 years of service is about right for a ship like this.
Not really, the 25 year old WWI Queen Elizabeth and Royal Sovereign class were not cabable of engaging the more modern German and Japanese capital ships during WWII, the Battlecruiser Hood being a classic example
Yes and no. For a first line navy 25 years is about right, but for a second line navy, 25 in first line, a refurb and another 25 years is what to expect. The Belgrano was 47 in 1982 and could have had a number of years left. Look at HMS Hermes, commissioned in 1959 and still in service as INS Viraat today.
The Belgrano was a relique and pearl harbour survivor at the time of the Falklands conflict, no major power would have used it due to it like WWII HMS Sheffield being of outdated and not suitable for improvement, only bannana republics tend to buy ours and the US cast offs. Even the HMS Sheffield that replaced the one lost in the Falklands has already been sold off.
The Battleships Nelson and Rodney although having 9x16" guns compared to Bismarks 8x15" and built between the wars were not considered capable of engaging Bismark on their own. Rodney along with KGV class battleship King George V 10x14" guns took on Bismark in the final battle.
The main reason initialy that our out of date carriers were considerd by such as the Indian and Argentinian navys was that they had armoured flight decks, these carriers would only be fit for their local skirmishes.
