User blog comment:Void Samukai/Yamato vs Bismarck:Why?/@comment-13740085-20160126062401

I would think it would be closer than most people, apparently, make it out to be.

First off, yeah, Yamato has a superior base range, by less than four miles. However, Yamatos effective firing range was 16.7 miles, while Bismarks was 22.7 miles. So Yamato could start shooting earlier, if only barely, but Bismark would probably score first blood, barring a lottery-winning shot from Yamato in that four mile buffer zone.

Second, Bismarks rate of fire vastly exceeded that of Yamato. If both ships fired their full broadsides at the same time, by the time Yamato would've done so again, three minutes later, Bismark would've fired five.

In terms of fire control, both ships were about on par with each other, according to a chart I found comparing WWII fire control systems.

Now, Yamato did have superior armor around the belt. Though Bismark would have the option of targeting the superstructure. Heck, Samuel B. Roberts, a destroyer escort, did this against Chokai, a heavy cruiser with only two five inch guns, at Samar, and the Japanese would scuttle Chokai because it was incapable of carrying on due to the damage caused to the bridge. Plus, it's easier fighting a ship with a dead captain.

Finally, need I remind you all that in Bismarks last fight, with all its turrets out of commission, and pre-sustained hull damage, the British battleships Rodney and King George V scored over four hundred hits on Bismarks corpse, and in the end it was the German crew who sunk it themselves.

Now, I'm not saying it's Bismarks fight, but I just wouldn't bet all my chips on Yamato.