What was the longest distance a ship scored a hit w/ gunfire against another ship in history?
Whoa! Where do you get these great questions, Manny? Geez!
I think this song will get stuck in your head now…
Does this count? in jest only
In May of nineteen forty-one the war had just begun
The Germans had the biggest ship that had the biggest guns
The Bismarck was the fastest ship that ever sailed the seas
On her deck were guns as big as steers and shells as big as trees
Out of the cold and foggy night came the British ship the Hood
And ev’ry British seaman, he knew and understood
They had to sink the Bismarck, the terror of the sea
Stop those guns as big as steers and those shells as big as trees
We’ll find that German battleship that’s makin’ such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Hit the decks a-runnin’ boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismark we gotta cut her down
The Hood found the Bismarck and on that fatal day
The Bismarck started firin’ “fifteen miles away”
“We gotta sink the Bismarck” was the battle sound
But when the smoke had cleared away, the mighty Hood went down
For six long days and weary nights they tried to find her trail
Churchill told the people “Put ev’ry ship a-sail
'Cause somewhere on that ocean I know she’s gotta be
We gotta sink the Bismarck to the bottom of the sea”
We’ll find that German battleship that’s makin’ such a fuss
We gotta sink the Bismarck cause the world depends on us
Hit the decks a-runnin’ boys and spin those guns around
When we find the Bismarck we gotta cut her down
The fog was gone the seventh day and they saw the mornin’ sun
Ten hours away from homeland the Bismarck made its run
The admiral of the British fleet said “Turn those bows around
We found that German battleship and we’re gonna cut her down”
The British guns were aimed and the shells were comin’ fast
The first shell hit the Bismarck, they knew she couldn’t last
That mighty German battleship is just a memory
“Sink the Bismarck” was the battle cry that shook the seven seas
We found that German battleship was makin’ such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismarck ‘cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a-runnin’ and we spun those guns around
Yeah, we found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down
We found that German battleship was makin’ such a fuss
We had to sink the Bismarck ‘cause the world depends on us
We hit the deck a-runnin’ and we spun those guns around
We found the mighty Bismarck and then we cut her down.
warspite against an italian battleship in the Battle of Cape Matapan, something like 27,000 yards.
Any time frame or what? But I guess nothing “modern” has happened since… the Falklands?
I don’t know. Sailors?
60
Mmmmm…the answer I found was different but you could be right—any other guesses??? Hint: it is a WW2 engagement…
???
The Pearl Harbor survivor West Virginia hits the IJN Yamashiro at 22,800 yards with her first salvo at the Battle of Surigao Strait on October 25, 1944. Truly remarkable gunnery.
You may want to look at USS Massachusets vs. Jean Bart at Casablance in Nov 42. There werre some long range shots made there in some points of the duel. I will check my refs tomorrow.
Based on the original subject line, I’d say CGC INGHAM and her “hole in one” depth charge attack on U-626. Some reports credit INGHAM with using one depth charge to sink the U-626 in December 1942.
C’mon, Coast Guard Bob! The question was longest distance not just best shot, where was this submarine? At the bottom of the Marianna’s Trench?
HMS Warspite, Battle of Calabria, July 1940, hit Giulio Cesare from 26,000 yards, +or-. I’m pretty sure that’s the record.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau hit the British carrier HMS Glorious from at least 26,700 yards away during the Norway campaign one month earlier.
Scharnhorst hits HMS Glorious at 26,300 yards on June 8, 1940, according to Wiki.
The IJN submarine I-19 fired a single spread of 6 torpedos on September 15, 1942. These 6 torpedoes sunk the carrier Wasp and the destroyer O’Brien, and damaged the battleship North Carolina. The hit that sank the O’Brien is still the longest ranged torpedo hit, ever.
We have a winner:
“Scharnhorst hit the British carrier HMS Glorious from at least 26,700 yards.”
Wow, is that like 15 miles?
And with ‘only’ 11" guns…
Interesting, Manny. I thought there was some question about whether Scharnhorst or Gneisenau hit Glorious? Wasn’t Gneisenau closer (by about 2 - 3000 yards)? What are you using for references on this? This is some pretty interesing stuff so I’d like to take a look…
EDIT: Nope - it was Scharnhorst…
Well, they do say that Wikipedia is your friend:
Scharnhorst’s salvos hit Glorious at 16:32, before her torpedo-bombers could be launched. [11] Scharnhorst’s second salvo, at 16:38, struck Glorious at the extreme range of 24,000m (26,300yd), one of the longest range hits ever recorded.
Although, it does say ‘one of the longest range hits ever recorded’ not THE longest… I wonder what others are out there in the same ‘ballpark’…
Uh oh… but wait… perhaps the verdict is not so clearcut:
From the Wiki entry on the HMS Warspite (emphasis mine):
“During the Battle of Calabria she was credited with achieving the longest range gunnery hit from a moving ship to a moving target in history. This was a hit on the Giulio Cesare at a range of approximately 26,000 yards (see also the Scharnhorst, which scored a hit on the Glorious at approximately the same distance, in June 1940).”