Stephan Wilkinson wrote:
When Billy Mitchell proved that bombers alone could sink a capital ship, by sinking the ex-German battleship Ostfriesland off the Virginia Capes in 1921, was the Ostfriesland at anchor or simply drifting? I know it was stationary, but was it in water shallow enough that it could actually have been anchored? The people running the demonstration did go to considerable effort to make sure the ship wouldn't become a navigational hazard if it was sunk, so I wonder if the usual explanation--that it was anchored--is in fact true.
If it was stationary, it would have had to have been anchored. It may well have been in 100+ fathoms, but it would have been anchored.
Rough rule of thumb would be carrying anchor chain twice the length of the ship (about 550ft for SMS Ostfriesland) so anchoring in several hundred feet of water is doable. Also there was a storm during the test, an unanchored ship would not have still been there after the storm.