Who would win if the USS North Carolina, Yamato, Bismarck and HMS King George V fought?

Everybody should check out combinedfleet.com as it goes into this in extreme detail. In fairness, they use the South Dakota class but these ships were very similar to the NC and all the others are discussed with a few more thrown in. To me, I think it depends upon how you define winning. The Bismarck is the fastest of these ships and provided that she doesn't suffer some sort of damage to her propulsion or steering, say a torpedo to her rudders, she can outrun the other ships here and live to fight another day.

If talking about pounding each other until one is sunk or surrenders, barring a lucky shot to the magazine that blows the ship up, I'd say the clear favorite should be the North Carolina because of her gunnery. Both she and the KGV had radar-directed gunnery that would allow them to blind-fire in pitch darkness accurately. Both these ships and potentially the Bismarck had the ability to fire while maneuvering thanks to their advanced (at the time) mechanical ballistics computers. The Yamato had none of these advantages and the Bismarck's radar was adequate for range-finding but not bearing.

I'd say that between the NC and KGV that it could come down to who has bigger magazines. Since both ships could fire while maneuvering, getting hits would be very difficult. That said, I'd have to give the advantage to the NC, she's got only 1 less gun but hers are 16", weigh 2,700lbs each and would do FAR more damage per hit that the KGV.

Between the NC and Bismarck, things get more complicated. The Bismarck's superior speed would allow her to decline engagement altogether or set the range and time if she accepted. That said, I'd again say the NC wins; her guns are bigger and she has more of them, her shells are better (German shells had a tendency to not explode properly) and her gunnery would be better, especially in darkness, fog, rain, snow etc. Bismarck was bigger and could absorb more punishment but I just don't see her getting in enough hits to make it pay off unless she closes the range but that just lets the NC get in more hits as well.

The Yamato would be by far the toughest nut to crack but again, I think the NC wins. She'd be able to get consistent hits, made easier by the Yamato's size, and unlike the others, Yamato can't maneuver and fire at the same time. I think Yamato would have a VERY hard time hitting the NC while the NC would pound her from long range. IF the NC's captain was dumb enough to close the range, Yamato's chances go up but I think the worst case for the NC is that she wrecks the Yamato completely, empties her magazines doing so, and leaves Yamato an unsunk but wrecked hulk on the ocean incapable of doing anything but maybe limping back to port.

I'd lean towards the Bismark and it had a radar fire control system and a well trained crew to run it. It was also more maneuverable than the rest and would likely keep the others tied up on ranging. At distance, it would be plunging fire, hence side armour isn't a high determiner in the equation. Bismark strategy would be to weave in and out of the other's range while getting its own punches in. The rest needed visual for surface fire, hence night work would be a greater advantage for Bismark. Although Yamato had radar, the crew was poorly trained in both optical and radar. Surface radar fire control came as a later mod to the North Carolina. Now if the Iowa was a choice, then it's optical and radar fire control would be superior to all the others.

Bismark radar was useful for range only and needed optical support for angle.

Interesting question though....

The main armor of the King George V and the Bismarck were completely inadequate against the highly-advanced (at the time) armor-piercing shells of the Yamato and the South Carolina.

The 15" guns of the Bismarck - while formidable in 1940 - were completely outclassed by the 16" and MONSTROUS 18" guns of the Yamato. The King George V - a victim of the Washington Naval treaty - had "paltry" 14" guns (although she had 10 of them).

Regardless of any other characteristic, the ability to survive long enough to damage the foe was the key in heavy surface-to-surface warfare.

IMHO, the Bismarck and the King George V could not have survived long enough to damage the Yamato or the South Carolina. Of those two, I have to go with the Yamato. She was sunk by ELEVEN torpedoes and six bombs. What a MONSTER!!!!