The Loose Association of Wargamers

There are a lot of truly superb aircraft designs from 1943 to 1950 that were just killed as the war ended and design parameters changed (mostly to jet over piston).

FreddBloggs wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 9:25 am There are a lot of truly superb aircraft designs from 1943 to 1950 that were just killed as the war ended and design parameters changed (mostly to jet over piston).

True, very true.

The FAA, like the armoured corps, finally got their shit together with equipment about 1947, shame really. One could say the same about battleships too.

British battleships of ww2, that were not ww1 or immediate aftermath were a disaster.

The FAA was hamstrung by few admirals understanding carriers.

The fast carrier flotilla in the pacific were excellent however, and punched way beyond their weight.

The KGVs were not bad, thickest belt in the world, thick decks, but they should have had 9 X 15". Vanguard was a superb battleship.
There was also a small matter of priority given to Hurricanes and Spitfires for a few years, it really cut at least a year, maybe two of naval fighter development. It is also the reason that the Barracuda's engine was axed.

Except that vanguard was a ship without a purpose, and basically an updated Queen Elizabeth.

The KG5s as ships were ok (although in bad seas, seasickness was rife in the crews), horrible turret issues and underperformed in every fleet action they were in (bismark twice, north cape). Take those 7 hulls and build 7 fleet carriers instead.

The RNs strength in ww2 was its cruiser and destroyer forces.

I saw her as an updated Hood, and her purpose was to escort fast carrier groups and provide NGS. Was it worth diverting those resources to her? No. By the time she was launched Britain had 4 modern battleships more than they needed.

The KGV helped sink the Bismark, and at the North Cape, the Scharnhorst went down to the DOY. I think WWII would have been much harder without the KGV class, although I am sure they would have been better with a better main battery. I'd probably use 4.5" AA not 5.25". And your fleet carriers would have been short of aircraft until late '43.

I think that, without crashing the economy on fantasies, the RN went into WWII with the right ships afloat and on the slips.

At north cape she had stuck turrets, and only the superior radar even allowed her to engage. Rodney already straddled bismark before the KG5 came into action, and in the other action POW was badly handled after the loss of hood.

The RN needed convoy protection and submarine hunters more than the KG5s. As so often the way, they were designed for the last war, not the next. Japan, germany, italy and usa all made the same error.

The KG5s let them put two modern battleships on station to cover the Russian convoys. The POW was simply not battle ready at the battle of the North Cape, but that was a period where, ready or not, British soldiers, sailors and airmen wereexpected to do their best. With Hood gone, a fully capable KGV would have stood a good chance, but POW should have been working up. Rodney could possibly have sunk the Bismark on her own, but having KGV along meant that if the Bismark had achieved a miracle of damage control, the Brits could have won a stern chase. Of course Rodders fired first, her main battery was better than a KGV's by a long chalk, but she couldn't keep up with the Hun major units.

Because the RN could scatter battleships around the world, the only thing to threaten the convoys was the U boat, but without that capacity, there would have been a lot more raiding.

Only Bismark and Tirpitz of the German Navy needed battleships to handle them, Spee was taken down by a heavy and two lt cruisers, one of the interesting notes from River Plate was that Exeter once in battle range, was firing 3 times to the Spee's 2, and the two lights almost achieved twice the rate of fire.

Nelson and Rodneys guns, turrets and radar gun laying was the best of any navy in the war.

On the stern chase, not an issue, you send the cruisers ahead to turn her in range of Rodney and Ark Royal, or she runs into your cruisers torpedoes, which was the actual plan until they realized Bismark could not run.

At North Cape DOY was the icing on the cake, the Scharnhorst already believed she was under battleship attack when the Belfast Norfolk and Sheffield hit her. And was running at top speed away from them.

there is however one statistic from WW2 and Rodney that will never be surpassed. She is the only battleship to ever have worn out her gun barrels on the main armament.