WI: Some freak incident/event cripples the RN

What if during the middle of one of its wars pre-1900, a freak incident or event cripples the capacities of the Royal Navy, rendering a majority of the entire navy incapable of combat?

What would have more effect: their shipyards going up in flames due to 'mysterious' activity? Massive battle at sea, where some wild gambit blows apart both fleets? Or sheer attrition?

A majority of the fleet!? Okay...

An asteroid hits the English channel, and the following shockwave and tsunami destroy enough of the British fleet to incapacitate it.

kodak said:

A majority of the fleet!? Okay...

An asteroid hits the English channel, and the following shockwave and tsunami destroy enough of the British fleet to incapacitate it.

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While bringing troops to N.America for the SYW,aa series of clathrates free their methane because of an undersea eruption. The methane asphyxiates the sailors. Most ships sink.
This or a small meteorite drops fragments in peacetime on the British Channel ports before falling near Ireland. The fragments set the ports and the ships on fire. Following year the French land near Dover ;D

kodak said:

A majority of the fleet!? Okay...

An asteroid hits the English channel, and the following shockwave and tsunami destroy enough of the British fleet to incapacitate it.

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It might have worked in May 1804: by allowing that the asteroid wipes out everything remotely near the Channel, including Brest, Rochefort, Ferrol, Texel and Flushing, you hit 46/88 ships of the line, 31/125 frigates and 17/92 sloops. Problem is, how often is the Channel Fleet the majority of the Royal Navy? December 1861, there were six battleships in the Channel Fleet and thirteen in the Mediterranean; March 1896, six in the Channel Fleet and ten in the Mediterranean. Ironically, the best chance you'd have would be with the Grand Fleet, which is very much a post-1900 development.

If it's during wartime the concentrations of the RN will be blockading enemy ports so a natural catastrophe big enough to destroy them will have a greater impact on the enemy.

Perhaps such an incident during a peace-time fleet review - but this will also impact any visiting foreign dignitaries.

Realistically, you need a multi-body comet that impacts multiple oceans at once.

Aha!

1897 Spithead naval review.



Drop something very big indeed on this (which would essentially be an ASB, frankly) and you've not destroyed the RN but you have certainly severely reduced the number of ships.

It'll also get the Turbinia, which is sort of a bonus.

Saphroneth said:

Drop something very big indeed on this (which would essentially be an ASB, frankly) and you've not destroyed the RN but you have certainly severely reduced the number of ships.

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I think you might have a winner there. Including ships building and in reserve, and assuming that everything in Portsmouth is completely destroyed, I think you sneak over 50% in battleships but not in the smaller classes:

Battleships
First class: 18/34
Second class: 7/12
Third class: 5/11
Total: 30/57

Cruisers
Armoured: 9/18
First class: 10/21
Second class: 34/56
Third class: 5/53
Total: 58/148

Mind you, 27 battleships is still more than any other European navy, and Britain could construct more quickly than her rivals. However, in terms of effect 1897 probably beats even the 1856 naval review (29 steam battleships, 20 screw frigates and corvettes, 18 paddle frigates, 4 floating batteries, tons of gunboats). Hitting the '53 review might have had more of an immediate effect, though, assuming the Crimea still happens: wonder if the Russian Navy might have come out to face the enemy in the light of it?

Saphroneth said:

Aha!

1897 Spithead naval review.

Drop something very big indeed on this (which would essentially be an ASB, frankly) and you've not destroyed the RN but you have certainly severely reduced the number of ships.

It'll also get the Turbinia, which is sort of a bonus.

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The Meteor crater was created by a 50 m nickel iron body, which created a 10 megaton explosion. Such an impact on a gathered fleet would not be beautiful.

Why is such event considered ASB? it almost happened in 1908: the Tunguska body could have razed Saint Petersurg, wiped out Russia central burocracy, done in most of the members of the imperial family and left everybody in Russia with the sneaky feeling that the Top Boss was highly displeased with the state of affairs .

The extra benefit of the 1897 review, as I note, is that it's when the spectacular debut took place of the Turbinia and hence put the RN on the path to steam turbines.
Without it it's possible the quality of the rebuilt RN ships takes a bit of a dip compared to historically.

If a freak meteor slams into the ocean and smashes the navy I think that's the least of British problems...

Saphroneth said:

The extra benefit of the 1897 review, as I note, is that it's when the spectacular debut took place of the Turbinia and hence put the RN on the path to steam turbines.

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Probably best to be wary of that kind of anecdote: it's rarely mentioned that the 1896 trial of the re-engined Turbinia is attended by Sir William Henry White (Director of Naval Construction 1885-1902) and Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir Albert John Durston (Engineer in Chief 1889-1907). In reality, the turbine has been on the Royal Navy's radar for some time.

The Gunslinger said:

If a freak meteor slams into the ocean and smashes the navy I think that's the least of British problems...

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I think this is one of the cases where- leaving aside the potential effects of the death of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, the First Lord of the Admiralty, the Colonial Secretary and colonial premiers, the House of Lords, the House of Commons, and the destruction of a major city- it's awkward even to try to say what the results might be in the naval sphere. Presumably, there's a crash-building programme of Formidables to try and restore something approaching parity, and immediate steps to forge diplomatic alliances to compensate for the weakness. There's going to be higher taxes, which may butterfly away the Boer War and the Liberal social reforms.

If the upper echelons of the navy hierarchy buy it, though, it's anybody's guess who'd end up getting put in their place. There wouldn't be a complete void of talent: Fisher is still alive, as is Percy Scott. Certainly, there'll be pressure to innovate in order to re-establish the quality gap, and more room for radicalism in the development of things like carriers. The problem is whether budgetary constraints will mean anything other than the development of battleships goes out of the window.

Wouldn't it be easier (and much more realistic) to have a storm destroy the fleet? The channel is famous for rough weather so a storm could destroy parts of the navy, perhaps during an Anglo-French war when the RN was blockading Dunkirk?

Emperor Constantine said:

Wouldn't it be easier (and much more realistic) to have a storm destroy the fleet? The channel is famous for rough weather so a storm could destroy parts of the navy, perhaps during an Anglo-French war when the RN was blockading Dunkirk?

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Yeah, sorry about the wording.

I meant to say 'WI: Event cripples the RN'. I'll change the title.

Emperor Constantine said:

Wouldn't it be easier (and much more realistic) to have a storm destroy the fleet? The channel is famous for rough weather so a storm could destroy parts of the navy, perhaps during an Anglo-French war when the RN was blockading Dunkirk?

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That would leave the fleets that were blocking Brest, Toulon, and all other French ports not in the Channel, not to mention all the ships sailing around the Caribbean and Indian Oceans.

Anaxagoras said:

That would leave the fleets that were blocking Brest, Toulon, and all other French ports not in the Channel, not to mention all the ships sailing around the Caribbean and Indian Oceans.

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True. This would have to be fairly early in the modern history of Britain, like in the Spanish succession war. After that its basically impossible to completely cripple the Royal navy with ASB intervention.