Worst plausible Scapa Flow raid?

Without outright wanking how bad could the RN have been hurt during the period of vulnerability? OTL they lost one modern battleship and one outdated one to four bombers and a single submarine.

It would be implausible for the Germans to risk more than at most a handful of subs but say they did commit more resources to the raid and the raiders got lucky how badly could things have gone? What ships were in harbour?

Honestly what happened in the raid was the worst it could've gotten really.

Admiral Halsey said:

Honestly what happened in the raid was the worst it could've gotten really.

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Was it? Didn't he only risk targeting one ship and then decided to finish it off after disappearing for an hour as he left not realising how piss poor the response was? That seems to me to leave a window for at least one more attack.

deathscompanion1 said:

Without outright wanking how bad could the RN have been hurt during the period of vulnerability? OTL they lost one modern battleship and one outdated one to four bombers and a single submarine.

It would be implausible for the Germans to risk more than at most a handful of subs but say they did commit more resources to the raid and the raiders got lucky how badly could things have gone? What ships were in harbour?

Click to expand...

I would hardly describe HMS Royal Oak as 'Modern' by any yard stick you care to use and HMS Iron Duke was not sunk (she was grounded) and continued to be used as a Base ship and AAA Platform throughout WW2 (she was being used as a trials ship with 2 of her main turrets removed and replaced with various systems before the war).

Recon overflights had caused concern and fearing an imminent air attack most of the Ships had been sent to other ports while the defences were upgraded.

HMS Royal Oak stayed behind as she was deemed useful as an AAA Ship to deter Air Recon and Air attack (she was incapable of exceeding 20 knots at this time so cannot see her as being useful for much)

Given the scarcity of targets at the time I don't see a larger attack achieving anymore than it did.

By the time the base was being used again the defences had been rapidly and comprehensively (if not belatedly) improved.

The U-47 had faulty torpedoes and targeted seaplane tender HMS Pegasus as well. The battleship Prien did sink was basically obsolete. If the Germans develop functional torpedoes (plausible) and different ships happen to be in the anchorage at the time of the attack (I don't know the movements of the Royal Navy, but seems plausible) multiple modern capital ships could have been sunk. Additionally, multiple submarines could infiltrate the base at the same time, although that means a more complicated plan with more possibilities of failure.