Gave a reason why the US need a navy as large as it did in 1946

[Ward]

After WWII the US Navy was larger the all the other navies in the World .
Give a reason for them to finish the ships that were laid down and to keep the Fleet as large as it was at the end of the War.

[Fellatio Nelson]

I really can't see why they would; the only other sizeable navies in 1945 were the RN and RCN, which hardly posed a threat to the US.

Same as with the RN in 1945, the USN had acquired massive and motley collection of ships needed for the various ops during WW2 -especially that massive supply chain they had going in the Pacific, which suddenly had very little use in peacetime, especially since they had acquired land bases - or vessels which were pretty antiquated and/or very limited and manpower intensive.

[Riain]

A world where Imperial Germany, Soviet Union and Brit-French alliance are the world superpowers. The USN would need a major fleet in both oceans to cope with the massive navies in this world.

[DuQuense]

pod Germany finishes the east wall
While it turns in into a speed bump in the path of the Red army, it does slow it down by several weeks.

US troops reach the Elbe [north] & Wesser [south] at the same time as OTL, but the Russians are ~3 weeks away.
Major questions raised in US/UK papers about out troops just sitting there.
Patton along the Wesser ordered to cross and proceed to the Elbe.

Stalin sees this as a Betrayal of the Yalta/etc. agreements. opens dialog with Japanese about extending non agression Pact.

Nothing comes of the dialog till august 10 after the militarnts in Japan realize that the emperor is siding with the Peace Party.
August 13th the remains of the Japanese Fleet sails to Valdistok and are interned. Russian Pacific Fleet is now tripled.

Russian/American Cold War starts in Octobre 1945, US nevers disarms like OTL's 1945~1951.

[CDurham]

You realize that the Red Army and Western Allies BOTH crossed the 'Yalta line' during the war? they each just withdrew at its conclusion.

[CalBear]

Full employment?

[Jason]

Perhaps air power, esp long range air power, doesn't develop so the easiest way for US power projection is by sea?

[TheMann]

The US and USSR lock horns in 1945, with the atomic bomb being the great equalizer between the two powers. The US needs to keep feeding men and supplies into Europe, and needs a vast fleet of both merchant ships and warships to do so. Hence, they never decrease the size of their military.

[Boom22]

Of course it is only one year after the war, it takes a while to de-mobilize.

[esl]

Originally Posted by TheMann

The US and USSR lock horns in 1945, with the atomic bomb being the great equalizer between the two powers. The US needs to keep feeding men and supplies into Europe, and needs a vast fleet of both merchant ships and warships to do so. Hence, they never decrease the size of their military.

OK but was end of war Soviet navy any real threat to USNavy? At the end of the war the Soviet navy was about the same size as the Canadian navy.

[Gedca]

Originally Posted by esl

OK but was end of war Soviet navy any real threat to USNavy? At the end of the war the Soviet navy was about the same size as the Canadian navy.

Perhaps the Soviet fleet could be augmented by captured Axis ships? Somehow the Japanease hold on to their much of their fleet at the end of the war which is taken by the Soviets (not neccesarily with explicit American permission mind you).

[Douglas]

Originally Posted by Ward

After WWII the US Navy was larger the all the other navies in the World .
Give a reason for them to finish the ships that were laid down and to keep the Fleet as large as it was at the end of the War.

To scare the Race away.

[esl]

Originally Posted by Gedca

Perhaps the Soviet fleet could be augmented by captured Axis ships? Somehow the Japanease hold on to their much of their fleet at the end of the war which is taken by the Soviets (not neccesarily with explicit American permission mind you).

The Germans scuttled most of the balance of their fleet when the war ended. What they didn't scuttle was splitt between the allies. Not much was left after the war, just some minesweeper flotilla and tenders.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Boom22

Of course it is only one year after the war, it takes a while to de-mobilize.

And you wouldnt want to de-mobilize it if you ahd large forces used for occupation duty. That large navy could also be keeped in case of a higher post-war Soviet threat, or nastier Korean War. Possibly a much more tense Berlin crisis?

[Thande]

The Americans decide to build a bridge across the Pacific from San Francisco to Tokyo, out of destroyers lashed together as pontoons...

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Thande

The Americans decide to build a bridge across the Pacific from San Francisco to Tokyo, out of destroyers lashed together as pontoons...

That gives me an idea for a TL....

[Atreus]

Originally Posted by Thande

The Americans decide to build a bridge across the Pacific from San Francisco to Tokyo, out of destroyers lashed together as pontoons...

I'm so sorry, this wouldn't work. The USN just didn't have enough ships to manage this.

Now, if those last 19 destroyers and 5 cruisers had not been canceled in September 1945, there would be enough stray hulks floating around to manage this feat.



Or the US decides to find the last place on earth not touched by War (Probably somewhere in South America or some Island in Polynesia) and blow it to hell with the next 100 Atomic bombs off the assembly lines. To make things more interesting, they schedule things for the new year, and decide to blow up some useless leftover military hardware (Say, 25 Carriers, 7 Battleships, more planes, tanks, and minor ships then I can count). The chain detonation is scheduled for 12:00 AM, January 1st, 1947...

[MrP]

Originally Posted by esl

The Germans scuttled most of the balance of their fleet when the war ended. What they didn't scuttle was splitt between the allies. Not much was left after the war, just some minesweeper flotilla and tenders.

I wonder how big we can make the Soviet fleet. 3 Sovietskii Soyuz BCs, most of the German fleet captured intact somehow, and ditto most of the IJN. That'd be pretty big. Albeit massively unlikely.

[adam888]

The reason the US Navy was as large as any other navy in 1946
is the same as why the US Navy is as today which is the
military-industrial complex wants it.

[Kalan]

They don't get the a-bomb later, so Japan must be invaded. The USSR conqueres southern Sachalin, Korea and other japanese possesions but don't invade Japan to (stalin says his army isn't capable to launch an invasion but in truth he doesn't see a reason to help the USA). So Japan will fall only in 1947, in the mean time Stalin takes Berlin, Finnland, Yugoslawia, Northern Greek and forms an east Austria to strengthen his position in Europe. So when Japan is finally conquered the cold war has allready begunn an the USSR is in a stronger position (and has better acces to the oceans) so the USA decides to keep and extend the fleet.