With a POD of 1945 (No World War 3 allowed), make either the Bundesmarine/Volksmarine a capital ship power to THIS DAY much like the modern Royal Navy and Marine Nationale.
AHC : Make Germany own a capital ship post World War 2
- Thread starter Admiral Bloonbeard
- Start date
The Turks present West Germany with the Battlecruiser Yavuz Sultan Selim in 1973 and the Bundesmarine recommission her as the Goeben to serve as ceremonial flagship and museum ship.
Well the British got that one ship back off them.
Granted, it was in such a state that I think they had to just straight scrap it, but they got it back.
Didn't they discover that the Soviet crew had loaded some of the guns and then just left the shells in the breeches, to the point where they rusted into place?
Is Europe ready for Germany to have a capital ship of any sort? That's the first question to ask before we can answer this question.
And then the second question is whether the people of Germany are prepared to allow the Bundesmarine to have such a vessel.
One idea I had is that during the Cold War the United States wants the European nations to have carriers after Britain's successful building of the CVA-01 and France building the Clemenceau class, both to take load off of the USN in the event of a conflict and to provide an additional offense force to fight the Soviet Union's naval aviation assets. Thus, the United States encourages Germany, Italy and Canada to operate carriers capable of at least operating attack aircraft as the Clemenceau class is. France, Britain and the Benelux countries initially aren't in favor of such a move for historical reasons, but eventually Germany's decisions to develop its European army convince them that Germany can operate a carrier, and they build two vessels similar to the Clemenceau class, though Germany's are larger in length to give a bigger hangar and thus a greater air wing. They enter operation in the mid-1970s, as part of the NATO Naval Air Force.
Lots of butterflies here, but at least its an idea
And then the second question is whether the people of Germany are prepared to allow the Bundesmarine to have such a vessel.
One idea I had is that during the Cold War the United States wants the European nations to have carriers after Britain's successful building of the CVA-01 and France building the Clemenceau class, both to take load off of the USN in the event of a conflict and to provide an additional offense force to fight the Soviet Union's naval aviation assets. Thus, the United States encourages Germany, Italy and Canada to operate carriers capable of at least operating attack aircraft as the Clemenceau class is. France, Britain and the Benelux countries initially aren't in favor of such a move for historical reasons, but eventually Germany's decisions to develop its European army convince them that Germany can operate a carrier, and they build two vessels similar to the Clemenceau class, though Germany's are larger in length to give a bigger hangar and thus a greater air wing. They enter operation in the mid-1970s, as part of the NATO Naval Air Force.
Lots of butterflies here, but at least its an idea
Riain
Banned
Something like a 20,000t carrier that's no match for a USN nuke, CdG or QE/PoW I think would be acceptable because it would be easy to overmatch. But the Germans getting a big Clem without the RN having CVA01, 02 & Eagle wouldn't be acceptable.
The turrets had never been trained to the side during her Soviet service, and were stuck in place
That was the good news. The bad news was that by all appearances "mess deck" and "heads" are synonyms in Russian.
Why would the German Navy want a capital ship? It's a mostly Baltic Sea based coastal defence and anti submarine force. In that environment a large ship is just a target for land based air power.