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  1. Naval battles that never happened

    Again, I don't want to overly 'Jack the thread, but there is something that manyposters are simply missing (or ignoring). American and Japanese warships, particularly CA, BB, and CV calsses (although U.S. DD designs also qualify) were much better WARSHIPS than their Atlantic cousins. Longer...
  2. Different kind of aircraft wank: Airplanes that should have not entered service

    I don't want to hijack a really humorous thread too much farther, but... We are talking about 1939. The USSR had two full years to get a monoplane into service. They had been shown in both Spain and over Finland that the biplane was for a bygone era. The USSR never showed the least...
  3. Different kind of aircraft wank: Airplanes that should have not entered service

    As I imagine was pretty clear, I had a lot of fun with that list. Nevertheless... The I-153 would be understandable if the Soviets didn't make better than 3,000 (actually close to 3,500) of them STARTING in June of 1939. All of the following aircraft were in production at that time: P-35...
  4. Naval battles that never happened

    The comment on machine tools is dead on. The U.S. forces on Oahu did exactly what you described after Pearl, Swept away the damaged structure and went to work with the tools. Machine tools are a particular bitch to destroy with anything short of direct contact thermite.
  5. Naval battles that never happened

    Actually, you have seriously understated the Iowa's missile load-out. In addition to the Harpoon, it also carried the Tomahawk ASM, which had very long range, a massive conventional warhead (or, like the P-700, a nuclear weapon), and was effectively invulnerable to interception by the SAM...
  6. Naval battles that never happened

    Well, while the loss of the BBs in deep water would have been a significant blow later in the war (they made up much of the "gun line" that provided fire support for the Marines) and a much higher casualty rate, their loss would have little to no impact on USN operations in 1942-43 as all the...
  7. Brewster Buffalo - The Fighter that won the Second World War TL

    All kidding aside, the Buffalo, much like the F4F, was never going to be a long term answer either off carrier decks or on the ground. Both aircraft were transitional designs, bridging the days of the biplane carrier fighter and the monoplane. Even the designs are clearly half in the old world...
  8. USN supports British taskforce to retake Falklands 1982

    The U.S. DID support the UK, although in a very hush-hush manner at the time. The U.S. gave the British unlimited access to KH-11 intell, including real-time. It wasn't as helpful as it might have been thanks to the weather, but being able to watch the enemy at least 40% of the time, and...
  9. Brewster Buffalo - The Fighter that won the Second World War TL

    I think you have a typo in the Thread Title. You mean the FIRST World War don't you?:confused::confused: You can't possibily mean WW II. An under powered (even WITH the bigger engine), under armed, poorly made, hunk o'crap with no redeeming features worth mentioning isn't going to win the...
  10. Different kind of aircraft wank: Airplanes that should have not entered service

    It was also a monumental failure in its intended role, a very difficult aircraft to escape from once the enemy had shot it to bits, and such a poor performer that it literally used to scramble from the bases near Munda and then run out to sea to avoid the Japanese fighters.
  11. Different kind of aircraft wank: Airplanes that should have not entered service

    With their heads in the clouds (or a darker, less pleasant, location). A lot of very brave men went out in those clunkers, very few came back. Being an American, I can only be happy about that. Being a human with a great respect for brave men, a tragedy nonetheless.
  12. Tanks that never should have entered service

    The problem at Singapore was far worse than simpley a lack of British armor. For reasons that I have never seen properly explained the 2 pdr anti-tank guns were almost totally ineffective against the Japanese tanks. There is no design reason for this failure since the gun was effective against...
  13. Different kind of aircraft wank: Airplanes that should have not entered service

    Ah… A fun thread. France M.S. 406: It’s undergunned, but at least it’s slow . Bloch MB 200: Undeniable proof that French engineers can create something that is both ugly and useless in one package. Bloch MB 210: An “improved” 200. No wonder the Luftwaffe ruled the skies. Italy G.50...
  14. Red Army reaching Denmark?

    Yea, after walking all the way from Stalingrad through a devastated homeland, it wouldn't take much for some people to get revenge minded.
  15. Red Army reaching Denmark?

    In that case Soviet troops wouldn't have to reached the Peninsula at all, the Allies would have simply withdrawn (as happened with 3rd Army in Czechoslovakia). As to the discipline of the Red Army: The was NO army in the Second World War MORE disciplined than the Red Army, the NKVD saw to...
  16. Red Army reaching Denmark?

    Not an inch. Stalin would have withdrawn to the Yalta frontiers.
  17. WI: USA Annexed nicaragua?

    FDR gets impeached?
  18. MacArthur hit’s a mine

    That was why Inchon was so successful. It looked to be impossible, and was for most countries. Realistically the only countries on Earth that could have made it work were Canada, the UK and the U.S., with the U.S. being the one country with both the experience in planning and actual assault...
  19. Japan in the Allies

    Problem of course, with making that sort of an arrangement with a "partner" like Imperial Japan, is you can't be sure that you aren't actualy a sheep making a partnership with a wolf, especially if you have just lost a war to the supposed ally. Given the Japanese attitude toward China, and the...
  20. Japan Wins Battle of Midway, Now What?

    Yea, I was REALLY puzzled about the 7" guns. Fortunately NavWeps came to the rescue. The two pre-dred classes were, as near as I can tell, the ONLY U.S. ships ever equipped with the caliber. Well, not QUITE as good as the 88, or even the PaK 40 75mm:), but the M1918 was a decent weapon for...
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