1940 US land grab

In 1940 the Nelson and the Rodney were the worlds Newest Battleships, (counting the German Twins S & G as battlecruisers)
Perhaps you're ignoring the Dunkerque-class of 1937-38, but the following battleships entered service in 1940; KGV, Littorio, Vittorio Veneto and Richelieu (albeit rushed).

If you value accuracy at all, you need to say:
For the first few months of 1940, excluding the Dunkerque-class (insert arbitrary reason here) the Nelson and the Rodney were the worlds Newest Battleships, (counting the German Twins S & G as battlecruisers)
 

Archibald

Banned
The 3 battleships could handle everything the French and Italians had in commission in June 1940.

Eeeerh... no. Dunkerque, Strasbourg and Richelieu would eat them for lunch. They are faster, for a start. From memory, US battleships had 356 mm guns, D&S have 330 mm guns and Richelieu, 380 mm (damn inch and imperial units)

the Richelieu was operational since 1940, Jean Bart was 2/3 finished (enough to sail by its own to Casablanca).
 
Eeeerh... no. Dunkerque, Strasbourg and Richelieu would eat them for lunch. They are faster, for a start. From memory, US battleships had 356 mm guns, D&S have 330 mm guns and Richelieu, 380 mm (damn inch and imperial units)

the Richelieu was operational since 1940, Jean Bart was 2/3 finished (enough to sail by its own to Casablanca).
Damn you for bringing accurate facts to the discussion. :rolleyes:
 
Is it? "Obsolescent" is when a weapon has passed its prime and is declining in effectiveness. That sounds like it fits the Nelson-class by WW2 pretty well...
Had the Nelson's designers prioritized speed over protection and firepower they'd still be relevant first line units. Say capable of 28 knots (close to the other fast units in the fleet at the time, and 3 knots faster than the QEs) and with a pair of Richelieu or KGV-like quad main guns of 16" or 15" size, keeping as much protection as the Treaties allowed. Now that ship would have not been obsolete in WW2.
 
Well, welcome!

You do know that Britain didn't actually acquire these ships, right? I'm not saying they would refuse 3 obsolescent BBs, I am just saying their is no way at all they would sell Jamaica (not that they legally could have anyway) for them, and I don't really see how they would be helpful in any real sense.

Thanks!

And oh, sorry, at the time I had just lending ships in general on the mind, rather than those specifically. I also agree with you on the matter of Jamaica and other British overseas possessions with their own legislature. I was simply arguing that, even if their helpfulness is questionable, Britain would likely be interested in acquiring them, though of course not at any cost.

I should've clarified in my last post, I don't see this deal working out beyond *possibly* a minor island or two, at which point the actual Destroyers for Bases agreement the United States made seems much more practical for supplying and basing the navy.
 
Eeeerh... no. Dunkerque, Strasbourg and Richelieu would eat them for lunch. They are faster, for a start. From memory, US battleships had 356 mm guns, D&S have 330 mm guns and Richelieu, 380 mm (damn inch and imperial units)


The answer is simple enough. Dunkerque is a Tier VI battleship while Wyoming is Tier IV and New York is Tier V.
 
In June 1940 I believe this was the heavy ships of the Axis and Vichy France;
1 Courbet
2 Provence
2 Dunkerque
2 Deutschland
2 Scharnhorst
2 Cavour
2 Doria
2 Littorio

So the addition of 1 Wyoming and 2 New Yorks would be helpful to the RN. Only the 2 Littorio outclasses these ships. The first King George V wouldn't be completed until December 1940.
 
The key calculation in 1940 was the ratio of fast ships in the Atlantic. At the time it was Hood Renown and Repulse against Scharnhorst and Gneisau. That was the only calculation of concern to the British in 1940. If Vichy comes in on the Axis side and somehow gets out of the Med before declaring war it will be Hood Renown and Repulse against the two Dunkerques Scharhorst and Gneisau.

The American ships make no difference to that calculation.
 
Top