Germany could not build four carriers, but having two is plausible by the start of the war. If the Germans used them intelligently it would cause some real problems for the British. Imagine the Bismark sailing with a carrier.....................
Indeed. There is no way the Kriegsmarine can cross the Channel...Plus, to get to sea they'd have to make it past both the Royal Navy - so they'd a need a huge escort fleet to survive night engagements with hundreds of destroyers - and the RAF.
Only if they intend to use them to sortie their fighters into the British Islands. In open seas, they need interceptors capable of taking on Fulmars. And that interceptor would be the Me-109. Which was short ranged and had a narrow landing gear... like the Spitfire!Oh - and they need a new set of aircraft, including carrier based interceptors capable of taking on Spitfires.
Indeed. There is no way the Kriegsmarine can cross the Channel...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cerberus
Only if they intend to use them to sortie their fighters into the British Islands. In open seas, they need interceptors capable of taking on Fulmars.
The Me109 made the Spitfire's landing characteristics look good. It had an appalling loss rate on landing.And that interceptor would be the Me-109. Which was short ranged and had a narrow landing gear... like the Spitfire!
I was assuming a semi-rational expanded German surface naval strategy, rather than a completely insane one. Fast big gun raiders are more use to them than carriers, so if you're going to build the carriers you still have the gun fighters.A carrier force is more likely to take resources from battleships not being built instead of tanks. After all, both battleships and carrier are made at shipyards. Still, more submarines would be a better bet for Germany.
Yes, this would be an entirely logical and sufficient argument if Alien Space Bats came along and gave the Germans the carrier and specialized aircraft and weapons for free. As opposed to reality, where the Germans would have to develop the carrier, aircraft (the Me109 was barely capable of landing on land successfully..) at the cost of other weapons.
Oh - and the ASBs should make sure that the carrier is nuclear and that the aircraft use electric engines and gauss bottles, so the carrier doesn't drain critical supplies of fuel. And provide robot crew.
Otherwise, however, you have to consider these things...
A Carrier group based on Bourdeaux is already sailing beyond Spitfire range. Sooner or later, of course, the carriers will be sunk, as American, Japanese and British carriers were sunk. The capacity to reinforce and replace looses is what matters. And, since Germany will be involved in a massive land war with the USSR at some point, once the German carriers go to the bottom of the Atlantic, they are unlikely to be replaced.I was thinking about how they'd get PAST the UK. Even if they burn huge quantities of fuel (very problematic for destroyer escorts) to avoid Spitfire range, the British still access to Mustangs. And they have Mosquitoes, which don't need fighter support and throw huge dive bombs with demonic accuracy.
My point is that an ideal fighter is not required to operate carriers. Neither the Fulmar nor the Seafire were ideal - far from it - but that didn't stop the RN from using carriers in battle.The Me109 made the Spitfire's landing characteristics look good. It had an appalling loss rate on landing.
That I agree. Finding a way to cheat on the Versailles Treaty is a reason to have them though.The puzzle is why you have the carriers at all
A POD early enough, say in the early 20s would give time for research and development to progress and time to work out all of the bugs. They could also seek assistance from other nations and work on carrier development as a joint project. The motivation could simply be a way to get around the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. Assuming that Hitler and his gang does not screw up the project, two good fleet carriers along with reliable carrier aircraft are possible by 1941.
They could also seek assistance from other nations and work on carrier development as a joint project. The motivation could simply be a way to get around the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles. Assuming that Hitler and his gang does not screw up the project, two good fleet carriers along with reliable carrier aircraft are possible by 1941.
Sorry, ny computer's running slow today and all I was seeing was slow loading image files of the Graf Zeppelin. However the point stills applies, it's up to people responding to the challenge to provide Germany with a reason to build carriers, not come up with all the reasons it was a bad idea in OTL.
This really started rather semi-seriously but has no one noticed that the OP says the POD can occur anytime after the 11th of November 1918 and that the Nazis or World War 2 aren't mentioned?
I still think captured ones is the best way to go if you want small butterflies.
I still think captured ones is the best way to go if you want small butterflies.
I'm not bother about butterflies one way or the other. This thread has nothing to do with the others I've posted recently in case that's what people are thinking. Rather it's a semi-serious response to the Scarpa Flow thread to see if anyone can actually come up with a plausible way for Germany to own aircraft carriers in 1941.
Oh! I assumed it dealt with your other threads. I figured there was a massive TL building.
This really started rather semi-seriously but has no one noticed that the OP says the POD can occur anytime after the 11th of November 1918 and that the Nazis or World War 2 aren't mentioned?