DBWI: Scharnhorst not sunk by Glorious

That was peanuts compared to what Tojo did when Nagumo gave the recall order to his carrier task force after his plans for attacking Pearl Harbor went to hell. Poor guy wasn't back on Japanese soil five minutes before Tojo had him arrested and shot. And then he proceeded to unleash a purge on the Imperial Japanese Navy that made Stalin's purges look like a beach party.

Who would've thought that the US Navy would actually learn the lesson of Taranto?
 
Ridiculous! There'll be a DWBI about what if the torpedoes that hit Courageous in September 1939 weren't duds next!

OOC: So this is from the perspective of a timeline when the Courageous and Glorious survive? How about "Outrageous Fortune" as a title for the TL. :D
 
OOC: So this is from the perspective of a timeline when the Courageous and Glorious survive? How about "Outrageous Fortune" as a title for the TL. :D

I've had one in mind for months, with the title, "The Consequences of Two Dud Torpedoes," where they don't get sunk until the Battle of Crete.

Though given the unreliability of German torpedoes at the time, I think Courageous was unlucky to have been hit by two that worked.
 
I think "Outrageous Fortune is snappier." :D

Agreed! However, I think the ship whose fortune was outrageous on the day IOTL was U-29...

Another idea was, "The Consequences Of No Disarmament Gestures," where 9 C class destroyers were built instead of 5. All 9 ships were transferred to the RCN. But the extra 4 were in the Western Approaches when the war broke out and added to Courageous's screen, with 4 destroyers as a close screen and the other 4 as "pouncers" helping the Swordfish attack any U-boats that were sighted.
 
Agreed! However, I think the ship whose fortune was outrageous on the day IOTL was U-29...

Another idea was, "The Consequences Of No Disarmament Gestures," where 9 C class destroyers were built instead of 5. All 9 ships were transferred to the RCN. But the extra 4 were in the Western Approaches when the war broke out and added to Courageous's screen, with 4 destroyers as a close screen and the other 4 as "pouncers" helping the Swordfish attack any U-boats that were sighted.

Alternatively, Courageous isn't there at all, one of the 'Hawkins' conversions to CVLs is instead!
 
Another thought, without the twin disasters of Scharnhorst and Bismarck, we might not see Hitler rush Graf Zeppelin into service.
 
Another thought, without the twin disasters of Scharnhorst and Bismarck, we might not see Hitler rush Graf Zeppelin into service.

Oh god, then the massacre wouldn't have happened, Hitler's 'Attack' on Scapa Flow! :p.

We wouldn't have a generation of memes around it like "Cheer Up! You cannot fail as badly as this guy did." with a picture of Raeder.:D

Sadly the loss of Hood, Belfast, and Iron Duke was a large price for Bismarck, Tirpitz, and Graf Zeppelin.

However in all seriousness, I could see 1 situation where Scharnhorst and Gneisau could win. They miss the Renown and a few weeks after both find a Glorious without her aircrew up, apparently her previous CO (D'Oyly Hughes) was noted as being anti-CAP.

Have him remain in command and he would wreck the British Empires chances.
 
If Aquila had been ready (or conceived) in time for the July 1940 Battle of Calabria, we might have seen her encountering gunfire during the battle or in the evenings.

There's less space in the area to keep your carriers well back from the action.

Notice how close HMS Eagle is to the gunfight below. Had those Italian CLs to the south turned and raced towards the British rear, they may have got to within range of the slow Eagle before being killed by Warspite et al.

Www2mR060Calabria.GIF
 
OOC: At Cape Matapan there is the fact that the RN's carrier there was sailing in the line of battle to engage the italians with her 4.7's before being ordered out of the line, but even then she may have actually got some shots off with her guns.

IC. Basically what would be needed would this perfect storm of idiocy from the RN at the time. No CAP, a very weak destroyer screen, and so on and so on. Sure you've got to roll a lot of double 6's as the Nazi's but it CAN happen. Look at the Battle of Samar, where the IJN chased the USN's Jeep carriers before they were engaged by the big guns of the US battleships. Seriously who thought that would have happened.
 
OOC: At Cape Matapan there is the fact that the RN's carrier there was sailing in the line of battle to engage the italians with her 4.7's
To their designer's credit, weren't the Illustrious class given sufficient side armour to engage CL fire?
 
Alternatively, Courageous isn't there at all, one of the 'Hawkins' conversions to CVLs is instead!

OOC: What I want to do is have Courageous damaged by U-29, but not sunk and out of action until towards the end of the Norwegian Campaign. Then I need to find a way to have Courageous and an extra pair of destroyers with Glorious, Acasta and Ardent on the fateful morning in June 1940 to sink The Twins or at least put them out of action until the end of May 1941.
 
OOC: What I want to do is have Courageous damaged by U-29, but not sunk and out of action until towards the end of the Norwegian Campaign. Then I need to find a way to have Courageous and an extra pair of destroyers with Glorious, Acasta and Ardent on the fateful morning in June 1940 to sink The Twins or at least put them out of action until the end of May 1941.

But the reason, Glorious was on its own (rather than with Ark Royal), is that the Captain wanted to get back quick for the Court Marshall. POD him out of command, and the situation doesn't arise, it will be the aircraft of Ark Royal & Glorious v the 'Twins'. The 'Twins' are heading north to attack shipping in the fjord - not knowing that they have left. So, either recon or anti-sub Swordfish patrols, or advance destroyer screen discovery the 'Twins' before being seen themselves.

Hence, if you still had Courageous available, and with the same Captain on Glorious, it still goes off on its own!
 
Who would've thought that the US Navy would actually learn the lesson of Taranto?

Learned from it and then some....between the @$$-kicking they gave the Japanese at Wake Island and the surprise Soviet air raids on the Kuriles in the summer of '42, the IJN basically ceased to exist as a coherent fighting force after Nagumo's execution.
 
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