Delaying the Overlord till 1945 - how?

Now, Operation Overlord was dependant upon construction of enough landing craft to take part in the operations and secure lines of communications to UK.
For all-statistic lovers, how much more shipping should have been sank by KM (and to lesser extent, IJN) to delay the invasion by one year? More sinkings would result in less extensive buildup in UK as well as delaying the construction of landing crafts due to more steel and resources diverted to escort and merchant ship build-up.
 
Now, Operation Overlord was dependant upon construction of enough landing craft to take part in the operations and secure lines of communications to UK.
For all-statistic lovers, how much more shipping should have been sank by KM (and to lesser extent, IJN) to delay the invasion by one year? More sinkings would result in less extensive buildup in UK as well as delaying the construction of landing crafts due to more steel and resources diverted to escort and merchant ship build-up.
Well the IJN never sank much shipping and the German U-boot fleet was finished by 1943. Besides the landing ships were not the once being sunk by the Germans anyways.

Delaying Overlord would be plausible if the Germans win decisively in Russia, allowing some of those perished German divisions to move to France. By mid-44, the German forces in France were a shadow of the early years.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
Well, if you won't to go with the act of God, you could always have a hurricane hit New Orleans, where they're building the Higgins Boats, better known as the Landing Crafts Infantry.

If they had to rebuild all the LCIs, and the factory to produce them, that'd slow it down.

I don't know believable that is, but you can't argue with a hurricane.
 
Well, if you won't to go with the act of God, you could always have a hurricane hit New Orleans, where they're building the Higgins Boats, better known as the Landing Crafts Infantry.


And a hurricane isn't an act of god? :D
I don't even think this would do it, the LCIs were not just being build in NO that was the primary building point but I though at least a third of them were built on the west cost (San Diego?). And it is not like other ship builders couldn't ramp-up. I could see this delaying for a month or so, maybe as much as 2 but not a whole year.

To answer the original question - I don't see any way short of ASB's to do this. The US was just to eager to go - it took all of the British political savvy to keep the US from trying in 1943...they are going to move heaven and earth to go in 1944.
 
Germans realize Enigma is compromised by '42. U-Boots no longer suffer a fatal intelligence leak and can roam more freely. Eventually the RN and USN, increasing merchant ships thanks to the Liberty Ships, and improved aircraft patrols will still spell the death knell of the Wolfpacks, but I think you could arguably delay their eventual defeat by a few months until weather conditions in the channel can delay Overlord even longer.
 
As well as shipping in new landing craft the allies collected up existing landing craft in other threatres and shipped them to England for D Day.
 

MacCaulay

Banned
And a hurricane isn't an act of god? :D
I don't even think this would do it, the LCIs were not just being build in NO that was the primary building point but I though at least a third of them were built on the west cost (San Diego?). And it is not like other ship builders couldn't ramp-up. I could see this delaying for a month or so, maybe as much as 2 but not a whole year.

To answer the original question - I don't see any way short of ASB's to do this. The US was just to eager to go - it took all of the British political savvy to keep the US from trying in 1943...they are going to move heaven and earth to go in 1944.

It was late...I think I was inserting some wrong bits of the English language in there. Believe me...my face is as Red as the politics of the Soviet Union.
 
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