Have the RN completely mallet the Reggia Marine from the Med' in WWII

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

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Have the RN completely mallet the Regia Marine in the Med' in WWII

This means completely clearing the Reggia Marine from the entire Med' and thus not allowing them to being able to mount any operations against Allied forces and being unable to help the German Afrika Corp.

Much obliged!

 

[naraic]

The easiest way to do this is to get a second carrier for Operation Judgement. Whether the second carrier is a repaired Eagle or another carrier transferred into to the Mediterranean for the operation or one saved by something earlier in the war going better.

Hit another battleship or two so that the Royal Navy have a much greater amount of freedom of operation.

 

[Driftless]

^^^Have either of HMS Glorious not being sunk off Norway by mis-handling, or HMS Courageous be sunk by a u-boat. They don't necessarily need to be part of Op Judgement, but something else could.

 

[Peg Leg Pom]

^^^Have either of HMS Glorious not being sunk off Norway by mis-handling, or HMS Courageous be sunk by a u-boat. They don't necessarily need to be part of Op Judgement, but something else could.

Better yet both survive. A three carrier strike on Taranto combined with Ark Royal raiding from the west would just about do for the Italian Navy.

 

[naraic]

Even the minimalistic option of Eagle avoiding her mechanical failures and moving up HMS Hermes spell off Eritrae by a couple of months (and then stealing Hermes for Taranto) would imo be sufficient to do for the Italian navy.

Once the battleships are gone then cruiser and destroyer squadrons are much freer to operate against convoys. Especially if some of the cruisers are gone too.

 

[AlanL]

Have the RN completely mallet the Reggia Marine in the Med' in WWII

This means completely clearing the Reggia Marine from the entire Med' and thus not allowing them to being able to mount any operations against Allied forces and being unable to help the German Afrika Corp.

Much obliged!

How about a couple of Matapan butterflies instead? Cunningham mentions in his autobiography that Warspite's condensers ate some mud while leaving Alexandria that slowed her down by a couple of knots - avoid that and does a slightly faster Warspite manage to catch VV?
Alternatively, it's been mentioned in the Malaya What-If TL that there was a Greek destroyer squadron in the Gulf of Corinth looking to get in on the action. Maybe have them successfully get in touch with Cunningham, make it to the general vicinity of the action in time, actually find the VV - avoiding a nighttime blue-on-blue with British destroyers in the process ...

 

[AlanL]

Otoh Spartivento: unlike Churchill I'm struggling to see a plausible way to have Somerville do much better given the capital ship resources at his disposal - a museum piece and an eggshell. I suppose if Ark Royal's Swordfish miraculously hit & seriously damage both Italian BB's ...

 

[PMN1]

The easiest way to do this is to get a second carrier for Operation Judgement. Whether the second carrier is a repaired Eagle or another carrier transferred into to the Mediterranean for the operation or one saved by something earlier in the war going better.

Hit another battleship or two so that the Royal Navy have a much greater amount of freedom of operation.

More aircraft in theory means more hits but hits on what?

Looking at the positions of some of the Italian ships, they are going to be near impossible to hit with torpedoes, given how well they are screened by other ships.

 

[HMS St.Lawrence]

More aircraft in theory means more hits but hits on what?

It is true that Veneto, Doria and Cesare all escaped damage and that they were "inside" the ring formed by the three battleships that were hit. However, maps like this can be misleading because they may give a wrong sense of scale. As we can see in this picture, with the right angle of approach, an attack on the interior ships can be achieved (and was attempted on the Vittorio Veneto).

Also there is the fact that simply more damage on the three ships that were historically hit would represent a better outcome. Indeed, if they all can be permanently put out of action, it would significantly impair the Italian capacity to conduct offensive operations.

 

[Magnum]

Have the Kriegsmarine get mauled so severely in the invasion of Norway, that the Royal Navy can comfortably redeploy significant assets to the Med. You do this by having the British correctly identify German intentions in advance.

For added bonus points, keep North Africa fighting with the British, though this isn't strictly necessary.

After that, it's just a numbers game

 

[naraic]

It is true that Veneto, Doria and Cesare all escaped damage and that they were "inside" the ring formed by the three battleships that were hit. However, maps like this can be misleading because they may give a wrong sense of scale. As we can see in this picture, with the right angle of approach, an attack on the interior ships can be achieved (and was attempted on the Vittorio Veneto).

Also there is the fact that simply more damage on the three ships that were historically hit would represent a better outcome. Indeed, if they all can be permanently put out of action, it would significantly impair the Italian capacity to conduct offensive operations.

Even if you can't hit a battleship theres still a lot of targets available. 30+ cruisers and destroyers.

The battleships are important because hitting them allows the Royal Navy to operate freely but the cruisers and destroyers put in work escorting Italian convoys.