Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2

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Probably, (front was 3.7 cm) but what is the point? The tank was a nightmare. An example of looks good in the photos (T-34/76 another bolo.) but not cracked up to what appearance suggests.

The only way that report could be more scathing would be, "The vehicle is thoroughly unreliable, mechanically and structurally unsound, underpowered and equipped with unsatisfactory armament. The 4-Man Dutch Tank Model MTLS-1G14 is not a satisfactory combat vehicle for any branch of the Armed Forces. The vehicles would, however, serve admirably as anchors for navigation buoys.” Italics are my addition.
 
The only way that report could be more scathing would be, "The vehicle is thoroughly unreliable, mechanically and structurally unsound, underpowered and equipped with unsatisfactory armament. The 4-Man Dutch Tank Model MTLS-1G14 is not a satisfactory combat vehicle for any branch of the Armed Forces. The vehicles would, however, serve admirably as anchors for navigation buoys.” Italics are my addition.

And the Navy reply is "What? Woo Nelly NO at least an anchor is useful!" :)

Randy
 
A veteran Indian infantry division was being shipped to the Meditarrean theater while a new division of locally raised troops stiffened by a battalion of Welch Guards and another battalion of Punjabi light infantry would take over the internal security and labor duties.

Welsh Guards - the only regiments I know of that used the archaic form of Wales were the Welch Regiment (recruited from South and West Wales) and the Royal Welch Fusiliers (North Wales).

Another well written update though, I love your writing style!
 
Story 2175
Port Stanley, Falkland Islands August 8, 1943

The tiny liner turned merchant cruiser turned troop transport, slowly made her way through the channel. The single coastal defense battery tracked her. Two thirds of a battalion from York were aboard, enjoying creature comforts they had forgotten about on the least likely to be attacked portion of the entire Empire. It had sheep and penguins and little else to recommend. Now the sheep may have been attractive to a Scottish regiment but there was no other good reason to expend the effort to take these islands. A single infantry company, a battery of gunners, and a construction company would be the colony's entire garrison. The new commander was a major who had quite interesting ideas about the Frisian Islands during his time on the general Allied staff. A field command would be good for promotion.

The men returning to the Home Islands would be reinforced with a tranche of national service troops before being attached to a brigade preparing for the great liberation of Europe.
 
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Story 2176
Portsmouth, August 9, 1943
Smoke rose an unlucky ship across the harbor from the Free French battleship Courbet. Her gunners were claiming another German jabo, their seventeenth of the war. Eight FW-190s had streaked across the Channel at 100 metres over the waves to avoid the ever thickening Allied fighter patrols. They pulled up short of the harbor, lofting their bombs to the vagaries of physics and the wind. Six were inconsequential. Two slammed into an assault transport preparing for yet another exercise.
 
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Port Stanley, Falkland Islands August 8, 1943

The tiny liner turned merchant cruiser turned troop transport, slowly made her way through the channel. The single coastal defense battery tracked her. Two thirds of a battalion from York were aboard, enjoying creature comforts they had forgotten about on the least likely to be attacked portion of the entire Empire. It had sheep and penguins and little else to recommend. Now the sheep may have been attractive to a Scottish regiment but there was no other good reason to expend the effort to take these islands. Now a single infantry company, a battery of gunners, and a construction company would be the colony's entire garrison. The new commander was a major who had quite interesting ideas about the Frisian Islands during his time on the general Allied staff. A field command would be good for promotion.

The men returning to the Home Islands would be reinforced with a tranche of national service troops before being attached to a brigade preparing for the great liberation of Europe.
Scottish regiment liking sheep nah, now a Welsh or New Zealand regiment, now you're talking. Anyway why is Britain sending troops to defend the Bennies?
 
Story 2177
Southeast of Leningrad, August 10, 1943

The night was her friend. Shadows and a light breeze touching her cheek like her last lover's nose allowed her to move forward slowly and steadily. The front lines were behind her left shoulder. The German outpost line was off to her right still at least two miles away. Her spotter followed her a few body lengths behind. They had another three hours to get into an hide where they would be watching the Germans patrol and scout the plausible lines of attack for the Red Army.

Tatianna wiped her brow of the summer sweat. She then chewed the small loaf of bread smothered with butter that would serve as her breakfast. Tea would be wonderful, but the snipers and scouts could not light a fire as that would produce too much evidence of their existence. Her pack was lying on the ground covered under a small cloth net. Her spotter was moving some sticks and grasses into clumps to tie onto their uniforms. An hour later, they would be invisible. One would watch for fifteen minutes while the other took notes. And then they switched tasks throughout the day.
 
Story 2178
London, August 10, 1943

The draftsman smiled. The sketch for the large fleet cruiser variant had been approved by his section chief. She would be 19,000 tons and heavily armed with ten eight inch automatic guns. The main battery would be in twin turrets that were almost as large as the American triples to accommodate the proposed machinery needed to fire heavy shells eight to ten times a minute out to the horizon for at least thirty minutes straight. Her secondary battery was the increasingly common 4.5 inch twin deck mount. The 5.25 was attractive for additional stopping power against torpedo attacks, but the simplicity, lighter weight, increased reliability and higher rates of fire as an anti-aircraft mount made the 4.5 the better choice. There were no seaplane facilities. This design was intended to escort fast carrier groups, aircraft would fly from the dedicated ships. The deck space and weight margin were taken up by twenty eight 40 millimeter barrels instead.

An hour later, the draftsman was back at his table. Two more variants of a large fleet cruiser were needed for the Admiralty to winnow down as planning for the 1945 and 1946 estimates was proceeding. Now he would be drawing up a sketch of a cruiser armed with 9.2 inch guns. He would assume that these guns would be available and would work. The only constraints were affordability and fit into a fairly broad array of drydocks scattered around the world.
 
Hopefully this class won't be as poorly armored as the County or York. And it's a shame the RN did or could not go for triples as having five turrets usually means the middle one has a bad arc of fire
 
Scottish regiment liking sheep nah, now a Welsh or New Zealand regiment, now you're talking. Anyway why is Britain sending troops to defend the Bennies?
There was still a coaling station (though of lesser importance in WW2) on the islands and they were a useful spot for picking up fresh water, mutton and fish for passing ships, plus for some reason people were worried the Japanese might invade. Though I suspect any member of the IJN would welcome the paradise of a sojourn in the Aleutians to a Port Stanley winter.
 
Hopefully this class won't be as poorly armored as the County or York. And it's a shame the RN did or could not go for triples as having five turrets usually means the middle one has a bad arc of fire
This will be one of approximately 20 options that are to be reviewed and debated before the Admiralty prepares their 1945 and/or 1946 estimates. The odds of this particular design ever having steel cut are low. The odds of this program ever seeing steel cut are not great
 
I guess they'll cancel the heavy cruiser program entirely and go with a light cruiser along the lines of OTL Tiger or hopefully Minotaur. :(
 
I guess they'll cancel the heavy cruiser program entirely and go with a light cruiser along the lines of OTL Tiger or hopefully Minotaur. :(
And with the war costing far less for the UK maybe a couple slightly modernized Miontaur's in are in the ready reserve squadron when the Falklands have their Argentine inffestation in 1982 and prove most useful in San Carlos, and/ or the CVA-01 and 02 are built.
 
I guess they'll cancel the heavy cruiser program entirely and go with a light cruiser along the lines of OTL Tiger or hopefully Minotaur. :(
Just a reminder, the RN cruiser force has been in far better shape TTL than OTL. The much less intense Mediterranean Theatre esp Malta and Crete will have ripple effects on force requirements and asset availability post-war.
 

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Just a reminder, the RN cruiser force has been in far better shape TTL than OTL. The much less intense Mediterranean Theatre esp Malta and Crete will have ripple effects on force requirements and asset availability post-war.

Many more ships will survive the war, but won't quite a few of them be pretty well used up mechanically and structurally?
 
Many more ships will survive the war, but won't quite a few of them be pretty well used up mechanically and structurally?
The thing is with more cruisers surviving and with each survivor having had less damage on average inflicted on them means that each ship will have had more time in the dockyards for regular refits than otl.
 
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