Monitor Wank

Don't know why but I've just had a vision (not literaly) of HMS Terror and USS Langley working together as the worlds slowest carrier task force.

Maybe instead of a PT boat squadron it could be the basis of an ATL version of Mc Hales Navy with guest appearances by USS Echo a.k.a The Wakiest Ship In The Army. Let's not forget the other comic naval warriors USS Seatiger with her pink paint and complement of Nurses and that heir to Nelson's legacy HMS Troutbridge.

"They may not scare the Japanese Mr Prime Minister and Mr President but by God they terrify me"

That would be an outstanding sitcom. TL idea, anyone?
 
You wont get speed, but you COULD get maneuverability. Twin screws and a large rudder will go a long way towards making your vessel turn well. We'd have to be careful about what AA to use, but I think this could be done. Habitability will be marginal though, no long distance cruises, other than going to your duty station.
 
Should be, if I remember correctly the first British offesives after the retreat to India were in the coastal Arakan Province. 15 inch gunfire support would certainly help morale no matter what the IJA were doing. There were 2 available in 42 Erebus and Roberts, Terror having suffered an unfortunate and permanent loss of boyancy in the Mediterranean in 41. Abercrombie was commissioned in 43.

HMS Terror started the war in Singapore as an addition to the islands guns. She was sent to the Mediterranean and lost early in 1941 while supporting O'Connors advance in Operation Compass. Without at least a neutral sky she'd have struggled to survive around Malaya but if pulled back to Java would have at least made the Japanese landings more costly than they were. By that point though she'd have probably been the largest allied warship inside the Malay barrier.

Don't know why but I've just had a vision (not literaly) of HMS Terror and USS Langley working together as the worlds slowest carrier task force.

Maybe instead of a PT boat squadron it could be the basis of an ATL version of Mc Hales Navy with guest appearances by USS Echo a.k.a The Wakiest Ship In The Army. Let's not forget the other comic naval warriors USS Seatiger with her pink paint and complement of Nurses and that heir to Nelson's legacy HMS Troutbridge.

"They may not scare the Japanese Mr Prime Minister and Mr President but by God they terrify me"

I think we can go deeper. Maybe add in a Chinese Ning Hai "cruiser" that ITTL made a run for it in 1937, and was interred in French Indochina? They lucked out in 1940, and managed to escape to Singapore, only to be interred yet again, only to survive their stint in ABDAC due to be being left behind when Admiral Doorman sallied forth due to lacking the speed to keep pace.
 
How far could you push a monitor before it becomes a coastal battleship? A heavy gun turret fore and aft and a speed of 18 - 20 knots perhaps? That's a close match for a Pre Dreadnought. Maybe a mini Nelson class with 2 x 13.5 turrets from Iron Duke or saved from HMS Tiger?
 
I think we can go deeper. Maybe add in a Chinese Ning Hai "cruiser" that ITTL made a run for it in 1937, and was interred in French Indochina? They lucked out in 1940, and managed to escape to Singapore, only to be interred yet again, only to survive their stint in ABDAC due to be being left behind when Admiral Doorman sallied forth due to lacking the speed to keep pace.

They crammed a lot of ship into a very small hull. I'd hate to have been aboard if onegot caught in a Typhoon, because they cant have been particularly stable. They must have been a horrible gun platform.
 
They say about aircraft if it looks right it is right. That ship(for lack of a better word) has me thinking of some small town trouble makers that have the rest of the population shaking their heads and saying "They aint right, they just aint right".
 
How far could you push a monitor before it becomes a coastal battleship? A heavy gun turret fore and aft and a speed of 18 - 20 knots perhaps? That's a close match for a Pre Dreadnought. Maybe a mini Nelson class with 2 x 13.5 turrets from Iron Duke or saved from HMS Tiger?


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_coastal_defence_ship_Ilmarinen#History

Finnish had some fine examples of coastal defense craft . I guess they're really the opposite side of the coin to the Monitor . One is being used for attack and the other defense .
 
I could see some monitors making a real mess of the Japanese invasion beaches in Malaya. They'll probably all end up getting sunk but they will serve a purpose.
 
A monitor in range of Kota Bharu and the Japanese aren't getting ashore with anything but their uniforms, it they're lucky. A monitor could possibly survive if it only moved after dark and hid in the mangroves well camoflaged during daylight. It would have to be extremely lucky though as the odds against it would be huge. Mind you if one was damaged and managed to crawl into Singapore unnoticed she could murder any Japanese in Jahore. How much could the Japanese sustain before lack of supplies forced them to pull back, and how long could a monitor last while being the priority target for Japanese aircraft.

On a side note after the war the Royal Navy's Singapore base was given the name H.M.S. Terror.
 
They say about aircraft if it looks right it is right. That ship(for lack of a betteor word) has me thinking of some small town trouble makers that have the rest of the population shaking their heads and saying "They aint right, they just aint right".

I have to wonder what the Germans were thinking doing so much work on her after she was captured . They did nothing much to increase her armament. So presumably it was to make her handle better


http://www.navypedia.org/ships/germany/ger_bb_biber.htm
 
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