Montanas built

The Alaska's chief virtue is speed... Speed and AA armament...AA armament and speed.... Their two virtues are AA armament and speed...and ruthless inefficiency.... Their three virtues are AA armament, speed, and ruthless inefficiency...and an almost fanatically unique battery of main armament.... Their four...no... amongst their virtues.... amongst their virtues...are such elements as AA armament, speed.... I'll come in again.
They was nothing they did that a CA or BB could do more efficiently.
 
If only they had put it on a real battleship hull with real torpedo protection and real maneuverability instead of the overgrown cruiser hull it ended up with. The main battery included what were arguably the best 12" guns ever put afloat, although the mountings were terrible.

Postwar, the Navy would probably be looking to keep something with guns that were bigger than anything the Army had. Because the Army had 8" SPGs, only the Alaskas and the battleships would suffice. The Iowas became a politically naturally choice because they had the speed to keep up with carriers, unlike the Treaty battleships or the Montanas. However, with Montana out of the question, the Iowas might blend in enough to allow the Navy to go with something smaller and therefore cheaper. The fact that the Des Moines had as much throw-weight per minute as 15" battleships would definitely make them an attractive option.

They was nothing they did that a CA or BB could do more efficiently.

In case my humor was lost upon you two, I was picking on the Alaska class's failure to sufficiently be either battleship or cruiser, complicated with the logistical failings associated with having a unique (albeit very advanced) armament and attempting to paraphrase Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition skit at the same time.

The gun is impressive, but I can understand why the navy would prioritize the much more numerous stock of 16" shells they had in inventory (not to mention the rest of Alaska's failings). Personally, I'm a fan of the Des Moines class, but I'm also glad we still have the Iowas as museums today.
 

Archibald

Banned
So my plan for a timeline beginning with General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur accepts the surrender of German occupation forces in Britain aboard his flagship USS Alaska following the trans-Atlantic counter-invasion is OK then?

And the German invasion of Britain started from the Frisian islands secret base, where the super raid on scapa flow was launched from ?
 
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CalBear

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So my plan for a timeline beginning with General of the Armies Douglas MacArthur accepts the surrender of German occupation forces in Britain aboard his flagship USS Alaska following the trans-Atlantic counter-invasion is OK then?
Reluctant ASB move, although I would be looking a the Ban Hammer case with longing.
 

Archibald

Banned
I didn't knew about this part of the story. And don't feel strong enough to endure all 37 pages of that train wreck.
 
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