More S-Boats
At the bottom end of the scale, was it feasible to increase the output of S-boats before the outbreak of World War II without cutting back on something else?
I haven't got my copy of Whitley with me, but IIRC the target was originally for 150, but was then cut back 75. IOTL 37 had been ordered by September 1939, of which about 24 had been completed and the 6 oldest had been sold to Spain.
ITTL my ideal is for the target to be maintained at 150 S-boats with a completion date of 1940. I want the state of play to be:
-6 boats (S-1 to S-6) ordered to the end of 1932, completed 1930-33 and sold to Spain in 1936 as IOTL;
-124 boats (S-7 to S-130) ordered 1934-38. 72 of which would have been completed by September of 1939 and the balance by the end of 1940.
-96 boats would be ordered in September 1939 and another 32 in November bringing the total to 152.
-Orders would continue to be at quadruple the rate of the real world until the middle of 1943 with 118 ordered in 1940, 160 ordered in 1941, 64 in 1942 and 240 in the first half of 1943. "Only" 280 would be ordered in December 1943, the same as OTL, but due to the production capacity that had been built up more of them would be completed.
I was hoping that by ordering more S-boats the builders would be able to employ larger scale production techniques to get more productivity out of the available labour.
IOTL the most important brake on expanding the S-boat force during the war was (IIRC) the supply of crank cases for the diesel engines. Daimler Benz blamed that on the Kriegsmarine for not ordering enough engines before the war in general and no bulk orders in particular. ITTL I want a quintupling of engine orders before the war to provide a reserve of engines for wastage and accelerate expansion.
The source I am using says that 230 S-boats were completed 1934-45 so I'm expecting to be told that increasing this to 920 won't be possible or if it is there will have to be big cuts to other production programmes plus there will be the problem of finding the sailors to man them.
If the above is not possible I'd settle for a doubling of S-boat production and a 2.5 fold increase in engine production. Plus the more boats available in 1939 and completed by the end of 1942 the better.
At the bottom end of the scale, was it feasible to increase the output of S-boats before the outbreak of World War II without cutting back on something else?
I haven't got my copy of Whitley with me, but IIRC the target was originally for 150, but was then cut back 75. IOTL 37 had been ordered by September 1939, of which about 24 had been completed and the 6 oldest had been sold to Spain.
ITTL my ideal is for the target to be maintained at 150 S-boats with a completion date of 1940. I want the state of play to be:
-6 boats (S-1 to S-6) ordered to the end of 1932, completed 1930-33 and sold to Spain in 1936 as IOTL;
-124 boats (S-7 to S-130) ordered 1934-38. 72 of which would have been completed by September of 1939 and the balance by the end of 1940.
-96 boats would be ordered in September 1939 and another 32 in November bringing the total to 152.
-Orders would continue to be at quadruple the rate of the real world until the middle of 1943 with 118 ordered in 1940, 160 ordered in 1941, 64 in 1942 and 240 in the first half of 1943. "Only" 280 would be ordered in December 1943, the same as OTL, but due to the production capacity that had been built up more of them would be completed.
I was hoping that by ordering more S-boats the builders would be able to employ larger scale production techniques to get more productivity out of the available labour.
IOTL the most important brake on expanding the S-boat force during the war was (IIRC) the supply of crank cases for the diesel engines. Daimler Benz blamed that on the Kriegsmarine for not ordering enough engines before the war in general and no bulk orders in particular. ITTL I want a quintupling of engine orders before the war to provide a reserve of engines for wastage and accelerate expansion.
The source I am using says that 230 S-boats were completed 1934-45 so I'm expecting to be told that increasing this to 920 won't be possible or if it is there will have to be big cuts to other production programmes plus there will be the problem of finding the sailors to man them.
If the above is not possible I'd settle for a doubling of S-boat production and a 2.5 fold increase in engine production. Plus the more boats available in 1939 and completed by the end of 1942 the better.