More British success at Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939)

Sorry to interrupt, but Armstrong-Siddeley's reputation for building 2-row engines of 14 cyl.s had a long heritage of poor power, vibration, and a lack of reliability. Every flight of a Mk.I Whitley was considered a crapshoot, and Armstrong-Whitworth's own Ensign airliner was re-engined with single-row Wright Cyclones. Three Tiger-powered Ensigns had been dispatched to Australia. None made it. Their single-row Cheetah was peachy-fine. Perhaps Alvis could have a stab at the Pegasus, but I suspect Nomis doesn't care for them.

The RAF ordered 34 Whitley I's - some of which were retained as test-bed aircraft, followed by 46 of the II's and 80 of the III's with the more powerful Tiger engine - the version with greater production because of war demands was the Whitley IV & V which was powered by the more powerful Merlin engine.
Likewise the Ensign - was plagued by bad luck - the prototype had a dead-stick landing due to the incorrect settings on the fuel cocks. Yes aircraft destined for Australia didn't arrive due to "mechanical problems", otherwise between Heston Aerodrome & Le Bourget in 1939/40 they achieved 100% availability, Wright-Cyclone engines were substituted in order to improve performance - according to wiki.

The Deerhound - their next engine - an ambitious project - three-row - had not surprisingly cooling problems, it this was solved - but in April 1941 the factory was bombed and further work finally terminated in October '41.
So, I don't see Armstrong as being a 'no-go' place to work with, Alvis OTOH would be too busy working on the Pelides!!
 
According to Peter C Smith in Dive Bomber p.51 - "The Henley was a two-seater mid-wing monoplane with capacity for four 500lb bombs on under-wing racks."
 
According to Peter C Smith in Dive Bomber p.51 - "The Henley was a two-seater mid-wing monoplane with capacity for four 500lb bombs on under-wing racks."
Do we need the Henley if a more powerful engine is available for the Roc and Skua?

Henley's rival to Specification to Spec. P.4/34 was the imaginatively named Fairey P.4/34, which became the Fulmar. But put a Twin Mercury or Twin Pegasus into it and the Fulmar is effectively turned into a Firefly Mk 1. The Fulmar Mk 1 with a 1,030hp Merlin VIII had a maximum speed of 246mph. The Firefly Mk I with a 1,735 Griffon IIB had a maximum speed of 319mph.

The Firefly was slightly smaller than the Fulmar, but the former was heavier, with an empty weight of 8,925lb and a loaded weight of 13,284lb. The Fulmar had an empty weight of 7,560lb and a loaded weight of 10,700lb.

A TSR or TBD with a Twin Pegasus instead of the OTL Swordfish or Albacore might be faster or have a longer range, but I think what would be more important is that it would carry a heavier armament. 21" torpedoes have more stopping power than the 18" used IOTL. Even if the Helgoland Battle doesn't work out, heavier torpedoes would be useful at Taranto, Matapan and the Bismarck chase.

However, two other important reasons for the poor performance of the OTL FAA aircraft were that the limited space aboard the carriers meant they had to be multi-purpose types, jacks of all trades and masters of none AND the STOL characteristics required, which were hard to reconcile with high performance. More powerful engines would help the multi-purpose types be more successful, but there is still the problem of the STOL requirement.
 
There weren't any 500 lb AP bombs, per Nomis' blurb. I read it.
In the 12-18 months of prep for this I suggest they'd make one. There are options up to 500 lbs that could work. If there are none of the 500 lb. 10in shells left from the Swiftsure class predreadnoughts, then take the 9.2in 380 lb. coastal defence round and add some balancing and fins to make it fly true.. http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_92-47_mk9.htm

The IJN took the same approach for their bombers at PH, IIRC. Though you'd need a dedicated divebomber, not a Seafire, for precision strike.
 
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On Sept. 3, 1939, war was declared and F/O Andrew McPherson was patrolling over the North Sea in his 139 squadron Blenheim. He spotted German shipping in the area of Schillig Roads, off Wilhelmshaven. His radio operator, using one of the new improved radios, dispatched a message back to base. The message was received, and a force of 9 Wimpys and 15 Beaufort "specials" was alerted for immediate take off. 83 squadron specialized in anti-shipping attacks and had trained since 1937 in techniques. They flew the new Beaufort specials and they were known as the Zulus. Amongst their number was a man named Gibson, Guy Gibson.
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The most successful attack on German naval vessels in the Heligoland Bight would have been on September 3, 1939. Emden. Nurnberg, Leipzig, Koln, Konigsberg and 16 destroyers were laying mines and looking for the Polish navy. Their presence was noted by a Blenheim, but its radio was British. British radios continued to give problems such that future patrol bombers were armed patrols. By the time the Blenheim returned and an attack was ordered, the weather closed up. Attacking ships in level bombers from 13,000 ft would likely be pointless, however. Skip-bombing and dive bombing would be more likely more successful, but skip-bombing was not a practiced policy, and dive bombing was a shunned practice, by the RAF. Not so in the FAA, which attacked the Konigsberg in Bergen later, taking of from a land base at a similar range, with Skuas whose pilots had rusty skills at dive bombing. In spite of their lack of practice, all bombs, of 16 Skuas, landed within 50 yards, scoring 3 hits and perhaps one significant near miss, and the Konigsberg went down. All the necessary equipment existed at the time, except reliable radios. All that remained was policy, tactics, training and practice, and the necessary drive to accomplish.
 
... In spite of their lack of practice, all bombs, of 16 Skuas, landed within 50 yards, scoring 3 hits and perhaps one significant near miss, and the Konigsberg went down.

Not a bad score considering the lack of practice.

All the necessary equipment existed at the time, except reliable radios. All that remained was policy, tactics, training and practice, and the necessary drive to accomplish.

Just some small change then...
 
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