alternatehistory.com

I was recently reading an article (The Ship that Never Was: The Flying Deck Cruiser; Military Affairs, Vol 32, No.3; Ernest Andrade, Jr) on the Flying Deck Cruiser concept that was pursued for a time by the USN.

So, the most serious design was put the General Board in 1931 and argued strongly by Admirals Pratt and Moffett, in bills before Congress during 1930-31 for construction to begin in 1933. Of course with the economy in the dire state it was in, the appropriations went nowhere. However the next gasp of life came in 1933 when Roosevelt authorised $238,000,000 for the Navy Department for naval construction. However the construction program did not include the flying deck cruiser design from 1931 in an apparant volt-face policy change. The author argues that as the flying deck cruiser concept was a compromise, designed to save money with tight financial resources, however with the public works money, the navy could 'have its cake and eat it to'; Yorktown, Enterprise, a heavy and three light cruisers etc. It also didn't help that in Apr 1933 Moffett was killed in the Akron crash.

So lets say that the flying deck cruiser design as proposed in 1931 to the General Board is accepted as part of the construction in 1931 or 1933, which might mean that there would be one or two kicking around by the time 1941 rolls around - barring other major butterflies in the world, with the exception that the USN might have one or two less 10,000 ton conventional cruisers. Its unlikely any more are built due to the scepticism in the navy, the ability to build both conventional cruisers and carriers without the compromises and the move away from the Scouting role need.

So with a small airgroup (in 1933) of 24 "light bombing and scout aircraft" (maybe less by the time 1941 rolls around with bigger, heavier aircraft), 32 knots, 10,000 tons and 9x6 inch guns. How would they be deployed by the navy and would they have much utility? Running aircraft to the various Pacific islands or even Malta? Providing the Japanese do not build something equivalant to these in response, do the get caught and expended early during the early stages of the war?

fdc.JPG
Top