Q,
I think you need. To distinguish between what was planned an what was actually completed.
Yes remove Hitler and everything will change. ...That is the corner stone of most alt histories.
Q,
I think you need. To distinguish between what was planned an what was actually completed.
The next bit is an academic question because she was refitting when the battle took place and according to her Wikipaedia entry her maximum speed was limited to 26.5 knots before her refit. Having written that, how well would Hood have done? My uneducated thinking is that with her larger and AFAIK more seaworthy hull she would have been able to go faster than Repulse and Renown in the foul weather conditions and maintain contact with the Twins. However, she might attempt to shadow the German ships rather than engage them.
Hood's reduced speed was due to her chasing Strasbourg and stripping a turbine while doing 28 knots.Bump
A fight in the Channel is more interesting, because that's likely to devolve into the kind of fight that better favors the Twins. And that's still not terribly favorable to the German ships. If they want to punch holes in Strasbourg's belt, they need to get close enough that the French can do it right back, and the French still have better fire control.
I suppose you could do that as a WI, WI the Force du Raid joined the Free French following the French armstice (basically negating Catapult).
Or just have the Force de Raid engage the Twins when they were out and about in November 1939.
In this case then the Germans do a runner. They are not going to fight a superior force or risk being damaged and then getting chewed out by Hitler. If its the Force De Raide then at the outbreak of the War you've got two CL's and 8 contre-torpilluers (super-destroyers) including the Mogodor which was a very light cruiser more than a destroyer and these ships can definately overhaul the twins. The Marine Nationale studied and worshipped at the altar of the Torpedo attack and the French ships could well go for a torp attack. Its then up to Darlan to decide on what to do.
1 - Order the persuit and accept that he could loose a ship or two as they try to get in range and a suitable angle for a torpedo attack.
2 - Let the Germans disengage as he keeps his formation together.
If they come across each other at shorter ranges then I don't doubt he'd order a full torpedo attack. But in clear weather at very long range, its a chase and the DD's and CLs are going to probably be out of range of his capital ships ability to engage by the time they get into position to launch a torpedo attack of their own.
Have the PL.7 torpedo bombers from the mighty Bearn successfully lame one of the Twins, allowing the French Twins to run her down.
I was asking about Hood taking part in the OTL battle on 9th April in the same weather conditions as OTL.Hood's reduced speed was due to her chasing Strasbourg and stripping a turbine while doing 28 knots.
Considering it's a month or two earlier, Hood would be able to make 28. She might strip a turbine chasing them. Either way, Hood might engage at long range, The Twins turn and run, and Hood will eventually fall behind. Hood's armour is pretty good against S&G's shells, compared to R&R, and while Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have good armour against Hood's shells all Hood needs is one or two hits to the superstructure, and one, if not both ships could have their fighting effectiveness greatly reduced. The question is, is Hood's older Dreyer system up to the task? While Hood's first salvo against PE barely missed, the weather situation is far worse.
So overall Hood engages from long range, may or may not hit Scharnhorst or Gneisenau. They run, Hood can't keep up.
Then it becomes an execution as one of the Twins would still basically run and the other gets ripped apart. Realistically the only time the Germans had the actual forces to challenge the Force de Raid was during the Norwegian Campaign and that would only be if both sides met as actual battlegroups sailing together. Also the Bearn had a VERY slow cycle time for her aircraft due to very slow lifts (which were also a major part of her flight deck).
I was asking about Hood taking part in the OTL battle on 9th April in the same weather conditions as OTL.
I thought that a possible POD could have been that the Admiralty believes the reports that the Germans are preparing an invasion of Norway and decide to abandon/delay Hood's refit depending upon when they become convinced that the Germans are going to invade.
However, I now think that it wouldn't be possible because IOTL she was in the Clyde 15th March to 30th March 1940. Then she was at Devonport 31st March - 27th May 1940. And finally she was at Liverpool 28th May to 12th June 1940. Source Naval History Net.
My understanding is that British ships tended to be more seaworthy than Germany's and therefore were faster in realistic sea conditions. That's why I thought Hood might be as fast or even faster than the Twins in the weather conditions that the OTL battle was fought in. I also thought that because of her size she might have more freeboard than Renown which might have helped Hood maintain contact with the Twins. However, that was before I remembered that Hood was very wet, which gained her the nickname, "The largest submarine in the Navy." So I now think it's unlikely that she could have gone any faster than Renown in the prevailing sea conditions.
Regrettably I have to agree as that corresponds to what I've read about the OTL action. To go faster Renown had to turn her turrets away from the enemy to go faster.I suspect that S&G with their clipper bows would be faster than Renown given the weather however in the Engagement vs Renown they had the advantage that they only had to keep their rear turrets in action while Renown had to reduce speed to keep her forward guns in action.
Regrettably I have to agree as that corresponds to what I've read about the OTL action. To go faster Renown had to turn her turrets away from the enemy to go faster.
The twins were not partically good sea boats, and this might well be before they had their atlantic bow fitted.