This is a consolidation, revision and expansion of posts 28 and 31
Without improving the Government finances or the capacity of British industry...
POD 1941 as per the OP.
Changes to RN Building Programmes 1941-45
Add
- Lay down an Audacious class aircraft carrier instead of the battleship Vanguard, but still call it Vanguard. It is laid down in 1941 and completed in 1946.
- Lay down another pair of Audacious class carriers named Inflexible and Irresistible in 1944.
- Lay down 16 Centaur class light fleet carriers 1942-43
Delete
- Don't lay down the 16 Colossus/Majestic class 1942-43 - The 16 Centaurs referred to above replace them.
- Don't lay down the 4 Centaur class 1944-45 - The 2 extra Audacious class replace them.
- Don't lay down the 7 Swiftsure class cruisers 1941-43 - IOTL 3 were completed as designed, 3 eventually completed as the Tiger class and the seventh was cancelled at the end of the war.
- Don't lay down the 13 Weapon class destroyers 1944-45. IOTL only 4 were completed. But ITTL at least 4 of the 16 Battle class cancelled at the end of the war were completed instead.
The deletions provide the steel and labour for the additions. There should be a surplus of both which is used to do more work on the Eagle, Ark Royal and Audacious (the name I've given to the ship laid down in 1944 and cancelled in 1946) during the war.
Changes to Naval Technology After 1941
- The Angled Flight Deck has to be invented at least 4 years earlier. What I do is replace the flexible deck trials carried out aboard Warrior 1948-49 with trials of an angled flight deck. IOTL the AFD trials were carried out on Triumph in 1952. This will help with the refit programmes.
- It would also help if the development of the steam catapult could be speeded up so that it comes into service in 1950 instead of 1955.
- ITTL the Bumblebee Project is a joint RN-USN programme. The British contribution is the resources put into Seaslug IOTL. The UK has exclusive export rights in the Commonwealth (less Canada) and Europe, with the USA having exclusive export rights in the rest of the world.
- Don't cancel the Type 905 radar in the 1949 Defence Cuts.
- I don't know if it the following is true, but I read somewhere that a digital version of the Comprehensive Display System was cancelled in 1949 too. To fit in with my refit programme it would be useful if the Type 984 radar and CDS could be ready in the middle 1950s instead of the late 1950s.
The above is not an exclusive list and I might have to add more retrospectively.
Aircraft Carriers 1945-57
After the Malta class was cancelled the Royal Navy of TTL would have been left with 12 fleet carriers completed or building. In 1946 the plan would be to complete all 6 Audacious class and modernise all 6 Illustrious class. However, by the time the Nine Year Plan of 1948 and the Revised Restricted Fleet of 1949 were prepared it had been decided to scrap the Illustrious class when all the Audacious class had been completed.
All 16 Centaur class light fleet carriers built instead of the Colossus and Majestic classes would have been launched by the time the war ended. They were much better than the ships built IOTL because they were built to carry 30,000lb aircraft (Standard D), when (IIRC) the Majestics were designed for 20,000lb aircraft and the Colossus class were limited to even lighter aircraft.
In common with OTL 5 light fleet carriers were sold after the war (i.e. 2 to Australia, one to Canada, one to France and one to the Netherlands. That left the Royal Navy with 11. ITTL the ships built instead of Leviathan and Hercules would have been completed by 1948 instead of suspended at the end of World War II.
The ships Australia and Canada bought instead of the OTL Melbourne and Bonaventure would have been completed to Standard B-Star, which is the same standard as Hermes IOTL, but with less advanced electronics, including the Type 984 radar.
ITTL the Audacious class would have been completed as follows:
Vanguard - laid down at John Brown, Clydebank in October 1941, launched November 1944 and completed May 1946 to Standard D
Eagle (ex Audacious) - laid down at Harland & Wolff in October 1942, launched November 1945 and completed May 1947 to Standard D.
Ark Royal (ex Irresistible) - laid down at Cammell Laird in May 1943, launched June 1946 and completed December 1947 to Standard D.
Audacious (ex Eagle) - laid down at Vickers-Armstrong (Tyne) in February 1944, launched May 1950 and completed February 1955 to Standard B.
Irresistible - laid down at Harland & Wolff in May 1944, launched in April 1947 and completed in September 1953 to Standard B.
Inflexible - laid down at Swan Hunter in March 1944, launched in May 1947 and completed in May 1954 to Standard B.
Vanguard has a refit 1950-54 which brings her up to Standard B. Eagle has a refit 1953-55 that brings her up to Standard B. Ark Royal has a refit 1954-57 that brings her up to Standard A.
IOTL
Eagle was launched in March 1946 and completed in October 1951 to Standard D
Ark Royal was launched in May 1950 and completed in February 1955 to Standard C
Eagle (1944) was cancelled in January 1946. She hadn't been launched but was said to be 26% complete.
Irresistible and Inflexible replace the 8 Centaur class ordered in 1944. Irresistible replaces Bulwark and Centaur, both of which were built by Harland & Wolff. The building dates are the same as Centaur IOTL. Inflexible replaces Albion and Hermes. The building dates are the same as Albion IOTL, which was built by Swan Hunter IOTL.
Standards A, B, C and D refer to the types of aircraft that could be carried and the electronics fitted. In October 1956 they were as follows:
Standard A - Type 984/CDS (32 or 48 track)/DPT; fully angled deck; steam catapults; Mk 13 arrester gear; Aircraft, NA39 (Buccaneer), N113 (Scimitar), DH110 (Sea Vixen) and earlier.
Standard B* (pronounced B STAR)- As A but 982/983/960/CDS (6 or 24 track)/DPT.
Standard B - Only 982/983/960, no CDS.
Standard C - As B, but interim angled deck.
Standard D - 982/983/960 or earlier, interim deck, BH V or earlier hydraulic catapults, earlier arrester gear; limited to Sea Hawk, Sea Venom, Gannet.
Standard E - Earlier radar, axial deck, earlier arrester gear.
Standard F - Earlier radar, interim angled deck, could operate existing aircraft in a training and trials role only.
ITTL its possible to complete Audacious, Irresistible and Inflexible to Standard B rather than Standard D (Irresistible and Inflexible) and Standard C (Audacious) because I have had the angled flight deck invented earlier and accelerated the steam catapult.
ITTL Standard A and B ships are capable of operating the Phantom without any further modification.
Aircraft Carrier Plans 1948-57
In both timelines the plan between 1948 and 1954 is for a force of 12 aircraft carriers (6 fleet and 6 light fleet carriers for trade protection).
However, ITTL
- All 6 fleet carriers were Audacious class ships. IOTL it was Ark Royal, Eagle and 4 Illustrious class.
- All 6 trade protection class ships were Centaurs. IOTL it was 4 Centaurs and 2 Colossus class.
- All the fleet carriers were to be brought up to at least Standard B by 1957.
- All 6 light fleet carriers would be brought up from Standard D to Standard C by fitting steam catapults.
- The other 5 light fleet carriers were to be employed on second-line duties like trials and training, but would retain their hydraulic catapults and arrester gear so that they could be used as trade protection carriers in an emergency.
Unfortunately there would be no extra money for the FAA, which was still run down to a front-line of 144 aircraft by 1950. Under the 1954 Rearmament Plan it was to be built up to 300 aircraft in both timelines. There were also 12 squadrons belonging to the RNVR (Air Branch).
The 1954 Defence Review cuts the aircraft carrier force from 12 to 6 ships in both timelines.
- IOTL it was to 3 fleet carriers (Ark Royal, Eagle and Victorious) and 3 light fleet carriers (Bulwark or Albion, Centaur and Hermes).
- ITTL all 6 fleet carriers (6 Audacious class) were retained and the 6 light fleet carriers were paid off into the Reserve Fleet. However, the 5 ships retained on second-line duties survived for the time being.
The 1957 Defence Review
In OTL the 1957 Defence Review cut the aircraft carrier force to 5 ships (Ark Royal, Centaur, Eagle, Hermes and Victorious), all of which were described as strike carriers to reflect the new "East of Suez" defence strategy. The Colossus class ships employed on second-line duties were also discarded, but Albion and Bulwark were converted to commando carriers.
IOTL the Admiralty had wanted 2 strike carriers and one commando carrier, "East of Suez" at all times, which one the 3-to-one principle required a total force of 6 strike carriers and 3 commando carriers. Therefore ITTL the Admiralty is able to persuade Duncan Sands to allow all 6 Audacious class to be run on as strike carriers and the 3 Centaur class which were employed as training ships at the time of the review to be converted to commando carriers.
Unfortunately the 9 aircraft carriers retained after 1957 ITTL had a combined crew of about 17,500 and the 7 retained after 1957 IOTL had a combined crew of about 12,500. There would also be a corresponding increase in the backing of sailors ashore. IOTL Duncan Sands cut the navy to 100,000 men (including Royal Marines) in the 1957 Defence Review, so ITTL a 10% increase in naval personnel was probably required, which requires a 10% increase in naval spending to pay for it.
IOTL the 5 strike carriers operated between the 1957 and 1966 Defence Reviews carried 12-24 fighters and bombers, plus 4 AEW and 8 ASW helicopters. The combined capacity was 100 fighters and bombers plus 20 AEW and 40 ASW helicopters.
ITTL all 6 strike carriers operated 24 fighters and bombers, plus 4 AEW and 8 ASW helicopters. The combined capacity was 144 fighters and bombers plus 24 AEW and 48 ASW helicopters. Although that's a great improvement over OTL it also comes at a bigger financial cost because the extra aircraft have to be bought and maintained along with the extra air and ground crews in the squadrons and under training.
Conclusion
Be-jigging the wartime building programmes we can give the postwar RN more and better ships, but without an increase in spending it won't be able to make use of them.
For what I'm planning naval personnel in the first half of the 1960s requires an increase in personnel from 100,000 to 120,000, which in turn requires HM Government to spend 20% more money on the Royal Navy, which unless the British economy performs better, is money it hasn't got.
Also if the Government is able to spend 20% more on the Royal Navy, it probably doesn't get all of it because the Army and RAF will want some of it. Therefore the UK has to be rich enough to afford at 20% increase in total defence spending.