WI: HSF not scuttled at Scapa Flow

Well Dan I guess the British would have a choice to make. The French and Italians were both asking for a quarter of the fleet. The British weren't so keen on this as it would alter the balance of power in Europe. On the other and the British could decide to keep the fleet for themselves as a way of keeping naval supremacy over the Americans in the short-medium turn. This would undoubtedly butterfly away the 1920 Washington Naval Conference.
 
That would mean the USN gets the South Dakotas (1920's version), and the Lexington-class battlecruisers!
 

Markus

Banned

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Scuttling of the HSF at Scapa Flow


As for the results, smaller navies get a lot of large, modern warships, that would be the last thing the UK needs.
 

Blair152

Banned
That would mean the USN gets the South Dakotas (1920's version), and the Lexington-class battlecruisers!
It would depend on whether or not there'd be a Washington Naval Treaty.
It would also depend on how far along the South Dakota class of 1920 was
at the time of the Washington Naval Treaty. There was talk of converting them into aircraft carriers, but they were only about 10%-15% complete at the time. That left the Lexingtons, Lexington, CC-1, and Saratoga, (CC-3),
because both ships were further along in construction, were chosen for conversion to aircraft carriers.
 
The Royal Navy is not going to keep German ships in its fleet. They'll take a look at them, take notes on the few things that are significantly better than their equivalents, and then scrap the lot and/or sink them for target practice.

France and Italy will get a couple battleships each. The reconstructions and modifications would be pretty interesting to see.

Germany gets to keep the dreadnoughts not at Scapa Flow that they had to turn in as "replacements" for the scuttled ships. That might have a few small effects on the naval history of WW2.
 
Not all of the HSF was sent to Scapa, and when the German crews scuttled their ships the Entente (well, OK, Britain) demanded that the remaining ships in German hands be delivered to Scapa in lieu of those that the German Navy had destroyed. Can't remember off the top of my head which they were though

One side effect will be the increase in cost of certain high technology projects (I think including the space race, some medical equipment etc). Due to the increased radiation count (or something liek that) in the world following nuclear explosions, steel from 1940s onwards has a different makeup to that previously, and so the older steel (for example, from sunk German Battleships) is hugely sought after for these precision requirements. No scuttling = less available steel for this sort of work
 

Germaniac

Donor
Not all of the HSF was sent to Scapa, and when the German crews scuttled their ships the Entente (well, OK, Britain) demanded that the remaining ships in German hands be delivered to Scapa in lieu of those that the German Navy had destroyed. Can't remember off the top of my head which they were though

One side effect will be the increase in cost of certain high technology projects (I think including the space race, some medical equipment etc). Due to the increased radiation count (or something liek that) in the world following nuclear explosions, steel from 1940s onwards has a different makeup to that previously, and so the older steel (for example, from sunk German Battleships) is hugely sought after for these precision requirements. No scuttling = less available steel for this sort of work
I heard about that and always found it fascinating.
 
The Royal Navy is not going to keep German ships in its fleet. They'll take a look at them, take notes on the few things that are significantly better than their equivalents, and then scrap the lot and/or sink them for target practice.

France and Italy will get a couple battleships each. The reconstructions and modifications would be pretty interesting to see.

Germany gets to keep the dreadnoughts not at Scapa Flow that they had to turn in as "replacements" for the scuttled ships. That might have a few small effects on the naval history of WW2.

True. It would have been every expensive to attempt to integrate the German warships into the Royal Navy, particularly since there would eventually be a drive to demobilize a majority of the fleet in peace time.
 
Certainly at least some of the HSF will be obsolete compared to the RN's newest ships.

OTL the British had already reduced the German crews to the point of impotence, except where scuttling was concerned. It is not impossible that the remnant German crews might well assume the worst if the British tell them to vacate their ships entirely for a British crew and scuttle on the spot.


Douglas, the real irony will be the Washington Treaty which then renders any expense the French or Italians have gone to entirely pointless.:D Certainly if the choice is a German prize or a brand new ship down the road the prizes won't be around for long.
 
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