The Dutch government planned to acquire four dreadnoughts in 1913 (the original planwas to acquire nine) and was on the verge of signing the expansion into law before the start of WW1. The government shelved the plan at the start of the war, since the ships would have to be ordered abroad. After the war the plan was considered too expensive and unneeded.
History repeated itself shortly before the start of WW2. The government, fearing the growing Japanese agressiob planned to build three battlecruisers to defend the East Indies. The reasoning was that in case of war all Japanese capital ships would be tied down fighting the Royal Navy and US Navy and that the battlecruisers would be able to fend of the Japanese cruisers escorting an invasion fleet. The Netherlands did design ships based on the Scharnhorst-class, but the invasion of the Netherlands ended any chance of actually building the ships.
Now assume that the government would push through the expansion plan after WW1:
- What would be the best course to take? Ordering ships abroad or attempting to design and build ships themselves?
- How many of them could a nation the size of the Netherlands reasonably maintain?
- Could such ships have delayed the Japanese invasion of the East Indies?
- Could they have served in any useful role during WW2, assuming some of them survive the battle for the Dutch East Indies?
History repeated itself shortly before the start of WW2. The government, fearing the growing Japanese agressiob planned to build three battlecruisers to defend the East Indies. The reasoning was that in case of war all Japanese capital ships would be tied down fighting the Royal Navy and US Navy and that the battlecruisers would be able to fend of the Japanese cruisers escorting an invasion fleet. The Netherlands did design ships based on the Scharnhorst-class, but the invasion of the Netherlands ended any chance of actually building the ships.
Now assume that the government would push through the expansion plan after WW1:
- What would be the best course to take? Ordering ships abroad or attempting to design and build ships themselves?
- How many of them could a nation the size of the Netherlands reasonably maintain?
- Could such ships have delayed the Japanese invasion of the East Indies?
- Could they have served in any useful role during WW2, assuming some of them survive the battle for the Dutch East Indies?