WI: Zeppelin with "Aerial Torpedo"

Yep, that is why I said most, not all naval roles. IMO, AWAC role for naval bases would be the use. But by 1930, I doubt they would be used to attack anything directly.

We don't have to make the CP win, the USA got German assets as reparations, we just need the US Navy to view it as a useful ship as early warning, and have say 6 Zeppelins at San Diego, 6 at the Panama Canal, and 6 on the east coast of the USA. When the fleet moves to Pearl, the Zeppelins go, and they have radars equip. Two are up at any time, one NW of Pearl, one SW of Pearl, each with a 200+ mile radar search area. I doubt the Japanese would even attack if they new we would likely spot their convoy with Zeppelins. The US navy experiment with Zeppelins, but by 1925 and the budget cuts related to the limitation treaty, dropped the program. To a large extent, deployment of new weapons had a 10 year gap.

Or Midway is another example of where a night Zeppelin would be ideal. The US Navy could have an exact location of the Japanese fleets with 300 miles of Midway by 4 am. Now the Zeppelins likely die a horrible death when the Japanese find them, but they would have been excellent use of a few dozen men's lives.

My main issue is that i am not sure how much a radar weights, it would need to be in the 4K to 10K range for a Zeppelin to be practical. And a lot depends on the height of the ship, the coverage range at 20K feet is a lot better than 5K feet.

If you haven't seen it, you might want to read this. With luck zeppelins could have been quite useful in WW2:


https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=118973&highlight=Naval+Airships
 

BlondieBC

Banned
If you haven't seen it, you might want to read this. With luck zeppelins could have been quite useful in WW2:


https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=118973&highlight=Naval+Airships


It is a good read. I have been working on a WW1 TL for the Germans, so I think of the Zeppelin with a different mindset. But considering differences in perspective, and the funding gap from 1925-1935, the TL is about right. The Germans always sent out Zeppelins with the fleet if the weather was right, and the BB admirals liked them as scouts. At Jutland, if the weather was different, the scout Zeppelins would have given the Germans several hours warning on the main fleet, so the battle is a lot different. Basically, the British BC get mauled, and then the German fleet heads back towards the German ports. I never looked much at Zeppelins at anti-sub warfare, because, well, the Germans merchant fleet was not at sea. One of the major uses of Zeppelins was finding mine layers and helping remove the mine fields. Perhaps at the right altitude, water conditions, it is easy to see mines from a few thousand feet. They also vectored in U-boats, and one source credits them in steering a U-boat to kill the live bait squadron. If the Germans had won or simply if WW1 did not occur, I am sure the Germans would have naval Zeppelins in service in the mid 1930's.

While you TL could be the way the navy went, I think they might also go for faster radar development. Even by 1914, people were looking for ways for Zeppelins to find ships at night. Once radar equipped, the scout planes are not needed to find surface fleets. I would also have them matched to carriers, and provide the air cover from carriers, not the Zeppelin. Zeppelins are ahead of the carriers at night, searching for enemy ships, and retreat closer to the carriers for carrier based CAP during the daytime. But with naval budget rivalries, this could easily not happen. A lot depends upon where they are being used, and what the local weather is like. It is just the the way the TL developed, but operating Zeppelins in the doldrum weather pattern in Africa, which they would excel at due to consistent winds and no hurricanes.
 
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