World War 1 Carrier Battle.

In 1915 the Germans designed an Aircraft Carrier conversion of an Italian liner under construction in one of their yards. At first glance this ship appears to have some advantages over the very similar HMS Argus, having 3 hangers, a starboard side island and funnel and a higher aircraft capacity. So lets assume for a moment that this ship is built commissioning like Argus in 1918. Lets further assume that knowledge of this ship has reached Britain resulting in Argus been commissioned a earlier than in reality and with the same type of island structure and funnel.

In August 1918 the two ships meet in the North Sea and a battle ensues during which both carriers suffer moderate damage and the two opposing forces withdraw to base without ever actually sighting each other, other than from the air. While this has no real impact on the course of the war, how does it effect things post war?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_aircraft_carrier_I_(1915)

first_german_aircraft_carrier__ex_ausonia__by_dg_alpha-d5ne1u5.jpg
 
I'd suspect you'd see slightly higher interest in carrier aviation in the immediate post war, but the "Battleships are King" lobby is still too strong for any really earthshaking effects. And for that matter, airplanes themselves still too primitive. Now if say, the German carrier managed to somehow sink a British Dreadnought while the later was at sea and underway.... well that might be a different story.
 
Last edited:
I'd suspect you'd see slightly higher interest in carrier aviation in the immediate post war, but the "Battleships are King" lobby is still too strong for any really earthshaking effects. And for that matter, airplanes themselves still too primitive. Now if say, the German carrier managed to somehow sink a British Dreadnought while the later was at sea and underway.... well that might be a different story.
A Dreadnought would be pushing things, and I don't know what the Germans had in the war of arial torpedos but I could see a Pre Dread on either side being at least badly damaged and a Cruiser could conceivably be sunk. So how about if Sopwith Cuckoos from Argus managed to put two 18" Torpedos into a German Armoured Cruiser while German aircraft managed to land a 100lb bomb on Argus starting a hanger fire.
 
A Dreadnought would be pushing things, and I don't know what the Germans had in the war of arial torpedos but I could see a Pre Dread on either side being at least badly damaged and a Cruiser could conceivably be sunk. So how about if Sopwith Cuckoos from Argus managed to put two 18" Torpedos into a German Armoured Cruiser while German aircraft managed to land a 100lb bomb on Argus starting a hanger fire.

Eh, I could see it happening, if you got lucky, and combined that luck with poor damage control by the Brits.
 
After Jutland and the loss of Ben-My-Chree in 1917 British damage control practices in 1918 would have been pretty good, so while a bomb in Argus's hanger would start a fire it wouldn't endanger the ship unduly. It's a mission kill though so Argus would have to withdraw. 2 18" torpedos in an armoured cruiser would sink it forcing the Germans to withdraw.

The end result is the potential vulnerability of a carrier to an air strike is shown, and a major if elderly warship has been sunk at sea by carrier aircraft. The battle itself is a relatively minor skirmish but points to a possible pattern of future engagements.
 
Top