WW1 German Aircraft carriers break blockade

ennobee

ennobee

Ok. Let's assume that through a combination of foresight, high-stakes gambling on the war situation and the intervention of an ASB, the Kaiserliche Marine acquires a working aircraft carrier, figures out a valid operational naval air doctrine and managed to slip the carrier past the North Sea blockade. So what's next?

With only 1918 issue airplanes, and no real offensive weapons, the carrier would be limited to strafing fishing boats and the occasional solo traveling high-speed freighter. Ok, it planes could spot and shadow convoys, but even a 1920's torpedo bomber could only get off one potshot before being turned back by machine gun fire from the escorting destroyers. And if said destroyers fan out and start searching for the planes' base, the carrier, lacking its own guns, will have to run for its life.

Eventually, the Royal Navy, or the US one, will get tired of the carrier's harassment and sent out a battle fleet to find and sink it. My money will be on the battle fleet.
 
Vanguard45

Vanguard45

A British submarine could do the job just as well, plus this assumes the Germans have the imagination to perform this. The U-boats were honestly the best choice once the British decided death by close in blockade wasn't cool and went for distant blockade
 

Garrison

Donor
Airborne2001 said:
For curiosity's sake, do you think that in a Central Powers victory scenario completing the carrier may be a better idea?
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Possibly not as that would very much be an army victory, but it might happen if the Kaiser doesn't obsess on big battleships.
 
Vanguard45

Vanguard45

The main issue with carriers is the North Sea sucks to put them in.
Some of those battles turn into downright knife fights on a good day.

The Germans would be nervous (Rightly) about something awful happening (Like some British Submarine doing a strike at night)
 

Peg Leg Pom

CaptainCalvert said:
From a torpedo plane that can scarcely take off in 1913 to sinkings from air-launched torpedoes in the second half of 1915 is amazing and at least a year sooner than I'd thought. I learned something today.
So the idea of carriers would have been reasonable by the end of 1915, even if the engineering and how to use them needed some work.
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What I find astounding is that the Short Folder design remained in frontline service until 1933. For what's essentially a pre WWI design that's incredible. The only comparable Pre WWI example I can think of is the Avro 504, but that was a training aircraft.
 

Simreeve

Peg Leg Pom said:
What I find astounding is that the Short Folder design remained in frontline service until 1933. For what's essentially a pre WWI design that's incredible. The only comparable Pre WWI example I can think of is the Avro 504, but that was a training aircraft.
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No, that's the Air Ministry not spending as high a share of its budget on naval aviation as it should have been doing...
 
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