Naval History Forums

IMHO throughout the war, the Italians were even more concerned with preserving their major fleet units than Hitler became after the loss of Bismarck. Only the most expendable units fought it out with the British. Therefore, I would believe the continuation of the battle would last only until one or ...

BTW there were actually 6 Dithmarschen tankers built and launched.The last tanker "Haverland" was not completed during the war. Interesting information on Haverland. I have only read about the five ships completed. What details about her do you have? I have always thought the Dithmarshen ...

Not all five of these ships were completed or brought into service. Yes they were. All but Franken were operational at the start of the war. Franken was launched on 8 Jul 1939. You can see pictures of her being completed at an adjacent pier next to Graf Zeppelin. Franken was completed in March of 1...

I think to put this question its proper prospective you must start by looking at the options the Germans had starting to be examined in the later half of September 1940. By that point, both OKM and OKH were looking towards the Med and to increasing the efforts to blockade Britain. I would speculate:...

The ability to refuel and rearm would depend upon how many Trosschiffs were in the mid-Atlantic with the German task forces. If the Support Group ships Nordmarck and Dithmarchen were able to join Uckermarck and Python, the Germans would have had the ability to operate from the Central Atlantic wher...

I don't know if you realy need to dig so deep into details, Sgt Rock. The most probable outcome, IMO, would be that the German raider force breaks into the open waters of the Atlantic, and attacks 1-2 convoys, that are scattered with great losses for the Allies. AFTER THAT however, shortage of fuel...

It is the ADMIRALTY that considered the presence of an operational Carrier to be a graver threat than even Bismarck. See the report of the Admiralty meeting on 29 Jan 1940. I think it is likely the British find the Northern Battle Group as they approach the Iceland-Faroes Gap but DO NOT think the Br...

The Fi 167 is more than capable of intercepting torpedo Albacores , since they can only do 150-160mph, while the STOL aircraft is capable of 203 mph. All it has to do is to break up the attacks. Further more good well trained pilots could fly Me-109T if they had to, it’s just silly and bad military...

As we discuss the possible skill level of the GZ pilots, I have begun to look at what historically happened to the aircraft and pilots that would have been posted on GZ. It is common knowledge the fighter squadrons were used to form JG 77. The Ju87s were incorporated into StG1 and used in the attack...

"By the end of the war, the USN was conducting night attacks." So, the USN, the world's largest navy (by wars end) with the largest FAA, took ~4 years to catch up to the RN FAA, and then only with technical and tactical assistance from the RN. Expecting the KM's FAA to master all this in ...

If you read the operational history of RN CVs operating in Northern waters in winter, you will find many instances when flying off operations were not possible, but in any event, the FAA did master night CV-based attacks, and did introduce tactics and technology that no one else mastered, including...

Dunmunro--That is some really neat illustrations of the Swordfish with the ASV.

I have another question. Where the British still trying to patrol the Iceland-Faroes Gap with surface ships at the end of 1941 or were they using ASV equipped aircraft?

What if? Instead of operation Rheinubung the KM kept the bulk of its forces in the Baltic and staged a repeat of the WW I operation Albion (the invasion of the Baltic islands) on June 22, 1941. The capital ships could have been stationed in the Aaland Sea as they were in September 1941. The light cr...

The Germans had to have felt that war with the USA could not have been far off. This type of operation might be the only chance Germany had to cause a major disruption in the British convoy system before that happened. The UK endured massive shipping losses throughtout the war and survived. If they...