Reevaluation is useful; cherry-picked history is not
Reevaluation with new evidence can improve history; choosing a theory first and selecting evidence to fit it can distort the result.
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How might Operation Downfall have gone?
Operation Downfall would probably have involved substantial Allied infighting over force allocations.
Why a vulnerable frontline division needed nearby reserves
The French deployment is criticized for leaving a vulnerable formation without another division ready to reinforce it.
Calling up reserves for training as a way to avoid declaring mobilization
A proposed training call-up could have assembled Norwegian reserves while avoiding the political language of mobilization.
Could Britain have replaced the R-class before 1939?
If treaty rules permitted replacement, Britain had the money and resources to begin substituting new battleships in the mid-1930s.
Allied experimental weapons extended beyond familiar projects
The Allies had numerous unconventional weapon projects, including a proposed carrier-aircraft version of the bouncing bomb for anti-ship attack.
The unstable 1936 setting behind the Crown Colony class
The cruisers took shape amid rapid rearmament, treaty diplomacy, and worsening crises in Europe and East Asia.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How King George V could challenge a naval proposal
An HMS Eagle anecdote illustrates the blunt naval advice George V could give the prime minister in confidence.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
The Rhineland crisis and the case for early deterrence
Early resistance to German remilitarisation is contrasted with appeasement and the later use of nuclear deterrence.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Hirohito's threatened broadcast during the February 26 coup
A threatened imperial broadcast offered a way to break the army leadership's reluctance to suppress the coup.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How many admirals were targeted in the February 26 coup?
The coup's target list included fewer admirals than an army-versus-navy interpretation might suggest.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why Edward VIII's marriage plans conflicted with remaining king
The abdication is explained through contemporary religious expectations and an interpretation of Edward's reluctance to accept the monarch's responsibilities.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How long had the Crown Colony six-inch battery been in development?
The Town- and Crown Colony-class main battery grew from a long-running effort to place three six-inch guns in one turret.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How the 1936 London Naval Treaty constrained cruiser design
Treaty definitions, the 8,000-ton limit, and the escalator clause explain why Britain pursued a smaller successor to the Town class.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
What treaty standard displacement included and excluded
The treaty counted a surface ship ready for war while excluding fuel and reserve feed water.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How the cruiser escalator clause could restore a 10,000-ton limit
Security concerns arising from another power's construction could release treaty parties from the temporary cruiser restrictions.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
What does 'high contracting parties' mean in treaty language?
A viewer's legal explanation distinguishes sovereign equality from differences in naval strength.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Did fifteen-gun cruisers make the Town class feel underarmed?
The Town class traded three extra guns for a less cramped hull and remained a formidable wartime opponent.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Parliament challenged cruiser scrapping and treaty interpretation
Churchill's questions tested the government's freedom to retain cruisers and expand the fleet as security deteriorated.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Did Crown Colony cruisers work better with three or four turrets?
Many Crown Colony cruisers ended up with three main turrets when additional anti-aircraft weapons were fitted.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Crown Colony specifications and doubts about displacement
A detailed comparison with the Town class tests whether the claimed 8,000-ton standard displacement was credible.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Fiji and Ceylon armament compared
The Ceylon group exchanged three six-inch guns for another quadruple pom-pom while retaining the secondary battery.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Did Town cruisers have more room for anti-aircraft additions?
The apparent difference partly reflects how much longer the Town class had already been fighting.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why the Crown Colonies' displacement figures invite scrutiny
The gap between standard and full-load displacement is compared with the larger Southampton and Gloucester groups.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why did Gloucester-subclass cruisers carry larger crews?
Extra Royal Marines, accommodation, and machinery demands help explain the complement difference within the Town class.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why cruiser crews expanded sharply in wartime
Fully manned weapons, extra anti-aircraft crews, and redundancy explain wartime complements approaching 1,000.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Crown Colony speed figures and the effect of a transom stern
The transom stern helped performance, but the small stated speed gain from additional power prompts skepticism.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How cramped was the Crown Colony X-turret arrangement?
Edinburgh-pattern turrets gave crews room inside the mounting by crowding the smaller hull around it.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
HMS Fiji and the anti-aircraft ammunition crisis at Crete
Fiji's loss shows how command decisions and depleted anti-aircraft magazines could leave modern cruisers exposed to sustained air attack.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Operation Tiger brought Fiji and supplies to the Mediterranean Fleet
Fiji's escort assignment reinforced the Mediterranean Fleet as well as protecting the convoy bound for Egypt.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Fiji's final bombing, flooding, and nighttime rescue
Bomb damage flooded Fiji's machinery spaces and increased her list until abandonment became necessary.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Did the rangefinder position disappear with X turret?
The rangefinder position is thought to have remained after removal of X turret.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How much anti-aircraft ammunition remained before Fiji and Gloucester were lost?
The repeated figures distinguish anti-aircraft reserves from the cruisers' remaining main-gun ammunition.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How much damage could Boise's fifteen six-inch guns do?
A hypothetical Boise comparison emphasizes rapid fire from well-trained six-inch gun crews.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Captured Italian guns became improvised Royal Navy air defense
Ships scavenged captured Italian anti-aircraft weapons and paired some of them with British naval radar during the Mediterranean fighting.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why couldn't cruisers redistribute anti-aircraft ammunition at Crete?
Ships withdrawing to Alexandria still needed their own ammunition, and an at-sea transfer would expose both participants.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why did wartime cruisers still carry practice rounds?
Daily gunnery practice continued during war because combat remained intermittent even in an active theater.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
How far was Fiji listing before the second attack?
Fiji was already listing 18 degrees before the later attack increased her heel.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Did Fiji and Gloucester still have main-gun ammunition?
Their main batteries still had ammunition even as their anti-aircraft magazines ran down.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
HMS Nigeria from Enigma capture to INS Mysore
Nigeria's career spans intelligence capture, Arctic and Mediterranean operations, torpedo damage, Eastern Fleet service, and decades with India.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Nigeria's force found Lauenburg through HF/DF
Direction finding located a German weather ship in fog and enabled the capture of Enigma material.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Operation Gauntlet evacuated Spitsbergen and denied its fuel to Germany
Nigeria's Arctic operations combined evacuation, destruction of usable fuel supplies, and attacks on German shipping.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Nigeria's reconstruction and long service as Mysore
A late turret removal and reconstruction gave Nigeria a further 28 years of Indian service.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why didn't Britain convert more light-cruiser hulls into aircraft carriers?
Britain had carrier programs under way, still needed cruisers, and did not face the same sudden fleet crisis as the United States after Pearl Harbor.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Why cruisers still needed six-inch guns as air defense grew
Cruisers needed strong air defense for frequent aircraft attacks while retaining six-inch guns for surface combat and shore bombardment.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
HMS Mauritius from degaussing trouble to Normandy patrols
Mauritius overcame corrosion caused by an early internal degaussing system, supported major landings, and fought German coastal forces.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
HMS Kenya, the Pink Lady from the Arctic to Korea
Kenya's unusually broad career includes blockade-runner patrols, Arctic gold transport, Mediterranean convoys, and Korean War bombardment.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·
Kenya's pink camouflage and German shell dye
Kenya's pink paint is linked to a suggested difficulty in distinguishing her hull from German shell splashes.
From Crown Colony Class Cruisers ·