The counterfactual gives HMS Renown three twin 18-inch turrets during her prewar reconstruction. Against Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, those shells could radically increase the consequences of any hits, although the encounter would still depend on finding and striking the German ships. Losing both German battlecruisers early would alter the balance of the surface war. Germany might then hesitate to send Bismarck into the Atlantic as its only remaining modern capital ship.
Notable Point · 18:09-19:04
An 18-inch HMS Renown and Germany's surface fleet
A three-turret 18-inch refit for Renown becomes a counterfactual about early German capital-ship losses and later sortie decisions.