Q&A · 1:10:04-1:16:50

If Dogger Bank destroyed Britain's battlecruisers

A catastrophic Dogger Bank would end the separate British battlecruiser force and make reconnaissance a central lesson.

Question

What if Dogger Bank had been a trap that destroyed all British battlecruisers?

Short answer

The separate battlecruiser force would likely disappear, fast battleships would take its role, and carrier conversion would gain a powerful reconnaissance rationale.

Notes

Political blame would fall heavily on the leadership associated with the battlecruiser force. The R-class battleships would be too far advanced to cancel, but the Admiral-class ships could be completed as fast battleships rather than as the core of a revived battlecruiser arm. Courageous, Glorious, and Furious become strong candidates for aircraft-carrier conversion, while the Queen Elizabeth class supplies a fast wing for the battle fleet. Better reconnaissance, especially aircraft reconnaissance, might have prevented the force from being trapped. Carrier conversion would therefore provide a use for unusual hulls and an institutional answer to a demonstrated scouting failure.