Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:24:55-2:29:23

A missile-armed KGV hull arrives in 1938

An alternate-history question gives the Royal Navy a KGV-sized Talos missile ship and asks how it would exploit the technology.

Alternate HistoryCavity MagnetronKing George V Class Battleships (1939)Naval AviationRIM-8 TalosSurface-to-Air Missiles
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Question

How would the Royal Navy use a KGV-hulled Talos missile ship that appeared in Hull in 1938?

Short answer

It would study a launcher and missiles for replication, protect important fleet movements, and consider wider deployment and additional installations if it could produce reloads.

Notes

The hypothetical ship arrives in Hull in January 1938 with King George V armor, five twin-arm Talos launchers, and 32 reloads per launcher arm. One launcher and several missiles would probably be removed for study so engineers could investigate how to reproduce them. The interval before September 1939 gives the Royal Navy time to examine the missile and associated radar technology, including the cavity magnetron mentioned in the discussion. Before reload production is established, the ship could protect important Home Fleet movements. Reliable replacement missiles would make sustained Mediterranean employment more attractive. Talos also requires substantial assembly space aboard ship because the missiles are not stored fully assembled. A further possibility is fitting missile assembly spaces and launchers to the King George V ships then under construction, using space otherwise assigned to hangars.