Q&A ยท 1:37:32-1:38:18

Canadian super-dreadnoughts on the Northern Patrol

Queen Elizabeth-derived Canadian capital ships would turn the Northern Patrol into a lethal barrier for German Deutschland-class raiders.

Question

How would the Royal Canadian Navy use three Queen Elizabeth-derived Acadia-class super-dreadnoughts during the Second World War?

Short answer

They could reinforce the Northern Patrol and overwhelm Deutschland-class raiders that lacked the speed or firepower to escape them.

Notes

This counterfactual gives the Royal Canadian Navy three fast super-dreadnoughts derived from the Queen Elizabeth class. A Deutschland-class cruiser caught on the Northern Patrol would face heavier armor and guns rather than the cruisers normally used to shadow raiders. The imagined Canadian ship's 28-knot speed would also make disengagement difficult for the German vessel. The extra capital ships would serve as powerful interception units controlling access to the Atlantic, rather than as ordinary convoy escorts.