Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:28:36-1:30:16

If Britain lost a battlecruiser at the Falkland Islands

A lucky German hit might cost Britain one Invincible-class battlecruiser without changing the tactical result, but it would force close investigation of the ship's vulnerability.

Alternate HistoryBattle Of The Falkland IslandsBattlecruisersInvincible Class BattlecruisersScharnhorst Class Armoured Cruisers
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Question

What if a lucky hit sank one Royal Navy battlecruiser at the Battle of the Falkland Islands?

Short answer

Britain would probably still win, but the loss would trigger an intensive investigation into how an Invincible-class ship succumbed to the force it was built to defeat.

Notes

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were the sort of opponents the Invincible class was designed to defeat. A single hit sinking one of the British battlecruisers would therefore require close investigation into how it happened. Even after such a loss, the remaining battlecruiser would probably still defeat Spee's squadron. The location and mechanism of the hypothetical fatal hit remain unresolved.