Germany's failure to concentrate its surface fleet mattered alongside the raw shortage of ships. Admiral Lütjens wanted Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck, and Tirpitz to operate together, a four-ship force that would have been genuinely difficult for Britain to contain. A British response would probably use a slow anvil around HMS Rodney and older battleships and a faster hammer built around King George V-class ships, Hood, Renown, carriers, and possibly Repulse if she could be gathered. Convoys might have been rerouted south while nearly every suitable British capital ship was assembled for the operation. The danger would have been serious, but Britain continued commissioning battleships and constructing carriers while Germany usually sent one or two scarce raiders at a time.
Chapter · 3:36:11-3:39:08
A concentrated German capital-ship force would change the Atlantic problem
Grouping Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Bismarck, and Tirpitz would probably have prompted a major British fleet concentration, although British numbers and replacement capacity still favoured the Royal Navy.