Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 1:48:34-1:50:27

How County-class escorts could save HMS Glorious

Two cruisers would add warning, command oversight, and enough combat power to prevent Glorious from steaming without airborne reconnaissance.

Carrier DoctrineCounty Class CruisersGneisenauHMS GloriousNorwegian CampaignRoyal NavyScharnhorst
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Question

What if HMS Glorious had two County-class cruisers when Scharnhorst and Gneisenau found her?

Short answer

The extra command and scouting capacity would probably detect the Germans early enough for Glorious to evade, strike, or summon support.

Notes

Two County-class cruisers would give Glorious useful 8-inch-gun escorts and make a German surface attack less attractive. Their greater importance is the command structure they bring, because an admiral would almost certainly insist on reconnaissance aircraft over contested waters. Earlier detection would let Glorious launch a strike or turn away before Scharnhorst and Gneisenau reached gun range. It would also create time to call heavy units such as Warspite toward the contact.