What happens to HMS Warspite in this alternative battle?
Short answerWarspite would be a brand-new ship commissioned in March 1915, and her extraordinary historical survival record makes a confident prediction of her loss especially unpersuasive.
NotesWarspite's history makes the question playful because she repeatedly survived events that might have destroyed another ship. Her later career and famous steering trouble at Jutland are examples of that durability. In this counterfactual she would have entered service only months before the operation and joined as one of Britain's newest battleships. A close Baltic fight could still destroy her, since no ship is immune to mines, torpedoes, or heavy gunfire. Her fate remains open, with the important caveat that this battle comes very early in Warspite's career.