Chapter · 1:07:56-1:15:37

Two plausible paths to a Wilhelmshaven carrier strike

The counterfactual branches between accelerating the historical Cuckoo force for 1917-18 and building Courageous, Glorious, and Furious as carriers for a 1916 attack.

Notes

The conservative branch moves Cuckoo production about six months earlier and uses the mixed carrier force already contemplated. It produces a proposed 100-aircraft attack in late 1917 or early 1918. The more transformative branch builds Fisher's three large light cruisers as carriers from the outset, providing capacity for roughly 120 to 150 strike aircraft for a late-1916 attack. Aircraft orders would have to advance alongside the ships. Both paths rely on technologies and concepts already under development.