Bruships 154: Ship-Shape's Scandi Ship 2024... answering naval history questions...

Destroyers, because their torpedo attack role has expanded into a broad range of fleet duties.

No. It was an unusual congressional and Navy attempt to save money that ultimately cost more.

German specialists contributed, but Finnish and Dutch naval architects had their own ideas and sometimes led in technologies they chose to develop and fund.

No. French work already demonstrated the possibility; lift dimensions and the space taken up by larger aircraft were the stronger constraints.

The modifications fit British carrier constraints but did not give the US Navy enough value because it had more aircraft and larger carriers.

German R-boats and small Italian destroyers are suggested, within a much wider shortage of preserved destroyers and small craft.

Because armor is rarely prominent in published specifications and now often means localized Kevlar protection around critical spaces rather than a battleship-style belt.

Because Eagle often operated in cruiser-carrier roles on distant stations, where a visible medium-caliber battery still had practical and coercive value.

A sustained 15-inch/50 production line and an existing triple turret could make later British battleships with nine 15-inch guns more attractive than a new 14-inch armament.

A proposed F3 refinement rearranges its 6-inch secondary turrets and adds single 4.7-inch guns for air defense.

At minimum it would need to exceed Yamato's dimensions by roughly a quarter, with enough beam, draft, and buoyancy to absorb broadside recoil without unacceptable stability problems.

Her 4-inch anti-aircraft guns mattered more than the 6-inch battery by then, but extensive modernization was unlikely because newer Illustrious- and Implacable-class carriers were meant to replace her.

Probably not by much: the guns and shell designs came through closely related British firms and tolerances, while Japanese manufacture still drew on recently imported British skills.

The treatment existed, but needed frequent renewal and performed less reliably in the North Atlantic, so the Royal Navy generally retained copper sheathing.

It was respectable but not overwhelming, and its effectiveness varied sharply against torpedo bombers, dive bombers, and rocket attacks from different bearings.

Yes, though HQS Wellington already represents the broader sloop type to some extent.

They were common because warships already on station could provide the fastest armed response when messages and reinforcements took weeks to travel.

The proposed mix uses Shokaku-class carriers, Dunkerque-class capital ships, County and Cleveland cruisers, Tribal and Gearing destroyers, and Italian submarines.

The unfinished ship was scrapped after Greece declined to take her, while the 14-inch guns served the Royal Navy in monitors.

Not primarily. They were built to satisfy Japan's need for more flight decks and carriers rather than as direct counters to a named opponent.

Camperdown, because the basic action and the two sides' roles are straightforward to follow.

Roughly 40,000 to 45,000 tons standard, with about 42,000 tons offered as a useful central estimate.

Repeated attacks followed by a landing that captured Pearl Harbor would create a severe basing crisis, though Hawaii's air and coastal defenses made this a demanding operation.

At roughly 28 knots they could catch threats that escaped historically and reduce Britain's dependence on Hood, Renown, and Repulse for fast capital-ship duties.

Ryujo is the choice; Akagi and Kaga had already benefited from major upgrades.

The pause affected the later Revenge-class ships more than the Queen Elizabeths, which were further advanced.

The amount depended on ship size, but large holds devoted major volume to water barrels that were cleaned and refreshed whenever possible.

Earlier reinforcement and eight fast 15-inch ships could put much heavier pressure on the German scouting forces and potentially check the High Seas Fleet before Jellicoe's main force arrived.

A hypothetical British speed advantage leads to proposals for pausing construction, paying down war debt, and resisting American pressure over naval treaties.

The hulls could be useful, especially with missile capability, but Westernizing submarines is risky and Finland would need to rebuild submarine personnel from scratch.

A four-boat Finnish submarine force is estimated to need about 600 personnel once training, maintenance, and shore support are included.

Finland's surviving twin 12-inch coastal-gun installation prompts a distinction between technical gun capability and its pyrotechnic firing setup.

Britain could offer up its older 13.5-inch ships, protect Hood and its 15-inch fleet, and still seek new construction because treaty ratios were calculated through standard displacement rather than simple hull counts.

Nagato's quoted 26.5 knots shows why a battleship could be fast for its generation without reaching the 28-knot cruiser-line benchmark.

Taiho was sensibly designed for the knowledge available when she was laid down. Remedying her vulnerabilities would improve one carrier, but would not overcome Japan's wider strategic disadvantage.

They had to be maneuvered by tugs so their interfaces meshed within carefully chosen tolerances, and the operation required stable, calm water.

Broadly yes: large cruisers and small carriers used closely related machinery, though carrier installations could include weight-dependent changes for their operating conditions.

Japanese launchers had the more useful concept: explosive rockets could blanket an area with timed bursts, while British UP weapons attempted to create an aerial minefield.

Italian accounts are cited for aircraft destroyed by Nelson's heavy shells, with the number of successes left uncertain.

A family recollection connects a Seafire takeoff accident with later work evaluating captured aircraft alongside Eric Winkle Brown.

The visible blistering was usually protective paint lifting under heat, something any rapidly fired gun could show, rather than the steel barrel itself blistering.

Shell damage and firing volume support the contribution of Ajax and Achilles, while Graf Spee's armor performance prompts a debate over metallurgy and ammunition quality.

Probably not, given competing procurements. An F-35-capable amphibious ship would have been a more persuasive purchase.

She would probably receive the same general refit as her sister Zuikaku.

Britain would face pressure to replace the lost capital ships, probably advancing the Lion class, while the RAF would target Bismarck's repair base. A surviving Bismarck could later join Tirpitz in Norway.

A surviving Bismarck alongside Tirpitz would intensify the Arctic escort problem, with fuel, repair access, and convoy-scattering orders shaping the danger.

The later ship would receive another carrier name, probably Zuikaku, while the remaining names in the sequence would shift accordingly.

Replacing the whole program with carriers would leave Japan short of modern battleships. The alternatives are Yamato's protection and firepower or a faster 16-inch design that could be built in greater numbers.

Full restoration would be costly and technically difficult. Limited use as blockships or fixed defenses was more plausible, though the availability of working guns and their deterrent value remained disputed.

Turning the Pearl Harbor strike into an invasion depended on transporting and sustaining a substantial landing force.

It would have been heavier, by roughly 15 to 16 percent in the estimate given, despite using the latest postwar design practice.

Use available battleships and consider limited changes such as longer-barreled destroyer guns. Building a fleet specifically for the Solomons would sacrifice the US Navy's worldwide utility.

Yes. The earlier ship could fit the timeline without changing the later program.

No. British doctrine required carriers able to operate around 54 aircraft, so the larger conversions were necessary.

Less than the global economy and the rising cost of personnel; automation became attractive when machinery cost less than maintaining larger crews.

Yes. Britain could offer its older 13.5-inch ships as concessions while pressing for new 16-inch construction.

Britain served as the demanding theoretical benchmark, but exercises and practical planning emphasized Japan as the plausible opponent; dense Anglo-American ties made an actual war far less likely.

Ineptitude, in this assessment: Beatty concentrated on fighting his flagship instead of communicating with Jellicoe and coordinating the fleet.

There is disagreement. One proposal favors three fast battlecruisers with six 16-inch guns each; the counterargument expects two Nelson-type battleships and leaves the third ship open to a different design.

A force of capable dual-purpose sloops would add both anti-aircraft and anti-submarine strength, reduce emergency pressure for Flowers and Hunts, and make early losses easier to absorb.

Hoche's classification and seakeeping challenge the impression created by her unusual upperworks and low freeboard.

Probably eight Revenge-class ships, alongside six Queen Elizabeths, in the counterfactual estimate.

As far as it considered viable.

The ships were expected to come from British yards, so the purchase alone would not create Canadian battleship construction, though supporting them could build toward stronger destroyer-scale capability.

Yes. Cruisers offered independent presence and the hull volume needed for early large anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems before destroyers grew to cruiser size.

Yes. A Royal Navy demonstration is recalled as suffering excessive mixing that washed out the initiator; US Navy experiments are mentioned more tentatively.

The early choices are Blackburn Blackburn and Graf Zeppelin. The list is incomplete, and the airship choice prompts a distinction between aircraft and aeroplanes.

The Spruce Goose is identified as intact at the Evergreen museum after a mistaken recollection of its condition is checked.

Yes. Tests can overheat barrels enough to compromise their heat treatment; overload proof and destructive trials separately establish how much stress a gun can safely withstand.

No final class or year is identified. Cordite includes MD, RDB, solventless SC, and later N and NQ triple-base formulations, rather than only its earliest marks.

Yes, the surviving guns were scrapped with the monitors.

The proposed timetable has all King George Vs and Illustrious-class carriers in service by 1940, Implacables following in 1941, and Lions by 1942.

Shared design studies could produce several British carrier generations, although the interpretation of Audacious's ancestry is disputed.

The upgrade was already planned, so Bismarck's success was not the necessary trigger; the refit would move the ships toward Renown-class firepower.

Only a few countries possessed enough existing heavy industry to be plausible, and that narrow candidate list would make Japanese sponsorship difficult to conceal from the treaty powers.

Coastal-defence ships and torpedo boats suited Sweden's Baltic needs, while railway routes through Norway offered a way to keep trading during a blockade.

Czechoslovakia had naval armament industries without a coastline; a hypothetical Yugoslav successor fleet could have kept buying their products.

French tear-gas use preceded the large German poison-gas attacks of 1915, followed by British adoption and further escalation.

Only a limited increase, because Baltic imports were especially valuable for high-quality mast spars rather than the bulk of hull timber, and Canada offered a substitute source.

Only a short time was expected: escaped fuel mixed with air could ignite and produce rapidly rising heat and pressure, but no precise survival interval is given.

It would need enough combustion air, but the practical benefit of supercharging at 5,000 to 8,000 feet remains disputed; gradual pressure buildup and climbing would also cost fuel and time.

Not necessarily: more hulls would still face fuel-processing, merchant-shipping, and doctrinal constraints, while Japan needed capital ships capable of answering Allied battle fleets and supporting decisive operations.

An announcement of Yamato's capabilities could have provoked political demands for larger Allied battleships after existing construction plans were committed.

Open-ocean interception is difficult, but operational requirements draw capital ships into approaches and confined waters where submarines can threaten them.

An interpretation of Force Z's communications failure distinguishes the Navy's request for fighters from the Air Force's understanding of strike support.

A surviving Force Z could anchor a stronger ABDA fleet, with British carriers attacking at night and Saratoga following at dawn.

They could be concentrated for that purpose, with battleships and carriers justifying large torpedo salvos, but the result would depend on positioning and Britain's competing submarine commitments.

Yes, but the preferred logic is preventive: flood when penetration or an imminent threat is detected rather than wait for a magazine fire to begin.

Germany would gain more ships, but the visible program would release British funding and activate a much deeper Allied shipbuilding base before German hulls entered service.

A participant's account links the nationality of industrial ownership to efforts to resist Nazi seizure of steel-making assets.

A proposed 20-inch battery raises the cost of increasing calibre in reload time and distinguishes a prestige flagship from practical fleet construction.

Primarily luck. Many factors affected carrier aircraft accidents, and no design difference is identified that explains the two ships' records.

Yes, although the improved arrangement would still leave questions about the ship's intended role.

An alternate-history British flagship exposes conflicts between heavy-gun blast, Sea Dart readiness, Sea Wolf launch paths, and satellite communications.

Only where the Navy could maintain it. Mechanization could reduce manual work, but the available technical workforce limited its reliable use across the fleet.

The emphasis would be on mechanized assistance. Shell movement already used machinery supervised by people, and other systems could reduce manual work on the same basis.

No. A turret consumed too much of the scarce weight available in a carrier fighter.

No. It was intended as a fighter, and its procurement was tied to the arrangements for obtaining the Skua and supporting RAF turret fighters.

Fit about three single 5-inch guns, plentiful depth charges and throwers, and 40 mm guns wherever space permits. The US Navy called comparable ships destroyer escorts.

It is an acceptable proposal, but the two Tigers would need to be ordered before Louis of Battenberg became First Sea Lord and favored fast battleships instead.

It is a plausible alternative, especially with air groups tailored to each mission. The small hulls would still face pressure to sacrifice protection and fuel safety, and Britain and the United States would probably respond with their own ships.

The concept was promising, but the four test aircraft were not ready military platforms. Useful operational aircraft would require further development and substantial investment.

There was no single event: the Navy had pursued labor-saving rigs, block production, and machinery for centuries because people consumed scarce space, food, and water aboard ship.

Magazine capacity and the short time available to engage an aircraft can justify more expensive VT-fuzed ammunition.

Yes. Skuas would offer useful close air support and could intercept many Soviet aircraft, though the I-15 and I-16 fighters are specifically excepted.

About 40,000 tons. The proposed docking solution is to hold the hull sufficiently high on blocks, using a high tide or extra water pumped into the closed dock to obtain clearance.

A hypothetical carrier's lift arrangement trades sortie generation against weather limits on moving aircraft.

It would go to the Pacific Fleet to develop carrier doctrine. The scenario does not require this ship to operate in the North Atlantic or Arctic conditions that concern one participant.

Yes, but Dutch engineers sabotaged the facilities, making the oil difficult for Japan to obtain and use.

Magazine position can favor flooding over fire after an underwater hit, while loss of a bow or stern need not sink the remaining hull.

No. It would require visible advance investment, and Britain and the other naval powers could respond more easily from their stronger shipbuilding bases.

They were useful ships delivered at the right time, built quickly enough to supply flight decks and aircraft such as Swordfish where needed.

Imagined Soviet refits show why heavy guns, missile launchers, and anti-submarine helicopter facilities compete for safe deck space.

The 14-inch gun itself was sound. The objection is the extra wartime supply burden alongside the Royal Navy's existing 15- and 16-inch guns.

Varied calibers and old gun stocks complicated standardization while providing weapons for wartime merchant armament.

Stored naval guns offered tempting replacements after Dunkirk, but adapting them for field use presented practical obstacles.

Some totals may include men recovered alive who later died of wounds. That possible difference in definitions is suggested without establishing the history behind each published figure.

Choose the mission first. Many large frigates and destroyers already perform independent cruiser duties, while the traditional large gun-cruiser line has ended.

It was probably a testbed for early carrier-takeoff ideas. A production aircraft would need a different airframe suited to the propulsion arrangement.

The P-8 Poseidon, chiefly because its Boeing 737 airframe is considered an economical basis for a large patrol aircraft. Swedish and French alternatives are also acknowledged.

Yes. Japan required liners to include features for easier wartime carrier conversion, though its naval air service could not expand fast enough to exploit the additional hulls fully.

It suits Japan's island geography. India, the Philippines, and possibly Singapore could find similar flying boats useful for maritime access and resupply.

Probably yes: the unused treaty displacement could support another shaft and more machinery, though two quadruple turrets would make a single turret casualty cost half the main battery.

No conventional battleship explosion is accepted as equivalent. A deliberately detonated nuclear weapon is a separate hypothetical case, since nearby conventional explosions would not automatically trigger it.

A hypothetical carrier battle shows how missile versions, rules of engagement and airborne warning could shape the outcome before opposing fighters reach dogfighting range.

An early buildup could produce larger-gunned battleships and substantially more carriers, with enough visible strength to alter European decisions before war. British naval and air expansion would also put pressure on Army funding.

The expected design is closer to Implacable: an armoured carrier with two hangars, potentially given more height when treaty displacement no longer constrains it.

An enlarged Type 45 with more missile cells, a larger hangar and dedicated space for a flag officer and staff.

He could plausibly replace Pound after a sea command, sustain carrier procurement across the war, and prepare the postwar fleet around Malta-class carriers. That would let Cunningham concentrate on the fleet command he preferred.

The Norway command arrangements illustrate a criticism of political appointments that bypass established operational authority, followed by the dispute over Somerville.

No particular attachment is accepted. His involvement is linked to meeting a requirement, and the 5.25-inch choice is criticized as a compromise between 6-inch and 4-inch batteries.

Accumulate components among normal naval stores, conceal the hull as harbour construction, and add the conspicuous turrets and superstructure last. A major naval industrial base would make that easier, but the project would remain slow and difficult to hide.

A counterfactual Soviet programme prompts foreign retention of battleships, with spares and blast-resistant equipment shaping their continued service.

It is considered an unnecessary expense. The 14-inch guns would provide sufficiently similar firing shock, and the mechanisms are judged similar enough for much of the testing.

A Nelson example connects radar data and an existing fire-control table with an unconventional anti-aircraft use of battleship main guns.

Naval construction offered Tillman jobs for Charleston and political support for fellow Democrats; this interpretation places patronage ahead of fleet requirements.

San Carlos's terrain shortened both defensive missile engagements and Argentine bombing runs. The Red Fleet counterfactual adds carrier fighters and airborne warning that could intercept attackers much farther away.

An alternate surface battle distinguishes gunfire contribution from the frigates' screening duty and preserves the disagreement over assuming submarines are absent.