Bruships 231: Alternate History & Naval History Questions Answered Live...

More likely on industrial grounds, because it embeds major Swedish defense firms in the bid, although the French proposal still has a chance.

Britain would focus on Canada, Atlantic security, and its leverage over global coal supplies, while the Royal Navy might build more fast capital ships to answer American naval power.

Possibly, because fast capital ships could reinforce the Atlantic quickly, but the choice would depend on the scale of American naval construction.

No. Argentina's naval and amphibious limitations are more severe than Britain's, while the islands already have aircraft and a capable garrison.

It could rearm temporarily, but Vladivostok could not support the force and Japan would blockade and bombard the port, probably prolonging rather than changing Russia's defeat.

Probably like an enlarged nuclear-powered HMS Bristol, with the bulky superstructure characteristic of early guided-missile cruisers.

The unbuilt Lider concept is criticised as a repeatedly revised prestige project whose promised superiority has never been tested in a completed ship.

The United States and Japan would fortify their island bases heavily, though Guam would remain difficult to defend; Japan might also gain cheaper concrete and stronger domestic infrastructure.

Japan would retain a carrier and more aircrew for a while, but the United States' much larger carrier-production pipeline would still overwhelm that advantage.

Repeated changes to projected German battleships required further yard alterations, tying up facilities while little ship construction advanced.

Britain would rush larger-gunned battleships, Italy would have limited options, and Germany might spend scarce industrial capacity on a prestige ship despite its poor strategic fit.

Food self-sufficiency becomes more plausible when Ireland is included, but intensive farming competes with industrial employment and changes land use.

A senior officer within the flotilla or another experienced destroyer commander could take over, but the available personnel cannot be narrowed to a reliable name.

His later appointments would go to someone else, but Churchill's willingness to promote a junior officer makes the replacement and subsequent decisions impossible to identify confidently.

Both are given as factors, along with concern that a prominent royal might be killed or captured if he remained in destroyer command.

Britain would hold the naval advantage, Russia could not sustain an invasion of India, and the conflict might expand into a coalition war that redraws Europe.

Probably not all its coastline, but the suggested loss of Marseille, Toulon and Corsica would reduce French naval access and strengthen Italy.

Probably, because her machinery was mechanically straightforward, but it would take time and depend heavily on how well the engines had been preserved.

Slightly larger and more powerful light cruisers, probably retaining their historical guns but carrying many of them in twin mounts.

Using a satellite changes where the communications link points, while still requiring an unobstructed path to it.

The proposed combination uses German guns and radar, Russian-built Italian machinery, a Japanese hull, American torpedoes, Soviet and Japanese AA, Italian depth charges, and a Spanish crew short of training after the civil war.

SR2, especially its Mass Effect 2 version, for its accommodation and more functional layout, although both ships' cockpit arrangements attract criticism.

It would make close Anglo-American relations strategically important, while Britain would build the canal only if American traffic made tolls and control profitable.

Great Eastern prompts a discussion of who gains from a major engineering project, including its designer and its investors.

Prinz Eugen's detection is the question's example. The response adds a tentative King George V claim and several submarine rammings, while stressing uncertainty about confirmed sinkings.

The arrangement receives little support unless the small guns serve a separate anti-aircraft role. They did not in the period discussed, and other navies did not copy the layout.

It would resemble an enlarged Type 82 with a twin 6-inch gun, layered Sea Dart and Sea Wolf defenses, command spaces, close-in weapons, and several helicopters.

A treaty power should still seek 16-inch guns, perhaps deferring armor, while Britain could justify proven 15-inch weapons for fleet commonality.

Yes, within the treaty rules. A British replacement might continue the Nelson and Rodney design, although the apparent accident could damage the navy's reputation.

The panel interprets interwar British union politics through members' interests, political reputation and fears of Soviet influence.

It would probably preserve a roughly 25-ship battle fleet and improve modernization depth, while new King George V and Lion orders remain constrained mainly by industrial capacity.

Extra hulls reduce the proportion unavailable during reconstruction and leave more old battleships available for convoy protection.

Increase speed, improve the secondary armament, and publicize the ship so its prestige and deterrent value can actually influence opponents.

Europe loses a major unified counterweight, neighboring borders and unification movements change, and regional languages face less pressure from a centralized French state.

No notable success is identified, although the system is considered sound and its opportunities to prove itself are doubted.

American battleships would adopt 16-inch guns much earlier, and Britain would counter with larger capital-ship and cruiser weapons, sharply accelerating the naval arms race.

The gun-industry counterfactual produces a wider naval race, with Germany constrained by competition for army funding.

The land war would probably become an Alpine stalemate, and Britain would remain neutral only while France continued to contain Italy at sea.

The absence of a Royal prefix is explained through the army's Civil War ancestry and the separate origins and patrons of its regiments.

It is probably scrapped, but a sound hull might be converted into a helicopter-based anti-submarine and missile ship.

Submarines, destroyers, torpedo boats, improved coastal-defence ships, and a strong land-based naval air arm suited to Baltic operations.

They could push the cruiser ceiling toward 15,000 tons and 10-inch guns, while Britain might keep 9.2-inch weapons for a more balanced design.

Either improve a 6-inch cruiser or build a fast 15,000-18,000-ton ship with fifteen 9.2-inch guns, good armor and range, strong anti-aircraft weapons, and a substantial torpedo battery.

A fast minelayer uses speed to enter contested waters, lay mines and withdraw before an enemy can intercept it.

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Habsburg lands, and Holy Roman Empire would face less Ottoman pressure, changing both their alliances and their internal sources of cohesion.

The suggested pattern puts a third son into the church and a fourth into naval or colonial service, while keeping the second son available as a substitute heir.

The state would probably give its army priority and keep a modest navy of frigates and diesel-electric submarines, relying on Italy for much of the Adriatic mission if it belonged to NATO.

The larger ratios would expand all major fleets, and continued replacement building could preserve naval industry and give Britain a far newer 25-ship battle fleet by 1939.

In this alternative, older British ships would become eligible for replacement around 1930, allowing an earlier industrial recovery and more new construction before 1939.

Yes. Germany already faced a large British numerical lead, and its response to French construction would still give it reasons to build.

As a significant potential threat, although British officers in the company could encourage cooperation and an East India Company-style relationship.

If Britain sustained four-ship orders, its opening lead would be difficult for Germany to match economically and could prevent the same close race and British naval scare.

Oil-secure powers expand storage and overseas access, while navies unable to guarantee supply retain coal-fired ships for longer.

It could strengthen the case for CATOBAR carriers, possibly a third ship, and a mixed air group of Typhoons, F-35Cs and Hawkeyes.

Through the Mediterranean: defeat Italy, land in southern Europe or southern France, and keep Germany distracted by a threatened northern landing.

The upgrade would demand major structural and propulsion changes yet still leave an older, less capable aircraft; buying the Phantom remained the stronger carrier-defense choice.

Possibly with twin racks, though eight missiles on four racks are suggested as more likely, leaving two pylons for other needs.

Red Top's anti-bomber limitations and the speed gap with Phantom complicate the case for extending Sea Vixen's service.

Simon Elliott's Roman Britain's Pirate King is the named starting point. No separate Byzantine title is given.

Large warships were difficult to sink because armour, mass and damage control let many absorb bomb hits that would destroy smaller ships.

Yes. Eight- and sixteen-inch shells differ enough for their splashes to be distinguished at practical ranges, although a detonation is easier to identify than water impact alone.

Yes. Shells that were neither crushed nor rendered inert by corrosion can remain dangerous, particularly when dredging or fishing brings them up.

A theoretical total exists, but knowing which aircraft returned does not establish which lost aircraft bombed, where they released, or whether they reached the target.

Barrow would likely remain the submarine center and Cammell Laird the carrier yard, though the companies could still merge or change names.

Its forces would probably be much larger, and the union might expand into a federal European state incorporating neighboring countries.

Successive attempts to find better destroyer and anti-aircraft guns were funded while additional ships and fleet-wide standardisation were harder to finance, leaving multiple calibres and mounts in service.

Annual spending rules can encourage immediate gun-development expenditure by making unspent money a reason to reduce the next allocation.

Yes. New guns entered service while older ships kept their weapons because development funding was not matched by money for retrofits.

London is the likeliest target suggested, with Moscow as the alternative.

Only gradually: motors, diesels, welding, and limited documentation create major barriers, while British spies would probably expose the project.

They would attack production facilities and hunt launchers with available bombers and fighters, while pushing the launch threat farther away.

A modern 15-inch/45, because it would improve the new ships while also providing a practical modernization path for every existing Royal Navy 15-inch-gunned capital ship.

The B-29 when programs are counted separately. The combined atomic-bomb and delivery-aircraft effort is larger when B-29 and specialist Lancaster work are counted with Manhattan.

It was the B-29 modification program for atomic delivery, but bomb design and aircraft capacity already tied it to the wider B-29 and Manhattan work.

Early-war doctrine kept them from being committed south so quickly, and projecting much beyond March 1942 would outrun defensible historical constraints.

An ASW helicopter carrier or a carrier using surplus propeller aircraft. Jet operations are doubted without a massive and probably unaffordable refit.

They might find Task Force 17, but night operations and reciprocal detection make the result uncertain; both sides could strike, miss, or expose themselves.

It would build mainly sloops for convoy escort, patrol, and trade protection, with only a small cruiser component constrained by later treaties.

Redirecting Eagle's scheduled refit and equipment to Singapore could put her there, giving Force Z fighter defense and carrier reconnaissance that might radically change the Japanese attack.

The priority would be launching Fulmars. Launching Swordfish for dummy attacks would get in the fighters' way.

Yes, if the radar and other refit material were shipped to Singapore before the refit.

Liverpool probably offered more experienced personnel, while other carriers were already intended for Singapore.

They saved weight by sharing one turret's armor and machinery among more guns, at the cost of greater mechanical and maintenance complexity.

They are powerful threats, but hitting a moving carrier through re-entry while avoiding interception and escalation is difficult; failed use can also undermine their deterrent image.

The shorter flight helps targeting, but it sacrifices range advantage and may expose launchers to counterattack. Coordinated use with other forces is the preferred option in this discussion.

Sustained hypersonic flight complicates sensing, communications, and terminal guidance, while slowing for accuracy gives defenders a more manageable target.

The objection is that the tracked hot region can lag the interception point, so following that signal could put the interceptor behind the target.

A transport-launched quadcopter swarm must first penetrate fighters and long-range missiles, then survive a dense electromagnetic environment that makes cheap drones expensive to harden.

The sales would help British industry and probably keep Australia operating carriers, with Canada also raised as a possibility.

No single date is identified. Recurring Falklands disputes are described alongside generally good relations, with British naval deployments used to deter an invasion.

About six to eight are suggested. A larger 10,000-12,000-ton ship could carry roughly six Harriers and six Sea Kings, with more aircraft possible through deck parking.

Staff intended for Singapore are said to have been diverted to another threatened area, while the British expected Japan to wait until about June 1942.

Harpoon is the classic favourite. Naval Strike Missile is the preferred in-service choice at the time of the discussion.

P-700 Granit, also known as Shipwreck, is the corrected identification. The missile is described as weighing about seven tons.

The advantages would probably balance: the American 16-inch/50 could have slightly longer range, while the British 16.5-inch/45 would fire the larger shell with greater penetrative effect.