Bruships 252: Naval History Questions Answered Live...take 2

Cape Matapan is recalled for a carrier unexpectedly joining the battle line, the night attack on Italian heavy cruisers, and destroyers considering a capture.

Illustrious and SS Ohio provide separate Mediterranean examples of an armoured carrier and a civilian-crewed tanker surviving repeated heavy attacks.

Kirishima's final action is remembered as a battleship engagement in which 16-inch guns were used at brutally close range.

At the Battle off Samar, destroyers and destroyer escorts fought to protect the force behind them regardless of the enemy's weight.

Midway's appeal comes partly from the unusually detailed reconstruction possible for a carrier battle, especially when contrasted with confused night actions.

The Glorious First of June was fought so far offshore that its date supplied the name.

Probably slightly greater stability and slightly lower speed, depending on how the subdivision was incorporated.

The guidance technology may transfer, but carrying the land launcher and its small load at sea would use space inefficiently and impose awkward reloading and orientation limits.

Cruiser and frigate comparisons explain how rate of fire and ammunition carried aboard affect naval bombardment.

The destroyers had radar, heavy firepower, and support from cruisers and battleships. Many German positions were already plotted and suppressed before they could engage effectively.

Most navies would not build a direct counterpart; submarines could answer its wartime threat, while carriers and visible surface groups would better offset its peacetime diplomatic presence.

It would probably have served with the Scouting Fleet.

Britain had little room left to remain neutral because France depended on British sea power, and a German victory could have created a much larger combined naval and imperial threat.

The existing fleet is too small for a transfer alone to help. The preferred solution is a larger joint Fleet Air Arm and Royal Air Force force, with competition encouraging senior attention and support.

It is based on the Boeing 737 Next Generation family rather than a clean-sheet military airframe.

A proposed larger patrol and early-warning fleet would cover Britain and overseas commitments while preserving presence outside the main theatre of a war.

The campaign would have been painful but probably short because the Royal Navy could isolate the landing force while the army mobilized, and revolutionary France might struggle to win broad Irish religious support.

Not much, because Britain already had substantial 737 support infrastructure, access to a huge airframe and parts pool, and strong incentives to operate the systems chosen by the United States and presented as the NATO options.

A larger interwar carrier program could have kept another American aircraft manufacturer alive, but the strategic value would depend on what it actually designed and won orders to build.

No; the Type 26 can use its larger gun in amphibious and full-spectrum naval operations, while three 76 mm guns would have suited the Type 31 better than a simple swap.

The programme is too undefined for a firm answer, but Japan is an attractive possibility and a Britain-Italy-Japan partnership could be considered if cooperation on Tempest succeeds.

It could throw a formidable anti-submarine charge, but the weapon would be unnecessarily large and would sacrifice the rapid pattern fire that makes smaller guns and purpose-built mortars useful.

No clear advantage is expected in either respect; purpose-built mortars already fire large anti-submarine bombs without requiring a full 18-inch naval gun.

A hypothetical 100 km shell fired at roughly twenty rounds per minute illustrates the range and volume of fire that could keep naval guns useful.

A tentative 6-inch gun proposal seeks greater effect per shell at roughly 5-inch rates of fire, while recognising the reluctance left by the AGS programme.