Bruships 58: Some Cool Books & Naval History Chat

Yes, and machinery problems forced additional reconstruction that made the conversion much more expensive.

Britain might have built a 14-inch, faster Dreadnought earlier, forcing competitors to rethink their own capital ships.

They could have become larger and more heavily armed, with a gradual move toward five-inch guns and much heavier torpedo armament.

Austria-Hungary could adapt Radetzky into an all-big-gun ship, while Britain might build 14-inch, nearly 30-knot Invincibles with a cleaner turret layout.

Yes. Three ships would make one available while the others train or refit and would sustain a larger pool of carrier specialists.

Probably not without reopening the agreement, because Japan and Britain would demand comparable 16-inch-gun additions.

Not on the same accelerated schedule; twin 14-inch mountings were more plausible than an undeveloped triple turret.

The force would probably exchange information more effectively and enter battle with substantially better gunnery training.

Ranger could have approached a Yorktown-type carrier, and Hornet was the most plausible ship to receive substantial protection changes.

German and American torpedo failures are contrasted with British worldwide testing that exposed how local magnetic fields could upset influence fuzes.

Bombs fused to detonate deep inside cruisers could pass through thinner destroyers or behave poorly against land targets, making target construction part of weapon effectiveness.

Britain might favour a mixed fleet that retains powerful battleships but uses smaller battlecruisers to preserve global numbers and flexibility.

They would probably jump to 16-inch guns because 13.5 inches is a retreat and 15 inches offers too small a visible advantage.

Develop a faster Nelson-type ship with 16-inch guns, stronger machinery, and a superfiring forward battery.

It was meant to serve as both a warship and a prestigious presidential yacht, so political display shaped the hybrid design.

Buying two of a major naval capability assumes a country can wait for maintenance cycles, while threes or fours protect availability when war arrives uninvited.

A clean correlation between democracy and peace can weaken when changes of government, disputed definitions, and the sequence of crises are restored to the evidence.

They could mission-kill or destroy early Japanese carriers because their heavy mixed armament would strike unarmoured flight decks especially hard.

No; they were capable treaty-limited ships whose weaknesses look worse when they are compared mainly with later designs.

The Danish Iver Huitfeldt class stands out for its balanced and flexible design.

Conventional submarines are potent local sea-denial tools, but nuclear boats sustain speed and distant patrols that extend Australia's defensive perimeter.

They would add fast, heavily armed ships with long-range torpedoes and might make an Italian defeat at Matapan even more severe.

Only equality with Britain and the United States was likely to keep Japan in, and that was politically unacceptable to the other powers.

Its dramatic story and the loss of Hood amplified its reputation, but several contemporary battleships had stronger claims to superiority.

Probably; a major rebuild could prepare another fast capital ship for Far Eastern operations.

Yes, a fleet-carrier strike was plausible, and a damaged carrier that lingered could then be finished by a submarine.

It could probably win, but the engagement would risk needless losses after the Americans had already achieved their objective.

In a 2021 forecast, extra Type 26 and Type 31 orders would signal worsening threat perceptions, while Type 31 reuse could accelerate Type 32.

Flares illuminated the harbour targets while degrading the defenders' ability to pick out Swordfish approaching from the surrounding darkness.

They have helicopters and countermeasures, but the best defence is the task group's ability to keep submarines outside torpedo range.

Extra-large uncrewed undersea vehicles could absorb some local SSK missions and make a separate conventional-submarine fleet harder to justify.

Journalists' duty to question power is linked with historians' duty to preserve the past so societies need not pay twice for forgotten lessons.

Not in the modern sense, but the large merchant ships of his era could readily be commissioned and armed for war.

For months, and potentially much longer with replenishment at sea; support and machinery matter more than filling the ship with rations.

Low-background metal is valuable, but disturbing wrecks that contain the dead is a desecration of war graves.

HMS Anson is the most plausible choice among the King George V-class battleships.

Singapore was intended to concentrate theatre logistics, not to serve as the fleet's final operating base for fighting off Japan.

It might scrap them or rush conversions before the treaty, using completed ships to argue for a larger carrier allowance.

Iain Ballantyne's work is used to distinguish demonstrated historical expertise from the possession of an academic doctorate.

USS Enterprise, HMS Ark Royal, HMS Illustrious, and HMS Indefatigable stand out chiefly for their histories and service stories.

Probably not, although the size and power demands of Type 83 make nuclear propulsion a conceivable alternative to gas turbines.

Only if more replacement submarines had been ready earlier; prewar plans left Britain short when the conflict began ahead of schedule.

Three Admiral-class carriers could give the Royal Navy enough institutional weight to retain carrier aviation through the creation of the RAF.

Before inspection it estimated the ship conservatively as superior, but postwar testing made the Royal Navy much less impressed.

It had shortages, but not on the same scale because naval casualties were less continuous than losses in hard land fighting.

The Bonhomme Richard fire illustrates why junior officers must be trained and trusted to act before a crisis reaches flag level.

They could have handled Home Fleet and Atlantic missions, releasing newer armoured carriers for more demanding theatres.

Not generally; the work crossed both disciplines and developed specialist teams, often in firms that also built fast boats.

Germany's rapid success in Norway is presented as contingent on Norwegian governmental paralysis rather than proof of a flawlessly executed invasion.

Use them cautiously and cross-check whether the subject was present, whether context was preserved, and whether other sources corroborate the story.

Age alone is not decisive; Mary Rose was threatened by essential navigation and was moved into a museum and memorial rather than salvaged for profit.

The Royal Navy had explored multi-carrier operations well before the Second World War, but war losses and underfunding constrained its use.

Yes; impact can penetrate, but the explosive filler spreads damage through the ship and makes a disabling or sinking hit more likely.

Not to any meaningful extent; Britain was formally at war with Finland but conducted little naval action against it.

Begin with B. R. Mitchell's British Historical Statistics, then compare interpretive histories against its raw data.

The favourites include the Malta class, USS United States, British and Dutch battlecruisers, Francesco Caracciolo, and the Russian Borodinos.

Strengthen protection and anti-aircraft armament, with priority given to safer fuel, ventilation, and damage-control arrangements.

An alcohol-vapour scare and failed evacuation is possible, but the evidence is too incomplete to know.

Not simply; medieval ships gained new weapons and ocean-going forms, while Roman galleys and fleets could be larger and more formidable in Mediterranean conditions.

No; the Royal Navy inherited and completed a programme it no longer strongly wanted, then adapted the ships later.

Start with the Orkney Islands museum, then use Colledge and Warlow, McLaughlan's Sloops of War, and Winfield's British Warships in the Age of Sail.

Hull construction was possible in limited yards, but engine and turret capacity would sharply constrain the programme.

British battleship arrangements reflected deep concern about cordite and shell storage, while increasing calibre made casual handling shortcuts progressively less tolerable.

Type 45 is the stronger choice for global ambitions; Horizon is a capable frigate designed around Mediterranean carrier defence.

It must synthesize nearly two centuries of immense naval change, making it a project that could extend into retirement.

Its budget is limited, but so is the shipyard capacity needed to turn additional plans into hulls.

All three methods appeared, but large navies often preferred casting where their industrial capacity allowed it.

Destroyers supplied most of the hulls in major Mediterranean operations yet often disappear behind named battleships, cruisers, and carriers.

Probably. The forecast used US-built systems, Australian hull sections, and a British reactor module shipped for final assembly.

David Hobbs's account of Mediterranean naval aviation shows how Taranto's shallow harbour saved damaged battleships while still removing them from operations at a critical time.

The Swordfish was not obsolete in 1940: it was a practical night-strike aircraft with the reliability and handling the Fleet Air Arm needed.

British stabilizing wires and tail devices kept air-dropped torpedoes from diving deeply, giving them an advantage over Japanese weapons in Taranto's shallow harbour.

Yes; a timely Barracuda and new fighter could support role-specific air groups on Ark Royal and the armoured carriers by 1941-42.

The destruction of six Swordfish during the Channel Dash says more about British coordination and command failure than about the aircraft's value in its intended role.

They prepared and watched over the body, said farewell, and followed customs intended to confirm death before burial.

Quisling's self-proclaimed government won little support, failed to function, and helped harden Norwegian resistance during the German invasion.

They were reliable and generally good ships, but commissioned after Dreadnought and carried an unnecessarily awkward secondary-turret arrangement.

The Blackburn Firebrand combined formidable weapons and payloads, but engine delays brought it into service after its intended wartime moment.

Large Admiral-class carriers could have encouraged a British Fleet Air Arm built around long-range twin-engine strike aircraft.

Using Anson, Howe, and Rodney for Admiral-class carriers could rename the treaty battleships and later members of the King George V class.

They would likely be broadly comparable in scale, and their partially completed hulls could have made them excellent carrier conversions.

Yamato probably wins an ideal daylight duel narrowly, but Iowa can exploit speed and a fleet action would favour concentrated American forces.