ArmchairSamurai
ACCESS: Confidential
- Joined
- 1 July 2019
- Messages
- 175
- Reaction score
- 235
Long title, I know.
I started a discussion on the Axis History Forum (linked below) on the possibility of converting cruise liners into aircraft carriers... that slowly morphed into a discussion about the feasibility of merchantmen being converted into sea-plane tenders en masse to serve much the same role as a Hilfskreuzer in raiding commerce, but alongside capital ships, in a so to speak, surface wolf pack. Yada yada, long story short, I thought I would post here as well, given I am interested in what you all think the ideal plane would be for these tenders (given OTL constraints). The obvious choice would be the He-115, probably paired with the Ar-196, while others have suggested just the Bv-138. I hear the former (He-115) was in short supply in the war's early days. I originally thought maybe a redesign of the Fi-165 would suffice, with a so-so reception to the idea; I now think maybe the Ar-95 could work too, though I am more leaning towards the Ar-195, as the former had a variant with floats, and with the latter being essentially a redesign of that plane, it's not too much a stretch to say floats could not be made to work on the Ar-195 too. Moreover, the Ar-195 was a contender for the Graf Zeppelin anyway, so the Fi-165 could remain for the carrier project, while the Ar-195 could be selected for the tender project. Not too unreasonable?
The biggest problem, however, is torpedoes. Ideally, I would like this scenario to work for the Battle for France and thereby the Battle of Britain, except much of the German torpedo stock is apparently captured French weaponry. Not to mention Germany's own torpedoes were based on outdated Norwegian / Italian purchases... As I understand it now, the German torpedo development in the early days was neglected at best, and beyond substandard at worst.
And let me stress, with the utmost emphasis, that I am not intending to defeat the RN with this scenario. I just thought it was a fun idea for the early war, and it evolved into something more feasible for the OTL as I envisioned it.
Thoughts??
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2422032#p2422032
I started a discussion on the Axis History Forum (linked below) on the possibility of converting cruise liners into aircraft carriers... that slowly morphed into a discussion about the feasibility of merchantmen being converted into sea-plane tenders en masse to serve much the same role as a Hilfskreuzer in raiding commerce, but alongside capital ships, in a so to speak, surface wolf pack. Yada yada, long story short, I thought I would post here as well, given I am interested in what you all think the ideal plane would be for these tenders (given OTL constraints). The obvious choice would be the He-115, probably paired with the Ar-196, while others have suggested just the Bv-138. I hear the former (He-115) was in short supply in the war's early days. I originally thought maybe a redesign of the Fi-165 would suffice, with a so-so reception to the idea; I now think maybe the Ar-95 could work too, though I am more leaning towards the Ar-195, as the former had a variant with floats, and with the latter being essentially a redesign of that plane, it's not too much a stretch to say floats could not be made to work on the Ar-195 too. Moreover, the Ar-195 was a contender for the Graf Zeppelin anyway, so the Fi-165 could remain for the carrier project, while the Ar-195 could be selected for the tender project. Not too unreasonable?
The biggest problem, however, is torpedoes. Ideally, I would like this scenario to work for the Battle for France and thereby the Battle of Britain, except much of the German torpedo stock is apparently captured French weaponry. Not to mention Germany's own torpedoes were based on outdated Norwegian / Italian purchases... As I understand it now, the German torpedo development in the early days was neglected at best, and beyond substandard at worst.
And let me stress, with the utmost emphasis, that I am not intending to defeat the RN with this scenario. I just thought it was a fun idea for the early war, and it evolved into something more feasible for the OTL as I envisioned it.
Thoughts??
https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2422032#p2422032
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