Graf Zeppelin may have been found

[Henk]

Well the German Navy were far from raedy for the war. Most of the U-boats were coastel boats and the heavy guns the navy had were way to less to have a impact or make any of a impact on the RN, but if the BoB were a success it would have been lights out for the UK.

[HealzDevo]

Yes, exactly, Hitler would have needed to extinguish the UK as the UK was sending in agents and saboteurs to destroy railways and cause chaos and thus the Resistance would have been more easily broken with the UK in Germany's grasp. It would also have dented morale for the Resistance as there would be a lot of difficulty in getting supplies to the Resistance as the US which is assumed to be the last of the major Allies is too far away to be effective. It also makes it that much harder for the US to mount an invasion of Occupied Europe as there is no convenient friendly base from which to launch troops. Thus they would have to come all the way from the US which is a long way to launch an invasion into a place where the weather can be very uncertain... Australia is too far away as well and probably spending the bulk of its time and money on fighting off Japan... Also I don't think the US can sustain two major wars at once, as it was supported the whole way through by the Allies. There are stories that I have heard that say that the Australians would break through on their side, and then they would say that they better go and help the Americans and send some troops to help them break through. Therefore with Britain crushed, it could be supposed that Hitler would have gained time to work out how to invade America should his heart desire it. Don't forget that an Allied invasion with the US and what troops Australia could spare would be operating at long range, thus it would be a logistical nightmare keeping the invasion supplied adequately at those ranges as the U-Boats would be strangling the supply routes to Europe in places such as near Britain and France and all the way along the European Coast...

[Henk]

Think if taht would have happend I think the US will fly in and ship in there troops into Africa to be able to take it from the Germans and thus invade from the bottom, but the RN would have destroyed there navy and leave the Germans with nothing.

[kiwimac]

Hopefully they'll raise her and perhaps restore her for a museum piece.

kiwimac

[the lancaster kicks ass]

I agree she would have been a big target but still in a flotilla she could have been useful having fighters and also the destroyer and cruiser screen able to throw up a lot of flack to make things difficult for those that were going to bomb her. Also to torpedo something you first have to find it, and estimate speed, range etc. Some sort of dazzle paint would make it very difficult to torpedo...

she would be no harder a target than any battleship, yes the fighters would give extra cover but our carriers far outnumbered this one, even if she made it to the atlantic which is difficult enough we would've hunted her down like we did the Bismarck, you don't get much past the world's greatest naval nation, especially not the new boys.........

[Henk]

True.

[HealzDevo]

Perhaps. It is a debatable point what would have happened since it never became operational...

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Originally Posted by Henk

Well Adler if the Kriegsmarine were ready for the war I think it could have taken the Atlantic from the RN, but the US could have put a stop to that.........

The Graf Zeppelin? How the hell was the Graf Zeppelin going to take the Atlantic away from the RN? One aircraft carrier and a few Battleships against the Royal Navy?

Seriously...

[johnbr]

For a whale they where working on her sister but they cut her up when she was about 70 present done.

[Henk]

Originally Posted by DerAdlerIstGelandet

The Graf Zeppelin? How the hell was the Graf Zeppelin going to take the Atlantic away from the RN? One aircraft carrier and a few Battleships against the Royal Navy?

Seriously...

No mate I meant if the whole Kriegsmarine were ready for a war against the RN they could have taken the Atlantic, not only the Graf Zeppelin.

[the lancaster kicks ass]

they couldn't, at the start of the war what was the whole Kriegsmarine? in terms of capital ships? and how do you get the KM out into the atlantic? massive ship movements even over a period of several months don't go un-noticed.........

[Henk]

Lanc, please read again. I said a what if. If Germany prepaired her navy better before declairing war like expanding the navy more and have a navy that will be able to take on the RN THEN and only THEN they could have given the RN a beating.

[Hop]

That assumes the British watch the Germans build a dozen or more battleships, hundreds of cruisers and destroyers, and a few carriers, and do nothing. No expansion of the Royal Navy.

In the real world, if the Germans had begun expanding their navy dramatically, the British would have done the same, and there would only be 1 winner in that arms race. The British had far more shipyard capacity and were starting from a much larger base.

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Sorry Henk but Lanc and Hop are right on this. There cant even really be a what if scenerio because there was no way it was going to happen unless the Brits were blind and that was not going to happen.

[Henk]

Yes, ok I see what you mean.