Shipbucket

JSB:
I don't think you can get an extra deck onto the Courageous class carriers. Main reason is that they had a shallow draught, the bulges were added to stabilise them at their normal height. With an extra hangar deck they could be prone to capsizing. Any battle damage would probably prove fatal. A torpedo would capsize them quickly (as happened to Courageous). It was the stability problems as to why the ugly sisters weren't improved further like the Kaga/Akagi which removed their fly off decks with more hangar space and flight deck.

o well ....

what about.

1 ) could I budge them massively (lose speed 28Kn ? but gain the stability ? and torpedo protection)

and/or
2) weight shedding program (offload heavy AA to escort ships ? reduce the bridge etc.)

or just keep them in service as training ship to train pilots for my new CVs.

JSB

Another major flaw is the shape of the bows. I remember a similar discussion over at Wesworld a long time ago, where it was agreed that the shape of the bows made an overhanging flight deck like that of Ark Royal almost impossible. The hullform was never intended to be a carrier so is a serious compromise when it comes to extending the main deck. I'm not sure you gain much anyway from a longer flightdeck given accelerators are fitted. Any hangar extension forward might accommodate a few extra planes but probably not worth the massive costs to do so.

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The best thing to do is get your crystal ball to sort out the aircraft problem rather than the carriers themselves. The main reason we went for armoured carriers at the time is the Admiralty knew their obsolescent aircraft could not ( A )defend the ships and ( B ) there was too few of them. The reduced airwing due to the armoured decks didn't matter so much cos of the non availability of the planes themselves at the time.
What I would do is follow the Japanese example and build high performance aircraft and Ark Royal repeats to put them in. How you pay for it is another story.

The RN believed,

- fighter couldn't intercept bombers due to lack of warning (and lack of planes to have a CAP standing patrol).
- the small bombs (500kg) used could be stopped with 3 inch deck.
- they where limited in numbers by treaty's (and in size).

With hindsight,

- radar is a game changer,
- big guided bombs are coming,
- torpedoes are very dangerous,
- armour is a limiting factor in the rearmament program (for CVs, BBs and CA/CLs)
- treaty are dead.

I think you get driven towards centaurs .
hum yes well I was thinking I would try to make a time line with only the same cash just spent better (but that's very hard to research if anybody has any good links please feel free to share ).

JSB

A lighter/cheaper/quicker modernization plan for the big 3



9 less 4.7inch DP guns should save me some weight, traded for more deck (I can put AA on the escorts) may bulge it a bit to support extra weight.

JSB

I think with a crystal ball the pom poms would have been replaced with more effective Anti aircraft guns like Bofors an oerlikon

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"There was nothing wrong with Titanic when she left the Shipyard" Tim McGarry Belfast Comedian

yes but,

- Is Oerlikon really better ? (and anyway it can be added later on easily)
- How long would it take to get a Bofors mounts ready (is 1/2/4/8 guns).
Since the pom pom is in (slow) production I cant see it being got rid off that quickly (and could it be made better anyway with tracers etc.).

JSB

Oerlikon was a more effective close in weapon than the .5 Vickers. especially in multiple mounts. It got a higher rate of fire and a better projectile.
Bofors was a huge advance over the 19thC Vickers Pom Pom. The dutch navy had multiplte mounts.
Many Army static Bofors were chopped to the navy as the navy itself recognised the effectiveness of the gun.
The Army got Bofors like the Bren inspite of political and industrial pressure to buy a Land variant of the Pom Pom because they recognised during trials how poor the Pom Pom was

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"There was nothing wrong with Titanic when she left the Shipyard" Tim McGarry Belfast Comedian

-No. Small-calibre AAA really isn't all that useful in the grand scheme of things, look at what happened towards the end of hostilities, large scale dumping of 20mm for more 40mm. However early on I'd take whatever you can get AAA wise to try and avoid a PoW episode...
-Some time, Hazemeyer was the first really useful naval mount which were expensive as all hell and difficult to produce on a large scale.
-Keep it in production and replace them as necessary or as production of the Bofors allows.

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