planes, which would give them a fleet carrier strength greater than that currently under construction for the Royal Navy.
The Japanese were, as usual, keeping very quiet about exactly what they were up to, especially since they had announced their withdrawal from the naval treaties. It was known that they were extensively rebuilding Akagi, Kaga having already finished her reconstruction, in addition to the modern if small Ryujo. The larger Soryu, similar in size to the new American carriers, was expected to complete next year, and a sister ship the Hiryu was to lay down sometime this year. That would give them a similar strength to the Royal Navy.
The plans of the German navy had already been analysed; and some conclusions about the likely use of their first carriers discussed. While it would be possible to use one or two carriers to accompany a large scale raid by two or more fast capital ships into the Atlantic was possible, it was seen unlikely as any discovery would mean interception by superior RN forces, and the carriers would be isolated and would run out of planes. A much more likely scenario was the use of a carrier force to cover the escape into the North Atlantic of one or more raiders; this would allow the carriers to retreat once the aim had been accomplished, thus preserving the valuable ships. A third possibility was to cover operations in the southern part of the North Sea out of effective range of land based air.
Finally the Italian navy did not seem to have an aim of developing a carrier arm, probably due to the relatively easy availability of land based planes to support their operations in the Med. It was noted, however, that there seemed to be plans to improve the anti-ship capability of the Regia Aeronautica.
The Admiralty used the points of the Japanese and American construction to press hard for an expanded construction program of their own; in particular they wanted two more Formidable class ships to order in early 1937 to give them rough parity in modern carriers. The treasury was sympathetic, but was being difficult in actually making the funding available.
Chapter 6
1937
On the 1st of January the Royal Navy's new battleship, HMS King George V, was laid down, the first ship to be built after the naval treaties exclusions on new building expired. Considerable discussion had gone on over the design of the ship (especially before the conclusion of the naval talks), with respect to gun calibre (14" or 15"), and the amount of armour. The naval staff preferred a ship armed with 3x3 15" guns, but Admiral Chatfied was unhappy about the thickness of armour possible with this design. There were also issues as to whether the USA would go down to 14". It was then pointed out that this ship (intended to be deployed primarily in European waters), didn't need its own aircraft; it would normally be working either with a fleet or light carrier, and in any case the 2-3 planes it could carry were not going to be much use. As a result of eliminating the aircraft, the armour belt could be made shorter, thus thicker for the same weight, and the staff settled on the 9x15" design, which the USA was agreeable to. KGV was expected to commission in the middle of 1940.
The Gloster Goshawk fighter start ed to enter service in March. The RN had initially ordered 300, although there were issues with the mass-production of the Hercules which were being looked at. Gloster expected to be able to deliver up to 20 a month once production was established. It had been found necessary to reduce the priority of the biplane Gloster Gladiator to achieve this, but in any case this aircraft was seen as obsolescent (intended to leave service as soon as the Hurricane and Spitfire were available in quantity). While the problems with mass production were worrying, the initial need was to get the plane carrier-rated and for the pilots to build up experience.
The FAA's second new monoplane, the Martin-Baker Cormorant dive bomber,
The Japanese were, as usual, keeping very quiet about exactly what they were up to, especially since they had announced their withdrawal from the naval treaties. It was known that they were extensively rebuilding Akagi, Kaga having already finished her reconstruction, in addition to the modern if small Ryujo. The larger Soryu, similar in size to the new American carriers, was expected to complete next year, and a sister ship the Hiryu was to lay down sometime this year. That would give them a similar strength to the Royal Navy.
The plans of the German navy had already been analysed; and some conclusions about the likely use of their first carriers discussed. While it would be possible to use one or two carriers to accompany a large scale raid by two or more fast capital ships into the Atlantic was possible, it was seen unlikely as any discovery would mean interception by superior RN forces, and the carriers would be isolated and would run out of planes. A much more likely scenario was the use of a carrier force to cover the escape into the North Atlantic of one or more raiders; this would allow the carriers to retreat once the aim had been accomplished, thus preserving the valuable ships. A third possibility was to cover operations in the southern part of the North Sea out of effective range of land based air.
Finally the Italian navy did not seem to have an aim of developing a carrier arm, probably due to the relatively easy availability of land based planes to support their operations in the Med. It was noted, however, that there seemed to be plans to improve the anti-ship capability of the Regia Aeronautica.
The Admiralty used the points of the Japanese and American construction to press hard for an expanded construction program of their own; in particular they wanted two more Formidable class ships to order in early 1937 to give them rough parity in modern carriers. The treasury was sympathetic, but was being difficult in actually making the funding available.
Chapter 6
1937
On the 1st of January the Royal Navy's new battleship, HMS King George V, was laid down, the first ship to be built after the naval treaties exclusions on new building expired. Considerable discussion had gone on over the design of the ship (especially before the conclusion of the naval talks), with respect to gun calibre (14" or 15"), and the amount of armour. The naval staff preferred a ship armed with 3x3 15" guns, but Admiral Chatfied was unhappy about the thickness of armour possible with this design. There were also issues as to whether the USA would go down to 14". It was then pointed out that this ship (intended to be deployed primarily in European waters), didn't need its own aircraft; it would normally be working either with a fleet or light carrier, and in any case the 2-3 planes it could carry were not going to be much use. As a result of eliminating the aircraft, the armour belt could be made shorter, thus thicker for the same weight, and the staff settled on the 9x15" design, which the USA was agreeable to. KGV was expected to commission in the middle of 1940.
The Gloster Goshawk fighter start ed to enter service in March. The RN had initially ordered 300, although there were issues with the mass-production of the Hercules which were being looked at. Gloster expected to be able to deliver up to 20 a month once production was established. It had been found necessary to reduce the priority of the biplane Gloster Gladiator to achieve this, but in any case this aircraft was seen as obsolescent (intended to leave service as soon as the Hurricane and Spitfire were available in quantity). While the problems with mass production were worrying, the initial need was to get the plane carrier-rated and for the pilots to build up experience.
The FAA's second new monoplane, the Martin-Baker Cormorant dive bomber,
Similar Books
