warspite1 -> RE: Dutch aircraft and ships question (7/1/2015 6:34:29 AM)
|
quote:
ORIGINAL: Big B Amazing,... the Royal Navy was so overflowing with carriers in 1942 - they couldn't justify putting a radar set (like they did on corvettes) on a 25knot CVL (In Hand - not building) - nor bother to weld a dozen 20mm Oerlikon's on Hermes, to have another 16 Sea Hurricanes' and 10 or so torpedo bombers at sea with the Eastern Fleet? (Deck Park - easy .... which they DID DO). Yes, in 1950 - why bother? ... but in 1942 (with India at stake) you surely must be joking? And the Dutch CLs were rebuilt as CLAA's I give - What ever. warspite1 No joke - and no real need to get snotty. It's just an opinion. Could she have been given rudimentary upgrades? Well yes, but to what purpose? Eastern Fleet? Have a look at the history of the RN in the Indian Ocean. Would having one small, slow, poorly protected, not hugely stable carrier with only limited range, in that region make any difference? As it was in early 1942 the RN had to call upon the services of the Wasp to help re-supply Malta with aircraft due to a lack of carriers. If Hermes did survive I strongly suspect she would have been used in that more urgently needed capacity rather than tooling around the Indian Ocean to no good effect. That said of course, she was withdrawn from the ETO for her own safety precisely because she was so limited. So with ETO and PTO out, there is not much point in her really is there?
|
|
|
|