navy

What if before the attack on Pearl Harbor the US Navy would have deployed the Battlefleet and left behind the Carriers? Would the presence of the Carriers change the outcome of the battle? If the Carriers were destroyed, how would that effect the outcome of the War? Would Naval Aviation be...

Between 1906 and 1913 Austria-Hungary spent around 190,8 million British Pound on her military and 37,8 million British Pound on her navy. What if Austria-Hungary spent significantly more? Let's raise the military budget by 50% to 286,2 million British Pound and the naval budget by 30% to 49,1...

IOTL, in the 1580s' War of Portuguese Succession, the Battle of Ponta Delgada was an attempt by the french forces loyal to portuguese pretender Antonio, Prior of Crato, to estabilish a foothold on the Azore islands. The battle was a roughly equal fight, with multiple french vessels fighting off...

Or, did Japan only strike south because in late 1941 it had reasons to hope its desperate gamble could work? Put another way, which of the factors present in OTL 1941 would we have to take away for the Japanese to have zero hope in their desperate gamble, and thus not do it? Discussion...

I can remember reading on wikipedia that several different designs were put forward for the Alaska class cruisers, including 6000t(!) cruisers, or overgrown heavy cruisers. Given that the general consensus on the board is that the Alaska's were a bad design built too late, would a different...

It seems to be a near consensus here that Imperial Germany building up its navy was detrimental, because it antagonized the British and the Germans were never going to have a fleet large enough to match the Royal Navy. However, without a navy at all, wouldn't the German Empire have become...

Hi all If the topic has been discussed before please post it thank you. I was thinking today about the great Winston Churchill and how so many incidents could have turned against him and one of the infamous was Gallipoli. Now I know to all intended purposes he was incompetent at that time...

IOTL both the Italian and Austro-Hungarian navies adopted a very cautious fleet policy, neither navy engaged in extensive operations far from their bases. Instead remaining within the confines of harbors and not attempting to play a part in the war. But what if that was not the case. What if...

I'm a bit of a sucker for WWI PoD's, and one of my favourites is that of a successful pushing of the dardanelles, with the british securing Istanbul with its massive navy, possibly knocking out the Ottomans from the war, and creating a more secure supply line to Russia through the black sea...

So every couple of months this site seems to have a thread to the effect of "what if Ukraine got to keep the Soviet nuclear arsenal/a multi-million men army/Tu-160 bombers, etc", often with follow up questions with the regards "how would this impact the Maiden movement/the current Ukrainian...

If the British monarchy were to be abolished, what would the various sectors of the Armed Forces (The Royal Navy and the Royal Airforce) become? And what would naval ships be called instead of "HMS"? My initial thoughts is that it would probably weigh quite heavily on how and why the monarchy...

Total loss. Following the navies disastrous defeat at the hands of the navy of the United States the Spanish fleet looked at what it had left. They did not have much, only the old battleship Pelayo, two protected cruisers and five destroyers out of what had until recently been a relatively...

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it is to write a scenario in which through some quirk A-H decides to make a strong navy to compete with the Italians and French. After this had been accomplished then you will continue the scenario by stating the navies alternate building program, the...

I tried searching for a past forum on this topic but essentially, what do you believe would've occurred if Japan refused to treat with Perry, leading to invasion from US Naval Forces in 1853/54. Would the superior technology of the US Forces be able to carry them to a permanent foothold in the...

Say that the Netherlands, rather than going pacifist and horribly neglecting their navy during the first half of the twentieth century decides to maintain a force of at least four BBs, four large cruisers, eight smaller cruisers and twenty four destroyers. Plus submarines. Extra points if you...

Today the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal, the third of the new Inflexible class, was launched to great fanfare in Southampton. Meanwhile in America, the US Navy just commissioned USS Antietam, the largest aircraft carrier built for the US Navy since the WW2-era Midway...

Presuming 1939 levels of readiness and tonnage, which would have been the strongest Navy? Presuming a strictly maritime confrontations, no Fleet-in-Beeing policy, no Homefleets, and a neutral theatre of war. (For example, RN could confront USN in either the Atlantic or Pacific but not in the...

According to a press release from the government of Japan, a salvage team has discovered the wreck of the US "large cruiser" USS Alaska 195 miles north of Okinawa. The discovery comes four weeks after the 70th anniversary of her sinking in the Battle of the Ryukyus. In that battle, the Alaska...

Alternate warships of countries Modelled after "Political Parties of Alternate Countries" thread. What this should be (and maybe it should also be in another forum) is an existing/alternate country and its warship, just as it says on the tin. This can be as little as names and home port, or it...

With a POD no earlier than the 1920s, try to ensure the creation of small, but official armed forces on Iceland. A defence force not that much bigger from the current one, but with a greater military capability, instead of just being a heavy-duty law enforcement supplement. Things I'd like to...