Here, the RN by some means manage to have the means to convert WW1 heavy cruisers - well the 7.5"" guns would be odd, into light carriers. They were converted all at once, but one by one over time. By the late thirties, the allocation of new aircraft to thhe FAA wasn't as good as wanted, which meant that the carrier with the South Atlantic group, still had her Blackburn Shark torpedo bombers. They may not have had the range of a Swordfish, but certainly a lot better than the view from a warship's crows-nest!
Hence there the PB was detected earlier, would the aircraft have been spotted - maybe, maybe not, even so RN would be better placed to position their warships, and the carrier to assemble a strike. The first strike only achieved one hit, with no noticeable effect - noticeable that is to the aircraft, but with more aircraft already to go, it didn't long for the first returning batch of Sharks to re-fuel and re-arm.
By the time the next air-strike went in the cruisers were already in the process of lobbing shells at the PB, maybe the was a cease fire, maybe not and the torpedoes went in, with little interference from the PB's flak guns so pre-occupied they already were. This time more hits, which slowed the PB down.
As the cloak of darkness arrived with the River Plate still not in sight, the cruisers were able to mount their own torpedo attack - the 21" packed a bigger punch than the 18" aerial one.
Amongst the lifeboats of survivors were found crew from sunk British merchant ships.
What reaction back at the Admiralty - does the Unicorn get built earlier with more than just the one, to replace these aging ships?
Hence there the PB was detected earlier, would the aircraft have been spotted - maybe, maybe not, even so RN would be better placed to position their warships, and the carrier to assemble a strike. The first strike only achieved one hit, with no noticeable effect - noticeable that is to the aircraft, but with more aircraft already to go, it didn't long for the first returning batch of Sharks to re-fuel and re-arm.
By the time the next air-strike went in the cruisers were already in the process of lobbing shells at the PB, maybe the was a cease fire, maybe not and the torpedoes went in, with little interference from the PB's flak guns so pre-occupied they already were. This time more hits, which slowed the PB down.
As the cloak of darkness arrived with the River Plate still not in sight, the cruisers were able to mount their own torpedo attack - the 21" packed a bigger punch than the 18" aerial one.
Amongst the lifeboats of survivors were found crew from sunk British merchant ships.
What reaction back at the Admiralty - does the Unicorn get built earlier with more than just the one, to replace these aging ships?
