Comments by "Doug JB" (@dougjb7848) on "The Drydock - Episode 051" video.

  1. 42:00 Even if the RN could only modernize the four capital ships they did, if they had had six or eight competent, properly maintained, 13.5” gun battleships, I think they might well have squashed both the KM and Regia Marina during 1940-41. The 13.5” ships would have been perfectly suited to convoy escort - more than enough to crush a heavy cruiser or a Panzerschiff, and enough of a threat to anything larger to compel a retreat. That would free up all the really modern units to focus on directly engaging Axis surface units. The Royal Navy Mediterranean fleet could well have been so superior to the Italians as to go straight at them and force an engagement that would have swept the Italians from the water and severed Axis lines of communication from Europe to N. Africa. And if that were the case, I think WW2 in Europe would have ended months+++ earlier than it did.
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  2. 38:00 The operational restrictions placed on the KM ships - mainly “do not engage equal opponents, and avoid damage at almost all costs” - would still have forced two improved Scharns to turn away from one Renown or Malaya.
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