Bismark made it to the Atlanic!!

Here is a good one for you! What if the Bismark and Prince Eugen escaped and made it into the Atlantic??

Heres' an even better one: What if Bismark and Prince Eugen had waited until the Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Niesenhau wear ready for action, and they all went together?

That would have been a very fomidable fleet for the British to face off against! Do you think the British would risk it?

I think we probably would have another "battle of Jutland!" I don't know who would have come out better? What do you think?

Matt

 

I think the British would have to risk all for the sake of prestige. Plus, since they had ILLUSTRIOUS, they could have the same chance and luck that they had when the Bismarck was sunk. With ILLUSTRIOUS, that would be another matter.

 

Soon as I get time--im going to have fun answering this too.

 

And I will surely throw out a what-if right back at ya ! What if the British also had a submarine force as large as the U-boot arms ? This could of been quite interesting.......eh ? Of course you have to realize to that Heavy ships need a strong, lighter protective force so destroyers would have to have covered and made lanes for these big boys.....so much for Narvik.

E

 

That would have been extremely good for our nation! It would have put British in a lot of trouble...

If just a single ship, the Bismarck made all the British fleet go out and chase her what would all the major ships of Germany have done? A mess in GB's supply lines.

yes, perhaps it would have ended with a small Battle of Jutland, with all the German ships sunk all at once, with great British losses also!

So, the best solution would have been having the Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, Admiral Scheer, Admiral Hipper, Bismarck, Prinz Eugen all at once at see, but not altogether.

Let's say in three different groups: Bismarck and Prinz Eugen; Scharnhorst and Gneisenau; the Admirals in different parts of the Atlantic, so all the British fleet would focus on one, meanwhile the others strike the convoys, along with U/boats!

German Schlachtschiffe were superior to British in gun power, speed and armour, their crews were elite. But the British good officers and crews and quantity would have had the last word. It is very possible of a very big threaten to GB, but Germany would have lost all its ships at last and I think Raeder nor Hitler would have liked that...

 

You still need fast escorts to provide flanking cover though as well as take on any attempts by British submarine activites. What if two of the ships with adequate cover would have had free rain to the northern spheres of the Soviet Union ?

E

 

I think the fact of having the Bismarck in the Artic would not have been very addecuate... by that time the Soviet Union hadn't been invaded yet and even if so, USA was not at war either, so war materials were not much to go to Murmasnk and Archaengel... Correct me if I am wrong or explain your point better, Erich. Explain things better to little Kindergarten children like me...

I think that if GB had had a larger submarine force would not have been very effective, at least in the Atlantic where there were not a lot of Axis ships... And we can compare the situation with that in WWI when GB had more submarines than Germany. What did it happen? Nothing, actually... Just in the Mediterranean they could achieve some things. Think about the "Upholder" and the E-11.

 

To answer the original question - the consequence would have been quite obvious. A month of commerce raiding, then return to port, and probably another sortie. Several convoys would be very hard hit.

I doubt it would have had a significant impact on the war.

 

Freidrich : I was thinking the additional what if ! If the Bismarck had been able to escape the cluches of the Raoyal Navy, then sent to the Baltic to bombard the shores of the Soviet Union and / or blow any Soviet ship out of the water, what then would this have done to add to the Wehrmachts mighty arm during 42-45 ?

E

 

Ahhh, now I get it.

The Bismarck would have bombarded the Soviet Baltic shores sometimes as many other ships did and most probably would have spent its time in Norweigan fjordes (spelling...) and would have been attacked by RAF bombers like the Tirpitz...

It would have represented a menace to the convoys to the Artic but nothing more, as the Tirpitz and later it would have helped in the retreating from the Baltic, fighting and saving civilians...

It would have been a waste, like the Tirpitz. It better died in the honourable way it did!

Did you guys read "The Swastika in the Sea" by C. D. Bekker? It was an awesome book. The one which made get interested in WAR! A book which changed my life...

 

Uh, I never did say that the Bismarck or it's escorts had to stay in the Baltic, only a what if in 42-43. As to a waste, that's opinion. If you check the many references to the Admiral Hipper and the Prinz and their acitivites in 45 from Gotenhafen to the blatic shores they destroyed enough Soviet possitions to be thanked numerous times by beleagued Wehrmacht troops. I suppose one would have to look at the whole picture and release all of the heavy ships if they would have been availkable in41 and let them vent on whatever shipping they desired to run upon, a what-if is if they could of attacked the southern and eastern shores of the USA.......it would of been catastophic I imagine.

E

 

For once I agree with Friedrich

 

Arghhh.. it posted that before I could say BUT...

3 raiding groups in the Atlantic would have appalled the Admiralty, but despite the anarchy of it all by 1942 the position of the RN would be much stronger as well, plus there is the US Atlantic Fleet, especially the Wahington and North Carolina battleships, as well as KGV and Duke of York.

However, as it was rare that all of them were operational at the same time. And of course they need lots of fuel, and tankers, to stay at sea.

My money would still be on Ark's Swordfish...

Jumbo

 

For once? Thanks...