Chapter 1,192 Strategic Adjustment 1
Chapter 1192 Strategic Adjustment 1
"You want to ask about the future naval strategy, right?" Thomas looked at the somewhat lonely old friend in front of him. "Although no decision has been made yet, we all know that between the two options of ensuring homeland security and implementing a remote blockade of Germany, we can only choose one. I think you know the answer to this alternative question, right?"
"Do we no longer have the strength to maintain the blockade?" Betty frowned and said.
"Yes, it's not just a matter of insufficient strength, but also the disastrous defeat of the fast fleet that made us realize that we will never be able to defeat the Germans in terms of fast fleets." Jericho said.
"This is equivalent to giving the German Navy the initiative in the North Sea battle." Thomas said.
"How about?" Jericho asked. "This result is a bitter fruit that was planted long before the war started. The navy's inertia is too great. When the initial decision fails, it may take us several years or even more than ten years to make up for it!"
The British are very rich. They started a naval arms race based on the pride and will of building two battleships themselves after Germany built one battleship. However, in the end they found that a bunch of slow battleships they built were of no use at all. And the fast fleet cannot match its opponents in terms of quantity and quality... One step was wrong and the other was wrong, and the failure of two consecutive major battles made the situation of the Royal Navy even worse, so that the fast fleet was in a state of extreme shortage, so that the original naval strategy had to be adjusted.
So now let's talk about the background of the Royal Navy's fast fleet. The only fast battleships currently available are Rear Admiral Hood's three battlecruisers... After three months, the four Queen-class battleships and Tiger can be repaired, and then... Still useless! It is impossible for Thomas's grand fleet not to have fast battleships as the vanguard of the fleet. What can 4 Queens and 1 Tiger do? If the Thomas Fleet could compete with the main force of the German High Seas Fleet a few times before, it would be a disaster. So now, it is definitely the rhythm of being pushed down upon meeting! Look at the situation of this encounter. 5 queens and 2 battlecruisers, with 2 fleets of light cruisers and a large number of destroyers filling their lives, more than half of them died...
Of course, you can say that the Royal Navy can add two more Queen Elizabeth-class battleships in the future. However, by that time, Bavaria may have 12 ships, and you will add 2 ships here and others will add 3 ships. This is a shame! As the British fast battleships were unable to accumulate numbers, the overall strength of the German fleet increased. After the Battle off the Firth of Forth, the Royal Navy's fast battleships could no longer serve as a strategic force. At most, they can only perform reconnaissance missions and then move with the large fleet.
Even after the last two Queen-class battleships are put into service, it will be impossible for the British to repeat Thomas' victory in siegeing the Blücher! Because by then the British fast fleet will only have 6 Queen Elizabeth class battleships.
It is difficult to completely surround the opponent, and as the strength of the German fleet grows, the number of troops that can permanently break through the blockade will increase. The last time it was two battlecruisers, this time it may be one Bavaria plus two battlecruisers. In this case, even if the British fleet is divided into two groups and surrounded, it will probably end up being defeated by each one. There is absolutely no way 3 Queens can beat 1 Bavaria plus 2 battlecruisers.
Therefore, the heavy damage to the Thomas Fleet is a symbol of the overall contraction of the British naval strategy. The Tiger will be incorporated into the battlecruiser squadron of the Grand Fleet as the flagship of Rear Admiral Hood. And the remaining queen will exist as a battleship squadron of the Grand Fleet! It will take at least 4 months for the Royal Navy to return to this situation!
"This is equivalent to giving up the North Sea blockade. From now on, materials can be continuously transported to Germany by sea, and our sea transportation lines will be attacked by German submarines. The current situation is very bad." Thomas sighed said.
"There is no way, at least it won't change in a short time." Jericho did not respond to Thomas's words. In fact, this reduction in force is not just because of the loss of the Navy's high-speed capital ships. This is one of the important reasons. But that's not all.
If Thomas had not been dismissed, then Jericho might as well have a few more words with him, but now, Jericho can only say this. The real reason hidden under the surface is not convenient to tell the other party.
There are two reasons why the British are really preparing to shrink their naval power to the mainland. The first is to deal with the increasingly rampant submarine operations. Just last month, the tonnage of merchant ships caused by German submarines has reached as high as 900,000 tons! The U.S. government has banned any U.S. merchant ships from entering British and French ports, even with Britain's strong shipbuilding capabilities and ship holdings. It can no longer bear such losses. The most pessimistic view is that if this loss rate continues, British maritime transport will collapse within 9 months! Now the British have fallen to the point where they need to rely on buying ships from Japan!
Therefore, it is imperative to ensure the safety of maritime transportation lines! Providing escort for the fleet has become the most direct and effective option. According to data, when escorted by destroyers, the loss rate of British transport ships is generally less than 3%, so these destroyers cannot destroy submarines. But it can also effectively curb submarine attacks. Do you really think that submarines in World War 1 mainly relied on torpedoes to achieve results? too young too simple! Most of the results were achieved with deck guns! How many torpedoes does a submarine have? If we use torpedoes to attack them all, how many ships can we hit at one time? ! And if there is a destroyer escort, no matter how bad the destroyer is, it will not lose to the submarine in the artillery battle...
This requires a large number of ocean-going destroyers. However, although the destroyer is easy to build, its death can be described as a roar... For example, this time, more than a dozen destroyers were directly sent. If they are used for escort, they can be directly equipped with 4 escort detachments.
The British Grand Fleet is not only short of capital ships, it is also short of light cruisers and destroyers. Not only is the number used in battle formations insufficient, but the number of destroyers and frigates that can be used for escort is even less sufficient! Moreover, in order to meet the needs of ocean navigation, the tonnage of destroyers must be enlarged. We no longer want those with hundreds of tons. The escort destroyers in the future must be at least about 1,200 tons. Therefore, under the huge anti-submarine pressure, the British had to shrink their fleet to free up their hands to ensure the safety of some routes!
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