Post by director on Jan 16, 2018 10:32:40 GMT -6
My understanding was that the Royal Navy inter-war was refitting ships more-or-less chronologically and as funds permitted. Hood would have been the last of the battlecruisers to go into the shop; Repulse and Renown had already received a lesser and greater rebuild. Hood's rebuild was postponed both because she was relatively new and because war broke out. Only some of the QE fast battleships got the full rebuild and the R class received little attention.
As noted, Hood was extensively reworked on the stocks after the results of the battle of Jutland were understood, but there was only so much that could be done. Her tonnage increased to the point that she was very deep in the water, particularly at speed. Officers sometimes referred to her as the Royal Navy's Largest Submarine. Until the construction of Bismarck, there was no capital ship that had her size, heavy armament and high speed, and the Royal Navy heavily promoted her as its interwar 'image'.
All navies knew that reworking what were basically WW1-era designs was insufficient - one look at the differences between pre-treaty and post-treaty battleships will show that the latter packed higher speed, heavier armament and better protection on virtually the same tonnage. But with new construction prohibited, a rebuild was all that could be done.
As to the 'Pride of the Fleet'... I agree that I'd rather have the ability to dedicate some tonnage in a design to a flag officer (and staff) suite, making those ships the first choice for flagships. My single objection to the 'Pride of the Fleet' mechanic is that it is solely at the discretion of the player. What about proposing that the first dreadnought gets the accolade automatically? And mandate that the player can MOVE it without penalty but is penalized for not bestowing it on any capital ship? Or mandating it only when ships above 35,000 tons are built?
As noted, Hood was extensively reworked on the stocks after the results of the battle of Jutland were understood, but there was only so much that could be done. Her tonnage increased to the point that she was very deep in the water, particularly at speed. Officers sometimes referred to her as the Royal Navy's Largest Submarine. Until the construction of Bismarck, there was no capital ship that had her size, heavy armament and high speed, and the Royal Navy heavily promoted her as its interwar 'image'.
All navies knew that reworking what were basically WW1-era designs was insufficient - one look at the differences between pre-treaty and post-treaty battleships will show that the latter packed higher speed, heavier armament and better protection on virtually the same tonnage. But with new construction prohibited, a rebuild was all that could be done.
As to the 'Pride of the Fleet'... I agree that I'd rather have the ability to dedicate some tonnage in a design to a flag officer (and staff) suite, making those ships the first choice for flagships. My single objection to the 'Pride of the Fleet' mechanic is that it is solely at the discretion of the player. What about proposing that the first dreadnought gets the accolade automatically? And mandate that the player can MOVE it without penalty but is penalized for not bestowing it on any capital ship? Or mandating it only when ships above 35,000 tons are built?
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