Post by rs2excelsior on Jun 30, 2019 16:26:44 GMT -6
Excerpt from a letter to the Admiralty Board:
As myself and my fellow pilots aboard HMS Cressy have shown, it is eminently possible not only to use ships of His Majesty's Navy to service, launch, and recover aircraft, such as the Navy's early experiment of HMS Border Knight, but to launch aircraft directly from the deck of a ship, and recover them the same way. When Cressy was designed, the idea was for her pilots to scout out enemy warships for the battle line and deny the enemy the ability to do the same, and our Fireflies are well suited to the task. But now, with that damned Hague treaty, the fleet has found itself stuck with its older Dreadnoughts, which are already showing a bit of age and can only be refitted so many times before the hull becomes useless.
These new "treaty cruisers" are all well and good, but I ask: without the big, long-range punch of the old battleships, how much use will the fleet get out of scouting aircraft? If the navy is to rely on these cruisers, its battles will be fought at closer range, so the ships will be able to spot their own targets more easily.
But there is another option. Without the need to stop and lower an aircraft into the water, what's to stop the navy from fitting bombs onto its aircraft? Or even torpedoes? The Royal Flying Corps pilots have begin experimenting with attaching ordinance to aircraft, and results have been promising. These new flat-deck ships are every bit as good as a ground-based runway, if a little small. Let the aircraft not only find the enemy, but attack him too. We won't need to expose our cruisers and aging dreadnoughts to fire if a carrier can locate and sink the enemy themselves? Our own vessels stay out of reach until the enemy withdraws, only closing in to finish off enemy ships crippled by air attacks. The navy won't suffer another disaster like at Puerto Rico if the enemy never even get close enough to see us. Many navy officers--and some of my fellow pilots, even--think this is a pipe dream, that even with the treaty limitations the naval gun will reign supreme forever, but I say that naval airpower has the potential to revolutionize the battlefield. Aircraft are becoming more and more capable by the year, and I say it is important that we explore these possibilities and design aircraft capable of launching from a carrier and attacking enemy ships, lest the Americans--or someone else--do so first.
Flight Lieutenant Jonathan Cain, 302 Squadron, HMS Cressy
(Out of character, I recommend aircraft as a research priority, and further refits to carriers--though perhaps upgrade the battleships until a carrier strike craft is developed. I've really enjoyed reading the campaign so far, keep it up!)
As myself and my fellow pilots aboard HMS Cressy have shown, it is eminently possible not only to use ships of His Majesty's Navy to service, launch, and recover aircraft, such as the Navy's early experiment of HMS Border Knight, but to launch aircraft directly from the deck of a ship, and recover them the same way. When Cressy was designed, the idea was for her pilots to scout out enemy warships for the battle line and deny the enemy the ability to do the same, and our Fireflies are well suited to the task. But now, with that damned Hague treaty, the fleet has found itself stuck with its older Dreadnoughts, which are already showing a bit of age and can only be refitted so many times before the hull becomes useless.
These new "treaty cruisers" are all well and good, but I ask: without the big, long-range punch of the old battleships, how much use will the fleet get out of scouting aircraft? If the navy is to rely on these cruisers, its battles will be fought at closer range, so the ships will be able to spot their own targets more easily.
But there is another option. Without the need to stop and lower an aircraft into the water, what's to stop the navy from fitting bombs onto its aircraft? Or even torpedoes? The Royal Flying Corps pilots have begin experimenting with attaching ordinance to aircraft, and results have been promising. These new flat-deck ships are every bit as good as a ground-based runway, if a little small. Let the aircraft not only find the enemy, but attack him too. We won't need to expose our cruisers and aging dreadnoughts to fire if a carrier can locate and sink the enemy themselves? Our own vessels stay out of reach until the enemy withdraws, only closing in to finish off enemy ships crippled by air attacks. The navy won't suffer another disaster like at Puerto Rico if the enemy never even get close enough to see us. Many navy officers--and some of my fellow pilots, even--think this is a pipe dream, that even with the treaty limitations the naval gun will reign supreme forever, but I say that naval airpower has the potential to revolutionize the battlefield. Aircraft are becoming more and more capable by the year, and I say it is important that we explore these possibilities and design aircraft capable of launching from a carrier and attacking enemy ships, lest the Americans--or someone else--do so first.
Flight Lieutenant Jonathan Cain, 302 Squadron, HMS Cressy
(Out of character, I recommend aircraft as a research priority, and further refits to carriers--though perhaps upgrade the battleships until a carrier strike craft is developed. I've really enjoyed reading the campaign so far, keep it up!)