The Whale Has Wings Vol 1 - Rebirth (7 page)

The Admiralty (and
Admiral Chatfield in particular), was still very worried about what they saw as the lack of armour on the CVL class. They had agreed, reluctantly, that HMS Colossus would build to a light, only partially armoured design, because the carrier was seen in part to be used for training. However they worried about its lack of protection. The large fleet carriers were seen as being adequately protected, if somewhat light on side armour, and a number of studies were done on the possibility of a small protected carrier (carrying the 25 planes of the Colussus class). These showed that the penalties of armour were very expensive, both in terms of weight and aircraft. A carrier with deck armour and a Torpedo Defence System built for a similar purpose would come in at around 17,500t, and be slower and carry less aircraft, although it would have heavy AA guns. More worrying was the cost; Ark Royal was costed at £3.8M, and Colossus at £1.8M, giving them a similar cost per plane carried, but the small armoured carrier would cost £2.8M. This was not seen as efficient compared to the Ark Royal class. The obvious answer was to build more fleet carriers (even if it was necessary to lower operating costs by reducing the number of aircraft carried. A study was authorised to see what was possible for a budget of £1M (an interesting divergence as usually the Admiralty asked what was possible for a certain tonnage).

While technically it wasn't allowed to exceed the old treaty until January 1937, the Admiralty pointed out that by designating them as replacements for the older carriers it would be allowed (just) to lay down two more of the
Colossus class. In fact the Navy had no intention of letting go of the Glorious and Courageous at least, but they needed to get busy if they were to have any hope of meeting their needs in carriers. Accordingly it was agree to lay down two more ships in the Autumn, a supplementary budget having been approved. The Navy's arguments had been directly aided by the start of the Spanish Civil War, and the need to conduct neutrality patrols, a task for which the CVL were ideally suited, and that the Courageous and Glorious were already committed to them.

The ordering of the new carriers could of course not be concealed (especi
ally since the Anglo-German Naval treaty required the RN to inform the Germans of their plans), and it was no real surprise (given, in any case, how deeply Admiralty intelligence was into the Germans building programs) when they learnt that Germany was laying down their first carrier in October 1936 (although they were interested to note it had been advanced a few months from its initial timescale). The design of the carrier they found poor by their standards; it didn't seem to be armoured to anything like the extent of the RN fleet carriers (although it was nearly as big), and carried a heavy surface armament. It was estimated to be able to carry around 45-50 planes, assuming these would be similar size to current FAA planes, and the estimate was that this would probably be split evenly between fighter, dive bomber and torpedo bombers. The FAA started to consider which planes they would be; it was not clear whether the Germans would develop new planes purely for carrier use, or modify existing ones.

In view of this development an analysis of the other major naval powers was undertaken. The French, while aware of the improvements of British naval airpower, considered that at present their scope of commitments were covered by land based planes. They were considering a modern replacement for their aged aircraft carrier, but at present they had other projects with a higher priority for funding.

The USA had its own needs and a plan for meeting them. They had two large and very useful conversions, the Lexington and Saratoga, plus their first modern carrier the Ranger in operation. They had two more improved modern ships, Yorktown and Enterprise, well under construction, and another one, Wasp, would be laid down in April. That would give them six modern and powerful ships , each of which carried 80+ planes, which would give them a fleet carrier strength greater than that currently under construction for the Royal Navy.

The Japanese were, as usual, keeping very quiet about exactly what they were up to, especially since they had announced their withdrawal from the naval treaties. It was known that they were extensively rebuilding Akagi, Kaga having already finished her reconstruction, in addition to the modern if small Ryujo. The larger Soryu, similar in size to the new American carriers, was expected to complete next year, and a sister ship the Hiryu was to lay down sometime this year. That would give them a similar strength to the Royal Navy.

The plans of the German navy had already been analysed; and some conclusions about the likely use of their first carriers discussed. While it would be possible to use one or two carriers to accompany a large scale raid by two or more fast capital ships into the Atlantic was possible, it was seen unlikely as any discovery would mean interception by superior RN forces, and the carriers would be isolated and would run out of planes. A much more likely scenario was the use of a carrier force to cover the escape into the North Atlantic of one or more raiders; this would allow the carriers to retreat once the aim had been accomplished, thus preserving the valuable ships. A third possibility was to cover operations in the southern part of the North Sea out of effective range of land based air.

Finally the Italian navy did not seem to have an aim of developing a carrier arm, probably due to the relatively easy availability of land based planes to support their operations in the Med. It was noted, however, that there seemed to be plans to improve the anti-ship capability of the
Regia Aeronautica.

The Admiralty used the points of the Japanese and American construction to press hard for an expanded construction program of their own; in particular
they wanted two more Formidable class ships to order in early 1937 to give them rough parity in modern carriers. The treasury was sympathetic, but was being difficult in actually making the funding available.

Chapter 6

On the 1st of January the Royal Navy's new battleship, HMS King George V, was laid down, the first ship to be built after the naval treaties exclusions on new building expired. Considerable discussion had gone on over the design of the ship (especially before the conclusion of the naval talks), with respect to gun calibre (14" or 15"), and the amount of armour. The naval staff preferred a ship armed with 3x3 15" guns, but Admiral Chatfied was unhappy about the thickness of armour possible with this design. There were also issues as to whether the USA would go down to 14". It was then pointed out that this ship (intended to be deployed primarily in European waters), didn't need its own aircraft; it would normally be working either with a fleet or light carrier, and in any case the 2-3 planes it could carry were not going to be much use. As a result of eliminating the aircraft, the armour belt could be made shorter, thus thicker for the same weight, and the staff settled on the 9x15" design, which the USA was agreeable to. KGV was expected to commission in the middle of 1940.

The Gloster Goshawk fighter start
ed to enter service in March. The RN had initially ordered 300, although there were issues with the mass-production of the Hercules which were being looked at. Gloster expected to be able to deliver up to 20 a month once production was established. It had been found necessary to reduce the priority of the biplane Gloster Gladiator to achieve this, but in any case this aircraft was seen as obsolescent (intended to leave service as soon as the Hurricane and Spitfire were available in quantity). While the problems with mass production were worrying, the initial need was to get the plane carrier-rated and for the pilots to build up experience.

The FAA's second new monoplane, the
Martin-Baker Cormorant dive bomber, started to be delivered in April. Again the Hercules engines were in short supply. The initial order was for 300 planes.

The Swordfish orders , i
ncluding delivered aircraft, were now 700 (to be delivered up to mid-1939). The progress and capabilities of its replacement would determine if any additional orders would be placed. The Swordfish had impressed by its ability to land on small carriers in all sorts of weather conditions. The Admiralty wished to keep the production going ahead strongly, as while it was seen as inadequate as a Torpedo bomber against modern opposition, it was beginning to look like the ideal aircraft for the antisubmarine and search role operating off the smaller carriers. This would also allow its replacement to be concentrated on the fleet carriers.

While these orders were
seen as quite large, the FAA pointed out that allowing for normal use and attrition this will give only about 400 planes in service ( not enough for all the projected or building carriers). It also would not allow for the use of FAA squadrons based on shore in areas not well covered by Coastal Command (i.e. outside of the United Kingdom). While obsolescent aircraft could be used to some extent in secondary theatres, this was not considered a sensible option where a modern threat is likely to be encountered.

Since HMS Ark Royal, the first of the new carriers, was not expected to be commissioned until July (and is expected, as first of class, to be on trials and working up until December), the initial squadrons will operate off HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious to allow the fleet to get experience with them.

Contracts for development of a new TBR prototype have been given to Fairy, Blackburn (on strict instructions it will be ready on time), and Boulton-Paul. This will be a bigger and faster aircraft than the Swordfish, although it is hoped better design of the folding wings will allow it to be fitted in a similar space in the hangar.

The Hercules engine continues its development, the big problem being not so much the engine as the difficulty of getting the sleeve valves
it uses produced in the sort of numbers that will be needed in wartime. While this is addressed, engines are being produced as fast as possible. While not a major issue yet, it is seen as a considerable problem in wartime when the number of engines needed rises far above peacetime levels of production. Bristol Aviation is asked to treat a solution to the problem as urgent, and funding is assigned to help with the issue.

The FAA continues
discussions with Roy Fedden (despite the sleeve valve issues, they are pleased with the Hercules) on the next generation of engines - naval aircraft are large, heavy, and always require a big engine, and Fedden had informed them that the new generation of engines won't grow in power as much as in the past, he expects the Hercules to top out at around 1600hp. The FAA therefore contracts with Bristol for studies on what is being called the Centaurus engine, with Rolls Royce for an advanced descendent of the Merlin called the Griffon, and with Fairy for a version of their P.24 engine. Given their relatively small range of aircraft types compared to the RAF, they only expect to order one, but will pass on the data to the RAF to see if any of them are of use, they know the RAF is looking at engines in this power class for its bombers - they have put in a starting power of 1,800hp. The Navy is looking at availability in around 2 years to match up with new fighter and dive bomber specifications (and possible a TBR re-engining), as they are looking at a new set of specifications for planes to be available for squadron service in 1941-2 (having seen what the Air Ministry is expecting during this period, and on the assumption that rival powers will be updating an improving their aircraft during this time period.)

Glorious and Courageous in particular have been heavily worked in the last few years, both in normal usage and the crises off Africa and Spain. Both need a refit. A full rebuild is examined and found uneconomical (it would cost almost as much as building a new CVL), and would take too long (2 1/2 years). Accordingly they are planned for a major refit lasting 3-6 months as soon as the new Ark Royal is available; this will involve making the flight deck a full length and covering in more of the lower deck (this will allow them to carry 48 planes as before, but the new
, larger planes), a refit to the engines (basically to do as much refurbishment as they can in the time available), and general improvements and repairs. It is hoped to get the material ready in advance so as to reduce the time of the refit, as they are aware the situation in Europe is steadily deteriorating.

As a result of the larger number of planes to be carried on the new carriers, the FAA reviews its squadron size. Its viewed as important to not break up squadrons where possible, but the old 12-plane ones look rather inefficient. After some studies, they decide to go for 18 as the new size (it's thought that an 18 plane torpedo or dive bomber attack is about the optimal for a single strike), while retaining a 'small' 12-plane squadron where these are too large for the desired aircraft mix.

Ark Royal would have a squadron of fighters, dive bombers and TBR (54 planes), plus a 12 plane squadron of TBR, for a total of 66 planes. This is a few more than designed, but they can just fit them in and in any case expect a few on deck at any time for operations (the 18 plane TBR squadron will be the strike squadron, the 12-plane one will handle reconnaissance and A/S work). Half the fighters are allocated to defence, the other half to escort, although if no fighter opposition is expected they will all be retained for fleet defence.

In April a problem was encountered with the 20mm Hispano cannon. The Air Ministry had been evaluating it in Hurricanes and Spitfires, and an unforeseen issue had arisen. The original gun was mounted upright, fed by a 60-round drum. In order to fit in the thin wings of the new fighters, it had to be mounted on its side, and it didn't seem to like the position. The 60-round magazine was also seen as insufficient, and a belt-fed system was thought to be necessary. The Air Ministry, pushed somewhat by the FAA representative, who was eager to see the gun available to the navy, passed this information on to Marc Birkigt at Hispano-Suiza for investigation. As the drawings for the gun were already being examined for translation to imperial measurements, it was suggested that they could also look at possible solutions and collaborate with Hispano. The firm was rather reluctant to allow this as the gun had not yet been licensed, and the Air Ministry was not pressing the issue hard. However barbed comments along the line of 'if you won't license it we will, and then we MAY let you have some' from the Navy got them to release the money (which had already been allocated by the Treasury) rather more quickly.