The USN only exceeded the RN in size in 1944 as well....

The Bf-109’s cannon had very short barrels, they consequently had very low velocity. The hitting it with machines guns then using the cannons didn’t work that well as a result. The British realised that rifle calibre MG’s weren’t going to cut it and had started work on cannon before the war. Some cannon armed…

It most definitely was not stealth, it may have had a smaller radar signature, but then again the DH Mosquito did as a side effect of being made from wood. The Luft46 nonsense is all a fantasy I’m afraid. Most of the advanced German designs were actually spectacularly impractical and would not have worked. They may…

You’re right, there was 2 schools of thought in RAF intelligence circles. One as you point out got it wrong. The other got it pretty much spot on, and for all of the right reasons. They didn’t discover this until post-battle analysis in 1941. It actually improverd intelligence for the remainder of the war as the…

In all probability there were more than 11. All you had to do was get over the Canadian border go to a recruiting office and claim to be Canadian, they didn’t dig any deeper.....

U-boats in the Channel is a non-starter. It really isn’t good for sub operations. The Rn actually had 80 destroyers and escorts in home waters during the battle. One thing frequently missed is that heavy units would have been used, particularly the ‘R’ class battleships. the battleship Revenge was in Plymouth harbour…

The British Army had replaced all equipment lost by September from new production alone. The overwhelming problem for the Germans was the craft used for the invasion, Barges travelling at less than 4 knots can only cross once in a day. By the time they get to the other side and drop their troops/supplies off it’s…

I would suggest you do some research on exactly how many irish citizens fought with the British military during the war then as you’re very, very wrong. Over 50,000 in the British Army alone. The outrageous thing is that the 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted the Irish Army to fight against the Nazi’s were only issued…

Unfortunately the central premise of the article is spectacularly wrong. This is the history of the Battle of Britain as told in Len Deighton’s ‘Narrow Margin’. The premise that the RAF were close to defeat and that all the Luftwaffe had to do was keep hitting the southern airfields is complete bunkum.

HMS Sheffield did no such thing, there are plenty of photos of her after the strike. The Type 21’s however suffered due to their aluminium superstructures.

I would have thought UK strikes flying from Akrotiri would have transited over Turkey before entering Iraq. Can’t see them overflying Syria.

Of course it will....

The QE Class are not similar in size to the CdG. The CdG is 42,500 full load. QE class are over 70,000 full load. They’re massively larger.

Unfortunately you just blew your own argument out of water all by yourself....

My entry for ugliest plane..

Add on the Hawker Hunter to the list of gorgeousness as well.

Ground attack. It was built during the invasion scare of 1940. Basically anything that could fly was having bombs added to attack the German invasion when it landed. Westlands had spare capacity to build Lysanders (the original STOL, Spec-Ops plane) and there were more 4 gun Frazer Nash turrets than aircraft. The idea…

So which FOB’s got wiped out? Never heard of 1 FOB that has got overrun completely.

Canada would be the best option, but they’re defence budget, politicians, defence posture and utterly hopeless procurement process would mitigate against them doing a deal. Normally the Australians are good at sniffing out a really cheap naval deal (see HMAS Choules) but for once they’ve gone and filled that…

Have a look at the QE crew accommodation, or even better the T45 crew areas and weep, if you’re in the USN that is.....the RN is taking crew retention seriously.