WI battlecruiser HMS Tiger gets a refit and battles through WW 2?
- Thread starter Logan2879
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The Prince of Wales B turret spoke, a flash and thundering roar followed by a billow of chocolate coloured smoke from both barrels as the most reliable turret on the ship kept engaging their fleeing enemy. The shells landed short, kicking plumes high into the air whilst the Tiger’s guns added their own voice to the battle. Still, despite her damage, her fires and mangled hull and dying crew, the Bismarck was opening the range, the Prince of Wales was slamming into the waves and was having to reduce her speed to 26 knots whilst the Tiger overtook the more modern ship, opening up her arcs to bring her rear turret to bare before a worryingly close straddle forced her to change course again to throw off the German gunners.
Norfolk and Suffolk were now finally arriving on the scene of the battle but Rear Admiral Wake-walker didn’t want to risk his ships, the German giant was damaged but she still had teeth and his thinly protected heavy cruisers would be vulnerable to the monster’s guns.
Still the two cruisers barked away with their guns, pelting the German with 8-inch rounds before the 15-inch guns of the Bismarck spoke, one shell landing so close to the Suffolk that it buckled the hull plates and started a leak and the Cruisers immediately sheered off, opening the range, throwing the helm around to throw off the Germans gunners. Still the eight hits they had scored between them had added to the Bismarcks wounds but they did not slow her, and her active guns meant that to get close to successfully torpedo the German ship in such heavy seas would have exposed them to far too much risk.
Miles astern an execution was taking place. The Prinz Eugen gamely returned fire against her larger opponent but with her speed down, two turrets disabled and listing from the Tigers anger the cruiser was doomed, and her resistance was abruptly halted by the impact of three 15-inch shells that smashed through her armoured decks, the metal barely slowing the shells before they detonated deep in the heavy cruisers bowels. The blast smashed boilers and men with equal ease and the Prinz Eugen finally shuddered to a halt, her great turbines asphyxiated, her side torn open, power failing as tons of water thundered into her interior.
There was no order to abandon ship, one wasn’t needed, the crew started pouring up onto the deck through torn and jagged passage ways, some finding their paths blocked by fire and smoke or jammed bulkhead hatches. For those unfortunates there would be no escape and even as the Prinz Eugen started a slow, stately roll her crew spilled over her sides whilst the Hood drew closer, her men already trying to patch up and lower her boats to save who they could.
Nearly 300 men were pulled from the cold waters of the Atlantic, the Prinz Eugen’s Captain was not among those, he chose to stay aboard his ship, his command and home as she capsized.
“Sir! Target is nearly out of range, we’ll get two more shots and then that’s it.”
“Make them count guns.”
The first salvo was close, but only showered the Bismarck with tons of water, the salvo that followed a moment later though scored a single hit. A 13.5 inch round slamming almost bullseye on the Swastika on the stern of the Bismarck the armoured deck held, all be it with one hell of a dent in it, whilst the teak deck was ripped up and blasted into splinters.
Whilst the Norfolk and Suffolk trailed the wounded German titan the Prince of Wales and Tiger slowed down, easing the pressure on their strained engines whilst damage control parties worked on repairing the wounds done to their vessels. The Prince of Wales had suffered an even half dozen hits, four from 8-inch rounds and two from 15-inch. One 5.25 turret was a charnel house, several AA guns were disabled and there was splinter damage across her superstructure. The Tiger had proven quite resistant to 8-inch gunfire but her crew had proven less resilient. Most of the starboard 4-inch mounts were disabled or destroyed and mangled shell, later found to be a 5.9-inch round was also found in the hangar. It had punched through the thin steel, slammed into a Walrus’ engine and then promptly refused to work.
The Hood’s damage was more severe, whilst the flooding was under control her engine damage was quite bad and she had to drop to 15 knots. Several of her 4.5-inch mounts were wrecked and the hangar was a gutted ruin and there was heavy casualties in the aft AA section from the exploding RP launchers.
With the Prinz Eugen gone the Bismarck seemed to live a charmed life as she withdrew, followed every step of the way by the two British cruisers whilst the rest of the Home Fleet moved to engage. Whilst the King George V and Renown were unable to place themselves to block the German’s path the Victorious did launch two airstrikes, but in heavy seas only two torpedo hits were scored, one of which blasted itself into oblivion on the belt, doing nothing but springing a few leaks. The other hit was more serious, a hit forwards that was mostly absorbed by the TDS but still it allowed for the ingress of several hundred tons of water, chopping two knots off the Bismarcks speed and contaminating her forwards fuel tanks with water. A third strike was called off when the British forces were attacked by the Luftwaffe who sheparded the Bismarck into Norwegian waters before the ship staggered into Trondheim, her welcome noted by the RAF who then bombed the ship two days later, scoring a single hit with a 500lb bomb that landed square on the Bismarck’s mast, wrecking her delicate fire control systems in the process.
Once she was home it was found that repairs would take nine months and were interrupted by a stream of British bombing raids that scored no extra damage but did delay things considerably. And it wasn’t until 1943 that the Bismarck joined her sistership in Norway. She was meant to have gone with the Scharnhorst but the battlecruiser was caught by the RAF who attacked her off the Norwegian coast with flights of Beauforts and Beaufighters. Despite fighter cover the RAF crews scored dozens of rocket hits on the Scharnhorst that would have been troubling enough, but they also landed four torpedo hits that left the battlecruiser wallowing without power. Her two surviving escorts managed to take off many of her crew as did ships coming from Norway but the Scharnhorst would not see harbour and sank two hours later.
This left the Allies trying to figure out how to destroy the powerful German naval squadron in Norway, and it would not be the last time the Tiger bared her fangs in a surface battle.
Sorry if the endings a bit of a cop out, but I didn't wanna write a wank. And when I say ending...just this part.
Norfolk and Suffolk were now finally arriving on the scene of the battle but Rear Admiral Wake-walker didn’t want to risk his ships, the German giant was damaged but she still had teeth and his thinly protected heavy cruisers would be vulnerable to the monster’s guns.
Still the two cruisers barked away with their guns, pelting the German with 8-inch rounds before the 15-inch guns of the Bismarck spoke, one shell landing so close to the Suffolk that it buckled the hull plates and started a leak and the Cruisers immediately sheered off, opening the range, throwing the helm around to throw off the Germans gunners. Still the eight hits they had scored between them had added to the Bismarcks wounds but they did not slow her, and her active guns meant that to get close to successfully torpedo the German ship in such heavy seas would have exposed them to far too much risk.
Miles astern an execution was taking place. The Prinz Eugen gamely returned fire against her larger opponent but with her speed down, two turrets disabled and listing from the Tigers anger the cruiser was doomed, and her resistance was abruptly halted by the impact of three 15-inch shells that smashed through her armoured decks, the metal barely slowing the shells before they detonated deep in the heavy cruisers bowels. The blast smashed boilers and men with equal ease and the Prinz Eugen finally shuddered to a halt, her great turbines asphyxiated, her side torn open, power failing as tons of water thundered into her interior.
There was no order to abandon ship, one wasn’t needed, the crew started pouring up onto the deck through torn and jagged passage ways, some finding their paths blocked by fire and smoke or jammed bulkhead hatches. For those unfortunates there would be no escape and even as the Prinz Eugen started a slow, stately roll her crew spilled over her sides whilst the Hood drew closer, her men already trying to patch up and lower her boats to save who they could.
Nearly 300 men were pulled from the cold waters of the Atlantic, the Prinz Eugen’s Captain was not among those, he chose to stay aboard his ship, his command and home as she capsized.
“Sir! Target is nearly out of range, we’ll get two more shots and then that’s it.”
“Make them count guns.”
The first salvo was close, but only showered the Bismarck with tons of water, the salvo that followed a moment later though scored a single hit. A 13.5 inch round slamming almost bullseye on the Swastika on the stern of the Bismarck the armoured deck held, all be it with one hell of a dent in it, whilst the teak deck was ripped up and blasted into splinters.
Whilst the Norfolk and Suffolk trailed the wounded German titan the Prince of Wales and Tiger slowed down, easing the pressure on their strained engines whilst damage control parties worked on repairing the wounds done to their vessels. The Prince of Wales had suffered an even half dozen hits, four from 8-inch rounds and two from 15-inch. One 5.25 turret was a charnel house, several AA guns were disabled and there was splinter damage across her superstructure. The Tiger had proven quite resistant to 8-inch gunfire but her crew had proven less resilient. Most of the starboard 4-inch mounts were disabled or destroyed and mangled shell, later found to be a 5.9-inch round was also found in the hangar. It had punched through the thin steel, slammed into a Walrus’ engine and then promptly refused to work.
The Hood’s damage was more severe, whilst the flooding was under control her engine damage was quite bad and she had to drop to 15 knots. Several of her 4.5-inch mounts were wrecked and the hangar was a gutted ruin and there was heavy casualties in the aft AA section from the exploding RP launchers.
With the Prinz Eugen gone the Bismarck seemed to live a charmed life as she withdrew, followed every step of the way by the two British cruisers whilst the rest of the Home Fleet moved to engage. Whilst the King George V and Renown were unable to place themselves to block the German’s path the Victorious did launch two airstrikes, but in heavy seas only two torpedo hits were scored, one of which blasted itself into oblivion on the belt, doing nothing but springing a few leaks. The other hit was more serious, a hit forwards that was mostly absorbed by the TDS but still it allowed for the ingress of several hundred tons of water, chopping two knots off the Bismarcks speed and contaminating her forwards fuel tanks with water. A third strike was called off when the British forces were attacked by the Luftwaffe who sheparded the Bismarck into Norwegian waters before the ship staggered into Trondheim, her welcome noted by the RAF who then bombed the ship two days later, scoring a single hit with a 500lb bomb that landed square on the Bismarck’s mast, wrecking her delicate fire control systems in the process.
Once she was home it was found that repairs would take nine months and were interrupted by a stream of British bombing raids that scored no extra damage but did delay things considerably. And it wasn’t until 1943 that the Bismarck joined her sistership in Norway. She was meant to have gone with the Scharnhorst but the battlecruiser was caught by the RAF who attacked her off the Norwegian coast with flights of Beauforts and Beaufighters. Despite fighter cover the RAF crews scored dozens of rocket hits on the Scharnhorst that would have been troubling enough, but they also landed four torpedo hits that left the battlecruiser wallowing without power. Her two surviving escorts managed to take off many of her crew as did ships coming from Norway but the Scharnhorst would not see harbour and sank two hours later.
This left the Allies trying to figure out how to destroy the powerful German naval squadron in Norway, and it would not be the last time the Tiger bared her fangs in a surface battle.
Sorry if the endings a bit of a cop out, but I didn't wanna write a wank. And when I say ending...just this part.
Now that I look forward to.Maybe, and you don't need to quote the whole thingMight just do a future battle.
ExcellentMaybe, and you don't need to quote the whole thing
And edited
Could be a collab?..
Tiger could go to the Med..Input and thoughts and ideas are most welcome
Or the Indian Ocean..
As long as it's not in Zheng He's TL, yes..
Hood and Tiger will probably be limping to Boston under heavy escort..
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Fascinating stuff.
The question that interests me at most is following: If she survives war, how long can she survive after the war?
The easiest way for surviving, what i can think, would be, that she shares the fate of HMS Caroline and becomes a training ship for RNR or RNVR, the sooner the better. She was a really big girl, what means, that there is lots of a ship to convert to a training establishment and when its done, it has cost a big lot of money - money, what the taxpayer is not willing to spend twice, to build a stone frigate - as a training establishment she could easily outlive all other big ships of Royal Navy.
But here are other ways, as museum etc and how long could it proceed?
The question that interests me at most is following: If she survives war, how long can she survive after the war?
The easiest way for surviving, what i can think, would be, that she shares the fate of HMS Caroline and becomes a training ship for RNR or RNVR, the sooner the better. She was a really big girl, what means, that there is lots of a ship to convert to a training establishment and when its done, it has cost a big lot of money - money, what the taxpayer is not willing to spend twice, to build a stone frigate - as a training establishment she could easily outlive all other big ships of Royal Navy.
But here are other ways, as museum etc and how long could it proceed?
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The best way to have her, and many other BBs survive is to have one of the ships scrapped(Warspite), and following there is a wave of nostalgia from the general public to force the government to save similar ships(Hood, Tiger,DOY and one of the Qes, would be good candidates )
In all honesty the Tiger was scheduled to be retired and scrapped in say 1939 but the War came along and saved her. By 1945 the Tiger's going to be 32 years old (assuming she survives) and will have been hard worked in both wars. She's also 50 feet longer (harder to dock somewhere as a museium) than a QE. And in a cash strapped nation like the UK after the war there just wasn't the cash to save a BB for preservation. The Warspite was looked at but she was in a terrible state and would have needed a very expensive overhaul and repair/refit to bring her up to any standard that wasn't 'barely floating wreck', the money wasn't available so to the chop shop she went.
Obviously I would preserve the Hood.
She's old, but not as old as Warspite.
She(presumably) fought in many battles during WW2
She is the Pride of the Royal Navy
She would probably be in better shape than Warpite too, considering she had her rebuild fairly recently.
Only problem is that she is LONG, 886 feet of battlecruiser isn't going to find an easy place to dock.
Scapa flow would be a good place..
Warpite was in a right mess, she had taken that hit from the X glider bomb, her X turret was knocked out
And she was just completly worn out.
Britain was flat out broke and short of everything that had to be imported and paid for with Dollars. I can imagine a politician weighing up the odds of telling the public they cant have their bomb damaged house repaired because some worn out old ship needs preservation.
It is likely that Hood would be kept around anyway until 1950. By that time the situation is a bit better in Britain and there is a higher possibility of her being saved
Thanks Login 2879 for starting the thread regarding a saved-Tiger. Good job
steamboy on the story. There is certainly a lot of mileage in this. Makes me think what other ships are out there that could fight another day or died to early to get a chance to battle. May push me to write a story that I have had in my head for sometime - if RTE allows!
steamboy on the story. There is certainly a lot of mileage in this. Makes me think what other ships are out there that could fight another day or died to early to get a chance to battle. May push me to write a story that I have had in my head for sometime - if RTE allows!
The KVGs after all there war service where broken up in late 50s (58/59) why would Hood be any different? I think they need to survive much later to be kept say 1980s..
Just reminded me of a fairly implausible idea I had a while ago. What if Britain manages to persuade the rest of the world that the Outrageous class really are 'Large Light Cruisers' (OK, unlikely), and therefore shouldn't count as part of the RN's capital ship allowance, with only Furious subsequently being converted to a carrier? Would they be at all useful in WW2, earlier on as Panzerschiffe hunters, and later (with as much added AAA as possible) as fast carrier escorts, meanwhile at some point between the wars, once the design requirements have been sorted out using Furious, the RN gets to acquire a couple of purpose-built fleet carriers instead of the conversions?