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I never thought of this that way, might very well be true. On the other hand, the Germans might have lost so many ground forces, that their presence on the Balkans or in North Africa, let alone later on the Eastern front could have been in question - yet, same might be said about the Commonwealth forces.Oh yes the RN would have done it, but the losses might have meant the Battle of the Atlantic might have been lost later.
Operation Harpoon, six ships lost, seven damaged, two freighters arrived. Operation Vigorous, six ships and one MTB lost, five damaged, no freighter arrived. Operation Pedestal, 13 ships lost, three damaged, four freighters arrived.A look at operations in the Mediterranean, Crete, Malta etc will show that it was possible but at a considerable cost.
And, to rule the channel at night, were the RN think to spend the day? Remember that, in this scenario, the RAF had lost the BoB. The ports of south England are targets. To not be crippled, the RN, during the day, had to stay somewere out of the LW air cover.At night and in bad weather the RN rules the Channel.
The Axis troops in Africa were supplied that way by the Regia Marina.Its no use landing an army if you cant supply food, water, ammunition and reinforcements
And, to rule the channel at night, were the RN think to spend the day? Remember that, in this scenario, the RAF had lost the BoB. The ports of south England are targets. To not be crippled, the RN, during the day, had to stay somewere out of the LW air cover.
Operation Harpoon, six ships lost, seven damaged, two freighters arrived. Operation Vigorous, six ships and one MTB lost, five damaged, no freighter arrived. Operation Pedestal, 13 ships lost, three damaged, four freighters arrived.
For how long could the RN sustain that cost?
The Strait of Sicily, in its narrowest point is 145 km large.The whole Home Fleet would not be required as the wake from a flotilla or two of destroyers at flank would swamp the barges.
An invasion fleet would move only after the route had been made safe, with ships, submarines and minefields (see the fate of Force K)Easily long enough to destroy an invasion fleet.
The RN did'nt stationed long in places were it could have been targeted by aerial attacks, and, as a result, the Axis convoys generally passed.I'm well aware of the Mediterranean campaign, that lasted for years and the Royal Navy never went away.
I'm not boubting the will of substaining losses. I m'doubting the capacity of substaining the attrition required to contend the Channel under a LW air superiority for long.So what. What losses do you imagine the British would be prepared to sustain to protect their home island?
Mines are. Especially if small and fast ships try to enter in minefields steaming at full speed by night.Aircraft were not terribly good at hitting small, fast ships.
Yeah. We are losing sight that, without the aerial cover, ships, in WWII, were practically only big and slow targets.We're losing sight of the objective here.
An invasion fleet had to do only few tenths of km to pass the Channel and gain a bridgehead under LW aerial cover, while the RN, having heard the news that the invasion fleet is moving, had to steam for several hundreds of km by night, pass over minefields, the Kriegsmarine itself, and see if the invasion force had been so kind to wait for her. Then, having won the battle, have still to leave the scenario.It will take an invasion fleet many hours to cross the Channel. It only has to be destroyed once.
This image show the position of the mines that effectively protected the RM convoys during the last part of the operations in NA.As for mines, where are you planning to mine?
Yes, on one occasion.This happened to an Italian merchant convoy in the Mediterranean on one occasion
Counter measures requires time. Not a swift action to wipe out the invasion force once. Do you checked the Force-K fate? Of 8 ships, two lost (one was a cruiser, mines are effective even to bigger ships) and one damaged (37.5% losses) to have entered in a minefield (not the vast ones of 1943), and they didn't tried to continue pursuing the RM convoy after realizing they were in a minefield. They only tried to leave it after the first explosion whit all the possible calm.Mine do sink small ships but there were counter measures.
Cannons do not defeat mines.As Cunningham both said and demonstrated...