Shortround6
Major General
Building a number of small bases just invites the Japanese to do to the British what the Americans did to the Japanese.
Island hop and defeat in detail the defenders after cutting them off from support.
And if you are going to build a naval base it should be big enough to do repairs to a major warship, like have one or more large dry docks, other wise it is not a "base" but merely a fueling station.
The question started as to what aircraft to deploy or perhaps what ones were even available.
Some accounts say there were already more planes than pilots. More planes with poorly trained pilots and ground crew, no matter how brave or hard working, are going ot make much difference. that said the list of planes is actually pretty short.
Buffaloes?, the Far East already has the vast majority of British Buffaloes, there are very few left to send.
F4Fs? Britain only got 90 of the folding wing Martlets until well after this scenario is over. Most of them were used in the Atlantic or Med.
Skua's have been mentioned. Last one left the factory in March of 1940, the one before that left the factory in Dec of 1939. Some of the last ones left the factory as target tugs.
Others were converted. Any available planes are going to be rather weary specimens.
Sea Gladiators have been mentioned. "Of the 98 aircraft built as, or converted to, Sea Gladiators, 54 were still in service by the outbreak of the Second World War "
of the total of 747 Gladiators built, 216 were exported to other countries. some of the early ones, if still flying, would have been almost 5 years old in Jan of 1942.
Whatever the Gladiators did over Malta in the summer of 1940, any Gladiators sent to the Far east in the fall of 1941 are another 1-1 1/2 years older.
The idea is to bolster the defences of the Far East, not saddle the Far East with old (literally) obsolete maintenance hogs. They had enough of that with the Buffaloes with their questionably "overhauled" engines.
Island hop and defeat in detail the defenders after cutting them off from support.
And if you are going to build a naval base it should be big enough to do repairs to a major warship, like have one or more large dry docks, other wise it is not a "base" but merely a fueling station.
The question started as to what aircraft to deploy or perhaps what ones were even available.
Some accounts say there were already more planes than pilots. More planes with poorly trained pilots and ground crew, no matter how brave or hard working, are going ot make much difference. that said the list of planes is actually pretty short.
Buffaloes?, the Far East already has the vast majority of British Buffaloes, there are very few left to send.
F4Fs? Britain only got 90 of the folding wing Martlets until well after this scenario is over. Most of them were used in the Atlantic or Med.
Skua's have been mentioned. Last one left the factory in March of 1940, the one before that left the factory in Dec of 1939. Some of the last ones left the factory as target tugs.
Others were converted. Any available planes are going to be rather weary specimens.
Sea Gladiators have been mentioned. "Of the 98 aircraft built as, or converted to, Sea Gladiators, 54 were still in service by the outbreak of the Second World War "
of the total of 747 Gladiators built, 216 were exported to other countries. some of the early ones, if still flying, would have been almost 5 years old in Jan of 1942.
Whatever the Gladiators did over Malta in the summer of 1940, any Gladiators sent to the Far east in the fall of 1941 are another 1-1 1/2 years older.
The idea is to bolster the defences of the Far East, not saddle the Far East with old (literally) obsolete maintenance hogs. They had enough of that with the Buffaloes with their questionably "overhauled" engines.