... German kamikazes would be a surprise but given the speeds of the barges how do you achieve surprise on the crossing itself? To defend my original premise that the Germans prepare for a version of Sealion from at least 1937, faster cargo ships rigged with cranes for handling LCVP sized landing craft are available. This is a one- shot shock invasion, the British are still trying to sort...

... in making headway across enemy fortifications, some also think a defensive use of this capability saved the Anzio beachhead from being overrun by an enemy counterattack at one critical moment. Of course the Bismarck during Seelöwe would be far too busy to consider this. IIRC the Germans, when they thought about Sealion, thought of it as an extended river crossing. IE no big thing.

... had been an unmitigated   disaster for the British, would anyone have been inspired to suggest a WW1   Sealion? Depends what you mean by "unmitigated disaster". The odds at Jutland were something like 28 ... and 5 battlecruisers so the British would have to lose a *lot* for ships before a WWI Sealion was likely, especially given the fact that Britain had more battleships that weren't at ...

...diversionary moves and feints, out in the North Sea and up in the vicinity of Iceland. I think this is rather telling. Thanks for a very clear exposition of the use of battleships in support of an invasion fleet. This raises the question: if the Battle of Jutland had been an unmitigated disaster for the British, would anyone have been inspired to suggest a WW1 Sealion?

... survivors than in OTL. Dunno. All those Beauforts will be hanging around just gagging for something to use all those expensive torpedoes on. There's a fair few decent-sized steamers in the Sealion fleet that would be well worth a torpedo or three. Bismarck's a nice prestige scalp if she's daft enough to come out, but the real target is the troops and their kit in the ships....

.... (A trawler with an old Hotchkiss 6pdr and a couple of Lewis guns isn't a significant threat to a real warship, but it's able to wreak pretty nasty havoc on several vessels of the Sealion fleet after it gets the warning off.) Their main role was to sight and report the enemy, or failing that to alarm by silence (if, for instance, the Luftwaffe and the S-boats briskly wipe them out in ...

... Hitler gets bit by the Spruce Goose bug. [...] How about something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_323 or the glider version Me 321? In OTL it was too late for Sealion and probably would require air supremancy for anything better than one-way flights. Without air supremacy, I would think that even one-way flights would be optimistic, more like ...

... 13, 4:21 pm, Felix Reuthner <s...@reuthner.net> wrote: How about something like this:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messerschmitt_Me_323or the glider version Me 321? In OTL it was too late for Sealion and probably would require air supremancy for anything better than one-way flights. Towing something that big, makes one wonder if the Air Ministry didnt do some time traveling and ...

... this one, he thought England/Great Britain would be a natural ally and never prepared for war with them, other than an inadequate Navy and some ideas second hand from Douhet. Hmm. in place of Sealion, why not Condor? PODs Hitlers brain, 1934 He's really, really impressed by the Junker G38 transport, and thinks that trying to rely on UBoats&RiskFlee is what lost the War for ...

... Linthicum <jacklinthicum@earthlink.net> wrote: I bring up my posting of May 1 in the "About Sealion" thread. If a unit had been created and trained, ie the maximum forethought about ... facilities and a landing field would have had a better chance than all of the stuff planned for Sealion later." Sealion was only considered because France fell quickly and cheaply, giving hope...