Originally posted by BlueJ1
The Royal Navy?
If I remember right they had trouble with Germany's few battleships.
Not as much trouble as the Germany had with the Royal Navy.
Take some time and read about the issues that faced Germany's fleet in WWI. That experience shows that building a fleet is one thing, being able to operate it is another. Single ships, or pairs of ships can sometimes slip through a naval blockade. Thus, commerce raiders can often do some harm. However, eventually they will need to refuel, rearm and refit. Also, they will be hunted by vastly superior forces.
A carrier cannot operate alone. Moreover, it has no viable defense beyond its aircraft. Inasmuch as the Brits had many more carriers and a vast array of battleships, fast battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, a German carrier would require a considerable force of screening warships. As well as support ships, such as oilers. Such a force WILL be detected and will not be able to avoid being engaged by any and all forces available.
The chances of such a task force sailing past Kristiansand (Norway) and not being detected by the Norwegian coast watchers was virtually nil. The Brits would have known of the task force's passage within an hour and the Royal Navy would have sortied from Scapa Flow in force, with Coastal Command and Bomber Command preparing both a search and strike missions.
My regards,
Widewing
