Did the Navy win the Battle of Britain?

[Maverick]

On one hand it sounds almost plausible. Then you have to think, why didn't the Brits put their ships in the channel. Because the Luftwaffe would be all over the ship and put them on the bottom. The idea that the Germans didn't have armor piercing bombs is silly. They were allies with the Japanese who used the shells from their battleships as armor piercing bombs. No reason the Germans couldn't do the same thing.

This bit of revisionist history is a lame attempt to salvage the reputation of the Royal Navy, which does not need rescuing.

[SmokinLoon]

This has been discussed in great detail between historians.  Luckily, I've been privileged to be a part of these discussions, I've learned a ton of information that simply can not be expressed when reading books and other original sources.

It has already been mentioned that *if* the Germans had bested the RAF, the remaining RAF aircraft would have been put far beyond the reach of the Lw while waiting for their chance to go on the offensive vs German supply lines, etc.  The RN would have been able, probably, to fend off any German attempt to land or at minimum "slam the door shut" as someone said earlier.

The Germans would have lost either way, they didn't have the Navy nor the range in the air to fully commit to conquering the UK.

[SFRT - Frenchy]

Wouldn't the LW hamer the hell out of the RN once air superiority was gained? After a couple of weeks , probably several sorties a day, of bombing only ships, LW airmen would have become experts, even better than IJN.

[Tac]

Got this from another fourm.  Intresting reading but i can agree on all of it.  Enjoy!

This theory is being touted as the latest controversial bit of revisionism - below is the Daily Telegraph's report on it:

I didn't bother reading after: "Even if the RAF had been defeated the fleet would still have been able to defeat any invasion because fast ships at sea could easily manoeuvre and "were pretty safe from air attack"."

The RN would've been obliterated by the LW in the channel as it would've had no air support (RAF being eliminated by that point).

[cpxxx]

I don't think this is new. I seem to remember commenting on it a few years ago. While there's some truth in it, the tone of it seems to belittle the efforts of the RAF. The fact of the matter is that the RN didn't fight the battle. The RAF did. If the RAF had been neutralised and an invasion launched then the RN would have it's day. Any attempt to give the RN credit is simply revisionism.

As for the RN defeating the invasion, well maybe but no one mentioned U-Boats who surely have wreaked havoc among the ships in the narrow English channel. Add concentrated air attacks from the Luftwaffe and even shore artillery and it would be bloody. Maybe the Stuka pilots weren't as good as the Japanese but they would learn fast and in any case it would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Hitler was never all that keen on invading Britain anyway, so maybe he would be satisfied with defeating the RAF. But my opinion is that in fact the RAF would never been beaten even with better tactics from the Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe would simply have been burned out if they continued to maintain the level of pressure they did. Meanwhile the RAF were better organised and had the home advantage.

No the RAF won the battle, the RN were the back up on this occasion. Any attempt to revise that history is ridiculous.

[MiloMorai]

Depending on the ports of departure, it would take the Germans 1 to 3 days to cross the Channel to the invasion beaches. The Germans would have a very hard time bombing at night > what was enemy and what was friendly. Even if some 30-40 destroyers and light cruisers had been sunk by the LW, the invasion fleet would have been decimated. Such a defeat would have had a long lasting morale issues for the Germans.

Just about every time a U-boat that tried to operate in the Channel it was sunk.

[Vudak]

nope British bombed German city (not sure which one) they apologize, but next couple of days they bombed another German city by accident again, which set off the germane and they started bombing British cities.  which was a good thing because it stopped the planes from bombing the airfields.  so they could take off and defend England.

Definitely not the version printed in the books I own, though who knows with things being declassified all the time now.

[CAP1]

Got this from another fourm.  Intresting reading but i can agree on all of it.  Enjoy!

This theory is being touted as the latest controversial bit of revisionism - below is the Daily Telegraph's report on it:

 teamwork is how they won....

[oakranger]

teamwork is how they won....

How much did the RN got involved with BoB? Really never hear anything about it.

[CAP1]

How much did the RN got involved with BoB? Really never hear anything about it.

 i honestly thought that the royal navy was spread out too thin in the atlantic to get involved at home....i could be wrong though

[oakranger]

i honestly thought that the royal navy was spread out too thin in the atlantic to get involved at home....i could be wrong though

I was thinking of the same.  That statement what should debunk the whole argument that RN won the BoB.

[CAP1]

I was thinking of the same.  That statement what should debunk the whole argument that RN won the BoB.

 now that i think of it.....look up operation cerberus. it was in 41, but if the royal navey were home, it would've been them attacking the fleet int he channel.

[Penguin]

Neither the Royal Navy nor the Royal Air Force would have been capable of stopping a German invasion on their own.  Without the Royal Navy, the Germans would have launched an amphibious assault on the British coast and plowed all the way through.  Without the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy would have been helpless to stop their ships from being sunk from the air.

Furthermore, both would have been useless in the case of a successful invasion without any infantry, artillery or armor.  The idea that any one branch of the military could win a war singlehandedly is absurd.  World War II, and all wars afterwards, were and are focused on combined arms combat.  Each arm is very powerful, but only if supported by all the other arms.

-Penguin

[CAP1]

Neither the Royal Navy nor the Royal Air Force would have been capable of stopping a German invasion on their own.  Without the Royal Navy, the Germans would have launched an amphibious assault on the British coast and plowed all the way through.  Without the Royal Air Force, the Royal Navy would have been helpless to stop their ships from being sunk from the air.

Furthermore, both would have been useless in the case of a successful invasion without any infantry, artillery or armor.  The idea that any one branch of the military could win a war singlehandedly is absurd.  World War II, and all wars afterwards, were and are focused on combined arms combat.  Each arm is very powerful, but only if supported by all the other arms.

-Penguin

and all of the above would've been useless, and not possible without the convoys from America.

 i know you guys were waiting for someone to say it.....so it's said.

[Penguin]

I don't think that it would have been utterly useless, but suffice it to say that the British would have been in a difficult position without those convoys.  The amount of teamwork that the Allied Powers displayed was astonishing, Russia and Britain were a great help in holding off Germany and providing a launching point for the second part of the pincer movement.  With any foresight, this war won't be fought again.

-Penguin