Modernize Vanguard & King George V-class battleships 1980s

[lordroel]

So how would as the thread title say, HMS Vanguard, HMS King George V, HMS Duke of York, HMS Anson and HMS Howe look like in a alternate universe where these 5 batleships remian in serive in the 1980s. would they get the same makeover as the Iowa-class battleship with them having Phalanx CIWS/Goalkeeper CIWS ore mabey a Sea Wolf (missile) launcher and of course some Harpoons ore Exocets.

[stevep]

Mar 8, 2024 19:24:49 GMT lordroel said:

So how would as the thread title say, HMS Vanguard, HMS King George V, HMS Duke of York, HMS Anson and HMS Howe look like in a alternate universe where these 5 batleships remian in serive in the 1980s. would they get the same makeover as the Iowa-class battleship with them having Phalanx CIWS/Goalkeeper CIWS ore mabey a Sea Wolf (missile) launcher and of course some Harpoons ore Exocets.

  It would depend on the circumstances and the reasons why they were maintained.  IIRC the Iowa's didn't have a particularly high tech upgrade with assorted missiles until they were 'revived' in the early 1980's wasn't it.  When used for shore bombardment in Vietnam I believe that other than electronics they still were basically armoured ships with a lot of guns, some of them bloody big by 1960's standards.

  As such if for some reason the RN ships were kept into the 80's, especially with much more limited resources their likely to have less upgrades and refits and could be largely worn out depending on what use their seen.  Still probably useful in a Falkland's war scenario as their armour would make them fairly resistant to a lot of threats, possibly including things like Exocet's depending on where the latter hit and the General Belgrano would definitely be keeping well out of their way.  Probably the major threats might be torpedoes from Argentinian subs.

[simon darkshade]

You’d need a different world and not just a different budget. The Iowas didn’t have universal love, laud and support in the US, but didn’t have MPs actively cheerleading for them to be scrapped as soon as possible as happened for Vanguard.

Could Sea Wolf withstand the blast effects of heavy guns?

The thing about Exocet and Harpoon is that they could fit on much smaller ships/platforms. The question should be: What do they add? What roles do they play that can’t be done by smaller ships? You’d need something like a need for 40+ Tomahawks.