Originally Posted by
Pontius Navigator
As the tread has drifted to a delayed start, what if they had organised the Reichsmarine into a fleet rather than a commerce raiders? Bismarck and Tirpitz, together with the heavy cruisers could have posed a considerable threat to the RN. To add an air element, they might have had an aircraft carrier too, but what aircraft?
They could have fielded commerce raiders in '38, and they would have caused some damage, a la the Graf Spee, until the Royal Navy hunted them down. Adding the carrier is changing the rules somewhat though, it's not 'what if WW2 had started in 1938' it's now 'what if Germany had the armed forces it planned for the mid-1940s in 1938' which isn't an invalid question, but in fairness you'd have to assume the UK and France were similarly better prepared as Germany would have been breaking various treaties to get to that point.