Operation Sealion: Could it have been pulled off?

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by TheStinger
If the Germans has won the BoB and then invaded Britain would have sacrificed all the cruisers and destroyers to stop the invasion.
They would have probably stopped the Germans but weakened the fleet to such an extent that the U-boats would have a field day, of courses whether Hitler could have survived the massive losses and blow to his prestige is another matter

I don't think a British warship would have got within cooee of the invasion boats. Can you say STUKA?

[TheStinger]

they would as england is little and the ships could be stationed very nearby and there were lots of them

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by TheStinger
they would as england is little and the ships could be staioned very nearby anf there were lots of them

Are you drunk?

[TheStinger]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse


Are you drunk?

no i've just woken up

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
One of Hitler's biggest mistakes of the war, probably his biggest, was not following the "Mediterranean strategy" to defeat Britain. This involved mounting and air and sea blockade on Britain whilst defeating the British forces in the Mediterranean. If Britain had been driven out of the Egypt, the Middle East and India was threatened it is very difficult to see how Churchill's government could have survived. Then Hitler would have had a free hand in Russia.

Probably not for three reasons:

1. German blockades weren't at all effective, in fact it was the Germans who were blockaded. After several sea battles the Germans lacked the ships and planes to do a proper job.

2. The Germans couldn't maintain an army large enough in North Africa. The Brits could always counterattack from India.

3. Stalin was mad, but not stupid.

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Probably not for three reasons:

1. German blockades weren't at all effective, in fact it was the Germans who were blockaded. After several sea battles the Germans lacked the ships and planes to do a proper job.

Germany almost won the Battle of the Atlantic in spite of the limited resources Hitler put into it. We're talking about Hitler using all Germany's resources into defeating Britain over a sustained period, not just a few weeks.

2. The Germans couldn't maintain an army large enough in North Africa. The Brits could always counterattack from India.

The first point is complete nonsense and the second is utter rubbish

3. Stalin was mad, but not stupid.

No and he wanted to carve up the world with Hitler. This also fits nicely with the Mediterranean strat Stalin was very keen to agree global spheres of influence with Hitler under the Nazi Soviet Pact. He supplied Hitler's war machine with raw materials right up till Hitler invaded in 1941.

[Dauphin]

Does anyone have details of/links to Operation Sealion?

I've never heard of any details except that the assault would be a wide front, with landings ranging from Ramsgate to Southampton.

If you are discussing the feasability of invasion then discuss the feasability of real assaults that were suggested by the Germans.

[Inverse Icarus]

it works in axis and allies quite well, both in the classic game and the european version.

[Sandman]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A733565

Here's an informative piece about the BoB and Sealion.

[Inverse Icarus]

Originally posted by Fez


Yeah actually you have a point... a big point. Napoleon did the same thing... try to attack Britain and Russia, he failed. And yet Hitler failed to realize that. Thanks for pointing that out. But if Hitler would of looked at the teachings of Sun Tzu he would of learned, but he also should of looked at the mistakes of Napoleon.

you think he would dare compare his aryan race to the french? the french?

even if he did recall it, and study it, he was high on power by the time the sh*t went down, and probably would have done it anyway.

If Germany never broke the non-agression pact with Russia it would have got interesting for Britian, but in the end i think it was impossible.

[Jon Miller]

Stalin was planning on attakcing germany, only later

Jon Miller

[Az]

I am also starting to think that way. And even more, I think that the reason Hitler attacked was that he knew he had no choice, he knew that he'd have Stalin lined up against him anyway, and he'd rather have the war on his terms, him having the initiative, rather than being forced to repel a Russian blitz while simultaneously being engaged in a massive operation to invade britain.

[Dr Strangelove]

For pity's sake! Germany didn't have any landing craft in 1940, so how could they have invaded England? There was a half-hearted attempt to adapt river barges to the task, but these craft weren't really designed for ocean duty. They would probably have been about as seaworthy as the USS Monitor was in the American Civil War.

[Ned]

If Germany does not attack the USSR nor declare war on the United States in '41, but continues the build up for an invasion of Britain that potentially takes place in '42 or '43, then Hitler wins WWII.

Even in '41 the majority in the United States remained against getting involved in the European war. While it is true that Germany invaded Poland, the USSR did so as well. Germany and the USSR had a non aggression pact and seemed to be coordinating conquests. It was not clear that a US declaratoin of war on Germany would not also have provoked the USSR to intervene on behalf of Germany. (This, BTW, is what prevented us from going into China during the Korean conflict, or North Vietnam during the Vietnam war - the fear of a wider conflict that we could not win.)

Also, Britain and France declared war on Germany, not the other way around.

Even after the invasion of the USSR and Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt could not get Congress to declare war on Germany. So, a German victory in WWII was a virtual lock had Hitler not been so "stupid."

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
For pity's sake! Germany didn't have any landing craft in 1940, so how could they have invaded England? There was a half-hearted attempt to adapt river barges to the task, but these craft weren't really designed for ocean duty. They would probably have been about as seaworthy as the USS Monitor was in the American Civil War.

The barges were quite sea worthy - many were used for coastal trade. Not much different to the DDay landing craft in terms of sea worthiness - and a shorter crossing.