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Originally Posted by P_Funk
I think that the biggest "what ifs?" are:
1. What if Hitler had waited until 1945 to start his conquest when the German Navy alleged that it would have been ready?
2. What if Doenitz had been given the resources he had required at the very beginning of the war?
3. What if Goering hadn't been such a prat and had shared his air power with the U-boats (this would be hand in hand with #2)?
4. (here's a really fun one) What if Churchill had not returned to take command?
Realistically the war, as far as the U-Boats were concerned, needed to be won in the first 2 years or never at all. Their only hope after their early failures was the types XXI and XXIII boats and they came too late.
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But...
1. What if by 1945 the ugly truth of what was happening inside Germany had leaked to the outside world, and everyone knew what to expect from Germany and started rearming too?
2. What if the Royal Navy was given the needed resources and was not short of frigates and escort destroyers? Or if only USA had listened to British experience and had started a through convoy system along its Eastern coast and in the Caribbean as soon as war was declared?
3. What if Goering's Luftwaffe fared no better over the Atlantic that it did over Britain against the RAF? What if Allied long-range fighters had been deployed to Iceland, Ireland, Gibraltar, Madeira etc to shoot-down any recce plane Goering could send over the Atlantic?
4. What if Eisenhower had been designated CinC, Atlantic Air and Sea Forces?
As you see, 'what if...' are truly endless, and every one of them can trigger a lot more... :hmm: