Thanas wrote:Shep, I have got friendly bases in Egyptian territory (as in they gave me permission to dock, refuel etc)
That only works if the Crusader's Gate stays open. If it closes, you're stuck with a long trip around the Horn.
I have got naval bases in all the former colonies of the OTL German Empire, other nations have offered the same deal as the Egyptians and if need be, I can send 18 oilers. So your argument of "GERMAN (and British) SHIPS TRAPPED" has no basis at all.
As Skimmer explained in the chatniki last night -- there are anchorages, and there are Naval Anchorages.
Most places have a deepish spot where you can anchor a battleship; note emphasis on singular. The places that are deep and wide enough to anchor a mass of large warships are pretty rare -- hence the importance of places like Truk, Eniwentok, Pearl Harbor, Scapa Flow, etc.
So basically, you would be forced in most places to hang your fleet well offshore in deeper waters as ships go in singly or in pairs for extended maintenance. This sort of ties into my next point.
Given that a single Sachsen class battleship requires 2,700 tons of coal (or 1,300 tons of oil); and that you're moving upwards of 20+ dreadnoughts, plus all their attendant stuff; that works out into colossal amounts of coal and oil that have to be ready along the way.
While a larger merchant port would have the coal in the required amounts; they'd be sucked dry by such a huge fleet putting into port (remember in this time, Oil fuel is the province of naval warships, not merchanters; though there are some oil fired merchants around). And thus drive coal prices up. The merchant lines would then complain.
I also notice that your ships are built on the traditional German model -- the model that produced short-legged ships designed for the ultimate North Sea battle with the Royal Navy -- and with accomodations so cramped that the German Navy put it's crews ashore in barracks when not at sea.
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