A continuation of the Kriegsmarine AU: Let's say that after the initial land and naval based successes, Nazi Germany is fairly confident. The Battle of Britain though is an issue, and as a result the Kriegsmarine is mostly focusing on U-Boat warfare and finishing the Tirpitz.
This does mean they can attempt the full scale version of Exercise Rhine: Rather than just sending Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to commerce raid, they are sending Bismarck, Tirpitz, Prinz Eugen, Lutzow, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Admiral Hipper, Graf Zeppelin and a few cruisers and destroyers out to try and lure the Royal Navy into an engagement on sea of their choosing: Preferably close enough that land based aircraft from mainland Europe can turn the tide. Peter Strasser in support.
Unfortunately this is a reflection of the Prussian military mindset that pervades Nazi Germany's government: That all military assets are ultimately an extension of the Army rather than branches in of themselves. It's also a reflection of the World War I thinking that still dominates the Kriegsmarine: The effort to draw the Royal Navy into a single decisive engagement, mainly spearheaded by battleships. Even the Graf Zeppelins are designed with a World War I mindset: Small air group, lots of naval guns on a carrier.
They would try this exercise, of course, in the North Sea near Jutland. But the Royal Navy has wised up to this and wouldn't take the bait. They would instead keep the Germans contained, as there isn't anything strategically vital that would force the Royal Navy to get in close enough for land-based German aircraft to hit them. Maybe one or two capital ships might be hit this way, but not enough to change the blockade. You thus get lots of smaller engagements in the North Sea, around Norway, and maybe even in the English Channel, where one German capital ship loss is significantly worse for them than one capital ship loss for the British.
That said, with more ships available, the Kriegsmarine could attempt somewhat more ambitious raiding and strike plans: Especially when the Americans enter the war properly in 1942.
The scenario: Without warning, the Germans launch the mother of all air raids on the British from land-based bombers and attack aircraft. It is the biggest commission of air power seen to date.
And when the smoke clears, the German carriers have left their harbor in Norway. As have the battleships and cruisers.
The Royal Navy scrambles to track the ships, they find Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, they find Tirpitz, they find Prinz Eugen. But the carriers?
They're gone.
Taking inspiration from the Doolittle Raid, the Graf Zeppelin and the Peter Strasser with a few support vessels seeks the Hail Mary of Hail Maries: To strike at Washington DC directly. The limited number of aircraft with small amount of ordnance does little damage, but the point is to send a clear message to the Americans: "We can strike you."
And the sad thing is, thanks to Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Ernest King's hatred of the English to the point he ignored their intelligence reports and warnings for years, the Germans just might be able to pull this off. And if they impressed the Spanish fascist dictator enough with the audacity, they might have been able to find sanctuary in the Azores thanks to Hitler's diplomacy.
An interesting scenario. What are some others with this little AU?
continued) The Whites deafeat the Reds in Russia. Preventing the rise of the USSR.
