I've got three questions regarding the german aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin: 1) Were all of its design flaws a consequence of the germans having zero experience in the aircraft carrier department or were other factors involved? I've heard that at some point the germans actually asked the japanese for assistance with the carrier's development only for the japanese to refuse. 2) While i know it was clearly outclassed by american and japanese carriers how effective was it in comparison to the british carriers and the french carrier Bearn? 3) If she had been completed in 1940 or in early 1941 as originally intended could the germans have used it to launch several attacks at the british fleet at Scapa Flow much like how the british attacked the italian fleet at Taranto in 1940? Or if she was available for operation Rheinubung could it have been used to damage the british fleet in order to distract them long enough to allow Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to break into the atlantic unscathed?
Drach: 'In order to celebrate 50k subscribers, here's an incredibly informative one hour video mocking virtually every interwar destroyer design effort for trying to create ships with the displacement of light cruisers, armaments of destroyer escorts or torpedo boats, and seakeeping tendencies of a malfunctioning submarine'
@@acedogboy8421 I don't claim him. If anything I find the British sense of understatement and tendancy towards self effacement to be the opposite of arrogance. If anything it is typically the American who is known for arrogance, notwithstanding their ability (in the past at least) to justify such arrogance in action.
Joke only really works if you specify Beatty's battle cruisers pre Jutland.... The rest of the fleet was as good as RN gunnery usually is throughout history
I just got the shook of my life when watching this video. D22 as shown in this video is H.M.S. AISNE a battle class destroyer built in 1943. I serve on her in the early sixties where we sailed for the best part in the med but went many other places as well. It was one of the few ships capable of 34 knots, had two main turrets with 4.5in guns, plus sea cat missiles and twim limbos aft. It was quite amazing to see this ship in the video, but there were four of this class in the med fleet and something that i will not forget for many years to come, it was a good solid ship with i think 152 crew in all.
US Congress: “We need 2 more destroyers” US Navy: “Putting in an order for 20 destroyers” US Shipwrights: “Good news guys! Time to build 200 new destroyers!” US Harbors: “Hurry up and finish those new facilities to service 2000 new destroyers!”
There is a legend in the US Navy that the 31st Spruance class destroyer, USS Hayler was a data entry error in the fleet logistics system and was actually supposed to a case of peaches.
59:38 ...to the extent of: Use all your fuel and there's a very good chance you're returning to port upside-down." 1:00:38 ...and raise the stern deck somewhat higher than "water surface level"." 1:02:00 "These changes in design finally gave the Germans a destroyer that wasn't either trying to tear itself apart simply by moving or immediately try to join the U-boat corps at the first sign of a wave." 1:03:37 "...helped only slightly by the fact that at least the turret was fully-enclosed, so everybody else got damp socks instead of the turret crew." 1:07:37 "They were badly weighted, so the bow was always trying to head down to meet nearby submarines." 1:07:45 "Oh, and they'd also start to provide free massages to the crew in the form of whole hull vibrations when they tried to get up to top speed." 1:08:43 "...albeit at the cost of having converted a warship into the world's fastest and most expensive group therapy massage chair." 1:09:59 "...and the modifications would add weight in places it really wasn't needed when your primary interests include "not swimming in the Arctic Ocean"." 1:13:01 "Predictably, after the Leningrads, a pure Soviet design destroyer was a bit of a disaster, with added German high-pressure machinery to help along with the shenanigans." Drachinifel is on a roll today against the Germans and Soviets.
@@dragnus12 ah the side effects of neo feudalism brought about by attempted communism that predictably failed to achieve utopia and degraded the intellectual and production capacity of its host nation so badly that the effects still exist to this very day, over a hundred years later. I'm sure no one will ever try something so stupid again, right?
That comment about machine spirits needing to be appeased caught me off-guard, resulting in a surprisingly wide arc of coffee being launched at my wall (fortunately, not via my nose). Thanks for giving me an actual laugh, it helped to brighten my day quite a bit. 😂
As per usual, Uncle Drach produces yet another informative and compelling video. I wasn't expecting the length, though. The intro summoned my eldest cat for lap time. By the time RoboDrach's voice called the outro my legs were thoroughly asleep. Still, two thumbs up!
I was just thinking about this. I started reading Samuel Eliot Morison when I was 14 in 1966 and couldn't imagine then that I would one day have Drachinifel, TIK, Military History Visualized, and The Chieftain pandering to my military history interest. Truly, it is the best and worst of times.
The Fletcher Class was the ultimate. The day will come when we want more of them. I know first hand,having served on USS Twining, DD540, during her whole action in WW2. Great ship. Many close calls, but always lucky. Brought me back in one piece.
AA doesn't need to destroy aircraft, the fact that they put machine guns on tanks as an AA deterrent says a lot. Most of the time it's enough if, as the Chieftain puts it: ''You convince the enemy to go go that a way''
Great program. Especially welcomed by me because, although I was a surface warfare officer for the four Iowas, two carriers, and two deep draft amphibious assault ships, it was the destroyers that always held my heart and where I began.
Although funny, the diagnosis was somewhat incorrect. Russia already had catched a really bad case of feudalism. Instead of using the rather placebo like capitalist cure (change nothing, but make the people feel better) they instead decided to go on full rampage with the chemotherapy like communist cure. With powerful fanatics on both sides, alternative cures had been overlooked to this very day.
@@ringowunderlich2241 Capitalism is the perfectly adequate cure when administered with a good dose of human rights and social security to mitigate the harmful side effects.
@@DrLoverLover Obviously their brand of capitalism is neither corraled by human rights nor milked by taxation as is done in dare I say less uncivilised parts of the first world...
The Fletcher Class was the ultimate. The day will come when we want more of them. I know first hand,having served on USS Twining, DD540, during her whole action in WW2. Great ship. Many close calls, but always lucky. Brought me back in one piece.
@@jaddy540 Did you serve in ww2 ? How old are you ? No offence, I am just curious. I was born in 2003 and I want to know how people lived in mid 20th century.
@@GenocideWesterners if genuine would have been 92-93 at time typing.. IF. being key word. the language used dont sound right for a 90 plus yr old tbh. just.. slightly off in choice of idiom and stuff.
One of my spacefleets (which one remains to be seen) now has gained a new destroyer called Pretzel, so thanks for that. And keep up the good work, your videos are really interesting and at times hilarious, so much thanks for making them!
"So, what do you feel like watching tonight? Mad Max: Fury Road? Hot Fuzz? Schindler's List?" "What about 77 minutes of interwar destroyer development?" "AH NOW WE TALKING"
Very informative rundown of the destroyer classes and how they compared to one another..... And thanks to your sarcastic humor describing some of their flaws, you've made the journey both interesting and amusing...... Although I kept waiting for the inevitable reference to the Italian navy's submarine class equipped with the screen doors......
"Special shout-out to the Germans for the innovations in self-consuming machinery, and ships that truly believed that they identified as pretzels." LOOOOL
@@bkjeong4302 well they where built for the most part so long before ww2 they where obselete by the time they got restricted to the numbers they where at.
@@bkjeong4302 Truly baffling how Preston could put flush deckers on his list while ignoring bad and completely inconsequential German destroyer designs.
dont combine . then we can be in suspense for extra 2 years :) p.s. not a nod that he is slow , just recognizing the amount of work needed for this kind of video .
Combining them would be necessary, they were intertwined in development until WWII, really. They evolved from large light cruisers, and in the treaty era they were the same displacement as light cruisers, so the main difference between, say, a Town and a County was 8 8" rather than 12 6". Covering them seperately would be like making seperate videos on the two French destroyer types, they are just too closely related to be split off from each other.
I know, I know - I pressed Thumbs Up before watching .. but I knew I'd enjoy the ramble, and I did. Thank you Drachinifel; may the 'subscribe' hits continue to increase. Phew! ;o)
Thank you, Drachinfel, for a well researched and informative documentary. You imparted a considerable amount of information in a short period of time and naturaly I found myself trying to relate what I was watching to the machinery in WoWS, which I play on two servers. Dry humour is also much appreciated, one of the reasons I subscribed some time ago.
Drac, At the 36:00 mark you're discussing the Sims class but the photo is of DD 422, the USS Mayo, a Benson Class (next in the line up). My father-inlaw was a plank owner on the Mayo as gun captain on the Number Five Mount. The Mayo has a interesting history, just missing the Bismark while on Neutrality Patrol, early convoy escorts - division mate being torpedoed, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. Almost had her keel broken by a mine (father-inlaw vehemently insisted til he died that it was torpedo...) and then the longest tow back to the States for the time. RebuIlt and ended up at Tokyo Bay for the surrender. Make an interesting "five minutes" of her own.
About top heavy American destroyers, I served in the RAN in the 80s & had the misfortune to spend time on a "Perth Class" destroyer (modified "Charles F Adams"). These ships would roll if a speedboat went past when you were at anchor, let alone in heavy weather. On a particularly nasty day I went on deck, to remove my breakfast, when I saw our accompanying DE, essentially a modified "Leander Class", riding the waves like a champion, her screws being visible each wave.
I had a chance to walk on a Perth class, HMAS Swan from memory. I was still.... well, I was in double digits, barely, in age and she felt small. Really small.
@@alecblunden8615 Wouldn't know and it sounds like you've got a way better idea of, than I do. I do remember her feeling very small. From memory she had two Harpoon four packs and that was most of her back space well and truly used.
@@LionofCaliban Dear There be Game, I don't recall any of the modified 12's or River class as they were known being fitted with Harpoons (although some Netherlands ships, now in Indonesian service, were), but warship do tend to be crowded. I recall the same feeling (claustrophobia or bordering on it) when inspecting The former HMS Belfast in London, and she would be nearly 3 time the size of a Perth and possibly 5 times the size of Swan.
So great. Thank you for all your time researching and reading for these. Not to mention all the time to put the vids together and do the recordings. Great stuff. Cheers.
Great video Drach and gratz on reaching 50k subs. How jealous is Donitz? Now the next target is 100k Seeing the inevitable rise in the size of DD's brings to mind a quote from a book I read years and years ago. "As we increase the size and capability of our DD's, we gradually change them from the hunters to the hunted" Just can't remember where I read that.
What a fantastic breakdown, usually these type of videos are drier than a popcorn fart. You managed to add colour and some laughs! So glad I found this channel. Now I just hope that this channel hasn’t been abandoned.
I heard a 40k reference my hobbies are colliding!!!!!!!!!!!! Also love the video you are one of the best ship historians that I have found now back to our previously scheduled worlds colliding
Drach, you attempting those French and Italian names was genuinely hilarious, made me laugh out loud fr. Thank you tho for all the hard work, keep it up and we'll keep watching.
"[and they could reach even higher speeds], albeit at the cost of turning a warship into the world's fastest, and most expensive group massage theraphy chair" I'm dying of laughter, this is too much of a burn! :DDDDD
@Big Bill O'Reilly I don't think it was meant to imply the Russia/Soviet Union got weaker, more that communism threw a wrench into EVERYTHING - including ship design and construction
@Big Bill O'Reilly And the fact every government that at least began as communist has devolved into dictatorship and repression says nothing about communism?
What a great video history! An interesting side story with USN destroyers were the experiments with mounting seaplanes. The first attempt was with the USS Charles Ausburn (DD-294) mounting a TS-1 floatplane in 1923. The fixed platform was inconveniently mounted directly in front of the bridge. This not only obstructed vision from the bridge but also greatly interfered from the field of fire from the forward 4" gun. Several successful flights were conducted, but the inadequate crane capacity, being needed to lower the plane and retrieve it, and the fragile nature of these early seaplanes, made the experiment generally a failure. The seaplane and platform were removed in early 1924 with the Ausburn being restored to the configuration of other Clemson class vessels. The next attempt was aboard the US Noa (DD-343), yet another Clemson class. I realize this is slightly outside the 1939 limit of the discussion, but the plans for the seaplane mount were started in 1938, and Noa was originally scheduled for recommissioning in 1939, so close enough. Frank Knox, then Secretary of the Navy, was a great believer in the idea of using destroyers as seaplane carriers to extend their range for fleet protection and commerce raiding. To test this concept again, the Noa was taken in hand when she was recommissioned in April, 1940. She had an XSOC-1 seaplane mounted this time on a rotating platform, displacing the aft bank of torpedoes. She also had a boom with a much greater lifting capacity, and the XSOC-1 was a much more robust aircraft than her predecessors. This time the experiment was more successful, with many flights, and the ability to retrieve the plane while underway, a difficult task for a relatively small Clemson class ship. Noa retained her seaplane until November, 1941, and the generally successful experience with Noa led to Knox mandating the construction of six Fletcher class destroyers with seaplane capability, this time with catapults (!). However, as Drach would say, that's a story for another day.
@@WALTERBROADDUS Indeed. He had some shipboard trials aboard the New York in late 1944 with R-4 that were pretty successful. The R-4 had been used in small numbers by the Coast Guard starting in late '42 and the successful shipboard trials for the R-4 cleared for full scale production starting in February, 1945. The first examples reached the Pacific fleet in June for more testing before it was scheduled for operational use by most capital ships ammo ships, hospital ships and high value transports by 1946. To its credit the Navy recognized early on the value of a helicopter for what would become vertrep and casevac.It was just a gnat's eyelash too late to see operational service during the war, but we all know what's happened with helicopters since then.
When you talked about the Leningrad-class DDLs, I couldn't stop laughing when you started running off all the wonderful issues. You really do a lot of good work in making such a dry subject so interesting! Nicely done!
Amazing informative video once again Drach! Love those special episodes! Personally I still can’t tell apart the Fubuki style Japanese destroyer classes, they literally look the same 😂
"...and ships that truly believed that they identified as pretzels." I about lost it. You should write a book of one-liners. You'd die a very rich man.
My grandfather was in command of HMS Codrington in 1931. I knew it had an extra gun midship, but didn't know it had a stretched hull! He also commanded HMS Acasta which was smaller.
Corrections The German torpedoboats type 1924 - called "Raubtier-class" - also had 105mm main armament - like the class before. They wanted to mount 127mm guns but were not allowed by the allies to do so. 1934 "Luchs" and "Leopard" at least got the bigger guns but the rest of the class kept the 105mm calibre.
The lecture I wish I could have heard in school. I am very lucky to be able hear this as I travel to work. Thank you for the excellent explanation of each nation's various classes.
Very informative - especially as it helps sort out all those pesky French Destroyer classes. BTW in a couple of places you wrongly say 120mm guns are 4 inch - apparently I’m not the only one who sometimes get confused when speaking and thinking at the same time...
I only noticed it when it made sense for him to say 4 inch, or 120mm, in reference to general destroyer calibres, since it was basically 4 inch, with the RN on 4.7 for a decent while.
With such an in-depth approach, fubuki subtypes could've been explored as well. Thry were as different inside as many actual classes in video. Also, generally discarding looking into interwar AA based on its inedaquacy in 1940s is cruel. 1920s, 1930s and 1940s planes are just different in too many ways.
As destroyers increased in capabilities, increased complexity slowed production. Small ASW specialty vessels like the Flower class filled a lower end gap. Light cruisers like the USS Atlanta, covered up in AA guns filled another gap.
Congratulations on 50t subs. We really like your channel. And question: Q&A What would hade happend if "Case Anton" had succeeded, and the scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon had failed and the ship would had been captured by the Germans (and Italians)?
I like to know all the possible effects the French fleet could on had on the war, joins Royal Navy in 1940, sails to internment in the US in 1940, sails to a French base in the Caribbean or indochina, captured by the axis in 1940, 1942. Is there any sign the British knew anything about the German operation at the time?
When you get an average of 4 hours of sleep because you get recommended you favorite genre of video, i.e. hour+ historical commentary deep dives. Greg's airplanes and automobiles and C&Rsenal are also really good.
Pinned post for Q&A :)
I have red that Seymour hadn't even completed signaling-training. So how did he become Beattys Flag-Officer in the first place?
How good were the Italian submarinos??
I've got three questions regarding the german aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin:
1) Were all of its design flaws a consequence of the germans having zero experience in the aircraft carrier department or were other factors involved? I've heard that at some point the germans actually asked the japanese for assistance with the carrier's development only for the japanese to refuse.
2) While i know it was clearly outclassed by american and japanese carriers how effective was it in comparison to the british carriers and the french carrier Bearn?
3) If she had been completed in 1940 or in early 1941 as originally intended could the germans have used it to launch several attacks at the british fleet at Scapa Flow much like how the british attacked the italian fleet at Taranto in 1940? Or if she was available for operation Rheinubung could it have been used to damage the british fleet in order to distract them long enough to allow Bismarck and Prinz Eugen to break into the atlantic unscathed?
How much would the battleships taffy 3 thought they were going to get change the battle of Samar
How useful would HMS Dreadnought have been had it fought in Jutland
Drach: 'In order to celebrate 50k subscribers, here's an incredibly informative one hour video mocking virtually every interwar destroyer design effort for trying to create ships with the displacement of light cruisers, armaments of destroyer escorts or torpedo boats, and seakeeping tendencies of a malfunctioning submarine'
@Brian Roome no he isnt. Your an american arnt u.
@@acedogboy8421 Hey, I’m a Yank and quite appreciate his wit in mocking those designs!
@@jamesharding3459 your one of the inteligent ones then hahahah
@@acedogboy8421 Maybe, sometimes I wonder about it though. Self aware, at least.
@@acedogboy8421 I don't claim him.
If anything I find the British sense of understatement and tendancy towards self effacement to be the opposite of arrogance. If anything it is typically the American who is known for arrogance, notwithstanding their ability (in the past at least) to justify such arrogance in action.
I love how this is still "more or less" 5 minutes. Precision worthy of World War I British fleet gunnery.
Joke only really works if you specify Beatty's battle cruisers pre Jutland.... The rest of the fleet was as good as RN gunnery usually is throughout history
or the kamchatka.
And significantly better than the gunnery of the Russian Second Pacific Squadron.
Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.
Paul and Sue Roberts : You must be fun at parties.
I just got the shook of my life when watching this video.
D22 as shown in this video is H.M.S. AISNE a battle class destroyer built in 1943.
I serve on her in the early sixties where we sailed for the best part in the med but went many other places as well.
It was one of the few ships capable of 34 knots, had two main turrets with 4.5in guns, plus sea cat missiles and twim limbos aft.
It was quite amazing to see this ship in the video, but there were four of this class in the med fleet and something that i will not forget for many years to come, it was a good solid ship with i think 152 crew in all.
Yep. Good ship. She wasn't scrapped until 1970!
Timestamps
Introduction: 00:00:30
-------------------------------------------------------------------
State of destroyer development at the start of the interwar period: 00:02:12
American Clemson: 00:04:30
Washington Naval treaty: 00:06:04
Japanese Fubuki: 00:06:58
--------------------------------
------------------------------------
Italian design: 00:09:10
Curtatone & Leone class': 00:10:00
Sella, Sauro & Turbine class': 00:10:38
Navigatori class: 00:11:08
And the rest: 00:11:54
--------------------------------
-------------------------------------
French design: 00:12:07
Chacal class: 00:13:45
Guépard class: 00:14:32
Aigle & Vauquelin class': 00:15:01
Le Fantasque class: 00:15:20
La Melpomène class: 00:17:09
Mogador class: 00:17:48
Le Hardi class: 00:19:27
--------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Japanese design: 00:20:15
Hatsuharu class: 00:21:30
Shiratsuyu class: 00:22:58
Asashio class: 00:23:34
Kagerō class: 00:24:13
-------------------------------
---------------------------------------
American design: 00:24:54
Farragut class: 00:26:31
Porter class: 00:28:20
Somers class: 00:30:30
Mahan class: 00:31:13
Gridley class: 00:32:23
Bagley & Benham class': 00:34:10
Sims class: 00:34:50
Benson class: 00:36:30
Gleaves class: 00:37:06
--------------------------------
--------------------------------------
British design: 00:38:32
Shakespeare & Admiralty class': 00:39:23
Ambuscade & Amazon class': 00:40:42
A & B class': 00:41:36
C & D class': 00:43:54
E & F class': 00:44:40
G & H class': 00:45:52
I class: 00:46:52
Tribal class: 00:48:10
J, K & N class': 00:49:35
L & M class': 00:50:52
Hunt class: 00:52:23
----------------------------------
-------------------------------------
German design: 00:54:11
Torpedo boats;
Type 1923 & 1924: 00:54:52
Type 1935: 00:56:35
Type 1937: 00:57:23
Type 1939: 00:57:57
Fleet destroyers;
Type 1934: 00:58:17
Type 1934A: 01:00:14
Type 1936: 01:01:15
Type 1936A: 01:02:17
----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
Gun laying and loading mechanisms: 01:04:25
----------------------------------
----------------------------------
Soviet design: 01:05:24
Leningrad class: 01:05:44
Gremyashchiy class: 01:09:25
Storozhevoy class: 01:10:54
Ognevoy class: 01:11:28
Opytny class: 01:12:40
Tashkent class: 01:13:40
-----------------------------------
-------------------------------
Outro: 01:14:56
Minor correction - it is Fubuki.
@Tom Lemon thanks for the studious effort required to compile this...
This man is a hero, drach, give this man a free video request!
You are a hero we need, but not one we deserve. Thank you for compiling this.
Nice 👍 thanks for the effort
Drachism of the day: "Since remaining upright is generally seen as a good thing amongst most ships" (38:06)
and this is why we love him .
in non gay fassion :)
@@murderouskitten2577 It's not gay if we're underway.
"Self-consuming machinery".
@@murderouskitten2577 , or in a strictly platonic way for those few of us who are of the feminine persuasion!
The Upright Shipizens Brigade approves.
anyone else noticed how, one year later, the sequel/third part to this trilogy was never made? I hope it will be soon, because this was a great listen
Me too!
@@TorvakMOS I believe he said he was going to cover WW2 and post WW2 destroyer designs but I could be wrong.
+1
@@Blackreaper95 He said there would be a pre-WW1 video, interwar video, and a WW2 and post-war (I assume to 1950) video
@@jakemillar649 Sounds about right.
US Congress: “We need 2 more destroyers”
US Navy: “Putting in an order for 20 destroyers”
US Shipwrights: “Good news guys! Time to build 200 new destroyers!”
US Harbors: “Hurry up and finish those new facilities to service 2000 new destroyers!”
There is a legend in the US Navy that the 31st Spruance class destroyer, USS Hayler was a data entry error in the fleet logistics system and was actually supposed to a case of peaches.
@@JamesSavik "If one of you jokers orders an F18 or a dolphin, as in the animal..." Seriously, if it exists it's in FEDLOG.
US Naval Shipyards, You guys got space for 20,000 new Destroyers??? No well congress passed the bill!.
@@JamesSavik There is also a legend that you have 1/2 a brain, but it's not true.
@@christopherherrington8387 Is there space in the mental ward for one more delirious fool, cause Christopher is one.
Dönitz is very jealous of your 50k subs.
I see what you did there! 😁👌
Heh
I just got the joke. Excellent!
Deep
Best comment on youtube, hands down.
Congratulations to 50 k subs - well and truly deserved!
The Kriegsmarine would be jealous.
Oh hey Napalm! :)
It's a little more now...
59:38 ...to the extent of: Use all your fuel and there's a very good chance you're returning to port upside-down."
1:00:38 ...and raise the stern deck somewhat higher than "water surface level"."
1:02:00 "These changes in design finally gave the Germans a destroyer that wasn't either trying to tear itself apart simply by moving or immediately try to join the U-boat corps at the first sign of a wave."
1:03:37 "...helped only slightly by the fact that at least the turret was fully-enclosed, so everybody else got damp socks instead of the turret crew."
1:07:37 "They were badly weighted, so the bow was always trying to head down to meet nearby submarines."
1:07:45 "Oh, and they'd also start to provide free massages to the crew in the form of whole hull vibrations when they tried to get up to top speed."
1:08:43 "...albeit at the cost of having converted a warship into the world's fastest and most expensive group therapy massage chair."
1:09:59 "...and the modifications would add weight in places it really wasn't needed when your primary interests include "not swimming in the Arctic Ocean"."
1:13:01 "Predictably, after the Leningrads, a pure Soviet design destroyer was a bit of a disaster, with added German high-pressure machinery to help along with the shenanigans."
Drachinifel is on a roll today against the Germans and Soviets.
Amazingly funny quotes
This *is* great stuff. :-)
Never forget that timeless soviet adage...
... and then it got worse.
@@dragnus12 ah the side effects of neo feudalism brought about by attempted communism that predictably failed to achieve utopia and degraded the intellectual and production capacity of its host nation so badly that the effects still exist to this very day, over a hundred years later. I'm sure no one will ever try something so stupid again, right?
@@dragnus12 kamchakta "torpedo boats?"
That comment about machine spirits needing to be appeased caught me off-guard, resulting in a surprisingly wide arc of coffee being launched at my wall (fortunately, not via my nose). Thanks for giving me an actual laugh, it helped to brighten my day quite a bit. 😂
I would like to say that these videos never caused such a reaction in me. However, that would be a lie.
As per usual, Uncle Drach produces yet another informative and compelling video.
I wasn't expecting the length, though. The intro summoned my eldest cat for lap time. By the time RoboDrach's voice called the outro my legs were thoroughly asleep.
Still, two thumbs up!
We’ve come a long way from the 5 minute guide txt to speech videos 🙂👍🏼 50k subs, well done mate
I was just thinking about this. I started reading Samuel Eliot Morison when I was 14 in 1966 and couldn't imagine then that I would one day have Drachinifel, TIK, Military History Visualized, and The Chieftain pandering to my military history interest. Truly, it is the best and worst of times.
@@MakeMeThinkAgain But is this really the case? :)
@@nukclear2741 not sure, I'll check the track tensioner
The Fletcher Class was the ultimate. The day will come when we want more of them. I know first hand,having served on USS Twining, DD540, during her whole action in WW2. Great ship. Many close calls, but always lucky. Brought me back in one piece.
"A couple AA guns thrown in for morale purposes."
Lol, too true.
Bloody billy Mitchell!!!
And also force attacker to take evasive maneuver and will put more pressure on pilot during bombing run.
AA doesn't need to destroy aircraft, the fact that they put machine guns on tanks as an AA deterrent says a lot. Most of the time it's enough if, as the Chieftain puts it: ''You convince the enemy to go go that a way''
@Mialisus or just shoot up infantry and enemy sailors in some unexpected situation: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danube_Delta_Campaign
Great program. Especially welcomed by me because, although I was a surface warfare officer for the four Iowas, two carriers, and two deep draft amphibious assault ships, it was the destroyers that always held my heart and where I began.
The masses want stories sir!
"catching a bad case of communism and associated civil war symptoms..." You Sir have made my day...
Although funny, the diagnosis was somewhat incorrect. Russia already had catched a really bad case of feudalism. Instead of using the rather placebo like capitalist cure (change nothing, but make the people feel better) they instead decided to go on full rampage with the chemotherapy like communist cure. With powerful fanatics on both sides, alternative cures had been overlooked to this very day.
@@ringowunderlich2241 Capitalism is the perfectly adequate cure when administered with a good dose of human rights and social security to mitigate the harmful side effects.
@@DrLoverLover Obviously their brand of capitalism is neither corraled by human rights nor milked by taxation as is done in dare I say less uncivilised parts of the first world...
your descriptions of some flaws in ship design always makes me laugh, love ya work mate
58:18
That Machine Spirit joke pleases the Omnissiah.
Blessed be the holy gears of the Omnissiah, sing your praise to The God of All Machines!!!!
Holy Life! Cog and Gear! Blessed be the Omnissiah!
That is why it is mandatory for all Navy vessels to have at least one official tech priest on board.
1100110100100100011101001110100100100100100100010010001111101001010010101000100101001000100100100101
I giggled mo9re than I should have.
The Fletcher Class was the ultimate. The day will come when we want more of them. I know first hand,having served on USS Twining, DD540, during her whole action in WW2. Great ship. Many close calls, but always lucky. Brought me back in one piece.
Buffalos has a Fletcher Class Destroyer the USS The Sullivans (DD-537)
@@robertyoung3992 Been there twice.She is outfitted same as the Twining.
@@jaddy540 Did you serve in ww2 ?
How old are you ?
No offence, I am just curious. I was born in 2003 and I want to know how people lived in mid 20th century.
@@GenocideWesterners if genuine would have been 92-93 at time typing..
IF. being key word.
the language used dont sound right for a 90 plus yr old tbh. just.. slightly off in choice of idiom and stuff.
The Fletcher class was the zenith of destroyer design imo,, fast heavily armed and not too big not too small...
One of my spacefleets (which one remains to be seen) now has gained a new destroyer called Pretzel, so thanks for that. And keep up the good work, your videos are really interesting and at times hilarious, so much thanks for making them!
"So, what do you feel like watching tonight? Mad Max: Fury Road? Hot Fuzz? Schindler's List?"
"What about 77 minutes of interwar destroyer development?"
"AH NOW WE TALKING"
Rather odd assortment of movies you’ve got there
What Peep show episode was this? Sound hilarious...wait a minute..
Let’s be honest...”Hot Fuzz” was the only real competition due to the sea mine!
@@HEDGE1011 don't worry. It's disarmed. *smacks it* See? *sounds of mechanically triggered death emanates from the sea mine...and nothing happens.*
SEE! Disarmed.
Your content is some of the best online.
Very informative rundown of the destroyer classes and how they compared to one another.....
And thanks to your sarcastic humor describing some of their flaws, you've made the journey both interesting and amusing......
Although I kept waiting for the inevitable reference to the Italian navy's submarine class equipped with the screen doors......
"Special shout-out to the Germans for the innovations in self-consuming machinery, and ships that truly believed that they identified as pretzels."
LOOOOL
falloutghoul1
German destroyers of WWII really were awful, generally.
@@bkjeong4302 well they where built for the most part so long before ww2 they where obselete by the time they got restricted to the numbers they where at.
@@bkjeong4302 Truly baffling how Preston could put flush deckers on his list while ignoring bad and completely inconsequential German destroyer designs.
@@Stardude78 Agreed.
@@Stardude78 "ze german magic superiority, junge". I'm biased towards flush-deckers, can't help it.
Next episode is just going to be drach chanting. "Fletcher, Tribal, Fletcher, Tribal" over and over again.
In nomine Fletcher, et Tribal, et Spiritus Benson...
Yugumo, Akizuki, Hatsuharu...
@@Drachinifel -Aaaaaaaamennnnnnn!
Man that British battlecruiser mentality, now applied to Allied DDs.
Drachinifel I’m dying Drachnifel. Dying like how the Algonquin got torped
I just noticed that this channel is really detailed and thorough. Kudos.
Drach, after finishing with the destroyers please do a series on cruisers, seperate light and heavy, or just combine them if u can 😁😁
Nah don't combine them it's not right.
@@buster117 hurmm yeah you might probably right
dont combine . then we can be in suspense for extra 2 years :)
p.s.
not a nod that he is slow , just recognizing the amount of work needed for this kind of video .
They’ll probably have to be combined for the first parts, since the split between light and heavy didn’t happen till later.
Combining them would be necessary, they were intertwined in development until WWII, really. They evolved from large light cruisers, and in the treaty era they were the same displacement as light cruisers, so the main difference between, say, a Town and a County was 8 8" rather than 12 6". Covering them seperately would be like making seperate videos on the two French destroyer types, they are just too closely related to be split off from each other.
50k reached! Congrats brother, keep it up.
I know, I know - I pressed Thumbs Up before watching .. but I knew I'd enjoy the ramble, and I did. Thank you Drachinifel; may the 'subscribe' hits continue to increase. Phew! ;o)
Thank you, Drachinfel, for a well researched and informative documentary. You imparted a considerable amount of information in a short period of time and naturaly I found myself trying to relate what I was watching to the machinery in WoWS, which I play on two servers. Dry humour is also much appreciated, one of the reasons I subscribed some time ago.
"they did not need, in fact, to construct additional Clemsons"
What about pylons?
You always need to construct additional pylons. Always.
Nah. We need more vespene gas though.
Drac, At the 36:00 mark you're discussing the Sims class but the photo is of DD 422, the USS Mayo, a Benson Class (next in the line up). My father-inlaw was a plank owner on the Mayo as gun captain on the Number Five Mount. The Mayo has a interesting history, just missing the Bismark while on Neutrality Patrol, early convoy escorts - division mate being torpedoed, North Africa, Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio. Almost had her keel broken by a mine (father-inlaw vehemently insisted til he died that it was torpedo...) and then the longest tow back to the States for the time. RebuIlt and ended up at Tokyo Bay for the surrender. Make an interesting "five minutes" of her own.
About top heavy American destroyers, I served in the RAN in the 80s & had the misfortune to spend time on a "Perth Class" destroyer (modified "Charles F Adams"). These ships would roll if a speedboat went past when you were at anchor, let alone in heavy weather. On a particularly nasty day I went on deck, to remove my breakfast, when I saw our accompanying DE, essentially a modified "Leander Class", riding the waves like a champion, her screws being visible each wave.
I had a chance to walk on a Perth class, HMAS Swan from memory. I was still.... well, I was in double digits, barely, in age and she felt small. Really small.
I thought it was the US use of flat bottom hull that led to propensity to roll.
@@LionofCaliban Swan was a modified type 12. The Perth class were bigger guided missile destroyers, but far from being liners.
@@alecblunden8615 Wouldn't know and it sounds like you've got a way better idea of, than I do.
I do remember her feeling very small. From memory she had two Harpoon four packs and that was most of her back space well and truly used.
@@LionofCaliban Dear There be Game, I don't recall any of the modified 12's or River class as they were known being fitted with Harpoons (although some Netherlands ships, now in Indonesian service, were), but warship do tend to be crowded. I recall the same feeling (claustrophobia or bordering on it) when inspecting The former HMS Belfast in London, and she would be nearly 3 time the size of a Perth and possibly 5 times the size of Swan.
So great. Thank you for all your time researching and reading for these. Not to mention all the time to put the vids together and do the recordings. Great stuff. Cheers.
This was the longest five minutes of my life. And I mean that entirely as a compliment.
Drach, I really love how you make something soooo very boring, and make it into something very funny and educational content.
Thank you :)
I love these videos that focus on the development of a certain type of warship.
The History of Naval Warfare is simply fascinating. From the Bronze Age Greek Triremes to nuclear powered Aircraft Carriers.
Huge congrats 50k uboats :)
Keep up the great work and we look forward to seeing you get 500k uboats :)
Great video Drach and gratz on reaching 50k subs. How jealous is Donitz? Now the next target is 100k
Seeing the inevitable rise in the size of DD's brings to mind a quote from a book I read years and years ago.
"As we increase the size and capability of our DD's, we gradually change them from the hunters to the hunted"
Just can't remember where I read that.
Still waiting for the third part. Lets’s hope that Drach hasn’t forgotten.
What a fantastic breakdown, usually these type of videos are drier than a popcorn fart. You managed to add colour and some laughs! So glad I found this channel. Now I just hope that this channel hasn’t been abandoned.
I heard a 40k reference my hobbies are colliding!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also love the video you are one of the best ship historians that I have found
now back to our previously scheduled worlds colliding
Ave, Omnisiah! Glory to the Machine!
Love your work man! Thank you for all the research you do!
That said, I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU to make a video without saying "whilst" even once.
You can't imagine how helpful these vids are for ideas when I'm designing a new DD in From the Depths. Or any class of combat ship for that matter.
Drach, you attempting those French and Italian names was genuinely hilarious, made me laugh out loud fr. Thank you tho for all the hard work, keep it up and we'll keep watching.
"[and they could reach even higher speeds], albeit at the cost of turning a warship into the world's fastest, and most expensive group massage theraphy chair"
I'm dying of laughter, this is too much of a burn! :DDDDD
Spectacular, well researched, thorough, and full of humor. Thanks Drach!
"Thanks to the country [Russia] catching a bad case of communism." Oh Drach never change and congrats on 50k
@Big Bill O'Reilly I don't think it was meant to imply the Russia/Soviet Union got weaker, more that communism threw a wrench into EVERYTHING - including ship design and construction
@Big Bill O'Reilly history more than a little backs up the idea that communism=dictatorship, not that I meant that in the first place, but whatever
@Big Bill O'Reilly And the fact every government that at least began as communist has devolved into dictatorship and repression says nothing about communism?
Looking forward to the next video as my Dad served as PO on HMS Rotherham. Great work,keep it up!
What a great video history! An interesting side story with USN destroyers were the experiments with mounting seaplanes. The first attempt was with the USS Charles Ausburn (DD-294) mounting a TS-1 floatplane in 1923. The fixed platform was inconveniently mounted directly in front of the bridge. This not only obstructed vision from the bridge but also greatly interfered from the field of fire from the forward 4" gun. Several successful flights were conducted, but the inadequate crane capacity, being needed to lower the plane and retrieve it, and the fragile nature of these early seaplanes, made the experiment generally a failure. The seaplane and platform were removed in early 1924 with the Ausburn being restored to the configuration of other Clemson class vessels.
The next attempt was aboard the US Noa (DD-343), yet another Clemson class. I realize this is slightly outside the 1939 limit of the discussion, but the plans for the seaplane mount were started in 1938, and Noa was originally scheduled for recommissioning in 1939, so close enough. Frank Knox, then Secretary of the Navy, was a great believer in the idea of using destroyers as seaplane carriers to extend their range for fleet protection and commerce raiding. To test this concept again, the Noa was taken in hand when she was recommissioned in April, 1940. She had an XSOC-1 seaplane mounted this time on a rotating platform, displacing the aft bank of torpedoes. She also had a boom with a much greater lifting capacity, and the XSOC-1 was a much more robust aircraft than her predecessors. This time the experiment was more successful, with many flights, and the ability to retrieve the plane while underway, a difficult task for a relatively small Clemson class ship. Noa retained her seaplane until November, 1941, and the generally successful experience with Noa led to Knox mandating the construction of six Fletcher class destroyers with seaplane capability, this time with catapults (!). However, as Drach would say, that's a story for another day.
Square peg, round hole......😏 Nice dream, wrong platform for scout planes. They Need Sikorsky to finish his work on a chopper.
@@WALTERBROADDUS Indeed. He had some shipboard trials aboard the New York in late 1944 with R-4 that were pretty successful. The R-4 had been used in small numbers by the Coast Guard starting in late '42 and the successful shipboard trials for the R-4 cleared for full scale production starting in February, 1945. The first examples reached the Pacific fleet in June for more testing before it was scheduled for operational use by most capital ships ammo ships, hospital ships and high value transports by 1946. To its credit the Navy recognized early on the value of a helicopter for what would become vertrep and casevac.It was just a gnat's eyelash too late to see operational service during the war, but we all know what's happened with helicopters since then.
First time iv'e made it here this early. Love your work Drach, Keep up the good work. And I love the hour long videos.
I get giddy whenever I see the new video is an hour plus
When you talked about the Leningrad-class DDLs, I couldn't stop laughing when you started running off all the wonderful issues. You really do a lot of good work in making such a dry subject so interesting! Nicely done!
“Two AA guns for moral purposes”
This is why I now have subscribed
An outstanding historical site, long may you continue and prosper and educate us with true facts!
Would love to see a similar series on cruiser development.
Favorite channel to listen too while falling asleep.
Then everything changed when Fubuki came into the picture.
She did again (sorta) in the 21st century.
"My special type Destroyer can't be this cute"
I mean, She is cute in Kancolle
Kongou best kancolle waifu go awai heretics.
Shimakaze for life ! :D
Terror (Azure Lane) is best girl (and creepy old)
Poi
That was awesome. Watched the whole thing. Subtle humor throughout keeps it interesting.
I learn a lot more from you than my teachers.
just incredible. really appreciate the effort you make.
Amazing informative video once again Drach! Love those special episodes!
Personally I still can’t tell apart the Fubuki style Japanese destroyer classes, they literally look the same 😂
I can only distinguish Fubukis (since 3x3 torpedo tubes) from the rest.
This is a brilliant 5 minutes guide! I love the footage!
"...and ships that truly believed that they identified as pretzels." I about lost it. You should write a book of one-liners. You'd die a very rich man.
Excellent, much appreciate the detail and honest commentary on how everyone was trying to do too much. Looking forward to the next chapter.
My grandfather was in command of HMS Codrington in 1931. I knew it had an extra gun midship, but didn't know it had a stretched hull! He also commanded HMS Acasta which was smaller.
Fantastic documentary! Really informative and in-depth.
Corrections
The German torpedoboats type 1924 - called "Raubtier-class" - also had 105mm main armament - like the class before. They wanted to mount 127mm guns but were not allowed by the allies to do so. 1934 "Luchs" and "Leopard" at least got the bigger guns but the rest of the class kept the 105mm calibre.
The lecture I wish I could have heard in school. I am very lucky to be able hear this as I travel to work. Thank you for the excellent explanation of each nation's various classes.
USN during the 30's- "It's a new year, we need a couple of new destroyer classes!"😋
hi drac as soon as i hear your theme music i know i will be enjoying a master class video
Very informative - especially as it helps sort out all those pesky French Destroyer classes. BTW in a couple of places you wrongly say 120mm guns are 4 inch - apparently I’m not the only one who sometimes get confused when speaking and thinking at the same time...
Well, 4.7. Pretty close. Closer to 5" though.
I only noticed it when it made sense for him to say 4 inch, or 120mm, in reference to general destroyer calibres, since it was basically 4 inch, with the RN on 4.7 for a decent while.
Love your content, especially these type of historical background video's.
Lovely, now look at the minor navies. Poland, The Netherlands, Sweden (We built a lot of DD:s for a small nation)
Thanks for your great attention to detail, and for the extremely dry wit!
Awesome vid Drach, I really like the Somers class destroyers.
Was on a fram2 Gearing... I loved the pounding of the ole tin cans.
I can't get enough of these doc's. Thank you
With such an in-depth approach, fubuki subtypes could've been explored as well.
Thry were as different inside as many actual classes in video.
Also, generally discarding looking into interwar AA based on its inedaquacy in 1940s is cruel.
1920s, 1930s and 1940s planes are just different in too many ways.
I genuinely clicked thinking '5 min this will be great'... 1h17m later Its was great, good job thank you.
This is epic, if you could please go back and do WWI in similar detail. there is ahuge gap between the preceding video and this one.
Excellent video! I really appreciate the work you put into them. Always look forward to the next video.
Top Drachism: "With added German high pressure machinery to help along with the shenanigans."
excellent work as always. Would love to see this or to deep dive for each major class of ships.
As destroyers increased in capabilities, increased complexity slowed production. Small ASW specialty vessels like the Flower class filled a lower end gap. Light cruisers like the USS Atlanta, covered up in AA guns filled another gap.
Your sense of humor and sarcasm is priceless.
58:26 Hans, grab the sacred ungent, the engine’s making funny noises again
throw some beer in too
Great video - very informative, and comedy gold. A winning combination :)
Absolutely no one:
Italian Destroyers:
*_I AM SPEED_*
Fast af boiiii
French DDs were faster still
British Destroyers: The field mouse is fast, but the owl sees at night.
I quite like this format for your videos. Hope to see more Development Videos.
Is there a part 3 to this series? Destroyer development during WWII and beyond?
Surely I'm not the only person who loves Dracs videos playing on the background while going about their daily chores or work?
Love the 40k reference haha!!
Ave, Omnisiah!
I had no idea about destroyers and the destroyer's armament/tonnage issues. U schooled me and got a subscriber
Congratulations on 50t subs. We really like your channel. And question: Q&A What would hade happend if "Case Anton" had succeeded, and the scuttling of the French fleet at Toulon had failed and the ship would had been captured by the Germans (and Italians)?
I like to know all the possible effects the French fleet could on had on the war, joins Royal Navy in 1940, sails to internment in the US in 1940, sails to a French base in the Caribbean or indochina, captured by the axis in 1940, 1942. Is there any sign the British knew anything about the German operation at the time?
When you get an average of 4 hours of sleep because you get recommended you favorite genre of video, i.e. hour+ historical commentary deep dives.
Greg's airplanes and automobiles and C&Rsenal are also really good.
"Worlds fastest group therapy massage chair." I shall never look at the Soviet Navy the same way again. LOL.
I just discovered your channel, and I love your content. Keep up the good work sir!