in Japan, there was a weapon called the Bo-Hiya, it was essentially part-rifle grenade and part rocket, interestingly, in my research it is often noted to have been used with infinatly more effectiveness then the somewhat contemporary Congreve Rockets of the European navies, is this true? and if so why?
Seeing how having more than 1 gun in a system unless you are specifically going for an area effect like an AA gun has the added effect of reducing accuracy do you think that the age of battleships would have been better served mounting larger single guns for increased accuracy instead of these dual or triple turret designs?
Zangara finds a nice, sturdy crate instead of a rickety folding chair and President Garner agrees to sell American resources (but not technology) to anyone willing to pay. What do the Axis buy *other* than oil?
@@kanrakucheese High quality coal, bauxite, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, germanium and magnesium. Basically any element that is used to produce high strength alloy steel, electrical components and glass.
Drach you really need to begin a series of "rate my Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnought masterpieces/abominations". It would be interesting to see your reaction to some of the insane ships people have made.
Ngl Drach could probably do a really good job (if he can adapt his real-world expectations to the limitations and "rules" of the game) of making interesting and realistic scenarios/requirement for people to build to. I think a lot of people play a game like UAD and are happy just building uber mega 120,000 tonne battleships that cost as much as medium sized countries; but personally, I get a lot more hours of fun out of trying to build under relatively strict limitations. I wonder if he'd be up for doing a little "fleet tournament" where he outlines limitations and accepts community fleet entries (a ship of each class) and faces fleets off with enough ships of each class to give each a meaningful role in the battle. The problem is that doesn't sound like it'd fit on this channel exactly lol
@@tommeakin1732 yes, brother Monroe, stealth and Spartan used to do scenarios in UAD like that. Not sure why they stopped as it was very entertaining seeing what each person would come up with given the restrictions.
@@bamafan-in-OZ Yeah I used to watch some of them but, for the most part, it was a bit more about the "wow, wacky 120,000 tonne BB!" rather than what I was imagining with Drach's deeper historical grounding. I hope I'm not sounding like an elitist or something btw lol. The wackier stuff is fun in it's own way and games are like the best way to explore it - I've just seen enough of it for now
Concerning steel armor in your final question, modern steel, if you are willing to pay for it, can be made TWICE AS STRONG as any WWII-grade armor steel. These are Electroslag Remelt Steels and similar steels made by somewhat different processes. Modern tank guns, for example, are made from these. These steels are not going to help much against the modern shaped-charge or sub-caliber, super-fast AP projectiles, though, which is why tanks have gone to the various laminated armors and active overlay methods. A battleship or cruiser with armor twice as strong against WWII ammo might be of some use, though, and improved lightweight aircraft armor would be useful, though the cost might be difficult to tolerate for mass-produced plates of this kind of steel. Face-hardened armor was used for heavy warship side protection from the mid-1880s (British Compound, then Harveyized -- thin very hard carburized ("cemented") face layer -- Nickel Steel, and finally Krupp-developed "Krupp Cemented" (KC) Nickel-Chromium Steel -- the same steel type used for the softer homogeneous armors used for WWII tanks and battleship decks -- with an added, by high heat soaking deep into the face only and then fast water quenching, a thick "decremental" hard face usually also having a thin, extra-hard Harvey-type carburized face layer on the outer surface, though not always having that thin layer (US pre-WWI Midvale Non-Cemented and Bethlehem Non-Cemented Class "A" armors and Japanese Vickers Hardened for the YAMATOs). Many variations of the original Krupp Cemented concept were used over the years from 1894 to 1945, depending on the ideas of "best" each manufacturer had as metallurgical knowledge improved over the years. When the battleship NEW JERSEY was reactivated in 1981 Mr. Landcraff of San Pedro Naval Shipyard (since closed), the person in charge there for this first IOWA Class overhaul of all of them, called me up to get the steel specs and manufacturing info, since they were going to have to cut holes into armor plates and so forth. Within a week I supplied him with everything he needed, since I had been getting such data for years. He gave me TWO guided tours of NEW JERSEY when they overhauled it then and later. Indiana Jones has nothing on me!
Just wanted to say I really appreciate your videos and information about warships. My dad was in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. I used to build plastic models of warships. Your UA-cam channels have inspired me to show my love for warships and get back into building plastic models of them! Thank you so much 😊
There recently was an interesting video that went into a great deal of detail about the conversion of the USS Texas from coal to oil-fired. This included a great deal of superstructure removal, re-structuring, removing one of the stacks, and literally gutting the ship (aside from the main armament and magazines etc.). One knows about the amazing rebuilds of some of the Pearl Harbor BBs but the Texas re-fit/conversion was, for its day, quite remarkable. The video dealt specifically with the Texas but I assume that the New York was given a similar re-fit/conversion.
Talking about reports when I was in the Royal Navy as "Officer of the Watch" I had to log any fishing vessels we came across, this came about as some fishermen would try to claim that the Navy destroyed their fishing nets and they wanted compensation thus by logging the exact position of every fishing vessel we cam across we had a record in case anyone tried it on. In addition, when operating in coastal waters we had a log book for Dolphins as well as some other sea life that were either protected or could be harmed by certain equipment (in peacetime we were always told to turn off active sonars etc in the presence of Dolphins). In addition, the Royal Navy has a deep interest in Hydrography and other things related to the maritime environment so we also took logs on weather conditions sea temperature, and a whole range of data that could be useful in a scientific study.
On the topic of Wikipedia, one thing I've found to be immensely useful is to check native-language pages for a given thing, as they'll nearly always have far longer, more in-depth, and more accurate info than the English version. For me, usually this is for WWII-era military gear (planes, ships, tanks, small arms, etc), and I've found the difference to be especially notable with Italian and Japanese things. Even just basic stuff, like proper designations/nomenclature; many Italian small arms' names being very "Americanized" in English material, the proper spacing in German designations (Bf 109, MG 42, etc) being ignored, Japanese info being wrong seemingly due to mixed up mistranslations passed around for ages as fact, and so on. I suppose it's often the stuff that's less to do with specific historical events and "sources", but rather basic linguistic/national standards.
The picture at 1:40 is of Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and Chieftain of Clan Fraser, CO of No 4 Commando disembarking at Newhaven Docks carrying his personal 6.5mm M1892 Steyer-Mannlicher after the Dieppe Raid in 1942. "“It was a rifle I had done a lot of shooting with, and I was dead accurate with it.” "Nimble and light, Steyr Models 1892 and 1893 were exceedingly popular stalking rifles in the British Isles from the turn of the 20th century and throughout the interwar years. The 6.5 mm round is exceedingly accurate and perfect for medium-size game. Re-barreled many times over throughout the decades for competition, from 6.5 mm to .303 British, then to .303 Magnum, and again to 7.62x51 mm NATO in the 1960s, this turn-of-the- century rifle has shown both its flexibility and its inherent ability for robustness and precision. It is little wonder then why Lord Lovat chose to carry such a useful rifle with which he was so familiar." "Simon “Shimi” Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat (the 17th de facto), was one of the most brilliant tacticians Britain produced during World War II. A fine gentleman, a superb soldier and a commando leader, Lovat was once referred to by Winston Churchill as “the mildest-mannered man that ever scuttled a ship or cut a throat.”" British Army officers was expected to provide their own side arms, the only stipulation being the weapon must fire standard British ammunition - Fraser was probably stretching things a bit, although aboard a vessel stuffed with men armed to the teeth, what was the problem? Additionally, speaking as an old officer, if a lieutenant colonel is having to engage the enemy personally, things have absolutely gone to shit and a disaster is looming. His job is to direct the battle, not get involved in firefights
Yeah, but when you see a problem, sometimes it's just quicker & easier to take care of it yourself rather than directing someone else to do it. The time saved by quickly doing it yourself could save the lives of a lot of your soldiers & cause the skirmish to go your way instead of the enemies way.
Prior to deployment, the captain of the USS Henry B Wilson, Glenn Beree, allowed any of the ship's crew to bring a single firearm aboard. They had to be checked in at the quarterdeck and we kept them in the aft gun locker. This was done for, 'steel beach picnics' - those Sunday afternoons when we'd grill burgers on the fantail, sunbathe and just relax. We'd bring out the clay pigeons and anyone that wanted to shoot was welcome to do so- with their own weapons or the ships small arms. afterwards, we'd check them all back in- we were not allowed to bring personal weapons ashore during deployment.
So Drach, when did you first meet your old friend Square Cubed Law? You seem to know each other very well and I hope Mrs Drach doesn't get too upset with the two of you talking the night away😁
Green Sea Ships, on a visit to SS Great Britain I noted that the Forestay of one of the masts ran over the top of the Funnel. On asking if this caused problems with catching fire, I was told that they change the rigging layout several times in her first few years of service. If you look at the photo that was shown with this answer you can see that the single forestay to the leading mast was replaced by 2, one running either side of the funnel down to shrouds.
Speaking about Bismarck and colonialism: He wasn't a fan of them and wanted Germany to concentrate the resources on Europe. He only "pushed" for them because he saw it as a prestige object when all neighbours had them. And he sorted it out in the most resource efficient way possible: A conference where Europe's nations agreed on their territories. Edit: There also are other German ships with names used in WW2, they are just cities/states. Schleswig-Holstein, famously opened WW2 in Europe, is now a frigate. Emden, Köln and Karlsruhe were used on previous ships as well and there are currently covertes named after the cities under construction. And just cities and states because after the 3 ship Lütjens class destroyers from the 60s people's names aren't used anymore. And considering they were named after Lütjens, Mölders and Rommel, that isn't a surprising reaction as well. So no matter what a person did, they won't become the namesake of a German ship. Unless they founded a city, named it after themselves and it becomes a major city like Karl III. Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach did, because he founded Karlsruhe and named it basically Karl's calm
French minelaying sub RUBIS was the highest scoring Allied minelayer "Throughout the war, Rubis made 22 operational patrols, laying nearly 683 mines and sinking some 21,000 GRT of shipping. With 22 ships sunk (14 of them German, including 12 warships), Rubis achieved the highest kill number in the FNFL" Ships sunk or damaged 1940 26 May 1940: Norwegian transport Vansø (54 BRT) hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E 28 May 1940: Norwegian sail ship Blaamannen (174 BRT), from Haugesund, hits a mine laid on 27 May and sinks at 59°28′00″N 05°12′00″E 31 May 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Jadarland (938 BRT), from Haugesund, hits a mine laid on 27 May and sinks at 59°28′00″N 05°12′00″E 10 June 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Sverre Sigurdssøn (1,081 BRT) hits a mine laid on 9 June off Herdla and sinks at 60°36′00″N 04°55′00″E 7 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Almora (2,433 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E. The ship survives. 24 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Kem (1,705 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E. 28 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Argo (413 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E. 1941 21 August 1941: Rubis torpedoes and sinks the Finnish merchant ship Hogland (4,360 BRT) off Norway at 58°27′00″N 05°46′00″E. 1942 12 June 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4212 (formerly Marie Frans), 125 BRT, hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at 43°37′00″N 01°34′00″W. 26 June 1942: Vichy French tugboat Quand Même (288 BRT) hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at 43°37′00″N 01°35′00″W. 10 July 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4401 (formerly Imbrin), 339 BRT, hits a mine and sinks at 44°58′00″N 01°23′00″W. 18 August 1942: German Vorpostenboot V 406 (formerly Hans Loh), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 14 August and sinks at 45°03′00″N 01°34′00″W. 20 September 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4448 (formerly: L 4148), 77 BRT, hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at 43°37′00″N 01°34′00″W. 1943 10 July 1943: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4451 (formerly Gauleiter A. Meyer), 652 BRT, hits a mine off Arcachon and sinks at 44°58′00″N 01°10′00″W. 1944 26 September 1944: German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1106 (formerly Grönland), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E. 27 September 1944: German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1715 (formerly Lesum), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E German merchant ship MS Cläre Hugo Stinnes 1 (5,295 BRT) hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E Norwegian cargo ship Knute Nelson (5,749 BRT) hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E 27 October 1944: German Vorpostenboot V 5304 (formerly Seehund) hits a mine laid on 18 October at 60°55′00″N 04°40′00″E. The ship survives with heavy damage. 24 November 1944: Norwegian merchant ship Castor (1,683 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on the same day and sustain damage. 21 December 1944, off Norway: German cargo ship Weichselland (formerly Latvian Gundega), 3,654 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1113 / KUJ 7, 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1116 / KUJ 11, 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1702 / KUJ 16, 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks German minesweeper R 402, 140 t, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks Characteristics Class and type Saphir-class submarine Displacement 761 long tons (773 t) (surfaced) 925 long tons (940 t) (submerged) Length 65.9 m (216 ft) Beam 7.1 m (23 ft) Draught 4.3 m (14 ft) Installed power 2 × 550 shp (410 kW) (electrical) 2 × 650 shp (480 kW) (diesel) Propulsion 2 electrical engines 2 diesel Speed Surfaced: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) Underwater: 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) Range 7.000 nmi (12.964 km; 8.055 mi) at 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph) Submerged: 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) Test depth 80 m (260 ft) Complement 42 Armament 3 × 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes 2 × 400 mm (15.7 in) torpedo tubes 1 × 75 mm (3 in) deck gun 1 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine gun 2 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine guns 32 naval mines
1:37:51 Yeah, I can imagine the policies have varied all the time about personal weapons on ships. I seen to remember Ryan of New Jersey saying that they in the 80s had a weapons locker where people could check their personal weapons while on board and then take them out for appropriate situations.
Here in Alaska, the only folks that seem to be offended by Eskimo are the city dwellers in Anchorage and the occasional college student. A short survey at the World Eskimo Olympics, held here in Alaska every year by the Tribes, seem to be fine with the name. Although the HMS part seems far too Continental for our Rebel sensibilities.
I took a family cruise in an Aegis cruiser. At one point they ship showed us a demonstration of an emergency stop of forward progress. This was accomplished in a very short distance. I believe the ship was able to vary the prop pitch to actually be in reverse thrust. With this feature, the shaft rotation is always in one direction.
That''s great, for late 20th century navy ships. Storstad was a 19th century civilian ship loaded with coal, so would not be as responsive as a Vincennes class cruiser. RMS Empress of Ireland sank in 14 minutes.
Well on the Germany potentially having a fleet in the Washington treaty era, the Germans had determined that the 305 mm ships could be upgraded to a 320 mm and the shell handling system still handle it when they wanted to go bigger on the Königs but was too far along to change barbette's, so any of the still have Derrflinger/König scenarios they may have been upgraded if they couldn't be outright replaced for a long time because of the treaty
By the number of ships that the Japanese had at hand it was probably much better that Somerville was unable to carry out a night time strike. Especially considering how many carriers the Japanese had & the fact it's difficult to identify what ships are what during the night. It could have been very possible that Somerville's force's could have ended up with planes from 3 or 4 Japanese carriers bearing down on them right after sunrise. Which would have been a major disaster for the Royal Navy. Plus Warspite being attacked by numerous Japanese aircraft does not bare thinking about. Now, just maybe with those forces meeting up with the R-class battleships on the way out would have made for a much more difficult force for strike planes to contend with. It's still a "what if" scenario & I still don't understand why people always want to play "what ifs" when there are literally lots of battles that were just smaller actions that we don't know anything about. "What if" there are some smaller actions that I've never heard of happening? What if, you told us about some of them.
Paddle steamers might offer an advantage in having no propeller to foul, which is handy if they are used to tow sweeps. For example, HMS Algerine was supposed to join convoy KMS1 in October 1942, but required repair after its sweep had fouled a propeller.
But isn’t a paddle wheel essentially a side-mounted propeller writ large? Unless the design has the wheels within the boundary of the hull on the sides, you are adding another dimension of potential surface to foul. Still, it’s an interesting idea (especially given the idea of the benefit of a shallow draft)…
Regarding axis ship names, Have a look at the current Italian Navy; Trieste, Cavour, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Andrea Doria, Caio Duillio... A while back I asked Drach about ships with names that could be offensive to allies, bearing in mind that there is or has been USS Bonholme Richard, USS John Paul Jones, HMS Temeraire, HMS Victorious, HMS Agincourt. The Brits named a class of Sub the Trafalgar class, the States have the Ticonderoga class. I could go on, but generally as Drach said it's going to come down to how offensive the name will be to friends, enemies and your own populace... I doubt we will see JMSDFS Kamikaze or FGS Bismarck anytime soon. But there is an Schleswig-Holstein
2:47:00 There is really big issue about controlling the Dead Sea. Depending on the time of year, the Jordan River looks like the creek Little John is defending when Robin Hood meets him in Men in Tights.
02:31:46 - Drach, as an observation, in recent time (post your channels time I know, but I think its not too dissimilar in concept to earlier times), the big change I saw in paperwork is that as smaller Computers and PCs came in, the admin departments and personnel in each division started disappearing as the personnel could do the work themselves. I imagine as the general education levels of officers, then petty officers, then sailors in general became, paperwork both becomes more common but less of a problem as more people are involved with it. Constellation CV64 had something like 200 fewer admin types off of the original crew number by the 2000 when I was aboard her, all of them replaced by PCs and other general automation. second, the big thing now is the internet, when I got out in 2007 they were starting to reduce the admin departments further by shifting more of the personnel ashore and handling things via direct access or email and chat to a facility that could support an entire region or the whole navy. i imagine in previous eras it was much the same as communications technology changed things as the ships became less and less alone in the world.
For German ships, there were a Scharnhorst and Gneisenau after WW2. Hull numbers F212 and F213. Both were training ships. Scharnhorst was scrapped in 1989 and Gneisenau in '77
When it comes to alternate American amphibious assault targets in an alternate 1942, the short and long answer would revolve around three words: Japanese airfield construction. Whenever a combatant advances and takes unimproved territory, especially islands, there is a period of extreme vulnerability before fortifications and power projection assets like harbors, naval bases and airfields can be set up. If an opponent catches wind of this as these assets are built, it could invite invasion. Guadalcanal was specifically targeted because the Japanese began constructing what would become Henderson Field on 9 July 1942--both the threat posed by this airfield and the golden opportunity presented by seizing Henderson right after construction was completed but before IJNAF and IJAAF forces could arrive. Absent the construction of Henderson, the U.S. likely would have struck with a full Marine invasion wherever the Japanese would do the work for the Allies. As to where this would be, there was the possibility of going straight at New Guinea, except the Australian Army and Air Force were already heavily engaged against the Japanese, so adding the USMC might have overtaxed the logistics hub that was developing in Townsville, QL., and would do nothing to protect the supply route from Calfornia to Queensland. Operation R, the IGHQ (Imperial General Headquarters) strike on Rabaul and New Britain, commenced on 23 January 1942, was preceded by Operation Gi, the IGHQ attack on 8 December 1941 into the Gilbert Islands which coincided with the attack on Pearl Harbor, starting with the capture of Makin Island. Makin was probably the closest Japanese-controlled possession to the South Pacific Supply and Ferry Routes, which elicited the 17 August 1942 Marine Raid on Makin and culminated in the simultaneous Battles of Makin and Tarawa, commencing on 20 November 1943. Without the commitment of thousands of Marines on Guadalcanal, the 211 raiders could have been part of a much larger force to seize the Makin or the occupied Gilbert Islands altogether in August 1942. But this would just be where the Americans and Australians could have come to blows with the Japanese in an alternate 1942, not where the Allies would have gone unopposed...because the answer to the latter was EVERYWHERE. Espiritu Santo in the New Hebridies became the main forward Allied naval anchorage once offensive operations commenced in the South Pacific, supported by logistics and repair facilities at Noumea in New Caledonia (and Australia itself in a pinch) on one side and Fiji, Samoa, Tonga on the other (routing supplies and aircraft from Oahu and California). The Ellice Islands also presented an opportunity for IGHQ to invade and then flank the Allies, leading to an unopposed invasion by the Marines in October 1942...and then there was Operation RY in August 1942, where IGHQ seized Nauru and the Ocean Islands. Absent the construction of Henderson Field, taking Nauru might have been an equivalent for the combatants. But in an alternate 1942 where the Japanese ignore the Solomons, one might expect the Japanese to lose the war MUCH faster--a Japanese Henderson Field would have dominated the surrounding archipelagos (New Caledonia, New Hebridies, Ellice Islands, Gilberts, Fiji...), hence why the Japanese built it (and why the USMC seized it). Honestly, it was the only possible Japanese play for consolidating their gains in July 1942. Not contesting the Solomons and Bouganville would have left New Britain and New Guinea open to massive American attack when the IJA was fully occupied with the Australians, and would have left the Gilberts hanging out to dry while threatening the Marshall Islands' flank. The Japanese needed to advance FARTHER, at least into the New Hebridies and New Caledonia, to make things more difficult for the Allies than it already was at the time. Guadalcanal was key for such an advance, hence the airfield construction in the Solomons and such fierce fighting over the possession of Henderson Field.
This is crazy. But a live stream with Drachinifel as task force commander. And taking suggestions from US. Patreons. Whomever. Any time historically. Really thinking of a ww1 or ww2 bombardment mission on a destroyer. Just operating a ship thing
Not entirely. When KM began drafting Bismarck’s successor, he demanded guns larger than 15”. Additionally his RoE for open water operations demanded long range and high ability against merchants and capital ships alike, which complicated the design process.
For the kast question... I would have said what the main big difference is.. that i think the asker was looking for... Is how far we have come with automation...with the ability to mass produce.. and to build equipment that can mass produce. And tools that can help in the mass production
I'm an American. I actually like that the Japanese are reusing the names of some ships that gave great service, even if that service was against us. Being allied together nowadays, I'm glad that they're cottoning to what was a great history, even if at times they made that history against us.
When it comes to the all-forward ship design in question 1, what do you think about putting the second turret on the same level as the first and make the third superfiring?
I believe it's about keeping the rear guns as far from the bridge as possible when firing over the shoulder. Though that was still an issue with Rodney/Nelson.
When B is superfiring, it has 360^ rotation, greatly increasing “flexibility of firepower.” Putting it at deck level restricts it to roughly same rotation arc as the other two - if all turrets are rotated abaft one beam, and must shift to the other, they must all rotate through the entire arc. Even if C is superfiring, it does not have 360^ rotation - the first superstructure deck blocks it.
Mogami class was designed that way. Not sure if there were any other cruiser with similar designs. I think some alternative designs that were not decided on also had the ABC, C superfiring layouts.
The way I've always regarded Wikipedia, is that it is good for a base understanding of commonly believed facts. Useful for a pub quiz level of understanding (mostly because that seams to be where pub quizzes get their info), but not something I would want to write on a research paper... if I ever wrote historical research papers.
I agree with one provision! If it involves anything that can be considered political, such as "climate change", political personages, and political movements, then it is relentlessly ɓiased! But for a bar or pub discussion, it is probably accurate enough! I will admit to using it when I need a quick reference, but it can be very biased!
The two hour question. I have a friend who is Mohawk and would love to have Canada make some new Tribal Destroyers named after his tribe. Anecdotal thing. But wanted to share
I wish to object. You choose not to count US forces at 2nd Naval Battle of Guadalcanal as being in a line of battle as 'it is hard to have a line of one.' The counter argument is of course, 'It counts as a line when one is enough.' Washington line of battle for the win.
The history of battleship design is a tug-of-war between highly skilled engineers who go "This is what we need and can afford." and the public who just goes "MOAR DAKKA!!!".
Follow-up question about the sails catching fire on steam powered ships- DId the crew of the HMS By Jove just not CARE about the sails catching fire and thus allow the ship to operate without baffles or filters in the funnels and never wetting the sails down?
I find it plausible that Admiral Somerville could intercept and sink Hiryu and Soryu but that the admittedly very low probability positive aftermath fails on the assumption that Nagumo doesn't know what happened. The two Japanese carrier aren't going to be mysteriously sunk without a trace. They would radioe Nagumo and tell him they are under surface attack and plead for help. This is what is known as flaming datum. Nagumo now knows where Somerville's forces are and reacts accordingly, Nagumo's most likely reaction would be to send a surface force to assist the two carriers and then withdraw the rest of Kido Butai away the British while preparing for a morning strike. The mostly like outcome is going to be a trade of the British surface attack force for the Hiryu and Soryu and maybe he bags the two British carriers as well. I would call that a positive exchange for IJN. It would put a crimp in Japanese futures plans. Midway probably would not happen but is that bad thing?
Give that the Japanese had the two Shokakus during Operation C, in that scenario we’re probably going to see a Shokakus vs. Illustriouses matchup, which would be an interesting contrast with all the historical Shokakus vs. Yorktowns matchups.
I wish you’d speak about jazz bands like you’ve done episodes on ice cream. They do that with jazz bands to this day and poor Glenn Miller. I just saw a band under a turret last July 4. So awesome. Besides signals can you elaborate on the jazz bands on carriers and battleships. Oh. A turret on New Jersey. A band. Under three 16” with fireworks. Could Lauch em 16 miles so. I have them pointed at those Quaker’s in Philly just in case. New Jersey is awesome. It’s a good ship too.
How close did Nelson get in chasing down the french fleet that ran to the Caribbean and back? Was it superior seamanship or ship design that allowed it?
On the topic of warships names, I would add another criteria: Was the ship's predecessor the scene of and the ship's company/officers responsible for any specific war crimes (as opposed to the more general 'started a war without properly declaring it')? If so, then the name should probably be considered disgraced and not reused.
Regarding the paperwork questions, I suspect that being at peace increases the volume of paperwork substantially. In war, you can judge officers by combat results. In peace, you mostly just have the spit-and-polish stuff to go on.
Well one name I’d definitely pass on for modern German ships is defiantly Bülcher….not because of the guy who fought at Waterloo but because the last two ships named Blûcher were sunk because of bad handling in battle. So let’s just say very unlucky !
A long shot but does anyone know of a site or book that would have the deck plans for a Derfflinger class? Always wanted to take a look for myself at their compartmentalization below decks. Iron Dog has always been my favourite WW1 ship.
Hi drach? What happened after the naval treaty with Japan after the washington treaty? Did the RN simply stop cooperating? Did the Japanese throw a hissy fit? Were there no backdoor moves by the diplomats? Seems as soon as the naval treaty was quashed , japan became pacific enemy no. 1? Did nobody see a hostile japan as a realistic threat?
Some of the 'classic' German warship names, have already been recycled, if in a slightly reduced format, with the transfer of Black Swan sloops to the West German Navy in the 1950s. Graf Spee (ex-Flamingo), Hipper (Actaeon), Scheer (Hart) and Scharnhorst (Mermaid) must have been considered sufficiently uncontaminated as early as 1957/8.
It is interesting to consider the question of ships boys, especially to begin from it's being a good idea rather than a bad idea. If it really had been a bad idea, surely it wouldn't have lasted so long and it wouldn't be discussed still. We should be aware that the life of a 10, 11 year old boy was vastly different in 17th century compared to the 21st century boy. And likewise we can't consider it from the perspective of a 21st century parent scanning through a list of government approved activities for their son today. This system would have been one of only a few avenues of opportunity to learn reading and writing possible for the poor. In even earlier centuries, the Church did a lot of this.
Have you heard any news about the Spanish treasure galleon they found off Columbia? Around there. I think it’s Columbia. Because that ship is falls with the scope of the channel I hope we get more good new. It’s just past Halloween here. I hope you are aloud to document it.
When entering and exiting any channel or any other area of waterway with restricted access it is reasonable to expect there to be limitations on any ship's maneuverability under modern interpretations if both ships are powered it is reasonable to expect the larger ship to have more restrictions placed on where it can go due to issues with depth of channel etc. In a modern situation as codified in 1972 with COLREGS, the Norwegian Collier is 100% at fault while the rules of ships entering and exiting a passage have varied over the years the principle has always been that any ship that has greater limitations on where it can go in confined waters in attempting to avoid a collision this vessel is the stand-on vessel and in this situation, the collier is automatically the give-way vessel. As for Avoiding a collision at sea the vessel which is the stand-on vessel is under NO obligation to do anything to avoid a collision especially if they have limitations on where they can go i.e. their draft restricts them to certain parts of a passage.
As I understand it, the critical factor that led the enquiry to put most of the blame on the Storstad was that her captain admitted ordering a change of course after losing sight of the Empress of Ireland, although the reason he gave was that the Empress had begun altering course towards the Storstad just before entering the fog (something which the Empress's captain denied).
re personal weapons crew in some age of sail were prohibited from carrying pointed personal knives to prevent knife fighting. IIRC this prohibition lasted past WWII in some navies. (My pusser's dirk has a marline spike that would work fine as a stabbing weapon.)
I wasn't previously aware of William IV's work as Lord High Admiral. It sounds as though he had a similar effect as his elder brother, Prince Frederick, had as commander-in-chief of the army - unable to take up a field command for political reasons, Frederick was able to use the HRH in front of his name as a battering ram to drive through necessary reforms.
I would propose that the US would have continued up the Solomons. It would be the fastest way to threaten Rabaul with land based air power, to eliminate its ability to support operations on new guinea. Doubt that rabaul would be used by the Japanese to project forces into the central Pacific, truk and or kwajelein were in a better position to do that.
As for small arms, the plans for the Bagley class of destroyers (built in the 1930s) show a small arms locker just outside the hatch leading between the wardroom and most of the officers' quarters. The locker contains a dozen rifles and pistols, along with some ammunition, holsters, etc.; each of the officers has a key to this locker. Somewhere much more "out of the way" in the vessel would be secure storage for the rifles (or submachine guns, shotguns, etc.), bayonets and ammunition for the ship's landing/boarding force.
Think there was a question about using a smokestack as a mast. I thought of the comet a British 4 side wheeler did use its stack as a mast setting a square sail. 1812 said to be comercial success
The one thing I can say about Wikipedia that is a positive note when it comes to ships, is the basic information. Their design specifics like guns, engines, length, excetera excetera
You can fire oil in a coal fired boiler but you can’t fire coal in an oil fired boiler. Just the oil burners need to be added in place of the stoke hole.
Prinz Eugen has the advantage of originally being an Austrian shipname (one of the Tegetthoff dreadnoughts), only appropriated by Germany later. And the person himself was of mixed Polish and Austrian heritage, if I remember my history correctly.
Now I'm curious to how USS Hornet would look like with a Japanese style paint scheme and a Hinomaru painted on the Deck. I also can't stop imagining USS Hornet at the Philippine Sea on the Japanese side.
In the Age of Sail if the enemy's ship-of-the-line which who was captured it would be used against their own-navy October 25TH 1812 the HM Frigate Macedonian which who was captured by US Frigate United-States which who was focusing on the masts and the rigging and Hey Presto one brand-new US Frigate on the Beginning Of the Civil-War the United-States and the Macedonian which who burnt Shame
Re: substitution. The RN changed the burners on many ships (including the KGV's) to get adequate performance out of inferior oil. The USN used locomotive diesels to avoid making reduction gearing. (plywood in stead of aluminum in aircraft not naval). There was a lot of substitution and strategic adaptation.
@@skeltonpg Most DEs? Evarts (97 completed) and Cannon-class (72): locomotive-derived diesel driving generators Buckley-class (148): Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers driving GE generators. Edsall (85): locomotive-derived diesels driving propellers via gearing. Rudderow (21): steam-driven turbo-electric Butlers (83): steam turbine and geared machinery Dealey (13) steam turbine and geared machinery Nothing else built in high number until the 46 Knox, which used steam turbine and gearing. So about 250 of DEs used locomotive diesels, ~ 45% of some 560 built.
@@dougjb7848 They built diesel (254) and turbo electric (169) until gearing became available then switched to gearing. They substituted for gearing for 423 ships using mostly diesel and built another 83 (the Dealeys are a decade late) in the way they'd have built them all if the materials had been available. Incidentally the gearing for the Edsalls was not of the type required for a steam turbine.
@@skeltonpg Your original comment was that “most DEs used locomotive diesels instead of steam boiler.” If you’re going to change to “most DEs used some form of non-steam power to drive generators, rather than any kind of power driving reduction gearing,” then yes that’s accurate. Turbo or diesel electric drive also has the advantage that it’s more flexible. Ships can alter shaft RPM much more quickly than turbine and gearing, helping them to stalk UBoats.
As far as trying to make battleship armor these days, I would be surprised if any of the western countries had the tools needed to build the tools to make the armor, so to speak. The methods for building the facilities to make the armor would have to be re-developed as well as the methods for making the armor. The lead time in the first plates would be measured in years rather than months(ie, somewhere over 60-84 months is where that transition tends to be).
I want to see how you would handle this... if and when you get the urge to try. Challenge: Planning an all iron hull battleship class with an iron clad cruiser class to support it. they will be built for the Baltic. Cutcorner and jerry rigged construction with the cheapest hull materials available. Best guns... possibly most of the cost. stripped down to functioning without all the "fancy stuff" if needed to make it work. Good enough engine. keep up with the other ships good enough as the mark. period of time: when Iron clads powered along with early all metal hull ships. builders and operators/orderers do not have to be the same navy/nation. go ham with the espionage history lore if you like. ... i get wierd ideas when bored.
27:13 With regards to FDR, I think you understate his influence in selected areas. I believe in Friedman's US Destroyer's book, he writes about FDR's involvement in destroyer design, which surprised me. In Clay Blair's U-Boat History (I forget which volume ), he writes about a 1941 meeting that King had with FDR to push DE's. King lost that discussion. FDR wanted next generation of WW I subchasers with which he had been involved during 1917-1918. But bottom line, he did nothing, according to Blair, because politically he feared the electorate's reaction to an obvious preparation for war.
@Roger Smith strength is not everything when it comes to armor. You actually need need a fair bit of elasticity to help absorb the impact. Plus, if a steel/titanium composition can produce something at least equal to traditional face hardened armor at equivalent thicknesses while also being lighter. That alone would be a boon for things like deck and turret armor that make up a fair deal of a gun ship's top weight.
@@rogersmith7396 To add more to what you wrote, there are many factors and forces involved in how one type of armour performs compared to another. The strongest known alloy steels in their strongest tempers are stronger than the strongest titanium alloys in their hardest temper.
I would be shocked if they didn't harden the wear surfaces on machinery. Carborizing was well understood then and its still commonly used in machinery and gears now. I do it every week
The most basic instruction for collision avoidance is in a an end on, or near end on situation, both vessels shall alter course to starboard. The Empress of Ireland did not do this.
I'll chime in on the wikipedia kerfuffle. wikipedia is a great resource *as a starting point*. it is, like any encyclopedia, a compendium, with the added wrinkle of being user editable.
Doesn't the required thickness of the base plate in armour depend to some extent on its tensile strength? If so wouldn't the advances in high strength materials provide an approach to reducing plate thickness?
skeltonpg; not always. When the switch was made from iron to steel (I maybe wrong on the exact metals) plates were made thinner because of the increased strength. Unfortunately, it was found that both rusted at the same rate. This led to the thinner high strength material failing earlier than expected as it had rusted through.
@@chrissouthgate4554 I think you are talking about plating, not armour. When the switch was made from wrought iron to steel armour the thickness was several inches. I am unaware of any iron or steel armour failures or replacements caused by corrosion. Improvements in our understanding of high strength remains a possible approach.
Yeah, in my personal opinion the US Navy never really fought a typical line of battleships type engagement even at Surigao Strait considering that by the time the Japanese ships encountered US Navy battleships there was only one Japanese battleship left so even though the US Navy was arranged in a battle line formation the one Japanese battleship left can hardly be considered an opposing battle line. Therefore the US Navy never really participated in a "typical line of battle" with their battleships. And when operating in typical line of battle with cruisers they were usually met with a large amount of long lance torpedoes causing catastrophic consequences for most of the sailors aboard, or at least during the Guadal Canal campaign. And this was usually due to some incompetent rear Admiral showing up & not knowing his business enough to allow his ships to fire upon enemy ships at the earliest possible moment. ☆☆☆When studying Naval doctrine the US Navy at Guadal Canal should be looked at very closely as to "what NOT to do" when a Navy all of a sudden finds that it's at war. While inexperience could maybe justify the losses at the 1st Battle of Savo Island, after that, the only excuse is ignorance of an enemy that has fully shown that it is VERY CAPABLE. And, even in the First Battle of Savo Island, A Captain not knowing & understanding the full capability of his ships radar and believing that it makes the ship vulnerable in some way during the night & orders it to be turned off. This ignorance confounds me. And I'm not sure if it's the Navy's fault for not teaching him properly or if it was simply his fault for not learning the truth of it's capability. It would seem the latter considering Admiral Lee was able to use the Washington's radar & guns to devastating affect upon Kirishima saving the South Dakota from further salvos from the Japanese war ship. But also, sending a ship to that area with an Admiral aboard that out ranks the Admiral already on that station is a bit counter productive considering the Admiral already there should have a better idea of his surroundings. And a better understanding of previous actions. Ànd it also seems that neither of these Admirals would ever know the true capabilities of the radars that were on the ships around them. Considering that "Roger" meant "yes" & also meant "receipt of transmission" would at least let the ships that had a target start firing at said target would at least save some of the ships & some of the sailors aboard. Even though the 2 Admirals would both be lost. And although the Guadal Canal campaign was a huge embarrassment for the US Navy imho the major saving grace for US Forces in the area was the US Marine Corp. Because they were able to hold the airstrip against Japanese forces on the island they were also able to form the Cactus Air Force. I imagine at first it was a logistical nightmare to populate the area with planes, fuel, bombs & torpedoes. But it also made for huge deterant for enemy supply ships that were not capable of a lot of speed. Cuz although supply ships could make it there under the cover of darkness they would just be beginning to unload at sunrise & get bombed out of existence by the Cactus Air Force. Which is one part of the war that I have ever heard little about. The logistics of the Cactus Air Force. How did they get their first planes? How did the get replacement planes? Fuel? Bombs? Food? Were they able to create underground bunkers for large fuel tanks? & bombs? & AA ammunition & food stores? Or was everything above ground & vulnerable to sea to land bombardment? Or aircraft bombing? How quickly were they able to set up radar installations? And how often was it damaged and/or replaced with newer & better radar?
16:21 What is this ship?! Which navy? When was it taken? Now my curiosity has been raised enough to bother me, but not enough to look through hundreds of battleship photos trying to identify it.
@@Drachinifel Thank you. Everything on the ship looks so huge! I’ve only been on one battleship, the USS Massachusetts, in the mid 70’s when I was a young teen. Sadly, the only thing I remember is that large road bridge overshadowing the whole site 😭
Pinned post for Q&A :)
in Japan, there was a weapon called the Bo-Hiya, it was essentially part-rifle grenade and part rocket, interestingly, in my research it is often noted to have been used with infinatly more effectiveness then the somewhat contemporary Congreve Rockets of the European navies, is this true? and if so why?
Speaking of paddlewheel warships, are you ever going to do a five minute guide on the aircraft carriers USS Wolverine and USS Sable?
Seeing how having more than 1 gun in a system unless you are specifically going for an area effect like an AA gun has the added effect of reducing accuracy do you think that the age of battleships would have been better served mounting larger single guns for increased accuracy instead of these dual or triple turret designs?
Zangara finds a nice, sturdy crate instead of a rickety folding chair and President Garner agrees to sell American resources (but not technology) to anyone willing to pay. What do the Axis buy *other* than oil?
@@kanrakucheese
High quality coal, bauxite, chromium, cobalt, copper, manganese, germanium and magnesium.
Basically any element that is used to produce high strength alloy steel, electrical components and glass.
Drach you really need to begin a series of "rate my Ultimate Admiral: Dreadnought masterpieces/abominations". It would be interesting to see your reaction to some of the insane ships people have made.
Not just people's creations but AI designs as some of them can be, let's just say quite unique.
@@bamafan-in-OZ lol yup. The legendary 2x2 9-inch gunned 80,000 ton super heavy battleships in 1930. 11th dimensional chess at its finest.
Ngl Drach could probably do a really good job (if he can adapt his real-world expectations to the limitations and "rules" of the game) of making interesting and realistic scenarios/requirement for people to build to. I think a lot of people play a game like UAD and are happy just building uber mega 120,000 tonne battleships that cost as much as medium sized countries; but personally, I get a lot more hours of fun out of trying to build under relatively strict limitations. I wonder if he'd be up for doing a little "fleet tournament" where he outlines limitations and accepts community fleet entries (a ship of each class) and faces fleets off with enough ships of each class to give each a meaningful role in the battle. The problem is that doesn't sound like it'd fit on this channel exactly lol
@@tommeakin1732 yes, brother Monroe, stealth and Spartan used to do scenarios in UAD like that. Not sure why they stopped as it was very entertaining seeing what each person would come up with given the restrictions.
@@bamafan-in-OZ Yeah I used to watch some of them but, for the most part, it was a bit more about the "wow, wacky 120,000 tonne BB!" rather than what I was imagining with Drach's deeper historical grounding. I hope I'm not sounding like an elitist or something btw lol. The wackier stuff is fun in it's own way and games are like the best way to explore it - I've just seen enough of it for now
I have listened to over 100 episodes
And have not been conscious for a single one
Continue to post
My algorithm will always bring me back
Concerning steel armor in your final question, modern steel, if you are willing to pay for it, can be made TWICE AS STRONG as any WWII-grade armor steel. These are Electroslag Remelt Steels and similar steels made by somewhat different processes. Modern tank guns, for example, are made from these. These steels are not going to help much against the modern shaped-charge or sub-caliber, super-fast AP projectiles, though, which is why tanks have gone to the various laminated armors and active overlay methods. A battleship or cruiser with armor twice as strong against WWII ammo might be of some use, though, and improved lightweight aircraft armor would be useful, though the cost might be difficult to tolerate for mass-produced plates of this kind of steel.
Face-hardened armor was used for heavy warship side protection from the mid-1880s (British Compound, then Harveyized -- thin very hard carburized ("cemented") face layer -- Nickel Steel, and finally Krupp-developed "Krupp Cemented" (KC) Nickel-Chromium Steel -- the same steel type used for the softer homogeneous armors used for WWII tanks and battleship decks -- with an added, by high heat soaking deep into the face only and then fast water quenching, a thick "decremental" hard face usually also having a thin, extra-hard Harvey-type carburized face layer on the outer surface, though not always having that thin layer (US pre-WWI Midvale Non-Cemented and Bethlehem Non-Cemented Class "A" armors and Japanese Vickers Hardened for the YAMATOs). Many variations of the original Krupp Cemented concept were used over the years from 1894 to 1945, depending on the ideas of "best" each manufacturer had as metallurgical knowledge improved over the years.
When the battleship NEW JERSEY was reactivated in 1981 Mr. Landcraff of San Pedro Naval Shipyard (since closed), the person in charge there for this first IOWA Class overhaul of all of them, called me up to get the steel specs and manufacturing info, since they were going to have to cut holes into armor plates and so forth. Within a week I supplied him with everything he needed, since I had been getting such data for years. He gave me TWO guided tours of NEW JERSEY when they overhauled it then and later. Indiana Jones has nothing on me!
Just wanted to say I really appreciate your videos and information about warships. My dad was in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. I used to build plastic models of warships. Your UA-cam channels have inspired me to show my love for warships and get back into building plastic models of them! Thank you so much 😊
There recently was an interesting video that went into a great deal of detail about the conversion of the USS Texas from coal to oil-fired. This included a great deal of superstructure removal, re-structuring, removing one of the stacks, and literally gutting the ship (aside from the main armament and magazines etc.). One knows about the amazing rebuilds of some of the Pearl Harbor BBs but the Texas re-fit/conversion was, for its day, quite remarkable. The video dealt specifically with the Texas but I assume that the New York was given a similar re-fit/conversion.
Talking about reports when I was in the Royal Navy as "Officer of the Watch" I had to log any fishing vessels we came across, this came about as some fishermen would try to claim that the Navy destroyed their fishing nets and they wanted compensation thus by logging the exact position of every fishing vessel we cam across we had a record in case anyone tried it on. In addition, when operating in coastal waters we had a log book for Dolphins as well as some other sea life that were either protected or could be harmed by certain equipment (in peacetime we were always told to turn off active sonars etc in the presence of Dolphins). In addition, the Royal Navy has a deep interest in Hydrography and other things related to the maritime environment so we also took logs on weather conditions sea temperature, and a whole range of data that could be useful in a scientific study.
I love that we can have these Q&As and get our questions answered!
On the topic of Wikipedia, one thing I've found to be immensely useful is to check native-language pages for a given thing, as they'll nearly always have far longer, more in-depth, and more accurate info than the English version. For me, usually this is for WWII-era military gear (planes, ships, tanks, small arms, etc), and I've found the difference to be especially notable with Italian and Japanese things. Even just basic stuff, like proper designations/nomenclature; many Italian small arms' names being very "Americanized" in English material, the proper spacing in German designations (Bf 109, MG 42, etc) being ignored, Japanese info being wrong seemingly due to mixed up mistranslations passed around for ages as fact, and so on.
I suppose it's often the stuff that's less to do with specific historical events and "sources", but rather basic linguistic/national standards.
The picture at 1:40 is of Lieutenant Colonel Simon Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and Chieftain of Clan Fraser, CO of No 4 Commando disembarking at Newhaven Docks carrying his personal 6.5mm M1892 Steyer-Mannlicher after the Dieppe Raid in 1942. "“It was a rifle I had done a lot of shooting with, and I was dead accurate with it.”
"Nimble and light, Steyr Models 1892 and 1893 were exceedingly popular stalking rifles in the British Isles from the turn of the 20th century and throughout the interwar years.
The 6.5 mm round is exceedingly accurate and perfect for medium-size game. Re-barreled many times over throughout the decades for competition, from 6.5 mm to .303 British, then to .303 Magnum, and again to 7.62x51 mm NATO in the 1960s, this turn-of-the- century rifle has shown both its flexibility and its inherent ability for robustness and precision. It is little wonder then why Lord Lovat chose to carry such a useful rifle with which he was so familiar."
"Simon “Shimi” Fraser, the 15th Lord Lovat (the 17th de facto), was one of the most brilliant tacticians Britain produced during World War II. A fine gentleman, a superb soldier and a commando leader, Lovat was once referred to by Winston Churchill as “the mildest-mannered man that ever scuttled a ship or cut a throat.”"
British Army officers was expected to provide their own side arms, the only stipulation being the weapon must fire standard British ammunition - Fraser was probably stretching things a bit, although aboard a vessel stuffed with men armed to the teeth, what was the problem? Additionally, speaking as an old officer, if a lieutenant colonel is having to engage the enemy personally, things have absolutely gone to shit and a disaster is looming. His job is to direct the battle, not get involved in firefights
Unless he's
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Carton_de_Wiart
Yeah, but when you see a problem, sometimes it's just quicker & easier to take care of it yourself rather than directing someone else to do it. The time saved by quickly doing it yourself could save the lives of a lot of your soldiers & cause the skirmish to go your way instead of the enemies way.
(Sorry for the necro-posting)
And then there's the nutter who brought a longbow, a basket-hilted broadsword, and bagpipes.
Over FIVE HOURS of Drydock this weekend?! Holy crap this might take me a few days.
I have to make an effort to finish before the next one.
Prior to deployment, the captain of the USS Henry B Wilson, Glenn Beree, allowed any of the ship's crew to bring a single firearm aboard. They had to be checked in at the quarterdeck and we kept them in the aft gun locker. This was done for, 'steel beach picnics' - those Sunday afternoons when we'd grill burgers on the fantail, sunbathe and just relax. We'd bring out the clay pigeons and anyone that wanted to shoot was welcome to do so- with their own weapons or the ships small arms. afterwards, we'd check them all back in- we were not allowed to bring personal weapons ashore during deployment.
So Drach, when did you first meet your old friend Square Cubed Law?
You seem to know each other very well and I hope Mrs Drach doesn't get too upset with the two of you talking the night away😁
51:55 yeah plus Drach, at the end of the day, Shinano is the war grave for the 1,435 who died aboard her when she sank
Pride was their weakness
Thanks for answering my question about sails catching fire under steam! I never thought about wetting down the sails or filters in the funnels.
Green Sea Ships, on a visit to SS Great Britain I noted that the Forestay of one of the masts ran over the top of the Funnel. On asking if this caused problems with catching fire, I was told that they change the rigging layout several times in her first few years of service. If you look at the photo that was shown with this answer you can see that the single forestay to the leading mast was replaced by 2, one running either side of the funnel down to shrouds.
Thanks for all the great content!
Speaking about Bismarck and colonialism: He wasn't a fan of them and wanted Germany to concentrate the resources on Europe. He only "pushed" for them because he saw it as a prestige object when all neighbours had them. And he sorted it out in the most resource efficient way possible: A conference where Europe's nations agreed on their territories.
Edit: There also are other German ships with names used in WW2, they are just cities/states. Schleswig-Holstein, famously opened WW2 in Europe, is now a frigate. Emden, Köln and Karlsruhe were used on previous ships as well and there are currently covertes named after the cities under construction. And just cities and states because after the 3 ship Lütjens class destroyers from the 60s people's names aren't used anymore. And considering they were named after Lütjens, Mölders and Rommel, that isn't a surprising reaction as well. So no matter what a person did, they won't become the namesake of a German ship. Unless they founded a city, named it after themselves and it becomes a major city like Karl III. Wilhelm von Baden-Durlach did, because he founded Karlsruhe and named it basically Karl's calm
Maybe Karl's Rest would be a better translation?
Some German ships that are named after states like Bayern or Sachsen are named after the state and ships that carried the name before.
@@nichtvorhanden5928 I already mentioned states being namesakes though
French minelaying sub RUBIS was the highest scoring Allied minelayer "Throughout the war, Rubis made 22 operational patrols, laying nearly 683 mines and sinking some 21,000 GRT of shipping. With 22 ships sunk (14 of them German, including 12 warships), Rubis achieved the highest kill number in the FNFL" Ships sunk or damaged
1940
26 May 1940: Norwegian transport Vansø (54 BRT) hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E
28 May 1940: Norwegian sail ship Blaamannen (174 BRT), from Haugesund, hits a mine laid on 27 May and sinks at 59°28′00″N 05°12′00″E
31 May 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Jadarland (938 BRT), from Haugesund, hits a mine laid on 27 May and sinks at 59°28′00″N 05°12′00″E
10 June 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Sverre Sigurdssøn (1,081 BRT) hits a mine laid on 9 June off Herdla and sinks at 60°36′00″N 04°55′00″E
7 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Almora (2,433 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E. The ship survives.
24 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Kem (1,705 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E.
28 July 1940: Norwegian merchant ship Argo (413 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on 10 May and sinks at 58°21′00″N 06°01′00″E.
1941
21 August 1941: Rubis torpedoes and sinks the Finnish merchant ship Hogland (4,360 BRT) off Norway at 58°27′00″N 05°46′00″E.
1942
12 June 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4212 (formerly Marie Frans), 125 BRT, hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at 43°37′00″N 01°34′00″W.
26 June 1942: Vichy French tugboat Quand Même (288 BRT) hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at 43°37′00″N 01°35′00″W.
10 July 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4401 (formerly Imbrin), 339 BRT, hits a mine and sinks at 44°58′00″N 01°23′00″W.
18 August 1942: German Vorpostenboot V 406 (formerly Hans Loh), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 14 August and sinks at 45°03′00″N 01°34′00″W.
20 September 1942: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4448 (formerly: L 4148), 77 BRT, hits a mine laid on 5 June and sinks at 43°37′00″N 01°34′00″W.
1943
10 July 1943: German auxiliary minesweeper M 4451 (formerly Gauleiter A. Meyer), 652 BRT, hits a mine off Arcachon and sinks at 44°58′00″N 01°10′00″W.
1944
26 September 1944: German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1106 (formerly Grönland), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E.
27 September 1944:
German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1715 (formerly Lesum), 464 BRT, hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E
German merchant ship MS Cläre Hugo Stinnes 1 (5,295 BRT) hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E
Norwegian cargo ship Knute Nelson (5,749 BRT) hits a mine laid on 24 September and sinks at 58°45′00″N 05°24′00″E
27 October 1944: German Vorpostenboot V 5304 (formerly Seehund) hits a mine laid on 18 October at 60°55′00″N 04°40′00″E. The ship survives with heavy damage.
24 November 1944: Norwegian merchant ship Castor (1,683 BRT), from Egersund, hits a mine laid on the same day and sustain damage.
21 December 1944, off Norway:
German cargo ship Weichselland (formerly Latvian Gundega), 3,654 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks
German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1113 / KUJ 7, 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks
German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1116 / KUJ 11, 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks
German auxiliary submarine hunter UJ 1702 / KUJ 16, 970 BRT, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks
German minesweeper R 402, 140 t, hits a mine laid on 19 December and sinks
Characteristics
Class and type Saphir-class submarine
Displacement
761 long tons (773 t) (surfaced)
925 long tons (940 t) (submerged)
Length 65.9 m (216 ft)
Beam 7.1 m (23 ft)
Draught 4.3 m (14 ft)
Installed power
2 × 550 shp (410 kW) (electrical)
2 × 650 shp (480 kW) (diesel)
Propulsion
2 electrical engines
2 diesel
Speed
Surfaced: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Underwater: 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Range
7.000 nmi (12.964 km; 8.055 mi) at 7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph)
Submerged: 80 nmi (150 km; 92 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph)
Test depth 80 m (260 ft)
Complement 42
Armament
3 × 550 mm (21.7 in) torpedo tubes
2 × 400 mm (15.7 in) torpedo tubes
1 × 75 mm (3 in) deck gun
1 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) machine gun
2 × 8 mm (0.31 in) machine guns
32 naval mines
1:37:51 Yeah, I can imagine the policies have varied all the time about personal weapons on ships. I seen to remember Ryan of New Jersey saying that they in the 80s had a weapons locker where people could check their personal weapons while on board and then take them out for appropriate situations.
19:33 - "Without fuel, ship no go."
*SMS **_Seeadler_** laughs maniacally*
No Seeadler glares menacingly, Capt Count Von Luckner laughs maniacally
R-14 crawls in to get a word.
Here in Alaska, the only folks that seem to be offended by Eskimo are the city dwellers in Anchorage and the occasional college student. A short survey at the World Eskimo Olympics, held here in Alaska every year by the Tribes, seem to be fine with the name. Although the HMS part seems far too Continental for our Rebel sensibilities.
I took a family cruise in an Aegis cruiser. At one point they ship showed us a
demonstration of an emergency stop of forward progress. This was accomplished in a very short distance. I believe the ship was able to vary the prop pitch to actually be in reverse thrust. With this feature, the shaft rotation is always in one direction.
That''s great, for late 20th century navy ships. Storstad was a 19th century civilian ship loaded with coal, so would not be as responsive as a Vincennes class cruiser. RMS Empress of Ireland sank in 14 minutes.
Well on the Germany potentially having a fleet in the Washington treaty era, the Germans had determined that the 305 mm ships could be upgraded to a 320 mm and the shell handling system still handle it when they wanted to go bigger on the Königs but was too far along to change barbette's, so any of the still have Derrflinger/König scenarios they may have been upgraded if they couldn't be outright replaced for a long time because of the treaty
By the number of ships that the Japanese had at hand it was probably much better that Somerville was unable to carry out a night time strike. Especially considering how many carriers the Japanese had & the fact it's difficult to identify what ships are what during the night. It could have been very possible that Somerville's force's could have ended up with planes from 3 or 4 Japanese carriers bearing down on them right after sunrise. Which would have been a major disaster for the Royal Navy. Plus Warspite being attacked by numerous Japanese aircraft does not bare thinking about. Now, just maybe with those forces meeting up with the R-class battleships on the way out would have made for a much more difficult force for strike planes to contend with. It's still a "what if" scenario & I still don't understand why people always want to play "what ifs" when there are literally lots of battles that were just smaller actions that we don't know anything about. "What if" there are some smaller actions that I've never heard of happening? What if, you told us about some of them.
Paddle steamers might offer an advantage in having no propeller to foul, which is handy if they are used to tow sweeps. For example, HMS Algerine was supposed to join convoy KMS1 in October 1942, but required repair after its sweep had fouled a propeller.
But isn’t a paddle wheel essentially a side-mounted propeller writ large? Unless the design has the wheels within the boundary of the hull on the sides, you are adding another dimension of potential surface to foul.
Still, it’s an interesting idea (especially given the idea of the benefit of a shallow draft)…
@Scott not really, I understand what you mean though
IMO, this is the most interesting questions asked and answered episode!
Regarding axis ship names, Have a look at the current Italian Navy; Trieste, Cavour, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Andrea Doria, Caio Duillio...
A while back I asked Drach about ships with names that could be offensive to allies, bearing in mind that there is or has been USS Bonholme Richard, USS John Paul Jones, HMS Temeraire, HMS Victorious, HMS Agincourt. The Brits named a class of Sub the Trafalgar class, the States have the Ticonderoga class. I could go on, but generally as Drach said it's going to come down to how offensive the name will be to friends, enemies and your own populace...
I doubt we will see JMSDFS Kamikaze or FGS Bismarck anytime soon. But there is an Schleswig-Holstein
2:47:00 There is really big issue about controlling the Dead Sea.
Depending on the time of year, the Jordan River looks like the creek Little John is defending when Robin Hood meets him in Men in Tights.
02:31:46 - Drach, as an observation, in recent time (post your channels time I know, but I think its not too dissimilar in concept to earlier times), the big change I saw in paperwork is that as smaller Computers and PCs came in, the admin departments and personnel in each division started disappearing as the personnel could do the work themselves. I imagine as the general education levels of officers, then petty officers, then sailors in general became, paperwork both becomes more common but less of a problem as more people are involved with it.
Constellation CV64 had something like 200 fewer admin types off of the original crew number by the 2000 when I was aboard her, all of them replaced by PCs and other general automation.
second, the big thing now is the internet, when I got out in 2007 they were starting to reduce the admin departments further by shifting more of the personnel ashore and handling things via direct access or email and chat to a facility that could support an entire region or the whole navy. i imagine in previous eras it was much the same as communications technology changed things as the ships became less and less alone in the world.
For German ships, there were a Scharnhorst and Gneisenau after WW2. Hull numbers F212 and F213.
Both were training ships.
Scharnhorst was scrapped in 1989 and Gneisenau in '77
When it comes to alternate American amphibious assault targets in an alternate 1942, the short and long answer would revolve around three words: Japanese airfield construction.
Whenever a combatant advances and takes unimproved territory, especially islands, there is a period of extreme vulnerability before fortifications and power projection assets like harbors, naval bases and airfields can be set up. If an opponent catches wind of this as these assets are built, it could invite invasion.
Guadalcanal was specifically targeted because the Japanese began constructing what would become Henderson Field on 9 July 1942--both the threat posed by this airfield and the golden opportunity presented by seizing Henderson right after construction was completed but before IJNAF and IJAAF forces could arrive. Absent the construction of Henderson, the U.S. likely would have struck with a full Marine invasion wherever the Japanese would do the work for the Allies.
As to where this would be, there was the possibility of going straight at New Guinea, except the Australian Army and Air Force were already heavily engaged against the Japanese, so adding the USMC might have overtaxed the logistics hub that was developing in Townsville, QL., and would do nothing to protect the supply route from Calfornia to Queensland.
Operation R, the IGHQ (Imperial General Headquarters) strike on Rabaul and New Britain, commenced on 23 January 1942, was preceded by Operation Gi, the IGHQ attack on 8 December 1941 into the Gilbert Islands which coincided with the attack on Pearl Harbor, starting with the capture of Makin Island. Makin was probably the closest Japanese-controlled possession to the South Pacific Supply and Ferry Routes, which elicited the 17 August 1942 Marine Raid on Makin and culminated in the simultaneous Battles of Makin and Tarawa, commencing on 20 November 1943. Without the commitment of thousands of Marines on Guadalcanal, the 211 raiders could have been part of a much larger force to seize the Makin or the occupied Gilbert Islands altogether in August 1942.
But this would just be where the Americans and Australians could have come to blows with the Japanese in an alternate 1942, not where the Allies would have gone unopposed...because the answer to the latter was EVERYWHERE. Espiritu Santo in the New Hebridies became the main forward Allied naval anchorage once offensive operations commenced in the South Pacific, supported by logistics and repair facilities at Noumea in New Caledonia (and Australia itself in a pinch) on one side and Fiji, Samoa, Tonga on the other (routing supplies and aircraft from Oahu and California). The Ellice Islands also presented an opportunity for IGHQ to invade and then flank the Allies, leading to an unopposed invasion by the Marines in October 1942...and then there was Operation RY in August 1942, where IGHQ seized Nauru and the Ocean Islands. Absent the construction of Henderson Field, taking Nauru might have been an equivalent for the combatants.
But in an alternate 1942 where the Japanese ignore the Solomons, one might expect the Japanese to lose the war MUCH faster--a Japanese Henderson Field would have dominated the surrounding archipelagos (New Caledonia, New Hebridies, Ellice Islands, Gilberts, Fiji...), hence why the Japanese built it (and why the USMC seized it). Honestly, it was the only possible Japanese play for consolidating their gains in July 1942.
Not contesting the Solomons and Bouganville would have left New Britain and New Guinea open to massive American attack when the IJA was fully occupied with the Australians, and would have left the Gilberts hanging out to dry while threatening the Marshall Islands' flank. The Japanese needed to advance FARTHER, at least into the New Hebridies and New Caledonia, to make things more difficult for the Allies than it already was at the time. Guadalcanal was key for such an advance, hence the airfield construction in the Solomons and such fierce fighting over the possession of Henderson Field.
4:30 "The Thunderer", heh.
Edit - That was also a really good answer.
Re: Bringing personal arms onto the ship, Battleship New Jersey has a video on that subject for their ship.
This is crazy. But a live stream with Drachinifel as task force commander. And taking suggestions from US. Patreons. Whomever. Any time historically. Really thinking of a ww1 or ww2 bombardment mission on a destroyer. Just operating a ship thing
Hitler didn't micromanage warship design because he was too busy micromanaging Panther and King Tiger design
Not entirely. When KM began drafting Bismarck’s successor, he demanded guns larger than 15”.
Additionally his RoE for open water operations demanded long range and high ability against merchants and capital ships alike, which complicated the design process.
For the kast question... I would have said what the main big difference is.. that i think the asker was looking for...
Is how far we have come with automation...with the ability to mass produce.. and to build equipment that can mass produce. And tools that can help in the mass production
It's funny how the Richelieu question is a perfect example of what Drach talks about at 1:58:00
I'm an American. I actually like that the Japanese are reusing the names of some ships that gave great service, even if that service was against us. Being allied together nowadays, I'm glad that they're cottoning to what was a great history, even if at times they made that history against us.
When it comes to the all-forward ship design in question 1, what do you think about putting the second turret on the same level as the first and make the third superfiring?
I believe it's about keeping the rear guns as far from the bridge as possible when firing over the shoulder. Though that was still an issue with Rodney/Nelson.
When B is superfiring, it has 360^ rotation, greatly increasing “flexibility of firepower.”
Putting it at deck level restricts it to roughly same rotation arc as the other two - if all turrets are rotated abaft one beam, and must shift to the other, they must all rotate through the entire arc.
Even if C is superfiring, it does not have 360^ rotation - the first superstructure deck blocks it.
Mogami class was designed that way. Not sure if there were any other cruiser with similar designs.
I think some alternative designs that were not decided on also had the ABC, C superfiring layouts.
The way I've always regarded Wikipedia, is that it is good for a base understanding of commonly believed facts. Useful for a pub quiz level of understanding (mostly because that seams to be where pub quizzes get their info), but not something I would want to write on a research paper... if I ever wrote historical research papers.
It can be a useful place to get that base understanding along with additional *sources* to consult.
I agree with one provision!
If it involves anything that can be considered political, such as "climate change", political personages, and political movements, then it is relentlessly ɓiased!
But for a bar or pub discussion, it is probably accurate enough!
I will admit to using it when I need a quick reference, but it can be very biased!
Larry Sanger, one of the 2 founders of Wikipedia has publicly stated that Wikipedia has degenerated into garbage.
The two hour question. I have a friend who is Mohawk and would love to have Canada make some new Tribal Destroyers named after his tribe.
Anecdotal thing. But wanted to share
I am holding my breath for a run about "HMS Speedy Gonzalez". 😂
I wish to object. You choose not to count US forces at 2nd Naval Battle of Guadalcanal as being in a line of battle as 'it is hard to have a line of one.' The counter argument is of course, 'It counts as a line when one is enough.' Washington line of battle for the win.
I suspect a German ship called Bismarck parked next to a Royal Navy ship today would result in some intresting times in port.
The history of battleship design is a tug-of-war between highly skilled engineers who go "This is what we need and can afford." and the public who just goes "MOAR DAKKA!!!".
Follow-up question about the sails catching fire on steam powered ships- DId the crew of the HMS By Jove just not CARE about the sails catching fire and thus allow the ship to operate without baffles or filters in the funnels and never wetting the sails down?
If Shinano was raised the Drach and the rest of the Naval History brigade would be in Japan at light speed!
Don't forget Azur Lane fans
@@DesertWarFeelz Azur Lane fans are the most down worse of the naval community
@@thelogicmatrixBut they pay good
I come here for my first "whilst" of the day. Took only 3 minutes this time!
I find it plausible that Admiral Somerville could intercept and sink Hiryu and Soryu but that the admittedly very low probability positive aftermath fails on the assumption that Nagumo doesn't know what happened. The two Japanese carrier aren't going to be mysteriously sunk without a trace. They would radioe Nagumo and tell him they are under surface attack and plead for help. This is what is known as flaming datum. Nagumo now knows where Somerville's forces are and reacts accordingly, Nagumo's most likely reaction would be to send a surface force to assist the two carriers and then withdraw the rest of Kido Butai away the British while preparing for a morning strike. The mostly like outcome is going to be a trade of the British surface attack force for the Hiryu and Soryu and maybe he bags the two British carriers as well. I would call that a positive exchange for IJN. It would put a crimp in Japanese futures plans. Midway probably would not happen but is that bad thing?
Give that the Japanese had the two Shokakus during Operation C, in that scenario we’re probably going to see a Shokakus vs. Illustriouses matchup, which would be an interesting contrast with all the historical Shokakus vs. Yorktowns matchups.
Thank you.
50:30- ROV is the term for unmanned robot submersibles. Remotely Operated Vehicle.
I wish you’d speak about jazz bands like you’ve done episodes on ice cream. They do that with jazz bands to this day and poor Glenn Miller. I just saw a band under a turret last July 4. So awesome. Besides signals can you elaborate on the jazz bands on carriers and battleships. Oh. A turret on New Jersey. A band. Under three 16” with fireworks. Could Lauch em 16 miles so. I have them pointed at those Quaker’s in Philly just in case. New Jersey is awesome. It’s a good ship too.
How close did Nelson get in chasing down the french fleet that ran to the Caribbean and back? Was it superior seamanship or ship design that allowed it?
On the topic of warships names, I would add another criteria: Was the ship's predecessor the scene of and the ship's company/officers responsible for any specific war crimes (as opposed to the more general 'started a war without properly declaring it')? If so, then the name should probably be considered disgraced and not reused.
top 5 living the dream !!!
Regarding the paperwork questions, I suspect that being at peace increases the volume of paperwork substantially. In war, you can judge officers by combat results. In peace, you mostly just have the spit-and-polish stuff to go on.
Well one name I’d definitely pass on for modern German ships is defiantly Bülcher….not because of the guy who fought at Waterloo but because the last two ships named Blûcher were sunk because of bad handling in battle. So let’s just say very unlucky !
A long shot but does anyone know of a site or book that would have the deck plans for a Derfflinger class? Always wanted to take a look for myself at their compartmentalization below decks. Iron Dog has always been my favourite WW1 ship.
Hi drach? What happened after the naval treaty with Japan after the washington treaty? Did the RN simply stop cooperating? Did the Japanese throw a hissy fit? Were there no backdoor moves by the diplomats? Seems as soon as the naval treaty was quashed , japan became pacific enemy no. 1? Did nobody see a hostile japan as a realistic threat?
I wonder if repudiation of the Anglo-Japanese "Treaty" was a condition of the Washington Treaty?
Some of the 'classic' German warship names, have already been recycled, if in a slightly reduced format, with the transfer of Black Swan sloops to the West German Navy in the 1950s. Graf Spee (ex-Flamingo), Hipper (Actaeon), Scheer (Hart) and Scharnhorst (Mermaid) must have been considered sufficiently uncontaminated as early as 1957/8.
Back then the german armed forces where a tad more errr... conservative than they where in the late 80s
In your opinion why are the reports on the sinking of hms glorious still classified?
It is interesting to consider the question of ships boys, especially to begin from it's being a good idea rather than a bad idea. If it really had been a bad idea, surely it wouldn't have lasted so long and it wouldn't be discussed still.
We should be aware that the life of a 10, 11 year old boy was vastly different in 17th century compared to the 21st century boy. And likewise we can't consider it from the perspective of a 21st century parent scanning through a list of government approved activities for their son today.
This system would have been one of only a few avenues of opportunity to learn reading and writing possible for the poor. In even earlier centuries, the Church did a lot of this.
Have you heard any news about the Spanish treasure galleon they found off Columbia? Around there. I think it’s Columbia. Because that ship is falls with the scope of the channel I hope we get more good new. It’s just past Halloween here. I hope you are aloud to document it.
When entering and exiting any channel or any other area of waterway with restricted access it is reasonable to expect there to be limitations on any ship's maneuverability under modern interpretations if both ships are powered it is reasonable to expect the larger ship to have more restrictions placed on where it can go due to issues with depth of channel etc. In a modern situation as codified in 1972 with COLREGS, the Norwegian Collier is 100% at fault while the rules of ships entering and exiting a passage have varied over the years the principle has always been that any ship that has greater limitations on where it can go in confined waters in attempting to avoid a collision this vessel is the stand-on vessel and in this situation, the collier is automatically the give-way vessel. As for Avoiding a collision at sea the vessel which is the stand-on vessel is under NO obligation to do anything to avoid a collision especially if they have limitations on where they can go i.e. their draft restricts them to certain parts of a passage.
As I understand it, the critical factor that led the enquiry to put most of the blame on the Storstad was that her captain admitted ordering a change of course after losing sight of the Empress of Ireland, although the reason he gave was that the Empress had begun altering course towards the Storstad just before entering the fog (something which the Empress's captain denied).
Parts that will wear out fast can be dealt with by increased maintenance and early replacement.
re personal weapons crew in some age of sail were prohibited from carrying pointed personal knives to prevent knife fighting. IIRC this prohibition lasted past WWII in some navies. (My pusser's dirk has a marline spike that would work fine as a stabbing weapon.)
I wasn't previously aware of William IV's work as Lord High Admiral. It sounds as though he had a similar effect as his elder brother, Prince Frederick, had as commander-in-chief of the army - unable to take up a field command for political reasons, Frederick was able to use the HRH in front of his name as a battering ram to drive through necessary reforms.
I would propose that the US would have continued up the Solomons. It would be the fastest way to threaten Rabaul with land based air power, to eliminate its ability to support operations on new guinea. Doubt that rabaul would be used by the Japanese to project forces into the central Pacific, truk and or kwajelein were in a better position to do that.
As for small arms, the plans for the Bagley class of destroyers (built in the 1930s) show a small arms locker just outside the hatch leading between the wardroom and most of the officers' quarters. The locker contains a dozen rifles and pistols, along with some ammunition, holsters, etc.; each of the officers has a key to this locker. Somewhere much more "out of the way" in the vessel would be secure storage for the rifles (or submachine guns, shotguns, etc.), bayonets and ammunition for the ship's landing/boarding force.
Think there was a question about using a smokestack as a mast. I thought of the comet a British 4 side wheeler did use its stack as a mast setting a square sail. 1812 said to be comercial success
The one thing I can say about Wikipedia that is a positive note when it comes to ships, is the basic information. Their design specifics like guns, engines, length, excetera excetera
You can fire oil in a coal fired boiler but you can’t fire coal in an oil fired boiler. Just the oil burners need to be added in place of the stoke hole.
Unmanned underwater vehicles are generally called ROVs or ROUVs: Remotely Operated (Underwater) Vehicles.
the British are Robin because the Americans are Batman
Prinz Eugen has the advantage of originally being an Austrian shipname (one of the Tegetthoff dreadnoughts), only appropriated by Germany later.
And the person himself was of mixed Polish and Austrian heritage, if I remember my history correctly.
Now I'm curious to how USS Hornet would look like with a Japanese style paint scheme and a Hinomaru painted on the Deck.
I also can't stop imagining USS Hornet at the Philippine Sea on the Japanese side.
Japanese carrier deck paint scheme is a really nice looking one.
Following USS Stewart, I bet they would change the funnel a bit too
She would be high on the USN’s hit list for that battle.
In the Age of Sail if the enemy's ship-of-the-line which who was captured it would be used against their own-navy October 25TH 1812 the HM Frigate Macedonian which who was captured by US Frigate United-States which who was focusing on the masts and the rigging and Hey Presto one brand-new US Frigate on the Beginning Of the Civil-War the United-States and the Macedonian which who burnt Shame
I'm wondering what _name_ they would give it!
Re: substitution. The RN changed the burners on many ships (including the KGV's) to get adequate performance out of inferior oil. The USN used locomotive diesels to avoid making reduction gearing. (plywood in stead of aluminum in aircraft not naval). There was a lot of substitution and strategic adaptation.
Where (in which ships) did USN use locomotive diesel engines instead of steam turbines with reduction gearing?
@@dougjb7848 Most of the destroyer escorts, some of the CVE's. . .
@@skeltonpg
Most DEs?
Evarts (97 completed) and Cannon-class (72): locomotive-derived diesel driving generators
Buckley-class (148): Two Foster-Wheeler Express "D"-type water-tube boilers driving GE generators.
Edsall (85): locomotive-derived diesels driving propellers via gearing.
Rudderow (21): steam-driven turbo-electric
Butlers (83): steam turbine and geared machinery
Dealey (13) steam turbine and geared machinery
Nothing else built in high number until the 46 Knox, which used steam turbine and gearing.
So about 250 of DEs used locomotive diesels, ~ 45% of some 560 built.
@@dougjb7848 They built diesel (254) and turbo electric (169) until gearing became available then switched to gearing. They substituted for gearing for 423 ships using mostly diesel and built another 83 (the Dealeys are a decade late) in the way they'd have built them all if the materials had been available. Incidentally the gearing for the Edsalls was not of the type required for a steam turbine.
@@skeltonpg
Your original comment was that “most DEs used locomotive diesels instead of steam boiler.”
If you’re going to change to “most DEs used some form of non-steam power to drive generators, rather than any kind of power driving reduction gearing,” then yes that’s accurate.
Turbo or diesel electric drive also has the advantage that it’s more flexible. Ships can alter shaft RPM much more quickly than turbine and gearing, helping them to stalk UBoats.
As far as trying to make battleship armor these days, I would be surprised if any of the western countries had the tools needed to build the tools to make the armor, so to speak. The methods for building the facilities to make the armor would have to be re-developed as well as the methods for making the armor. The lead time in the first plates would be measured in years rather than months(ie, somewhere over 60-84 months is where that transition tends to be).
I want to see how you would handle this... if and when you get the urge to try.
Challenge: Planning an all iron hull battleship class with an iron clad cruiser class to support it.
they will be built for the Baltic.
Cutcorner and jerry rigged construction with the cheapest hull materials available.
Best guns... possibly most of the cost. stripped down to functioning without all the "fancy stuff" if needed to make it work.
Good enough engine. keep up with the other ships good enough as the mark.
period of time: when Iron clads powered along with early all metal hull ships.
builders and operators/orderers do not have to be the same navy/nation. go ham with the espionage history lore if you like.
...
i get wierd ideas when bored.
Richard Orta; Just get them built in foreign yards or for someone else's order. Confederate ships wound up all over the world!
27:13 With regards to FDR, I think you understate his influence in selected areas. I believe in Friedman's US Destroyer's book, he writes about FDR's involvement in destroyer design, which surprised me. In Clay Blair's U-Boat History (I forget which volume ), he writes about a 1941 meeting that King had with FDR to push DE's. King lost that discussion. FDR wanted next generation of WW I subchasers with which he had been involved during 1917-1918. But bottom line, he did nothing, according to Blair, because politically he feared the electorate's reaction to an obvious preparation for war.
I have heard that FDR was a strong proponent of the Alaskas.
I wonder how a titanium steel alloy armor would fare compared to traditional face hardened cemented armor 🤔
Titanium is not stronger than steel, just lighter.
@Roger Smith strength is not everything when it comes to armor. You actually need need a fair bit of elasticity to help absorb the impact. Plus, if a steel/titanium composition can produce something at least equal to traditional face hardened armor at equivalent thicknesses while also being lighter. That alone would be a boon for things like deck and turret armor that make up a fair deal of a gun ship's top weight.
@@rogersmith7396
To add more to what you wrote, there are many factors and forces involved in how one type of armour performs compared to another.
The strongest known alloy steels in their strongest tempers are stronger than the strongest titanium alloys in their hardest temper.
55:53 What? No mention of the incomperable Skua? I am shocked!
I would be shocked if they didn't harden the wear surfaces on machinery. Carborizing was well understood then and its still commonly used in machinery and gears now. I do it every week
Does anyone else play the Drach drinking game? Every time he says “the square cubed law” in a dry dock…
The Germans named a Destroyer after Rommel, I can remember seeing when I was in teh US Navy, 73-77.
You talk about French stubborn-ness, and I don't disagree - but surely that was nothing compared to 'I am a Pole' attacking Bismarck!
The Polish trait is Leeroy Jenkins 😀
The most basic instruction for collision avoidance is in a an end on, or near end on situation, both vessels shall alter course to starboard. The Empress of Ireland did not do this.
How are you getting the ‘extra gun’ on the R class with the triple turret change? (Based on the 3 turrets in first image).
So the floppy of war has been procured? What about your research assistant?
Whats the earliest naval record youve come across in Kew or Grenwich? Scrolls?
Aloha; well done sir! mahalo
I would find it kind of funny if Germany made a Dönitz submarine class.
I'll chime in on the wikipedia kerfuffle.
wikipedia is a great resource *as a starting point*.
it is, like any encyclopedia, a compendium,
with the added wrinkle of being user editable.
Doesn't the required thickness of the base plate in armour depend to some extent on its tensile strength? If so wouldn't the advances in high strength materials provide an approach to reducing plate thickness?
skeltonpg; not always. When the switch was made from iron to steel (I maybe wrong on the exact metals) plates were made thinner because of the increased strength. Unfortunately, it was found that both rusted at the same rate. This led to the thinner high strength material failing earlier than expected as it had rusted through.
@@chrissouthgate4554 I think you are talking about plating, not armour. When the switch was made from wrought iron to steel armour the thickness was several inches. I am unaware of any iron or steel armour failures or replacements caused by corrosion. Improvements in our understanding of high strength remains a possible approach.
2:07:21
Creosote build up ?
I need a bucket .
And perhaps a hose.
Just one little thin mint too, perhaps?
@@kmech3rd
Is it only … wah’fer thin?
Do they have Remotely Operated Vehicles small enough to enter a ship wreck and not get snagged up.
Falklands coaling station? Was this the remotest naval station? Was it pemanent manned by naval personnel?
I mean the germans name their Tank classes in a direct line to the ww2 tanks ... Panther->Tiger->Leopard...
Yeah, in my personal opinion the US Navy never really fought a typical line of battleships type engagement even at Surigao Strait considering that by the time the Japanese ships encountered US Navy battleships there was only one Japanese battleship left so even though the US Navy was arranged in a battle line formation the one Japanese battleship left can hardly be considered an opposing battle line. Therefore the US Navy never really participated in a "typical line of battle" with their battleships. And when operating in typical line of battle with cruisers they were usually met with a large amount of long lance torpedoes causing catastrophic consequences for most of the sailors aboard, or at least during the Guadal Canal campaign. And this was usually due to some incompetent rear Admiral showing up & not knowing his business enough to allow his ships to fire upon enemy ships at the earliest possible moment.
☆☆☆When studying Naval doctrine the US Navy at Guadal Canal should be looked at very closely as to "what NOT to do" when a Navy all of a sudden finds that it's at war. While inexperience could maybe justify the losses at the 1st Battle of Savo Island, after that, the only excuse is ignorance of an enemy that has fully shown that it is VERY CAPABLE. And, even in the First Battle of Savo Island, A Captain not knowing & understanding the full capability of his ships radar and believing that it makes the ship vulnerable in some way during the night & orders it to be turned off. This ignorance confounds me. And I'm not sure if it's the Navy's fault for not teaching him properly or if it was simply his fault for not learning the truth of it's capability. It would seem the latter considering Admiral Lee was able to use the Washington's radar & guns to devastating affect upon Kirishima saving the South Dakota from further salvos from the Japanese war ship.
But also, sending a ship to that area with an Admiral aboard that out ranks the Admiral already on that station is a bit counter productive considering the Admiral already there should have a better idea of his surroundings. And a better understanding of previous actions. Ànd it also seems that neither of these Admirals would ever know the true capabilities of the radars that were on the ships around them.
Considering that "Roger" meant "yes" & also meant "receipt of transmission" would at least let the ships that had a target start firing at said target would at least save some of the ships & some of the sailors aboard. Even though the 2 Admirals would both be lost. And although the Guadal Canal campaign was a huge embarrassment for the US Navy imho the major saving grace for US Forces in the area was the US Marine Corp. Because they were able to hold the airstrip against Japanese forces on the island they were also able to form the Cactus Air Force. I imagine at first it was a logistical nightmare to populate the area with planes, fuel, bombs & torpedoes. But it also made for huge deterant for enemy supply ships that were not capable of a lot of speed. Cuz although supply ships could make it there under the cover of darkness they would just be beginning to unload at sunrise & get bombed out of existence by the Cactus Air Force. Which is one part of the war that I have ever heard little about. The logistics of the Cactus Air Force. How did they get their first planes? How did the get replacement planes? Fuel? Bombs? Food? Were they able to create underground bunkers for large fuel tanks? & bombs? & AA ammunition & food stores? Or was everything above ground & vulnerable to sea to land bombardment? Or aircraft bombing? How quickly were they able to set up radar installations? And how often was it damaged and/or replaced with newer & better radar?
Any chance of Germany re-using the names Sharnhorst or Gniecenau names do you think?
16:21 What is this ship?! Which navy? When was it taken? Now my curiosity has been raised enough to bother me, but not enough to look through hundreds of battleship photos trying to identify it.
HMS Vanguard being fitted out
@@Drachinifel Thank you. Everything on the ship looks so huge!
I’ve only been on one battleship, the USS Massachusetts, in the mid 70’s when I was a young teen. Sadly, the only thing I remember is that large road bridge overshadowing the whole site 😭