Now that i think about it, how useful would the Graf Zeppelin, for all its design flaws have been in supporting the Tirpitz and all the other german ships in the operations against the arctic convoys?
You said that she wore out her guns twice doing shore bombardments. Did ships with smaller guns have to go to port in order to replace their guns. Or was it possible to do this away from port with support ships. Or could they maybe even bring spare gunbarrels them selves?
What was the thinking of Dönitz and BDU from late 1942 onwards when even though the U-Boats where sinking ever more ships, their losses were also mounting. Did they think the losses weren't sustainable or did they believe that they could be offset by the months full of allied losses such as in November '42 and March '43?
To be fair, the Emerald had been shot to pieces and sunk as a target ship, so the fact that they refloated her and then broke her down for scrap is an improvement over leaving her to rust on the seabed. Enterprise, OTOH, yeah, that seems like she should have been turned into a museum ship or somesuch.
True, but you can't keep every ship as a museum piece, there are many many needs for the contents of the public purse. Sadly, quite a few more important than old ships.
Is it that hard to have some respect military horses? Let me tell you a story from where I live, Saint-Jean sur Richelieu in Québec, when the Canadian cavalry unit, which was based in this city where the Royal Military College now stands, sold off their horses due to the mechanization of the army, they downright refused to sell the oldest horse they had since he served the CAF for pretty much all of its life and didn’t want him to just be sold off, and so he was given a dignified death on parade and buried somewhere on the military owned land of the time (they are actually Looking for his corpse to erect a memorial in its honor. Also, here’s another story from Saint-Jean, remember the USS Enterprise? The OG sailing vessel from 1775, not the LEGENDARY CV from WW2. Yeah, it was built and stolen from here as well.
@@whtalt92 Gee, it's almost like they had to keep paying off the debts they'd run up during the war that allowed them to survive, and spend even more to rebuild shattered industries and bomb-scarred cities. (tho to be fair, I don't think British industry in general was ever the same after WW2...but then, that goes beyond the scope of this channel, and I prefer to be a gracious guest here and not provoke my host's ire)
The thought of a fleet of RN museum ships is alluring and beautiful. But its more alluring and beautiful that Britain chose to salvage their economy and build enough houses for everyone instead
Enterprise. The best name for a ship ever. Every Enterprise, American or British, has performed exemplary. Naval ship or space shuttle, Enterprise is an auspicious and honored name.
@@captbumbler5356 Warspite is definitely an honored name. At the Battle of Matapan on 28 Mar 1941, battleships Barham, Valiant, and Warspite and other ships sank three Italian cruisers and two destroyers. In May 1941, she was damaged off Crete by German dive bombers. Overall, the Royal Navy has the best ship names, eclipsing even America's ship names, though of course there were/ are many similar names in both navies as America was British at one time. Of course, ships and captains that perform with distinction can increase the honor of their ship's name. Ie: HMS Victory, USS Johnston DD 557, HMS Golden Hind, HMS Vanguard, USS and HMS Enterprise (all).
@@rich7787 It is intriguing how capable many of the immediate post-Great-War ships were going into WW2. If ships were sentient, I could totally see HMS Enterprise being that older middle-aged man character that has a supporting role in most every war film; strong, no-nonsense, weather-worn but still handsome, and plenty able to throw it down with the young "boys" he is among. So what if Enterprise had some grey-hairs and you could hear its metaphorical knees creaking as its boilers worked up, it was plenty up to contributing to Britannia ruling the seas.
Thank you Drachinifel. My father who is 95 served as a seaman boy on Emerald from 1942 until 1944, including Indian convoys and DDay. He's very frail and I suspect the last living crew member.
Yeah its my favorite. You actually need to be capable of thinking and breathing at the same time to get the most out of the British CL line, which isn't the case a lot of the time with other lines lately.
Very successful designs given their WW1 ancestry. The fact their forward looking specification and capabilities (plus upgrades) made them useful throughout WW2 is a testament to that. Great looking ships too - hard to imagine them as WW1 design era really!
I’ve been waiting for this one! The Spanish Almirante Cervera class was based on the E-class, and like their cousins (I assume there’s a more appropriate word?), they were fine-looking ships.
They carried the heaviest torpedo battery of any RN ship and were the fastest torpedo armed vessels in the RN - an aggressive combination by any standard. And RN fish were good - reliable, straight running, no nonsense about magnetic pistols and with 800 pounds of TNT replaced by TORPEX (50 percent greater explosive power than TNT) in the same league as the vaunted Long Lance - as ARA Belgrano found to her sorrow. Imagine them in a night engagement in the Med against the Italians. I guess their weak AA suite kept then in the East Indies.
I loved them in the old SSI Fighting Steel game, their speed and torpedoes made them very dangerous, especially at night. Of course no air to worry about :-)
Hey Drach, nice to see another video but we haven't forgotten that your grandfather died only a week ago. So if you want to take some more time than usual I'm sure people would understand :)
I was hyped for this! Thank you for delivering. This was my favourite ship to play in Navy Field - as a anti-air escort for carriers and battleships with twin 5.25s. Glad to see history isn't forgetting the real thing.
My fave Tier 5 cruiser in world of warships, got a kraken in fast sucession in this thing torped cruisers and blasting Destroyers lol They look so nice an sleek
Thank you for this vid on one of my favorite RN classes - I have always found these to be lovely vessels representing an interesting period of design transition. More importantly, Drach, take to heart the warm best wishes of your supporters and please take time for yourself and family, in dealing with your own transition in the manner that best suits you!
Love these videos Drach, thanks. My father and grandfather were both Navy men and living in Plymouth, initially near the Ernesettle R.N. ammo compound and later in the city, a day out as a lad would be a picnic on Plymouth Hoe when word got around that such and such a ship or ships were due into Plymouth harbour. I remember the annual Navy Days very well and the competition between the Devonport and Portsmouth gun crews. When my turn came to join (the FAA) in 1970 I was politely turned away due to the general downscaling of the Navy and the aircraft carriers in particular. As an impetuous youngster I decided to try my luck flying with the Army who always had good relations with any Navy FAA squadron or shipboard Wasp or Lynx that would occasionally be attached to us for tasking. Speaking to the guys on the ground during anti-terrorist ops during the 70's and 80's in N.I., they were always relieved to know it was either a Navy or Army helicopter that would be tasked to support, or return them to base reliably, regardless of the weather. 🙂
Thanks Drach This is probably been answered in a drydock but was there any reason cruisers stuck with single guns so long? given the advantages of a twin turrets, and the fact turrets had been used on BB;s for decades, why not on the larger protected cruisers?
Machinery mostly. It took up a lot of room. And essentially left just the edges of the ship to work with. When the power plants got smaller you could fit the larger turrets and corresponding multi deck deep barbettes in.
Weight it´s one of the reasons. The CP XIV mount (single gun) weights 15 tons. The Twin mount of an Omaha Cruiser, 52 tons.. The twin mount of a Leander, with his fancy 75 degrees high, 92 tons
Japanese Cruisers: We have the Enterprise, nothing can save that RN cruiser. VB-6 & VT-6 introduce them to our lord and savior the 1000 lb GP bomb, multiple times. Aboard the Japanese life boats: You said it was the Enterprise! But commander, that admitted they were the Enterprise!
Pity about Admiral King’s apocalyptic hatred of the Royal Navy. As a joint operation involving both Enterprises to mentally mess with the IJN general staff would be hilarious.
@@dwgray9000 pretty sure i seen a 20mm oerlikon video on his channel, yes. (and - bluntly- drach is good but im sure he will admit Ian knows guns better than he does....)
Great video many thanks. To eccles milligan, My father also served on Emerald during that time period, JL Wootton. "The REPLY Tags are not working as well". Kind regards David Wootton.
great video! i've always had a lot of interest with HMS Emerald ever since i ran upon a picture of her, my grandfather took, while she was serving on the Yangtze River in China a really long time ago. My grandparents were in China from 1925 - 1932 and my mom was born there in Shanghai. Still have the photo, its B&W, not sure the exact date he took it, need to fine the photo album it had been in, might have more specific date in it.
I'm always amazed that the E class wasn't used in the Med. They were the most heavily torpedo armed ships of the RN - and British torpedoes were good, exhibiting none of the problems the USN and KM fish had, with the adoption of Torpex in 1942 they had a greater blast effect than the vaunted "Long Lance" (a term never used by the IJN, but a post war invention by Samuel Elliott Morrison) as 800 pounds of Torpex has the effect of 1200 pounds of TNT while the Type 92 had a 1100 pound TNT warhead - as well as being the fastest so armed - an aggressive combination by any standard. Imagine what they could have done in night actions against the Regia Marina.
Drach, Have you done a piece on the USCG Treasury Class cutters? These were some very fine ships with long service histories and stellar combat records.
Okay, I thought that the Royal Navy and the USN had an agreement not to use the same name for ships in their respective fleets to avoid confusion. This one surprised me, especially since both HMS Enterprise and USS Enterprise served in the same the-at-er.
@@silverhost9782 there have been 15 HMS Enterprise, the 1st in 1705, the 1st USS Enterprise was actually the captured HMS Enterprize in 1775. The Latest HMS Enterprise was launched in 2002. If you watch Star Trek "Enterprise" in the lead in Graphics, it goes through various 'Enterprise' ships , the 1st ship is actually one of the HMS Enterprise's. I remembering watching this and thinking hey the USS Starship Enterprise is named after a RN Ship. Note : i just found it online, so it is the "HMS Enterprize" , i.e the one captured ,and the 1st USS Enterprise. Strange that they used the prior RN name and not the 1st USS naming. you didn't ask this question did you :)
I'm not sure where you got that from, but it doesn't seem to be true. Even today, there's an HMS Enterprise in the Royal Navy while the Americans are building another USS Enterprise.
I'm watching this in a city of 5 million people which was founded by settlers disembarked from a small schooner named Enterprize (with a z). Melbourne has grown a lot since then.
@@davidrenton Side note from a guy whole lives in Saint-Jean sur Richelieu in Québec:I’m living basically 5 minutes away from where the OG USS Enterprise was stolen from, which is where the current Royal Military College now stands… and my dad worked there as a teacher for a couple of years until he retired from military service on July 1st this year after serving the country for 36 and a half years.
yay one of my fav classes of tween war cruisers. so my question is which ship is better the twin gun turret or the 2 single guns up front....I think it's obvious the turret is a better idea or at last the start of a better idea but the REAL hero is actually the Danae class before this which FINALLY sees them put all the guns centre line instead of doubling up and putting 1 gun on each side of the ship to cover one position. So 6 guns covered the same broadside fields of fire as 12 had before.
Actually, the generally accepted wisdom was that two single guns had a greater rate of fire than a twin as the crew for two guns got in each others way
At the time the Brits weren't sure whether twin turrets for a light 6" gun would be better than two single mounts, that's why they built Enterprise as a one-off. Dr Clarke (AC Naval History) did a longer video on the E class, and noted that Enterprise was brought back to the UK on a regular basis so the RN could evaluate how the turret was working.
Still disappointed Enterprise didn't get to serve in the Pacific past 1944 when the British were more committed there, would have loved to see her in one of the joint task forces as an escort so she could be with her namesake in the USN.
I like the hull and the torps, but can't help thinking that the superstructure and guns should have been removed and redone to get rid of the single gun mounts and replaced as all twin.
That would likely necessitate either going down a couple of inches or completely ripping out the barbettes which would put the ship out of action for a few months as there would need to be work put into keeping the ship from being unbalanced by the change in weight that going from singles to doubles would cause
@@Sathzur I'm thinking 3 twin mounts 1 in front and two in back (similar to the German Konigsberg class). They almost certainly went in for a refit in the 30's it could have been done then. Enterprise already had the front mount.
Kind of: the bombardement group of Utah beach was commanded by Admiral Alan G. Kirk (USN). So a veteran might have assured his grandchildren were listening by starting with "There I was bombarding the Nazis aboard the Enterprise under Admiral Kirk."
do navies sail with ammo ships or does the ammo meet them when they need reloading after battles same with other supplies, is there a ship with them acting like a floating warehouse?
@@davidmoore1253 That's what I figured but not everyone is gonna have a convenient island to stage from depending on the war so its either sail back or refuel and reload on the move. Ships are refueled at sea aren't they? One could just have the ammo and fuel meet somewhere for resupply but sailing back is loss of time and gains.
@@davidmoore1253 "The moving ships maintain synchronized speeds and courses because pallets - stacked 5 feet high and carrying hundreds of pounds of supplies - are traveling across cables from one ship to another. This is replenishment at sea, and it is how Navy ships resupply and refuel without pulling into port." my question isn't that crazy
@@robert48044 Wasn't saying it was crazy, sorry if I sounded dismissive. I only meant that ships usually leave their operational station for replenishment, because it's too dangerous to expose the replenishment vessel to attack. They carry a large cargo, the loss of which could affect the entire theatre of operations.
@@davidmoore1253 sorta the same question I have is after battle how combat readiness is decided. Logistics and maintenance aren't quite as sexy so they never get mentioned.
1:20 time mark. HMS Enterprise, Captain Kirk no doubt on the bridge attempting to make out ENS Chekhov's attempts at English. While a worried Mr. Scott simply face-palms.
Gun barrels last longer than they used to, but high-performance guns still wear them out, especially if fired at a high rate of fire for too long (overheating the barrel).
@@rupertboleyn3885 I would imagine shore bombardment is very hard on guns, as you are likely to fire off your ammunition much faster than you would in typical fleet operations. The Allies expended a phenomenal amount of ammunition in the fighting in Normandy.
That's arguably a good thing. It means they weren't sunk in action with all the associated crew casualties. Getting a dignified retirement as a museum ship would be best of course, but precious few ships wind up that way.
Turning swords into ploughs is a noble fate for them, really. They keep serving, and many other people can say "We have a piece of the HMS/USS Enterprise."
1948 was a terrible year for naval history. The British government sold so many ships for scrap that year including Nelson, Rodney, Malaya and Revenge. Yes they were in debt from WWII but British government spending in the 1940’s postwar was higher than pre-war so the problem was spending not debt and history paid the price. Attlee would have sold Hood for scrap to make a quick buck rather than make it a museum ship if it could have been raised.
For Gawds sake - HMS Glowworm, finest action by a little ship in WW2. The Victoria Cross is not handed out every day. It's what Nelson would have done. A captain can do no wrong if he goes 'at em'. ( words like that anyway )
'No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy...' Then there's 'Engage the enemy more closely...', which isn't too bad, unless you're commanding a battle cruiser
I didn't know Lance Corporal Jones was on the HMS Glowworm.... ...no doubt his last words before his turret was blown apart were: "The Krauts, THEY DON'T LIKE IT UP 'EM!"
Pinned post for Q&A :)
What was the armor layout for the Brandenburg class pre dreadnaughts? I've heard they used a composite type armor and I'm curious as to what that was
Now that i think about it, how useful would the Graf Zeppelin, for all its design flaws have been in supporting the Tirpitz and all the other german ships in the operations against the arctic convoys?
You said that she wore out her guns twice doing shore bombardments. Did ships with smaller guns have to go to port in order to replace their guns. Or was it possible to do this away from port with support ships. Or could they maybe even bring spare gunbarrels them selves?
What was the thinking of Dönitz and BDU from late 1942 onwards when even though the U-Boats where sinking ever more ships, their losses were also mounting. Did they think the losses weren't sustainable or did they believe that they could be offset by the months full of allied losses such as in November '42 and March '43?
Drach could you design a better Admiral Hipper class?
"...then she was sold for scrap." It's like saying "and then they sold the Lone Ranger's horse to make glue."
I'm sorry to tell you about what happened to Silver.
To be fair, the Emerald had been shot to pieces and sunk as a target ship, so the fact that they refloated her and then broke her down for scrap is an improvement over leaving her to rust on the seabed. Enterprise, OTOH, yeah, that seems like she should have been turned into a museum ship or somesuch.
@@richmcgee434 yeah, pity about that pesky war debt, and all the cost to rebuild...
True, but you can't keep every ship as a museum piece, there are many many needs for the contents of the public purse. Sadly, quite a few more important than old ships.
Is it that hard to have some respect military horses?
Let me tell you a story from where I live, Saint-Jean sur Richelieu in Québec, when the Canadian cavalry unit, which was based in this city where the Royal Military College now stands, sold off their horses due to the mechanization of the army, they downright refused to sell the oldest horse they had since he served the CAF for pretty much all of its life and didn’t want him to just be sold off, and so he was given a dignified death on parade and buried somewhere on the military owned land of the time (they are actually Looking for his corpse to erect a memorial in its honor.
Also, here’s another story from Saint-Jean, remember the USS Enterprise? The OG sailing vessel from 1775, not the LEGENDARY CV from WW2. Yeah, it was built and stolen from here as well.
What charming little warships. Especially the Enterprise.
"Does this twin turret make me look a bit busty?"
"It's okay babe, I like my warships a bit curvy." :)
Maybe a little bit dear but you definitly have the legs and figure to carry it off!
1946 in the UK:
"We have finally found the holy grail!"
The government:
"wE cAn ScRaP tHaT!!!"
To be fair...they were broke; they HAD to sell these superfluous ships for scrap.
More like: sell everything and scrap what's left after that... Rationing went on well after the war.
Hmmmm.
@@whtalt92 Gee, it's almost like they had to keep paying off the debts they'd run up during the war that allowed them to survive, and spend even more to rebuild shattered industries and bomb-scarred cities.
(tho to be fair, I don't think British industry in general was ever the same after WW2...but then, that goes beyond the scope of this channel, and I prefer to be a gracious guest here and not provoke my host's ire)
The thought of a fleet of RN museum ships is alluring and beautiful. But its more alluring and beautiful that Britain chose to salvage their economy and build enough houses for everyone instead
Enterprise. The best name for a ship ever. Every Enterprise, American or British, has performed exemplary. Naval ship or space shuttle, Enterprise is an auspicious and honored name.
I think Warspite is a better name.
@@captbumbler5356 Warspite is definitely an honored name. At the Battle of Matapan on 28 Mar 1941, battleships Barham, Valiant, and Warspite and other ships sank three Italian cruisers and two destroyers. In May 1941, she was damaged off Crete by German dive bombers.
Overall, the Royal Navy has the best ship names, eclipsing even America's ship names, though of course there were/ are many similar names in both navies as America was British at one time.
Of course, ships and captains that perform with distinction can increase the honor of their ship's name. Ie: HMS Victory, USS Johnston DD 557, HMS Golden Hind, HMS Vanguard, USS and HMS Enterprise (all).
Enterprise - a project or undertaking, typically one that is difficult or requires effort. I think both lived up to their name in World War 2
One significantly more so…
@@rich7787 understandable… kinda hard to compete with 25 battle stars
@@rich7787 but both acquitted themselves well for their nation and their sailors.
NCC 1701
@@rich7787 It is intriguing how capable many of the immediate post-Great-War ships were going into WW2. If ships were sentient, I could totally see HMS Enterprise being that older middle-aged man character that has a supporting role in most every war film; strong, no-nonsense, weather-worn but still handsome, and plenty able to throw it down with the young "boys" he is among. So what if Enterprise had some grey-hairs and you could hear its metaphorical knees creaking as its boilers worked up, it was plenty up to contributing to Britannia ruling the seas.
Thank you Drachinifel. My father who is 95 served as a seaman boy on Emerald from 1942 until 1944, including Indian convoys and DDay. He's very frail and I suspect the last living crew member.
"Let's make sure that History always remembers the name "Enterprise"!
Every fleet should have a dedicated anti aircraft vessel, armed completely with pom - poms. We could name them, the " Cheerleader class".....
"Let's make sure history never forgets ... the name ... Enterprise."
-JL Picard (2366)
I like the lines of this ship. It's also fun to play in World of Warships.
Also has a very nice name!
It's made of citadels, but for some reason I could do well with it.
@@mrsteamie4196 Yes, Names and service are very important (pronounced with both t's) to the ship's soul.
@@liberalsockpuppet4772 I enjoy playing it as an ambush predator, hiding in smoke and torping anything foolish enough to come close.
Yeah its my favorite. You actually need to be capable of thinking and breathing at the same time to get the most out of the British CL line, which isn't the case a lot of the time with other lines lately.
Very successful designs given their WW1 ancestry. The fact their forward looking specification and capabilities (plus upgrades) made them useful throughout WW2 is a testament to that. Great looking ships too - hard to imagine them as WW1 design era really!
Thanks for that Drach, my father served on the Emerald pre and early WWII and was aboard for the Gold Reserve being moved to Canada.
My father too, to Indian Ocean plus DDay. He's still alive.
Ll
9)
My grandfather was too. We have his medals framed with his photograph.
my grandad was the radar officer aboard the emerald. he told me many story of this ship. thanks for this video
Good-looking ships. Interesting video.
I’ve been waiting for this one! The Spanish Almirante Cervera class was based on the E-class, and like their cousins (I assume there’s a more appropriate word?), they were fine-looking ships.
I’ve always thought the Cervera class was exceptionally attractive.
'Let's make sure that history never forgets the name... Enterprise!'
Beautiful ships! I really, really like the lines of this era of British cruiser.
They carried the heaviest torpedo battery of any RN ship and were the fastest torpedo armed vessels in the RN - an aggressive combination by any standard. And RN fish were good - reliable, straight running, no nonsense about magnetic pistols and with 800 pounds of TNT replaced by TORPEX (50 percent greater explosive power than TNT) in the same league as the vaunted Long Lance - as ARA Belgrano found to her sorrow. Imagine them in a night engagement in the Med against the Italians. I guess their weak AA suite kept then in the East Indies.
I loved them in the old SSI Fighting Steel game, their speed and torpedoes made them very dangerous, especially at night. Of course no air to worry about :-)
HMS Enterprise
*"This is getting out hand, now there are two of them!"*
Hey Drach, nice to see another video but we haven't forgotten that your grandfather died only a week ago. So if you want to take some more time than usual I'm sure people would understand :)
I was hyped for this! Thank you for delivering.
This was my favourite ship to play in Navy Field - as a anti-air escort for carriers and battleships with twin 5.25s. Glad to see history isn't forgetting the real thing.
My fave Tier 5 cruiser in world of warships, got a kraken in fast sucession in this thing torped cruisers and blasting Destroyers lol They look so nice an sleek
What a beautiful looking pair of ships.
What a wonderful series of photos to illustrate this Ship. Many thanks.
Strangely enough, one of my favourite looking class of RN cruisers.
Thank you for this vid on one of my favorite RN classes - I have always found these to be lovely vessels representing an interesting period of design transition. More importantly, Drach, take to heart the warm best wishes of your supporters and please take time for yourself and family, in dealing with your own transition in the manner that best suits you!
I'm out of the loop. Is everything alright?
Love these videos Drach, thanks. My father and grandfather were both Navy men and living in Plymouth, initially near the Ernesettle R.N. ammo compound and later in the city, a day out as a lad would be a picnic on Plymouth Hoe when word got around that such and such a ship or ships were due into Plymouth harbour. I remember the annual Navy Days very well and the competition between the Devonport and Portsmouth gun crews.
When my turn came to join (the FAA) in 1970 I was politely turned away due to the general downscaling of the Navy and the aircraft carriers in particular. As an impetuous youngster I decided to try my luck flying with the Army who always had good relations with any Navy FAA squadron or shipboard Wasp or Lynx that would occasionally be attached to us for tasking.
Speaking to the guys on the ground during anti-terrorist ops during the 70's and 80's in N.I., they were always relieved to know it was either a Navy or Army helicopter that would be tasked to support, or return them to base reliably, regardless of the weather. 🙂
Anything but fly with the crabs! Quite right too.
One of the more beautiful british ships built. I love her long lines.
Four quad torpedo launchers on a British cruiser? That seems positively Japanese of them :)
It was really only the USN that didn't put torpedoes on cruisers.
@@rupertboleyn3885 Of course ... given the way the -Mark 14's- Mark 15's worked ....
.
@@BobSmith-dk8nw on surface was Mk 15.
@@kidpagronprimsank05 You are of course - correct.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_15_torpedo
Thanks for catching my error.
.
Thank you for covering these fine ships .
Great work Sir thank you
The Emerald class is probably my favorite british cruisers
About the torpedo tubes upgrade; that's why I love Emerald in Warships so much... SIXTEEN torpedoes... One more than Shima in a T5 cruiser!
Single firing them is always interesting. You dump a whole bunch on one side and find you still have more.
Drach uploading at seven am Saturday. , Listening i on my way to work. 👍👍
I listen in the car, watch the photos when I get home
You know its 12:00 in the uk right😁
@@Torchedini 12 noon?
@@Torchedini you are correct however the commenter was from the Usa. Do you require everyone to post in UK time or their local time?
@@DavidBrown-yd9le no, nothing like that. Just the way it was written struck me as really americano centric so I was triggered a little.
Thanks Drach
This is probably been answered in a drydock but was there any reason cruisers stuck with single guns so long? given the advantages of a twin turrets, and the fact turrets had been used on BB;s for decades, why not on the larger protected cruisers?
Dont quote me on this but I believe it was due to a lack of reliable training mechanisms for turrets with twin or triple guns in smaller calibres.
Machinery mostly.
It took up a lot of room. And essentially left just the edges of the ship to work with.
When the power plants got smaller you could fit the larger turrets and corresponding multi deck deep barbettes in.
Weight it´s one of the
reasons. The CP XIV mount (single gun) weights 15 tons. The Twin mount of an Omaha Cruiser, 52 tons.. The twin mount of a Leander, with his fancy 75 degrees high, 92 tons
Thank you Drach. Another quality video!
6:10 Is that... a kingfisher on Enterprise's catapult?
"Enterprise had the more interesting career of the two"
Hey that sounds familiar....
I think naming a ship Enterprise curses it to live in interesting times.
*trade federation "two of them" noises**
Japanese Cruisers: We have the Enterprise, nothing can save that RN cruiser.
VB-6 & VT-6 introduce them to our lord and savior the 1000 lb GP bomb, multiple times.
Aboard the Japanese life boats: You said it was the Enterprise!
But commander, that admitted they were the Enterprise!
Pity about Admiral King’s apocalyptic hatred of the Royal Navy. As a joint operation involving both Enterprises to mentally mess with the IJN general staff would be hilarious.
@@ph89787 LOL Indeed
Thank you, Drachinifel.
Beautiful ships, exemplary service, and excellent summary Drach. Thank you very much
"depending on where you are on the ship"= a description for the ages
Those are sure some pretty lines... the look fast, even with the anchor chain out.
Nice history…. Thanks for sharing!
A smart looking ship that's fast and sails in Harm's Way...John Paul Jones would approve.
Any chance you can go through the history of the Oerlikon gun?
World of warships actually has a pretty good viedo history on both that gun and the Bofors.
@@dwgray9000 pretty sure i seen a 20mm oerlikon video on his channel, yes.
(and - bluntly- drach is good but im sure he will admit Ian knows guns better than he does....)
Interesting, the last picture of the HMS Enterprise looks like it has a US built Kingfisher floatplane on the catapult.
History will remember the name, Enterprise.
Great video many thanks. To eccles milligan, My father also served on Emerald during that time period, JL Wootton. "The REPLY Tags are not working as well". Kind regards David Wootton.
HMS Calliopie "the Hurricaine jumper"
Good News!!
Drac on Saturday
great video! i've always had a lot of interest with HMS Emerald ever since i ran upon a picture of her, my grandfather took, while she was serving on the Yangtze River in China a really long time ago. My grandparents were in China from 1925 - 1932 and my mom was born there in Shanghai. Still have the photo, its B&W, not sure the exact date he took it, need to fine the photo album it had been in, might have more specific date in it.
I never heard of this Enterprise before!
Never mess with an HMS Enterprise, or USS Enterprise.
5:53 Is that a discord ping in the background? :D Great video as always!
I'm always amazed that the E class wasn't used in the Med. They were the most heavily torpedo armed ships of the RN - and British torpedoes were good, exhibiting none of the problems the USN and KM fish had, with the adoption of Torpex in 1942 they had a greater blast effect than the vaunted "Long Lance" (a term never used by the IJN, but a post war invention by Samuel Elliott Morrison) as 800 pounds of Torpex has the effect of 1200 pounds of TNT while the Type 92 had a 1100 pound TNT warhead - as well as being the fastest so armed - an aggressive combination by any standard. Imagine what they could have done in night actions against the Regia Marina.
You should do a video on the H. L. HUNLEY.
Drach, Have you done a piece on the USCG Treasury Class cutters? These were some very fine ships with long service histories and stellar combat records.
My father in law was 3rd then 2nd engineer on Enterprise from 1941 to 1944. He would have loved the mention of the New Orleans race.
Fitting since HMS Enterprise got added to Azur Lane recently.
Well, before PR5 came & blew everything out of the water.
My thought exactly! 😂
Hated this ship in world of warships, nice to learn about the actual very interesting vessel.
Great video
Did these ships burn coal or oil? When was the conversion from coal to oil finished?
As far as I am aware, they were oil burners right from the start 👍
Hey Drachinifel can you do a review of the USS Rodney M. Davis that recently met a fiery end in the Pacific.
A quite pretty little cruiser.
The E Class crusiers.
We have HMS Enterprise in Axis and Allies War at Sea.
Oversized destroyers with heaviest torpedo battery
Range 0-2
3/3/1
Okay, I thought that the Royal Navy and the USN had an agreement not to use the same name for ships in their respective fleets to avoid confusion. This one surprised me, especially since both HMS Enterprise and USS Enterprise served in the same the-at-er.
Both Enterprises came before the two countries allied with each other so I guess that's why
@@silverhost9782 there have been 15 HMS Enterprise, the 1st in 1705, the 1st USS Enterprise was actually the captured HMS Enterprize in 1775. The Latest HMS Enterprise was launched in 2002. If you watch Star Trek "Enterprise" in the lead in Graphics, it goes through various 'Enterprise' ships , the 1st ship is actually one of the HMS Enterprise's.
I remembering watching this and thinking hey the USS Starship Enterprise is named after a RN Ship.
Note : i just found it online, so it is the "HMS Enterprize" , i.e the one captured ,and the 1st USS Enterprise. Strange that they used the prior RN name and not the 1st USS naming.
you didn't ask this question did you :)
I'm not sure where you got that from, but it doesn't seem to be true. Even today, there's an HMS Enterprise in the Royal Navy while the Americans are building another USS Enterprise.
I'm watching this in a city of 5 million people which was founded by settlers disembarked from a small schooner named Enterprize (with a z). Melbourne has grown a lot since then.
@@davidrenton Side note from a guy whole lives in Saint-Jean sur Richelieu in Québec:I’m living basically 5 minutes away from where the OG USS Enterprise was stolen from, which is where the current Royal Military College now stands… and my dad worked there as a teacher for a couple of years until he retired from military service on July 1st this year after serving the country for 36 and a half years.
Would you go through the history of H. M.S. Maxman, and her class, please, thank you, Patrick, Northamptonshire
Dr. Clarke has a video, somewhere, on the Abdiel class.
yay one of my fav classes of tween war cruisers.
so my question is which ship is better the twin gun turret or the 2 single guns up front....I think it's obvious the turret is a better idea or at last the start of a better idea but the REAL hero is actually the Danae class before this which FINALLY sees them put all the guns centre line instead of doubling up and putting 1 gun on each side of the ship to cover one position. So 6 guns covered the same broadside fields of fire as 12 had before.
Actually, the generally accepted wisdom was that two single guns had a greater rate of fire than a twin as the crew for two guns got in each others way
At the time the Brits weren't sure whether twin turrets for a light 6" gun would be better than two single mounts, that's why they built Enterprise as a one-off. Dr Clarke (AC Naval History) did a longer video on the E class, and noted that Enterprise was brought back to the UK on a regular basis so the RN could evaluate how the turret was working.
Still disappointed Enterprise didn't get to serve in the Pacific past 1944 when the British were more committed there, would have loved to see her in one of the joint task forces as an escort so she could be with her namesake in the USN.
I'd love to see an episode on the Soviet post WW2 Sverdlov class cruisers
I like the hull and the torps, but can't help thinking that the superstructure and guns should have been removed and redone to get rid of the single gun mounts and replaced as all twin.
That would likely necessitate either going down a couple of inches or completely ripping out the barbettes which would put the ship out of action for a few months as there would need to be work put into keeping the ship from being unbalanced by the change in weight that going from singles to doubles would cause
@@Sathzur I'm thinking 3 twin mounts 1 in front and two in back (similar to the German Konigsberg class). They almost certainly went in for a refit in the 30's it could have been done then. Enterprise already had the front mount.
It would have been fun if HMS Enterprise had been assigned to Far East Fleet and had ended up escorting USS Enterprise at some point or another.
IJN Yubari review please :P
Did HMS Enterprise ever have a commanding officer named, Kirk?
Kind of: the bombardement group of Utah beach was commanded by Admiral Alan G. Kirk (USN). So a veteran might have assured his grandchildren were listening by starting with "There I was bombarding the Nazis aboard the Enterprise under Admiral Kirk."
A plane is passing by...
What was the captain's name on the Enterprise?
In the last photo, did I spy a Kingfisher float plane on HMS _Enterprise's_ catapult??
do navies sail with ammo ships or does the ammo meet them when they need reloading after battles same with other supplies, is there a ship with them acting like a floating warehouse?
No-one keeps an ammo ship with the fleet during operations, that's asking for it to get blown up.
@@davidmoore1253 That's what I figured but not everyone is gonna have a convenient island to stage from depending on the war so its either sail back or refuel and reload on the move. Ships are refueled at sea aren't they? One could just have the ammo and fuel meet somewhere for resupply but sailing back is loss of time and gains.
@@davidmoore1253 "The moving ships maintain synchronized speeds and courses because pallets - stacked 5 feet high and carrying hundreds of pounds of supplies - are traveling across cables from one ship to another. This is replenishment at sea, and it is how Navy ships resupply and refuel without pulling into port." my question isn't that crazy
@@robert48044 Wasn't saying it was crazy, sorry if I sounded dismissive. I only meant that ships usually leave their operational station for replenishment, because it's too dangerous to expose the replenishment vessel to attack. They carry a large cargo, the loss of which could affect the entire theatre of operations.
@@davidmoore1253 sorta the same question I have is after battle how combat readiness is decided. Logistics and maintenance aren't quite as sexy so they never get mentioned.
That's no way to treat an Enterprise!
Interesting
I wonder if any Emeralds ever had a notable number of French Ruby pistols aboard.
Nice vid
Does that last picture of Enterprise show a Vought Kingfisher on the floatplane catapult?
Emerald wrecks shop in low tier wows legends
1:20 time mark. HMS Enterprise, Captain Kirk no doubt on the bridge attempting to make out ENS Chekhov's attempts at English. While a worried Mr. Scott simply face-palms.
Missile Jammers?
The Germans had started using the Fritz-X guided bombs
Drac your intro sound is really low compared to the main video
We can't save them all.
Great
Yo its the base war thunder british cruiser
About warn out guns. Is this still the case? Is it more than a Metallurgy issue?
Gun barrels last longer than they used to, but high-performance guns still wear them out, especially if fired at a high rate of fire for too long (overheating the barrel).
@@rupertboleyn3885 I would imagine shore bombardment is very hard on guns, as you are likely to fire off your ammunition much faster than you would in typical fleet operations. The Allies expended a phenomenal amount of ammunition in the fighting in Normandy.
boat
Ship
@@Jcraft153 vessel
Craft
Wessel
Big floaty thingy
Seems that ships named enterprise always get scraped
That's arguably a good thing. It means they weren't sunk in action with all the associated crew casualties. Getting a dignified retirement as a museum ship would be best of course, but precious few ships wind up that way.
Turning swords into ploughs is a noble fate for them, really. They keep serving, and many other people can say "We have a piece of the HMS/USS Enterprise."
And revived
The RN got their money's worth with these ships
1948 was a terrible year for naval history. The British government sold so many ships for scrap that year including Nelson, Rodney, Malaya and Revenge. Yes they were in debt from WWII but British government spending in the 1940’s postwar was higher than pre-war so the problem was spending not debt and history paid the price. Attlee would have sold Hood for scrap to make a quick buck rather than make it a museum ship if it could have been raised.
For Gawds sake - HMS Glowworm, finest action by a little ship in WW2. The Victoria Cross is not handed out every day. It's what Nelson would have done. A captain can do no wrong if he goes 'at em'.
( words like that anyway )
'No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy...' Then there's 'Engage the enemy more closely...', which isn't too bad, unless you're commanding a battle cruiser
USS Johnston and USS Samuel B. Roberts would like to contest that accolade.
Also forgot about USS Laffey, the first one, though the second is still incredibly noteworthy as well.
I didn't know Lance Corporal Jones was on the HMS Glowworm....
...no doubt his last words before his turret was blown apart were: "The Krauts, THEY DON'T LIKE IT UP 'EM!"
Obligatory comment for the algorithm
Ah yes the death trap of WoW.
151st, 16 July 2022