Comments by "Ben Wilson" (@benwilson6145) on "The Drydock - Episode 155" video.

  1. The ships sailing on the Great Lakes "Lakers" are built to lesser scantlines than "Ocean Going " vessels. This due to the fact that the waves in the Great Lakes are lesser than what an oceangoing vessel will meet.
    11
  2. The Carpenter “Chippie” had a number of roles in the British Merchant Navy. One duty was daily to sound with a sounding line/tape all tanks and void spaces in the ship and record the results in a log book. All tanks and void spaces would have a sounding pipe leading from usually the main deck into the space requiring sounding. The sounding pipe was usually in the aft end of the bilge in the space. In event of a collision or allision the Chippie would go to the space where damage was most likely and start sounding the spaces to see if any water had entered. This would then give the Deck Officer and Captain knowledge of where the damage is, what was flooding and what was still “sound”. The spaces would then be pumped and the water levels checked.
    9
  3. He certainly attacked an Egyptian Passenger Ship the Zam Zam. This was done without confirming her identification and without warning. There are several accounts of this on YouTube where American Missionaries and there children report what happened. He sank the Zam Zam and despite promises her passengers were sent locked in a hold of German Blockade runner to France. The tales on YouTube are very heart rendering.
    1
  4. Having been to Port Stanley and visited the museum I am unaware if a Naval Base in the Falklands until after the Falklands War when Mare Harbour was built mainly to supply Mount Pleasant. Port Stanley is a great natural harbour and sheltered anchorage. There were are still are hulks of sailing ships which were hulked prior to WW1. Port Stanley and the Falklands did not have drydocks, cranes and steel working to repair vessels nor the skilled workforce. The Royal Navy could have brought "Repair Ships" into the harbour but there was no shore facilities.
    1
  5.  @hughgordon6435  I think if you do some research you will see HMS Exeter went to Port Stanley to carry out "Emergency Repairs" she was repaired in the UK. A coaling station would have been colliers at anchor in Port Stanley anchorage. There is no coal mined in the Falklands. The ship that trades around the Falklands used to go to Punta Arenas every couple of years for drydock.
    1