Comments by "AtomicBabel" (@AtomicBabel) on "The Drydock - Episode 094" video.

  1. Re: AA fratricide, men in desperate situations may easily fixate on a target and not notice friendly ships in the arch of fire. 40mm Bofors shells are "Self Destroying" (SD), the tracer base burns into the explosive filler and detonates the round. The "timing" is not adjustable, it is "set" as a requirement and implemented during manufacture. This results in some protection to other ships in the formation, from getting hit with a live shell.
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  2.  Roy Futrell  many modern navies are pursuing "midget" subs, for the litoral, Iran being one of them, so no surprise if PRC would as well. The is also a current push for unmanned underwater vehicles, so bass ackwards to a human torp. A powered underwater vehicle for people, yes, but that is not a "torpedo".
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  3. Re: effect of none penetrating hit, Kirishima managed to hit Helena with a 14" bombardment round, right in the faceplate of turret 4. Miraculously, no one was injured from that hit. Except perhaps Kirishima's gunners' pride. During the same battle, either San Fran or Portland took a hit from a similar round to a barbette, which did breach the armour and did a lot of damage to the gun and the surrounding area. A "horse shoe shaped hole" was blown from the weather deck surrounding the barbette.
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  4.  @Kai-tm8lx Good news! You don't need to wait! The non-effectiveness of HESH for anti-shipping was discussed in detail in DD 62
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  5.  @eric24567  for battleship main belt, the armor is "hung" (that's the naval term) by bolting to the hull plate. A gap is left between the armor and the hull (approx 1 to 2 inch) and a form of concrete is used to fill the gap. Using the South Dakota exhibit as an example, the bolts or studs are about 3 inches in diameter and are spaced about 4 foot apart. By observation and touching a piece of South Dakota's main belt armor... 8 weeks ago. Here is an existing image. https://www.google.com/search?q=battleship+armor&safe=off&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&prmd=isvn&sxsrf=ALeKk03tWU7g0sn8g-DzhK4yZfg9GMAjig:1589757368391&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjR4uLZg7zpAhUzj3IEHaVdB2wQ_AUoAXoECA4QAQ&biw=320&bih=563#imgrc=K7wjoufkWAW2_M The solid coffee table like image is a chunk of main belt, the bolt and nut are just under the corners like stubby legs of a table. The thickness is 16 inches.
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  6.  @DavidConnor  hms antelope, falkland
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  7. Found it! Kirishima hitted Helena's turret-4 directly on the faceplate with a bombardment round. "Though the hit only jarred the gunners in the turret, shrapnel struck numerous fittings all around the turret, including a 20mm gun shield. Miraculously, no one was as much as scratched by the fallout of the huge bombardment round" Guadalcanal, Decision at Sea, Eric Hammel, Crown Pulishers 1988.
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  8. 🤣Kingsman bar fight scene.
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  9. Big E should be required reading for anyone who hazards a comment of "knowledge". Just to help those that have trouble finding a copy: for some flight deck damage, steel plates can be laid over the affected area. This is a bandaid with the limitations analogous of a bandaid.
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  10.  me hee  the hydro dynamic resistance will be so great that ships as we know them will not exist. The seas will become like an impassable desert. So the entire seafaring history of mankind will not happen. You will have some people crossing the custard desert on foot or by draft animal on "snow/ custard shoes". On some high wind areas, people may be able to skim across the custard on "custard skis". It is unlikely to become a viable form of transportation until someone can build an engine to power tracked vehicles, hover craft, swamp boat... etc. Just think, no body was faring across the tundra or the desert or swamps. Hope this wets your appetite on your what if. I am curious to read about some of your ideas on what would happen?
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  11. Tying your 2 points together, I remember reading that during one of the night battles in the Solomon's campaign, one of the USN cruisers took a battleship "bombardment" round to the face on one turret. It did not penetrate, and I forget if the turret remained in action, but I think the crew was not wiped out. Just could not imagine what it was like to be inside that mount. Edit: I am trying to find the incident.
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  12.  @kemarisite Brooklyns took their losses. Honolulu lost her bow and Helena sunk, both by torpedoe vice shelling.
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  13.  @MultiZirkon  no, I did not do much reading on modern and semi modern AA, this can not help with any links. My comment on 40mm Bofor is true for WW2 era shells for USN. With the longevity and variety of the system, other fusing options would reasonably exist.
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  14. The television mini-series of Woulk's War & Rememberence will always get my vote as the best cinematic depliction of the Battle of Midway. During its production, more aircraft were used than that 70s Midway movie, never mind the CGI of 2019.
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  15.  @kemarisite  buy why? You have a salvo of super sonic known fixed trajectory warhead in bound 10 miles In one CS update, the zone of impact for each shell is known. 5 will be no factor, should you shoot at the 6th? Maybe, what is the range at intercept? Train fire, optimistically range of intercept is less than 4 miles away. Now does that deflection push enough to miss? What about after learning all 6 projectiles splash points the ship takes over and automaticall change course to get out of the way of the biggest risk shells?
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  16.  @eric24567  more follow up on belt armor. This time, it is from the Tennessee. The armour plates were 18ft high and 10 ft long (14"). The plates were held to the adjoining plate by keys and key ways. Studs 2.75 dia x 1/4 pitch were fastened 2 inches deep into the armour plate. The stud reduced down to 2 1/4 inch to penetrate thru the hull plate. Canvas and lead packing sealed the gaps in the hole, and a big washer and nut held it in place. The gap between the armor plate and the hull plate is about 1 1/2 inch and filled with concrete. One bolt was used for every 5 square feet of armor surface. Break From the Yamato test plate keys and key ways were used at adjoining plates. The corner joins are amazing to see and feel.
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  17. moore  range clocks were also discussed in DD 44
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  18. Drach, this is a movie question. With the anniversary of the Battle of Midway just days away, I though about my favorite media depictions of the battle. Both my favorites are relatively little known, first is from the television miniseries of Herman Woulk's War and Remembrance where we followed the father as the CO of Northampton and his son, an ensign in an SBD. The next was the recent Eternal Zero, a film which required no subtitles and brought you the perspective of the IJN CAP and the horror in Kaga's hangar bay, and that was only one scene, followed by Henderson Field, Philipine Sea and the end at Okinawa. What are some of your favorite movie scenes from "forgotten" movies? Cumberland's blinker message to Exeter "with great anticipation"? "I'll draw the fire from the flak towers"? "You can not kill a squadron"? That long take of the french commandos in "The Longest Day?" Campbeltown at "The Greatest Raid"? Or a tug boat desperately trying to unjam and train its gun onto a surface U boat. What does Drach remember fondly?
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  19. Some of them are, I followed one and always enjoyed his band's concerts at picnics and holiday parties.
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  20.  @kemarisite  gotta flip thru again for the attribution of who killed Scott. Hammel did not hold any punches for Callahan and had good detailed first hand accounts, thus would seem out of place to be that off on San Fran blasting Atlanta. On other bounces, Mass hitting Jean Bart count?
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  21.  @kemarisite I'll have to track down Franks for future reading. In summary, agree strongly on all your comments.
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  22. They are already razz berries. "World's Worst Warships 2025 edition", I can wait.
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