Comments by "Frank DeMaris" (@kemarisite) on "The Drydock - Episode 090" video.

@Eboreg2 from what I have seen, Yudachi took one or more gunfire hits that wrecked the bouler room and left it without power. Samidare applied gunfire and one or more torpedoes (I suspect just one hit, I can't see a destroyer taking two Type 93s with their 1,080 lb warheads and surviving) between 3 and 4 in the morning, but Yudachi was still afloat a couple hours later until Portland spotted her. Tug Bobolink was extremely busy that morning, and Portland didnt make it to shelter at Tulagi until 0100 the next morning (just before Suzuya and Maya started their bombardment) so why spend the time and resources trying to capture an enemy ship?
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@roblaird9909 the Zuiho class is something like what you're describing. Two "submarine tenders" (which wouldnt count against any treaty limits I'm aware of) designed to be converted to either fleet oilers or aircraft carriers. Zuiho was completed as an aircraft carrier, Tsurugizaki was converted to the carrier Shoho by early 1942 after a couple years of service, and then lost almost immediately at Coral Sea in May.
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@Drachinifel you've both overlooked a huge distinction between the Italians and the British, night fighting. The British trained for night fighting, the Italians apparently didnt realize that their shells weren't afraid of the dark. As bad as the Americans were at the start of the war in the Pacific, the Italians were even worse and never got better. Radar can be helpful at night (depending on quality of radar and display), but the Japanese dominated night fighting for most of a year with no radar at all, just good optics and lots of training.
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@CustodianShieldCaptain because the Turks absolutely did make use of slaves to row their galleys, see the life of Miguel Cervantes as an example. This may be an example of what Victor Davis Hansen called the Eastern Way of War vs the Western Way of War.
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I just noticed that the Japanese 12.7 cm/50 Type 1 and Type 5 guns, which equipped most of their destroyers in WW2, used bag propellant and a Wellin-type breech block, resulting in a rate of fire in the 5-10 rounds per minute range depending on use and elevation. Further, we all know that the Japanese never used a 6" gun cruiser, as the Mogamis were always designed to replace the triple 6.1" guns with twin 8" guns just like their other heavy cruisers. In contrast, the US used the 5"/38 (firing up to 15 rpmpg) and the 6"/47 (firing up to 10 rpmpg), and found cruisers armed with the later more useful in night actions than the ones armed with 8" guns. What do Japanese sources have to say, good or bad, about the significantly higher Americans rates of gunfire in those 1942-43 night surface actions? I'm aware that they were critical of American gunfire in general, with officers noting many salvos poorly set for either range or deflection, but did they notice and envy the higher ROF? Or did they just find the additional target illumination helpful in spotting and correcting their own fire?
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@WhisperingDeath because they didn't have to shoot down the aircraft, just force them up to a higher altitude where they can't hit anything. Torpedo planes start showing up after WW1 [edit: ok, I see there were a few used as early as 1915], and those were even lower and slower than regular bombers. Bill Mitchell's demonstration against captured German ships was conducted at suicidally low altitude against ships at anchor [edit: Iowa was bombed from 4,000 feet, "twice the altitude as the other ships" during the 1921 tests]. A multi-engine bomber struggling to get to 100 mph is a pretty easy target if it's only a couple thousand feet up. As aircraft became larger and more capable into the 30s, AA suites became larger and more diverse to counter them. Indeed, before Admiral King became CNO, he headed the "King board" that reviewed aircraft capabilities and recommended improvements to AA capabilities.
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@WALTERBROADDUS I feel like either I missed a step in the conversation or you may have inadvertently replied to me meaning to reply to someone else. Who's idea are you referring to? Rob Laird asking about cheating on the treaty to make easy carrier conversions? That premise doesnt appear to be tied to a particular year.
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