Comments by "Gregory Wright" (@gregorywright4918) on "USS Sangamon - Guide 279" video.

  1. Well, he got the rough size right, but not the flat deck. Didn't he identify the destroyer as a cruiser too?
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  2.  @colbeausabre8842  The Enterprise and the Saratoga were a tag-team between being the only carrier and being in the shop for repair...
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  3.  @ph89787  And I'll bet before we're through Mister, I'll - make a Carrier - out of you...
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  4. Those were mid-1960s built ships, Drach tends to limit himself to ships built before 1950s.
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  5. He was aboard the USS New Jersey when that happened...
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  6.  @Tevildo  Officers were ranked by service date, and put into restricted (like engineering officers) and unrestricted "lines". General promotions affected specific numbers of the line. An All-Fleet message would announce the numbers based on time served. So the officer was not fired (or "dishonorably discharged"), just moved backward in the line so his next promotion would take longer. Sometimes seniority by line number or service date was used to determine who was in command of an ad-hoc task force. A senior commander could still select a specific officer for command, like Spruance was recommended by Halsey and chosen by Nimitz for Task Force 16 at Midway.
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  7. The USN didn't love the Harrier - that was a Marine jet, flying from amphib ships. Plus they did not get them till the '70s, by which time most of the Essexes were on their way out.
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  8.  @Aelxi  Leaving the canopy open will decrease your MPG and increase the amount of wind and noise in the cockpit. It may also affect stability in the dive as wind blows through. A big problem in equatorial Pacific was change in humidity as they dove from 10-20,000 feet down to sealevel, and some experimented with leaving it open to see if that helped.
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  9. Technically the "Esso Trenton", but yeah - roar...
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  10. We had a nice chat on the Olympia, weather was good and held up for his New Jersey visits as well.
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  11.  @marvinthemartian9584  Spoiled by the Dauntless. Helldiver was bigger, heavier, and harder to maneuver and land. OTOH, it was faster and had a bit longer range.
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  12. To fly what? Certainly not F/A-18s or F-35s, unless they are the VSTOL type. Which we have the LHAs for. Helo carriers might have a use, if we were using helos a lot for sub-hunting, but the Russian sub fleet has declined and the Chinese subs cannot reach very far. Modern planes are much heavier and require faster speeds, which requires a bigger and faster ship.
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  13. Drach does have some original articles (and photos) on his website. You would probably have to release the copyrights to him, or make it public. Number of pages might be an issue too. Would love to read.
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  14.  @tehllama42  That ship was laid down in '79 and commissioned in '82.
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  15.  @thehandoftheking3314  The bridge structure on light or escort carriers was very small compared to fleet carriers. It was not much more than a couple small elevated platforms for ship con and airdeck control. Having that in the middle works the best. None of the light or escort bridges had trunking for exhaust, they would have to be much bigger and thus destabilize the ship.
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  16.  @Paludion  A decreased problem with numbers of fleet oilers, but an increased problem with slower and fewer new carriers coming online in early '43. The Independence class was crucial due to their fleet speed.
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  17.  @winstonviceroy6125  Drach is on tour of the US East Coast right now, so he does not have much editing and publishing capabilities with him besides a laptop. His co-op with Ryan is probably the best you are going to get till he gets back home.
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  18. The only class Drach has done is the Fubuki's, which was the first IJN "super-destroyer". The Kagero class was a couple down the road from them. He does mention development classes in his "Interwar Destroyer Development" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rlLlsYQ6lQ
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  19.  @stevevalley7835  There was also a bit of panic after Pearl Harbor about rebuilding the battle line. Atlantic BBs were transferred to Pacific, so the older ones had to hold the line.
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  20.  @QEin1786  It was discussed in a Drydock a while ago, may have been ice buildup on the turret knocked off by concussion.
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  21. From where? Russia has no building yards on Black Sea that I recall.
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  22. Drach tends to avoid post-1950s stuff to stay out of the politics and "official secrets" issues...
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  23.  @jamesmayes4351  Hard to say these days. If you've seen anything on the RusN ships lately, they went into serious decline in the '90s and just started coming out of it in the mid-teens as Putin put more money in. Their crew is a little better off than the army in terms of conscripts and morale, but not a whole lot. The failure of their AA defense is a serious question about crew attentiveness and equipment maintenance. But with those big SSMs mounted along each side, one good hit could start a chain reaction (sort of like hitting the IJN Long Lances during WW2).
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  24. Considering how many fleet carriers we lost in '42, yes.
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  25.  @Notreallyoverit  Drach tends to avoid post-1950s ships to stay out of the politics and "official secrets" issues....
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  26.  @Notreallyoverit  the USS The Sullivans is in the news as well...
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  27. I believe Drach is visiting her on the 27th, so expect that in a month or two (although he's gathering so much on this trip, it may be longer to do the processing and scripts).
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  28.  @WALTERBROADDUS  Back in the Cold War 70s and 80s they had plans for quick conversions of container ships into helo or VSTOL support ships for anti-submarine work. There was even talk of filling a container with SAMs or CIWS. CVEs in the Atlantic were ASW support, while CVEs in the Pacific were mostly landing support. The latter would require F-35 capability, which is hard to imagine.
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  29. Drach tends to limit himself to pre-1950 built ships.
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  30. That was due to early mistakes in welding - it was faster, but if not done correctly could lead to cracking. Kaiser ships were built VERY fast, sometimes welds were not inspected properly.
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  31. The other premium would be yard space and time for the conversion. Lots of work was being rushed for the war, and then the damaged ships started pouring in, which was the Japanese problem.
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  32. Check the list of topics discussed in Drydocks, on Drach's website and in the comments sections.
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  33.  @GearGuardianGaming  The greater deck length of the fleet carrier would allow a much greater deck spot for launch without catapults, which was much faster.
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  34.  @bkjeong4302  An amphibious invasion required vast amounts of supplies to sustain it, so even though the troops were on shore the constant flow of supplies was still necessary. And when the air bases ashore got going (later), they required even more. The storm that destroyed the Mulberrys off Normandy beaches had effects on operations for months.
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  35.  @tcpratt1660  Sub-caliber "training round"? Jet-assisted?
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  36. Combustible, Vulnerable, Expendable... not built to "warship" specs, no armor or anti-torpedo bulkheads.
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