Comments by "Gregory Wright" (@gregorywright4918) on "The Drydock - Episode 143" video.

  1. Would have been nice to have a pair in the Slot in November '42...
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  2.  @fguocokgyloeu4817  I believe he covered that before. Their engines were wearing out, and would require a major dockyard overhaul. Getting into them to replace large parts would require opening up some large armored spaces.
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  3. Also makes the enemy wonder "has she been up-armored yet or not?"...
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  4.  @stuartaaron613  Might have had something to do with clearing space for fitting the 5"/38s...
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  5.  @stevevalley7835  Probably had more to do with ship speed than secondary AA equipage. Two high-20s ships would work better together than one high-20s and one mid-20s (if that). Two low-to-mid 20s battleships would struggle to deal with the Kongos in the area, and the rest of the IJN battleline was at least mid-20s.
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  6.  @gliderdan3153  Smaller? The naval campaign was not the war-winning campaign of WW2 - the Eastern Front was more important. On the other hand, if Hitler had not STARTED the Eastern Front, perhaps you could make more of a case for the naval campaign - or that Germany HAD won the war up to that point...
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  7.  @toddwebb7521  You guys have a funny sense of how "easy" it is to do things...
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  8.  @ijnkako5326  I've said this before, but if you look at it a bit, Leyte Gulf (in totality) WAS a fair approximation to the IJN plan for "Decisive Battle" - only the USN was playing the part of the IJN in "their" plan. They started with subs and long-range air recon, with the subs "whittling down" the incoming forces, then attacks by naval air forces and light surface forces "whittle down" the heavies a bit more, especially at night (Surigao Strait), then the battle line finally confronts whatever is left over. But wait, Halsey screwed the ending up by dragging the heavies with him to go after the "decoy" carriers because he thought the Center force had turned around (not that he was doing much recon to confirm that). Oh, well, the little guys will just have to cover for the heavies again. In terms of "granting the enemy their preferred battle", this is the LAST thing a competent leader wants to do. Fight with your strengths against his weaknesses, don't play by his plan. The USN strength was in naval air and subs in '44, while the only remaining strength of the IJN was in battleships and surface combat. To do otherwise is to allow the enemy a greater chance of killing more of your own men. Real war is not a fair draw in the middle of the street.
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  9.  @stevevalley7835  You also have to run the risk that a war might start before you get all your secret planned upgrades accomplished - or that your sudden upgrades might trigger that war at an inconvenient time. The IJN had the luxury of upgunning the Mogamis when they felt things were getting close, but note that the KM did not get the Scharnhorsts upgunned partly because war came before they were ready to do it.
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  10. Mrs. Drach sounds like she might be interested in buying throwing knives...
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  11. Where is the US Navy getting the funds to "fund itself"?
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