Comments by "calvingreene90" (@calvingreene90) on "The Drydock - Episode 112" video.

Mers-el-Kebir full battle winner Germany/Italy.
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Assuming the extra carriers being built, fast oilers are probably a given. Particularly given the cost difference between battleships and carriers.
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@WALTERBROADDUS So does building carriers. Did you even consider where I got the advanced instructors and leaders from? Also film the lectures and Q and A to reduce the classroom time for the instructors. Today the USofA Navy is not looking at a crash expansion of the carrier force but if it was except for getting experience from the Brits they could use the same method. Not doing something is not the same as not being able to do something.
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@WALTERBROADDUS The British accepted American volunteers into the RAF do you really think that they would turn down more that would return to American service when the USofA entered the war? There was a lot of isolationist and neutrality opinion in the USofA but that did not include FDR. The AVG recruited serving Army & Navy pilots and the perks of accepting the offer was getting regular commissions when returning from China; Greg Boyington succeeded in getting his as well. I read his book the lengths he went to in avoiding admitting that he was an alcoholic even after admitting that only imperial Japan and AA were the only forces that ever succeeded in keeping him sober was epic.
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The idea started with using motor lifeboats that a battleship would launch at the threat of battle but a battleship could probably carry a dozen MTB/PT boats; how would this effect battleship operations and what additional uses would the light attack craft be used for?
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@kingquackie7284 Your Yamato like BC would at least make a worthwhile carrier conversation.
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@dyerwulf5459 The Armstrong's breach mechanism became very hard to use after a few shots from the black powder fouling and after several breach failures while firing convinced the Royal Navy that breach loaders were a real bad idea.
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@Pentagon6519 Probably cheaper and easier to buy and modify a cruise ship. Particularly if Wuhan Flu puts a cruise line out of business.
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@Pentagon6519 Many cruise ships already have a helicopter landing pad for evacuating medical emergencies; it can work the other way. I would want to add to it to be able to recover multiple helicopters at once. For disaster relief you can expect protected anchorages which greatly reduced the advantage of having the well deck even if dock space is not available. The speed would be nice to have but not worth the difference in cost.
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@Pentagon6519 Hurricanes and tsunamis don't reshape the terrain enough to destroy naturally protected anchorages. A hospital ship is a floating hospital and most of a large modern hospital it small rooms with private restrooms just like most of the space in a cruise ship. Any place a USofA Navy hospital ship goes it will not be operating on its own but by removing the pool you will get plenty of topside weight to play with to build a hanger for several helicopters. Neither a hospital ship or cruise ship have a lot of carrying capacity for inanimate cargo and for the hospital I want it carrying supplies so it can stay on station with little external support; not because it will be operating on its own but so the logistical support pipeline can carry other goods.
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@ronaldgray5707 Without a High Seas Fleet Germany would not have been so interested in launching a war against Russia and France and lacked the ability to fight a war against the British Empire.
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@Pentagon6519 How much electricity do you think is available in the average hospital room? But still adding wiring and oxygen piping is not difficult if you are not worried about hiding the conduits. Hospital ships are not going to have fire control radar. And adding a pallet of electronics is not difficult. Absorbing a hard landing is a question of how much weight the structure can support and you can reduce the needed strength by adding shock absorption. I too would prefer to have the hospital ship tied to a pier but in a sheltered anchorage using boats is not a problem particularly if you pull the boat out of the water before loading or unloading passengers. Bum boats move significant amount of goods on and off ships in open waters. Granted if the engine has to be replaced it is a major operation but if not the spare parts might not be Navy standard but they are off the shelf components world wide. I was saying that your idea is not feasible.
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@WALTERBROADDUS Don't count on that. Civilian IPs can turn sailors into pilots just as fast as Navy IPs can and in peace time pulling all the air squadron's executive officers and and also 1 or 2 senior flying NCOs or warrant officer pilots from each operational squadron for commissioning will allow you to work up the new air groups by the time the new carriers are commissioned. If you managed to keep Admiral King out of the decision you might also send some pilots to gain experience in the British services as well instead of just pardoning Americans that got into the fight against fascism early to bring them home to share their hard won expertise. The AVG probably would not have been allowed to recruit from the pool of Navy pilots under such circumstances though.
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@WALTERBROADDUS Have them built by the WPA and get some real value from that bad idea.
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@WALTERBROADDUS The pilots of the AVG were all American military pilots recruited from active service personal but if the USofA Navy was in the midst of a crash expansion of its air groups the Navy would have been very hostile to the idea of even temporarily losing experienced pilots to the AVG. In the real timeline having a few pilots go to China and gain combat experience against the Japanese was unquestionably a good idea but in an alternate timeline where the Navy is expanding that rapidly it is difficult to see the wisdom of doing so. The Navy with certain exceptions would also be open to the idea of getting the British Empire to train and provide combat experience to future USofA Navy pilots. This would aside from providing for a group of trained pilots that the USofA Navy did not have to train for themselves but provide the current combat experience that not sending pilots to the AVG would have lost.
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