Comments by "Kenneth Dean Miller" (@kennethdeanmiller7324) on "Drachinifel"
channel.
-
150
-
71
-
69
-
52
-
45
-
44
-
31
-
29
-
28
-
20
-
20
-
19
-
19
-
19
-
18
-
17
-
16
-
15
-
14
-
13
-
13
-
13
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
12
-
11
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
10
-
9
-
9
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
8
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
7
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
But firing a Double Charge had to be with a fairly new gun. One that had already been in use & showed signs of wear it was NOT SAFE to use the "double charge". And depending upon what your target is you were probably better off going with a 20lb charge or maybe 25lb to be on the safe side. I had a friend in high school that had found a "home made" gun that his father had made. It was basically a pipe with a nut screwed onto the back of it with a small hole drilled into it for a fuse. And a handle carved out of wood which was taped to the "barel". He had it over at my house and was using black powder & small steel marbles for ammo. After he shot it a few times, I lost interest unfortunately he didn't. He ran out of black powder and decided to open up a shot gun shell & use the powder from it. I told him not to that it wasn't safe to do that. I was right but LUCKILY for him it didn't blow up in his face. BUT the wooden handle broke propelling the top of it right back at his right eye. Luckily he didn't lose the eye either but the pipe had made a cut all the way around his eye and his eye did have some internal bleeding that ended up leaving him with a blind spot in his eye where some blood remained. With today's technology he has probably had it fixed. But also when it happened he hit himself underneath his chin with the wooden stock that was left in his hand. And that required about 8 stitches. Plus idk how many around his eye.
Moral of the story, Don't keep shooting a gun that you are not confident about it firing correctly. Not a lesson you want to learn the hard way.
Btw, they do still make muzzle loading rifles. And a lot of places here in the USA, depending on the state regulations allowing big game hunting, there are regular hunting seasons & it's extended both fore & aft for bow season & muzzle loaders. My step-dad Billy got a huge 8 point white tail buck in Georgia with his bow. And talking about a lucky shot, he thought he missed until he saw the blood trail. Right thru his jugular vein. He had it mounted and you could see where the arrow went through. He had it scored & it scored really high on the "Pope & Young" scale for a typical white tail. It's longest tines were 14". But not enough to be a record. He was good enough for eating though. Billy also had a muzzle loader too but he said for hunting it was quicker to grab another arrow than reload a muzzle loader. Plus if you missed it might not scare the deer away. A muzzle loader would most certainly scare the deer away. But if you hit it they pack a lot of punch. He's the one that taught me how to lead a target when it's running. You can't shoot where it is, you have to shoot where it's going to be. In South Alabama they would let dogs run the deer & go to wherever there might be a clearing they would have to cross. He said the first deer he ever got was like that. The deer was at full speed so he had to shoot with a big lead. But he said he actually saw the buck shot going thru the air to meet the deer. And it basically rolled a couple of times after it got hit. After he married my Mom he went squirrel hunting with my 22 semi-auto behind the house where we were living & ended up shooting a little "button buck" in the head 3 times. He came home saying "I got one & it's got horns about ya long" while holding up his thumb. We were like "a squirrel with horns? What do you mean?" He said "No a deer. And I need help to carry it home. Now come on." That was my introduction to deer hunting & deer meat. And he was damn good at cooking deer meat too. Billy McCormick was his name. I loved & trusted him more than my own Mom & Dad. My Mom was lucky to have him!!! He died at 49 years old. Didn't even make 50. If there really is a heaven I know he will be there. The house him & my Mom lived in from 1991 until they both passed away, Billy in 2005 & Mom in 2011, Billy & I built that house. I mixed mortar in a bathtub & he laid the block. A 16' x 32' basement & 2x that for the footings. Laid the floor & framed the walls. My brother helped me do some of the ceiling joyces but that was about all he did. I remember Billy cut down 2 pine trees & nailed 2x4's to them to make them into a ladder. Made it a lot easier getting the shingles on the roof & doing the block for the fireplace.
Sorry for writing so much. Sometimes I just get inspired and text what I'm thinking about.
But bigger guns scare me more than make me curious. I liked shooting a 22 rifle. They are fun to shoot. I once knew a guy that could hit a marble in the air after you had thrown it with a 22. His name was Huey King. Best marksman besides Billy that I ever knew.
Oh & btw, I'd never heard of the "Half Charge Myth." And I'd never knew about a bunch of our US officials getting killed by a gun blowing up like that. And the President only surviving cause he was down below. I guess that is why they don't let our President be around stuff like that & the Vice President & Secretary of State & all our top officials can't all be together in the same place at the same time. Wow. Seems like something they would teach us in our History Classes in school but I don't remember it being taught. That is one I would have remembered. Idk, maybe I was absent that day. But I never heard about MOST OF WW2 in school either. The bombing of Pearl Harbor & the atomic weapons used on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. And then D-Day & Russia & the Allies rush to get to Berlin. History is NOT taught well in Elementary schools or high schools here in the US. I guess that's why we have college students protesting in favor of Palestinians when Palestine never really existed in the modern age. And I doubt anyone alive can say they were born in Palestine cuz it's been Israel for so long now. And it was formed because the surviving Polish needed a country. Cuz the Allies didn't want to go to war with "the Soviet Union. And when we started helping Russia that should have been agreed upon first, that Poland goes back to being Poland after the war.
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
6
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
@spencerdawkins That is hilarious. I got one for you that is even crazier. I'm homelessin the DC Area. During Covid I paid a lady $25 a night to sleep on her couch. Last Thanksgiving her son became homeless and so I was out he was in & this other friend said I could stay with him. His name was Harry & I hadn't known him very long. Well he was schizophrenic and would not let me sleep. Wanted to talk all night. So by Christmas I couldn't take it anymore & left. Well he had a dog, a little pit bull named Daisy. And he had one of those hands free leashes that go around your waist. I had told him that it was dangerous but didn't realize how dangerous. He was getting off the Metro here in VA,, coming back from DC & idk I guess he was looking at his phone & not paying attention. He got off the train but the dog stopped to smell something. They closed the doors & Daisy is still on the train, worst of all the door is closed on the leash, the leash is around his waist and the train drags him the whole length of the platform & he hits his head at the end of the platform. But the leash breaks then. But he dies from the head wounds. But Daisy, the dog was ok. Well I didn't find out about it til a couple of days later, even though when it happened I was getting on a bus at that station when it happened & saw the police & ambulance show up. And it was all on the news. I'm homeless & don't get to see the news. Sorry such a long story but... but a couple of weeks after this happened I have this dream. I rarely ever remember my dreams but I woke up right after this one & that was how I remembered it. OK, Roadrunner & Willy E Coyote! Daisy is the Roadrunner looking out the window of the train, Harry is Willy Coyote standing on the platform. Daisy says BEEP, BEEP & the train takes off. Harry looks down at the leash, makes one of those "Oh, shit" faces & is gone. I told a friend about the dream. She accused me of making it up. And I'm like "why would I?" Idk. Crazy? Right?
And just to let ya know I'm NOT making this up. GOOGLE "Death at Dunn Loring Metro" it happened in February.
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
5
-
Yeah, I was wondering that myself. It would seem that 2 super firing 13.5" turrets, one fore the other aft would have been a much better option. 8 gun broadside & only needing 8 guns to do so. Idk, the Brits, I guess, like to make things more complicated than they need to be. Seems to me the 4 twin layout would have weighed less & been less expensive to build even with 13.5" guns instead 12". But I guess that there was some reason they did what they did! But in the long run they would have done better with the super- firing layout fore & aft. The fact that the Treaty system made the USA 🇺🇸 on the same level as the Royal Navy & put the Japanese behind the eight ball at the same time is a major historical footnote. Although the Japanese felt slighted if they had embraced the fact that it was going to help their economy rather than feeling like it made them weaker than both then maybe they could have been content. But I guess that with Hitler wanting to rule the world & the Japanese already invading China & the US embargo of oil against Japan that the die was cast as soon as the Axis powers made their agreements. And Hitler really thought that Great Britain would sit by & do nothing while Germany went rampaging through Europe. And the Japanese figured that they would grab what they could while the English were distracted by Germany. And neither Germany nor Japan knew the power that the USA would rise up & become because of their shenanigans. Winston Churchill knew. That's why Churchill danced a jig on December 8,1941 when he heard the news of Pearl Harbor & made the statement "We can't lose now!!" But even with that said I don't think that he even realized how powerful the USA would become during the war. It's a shame that China & the USSR both decided on Communism instead of freedom. I hope we can live & let live for the future. But idk, seems to me that if there is another big war, what a huge blood bath it will be. Rivers of blood will pour considering we have billions in the world now.
BTW, sorry for the trip down history lane, but we as humans forget how horrible war really is and some evil politicians come into power & starts a war wanting to Rule the World forgetting they will still die regardless. And probably sooner rather than later if there is a war. So, sorry for the reminder, I didn't intend to go there when I started writing. HAVE A GOOD DAY! ENJOY PEACE WHILE IT EXISTS IN THIS WORLD.
5
-
5
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
@Drachinifel Wow, you just hit 300 Drydocks & your closing in on having made 400 ship guides. Not to mention all the special videos that have been done. And your about to become a father or you already are a father. Either way, I'm sure that it's really excellent and exciting for you!!! I would like to just congratulate you & your wife, & thank you for all the great videos that you have produced. You have taught me so much stuff that I didn't know previously & a lot of the stuff you have covered have really been things that my mind had been curious about but never sought to have answered. Like navigation during the age of sail & the manufacturing of the sea clock. And the HMS Revenge pulling off the "first stealth Battleship attack!" Even though most of the time you have pictures & video when you can, I'm usually more content to just listen to you tell a story. Like for example, the "Just Nuisance AB" video. Which brought back a lot of the memories of my younger years & some of the animals we had. Chevis, a black Labrador Retriever that we had that was an incredibly smart dog. Imagine a dog so smart & spoiled that I was sitting & eating Oreo cookies. I'd, of course, dip them in milk for a min before eating. When Chevis came up to beg for one, I just handed him one without dipping it in the milk. And he wouldn't eat it. He took it from me & looked at me all sad & set it on the floor! And, of course, I gave in & dipped one in milk & gave it to him & he was happy as can be. The one I didn't dip just sat there on the floor. It was hilarious. You could talk to him like a person & he definitely understood. Him & my step-dad, Billy were digging a water line when my Mom noticed that one of his nails on his paw was cracked & bleeding. She said "C'mon Chevis let's go soak that in some Epsom Salts. They went inside & Mom put water in a large bowl with some Epsom Salts, put it on the floor & told Chevis "C'mon & put your paw in here." And he walks over & put his paw in it. And I mean he knew he was waiting for her to do that. No complaints, no having to coax him to do it or anything like that. I've got several other stories about Chevis but I'll spare you, this time. Looking forward to your next videos! As well as getting to hear about Baby Drach & whether ya'll get a daughter or a son! Hoping you and wifey have a great summer, if summer is the same time there as here. Oh, and if you rub your wife's belly with coconut oil it helps her to NOT develop stretch marks. And if she wants to breast feed but also wants to work or be away from the child during the day, it's usually better to rent the milk express machines from the hospital cuz they are a lot stronger and just work better than the small ones available for sale. AND, I know the grocery store has "disposable diapers" like in unbelievable quantities. But cloth diapers help A LOT and keep them from getting diaper rash. And a baby with diaper rash is NOT a happy & quiet baby, so do your ears & there bottom a favor. Not sure if the UK has diaper services but if not you can buy & wash yourself. Hoping ya'll have a great time becoming new parents. And more importantly want to wish ya'll a happy & safe delivery as well. I'll be praying 🙏 for the 3 of you!!!
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
4
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Yeah, also previously, the US had gotten 4 Battle Cruisers sunk & basically didn't do anything to the Japanese. Which NOW with Kirashima being sunk by an unseen foe in just a matter of minutes, it was a major blow to the "night time morale" of the Japanese. Cuz they had previously thought they could rule the nights off Guadal Canal, now that way of thinking had been blown away & sunk with the Kirashima along for company. Had the South Dakota not experienced such technical difficulties the Japanese may have been decimated on that night.
HOWEVER, THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES OF WW2. If the US NAVY could of somehow cloned Admiral Lee, so that they had, idk, 10-20 officers that were similar in his way of getting things accomplished, I think the US NAVY would have had few, if any, defeats following the Pearl Harbor attack. All except /tfor the South Dakota having such technical difficulties & getting shot up because of it.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
Kinda like when I was a kid I caught a catfish that was as long as my arm. And after I grew up I still thought of that catfish being as long as my arm BUT my adult arms are now much longer than when I was a kid. So the catfish got bigger as I grew up. I never thought about that til now. But it made for a whopping good meal. We had caught 3 others but that one was about the same amount of food as the other 3. I never really talked about it but in my head that catfish was still as long as my arm. But I'd never thought about the fact my arm was shorter & smaller then. Funny how you don't think about things like that. The mind only sees what it wants to see. We didn't have any bait to go fishing. So we started turning over cross ties that were around the garden thinking to find some worms. No worms but we did manage to get some crickets. We caught one catfish and then 2 really small bream. And now all our crickets were gone. And I was like, well we could cut up the bream & use them for bait. And that was how I caught that catfish that was "long as my arm." Plus my brother caught a little King snake when we were turning over the cross ties. Hell, I went fishing so much back then it's difficult to remember any certain fishing trip unless something weird happened. Like, I caught an eel one time that was about 2-3 foot long. And my brother when we were really really young caught a gar. Or more commonly known as an alligator-gar. It had a long snout with spiny teeth. Scary looking thing. I've looked at pics of them on the net but none have teeth similar to the one he caught. The snout was about 6-7 inches long & there were LOTS of teeth! I'd compare them to nails that are about a half inch long real close together & way too many to count. Oh, another fishing trip we were in a boat. Had been fishing for hours & caught nothing. And we had been on a river in South Alabama Conecuh River. And had pulled into a place where the water was still, sorta like a pond on the bank & the water was clear enough that we noticed a couple of alligator-gars in there. And decided that with them in there other fish wouldn't be. And so we were just leaving & a bream came out of the water and landed in my brother lap. Scared the crap out of him. The only fish we caught all day jumped out of the water & landed in my brother's lap. True story! Swear on my mother's ashes! If I hadn't seen it I probably wouldn't believe it. I'm talking about a 16' fishing boat too. Crazy, but we figured one of those gars had gotten after him. We turned him loose. Can't make a meal out of one fish. He wasn't small for a bream but not that big either.
Our neighbor down there him & his buddy would go fishing all weekend long. Seen them come home with an 8' stringer full of bream. He had a washing machine rigged with chicken wire in it. He'd put a bunch of them in it & hit spin & it would scale the fish. Redneck engenuity at it's finest! The guy he went fishing & hunting with had a farm and they had built a freezer house there. It was a big shack almost the size of a barn & he had about 8-10 freezers full of fish & deer & anything else that they had caught, trapped or killed.
Wow, that was a whole lifetime ago. Seems like it was a totally different world now from then. We would go crabbing. On weekends we would all go in on about 20 lbs of shrimp or more. Bowl half & fry half. Fry a bunch of fish & boil crabs & make fries & hush puppies. And it would be like a whole neighborhood cookout. Some drinking beer some smoking weed. But everyone just having a good time together. Wow. That was over 40 almost 50 years ago. Ànd the thing about is, that's the first time I really remember being happy. My first 8 years my Dad was cheating on my Mom & they were always fighting & then they divorced but were still in the same house. And until My Mom married Billy & we moved there all I knew was violence. Or mostly. I had had a couple of girlfriends but knew little to nothing about sex. Then some of Billy's cousins started coming around trying to get him to help them do bad things. So he left & went to Atlanta where my Mom's sister lived & found a job there. Then we packed up everything and moved to Atlanta. I was at the top of my class in 4th & 5th grade. Captain of the defense on the football team. My girlfriend won Homecoming Queen for the 5th grade & we had our picture in the paper cuz I was her "escort" and then we move. And it wasn't really a long & drawn out thing. One night we packed all the stuff in a truck & was gone to Atlanta. My second day of school I go out to catch the bus & no one is out there. I had already noticed the day before that about 15 other kids caught the bus there. Mom & Billy are already gone to work & so I'm left trying to tell my Aunt something ain't right. "Just get out there and wait on the bus. Your just trying to not go to school!" And I'm like wtf!! So, like the only kid I know, I walk up to his apt & knock on the door. He comes to the door sleepy eyed & in his underwear "You didn't hear? The school burned down last night." So I go back to my Aunt's and she makes some calls & finds out that someone had burned half the school down. But us 5th graders got to spend the rest of the school year in the 2nd graders classes. While they tried to bring in trailers & do construction. And then we get our own apt & move from Smyrna to Stone Mountain. OK, now I gotta make some friends all over again. As a child in elementary school I went to five different elementary schools. But we moved nine times. We moved away from Stone Mountain & then moved back while I was in 6th grade. By this time I didn't even want to make friends anymore. Why bother? We will just have to move again. So I make it to Stone Mountain high school, in the 8th grade there you went to high school but didn't start getting points towards graduation until 9th grade. But then we move again & now I'm going to Lithonia HS. AND finally we stay there long enough for me to graduate. But I guess I did learn early in life that nothing is forever except change. No matter what, things are constantly in motion and constantly changing. Like when I married my wife, I thought I had it made. I had someone I loved & trusted. A partner til the end. And barely 8 years later she passes away. And when I first met her she was scared to get into a relationship cuz she was tired of being heart broken. And I'm talking about a woman so beautiful that at the time was very hard to find, especially one you could trust.
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
I also wanted to address something that you related to in Drydock 127 about the basic human nature of people suffering is NOT a good thing. And it reminded me of a US submarine Captain machine gunning survivors in the water. And, although he thought they were Japanese Army a good many of them were actually POW's from India, I think. And you also remarked that he actually received a medal for doing this. When in actuality he should have been reprimanded for it. Or he should have taken as many survivors as he could on board or something rather than killing them in the water. But, yeah, I live in the US but in no way am I delusional about right & wrong. And it's difficult to try to argue that the US Submarine Captain was right to kill those people. Although I do understand that he thought they were Japanese troops & wanted to kill them in order to save American troops. That still doesn't make it right. From a "naval" perspective of course it's about sinking ships & not about killing as many people as you can. But also from the Japanese point of view they were TRYING to kill as many Americans as they could in the hope that the war would become too costly for the USA in the amount of lives being lost in the hopes the USA would broker a peace agreement favorable to the Japanese. But that doesn't mean that Kamikaze's were a good thing either. And yeah, I totally agree that human suffering should be looked at as, those terribly unfortunate people! And sometimes during war people do the right & honorable thing. And sometimes they don't. And sometimes there are just circumstances that keep sailors from doing what should be done. Like rescuing survivors from Bismark. It was a good thing that they rescued as many as they did. But unfortunately they didn't rescue all of them. And as cold as that water was it was practically a death sentence for those that were left in the water. And that is a very unfortunate thing. Yeah, regardless of what side you are on, looking at history and hearing about humans suffering, & relating that story to others, I totally agree that sailors needlessly suffering a cruel fate should be looked at from a human perspective rather than they were "the enemy" so their suffering was a good thing!
2
-
Wow, that's a cool piece of info. They bombed Enterprise 2x & lived & Enterprise never sank either so, I guess it was a win, win ,win situation. Except, of course, for the men that were killed or severely mangled by their bombs!!!
It makes me wonder if they ever researched & found out the names & origin of the people they killed & wounded in those 2 bombings. Or if they decided they didn't really want to know. Idk, just like our pilots, they were fighting for their country but also trying not to get killed in the process. I'm sure the pilots that sunk the 4 carriers at Midway probably never wanted to know of all the sailors that died that day either. It was a war. You did what you could do & what you were expected to do. Attack & kill the enemy, as many as possible. But then after the war, we are all still human & can't help but wonder what hardships were caused by our actions.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Yeah, I just watched Drach on another channel called "History Undone." And I do really hope they paid him well to to be on their show BECAUSE, I had NEVER seen Drach interrupted by a commercial UNTIL I seen him on this other channel. And he got interrupted about 6x during an hour long video! And I don't think that even happened when I watched him on the US Navy channel! Although that video had commercials, he wasn't speaking when they interrupted the video & it NEVER happens on his OWN CHANNEL!!!! THANK YOU FOR THAT DRACH! To be honest, now that you have a child, one ad after maybe 30 mins wouldn't really get in the way of your videos! And if it would help you to start saving $ for Mini-Drach's College Fund, say a 5 second ad & then you can skip it, would be worth enduring for your kid to get a good education! Plus, if that $ goes directly into a college fund account, not positive about the UK, but I know in the US that money does NOT get taxed. So you could save money for your kid & partially stick it to the Gov't at the same time!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
Yep. That sounds about right. Let's face it, if you have the power to do such a thing, then you're going to do it. And at this point in his life the man is probably an alcoholic, a functional alcoholic but an alcoholic nonetheless & him going without the scotch would probably make him unfit for duty until fully detoxed. And although it is probably not good to have a "drunk" making decisions in the middle of a war where one bad decision could get a large number of men killed, that is also the reason the man needed to be able to drink & relax at the end of the day. Sending pilots & crew out to do battle in the middle of a war & seeing many of them not come back is usually not easy for any man, so half a bottle of scotch to help wash away the doubts of whatever decisions had been made that day. Yeah, in times of war those decisions have to be made. Halsey did flub up by not leaving those battleships behind. And, I'm fairly certain that with hindsight if he had the chance to do things over, he would leave the battleships behind. And to address him throwing a temper tantrum, he messed up & knew he had messed up & it cost the Navy some ships & cost some very good & brave men their lives. However, if it had not been for this error we cannot really say that less men would have died . And without this mistake, the "Naval Battle of Samar" & the tiny ships of Taffy 3 with the planes from Taffy 1, 2 & 3 could not have won a tactical victory over such an overwhelming force as was the Center Force of the Japanese. And to me, the "Naval Battle of Samar", the "Battle of Midway" & the 2nd(?)" Battle of Savo Island" ,where Admiral Lee used USS Washington to bludgeon IJN Kirishima, those 3 stories are my favorite stories of the Naval clashes in the Pacific war.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
In reference to the USS Indianapolis the surviving crew that had abandoned ship after 3 Japanese torpedoes slammed into her side, it was estimated that around 900 or a little more survived the ship being sank. However, because they were in the water so long many succumbed to exposure & shark attacks with only 316 of the crew FINALLY being rescued. It is actually in the Guiness Book of World Records for the largest & longest known shark attacks.
Coincidentally, also during WW2, somewhere in or near Burma, I think, a large number of Japanese troops were retreating from a certain area. I forget exactly the numbers, 1,000 to 1,500 respectively, I think, were cornered in a Mangrove Swamp that was INFESTED with crocodiles. At least 20 to 30 large saltwater crocs lived there with thousands of smaller crocs. The Brits that had them cornered pleaded with them to surrender. Night after night they could hear the screaming of those being attacked, and subsequently eaten. And they continued to ask for them to surrender. I forget the number that finally surrendered. But I think that close to 500 or more Japanese soldiers died & were eaten by crocs before the ordeal was over. I do believe that also made the Guiness Book of World Records.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
For me, it's NOT "almost" a ritual, it is a ritual & has been a ritual for over 4 years now. But it's not always the Drydock. Sometimes I'll start one of the ship folders, eg battleships, battle cruisers, cruisers, destroyers & just start it where I want & just let it scroll thru all the different ships. And I listen until I fall asleep. When I wake up, I restart it at the last one I remember. And depending on what time it is keep listening. Even though I know the names & the stats eg speed, armor & primary armament of most of the latter day battleships. Some of the older ones eg the first of the US Standards & the Pre-Dreadnoughts, the first of the Dreadnoughts & Super Dreadnoughts. I have trouble absorbing all the different stats that go with all the different types of ships. And that being said, it's something I'm working on & pushing myself to try to remember. Just like I've always had trouble remembering people's names which has become a "pet-pev" of mine & something I'm trying to remedy!
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
@readingrailroadfan7683 To be honest, when the war first broke out, radar aboard ships, I think, was fairly new. And judging by the Guadal Canal campaign alone A LOT of the ship Captains & Admirals were NOT very sure of their radars capabilities. And with new & better radar systems coming on line & being installed on ships, it's also painfully obvious that most Captains & Admirals didn't realize or understand the advantages & disadvantages of the radar systems and how to use them & also what ships had the newest & better radars in their fleet. You also have to realize that some of these Admirals at Guadal Canal had just shown up at Guadal Canal and had barely had time to even get acquainted with the ships they were commanding before they were thrusted into battle with a Japanese force that was very experienced & new & trusted the capabilities of their Captains & crew. Furthermore, the commanding Admirals for the US would tell their Captains to NOT fire without orders. Leaving most of their ships at a MAJOR disadvantage waiting on orders to fire when it's painfully obvious that enemy is approaching. The Naval Battles of Guadal Canal are a textbook example of how NOT to command a fleet of ships. And a major reason that the US set up CIC Centers.
Furthermore, imho, the Naval Battles of Guadal Canal were an embarrassment to the US Navy and they lost A LOT of good ships & crew simply because they had Admirals that didn't know & trust their Captains & Captains that didn't trust their crews. I think USS Chicago is a prime example of a Captain NOT knowing how his radar system works. However, that Captain was a "know it all" that clearly didn't know it all. And was told to take command but decided to go back to sleep instead & a lot of people got killed cuz he wanted to sleep. However, Admiral "Ching" Lee is a prime example of an Admiral that fully understood the capabilities of his ships radar and how to use it in order to obtain a fast & accurate firing solution for his ship's guns. And that was how Kirishima got sunk while being tunnel focused firing at USS South Dakota. However, the four destroyers that were screening for USS Washington evidently had problems picking up the IJN as they came into view from behind Savo Island & were blown out of the water & sunk because of it. I'm not sure if that was because of trusting their radar too much or that lookouts just didn't see the ships because of Savo Island or both or what.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
I couldn't help but notice your use of "pine resin" as a "thickening agent". I grew up in the southern United States. And if we were ever in the woods & had gotten cold & had a strong desire to build a fire we would find what we called "lighter knot". Basically, when/where a pine tree has died, most of the turpentine from the tree will end up in the stump of the tree before it falls over. Sometimes not easy to find cuz these stumps will be almost ground level. However, the concentrated build up of turpentine in one of these stumps makes it very, very easy to start a fire, even in the rain. Most times they were relatively easy to pull them out of the ground & the concentrated turpentine as a solid is white. So you could usually see where there was a lot of the turpentine & just setting a lit match to that would get you a raging fire rather quickly. But you were using "pine resin" so I'm sort of ignorant to exactly what you mean by that considering it seemed to be a solid. I was thinking that maybe trying turpentine may work as well or better cuz I could definitely see that sticking & burning. But I'm not sure as to if turpentine would have been available & logically, of course, given the time period & location you would have to use products available in quantity in that location and time period. Idk. I'm neither a scholar of either. But I also felt it was rather telling that trying to use such a weapon with a syphon would be rather dangerous for those using it if the wind was not in your favor. However, throwing the hand grenades, if there were enough of them, could still be deployed & give your army an advantage. Because being burned is a terrifying reality & when people are burning they scream loudly & those 2 things would be highly demoralizing & terrifying to an enemy.
2
-
I personally don't blame the Brits in any way, shape or form. They were looking out for their best interests & made their intentions very clear. The British gave the French 4 different options, and the 4th option being that the vessels in question could be be taken to the US to be safeguarded until the conclusion of hostilities. This option could have been taken because it did not go against the Armistice agreement with Germany, and was actually a part of the agreement, considering at the time the US was neutral & currently not involved in the war.
Although, the US wasn't totally "neutral". It's pretty easy to tell which side of your bread has the butter on it. HOWEVER, the US had considered the French friends of ours & would have gladly let the French ships be parked in & around US ports in an effort to squash any hostility between the French & British.
The actions of that day, although they were very regrettable, were not only inevitable but very necessary, because France & Britain both needed to know & understand exactly where they stood in regards to each other. And so if the Brits ask "friend or foe"? And then the French respond with "no". Not just once but repeatedly try to just ignore the ultimatum then force must be applied so that a decision can be made. By ignoring the ultimatum the Admiral caused hostilities that could have been avoided by choosing one of the choices rather than just thinking, "well if I ignore it long enough, maybe it will go away.
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
2
-
1
-
Oh my God, good gracious!
Claud 9: "Well I'm a happy hippie, taking a little trippy, drivin' on down the...
-Big Mouth Cop: A'IGHT BOY, PULL OVER. I GOT YOU CLOCKED AT 80 MILES PER HOUR.
Claud 9: Man that's impossible, I haven't even been out an hour.
BMC: DON'T YOU LAY NONE OF THAT YANKEE HIPPIE SASS ON ME BOY! LET ME SEE YOUR DRIVERS LICENSE.
Claud 9: Aw, here ya go man.
BMC: DON'T PLAY TOM FOOL WITH ME BOY, THAT AIN'T NO DRIVERS LICENSE.
Claud 9: Aw man, that's the menu from Alice's Restaurant. Here ya go man, it was freakin' out behind my Timothy Leary Trip of the Month Card.
Too much to do it all. Wanna hear the rest? It's hilarious. My Dad use to have it on LP.
Its "Hudson & Landry", & no not trying to "spam" you. I get no $ for this. It's just one of those comedy teams, they were funny but IDK, don't think they wen very far but they were good.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
As far as I'm concerned, I personally believe that considering the vast amount of money that each Navy pays for each ship, that they can call it whatever they want to call it. But once they came up with the 8" autoloaders these 12" guns didn't seem much bigger considering the rate of fire.
However, in hindsight, as we all take a look back at the things they did, some look rather idiotic. But I seriously believe that Admiral King, some how or another, was offered a kick back(or a bribe)to somehow endorse a ship with 12" guns. Of course there is no way to ever know for sure but that is about the only sense I can make out of it. And if these ships were supposed to protect the carriers, it would seem that they would want to arm them with the 16" guns for any surface threats. But idk, was the US Navy offered the 12" guns at a major discount? That and/or King getting a nice kick back on each 12" gun could be the reason for these ships. I could understand, if the guns were already made & they were building ships to utilize guns that were already available but you said they had just began testing the 12" guns & comparing them to the 10" guns. So I can't help to think it was something "fishy" going on. A class of ships to enhance Kings retirement funds. I once had a gov't worker tell me, "I don't take bribes, just cash." I say this, however King may have been the type of person that you could not bribe. And since I didn't know him I can't say. Maybe someone else or some other reason.
I think that for moral purposes they should have ditched the scout plane & made that area a swimming pool. That way, if the ship had been at sea for any length of time, sailors could have a bit of R&R without the ship being at port. Since the ships are being built to line Kings pocket the sailors may as well get something out of it as well.🤑😁😇 Well, that is my take on all of it. Do what you will with it.
1
-
I personally believe that the Royal Navy had the best naming convention of ships that there was. Cuz a lot of there ships had really awesome adjective names. Dreadnought, Victory Defiant, Thunderer, Conquerer, & then the Greek names like Achilles, Ajax, Hercules, Agamemnon, etc. The only cool names imo the US Navy had were the carriers Wasp & Hornet. Enterprise, Johnston, Hoel, & the Samuel B Roberts because the CREWS MADE THE NAME famous because of their resilience in battle! And then the naming of submarines after types of fish was partially good. Some sounding really cool & then others, not so much. Sort of like "the flower" class in the Royal Navy. Some cool & others like HMS Pansy...not so much. However, any U-boat Captain that survived his sub sinking to be taken aboard the victor named HMS Pansy, could be easily pointed to & laughed at!! "Hahaha, you got sunk by a pansy!!! (In a laughing mocking taunt!!) Is always good for a laugh!!!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
My personal feeling about "treatys" in general is that they are not worth whatever paper they are printed on UNLESS the people & countries in the treaty have the HONOR to stand behind whatever agreement was made. And, furthermore if those people &/or countries decide that they can not continue to HONOR said agreement, then they should have enough HONOR to approach the other country's in the treaty and make an attempt to negotiate a new treaty in order to address whatever issues may have arisen over time. And, each country, if their "HONOR" is in question cuz of their actions, then the other countries in whatever treaty will be almost waiting & wondering when they will break the treaty. And that is when the treaty doesn't really matter. Honor & trust is something that must be earned, it doesn't just appear out of thin air. What is the saying? If you give an inch & they take a mile then you have no trust and question their HONOR.
IE: Adolf Hitler made an agreement with Stalin for them to split Poland in half & each gets a half & he wouldn't try to invade Russia. And then, because he couldn't invade Great Britain, he invaded Russia. And if the Allies had not been sending convoys of war materials to Russia they may have fallen. This was one of those, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Or my enemy? And when the war was over & the country of Poland was never restored, that was when the Cold War started.
General Patton saw it while we still had troops in Germany wanted to attack the Soviets while they had the chance. I think that's why he died in Europe. He knew more than a lot of people wanted him to know. Lived thru the entire war having been leading at the front but then dies in a traffic accident. I DOUBT THAT. It was a covert killing & they probably threatened his family if he said anything. And so he died quietly to protect those he loved. If they had listened to Patton, I think the Allies could have gotten Stalin to reinstate Poland with it's pre-war borders. Oh well, evil defeated, evil allowed to continue.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@6763100 I know it was 5 years since you asked this question but the answer should be VERY OBVIOUS!!! NO! Hitler violated every agreement he made in short order. And everyone knew war was on the horizon & you can't build ships overnight! Despite the USA's massive building program during WW2, building a large Navy takes a LOT of planning, a LOT of materials & a LOT of time & work. Plus the Japanese left the Treaty system so the USA was going to build what they needed to be able to counter them. During that time the Axis Powers wanted to DOMINATE THE WORLD! AND the rest of the world didn't want to BE DOMINATED! What it was was Japan & Germany wanted an "Empire" similar to Great Britain. But you see Great Britain didn't really "conquer" their "Empire". They had just established colonies & bases where they could trade back & forth by shipping goods back & forth thru centuries of trading. And in the early centuries France & Spain were jealous & would try to wage war on the English but never won. But once more modern times came about Japan & Germany emerged & decided that they were just going to TAKE what they wanted & kill anyone in their way. And so the USA sided with the British & even the Russians in order to stop the aggression of the Axis Powers. And in 1776 the USA had just began to exist. But by the end of WW2 in 1945, the USA had not only banded together with the rest of the Allies, the USA was building war materials at a rate that dwarfed the output of Germany & Japan combined! And the USA & UK shipped massive amounts of war materials to the USSR so they could stop the Nazi war machine from ravaging their country. And they did this while amassing major amounts of war materials in England for the Normandy landings in June of 1944. And also the USA built the largest Navy to ever sail the seas WHILE supplying all these war materials. Planes, tanks, trucks, locomotives, explosives, guns, guns & more guns! And all the shells for those guns. Trained pilots, soldiers & sailors. The amount of production that the USA put out during WW2 is probably not even equalled today by the vastly more huge populations & technologies. I mean I could be wrong but I doubt it. Just the amount we sent to Russia was incredible! And that's not to mention what we gave to the UK & kept for our own soldiers to use! We even produced so many cars & jeeps that I forget what Pacific Island it was, but there were so many vehicles shipped to that island that they were just all around for years & years for anyone to use. I read that in a post on one of these Drydocks.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
No, the USS Indianapolis was NOT sunk by a "friendly" submarine. Where did you get that? It was sunk by the Japanese. However, because they delivered a bomb that would kill & wound hundreds of thousands of Japanese civilians, I think God had a hand in the Indianapolis sinking. 316 survivors. JOHN 3-16. Just one of those things to remind us that he is watching. And I've never considered myself very religious but IDK it's just too much of a coincidence. Those sailors may have went thru hell, but the bomb they delivered created another kind of hell & 100x worse.
And the survivors of the Indianapolis, they say 1100 - 1200 went into the water & only 316 came out of the water. The sharks took the rest. To this day it's considered the largest, longest shark attack with the most loss of life known to man.
And in Burma, I think, the British over run a whole division of Japanese soldiers & they claim that about 1100 Japanese soldiers retreated into a mangrove swamp that was infested with crocodiles. Said there were at least 20 to 30 full grown saltwater crocodiles that were over 20 foot long with thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of other smaller crocs from one foot to full grown. The British had the swamp surrounded & kept urging the soldiers to surrender but they wouldn't. And every night they said they could hear screams all night as the crocs kept picking them off one by one. The British even set up speakers & had interpreters tell them to surrender & they would not be harmed. Finally, after almost a week the last survivors surrendered. There were only about 200 left. Crocodiles ate the rest.
Not long after, a great big horde of those crocs left searching for the Japanese Islands. One of them said cuz of the Japanese smaller build they could easily be taken if unaware, & they taste just as good chicken but no feathers getting in the way. Just joking on that part. But the rest is true, I think.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
In response to various American Admirals that were killed early WW2, that although maybe one or two didn't really merit an actual Medal of Honor,,imho, I wasn't there and can't say for sure, but anyway, considering that they were killed in action, I personally believe that it was done as propaganda as one & two it was done for the family that had just lost a son as well. Because it was early in the war & I believe a lot of Americans were not aware of the nighttime capabilities of the Japanese or of the capabilities of the Japanese as a whole, these losses educated the Americans that they must be on guard at all times no matter what the situation!
Furthermore, evidently when those actions occurred whomever those ships had on watch duty must have been derelict of his duties as well. And given the situation, they should have been aware that the Japanese would counterattack asap.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@Archaeus777 I'd have to say that most Navy's didn't really go by that rule either. I think they also factored in armor effectiveness at given ranges and cost & pretty much decided to risk sailors lives instead of putting "the appropriate" amount of armor. However, some did incline the armor to hopefully help in terms of certain battle ranges. But once two ships are so close it's mainly down to who gets the first meaningful hits. For Example, Bismark vs Hood, Rodney vs Bismark, Kirishima vs South Dakota, Washington vs Kirishima. And I would have to say with the latter two, had Washington not been there, South Dakota may have been toast! S Dakota did turn away & hadn't lost propulsion so maybe it lives without the follow up by Washington. But it can also be argued that Kirishima if given more armor than speed when built could have maybe lived to fight another day. I'm not exactly sure. For one, Kirishima had 14" guns shooting at South Dakota & she sustained some fairly bad damage. But Washington at Kirishima has 16" guns a much more powerful shell & Kirishima has less armor too. But I think it may also be argued that at such a close battle range armor isn't going to help much cuz any armor piercing weapon will penetrate. For one, if you are going to spend millions of dollars on a ship you should protect it as much as possible. But two, also protecting that ship is the people you place aboard her, & they should be trained & given the best equipment possible. AND, THREE with the lesson of South Dakota in hand, a ship should NOT be sent into a battle area without thoroughly being tested!!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
People can laugh about superstions such as these, however.. My Stepdad, Billy, whom I loved dearly as if he was my real Dad, had a heart-attack back in 2000. Him & my Mom lived in South Carolina & I lived in North VA, close to DC. Back in 1993, I had bought a fairly large amethyst crystal at RFK while otw to see a Grateful Dead concert. I had the guy wrap it with silver strand so I could hang put a piece of string through it to hang it around my rear view mirror in my Camaro. Well, after parking my Camaro I put the crystal in a window where it could gather sun light. When hearing that Billy was in bad shape in the hospital I immediately got ready to go & why something told me to bring the crystal idk but it went in my clothes bag. Upon getting to the hospital Billy's doctor told me that he had a bad heart-attack & his liver & kidneys had been shut down for over 24 hours. He went on to say that he's probably going to die. That with his liver & kidneys being shut down that most people don't have them start back up & they die cuz of it.
My brother & sister in law were with me but doc said only one person at a time. So I went in first, he was unconscious & on a respirator but I held his hands together & placed the crystal in his hands, holding them both together. I didn't stay long maybe 5-10 mins then went back out so my brother could go in.
Within an hour his liver & kidneys were working again. But what got me was, 2 days later he is off of the respirator, & I am there & he asked me "What was that you put in my hand?" And he had been totally unconscious when I did that. I showed him the crystal he said it felt really heavy when I did it but also he said he felt relief too knowing I was there.
He ended up being OK for about another 5 years but eventually died of another heart-attack in 2005.😢 But I know that crystal somehow had the power to help him get a little bit stronger & survive to live another 5 years. At first I wasn't sure that it was the crystal, but when he asked me "What was that you put in my hand"? That assured me that the crystal made a serious difference!!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
AND the Japanese probably didn't think for even a minute that Germany & the US would also declare war on each other. And that the US would see & choose Germany as the first priority. And that the US would not only win the war against them but also against Germany & Italy at the same time on opposite sides of the world.
So it can basically be said that the US beat them with one arm tied behind their back.
Although maybe, I shouldn't be so bold and should substitute "The Allies" instead of the "US" considering we had armies from Canada, Australia, Great Britain, France & plus Russia fighting the Germans on the other side of Europe as well.
Not sure if the Aussie's fought against Germany but I know they fought against the Japanese. But another big thing that helped the Allies win the war, was by building aircraft that were armored. Although the Zero was light & agile & could turn & dogfight & go faster than most other fighters, it was the fact that our planes could not only take a significant amount of damage, SOME of our planes took a severely brutal amount of damage & still brought the pilot &/or aircrews home. Which also meant we were not having to replace vast amounts of experienced pilots & crews. And the Japanese kept losing more & more experienced pilots. But when the Japs lost at Midway. That was a very DECISIVE BATTLE!!! HOWEVER, The Japanese LOST the DECISIVE BATTLE & would continue to lose every decisive battle afterwards as well. Even though they did have a chance to win a decisive battle at Leyte Gulf. Except a certain Captain Evans inspired an attack by some tin cans that were heavily outclassed by the ships they were sailing against but were determined to fight as best they could cuz the 900 & something men aboard each Carrier and the marines on the beach at Leyte had no way of fending off these ships. So it was up to them & them alone. Although they were aided by planes from Taffy 1, 2 & 3 & several of the light carriers were hit & sunk. But thanks to a couple of Destroyers & Destroyer Escorts, there were a lot of men that day that were saved from the guns of Yamato. It was truly a shame that Captain Evans & a lot of other sailors from Taffy 3 ended up paying the ultimate price. And because they had to pay that price is one of the reasons we have never heard a carrier named after Admiral Halsey. Or any other ships for that matter. Cuz Halsey was going to leave a crew of battleships to guard the straight but never gave the order for the battleships to break off and/or which ones were to go with him & which ones were to stay behind.
Long story short, they didn't realize that a sneak attack that killed over 2,000 of our sailors would cause us to be so pissed that there complete & ultimate defeat is the only outcome the American people would accept! I personally feel that immediately following the surrender MacArthur should have had the Emperor Hirohito brought to him. And MacArthur should have removed his service pistol & shot him in the head. Well there are a few other things I think should have happened too. But it's all over now. No point.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Yeah, I've not read anything by Morrison so I'm not sure what you mean. But Fletcher, in my mind was a damn good Admiral. And Halsey would have been a considered good but he made 3 BIG BLUNDERS! 1) During the Battle of Leyte Gulf he left to go after carriers when he was SUPPOSED TO BE protecting the landing force. Although Taffy 3 managed to make the Center Force retreat, things could have gone a lot worse! Like the entire destruction of the invasion force. A lot of Americans died protecting the flank he vacated to go after an impudent force.
2 & 3) Now MAYBE you could forgive Halsey for sailing into a typhoon once. But twice is rather UNFORGIVABLE especially when lives are lost. I'm fairly certain they had barometers back then, and it's easy to tell when the barometer is falling. Also he waited WAY TOO long to release his Destroyers from picket duty with the typhoon blowing up. Knowing that these ships are top heavy & can't refuel in such weather. They should have been released to do whatever they need to do to save their ships & more importantly the sailors on these ships.
However, Fletcher seemed very calculating. If he could deliver damage to the enemy he did so. And when he thought it was best to withdraw so that his force was not vulnerable he did so. And he had decent enough intelligence to make those decisions. And I would have trusted his judgement in those decisions. He only risked his task force when he could deliver reasonable damage to the enemy. And considering at that time the US only had Enterprise, Saratoga & Wasp & knew that Wasp was very susceptible to damage, he did a very good job imho. And it's a good thing Halsey was sick during Midway cuz he may have screwed up & got blown outta the water in a night surface action.
And as far as Nagumo. After seeing the devastation that the US aircraft dealt to Musashi. And the fact he had a head wound & probably a concussion, you can't really fault him for not making great decisions. Actually, after the head wound he should have relinquished command to someone else. But luckily for the US, he didn't.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Yeah, I've never been on a ship at sea. And for the past 7-8 years I've been homeless and living in the Northern Virginia area right outside of DC. Actually, I pass thru DC every night on the Metro. Usually the Pentagon and/or L'Enfant Plaza Metro's. And since my wife passed away, and I have no family left alive either & not many friends to speak of. For a long time, I couldn't figure out why I enjoyed this channel so much. And a few days ago I realized that it is very simple why I enjoy listening to Drach. It is the simple fact that I get to listen to someone of intelligence talk.
And to speak about your objectivity of the Royal Navy, I do pay close attention & I have NOT in any way noticed a bias toward the Royal Navy unless you, because of being British and having access to more info about the Royal Navy that you scrutinize & point out short comings of the Royal Navy more than US Navy or other Navies. AND as far as the SARCASM goes... keep it coming!!! I know a person that thinks that I am a pessimist, and I know for certain it must be cuz of my love of sarcasm, because I am completely optimistic about every day that I awake in. Every day is the first day of the rest of my/your life. If it just so happens that that day is cloud covered and raining, don't expect me to start singing in the rain, but I'm not going to cry about it either!!!
And, I heard you speaking about lightning,... irony... my Grandfather on my Mom's side fought in & survived WW2. However, my Grandmother on my Mom's side was struck by lightning on a mostly clear day. She was hanging out clothes to dry & lightning struck the tree the clothesline was attached to & she left behind 6 children. 3 older boys & 3 younger girls in which my Mom was the middle girl. Their Grandma raised & took care of all of them cuz after WW2 their father was no where to be found. He had ptsd in a very bad way.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
I do understand why you would get so irritated by all these stupid outrageous claims that people have taken out of context or simply lied about the James Cameron report. But by now you are old enough to know & realize that there are a lot of stupid people in the world. And unfortunately they are allowed on the internet.
Now, as far as the scuttling charges go, I personally feel that the highest ranking officer should have ordered an abandon ship & tried to get as many life boats in the water as possible before any "scuttling charges" were set or blown. In an effort to try to save the lives of as many as possible, in such rough seas scuttling was irrelevant cuz the ship was sinking AND THERE WAS NO STOPPING THE SHIP FROM SINKING. Causing the ship to sink faster would cause more deaths in my opinion. And even though the Hood went down with almost all hands except 3, that doesn't mean that the British should let the entire crew of the Bismarck go down with the ship. Although I do understand wanting to, I do know & realize it is the wrong thing to do.
Well, for one, I'm glad to learn that the German barber on the Bismarck was not lost in battle or drown at sea & is now still working his trade in Canada.
HOWEVER, "the things people say on the internet" is always going to be completely BS! Cuz let's face it, there are 9 billion people in this world, & a lot of them like to be able to try to push conspiracy theories & such in some sort of effort to make themself important in some way, I would guess. And then there are others that are just plain ignorant and want to call people wrong because they are stupid & don't know it. BUT THAT IS THE INTERNET! And that is why you avoid people that make outrageous claims.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
AND the way things were going in the Pacific at the time. I for one am very glad the UK didn't loan the US a carrier. In '42 if there was a carrier being used by the US & your name was NOT Enterprise, you just might be making a one way trip to the bottom of the ocean. Let's face it, Lexington, Yorktown, & Hornet were all 3 lost. Idk, after that, kinda stupid for the US to even ask for one. The UK responded, "Uh, NOT NO, but HELL NO!!!" "We tend to like our carriers ABOVE the water, thank you very much!!!"
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
As far as why the Allies won & not the Axis, I firmly agree with your analysis about industrial output & command of the sea. Perfect example is Japan. Once the Philippines were taken & the Japanese didn't have command of the sea between oil refineries & the home islands then their ways of fighting back became very limited.
However, ALSO, command of the air also made a huge difference. If Germany had been able to gain air superiority over Britain then Germany would have invaded. Or at least would have tried to invade. "OH LOOK, GERMAN PANZIER DIVISIONS." Such a reality on British shores while when first happening may have been turned away easily. BUT, sometimes the stars align in just such a way that your best efforts go for naught. AND, since everyone wants to come up with all these "what if" scenarios that bug the crap out of me. What if, secretly Germany had built planes large enough to supply troops & tanker planes for supplying fuel for tanks. The Allies would have played hell stopping them from reaching London!! And, I also want to say, if Hitler had not have been so stupid as to attack the Soviet Union, he may have come close to winning.
And being myself, I must also say that the Allies had destiny in their favor as well. GOOD VS EVIL. The Allies not necessarily representing good however, considering the Germans trying to exterminate the Jews & the Japanese trying to kill every Chinaman it came across it's not difficult to paint the two powers as evil. And the Italians, I think, were terrified of the Germans & figured it would be better to be the friend of the devil, rather than be in the way of the devil. I could be wrong but I don't think so. And as far as the Allies representing "good"... well they weren't evil in the sense that Germany & Japan were evil and if they are the ones that need to defeat evil then let's say they represent good by defending good and stamping out what evil they can.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@DSToNe19and83 That is just a tiny bit of the whole story! My wife was terminally ill with COPD. She was diagnosed terminal in 2011. In 2011 they said she had 2-6 years to live. She passed away Christmas Eve of 2015. The last two & a half years we were homeless with her in a wheelchair cuz she couldn't breath well enough to walk. I couldn't work & take care of her at the same time so I would panhandle with her there. They had switched her from
Medicaid to Medicare & Medicare wouldn't pay for some of her most important inhalers. So it was either pay for rent or buy her inhalers. And that's how we ended up homeless. On winter nights when it was too cold for her to be out, if we didn't have enough to $ to get a room, I'd take her to the ER for breathing treatments & oxygen. And near the end!, her last year we spent every night at the ER anyway. Ya know how they put that thing on your finger that reads your oxygen levels!? Well they would have to put it on her ear lobe just to get it above 25%. Oh, & by the way, while we are living on the street with her dying, she has a father that's worth over $10 million at the very least. And that is just a very small part of the crap we went through. And after she died I actually had people tell me that they thought I would leave her once she got bad! And I was like "Man that was my wife! I made an oath-"for richer or poorer, in sickness & in health, til death do us part!" And I didn't make that oath lightly. NOT TO MENTION THAT I LOVED HER SO MUCH THERE WAS NO WAY I COULD ABANDON HER WHEN SHE NEEDED ME MOST. But that $700 bottle of Johnny Walker Blue, I'm fairly certain it was some other homeless person that stole it. Ever heard the song lyrics "if I told you about all that went down, it would burn off both of your ears.?" Story of my life!!!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
And another thing about plankings is they could be put through a planer which would make the piece smaller but take off the part of the wood that has weathered. Leaving a rather sturdy result that could be used for the siding of a house or if still thick enough be used for the underlying roofing of a house. Good pieces of wood, especially hard wood that is not rotten can be used for a vast amount of things. Furniture, housing construction, etc... My step-dad, Billy worked for a couple of years at a place that built furniture, & a lot of what they built they made from whiskey barrels. We even had a whiskey barrel bar that he built. But there was numerous ways of repurposing whiskey barrels into other things. Billy was really good at doing upholstery and adding like colorful brass tacks all the way around for ornamentation. He really did beautiful work. We had a VW Bug that had caught fire. He re-upholstered the seats and they were better than brand new. And I say better than cuz he added extra cushion to the seats that hadn't been there when new! He grew up doing upholstery in his Mom's shop.
I'll never forget the night the VW caught fire. We were night fishing at a carp & carfish lake.It was kinda my fault but not. I had been the last one to go into the car. The battery was underneath the back seat. And the plastic caps that covered the battery terminals had gotten knocked around. The metal part of the back seat arched against the battery & caught the underneath part of the back seat on fire. Someone drove past & said "Hey, ya'lls VW sure is smoking a lot!" And when we looked over there was black smoke billowing out the passenger window. When we opened the door the whole inside erupted in flames & we spent the next 15 minutes running back & forth with buckets & coolers throwing water in it. Somebody said, "Ya'll best get away from it before it blows up!" And Billy said "I just spent $2,000 on rebuilding the motor in this thing, if it's going to blow up, it's gonna do it with me pouring water on it!" It didn't blow up. Actually there was very little damage. He had to do a little bit of rewiring & re-upholster the seats. And it was good to go.
1
-
Well, considering all the history that the Royal Navy represents AND the fact that MOST times the English & the French met in battle the French were usually the losing side. And even though the English & French are now allies, I would have to say a Royal Navy ship SHOULD HAVE BEEN the first to transit the Suez Canal. And I don't understand the politics of letting a French vessel go first. But I'm proud that a Captain of a Royal Navy vessel was able to go first, regardless of HOW it happened. And, although I am a very patriotic American, I do find it kind of sad that the Royal Navy doesn't represent the kind of power that it once did. Don't get me wrong, I do love the fact that the US has such a strong Navy, but I do kinda wish the UK was just as strong that way if something very serious happens, then the US & the UK could band together to face whatever threat we need to face. Although, I'm fairly certain that would happen anyway, I'm just not sure what the UK/Royal Navy can bring to the party in today's world. In fact, I'm not sure exactly what all the US Navy is bringing to the party either but I'd be willing to guess numerous aircraft carriers with numerous fighter jets on these carriers as well as ground based fighter jets as well.
I remember growing up near Maxwell AFB & the "Blue Angels" use to practice over the neighborhood we lived in near Montgomery, AL. And my Dad & Uncle would play golf on the base, and my brother & I would go fishing there while they played. One time my brother caught a "alligator gar" that was about 4ft long. It had a snout about 8 inches long with sharp spinny teeth. Scared us, we had never seen the like.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Hey Now, first off, anyone saying anything about what you look like is shallow. Second, the "karate movie" reference was cute but after 2 mins I ignored it. Much more important was the content of the things you were speaking about. I'm just a homeless nobody & about a year ago I became interested in WW2. And cuz of that interest I discovered Drach. I'm not a gamer, I've tried but just can't get excited about that sort of thing.
HOWEVER, as a child I was able to meet my Great Grandma on my Dad's side of the family. A particularly unpleasant old woman that I basically only remember now as Mama Spann. Her & my Grandma both lived in Georgiana, Alabama. My Mom told me that Mama Spann lost BOTH of her brothers in the war. That both were pilots. And that one died in the Pacific fighting the Japanese & the other died in Europe fighting the Germans. Lately I have often wondered how long they fought in the war.
I think you making an Aerospace Museum in Pensacola is really cool. I used to go to Pensacola & Destin as a child. The last time I saw Destin I didn't recognize it. We use to go crabbing & camp in the woods there. And another tidbit as well. I spent my first 8 years in Montgomery, AL, not far from Maxwell AFB & I remember seeing the Blue Angels flying over practicing. In my Dad's later years he lived in Pace, FL, right outside of Pensacola. After he had a heart attack I went down there for a bit & was working in Mobile, AL. I was working with some "in-laws" making an addition to a Austal shipyard while they were building a couple of Navy Cruisers(I think). On the way to work every morning, I got to see a 12 foot alligator while crossing the bridge & the USS Alabama battleship! But now I live in Northern Virginia & travel thru DC on the way home every evening with a glimpse of the Washington Monument every evening as well.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Yep, unknowingly, the Japanese attacking Pearl Harbor did all of the Free peoples of the world a favor. It's a real shame that those 2500 that died during that massacre had to die for the US to FINALLY really become involved. But the political state of the country didn't want to be involved in "Another European War" as they seen it at the time. But once we were attacked & thousands died & a lot of our warships were destroyed, anyone that was STILL ANTI-WAR kept their mouths shut because that would have seemed very UNPatriotic. AND, if it had been widely known what the Germans were doing to the Jews, I think most would not have been antiwar. And although the Japanese were killing Chinese on a massive scale too, I would guess that was not widely known by the middle class & lower class of people.
I guess what I'm trying to say is respect for the UK & the free people's that joined with the UK 🇬🇧, & held the lines long enough for us Yanks to get involved. I'm sure back then the UK didn't count on having to stand alone against Germany, Japan & the Italians with no help coming from France.
And I'm not trying to say the UK would have lost if the US had not got involved. However, because the US did get involved it made the Allies twice as strong. The only thing was, we had to train soldiers, sailors & pilots. We had to create numerous factories & train a lot of our females & elderly on running these factories. It wasn't just a few people in the US doing this. Our people came together then, more than ever before or since to ultimately do anything & everything we needed to do to help win the war. Although, in reality, invading the US would be a logistical nightmare for any country, I imagine that to a lot of us, invasion was a very real thing to be worried about. I'm not sure but I think that was when we developed the Coast Guard & the National Guard. And then after deciding we were going to be in the war, we still had to get with the Brits & establish a plan on what to do. First, second & third.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Drach, Totally off the subject. I was reading tonight & just happened to notice "hell ships". Which I clicked on it & began reading about "hell ships" of WW2. This was on Wikipedia but was very grim BUT WAS SOMETHING I HAD previously been totally uninformed or to put it bluntly, until tonight I was totally ignorant of these "hell ships". Are you possibly planning a special on the hell ships? I figure if I know little about them, a lot of others know little as well. And although a very ugly subject, it's something very real & like the concentration camps, something people did to other people that was very cruel & those that don't remember their history are doomed to repeat it. People do need to know that really happened. More British & Dutch went thru it than Americans, from what I was reading.
Ya know, today's political climate has the US being friendly with Japan & even doing Naval maneuvers with them. But when I read about stuff like the hell ships & the death march in the Philippines I start cursing Japan all over again. Am I wrong for feeling that way? When I see a Mitsubishi car I have a strong urge to throw a brick at it! Should or should I not feel that way?
Anyone I've ever known that drove a Mitsubishi, I gave them holy hell about buying such a car. Of course, they bought it second hand so the $ went to an American but....
And it's not like the people living today had anything to do with what their people did back then. I don't feel that way when I see Asians in our society, which I do see them all the time. This one lady I worked with said she was well aware of Asians nondriving stereotype so she is extra careful when driving. I guess what I'm trying to say is I have no wish to hate on anyone but we should shine a light on the cruelty that happened so maybe it won't happen again. And although I love living in the United States, I don't trust our government. We show up at the polls & vote but it's really the rich people that are running & ruining this country.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Yeah, it's funny that if the Japanese instead of attacking & sinking the battleships at Pearl Harbor, had instead had attacked & destroyed Pearl Harbors oil reserves and any tankers in the area, they would have done better & set the US back worse than sinking their battle fleet. Plus it would not have killed over 2,000 of our young sailors causing MAJOR OUTRAGE FOR THE JAPANESE.
And during your bit about Admiral King, in the little "propaganda film" where King spoke about the war in the Pacific he mentions that we have two enemies in the Pacific: Distance & the Japanese. And, of course he mentioned "distance" first cuz to fight the Japanese we had to overcome the distance between relatively safe harbor where our war crafts could be restocked with sailors, pilots, food, water, fuel & ammunition. And then travel a large distance to take the fight to the Japanese. And with the fleet oilers at sea with the fleet, refueling can be fairly easy in calm waters. I'm also guessing that they had freighter type ships with a built in crane so that they could restock food, water and smaller types of ammunition so that ships could be replenished while on station. Rather than a ship having to sail a day or two, restock & refuel and then sail a day or two back to where it was patroling. And, in the meantime, having another ship there to do the job it was doing. Considering the vast expanse of the Pacific, I'm sure that it really was a logistical nightmare! And also, the treatment & care for those that get injured, I'm sure was also a major problem. I'm not sure what kind of medical facilities that they had at Pearl Harbor but I'm guessing that they had to build larger hospitals for the care & recovery of wounded sailors & soldiers. And the "distance" & time to cover that distance with a wounded man could easily be the difference between life & death!
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
What gets me about the Hood, is that it was GONE IN 3 MINUTES!!!(GONE IN 180 SECONDS!!!) For a ship that big to go completely beneath the surface of the water in 3 minutes is truly incredible & VERY VERY SCARY!!! Taking 1415 lives with it & only leaving behind 3 men. It boggles the mind! With that being said, I myself having no idea of the layout of the ship, AND I thought it was obvious as ti what had happened. They were in a battle, firing these huge shells at the Bismarck with Bismarck firing back. Bismarck just happened to hit the most vulnerable part of the ship AND it blew up & sank in a matter of minutes. It being the flag ship of the British Navy & undoubtedly THE most famous warship in the world, the British, of course, want to know exactly what happened, so that maybe if it's some error in the design, then we can learn from it & make sure it NEVER happens again. Very understandable, you never want to lose a ship that is worth millions plus over 1400 lives of our countrymen.
Like I said, in war, bad things are going to happen.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
This reminds of the saying "Even a broken clock is right twice a day!" And Mitchell couldn't even manage to be correct twice. And it can very easily be argued that by his actions, he proved causes he was trying to promote were a bad idea. That the "Air Service" should be it's own "Military Service", by his insubordination during the "Navy tests" he knew he could do what he wanted because he wouldn't be "disobeying a direct order by a superior officer." Which, of course, is a major offense in any service, as long as that superior is in the same branch of the service. Therefore showing that each Branch of the Military should have it's own planes & aviators designed & trained to carry out specific tasks. And, one thing that the Navy should have learned but didn't is to always use Navy pilots when conducting Naval tests. However, the Navy pilots were not "trained" to drop atomic weapons at the time that "Able" was dropped on Bikini Atoll, so I guess the Navy & Earnest King get a pass on that one. And two things that tests confirmed yet again is one, level bombing against war ships is relatively unaffective & two, after 4 years of war the USAAF can't hit the broad side of barn with only one bomb.
And because of all of Mitchell's wild claims, airpower & promoters of airpower & anti-aircraft firepower as well was directly affected negatively by his actions as well. And I personally believe that he also had a negative impact on the USA Military in general. One crackpot makes intelligent minded military aviators & those people who need to defend against those aviators get ignored & not taken seriously.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
@kennethhanks6712 eah, from what I've heard about Admiral King, I don't think he shared the same sentiment about the Royal Navy but that was his problem. I seriously doubt he would have told a bunch of sailors that they can't have a pet. I'm glad most didn't share his view of the Royal Navy. A Navy that has been around as long as the Royal Navy, must at least be doing something right that we can all learn from them. And we can also learn from their previous mistakes as well, so that we do not make the same ones. I guess Coxswain Zero, once he made it ashore again found himself a bitch & had some pups. Then decided he needed to be closer to his family.
My parents, among many of my Mom's pets, she had a Black Lab named Chevis. He was so smart you could speak to him as though he was a person & he pretty much understood most. In 1990-91 I helped my Step-father,Billy, build him & my Mom a house near Westminster, SC. For 911 purposes they had to name their driveway. They named it Chevis Mtn rd. They are both passed away but if you Google the street you will get an aerial view of the property cuz it's so far out in the "boonies".
P/s We had previously lived in Lithonia, Ga before my parents moved to SC. I was still staying in GA as I still had a job there & was working. One morning just a few days after my parents had left, of course they had taken Chevis with them, anyway it was early just getting daylight & I heard a deer outside. This was kinda unusual so I looked outside. It was a big 8 point buck & he was "blowing" thru his snout & pawing at the ground. Since this was unusual, I called my stepdad, Billy later in the day & mentioned it to him, cuz he has always been a deer hunter with several huge deer heads on his wall. And he told me that that was Chevis's buddy. That the deer would wake Chevis up in the morning, Chevis would wake him up, & he would let Chevis outside to go "chase" the deer. He said evidently they had formed some kind of friendship/rivalry & every morning the deer would show up wanting Chevis to come out & play. I'm sure the deer was most disappointed that his morning running buddy had moved.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
AND, all of a sudden, after the treaty falls apart & hostilities are ramping up for WW2, all of a sudden all of the Brits cruisers go into refit & all of them get brand new armor that had been, I'm sure, manufactured at the time they were built & placed in a warehouse. And with that going on, it makes people wonder if they were doing the same for their battle fleet as well! And, of course, they could have done the same for their guns too if they had built the ships in a way that the turrets could be just lifted out & new turrets dropped in with bigger guns. However; I guess they were not trying to spend the massive amount of $$ to do that. Because the whole reason for the treaty was to save money & not spend more for every ship they built!
However, after everything that was done, the Royal Navy still entered WW2 at a massive disadvantage especially compared to the massive advantages it had in WW1. Or at least imho. AND ALSO, I use to think that WW2 was mainly because Japan & Germany wanted to rule the world & that they were at fault for causing the war, yet after Chamberlain & Stalin signed treaty's with Hitler to NOT go to war with Germany, I mean before signing such a document you should be thinking about WHY would he WANT such a thing. Chamberlain imho was dupped into signing cuz of the Brits economy at the time was thin. But Stalin on the other hand, had much sinister reasons. And if Nazi Germany had NOT attacked Russia when it did, the Allies would have faced a much more formidable German Army when trying to break out of Normandy. And my biggest problem with the end of WW2 is that the Allies should have INSISTED THAT POLAND BE REESTABLISHED! If all the Allies had threatened Stalin with continued war against Russia for that very purpose, I think Stalin would have backed down. And I also believe that is what Patton wanted to do as well. And I think he was assassinated to shut him up, although I'm not sure if it was by Stalin or Truman.
1
-
1
-
When it comes to submarines, Gato as in GA-To. is how I'm fairly certain is how it's pronounced. However, us Americans are not really picky, if you say Got-to & follow it up with submarine then either way we know what you are talking about. Unless it's someone that doesn't know there are Gato submarines and in that case they don't know either. Just like Louisiana is pronounced 2 different ways but most don't kick up a fuss about either. If/when you come to Washington DC, most that have lived here all there life say "Warshington". And where the hell the r comes from I have no idea!!! But hey, far be it from me to go around kicking up a fuss about pronunciations!
Also, ie I use to live near Toccoa, GA where the first Airborne divisions trained. Also near there is a certain Tugaloo river. However, people there pronounce it as though it is Ta-gu-la. By the way its written I thought tug-a-loo would be how it's pronounced but what the hell do I know? A Cherokee Indian name but trying to conform to English.
Makes me think of a joke I once read in a book called "Silverlock" by John Myers Myers. Why is an angleworm like a parallelogram? Idk why? Well, I can't really say that it is. But if you don't think about it, it won't bother you.
Yes, I will admit it is rather dry but what do you expect for free. If I was a real comedian I'd get paid for telling dumb jokes.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Way, way back in 1991 my brother and I drove across a large portion of North America, meaning from Greenville, SC to San Rafael, CA by way of also going 4 hours out of our way to see the Grand Canyon otw. We had seen quite a few Grateful Dead concerts & we had decided that we wanted to see them on the West Coast. Sort of like the difference between seeing an animal at the zoo & seeing an animal in there natural habitat.ie a place they were very use to playing & they could basically drive from home to the coliseum & then drive back home after it was over. We had heard that the West Coast shows were a lot better for that very reason. And so we found out they were playing 3 nights at Oakland Coliseum for Chinese New Year near the end of February. Since we had found out about it early we were able to mail order tickets straight from Grateful Dead Merchandising. They were playing 3 nights & we got 2 tickets for each night. Since we were having to rent a car to drive so far we knew we wouldn't have enough money for a hotel for that long too. So we decided to take camping gear with us and stay at a National Park that was near by called S.P. Taylor State Park. I got to see the Grand Canyon and drive across the Golden Gate Bridge within 24 hours of each other. However, when we got to the park it was 2am & pouring down rain. If my stupid brother had listened to me everything would have been fine. I wanted to just sleep in the car & set up camp in the morning. But no, he said "I've been in this car for 2 days now & I want to be able to stretch out & sleep." He never would listen to me about anything & usually ten times out of ten something would go wrong because of it. And, of course, this wasn't the first or last time. The Ranger woke us up at 8am that morning and we get up to discover that someone had broken into the car & stolen ALL OF OUR STUFF. Including our tickets to the shows & the 2 gas credit cards that our cousin had lent to us to make sure we had gas to get back. I told my brother that I was really glad he got to stretch out & sleep for the night. For some stupid reason he had even left his shoes in the car & they had stolen those too. So he didn't even have any shoes to wear. Well thanks brother, we just drove all the way across the country to apparently get all our stuff stolen cuz you wanted to set up a tent in the pouring rain & stretch out.
And that was back in 1991, 35 years ago. I'm fairly certain that by now the number of thieves & robbers in San Francisco has probably doubled about ten times over. If you REALLY WANT TO DO SOME FILMING IN SAN FRANCISCO- If you can afford to do this... rent the equipment you need from a company that is there & have them deliver it to the site, make sure they will have someone there constantly to ensure the safety of the equipment and I do believe if you pay for it with certain credit cards it's automatically insured. But it never hurts to ask & find out. And speaking of "It never hurts to ask & find out." If you spoke to some of these companies that rent such equipment you could probably get a decent discount for "mentioning" their help & that it was filmed using their equipment. Any company, especially a new company just starting out would probably be thrilled to get basically free advertisement and any potential clients get a chance to view their work, which of course is also YOUR WORK.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Look, I know this was done 3 years ago & probably few will see my comments, However, I still feel the need to add my two cents, for what it worth.
The point is, for this thing, the Italia, how far can this thing accurately fire it's 17" guns. And what other ship Captain's would dare go close enough to find out???
And as far as ships being called "she" or "he", although I'm not sure about it but I thought that calling a ship as a "she" started with either the Greek or Roman's, that the ship being a "she" would be more favored by Poseidan and/or less likely to be unfavored and sunk by Poseidan as the God of the Sea may not want a "he" riding his waves. With that being said, small wonder Bismarck sank upon it's maiden voyage. Although I'm sure the Royal Navy had a bit to do with it.
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
Did someone REALLY ask you which of the ships that broke it's chains & refused to go to the breakers was your favorite? THAT HAD TO BE A QUESTION EITHER BY SOMEONE NEW OR A FOUR YEAR OLD QUESTION THAT IS JUST NOW GETTING ANSWERED! You didn't even have to name the choices before I knew the answer was Warspite!!!
Now Oregon making it halfway to Tahiti is cute but I think that was before Tahiti was really a nice place to go. AND considering Warspite's war records & the fact it did a donut in front of the High Seas fleet & survived to to tell the tale & in the process helped save the crew of another ship. And has probably shot up as many war ships as any other during the age of steel war ships. And anyone that has spent anytime listening to you would know your love of HMS Warspite!!! I DEARLY LOVED the fact that HMS Rodney had boilers that was on their last legs & was otw to the USA for a complete engine overhaul but Bismark hit HMS Hood with that lucky shot that turned it into a sinking Roman candle. And so HMS Rodney pulls a 180 and heads towards the coast of France basically ran down the Bismark running it's OLD engines at 3 to 4 knots faster than they were designed for, and once Bismark engage's Rodney, Rodney pulls the destroyer trick of chasing splashes. And starts beating Bismark into a floating wreck of fire & carnage. And to be honest, although I think that it was awesome that a ship in need of a major engine overhaul took on that brand new battleship and beat it. I'm sure the KGV helped. But from what I've heard, most of the first hits scored on Bismark, the one's that took out most of it's ability to fight back was from Rodney. But I actually feel pity for the men that were aboard Bismark. For one, their ability to fight back is quickly taken away. To jump into the freezing cold water is probably death. Fire, hot metal raining down, massive carnage & dead people & body parts lying around in heaps. The German that lasted 3 days in the water is amazing he didn't die of hypothermia. But living through that kind of hell, those that were rescued truly lived through hell on earth. It's really sad too that they left so many survivors in the water. Yes, I know there were U-boats otw & the threat of air attack too but they could have thrown out some life boats or whatever those float things are called. I know they were taking revenge for the crew of HMS Hood but at some point you need to stop & try to go back to being human again. Yeah, the HMS Hood basically went down with all hands. But it was over & done quickly. We, the USA & the UK were supposed to be fighting to save the world from tyranny. And the way to do that is to overcome your NEED FOR REVENGE and only kill when you need to & only fight towards winning the war. It's almost like by trying to stop this evil that you ALMOST became what you were trying to fight against. Or at least the way the Bismark survivors were treated. If that makes sense? I understand that the loss of the Hood was a tramatic blow to the Royal Navy but like Cunningham said "It only takes a couple of years to build a ship. It takes a few hundred years to build a tradition." And part of that tradition is to give mercy when a battle is over.
1
-
1
-
1
-
The fact that you prefer neither coffee or tea is funny. I myself grew up in the "Southern States" & thanks to dear ol' Mom drinking nothing but tea, I also developed a taste for it & NOW, WHAT I LIKE IS considered "SWEET TEA"!!! NO LEMON but enough sugar that there is no way it can get any sweeeter!! The Arizona Sweet Tea is OK. Better by the gallon, the can not as good. But 7-11 has a really good Sweet tea but occasionally you will get the taste of something different as though they didn't rinse tanks before starting the run. But that has gotten more rare, thank goodness!
However, when it comes to coffee I totally agree with you. WHEN I ORDER coffee I do it to warm up cuz I'm cold! And I order my sugar "ON THE SIDE" cuz the people never put enough in. When I say "20 sugars on the side" they look at me weird but Starbucks is charging $3.50 for a large coffee if they can't give me 20 sugar packs & a cup of half-n-half then I'll tell 'em to keep it. McDonald's is a little less expensive at $2.50 for a large coffee but you basically have to get mean with them to get enough sugar! There have been times that I've had to demand my money back b4 some would give me sugar. Some of them act as though the sugar is coming from their very own pantry or something. Or like I'm asking them to sale me some strange exotic drug. And I've grown to a point in my life that if they can't give me what I'm paying for then there is no point in me paying for something that I'M NOT GOING TO ENJOY! Same thing with syrup on the hotcakes at McDonald's. Bitch wanted to charge me a dollar for an extra syrup after making a big deal about the sugar for my coffee. I promptly said "Go get the manager". When the manager came I made her give me my $ back. Shoot, for what McD's charges for sausage & hotcakes & then extra syrup too, hell I can go to Dennys and get pancakes that are fresh off the griddle. Rather than McD's microwave hotcakes that turn hard if you take even a moment to eat some eggs, precious. So I've sworn off on ordering pancakes from McD's ever again, & when I have them at Denny's I am much more satisfied, especially considering I don't have someone standing nearby trying to charge me extra for something, although Dennys is guilty of this when doing "take out".
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
He also likes to point out how the British "armored" carriers were so much better than "the Essex swarm" of carriers. But it was that "Essex swarm" that carried all the planes that kicked the Japanese ass. Too bad that our Navy had such little effect on Iwo Jima & Okinawa causing the Marines an almost uncountable dead & wounded. But Drachinifel is able to brag about the legacy of the Royal Navy because the United States of America came to the aid of the British in BOTH the first & second World Wars. For although the British had a massive
Navy during WW1 it was the land campaigns won by the Americans that turned the tides of war against the Germans. And if it had NOT been for the United States supplying Russia with raw materials and bombing the hell outta Germany & winning the air battle over Europe, Russia & the UK both would have been stuffed by the Germans & the Japanese. There was a big reason why Winston Churchill danced a jig after hearing about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor! And that's because he knew that the USA would become involved in the war and that once the US began war time production of war ships, merchant ships, planes, tanks, artillery, guns, shells and eventually made a torpedo that worked & began training soldiers, sailors, pilots & air crews, that we had the people & the raw materials at that time to take over the entire world had we desired! Luckily for all the free nations of the world our only desire was to put down the evil threat at hand. And TRY to make sure that another global sized war never takes place again. What is the saying? "If you want peace you have to constantly be prepared for war." That type of readiness will make a potential enemy think twice & hopefully decide that war is not in their best interest.
1