Comments by "Kenneth Dean Miller" (@kennethdeanmiller7324) on "The Drydock - Episode 036" video.

@michaelchabon2243 I know your question was asked 4 years ago but for those that see your question & wonder the same thing... I would have to say that the reason they didn't have submarines is probably the same reason they didn't want to put battleships in the area. There was too much of a danger of running aground in those waters. And although Halsey did risk the South Dakota & Washington for a night & ended up with South Dakota damaged & luckily Washington was able to damage Kirishima to the point that it was scuttled the next morning. But the waters off of Guadal Canal were enclosed quite a bit & shallow as well so a submarine having to crash dive to avoid being blown away on the surface could possibly run into the shallow sea bed in such an effort so it was much safer for subs to NOT be caught in such waters. I do believe that they did have some subs a bit closer to Rabaul that was able to spot the "Tokyo Express" leaving Rabaul but before they entered the slot & so were at times able to give warning to any ships at Guadal Canal that the Japanese had ships otw & what type of force was otw at times depending on the circumstances of the spotting. I'm not sure how long this went on & if there were subs constantly there to report IJN movements towards Guadal Canal but I'm fairly certain it did happen for quite a while, but it was in waters more suitable for submarine ops & in a location that would give a couple of hours or more of warning that enemy ships were otw.
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The question about Malaya taking on the Scharnhorst twins, I would think that the larger 15" guns would outrange the smaller 11" guns & because the 15" guns would have the longer range they would be able to start firing first & find the range first before the 11" guns of the twins are close enough to do the same. But if the twins split up they could MAYBE force the larger ship to split it's fire between the two. But idk, for some reason I just don't see the twins winning that fight. And like you said, if the twins incur damage to where they lose propulsion their stuffed! Cuz if one ship becomes crippled the other can't win by itself or be able to remove the crew from the other under fire. And also, I'm sure that the moment the twins were spotted the larger ship is sending a "siting report" to anyone & everyone in range. And with a convoy needing protection the Royal Navy will scramble other ships to the area. This question would never even be asked if the twins had been fitted with 15" guns.
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Wow!!I had never heard that question before about substituting Yamato for Kirishima. I think that the battle goes similarly to the historical version except that South Dakota might not make it. But with Washington practically going to rapid fire so quickly, what's the old saying "The bigger they are the harder they fall!" Idk, that close I believe that Washington gets a 16" round into a magazine &the great Yamato explodes into a massive fireball! And goes down in about 4 minutes. If I remember correctly Kirishima was rather quick to flood her magazines & that saved her from such a fate. The great Yamato would think they could take whatever. But with Admiral Lee behind those 16" guns of Washington... my opinion is that Yamato AIN'T GONNA MAKE IT!!! And the Japanese Navy are completely horrified by this & leave the remaining soldiers on Guadal Canal to starve. NEVER sending another ship into that area again!
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@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.
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@clynch8646 Regardless of what ship you put in that scenario. After the sinking of HMS Hood, the Royal Navy has just turned into a very large & determined pride of lions bent on taking a lone wildebeast down. The wildebeast may be large & strong but it's alone & HEAVILY outnumbered. The pride will feast no matter how long it takes. And the hyenas are left the bones baking in the hot sun. Or is that the sharks feasting in the cold waters of the Atlantic? Similar to the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. It's only the matter of how long it takes & by what means.
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@The_Dipship $$$$$$ Because who is going to visit one of "the Standard type" battleships when they have the North Carolina, South Dakota's & Iowa's to go see? Let's face it, a standard type would be niche but for most ship enthusiasts it would be at the bottom of the bucket list.
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@michaelchabon2243 I understand you asked this question 5 years ago & not sure if you got an answer but I'll give it a go. The Mark 14 torpedoes at this time in the war was giving the submariners major fits. So, I would guess that anyone making a suggestion to a submarines Captain about where to go, the Captain is probably going to make some suggestions about where THEY can go! But I believe that not long after Admiral Lee stormed in with Ms Washington and let the IJN know that the waters at the Canal are not safe.
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