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Kenneth Dean Miller
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Youtube comments of Kenneth Dean Miller (@kennethdeanmiller7324).

Thanks for that. I've had my phone stolen twice in less than a week. Third phone I've bought since the day after Christmas. And turning on this new phone after sync with my cloud & seeing that little nugget helped my mood & reminded of why I bother with this electronic device. As I miss the bus that I was waiting for I realized I hadn't looked for it's arrival time.
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THANK YOU DRACH!!! I was "trying" to watch "War Stories" BUT I found that I was watching more commercials than actually anything else. Said "why bother?" And went looking through your stuff to see if there might be anything I missed or something I'd like to hear again. The latter I find myself doing a lot.
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@naverilllang Being in the wrong place at the wrong time I guess. Things are getting bad. Someone robbed a bank right here today too. And hell, I'm homeless, and let's face it, when people are steeling stuff from the homeless things must be getting bad! Not only that, but I was in DC on Christmas Eve at L'Enfant Metro and as I was about to sit down, dude grabbed my phone & ran & jumped on the train. And of course the train operator closed the doors right in my face so I couldn't follow. Merry Christmas to me! And it's not like I have an IPhone. It's a cheap Samsung that I paid $70 for.
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@naverilllang At least I'm still walking. If I'm still walking that means I can dance. Yeah, all during COVID I paid a lady $20 a night to sleep on her couch. I was there almost 3 years. This past Thanksgiving her son came home & he's a drunk. And a violent drunk. I had to go. Tried staying with a buddy of mine but I didn't know he was schizophrenic. He would be up 3 days at a time & want me to be up too. Finally by Christmas I couldn't do it no more. Might be sleeping in the street but at least I can sleep. Then 2 weeks after I leave my buddy gets killed on the Metro. He had a leash for his dog that went around his waist. He got off the train & wasn't paying attention and Daisy his little pit bull I guess stopped to sniff something & the doors closed with her inside. Train operator was too far away to notice & the train drug him all the way down the platform & he hit his head at the end & I guess the leash finally broke then. They say he was pronounced dead at the hospital but I think he was gone way b4 that. His name was Harry Riley. He was 50 years old with 2 daughters & 4 grandkids. Google: Death at Dunn Loring Metro & you'll see what I'm talking about. So yeah, that's on my conscience now too. All my family is passed away too. Dad, Mom & Step-dad, brother & my wife. All gone. I do have a daughter but haven't seen her since 2002. She was 9 years old. That is rough! And my wife dying Christmas Eve of 2015. That was rough. Still is. But what can I do? Considered suicide but I don't want to go out like that. I believe in doing something right the first time. So if I did suicide, I would be over.
52
Yes, the sinking of this ship just goes to show how chaotic WW2 could really be. Ship gets sunk but they really aren't sure what hit her to make her sink. Plus more crew go down with the ship than can get off of it.
45
Although being relieved to have fought a battle & won is most understandable. It is never a good thing to celebrate the misfortune of your enemies, especially considering that misfortune could just as easily have been your own. And that misfortune can easily come visit you for celebrating such things!!! Also, war is never a good thing. In war all types of people die, good & evil, honorable & maybe not so honorable. But when faced with kill or be killed, it's not like you can get to know that person before you are faced with having to kill them.
44
Yeah, the decision to go with 12" guns instead of 13.5" guns sealed the classes fate to be scrapped sooner rather than later. And the wing turrets didn't really help it's case to remain in active service either. I just rewatched the Battle of Trafalgar so when I saw HMS Neptune I was thinking "age of sail" rather than dreadnought.
31
Hey Now, I read a text lately that said they found the Roberts now too & it was in deeper water than the Johnston. Both ships being drawn into the deepest depths by the weight of the balls of the deceased crew members.
29
Qualified over 17,000 pilots! That is huge! Having over 17,000 pilots that can land on a carrier, makes you wonder how many pilots in all were trained during the war considering that over 17k were approved for carrier operation, more than likely the number of pilots that were trained & approved for land operations were probably 10x that number.
28
@andrewjones7126 I hope you both recover well & are quickly dismissed from hospital in short order & in good health! Thanks for sharing.
20
YES! I just recently saw an interview with Richard "Dick" Best. This man was a pilot that was in charge of himself & two other pilots. He pulled his planes out of the dive on the Kaga in order to go after Akagi. Which he nailed while his other two planes missed. And then on the follow up strike on the Hiryu he also nailed that carrier as well. In his interview, he said that credit for winning that battle should go to the intelligence officers that broke the Japanese code & let us know what the Japanese plans were. Never did he boast about being the pilot that basically sank two Japanese fleet carriers. He viewed the entire thing as a team effort and he was just one man in this very LARGE team. A very humble man, or at least the interview that he gave made him appear very humble. When speaking about the torpedo squadrons, he got choked up & almost went into tears. You could tell that their sacrifice bothered him greatly. And I think he even claimed that although they scored no hits that they were the true heroes of the Battle of Midway. It was the only time I had ever seen him or heard him speak. But it made me think & feel that THAT ALTHOUGH THE USA won a great victory that day, that the victory came with a very high cost. And I could tell that by the way he talked about it. To me, it seemed that he accomplished what needed to be done. And that now, knowing how many died as a result of his bombing accuracy, that it wasn't something that he was very proud of doing. And as a human being it is very understandable. Although it is war, knowing I had killed over a five hundred people in one day would weigh fairly heavy on my mind. And it seemed to me Richard "Dick" Best felt that way too. Yes, he did it. But don't really want to talk about it. Not just a very good pilot but a good & decent human being.
20
Like when a merchant ship full of ammonia nitrate had for some reason been leaking diesel fuel into the cargo hold and then, of course, a fire breaks out. So then it doesn't take very long for that merchant ship to explode with the blast being so large it was heard & felt for many miles away.
19
I've heard and/or read other versions of this battle. This version is a LOT more detailed than I have heard before. Thanks for being such a good storyteller! A lot of very brave Americans died that day, in order to protect a much larger group of Americans that were vulnerable!! The Johnston & the Roberts were definitely hero ships for the day of October 25, 1944! A second note. Although Admiral Halsey, I'm sure, was a very dedicated sailor & commander, the mistake he made by NOT detaching the battleship task force was epic. And I am sure that after everything had happened, Halsey was probably very upset to commit such a huge screw up! I would bet that had Halsey NOT made this blunder that his name would have been used for naming some great ships. And I also wonder if the battleship task force had been detached & was there when the center force arrived, I wonder how that battle would have went & if there would have been a much larger loss of life or a lesser loss of life.
19
Yes, I agree! Fletcher & Spruance together made Midway happen the way it happened! I seriously doubt that if Halsey had remained in charge that the USA would have achieved the major victory that it achieved at Midway! However, also, the Doolittle Raid on the Japanese Home Islands, I believe, Led to the response from the Japanese with them trying to quickly take Midway Island. Cuz they thought that if they took Midway, they could force a quick surrender from the USA. Not realizing that the USA was going all out, and the bombing of Pearl Harbor had sent America into a rage that the world had seldom seen! And the USA',s rage would envelope the entire nation & it would take numerous years to cool down.
19
Thank you for that. It's been a rather hum drum Friday today & I needed a good laugh! Right on time too. I hope you have a good weekend. And now I'm about to board a 16A Metro bus to the Pentagon, coincidentally!❤
18
@Schimml0rd Yeah, if I was going to do it, chances are I'd already have. I lost my wife 7 years ago on Christmas Eve and things have just pretty much sucked since then. Things are worse from early Oct thru Christmas. Oct 2 was our Anniversary, Nov 3 her Bday. It was actually funny she died right b4 Christmas cuz she didn't like Christmas. As a kid growing up her Mom was psycho & ALWAYS went off on Christmas day & would burn most of the gifts. She was a constant runaway too cuz her Mom would make her adopted Dad beat her.
17
@rocketguardian2001 Well that is why an Admiral has a staff. Part of the staff gives him the information he needs to make whatever decisions he needs to make to carry out his orders in the best way possible. Once he has gained all the information he needs THEN he makes the decision. And then the rest of the staff goes out to make sure that whatever decisions he has made is carried out. Most of the time, in the military, you have orders to carry out a certain task. Spruance was smart to carry out his orders & not get distracted by other complications. He knew his main duty was to protect the landing troops. And the decisions he made were because he was worried the Japanese would try to flank his landing forces. Cuz he had Intel reports that they may try to do so. So he had to guard against that. Once they finally located the bulk of the Japanese ships & it was obvious there was no flanking maneuver he ordered the attack. Maybe not the greatest carrier strike in history but it was still rather successful. And even though the plane losses were significant they didn't lose many pilots or air crew. But as you were saying, it may NOT take very long to make a decision but it does take quite a long time to hear all the information you need to make that decision. That is, depending on what you have been ordered to do.
16
Damn straight! Thing about it is that you do need every shell to be it's best because you fire a lot of shells but odds of hitting the target are not great so if only one shell hits the target you need it to do it's worst (or best). And it could dramatically be the difference in life & death for a lot of people. And from what I understand the US bursting charges were less than the UK bursting charges. Furthermore, the Italians had a problem with quality control on their shells. And had they not had that problem some British ships would have probably been hit on numerous occasions. But instead they just killed a bunch of fish in the general vicinity of the British ships.
15
@StevenPalmer-cs5ix Wow. See how narrow minded our gov't can be? Man, talking about getting screwed over?
14
Yeah, the "Infamous Flight to Nowhere! That was Hornets air group. And they accomplished exactly nothing at Midway. And IF, IF that air group had gone in the RIGHT direction it could possibly have taken out the final fourth carrier & saved Yorktown from further damage and ultimately being sunk. So no Mitcher was NOT a "great carrier Admiral!" He just had so many carriers that LOSING would have been difficult! I think Admiral Fletcher, although not an aviator, was a MUCH BETTER carrier Admiral, and just a better Admiral over all.
13
Yes, but when you build a very large ship sometimes it doesn't sail particularly well. And when you build a very large ship, that is bigger than most but has excellent sailing abilities then you tend to want them to copy that design. And because of the expense of a first rate, if you have a design that you know works very well, it makes more sense to copy that one rather than design a new ship from scratch that may not sail very well & ends up having to be cut down into a 2nd or 3rd rate. Hence the saying "If it ain't broken then don't fix it!" And when you are paying vast amounts of money for these ships, you want them to be right the first time & copying a ship that works well makes a lot of sense cuz it means that those ships should also work well. I'm sure a lot of the shipbuilders wanted to consider there job as an art. And building a similar ship in today's world COULD BE considered an art. But back then those ships were needed for a purpose and copying ships that were best suited to perform that purpose was more important than trying to sail an "artwork" into battle. I think that is where the French and Spanish messed up. A fighting ship is going to take damage, but can mostly be repaired. Sail an artwork into battle and you may get your artwork surrendered to the enemy with a lot of lives lost in the process.
13
Yeah, the 5 Sullivan brothers getting killed on Juno was a very big deal. I remember my Mom talking about it as a child. And hearing my My Mom say anything about WW2 was very rare. Her father was a Marine in Europe but she said that he NEVER said even a word about the war. She did say that he had thick brown hair before he left but when he got back it was ALL completely white.
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I think it's like Richard Pryor said. Someone in the magazine had some Oreo cookies but the galley had been low on milk. And he mixed some whole milk with some of that 2% stuff, dipped his cookie & the shit blew up. The explosion ignited the powder in the magazine & the second explosion broke the Hood in half.
12
@Drachinifel Q & A PLEASE? Dear Sir, on occasion or two I've heard you speak of the "Opium Wars". Until I heard you speak of it, I'd never heard of it. Is there anyway that you could do a special about these "Opium Wars"? And, of course, preferably without getting demonitized by YouTube, or having any other penalties that their rather idiotic "bots" may throw your way! Thank you in advance! Your awesome & one of the hardest workers on YouTube! I've been listening about 4 years now btw.
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Not only would most of his material be easily lecture worthy at any prestigious university but ALSO his voice is also really awesome for documentaries as well. All of his stuff is very well written and very well narrated too.
12
Definitely a shame that entire Russian fleet were too busy getting killed to be able to enjoy the sinking of the Kamchatka! And also a shame that it was NOT sunk by torpedo boats!!!
12
I'd see if I could find the negatives for the photos. Cause back then when you took pictures & had them developed you would receive the photos & the negatives. If you have the negatives, of course, you can produce more of the photos.
11
On the issue of Elbonianess, I have a candidate for the exact opposite that worked around the Bureau of Ordinance. How about Admiral Lee fudging paperwork to "procure & install" as many anti- aircraft guns as possible for as many ships as possible. And I think he was able to do the same with radar & fire control systems as well, unless I'm mistaken. An accomplishment that would reap many benefits as the US was plunged into WW2!
10
Seems like it was just last month that you hit 500k subscribers. Now you are over 520k. You're audience just keeps on growing! Idk, I do think that it is kinda weird that it said "14 comments" but then I post a comment, listen to the rest of the Drydock, which was about an hour later & notice that it still says "14 comments." Knowing that I had made a comment it should AT LEAST be 15 & in the space of an hour a brand new Drach video has probably gotten at least another 16 comments in the hour after I posted mine makes me wonder how often do they update that little bit of the video? Granted, all in all it's not really going to matter. But I just thought it strange.
10
I think Spruance was a lot more calculating than he let on. And that he knew a lot more than he let his staff know too. I firmly believe that a lot of the Admirals in the Pacific were of course in direct contact with Nimitz and that Nimitz was reading a large amount of Japanese messages. And I'm rather certain that Nimitz was rather forthcoming with Spruance. Probably trusted Spruance more than he did Halsey even!
10
And another thing. You talking about "turning on the lights" was definitely the right call. I remember an Enterprise pilot talking about it & breaking down in tears cuz it meant so much. And the man was talking about something that had happened what 60 years ago at the time? So they realized what the risk was very keenly. And I also remember that most of the Hellcat's had fuel & were able to wait for the strike aircraft, the Dauntless's & Avengers to make their landings before they had to land. One Hellcat pilot said he finally landed around 11pm.
10
Yeah, I had wondered about that too. Even though they arrived to attack the Japanese at almost dark, it still would have helped the strike aircraft a lot if they had spent a good part of the time they were gone closing the distance between them & the Japanese. I'm not sure if they did or didn't but regardless, the toll of losing 100 aircraft isn't very significant considering that when you factor in that over 80% of the pilots & air crew were recovered! And you also have to figure that such an ordeal is going to improve moral immensely among the pilots & air crews. The people in command basically saying "Just ditch your aircraft near a US ship so that we can recover you. We can replace your aircraft!" To know that they are treasured more than the plane they are flying is a very real thing! And the fact that the entire task force put ALL THEIR SHIPS IN DANGER BY TURNING ON THE LIGHTS so the pilots could try to land also put it into the pilots & crews heads just exactly how important they are to the Task Force!!!
10
Yeah, the Southern Force didn't stand a chance. Makes you wonder though, what if the Center Force had went that way & the Southern Force ended up at Samar. On one hand, would the Yamato have been able to make it thru that gauntlet? And with the smaller Force at Samar would the Johnston & the rest of Taffy 3 survived. AND if the Japanese Army & Navy had been on better terms they could have coordinated with the kamikaze strikes too. The US knew going into the Philippines was going to be a hard fight !! If Captain Evans had only had a bigger ship... I do wish he had survived that battle! Being part Cherokee myself he makes me very proud of him.
10
I don't understand WHY the info about a sonar contact was given to an Admiral INSTEAD of the Captain? The Captain SHOULD have been immediately supplied with the info of a sonar contact. Because the Admiral & the Captain have separate responsibilities! Basically with the Admiral not giving the information to the Captain, he himself was taking the Captain's responsibilities out of the Captain's hands. Because that should have been the Captain's call cuz he is ultimately responsible for the safety of the ship & the crew. And also would probably have a better idea of how experienced his sonar operator is. For the Admiral to ignore the contact is kinda stupid cuz why have a sonar operator if you're not going to follow up on a contact? If the sonar contact had been followed up, it would have maybe saved the ship. By ignoring it the Admiral totally doomed the ship. And totally disrespected the Captain by not giving him the information that could have saved his ship & 57 of his sailors. Plus whatever sailors were lost on the other ships trying to help defend her.
9
Drach, this is better than a LOT of the stand up comedy I hear!!! If you ever form a "secret society" & have like a password question & answer challenge, that could be one! Question: Do YOU see torpedo boats? Answer: Kamchatka!
9
Yes, if you don't want to answer a certain question then just file it in the fireplace & use the excuse that you must have been low on kindling that particular day. However, answering such a question could actually be fun. Like "Um it may have escaped your notice but we are at war. And airplanes actually flying around to help protect peoples on the ground from enemies that are flying around is much more useful than said airplanes sitting around in a box. Does it really matter if it's the RAF using them instead of the Royal Navy? They were there & they were needed by our countrymen that is fighting the same enemies. It would have been carelessly ignorant to let these aircraft remain in boxes unused when there are pilots there capable of flying & defending their base. Idk, maybe just burning the damn letter WAS best. It's not easy to educate the ignorant & fight a war at the same time! I mean who would believe that the Royal Navy & the RAF are both fighting to achieve the same goal?
8
Necessity with the risk of starvation is quite a motivator. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. And do it quickly before all your stores run dry. You'd think it would be easier to just patch up the old ship but I'm guessing that was NOT an option or that's what they would have done. I would love to be young again and have the chance to build a wooden sail ship. Nothing huge but not really small either. But no cannons. Just a recreational sail ship.
8
That was a pretty cool tidbit to digest on a Saturday morning on the way to get some breakfast & coffee. I had never really thought about Brazil as a country with a Navy nor did I have any idea they actually participated in WW2 either.
8
@Melody_Raventress Well, photos or not, at least he didn't suffer from a large amount of health problems from being there. A TRUE BLESSING FOR SURE. Look at what happened to the crew of the Indianapolis for merely delivering the parts of the Hiroshima/ Nagasaki weapons.
8
@Damocles54 Miller time. I like that.
8
Yeah, I actually thought we would get a video from Drach on Fletcher before we got one on Spruance but I guess I was wrong. Not disappointed cuz he's probably going by requests & I believe Spruance deserves recognition as well. But the things I've heard about Fletcher on this channel I'm fairly certain Drach thinks that Fletcher has gotten a bad reputation from some of the people in the US Navy ie: Turner blaming everyone he could instead of taking responsibility himself. Which actually would have made people think more highly of him imho. However, Fletcher was under orders to not risk his carriers unless he knew he could deal the enemy significant loses. And having his carriers at Guadal Canal for extended periods was a major unnecessary risk. Especially considering how vulnerable carriers and their escorts are during the night hours and if they are guarding a certain land mass they are easier to find. And with the Japanese having the type 93 torpedo in their arsenal that vulnerability was even more than realized at the time. And presence of the carriers would not have stopped the Japanese force that sank the numerous American cruisers during the first Naval Battle of Guadal Canal. The American Cruisers & Destroyers that night made many mistakes. And paid dearly for it. And the fact that going to action stations meant a game of musical chairs while the Japanese used those precious few minutes to tear their ships apart was also a hard learned lesson in futility. The US Navy would have to enact a lot of changes to finally be ready when the Japanese came calling again. And would also have to realize the Japanese had some very deadly torpedoes.😢
8
Q & A : I would VERY MUCH enjoy seeing footage of ships battling huge storms. Now we have seen a bit of the Halsey typhoons. But I'd like to see some storms from the North Sea. I mean USS Washington lost an Admiral in a small storm outside of Scapa Flow. I always forget his name too. Admiral Lee's immediate predecessor & I often wonder how well Washington would have done had that Admiral survived & Admiral Lee not been aboard at the "Big Night Battle of Guadal Canal." Idk, I personally believe that it was "divine intervention" and that it saved the lives of numerous US sailors. Admiral Lee was imho one of the smartest Admirals the US had as far as knowing his battleships. Like him turning down a possible night battle cuz of lack of training. Yes, we missed out on what may have been a spectacular victory. But with the lack if training it also could have been a spectacular defeat as well. And I totally appreciate Lee not wanting to risk his men's lives when they had not trained for such a thing. And the chance of losing lives in "friendly" fire incidents is very much more possible in a night battle. Sorry, but anyway, yes big ships in BIG STORMS!! Smaller ships in BIG STORMS. I think the reason in what is known as "the Bermuda Triangle" that there are places where the water is VERY DEEP & then not so deep. And when a ship is in a storm & runs across one of the more shallow spots that the waves grow considerably much bigger than the previous waves & that is why numerous ships have been lost there.
7
Very true BUT if they ever do make it a movie I hope & pray that they do it right! Otherwise, I'm perfectly happy with just this. Drach gives enough detail for my imagination to fill in the blanks. And the order to "splice the main brace" whenever a German U-boat goes down is a very gallant send off to the sailor's that didn't make it. And allowing the U-boat survivors to partake in the tradition, since it was the U-boat that they had been on & one being allowed to play an accordion too in my opinion shows the contrast of the difference between the 🇬🇧 Brits treatment of POW's & the German treatment of POW's. I'm sure that things weren't as pleasant for POW's once they made it to shore but after being depth charged & barely escaping a sinking U-boat, I believe that kindness after such an action shows a better sense of humanity. And I personally like that about the British!!!
7
Wow. Now that is history coming to life!! Cheers!!!
7
Yes, it's a shame that the idea & implementation of an 8" autoloader wasn't thought of early enough to see WW2. A ship such as this would have been a nice surprise for the Tokyo Express coming down the slot at Guadal Canal. But I'm sure they made good use of them during Korea & Vietnam. I think it would have been really cool just to be on board & see the 8" autoloader in action.
7
Yes, I definitely agree that in a truly different world HMS Rodney, HMS Warspite & USS Enterprise(CV-6) should have been preserved as museum ships. HOWEVER, I read a little piece written by a sailor that wad aboard "the Grey Ghost" and he thought that having kids running around the deck laughing and eating ice cream & such would have been disrespectful to the sailors that fought & died on that deck. And he felt it was more appropriate for the "old girl" to go to the breakers so that other ships could sport the name of Enterprise IN HONOR of those sailors & the sailors that fought & lived as well!
7
@pedrofelipefreitas2666 Yep, not only that, but also built enough planes for all of them & trained pilots to fly them & sailors & engineers to run the ships too. A logistical nightmare of a gigantic proportion!
7
@88porpoise "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition" I believe is the actual quote. However, it has been several or maybe about 30 years.
7
@korbell1089 Yeah, most islands don't have a wake! But also when you are on a ship & it's moving sometimes it's not easy to tell if something else is moving.
7
Ddzang, that is probably the most profound quote I've ever heard of Halsey making. Not that I am knocking Halsey, just haven't heard much of the stuff he is known for saying except for the quote he made after seeing the wreckage & flotsam, jetsam of Pearl Harbor. The "when I am done the Japanese language will only be spoken in hell." Which, of course, boasting such things doesn't exactly impress me but after the death toll of the Pearl Harbor attack especially with Arizona going down with all hands such a quote is understandable if not in fact commendable.
7
"I can't do it cap'n, we got no power!!! I tried shovin' a weiner in the warp drive, but it didn't do a bit of good! By the by, would you hap'n to have a wee bit a mustard up on the brig???" "Analysis Mr Spock?" " It appears that Mr Snotty is about to eat a Weiner- without mustard!"
6
Yeah, I was thinking,(yes, I know, a very dangerous thing to do at times) but I was thinking that one of those M Class submarines with the 12" gun may have done well in the waters off of Guadal Canal. Considering that the Mark 14 torpedoes were having such troubles, as long as the sub could avoid friendly fire incidents it may have been quite an asset in Iron Bottom Sound! Since the sub would be difficult to spot in the dark, & that was when the Japanese came calling. They could basically let 2 subs set up, each one guarding a different direction of Savo Island & make sure none of the US ships come in that direction. Then any ship they draw a bead on they can blow it out of the water!!
6
When I was 9-10 years old, living in South Alabama, about once a month my stepdad, Billy, would buy a bunch of ammo for all our guns & we would go somewhere out in the woods & target practice. Now I could hit any stationary target with my 22. And something flying through the air with my 12 gauge. But one time our neighbor, a man by the name of Huey King, went with us. He had a bucket of large marbles that were a bit smaller than a golf ball. And if you threw one up in the air for him he would hit it with a 22 rifle. I actually saw him hit the same marble 3x in the same flight, each time knocking it further into the air.
6
"Captain Manley Powers"? That's a "You best stay out of that man's way" kinda name.
6
What a LEGEND of a ship. It's a shame that the Indefatigable launched in 1909 did not have such a legendary career.
6
Yeah, since Drach had both authors on his channel for the 80th Anniversary of Midway & it was about 3 hours long, more than likely it should be really good. I haven't read it yet myself, but I do believe Parshal has done an extensive amount of research on the Japanese during WW2 and knows a large amount of what they did & why they did it. And considering the language barrier that is a tremendous amount of information to research and study. But I believe him & his co-author to be very diligent in their work ethic & even though it may give a contradictory account of "what went wrong for the Japanese at Midway" I believe their info to be the true account of the sinking of the first 3 carriers during that battle. Furthermore, Parshal is also a very respected historian when it comes to the Naval Battles of WW2 in the Pacific Theatre. So if you have the time & opportunity to read any of his books, I'm fairly certain that you will not be disappointed. And Drach has had him as a guest on his channel more than once. And I would think that given the opportunity & a specific topic he could also be a future guest as well.
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.
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Thanks for those. Very well done.
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ELVIS PRESLEY WAS A MAN THAT DID AWESOME THINGS LIKE THAT!!! I once heard that he was buying a car in Montgomery, AL & a lady was complaining that the car they sold her was a lemon & was constantly having problems. Elvis bought her another car & used "the lemon" as a trade in. And, of course, the car dealer did it cuz he knew he didn't want to lose Elvis as a customer!!! And at the time, if Elvis had said anything bad about that dealership they would have came close to bankruptcy for sure. But thanks for that, I had no idea Elvis was the one that got things started for the Arizona Memorial. Funny thing is I was singing one of his songs today. A guy had a dog in a pickup truck and it was baying like hound dogs do. And so I started singing "You ain't nothing but a hound dog" When I was a child Elvis was HUGE! I rarely hear anything of his nowadays. Sad cuz he had a lot of good music. Back when people actually played instruments & created music. All the ghetto rap nowadays rarely has any real music.
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I had never known about Nevada having 3 of it's guns replaced from the salvaged turret 3 on Arizona. Arizona's revenge so to speak. If it weren't for the Arizona's main magazine explosion the amount of dead sailors after the Pearl Harbor attack would have probably been 500-700. But with around 1500 being killed aboard the Arizona the rage of the United States would boil like a cauldron set on the flame for too long. The Japanese had taken a stick and poked the sleeping Bear. And the bear awoke with a rage seldom seen in this world. Peace
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That is the great thing about this channel. Drach doesn't mind being schooled in the comments! And those that read the comments get to learn more than what Drach has been able to include in the video. And your point about the language barrier is very insightful as well. I'm sure that there is a lot of history that is unknown simply because of the lack of translations.
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Only thing is that in WW2 submarines are very vulnerable! And there was a war going on & you had to put your ship in harms way to deal torpedoes to the enemy. Too aggressive? Maybe. But that is what the Captain of a warship is supposed to be. In order to deal decisive blows to the enemy you had to be aggressive. The big draw back for operating subs in the Pacific was the fluorescent green light that would show the wake of a passing ship. It would also show the wake of a periscope as well & the Japanese having optics specialized for night fighting were highly adept at spotting that green light give away in glassy waters. My opinion is that the odds just caught up with them. And they died like millions of others in that war. But they went down fighting for a nation that they loved & believed in too.
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A few years after I graduated my school was condemned & torn down and another new school built somewhere else. Since I had moved out of state, I have no idea what is there now. And hadn't really thought of it until now. I never went to any reunions, to busy with life to think about it.
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Yeah, speaking of the Edmund Fitzgerald I was surprised to hear you even get a question about the ill fated ship but I wasn't surprised that you tried to answer it. The whole story was very sad. And I don't think people realized at the time just how dangerous it still really is to be at sea or in the Great Lakes. And I personally believe that it still is just as dangerous today as it was when the Edmond Fitzgerald went down. I think they call them the November witches. But they are also Noreaster's, I think. Where these storms come thru going North east but then basically turn around and come back towards where they just came from. And they think that the storm is going to pass BUT it turns & comes right back. And crew men already exhausted have to deal with the same storm all over again.
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I've never been inside a boiler. But I've been inside a rock bin of an asphalt plant to help spot weld a quick patch where a hole had been worn. And considering it was 90°+ outside & the rock in the bin had been 300° I'd have to say it was HOT INSIDE. And we had to wear masks so we could breathe & goggles to keep all the dust out of our eyes. The whole ordeal took maybe 5-10 mins but every minute seemed like ten!
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In the very first ten minutes you are talking about "what if" the Japanese took Midway & Pearl Harbor? Well in that case the Doolittle Raid could have been MUCH MUCH BIGGER cuz there would have been little threat around the Japanese Islands. And then most of the ships trying to protect the Hawaii islands and Midway will be pulled back to the home islands. But the thing was that the Japanese didn't have enough troops to take Hawaii cuz most troops they had were busy taking & holding more lucrative holdings such as the Dutch oil fields. Plus still trying to kill as many Chinese as possible.
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@John, Ya know, I'm 55 years old & constantly pay attention to this channel. I've never been in the military much less the Navy. I've never even been out at sea on a fishing boat either. But I have never given it a second thought that Drach is from the UK & not the US. In my opinion it doesn't matter, it's almost like being racist to think about it like that. He has a passion for warships and the history surrounding those warships. Lately I've noticed a lot of sites trying to copy what he is doing. And although it shows how successful he is with what he is doing, it has also irritated me that these people can't just find their own way, and that they have yo copy someone that is already successful. There is a saying "Without love in a dream it will never come true." Drachs video's are very well written. They are done with intelligence and he has a good story telling voice. I've listened to him tell about the naval battle of Samar as though he was a fan of Captain Evans. And anyone who knows that story, how could they not be. One of my favorite stories is "The Lord of the Rings" & I've never cared that it was written by a Brit. It just doesn't matter. The statement just urched me is all cuz he's an intelligent human being, nationality shouldn't matter. Maybe because he is a "Brit" it does make it a little more difficult to research vessels from the US & countries not named England but evidently it doesn't seem to stop him. I would say he's a gem, but idk, maybe a Pearl is a better description.
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Thank You Drach for yet another 6 hour Drydock. I'm not sure how long it took you to research all of that but thanks for doing that as well.
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Somewhere along 1:19:40 you were asked about using soap for fighting oil fires. And spoke that although on a lot of oil rigs they use explosives to blow a fire out. That suggesting such a thing on a warship is not going to win you any medals. My only argument is that if you actually deliver those explosives & it works, you may be "posthumously" awarded a medal. But most on board may not be in favor of either!😊😊😊
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Even if you you make it to the surface in the North Atlantic chances are you die from hypothermia in 20-30 minutes. If you make it to the surface in the warmth of the Pacific chances are you die from exposure, dehydration or shark attacks. There is a reason they call a life raft a "life raft." Cuz it's exactly that. Idk, just like pilots had life rafts in case they had to ditch in the ocean, I think all sailors should have had a small raft to go with their life jacket. Just think of all the lives that would have been saved? IF each individual sailor aboard the USS Indianapolis had had his own life raft rather than a life jacket many that died from shark attacks may have lived. It was said that somewhere in the vicinity of 900 sailors survived the sinking of the ship but in the end only 316 were finally pulled from the water. So maybe 25% of the entire crew survived. Once they were in the water about one out of three survived, so about 33%.
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OmG!!! I don't think that I could manage to listen to Drach & Co for 5+ hours every week! Don't get me wrong, I do ENJOY kicking back and listening to a NEW 5+ hour Drydock, but even IF Drach could manage to answer & record 5+ hours a week, there is a thing known as too much of a good thing! I'd get burnt out listening to that much Drach, and I'm sure Drach would get burnt out trying to answer & record 5+ hours a week of Drydock too! The fact that he is able to research & study many different aspects of Naval warfare is what makes his channel so interesting. He is able to show us how Naval warfare went from boarding actions to canon broadsides, & then iron clads to Dreadnoughts & Fast Battleships to Aircraft carriers. And then aircraft carriers go from having old biplanes to the best prop driven monoplanes to jet aircraft. And the 5+ hours of Drydock once a month with a regular weekly Drydock of a little more than an hour, is sustainable for Drach to accomplish while bringing us all the other content that keeps the channel fresh with new & appropriate content!!
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But what about HMS Rodney, I had heard that when she was firing at Bismarck that some of the salvo's were full every gun salvo's. What was different that Rodney could but Nelson could not? Or were those full salvo's staggered just a bit so the ship didn't heel too far over???
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@bkjeong4302 I hear your argument but I think your wrong too. During WW2 the Battleship was NOT obsolete. When placed with a carrier group for each to provide mutual support it was a very important part of the group. Tell me, if the Yamato had came upon Halsey's Task force right about the time the typhoon hit, exactly what would they have done? It's a typhoon, the winds are too high to have aircraft aloft. And during bad weather &/or cloud covers & such those big guns ranging out to 25 miles was the best protection those task forces had during bad weather. So NO THEY WERE NOT OBSOLETE WHEN THEY WERE BUILT. And to be very honest about it, I get the impression that most the people that make such claims are rather ignorant to the whole concept of naval warfare. And are rather ignorant about most of WW2 as well.
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Some of the Admirals on both sides were overdue for their paid vacations. And so, after everyone had a good vacation...let the hostilities as well as the gunfire resume!!!! Very nice ship you have there, excuse me while we blow it to pieces, thank you very much!
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No wonder the Japanese couldn't take Guadal Canal. A couple of divisions of Marines with 200 cases of beer? OMG!!! THE FRICKIN JAPANESE DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE!!! All the Sarge had to say was, "They heard we had beer, and they're after the beer." Let's face it, you try to take beer away from a bunch of Marines you are going to get one helluva fight.
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Ya know, in honor & remembrance of "Admiral Whats his face", when Drach visits a museum ship he should loft a cheap pair of binoculars into the sea on camera for all to see.
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You know, I was just thinking, if the Japanese had actually known that the USA had barges in the Pacific specifically for making ice cream we may have gotten a lot of Japanese ships coming to surrender as long as they got ice cream every day until war ended.
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With a name like "Warspite" she HAD TO SURVIVE!!
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@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.
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Also tends to remind me of seeing Blue Oyster Cult... "OH no, there goes Tokyo go go Godzilla!" They did about a 30 minute version of the song. I had a couple of ladies talk my brother & I into going. I didn't think I'd enjoy it as much as I did.
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When I only have a few mins to spare this is one of my "go to" videos. One, I really love the fact that they had this idea & decided to try it. Two, the fact that it really worked is incredibly hilarious. And finally, three, Drach displays his art of writing and storytelling very very well. That is my story & I'm sticking to it.👍 🤟 ✌️ 👌
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@kwad8 Yeah, I definitely agree with that! Cuz that's exactly what I was wondering. Like how many decks are there altogether & each level he talks about, yes, it would be a lot more clear if he showed a brief side shot schematic to show where that level is in the ship.
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What I like about this ship is getting to actually see a sailing vessel that wasn't made to be a war ship but made for hauling goods from one place to another. And even though it does have cannons to protect the ship against pirates, it still has plenty of room for cargo as well. But also the fact that it does actually sail is really cool as well. And the way the steering wheel is positioned an opposing ship can't snipe off the operator of the steering wheel.
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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.
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@EliteF22 Yeah, the US Navy didn't realize that these Admirals had success because they were cautious during the first parts of the war. And excuse me but when people's lives are at risk caution is NEVER a bad thing. And when it comes to aircraft carriers during WW2 there was always a possibility of a night attack from Japanese submarines or even surface units & risking thousands of lives & the precious few carriers we had at the beginning of the war, their caution was what helped us win the war. And after they started getting the Essex swarm of carriers, it still wasn't prudent to be careless just because we had a larger carrier force. I didn't know Spruance & Fletcher was relieved of duty for being too cautious. That's wacko imho. If Spruance or Fletcher had been in charge during Typhoon Cobra I bet we wouldn't have lost all those destroyers.
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Very Deserving. It's not that there luck ran out. Submarines were very vulnerable in WW2. It was there job to take the fight to the enemy and they gallantly put themselves in harms way to do so. Very disappointing that they didn't survive the war. But it was because of them & others like them that the Allies defeated the aggression of the Axis Powers!!! Thanks for telling us the tale of USS Harder. I hope & pray their shining example & sacrifice will be forever remembered in US Navy lore.
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@wenthulk8439 Yeah that was my point. It was expected of them. And they knew it before going back out.
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I just love how at the end of this Drydock you mention how you want to try to limit each "Drydock" to 35-40 mins long. And considering I have already listened to numerous "Drydocks" that exceed 6 hours, those that are 35-40 mins seem as though they are over in a flash. Plus sometimes I get distracted & have to rewind back to where the distraction occurred so that I know I haven't missed anything.
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@Drachinifel I wanted to address your comment about the fact that people that are subscribed to your channel NOT getting notifications when 5 minute guides are released. It seems that I might be having a similar problem. BUT I think it has to do with lots & lots of 10-15 second shorts that if you make the mistake of liking one of those shorts you bombarded with so many that almost everything else gets lost in the abundance of more & more shorts. So anyone having the problem of NOT seeing your stuff as soon as it is released may want to start "removing shorts" from their watch history. IT DOES REALLY HELP!!
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Speaking of the Italians NOT sinking a block ship in the Suez Canal is they were unable to get anyone drunk enough to agree to lead such an action cuz it was probably deemed as suicidal to attempt such a thing. In every action of war you have to calculate risk with possible outcomes & they probably figured that risk was too great & that if they did manage to block the way, that it would probably be weeks rather than months before the obstruction was removed. If an under water demolition team were deployed to set charges in certain structural elements of the block ship & reduce the ship to a thin pile of steel on the bottom in the case that it couldn't simply be refloated & hauled away. But either way block ships can usually be removed if the waters in the area are not being contested.
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@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!!!
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As an American that only knows English it sounded to me like that is what he said. Although BOTH appear that they would be pronounced the same except for being 2 words instead of one. But the pause he makes, I believe, is basically because of the difficulty in the pronunciation. It is NOT always easy to pronounce words from a language that you are not very familiar with.
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Really, considering "fleet problems" rather than trying to work out how a battle would go, can be worked out on paper just as much as rolling dice. And neither is actually going to accurately tell how a battle will go just because of what I call "the Samar" factor! You'd never think that Taffy 3 along with planes from Taffy 1 & 2 could make the Center Force turn & run but IT HAPPENED! And so there are always going to be things that you can't really account for in EVERY battle! Just like you would have never thought that the Hood would go up in a magazine explosion when it happened. But the one thing that you can do is make sure that everyone knows what they are doing and how to do it. How to change from a traveling formation into a battle line. And what ships should proceed to the front of the line & which ships should take up the rear in doing so. How to break off of an engagement if the enemy is going to cross your T. And how to quickly engage if you manage to cross the T of the enemy. I mean nowadays that type of thing doesn't come into play but in the age of the Dreadnoughts it very much mattered. And it also mattered what your escorts did as well. You never can tell how a battle will happen. All you can do is train & practice and train & practice and try to be as ready as you can possibly be for whatever may happen. And try to stay as calm as possible and each person do the job they were trained to do. Each person can only do so much & if things start falling apart around you then help those you can & do your best is the most you can hope for. Idk, Fleet problems told the Japanese to attack on a Sunday morning! Thanks Admiral King!
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I'm only guessing but National Archives maybe. Or try to get in contact with Navy Records during WW2. Ànd/ or if your Dad was a Marine then USMC Records.
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Yes Drach, I don't really want your head to swell up real big, but THIS is the kinda stuff about your channel that I enjoy. I mean, I understand that sometimes you have a guest come on & you ask them questions and you get to learn from them while we all learn from them. But I enjoy the stories so much more when you have done the research, written the story & tell it in your own words. Whether it is a story about battles that happened or one of your many naval engineering stories. Your writing and narrative is what keeps me listening. And sometimes if it's been a while I'll go back & listen to stuff over again just to refresh my memory about that subject & to see if I may have missed something from the previous viewing. Such a sad thing about Walker being out there sinking submarines and he loses his son who was lost aboard a submarine. What a sad story for him & his wife. For any parents, to lose a child must be one of the worst things that we as humans can endure. My wife miscarried twice & then was diagnosed with terminal COPD and passed away 5 years later. And that totally broke my ❤. I have a daughter from a previous relationship but haven't seen her in over 20 years. But I do believe she is alive & well. I can't imagine what it would be like to lose a child. Even though he had grown to be an adult already it is a very sad affair when parents outlive their children. Which, in my eyes, is the very reason the USA didn't want to become involved with WW2! And then why there was such outrage at Pearl Harbor. It wasn't the fact that the Japanese sank & destroyed some of our Battleships, it was the fact that 1500+ sons would not be coming home & they sank our battleships in a sneaky attack without declaring war. We were going to make sure that they regretted ever attacking the United States of America!!!
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@KPen3750 OMG!!! That's A LOT OF LARD!! That is crazy. I could see maybe a few barrels of the stuff being used but that's a ridiculous amount! No wonder it went all the way to the other side of the river! It was riding a huge wave of lard!
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@Drachinifel Yes, and it makes your job I can't say easier but different. Cuz you still have to do your research in order to form relevant questions, although other questions may arise as they are speaking as well. Your intelligence speaks volumes and your love & passion for your work is ALWAYS on display for all of us to see. Except, of course, when you have these guest speakers. Then we see it when the guest is done speaking and it's your turn. Thank you for all you do. I never thought warships could be so fun!!!
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SO FAR! AND actually hoping for more of the same!
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I totally agree about THE FLIGHT TO NO WHERE!!! That is the biggest WHAT IFS of the Battle!!! If Mitcher had given his planes the correct coordinates of the Japanese that had been spotted then Hiryu at least gets damaged enough that the Yorktown makes it through without further damage! And how or why Mitcher gets promoted after such a major screw up completely boggles my mind. And if Nimitz had realized that Mitcher would NOT have been where he was in 1944! And the Guadal Canal campaign would have gone a lot different with Yorktown still around too. The Battle of Santa Cruz would have been a lot different if Yorktown had been repaired by then.
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I like the way the conning tower sits way back on Rodney. Rodney & Warspite both should have been museum ships. It's a shame no British BB were preserved. BUT I especially enjoy the story of HMS Revenge pulling off the first stealth battleship attack. Hey, what's that over there?
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I wish I couldn't grow a beard!!! I hate shaving but don't like having a beard either!!!
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The Admiralty should have learned LONG BEFORE THIS INCIDENT that it can NOT micro-manage events from afar & that Captains & Admirals that are aboard ships & present at the location in question are best suited to make or take whatever action be necessary to preserve the lives & ships in their vicinity. That is why they are there & they should NOT be commanded to take action by someone NOT there. It is when those of higher rank second guess their subordinates and doubt their abilities & resolve that the most futile and regrettable of orders are given & received. That has always been true & I'm fairly certain that it will always remain true, no matter how much communication is given and/or received.
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And although the loss of the Captain & crew were honored & mourned for having died in battle, the actual loss of the Kamchatka significantly improved moral & in the mortal words of Monty Python "And there was much rejoicing!!!"
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I guess after surviving the kaos of the Pearl Harbor attack USS Vestal wasn't going to be afraid of imaginary Japanese torpedo boats. But in defense of the Kamchatka, I think someone had brought a large amount of cocaine aboard and it's use meant that there was a heightened sense of paranoia. That, of course, is my own personal opinion & I have no way of really proving such a claim. "Do you see torpedo boats?" "No, do you see torpedo boats?" "Nevermind".
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You do realize that people have died by having too much hydration? And I stopped drinking alcohol in 2006 except that my wife and I shared a frozen margarita in 2007 after dinner on a particularly hot summer evening. Actually she didn't become my wife until October 2 following that frozen margarita. That being the last time I've had any alcohol. However, lately I've been considering having a shot of liquor before falling asleep to improve blood circulation. But so far I haven't decided to go that route yet. I originally quit drinking alcohol as a pact my wife & I made. It seemed when we drank alcohol we got into horrible arguments. After we quit drinking we may have mildly disagreed about something but never a heated argument. It improved our relationship immensely! The night that I had the idea for us to quit drinking, I had just gotten home from working & she had been drinking. And if I hadn't turned & looked when I did, she was about to hit me with an iron. I hadn't done anything to make her want to hurt me, she was just drunk & mad at me for some reason. So the next day I told her, "if you quit, I'll quit, & I think it will improve our relationship." Smartest deal I ever made! She died in 2015 but we had 12 really great years together. And even though she is gone I don't feel like I'm missing anything by not drinking. Actually, I see the way a lot of people act when they are drunk & it makes me proud I don't drink.
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Yeah, I do imagine if that ship had been at Guadal Canal it could have definitely wreaked havoc & not necessarily with just our Cruisers. I imagine a spread of 15 torpedoes launched at the USS North Dakota & possibly even the USS Washington wouldn't have been very easy to avoid. And let's face it, Iron Bottom Sound had become somewhat of a magnet for American war ships. And considering it's vast collection of Destroyers & Cruisers it was but a wonder it collected no battleships. But I guess the US got that outta the way at Pearl Harbor.
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Also, with the British fleet on board in the Pacific it would mean more of a need for alcoholic beverages for sailors. Also meaning that the US sailors that prefered such would have a better chance of getting them & smuggling them to his foot locker. And so maybe the torpedo juice could be left inside the torpedoes so they worked when sent at the enemy.
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Yeah, the Mark 14 torpedo had a major failure rate during the beginning of the war. And a lot of the submarine crews putting themselves in harms way to ultimately have their weapons fail were made even more vulnerable by the fact that their torpedoes were not working. But once they began to get things ironed out so to speak the Mark 14 became a very lethal torpedo. It was just a little late in earning it's deadly reputation!
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And all these years I thought George Harrison was the guitarist for "The Beatles".
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Yeah, after living thru a battle such as that AND THEN being abandoned for 2 days in the water & seeing others die from shark attacks & wondering if & or when such a thing is going to happen to yourself but then you are FINALLY rescued. Yeah, a man could definitely have an heir of invincibility about himself after such a thing. After something like that, you know, when it's your time to go, it's your time to go. No sense in having a fit or getting upset about such a thing! Cuz it's NOT going to change the inevitable.
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Yeah, considering that I had always thought of the UK in WW2 as General Montgomery & was not impressed by the way he handled himself. Looking at Admiral Cunningham and even Somerville for that matter gives you a much better idea of what the Brits were up to during WW2. Plus the Battle of Britain with the RAF putting a stop to Operation Sea Lion was a crucial part of the war too. Because of the failure of the Battle of Britain, Hitler decided to attack Russia. Which once Germany had the USA & Russia poised against it and the UK as well... Germany was in for a major sh!t storm!!! Talking about biting off more than you can chew? Hitler must have gotten it in his head that he couldn't lose no matter what. When the Battle of Britain should have taught him the exact opposite. You can't take on the whole world all at once! No country is THAT strong. Not the USA, UK, Russia, or China. War sucks. People have to fight & kill & die. I don't like the idea of having to kill or be killed! Even though I would do so to protect our way of life. It doesn't mean that it's something I would enjoy. However, I do have a deep admiration and appreciation for those that have!
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@Drachinifel I would be more than happy to hear about other exercises that the Royal Navy carried out in the early 1900's. Up until now I'd listened to the USN fleet problem exercises but because you hadn't mentioned the Royal Navy exercises, I wasn't sure if you had access to their results, especially cuz, idk, I would think cuz you're in the UK that it would be easier to get RN results than USN results. I also think that it's really awesome that you actually have film footage of a lot of these vessels. Considering the time period I'm sure that is rare.
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I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! Pure gold! Thank you Drach! It is these kinds of stories that reinvigorate my love for this channel! Thanks for all that you do! You are the Best!
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Yeah, but if you have anything else to do, I'd say do that instead! Definitely NOT an exciting thing to be doing! At least 50 shades of grey.
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@AdamMGTF Evidently you know nothing about horses. A horse that can't walk dies very soon after not being able to walk. That is why when a horse breaks a leg they usually kill it to put it out of it's misery. And trying to compare a living breathing animal to a war ship isn't a decent comparison for either. Actually it kinda sounded stupid. But maybe that's just me. Oh, I mean you. But yeah, I kinda agree, I was VERY surprised that an aircraft carrier that could barely make 21 knots on a good day was useful enough to last until being scrapped in 1960. I would have thought it so useless & scrapped it immediately after WW1. Very surprised that the French & USA both found this ship just useful enough to not scrap it way sooner than 1960.
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@anysnail6390 Yeah, I had previously heard the name of the ship but only knew of it's "existence". I had previously NOT KNOWN of this particular voyage. That is why I LOVE this channel so much! I actually LEARN THINGS that happened that I was previously unaware happened.
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@Cbabilon675 Arrogance? Or do you mean "ignorance?" Especially considering that information SHOULD HAVE been given to the Captain immediately! Considering the Captain is ultimately responsible for the safety of his ship & crew it was highly negligible to NOT furnish the Captain with this critical information! Admiral should have been flogged in front of Captain and crew!
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Speaking of furniture, yes, you'd be surprised things that can be made into furniture. My Stepdad, worked for a while at a place that built furniture out of whiskey barrels.
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It's not necessarily the guns being more powerful as it is the shells being fired. Just like the shells being made in a very uniform manner as well as the propellant charges being the same is going to make accuracy much better as well. But I definitely like the way the ship looks as well. The way they have the 3 turrets up front they resemble the Hood. And idk, for some reason I have always thought that if you have a main battery turret aft then you are planning at some point to have to fire on a ship while running away. And although it does make sense considering you may need to turn around during a battle in order to NOT open the range too much. But, idk, it's like having a turret aft is like planning to fail.
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Yeah, always remember that when you are crossing a road on foot, that if you have cars turning behind you to make sure they see you & they are stopped. The friend I had trying to get in touch with me at the hospital, when she was in her teens one of her sisters was hit & killed crossing a road. So as a driver or a pedestrian you should always be very careful! And JUST ANOTHER REASON YOU SHOULD PUT YOUR PHONE DOWN & PAY ATTENTION TO THE ROAD. PEOPLE'S LIVES ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THAT DAMN PHONE! And Vehicular manslaughter is a thing. My wife had a friend named Betty that got 20 years in prison for an accident that killed her best friend. She not only lost her car & her best friend but spent 20 years in prison for it too. Drive with care.
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Been there, done that. Never did I think being hungry for an Arby's roast beef sandwich would be hazardous to my health! But it was. There it was on the other side of the road. It was December 17, 2020 and I had several friends give me Christmas presents & I had two large paper bags, one in each arm. I pressed the button to cross the road & waited for the light to change. The light changed and I checked the turn lane behind me for cars. No one in the turn lane so I started crossing. I never saw it coming. But I realized, I'm flying thru the air. "Why am I flying thru the air?" I thought to myself. Well, my common sense kicked in and told me= you just got hit by a car & chances are you have broken legs. Not sure how long I was in the air & didn't feel it when I hit pavement. I was lying in the middle of the road. 3 lanes one way 3 lanes the other. I did inventory. My right leg was OK. My left wasn't. Evidently I was in mid-stride & when the car hit me & it hit my left ankle while it was in the air. My ankle was broken badly! Actually the only thing that still kept my foot attached to me was my Achilles tendon. I pulled my phone out & dialed 911. After I spoke to the operator I called the lady I stay with & told her where I was & what had happened. She didn't believe me at first. Then she was like "OMG!" Although the ambulance crew got all my stuff & took it to the hospital all my stuff was stolen at the hospital after they took me to surgery. Including my phone which I had under my butt & my wallet with $320 cash. Why none of the nurses had security get my stuff idk. Maybe they did but decided that they wanted it. I'll never know for sure. But I was discharged 4-5 days later with no belongings. Not even my coat was still with me. Needless to say it was a very rotten Christmas. Not as bad as 2015 when my wife passed away but still not good! The only friends I had tried calling the hospital but I hadn't updated any of my emergency contacts since my wife had died. So the hospital wouldn't tell them anything. And wouldn't tell me people were trying to call me either. Now I'm homeless living in & around Washington DC. But I listen to Drach on my phone for entertainment. A reminder that there is still intelligent people living in this world.
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Yeah, while Drach was in the US he made very good use of his time! Especially in Annapolis. Although I live in the DC area, the only time I've been to Annapolis was to do some work for a temp service. And I had NOT developed my major interests in Naval History at that time. And I mainly developed my interests in Naval History thanks to Drach. I had become interested in WW2 at first, & because of the interest in WW2, I discovered Drach's Channel & because of his stories of battles & five min guides I became much more interested in the history of warships. And I have learned an incredible amount of info that I find really interesting, when I didn't realize I was even curious about the stuff previously.
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Yeah, but when you see a problem, sometimes it's just quicker & easier to take care of it yourself rather than directing someone else to do it. The time saved by quickly doing it yourself could save the lives of a lot of your soldiers & cause the skirmish to go your way instead of the enemies way.
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Never under- estimate an "angry tea kettle"!!! Especially one with 12" guns & a ram bow!Once it starts whistling steam, best look out & get out of it's way! Or as Monty Python put it: "RUN AWAY!!!"
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What I don't get is how they could court-martial McVay for being the Captain of a ship sunk during war time when he did absolutely nothing wrong. But do absolutely NOTHING & I repeat NOTHING to Halsey for leaving his post protecting the flank of the invasion fleet at Leyte. THAT WAS a clear cut case of dereliction of duty & Taffy 3 paid the price for it. And typhoons are big & monsterous storms & should be easily avoided, however Halsey let his fleet get pounded by not one but 2 of these storms & lost almost all hands on 3-4 Destroyers AGAIN! And luckily a ship picking up survivors from these ships IGNORED orders & went on with it's search for survivors and every man rescued was a prayer answered! Some may not think that A BIG DEAL until you are the one in the water with sharks circling you.
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My wife was drinking one night and we got into an argument. I had just gotten home from work. Anyway long story short, if I hadn't turned & looked when I did she was about to clock me in the head with an iron. It was then I realized alcohol makes you do things you normally wouldn't do. So the next day I told her if you quit drinking alcohol, I'll quit too. That was in 2006. About a year later we were at my favorite Mexican Restaurant "Anita's" & she asked if we could share a frozen margarita & so we did. That was 2007. That was the last time either of us drank alcohol. She passed away 2015 on Christmas Eve. But I still haven't touched any alcohol. And btw, we rarely EVER even had an argument after that. Maybe we would disagree about something but never a heated argument. Damn I miss her! She was not only beautiful but fun to be around too. She was a good cook but didn't like doing it. She was OCD too. All the pots & pans had to be washed before she could sit down to eat. That was the biggest thing that bothered me about her. And the only reason was cuz when I went for seconds the food was in Tupperware and already gotten cold. And if there were dirty dishes in the sink, she couldn't walk past without stopping to wash them. And how can a man actually complain about something like that. And if she was washing clothes & I came in from work, I had to strip so she could wash those too. And so I'd have to get a shower cuz you don't put on clean clothes without a shower. I do miss those days but her especially.
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@Anglashock Drach's 5-6 hour Drydocks have been a large part of my quest for sanity & intelligence in an incredibly stupid & crazy world for the past four years. Instead of therapy or a psychiatrist I just plug in a long Drydock & kick back. Either that or I listen to an old Grateful Dead concert. Jerry Garcia is my "other" therapist. It's almost 30 years now that he passed away. But his music is still loved by many. I sincerely believe that he was a more gifted guitarist than Jimi Hendrix!
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Footage of you DIVING ON A SHIPWRECK would be AWESOME imho!!! That would be very unique & great for the Chanel! I would guess you would also have to invest in a waterprooof camera too. I didn't know that you had been "previously" certified as a diver. But also you may want to see if flying to the US & then flying back & forth from the US to Bermuda would be less expensive. Meaning you could maybe spend time here in the US seeing something, fly to Bermuda & do stuff there & YOU & THE FAMILY could also take some extra time there for actual family vacation time too. All work & no play isn't good for the WHOLE FAMILY! But the US has a lot of nice beaches too & probably less expensive hotels too. But always try to spend time with the family! Your kid's youth is time you can NEVER replace!
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An idea 80 years too late! But the US never got crazy enough to put a 12" gun on a submarine. Salute to the Brits for dreaming that one up. If it wasn't actually documented, I'd believe it to be a fairy tale! Cuz, I wouldn't think a sub could stand up to be sturdy enough to be firing a 12" gun. But I guess that is WHY the submariners liked the subs because it was built VERY STURDY!
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@BleedingUranium Idk, don't see how someone could or would get upset by a ship being named to honor 5 brothers that died serving together on the same ship. But I guess in this world there are all kinds.
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@Neithan02 Not a war crime. Just a simple act of dropping a bomb on a city of a nation that refused to surrender even though they were beaten, knew they were beaten & still kept sending young men to their deaths as kamikaze pilots. When all they had to do is basically say "Uncle"!
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@sundivxqqqqqqqqźer137 Yes, but that was after the pre-planned questions had been asked & answered. And the dialog was actually about how & why Fletcher got a bad rep cuz of Richmond Kelly Turner blaming everyone but himself for the annihilation of the cruiser force at Guadal Canal. IMHO he should have taken the Cruisers & all of the other ships out of harms way as well so everyone could get some rest. Being on high alert for 48 hours means that no one has gotten any rest in 2 days. And if they were going to be on the coast of Guadal Canal they definitely needed to be on high alert! Rabaul was NOT very far away and was considered too large of a stronghold for the USA to attack so early in the war. Although MacArthur wanted to go after Rebaul first thing Nimitz & King shot that down as too heavily defended. The Navy had better reconnaissance & Intel in the Pacific than the Army had. And Nimitz wanted to start off with something smaller & less heavily defended, in which Guadal Canal fit that role perfectly.
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Ok, he talks about Richmond Kelly Turner blaming Fletcher for moving the carrier task force out of harm's way & that very night the US cruisers & destroyers off of Guadal Canal basically get blown out of the water by the Japanese. Well for one thing Fletcher was smart to remove the carriers out of harms way cuz at that time no US Carriers were capable of night operations so they would have been blown out of the water along with the cruisers present. And considering that the men on those cruisers had been on high alert for 48 hours or more, he should have pulled his force back along with the ships trying to land supplies & let everyone get a night of rest & then resumed the landing of supplies in the morning. Of course, we say hind sight is 20/20 but he had reasonable suspicions that the Japanese would counter attack and knew his guys having had no rest for 2 days needed some rest. And considering where they were they needed to be on high alert because imho a counter attack was inevitable. What the real problem & mistake was that the Americans during the first part of the war constantly underestimate the capabilities of the Japanese. Those cruisers were blown out of the water & sinking while the Americans were still 🏃 🏃 running to their action stations. And the Americans also had to learn that they needed to be closer to action stations in their normal duties as well. Instead of people having to switch places in different parts of the ship. Giving away precious time that would be the difference in the battle. That & the underestimation of the Japanese torpedoes would put the USA on a steep learning curve!! And it was a tragedy that the US paid for with A LOT of lives & cruisers. 😢❤😢
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That is awesome. Congrats that your father made it home! My Great-Grandma(Mama Spann we called her) had 2 brothers that signed up to be pilots in WW2. I was never told any of the specifics except one was a pilot flying missions against Germany, & the other was flying ✈ in the Pacific against the Japanese. Both were considered KIA, & neither one ever had their bodies found &/or recovered. Although I'm not sure if that was the contributing factor or not, but "Mama Spann was very reclusive & whenever I tried to talk to her she would rarely ever respond & if she did it was mean & nasty! So, as you might imagine, I stopped trying to socialize with her unless she initiated the conversation, and as long as she wasn't saying something mean.
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Let's face it, a war ship back then that was NOT French & could cruise faster than 40 knots, is going to get a lot of use.
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One of the things that is surprising in all of this, is that even though Admiral King had been made aware of this, & had demanded something be done. It still took over a year to get fixed.
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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.
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Thanks Drach. I'm sure you had fun flying your "little toy" around Battleship New Jersey! If I had a car I would have so been there! I've been to Philly several times. And it's not far from DC at all. I had a friend that once lived between Baltimore & Philly. Back when I was still young.
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@Swrdfshtrmbns It was designed in order to keep the fire control systems from being taken out of service in case of a shell hit during action. But in reality they were too flimsy & one of them collapsed, I think, on USS Michigan during a storm & caused some casualties. So they were eventually replaced with the sturdier tripod masts. That question has been asked & answered in several "Drydocks" already.
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@bullnukeoldman3794 Idk, I imagine that it was pretty scary walking underneath to check everything & make sure all was right enough to leave it where it was & not have to reflood the drydock to be able to resituate the ship. And YEAH, I would imagine ya'll didn't spend much time down there! Especially considering that sometimes after a quake there are after shocks as well. Three quarters of a degree may not seem like much but very much more & it could have knocked it off the blocks. And if that happens there is always a chance that it could bend the frame enough that it becomes irreparable. Glad your ship made it.
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@Aiwendill Yeah, they were going to convert her to be an aircraft carrier due to the Washington Naval Treaty. But it got scrapped instead.
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@bullnukeoldman3794 Wow. Earthquakes are scarry no matter where you are! I was living in South Carolina and there was one there of all places. It made the fireplace chimney move. And afterwards we could see daylight through the brick block from inside the house.
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Heck, I'd be happy with just one of the 16" guns &, of course, the hardware & ammunition to be able to fire it too. I've always had a huge love for guns. My favorite American Admiral was "Ching" Lee because of his love for gunnery & the fact that he made sure every ship under his command could fire very accurately. Just like in football, it's NOT practice makes perfect it's "Perfect practice makes perfect!" It was really a shame that Admiral Lee passed away as early as he did. He really could have done so much more for the USN!! However, the USN was so much better during WW2 thanks to the way Lee got things accomplished! That being said he probably saved a lot of American lives due to some of his more simple accomplishments.
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I would agree that if the Japanese had actually used there large battleships to help protect their carriers with anti-aircraft fire that it would have helped preserve their carriers. But the part about US Pilots bombing or torpedoing the battleships INSTEAD of the carriers I seriously doubt that would happen. MAYBE if it was land-base aircraft but US pilots flying off of a carrier is going to see the Japanese Carriers as more of a threat to their own carrier and unless all the carriers are already a fireball, I don't see pilots going after the battleships unless they maybe fly past & rake it with machine gun fire in an effort to take out some of the anti-aircraft gunners. But whatever, that's just one person's opinion & it just happens to be mine. Gotta go do stuff.
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THAT is a video so technical I'm going to have to rewatch it. When I saw it & started it I had just woke up. And it took a bit for my brain to get acquainted with what I was listening to. It makes me wonder if we have video of these systems actually being used in the past. And I am constantly amazed at how much intelligence goes into making these systems long before actual computer systems were developed. And thought it rather hilarious that modern computers couldn't withstand the shock of the 16" guns being fired. But the fact that they were able to build a machine that could make these calculations and arrive at where the target is going to be when the shells arrive down range almost a minute after they are fired has always been impressive to me. And although the target ship can change course when they see a muzzle flash of the guns firing, if they do so, they will be throwing away their current fire control data & starting over. And considering the spread you get with 9 battleship guns firing, even a small change in course may not throw off the gunnery of the opposing ship. Let's face it, HMS Hood not only did this but did it in a way that would open a firing angle for its aft turret. But in doing so suffered a hit detonating her aft 15" magazine. However, that being said we are not sure if the turn had started and/or how far into the turn Hood was when she exploded. Although Prince of Wales was right behind her POW had to turn to avoid the wreckage of Hood.
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I just wish I had the $$ to go see her!! If I had a car then the chance of going would be feasible. But considering that I'm homeless & unemployed atm, I don't expect being able to go any time soon. Back in 2008 I was living in Pensacola, FL & working in Mobile, AL & got to see the USS Alabama otw to work & then otw home every day but cuz I was riding with the crew I never got to tour the great battleship. I'm very proud that lthe state of Alabama was able to keep her out of the scrap yard. However, the old girl looked awful lonely there in the bay. I think that a lot of schools should bring classes to tour some of these ships. When young & studying history sometimes it seems boring. But getting to see & go inside even one of these ships makes the history more real & interesting.
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@mitchellhawkes22 I truly feel that it was. Cuz if he didn't remove Akagi from the equation, that very first strike against Yorktown is more than likely going to either sink Yorktown or totally put her out of commission. Either way, the Japanese don't make the mistake of going after her during the second wave. And who knows what happens after that. Roll the dice and the Japanese wins, and roll the dice again and the Americans win. And another thing too is if Hornets pilots don't go on the "infamous flight to nowhere" then they could have sank or damaged Hiryu enough that Yorktown doesn't even have to deal with a strike at all!
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Guilty as charged, of listening til I fall asleep. But then I wake up halfway thru the night & rewind to what I remember hearing last. Then again when I wake up in the morning. And lots of times I listen on public trans.
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Well, actually Halsey probably did make the connection which is probably why one of his staff told him to get ahold of himself. My older brother studied that in the 6th grade & taught it to me, 3rd grade. So... an Admiral as old as Halsey, imho, would probably know it by heart, & more than likely make the connection immediately!
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@Drachinifel Q & A I have a suggestion for a video. Let's say that USS Enterprise(CV-6) is in the middle of a battle. The carrier task force has just repelled a large strike from a Japanese carrier. And now they are landing their own strike aircraft back aboard & getting them ready to send another strike. And they also have a large portion of their CAP Fighters that are out of ammo & low on fuel. Exactly what would be going on in the hangar deck to get the next strike ready to launch as well as maintaining the CAP that is in the air & at an altitude where they can help repell another attack. At the moment the only enemy planes on radar are the ones that are otw back to the Jap Carrier. MY QUESTION IS, What exactly would be going on in the hangar deck? And now that the crew is good at re-arming & refueling, how long will it take for the crew to get the next strike in the air? And how quickly can they re-arm & refuel their CAP Fighters & have them in the air at an altitude best suited to attack incoming strike aircraft?
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I know 2 years may seem like a long time from asking & then FINALLY receiving. However, I'm sure that he "added it to the list." And by then he already had a VERY long list! But still very interesting submarines. If these types had been built during peace time & allowed time to fix any issues before war broke out, then a large quantity of these subs would have been a bitch to have to deal with. But given the advances in sub hunting and the Hedgehogs and all the different new types of depth charges & sonar. It may have only meant that an extra 2k or so German submarine sailors perish beneath the ocean waves. Although war in most ways advances different technologies rather rapidly, it also hampers certain advances as well. And while you can't really say whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, it just is what it is.
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@adamdubin1276 you mean "nothing says you shouldn't have done that quite like 9 16" high explosive shells landing on your position".😮😢 I wonder if when BIG Whiskey let loose of that broadside that those manning that shore emplacement realized that they had run out of time in this world? But like they say "ignorance is bliss". Wow I think I hear a freight train heading this way. And you know being on the receiving end of that you would really be what they call "fubar", I have no doubts about that.
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One of my favorite stories!!! Considering the question about the "best sense of humor" at 2:40:52 I thought the story you told about Admiral McCain was indeed hilarious! I could almost even picture the Admiral being heaved into the lagoon. And then lighting a cigarette and grinning from ear to ear. In the hot Pacific air getting thrown into the lagoon was probably quite refreshing. A lot of other "uptight" Admirals would have probably had the pilots that heaved him into the water arrested and undergoing disciplinary procedures. But McCain invites them aboard his motor launch & gives them a ride to their ship. Now that is a good natured man! Knowing those men are out risking their very lives every day, and knowing they will respect him more by being good natured about the whole incident is a man being a lot smarter than most realize. Much respect for Admiral McCain. And his lucky hat!
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@jonathanj8303 The report of torpedoes in the water actually came from Prince Eugene's hydrophone operator. The ship had a large array of hydrophones and one, the operator was the one that gave warning that the 2 English battleships were closing on their position cuz he could hear the engines. And then he heard the torpedoes in the water. And I don't think that the IJN told Germany about their type 93 long lance oxygen enriched torpedo. It was a closely guarded secret in the IJN cuz they didn't want enemies to know they had pure oxygen aboard their warships. Cuz simply machine gunning a torpedo launcher could cause a horrific explosion!!
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@davidmcintyre8145 Actually from what I've heard most engineers in the USN were fairly good at making & camouflaging miniature stills in the bowels of the ships. As long as certain people looked the other way Stills capable of making numerous gallons of moonshine and a good deal of beer after the liquor. Not to mention home-made wines as well considering most gallies could requisition extra yeast & fruits. While the ice cream makers definitely came in handy in the heat of the Pacific. And during WW2 the USN had an entire barge dedicated to making ice cream for the fleet just to keep morale high.😊
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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.
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You never cease to not just impress me with the stuff you air on your channel, but you also tickle me with your humor as well. And this model is very realistic looking. I'm curious as to the size of the model???
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Best wishes & I hope you feel better. After you feel better you can maybe look back on this & laugh, but of course, that is not going to happen UNTIL you are feeling better. Thank you for all your hard work. And btw, try cranberry juice, it's good for helping your body detoxify itself.
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@shadowwolf2608 It has to do with NOT having magazines fore & aft. The all forward layout means they can have the main magazines in one place and that is how it shortens the citadel space. If they only have one main magazine instead of 2 then they need less armor to cover the magazines thereby making the ship weigh less. And also, most ships when aiming at an opposing ship seem to aim for & hit the superstructure. With the superstructure in the back of the ship, imho there is more of chance those ships will miss to the aft. Or just less chance the ship will take accurate fire.
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@ClimateScepticSceptic-ub2rg Give it up. Drach has apologized enough in the past about his butchering of other languages. He's NOT a linguist but he does work pretty hard to find out things for people concerning warships & related weaponry. And if it weren't for his shows, I would probably have gone mad over the holidays. His voice seems to have a soothing & calming affect on me. Without him & tobacco there is the possibility that I may have hurt someone or myself. I actually thought that it was really funny the thought of someone getting hit with a lump of fat! And depending upon the size and speed of said lump of fat it could be fatal. I live here in the US & obesity is definitely a problem. The size of some people I see... scares me for their sake.
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@captainvladmir7535 This is just my "2 cents" worth & I have no idea if I'm right or wrong. But back then they were known for eating bread that might be a bit "moldy". And one thing that they discovered is that sometimes these breads that had started to mold could contain a substance known as ergot and eating it could cause symptoms such as someone taking LSD, peyote or mushrooms. Now, this particular case I have not a clue if that is what happened. And, hopefully maybe his actual problem is documented so Drach would maybe be able to look it up. I think I remember him saying that the guy was having some sort of nervous breakdown, if my memory serves me correctly. And if he had ingested some ergot that could definitely cause such behavior. But at the same time it could be something completely different.
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Hi Drach. Thanks for the video. As always, you can take what would seem a rather boring subject and with trial and error & more & more evolution explain how all of these different people would try this & that & finally make something that works. And you do it with great spin that makes the mundane & slow process that it was not only interesting but fun to learn. And now I anxiously await the next chapter of the torpedo.
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Yeah, it was highly remarkable how Admiral Lee learned how to use radar & how to use his guns from the information he was receiving from that radar. And as soon as he was sure "the Kirishima" was the target he was tracking & not the South Dakota then the sailors aboard the Kirishima found out what happens when 16" shells begin raining down on your ship. 😮
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Until you got to the end I was about to say this must have been the US Navy's version of the Kamchatka, although there were no imaginary torpedo boats. And at least every one of the crew survived the ships demise so that in itself is a very good thing!! You can't really call a ship unlucky when all of her crew survived especially an explosion hard enough to basically blow it out of the water & none of the crew died. That's actually VERY lucky if you ask me.
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Yeah, all in all you can't really blame the Canadian sailors for when given the chance on whether to go home or continue fighting against Japan for choosing to go home. Especially for the reasons you gave too. Yeah, the first people back are going to grab up the best jobs, they get to see their families for the first time in who knows how long AND if they go home, then they have survived the war! If they go into the Pacific to fight the Japanese there is no guarantee they will all survive. Where they can say they did their patriotic duty & fought in the war & since they survived long enough to win against Germany, SOME may not be so lucky against the Japanese. And if you had personally been at war for 4-5 years and all of a sudden given the choice to go home or stay & fight, I know I'm going to choose to go home!!! Without even having to think about it very long! Because you know that in a war there is ALWAYS a chance of getting killed or even worse, getting seriously maimed & living! And then being disabled the rest of your life! So most are going to choose home. I'm sure the other Allies were rather irritated by this, however the USA & UK pretty much had the Japanese defeated already. The Japanese just didn't want to admit it yet. And finally atomic weapons would change their minds about surrendering! Thank God!
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@teddywoo83 Yeah, Rodney made the same mistake against Bismark. When they closed the range they made it harder for themselves against Bismark. Bismark & Tirpitz were both designed against close range gunnery but not against plunging fire of 16" shells. And the seas weren't so rough to keep Washington from fighting. And Washington has much bigger teeth with her 16" guns compared to DoY's 14" guns. And Admiral Lee had Washington's gunnery accuracy in tip top shape. DoY may have the armor for a slugging match with Tirpitz but it's guns are a bit on the weaker side. I'm not much a fan of DoY but HMS Rodney??? Big fan of Rodney! 16" guns all forward!!! She could be closing on a target & all the enemy has to fire at is her front profile. But with that all forward layout she could be firing all her guns BUT WITHOUT presenting a broadside target to her enemy. It is a shame battleships became obsolete, cuz imho HMS Anson & Rodney, if that design had been improved by a generation or two those ships would have been BEASTS!!!
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I bet when she left Norfolk, VA she had A WHOLE NEW ATTITUDE!!! Being in the states will do that for ya!!
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HATE, is a terrible thing. You shouldn't do that to yourself. Hating anything can make you evil. And then you find yourself hating more & more. And it gives those things power over your thoughts & feelings. If you just mearly dislike something then it gives you the freedom to rule yourself. I was playing guitar for tips outside a Metro station near DC & a person remarked to me "Don't you just hate people that DON'T give?" I replied "Over 99% of those that go past do not give. That is way too much for me to try to hate!"
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I almost pee'd myself when I saw the subject line! My question is, how much was this man getting paid to keep coming up with these torpedo battleship designs? And were they asking him to come up with these designs just to give him something to do or what? And although the "torpedo battleship" never made it past the design stage.. thank God. However, to all of you laughing and coming up with ever more digs I want you to consider one thing. They go ahead and they build one torpedo battleship AND THEY MAKE Captain Evans from the Johnston her Captain. Now what happens??? Sometimes ideas aren't the best of ideas. Clearly. However, a ship is only as good as the determination of the Captain & crew!
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I'm going to have to watch it a couple more times to be "able" to absorb it all.
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Yeah, I actually had no idea that there had been so many ships involved until recently. When I just happened to "stumble" on some stuff about Bikini Atoll & started reading about it on Wikipedia. But the footage he showed was great and still I'm amazed at how many ships they used and the poor little piggies getting cooked alive. Wonder if anyone brought some Barbecue sauce? 😢 And that was how they got the idea for the microwave oven. 😂 Joking.
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If the Kamchatka had been in the US Navy, she would have probably been used for target practice, possibly even with Captain & crew still aboard. And the paranoia of seeing "torpedo boats" makes me seriously wonder how much cocaine the Captain & other crew members had on board! Either that or they had a look out that was beginning to have symptoms of schizophrenia. And the gunner on the Kamchatka said, "By the time the enemy vessel realized we were attacking them, I had run out of ammunition. But it turned out to NOT be an enemy vessel at all.
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My point about the Iowa vs Yamato. On a one on one fight the Yamato has 18" guns so if the Iowa's are not using a super heavy shell then then the Yamato can start hitting the Iowa before the Iowa can answer. And if those first hits take out something vital it could be over. But, in my opinion, the Japanese Yamato's is the USA's version of the Montana's. Soo, if we are going to play all of these "what if" scenarios(that basically gets on my nerves btw) then how about both Yamato ships squaring off with 2 of the Montana's??? Hey if ya gonna do it, either do it BIG or go home!
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In regards to Nelson being reckless, I would have to say that confidence in his tactics and the confidence he had in his men to outgun the enemy may have seemed reckless but the thing about it is ALL THE MEN THAT HE WAS COMMANDING SEEN HIM PUT HIMSELF IN HARMS WAY TO QUICKLY & DECISIVELY DESTROY THE ENEMY and that in itself is going to grant him followers that would have followed him into hell itself because they believed in his guidance and judgement to deliver quick & decisive blows to the enemy that would result in them winning the battle & living to enjoy the victory celebration. CONFIDENCE can seem reckless but any officer that has the task of leading men into battle must show confidence in order to get the men to follow him. If an officer acts timid & afraid his troops will act the same. And you don't win a battle by being timid & afraid. You have to have the power to lead in order to be followed. My thoughts on it is that Nelson knew all of this very well. And as far as his social life goes he had a woman he enjoyed being with her & didn't give a damn what anyone else thought about it. I don't blame him! Like "they say" you only live once and if you find someone you love, why not spend as much time with them as you can? My wife died 8 years ago and I've been damn close to miserable ever since. I had always been a happy person but once I found her I never wanted to be apart from her. We had about 11 years together. Met in October 2003. Married October 2007 & she passed Christmas Eve 2015 after 3 years of severe COPD. I still try to be happy & mostly succeed but I still miss her so much that I've never been with anyone since cuz I don't think it would be fair for another woman to be in her shadow. I don't think I could love someone as much as I loved her so any other woman I could be with wouldn't have all of me. Of course, I could still maybe fall for the right woman but it took most of my life to find her, I don't suppose to find another that could come close but.. I'm not giving up or holding my breath either.
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They also make very good guitar necks cuz the wood seldom warps from it's original shape.
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So the Emden shot down a pilot named Emden which crashed into the Emden causing the first casualties of the war to be the pilot and sailors aboard the Emden. Sometimes the truth can be stranger than fiction. Very ironic coincidence. Sort of like the USS Indianapolis delivering the components of the atomic weapons that destroyed Hiroshima & Nagasaki & then getting hit by 3 torpedoes & sinking in about 10-15 minutes. And although about 800-900 sailors survived the sinking of the ship only 316 would survive the shark infested waters long enough to be rescued. I've always thought that considering the popularity of the Bible verse JOHN 3:16 that there being 316 survivors wasn't a coincidence but God's way of saying that he is watching. And I've never been very religious either. I've always loved the saying that God wants righteous fruit NOT religious nuts.
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Number 1) Wright actually should have never been in charge of this action. They should have promoted one of the Captain's from one of the many Cruisers they had already lost to be in charge of this action. At least they had seen & been in action with the Japanese and was fully aware of their capabilities. Number 2) The order to "Not fire without permission should have NEVER been given!" Number 3) The destroyers should have fired their torpedoes and then just simply told Admiral Wright they had done so. That in itself would have saved countless American lives & ships as well. Number 4) When torpedoes start hitting other ships in your column, you would think that the Captain's of other ships would make evasive maneuvers to ensure their own ship was not also hit. It's like Tweedle Deedee & Tweedle Deedum were leading the Three Stooges in a Night Action against the Imperial Japanese Navy. And it pisses me off at the lack of intelligence and the sheer stupidity of the Cruiser Captains at this part of the war. Number 5) The fact that Admiral Wright received a "Navy Cross" for this action is completely & utterly absurd. He should have been demoted & given station on one of the less populated Aleutian Islands. Where hopefully he couldn't get more young Americans killed by his lack of using the brain God gifted to him! Number 6) The Japanese should have put Tanaka in charge of the Center Force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf! BUT, I'm VERY, VERY GLAD they didn't!!! Cuz all of Taffy 3 would have been torn apart. And Tanaka would have had Battleship Yamato firing on the troops ashore at Leyte Gulf. Idk, it may have even taken out MacArthur, which wouldn't have necessarily been a bad thing except for all the other soldiers that would have been killed in the process. Number 7) If Wright had been briefed about the previous battles surrounding Guadal Canal then he should have known to NOT give the order to ask permission before firing. In the darkness surrounding Guadal Canal the previous battles had shown that waiting for permission to fire DOES NOT WORK! The US Destroyers should have just unleashed their torpedoes, told Wright they had done so, & told him to open fire once the first torpedo finds it's mark or if the enemy changes course.
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Yeah, that was not only a plus but Tanaka's first charge was keeping his ships & men safe. Which meant taking out enemy ships if they were there because otherwise they could take him out. And Tanaka was up against US Cruisers and all he had was destroyers. Admiral Wright being an idiot more than leveled the playing field & with the Type 93 torpedoes the Japanese had a major advantage the very moment Wright denied permission to his destroyers to fire torpedoes. If Wright had been killed, it would have been poetic justice. Unfortunately, instead, his idiocy got a lot of good US sailors killed. And him claiming(or lying) that he sunk 3 other Japanese Cruisers & must have gotten hit by submarines gained him a "Navy Cross." Very unfortunate that he was in charge on this night. A competent American Admiral would have easily taken out the entire destroyer force of Tanaka's.
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I feel your pain. When Drach came to Washington DC I had planned on going & meeting him after he had been at the Smithsonian. However, I started feeling "under the weather" the day before & considering all we had gone through with COVID I didn't want to risk getting him or anyone else sick. I am of the opinion that it's best to remain anonymous rather than be the selfish person that made them sick in their travels. So cheers to you mate.
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Wow. Well we will start by building 50. "What, only 50?" He must of been greatly disappointed. ☹️
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@albertcamerato7673 No freebies. Good grief it's been a long time since I've heard that reference!
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@Sherwoody Yeah, ya gotta be careful to NOT slip on or into the vomit! UGH!!! Or both. Everyone gets schooled about the safety orÿ⁶of
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While manufacturing separate components & latching them all together into a finished product isn't exactly unheard of at the time, for one it seems that it does pose certain difficulties but at the same time poses easier solutions to some problems too. What a strange & difficult process it must have been. But at the same time, also you'd think they would have thought about how to get all the needed machinery inside the thing before it all latches together!
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I once saw a guy wearing a cap that SAID "USS Samuel B Roberts". Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to meet him. I was on the sidewalk & he was the passenger in a car.
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@robertyoung3992 Thanks for the heads up. '43 was a mistype, evidently I hadn't proofread.
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And yes, I am ulultimately convinced that if the Japanese hadn't retreated Captain Evans would have led a boarding party and would have taken many Japanese scalps before it was over. For those unaware Evans was of Cherokee Indian desent. I can almost see Evans climbing aboard the enemy warship with his knife in his mouth & a crowd of sailors behind him. The Yamato, largest battleship ever made was impotent in the shadow of Taffy 3.
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Yeah, Germany too.
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So 3 years ago you had 5k viewers. NOW, this video has been up for about 3 hours and already has over 10k viewers. That is really awesome. I happened to tell a friend about your Channel and he said, "I had no idea that that was something would interest you." And, of course, I had to say that I didn't either until I started checking it out. It is history, and it was because of my interest in WW2 that led me to find the channel, but within a lot of these ships were life & death struggles & how they were built had influence on those struggles. Plus, idk, you give all the stories an extra flair too. It's like I'm hearing Monty Python do a serious lecture about warships & stories related to warships. If that makes any sense? Hope it does.
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@darrenblake2362 I'm not sure which Drydock but I'm fairly certain that somewhere between Drydock 300 & 306 he addresses the question of U-530. He tells what is known & then says "I doubt we will ever find out anymore than that."
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Idk why, but dummy torpedoes costing the US Navy a million dollars in repairs seems funny after knowing how many dud torpedoes would get used against the Japanese during the first 2 years of WW2. I wonder how much those dud Mark 14 torpedoes costed the Japanese? I mean, I'm sure some of their rusty old junks got holes poked in them. But the lack of an explosion I'm sure would give a lot of the Japanese a false sense of security during torpedo attacks.
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The thing I've noticed is that when they fire a torpedo they show the exact same cgi footage for every ship. And evidently they hit every ship in the bow section although when they show the ship blowing up on the surface it's exploding at midship. I mean I understand they must have a small budget but.... idk.
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@uncletimo6059 I think your wrong. Plain & simple. King had a lot of major things on his plate. They had just lost the entire Pacific fleet of battleships. And King had demonstrated 2 years previously that Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to attack. And at the time he was trying to organize & plan 2 wars on opposite sides of the planet. And he simply didn't have enough destroyers to escort convoys. He didn't have enough destroyers to escort his capital ships either. I also believe that King was arguing that the US also had a Coast Guard & that our Coast Guard should be used along with air units to search & destroy U-boats on the Eastern Seaboard. And I also think King didn't realize how big the Battle of the Atlantic was going to be. Just like a lot of others, he had been asked to decide on plans for fighting 2 wars that the US Navy didn't have the ships to fight in the first place & then also losing the entire Pacific fleet of battleships at Pearl Harbor. I personally believe that if the US Navy had had enough ships to implement convoy escorts it would have happened. And now the man is dead ya'll can try to bad mouth him & he can't defend himself or his actions. But ANYBODY that knows the first thing about the United States of America KNOWS that those decisions are NOT going to rest on one man alone. Just like everyone else he had a job to do. That job was dictated by what those above him asked him to do. And I'm sure he had no shortages of superiors asking for things to be done. Why are ya'll NOT blaming Eisenhower and the Coast Guard as well? I'm sure he had a multitude of things he was asking King to do. And the Coast Guard had been involved during WW1 & they were supposed to be patroling our shores. And convoys were already a thing too. Convoys were being done before the US even entered the war. It was the lone ships around the Eastern Seaboard that were being targeted before the convoys were to assemble. So you can TRY to blame King all you want but if he had been asked to take care of it you can bet he would have! But I'm fairly certain that he was doing his job to the best of his abilities & knowledge & was probably told to not worry about that, that he needed to do this, that & the other thing. Yes, King didn't like the Royal Navy. Just like Patton didn't like General Montgomery. And even Patton had good reason. Monty had this thing, similarly like Japanese Admiral Yamamoto, a thing about making plans that were over-complicated. And had a tendency to NOT work because the plan was too ambitious to start with and getting 4 or 5 different outfits doing different things at the same time when you have to consider each outfit has different things causing delays and all of a sudden you have these commandos behind enemy lines trying to secure a bridge crossing for armored units that aren't going to show up because they ran into stiff resistance. And so the commando unit basically lose all its men because of a over complicated plan. Or they order a bombing to soften up enemy targets before an attack the next morning & the bombers miss the target area & bomb their own troops that were massing for the attack. You can't say it never happened cuz it did.
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Yeah the first one was a lot more "happy" sounding. The newer one has a more "serious" sound to it. Not bad, just different. The gun sounds are pretty cool on both.
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@stretch3281 Yeah, That's one of my favorites! Didn't Clapton play some of the leads for that? That's hilarious! I wish his name was really George Harrison now. But no matter. John Harrison, George Lennon, AT LEAST THEY FINALLY GAVE HIM HIS MONEY!! MONEY THEY WERE TRYING TO KEEP FOR THEMSELVES. THAT'S JUST SO WRONG. The dude that took those plans & put it in a book should have been arrested in my opinion. Or someone should have beat the crap outta him. But of course I'm sure the bad karma costed him twice what he made. I wonder if Ringo McCartney or Paul Starr ever did anything historic?
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@chrissouthgate4554 Yeah, especially when you're trying to have a ship carrying BIG guns & having enough armor to protect them against their own guns. However, Destroyers had, what's the saying? NONE OF THE ABOVE. Their only defense was being small so they were a little more difficult to hit & enough speed to run away. If they manage to launch a torpedo then if it's a much larger ship, then the ship becomes more concerned about dodging the torpedo than trying to blow them out of the water!
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How many people today know anything about "Gilligan's Island" I wonder? Just sit right back & you'll hear a tell, A tell of a faithful ship
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At the time Alaska was NOT a state. And Hawaii was not either. They were US territories but not states at the time.
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Yeah, it's a shame that gun ships became obsolete especially when ships like the USS Des Moines & Salem had become so fast & accurate at firing. It is my opinion that the Des Moines were developed in order to see if the same technology would be viable for a similar but larger Battleship type of ship. Yet they decided Battleships were a thing of the past, so we never got to see Semi-automatic 16" guns.😢😢 Although it is a shame considering that I would have loved to see such a ship, yet building such a warship would have been incredibly expensive and with the extra weight of the auto-loading mechanisms a battleship might have to be extra hefty to carry three triple turrets & enough armor to arm against it's own guns and be able to travel at 28-30 knots. Probably end up weighing almost as much as Yamato.
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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!
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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.
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@saulekaravirs6585 I'm glad you posted that. I thought it was just me. I am completely backwards when it comes to most things I do. So I didn't think much of it til I saw your post. But it does seem as though they were in order in the "Battleships". Idk, maybe that's just me still being backwards.
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I'd be happy just to see a picture of the tank afterwards. Actual footage of it happening would be crazy if it exist! Although the people inside died I'm sure, they probably never even knew what hit them. Here one moment, gone the next. Wow.
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@Aelxi I've listened to A LOT of Drydocks but I don't remember EVER hearing that question. It would make sense but that doesn't mean anything.
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OK, I get that the higher ups in the French Navy don't want to sacrifice speed for armor. Well in that case they should have dropped a gun or two from the primary armament. Cuz having two extra guns aren't going to do any good if a destroyer can quickly & easily blow you out of the water! And they don't have the speed to runaway from a destroyer either. So being able to outrun a battle cruiser doesn't really matter when a destroyer can make short work of your cruiser before their battle cruiser even makes it to your ship.
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@Drachinifel Yeah, I didn't realize I already had the "Battleships", "Carriers" & "Cruisers" in my own YouTube library. And I also didn't realize that you had done them in such a way. So it was kind of a brain fart on my part. I was looking on your site for ship guides being grouped together such as "The Drydock" is, not realizing I already had them in different groups. The recent ones having ships from the age of sale plus submarines had thrown me off.
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Right around 140:00 mins in someone asks you to include metric measurements when speaking about things. Idk, if it's something that you are really curious about then it's not difficult for the listener to convert Imperial measurements to metric measurements. Most people listening use Imperial measures rather than metric. And considering that Drach is almost always trying to reduce the huge amount of information in a script into a smaller version that doesn't take so long to record &/or listen to it wouldn't make sense to include metric measurements to turn around & make it longer yet again when if it's something that you are really curious about you can figure it out easily these days. A yard is 3 feet. And yards are close to a meter. But most phones have an app for that! It's not rocket science! 10 meters=11 yards "close" but not exact
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Around 2:36:00 you are talking about if Kurita's Center Force had just powered past Taffy 3 could they have taken out 7th fleet? I'd say if the Yamato was really unleashed and totally lead the battle they could have possibly taken out 7th fleet. However, Kurita will probably run into Lee's fast battleships afterwards & after already fighting a huge battle Admiral Lee's fast battleships would totally destroy Kurita's Center Force. It would have made October 25th even a bigger day in the annals of naval warfare but it still would have ended with the Japanese Navy being defeated. That's my opinion & I'm sticking to it. And Center Force would still have a tough time getting past the USS Johnston regardless. And the more I think about it, Yamato ran away from a couple of destroyers. How is Yamato going to take out a pair of battleships or more when she is too scaredy pants to take on a destroyer or two?
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My very first car, an '83 Chevy Chevette 4 speed stick. When we bought it I had never driven a stick shift. I drove it home & learned on the way. Needless to say, I picked it up quick. Only dumped the clutch once before I got the hang of it. But before a year had gone by my timing belt stripped out. And so I fixed it. My Uncle in law, Jerry told me how. And putting the new belt on wasn't difficult, it was getting the timing right after that was the challenge. But the way Jerry explained it to me I only had to take it back off once to get it right. Which wasn't bad. I ended up having to put another transmission in it too. Because it was a stick shift it wasn't difficult either. Hardest part was that I had to pry the transmission past the exhaust pipe. My next car was a '79 Camaro. I totally miss both of those cars. The Chevette because it was a good car with GREAT gas mileage & the Camaro because it was just so fun to drive it. I sold the Camaro back in 2005 so we could buy an '89 Bronco. Which was another great vehicle! Gas mileage was awful but still a good truck & easy to work on & replace stuff, except for all the rust. But most Fords are fairly prone to having a lot of rust.
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In your discussion of napalm you mentioned that "someone" also had the idea of also mixing "white phosphorus" with it. Now idk4 sure, BUT, would that "someone" happen to be Gen G Patton? Cuz I remember seeing a WW2 Documentary about Patton and he was known for knowing when his troops used white phosphorus against the Germans that he noticed "they couldn't surrender fast enough!" So with that being said, Patton not only knew that "white phosphorus" was a devastating weapon BUT the Germans had figured it out fairly quickly that white phosphorus was NOT something that they wanted to deal with!
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Actually, if you think about the original "battle cruisers" the Iowa's could actually be the "battle cruiser" version of "the Montana" battleships. I believe I've even heard Drach mention that exact same point! And I can't see how they TRY TO JUSTIFY THE Kongo's being "battleships" instead of "battle cruisers." Idk, like they trying to make them into something they are not simply by calling them the other thing.
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And as far as mental health issues, back then if someone had severe PTSD from seeing buddies blown apart to the point that there was nothing left of them. That kind of PTSD was looked at as the man was cowardice, I think. Granted I wasn't there so I can't say for sure but Patton slapping that guy for cowardice, Patton had no idea exactly what that man had endured. And as an Officer he wasn't supposed to lay his hands on such a man. And, although Patton said he did what he did in an effort to try to get the man to get ahold of himself & regain a little dignity. And that may be true. But I kind of think that Patton was kind of ignorant of the fact that some men aren't as strong minded as others. And if someone's nerves are shot to the point that their hands are shaking to where they can't even aim their rifle, that man is no longer fit for combat! Dignity be damned.
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I know it was 5 years ago but any tank, no matter whether it was a Tiger 2 or even a modern Abrams or whatever, any tank taking a 16" AP shell to the face is simply going to be a 70 ton piece of junk afterwards. Impression of the largest paper weight ever imagined. I'm sure their were some very unlucky German Panzers that suffered this fate on & following D-Day in Normandy. And I'm very sure that the tanks that remained undamaged enough to withdraw from the area were very grateful to survive such a ghastly onslaught of power. Land artillery is bad enough to kill tanks. Battleship artillery turns tanks into unknown lumps of metal. I'm also thinking that any of the German tankers that witnessed other tanks getting hit by Battleship shells were very keen to make sure to get out of range of those guns asap despite what any of their commanders tried to order. I know that if I had seen such a thing... "Nope, I'm outta here just as fast as I can go! If tank runs outta gas, I'm walking or running if I have to!!!"
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The story of HMS Stewart being in between Italian heavy cruisers & opening up with it's "Italian" machine gun with special tracer rounds that makes the Italians think it's "a confused friendly" shows just how crazy night actions can be. I've recently been trying to read Lundgren's summations of the night battles around Guadal Canal. And now, realizing that USS Washington may have accidentally fired on her own escorts is a very sobering & sad situation. And definitely explains Admiral Lee's reluctance to fire on Kirishima until he's positive it's an enemy vessel. AND it also explains his reluctance for further night battles without the proper training of the crews that would be involved.
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That's an awesome poem! Especially after hearing everything Warspite had done!! However, I heard sailors speak of the USS Enterprise, and some of them said that they had seen what goes on on those museum ships. Kids playing around & vendors selling food & ice cream. And they felt glad that Enterprise had been spared such a fate to be tied to a dock, so people could gawk at her & sale whatever while all the kids played. AND because she was "unmade" her name lives on so that other ships can be named "Enterprise" in her honor! Which is much more befitting . And Warspite breaking her chains & being buried at sea is even more befitting. It makes you wonder sometimes... if some of these ships have a soul. I could go on but I really feel there is no need.
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What's the old saying? When you assume anything you make an ass/u/me. And during a war, assuming that a lookout is going to spot a periscope in high seas, or that a sonar contact is not real without first following up on the contact is imho not doing your due diligence for your job Captain or Admiral. And I do hope said Admiral was removed from active duty. Sounds like he was just lazy. Cuz, I mean, why would you NOT want to make sure?
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If you were a salvager, would you report each & EVERY bar of gold? OR would you stash a few away for "hard times" or to cash in upon your retirement? So five are "still missing?" Four for the main salvager & one for the only other person to know that five bars are really NOT unaccounted for.
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Thank you for that very much. I had just woken up & saw you had a new video. I had never known about any of that. Thanks for the history lesson. So it was basically the Admiral's fault that the U-boat was able to just easily torpedo Edinburgh. Why have sonar if you are not going to heed the operator?? Yes, if a U-boat is that close it SHOULD be spotted if it's on the surface but at periscope depth during snow squals, not so much. And that is WHY they use the "ASDAC" or sonar. Evidently, the Admiral thought he was being smart but was horribly wrong! And it not only cost the Royal Navy the cruiser Edinburgh but more importantly costed 57 Royal Navy sailors their lives. And that was only the cost of the Edinburgh sailors. How many died aboard the destroyers trying to protect her from the Germans? The sailors knew that gold was bad news. People do have a "sixth" sense. It's a feeling. Similar to touch. And if that gold had NOT been aboard I seriously doubt that Edinburgh would have been sunk. Evil is known to follow certain things. And for me, I'm not surprised at all that the sailors felt that foreboding feeling after loading that gold aboard the ship. I would not have wanted that gold. I hope the salvage people sold the whole lot back to the Gov't. Even after sitting on the sea bed for 30-40 years that gold is still just as evil as it was the day they loaded it aboard Edinburgh. If I was the salvager I'd sale every bar & not keep any. If a Gov't has it in a Vault maybe the evil it holds will go away!
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Yeah, the US Civil War, I guarantee you there was nothing civil about it. AND just like WW1 & WW2 everyone thought it would be over quickly. 4 years later after 10k getting killed at almost every battle, it finally ended. But, thanks to the battle at Gettysburg we now have Arlington National Cemetery.
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@whatilearnttoday5295 Maybe you should try to learn about what you are talking about before you spout off a bunch of text that clearly shows that you know little about what you are talking about & what's being discussed. There is a reason God gave you 2 ears & only one mouth.
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 @whatilearnttoday5295 I would ask exactly how you KNOW "Squarespace" is a crappy product? But, idk, opinions are like a-holes, everyone has one AND YOURS STINKS!
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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!
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 @admiraltiberius1989 Yes, but he was one of our Presidents & he was in ww2
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IDK, you mentioned the "Indianapolis"! When I saw this video that ship was my very first thought. Over 1,200 crew when it sank, 316 survivors. Right at 25%. And as long as they were in the water it's amazing any of them lived. The Captain survived and was court martialed for not zig zagging. But they finally said it wasn't his fault. But he had eaten a bullet years before he was ever exonerated. Sharks took about 750 men. Maybe more, maybe less. That's what they got for delivering the first atomic bomb to be dropped on Japan. I guess it was better than losing millions of people by invading mainland Japan. That bomb was killing people before it was even deployed.
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A fairly awesome start for submarines in general for the Navies that took part in purchasing these subs & having them in service. They helped to show the stealth of subs for coastal defense at the very least & how important further developments COULD lead to.
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Uh, yeah, Unicorn doing shore bombardment against light infantry with 4" "HE" artillery shells. Let's see? Exactly HOW do you spell "RUN LIKE HELL"!!??!!?? IN KOREAN?????
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Whoever named the ship "The Revenge" clearly had some foresight! Not really sure why they wanted revenge but it would seem to me that vengeance had been achieved.
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Wtf. The ship that was built but not actually finished. And so it never had a crew so it never sailed or whatever. The battleship that was never a battleship.
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Congratulations Drach on publishing your first book! I hope & pray it's the first of many more. And I also hope that it's very profitable for you. Idk, when I saw the price, I was thinking that you should be charging more for it. Like most people in love with your channel, $15 or $20 for a book by you, imho, really isn't too much. And that is coming from a guy that is homeless & unemployed! Most people that like your work as much as I do would easily shell out that much for a book of yours.
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By the number of ships that the Japanese had at hand it was probably much better that Somerville was unable to carry out a night time strike. Especially considering how many carriers the Japanese had & the fact it's difficult to identify what ships are what during the night. It could have been very possible that Somerville's force's could have ended up with planes from 3 or 4 Japanese carriers bearing down on them right after sunrise. Which would have been a major disaster for the Royal Navy. Plus Warspite being attacked by numerous Japanese aircraft does not bare thinking about. Now, just maybe with those forces meeting up with the R-class battleships on the way out would have made for a much more difficult force for strike planes to contend with. It's still a "what if" scenario & I still don't understand why people always want to play "what ifs" when there are literally lots of battles that were just smaller actions that we don't know anything about. "What if" there are some smaller actions that I've never heard of happening? What if, you told us about some of them.
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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.
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5 years ago I had become curious about WW2 & had started trying to find out what all happened during the war. Because of that YouTube recommended a video by a guy named Drachinifel. Since then, I've not only learned a lot more about WW2 but a lot more about Naval History in general & the people that helped make that history.
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@filecabinet827 I seriously doubt a whole squadron or more could take out an Iowa. The Iowa has the speed to dictate the battle and can stay far enough away that an age of sail ship can not hurt it. While the Iowa can tear any age of sail ship apart with one salvo. So with that being said, the only way the Iowa is going to lose is if there are more age of sail ships than the Iowa has bullets. And the Iowa has it's secondary armament too. But then the Iowa can just withdraw. I don't see it being sunk or damaged very badly because of it's speed. The only way that it could really happen is to have maybe 100 ships of the line & who ever is the Captain of the Iowa be a major idiot. And even then the Iowa will still have the upper hand! I mean one 16" "HE" shell would completely annihilate an age of sail ship. The "AP" shells would probably do less damage. But then the secondary batteries could still annihilate so many ships & the Iowa can still just disengage if it runs out of shells. The age of sail ships aren't fast enough to close the range enough to hurt an Iowa. And if they did the only thing they could do is maybe shoot up the superstructure. No cannon balls are going to puncture any vitals cuz of the armor. No. Not going to hurt an Iowa with any number of age of sail ships.
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@rapidrhinos2254 Yeah, I would imagine that such a problem would become quickly obvious when/ if salvo's are not even close to the target. And I would also think that each ship would have certain Officers aboard that knew the fire control suite rather intimately & was in charge of finding, troubleshooting & solving whatever problems may arise. And what to do if separate parts of the fire control are removed during the action of battle. That is something that they try to train for so that when/ if it happens during an action they know how to switch to appropriate back up measures. Which is why most ships have numerous range finders. Plus you firing one gun at a target with a scope isn't like a battleship. A battleship gathers information & fires salvo's to see how close they are. Which they can fire 3-4 shot salvo's and once they know the range fire full salvo's which are 8-9 gun salvo's. So usually once hits start landing more follow & the target is torn to shreds. Where if you are on target with your rifle & scope, you only need the one shot & then you usually change targets.
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@Drachinifel Thanks for including the matter about "Towers" trying to get Spruance replaced by "himself!" Although, I'm very glad that Nimitz & King saw through the request rather easily, it still goes to show how competitive the US Navy is at this time. And how "cut throat" some of these officers can really be. Which also leaves me to be very proud to know the name of Spruance as being a very good Admiral during WW2 & the name "Towers" I hadn't previously heard about until now. If the man had been more supportive of Spruance instead of trying to "throw him under the bus with him driving" IDK maybe if that hadn't happened then maybe King & Nimitz would have saw fit to try to have Towers play a larger role. One in which he might be remembered as a historically relevant officer. But, negative people get negative prizes! But seriously, thanks again for that piece of history. If Halsey at Leyte Gulf had shown the same care Spruance had shown for the landing forces then the Naval Battle of Samar would have been much different than the one we know. Who knows maybe Captain Evans would have even survived the war.
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And so the Brits instead of having the luxury of air conditioning & ice cream could just get intoxicated. I'm sure the US Sailors found a way to trade ice cream to the Brits for some alcihol. But any engineer worth his salt could figure out how to run a makeshift still &/or make wine as well. And a lot of them that knew how did it to profit from it rather than drink it themself. And if they were able to requisition extra yeast & find fresh fruits, homemade wine isn't difficult either.
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And as far as knowing the capabilities of enemy ships, it took a good number of US ships being sunk & damaged for the US Navy to realize how capable the Japanese torpedoes really were. And that basically if a Japanese ship could see your ship, your ship was in torpedo range. The same could NOT be said of the US torpedoes. And the smart US Captains commanded their ships as though torpedoes may be in the water at any moment.
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A LOT MORE!!!
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I had to RE VISIT Thunderchild! It's still as fun as the first time I watched it!
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The first two look like diamond rings. The third similar to fimo clay beads designs I use to make. I'm guessing you live in Canada. I once had a girlfriend that rode her bicycle from Washington DC to Nova Scotia & back. She said that she left the day after she graduated HS & got to Nova Scotia before July 4th! It was 1976 & for some reason she wanted to be out of the country for the "Bicentennial Celebration!" Why? She never made clear. Although, imho it was one helluva accomplishment! Her "motivation" for doing so seemed kinda lame to me! I may fear my gov but I love my country!! 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸!!! Wave that flag! Wave it wide & high! Summer time done, come & gone my oh my!
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@davidvanhorn3340 What you talking about? Taffy 3 caused the "Great Yamato" to run away! More like USS Johnston & USS Samuel B Roberts told USS White Plains "Hold my beer!"
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I'm a 56 year old living near DC. My Dad was in the Navy before I was born. After that he worked on freight trains for 30 years. But his brother, my uncle Ken was in the Air Force & stationed in Guam for about 20 years. However, I'd never heard of this quote until I started listening to this channel. I tried joining the Navy at 18 but because of health reasons I was denied eligibility. But I have learned a great deal from listening to Drach. And the history of the Royal Navy is imho a sad one considering the time from the end of WW2 to the present day. I mean although I'm an American and we've maintained a massive Navy since WW2, I feel that the Royal Navy is tiny compared to the number of capital ships it had a hundred years ago leading up to & du¾😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢ring WW1. Now I do understand & realize that the UK has a lot less holdings to protect.
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While I agree with everything you said about the USA in the Pacific theatre of WW2, idk, maybe I missed what you said about the European theatre or maybe that just wasn't part of the question but the USA in the European theatre of war, in order to defeat Germany, had to resort to land based armies along with the help of the Brits & Canadian land forces, of course. But in order to have the Normandy landings be successful the USA & Canada had to use the island of England to amass all the equipment that would be used for the first fee months of the land campaign in Europe so as NOT to have a supply line reaching all the way across the Atlantic Ocean!!
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@Drachinifel I was also thinking that the shells bursting charge is not a factor for the gun itself. Yes, the bursting charge is part of what is going to do damage when the shell arrives but that would seem more of shell performance than actual gun performance. And different shells can be made. And also a factor that wasn't included is durability. How many times can this gun fire accurate salvo's before it has to be replaced? A very big issue if your battleships need to do shore bombardment. So overall I give your comparisons maybe a C minus. Because overall range does matter in shore bombardments & durability imo is just as important as bursting charge. Or even more so when you are talking about the gun. They could design better shells for the gun but it's still the same gun. And what about the explosive power of the HE shells for shore bombardment. That was left out too. Sorry, for poking holes in your assessment but idk, I just wanted to point those things out. And thanks for all your hard work. And Congratulations on being a "Daddy!"
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Oh, one of my favorites is something my step-dad Billy use to say as an exclamation "Well kiss my ass and call me shorty!"
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Wanted to agree with you & also thank you for stating the rationale of the fact that the Germans & Japanese were by no means idiots or incompetent & that we would NOT have had such a huge World War that was so hard fought for 5-6 years!
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That is funny considering that I just got finished listening to Drydock 304. But with Drydock 300 he was also hitting the 500k mark as far as YouTube subscribers. AND on a more personal note there is a Baby Drach now too! So in about 20 years Drach may end up being a Grandpa! 🤞
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And they yell at top of there lungs "FOOD FIGHT!!!" And then RUN LIKE HELL!!! As the days sandwiches & soup fills the air!!!
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My question is.. with the ship capsizing & trapping most if the crew & few if any being rescued, how was Terpitz NOT considered a war grave? And when the salvage took place, did they make a special effort find all the bodies & lay them to rest elsewhere?
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I like HMS WTF
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Thanks again! Just when I REALLY NEED a good laugh. Sometimes you are much better than stand up comedy.
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Yeah, considering that "Furious" basically had no armor, structurally speaking, I would guess they were probably terrified to fire that 18" gun! Idk but it seems to me if they had tried to fire off a broadside instead of just firing while retreating they maybe could have TORN THE SHIP IN HALF. If you consider that "Courageous" had structural damage due to a storm. It's strange to think what firing off 4 15" guns would actually do. And it actually makes me wonder. Let's say "Courageous" just so happened to end up with an enemy ship on each side with the front 2x15" guns firing to starboard & the aft 2x15" guns firing to port. NOW, if both guns fired a salvo at the same time, would the ship have been torn in two? And if not actually TORN, then totally warped the structure of the ship? I mean, idk, did they actually have any kind of test or guidelines back then to let them know what a structure could take?
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I was wondering how he stretched a video about wartime ice cream into a 45 minute video. When I saw the title I was thinking 20 minutes. My Grandparents use to have a couple of ice cream makers. We use to make chocolate & vanilla. They used ice & rock salt to chill it while it mixed. My Grandma said that when she was young they had ice cream makers that were hand cranked which meant they would all take turns with turning the hand crank.
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Shokaku was a "purpose built" carrier & was also newer than the other carriers. Newer + purpose built = better designs to withstand damage. Plus, like he said, "you have to put water in the hulls to make them sink."
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I'm firmly convinced that Mitcher knew that they needed new torpedo planes & he sent those planes North so his pilots wouldn't be slaughtered right before they got new planes.
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Another one Mythbusters did was try to bust the myth that when a large ship is sinking that it can suck you down with it if you are too close and/or if you are NOT far enough away from it. But they used a row boat. So kind of NOT THE SAME as a ship that weighs 40,000 lbs. The way it sucks you down to is because of water rushing to fill the void that the ship sinking has created. And creates something similar to like a vortex the whole way down. First constantly pushing water out of its way while it's sinking and then constantly rushing behind it to fill in the void it's making all the way down. And once it gets below the surface it also picks up speed too. So by the time it gets to the bottom it doesn't just settle on the bottom, it more or less CRASHES into the bottom. The deeper the ocean the faster it will be going.
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Well, that's incredibly stupid. First they shouldn't have portholes that can be opened. And two, if the ship was sinking you'd think they'd have sense enough to close them. Cuz you don't get "ventilation" when water is flowing in.
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@americankid7782 Yeah, I'm sure that the Germans did have hard drugs. Gering the head of the Luffwaffe was a heroin addict I believe. Not sure. But LSD is a mind expanding drug. I don't consider it a "hard drug" it's different than any other drugs! You don't get addicted to it. But it makes you think more. And makes you see what is real and what is not. It's NOT easy to explain but I can't imagine people doing LSD & then killing people. It's NOT that kind of drug. They would be LESS LIKELY TO KILL ANYONE if they had encountered LSD even once imho!!! It makes you more creative and also makes you take a good hard look at yourself as well. You hallucinate but you know it's the drug. And it's a really fun thing for most people depending on how you are & who you are. I've taken it countless times and I think that if everyone encountered it just once this whole world would be a much nicer place. I loved doing it and going to music concerts! Especially the Grateful Dead shows!! Even smoking weed & listening to Grateful Dead is great! Especially any concerts from 1972 - 1977!!! Jerry was in his prime & throwing down in 77.
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I often wonder if WW2 could have been avoided if by some miracle, the US, UK, or the Allies in general had discovered LSD much earlier & were able to somehow dose Hitler & his entourage, Herohita, Yamamoto & other high ranking Japanese & Mussolini & staff. They could have dosed the food & drink when they got together to sign the Axis agreement. Worse case scenario, you'd get to see them all acting really stupid cuz they would not have known how to act. It would have been fun to watch.
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I FELL ASLEEP & IT WAS OVER WHEN I WOKE UP. And I just remember saying to myself "thank God"!!! Sorry Drach. Nothing against you but PLEASE Drach next time can you get someone that can express their thoughts in a complete & timely manner. It was like, I found myself waiting for him to finish a sentence & he rarely ever did. But thank you Drach. Would much rather hear content that comes from you.
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Yes, considering that MacArthur wanted to go straight at Rabaul, Admiral King, & Nimitz both KNEW that was a bad idea. That it would cost way too many lives. And since the Americans needed to learn to crawl before they could walk & then run. Cuz very few had war time experience and the Marines needed to get their feet wet & learn how to fight before they took on a major task like Rabaul. And the strategy they used in the Pacific was pretty smart imho. Instead of getting lots of soldiers killed landing on occupied islands they cut those islands off from being resupplied and make the Japanese starve. Then they end up so weak that fighting is no longer an option. Or at least that was what they did for a number of strongholds.
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@frankgleaves1084 I do know that the US Standards that were equipped with triple gun turrets were having accuracy issues that were fixed by a short delay in firing the middle gun because the blast radius of all 3 together would cause the shells to go tumbling way off course. But I'm not sure if HMS Nelson experienced that problem as well, which the slight delay was the easy fix for it. But as far as the ship heeling over too far after a full salvo of all the main guns, I would also think that the direction and/or angle of the guns when fired would also have a bearing on how far the ship heels to the other side.
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Not to mention the safer course of action! More like "fire on anything shining a spotlight on us!"
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You had mentioned that the Japanese in some cases were known for machine gunning shipwreck survivors in the water after their ship had sunk. And sailors that were in the water after the USS Johnston and USS Sammy b Roberts was sunk said they had Japanese Ship Captains salute them as their ships passed them in the water. Recently I was watching a documentary about USS Harder which was a Gato class submarine. And the submarine had managed to sink a troop transport ship. And after the ship was sunk, the submarine surfaced & the Skipper had the crew break out small arms. And since there were Japanese soldiers in the water the Skipper ordered his crew to open fire on the survivors. Unfortunately there were also numerous Indian POW's in the water as well that were gunned down along with the Japanese soldiers. Although I can't remember the Captains name, I believe he was even given a medal for this. However, USS Harder would NOT survive the war. On their 6th patrol they were reported lost at sea. I believe that the crew were doomed due to the action of their Skipper.
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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.
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My take on the right ship at the wrong time was the USS Des Moines! Those 8" auto loaders were a beast! But they were finished just in time for the war to be over!! Talking about any ship being a "Cruiser Killer?" I think that even battleships would have been hard pressed against these ships! A battleship would have to stay out of range of those 8" guns & try to hurt it from far away. But any ship that a Des Moines engaged within range of those 8" guns would have had a very serious problem on their hands. And their quickest way of getting out of range will probably be towards the ocean floor! The right ship just too late for WW2.
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@kkupsky6321 That's hilarious. Gotta do whatcha gotta do sometimes! When I was a kid in the late 1970's & early 80's my Grandparents would take me camping & crabbing in Destin, FL. We had a wash tub inside an intertube so that a battery for a spotlight would float. Caught a lot of crabs & boiled them over a fire. I can't remember ever eating crabs that tasted as good as those did! The last time I went through Destin, FL it had changed completely! Nothing but hotels all along the shore. I was very disappointed to what had happened to the place. I couldn't recognize anything about the place.
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In my eyes, the "higher ups" that were in charge in the USA during the Vietnam War could have definitely learned a lesson or two from this campaign! It seems that they repeated the same mistakes 60 years later. I do understand that there were also a lot of differences too but you can't "micro-manage" troops from afar & you can't tie a soldiers hands in being able to react before shots are fired. Because, if soldiers have to wait for the enemy to fire first then they are always having to react to fellow soldiers being injured and trying to get them to safety & treatment. Rather than fighting to win, they are instead fighting to survive. And you can't WIN a war that way. If soldiers are mearly fighting to survive then they are better off just NOT being there in the first place. Therefore they don't have to fight to survive. Soldiers should be deployed to obtain an objective. An army can't win a war by constantly being on the defensive. An army has to fight offensively to be able to win. And threatening an ultimatum will only work when you prove your willingness carry out the consequences of your threats. Which Britain never did to Constantinople. If Duckworth had done so back in the late 1800's after making such threats then the Dardenelles & the Galipolee campaign would probably have never happened. Also, when planning such a task, there should be no rules, guidelines maybe, that can be over ruled by those in charge that are actually there.
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@Aelxi Thank you, I was thinking all 3 were Fletcher class. Tragic regardless of what class & very few survivors. Those that just drown inside the ship was bad enough. But it makes you wonder how many survived the ships sinking to be beaten & battered by the sea until their energy gave out & then drowned, or attacked by sharks. Definitely not a pleasant thought & of those that did survive, their lives showed that human endurance is very fleeting
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Yeah, the person that asked about the "offset" turrets similar to the 40mm pompoms around 2:05:00, idk, doesn't seem like they realize or know that BIG GUNS are loaded first with the shell and then a very large amount of powder, which usually consists of about 6 ×(50 lbs) bags of gun powder propellant in order to make the shell travel the long distances they cover. Nor how much more a turret would weigh by trying to implement such a thing. And that the best case scenario for such a ship is represented in "The Des Moines" class 8" rapid fire auto loaders! IF ONLY the US had(them 6 years earlier) & rocked up at Guadal Canal with such ships, the Japanese surface units would have been terrified to go down the slot no matter if it was day or night! And the US wouldn't have lost so many ships & sailors defending Guadal Canal! With the very first Battle of Savo Island ending with 4 US Cruisers sunk & over a thousand dead sailors that was a very costly night for the USA that night!!
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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!
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I would have loved to been a fly on the wall & been able to witness the German reinforcements bicycling off the bridge & into the sea.
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Well, whether curse or luck at least the poor Japanese had good ol' Yukikazzi around to pick up survivors.
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Talking about which aircraft carrier would be the more interesting one. Imho it would HMS Illustrious. Basically because of the battle damage and how well the US documented the battle damage. And in places where it was damaged they can have pictures of the damages and what it took to fix it. I mean HMS Furious would be ok considering from a nostalgic point of view. But with her WW2 Battles HMS Illustrious would probably draw a larger crowd needed for a museum ship. And sadly I really don't see HMS Furious getting enough visitors to be a viable museum ship to be honest. 😢
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 @SamFirthDesigner Why is an angleworm like a parallelogram? If you don't think about it, it will not bother you. But a fortnight is still 2 weeks and it can't be done.
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"OK, Show us on the model where the High Seas fleet touched you." I don't think I'll ever get tired of quips. 😮
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When I first heard of this battle I was under the impression it was a week or longer after the battle that sunk 4 US Cruisers. But from what I heard in this video it was almost immediately afterwards.
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It was a shame that Lee passed away 2 weeks after WW2 was over. You know, someone like him that enjoyed sharp shooting with a sniper rifle, you know he had A LOT OF FUN doing the same "sharp shooting" with 16" guns on a battleship!
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@Drachinifel Thank you for telling the story of Captain Johnny Walker. I'm humbled by his devotion to duty & deeply pained by the loss he must have felt by his son passing so young. A parent should never have to deal with the pain of losing a son or daughter. Yet way too many parents know that pain. And until now I wasn't aware that Walker did not survive the war. It's a shame that he passed of natural causes. He should have passed in battle imho. The thought & stress of his son being lost at sea was just too much. And so he went to join him. Now they are both entombed at sea. Although I am saddened by his & his son's untimely passing, I salute his fighting spirit. And I not one of those people that thinks war should be romanticized, however there are times that your people & country's very existence depends upon the fighting spirit of their people. Johnny Walker embodied that fighting spirit!
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@v592fdbooratif3 Variable pitch propellers are too finicky for a warship. They take damage far too easily. And if a warship is in action propulsion is critical! If you lose propulsion, we'll there is reason for the term "a sitting duck!"
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And so they were fairly easy to sink. And the one sinking in 15 mins probably broke a record for the fastest sinking battleship without being broken in half by a magazine detonation.
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@Drachinifel Congrats!!! Happy 500k Subscribers!!! And the fact that you have produced over 300 Drydocks. And ALSO Congratulations to you & Ms Drach on being new parents. As a former father I think I provided tips for taking care of a small one in the 300th Drydock. But I wanted to thank you again for providing a vast wealth of Naval Knowledge to myself and others. I didn't have any interest in Naval history until I began researching WW2. And when I found your channel it was like meeting an old friend that I never met. If that makes any sense. Idk, maybe I've spent some past lives at sea or something. But anyway good day to you & your family. May your days be long & filled with the love of your family & friends. Sincerely, Dean
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@billwilson-es5yn Yeah, well the German U-boats did sink merchant ships in the Atlantic on the East Coast of the USA. Knowing where you are vulnerable and protecting your people against such attacks is the Navy's job. And having merchant ships actually torpedoed & sunk on our Eastern Seaboard was a slap in the face by Germany. It didn't take long to remedy the matter & make the U-boats pay with their lives.
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@ivvan497 It helped when you were spotting aircraft for launching a large strike to have 2 elevators bringing up aircraft & the edge elevator helped with the larger & heavier Avenger aircraft. Or at least I think that was the reason for both.
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Well I quickly noticed that you are a lefty.
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Right around 4:46:00 I heard someone asked a question about Japanese not wanting to surrender & become POW's. I forget now exactly where it was but the British had about 1200 Japanese surrounded in a mangrove swamp & the swamp was infested with crocodiles. Lots of very large crocodiles, as in about 20 or 30 crocodile that were over 20 foot long. Plus hundreds of crocs that were smaller. The Japanese wouldn't come out & surrender but every night the Brits could hear them getting attacked. And they set up a loud speaker urging them to come out & surrender. I'm not sure how long this went on, 3 days to a week I guess. But when they FINALLY came out & surrendered there were only about 400 Japs left. I want to say it was in Burma but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's known for the largest loss of life due to crocodile attacks. Idk, the threat of being eaten by a crocodile, I think I'll be a POW instead, thank you very much. It makes you wonder how many went to take a crap but ended up as crocodile crap instead. P/s The Japanese considered surrender as dishonorable. All the ones that survived long enough to eventually surrender, I wonder if they finally realized that being eaten & digested by a crocodile wasn't very honorable either???? It's kinda horrible that the largest loss of human life due to crocodile attacks happened to the Japanese & the largest loss of human life due to shark attacks happened to the Americans both during WW2 while at war with each other.
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What he was saying IS if it had not been for Nimitz wanting Yorktown available for the Midway battle, the amount of damage was equal to about 90 days in drydock. The plain & simple fact that crews got her ready to sail & fight in less than 3 days was a huge testament to the capabilities of the shipyard workers and the things they were doing to help the war efforts! Small wonder why Enterprise was known as the "Grey Ghost"! Several times the Japanese claimed to have sunk Enterprise when great damage control had saved her & great dock workers patched her up quickly so she could continue the fight! A lot of people claim that the US won simply cuz of their ability to produce massive numbers of war materials. Although that is true too, but it was also the fact that many, many people working, doing the very best they could do for as long as they could do it, to make sure that our soldiers & sailors had the very best to fight with & with unlimited quantities of quality products.
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Well considering that now all that probably remains of Jellicoe is his skeleton so I'll pass on giving him a hug BUT I do understand what you mean AND I do think Jellicoe deserves a LOT OF RECOGNITION FOR NOT taking steps that could have cost the Grand Fleet dearly in pursuit of his own glory. Especially when he turned away thinking there might be torpedoes in the water. And just everything he did was almost perfect considering the information he was given. AND I BELIEVE THAT THE ROYAL NAVY SHOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THAT AND MAKE IT KNOWN THAT THEY HAVE A LOT OF RESPECT FOR WHAT HE ACCOMPLISHED!!!
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I tell you what a person, company, or organization (cough, cough...youtube) that can't admit when they are wrong, apologize for it & make it right with NO repercussions is imho a piece of dung organization. You would think that in today's massively connected world that such an organization would show a lot more appreciation for people that make there channel successful!! 2 years ago I rarely EVER WATCHED YOUTUBE. AND IF IT WERE NOT FOR MR DRACHINIFEL, I WOULD PROBABLY wouldn't watch near as much as I do. Because Drach is mainly what I watch. I do listen to a lot of Grateful Dead as well but I don't do most of that on YouTube cuz of commercials popping up in the middle of a song. After that happens a couple times I hit the Internet Archive where I know there are no commercials.
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Concerning Saratoga at Wake Island I'm convinced that whoever made the decision to call Saratoga back from Wake Island did the right thing. Although, it was basically abandoning the men holding the Island, it would have ended with Saratoga being sunk & all the aircraft & men lost. In hindsight we can now say that however I'm sure every pilot aboard wanted to attack. But 2 carriers against one is probably not a good outcome for the one. And with the US not having many carriers anyway it was a major gamble. Too much of a gamble for a war that was just beginning.
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WOW. KING did A LOT. THAT WAS NOT A BAD BIOGRAPHY VIDEO. I didn't start getting bored until close to the end. And it was like you saved or had some pretty good tidbits to wake people up with near the end. That was cute him being asked about funeral arrangements. And the response he gave. I do wish that Admiral Lee had lived as far past the war as King did. That was saddest thing of King & Lee's combined bio is the fact that Lee didn't live very long after the war. Same thing happened with Patton too. But, of course, millions died during the war, so I guess they were lucky to make it past the war!!
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I love that... "the signal said to proceed independently, so I did!" How can you possibly argue or find fault with that??? I mean, you could try, but after an argument such as that, any reply is going to fall on Dead ears.
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@Sammyandbobsdad OK. Thanks for the info. Yeah, I was born in '67 & so MacArthur was dead by the time I was old enough to think for myself. But like I said, my Mom had a very strong dislike for the man. And she liked Nimitz & Eisenhower too until he wanted to be President. She said that the greatest thing about Eisenhower was he was really good at getting the US & all the other Allies to fight together as one in Europe. Kinda like Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. Things were a bit different in the Pacific. But there was, of course, USS Robin where the Brits & the US both got to learn from each other. And the Aussie's were a big help in the Pacific as well.
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Whenever I see these "what if" scenarios I swear I want to respond "IDK what if someone shoved an M80 up your ass & lit it?" Because what happened is what happened and you can "what if" all you want & it's not going to change what really happened. Idk, I guess some of them have merit. My biggest "what if" is what if Captain Evans of the USS Johnston had lived? Would he still have gotten the Medal of Honor? Would he be promoted to Admiral by the wars end? Or would they have sent him back to the States to sale war bonds?
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Seeing such a small ship made me wonder about people that get sea sickness. And how quick does someone get seasick. And if they do is it something that they can just get use to or what? And thinking of that reminds me of the young American Admiral that was lost at sea from aboard the USS Washington. It was a terrible thing to happen but I think Admiral "Ching" Lee was supposed to have that position from the start. After doing a role call twice & finding no one missing & then going to make the report to the Admiral & finding his cabin empty made it obvious that it had been the Admiral that was spotted overboard. They tried to rescue him but the seas were very high and prevented the rescue. I think he was seasick and got washed over by a large wave. Idk why but I'm always forgetting his name. John W. Wilcox Jr. was lost at sea near Scapa Flow off the coast of Ireland. He probably thought going topside would cure his seasickness but got washed overboard by a heavy wave. Died before he ever even seen any enemy action. Poor guy.
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Dzang! When I first saw this I was hoping it was going to be one those hour long rum rations!! I'd love to hear of some of there biggest victories, actions & accomplishments! But I guess for a "five minute guide" running 9 minutes is enough for now. Thanks Drach. I always think of JFK & PT 109 when I hear about these crafts.
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Yeah, I admire the fact that Spruance was of the mind of NOT senselessly throwing away American lives. And if someone "complained" of him wanting to use a sledgehammer to crack a walnut, well that is NOT ONLY how you win a war, but how you win each battle & come out of each battle with a greater number of experienced men who will also assist in winning the next battle. The more you win with minimal loss the more confidence your forces have in your leadership & the better the moral is among them too. And rotation of pilots from fighting to teaching new pilots tactics & how to stay alive is probably one of the best tactics of the war & imho less appreciated than it really should be! And I'm guessing that that one thing saved countless pilot lives.
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Very true. I think each turret weighed 450 tons. So 3 turrets is going to be 1350 tons. That's a lot of weight to have on a cruiser! And cuz of the war they were trying to hurry & build as many ships as possible. And trying to take the time to build the 8" auto loaders with all the trouble shooting to get them to work with reliability was painstakingly time consuming, I'm sure! But if there had been any way the US could have had such a ship at Guadal Canal, it would have been a major asset as long as it could stay away from all the long lances! I'm fairly confident that with a good crew one of these ships could easily take out 2-3 Japanese cruisers in a matter of a few minutes. Especially, if they spotted the IJN on radar first & opened up as soon they were in range. I admire these ships as much as most of the battleships! Granted I wouldn't want them to go against a battleship but a battleship is the only ship that would be their superior in a gun duel. And that's only because a battleship has more range. Now, imagine them building a battleship with 16" auto loaders. What a BEAST that would be? Now imagine being on the receiving end of 16" rapid fire. And because they are auto loaders they reliably fire every 30 seconds & because of radar fire control they are deadly accurate as well. And if someone tries to fire a sea skimming missiles at the ship you can fire shells in front of the missiles and the shell splashes would take them out.
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Yeah, I would have to totally agree with that. And I don't understand why he was NOT. Was there anything else that disqualified him of commanding one of the new Essex's? If it weren't for him & his crew doing such a great job of patching up Yorktown, Enterprise or Hornet may have taken damage instead of Yorktown. Edit: But also The US Navy did have a habit of after a man had commanded a ship at sea for so long of giving that person a land based commission for a while before giving them another ship. You never can tell, he may have met a woman & asked to be stationed somewhere specific or anything like that. I seriously doubt they dissed him on purpose but idk, you never can tell about these things. He could have just stepped on Kings toes or something.
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Yeah, before I was even 20 years old I knew how to make a very large bomb. And the main reason was because I was growing marijuana by the time I started high school. We called it triple-13(13-13-13) but its also known as Ammonia Nitrate. When mixed with diesel fuel it will cause a very large explosion. I read about a merchant ship that was carrying a large amount of Ammonia Nitrate fertilizer & for some reason it's fuel tanks were leaking into the cargo hold.Then somehow something caught fire 🔥 and the diesel fuel started burning. Once it got so hot it caused a massive explosion as if the ship was the most massive pipe bomb ever. Usually, from what I've heard, it takes a smaller explosion to set off the mixture. But you can also find out things like that in a book called "The Anarchist Cookbook" too. When I was young I was going to try making a small bomb with the mixture but I never did
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I think some of the Japanese Admirals used that same ploy in WW2, by clearly LOSING a battle, but then they come home and claim VICTORY. But in the case of the Japanese the Gov't didn't want the civilians to know the war was going badly. So the Admiral was reassigned but not killed or reprimanded.
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The only problem with that is the ship that Admiral "Whatshisface" was on was sunk at Tsushima. Unless of course there was some other Admiral that would throw perfectly good binoculars into the sea in a fit of rage.
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Yes, I. Understood perfectly. No doubt a contributing factor when making the decision on whether or not to use the atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki.😢
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I don't think comparing Craddock to Jon Sul or however you spell his name is right & actually is really ridiculous!!! Because like you said Craddock did what he could & faced the enemy and ultimately died because of it. He knew he was facing a superior force that was also faster than his ships & imho Craddock fought & died with honor. Comparing that to Jon Sul who got a lot of his men killed because he was too lazy to tell his superiors the full extent of the ultimatum he was given is preposterous considering that Jon Sul did not die in the process & his ass was NOT on the line. I think a person like Jon Sul would have left his slower ship to it's fate and ran as quickly as possible back to the bigger guns. I do believe that when Craddock first tried to engage battle he should have sent the slower ship west & then tried to engage. That way when Von Spee pulled away to wait til sunset his slower ship would have been gone leaving his faster ships to try to hot foot it back to the bigger guns. However, in hindsight it's easy to say such things. Yet Craddock = faced superior force knowing that they would die horribly= hero!!!! Jon Sul a sniveling weiner that got men in his command killed because he was lazy & thought he was better than everybody= sniveling weiner
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The thing I wonder about the most is exactly how useless the casement guns were on the American standards and exactly how long it took them to stop installing casement guns on new vessels. Cuz they had figured out pretty early that they had little to no elevation to be able to aim at anything and they sat so low on the ships that most times they still couldn't be used because, well it's kinda difficult & dangerous to load & fire a gun when there is water coming down the barrel. It's almost like the Japanese did the Americans a favor by bombing the ships at Pearl Harbor. With the exception of the the lives lost but if those ships had sailed out to battle as they were a lot more of our sailors may have been lost. The fact that they were sunk at Pearl and then refloated got most of them the upgrades they really needed to actually go to war & have a chance. With the exception of maybe one being by itself & running into Yamato or Musashi.
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That is hilarious to me, cuz I do the exact same thing & feel the exact same way. Kind of like finding a great new friend. I'm homeless in/near DC & most other homeless I don't really care to socialize with, so I just keep to myself. I originally became homeless with my wife, she was dying of COPD & we couldn't afford her meds & pay rent. So her being able to breath was more important! She passed away Christmas Eve of 2015 & up until then taking care of her 24/7 on the street was the hardest thing I'd ever done. But now, the hardest thing I've ever done is having to live without her!!! And ya know she was diagnosed terminal 5 years before she passed & it still made it no easier. It's like I lost a part of myself that I can't get back.
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So you had to go & pick on the poor Japanese that were deep in the ditch of WW2, desperately wishing they could SOMEHOW win a decisive battle against the powers that be but they keep on getting beat back further & further. And so, ok, since we think the aircraft carrier is going to replace the battleship, let's make a ship that is part aircraft carrier & half the now obsolete battleship, that way we even have ships that show exactly how indecisive we really are! Yeah, something so ludicrous how could you NOT pick on it? The "battleship" part of the ship just truly LOVES the idea of having massive amounts of aviation fuel aboard!! Let's see exactly how many of the crew we can bar-b-cue before the ship sinks or explodes!!!
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At roughly 33:00 or 34:00 you were talking about museum ships. And you said that $2 to $3 million THIS year can save $30 million years later! I would just like to say that is very true! And if you think about it, basically common sense will tell you, these ships are very large & made of metal. And anything that is made of metal & is around a salt air environment is VERY prone to RUST. To borrow a phrase from Neil Young "Rust never sleeps!" So any metal that is exposed is not only going to rust but rust quickly in the salt air/water. And these ships are huge so they require not just some paint but LARGE amounts of paint. And you also spoke about Cruise Ships that are museum ships not having as many visitors as War ship museum ships. And although they are both a part of history, the thought of paying to see a Cruise Ship, it just doesn't appeal to me at all. Even going on a vacation Cruise Ship to go somewhere doesn't interest me either. But the thought of seeing any & every war ship I can does. It is just sad I don't have the cash to see any.
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Yeah, sounds like a punk band to me. But no matter. Names can always be misleading.
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I wasn't sure I had seen that video until I saw that post. Now, I'm absolutely sure I've seen it, simply because of that Maori warrior outfit. I definitely remember it now!!! However, now that I think about it, wasn't that also mentioned in the Battle of Jutland video as well? Never mind, I'm sure, just like most everything else, I end up watching it again. Some of the more exciting vids when guns are being fired & ships are exploding & sinking, I can't help revisiting to make sure I didn't miss anything!!
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IDK, That is just NOT RIGHT! "Excuse me Captain, where is the latrine?" "Just go in the corner like everyone else." "Corner''? "Excuse me sir?" "Did you say corner?" "Sir, this is the ROUND ship, NOT the SQUARE one." For some reason I keep imagining Poseidon rising up from the depths with a great big spatula & flipping the thing over. And upon realizing it's a ship saying "Oh no, I thought my wife was cooking something & forgot about it."
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Most of the information, although very factual, also ranges from mildly funny to violently hilarious. With him being very good at pointing out the violently hilarious most often than not.
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Idk, I feel very happy with what Drach already has going on for himself! Now he is even accepted as a serious warship historian by the US Naval Institute. And if he tried to do a "TV Show" it may take up too much of his time for probably about the same amount of what he's already making. And he wouldn't be able to do the amount of research that he already does. Cuz Drach is able to do a large amount of research in order to answer questions for his Drydock and to keep doing his "5 minute guides" too. Why would he even need a "TV show?" He has his own channel here on YouTube! The channel also allows him the freedom to travel and visit museum ships. If a certain college is seeking a "Historian Speaker" to make a speech at their school, I wonder how much they would pay Drach to be that speaker? Plus now that he is a Dad a TV show would pull him away from home, but he can stay home & work on the channel and still spend time with his new child. And that is "Priceless!"
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One thing about HMS Hood taking on Bismarck is Hood was over 20 years old. And when a ship sails around in fairly rough seas for that long the metal is going to become fatigued in a lot of places. Evidently, a shell from Bismarck found & exploited a weak spot causing the ship to break itself in half. For those aboard PoW that witnessed the Hood explode & go down in a few mins it must of seemed such a horror to them. And then to only find 3 survivors in the water.
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Operation FU -could be considered the Doolittle Raid cuz in essence the Doolittle Raid was a FU to Japanese. And if it weren't for the Doolittle Raid the Battle of Midway may have NOT happened.
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@VincentNajger1 Although that wasn't what I was thinking of, you did give me a really good laugh. Idk, for some reason it seems that I remember something about when HMS Rodney was shooting at Bismarck that they said that some of the shells were blowing thru the belt & out of the other side of the ship. And idk, I was thinking that if they were firing at such a low trajectory that it would probably be possible. A shell skipping contest does sound kinda fun though.
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I don't know why I thought of this, but I was wondering if any shells had ever been fired at such a low projectory that a shell could actually "skip" off of the water? Similar to skipping a flat rock on water. I mean, I know shells are not even close to the shape of a good rock for skipping but I was thinking that it could still be possible considering the speed the shells are moving.
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@seanquigley3605 Yeah, but if Britain hadn't been holding the line for the 2 years prior to American involvement then the US would not have had a staging area for troops & all the stuff we needed to make D-Day a success. No way could we have shipped everything over that we needed for D-Day in one massive convoy. If the British hadn't been there for all of Europe to immigrate to & continue to fight. They would have had a much tougher time. The USA & the UK won the war together but imho the USA should have been a lot more prepared than they were!
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Ok, that was pretty awesome! When I first clicked on this video I didn't notice it was as long as it is. And the really cool thing too is I just watched the video on Chathem.
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That doesn't sound plausible. If there was burning oil on the surface it would seem that it would have been silhouette and a look out would have spotted the doomed battleship. However, I do believe that they would have continued on to the fate that awaited for them. Evidently on both ships there was a total of about 10 people topside & the rest below went down with the ship. Such is war.
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October 25, 1944 was a sad day for both Navy's. American & Japanese. A lot of the Taffy 3 ships would be sunk & a the entire "Southern Force" of the Japanese were sunk. Oh, & the 10 survivors from each battleship would be caught by Phillipine guerrilla fighters & I don't think they fared very well. Those of Taffy 3 would spend 2-3 days in the water and eventually the survivors would be rescued. Although numerous died of injuries and shark attacks.
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@jamesbeeching6138 He wasn't in the first movie. I think he only showed up when they were doing the cartoons. I just wish there had been Blue Oyster Cult playing in the background.
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Well actually the Germans came very close to winning the war with the USSR. What saved the USSR was the weather. They had previously lost a war with Finland cuz of the very cold winter. And they learned a lot by the loss. So when the Germans came calling they were not ready but by winter they began to get the edge. And thanks to a lot of supplies coming from Allied ships bringing ship convoys to Russia by spring time Russia had built a large number of tanks, planes & trains enough to fight back the Germans cuz the Allies had also landed at Normandy & created a second front. With Russia battling on one side & the USA & Brits on the other side Germany was under a pincers assault. Barbarosa can easily be pointed to as Hitler's biggest blunder. While he had peace with Stalin he could maybe have fought the Brits & USA long enough to get a peace treaty. And then attack Russia. But he was already at war with Britain & the USA, which were arguably 2 of the strongest nations in the world. But when he attacked Russia while already at war with the UK & USA that just showed how crazy he really was. If the Allies had stood by & let Russia fall, idk if they could have beat Germany afterwards cuz they would have had a lot more resources then. But because the Allies did what they could to help Russia the combination of the two fronts were just too much & Germany basically folded. And after seeing the death camps where the SS was having millions of jews killed we can also say that WW2 could also be classified as good vs evil. Cause those Jewish death camps were some really evil shit, no matter how hard anyone tries to claim it wasn't.
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Dreadnought definitely sounds better. As in "this ship ain't scared of anything"! Just by the name. But as soon as there are MUCH bigger ships, you have to either rename or decomission such a ship.
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OMG!!! The question that Peter Guy asks at about 2:06:00 minutes into this Drydock about a "common miscreant" visiting a "house of ill repute" & getting arrested at a "speakeasy" that got raided was probably not a common occurrence! While, like you mentioned, a bar fight & getting charged with being drunk & disorderly, was probably much more common. However, such things would usually have MP's placed around "strategic" areas to break up such "usual inter-service rivalries" & send them back to where ever they are being stationed. The "speakeasy" thing being raided was usually the local police (having not been paid off by a certain bar) breaking up that bar & arresting the people running the bar. The patrons were basically just asked or told to leave. Arresting the patrons was NOT a thing because that could get the local police in hot water come election time. Further more, the common service men in WW2 on shore leave, such a thing was a common problem. I do believe that at certain places "a house of ill repute" was even set up basically for service men on leave to "wet their whistle" so to speak. And a bar for them to relax at afterwards. And as long as the men paid the right people & treated the ladies with respect everything was ok. One thing that was a problem in "the LAND war" was not all US GI's were "good guys." And sometimes some guy would "rape" a girl local to where he was fighting. This type of charge was taken very seriously and if the man was found guilty he would be shot! I forget where I saw that but I remember Eisenhower making a remark about it. That we were there to rescue these people from the occupation of the German oppression. And not there to rape & pillage the countryside! And any soldier that crossed the line would be delt with very harshly.
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The Japanese tried doing the same thing but different by attacking the Aleutian Islands right before Midway. But because Nimitz was reading Yamamoto's mail the Aleutian Islands were basically ignored. Figured anyone that went there would be so cold that they would eventually leave cuz of the weather. But then Halsey had to go & fall for the "Hey we have aircraft carriers with about 10 planes on it trick." Which hung Taffy 3 out to dry. The greatest thing about the Naval Battle of Samar is the Japanese was faced with surface units & aircraft at the same time. When they had the big guns firing the AA crews couldn't man there guns. And when the AA crews were manning their AA guns they couldn't fire the bigger guns at surface units. So the Japanese were faced with major conundrum! Do we want to fight the planes or the ships? F-IT!!! Run away!!
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I totally regret NOT having my Dad take me to see the USS Alabama! It would have been something fun for both of us to enjoy. The only other fun things we did together was fishing & water skiing. But I wasn't very good at water skiing. My Dad & I always had problems. He drank alcohol and it made him an a$$hole most of the time. I still loved him. I just didn't like being around him if he was drinking. Which he was almost always drinking. My wife & I quit drinking in 2006. After a year we were eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant and she wanted to share a frozen margarita. And considering that it was hot summer time I totally agreed. That was 2007 & neither of us drank alcohol after that. She passed away in 2015 but I still don't drink.
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@aidanjohnston7505 I have to disagree with you about the USS Alabama, I would notice her every time we passed by her. I was working on an addition to an Austal Shipyard building in 2008 & we were commuting from Pensacola, FL. Never had a problem noticing the Alabama. She would draw my attention even though I was looking at all the gators swimming there. I always wanted to do a tour of her but since I was riding in a crew truck I never got the opportunity. And not much of a chance now considering I'm living right outside of DC. However, I was NOT driving. I was a passenger. Now if you are the one driving I can see it being difficult to spot something that you already know is there.
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That is so awesome & so hilarious!! I hope whoever thought up that idea got one helluva promotion!!! That's the kind of thinking that wins wars. A blunderbuss, was it? I thought it was horseflies. And also, with Adolf Hitler in power, the worries of the English being invaded was VERY REAL. Cuz when you are dealing with a crazy person and that crazy person gets upset about something... he very definitely could have ordered the invasion to begin & then his people are going to try to make it work. I would swear John Cleese had the idea for this stealth battleship attack, well, maybe his father. 😮
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That was probably the straw that made Hitler so crazy that he attacked Russia. I want a shirt that says "HMS Revenge, the worlds first stealth battleship!" And then if anyone asks me about it I can direct them to this video. Or if time permits just let them listen to it on my phone.
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The thing about impressment is if you are at sea & have just lost a battle to the English & you managed to survive. Well once you surrender the ship belongs to the English. They could just kill you and toss you overboard. You are at sea, they could just put you overboard & say "good luck mate." Or if there are any serviceable dingy's left they could put you in that & let you go. They could make you a POW & put you in the stockade, where at sea, food & water is NOT plentiful, so your not going to get much. Or Hey, the Brits only had crew for one ship & now they have two. And if you help crew the ship you get food & water with the rest of the crew & have a much better chance of making it back to land as a healthy human being. Plus being in the "stockade" of a ship & there is a lot of people in the stockade. It's not going to be very clean & chances of you getting some horrible disease COULD be an issue as well. I think I'd much rather help sail the ship. BUT I would also make it clear that if they were to go into battle against another ship of my countrymen, then please don't ask or expect my help for such a battle. Since I've already surrendered to you, I will not hinder you. For I don't mind helping to sail the ship, I refuse to fight against my own country even if it means my life. And I believe MOST reasonable & intelligent men would find that acceptable & put you in the stockade if it's clear that they are going into action against a ship of your nation.
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2:12:12 There is a gigantic toddler missing his crayons. And these trucks were developed solely to bring him new crayons to misplace.
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@arandomdudewithhobbies3318 It just is. A lot of testing went into this. Even the Japanese started making there battleship shells with blunt noses so that if they hit the water right about where the ship was that they were aiming for that they would move thru the water better & thus cause more damage. Unlike pointed shells which had a tendency to flip over and enter a ship backwards which caused the fuse to NOT detonate the weapon. Thus crews would find unexploded shells, and by the evidence could easily work out that the shells had passed thru the hull backwards instead of forwards. Removing the device was usually a worrisome task.
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The question at 43:30 about the North Carolina's & South Dakota's being better off with the quad 14"'s instead of the triple 16", I mean with HINDSIGHT you can say that. BUT, the US Navy was operating on what it knew for sure. And although they didn't know that the Yamato's had 18.1" guns, they DID KNOW that they were AT LEAST 16" guns. And if they were forced into a battle with the Yamato & Musashi those 18" guns are going to OUT RANGE the 14" guns by a lot more than the 16" guns. And, at the time, that was the major concern. The 18" guns could be firing & trying to figure out the range a LOT sooner than the 14" guns will even be close enough to start firing.
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Just by some of the questions that I hear that people ask on "the Drydock" that there are LOTS of people VERY interested in history but know very little. AND it's funny you should mention the HISTORY CHANNEL because it changed into this bizarre bunch of BS. And now all the history documentaries are not there. Which is why I don't really like the "what if" questions because there is so much that we don't know what happened why ask what if. I want to ask, tell me of an action that happened that I don't know about? But it does sound like our History scholars are shrinking at an alarming rate. And that is imho a state of emergency. It's like people saying "well I'll just ask Google".
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@rohanthandi4903 YEP, I'm guessing that was why the Japanese got in so many shots at South Dakota. As soon as Lee knew the target was Kirishima and NOT SD, well let's just say I would NOT have wanted to be on Kirishima. I think the Washington hit it with well over a dozen 16" shells & maybe more than that. I think a dozen was what the spotter actually saw hit but in the dark like that it's not easy to see every hit especially if 3 or 4 hit at the same time. The Japs were very fortunate to have the Long Lance Torpedo otherwise Lee may have stayed & finished off the poor ship. But I imagine a lot of Kirishima's crew got to live cuz Lee broke contact.
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The first thing I can't help but think about & feel bad about... over 1960 men. Only maybe 36 survive? Yes, they are the enemy & of course they are trying to kill "us" while we try to kill "them" BUT almost 1900 men all dying at once, just think, they have family & people that love them just as we do. And although I agree that better them than us, it still kinda hurts the soul! Over 1900 men dying as one. My heart goes out to their loved ones.
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I would have to agree with both statements. She was a beautiful ship, especially after getting the new "Atlantic" bow. But she definitely needed bigger guns.
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One of the longest & most hard fought naval battles of WW2 was the Battle of the Atlantic!! And this is just a very small taste of that battle. Thank you for posting this. It becomes rather clear that with all of these convoys of shipping that there are plenty of targets of opportunity for the U-boats. And the US building so many merchant vessels & a lot of them failing to even complete their maiden voyage was testament to the danger of those U-boats. And the fact that they were able to have escort carriers as well as all the smaller convoy escorts and have hunter/killer groups that were NOT associated with any one convoy made it more & more dangerous for U-boats as time weared on. Looking forward to getting to hear more about "The Battle of the Atlantic" in the future. I've heard so little about this part of the war that I find it very intriguing that this was such a large part of the war efforts. And without all of these convoys of shipping the war could have been lost.
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Definitely a moral booster in the heat of the Pacific. Especially considering "what's for lunch" is a sandwich with ice cream. I've rarely had steak & eggs for breakfast but I often think about the pilots that fought at Midway having that for breakfast. Some said "Last meal for the condemned men." And maybe that was true for the torpedo planes & that was very sad. However, I've always thought of it as "the breakfast of champions!" But there is the rare occasion that Harris Teeter has ribeye steak in their breakfast bar & when they do I can't resist having steak with my eggs, with a bit of bacon too.
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@mellon4251 Idk, probably a lot of the times it happened, there were probably no survivors to tell anyone about it. And considering whales are mammals and there is really no way of knowing exactly how intelligent they are. But you rest assured they are not dumb & would fight for their life, I'm sure.
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What you talk about with the "ballistic tables" is exactly the type of thing that snipers learn in order to account for the current environment they are shooting in. I think that is why Ching-Lee was so good with his Battleship guns.
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Did someone say "torpedo boats?" Is the Kamchatka nearby? Where is a used pair of binoculars when you need one?
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Idk, the German's capturing a "treasure trove" of British code books, etc, etc??? Makes me think that this was a British "plant" in order to give the Axis Powers a large amount of "misinformation!" It seems almost obvious but I'm sure the "Intelligence Networks" had already worked out a plan to make the Germans believe that all the info was legit. However, at the same time, giving them information & making them believe things that were not true in order to benefit the British. I had totally missed this previously but I doubt the Brits would have had such a "treasure trove" of information UNLESS they wanted it to be found & used for their benefit. The Brits & the US Intelligence Agencies, I think, let this large "treasure trove" of info fall into German hands at the perfect time to feed them information they wanted the Germans to believe true. And cover up things that they didn't want the Germans to know. Sort of like misdirection.
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Idk for sure, but if I had to hazard a guess. Maybe a certain type of ink that they were using. Or it could also maybe be an over exposure to mercury? Someone that eats a lot of fish can have an over exposure to mercury without realizing it. Or maybe the combination of all of what Drach was saying along with those things. Lead paint was found to be toxic and was used a lot back then. Back in that era there were a large amount of toxins that were in things that people just didn't know about that it would be difficult to pin point the exact one causing brain tumors.
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Agamemnon would have been quite pleased to have such a ship. However, um, nevermind!!!
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Yeah, I caught that too. I would guess that instead of 1930 it was probably 1950 and he has a problem reading his own hand writing. And mistook the 5 for a 3. Not sure but only a guess. If they were in reserve from 1930-1957 then they missed ALL hostilities! So that is obviously a mistake. It's OK, though, we still love him. Sometimes when you work really hard you get tired & make mistakes. I'm sure this is one of those times. So instead of it making him look bad, it's rather the opposite. Cuz he was obviously very tired to make such a simple mistake.
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I wouldn't have wanted to be in the turret if they tried to bore a 15" out to be a 16". Granted it would be a half inch all the way around but those guns might whip or have major problems. Plus you would have to use more powder for a larger shell & will the turret be able to handle the recoil if not it could seriously damage the turrets or the guns or both. Basically when making bigger guns you need to design the guns & the turrets & the ship to handle such, otherwise your "flirting with disaster". You want your guns to kill the enemy not your own sailors.😊
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@Zapranoth-lf8nt That is hilarious, cuz I was going to suggest the exact same reason. Who exactly would they choose to send there that would eventually starve to death waiting for re-supply? Since that is a tough question to answer. And who would knowingly be stationed there knowing that re- supply was unlikely?
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USS Washington, if Admiral Lee is aboard hits Tirpitz with it's first salvo's & doesn't stop until the German battleship is down by the stern & taking on water faster than marathon runner. Duke of York manages a few salvo's and hits but mainly just stays the hell out of Washington's way at Admiral Lee's request. Admiral Lee's most famous words.. "Stand aside, I'm coming through!" And then he simply demolished Kirishima with about 6 full main battery salvo's. Tirpitz would have needed about 4 extra salvo's but for some reason I see Washington scoring a main magazine hit on Tirpitz and the battleships own explosives tearing it half in two. And the Convoy 17 sails through the flotsam & jetsam of sunken German battleship. At least it would have been a much prouder death than getting capsized by a tallboy bomb ripping through it & detonating under it's kill. Maybe more survivors & less sailors caught alive inside as well. I think sailors should be allowed a sidearm for such cases so they can take their own life rather than a slow death aboard a capsized ship. 😢😢
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I really must agree that the order to scatter the Convoy should NOT have been given unless it was given by an officer aboard ship that was there & knew that action was near cuz the enemy battleship had been sighted bearing down on the Convoy. It was a very sad mistake and basically helped the enemy instead of making it more difficult for them. And then the Admiralty wasn't hip to the intelligence of Blechley Park. They could ask relevant questions but NOT always get the answers to the questions that matter most. The order to scatter the Convoy was given because it was thought Tirpitz was about to sail into the Convoy. But if the Convoy has 2 battleships in the Convoy then I really don't understand WHY the Admiralty was concerned when more than likely USS Washington & HMS Duke of York would have been able to take on Tirpitz. And scattering the Convoy was just going to make it easier for U-boats to get to the merchant vessels & sink them & in it also having the affect of the Convoy taking longer to reach safe harbor so more time for German aircraft to bomb them & more time for U-boats to gain favorable position for torpedo attacks. What a clusterfu@k!! Yeah, the British Admiralty screwed that one up royaly!! See, that is exactly the type of scenario that Admiral King had foreseen & why he didn't like the idea of convoys. I'll admit that he was wrong too, but it basically let the Germans sink 67% of the ships in the Convoy. Instead the convoy ships should have just kept sailing in the direction they were going instead of scattering. It's idiotic to make such decisions when you are not there to see the folly of your orders.
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That bit about Titanic revisited and somehow saving more lives than the previous historical numbers. Both ideas were good ideas! Ships have been known to be able to steam backwards. And for the face 😢
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Very good post. You make a lot of sense. Most that have common sense would say "yes, what you said is obvious." But not everyone has common sense enough to figure that out. And evidently the Germans realized quickly that it would be much easier to buy from Sweden rather than try to invade.
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I've heard that during the D-Day landings that the Coast Guard would go around & pick up survivors of any boats that got sunk. I wonder if they did the same for landings in the Pacific?
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 @91Redmist Yeah not something to be real proud of!! You think. 5 Kamikazes hit them. It's a wonder it stayed afloat! The fact that they WERE ABLE to keep it afloat is amazing. Think about it.
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Q & A My biggest question is that with the British being at war for over 3 years before the US got involved, how come the Brits didn't get some monoplanes for carrier use from the USA any sooner in the war. I mean the US was shipping a lot of supplies to the UK for the war effort. It seems to me that they could have updated their carrier aircraft a bit sooner with US planes.
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Yeah, that sounds just so idiotic & an incredible WASTE of money & submarines! They bought them & refurbished them & never really put them in service or put them in reserve. Decided to just scuttle them! Very short sighted. I would think that if they put them in reserve they MIGHT have been handy to have around for the beginning of WW2. But anyway, THANK YOU for the video! And the history lesson.
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@Drachinifel Thanks for the clarification on that. Ya know there always has to be a smart ass in the bunch that wants to yell "bs" at the very first chance they get. But, in there defense, it is usually a learning experience for those that are paying attention to what is actually being said instead of trying to find a way to make something that was said wrong. I use to have a teacher that would tell people that there is a reason you have 2 ears but only one mouth.
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You know the moment you said that Callahan was new to the area & just barely Scott's senior, I got that feeling that everything was going to go horribly wrong. An Admiral should NEVER tell underlings to seek permission to open fire. That would give them a major disadvantage in the face of the enemy.
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So, my question is... Did the K Class kill more Royal Navy Sailors or Enemy Sailors? With subs like that who needs an enemy force? I had no idea about these subs previously. When they had trouble with K13 in the beginning they should have went ahead & scrapped the whole lot.
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@merafirewing6591 The crew of Enterprise were practically celebrities back then. And Enterprise had 20 Battle Stars & A Presidential Unit Citation! America would have been OUTRAGED at the mere question of using Enterprise as a target ship. Admiral King wasn't politically aware but he wasn't small minded either. Using Saratoga & Nevada was pushing things but they needed to know what would happen to modern ships in a nuclear blast. And as far as the German complaining about Prince Eugene? He should be very happy that she didn't go down with all hands like Bismark and Scharnhorst. And that him & the ship survived the war. It's not like America wanted that piece of crap with the new DesMoines being able to rapid fire 8" guns. I wonder how he would have felt if he had been aboard "his" ship & ran into the DesMoine or the Salem? I guarantee Prince Eugene would not have survived such an encounter!
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Yeah, I remember hearing all of these mistakes & then I go to comment about the mistakes & read about other mistakes that I didn't notice. If you don't do your research people will quickly notice.
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Normally, even today with alcohol being legal, if you are drunk AND REALLY ARE BEING A NUISANCE then you will be charged with a "DIP". "Drunk in public" just in case you couldn't work it out yourself! Where by you would be jailed for the night. And then released the following day after you were sober. Meaning nowadays having to blow a "0.00" on a breathalyzer. Back then idk but close to the same, I'm sure. But as long as you were just drunk & not bothering anyone then police mostly had more important things to worry about. And during PROHIBITION you had to realize that the Police DOES NOT TAKE BRIBES. Just cash.
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Drachinifel91 Hey Drach, Next time you make it to DC I would like to meet you in person. I had planned on going to the bar you were going to after the Smithsonian but I had gotten a really bad cold & didn't want to spread it. But thanks for all your hard work. Also, I think you should make a shirt with the HMS Revenge on it. Saying "The World's first Stealth Battleship".
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Also, you have to understand that most humans are lazy & selfish. Simple. I hit the like button afterwards so that I know I have watched the whole thing. And a music Playlist for a party is pretty easy to create. But like I said, lazy. And also, when there is something that I want to see/hear over I can scroll thru my "liked folder" if I can't find it.
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Wow, Drach theater. He now has a little curtain in the background. Idk, I kinda liked seeing his home in the background instead. That curtain makes it seem clinical and boring. Not to mention the button down shirt & slicked back hair. Drach, I hope you know you don't have to dress up for your audience, it's your voice & sarcasm & storytelling that we love most. But, on the other hand, I can understand you dressing nice for your guest. When he publishes his next book please have him back. I do imagine trying to research the topics he has chosen must be a complete nightmare. He called it "his life's work". He must have a great deal of patience, cuz it would seem to take a lifetime to do the research for such a topic. Especially considering how remote the Black Sea & the Baltic Sea are. And the people that were trying to get these ships built without having a workforce with experience & knowledge of what they are trying to accomplish must have also been a nightmare. Thanks Drach for yet another thought provoking video. See ya next time.
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Yep. And then it got worse!
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@nowthenzen Well, you have heard the saying that "Ignorance is true bliss?" Right? Well some people seem to surround themselves in a great big cushion of ignorance & anyone that goes within is measured by the same ignorance that built the place, probably somewhere deep inside an Aunt's basement.
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@prototypical3297 Really? Are you just joking or what? Do you have any idea of the amount of damage & punishment that those 16" shells were doing to that ship? No way did they even consider that that 50k ton piece of crap was going anywhere except to the bottom of the ocean. And with all the gruesome amounts of dead bodies everywhere inside that ship, no one wanted to try to go aboard!!! That ship had a one way ticket to the ocean floor. And those not rescued immediately by the Brits mostly probably ended up shark food. Cuz when the ship sank, there ended up being so much blood in the water sharks could smell/taste it 10 miles away or more! The guy that was in the water 3 days that got rescued by a German U-boat over 75 miles away from where Bismark sank, was an incredibly lucky individual. He must have been in some kind of current to travel 75 miles in 3 days. Never under estimate the power of prayer, either! Because God can lift you up OR HE can squash ya like a bug on a windshield!!
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@stephenrickstrew7237 Top self destroyers?? Wow, really? So in that case a Navy could just self destroy at any moment? Right?😂 I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist!!! I know you MEANT "Top Shelf" or at least I hope that is what you meant. And if not then I'm thoroughly confused.
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To be honest, on one hand I'm kinda glad Drach addressed the incredible stupidity that some people exhibit & create in the comments sections at times on rare occasions. And on the OTHER hand I kinda wish he had NOT even bothered to give that person the satisfaction of mentioning his brash stupidity. With that being said, the main reason I say that is because I've been a fan of Drach's for 4-5 years now. And I rarely EVER see any brash comments like that. Even the "what if" questions that normally bother me more than than most of the simple questions like the constant questions about range clocks on American ships or the booms for the old torpedo nets. But as I stroll thru the comments section I usually try to answer the easier questions when I can. Mostly when the answers are just a quick & easy sentence or two. But when people are clearly trying to find fault with the current status quo & clearly have an "alternate agenda". On one hand I want to totally ignore them & not give them the satisfaction of even acknowledging their idiocy but then I feel like if people do ignore it, it's NOT going to make it go away. And that if someone doesn't address it's wrongfulness, then others may think that there is truth there. And so I'd rather call it out for it blindly ignoring reality rather than thinking if we ignore it MAYBE it will go away! I hope you get my meaning & will help to identify & address people blatantly pushing agendas that try to call certain parts of history false. E.G. Like people who try to say"the Holocaust" never happened!
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To be honest, I seriously don't think that even with today's technology that if they were building a North Carolina type battleship today that today's technology would discover problems with the propeller resonance if it hadn't already been previously discovered in the North Carolina battleships already. I would imagine that it would be akin to being in a 35k ton washing machine on the spin cycle and the load is not balanced enough to spin correctly. I would make the guess that the engineers aboard ship, after they had diagnosed the problem and had made it to where it was happening around 17-18 knots, I would think that they would find a way to cut power to the inner shafts when appropriate and allow the outer shafts to accelerate passed that speed before giving the inner shafts power again. Not totally sure if that would work, or just prolong the vibrations rather than just powering past that speed to begin with. But if it's the inner shafts causing the resonance then it would seem that if they could make 20 knots just using the outer propellers then they could give the inner shafts power & just keep it moving.
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I don't blame the Brits for opening fire. But instead of firing on the ships they should have fired on the location of the French Admiral-I'm terrible at names & I think I forgot his when I heard it. But I have little patience with stupidity and ignorance.
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Johnny Walker Blue if they have any old enough to be "Blue". Idk, Jack Daniel's may have been more fitting but Russians drink Vodka & Japanese drink saki.
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Unfortunate that they didn't go ahead with the triple turrets. If they could have gotten all the bugs worked out of a triple turret that early in history it would have been a huge game changer for The Royal Navy imho. And then when the Americans introduced the super firing twins the Royal Navy could introduce super firing triples. And triple turrets would have been introduced quite rapidly by any Navy wanting to stay on the cutting edge of technology. Then maybe the 3 triple turret layout all forward would have maybe been adopted in more ships too! I'm a big fan of the all forward armament cuz you can close on the enemy without presenting yourself as a broadside target but can still bring ALL GUNS to bear on the enemy. Thereby you have a good chance of landing blows while making your ship a smaller target. And if they can only see the front of the ship it is harder for them to identify what ship is closing on them until you fire your guns, of course.
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Of course with Warspite's war records you'd be a fool to NOT bet on Warspite!! Any ship that makes a complete circle in front of the high seas fleet & lives to tell the tale has got my vote of confidence too. And because of that it inadvertently saves the sailors of another ship from getting sunk right there & then. I forget which ship it was atm but I remember it eventually sank but not before all the sailors were offloaded to another ship. I'm fairly certain all those sailors would bet on Warspite coming out on top of most enemy engagements as well. Imho, Warspite's biggest danger was the danger of a massive air strike concentrated on that ship alone. Like what happened to Musashi & Yamato. But also back then was that if you knew where the planes were taking off you had a chance of getting out of their range. So if attacked by the time planes go back to re-arm & refuel they can't travel the distance with a bomb load & safely return.
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Yeah, I was wondering that too but in doing so that could have easily given away his position cuz the Japanese pilots are going to realize these planes are coming from somewhere. And you never can tell, one of the Japanese may follow the British planes back to their carriers. Japanese strike planes followed the US planes back to the Yorktown at Midway. So theoretically possible that instead of all of them attacking the cruisers that some break off to see which way the British planes go back & follow them. And with that flight returning maybe the Japanese are not noticed on the radar & get to attack with surprise. It's a roll of the dice where by trying to protect the two cruisers could end badly for the carriers & cruisers as well. Or the planes you send take out all the Japanese & it saves the cruisers. But that itself would still let Nagumo know that British carriers are close. So...
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Yes, if it was a museum ship & had wine & cheese samples. I'd tour it. At least the French have their priorities straight. We will suffer the hardships of war but we must at least have our wine & cheese while doing so.
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Beg to differ with you. USS Washington firing at Kirishima landed at least 27% of her main battery shots. This number came from viewing the wreckage of the Kirishima and counting the main battery hits. 27% is a hit ratio higher than most any other Navy can claim. Furthermore, that figure could be higher considering that Kirishima is a wreck on the bottom of the ocean and other hits may be obscured by mud & or darkness and wreckage. 27% confirmed at the least. Can you name a battleship that sank another battleship with a higher percentage of main battery hits?
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@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.
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Just wanted to thank you for showing these ships that short of winning the lottery I really have no hope of ever seeing. I had previously never had much interest in war ships when I first heard stories of USS Enterprise, USS Johnston & then stumbled upon your channel. One of the videos that you had just put out was "What to do when forced to abandon ship". Or at least what the sailors during WW2 were faced with when having to abandon ship. Which(for some reason) always makes me think of USS Indianapolis and the story Quinn told in the movie "Jaws". I don't know if you have ever seen the movie but it's not a bad movie. Once they started trying to do sequels it got stupid (imo) but the first movie was epic. Especially for when it was made. No cgi at the time at all.
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@malusignatius Sorry to hear it. I have 3 previous back injuries complete with torn back muscles & 3 pinched nerves & now scoliosis on top of it. So I definitely know about chronic pain as well. Hoping you feel better. And also when Drach was here the weather was rather wet & dismal which is usually when I hurt the most. But it was the sinusitis that kept me from going. I had been vaccinated for COVID but some were still getting it even with the vaccination, so I figured I'd just lay low. I was out & about all thru the pandemic but never got sick. The day after I was feeling better but the night he was here I felt horrible. Many prayers for you fighting Crohn's!!🙏🙏🙏
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Concerning the Japanese Night fighting capabilities at around 1:40:30 you talk about how they had binoculars with wider angle lenses & filters that also helped pull in extra light from the moon & stars. However, what you fail to mention is that the Japanese trained obsessively for night battles because they knew that they needed every edge that they could get when going to war with the USA & Great Britain cuz as far as numbers of capital ships they were hopelessly outnumbered. And it was basically because of air power combined with Japanese Naval assets & Army's that made them such a formidable opponent. And furthermore, if the Japanese Army & Navy had better coordination & cooperation together they would have been much deadlier than they were. Unfortunately for the Japanese, they didn't realize that America NOT wanting to go war was a completely different animal after Pearl Harbor. America felt like they WERE FORCED into war by Japan & that they were going to make sure that Japan totally regretted doing so & therefore an UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER IS the only option America would agree to terms of peace. And so the idea of grabbing what they could & then trying to negotiate a peace settlement was out of the question as soon as 2500 Americans were killed at Pearl Harbor. And then they upped the ante in the Philippines by 1000%. Because by then, way too many Americans had died in the Pacific to even try to negotiate peace. After that America 🇺🇸 was in it to win it! And wanted to crush Japan like an ugly roach scurrying across our kitchen floor! And most every American felt that it was their duty to do everything they could for the war effort. Like some guys training for a year or longer before being deployed, so that they would be capable to take on whatever the Germans or Japanese threw at them. Fight smarter & harder! And the fact that the USA could pull off a landing like D-Day in Normandy while also being fully engaged with the Japanese on the other side of the world was a major FLEX of power. However, with that being said, I seriously don't think it would have been successful if not for the Germans being fully engaged by the Russians which had been richly fortified by the Lend-Lease Act & arctic convoys taking massive amounts of war materials to Russia & the fact that America also had Great Britain, Canada & a massive amount of other Europeans reinforcing the invasion.
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Especially considering that after a certain depth the hull collapses & the pressure of the water above the ship squashes it like a drunken man stomping on an empty beer can so as to add it to his recycle pile! And so everything within the hull is crushed along with it too. And the only good thing about that is at least it's quick!😊 No way would I ever want to be aboard a submarine, especially one that is planning on diving. Nope!!! No thank you!
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Because if they did that & it somehow ended up being the "Decisive Battle" that they in fact won & it brought the USA back to the negotiating table in which Japan could get a favorable treaty signed, it would look really, really weak of all that came about because of some Cruisers winning a battle.
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@VultureSausage No, actually the Japanese still had carriers after Midway. Two of their best carriers had NOT BEEN at Midway due to damage at Coral Sea. It was the attritional losses of trained air crews & pilots & their inability to successfully train new pilots because they kept their most experienced pilots fighting until they were killed. When training new pilots you need skilled pilots to teach them. But the Japanese instead just decreased their hours of training time. Which, if they had taken 20 pilots that were highly skilled from years of combat to pass on their tactical knowledge the new pilots would have been much deadlier!
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No matter how many times I listen to this story I still cry at the end! We also had a black lab named Chevis that you could talk to like a person & he understood. My step-dad Billy had deer heads on the wall. And he'd say "Chevis, that deer is gonna get you." Which made him bark at the deer head in question.
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Yeah, I would not be able to afford to go see it, but yes it's still a shame that others with the ability to view them is denied the opportunity by the breakers. Considering Warspite's record it would have been the perfect one to pick but unfortunately $$ was more important. It is a shame when money gets in the way of history.
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Yeah, the question about building a large modular type of battleship & refitting it with bigger guns ever so often also runs into another problem. After about 20 years the boilers are going to need replacing. And any hull that has been encountering even semi-rough seas will also either need to be THOROUGHLY checked for stressed places that could result in catastrophic fractures. And, to be honest, not exactly sure how old HMS Hood's hull was but I think that may have been why Hood went up like it did. Is that because of were & tear on the ship that there was a soft spot above the 15" magazine that that shell just happened to find & exploit. And for a few moments it was almost like a Roman candle but then it was just too much & it blew the ship in half. Such a terrible & quick loss of a lot of lives! At least they were at sea & in a battle. The Arizona being blown apart in port, makes you wonder why no one thought to flood the magazines, cuz when bombs are falling that is the biggest danger. And other ships had flooded their magazines.
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My Grandfather served in WW2 for the USA. But my Mom said she only seen him 2-3 times after the war. And he never would talk about any of it. She never knew what happened to him or what kind of life he had after the war.
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As an American I truly don't understand WHY I get such a kick out of hearing about HMS Newport sneaking in front of the French and being the first ship to transit the Suez Canal. But I truly find it hilarious that although the French had it built the English were the first ones to use it! Just a way to 🖕 the French! Screw politics were going for it!! And btw, it's not the first time I've heard you tell that story. But it's still just as funny as the first time you told it!
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I just now realized that you had "The ORIGINAL OPENING" song/ diddy back!!! CONGRATS!!! I had thought it rather annoying that some idiot was trying to claim the rights to it! The things @$$holes do to try to get money. IMHO whoever the people are that were doing that crap to you I hope God looks down on them in an angry manner & decides to make their lives so difficult & complicated that they never even have time to think about doing anything like that to anyone else ever again! We can only hope & pray. Or is that pray & hope?
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Yeah, I'm rather curious about it myself and if you can explain it better & with a little more detail maybe I could understand what your actually talking about?
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Yeah, as far as grading the Navies of WW2, that would be better if you did it by year. Like the US Navy during 41 & 42- The Pearl Harbor attack is going to take their grade to a "D" at the beginning and although there is Midway pulling the grade up a bit, the Coral Sea was successful as in preventing Fort Moresby from being taken by the Japs BUT we did lose Lexington & had Yorktown damaged. And we had the Doolittle Raid bringing the grade up. But all the ships we lost during Guadal Canal really brings the score back down. So for the US Navy '41 & '42 I'd say "C". And the thing about it too is that it's the pilots of the aircraft carriers basically bringing the score up while all the rest of the US NAVY is bringing the grade down. And even the submarines would have had a chance to help the grade BUT The Mark 14 torpedo screwed that up as well!
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I was already convinced that the water suction from a large ship sinking was really a thing. In my opinion, all it takes is a bit of common sense to work that one out. Those that try to say that it is not real, to me it's just somebody being drunk & difficult and wanting to argue. Idk. To me it's just obvious that a ship weighing 35k-40k tons that when it sinks it can easily drag a human down in it's wake.
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I would say REST IN PEACE to those of Taffy 3 that fought & died in the Battle of Samar & made the Japanese Center Force turn away from the landing force & the small aircraft carriers that were vulnerable as well, however I don't think any of them would be happy to "rest in peace". So I'll just say that you are still remembered for your bravery, honor & commitment to duty here on this day October 25th, 2023, 79 years afterwards you are still admired for what you did. Attacking a force of overwhelming numbers although your ships may have sunk & you perished in the sea, the way you fought in the effort to save the lives of others is still remembered & although some may be able to match what you did, no one can give more. THANK YOU TAFFY 3 for everything you did 79 years ago today. I've known about this battle for many years and I still find it amazing every time I'm ever reminded of it. Lots of people focus on Dec 7th or June 6th and while those dates spark the memories of WW2 for most Oct 25th has embedded itself in my memory as well.
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Wow. Never thought about this battle in terms of was it a loss or a victory. It was more like David vs Goliath. However, there was a lot of fighting that went on & a lot of sailors died on both sides. And if Halsey had left a significant force behind to protect the landing force, there is really no telling what would have happened because that is not what happened. And also, it was easily clear for all to see by this time that Japan had lost the war. And that they were going to keep on losing. They should have surrendered long before we had to start dropping atomic bombs on their cities, killing tens of thousands of people. I can't help pity the people that lived thru that to only die later of radiation poisoning. And those that saw what happened & lived long enough for it to be a memory they lived with for decades too. I can't imagine the nightmares you could suffer after such a horrible thing. I know the US did it to save American lives. However, even with the vast numbers killed at Hiroshima & Nagasaki there is still a good possibility that it saved a lot of Japanese lives as well.
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Especially considering how many U'boats they sunk!!!
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No way has that commercial haunted me. I've got a good sense of humor & use it to my advantage. Like "Hey ladies, just getting off of work? Well now it's Miller time!"
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Yeah, considering the loss of Juneau and the Sullivan brothers and the fact that there was several friendly fire incidents, I definitely believe that is why this battle was never reported correctly and that the incidents of friendly fire except for maybe Atlanta getting hit in the crossfire, but that the other friendly fire incidents were covered up leading to action reports being falsified, & so trying to make any sense about what really happened was almost futile. I haven't read the 120 page report YET but I'm sure it must have been very difficult to put it all together. Many thanks to you Drach for putting this together and a big thanks to Lundgren for studying this & working for 2 years to put it all together. I can't imagine how difficult this must have been. And P/S- Drach, the AI voices served their purpose and all in all it worked fairly well. Thank you for another great video.
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@mitchm4992 Reason being that when planes need to abort their landing they have a tendency to pull the stick to the left. So they put the islands on the right side of the carrier to prevent pilots from crashing into the island on aborted landings. That way pilots & bridge crew are safer. Except for left handed pilots😮.
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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.
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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.
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And yes, the whole thing was very regrettable & would never of happened except for the ignorance of a haughty French Admiral that thought more of himself than his command & men!
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Actually, hindsight is NEVER 20/20, in my personal opinion. But anyway, I'm sure the British felt they had no other choice & I support the actions they took that day.
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@Drachinifel- In this episode you made the statement "Hindsight is 20/20". And that is the only thing I disagree with!! In actuality "hindsight" is rarely ever 20/20! Most occasions hindsight is just as garbled as when it first happened!!⁶
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And then Drachinifel gets sick because he unknowingly breathed in the fumes from burning holes in the ship model with a soldering iron. I wouldn't have thought that he would have been around that many fumes but he did burn a lot of holes in that ship.
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On the subject of Spruance getting sea sick while up in the top of the yards during heavy weather. "LOOK OUT BELOW!!!" It wasn't just the funnel exhaust making the guys in the lower yards green. I would think it would be fun to be up at the top of the ship. BUT I've never been at sea & not sure if I would get sea sick. But I do know my ears cause me pain when flying. Usually ending with a migraine after landing. Although I can imagine how bad it must be to be seasick, for some reason I don't see myself suffering from seasickness as I've never had motion sickness & I've been on some rather crazy amusement park rides. For some reason it reminds me of the Admiral that America lost overboard from the USS Washington on the way to Scapa Flow.
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Actually, I think what it was is all of a sudden the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor & sink our entire fleet of battleships in the Pacific. But they did it with 6 Aircraft Carriers but they didn't sink any US Carriers .And we had 4 Carriers, I think. But now USA is in the War, Germany declares war on US. And the USA declares war on Japan, Germany & Italy
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Actually if you knew much about the dud rates of the Mark 14 torpedo during the first 2 years of the war it might make a little more sense. Some submarines would fire every torpedo in their arsenal, hit the ship it was aiming for with no explosion. Search YouTube- Drachinifel/ Mark 14 torpedo and it will help you understand.
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@uncletimo6059 It wasn't that Admiral King totally dropped the ball on the issue of convoys. At the beginning of the war they had a massive shortage of smaller warships that were suitable for convoy escorts. It wasn't that he totally ignored it because of the British he literally didn't have enough destroyers to escort the battleships & carriers that the US possessed much less enough to ALSO do convoy escort. Later in the war, as soon as newer ships were coming off the slip ways they would not only implement massive convoy escorts & protection but would also have hunter/killer groups around the convoys that were not part of the escorting vessels that could move to attack & kill U-boats leaving the escort ships to stay with the merchant vessels of the convoy. Lots of times if an escort vessel could force a U-boat to dive & keep it from attacking the convoy then that was a win whether the U-boat was sunk or not. Cuz the escorts were there to make sure the convoy got there in tact. So the escorts were judged by how many merchant ships it lost. Not by how many U-boats they sank.
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@djquinn11 I really do concur. Drachinifel poses some really good reasons why King didn't like the British. And it is totally understandable that he would shy away from British "advice". However, they were our Allies and they had already been at war for 3 years prior to the US getting bombed at Pearl Harbor. Meaning they already knew that heavily protected convoys were the safest way for merchant shipping to haul there goods. And hunter/killer groups didn't really work in the beginning years of the war.
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I was expecting a video about Midway BUT it was only told about briefly then every thing else is about the European Theatre. And how the Germans lost to the Russians.
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I forget what movie Clint Eastwood said it in, but he was playing the character Dirty Harry Callahan. And, I think, in the movie there were cops that were playing vigilante. But he said "A man's got to know his limitations!" And Germany & Japan, after attacking places that were helpless and/or not expecting to be attacked & having all of these very easy victories. The Japanese & Germans' BALLS GOT TOO BIG FOR THEIR BRITCHES! Even if the US had not opened the 2nd front in Normandy, the Russian Army would have still marched all the way to Berlin. We opened the 2nd front far later than Stalin had wanted. But Stalin had not realized all the logistics involved for the Allies to make such a thing successful.
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Yeah, I consider it totally whacked that YouTube blurs these true images of history! Those that don't know their history are doomed to repeat it. And I believe these images should be shown in order to see the true suffering that the Nazi's caused! The whole ending of the war was strange. And I believe that if Roosevelt had not died before the ending of the war things would have been a LOT different!! And I also believe that Patton was assassinated because of his views on what should happen with the wars end. And if that had not happened things would have been A LOT different as well. The Allies should have given Soviet Russia an ultimatum in my opinion! Give Poland back to the Polish people or we will continue the war against Russia to liberate Poland! I think Stalin would have relented if we had done so.
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Yeah, what I couldn't get over was the plan for them to go thru the clearing with woods on each side. This was the perfect set up to catch an Army in a crossfire. For a commander to send his Army into that, the man must have been simple & stupid. My opinion the Army would have been better off shooting him! Or tell him plain & simple we will go thru that ONLY IF you lead the way.?
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One thing you didn't mention when speaking about gun accuracy is not only the quality of the shells being uniform BUT ALSO THE POWDER CHARGES as well. And I already know you know this as well because I remember during your bio of Admiral "Ching" Lee he made mention that the powder bags on the ship actually weighed more than what they said they were & therefore they were shooting further than anticipated. Or at least, I'm fairly certain that was what I remember hearing.
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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.
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Q & A Please. Idk, it seems really short sighted to me that the IJN didn't have more pilot training programs considering how many pilots & crews they lost at Midway. If they had taken about 6 or 7 very experienced pilots they could have passed along knowledge that would have been crucial in combat. And same thing with the carrier crews doing maintenance & flight ops. I mean to the US it was obvious that the best pilots teaching numerous subordinates so they could pass on their knowledge, skill and expertise to countless others was the best way to move forward. Any idea why the IJN didn't go that route too?? And what about Germany & Italy? Was there pilot training more like the US or the IJN? Or neither
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If I had NOT become interested in naval history due to a casual interest in WW2. I would have NEVER learned about this very important part of history in general. Props to the people that recorded this important part of history and restored the Harrison clocks to their current glory. AND MANY THANKS TO DRACH FOR TELLING THIS VERY IMPORTANT PART OF HISTORY. I love him stepping from one hemisphere to the other. Very poetic imho!!!
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It didn't really matter whether or not you were a Royal Navy captain. What mattered was how much money you had to offer for one of these guys to make one for you. Just like any good craftsman, money talks. And the more $$ you offer then more extravagant the craftsman can make it.
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@stretch3281 By far my favorite post for the entire video. The fact he mistakenly says George Harrison in the beginning but changes it to be John Harrison was confusing the first time I saw the video. But then he clarified his mistake. Cuz the first time I saw the video I was thinking George Harrison, the famous guitarist for the Beatles, must have been named after this famous clock/watch maker. But then he is talking about "John Harrison" and I realized he had just flubbed the name at the beginning. A bit embarrassing yet very easy mistake to make. I was very glad to see this video. It is a very important part of history that people nowadays take for granted. And Admirals & Ship Captains going to sea, I'm sure, would gladly spend a great deal of money for the very best time piece considering that their ship, their crew, & their life may very well depend on the watch being accurate. And I had always wondered why they used fine diamonds & such to make watches more accurate. And now I have my answer. Because if your navigating at sea your life & the ship & crew are depending on the accuracy of a watch. "While my chronometer gently weeps"! Well said!
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@lonjohnson5161 HOW about the native tribes killed them when they came ashore. Took their life boats rowed out to the ships & killed those remaining on the ships. Or another scenario, those that sailed to the new world caught a disease that they had no immunity against. Backwards. But it did happen, just the other way around.
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@camulusmagnus Although it was a very small part of the book it was one of the best parts of the movie. And although they did a much better job on the movies than I thought they could or would, it seemed like by the time they did "Return of the King" they were trying to just get it over with. But with it being a movie they just left so much out. But I am glad they made the movies. They are very well done. I'd like to see them make "Otherland" a series of movies! The ending of those books were pretty incredible. 4 books by Tad Williams. Anyway, have a good day.
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Wasn't that a Gimli line in "Lord of the Rings"? I believe he had the same line in the book as well.
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Some other channel had a video about HMS Dreadnought. I clicked on it thinking it was your "five min guide" and of course was quickly disappointed. So I had to close that video & find yours. And that was when I realized it was the very first one you made. And now I'm about to watch it. Glad you redone these in your own voice btw.
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Yeah, considering the last bit you were talking about with the 3 colliers going down in the "Bermuda Triangle". You would kinda think that the Captains of these vessels would have noticed the ship rusting away & had something done about it. Especially considering that the ship staying afloat is basically his life staying afloat. But I guess some Captains sometimes don't think about such things nor consider how a simple storm in a certain part of the ocean could start bending your ship back & forth until the metal is fatigued & just breaks. And its not just the acidity of the coal but the salt water environment itself as a contributing factor too. Even if the coals acids only ate away the paint the acidity of the salt water & air makes rust spread almost like fire. And the added stress of being loaded & in a storm. The Captain & owners of the Edmund Fitzgerald could have taken a lesson from this. Unfortunately they did not.
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Speaking of the USS North Carolina, I just happened to re-watch a Battle 360 show on the History Channel site & this certain episode tells about the night at Guadal Canal when USS Washington & Admiral Lee fire on & kill IJN Kirishima. BUT IN THIS EPISODE EVIDENTLY SOMEONE GOT THEIR FACTS WRONG!!! Cuz they say that the second battleship there with Washington is the North Carolina!?? And the first time I watched it I didn't think anything about it. But North Carolina was part of the Enterprise escort and it was South Dakota that was with Washington & was being hammered by Kirishima when Admiral Lee stepped in and basically obliterated Kirishima. But I was amazed that The History Channel could get there facts mixed up & be telling things WRONG!!
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I named my daughter from one of the characters in the Silmarillion. Melian. However, we pronounce it a bit differently than the British. We were in a small library in Northern Virginia where we encountered a librarian from England that informed her that in England it was actually pronounced like Melianne. To which my daughter replied MY NAME IS MELIAN!!! The second "a" being pronounced as more of a "swah e" sound. Coincidentally like the very end of librarian. Yes, Americans definitely have a way with the English language. Sorta like some of the Brits saying "Bucknam Pellis" instead of Buckingham Palace. When I first moved to the DC area I couldn't help notice a lot of people instead of saying Washington DC somehow an "r" had gotten in & they would pronounce it as Warshington DC. And I'm not the type of person that is gonna go around & try to correct anyone's pronunciations unless it has to do with my name. But I've noticed at Chick-fil-A when Latinos ask my name they have no idea how to spell Dean when I tell them my name. Most often they spell it "Din". I've thought about using my first name Ken to make it easier for them. But I've never liked using that name mainly because of the "Barbie & Ken" dolls.
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Idk, I had never thought about it before but I think that may have drawn in the lgbtq community considering they are stranded on a deserted island. However, with Ginger & Maryann there I guess that the Professor was having more fun than the show let on.
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Idk, considering how little use they got out of them I'm not so sure it matters WHAT you call them. "Multi-million dollars of eventual scrap", maybe? However, I would have thought that a Cruiser such as that deserved a much longer career.
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I would take a Des Moine with the 8" autoloaders over the Alaska's 12" anyday. Those 12" guns are are still battleship grade guns with a slower rate of fire. But the 8" autoloaders... I'm just sad that they didn't get finished in time to see & take part in WW2. Imagine Captain Evans commanding one of the Des Moines!!!
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My considered opinion is whether you call them cruisers or battle cruisers, I CALL THEM A HUGE WASTE OF TIME & MONEY, especially considering that they were already building the "fast battleships". So by the time the hulls hit the water they were obsolete. AND the US should have been smart enough to realize that with the North Carolina's & the Iowa's being built that the Alaska's would NOT be needed. Especially after they started on the Des Moine's as well. I ALSO think that Congress was giving the Navy more $ than they knew what to do with so they designed the Alaska's & ordered them. It was one of those things my Grandma would have said "they have more dollars than sense"!!!
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Considering the cost of those ships & the fact our forefathers were taking them into battle at the height of WW2 the description of perfection is awesome considering the sailors aboard had there very lives riding on the capabilities of those ships! Propulsion was life. The term dead in the water was very fitting for WW2 if a ship lost propulsion it was a sitting duck.
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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.
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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!!!
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Yeah, I saw a thing about General Patton getting covered in yellow die from a French shell during Operation Torch. His aides quickly began trying to wipe the die off of him & he told them to leave him alone. That he needed to see what is going on rather than worrying about looking a bit "yellow". For those near by, I'm sure that ordeal was both hilarious yet sobering because a shell had landed THAT CLOSE to NOT ONLY Patton but themselves as well! But "yellow" was NOT a good color to be trying to make Patton wear! Fairly certain that he changed clothes as soon as he could cuz during a war no one wants to appear "yellow" especially ol' Blood N Guts Patton. It's a shame that he was NOT listened to a bit more by Eisenhower! If Ike had continued to feed Patton with petroleum INSTEAD of the Market Garden disaster, the war could have maybe been over faster than it originally was.
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Thanks for that Drach, I had always thought that Laffey was a Fletcher class Destroyer & I also had no idea she had been preserved as a museum ship. It's always good to learn something new every day. Thanks again.
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Well, I figure after going overboard he really got seasick. Naw, the man may have been having seasickness but was probably also having a heart attack & didn't realize it cuz of the motion sickness. Being at the edge in order to puke overboard, if the heart attack caused him to lose consciousness he went overboard and drowned while unconscious. My best guess. Idk.
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Speaking of battles that were small but important or big but unimportant. What I call "the Naval Battle of Samar" may not seem very important in the larger scheme of things. However, if Taffy 3 isn't there to oppose Kurita's Force then does Kurita go & shell the soldiers that have landed on Leyte? Yeah, he can't destroy troop ships cuz they are already ashore but that many battleships & cruisers doing a shore bombardment on the landing force could have been detrimental to the whole operation. Even if Admiral Lee gets back to the San Bernadino Strait & destroys the Center Force still Kurita could have caused major US casualties in the range of 10k- 20k if not more. I believe the US landed about 70k troops on the island unless I'm mistaken. So yeah, the Naval Battle of Samar was huge IMHO!!! Plus they saved most of the escort carriers from Kurita as well.
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No way would I get into one of those monitors & that goes double for one that's going to try to cross the Atlantic Ocean!! Might as well call it a submarine. And I wouldn't get inside a submarine either. I can't really say whether or not I'd get in a battleship or a cruiser, I think I'd be ok in a aircraft carrier but I've never been at sea so not sure if I'd get sea sick. I think my chances of not getting sea sick is much better on a carrier or a battleship. And probably a lot safer on one of the two. But given a choice I think I might enjoy going for a ride, but being at sea for any length of time, I think I'll pass. Ships can sink, North America, not so much. If I go to sleep outside I don't have to worry about drowning or getting eaten by a sharks.
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I especially got a kick out of "minus the wigs!" I always wondered about men wearing wigs back then. Wasn't there even a political party known as "the wigs?"
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@charlesadams1721 Yes, very true. Almost any type of gambling was illegal. Although some would organize card games but that was probably the only gambling done until Las Vegas was opened. Idk, maybe some bookies taking illegal bets on football or baseball, but that was kept very hush, hush.
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I do enjoy the "After Action Reports". I think I could probably read a book of after action reports & not get bored. I think that the learning curve of the US Navy was greatly affected by such reports and it makes me proud that they were smart enough to make such reports no matter how redundant it may seem. The reduction of the amount of guns on the F4F in order to be able to have more ammunition is also very smart too. Cuz I know it must have been incredibly frustrating for fighters to still have plenty of fuel and plenty of targets but be out of ammo. And being forced to see your ship being attacked & be impudent to do anything about it!!!
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SO, the Japanese arrived at 10pm to find Hornet still afloat. AND although they put 2 MORE LONG LANCE TORPEDOES into Hornet, it still took another 3 HOURS for HORNET to sink, FINALLY falling beneath the surface after 1am.
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Let's hope that now that the ship is a movie star that it will have enough cash for upkeep and not rust away like other museum ships that have had less attention.
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People make fun of the Japanese Admiral that that took the Yamato out of the battle at Leyte Gulf & told the remaining force to withdraw. And they say that had he used the Yamato he could have totally taken out all of Taffy 3 & then fired on the landing forces at Leyte Gulf. But the MAIN THING people tend to forget is that Admiral also seen the Musachi, the Yamato's sister ship, blown apart and sunk the day before. THE DAY BEFORE! AND LIKE, LESS THAN 24 HOURS AGO. And I'm not sure but it seems as though I read somewhere that the powder magazine on Musachi also exploded before she sank, & the explosion blew the ship in half & she sank in 2 separate pieces. Anyone having seen THAT, could not really be expected to make the most rational decisions the next 24 hours. After seeing that & turning around to go home, it would have taken a steel resolve to turn back around and head back towards harm's way!
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Yeah, can you imagine having such horrible luck? You are on a warship and it goes down. So you get saved by another ship. However, that ship goes down with all hands. And that includes your two hands as well.
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The US was churning out so many airplanes during WW2 that they were practically disposable if/when they got shot up. As long as the pilot was OK they would have another plane to fly. Especially with maintenance personnel tying spare aircraft to the hangar ceiling. Some for parts but mostly whole aircraft.
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 @richbro W⁶hq😮⅓
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I kinda understand you not wanting to classify the "Iowas" as capital ships but imho if you are paying the vast amount of money that the USN is paying for these ships.ÿyyt⁵
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So do you get any type of metal for that or is being able to live enough in itself.
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Yeah, those plans may have been conceived & developed during the interwar period however few were actually put in place by the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Leaving the US to play catch up for a year & a half to be able to finally start gaining the upper hand. And if it had not been for the US being fortunate enough to sink 4 Japanese fleet carriers at the battle of Midway, the US would not have gained the upper hand until the Hellcat had been introduced & reached over 1000 in service. Not to mention the US launching the Essex class carriers as well as them being stocked with said Hellcats.
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I've always heard that there are 2 sides to every story & that the truth actually lies in the middle of both. However, a good story is always a good story. And let's face it, the crazier people act the less likely other people are to confront them.
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@rebelgaming1.5.14 Yes, the Royal Navy was getting it's ass handed to them for a while during WW2. And the US Navy as well. It wasn't until the both of them joined together to defeat the aggression of the Axis Powers that they both began to start winning victories. Someone spoke of the Denmark Strait... Bismarck's victory was definitely short lived, was it not? HMS Rodney was so worn out it was otw2 the US for an engine overhaul but pulled a 180 in order to put the Bismarck down. But at that moment in time the Royal Navy was still stronger than the US Navy. It wasn't until the US started it's major war ship building campaign during WW2 that the US Navy began to exceed that of the Royal Navy. And since they were both on the same side they didn't cancel each other out but was twice as strong standing together! The thing that gets me about WW2, is HOW did Russia & China both go from being our Allies to being our enemy so quickly? AND, Russia should have let the people of Poland have their country back too. Is that how/why Israel was formed or reformed in the Middle East? The Palestinians can say that was their land all they want, but if it weren't for the Americans & Brits people there would be speaking German and I guarantee that they would have "exterminated" all the Arabs just like they were doing to the jewish.
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And at 2:20:00 you are speaking about disobeying orders. You forgot to mention that sometimes an Admiral might disobey an order & get killed in the process. And then at Guadal Canal campaign we had Admirals trying to obey orders & getting killed horribly for their trouble.
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My ship was sunk by hms Pansy. How embarrassing.
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What is up with the catamaran questions? Is this person possibly related to the guy in the US that keeps designing the "Torpedo Battleship"?
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Q & A My question is Herman Gering, the head of the Luffwaffe, didn't want to relinquish any planes to the Kriegsmarine for use on an aircraft carrier. If that was true then WHY were they even building an aircraft carrier? It makes no sense unless they were covertly having suitable carrier planes being designed & built without Gerring's knowledge. And pilots would have to be trained as well to be able to take off & land on the carrier plus they would have to develop a way to come back & find the carrier as well, considering the planes are moving and the carrier is moving. I mean, if they try to go back to where they took off more than likely the carrier will no longer be there.
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Yeah, you were talking about ship names & that they had the Flower Class. Can you imagine a ship Captain having to admit he was sank by "the Daisy" or "the Pansy". And they all pointed & laughed at him, poor guy. "Come on ya Pansy". But you've got no arms. "Tis but a flesh wound." Alright then, I'll have your legs. "Come back & fight, I'll bite your legs off!" For what it's worth, I hope you enjoyed it. Sir Robin ran away.
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What is up with the catamaran obsession? This isn't the first time I've heard you answer questions about a catamaran! But just like the Battleship with an all torpedo armament... NO! STOP IT! A BAD IDEA IS ALWAYS A BAD IDEA. Color it this way or the other way. Just no, now go back to eating your paste on a stick & let the grown ups talk.
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Sorry, for your loss. I understand it was a long time ago but still. Did you ever know him or did you never get the chance because of his loss?
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Ms. Sandi, hey lady, I really do hope that if guess
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Yeah, if the USA was still somehow part of the British Empire THEN it would take a major alliance of many nations to threaten it. All of Europe would have to group together with Russia to even threaten such a British Empire.
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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.
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Yeah, the only problem with that is people are lazy & don't think about checking life boats. And if they have started to rott good luck convincing a Captain to go through the expense of replacing them. And sometimes if the sea was calm a boat may be serviceable but rough seas can slam a smaller boat up against a ship & tear it to pieces. I've never been at sea. But if I ever do go I'll bring my own little inflatable raft, something like the pilots used in WW2. Cuz if the water is freezing cold it can kill you quickly. But yeah, that was very smart of them to realize that the woman & children should go first. I'm sure that one or two guys had to deal with rowing the boats away from the ships. And if all 8 horses made it to the shore. Idk, maybe they should have followed the horses.
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It's very difficult to imagine that the Japanese would have been able to take Hawaii cuz of all the Army & Marine troops stationed there.
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@verysurvival Yeah, actually in my very personal opinion on that one: Americans seem to have the notion that only a man should be President. And I think out of all the Presidents we've ever had Trump is more of a crook than any of them. He was directly responsible for what happened at the Capital when he lost his re-election and he should have been tried & convicted for it! But the Republicans were too crooked to convict him! And in my eyes makes them an accessory after the fact! He is less worthy of the title "Mr President" than any before him that I know. And I also believe that if Harris had had the guts to walk out on stage during the first Presidential Debate wearing a "strap-on penis" she would have won the election! And I personally feel sincere remorse for those that tried to assassinate him cuz I feel like they were sacrificing themselves for the good of the country. And I lament their sacrifice and wish they had succeeded! The morals of the people in this country have evidently fallen to the lowest I've ever seen! To elect a hate monger criminal like Trump for another term over a rather super intelligent lady like Harris is in my personal opinion an insult to all the GREAT LEADERS this country has had in the past!
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Well it's these "WHAT IF" SCENARIOS that really have no way of happening to begin with!!! "WHAT IF" the USA actually came up with the idea & invented the atomic bomb 5 years sooner than it historically happened? Would we bomb Germany & Japan? Or just Japan & give Germany an ultimatum or vise versa? Would the Doolittle Raid actually be an atomic weapon being used? Or would we risk taking the bomb to China & fly bombers from there to drop an atomic weapon? Would we try to nuke Japanese Navy ships instead of the famous "Crossroads" Bikini Bottom "Able" & "Baker" tests. And then how would we know that the Japanese sailors were heavily radiated & dying? Would IJN ships be found sailing along with everyone on board dead from radiation poisoning? And would that be considered a war crime similar to using chemical weapons? I mean, pretty nasty thing to do to people.
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Considering the question about tritinol and why it wasn't used more during WW2. I mean I felt like your answer was obvious. Or I guess what I'm trying to say is that the person that asked the question should have realized that just because someone developed a certain type of explosive at a certain time ìn history you'd think that they would have a need to do an EXTENSIVE amount of testing to be able to use the explosive. Because whomever developed the product is going to need to know a wide range of information about it. Because explosives are known to degrade over time then it's going to take time to know that. And numerous other things that are going to need to be known. And idk, you'd think that would be obvious to most people. And I also feel that the person asking that would do a bit of their own research before asking the question. But I guess that might be expecting too much from someone I don't know!
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And yeah, I think it's kinda cool how Dunkirk was built one way & then Strasburg was built with armor 2.2" thicker because it's being built later & it gets thicker armor in case it needs to counter Scharnhorst. Even though it never has to fight that ship, it was being built to fight the best of what Germany had so they were trying to give it a better chance! Makes sense to me!
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Yeah, considering the tonnage of most warships ever since they changed from iron clads to steel, warships basically just weigh far too much for a sail, especially a "make-shift" sail to make much of a difference. Or so I would think. The only way I could see it helping is : say that the ship is also in a place where their is also a current going the same way the ship needs to go & a wind also going in the same direction. In that case a "make-shift" sail could possibly help. However, it would be extremely unlikely to be in such circumstances. And most Navies would simply send out a tug boat or two to try to get the ship to safety. And also probably send a couple of cruisers or what they may have near by, in order to remove crew if a gail blows up or to try to protect the ship best they can
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Look, I know this was done 4 years ago but Clark is talking about these under gunned cruisers as though they are a good thing. And imho they are not a good thing, yeah if they go against a commerce raider then they can "mission kill" the commerce raider. But more than likely your under gunned cruiser is going to get sunk. And that is NOT a good thing ESPECIALLY if you are part of the crew aboard that ship! And that is a lot of money being spent on something that can be easily sunk. Plus, you ALSO you have to think about range as well. An 8" gun is going to out range a 6" gun. And if your enemy has speed enough to keep you at a distance to where your 6" guns are out of range but they can hit with their 8" guns, then you have a serious problem. Granted, I get that 6" cruisers can overwhelm an 8" cruiser with a large amount of hits but that 6" gun had got to get close enough to land those hits. And so a 6" cruiser going against an 8" cruiser needs to have significant armor protection to get close enough to make that 6" gun fire start landing hits. If you understand what I mean?
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Actually those "big holes" need to be at or below the water line of the ship in order to let in the vast amounts of water to make it sink. I.E. USS South Dakota had numerous "big holes" from Kirishima but did not sink. "Big holes" in the superstructure may kill Captain & command staff as well as disable fire control systems but doesn't put ship in danger of sinking. However, "big holes" such as what USS Washington did to Kirishima does put ship in danger of sinking. So go figure.
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I remember seeing in the comments about the "3 Battles of Narvik" someone complaining about Dr Clark. And while I don't necessarily find Dr Clark annoying or anything BUT idk if it's his microphone or what but it's like sometimes it like he keeps getting cut off or his sound does anyway. And I find that particularly annoying. But as far as his insights into the Royal Navy idk, seems like he knows his business.
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The spread of the guns of the USS Iowa at 35k yards, my take on it is those were the very first rounds fired. When you first fire guns they are "cold". And if you don't know your guns tendencies with a cold bore then doubtful you will hit anything with your first shot. And since the Iowa has 9 guns there are about 9 shots that are "not dialed in" so to speak. But after that first salvo the guns are now warmed up & will be more consistent. And then when they close to 25k the guns first salvo are a lot closer to the target than the first salvo at 35k. And then it's dialed in even better. My opinion of big guns shooting that far, I think the Iowa did great. Have any other battleships done similar target practice that we can compare with this?
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 @martinkirk3810 Yeah, being able to turn those ships into carriers was the best thing that could have happened with those ships.
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In looking at the spread of where the Iowa was placing shells... my first question is, did the ship fire any salvos previous to these? Anyone that knows much about guns will tell you that the first "cold bore" shot is not going to be as accurate as the shots that follow. After the barrel gets hot it becomes more accurate. So this grid, if we knew the order in which all of these shots were fired it would tell us a lot more. And considering that it appears to have been more accurate at 36k leads me to believe that the first salvos were at the 26k range. And with the Iowa having 9 guns then each gun is going to have a "cold bore" shot to where it isn't as accurate. Even a sniper has to know his weapon very well to hit a target far away with a cold bore.
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Wow. Considering the person that asked about Halsey getting the invasion of the Philippines moved from December to October & whether or not the invasion happening in December instead would have been any different. The main thing to remember is that if Taffy 3 hadn't been able to make "the Center force" turn away & go away, there was an American invasion force of about 70,000 soldiers that "the Center force" could have basically MURDERED with a shore bombardment. Not to mention the 5-6 light carriers that had almost a thousand sailors & pilots aboard of each one. And that was the main goal of the USS Johnston & Co was to cover the retreat of the light carriers. And although that wasn't totally accomplished, still the Destroyers & Destroyer Escorts of Taffy 3 along with the aircraft from Taffy 1,2 & 3 did manage to cause the Center force to retreat & even though those Destroyers & Destroyer Escorts were sunk they still saved the lives of over 70k soldiers & about 5k sailors. So when you hear about the USS Johnston and the rest of Taffy 3, they were definitely heros.
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I don't think you being upset by the nationalism of NOT giving credit where the credit is due. I DIDN'T KNOW THAT THEY HAD MADE A MOVIE OF THAT. But I remember that it was the Brits that did that in an effort to get the 4th rotor for the Enigma machine. And one of the Brits died in the process AND YES THAT FILM SHOULD HAVE GIVEN THOSE MEN CREDIT, ESPECIALLY THE ONE THAT DIED!!!
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OMG. Scharnhorst & Warspite are tied for the longest hit from a battleship. But also consider that the Scharnhorst 11" guns at that range isn't doing much compared to Warspites 16" guns at the same range. I'd much rather be aboard the ship that the Scharnhorst hit than the ship Warspite hit. Like the difference of "Hey, we just got hit" & Oh, shit WE JUST GOT HIT!!!
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As far as the inaccuracies of 16" 50 guns on the Iowa, it seems as though I recall Admiral Lee saying something about charges not being the proper weight, I think, when he was aboard the USS Washington, and then he reworked the gunnery table for the actual weight of the charges. That in itself shows that the US was having trouble getting charges that were not the proper weight. But it could also be that the charges were not mixed properly as well. Or the combination of both. It's not rocket science & sometimes when people are trying to produce as much as possible as fast as possible they make mistakes without knowing it. Simple as that. Whenever people are a factor, mistakes are possible. There is no way you could give me a cap, let alone make me wear a cap with the initials C-U-N-T-S. IF you handed me such a cap I would hand it right back & say "no thank you!"
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I remember going through that when I was younger. They dilate your eyes to check for glaucoma, if I remember correctly.
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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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@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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@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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@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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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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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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@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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If Warspite had been sent to the Denmark Strait instead of Hood? Well I know Bismark & Hood was both faster but I think that battle would have gone a lot different had Warspite been sent instead. But alas we will never know.
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@AndrewGivens No, actually all of it is very new to me. And this is why I started watching this channel is because I wanted to learn things I didn't know about! I'm guessing from other comments that HMS Trinidad was the next ship to have Bonham-Carter aboard but I don't know the whole story of what all happened. And I also feel very sorry for the survivors of HMS Edinburgh minus B-Carter for the terrible luck they had getting sunk again aboard HMS Trinidad. Leads me to believe that Bonham-Carter had a bar of that gold in his luggage and so he was bringing the evil from that gold with him. And I do believe that evil can attach itself to such things. I don't know or understand why but rich people are sometimes very evil & their souls attach themselves to their riches. And somehow follow where it goes. That's the only way I can think of to explain it. Just like there are certain places where bad things happen regardless of how good people are that are there. I feel that way about where my parents built their house in South Carolina. I don't know what may have happened there before my Mom & Step-dad, Billy lived there but I do know that I NEVER want to go back there again. Something about that place is evil. We didn't realize before we built the house there. But I think my Step-dad, Billy wanted to leave there. And I believe, from what a neighbor told me, that my older brother killed Billy there. And I know for sure my brother tried to have someone kill my wife & I there. Luckily, because of my wife, we escaped with our lives. All of them are gone now. My Mom passed 3 months after my wife & I fled from there. And my brother died in 2019. My wife had passed away in 2015. So the only family I have is a daughter I haven't seen in 20 years. But I am a firm believer in God and good & evil. And I strongly believe that hatred brings evil. And that you can purge all hatred from your heart and mind. Sorry for the rant. But it's true. And I have asked for & believe that I saw a miracle happen. It wasn't huge but it was enough to make me know that it was real.
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@Drachinifel The USSR may have insured it until it was actually delivered to the UK. Either that or because it was in the USSR territorial waters & that was part of the conditions of the salvage. Idk, even with the gold being loaded aboard a warship, you'd think that a cargo of such value would still have insurance. Not totally sure cuz different times & desperate measures. The USSR at the time was in dire straits with the Nazi's invading. And so just the show of faith of trying to send 5 million in gold(or ever how much it was at the time) to the UK was still a big deal. And yeah, Stalin was about as crazy as a bed bug but you also have to consider how cut throat all the Russians were at that time. Even Stalin's most loyal servants could have been just waiting for the opportunity to stab him in the back for a price. After the Russian Revolution it was just that bad, & Stalin knew it. And that's why he was so paranoid. And just to show his poor judgement, look at how he reacted to Nazi Germany invading Russia! It took him 3 days to get a grip that it was really happening & that he needed to respond. And because of it Russia was nearly over run. Only thing that saved the Russian's is that the country is just so huge & people that could flee away from German occupation did so. And that they had just so many people to try to stop the onslaught. Sorry. But I grew up around crazy people so I understand how they think & how they don't.
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 @Drachinifel Wouldn't such a large shipment of gold be covered by insurance? I mean, I seriously think it would.
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Hey Drach, considering that you were supposed to be at a bar in DC tonight I had wanted to come & meet you. However, I've NOT been feeling well and decided that you may be better off NOT having me present cuz I'm not sure if I would be contagious but probably better safe than sorry. I'd hate to make you sick for the remainder of your visit here in the US! So hopefully maybe next time you visit the states you'll be back in DC again. But I do hope you had a good time in DC & safe & happy trip to you, the misses & your entourage!!!
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Tumblehome-tumbles over. Makes you wonder how many drowned due to this design.
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Also, another factor too which I didn't hear you mention, as far as getting a hit with the first salvo but missing on the second salvo is that cold bore guns are not going to fire the same as guns that have just been fired & are now warmed up. Comparatively speaking, second, third & fourth salvo's are going to be more consistent with each other cuz the barrels are warmed up or hot really, compared to the first salvo when the guns are cold.
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Idk, when I first saw the name the "dingy" part of the name Dingyuan made me think this is some really small war ship.
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@AndrewTBP Thank you. Coming from a complete stranger that really means a lot. And it's not ignorance at all. My whole point was the very last statement. God bless you & have a nice day.
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What pisses me off is why our countries can't get along better. I mean, the US & UK basically saved China's ass in WW2. And arguably Russia as well. I mean, Communism is the type of government that is in power there now. Its not like these people are the devil or evil. They just want to live & this is the kind of gov't they have. I really don't like the fact that we constantly have to have a cold war. And constantly have to have a military that can destroy the world in an instant. It's frickin depressing! As Rodney King once said "Can't we all just get along?" Our very existence is being threatened by the fact that we are destroying our own environment. We should all be working together to try to stop our environment from going into chaos. Don't get me wrong, I'm no angel myself, but we're basically at the point of no return. And despite all these weapons we can use to kill each other, when our atmosphere runs out of oxygen people are going to be dropping dead everywhere. Laugh if you want but a day will come when this planet is no longer suitable to sustain the massive amounts of humans living here. Clean air & clean water will be unavailable. I won't see it, my time here is almost over. I'm 56 years old & in poor health. But what is going to happen? We are the future & the rest of the future depends on what we do with it! I'm not saying we all need to love each other. But what I AM SAYING IS WE NEED TO LEARN HOW TO NOT HATE EACH OTHER!
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@Drachinifel I think the 5 min guides should have a 15 second intro & the Rum Rations a 30 second intro. However it doesn't really matter all that much. Considering the large amount of content that you have on your channel the intro music IS FUN BUT NOT WHY WE LISTEN TO YOUR CHANNEL.
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I DON'T KNOW MAN. NEVER HAVE I HEARD ANYTHING ABOUT CATS MAKING CHILDREN SICK. WE HAD 7 CATS AND A DAUGHTER AND MY DAUGHTER WAS NEVER EVER SICK. SERIOUSLY. I think she had a cold at about 14 months old then I don't remember her getting sick again until maybe 9 years old. Maybe if you are going to say CRAP like that you should provide REAL names of "diseases" cats are giving to children.
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Irony?? I'm listening to this while being on a bus to the Pentagon from Northern Virginia. Do you know why Eisenhower was elected President? Because Nimitz didn't run!
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@Edax_Royeaux Yes, but Nimitz didn't send that part: "the world wonders" whomever the signal officer was put that in there. And then the signal officer on the ship fudged up & included that when it wasn't part of the message. However, the simple fact that he repeated the question was evidence that he was NOT happy with what Halsey had done, or neglected to do that is. People can say that it worked out to be ok because of some very brave Destroyers & Destroyer Escort Captains & Crew. But because of Halseys mistake a lot of people died that day that should not have had to die & if it weren't for those brave Captains & crews all of those escort carriers could have been sunk with over 900 sailors aboard each one & then the whole of the landing forces as well which I think was around 70,000 troops! I personally think Halsey was getting too old for the kind of responsibility he had. Or was drinking too much.
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Wow. Definitely an ill fated ship. Only 3 survivors. I think the torpedo boats were looking for the Kamchatka but it was already at the bottom, along with numerous binoculars that had been thrown in it's general direction!
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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.
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@seraphina985 I would have said "Well in that case you trust way too much!" Should ww start screaming now or try to put or head between our legs & kiss our ass goodbye?
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Yeah, I just learned yesterday about a tribal class destroyer getting cut in half by HMS KGV & 49 men in the aft section of the destroyer died due to depth charges exploding as the ship sank or just drowned cuz that section sank so quickly. But getting killed by their own ordinance is definitely a bad day! USS Washington was also forced to sail between the fore & aft sections of the sinking destroyer & incurred damage from the depth charges as well.
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This is the episode that made me a Drach Fan! Without a doubt I really enjoyed this episode & I doubt I will ever be at sea to need this information. But the dark humor & sarcasm he uses is just really awesome. And the ending where he says for everyone to take a minute of silence for those that for whatever reason was lost at sea is rather touching and special. Most of "The Tin Can Sailors" that faced the Japanese Center Force & drove them away from the landing forces & the light carriers were not rescued for about 76 hours. During that time no one is sure how many perished in the water after surviving the battle. Also the heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis is known to delivering the parts for the atomic weapons that destroyed Hiroshima & Nagasaki was sunk after delivering those parts. It is believed that out of a crew of over 1200 about 900 made it into the water after a Japanese submarine put 3 torpedoes into the ship in the middle of the night. After about a week in the water only 316 survivors were rescued. Sharks & exposure claimed the rest.
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I've been listening to your videos for well over a year or three and this is the first time I've seen this video. Are there more videos hiding that I should know about?
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@Foxttellio Well, for one they were too light & flimsy. AND the one on the USS Michigan collapsed & killed a couple of sailors. Three they were not strong enough to support the things they needed to support. Like range finders & then when radar started being used they were way too flimsy to support any radar. And four, it was over 80 years ago, why do you care?
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Well. It has a motor, a propeller & wings, therefore the Japanese MUST have copied it from some other plane. Cuz we are not intelligent enough to realize that the Japanese are intelligent enough to design, build & manufacture their own airplanes. Or warships. Or torpedoes. Or 18" guns. The Pearl Harbor attack & 2 years of war & the US sailors are finally realizing that the Japanese are very formidable opponents. What took so long? Well, as they say, ignorance is bliss, until bombs start raining down on your paradise!!!
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WHEN I LEARN ABOUT HOW IGNORANT AMERICANS WERE & STILL ARE AT THIS VERY MOMENT IT REALLY MAKES ME WANT TO SCREAM & HANG MY HEAD IN SHAME!!! I mean, I'm not one of the sharpest tacks on the bulletin board but I do like to know what I'm talking about. And if I don't know about something then I listen to someone that does. But even then I still question them to make sure they really know what they are talking about.
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Idk, it's weird that for some reason as a child I first heard about the Halifax explosion & for some reason I thought it happened off the coast of Ireland, rather than the coast of Canada. I don't know why!
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Yeah, removing the torpedo was a very smart thing to do considering the US had yet to be able to produce a torpedo that would would not work!
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And speaking of ships that must have gained a fearsome reputation with it's enemies, although you did not include it the USS Enterprise, after the Japanese had claimed to have sunk the US carrier on several/ numerous occasions that the ship got the nickname "Grey Ghost". So it leads me to think that CV-6 must have certainly built up quite a fearsome reputation among the Japanese.
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And why would the US have battleships at Luzon, that would have been like throwing a battleship in the trash. At least at Pearl Harbor they thought they were relatively safe. The air attack was totally unexpected at Pearl, at the Philippines not as much.
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I'd be glad to give it a listen & maybe learn something!!!
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Yeah, if Rodney had been able to wire guide 8 torpedoes into Bismark then the ship would have capsized almost immediately AND ALL THESE PEOPLE that try to say the ship was scuttled and not sunk by rhe British would have to say the ship was sunk by the British!!!
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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.
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I didn't know or realize that there was a-holes stealing from or apparently pilfering sunken warships from WW2. That is frickin EVIL!!! That's like digging up dead bodies to see if they were buried with any jewelry. No respect for the dead. I personally feel that people who do such things should be shot. Then survivors shot again. It's really dispicable to do such a thing. I could actually think of much worse things that could & should be done to them but as a society we have grown away from justified acts of horror to keep criminals from doing certain things.
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Q & A At about 3:50 someone asks the question of how difficult it is to change from coal heated boilers to oil powered boilers. □ Well my question is, Usually back then when they designed a ship they would put the coal bunkers behind the armor thus "in theory" adding a couple of inches to the armor.☆☆ So when they changed from coal to oil did they replace the armor with thicker armor on any of these ships? And if they didn't when it is kinda obvious that they should, did they give reasons why?
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@Valchrist1313 Welcome to 2024, when people aren't happy unless they have something to complain about! Or some kind of BS cause they can argue & fight with people over. I take offense at being called a redneck but Jeff Foxworthy got rich making "redneck" jokes. I never once thought he was talking about me specifically. And like the NFL Football team changed their name from the Redskins to the Commanders. Dude didn't change the name cuz it was the right thing to do! He did it cuz he got caught up in some sexual harassment BS. Most people just need something to do. Find some kind of art or craft they enjoy instead getting into other people's business and complaining all the time. And I just waisted 10 mins complaining about people that want to complain all the time. It gets old. People need to get a life!
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Right near the end of the Drydock I can hear someone eating beside you. Sounds like they pour a bowl of cereal and start crunching right near the microphone. Was Misses Drach doing that on purpose to mess with you while you were recording?
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Yeah, in my personal opinion the US Navy never really fought a typical line of battleships type engagement even at Surigao Strait considering that by the time the Japanese ships encountered US Navy battleships there was only one Japanese battleship left so even though the US Navy was arranged in a battle line formation the one Japanese battleship left can hardly be considered an opposing battle line. Therefore the US Navy never really participated in a "typical line of battle" with their battleships. And when operating in typical line of battle with cruisers they were usually met with a large amount of long lance torpedoes causing catastrophic consequences for most of the sailors aboard, or at least during the Guadal Canal campaign. And this was usually due to some incompetent rear Admiral showing up & not knowing his business enough to allow his ships to fire upon enemy ships at the earliest possible moment. ☆☆☆When studying Naval doctrine the US Navy at Guadal Canal should be looked at very closely as to "what NOT to do" when a Navy all of a sudden finds that it's at war. While inexperience could maybe justify the losses at the 1st Battle of Savo Island, after that, the only excuse is ignorance of an enemy that has fully shown that it is VERY CAPABLE. And, even in the First Battle of Savo Island, A Captain not knowing & understanding the full capability of his ships radar and believing that it makes the ship vulnerable in some way during the night & orders it to be turned off. This ignorance confounds me. And I'm not sure if it's the Navy's fault for not teaching him properly or if it was simply his fault for not learning the truth of it's capability. It would seem the latter considering Admiral Lee was able to use the Washington's radar & guns to devastating affect upon Kirishima saving the South Dakota from further salvos from the Japanese war ship. But also, sending a ship to that area with an Admiral aboard that out ranks the Admiral already on that station is a bit counter productive considering the Admiral already there should have a better idea of his surroundings. And a better understanding of previous actions. Ànd it also seems that neither of these Admirals would ever know the true capabilities of the radars that were on the ships around them. Considering that "Roger" meant "yes" & also meant "receipt of transmission" would at least let the ships that had a target start firing at said target would at least save some of the ships & some of the sailors aboard. Even though the 2 Admirals would both be lost. And although the Guadal Canal campaign was a huge embarrassment for the US Navy imho the major saving grace for US Forces in the area was the US Marine Corp. Because they were able to hold the airstrip against Japanese forces on the island they were also able to form the Cactus Air Force. I imagine at first it was a logistical nightmare to populate the area with planes, fuel, bombs & torpedoes. But it also made for huge deterant for enemy supply ships that were not capable of a lot of speed. Cuz although supply ships could make it there under the cover of darkness they would just be beginning to unload at sunrise & get bombed out of existence by the Cactus Air Force. Which is one part of the war that I have ever heard little about. The logistics of the Cactus Air Force. How did they get their first planes? How did the get replacement planes? Fuel? Bombs? Food? Were they able to create underground bunkers for large fuel tanks? & bombs? & AA ammunition & food stores? Or was everything above ground & vulnerable to sea to land bombardment? Or aircraft bombing? How quickly were they able to set up radar installations? And how often was it damaged and/or replaced with newer & better radar?
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@john_in_phoenix Anyone that has kept up with all the Drach videos for the past 4-5 years can probably tell you a lot about naval history.
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Siapan, Guam & Tinian were definitely the biggest operations of Spruance's career. My Uncle Ken was in the Air Force all his life & spent most of his career stationed in Guam & occasionally the Philippines. So we rarely ever got to see Uncle Ken.
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@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!!
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@Drachinifel -----Q & A---- Yeah, yesterday I happened across something written by Lundgren about the Battleship battles of Guadal Canal suggesting that there was a "friendly fire" incident during that battle involving the USS Washington & the escorting destroyers. And I was wondering if YOU were going to try to figure out exactly what happened and do a video about it. Cuz, if you think about it, if that really did happen, then that would explain Admiral Lee's reluctance to open fire on Kirishima until they were sure it was an enemy vessel. And Admiral Lee's reluctance for other night battles as well. And considering the difficulties the Navy had been dealing with at Guadal Canal, the US Navy needed a victory. And NOT one overshadowed by another "friendly fire" incident. That being said, I can understand why such a thing could be "temporarily" covered up. But NOT completely covered up, with the upper levels of command knowing the true story. While I had something else come up & didn't finish reading everything Lundgren wrote about what happened but it does seem something happened that was covered up.
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@Drachinifel ‐------> Q & A <------ I'm curious about the late afternoon/evening carrier strike on the Japanese. We're there Avengers & Dauntless aircraft sent as the strike aircraft with Hellcat fighters for cover? AND if Avengers were sent with the dive bombers did any of them have enough gasoline to get recovered? Or were all the Avengers that went on that mission lost!
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To be quite honest, I thought the video was boring & and they jumped around saying this & that but idk, maybe Drach should have wrote a script instead to tell us the actual details of everything that happened. That was what I had thought & hoped for when I first noticed the video. But instead we have a guy that wrote a book. And he says some interesting things but it's still not clear all the different things that happened during Torch. I do know that the day after the landings that Patton showed up & started barking orders at people & got things moving. And had some of the Navy ships bombard some enemy tanks that were threatening cuz their own armor hadn't gotten ashore. And they had quite a battle with the "Vichy French". Cuz let's face it. Hitler had already defeated the French on their own soil. Wasn't going to be difficult to defeat them in Africa. They had hoped to NOT have to fight the French. But the Brits blowing up some of their warships I'm sure didn't help matters. Resisting the Allies about as much as they resisted Germany on their own soil. I've never had a good opinion of the French.
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This is such a crazy world we live in. For hundreds of years Britain ruled the seas. Now Americans rules..
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Yeah, I've never heard of it. It's like people don't want to discuss the whole war and the beginnings of the war. They only want to talk about D-Day & Battle of the Bulge. The US basically had to train an entire army & navy while building all the war gear in the factories as well as building war ships, merchant ships, planes & tanks & train people to use them. That was the main part of the war efforts in 1942 was getting everything organized so we would have the logistics to take the fight to the enemy. Then by 1944 we were fighting 2 wars on opposite sides of the world. But they never talk about the humble beginnings of the wars before the factories got to churning out massive amounts of war materials. When men were just trying to make due with what they had. And things weren't looking so good. I heard that upon hearing the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor that Churchill did a little dance and said "Now we can't lose." After suffering through the Battle of Britain in 1940 & being worried about operation sea lion I guess we should forgive him for that one. But the thought of 2500 people dying & someone dancing a jig cuz of it makes my blood boil. Considering that estimates say that 65-80 million died during all of WW2, maybe that 2500 doesn't seem so tragic. However it did light the fuse to the powder keg that was the United States of America.
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I've said it before & I'll say it again. In my opinion the character "Gandalf" & how he was able to get Men, Dwarves & Elves & even Hobbits & Ents to band together & work together towards defeating "the Dark Lord". Considering "the Hobbit" written before WW2 then "Lord of the Rings" written after WW2 I think Tolkien was inspired to write the books by the struggle to defeat the "Axis Powers" in WW2. And let's face it, the Axis Powers were doing some very Evil things too. But Eisenhower worked really hard to make sure everyone was able to contribute that wanted to & could contribute. And wouldn't let ANY American Officers speak negative about British Officers because they are British. And so on.
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As far as I'm concerned anyone in a Gato class submarine deserved whatever comforts that the US Navy could manage. Being on a submarine crew was very dangerous. And disappearing was not uncommon. And any "last letters" to loved ones had to remain ashore, if they even had a place to put such a thing.
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I'd heard of Idaho potatoes but not Maine potatoes. Learn something new every day. Thank you. Didn't know that.
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I had thought I heard someone say that the USS Missouri was called "Roosevelt's Big Stick"??? Not sure if that's true, & I forget where I heard it. Also, I live in the DC area & in DC there is a place called Adams Morgan. In Adams Morgan is a bar called "Madams Organ", not a ship but still rather funny.
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@Drachinifel Q & A???? The picture you show when asked about HMS Splendid, right around 40:45 is that a submarine or idk when I first saw it, it looked to me like someone took a picture of a whale surfacing & super-imposed a picture of a conning tower on top of it. Can you explain the actual origin of this picture PLEASE?
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You made the comment "Never underestimate the United States ability to churn out massive amounts of Destroyers." Those Destroyers that were built was practice for churning out massive amounts of capital ships plus anything & everything else that the Allies needed to win WW2: Like aircraft carriers & the aircraft to stock them, cruisers, oilers, and even merchant ships too. Pretty crazy that at the same time the US was having to make all this stuff for the war efforts, they were also having to train the sailors to man those ships, the pilots to fly the planes, & soldiers & engineers too.
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THANK YOU. Even though that was a very long post I read the whole of it with much interest. I was aware of McVay's suicide and the push to have him exonerated. I also remember something about Nimitz disagreeing with the entire court martial. And it wasn't the loss of the ship that killed most of the crew, it was their mayday message being ignored & the fact that they were overdue but no one sent a search party. But the major thing that doomed this crew was the delivery of the atomic weapon that took so many lives at Hiroshima. IMHO, that was God's way of saying "I'm watching". 316 survivors? John 3:16 one of the most known verses in the Bible. Coincidence? Maybe. Believe what you want. I've never been one to preach & most that take it too far people consider nutty. One of my Aunts was like that & her sister told her. "The Lord wants righteous fruit. Not religious nuts."
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And so by turning broadside the ship provides the enemy with a larger target however also giving the ship the best possible ability to strike fast & first. Cuz in striking first you can possibly deny the enemy a chance to retaliate. Especially if a firing solution is correct & exploited to the best ability of the ship in question then the enemy ship may end up a sinking wreck and unable to fire because of their on board missiles causing secondary explosions & tearing the enemy ship apart like a magazine explosion.
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Well that is very sad. However, with every bomb it should be considered the minimum altitude to avoid being caught in the blast radius of your own bomb. And delays were even on most bombs to allow for a dive bomber an extra 3-4 seconds before the bomb explodes so the plane doesn't get caught in the frag pattern of it's own bomb. Even with an "experimental bomb" all of these possibilities SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED AND THE CREW DROPPING THE BOMB BRIEFED & A MINIMUM ALTITUDE SHOULD HAVE BEEN AGREED UPON. And a mistake like that whether it was the lack of giving the crew the important information that it needed to safely use such weapon or the crew itself dropping the weapon at an altitude below it's intended use? EITHER WAY IT IS A HUGE SCREW UP ON SOMEONES PART AND I HOPE IT WAS FOLLOWED UP BY A COURT MARTIAL OF SOME DEGREE.
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Idk, the Chinese don't have a Naval tradition. Why try to come up with reasons why they would have a Naval tradition if they never did. That's like trying to fight for gay men to have the right to have babies when they can't have babies!
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The Italians never had much luck when it came to their naval service in the 20th century. Luckily they did manage to make & sell some really nice sports cars. And I am rather fond of Italian food as well, Fettuccine Alfredo being one of my favorites & who can pass on a good slice of pizza?
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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!!
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Yeah, the bit about the HMS Hood turning to port & it exposing more of it's starboard side during its initial kick is a very plausible scenario in my opinion. When the Captain ordered the turn he was likely trying to not only protect the ship by changing it's bearing but also trying to have an angle so that the aft guns could begin firing. However, considering how a large ship kicks to the other side before it begins to turn the other way. So the Captain ordering the turn to port exposed the ship at the very moment the shell arrived that would cause it to explode. Had the Captain not given the order to turn when he did the ship may not have received the hit where it did & not had a catastrophic explosion. And the simple fact that the Hood had NOT had any refits in such à long time could have also been a contributing factor. And the fact that the Hood had been so neglected made the ship that much more vulnerable. 😢 Those poor men! The Hood & the Bismarck crews RIP.
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Where is Admiral "Ching" Lee when you need him? Considering how well he did with the Washingtons guns. It would be really cool to have Lee try to use as many of these guns as possible, and then he could tell us which guns were the most reliable and accurate. But idk, sometimes it's user error as far as a firing solution
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Sawed off shotguns can sometimes be as dangerous to the person holding it as those in front of it. It basically HAS to be long enough that it doesn't blow up in your hands. But battleship guns are nothing like a shotgun. The thing about a "sawed off shotgun" is if they are done right that you can be in close proximity and point it & they are easier to conceal. Try pointing a regular shotgun at someone 3 feet away and they can push the barrel away. PLUS, you don't have to saw it off. You can just buy one with a short barrel. The thing about a shot gun is you can buy shells that have different ammo in it. You can also buy slugs that is one big round. But I think that really the most deadly is buck shot. They are about the size of a small marble & the shorter the barrel the more they spread out. Imho buck shot is really what makes a sawed off shotgun deadly. Cuz the shot spreads out quicker. If you use bird shot they might take it away from you & beat the crap outta you with it! I don't think that they had grape shot for WW2 guns. But I do think that they had shells that would explode about 20 feet b4 they hit the ground and would basically shower shrapnel everywhere.
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In my opinion, every gun is measured by it's accuracy. And a gun can really only be as good as the people using said gun & how experienced that person is at using that gun. And it's ability to hit the target repeatedly no matter what. So really, with battleship grade guns, they are only going to be as good as whatever fire control systems are being used & how experienced the users are at getting an accurate firing solution and making it tell. And ŵhen Washington fired on Kirishima, they were using a firing solution that came from the radar returns. And since the crew had practiced repeatedly using the radar to get a firing solution & then using it to fire on target that was why they were able to fire & hit Kirishima as much as they did. It makes me actually wonder if there were any shells that missed.
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@martinswiney2192 I never liked beer. My tastebuds just refused to let me enjoy beer. But I could do some white zinfandel, tequila shots or margaritas. Jose Cuervo was a name I used often enough. And Yagermeister on the rocks. Southern Comfort was probably the first alcohol I ever drank & enjoyed. Friend of mine used to call it "Sudden Discomfort." But I never think long about having a drink. Especially considering I often see drunk people acting like a fool & it makes me proud I don't drink. My only regret, is that at one time I had a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue given to me. It was worth about $725.00 at the time. I didn't open it cuz I was going to sale it. But it got stolen out of my bag while I was with my wife at the hospital. A booze manager at Buffalo Wild Wings was supposed to give me $450 for it the next day too.
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I do question why Vanguard's guns were included considering the ship wasn't completed until AFTER WW2. And it says WW2 Guns. Which means guns being used during WW2. Which those guns, although may have already been made, never participated in WW2. And including super charges that were also not used during WW2 just also punctuates the fact that it shouldn't be included. Or you could just say Battleship guns from 1940 & beyond instead of saying it's a comparison of WW2 Battleship guns. So it's kinda misleading imo. And at times you mentioned accuracy. Was the true accuracy of all the guns known & included? And most of the time accuracy is going to depend upon the fire control systems used & the people using them. Also in the case of the Italian Battleships having "bad" accuracy issues wasn't a problem with the guns themselves but the lack of quality control with the shells they were firing & amount of propellant being used. Which had both of those issues not been a factor then the guns themselves would have been seen as above average weapons. And at the end of the day the Japanese had the largest battleship guns ever. So you have to figure why did the Yamato run away from a few destroyers & destroyer escorts during the Naval Battle of Samar when Yamato's guns outweighed the combined total of those destroyers? The only 2 answers that I can come up with are: 1) The Japanese Admiral had a head wound, was fatigued and after seeing Musashi sunk the day before & seeing multiple cruisers getting there bows blown off & having to evade numerous torpedoes as well as air attacks. He felt like he was fighting a losing battle. 2) While having AA gunners trying to repel air attacks the Yamato & other battleships couldn't fire their main armament at surface vessels as well because the blasts would kill his own crew manning the AA guns. So it was a major conundrum. And he didn't want his ships to suffer any more damage.
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When answering the question about Britain using the Swordfish biplane as a torpedo bomber when the US & Japanese had monoplanes the answer you gave(imho) left out what I also thought was a major contributing factor to British Carriers not getting the newest & best airplanes in quick & timely manner. And that major contributing factor is "The Battle of Britain!" Cuz the Germans wanted to invade England but knew that crossing the channel with a landing force would be suicide with England's Royal Navy being strong 💪 enough to murder such a force. So they got the big idea that if they could take over the skies with the Luffwaffe that air power could in part neutralize the power of the Royal Navy if the Luffwaffe could have complete air superiority in the skies over England. And because so much time, money & effort was being funneled into fighters for the RAF in order to rule the skies over England that carrier aircraft was put on the back burner so to speak cuz winning the skies over London took priority. Once it became clear that if Germany did try to invade England, that England could repel such an invasion with heavy losses that was when they began trying to get better aircraft for their carriers. And you also have to figure that during that time when Britain was so involved in the Battle of Britain that everyone was so preoccupied building ground based fighters that development & funding for carrier based aircraft was practically non- existent. Anyway, that was what I had always heard. And that although the Swordfish was outclassed by most monoplane fighters they could still deliver devastating torpedo hits to ships. Just ask Bismark. Although HMS Rodney & HMS KGV may have turned Bismark into a battered & sinking wreck full of carnage. It was the Swordfish that delivered the crippling torpedo blow that jammed the steering mechanisms that enabled those 2 battleships to attack Bismark and send it to it's home on the sea bed. And furthermore, the Swordfish that attacked Bismark received AA fire that arguably may bave torn a wing from a metal monoplane but easily passed thru the canvass of the Swordfish and then was easily repaired with tape. I WONDER IF THEY HAD DUCT TAPE BACK THEN?? Or an equivalent? Anyway, I hope what I've said makes sense & is also a major factor in the Brits being just a tiny bit behind in having modern up to date aircraft on their carriers. Once the US started stocking British Carriers with US monoplanes evidently the British pilots had no problem learning to fly them. Which leads me to think I need to learn more about aviation history.
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@imprisongroverfurr5252 Idk, but considering that most of the other ships in the Japanese columns were somewhat larger it would probably have gone very badly. You also have to take into account that the people aboard those ships that were still alive probably wanted to um stay that way. And even though their ships may have been sinking I'm sure they thought there was a good chance of rescue after abandoning the ship. And sailors were probably too busy trying to help wounded sailors and ramming would have probably caused a lot more of them to go down with the ships. Plus planes were doing a fairly good job of shooting at those ships & they didn't want to get in the way of friendly fire either.
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Q & A PLEASE Concerning this man's time during the war & in the Navy in general, Do you know if he did any other interviews like with the War Veterans Project? And I heard something mentioned about a book? Did he publish a book?
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Hey Guys, any male monarch of Engand is definitely playing second fiddle to Queen Elizabeth. She is/was so popular that I would occasionally even see her face on car stickers here in the US. Although we may have fought a couple hundred years ago to form our own government some people still have respect for Royalty, especially someone as strong & gracious as Queen Elizabeth! She was a Great Human being & it's a shame she is gone. Any new Queen can only hope to be as gracious as her. It's because of her that the kids are Allright!!! I will be forever grateful that the Americans & the British stood together in the World Wars.
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One of my favorite stories was the one about HMS Revenge pulling off the world's first "stealth" battleship attack!. It's a shame he doesn't reference that story in the 5 minute guide at all for the HMS Revenge. Imho the 5 minute guide should have a link to that story.
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Hey Drach, just a small thing about the war of 1812. If the Royal Navy had been previously impressing Americans into service then I would make an educated guess to the fact that this was done by stopping American vessels at sea. And I think that was pretty much the point when war was declared that the US was getting harassed by the Royal Navy to the point they declared war. And also on land the Brits were teaming with the natives to strike against settlers & such as well. And so the US was basically just wanting the Brits out of North America, and to stop harassing their ships at sea. AND since the Treaty of Gant or whatever pretty much solved the issue it was over. Idk, I think the concessions that were given in the treaty itself is where the victory lies. Not necessarily a "Naval" type victory but a victory nonetheless cuz the US got what it wanted. While the British could technically say it "won" as well, the people that really LOST the war of 1812 were the native americans. And I'm sure the loss of Tecumseh himself was a huge loss to them as well.
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Nagumo was not removed because the "higher ups" wanted to cover up the defeat at Midway because it was a very "decisive" & significant defeat!!! This WAS the decisive battle they had wanted but they had completely lost! And to cover up such a thing, if they had sacked Nagumo, they would have to give a reason "why". And no one wanted to have to say "Because 4 of our aircraft carriers were sunk during one battle." Not one, not two, not three BUT FOUR were sunk during one battle.
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One of the things that bothered me was that Poland was NOT re-established after the fall of Germany. I think that the Allies should have demanded that Stalin do so. AND I believe that is the main reason that Patton wanted to go ahead & invade Russia as soon as Germany fell. Although I understand why we(meaning the USA) did not do so. I do feel that if the entire Allied nations had threatened Stalin with invasion that there is a good possibility that he may have relented. I always thought it was really cruddy of Stalin to make the deal with Hitler to divide Poland with him in the first place. Making him let Poland re-establish it's original borders as well as it's own government would have been poetic justice as well as political justice. Not to mention it was the right thing to do. But instead we established Israel. Which was also the right thing to do considering all the Jewish people went through in WW2. It's a shame that the Palestinians were robbed of their lands in the making of Israel. But exactly how long had Palistine been around? As long as Poland? It just goes to show that some people will have to lose for others to gain. It would be nice if somehow Palestinians could be given lands elsewhere, even though they would not include Jerusalem.
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Yeah, it's truly a shame that Mers El Kabir went down like it did. And good that more sane heads prevailed in Alexandria where I believe some of the messages were filed in the fireplace as out of date due to time zone issues, I believe. Unfortunately for the French sailors(especially the ones aboard Dunkirk) Cunningham couldn't be every where at once.
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 @TheEudaemonicPlague Yes, However a cat does have a fur coat.
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I'm not sure if you've ever really, really paid attention to the film footage of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. If you have, then you must know & realize.;; N
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Dzang! Over 3500 men lost at sea. The loss of HMS Hood stirred the hornets nest that was the Royal Navy. And then it was but a matter of time for Bismarck. I am of the opinion that once Bismarck had stopped firing & someone raised the black flag for parlay that the guns should have stopped firing & torpedoes used to finish of the ship. And that they should have picked up all survivors. With so many British ships around it was doubtful that any U-boat would have attacked. However, other ships should have pitched in to pick up survivors as well. The Dorcester picked up almost a hundred & having that many enemy sailors aboard is kinda sketchy so I'm sure that's why it didn't save them all. But did they really throw out life boats? And were there any accounts of survivors in life boats?
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Q & A If they threw rafts overboard, are there any accounts of survivors that lived due to the rafts???
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Unfortunately, the blunder of Halsey leaving without leaving behind the battleship task force & then leaving the survivors of that battle in the water for 3 days made the US Navy look incompetent. If not for the brave & selfless acts of those Destroyers & Destroyer Escort crews many, many men within those carriers would have been doomed. But because of blunders before & after, the Navy kinda didn't want to publicize what happened until much, much later. In my opinion these things doesn't detract from the fact that the Johnston & the Robert's & the rest of Taffy 3 pretty much saved the day! But the saddest part of it is that the day wasn't saved for a great number of them. Evans being one of those. So I would have to go with sinking 4 fleet carriers at Midway being the US Navy's proudest moment. Cuz although they had the Hornets flight to no where & practically every plane carrying a torpedo shot down. But despite all of that the Navy pilot's still sunk 4 fleet carriers. And it was that heavy blow that caused Japan to be on the defensive rather than the offensive.
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You were talking about most embarrassing moments & most proud moments. For the US Navy it would have to be Pearl Harbor. And Guadal Canal until Admiral Lee showed up with USS Washington. Proudest moments was sinking 4 carriers at Midway, the Mariana's "Turkey Shoot" & the Naval Battle of Samar. The US Army's Proudest moments D-Day at Normandy, & the siege of Bastogne during Battle of the Bulge & Pattons March to relieve Bastogne.
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Ironically, although they do have a very good reason to be VERY proud of Evans & the rest of Taffy 3, especially the Destroyers & Destroyer Escorts. However, the Navy also at the same time had reason to be ashamed of Halsey for leaving them there without the battleships he was suppose to leave behind! And they also had reason to be ashamed considering that they left the survivors of those ships in the water for 3 days before they rescued them. I could MAYBE, maybe understand 24 hours. But 3 days for sailors that fought so bravely to then have to battle the elements, dehydration and shark attacks is in my honest opinion the US Navy's lowest moment. I mean, they can blame the Japanese for Pearl Harbor. But they abandoned their sailors for 3 days. How many died during those 3 days that may have lived if rescued within a reasonable amount of time? There is no excuse that the Navy can give that justifies leaving those sailors in the water for 3 days. Totally unexcusable. Especially considering how brave and selfless these men were in fighting the Japanese & in trying to protect those carriers and the landing forces as well.
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Wow. Now that was a busy ship. Ty for that.
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Yep, name a ship the same as a country & then if it sinks... Argentina SANK TODAY??? 😮 OH NO, well what about the rest of South America?😂
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@gregorywright4918 I'm fairly certain both ships that were converted into carriers were sunk. Not exactly sure what you are talking about.
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@pedrofelipefreitas2666 Yep, Patton wanted to go ahead & fight Russia too. He said "we might as well go ahead & fight them now while we have everything already here, including well trained men." Patton not only had the balls to say it but the intelligence to know that Stalin was NOT our friend or true ally.
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@Neithan02 Well, that argument worked fairly well for some of the Germans. And when they were sentencing they didn't get any time for those crimes even though they were found guilty. And dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki saved more lives by making the Japs finally surrender, rather than the Allies invading the home islands.
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@Neithan02 And if instead of dropping the 2 nukes we started invading the Japanese home islands, how many civilians & soldiers would die while we did that. Hundreds of Japanese families committed suicide on Iwo Jima & Okinawa cuz they were so frightened of Americans. The simple fact that those 2 bombs ended the war saved millions of Japanese lives & probably another million US Soldiers as well. Although it is sad that we had to do that to end the war, I don't believe it is regrettable. It was the less of 2 evils.
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@Edax_Royeaux Well, if getting 4 aircraft carriers sunk plus some other ships sunk & about 3k sailors dying is a victory, while they took 2 air raids to sink Yorktown. Then I think the USN would gladly let them have all the great victories they might want. The Japanese wanted to have & win a decisive battle at sea. Well, what they didn't realize is Midway WAS the decisive battle. And instead of even coming close to victory, they laid an egg instead. Make that 4 eggs. And the saddest part of all was they should have realized then that the war was lost. But cuz of their pride and honor they would continue to send young men to their death for 3 more years.
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@Neithan02 You know what, I would debate this with you but I can tell you are one of those ignorant people that live in some kind of fantasy land where everything & everyone is supposed to be perfect. Well guess what? I live in the real world & I use to think that people are mainly good but then when I grew up I quickly found out that the exact opposite is true. In this real world people will talk, blah, blah blah. And they are just as ignorant, selfish & greedy as they can be. So all those civilian Chinese that the Japanese slaughtered by the hundred thousands didn't matter to you, nor the millions of Jews that the Nazi's slaughtered, and the people at Hiroshima & Nagasaki didn't matter to you. It's just some bs you are trying to push. Cuz the powers that made that happen are dead now. And from the way I see it, America never wanted to be in the war but Japan bombing Pearl Harbor forced us into the war. The people that started the war was Germany & Japan. Well, they got their war & millions died because of it. If the US had not dropped the atom bombs then millions more would have died. Yes it was horrible but the whole war was horrible and our leaders knew that dropping those bombs would end it. And thank God it did. Do I wish that ìt didn't have to happen? Of course. But it's now history and all the wishing in the world can't change all that happened.
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@BleedingUranium I was basically informing you of how & why we had a ship by such a name. And furthermore, I don't think anyone else had your preferences in mind when naming a ship. But by all means, please go on. What else do you NOT like? Any thing else you care to whine about? Then we can all go, "aw, poor you." Have a good day.
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By the way, seeing the ship pics you uploaded was cool. But what really got my attention was the stuff Mr Scott Abel wrote. I had stuff I needed to go do BUT instead I sat & read for a couple of hours. Please let him know he did a fantabulous job. And you did as well. Many thanks to you from the DC area.
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It's the Barbary Pirates all over again!
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@scottl9660 The Hells Angels began as a fighter squadron as well, I believe.
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Ya know, I grew up in Montgomery, AL & Maxwell AFB was there. And the Blue Angels use to practice over our neighborhood, I think because our hood had a huge field in the middle of it in case of an emergency. And my grandparents use to live near Pensacola. We use to go to Eglin afb to buy groceries cuz they were cheaper there. This was back when we could camp on the beach at Destin,FL. No huge hotels and stuff back then. Just woods & barely a beach. We'd go crabbing & boil them on a fire. Had a camper to sleep in.
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After thinking about it long & hard I decided that it doesn't really matter what you call them, cuz they ain't gonna come running! They been taken to the breakers over 50 years ago & all they are now is history.
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I don't get the question of the trimaran. Why would that kind of design make a good warship. That type of vessel was mainly created from wood to be small and thin so that it could be fast with rowers rowing & an outrigger to keep them from flipping over. The way people fought years it ago it made sense cuz a bunch of people could arrive on a beach & attack in a surprise.
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@Drachinifel Q & A During the age of sail, what exactly was the protocol when it comes to bad weather? Such as when Nelson was dying he said that he smelled a storm coming. Were precautions taken at Nelson saying this?When exactly was barometers used aboard ships? Or were they at all? And was there anyone specific aboard ships that the Captain(s) would listen to aboard ships that a storm was brewing? And exactly what actions/precautions would the ships take? Say if they were near a port would they go to port. And try to anchor the ship as best as they can? Or if they were in a port was it considered safer to go out to sea as to not have the storm run the ship aground? Or just keep on sailing away from where they are with the hopes of outrunning the storm? Etc, Etc? And does it just depend on the Captain of the ship & the ships Master? Cuz on one hand, the safety of the crew needs to be considered as well as the safety of the ship. And if a ship sinks at sea in a storm more than likely the crew will perish. If it sinks or runs aground in a port the crew, more than likely, should survive.
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Imho, I think the main reason that the US didn't even try to refloat USS Arizona is the plain simple fact that there were over 1,500 sailors entombed in the wreck. And they knew it would take forever & a day to try to recover & IDENTIFY & then bury the remains of that many sailors. And it just made more sense to NOT DISTURB their entombed bodies from within the ship.
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Is this how they got the idea for the game "Wack a Mole?" But seriously, even in today's world there is no way that you could convince me to get into a submarine and it go underneath the surface of the ocean. Nope! No thank you. But, I'm not all that fond of the idea of being at sea either. I've never been deep sea fishing either so Idk if I would get sea sick or not. I kind of think that I wouldn't get sea sick but during my lifetime I've seen so many things go wrong that I'd rather be on dry land rather than being surrounded by water that I can't drink that is full of things that would gladly eat me. No thank you. I'm having enough trouble surviving on land. My luck, if I went to sea, a tropical storm would quickly turn into a hurricane and overtake whatever ship I'm on. Then next thing I'd know is a bunch of sharks deciding I'd make a tasty meal. The only sharks I have to worry about on land are the human kind.
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Concerning Operation Catheryn, Churchill and his BRIGHT IDEAS did anyone tell Churchill that a death trap is still a death trap no matter how much armor & guns are provided. I think that maybe the best answer for Churchill should have been the Admiralty telling him that "Yes Mr Churchill this is such a wonderful plan! How about you volunteer to be the Captain of the very first ship & lead them into battle." I think that might have made him think twice before getting anymore "bright ideas" for other people to sail a death trap into a death trap. General Patton said "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country! You win a war by making the other dumb son of a bitch die for his country!" And that is not only true but that was the reason Patton stayed close to the front lines. That way if his Army ran into a major obstacle he and his crew could figure out the safest way to proceed without people getting needlessly killed. And that is why people respected Patton.
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Idk, I don't like the idea of changing the way history went down. By doing that you could make it to where you & your family don't even exist anymore. Idk, although a lot of people died in the end the Allies still came out of the war as winners. Would you really want to risk that?
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That is probably true about the Canadian Navy & Australian Navy being underappreciated during WW2. And that would also include the Australian & Canadian Armies as well. Especially considering the Canadians landed on their own beach on D Day at Normandy. And I also remember a few guys from the US 3rd Army talking about how the Canadians having their own tanks & how they used them just as well as the US did with their armor.
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@GearGuardianGaming yes, like a self torture device but at least you get ice cream afterwards. The ones with the motor you still had to feed them ice & rock salt constantly. But the ice cream was very good. Better than Breyers ice cream today even.
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Yeah, I can't see how he is "insulting" anyone regardless of his intellect. Idk, sounds to me like you just have a burr up your butt about something else & it's affecting your thought process. Either that or you are just one of those trolls that hates everything just because you are a hater. Why don't you get a therapist or something. Hate is evil & leads to evil deeds. Maybe if you actually listen as far 12:15-12:45 you may understand some of the difficulties our pilots faced.
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Ya know, they talk about Hornets flight to no where with the torpedo squadron, I think the leader of that squadron was well aware of how lame & outdated their airplanes were & he didn't want to die or lead his squadron into a battle where he knew they would all get killed & that is why he went where he went.
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Speaking of the Mythbusters thing. Also, what TYPE of wood was used by Mythbusters? Cuz pine is NOT going to create the same kind of splinters that oak & other hardwoods. It will also give way a lot easier too.
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Yeah, what was the dude trying to take his ship by doing that? Cuz that's what it sounds like. I guess you can't blame a guy for trying. Both of them, I mean. My Dad made the mistake of launching his boat with the plug not in & we had a half foot of water in the boat when we went to get in it. He put the plug in. Went & got the trailer & pulled it back out of the water, pulled the plug & it took about 5 minutes to drain it. Then, almost launched it AGAIN without the plug. I said "Dad, shouldn't we put the plug back in first?" He was so upset! It took him a while to calm down from it. I loved my Dad but he wasn't the brightest sometimes! He chopped his own wrist trying to split kindling when we were going to camp. Ruined that camping trip!
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Yeah, that last bit with the dude playing the bagpipes as the ship sails under the bridge & puts to sea for the first time IS REALLY COOL. I'm really glad that you had a picture of it for although talking about it is one thing but seeing the image of the man himself standing on the bow in highlander garb & playing the bagpipes is much more awesome looking than I would have thought by simply hearing about it. I wonder how many & what all tunes he played.
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Let's face it. It's much more cost effective to build something yourself rather than pay someone else to build it. Considering back in the early 1990's I helped my Step-father, Billy build a house for him & my Mom. It remained their home until they passed away. It took about a year & a half of my life but knowing they had a decent home with no mortgage was worth it. So, yeah them paying for a British built warship in order to know how they are built so they can build many others, you must admit it was pretty smart. Or you can look at it being the only way they could afford a Navy of any decent size.
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In speaking about the torpedo tubes on a battleship you said "that the rails were a rather ingenious way of problem solving". However, if the only time a torpedo fired from a battleship found it's mark was the one time when Rodney fired torpedoes at Bismark, then idk, maybe a not so ingenious way of problem solving. How many times did battleships fire torpedoes at an enemy ship & miss? Also, were these types of launchers actually tested a few times to see if they worked the way they intended?? Cuz, for some reason, I see the "Upper Brass", similar to "the Bureau of Ordinance" not wanting to "waste" torpedoes by practicing and actually firing torpedoes at a moving target. AND didn't Rodney fire about 8 torpedoes and only had one hit & explode. That's NOT very good odds. Especially since the Bismark has it's rudder stuck & it's speed has probably been reduced by a great deal too.
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Q & A Yeah, all of these "WHAT IF" scenarios. You should do what if the Center Force was switched with the Southern Force. And it was Yamato & friends sailing into the refurbished battleships from Pearl Harbor. Does Yamato survive & make it thru? AND the Southern Force was the Force that Taffy 3 had to deal with? Would the Johnston survive?
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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.
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@lt_darkseekerantique3911 I used to hate it when my cat would get on my bed when I was trying to get to sleep. But I'd still let him. I miss him now & wish he was still around to cuddle up next to me. I miss the guns I use to have as well. We use to shoot mistletoe out of the tops of the trees with the 22 rifle. One time the Police showed up but they were from the county just across the river and I told him he was in the wrong county, and he was on private property without a warrant. But that we were done for the moment anyway having expended all the ammo we had at the moment & showed him all the mistletoe. He said "thanks" & left. That song by the Beatles "Happiness is a warm gun" very true. I use to love shooting the guns.. marksmanship. It was a lot of fun.
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Nah, LSD didn't come about until the 1960's. Adolf Hitler was too stupid. If he had been dosed he probably could have figured out how to conquer the entire world. Let's face it. The USA developed the atomic bomb & could have used it to conquer the world. But the people of the USA just want to live & be with the world. Not rule the world. Although sometimes I doubt our government, at least we didn't use it that way. We used it to end WW2 & that actually saved more lives than it killed, if you look at it right. Cuz millions would have died if we had invaded Japan. The atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki killed what? 200,000 at the very most? And that's rounding it up high. Probably 120,000!
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I'm always amazed by the ignorance of my ancestors/countrymen. At least there bravery & numbers currently prevails!
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At 32:00 You were speaking about cursed names that might never be used again & you spoke of the Montana always getting canceled. But however, you didn't mention the USS Arizona that was never decommissioned that sits on the seabed at Pearl Harbor with her over 1500 sailors entombed which still draws salute from US Navy warships upon entering the Harbor. A constant reminder of being ready for battle & war at a moments notice. Although maybe NOT a curse, the family's of sailors that lost their sons that were aboard that ship may have a different point of view. Let's face it, the lives lost on Arizona were more than all the other deaths combined.
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To the person that asked WHY Marines are aboard war ships. In today's world in the USA the Marines on board are responsible for the security of the ship. Say some people got on board trying to hijack or take over the ship the Marines would be the ones making sure that such a thing did not happen. Most sailors don't have side arms or weapons. But the Marines have access to the smaller arms on the ship. Not sure if they also carry a sidearm as well but probably.
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Jack Straw from Wichita cut his buddy down, Dug for him a shallow grave & laid his body down, Half a mile from Tucson by the morning light, One man gone & another to go, My oh buddy your moving much too slow ohwoh. We can share the women We can share the wine.
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Its a shame that the Canadians stopped having Aircraft carriers. I mean, I'm sure they still have a decent air force. But just something about the fly boys on a carrier, you seem to know they are the best of the best simply because landing on a carrier is NOT an easy feat & only the best will qualify.
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I couldn't help notice that your hamsters acted as though they are planning a jail break. My pet python, "Willie" said that he would gladly stand guard to make sure they do not escape.😊😊😊 As I was writing that I heard the question about the helmsman for the USS Enterprise. I would have to guess that the ship would have more than just one helmsman. Plus, the Captain or an XO giving the orders to hard aport or hard starboard or what have you. Idk, that footage may have been when they had lost steering and was circling for half an hour or longer. And the Japanese strike aircraft missed finding Enterprise cuz they were circling for so long. And the Japanese had actually went to where the ship would have been at the same bearing before it got hit.
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Fletcher could easily say he NEVER lost a carrier battle! AND he directed the victory that was Midway which resulted in 4 Japanese carriers being sunk. If it had been up to Fletcher he would have withdrawn after sinking the first 3. And that would have preserved USS Yorktown. But Nimitz told Fletcher that he wanted that fourth carrier sunk. And because of that Fletcher stayed in the fight to sink the last carrier which resulted in the loss of Yorktown as well. However, it was much easier for the US to replace Yorktown than the Japanese to replace Hiryu or Soryu. I always get those 2 mixed up & forget which was the last one sunk.
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Steam powered by oil I do believe. Most WW2 ships were powered by steam turbines powered by oil.
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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.
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But they sank Enterprise 3x... or so they thought!!! Hence the nickname "The Grey Ghost". Before I had ever known anything about that, I had a Grey '79 Camaro that I had given the same nickname cuz I NEVER got pulled over in it. Made numerous trips from Atlanta to DC & Back and mainly drove 90mph the whole drive unless there was construction going on.
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Wow. I've been having a strange feeling all day. And I just realized it's the Anniversary of the Naval Battle of Samar.
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You would think that after such a horrible defeat that the USN would have learned that they needed a force in the area that was better trained with each other & understood that the IJN could show up at any moment & that that area was basically "the front line".
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Well if you were keelhauled from bow to stern on any kind of modern ship there is a really good chance that you would be turned into hamburger meat by the screws not to mention the rope being used could get tangled around the screw shafts and cause some major damage. Because the rope could cause the shafts to lock up but the turbines still be trying to turn them & then all kinds of stuff could break loose or start grinding gears. And the ship could end up dead in the water until the rope is removed. SO, maybe just better to flog the poor bastard or some other punishment. Like maybe put him in the brig when not on duty, so his "free time" aboard the ship is taken away.
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Ok, I know this was 3 years ago, but so far I feel as though I have learned a lot from the Drydock Q & A's. And I couldn't help notice someone asking about the cost of building a warship. And it led me to think that if a person is wanting to know the specific cost of a certain warship in the US, if nothing else we do have a "Library of Congress". And you can ask certain librarians these questions and I'm sure certain librarians would have knowledge of what books to obtain for such research. I actually lived with a very fine lady that had just started working for the Library of Congress way back in 2003. And it just dawned on me, OMG that was 20 years ago. Makes me wonder if she is still there & such.... Two months after her & I split up I met the lady that would be my wife. And now I am a widower as of 7 years ago.
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@colins8302 Once the US Navy had built the USS Des Moines the question was put to rest that an 8" auto loader could pretty much take out anything short of a battleship or a carrier. But, unfortunately those didn't see war service. But during the "treaty years" it was more or less pick your poison. With a 6" cruiser you could have more armor & speed. And when I say speed that means speed in knots & speed in finding the range & getting shells on the target. An 8" cruiser could definitely do more damage if it found the range first, but that is the worry. A 8" cruiser will have to have less armor than a 6" if you're going by the treaty rules. And until the auto loaders were built it just made more sense to have 6" cruisers because of the faster rate of fire. Once Pearl Harbor was bombed all bets were off, so to speak. But at the same time I don't think that they had designes for 8" cruisers. Idk, maybe they had some that could be reworked.
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I'm not sure how much time, money & effort was put into getting the drone & learning how to use it, however, I really must say that it definitely was time, money & effort well spent. It's highly doubtful I will ever have the $ to travel abroad. So being able to see the Chatham dockyard in such a way is really cool. The story of Chatham is kinda sad. The fact that there wasn't enough room there to keep building capital ships for the Navy is kinda akin to someone getting too old & having to retire. The historical value of what remains there, in my opinion, is very important. And the fact that you have rope that was made right there & is still being made there is epic!!
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While you're putting a red stripe down the side to make it go faster you might as well paint a bulls eye on the conning tower as well. While Rodney did an awesome job of chasing splashes to avoid incoming fire! And returning accurate fire that killed the leadership as well as the fire control. The Bismark was done fighting before Rodney got close enough to turn parallel to Bismark. What makes me wonder is how did the Cruisers and or Destroyers that were giving chase not score torpedo hits during the night. Seems that it could have been done but what do I know. Idk, if we are doing triples & reducing intermediate guns, I'd say have 4 triple turrets. 2 super firing front & 2 super firing aft. That would be 6 guns firing at Rodney & 6 guns firing at KGV. That would come closer to being able to survive the last battle.
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I thought this was supposed to be about coastal fortifications? You CONSTANTLY get off the topic on this. Where I usually enjoy most of your video, I found this one rather disappointing. I was EXPECTING like pictures of more land fortifications & how they worked. Cuz I imagine how coastal fortifications have guns they will also have to have "magazines" to store & protect the shells & charges from enemy shells making them explode within the fort. And the audio for this kinda sucks too. Very difficult to hear unless it's very quite around me. 1:14:27
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The thing about land fortifications during the age of sail though is a lot of them were high enough above the water that enemies could not bring there ship based cannons to bear on the fort. But the fort could easily fire down on the ships with the ships unable to reply. So even though a ship may have larger & more cannons the fort cannons can make their fire count & the ships cannot.
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Yeah, that's always been one of my pet peeves about the newer cars. They keep on & on & on trying to make it too difficult to not just fix your car, but to do routine maintenance too. I didn't grow up in the inner city, more like the suburbs. But it's not difficult to figure out how to remove a part & put a new one on. However, nowadays they design & build cars in a way that makes it more & more difficult for the average person to fix and/or maintain their own vehicle.
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Yep, but then German troops marched halfway to Paris with little to no opposition. And as soon as the French gov't found this out... instead of trying to rally the troops & push the Germans back, they did the one thing that they knew how to do well, thanks to the Royal Navy. Yes, surrender. Please stop killing our people. We surrender!!!
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Question: Was it Fletcher class destroyers that capsized during Typhoon Cobra?
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@Aelxi I noticed that as well. I do believe it's a mirror image of the same ship. A photo more than likely made for the sailors that served aboard that vessel. That's my best guess anyway. Highly doubtful there would be 2 separate vessels with the same hull #, unless there is something significant that I'm missing.
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Submarines with an airplane for recon. Seems to me that the subs back then were too slow for an airplane to spot something & then the sub to catch it. Especially after the plane gets back & was stowed away again. And also it would also seem that the presence of the airplane could alert the enemy & then they might follow the plane and find the sub on the surface. All & all submarines are made for stealth & it seems a airplane would make a sub much less stealthy.
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That's hilarious yet sad & gross & all at the same time!!! I hope that they were finally able to write the software to make it smart enough to NOT engage a flock of birds! Plus, I would imagine that at the first sight of blood your thinking something has gone seriously wrong! But then realizing it's NOT human blood a huge feeling of relief hits you too. All of a sudden you exhale not realizing that you were holding your breath.
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THE LAST QUESTION ABOUT TEN-GO being successful. It was also never going to be successful for the simple fact that if it did manage to beach itself on Okinawa it would then be a completely stationary target. Two of the main defenses a warship has is speed & maneuverability. The simple act of changing course when the enemy fires can easily make the shells miss. If Yamato had managed to beach itself it's still toast. This was not well thought out & was a total waste of battleship & sailors. A very sad waste. By this time they should have realized that surrendering was their only option & it could have saved a lot of lives on both sides! They should have held it back for the defense of the mainland of Japan. And then maybe after Hiroshima & Nagasaki were nuked it could have been made into a museum ship. The Largest Battleship ever made would constantly draw a crowd. Unfortunately it was unceremoniously bombed & torpedoed until it plunged into the depths!
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My Mom use to say that Atlanta, GA was a main layover airport. That so many flights had a layover in Atlanta for such a long time that jokingly people would say "You can't get to heaven without a layover in Atlanta." I remember hearing that as a child. Back in 2007 I flew to Pensacola, FL from Dulless Int near DC. And wouldn't you know it, I had a 5 hour layover in Atlanta.
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The question about a turret taking a hit but remained in action or was brought back into action. Didn't that happen to Bismarck in its final battle against Rodney & KGV? I'm, of course, not sure. Cuz I'm just going off of memory of the story Drach told. But wasn't it believed that one of the turrets took a hit & they thought that turret was out of action. But then it started firing again but not as often as the others???
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At 31:10 you are asked about the success of the design of the Essex's, the Fletcher's & the Iowa's. And one thing that you didn't think about was the fact that the USA also incorporated CIC's. And that way all the ships involved in an action know more about everything that is going on and can act accordingly better with all ships involved!
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I do have to say that as an American I really actually lament the fall of the British Empire. I actually feel like IF the British Empire had endured the British "holdings" would in my opinion been much more secure because with them paying into British Empire then the Royal Navy would be able to have more ships to help protect those countries. And because it's all the Royal Navy they would be able to have better coordination to protect those countries. And then the United States Navy working closely Allied with the Royal Navy could police the seas together. A weaker Royal Navy in my opinion doesn't benefit the United States. And I also believe that the countries that were colonial holdings of Great Britain are also weaker being seperate from Great Britain as well. Idk, I feel like, as an American, that most of the world looks to us to protect & police the seas now & make sure none of the @$$hole countries bully or take advantage of other smaller countries. And it makes me very worried that the USA sooner or later is going to end up in a really big & bad war against a nation like China or Russia. And because of it a lot of American youth is going to fight & die on a scale that makes the Second World War seem small in comparison. And THAT is a very scary prospect!
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Yeah, to the person asking about the LSM(R)-188 going against other warships? There is a BIG reason these craft were for shore bombardment ONLY!! One of those ships REALLY meeting an enemy destroyer, cruiser or battleship is basically going to die horribly! With that much explosives on board One or two salvo's from almost ANY OTHER warship is going to lead to a collasal explosion that will see the ship practically disappear into sinking fragments of whatever small pieces might be left! Even a dive bomber or a torpedo bomber would be wise to steer clear of such a ship unless the dive bomber has a significant delay on his bomb! These things were NOT IN ANY WAY designed to fight other ships! They are far too vulnerable and only sailed with significant escorts like with a fleet that's also protecting a landing force. They were significant for beach bombardment in the Pacific cuz battleships would leave craters so big that it caused problems on the beaches for the first waves of tanks trying to help cover the landing infantry. A rather niche role that proved effective in some cases & not so much in others!
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Yeah, ok. Point taken. And all very true. And the US also left their own survivors in the water after the naval battle of Samar and then finally picked up what was left 3 days later. And, of course, most that had been wounded & bleeding after the battle had already ended up as shark food by then. Plus, I guess it wasn't very smart of the RN to give a sub-mariner command of an aircraft carrier without giving him a clue about how to use the blasted thing. Was the weather too bad to have their CAP in the air? Or just at sunrise so none had taken off yet? Anyway, I guess this was one of those hard learned lessons that if you are going to have an aircraft carrier you damn well need to have enough surface ships to protect it as well!
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Idk, BUT the act of leaving 1500 men in the water to die or be eaten by sharks while dying in my mind is criminal & should have been seen as a war crime & appropriate action should have been taken after the war. Yeah, not searching for sailors in the water when a ship goes down seems criminal on the commanders part as well. If he had relatives on that ship I bet he would have decided differently.
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Idk, seems to me Castor should have held fire & stayed away until the Germans left since it was the only ship left. That way it could have picked up as many survivors as possible & radio for help if it couldn't get everyone. AND THE CAPTAIN HOW can he operate an aircraft carrier for 10 months & not know that he constantly needs to have a cap. Sounds to me like he shouldn't have been the captain of anything. I'm guessing he got killed. If not one of the survivors should have shot him! That was just so not necessary & could have easily been avoided. Sorry but that many dying cuz of someone being incompetent, I hope whomever made him Captain got very bad marks too. What's the saying...? Ain't got sense enough to pour pee from a boot with the directions on the bottom!
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Wow!!! Ya know it would be really fun to sit around a campfire at night with a bunch of people & hear you tell stories. I bet you had interesting friends when you were growing up. Thank you, you really liven up a story. The Germans riding off the bridge into the sea had to have been hilariously fun to see BUT with so many people getting killed & wounded and fighting still going on & explosions & the like, I'm sure not many had the chance to utter a giggle cuz of it.
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THAT WAS EPIC & HILARIOUS AT THE SAME TIME. THANK YOU FOR THAT. Yes by the end of the war, the Japanese had very few crew hands with much experience. They should have done like the US & had experienced people training experienced people before all the experienced people were killed by taking part in the war
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Yeah, speaking of USS North Carolina & USS Enterprise, I seem to remember that when North Carolina opened up their Anti-aircraft fire some of the sailors were wondering if the North Carolina was on fire. When all it was, was all of her guns firing. I think that was August 24th. Or October.
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That last design sounded like something that would make the "Tillmans" crawl home with their tales between their legs!!! That is hilarious!!! Good thing someone showed some intelligence!!!
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 @nowthenzen Doctor Who is make believe. Fun maybe, but make believe as in "not real".
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 @SamFirthDesigner the answer is "No".
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And considering the Japanese "rescued" a pilot & his gunnermate after Midway & after interrogating them they tied their hands & feet & tied something heavy to their feet & put them overboard to drown. Supposedly the pilot & gunner was from Enterprise. I can't remember the pilots name but Bruno Gaito waa the gunner mate. He was the guy that climbed onto an airplane on the tarmac & used the machine gun to take out a plane that was going to "kamikaze" into the Enterprise. It was reported that afterwards Admiral Halsey having seen the whole ordeal from the bridge promoted Bruno Gaito on the spot from third class to first class. So for him & his pilot to meet their end so quickly against the Japanese it pretty much showed that no one bullet proof, or above not coming back. I also imagine that since the Japs had just lost 4 of their fleet carriers that they were probably killed or beat unconscious before being put overboard. I think that after the war the captain of that ship was charged with a war crime for their deaths, however I'm not sure if he was found guilty. And I'm fairly certain that some Americans were killing Japanese survivors in & around Savo Island during the Guadal Canal campaign but I believe this was mostly due to the fact that they had nowhere to keep POW's. And were worried that if they rescued them they might fall victim to them with no secure place to put them. Idk for sure, but considering the US had just lost 4 cruisers along with over 2,000 sailors, they were probably being shot out of revenge.
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I thought they changed the name of HMS Pansy to something else? Not exactly sure, but I think that no one liked the idea of being assigned to a ship named "Pansy". And that it was poor for morale. But on the other hand can you imagine a U-boat Captain having to say his ship was sunk by HMS Pansy? I forget exactly which "Drydock" it was where Drach was talking about the two guys in the ship naming dept where one guy was giving ships sort of soft & pathetic names & the other guy giving them strong & fearful names. But somewhere in one of those Drydocks it seems like I remember the name being changed. Although I'm not exactly sure & if I'm wrong it wouldn't be the first time. And if you think about it pansies & tulips are usually the first to bloom. So there is that, but it always reminds me of Monty Python's "The Holy Grail" scene where the Black Knight has lost his arms & legs & he's still wanting to fight. And yells at them "Come back here you Pansy, I'll bite your legs off!" So the name does seem to carry a certain "softness" to it.
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Well as far as a one on one carrier battle with Zuikaku & Enterprise... why? Didn't enough people die in that war? Even though Enterprise would have probably won the battle due to the IJN being short of planes & pilots, the fact is some Americans that survived the war very well may have perished instead. So why would you want that? I pretty much think enough killing went on that I never wished for more. Although I do find everything that went on during the war interesting, the war was basically won by the factories at home, the convoys of ships taking men & equipment to the fight & then the courage of our soldiers & sailors to use that equipment against the enemy and live to tell the tale! That is why I liked Patton. He said "You don't win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other poor bastard die for his country!! And he believed that once you've got your enemy in retreat that you keep him in retreat and then less people die because of it.
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That last picture with all the guys in their bunks pretty much shows how packed a warship could be. Not much room at all, but once you were actually asleep it probably didn't matter for most.
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Thank you for that. Very insightful to solving the puzzle & mess that was Pearl Harbor after the Japanese attack on Dec 7th, 1941. Very awesome that a lot of these ships found retribution while the US was landing on the Philippines at Leyte Gulf. Too bad one or two was NOT available to Taffy 3. With Captain Evans as the Skipper of just one of those ships, he could have taken out the Yamato right then & there!!!
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That was a shame that some men lived & were trapped for 2 weeks before finally dying. And wasn't discovered until almost a year later.
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Wow, so it took longer to build HMS Spartan than it did for her to get sunk. At least most of her crew was spared the same fate.
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I think that putting together a website that tells war time stories as told by family members or the person themselves is a really great idea. And as far as having them all put together into a book, that is a great idea as well. Especially considering that if you have it published just on a small scale in the US, then you can supply a copy to the Library of Congress, which could also help preserve these stories for those interested in future generations.
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Another thing I'd like to point out is that THE JAPANESE created the longest running & arguably the deadliest torpedo of the war. Exactly how many American ships were heavily damaged and/or sunk just at Guadal Canal? Evidently "the poor underfunded" Japanese spent the money to make sure their torpedoes were as deadly as possible. The US Navy & the Bureau of Ordinance designed & paid $10,000 a piece for torpedoes that didn't work for 2 years. The Navy SHOULD HAVE had a company design their torpedoes like they do with aircraft. That is where it all began. Just imagine the "Torpedo Battleship" having all dud torpedoes! Maybe it wouldn't have taken 2 years of war to get it fixed. But I guess they would have never heard back from the Torpedo Battleship so they wouldn't know for sure!
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Idk, I personally believe that the whole issue should be considered as criminal negligence considering that men were risking their very lives to use a weapon that had never been properly tested! And I also wonder how many of our sailors died because of the faulty torpedo & if there was ever an investigation to establish an estimate for how many lives were lost due to this. Cuz let's face it, a submarine fires a torpedo & it works the ship is worried about trying to stay afloat. A submarine fires a torpedo & it doesn't work then the ship is trying to depth charge or somehow kill the submarine!!
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THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! I've always wondered WHY the US Navy had a torpedo that did NOT work. Especially when all of these aviators & submariners & sailors were putting their lives on the line trying to use these torpedoes that did NOT work.
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Just think, this could have gone very, very different. Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox was lost at sea on March 27th off the coast of Ireland otw2 Scapa Flow. Admiral "Ching" Lee was his replacement. Aboard USS Washington a watch aboard the fantail of the battleship yelled "man overboard". Under radio silence the signal man signaled a nearby Destroyer to rescue the sailor. However, by the time the Destroyer got there he was floating face down in the high & freezing water & they were unable to get him aboard. Aboard the USS Washington the Captain ordered a roll call so he could submit a report to Admiral Wilcox. They did a roll call twice before they realized it was Admiral Wilcox that was missing. Just think if Wilcox had been the Admiral in charge this battle could have been very different.
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Admiral Lee & the USS Washington "Stand aside, I'm coming through. This is Ching Lee!" Translation ="Hold my beer"
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Imagine my surprise, in Toccoa, GA there is a river and the sign clearly says Tugalo River. But locals quickly corrected my pronunciation that it's( Ta-goo-la) River. Evidently it was named by Native Americans and when the county made the sign they screwed up the spelling. And the locals said they weren't going to start calling it something different cuz a county worker can't spell!!
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Yeah, you can tell when someone really loves & has a passion for what they are doing. Coming to Drach's "neighborhood" & "rattling on for 2 hours" definitely shows a vast amount of knowledge about the Wildcat. And cc CD E passion to simply put up 2 hours of info as if he were simply talking to one of his buddies for a few mins. I've never been to Rex's Hangar but I will definitely have to give it a visit soon.
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@mflashhist500 When about to do battle the ships would sail as close together as possible in order to keep ships from the other side from breaking their line. Cuz a broadside of cannons shot threw a ship from the stern or the bow would kill a lot more of your crew than broadside to broadside. Pulling such a maneuver was called "raking".
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Bravo.
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At 56:02 Silver Fox asks where the term "Vulture's Row" on an aircraft carrier comes from?? I was under the impression that it started because in the infancy of aircraft carriers the US Navy decided to have a camera man in that spot to film & document landing crashes and so if it appeared the aircraft that was about to land was having trouble the camera man would stand up & start the camera rolling. But if it appeared that it was going to be an OK landing he didn't bother. And so the pilots started calling it the Vultures Row or the Vultures Nest cuz it was like the guy with the camera was just waiting for someone to mess up. Which he was, cuz the films they were making was documenting what NOT to do when landing on a carrier so they could use the films for training new pilots. And also if a pilot had a rough landing not only would they film it but they would also have the pilot document everything he did or did not do so they knew why he was having trouble with the landing. That way new pilots could learn from the mistakes of other pilots. Cuz let's face it, we always learn more about something when we screw up rather than when we get it right.
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@JayVeeEss36 Yeah OK. I hear purgatory is nice this time year. And I was also trying to make the point that you are putting words in Drachs mouth that I have never heard him even once say. Ahole.
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I've never heard Drach curse much less use the name of the Lord in vein like that. I once talked like that as well but I learned better. And considering children may view this can you please refrain from such profanity, so we don't teach our younger generations to speak that way.
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@ph89787 Idk, a torpedo blister filled with fuel oil sounds almost as dangerous as not having one. However, instead of exploding along with a torpedo my guess is if a torpedo actually hit the blister then they would have a rather large fire to put out. Which is better than taking on water & having prooulsion lost. And I'm also guessing that they would use the fuel in the blisters first & fill with sea water. And the stability issue also came with a lot mare AA guns as well so I guess all around it was good idea. But thank you for the additional reasons for the torpedo blister. It makes a little more sense now. But I still think that the US would have done better building one carrier with the tonage they used for Ranger & Wasp. Cuz with the combined tonage of both they could have had a carrier that was much more survivable. But at the same time, the 3 torpedo strikes that put Wasp down could also have put that theoretical vessel down as well. And there is the reasoning that 2 vessels can be in different places accomplishing different tasks. So there is that too. But like I said "Thanks again" for the input.
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Yes, with hindsight we can easily see how Wasp should have been designed without trying to use the larger torpedo bombers. I think that deletion alone would have made for a much safer ship. But, of course, why in the world would they think that they could build a much lighter ship but still carry the same amount of planes when not only does that carrier have to carry the planes but gasoline, ordinance & pilots to use & to be used by those planes & not getting blown up by the enemy in the process. And I also wonder, during the war Enterprise was fitted with a "torpedo blister" that I'm guessing was attached to the outer hull & went down, I'm not sure how far under the water. And with the way Enterprise had dodged so many torpedo strikes it would seem that the "blister" would make the ship wider & less agile making it almost more likely to get hit by a torpedo that it would have been able to dodge. But, it makes me wonder why they didn't install Wasp with such a "torpedo blister" before they let her go to the Pacific? Because Wasp was already known to be a much more vulnerable ship. AND why did they not just build one carrier with their remaining tonage instead of building the much more vulnerable Ranger & Wasp ships. With the tonage of those two ships they could have built a carrier with an armored flight deck so as to protect the much more vulnerable hanger below. It irritates me that the US didn't consider how vulnerable a carriers hangar is until after Midway when Kaga & Akagi went up like a book of matches set on fire. First US Carrier w/ armored flight deck was even named Midway. Or did they just figure that as soon as a plane is armed & fueled it would go straight up to the flight deck?
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But Japan expected to win the war with the US & UK in less than 6 months & then broker a peace treaty that was favorable to them before the US could start up a war time economy. They did not realize that even though Americans at the time did not WANT war cuz we had been in countless wars since we created this wonderful country & didn't want to send our boys off to die. But if you attack us & kill over 2k of our people, well then, after that, although we didn't WANT war we will now bring the war to you. And when Americans go to war, they go to war to win.
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Yeah, she was the flag ship of the Pacific fleet when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. That is why she was rebuilt and sent to exact revenge on the people that had sank her. Many Japanese soldiers & sailors felt her wrath. Since she wasn't fast enough to keep up with the carriers she was used for shore bombardment prior to beach landings. Even though she was only equipped with 14" guns the Jap soldiers caught in the areas of her bombardment couldn't tell you if they were 12, 14, 16 , or 18 inch guns that killed them because they were dead.
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Idk, turning into a torpedo strike instead of turning away from one seems like a quick way to have the bow of your ship removed. However, as an after thought, in turning away it would seem you are gambling with losing your rutter and/or your propulsion. But, of course, I keep forgetting that US torpedoes during this period are about as imputant as 100 year old man prior to viagra!
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Yeah, well when I think about the kids that were aboard the Arizona I have no doubt that those P38's did America a great service. Because the Japanese moral was being lifted by his visits it was best to take him out asap. Who knows some of the Japs that ended up surrendering and then survived the war as POW's may have instead been inspired to do a suicide bonzi charge & killed themselves along with a few Americans as well. No telling how many survived the war because of those P38's. And furthermore once he was gone the Japanese were at a loss of what to do next. Which was a good thing. And the bombings of Hiroshima & Nagasaki as terrible as it was, at least it brought about the end of the war instead of the the US having to invade Japan itself & the countless numbers of lives that would have been lost on both sides in that struggle. Although I will say that he was a great man & did his best for his country. But his greatest plan was also his country's biggest downfall & biggest mistake. He miscalculated the determination of the American people. When the US sees thousands of their sons killed they are not going to shy away & be scared. They are going to rise up & make you regret it. And that is why the US would accept nothing short of an unconditional surrender. That way we were able to find & prosecute war criminals. And get to the business of feeding the people of Japan that was being starved by the war as well. The Japanese was lucky that the Americans weren't interested in conquering the world. We basically just want people to be free to do as they please as long as it doesn't do harm to others. Which is why the US doesn't like Communism.
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@Drachinifel Thi an entire class. Idk if you are just having trouble finding enough info to do 5 minutes per ship. But hearing about these other ships instead of the Revenge makes it like the Revenge didn't do enough to account for a whole 5 mins.
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@williestyle35 Building a ship that sails good when loaded down with crew & cannons and every thing a ship needs to take the fight to the enemy was a "craft" that the English learned quickly out of necessity to protect their way of life and their homeland from invasion. Living on an island all of your threats at that time had to come by sea, except for the Scott's. And the English tended to be more plentiful than the Scottish so it was usually in their best interest to help back the British so the sea lanes were open to them. And a vessel that sails good when loaded down was also what merchant sailors needed as well. Ie: The East India Co & the tea, spice & opium traders. People tend to prefer to live in peace but back then I guess there was less to go around and I guess the French just wanted more than what they were getting so war with the English was the only way to get equal footing but never really happened. When, if they had just tried to haul as many goods & give people good deals on stuff they could have just competed with the British economically instead of all out war.
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@williestyle35 Well nowadays, everything is so complicated you have to plan everything out. Just like building a house. You've got to know what you want and draw it out on paper to be able to purchase & assemble all you need to build it. But a house doesn't have to worry about sailing through the ocean. Once they had created a ship that had all the qualities that they wanted and it would sail better than most others of that size then they tended to want it copied. But the thing about it too is that sometimes it was hard to find timber large enough to copy a ship of that size. I imagine it took A LOT OF oak trees to build a Navy the size of the Royal Navy back then. And I imagine some ship builders wanted to build a ship from seasoned wood from timbers nearby & easy to cut & haul rather than to pay for timbers from someone else that cut & let it season. Hence trying to make something from what you already have at hand rather than copy a tried & true method that they know works well. Back in 1990 my stepfather Billy got a small workers comp settlement of $60,000. It wasn't much compared to the damage to his back but he was determined to make the best of it. He bought a 5 acre property in South Carolina for $900 an acre. Spent $8k having a deep well drilled & another $2k for electricity to a temporary pole & light. And my Mom drew the plans and ordered most of what we needed. And Billy & I built a house there with very little left over. And the only thing left unfinished was a bit of drywall. It had a 16' x 32' basement & footings x 1.5 the size of the basement. He laid the block while I mixed the mortar in a bathtub and carried him the cinder blocks. They had the basement dug out and a slab laid before I went up there from Atlanta. After he did the basement we had the footings poured and laid the block to make it even with the basement. Then it didn't take long to do the floor & frame it. We needed 4 people to get the roof started cuz you gotta have someone on each corner to be able to do the middle beam that you attach the ceiling joyces to. To help save on wood and to have extra head room we had the living room go from 8' to 14' & it gave him extra space to hang his deer head trophies and large fish trophies. He had 3 deer heads. 2x 8 pointers & a ten pointer. But one of the 8 pointers was as big or bigger than the 10 point. But all 3 were beautiful typical style racks. Oh, that reminds me. After they left for South Carolina I was still staying near Atlanta working. And I noticed 2 mornings in a row a buck came up to the back of the trailer just pawing the ground & blowing real loud. I was like wtf is up with this deer? I got a good look at him and he was at least a big 8 point. And I had a double barrel 12 guage shotgun right there too. But I was like "Damn, I gotta go to work I don't have enough time to even field dress this deer." Which if you don't then it's dangerous to eat if you don't gut it within about 3 hours. But after I got to work I called Billy & told him about it. I had never killed a deer & had the perfect chance but I couldn't do it. It didn't feel right. At the time we had a black Labrador Retriever named Chevis. And Billly said "No, you can't shoot THAT deer. He's looking for Chevis. Every morning he comes up pawing the ground and blowing wanting Chevis to come out & play! So I get up & let Chevis out & they go running together." I of course after LMAO was VERY GLAD and I have still have never killed a deer. OMG, I helped Billy carry numerous deer outta the woods. Luckily he got a 4 wheeler & could manage it himself after that. For some stupid reason South Carolina brought in some coyotes to the area. And so they ended up having coyotes running around causing a lot of trouble. Why they wanted to "re-introduce" coyotes to the area was cause they weren't around to know what a pain in the ass coyotes were & that was why they all got killed off. Duh. They didn't kill them for the fun of it. Imagine a pack of hungry wolves. Now imagine that you let your dog out to go pee and all of a sudden your dog is getting eaten by a pack of wolves. Same thing but coyotes are just a tad smaller. Now imagine that was your 5 year old daughter getting eaten instead of your dog. All of sudden nature ain't so friendly anymore. There are reasons humans kill other predators. Cuz our children, pets, chickens & our live stock are vulnerable. Anybody hear about the old lady & or little kids that got eaten by an alligator? The kid that was eaten was on Disney property. I think the parents set that one up! "Damn, we got too many kids! I know how we can get rid of the one we don't like & get rich in the process." Disney & alligators. Now who saw that coming? OK let's go down by the creek and see the new alligator ride.
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In reference to Tirpitz not getting bombed & being able to sail against JW60, I would have to say it was a shame that didn't really happen. Because HMS Rodney could have then taken out Tirpitz & maybe, just maybe the Brits might decide that HMS Rodney would make a fantastic museum ship. And gets saved from going to the breakers yard! But unfortunately, that never happened & so no HMS Rodney or any other battleship gets saved by the Royal Navy. Which is a shame, cuz Rodney with it's 9-16" guns in the "all forward" layout would have made a great museum ship for future generations to appreciate. And Rodney battling Tirpitz & putting the German ship down with no other battleships around would have made a great story as well!!!
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In talking about Admirals that were terrible, you mentioned Kurita at the Naval Battle of Samar. But I really must come to the man's defense. One, before they even got close to the Philippines the Cruiser he is on gets torpedoed & sinks along with 2 others. And he has to be fished out of the water. Then they get attacked by what probably seems like an endless amount of aircraft and Musashi gets sunk. So they turn around and retreat to get out of aircraft range. AND to top it all off somewhere during all this the man gets a head wound and he's had little to no sleep for 3 days. Then they start getting bombarded by aircraft AGAIN and the Destroyers are attacking. And they can't be firing their main armament while also having men working the anti-aircraft guns. And nothing seemed to be going their way so he ordered a withdrawal. By his perspective they were fighting what seemed like a hopeless battle. So he high tailed it outta there. The man was old, been up 3-4 days had a head wound & someone else really should have been in charge after his injury. Plus they didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition! Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!! Sorry I couldn't help myself. But also give credit to Captain Evans & the rest of Taffy 3 & Taffy 1 & 2 for sending planes & re-arming & fueling every plane that landed on their deck. Those pilots knew that they couldn't fight a surface battle & an air attack at the same time. Picture a bear finding some honey but instead of plain honey bees it's a bunch of hornets. And considering Germans showing up in New York Harbor and invading New York City in the early 1900's. Have you ever seen the movie with Leonardo DiCaprio called "The Gangs of New York"?? New York back then could have probably have taken out those 100,000 Germans once they landed just by itself without reinforcement. The main problem would have been the High Seas Fleet. But they would eventually run out of shells.
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@Drachinifel In response to the Germans assaulting New York; They may have been able to shell NY with their ships & even land some troops. However, one of the wonderful things about the US is our citizens are allowed to have guns. And although I'm not sure of exactly how many people were in NY in the early 1900's, I'm sure that if they shelled NY from the sea & then tried to land troops, well you just really pissed off a lot of New Yorkers and when New Yorkers get pissed off you don't want to be on the other side. Every pawn shop would empty of guns & ammo. OMG! Just thinking about it makes me feel sorry for whatever German soldiers would be involved. Imagine Omaha Beach in reverse. Especially when you consider the US had been at war with itself roughly 40 years before & we were having battles that would kill 5,000 on each side.
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That was one of the most profound things I've ever heard you say. The thing you said about receiving a book from someone and because you got to hear stories about what happened by the people that were there actually made the history come alive a lot more than just the facts of what happened. And that is because when something is happening there are numerous people there & so you get multiple points of view because of the different perspectives. One person may see a lot of things that someone else did not. And so it's NOT just something that happened, it's something a lot of people experienced.
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Hey, a warship with a swimming pool. It's a total shame they decommissioned her. Idk, seems like it would have made serving on such a ship would be unique.
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@Drachinifel At 6:10 you mention the monitor named "Prince Albert" and I couldn't help be reminded about friends that would make stupid prank phone calls. They would call a grocery store or a little country convenience store and ask "Do you have Prince Albert in a can" of course talking about the tabbacco brand. And as long as the store person answered "yes" then they would reply "well you need to let him out before he suffocates!" Haha! Hey, things kids do when their young, dumb & bored. I'd watch & listen but I'd always decline to do it as well, cuz I thought it was rather silly. I think it's funnier now than I ever thought it was then.
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The Winchester 1892. Beautiful weapon. I used to have a Winchester 30-30 lever action when I was a teenager. It was a very accurate and fun rifle. Of course the 22 I'd gotten in the 5th grade was much more accurate.
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Actually the saying "You don't win a war by dying for your country you win a war by making the other dumb som-bich die for his country." THAT WAS FROM A SPEECH THAT GENERAL PATTON would give to his troops. And he also believed that once you have broken enemy lines and have them in retreat to constantly keep them in retreat so they can't set up a good defense. My personal view is if Gen Bradley hadn't ordered Patton to stop advancing when he did A LOT of soldiers that got killed would NOT have gotten killed. And I say "soldiers" meaning German and US soldiers. Cuz Patton could have had a large number of POW'S but they were allowed to slip away thanks to Bradley being scared. Those POW'S would have lived & would have not been able to kill anymore Americans.
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Concerning military arms having rivalries... in the US we consider it healthy to be rivals with each other because it drives us to try to be the best. But in the end, if war breaks out, all that matters is that we are Americans and we are going to band together to take the fight to the enemies. Probably the worst things to occur during WW2 was the Marines on Guadal Canal feeling as though the Navy totally abanded them. And that really wasn't what happened. The carriers couldn't stick around there & be vulnerable and the cruisers that were covering the ships landing equipment got blown out of the water.
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You know people can talk about how the Japanese were never going to win WW2 but the Japanese were kicking the US Navy around pretty hard at Guadal Canal. I'm not sure the exact amounts but we lost a lot of Cruisers to Guadal Canal. It wasn't until Admiral Lee went thru on USS Washington & sunk Kerishima that the Japanese decided to leave Guadal Canal.
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I was just listening to you talking about fire ships. I'd be willing to bet that the best time to ask for volunteers to sail & use a fire ship would have been an hour or two after giving out the "rum ration." Get some sailors that are bored drunk and and uh well, alcohol sometimes tends to make people feel 10 foot tall & bullet proof. Plus something like a fire ship is like your pranking the enemy too, but offer an extra rum ration for anyone that volunteers & boom you have a crew!!! A very enthusiastic crew at that!
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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.
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☆☆☆ Q & A ☆☆☆☆ Hey Now, I was wondering about something. Comparatively speaking the Royal Navy during WW1 combined with the High Seas Fleet during WW1. NOW, compared to the Royal Navy during WW2 and combined with the US Navy during WW2 let's say right about January of 1945. As far as capital ships who would be heavier? And as far as a battle line action, who would win?
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Yes, if only the salvage & rebuild of all of these vessels had only been $6 Million! However, that does lead to the QUESTION-HOW MUCH DID THIS ENTIRE SALVAGE OPERATION COST? DID ANYONE KEEP TRACK OF IT & THEN BILL THE JAPANESE AFTER THE WAR? I personally think all the families that had loved ones killed during the attack should have been able to sue Japan for a wrongful death claim, considering that they had not at that time given the US a Formal Declaration of War. And that should have been part of their formal surrender. And they should have also been billed for all the $ the US put into the war effort to fight the Japanese. And although I do think the devastation caused by the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki was very horrific. I feel that, because of the Emperors determination in NOT Surrendering made dropping the bombs, very necessary. And if the Japanese want to blame anyone for that event, they can certainly blame Emperor Herohito. After it became painfully obvious that there was no way Japan could win the war, he should have asked for negotiations for a surrender INSTEAD OF SACRIFICING THE LIVES OF THE JAPANESE YOUTH, Just so that he could postpon e the inevitable surrender.
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I can understand the Italians losing 2,303 sailors. But the British losing 3 sailors, were these sailors lost fighting on Destroyers or what????
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Captain Manley Powers. Can't help but dig that name.
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Thank you for that. I love it when I co.e across the more "colorful" videos of yours!!
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Wow, Until this I've never heard of the USS Florida.
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In reference to there being spies aboard American ships that were put there by the Americans themselves to report back on operational security and such, I kinda doubt that happened before WW2. However, after about 1944 I could see something like that happening BUT it would be more of an internal Navy thing. And the sailor reporting would probably have specific people that he would be gathering info about and it would probably have to do with questions like "Should we promote this person to this higher position type of thing." And/or if you're talking about spies that would report things to people from other countries about things that go on aboard ship. Well, I'm sure that there are people that can be bought no matter what day & age it is. But ask the wrong person that can't be bought then they might have a problem. And then you could also ask the wrong person & that person be smart enough to go to one of his higher ups and work as a double agent & feed that person wrong information. I think once it got close to the end of the war the US Gov't got extra paranoid and that is how the cold war got started. For some reason that made me think of the assassination of Kennedy. I've never believed he was shot because of the Cold War. He was shot because of his support of desegregation imho. And it made some very, very rich white people mad. Very sad too. Cuz he was a good strong President & I'm sure he would have won a second term too.😢 I'm also of the opinion that the way "they" claim that General George Patton died is bs. He was of the opinion that we should keep the war going but against the Soviets. Or at least keep our Army in place & pressure Stalin into letting the Polish people have their country back with its pre-WW2 boarders. Considering that Stalin making the agreement with Hitler to split Poland in half & Russia getting half & Germany getting half is how the war got started in the first place. And also considering that one of the main reasons Russia prevailed against the German's was because of convoys & convoys of ships bringing Russia supplies from the USA. Patton had a good reason to believe that any war against Russia at the time that the west would prevail. But once the majority of our troops were sent home we wouldn't be in any kind of position to threaten or make an ultimatum. The death of Franklin D Roosevelt kind of screwed up the end of the war in Europe as well. And because Patton was so vocal about the mess Truman or someone had him killed to shut him up. And considering that US Army was everywhere no one would really question an accident or whatever. After living through the whole war dang close to the front lines the whole time, I can't help but believe that his death was NOT an "accident!" It was deliberate.
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You were talking about the Italian Navy, and if you think about it, if the Italians build warships as good as they build cars, then you know they're good ships.
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Yeah, speaking about the Italians & their warships, the thing about it, if you look at a lot of the Italian Cars, not just now but 40 years ago when I was young, an Italian car could cost $50k-$250k and they are very high performance cars so you gotta figure that they were building some high performance warships & if say they had gotten someone similar to Admiral "Ching" Lee that understood gunnery & maybe would go thru the charges & weigh them & get their guns to shooting consistently & also help figure out how to use radar to help with fire control. If that had happened, the Italian Navy would have been a lot more dangerous. And I'm glad that the people of Italy decided they didn't want Musolini in charge anymore. And turn around and be with the Allies instead of being under Germany's boot.
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Yeah, considering that the Japanese were two different entities trying to fight for the same goal but trying their level best to NOT help each other in that goal really did make them easier to defeat. And considering how long the war lasted & the fact that the unconditional surrender was finally forced by the atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If it had not been for the atomic weapons the war would have probably ĺasted another 2 years at least. And Japan would have been basically reduced to a smoking crater. But by considering all of that & how difficult it was to ultimately defeat Japan, if Japan's army & navy had done a better job of really working together they would have been a much tougher to defeat. And they would have probably taken a lot more territory in the beginning of the war before they were stopped too. They may have even managed to isolate Australia for a while too. But ultimately Japan & Germany both had the Achilles heal of not being able to produce their own fuels. And the USA's biggest blunder was 1) moving the Pacific fleet to Pearl Harbor & 2) they should have been reinforcing or abandoning the Philippines. Considering that logistically they couldn't keep the bases in the Philippines supplied so close to Japan they should have pulled the American troops out of there.
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Per the Psilander affair- At least there was no loss of life. I understand the British wanting to deny Germany getting the ships. However, if they were so small that they could be destroyed fairly easily. Then why worry about it. If the Germans did take them then they could have been destroyed with Germans in control of them.
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 @Vespuchian Very good. I'll have a blond coffee if you have it. Lots of sugar & heavy cream.
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If they were going to try to not use the very latest in technology for battleships, I could see them making 1. But building 4 battleships that are going to be obsolete before you even launch them. Who in Germany was making the decisions for this? You would have to think there would have been SOME ONE with intelligence & a voice of reason. However, this is also a voice that thinks that it could maybe go on a building spree & outbuild the Royal Navy. And it has little in the way of ports & shipyards & infrastructure to support a Navy close to the size of the Royal Navy. And also thinking that "Maybe they won't notice?" When the Royal Navy has dealt with country's trying to do that very thing for the past 500 years or more. Evidently, someone was getting their nuts pumped up way bigger than they could manage & eventually the bag popped. And well....
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Well size mattered in the way of "the size of the crew's determination and ability to load, aim & fire better than whatever other crew they were up against.
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Yeah, questionable is probably the nicest description you could come up with to describe what happened to the Polish land & what Navy they had left. Basically, practically every nation got to go back to having there preWW2 borders except for Poland. Which is why General George Patton wanted to go straight into a war against the Soviet Union, so that the Polish people could have their country back. He already knew that Stalin wasn't going to give up any of it without a fight. I also think that is why Patton died so mysteriously too. Cuz he was going to be loud about it. And I also think that is why Israel was taken from the Palestinians and given to the Jewish people. Because Stalin wasn't going to give Poland back.
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I was thinking that with the combination of battleship/aircraft carrier ship could have actually been used by the US in their island hopping campaign, they could bombard the island with shells and have air support as well. The main draw back being do you really want to be doing shore bombardment while launching and/or landing aircraft? Let's face it, the Japanese knew they needed more carriers but had a battleship already halfway built so they made a battleship carrier. At this point they should have just had enough intelligence to try to make peace. However, after the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States was not going to accept anything less than an unconditional surrender by the Japanese. And the Japanese were way too proud to give an unconditional surrender until they had not one but two atomic bombs completely erase Hiroshima & Nagasaki from the earth. Which was very unfortunate. However, if it had not been for the thermo-nuclear devices then US soldiers would have been basically exterminating the Japanese from their very own home islands. Iwo Jima & Okinawa should have showed them it was over!
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The thing about rowing a boat out to a submarine & knocking out the periscope with a hammer is hilarious! However, if you could manage to throw a lasso around said periscope tie the other end around a mine & drop it over the side??? Idk, maybe?
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No question, just a comment. After seeing your video on Seydlitz & how you used the model to show all the hits the ship took, it made me think: "What other ships could he do this with? And I remembered the irritation from all the stupid BS on the internet surrounding the James Cameron report. And so I thought, maybe if he did the same with the Bismark in an effort to show how much damage the Bismark endured before it slipped beneath the waves. And idk, kinda doubt you could theoretically do this, but maybe try to also show what occurred after the ship went down and wrecked into the sea bed & then slid down the equivalent of what would be a mountain. However, that part maybe needs to be done with computer animation instead. Considering it would probably be very difficult to inflict that type of damage on a model.
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@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 And all your bitching, moaning & complaining about it doesn't do a damn thing to change any of it. It just gets old & irritating! And I can very definitely think for myself, thank you very much. And I can choose what I like, don't like, believe & don't believe. And you are welcome to do the same. Have a nice day! I guess my reply to mr left shoe made him delete what he had said to me. Him, imagine that.
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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.
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My take on YouTube NOT recommending your videos is are they stupid? I found your channel because of my interest in WW2. Yet because I enjoy your content I keep coming back & that gives them more views, so they can sale commercials. If it were NOT for your videos my YouTube usage would plummet severly from lack of interest. PLUS, because I didn't find your channel until you had already made 3-4 years worth of videos I watch a lot in an effort to catch up on everything I missed. And I'm sure you know that with 260 Drydocks & 300+ ship guides, that is a large quantity of quality videos. And I tend to like to watch a lot of stuff over & over so I find stuff I missed & stuff I just enjoy watching more than once.
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Although, King did make a few mistakes at the beginning of the war. The US Navy was more prepared for the war thanks to King. And unfortunately no one listened to him about Pearl Harbor being vulnerable except the Japanese. But another thing about him too is when he realized he was wrong he didn't have a problem admitting he was wrong and taking action to fix whatever he was wrong about. And him taking action with the Bureau of Ordinance to fix the Mark 14 torpedo was great.
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The sad part about it is MacArthur wielded A LOT of power. And a lot of Americans looked up to him. Why exactly idk but they did. I remember my Mom talking about him "son of a bitch" I think was her exact words! She also said that she thought he had something to do with Patton getting killed. And JFK getting killed. I mean "they say" Patton's death was from a traffic accident. But it's kinda strange all the stuff that man lived thru just to get killed by an auto accident. I think he was killed to shut him up cuz he was very vocal about wanting to attack Russia while we had the manpower in place to do it. And then maybe we could have given the Polish their country back. Imho that was the worst circumstances of the end of the war. After fighting alongside the Allies just as hard as they could the Polish people were left without a country.
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Let's say a Cruiser is any Capital ship Not large enough to be considered a battleship but is larger than a Destroyer.???? Idk. Maybe.
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Yeah, if it had swastikas they would probably have some trouble they would not enjoy.
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Yeah, I must say it would be a lot of fun. Didn't they have like 3 engines? I forgot where I heard that but it seems like I remember a story of an engineer that was sent aboard and was like the "helper" to the main engineer keeping the 3 engines running. I forget where I read that.
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@Drachinifel ********Q & A***** Hey Now, just wanted to let you know that I did get to see you on "History Undone" & I thought you did well on there talking about the "Battle of Jutland." I didn't bother watching any of the OTHER episodes that feature yourself. And that is because I've NEVER SEEN you interrupted by a commercial until I saw you on "History Undone", or at least not than I can remember. Maybe on the USN Leyte Gulf 80 year reunion. However, I've definitely NEVER seen any show where you were interrupted 6 times by commercial ads!! So I really hope that they paid you well for your guest appearance. And, if these people are friends of yours, you may want to tell them to dial back the amount of ads by about 50%. Cuz, I got irritated and it usually takes a LOT to irritate me.
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Yes, having 28,000 ton battleships with 12" guns would have been like going backwards instead forward. Getting an extra ship out of the deal is not going to matter much once they start getting sunk because they are insufficient to go toe to toe with other battleships & and some cruisers even have a fighting chance against such a ship.
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And as far as the Aleutian Islands go, although retaking the Islands would prove to be rather easy, I think that they didn't really need to bother. Let's face it, the Japs were having trouble getting supplies to Guadal Canal. With Intelligence reading the Jap code they could simply take out any supplies being taken to the Aleutians. And the Japs would be forced to vacate. The weather there not being very hospitable is rather an understatement. So anyone's desire to stay there would be minimal.
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@Bellephrontos Even still, most land "battles" in WW2 would usually result in an estimated 2k killed & about the same amount wounded while talking about most USA battles. Most of the things you name are "campaigns" rather than specific battles of those campaigns. Yeah, the battle of Manilla, I'll give you that one & the Battle of the Bulge to had a large amount of killed, casualties & surrenders. But even those were from weeks of fighting too, when most battles are usually a day or two.
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@Bellephrontos Really, OK then, in that case name one battle that costed the US over 100,000 lives before Okinawa or Iwo Jima? Please.
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Thanks Drach, for letting us know that taking Tarawa & Makin was NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination & it took a great toll of lives lost to learn that landing craft were best sent in during a high tide. Spruance paying close attention to detail in planning future landings will lead to less American lives being lost.
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@EtuSunTzu One of the very first Wednesday Specials or "Rum Ration" I guess is a better description that I got to see from Drach was the video "What to do when/if your ship has become disagreeable & you MUST abandon ship." It was the extreme detail & seriously well thought out narrative. AND another thing that Drach did that also won me over was the shortened biography of "Able Bodied Seaman 'Just Nuisance'." And not only the fact that he did a special about a dog. But another cool thing too was he had his wife do the introduction. Since she had grown up around the proud statue she did the introduction. And she was basically better & had a smoother voice than Drach. But that small little intro from her & then Drach takes over just makes it cool & unique and it kinda makes me feel as though she's more of a dog lover than him. But the video is very well done just like ALL of his stuff. And the other thing I like about Drach is he doesn't shy away from people that might have a difference of opinion as long as it is presented in a respectful & thoughtful manor. And if you CAN'T state your view in a intelligent & respectful way then, "please don't bother!"
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@adamesd3699 Actually, that all comes down to the machinery & crew. I've always liked the layout of the Scharnhorst though. It just "looks" like a battleship should look imho. If it had received it's 15" guns, it would have been 3 twins, which considering most battleships of WW2, it still would have been under gunned. 6 main guns. Nah I don't think that would fly very well
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Wow. The part about the fate of the all the different Admirals was a very good point. While on the American side Fletcher imho had done a better job than most. And Admiral Lee's untimely demise was very sad. However, of the Japanese Admirals it seems that the ones that were the best were given shore duty & easily survived the war. While I would agree that Kurita made some poor decisions in the Naval Battle of Samar in his defense he had suffered a head wound & had also witnessed Musashi being sunk the day before & he probably didn't want to see the same thing happen to Yamato.
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I like the new theme! No offense but it sounds similar to music in "Pirates of the Caribbean" but anyway it's like the channel has grown & evolved. The little shantee at the beginning with the champaign being broken to launch the channel/ship and now we at sea & shooting at stuff!!
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THE MOST SUCCESSFUL TORPEDO SALVO IN HISTORY! Think about THAT for a moment. And it was the Imperial Japanese Navy sinking ships of the Imperial Japanese Army. Did the Allies give the Mogami any awards or ribbons for this action? Or any of the other "friendly" fire incidents??
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Admiral Kurita commanding the Center Force at the Battle of Leyte Gulf could also get a nod. OR if you want to get really technical about it Admiral Yamamoto for planning the attack on Pearl Harbor. Which enraged the Americans to the point that they would only accept an "Unconditional Surrender." And then threw a fit & threatened to resign if his "Battle of Midway" plan wasn't enacted. And got 4 of his fleet carriers sunk by doing so. It really made me wonder why in the heck the Americans decided to kill Yamamoto when given the chance. I guess that it was revenge for the Pearl Harbor attack & give the Japanese a hit to their morale. BUT if he had been left alive to make all his convoluted plans it may have actually helped the Allies. Cuz most of his plans were usually so complicated that they would rarely ever work. And although he did plan the Pearl Harbor attack that was done & worked cuz they had time to train the pilots to carry out that mission & because it wasn't really complicated they accomplished it.
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The Great Carrier Reef. That is cute. VERY cute!
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@Drach Thanks for this "clarification." Although I had never doubted your previous research, I still found it interesting. Also, your previous video on Cruiser & Destroyer actions, I find these "lesser known" actions of WW2 much more interesting BECAUSE all the BIG battles are fairly well known, but the war lasted for YEARS & things were happening every day. And the Germans trying to "blockade" the English & the Royal Navy blockading Germany & then all of Europe was a huge part of the war. And making sure nothing was being shipped into Europe was an every day effort.
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This is not the first time I've heard someone speak about "What if" the Enterprise & Hornet had been present at Coral Sea instead of making the Doolittle Raid. My take on that was, I'm not sure about what exactly would have happened at Coral Sea, HOWEVER, IF it had not been for the Doolittle Raid, I don't think Midway would have gone down the way it did. And cuz the Coral Sea happened the 2 Japanese fleet carriers at Coral Sea were NOT available for Midway. And even though Lexington was sunk Yorktown although seriously damaged was able to make it to Midway, and thank God that it did cuz the inexperience of Hornets pilots may well have cost the USA a LOT MORE than just Yorktown being sunk had the Yorktown pilots not been there. And the 4 Japanese fleet carriers may not have all been sunk.
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He always says that & then usually forgets to add it or tries to & it doesn't work or something. But most times I hear him say that it's almost never there. But you can search YouTube for it yourself. The sister to DesMoines is USS Salem & it's preserved as a museum ship. They have a really great video of the guns in action inside the turrets. It's really cool to see how the shells & powder are loaded & fired in such a controlled way. Just thinking about it makes me want to watch it again!
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I would have to agree with you on that point. Especially considering that the DesMoines design with the autoloader 8" guns was such a success. That a larger version of the autoloaders would make for a very nice escort to those carriers. But at the same time I don't agree with sinking that much money into a single carrier either. If a war does take place & carriers are getting damaged and/or sunk that's a lot of money being sunk. When they could build smaller but more carriers and so not to place so many eggs in one basket so to speak. And another thing too is a ship built with larger autoloader guns could in theory take out sea skimming missiles by shooting HE rounds in front of the missiles causing them to run into the large splashes that result. Also making it good to have around these multi-billion $ carriers. However, if these billion dollar warships deter any & all nations from starting a major war with the US, UK or any other NATO countries then I believe that to be money well spent. And if we do somehow engage in some major war with likes of China or Russia, then we are going to need all the help we can get. And warships take a long time to build, so any war that happens will have to happen with the ships we already have. That's a major reason I wish they had a fleet of large autoloaders similar to the DesMoines. Cuz I believe that they could be built to have speed & firepower with less crew. And there are sometimes areas in which you don't want to risk sending a 13 billion $ carrier. But a fast moving battleship can support landings in many more ways than a carrier can.
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And more stuff about The Battle of the Atllantic too will also be appreciated. Although it was the longest battle of the war I still know very little about most of the actions that the convoys dealt with.
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@Drachinifel Now this is the type of stuff I think the channel should cover more of! The battles that happened but are rarely ever talked about. There were people fighting & dieing for 5 to 6 years during WW2. But the only ones you really hear about are the big ones. When there were all kinds of small skirmishes going on constantly. Submarines sinking ships. Ships sinking submarines. And the Australian Navy, Canadian Navy & the smaller ships cruisers, destroyers & minesweepers & such get left out. And the oilers get left out too although they are essential to the the larger task forces ability to operate & have limited capacity to protect themselves. BUT YEAH I LIKE HEARING ABOUT THESE LESSER KNOWN SMALLER ACTIONS!!!
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On the topic of sailors being "press ganged" into service, a lot of sailors that had that happen to them were on a ship that had just lost in battle. And the alternative may very well be to stay on a beaten & battered ship that might be sinking or might easily sink if a storm blows up. I think I'd rather help man the ship & be doing something useful rather than be a PoW or stay on a sinking vessel.
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The major shame of the "loss of the ship HMS HOOD" is not only the mystery of exactly what happened, it's the FACT that what did happen basically broke the ship in half & it sank with the middle of the ship sinking first so no one COULD get out. And 3 people surviving out of 1,418 is NOT GOOD SURVIVAL ODDS for any ship.
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Actually, no you are NOT the only one!! And back then I'm sure there were A LOT of just regular US sailors saying the same shit! And then the answer they get is well the TOP BRASS at this time is mainly focusing on the European theater of the war. Meanwhile ALL of our little cruisers are getting blown out of the water. And when they ask a Captain of one of those ships(if he lived) how his ship got blown apart he says "Well I was told that we are mainly focusing on the European War at the moment. "
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Wow, talking about curves like that reminds me of my wife. She was 5 foot nothing. But had an hour glass figure that would make you have to pick your chin up off the floor. She actually caused a traffic accident walking home from the pool in her bikini one day. Normally, the clothes she would wear mostly covered up her figure. The first time I saw her in that bikini. OmG. It was like a work of art she looked so good. She passed away Christmas Eve 2015. And since then it's been difficult to even be attracted to anyone else.❤😢 And it wasn't just what she looked like either. She broke the mold & then some.
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Considering Warspite's steering problems after Jutland. Well, from an engineering perspective what was really happening was every now & again the wobbling pin was falling out of the wiggling hole but the pin was too long to fall out completely. So the wobbling pin would fall back into the wiggling hole & everything would be alright again. But where the wobbling pin was, was too far back in the machinery spaces for the engineers to see that the wobbling pin needed replacement. More or less.😊
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Drach, what are you talking about? Now, I rarely ever disagree with most of what you say. But I have had quite a few cats but I have never had one that liked to chew on things, other than a random mouse it had caught. Now, yes they can be mischievous. And if it's a male, maybe urinate on something you don't want him doing that. But never have I seen a cat chew on wires. Now dogs, especially puppies. Even more specific Black Lab puppies are notorious chewers. A neighbor of ours had his stereo speakers chewed up cuz he didn't get chew toys for his pup.
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I was going to say, if you DON'T know how to swim & get thrown overboard your will to live SHOULD kick in enough to learn fairly quick. Simply kicking your arms & legs enough to stay on the surface isn't very difficult to figure out.
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@jacktattis Just in case you didn't know, a large part of the people & knowledge behind "the Manhattan Project" came from certain people fleeing from persecution in Germany & Europe. And if Hitler had not been so racist those people may have remained & Germany may have been the first with nuclear weapons and with the V-1 & V-2 Projects he would have also had a delivery system as well. Argue about a Navy all you want but that kind of devastation in Hitlers hands, who can say what exactly would have happened. But it would have been very horrific for the entire world, I'm sure. I'm not one to argue, don't care if people think I'm right or wrong. You have your opinion and I'll listen. And I may change my mind even. No closed mind here is what I'm trying to say I guess. But I'm glad things went the way they did. However, I really don't like all the present day tensions with China & Russia. Especially Russia invading their neighbors! And because the USA is a superpower everyone looks to us when something happens. It's like we are now the world police. I do understand that with great power comes great responsibility. But I really don't want the US in a war with Russia or China or anyone else for that matter.
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Although, the USA has preserved some of the fast battleships, I tend to like HMS Rodney best because of the all 3 main gun turrets being forward. Even though it gives it a different profile than most ships it's unique & with all 9 guns being so close together, once the fire control gets the right solution those 9 guns will make 16" shells rain on target. I so pity the sailors that were aboard Bismarck, for they got to see the devastation those guns can cause at length. I've always thought that the Germans should have waited and unleashed Bismarck & Tirpitz at the same time. Then they would have been double hard to deal with. In a lot of ways the Germans made decisions that helped with their defeat, like attacking Russia, & declaring war on the US. They couldn't invade England because of the Channel so they invade Russia. Hitler could have conquered the world if he had had some patience. Scary but true.
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@loficampingguy9664 Yeah, I've heard that one too about the "temper, temper". Signal. For some reason I thought it was the Missouri instead. But, my memory is shit anyway. I also remember a story about one of the Iowa's, maybe Wisconsin or Massachusetts was using a drone to spot for it. And the Iraqi's seen the drone, knew what it was for, & "surrendered" to the drone. Must admit ""them Arabs are NOT STUPID!!!"
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I thought Warspite had done that as well. But I wasn't there so.....
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Might as well say that Miss Rodney was highly pissed off about being otw to the states to get looked after and had to turn around to deal with the German bitch!!! German bitch is gonna get slapped around from start to finish! Those sailors were lucky that smaller ships were around to grab up some of the survivors or Bismarck may have lost all hands. Even though Hood went down with only 3 survivors that wasn't totally the Bismarks fault.
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So Arizona, sunk by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor is a Memorial. And Pennsylvania ended up radioactive and was sunk because of it. Sad endings to 2 once big & proud war ships. What a shame. And although it would have been awesome to be able to see Pennsylvania & Enterprise today, I think about what a sailor that served on Enterprise said & he didn't want to see her tied up as a museum ship. And a lot of his crewmates agreed.
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Yeah, you can say Admiral Halsey was an idiot in hindsight. However, those carriers posed a significant threat. There may have only been 100 planes altogether on those carriers but Halsey didn't know that. I think Halsey's problem was that he was just getting old. And the war, although the US was close to winning the war, was just getting to be a little too much for him. And he was going after what he saw as a significant threat. Which 100 planes, unchecked could do a bit of damage. But he should have left behind some battleships to guard the straight.
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@drachinifel Now I've thought about this. And I'm thinking, if any sailors are clever enough to want extra torpedos & find a place to stash them, I think he's also going to be clever enough to swipe a dolly or have a welder make him one. A dolly that has chains welded to it & you just put it on & roll it. But I would hate to be getting shot at trying to reload it!
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When talking about the Halifax explosion you said that the ship was full of ammunition. But I was under the impression that it was a freighter ship full of fertilizer, ammonia nitrate to be specific and somehow the ship had fuel lines that began leaking into the cargo hold. So that there became a mixture of diesel fuel & ammonia nitrate. And once a fire had started aboard the ship the mixture is so volatile all it needed was a tiny explosion to set off the mixture. However, I'm not saying that your wrong, cuz there very well may have been some kind of "cover up" & since then the actual truth has been released. Idk. But I did want to mention that this is the first time I have heard that it was ammunition aboard the ship that blew up. Either way it must have been one heck of an explosion!
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Speaking of cannon fire. Did you know that they use to sentence people to death by cannon. Where they would basically load the cannon and have the person stand in front of the cannon & light the fuse. And people would bet on what would be left & other gory stuff like how far body parts would go. I forget where I heard about this but people can be ruthless.
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Thank you. That was pretty much how I'd seen things as well. It's a shame that Eisenhower had more of a tendency to give Monty whatever he wanted while taking it away from our own forces. Especially when our own forces were actually moving further into occupied France & Germany instead of sitting in a defensive line & trying to think of a creative way to break the lines. It's not rocket science you concentrate your armor & infantry and move forward. And when you get the enemy in retreat you keep applying pressure to keep making them retreat. Patton had it down & was moving forward every day until Monty figured out a way to stop him. It's sad to think that but it's known to be true. It wasn't the Germans that stopped Patton, it was Ike & Monty that stopped Patton
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How about the cost being split 50/50 between the "owners" of the ship & the ones that sank that vessel.
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@Drachinifel Concerning having a ship named after the current Monarch, wouldn't it be sort of like a political problem if say this ship was sunk & so people would have to tell the current Monarch that "You have been sunk!"??? And so politically speaking it's probably much better to name the ship for the "previous" Monarch so as to save the current Monarch of such an embarrassment of being told they've been sunk!
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Yes, you would have to force me to eat sour kraut! My Mom loved the stuff but I can't stand the smell or taste of it. Idk how bad scurvy is but I guess I would force myself to eat it rather than be sick but augh!!
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The Royal Navy not having any warships would be crazy! He'll, the US would have to start building ships for the Royal Navy. Idk, maybe import some supervisors & experienced help from some of the shipyards in the UK, not only to help but to help streamline the building process. And that way when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor the US already has the shipyards to build more warships for the war.
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What is truly amazing is how many times he's answered the same questions with additional information so that he's not completely repeating himself but still answering the Patreon's question for that month. I've been listening to Drach for so long I keep going back and searching for stuff I haven't heard yet.
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Well, a Cruiser vs a Destroyer. In my honest opinion it basically not only depends on what armament each ship has available and the way the battle starts as well & also the determination of Captain & crew. The USS Johnston knocked the bow off of a Japanese heavy cruiser & I believe the Samuel B Roberts did close to the same as well. We can face the facts that this was definitely extraordinary circumstances however, a lot of battles HAVE extraordinary circumstances. So you can never be sure of what can happen until it happens. Just like you wouldn't think you could create a stealth battleship by having a distractionary bombing raid either, however that happened as well.
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See what happens when the British get bored of the war they are fighting & decide they want to have some fun. Can you imagine the German officers having to report about the other German officers disappearing during the explosion. I do wonder how many Germans were killed in the explosion.
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Good grief, I don't understand why they sent so many men. But, of course, I have no idea how many different objectives they had to accomplish. But that was a lot to make sure the German Battleship was never repaired!!! Good thing it did work. I'd hate to think all that went for naught. I imagine those that were a part of the operation & lived to tell the tale were quite pleased with themselves and the accomplishment! Honor to them all. And many thanks to Drach for the telling of the tale as well. As an American, I had never heard about this but I'm pleased to know of it now.
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Sounds like the Captain of the Franklin was a real ding dong to put it lightly. I guess they figured that with something so tragic happening & the Captain wanting to actually court martial sailors that were blown overboard for abandoning their post, I guess they realized pretty quick he was not worthy of command.
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What it was is the British didn't have the $ after WW1 to pay for new capital ships & man all the ships they had & get into a building race with the US. And because of the treaty the UK & US got caught kinda weak going into WW2. After WW2 the UK finally realized that if you don't provoke the US into war then you don't have to worry about the US having a strong Navy. And the US & UK together having a strong Navy is a good deterant for the countries that want to pull some kinda BS.
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I would just like to say, I liked the different piano intro to this one. Sounded good & was idk kinda cute.
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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!!!"
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I met a guy last week that served on the Bonhomme-Richard. Unfortunately we didn't get a chance to talk. But he had one of those caps on that had the name of the ship. I asked him & he said yeah, he served on the carrier.
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There is a video you did that I was wanting to listen to again but I can't find it. That video was "What to expect, &/or do when having to "Abandon ship." I remember that, for someone that has never had to go thru the horror of having to abandon a vessel at sea and then be adrift wondering if you are going to live or die, that video was very intuitive & I could tell you put a lot of thought & work into it. I always think of the crew of the "Indianapolis" almost thru that whole video.
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Considering the Amphitrite Mutiny, I guess the Admiralty wanted to TRY to show that they were going to punish people for insubordination but they made sure that the ones they did punish weren't punished too severely cuz they knew that those individuals were right. But they were trying to make sure that the one mutiny didn't escalate to be a large outbreak of mutinies.
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IMHO, Considering how many hits Bismarck was taking without being able to fire back, I really don't see why anyone would bother to give the order to scuttle the ship. And with all the damage that had already occurred I seriously doubt anyone would have bothered to listen to the order to scuttle much less take the time to carry it out!!!
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Hey Now, I know you did this Drydock 4 years ago but I'm going to comment anyway. That thing um ex5cuse me, that French thing right aro x und the 20 minute marker. Is that thing really a warship? When I first vvvvvvvvvsaw it I thought it was like a cartoon castle from the middle ages. And it makes me think they were going to abandon being a moving target & just drop their anchor & slug it out with whatever.
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Hey Now, yes you had mentioned that any & ALL of the the other Navies that had surrendered to Germany had refused to give their ships to the Germans & had joined with the RN. And the only thing that you forgot to mention is that ALL of those other Navies had balls. The French- not so much. Ya know the Scott's & the Irish may have worn kilts. The French were wearing dresses mind you. And all that French soil that they just gave away to the Germans ended up having to be fought for and hard won by a lot of Americans, Brits & Canadians. Idk, maybe I shouldn't talk about the French like that but it seems as though they just totally pussed out(for lack of a better description), and like you said ALL of the other Navies had already decided to do their own thing & join with the RN. And maybe the SS could have targeted their families, but you would think their families would be smart enough to avoid such a thing & would want them to continue the fight if possible. Imagine what the French Admirals' son said when asked, "So what did your father do during WW2?" "Oh yeah, my Dad marched into Hitler's office with his head held high, dropped his pants & leaned over his desk and said "Please be gentle."
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A Brit & a Frenchman were talking & the British gentleman points behind the Frenchman & says "Germans". Frenchman says "We surrender". The British gentleman says, "that was fast, shouldn't you at least negotiate terms?" Frenchman says "I just wanted to make sure I lived long enough to be able to negotiate terms."
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Yeah, on one hand, during Operation Crossroads USAAF horribly missed a stationary battleship that was painted pink or orange (I've read the USS Arkansas was painted pink and then same story but orange) AND they still missed the ship by a half mile. I'm sure that the Navy could do better but hey, imo, the less people dealing with nuclear weapons the better. And who knows, maybe the Air Force will learn how to hit the broad side of a barn with a little practice. Ok, A LOT of practice! But the strategic use of nukes would eventually be married with large nuclear submarines with major missille batteries and able to deliver numerous nuclear war heads from under the seas. As a nuclear deterant it is a very strategic weapon.
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So some resigned & the others were sacked. Never think your too big for your britches. Unless, of course, you actually can't fit them around your waste. And then you are just getting too fat!😮
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SO BASICALLY WHAT YOU ARE SAYING IS THESE TWO SHIPS WERE NEVER REALLY COMPLETED. SO, ALTHOUGH THEY MAY HAVE EXISTED IN NAME, THEY WERE NEVER LAUNCHED OR COMMISSIONED OR CREWED.
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Revision: And another thing too about "the Allies winning over the Axis". It wasn't JUST the sheer numbers of Sherman tanks the Sherman could also move about twice as fast & as soon as the tank crews figured out HOW to fight against the heavy armor then the faster Shermans would wreek havoc on the Panzers. AND as soon as the US Army figured out there tanks had inferior armor & armament they remodeled with thicker armor & a 76mm & then the Germans were shitting bricks. Plus, Hitler was an idiot. He had been attacking Great Britain & was "AT WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN" & simply because he can't invade Britain he attacks the Soviet Union? After Stalin recovers from the shock he basically just squashes Hitler like bug. Well not really. But I think Stalin liked & admired Hitler & Hitler destroyed the best ally he could have had with Barbarosa. And also going to declare war on the USA too. Whoever was blowing him must have really pumped his nuts FULL OF HOT AIR! In actuality, if he had played his cards right, he could have totally ruled Europe but he got too greedy and bit off way way more than he could chew & then choked on it.
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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.
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Wow, the thing you mentioned about the single most thing having a huge effect on the war: Pearl Harbor actually being on alert when attacked & the Japanese losing a lot of their pilots etc. There is also the idea that had this occurred it could have had the opposite effect in which the Japanese realize they needed to be able to train more & more pilots much earlier than they originally did. And figure out, like the US did that they needed their best pilots TRAINING new pilots rather than fighting the enemy. And them the "Mariana's Turkey Shoot" is no longer a turkey shoot but an all out brawl between 2 heavy weights. And although maybe the Japanese didn't accomplish as much in the 1st 6 months of the war but because of this the war becomes a little more long & drawn out. But, of course, in the end the US ends the war with the first use of nuclear weapons. Truly a shame that those people in Hiroshima & Nagasaki died in the manner they did. But because of those deaths tens of thousands were spared. Thinking about it: Maybe the invention of the atomic bomb was the single biggest thing. For then, the US would have invaded Japan & probably tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands would have died.
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Your idea about the Italian guns wearing down their rifling and therefore giving the shells a reduced amount of spin & actually stabilizing the shells with the correct amount of spin is definitely something that could have easily happened. Or at least in my opinion. Especially if those gun barrels were spent after being fired only 100 times. When all of these other gun barrels last for 400 shots or more then that is only 25% of the life span of other battleship guns.
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"Destroyers" for the US, as well as submarines & even "PT Boats" at the beginning of WW2 would have been much, much more effective if the torpedoes had actually worked. AND if the US had had a torpedo even close to effective as the Japanese then all 3 would have been devastatingly effective!
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Yeah, you spoke of the US Marines. And yes the US Marines do everything you can imagine. They are not just security aboard Navy ships. They basically do everything the Army does & more. They even have there own planes & pilots, cuz in some situations they don't want to have to rely upon Navy or Air Force pilots.
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WOW. AND HE STILL HAD SILVER BURIED IN SOUTH AMERICA.
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@AdamMGTF Actually, with all that being said, it makes me wonder how long "the list" still is.
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Upon considering videos being demonetized, I've noticed that a lot of people listen to your channel at bedtime while going to sleep. And maybe some of these people after falling asleep accidentally start hitting stuff on their phone & just happen to hit the "report" option & because of this... boom instantly demonetized.
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I knew that they named a ship after them. And that it's now a museum ship. But I didn't know that they made a movie about them. I'm guessing that it had a very sad ending! 5 brothers getting killed is pretty messed up! Very sad story. Must have torn their parents hearts out! It hurts my heart to think of the agony they must have felt. I'm sure they are passed away too by now. But the thought of any parent outliving their child just seems wrong.
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Yeah the Atlanta getting shot up by San Francisco on one side & the IJN on the other side. Plus the Atlanta & Juneau is made more for anti-aircraft rather than anti-surface fire. And taking a long lance is even major for a battleship much less a small cruiser! Poor guys.
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Considering racism in the US Navy, it wasn't only the Navy. The whole of the US was, very rascist in my opinion. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule, I was born in the late 60's & was growing up in the 70's, and although some people were trying their best to NOT be rascist, on most accounts even those people were still guilty of basic stereotyping people. But a LOT of people were downright rascist, proud of it & made no apologies about feeling that way!!! And I will include my father as one of those people. And I guess I can include myself as basic stereotyping people. Although I totally disagreed with my father about rascism, I can't say that I'm not guilty of certain prejudices.
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Now, I'm not sure if I'm hearing something else that sounds like flatulence or is actually flatulence but right around 1:21:15 when talking about Japanese/American relations umm.... Idk, but seems like he should have edited that part! I mean I'm sure during over 5 hours something like that can happen but
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Yeah, I was thinking about the question about "should the US have left Admiral King as head of the Navy with his 'Anglophobia' as you call it"? And I can't help but think the main reason that they left him there was "POWER". Not exactly that he had power over them but that he emanated & represented strength. And everyone in the Navy knew that and at the time that was what mattered and they didn't want to "disturb the apple cart" during the war. He, undoubtedly was already having to bow down to Eisenhower & as long as he did what Eisenhower wanted in Europe then he could do what he wanted in the Pacific. I'm sure Roosevelt had to talk to him to get him to cow tow to Eisenhower. Do you know why Eisenhower was elected President? Cuz Nimitz didn't run for office!. Yes, from everything I have heard & read about it, is that Admiral King acted like he did MAINLY to his subordinates. To those that were on an equal footing with him he didn't treat like that. Even British Admiral Summerville I think is his name was on an equal level with him & they managed to find common ground & work together well. And the powers that be were not going to force King to retire in the middle of the war unless he was deliberately causing problems with the war being over asap.
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You can look at it like that. However, if it was a museum ship, then they wouldn't be able to name another ship Washington in respect for those that served aboard her.
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*Idea* Concerning having to build a 3 hull warship: I had a different idea for this. Instead of Atlanta type Cruisers on each side with a battleship in the middle how about we go REALLY BIG!!! AND have an Iowa class battleship on each side with a Midway type aircraft carrier in the middle! Cuz let's face it, most any warship is vulnerable to air attack more than anything, so the aircraft carrier can make sure that any air attacks are seen off or at the least broken up enough that the anti-aircraft guns can take out the rest. And with a fast battleship on each side let's face it, any surface threats that tried a sneak attack at night would not be long for this world!!!! And btw, I chose a Midway type carrier so that it would have an armored flight deck. 😮😮😮
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I'm not sure of all the facts in the case of the Mary Celeste & her missing crew but I had another idea. Maybe she had run aground enough to stop her but not enough to damage her. And they are right next to a small island or land in any case. And so the ship being stuck and maybe high winds had started blowing the ship in a way that the crew thought it may capsize. So everyone grabs what they can launch a lifeboat & go ashore. Because the ship is grounded they don't think of trying to have mooring lines & try to secure the ship to the shore in any way. Or just plain don't have enough rope to secure it. While they are ashore the tide rises & the wind changes direction and all of a sudden the ship is sailing away without the crew. Or maybe just maybe she was taken over by a pirate ship. Where they were taken prisoners & put in the brig of the pirate ship. And the pirate ship decided to tow the Mary Celeste. But a storm came up & they were forced to part with the Mary Celeste in high winds & waves. And the crew just disappeared into the world, not wanting to be held liable for the ship being lost.
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The story of Admiral McCain getting chunked into the water is hilarious! I've heard the tale before & told a little bit differently although not by much. I imagine the Admiral was probably already soaking wet from sweating in the heat, so getting doused actually felt cool & refreshing. And the guys were having fun. I'm alright just get my hat.
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You made the claim that a modernized HMS Hood may have survived the Battle of the Denmark Strait. And while this is true however the HMS Prince of Wales also having problems with her main guns doesn't make for a good outcome to that battle unless the two British heavy cruisers catch up enough to engage KMS Prince Eugene imo. That way Hood & PoW can concentrate fire on Bismark. And that also should have been done in the original battle & that way the British would have had 2 heavy cruisers against Prince Eugene & 2 battleships against Bismark. (Although some may not consider Hood a battleship, I think her armor, armament & speed tik the right boxes to call her a battleship, although she was one gun short.) And it makes me wonder if Hood does get a refit is any kind of change happening with her armor that might insulate her against "the golden bb" shot straight into the magazine that made her explode. If that is even what made her explode. But the thing about it too is no one could have predicted such an outcome considering how large Hood was. Everyone that saw Hood back then was very impressed by her size. She was what inspired the Lexington imo even though the designs fell way short which was really stupid! She made a better aircraft carrier conversion than she would have ever made a battlecruiser. That's my story & I'm sticking to it!
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You were talking about the US Navy being strangled by Congress & that ship design hadn't evolved yet. And considering that, I think it was USS Olympia (??) that the weight of the guns would make the turret go back & forth with the roll of the ship until they figured out how to fix it.
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My personal view on shore bombardment making a huge difference is the Normandy landings on D-Day. Because of all the heavy guns in & around the Normandy beaches it was essential to have the big guns of the battleships engage the big guns on land. And then on Omaha Beach the machine gun triangles the Germans had were tearing our troops to pieces. And the destroyers came as close as they could to the beach to give artillery support so that our troops could actually make it ashore. And Normandy was arguably the largest amphibious landing ever in history. And definitely the most important in the European theatre.
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@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!!!
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Q & A Is this Johnie Walker any relation to the "Johnny Walker" brand that makes Scotch? Johnny Walker Black, Red & the aged for 25 years & expensive as hell Blue?? I once had a guy give me a very large bottle of the Blue. He said he won it in a poker game. I told him I don't drink alcohol. He told me to keep it & sale it & that it was worth at least $600. I looked it up on the internet and he had underestimated what it was worth. Actually it was worth $725. My wife was in bad health and we were in the ER the next night and someone stole it out of my bag while I was asleep. I had already found a buyer too. I had a Buffalo-Wild Wings that was going to buy it. He offered $400 for it but said that he would have to pay me with a check the next day. I should have let him hold it to keep it safe. But that's the way things happen sometimes.
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@themanformerlyknownascomme777 Idk, I think that Japan felt slighted NOT being treated as an equal. Anything where they are NOT treated as an equal would still appear as an insult to them. But, we got to see that in the long run the Treaty System really did save the USA, UK & IJN a lot of money thru the 2 decades that it covered. And because of that when WW2 first kicked off the Brits were a bit on their back foot. And thanks to the Pearl Harbor attack the USA was about to be in the war too & also on the "backfoot". Losing 8 battleships in one blow was a big lesson in NOT having your eggs all in one basket! But it was the change from battle line power to carrier air power that allowed the US to stop the IJN advance. And as far as the US heavy/ light cruisers, it was the Admirals not realizing that the IJN had a potent longer range torpedo that caused the US to lose so many heavy & light cruisers during the Guadal Canal campaign. And IMHO in 1944 when Arley Burke suggested to Admiral Lee that he should engage the IJN in a night action with his fast battleships Admiral Lee declined the action. For one his fast battleships had been on constant duty protecting the carrier task force & had not trained together for any type of action & a night action would have been even more difficult. Plus by this time Admiral Lee KNEW that the IJN had a potent torpedo that was of longer range. And in a surface engagement those torpedoes are a danger. However, consequently in a carrier battle the torpedoes are being dropped by planes so they are much easier to spot & avoid.
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The Battleship Yamato's claim to fame is firing on a couple of small ships & then running away. Next time it tries to do anything it gets sunk. Although in defense of the Japanese Admiral he did see Musashi get sunk less than 24 hours before & had to change his flag ship cuz a sub took out the cruiser he was in plus another too. I think he also got hit in the face or head with shrapnel, So, after all the crap the Admiral had to deal with IDK it would be hard after all that to say that things were going the way the Japanese really wanted things to go.
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Wow. You people really think about these "what if" scenarios WAY TOO MUCH! I mean, they might be fun for a movie but come on, we still are living in the real world & our history is still our history, & nothing we can do to change that history. But we can learn from it, & not make the same mistakes.
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I was under the impression & had assumed The Royal Navy was THE most powerful Navy up until the massive war ship building in the USA during WW2 eclipsed the size of the Royal Navy & one, since the USA had become the UK's Ally during the war & two because of WW2 the UK vastly shrunk in it's world wide holdings so it no longer needed such a large Navy to protect the holdings that remained. And that by Wars end the British & the USA were trying to reduce their Navy's in general but still remain large enough to be the two most powerful Navy's in the world so as to be a deterant against any communistic take overs. But as an American, I really don't see "the standard battleships" standing long against the Royal Navy battleships. But by the end of WW2 with the North Carolinas, South Dakota's, Iowa's & the major swarm of the Essex's by 1943 or 44 the USA had definitely eclipsed the Royal Navy by a significant margin. But with our continued interests in world around us being close to the same we had little to no chance at going to war against each other. And as far as Nazi's ending up in Argentina? Hey, if you were a high ranking Nazi & had information about a large amount of gold. Loading it on a U-boat & getting out of Germany before it falls would be a very tempting idea!!! Never underestimate the power of greed & fear linked together to make people do stranger things than making for Argentina. Hell, depending upon where they rocked up, if they had gold bars, I'm sure they could have bribed there way into the US even.
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I would have to agree, anyone that serves on an aircraft carrier may want to classify their carrier as a Super Carrier BUT an aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier. Next we will start having Super Dooper Carriers. Then maybe even Super Dooper Slooper Whooper Carriers. I mean, really, where does it end. Iowa was almost twice the length of other battleships was it a Super battleship? And Yamato even bigger, so it would be a super battleship as well. Just stop. Every time one of these ships gets built its gotta be bigger & more expensive than the previous one. And it has to be "so much better" in order to justify the massive cost. When the justification is WW2. The UK was able to bow out of having to "protect the world" cuz the USA stepped in & took over. But because of politics Ukraine is left to fend for themself. I guess them NOT being part of the UN is reason enough to let Russia invade. Or just NOT wanting a war with Russia is the real reason. I guess it was a good thing they waited til Trump was no longer in office. Trump would have done his best to go to war. It's one of those mine is bigger than yours thing that, although I see it & kind of understand it, its really very silly that people have to fight & die over it. Cuz as long as your misses is happy, you got nothing else to prove.
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And anything too rotten to sell or use could be burned for heat inside or outside.
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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.
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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.
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@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684 Yeah? However, Arizona was hit by a 1600lb bomb & was a stationary target at the time & before it happened the US wasn't at war with anyone, either. Unfortunately for the crew of the Arizona & many other sailors the vulnerability of Pearl Harbor on Sunday mornings were shown by a recent "Fleet Problem" by Admiral King but this vulnerability was evidently not acted upon by the US Navy and the Japanese Navy took notes. Which imho made Pearl Harbor a disaster waiting to happen in the face of the Japanese embargo. While I'm not exactly sure if that vulnerability was what led to the Pacific Fleet being sent from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, it evidently didn't help the vulnerability & just caused those ships to be more vulnerable than they would have been at San Diego.
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Yeah, it really doesn't say much for the designers that they stopped all work on Hood cuz of all the battlecruisers blowing up at Jutland and afterwards they built a ship that would eventually blow up & sink just as fast or maybe even faster than HMS Queen Mary.
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@Crapartstudio I'm fairly certain that it was black powder. But the pipe part was in tact it was the old wooden handle that broke. And then when he went to grab for his face the handle part was still in his hand and he hit himself underneath the chin with it. He needed more stitches under his chin than around his eye. Plus the only scar left around his eye was in his eye brow so you couldn't really see it a year later. But you could still see the scar under his chin. If he had wrapped the whole thing with some fresh duct tape it might not have happened. BUT the handle part was kinda thin right between the handle part and the longer part that the pipe was taped to. Idk, at the time I could tell it was an accident waiting to happen. And I told him so. And he said "Well, after this one I won't do it no more." And he was true to his word. After that one he didn't do it anymore. 😀 He was my best friend and when it happened it scared the crap outta me! At first, of course, I thought he had lost an eye. After he finally moved his hand & let me look, I was a lot less worried. But because he was under 18 we had to call his Mom so she could give permission for treatment.
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Yeah, these battleships were so old by WW2 imho they never really should have seen service! By October of 1944 these battleships were so obsolete that they were basically sending these battleship's crew to certain death. I mean they were built in 1915. Almost 30 years old! For the US Naval units it was basically like target practice.
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From everything I've heard of that battle I'm surprised there were ANY survivors AT ALL, very surprised.
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By WW2 these ships were basically death traps for the sailors that were aboard them. The fact that 20 men survived the sinking of the two was probably due to the fact that they were in the pagoda masts and could easily see that the ship was sinking. Or if the ship capsized they were thrown away from the bulk of the ship sinking and wasn't pulled down in it's wake.
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Yeah, I got interested in WW2 because of seeing the Battle 360 Tales of USS Enterprise. And what is funny is that I owned a Grey 1979 Camaro for many years & after a couple of years of NEVER getting pulled over & ticketed for speeding I named it "The Grey Ghost". Upon learning that USS Enterprise also had the same nickname, among others, I thought it was really cool. Especially because the reason it was nicknamed that was because the Japanese had claimed that they had sank it on several occasions. Since then I've tried to absorb everything I can about WW2. But the thing about it too is that it is easy to find stuff about the larger battles but a lot and/or most of the smaller actions there is not so much written about them.
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So the automated 8" guns for the "Des Moines" class had the entire shell & powder enclosed in a brass cartridge? If that is the case, then having autoloader guns on a 15" or 16" gun is as simple as making a shell that encloses the powder charge & the shell all in one so that each shell can be moved safely thru all the hoists & belts needed to move them thru the system. Which, of course, would be a HUGE SYSTEM. Probably so big it would have to be twin turrets instead of triple. But considering that you wouldn't need 2 magazines you could probably have 4 twwin turrets.
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I LOVE APRIL FOOLS DAY! WELL DONE! I SAW ONE OF MY FAVORITE GRATEFUL DEAD SHOWS ON APRIL 1ST 1990 IN ATLANTA, GA. They went on to play 2 more shows there in Atlanta & a lot of what they played ended up on a live album called "Without a Net". The China Cat Sunflower/I Know You Rider being one of the best parts.
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What I don't get is how come they didn't go back & rescue the survivors from the Johnston & the Roberts.
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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.
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Can you imagine being a U-boat Captain & surviving the sinking of your submarine to find out the name of the vessel that sunk yours was HMS Pansy or Periwinkle? It makes you wonder, would he just laugh it off or put his Luger to his head & pull the trigger?
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My question is: From time to time HMS Ships have gone down with all hands & the occupants only grave being the sea & the battered remains of the ship on the bottom of the ocean floor. Does the Royal Navy have a place where it erects memorials &/or monuments in honor of these sunken ships & the sailors that were lost within? For although it may seem pointless to erect an empty grave site for each man so that their family may visit, remember & honor him, to me it would seem that a memorial or monument for each sunken ship with a list of the crew lost at sea is the very least that your country could do for those men & the families that loved them! ❤
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You know that one pissed Hitler off to no end! If they told him. Whomever was in charge of that port may have just told command it was all due to the bombing raids but then mined the entrance to the harbor.
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And it was purely happenstance that Rommel was away from Normandy when the landings actually DID take place there. And the Allies were VERY LUCKY he was away imho!
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When you said Browning somehow managed to piss off Admiral King, I was thinking to myself that after that he was lucky to stay in the Navy. Of all the people in the Navy Admiral King was the one you DIDN'T want to piss off. However, considering Kings normal demeanor it would be difficult to know if you had been the one that pissed him off, cuz he was ALWAYS pissed off!!!
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Yeah, talking about throwing a ship into reverse in an emergency, well you had mentioned a clutch, so I would think instead of chewing up the gears it would just start burning the clutch up until it managed to start spinning the other direction. And then maybe have to requisition a new clutch cuz you just burned up the one you had. IDK for sure but I would think that would be what would happen.
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OMG, REALLY???? NOT THE TORPEDO BATTLESHIP AGAIN!!! A complete and utter waste of a hull & armor. ALSO, you mentioned the galley as being an overlooked part of a ship. And I can't help but remember some of the pilots that were on USS Enterprise actually remember being served steak & eggs for breakfast before the Battle of Midway. And while such a breakfast couldn't help the torpedo bombers(except as the pilot said "last meal for the condemned men), it evidently made a difference for the dive bombers. And then I'm sure setting 3 fleet carriers ablaze was even more of a morale boost. AND, As far as the French was concerned. They had pretty much lost the war with Germany in a matter of days. And, yes although it was very clear you could NOT trust the Nazi's, the French are pretty much known for chickening out. So it's not easy for people to go against their character. Sad but true. Now if you told the French the Nazi's were going to take ALL OF THEIR WINE & CHEESE, THEN they may have actually grown some backbone and fought back a little better. What? Scuttle all your ships with the wine & cheese stores still aboard? En Guarde!!
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Speaking of different color dyes, on Battle 360/Patton, during "Torch" Patton got nailed by a splash of yellow dye from Jean Bart, I think it was.
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 @sreckocuvalo8110 Well you only need to fire it once for it to be done on the inside. But the outer layer of about half an Inch is burnt to a crisp and will need to be removed & discarded.
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You know, considering the way the French acted after German occupation & considering how the Polish acted, I think they should have divided France in half & let the Polish have half of France, EITHER THAT OR ALL THE ALLIES CONTINUE TO FIGHT AGAINST STALIN IN ORDER TO RESTORE POLANDS BORDERS PREVIOUS TO WHATEVER "DEAL" THAT HITLER MADE WITH STALIN! AND FURTHERMORE, when the Soviet Union finally went broke and basically "Surrendered" the "Cold War" to the West. In order to bail Russia out of debt one of the conditions should have been the restoration of pre-WW2 Polish borders. Out of all the nations that fought against Germany at the end of the war, the Polish were ultimately crapped on by the Allies. And I consider it a black mark against the American & British both accepting "peace" without the restoration of Poland. And that was the difference between Truman & FDR. FDR would have given Stalin an ultimatum! "Give up Poland or we"ll drop the next atom bomb on Stalingrad & reduce it to ashes! I would have bet 2 to 1 odds Stalin would have chickened out!!!
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You were talking about the different color dies & I seem to remember something about Patton getting splashed with some yellow die during, I think, Operation Torch. I guess that the shell was from the Jean Bart but not certain. Someone said his aid started trying to wipe it all off of him but supposedly he pushed the aid aside and acted as though he didn't care cuz he was more concerned about the landings that were going on.
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In the first ten minutes you were asked to give an MVP for each side in the Battle of Jutland. And you picked Seydlitz & Iron Duke. I personally feel that I would have picked Warspite for the same reason you picked Seydlitz. I forget the name of the ship, but when Warspite lost her steering and did a 360 it absorbed A LOT of shells that would have gone into another ship. I forget the name of the ship, but that ship might have been destroyed and sunk right there & then. And although I do believe that ship did ultimately sink,BUT most of the crew was taken off the ship before it sank. And so the survivors of that ship can pretty much say that Warspite helped save their lives.
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"We have food, it's fresh & looks good. Let's eat it quick before someone else does." I like that. A little tradition our family had when I was young was "Pizza on Friday" & "Fried Chicken on Sunday". If it was my turn to cook we're having taco salad. My brothers turn sloppy Joe's. When my Mom cooked she made homemade spaghetti my stepdad Billy made venison chops, battered, fried & then simmered in gravy. And now I'm getting hungry!😮 Out of the 4, I'm the only one left. Oh and my real Dad, you didn't want him to cook anything unless it was on the grill, preferably steaks. My Dad attempted breakfast, & burnt blisters on the tips of his fingers testing to see if the skillet/grease was hot enough to fry an egg. His attempt at gravy resulted in something he picked up, bit it & it crunched. Now I've never heard of gravy being crunchy. So we just put butter on the canned biscuits he had burned & made the best of it. My Mom was sick with kidney stones giving her a very high fever & making her weak.
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Oh, AND the question about the Barbary Pirates being independent or state sponsored, was simply hilarious to me cuz I had totally anticipated the "YES" that was given. As if to say sometimes it was both at the same time. Depending upon who it was some was state sponsored. Some not at all & I'm sure those that were state sponsored also did a bit for their own pockets as well. With things changing as quickly as the wind can change direction.
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I've been listening to your rant about the National Maritime Museum. And I was wondering if you complained? You, of all people, realize what it was & what it is now. Find the appropriate people to complain to & complain. Because whomever is running the museum evidently should not be running the museum. That museum is a big part of English History because sailing ships are what made the United Kingdom strong. I can tell by your rant that that museum was a big part of you coming to love ships like you do & now kids are not going to have that. It's like they treat kids like they are stupid. And now generations are missing out on all the stuff that made that museum special!
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The radar suite in 1945 for RN Battleships, they pretty much had every kind of radar you could imagine plus some you wouldn't imagine with the only exception being Radar O'Reilly! But, idk, one of them may have had his father.
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I must totally agree. And you also have to consider that the National Maritime Museum is a VERY HUGE part of English history! And if they are not going to tell the very rich history of English sea going vessels then who is left to do it? Considering that they are "The National Maritime Museum" it is my opinion that IT IS THEIR JOB & their responsibility to provide as much information as they have pertaining to the rich history and heritage of the English Sea Going vessels. And I say that cuz I'm not sure exactly where/when they began calling ships "the Royal Navy" but also because that history should also include "merchant vessels" as well. Because England is an island country & had such a large amount of imports/exports & sea going trade in general. It is very important to preserve all the knowledge that the English learned during that time. And if the Museum is going to hide all this information away, I fear that it will all be lost in time because those that have an actual interest will not be able to access the information that is most interesting to them. And the National Maritime Museum has such a large amount of information, instead of making their Museum contain less knowledge they should contain a much broader amount of information cuz the whole purpose of a Museum is to provide knowledge & the more knowledge that is available the more people will return to see the things they didn't have time to see during the first visit.
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Considering the "hypersonic missiles", if these things can like skim just above the water, couldn't you send your missile into the water in front of it & the water from that explosion would take it out. It makes me think about how battleships would fire their big guns into the water making big splashes that torpedo bombers would have to avoid.
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Yeah, considering the Italians, if their capabilities in production of warships back then is anything like their production of high performance automobiles today then I would have to assume they built some pretty good ships. It's a shame how fast technology was changing and making almost any warship obsolete by the time it was launched & crewed. And almost every ship needed a refit every year to be current with changing technologies. It must have been extremely exciting yet also frustrating at the same time.
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I really don't think it's prejudice. I think that it is all very factual. Bismarck used an outdated armor protection. And being proud of Warspite for it's accomplishments. Again factual.
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In considering what you were talking about in this video... before the use of surface radar ships could deploy smoke, however, in doing so, depending upon the wind, sometimes such a thing could help your fleet immensely OR also depending upon the wind, cause your fleet to be completely decimated. AND Any ship that may have Admiral "Ching" Lee on board & he has been aboard for at least a few days. Good chance that ship would be able to tear another ship apart. I personally don't understand the "What ifs?" in any way shape or form. I enjoy hearing & knowing what happened & WHY what happened DID happen!!! BECAUSE facts are facts & usually NOT debatable unless the facts are fuzzy. AND any ship that finds the correct range & delivers a debilitating blow first may easily triumph. ie: the Johnston blowing the bow off of a Japanese cruiser with a torpedo. And in that case, Johnston won THAT battle, however, considering there were numerous MORE cruisers & Capital ships in general. And I personally applaud you for not wanting to argue with the people that simply want to argue! And I enjoy the information you present & HOW you present it as well!
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Those would have been good at shore bombardment say when trying to take over an enemy harbor. As long as there were no large enemy ships in the harbor, you could land a force, and have this thing surface in the harbor for extra fire power. Idk, it could have worked "once upon a time"!!!!
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A very thought provoking video. It seems to me that Italian scientists had carefully studied & thought this out. And then while they were trying to make it practical, other simpler people would intervene to make the goal unattainable.
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Well I guess having your trousers blown off of you is better than getting your balls blown off. I would imagine disintegrated trousers probably wasn't the only thing he left on the deck.
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@andersed1 Now that is a question that I don't think has ever really been answered. Except for the US Navy Bureau of Ordinance designed it. It reminds me of a friend of mine that was a caver. He had a shirt that said "I'm a caver, that means I know the difference between my ass & a hole in the ground." Unfortunately for the US Navy the Bureau of Ordinance did not possess even that much intelligence.
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@vikkimcdonough6153 Exactly HOW or where are you going to find and/or even build a cruiser with 32 6" guns? It would take a hull the size of a large battleship to have that many 6" guns. Sounds like your question is just a complete waste of time cuz any ship with that many guns would be so unstable that firing that many would probably cause the ship to capsize with the first salvo. Drach probably thought that you must be about 3 years-old to ask such a question!
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Every once in a while I happen across a video that seems familiar but I don't remember watching all that well. And so, I watch it again. Sort of like, a refresh just to see how much I retained of what was said. And although I do remember seeing this video. I must have seen a lot of others around the same time & what's the saying "one thing drives out another."
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The question about wondering if a ship could obtain a higher speed by firing their guns aft was imho hilarious! And while I could see someone actually being curious enough to wonder if something like that work. But even on a much smaller scale say like something on wheels it still wouldn't be enough to cause a large difference.
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Well there are a lot of ships that turned into a living present day hell on a certain day. Like the Bunker Hill carrier, The Hood, the Bismarck, & even both Yamato's.
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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.
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I've never heard about that, but wouldn't be surprised. I just read that Fairfax police busted a guy with 12 pounds of weed, some mushrooms and some guns. And I was like how is 12 pounds of Marijuana against the law, now that they are selling the stuff in stores? Is it because he had some guns to keep from getting robbed? I think that the combination of having both together is a crime but separately they are both OK. Hell, they are selling cannabis products everywhere. Why is this man really getting arrested? Anyway, I also heard on the news that a teacher in Georgia was arrested for threatening to cut a students head off. Last I heard, we are supposed to have freedom of speech. Now if she was seriously planning to cut the students head off & they can prove it that is something different. But most likely an idle threat by a frustrated teacher to a particularly disruptive student. Really? That's like the difference of social services getting involved with a family because a kid got a spanking, when there are children getting beaten & brutalized and courts send them home for more! I know about both first hand accounts. My wife started being a constant runaway at the age of 11 cuz she was beaten. The courts FINALLY discovered the truth when she was 16 and put her in a foster home. But by then she had no idea how a normal family was supposed to interact. So after she got married and had her first kid she started trying to abuse her husband & divorced him out of sheer frustration of NOT KNOWING HOW to be a normal mother. Then her next husband beat her too but she felt like she deserved it cuz of how she treated her first husband. OMG the stories I've heard!!! And I know she was telling me the truth cuz you don't just make up the kinda crap I heard! OK. I'm done. Gotta go!!!
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I had read about the ram in the comments before you got to it. When you had had this guy on before he had kinda bored me a little bit, to be totally honest. However, after listening to him here again I found him much more interesting. And interested in the things he is working on. And yes the current political field in the US at the moment is terrifying! We've got Biden who will probably be a one term President & a woman running against Trump again. Trump got elected before only because Hillary couldn't whip out a penis & wave it at the crowds. I hope it doesn't happen again cuz Trump is like a 2 year old with a chip on his shoulder. I would truly feel a lot safer if the man had a major coronary or something. I'm beginning to think he might truly be the Anti-Christ!! But what do I know, I'm homeless and living in the streets.
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Idk, I quit drinking alcohol in 2007 & I think that it has served me well. And while I do agree that sailors aboard US Ships should remain sober. And only drink while on leave. I mean I do understand someone wanting to enjoy a cold beer on a hot day, although I've never cared for beer. But I do sincerely believe that Admiral Halsey would have made much better choices & decisions had he not been drinking whiskey all day. And would today be remembered as a much better Admiral because of making those better decisions. I believe that him being inebriated led to him leaving the San Bernadino Strait unguarded. And him not letting the destroyers out of formation during the typhoon that led to a number of people dying. When it was obvious that they were in a typhoon. Idk, maybe him sending "kids" off to do battle & die left him thinking he needed to drink to be able to deal with it. But imho that is the very reason why he should have remained sober. Cuz most guys make poorer decisions when they are drinking, & Halsey evidently was no exception to this. Who knows, Captain Evans of the Johnston & a lot of other ships & men may have lived if Halsey hadn't been drinking the night before. So while the Royal Navy may allow alcohol, I believe the US is smart in NOT allowing it. Cuz on a warship, you can get called for duty at any time for various reasons and need to have a clear head to perform that duty. The decisions you make on a warship can cause a lot of people to live or die & can cause the loss of the ship & crew in a moments notice.
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Yeah, another thing about the USS New Orleans & Chippewa is IF they were completed they would have been using NON- SEASONED WOOD. And that in itself is A BIG REASON to NOT finish them. If you use green wood the ships are not going to last very long & have major amounts of trouble staying afloat & last maybe 3-5 years at best. So building those ships would have been a very LARGE waste of time & money for very little gain. And like Drach said too, they would have to remove them from the area too & doing all that for 2 ships that haven't been built yet? Nah, totally not worth the hassle for something that would have actually been more in the Royal Navies benefit than the USA's benefit at that time. And now look? Over 100 years have gone by & no "warships" are in the Great Lakes! Did Canada or GB give us an "OK" during WW2 to have the Carrier training vessels on the Great Lakes? AND did the US train any Royal Navy pilots on those carriers?
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In reference to Admiral Nimitz NOT liking the Grey Navy dress uniform. I had never heard anything like that until now. And I was just thinking, the dress white uniforms definitely looked better but also in the Pacific theatre of operation white is NOT going to catch the sun & build up the heat like brown or grey. So Nimitz may have just seen the dress white uniform as more practical and figured there was less of a chance of his officers falling out with heat stroke. Especially if someone is new to the Pacific & don't realize how quick they can overheat.
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@WALTERBROADDUS Actually there were a lot of people executed by being "blown by cannon". I can't say I read about it happening on a war ship. But I did read about it happening on land. And it basically disintegrated whomever they did it to. They never knew what happened after the cannon fired.
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Yeah, in response to what you were talking about with the US Navy's 5" 38. Some people think it should be as simple as adding length to the barrel. And at first I'd be guilty of thinking that way as well. People pretty much want to gravitate towards what is simple. But people, including myself, don't consider how complicated it is to "simply" add barrel length. And in doing so, that it will change everything about the guns and add a considerable amount of weight to ships already struggling to NOT be top heavy.
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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.
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I'm totally envious. I would dearly love to be able to see London, & seeing HMS Belfast would be icing on the cake!! But I'm also very happy for you as well. I've done my share of traveling at a much younger age than I am now. I've seen a lot of sights but I've never been outside the USA. Closest I ever came to seeing another country was eyeing the other shore at Niagara Falls. So I could see Canada but I didn't walk on Canadian soil. The night before I was at a Grateful Dead concert at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, NY.
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@typehere6689 I would have to say "Common sense & the fear of dying horribly!!"
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I just wanted to say that the artwork in this video is VERY BEAUTIFUL. I have never seen a war ship and thought of it as being beautiful. However, the artwork in this video changed all that.
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Which ones will never be forgotten? There were over 1900 that died. Do you know all there names? And how do you figure that they will never be forgotten? I seriously don't think humanity will last forever. So... never mind. Peace to you & yours.
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I've got a rather funny story about lightning as well. We had a female Doberman who was a rather sweet individual named Cooder by my stepfather, Billy. And at the time we were staying in a couple of camper trailers on a 7 acre property in Georgia. Well, a storm had come up & I hadn't realized that Cooder was under my trailer. But the storm was causing flash type lightning every few minutes and evidently one of the flashes was grounded thru the trailer & evidently thru Kooder as well. My only evidence being the dog coming out from under the trailer howling. OmG you could practically hear it in her howls, "struck by lightning struck by lightning!!!" It had given her a jolt but she was OK. After a little love she appeared fine☆ My Mom's Mother actually died from getting struck while hanging out clothes when my Mom was very young. ☆Now, fast forward about a year & a half & we are living on a property in South Carolina building a house. And we have 16 x 32 block basement built & are now doing footings for the rest of the house. But we have the basement covered with a pool tarp & an extension cord from the temporary pole with electricity for lights. Since witnessing what a tornado can do several times when a storm came up, we preferred the basement to the campers we had. Well this one particularly bad storm had gotten us all into the basement. And lightning started striking the temporary pole we had. And the extension cord was wrapped around a metal frame doorway in the basement. It was actually 2 rooms 16 x 16. My Mom had a bed set up in the other room cuz the basement stayed cooler. Well anyway everytime lightning would strike it was blowing sparks thru the extension cord & off of the doorframe. It did this about 3 or 4 times in a matter of minutes & the top of the doorframe was glowing like the eye of an electric stove. Well we lit a few candles & after it was over put a new bulbs in the lamps. And started making sure everything was OK. Well, Kooder was so far under the bed in the other room that we practically had to lift the bed off of her for her to crawl out. She knew what that lightning could do & hid from it the best she could!!
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I guess the best thing about Johnny Depp's character "Captain" Jack Sparrow is the fact that he realizes the freedom that being Captain of a ship gives him in that day & age. Not many people saw that & could stand being at sea that long. But in the movie because Jack Sparrow makes that desire for freedom of the sea known, that is what makes him a likable character.
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I worked in Mobile,AL for about 6 months. Commuting within a crew truck making an addition to Austal shipyard driving in from near my Dad's place in Pensacola, FL. We drove past the USS Alabama every day and every time I wanted to go tour the old ship. I had hoped to go aboard right about the time we were done with the addition. BUT someone dropped a heavy piece of metal & I lost the tip of my right handed birdy finger. Ended up not seeing the end of that job. But I did get $10k for the tip off my finger BUT I'd rather have had my whole finger.
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Even if the Royal Navy found out about Yamato & Musashi considering the numbers of battleships that the Royal Navy had & the numbers that the USA had. I definitely see them trying to build an answer to Yamato & Musashi. But I'm glad that they didn't find out because I think that with the Essex swarm of air craft carriers being protected by the North Carolinas & Iowas with all the Fletchers was a good & winning combination. There was a REASON that Winston Churchill danced a jig after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. One thing he did know was politics and he knew that the USA was a powder keg & Japan & Germany managed to light the fuse. Americans like their guns for a reason. It makes them feel safer to be able to reply with deadly force. Although some crazy people might walk into a school & start killing kids, if we need our guns they are available. A crazy person could cause just as many deaths driving a loaded dump truck into a school too. Were not going to outlaw dump trucks or our guns. My opinion is that I think all good Americans should have & know how to use modern fire arms! That way if an enemy force manages to somehow land on our shores we have the power to NOT BE HEARDED LIKE CATTLE waiting on our armed forces to do something while people are dying when we can pull out our own assault weapon and defend ourselves. Parking decks being a great place to snipe at the enemy from. My eyes aren't as good as they used to be but like Ching Lee I do have glasses. And I grew up sharp shooting. I may be a little out of practice but after one or two rounds I could easily aim for the head so as not to worry about body armor. In today's political landscape I don't trust the politicians to keep our armed forces as up to date as they need to be. And totally on top of any forseeable threats.
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Q & A --- Does this "Johnny Walker" have any relationship with the liquor company "Johnny Walker" Black, Red & Blue. Considering the time frame I would tend to think that the liquor company had already been around for quite some time. But I could be wrong, & if I am it wouldn't surprise me.
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Although South Dakota may have had the "meltdown" at Guadal Canal, Washington, however came thru in beautiful polished fashion.
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This um,, "thing" you have pictured while speaking of monitors has got to be the ugliest looking raft I've ever seen.
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I'm going back through "the Drydocks" and listening to see what I exactly retained & seeing what I don't remember. Ever since I heard the story about HMS Revenge's stealth battleship mission/attack, I've wanted a t-shirt that says "HMS Revenge- The first & only Stealth Battleship!" On the front & then on the back a print of the Drydock logo.
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Not to mention that also if you cut your speed by a third & turn away you could have an even better chance of dodging said torpedo. The drop in speed will help the ship turn faster & once you are completing say a 45° turn you can start accelerating again. The larger the ship the more it will slow & the turn away will cause even more loss of speed & with any luck the torpedo will pass in front of you or to your starboard if you're turning to port. If you're NOT so lucky you may catch it with your stern or propeller shafts.
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I had never heard that quote before but for the Royal Navy that is a very awesome quote. It takes 3 years to build a ship but it takes 300 to build a tradition. It takes a great man to have such a view of "his" Navy. Like the US Marines refuse to leave any man behind.
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Whomever asked about HMS Conquerer & Operation Barmaid, thank you. And thanks Drach for telling the story even though it was kinda out of the range that the channel covers. Yeah, I would think that most Americans know that the Brits are better at espionage than most Americans. I'm sure when it comes to individual agents that some are better than others no matter the agency. But I'm glad to know that the Americans & the British still work together on things. And I hope our country's continue to have good relations with each other and have each other's backs. It's a shame that the British Empire is no longer HUGE like it was. But I guess at the same time it gives your gov't less to worry about.
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WOW!!! Considering Sabotage or Accident, and I'm guessing that it was called sabotage in a book full of wrong facts about the Royal Navy? Why? It sounds like the dude that wrote this book was trying his best to totally discredit the Royal Navy. And you said guy that wrote a review of the book said the book was completely wrong and full of wrong facts. And went so far as making a very long list of statements that were not true that was in the book. Many thanks for reading parts of that review. I really don't know what would make someone write a book filled with so many errors. IDK, makes me think he had a source that was yanking his chain for cash! And he bought it & paid the price for not doing the work of his own research.
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Wow, so the Wrright brothers saved the day by inventing the aircraft so we would end up having aircraft carriers instead of some stupid Lexington Cruisers that had far too little protection. But then the carrier did get an 8 inch gun.
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That was so crazy & convoluted I had to listen to it twice so that I could make sure that what I heard was actually what was said.
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Sink, Burn & Destroy!!!
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If they tried that with me they would be screwing themselves. I don't get a chance to watch very much and Drach is close to about the only thing I do watch consistently. Plus I just go straight to his channel and scroll down to see what is there I haven't seen yet.
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Not only Titanic but also HMS Hood. That slight kick right at the perfect moment that the shell arrived, had the Captain not ordered the turn when he did HMS Hood may not have had the magazine detonation. Very thought provoking segment. Long enough to give intelligent information but not so long that listeners start getting bored.
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Yeah, it was a shame about HMS Punjabi getting rammed & sunk! A lookout supposedly spotted a mine dead ahead. The Captain ordered a 15° turn to port while in heavy fog and was rammed by King George V. 49 sailors died that day. When the aft section of Punjabi sank her depth charges started exploding & killed 49 sailors in the aft section and also caused damage to the USS Washington which also was forced to sail between the floating wreckage of the two pieces of the sinking destroyer. Also, on further investigation, no mines were in the area, so it is unclear what the lookout may have seen, if anything. A very unfortunate accident. And it happened while escorting convoys to Russia to aid them in their fight against Germany. Yet most Russians claim this never happened!!
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You would think that if some people were going to build a warship & place "armor" on the outside, you would think that they would at least TRY to test the type of "armor" they were going to use BEFORE they applied the armor to the entire hull of a ship. The crew was lucky that everyone wasn't killed. One of the things that did surprise me was that it "dropped anchor". I'm not sure if that was standard practice for an "ironclad", however, considering it was the ships first engagement what so ever, I don't think I would have done that until I was a little more confident in the armor actually working...
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And like he said... task failed successfully! Cuz kamikaze's were used by the Japanese in the hopes that they would cause enough "human" casualties to make the USA sue for a negotiated peace in the Japanese favor. And although this one airplane did manage to sink a much more expensive destroyer than itself, the only death was that of the pilot, if he actually died.
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Kinda disappointing that they couldn't go ahead and make the upgrade to 16" guns. The acehole "secretary of the Navy" evidently didn't think about the fact that 16" guns could have made the difference in winning & losing a battle. But OMG it's going to cost more if we do that. Imho it's better to have the best you can build cuz bargain basement battleships can get your father's & son's killed.
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Wow! I didn't know that the Canadians quit after the war in Europe! Well, so much for "ALLIED FORCES" huh!!! IMHO that really makes the Canadians that fought so bravely in Europe look like cowards cuz they chickened out against Japan. However, the US deemed the war in Europe more pressing EVEN THOUGH IT WAS JAPAN THAT ATTACKED PEARL HARBOR. What would the UK have done without the US? Normandy would NOT have happened cuz the UK didn't have the fire power or balls to pull off an invasion of Europe. A BIG FU to Canada for doing that!!!!
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At 1:14:40 I thoroughly enjoy that story! You can click on the time stamp to hear the story I'm talking about!! So in January 1939 the Japanese Navy & the Royal Navy come close to starting WW2 3 years earlier than the Japanese originally started hostilities with Britain.
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I live in the DC area and occasionally see persons in green coveralls. Some call them jump suits, I think, however these coveralls are worn by persons in the US Air Force, but not pilots only. My Uncle Ken on my father's side of the family was in the Air Force & stationed in Guam for many years. And I had seen him wear this type of coveralls. They are not insulated for winter, although they may have a version that is, not exactly sure on that point. But I do know when I see someone wearing them they are unique for the Air Force, whether your a mechanic or a pilot in the Air Force. And with a lot of my comutes going past the Pentagon, I do see them rather frequently.
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So did Admiral Plumridge get fired or shot or beheaded or hung or did they just take all his money and leave him to starve or what? Because, um, yeah? Evidently the Royal Navy couldn't afford to keep such a nincompoop around to totally screw something else up! I mean and they shot Bing, seems like they would have shot this guy too.
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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!
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@paulsteaven That's not saying much.
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@Drachinifel I just listened to this for the first time. For some reason I thought I already had. But what an awesome tale! And many thanks to your guest for his diligence in tracking down this entire story. This is a story that is just as good as the Battle of Britain itself. And many, many people don't realize how huge the story of WW2 really was. They don't realize how long it really took to take down the Axis Powers! 5-6 years is a very long time to be at war. Hail to the Allies for making it a victory.
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I think that it's almost criminal that so little about WW2 is taught here in American schools. To be honest the only parts of WW2 I remember being taught in school was 1)The attack on Pearl Harbor w/ the attack on the Philippines & the Bataan death march 2) The Doolittle Raid/ Midway/ Guadal Canal/ The Philippine Sea(Turkey Shoot) / MacArthur returns to Philippines 3)Africa/ Casablanca/ Sicily & Italy/ D-Day/ Battle of the Bulge/ Siege of Bastogne Germany surrenders/ Berlin cut in half, Allies on one side, Russia on the Other/ The Holocaust 4) Iwo Jima/ Okinawa 5) Hiroshima/ Nagasaki/ Japan Surrenders And I think the entire war was covered in maybe 2 weeks time. And I actually think I'm being generous to say they taught us THAT MUCH. And considering that WW2 turned the USA into a Super Power you would think that the school systems would devote at least an entire class to the war. When I was in HS they went by quarters. Fall, Winter & Spring and then Summer if you had failed or wanted to get ahead. Twelve weeks per quarter. But like I was saying you'd think that they would devote at least a 12 week course to WW2 or at least WW1 & WW2 considering how important the conflicts were in shaping our world of today. But they mostly only cover American involvement AFTER the Pearl Harbor attack. They say very little to nothing about the Lend-Lease Act & our aid to Great Britain & aid to Russia. And almost nothing about the years of war before we were involved. And from what I've heard schools are tehistoryaching less & less . Even at the college level.
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Isn't it crazy how history sometimes just keeps repeating itself? Like while Covid was going on I'd heard a number of US reporters say that the US was also battling a major wave of fentynl addiction at the same time & there being large amounts of fatal overdoses that accompanied such wave. I actually had a couple of friends that lost beloved family members to both Covid & overdoses. One was a 30 year old female that they found passed away from an overdose on the DC Metro. Apparently she had went & got her some stuff & did too much on the way home. Sad. I had met her and been around her a few times but didn't really know her. And to be honest, I know the major part of Covid is over but not sure about the fentynl addiction & what is going on there. Probably still happening & still going. I think the US will constantly battle drug addiction unless they legalize most drugs & let doctors start prescribing them & that way there isn't waves of uncut carfentynl causing easy overdoses.
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@thesage1096 It's too bad that Captain Evans couldn't have led a boarding party. With his Native American background I'm sure he would have proudly taken many Japanese scalps! He deserved the pleasure of taking them in to the spirit world with him! Some may think it gross but such dominance of an enemy deserves much more recognition than it got. Especially considering the circumstances!!! Captain Evans lives in my mind as one of the true heroes of WW2. He fought & drove away a force 10 times his own in an effort to save the escort carriers behind him & the tens of thousands that were landing on the beaches. And had he not succeeded tens of thousands of Americans would have died. Each escort carrier had about a thousand men aboard & I think there was about 5 in the vicinity, if not more. And then all of the men on shore that had landed I'm not sure how many, but with it being the Philippines it was probably ten thousand strong or more.
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The sad thing about it, is that Taffy 3 was left with there tales hanging in the breeze because Halsey took off to go battle some air craft carriers that didn't really even have any planes or pilots enough to worry about WHEN HIS ORDERS were to protect the landings of the troops. And because of the "screw up" by one of their Admirals, they don't seem to publicize the story of Taffy 3 much. In my opinion, it is one of the best stories of WW2. However, I do wish Captain Evans had lived to tell the tale. Taffy 3 deserves a monument in DC!
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HMS Belfast... Wow, the UK 🇬🇧 actually spent the money to have a museum ship! And there was MUCH rejoicing!! AND btw that is a great picture of HMS Belfast with the 🌈 rainbow in the background!!!❤
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My idea instead of calling it "the battle of Samar" or "the battle off Samar" how about we call it "The Naval Battle of Samar"? It's more specific & everyone will know what you are taking about.
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Didn't the PT Boats have like 3 engines?
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@JohnSmith-jj2yd got ĝĝğpp
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@JohnSmith-jj2yd Like Drach has said many times over and over... You can never accuse politicians of being anything but short sighted!"
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Although Warspite is not a museum ship at least the UK has HMS Victory. A much older ship & seeing the timbers and the way the ship is constructed is a big lesson in history by itself. When the ship was brand new it was definitely the pinnacle of the days technology and can also be considered a work of art as well. I'm sure the carpenters that built the hull considered it so. To be able to go aboard at 4 years old, I can see why you became infatuated with the age of sail.
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Yeah, I don't see USS Constitution winning against HMS Victory without some kind of major help from the weather. Constitution would have to get really close to be able to win. Victory has a lot more long guns & if it can stay at a distance then it could pound Constitution with Constitution only being able to hit with it's bottom long guns. And that's being said by an American patriot with a brain. No alcohol involved.
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I'm not sure if the old ship is haunted but from your account it would seem so. I would guess that enough sailors died aboard the ship that it being haunted by some spirits that died aboard is not far fetched at all. Very interesting story. Thank you for that.
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Thanks Drach, that was a lot of fun. Anything like this that you want to do is good with me. I found your channel because of my interest in WW2. However, history of tanks is cool too. Of course, the history of warships has a lot more to it. But there is a channel that shows a lot of historical tank battles & I must admit I enjoy that too. It's just so disappointing that airplanes & missiles have taken away the big gun in modern warships.
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I would have loved to see the Des Moine with its rapid fire 8" guns. To be on another ship & see it rapid fire for a few mins! And then be in one of the turrets so I could see how the machinery works with it rapid firing. My Dad was on a Destroyer during the "Cuban Blockade" however, he never spoke about any of it. He was in communications & knew Morse code & such but I never heard any really cool stories from him.
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 @177SCmaro Well when caught in one of those it's a fight against the sea & the weather in order to remain on the surface, rather than going down to decorate the ocean floor!
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Considering that these were the very last battleships created by and/or for the US Navy, I would think that the entire class definitely deserves more than a 5 minute guide running 90 seconds over. That is my opinion and I'm sticking to it. My favorite of all is the Washington being Admiral Lee's flagship and the action around Savo Island. If not for Admiral Lee the US may have lost Guadal Canal.
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A big THANK YOU to your guest & thank you too Drach!
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Not a fan of "What ifs". If we were going to do a "what if" scenario, I would have been saying what if the fast battleships that Halsey had planned to leave behind HAD been left behind? But, there is no way of knowing cuz that is NOT what happened!
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In support of your comment about concrete causing corrosion in an accelerated manner, not long ago I happened to notice where footings for a new building being prepared for the footings to be poured. And I noticed that NOW concrete companies are not only applying paint to the rebar but also putting plastic around it as well. I had never seen this done previously but knew immediately that it was rust prevention. AND also, the plastic was clearly made for that specific purpose in mind.
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Idk, Trent makes the statement that the US is clearly learning more than the Japanese. I would guess that the more & more you lose the more you learn from it, except for the people that die in the process! From my perspective & opinion the US didn't learn fast enough & kept sending in Admirals that were too slow to react or to slow to let other ships react. Yes, they ended up setting up CIC's but too little & too late for about 10 cruisers and the men aboard them! Tassaforonga shows that with the lead ship NOT being allowed to release torpedoes until it was a waste to even do so. And then open fire before the torpedoes arrive. AND the unintelligent thing of thinking well we shot our torpedoes, maybe the enemy shot their torpedoes as well & maybe try evasive actions??? And these are methods that have been going on for years & should have already been learned. And as far as the Japanese is concerned, the decisive battle was Midway & they lost but they were too stubborn to accept that they lost "the decisive battle".
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Hey Drach, you should talk to these guys about the 3 of you doing a similar show as this to discuss the Royal Navy "lending" the US a carrier & all the benefits that this taught the US & the things it taught the Royal Navy. And maybe try to go into detail about what some of the operations were with these.
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My take on it, is that after losing 4 aircraft carriers at Midway that the Japanese didn't know whether to shit or go blind! And in the 6 months previous to Midway they had bitten off more than they could chew and their forces were spread out like a tiny bit of butter over too much bread. And they just wasn't sure where to bite next.
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Thinking the Marines or the Japanese both on Guadal Canal may have been safer than the guys on the warships is kinda twisted if you consider the fact that there are mosquitoes spreading malaria, 20 foot crocs in the rivers, & an enemy shooting at you with machine guns not to mention the artillery fire of ships in Iron Bottom Sound.
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@Drachinifel ----Q & A----- Drach, today I was reading about Fort Drum. And I got to read about How the US took Fort Drum back after Japanese occupation. And I was wondering if YOU are aware of the major overkill the US Engineers used in order to "neutralize" Fort Drum with Japanese soldiers defending it? The plain simple fact that the US Soldiers waited 5 days to enter Fort Drum AFTER it was neutralized says a lot!!!
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And as it turns out Fisher was right about NOT having boilers on a submarine. And at that time nuclear power was unheard of so he was right considering the time that he made the statement. All in all, it was a good idea but if the enemy tries the same thing... how do you know when to depth charge a submarine or not? If you know you have subs nearby you can't without maybe killing your own people.
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Now I'm depressed. Thinking about all those poor guys dying on these death traps. That whole class just sucked!! Why, when having so many problems on trials, did these ships get commissioned. It should have never happened!!!
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@evh1734 Yeah, I remember also seeing a sailor that was on Enterprise CV-6 say that exact same thing on Battle 360. And I think he was right BUT at the same time that was what those sailors were fighting for too. But the greatest thing about Enterprise being scrapped is it freed the name so that other ships could be named Enterprise in honor of those that were aboard CV-6. And kids running around playing on that hallowed ship would have been a disservice, although she deserved to be preserved because she was the last capital ship in the Pacific holding the line against the Japanese until the Essex swarm started coming off the slips. Her Memory lives on.
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Wow Drach, that was a pretty awesome video. When I first saw it I thought it was something new that you had just uploaded. Then some of your comments made me realize it was done during COVID. But thank you very much. I was kind of in the "Monday blues" & this helped my mood.
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I seriously doubt that. I seriously doubt that our recon would have noticed that there were that many carriers until it was too late. However, the Japanese may have lost more than 4 carriers had that been true. And the great thing about it was that we still held Midway Island. And it's rather difficult to sink an island.
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@drachinifel After hearing you talk about the HMS Warrior & The USS Monitor I really, really must apologize. I imagine that in every country there are people who are idiots & want to make money from other idiots. Although I can maybe understand patriotism & even be one as long as I don't have to take orders from some idiot. But I do thank you cuz now I know this is NOT a book that should be paid attention to in any way, shape or form. And furthermore, I actually 😢 feel sorry for you that you actually read this book. OMG! What a waiste of time! At least you have mentioned that you can speed read which is, I guess, the only saving grace. I've never been able to do that. Idk why. I've tried but it doesn't work for me.
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I don't know Drach, I consider myself a fairly Patriotic American but I am also very fond of hearing the truth no matter how difficult it may be to hear that truth. I never read the book in question, but I thought your description of the author & his lack of research for said book was very clear. I had no problem with that description and have always known that those "monitors" were just a working with what we have & this is all we have. And so I never understood how certain people thought the monitors were all that & then some, when they couldn't even cover the "and then some".
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I can't do it Captain, I'm giving it all she's got!
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Yeah considering Washington's proximity to Kirishima even with the excuse of using radar alone for fire control. However, I was under the impression that Washington scored some fairly long range hits with the secondary guns on a different ship, however I cannot remember the name of that ship off the top of my head. But Admiral Lee(by what I read) had been very adamant about practicing with the new radar/fire control to make sure not only for himself but others in charge of gunnery were familiar with using the radar to produce a fire control solution.
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Q & A I just noticed a story that just happened to be close to the top of Google when when I opened it to look something up. The story was about a Mexican/American from Three Rivers,Texas named Longoria. Private Longoria joined the US Army in 1944 & after his basic training & such he was deployed to fight the Japanese specifically in the invasion of Luzon where he proudly earned an above average array of medals before he was killed by "sniper" fire while they were "mopping up" days after the main battle. Of course, atm he was interred there on Luzon BUT after the war or a few years after the war the US is bringing home the soldiers that were KIA & asks her what she wants done with her husbands remains. AND BECAUSE OF AMERICAN RACISM AT THE TIME, she is denied use of the only funeral home's chapel for a service while also at the same time is only offered a plot segregated from the "white peoples" in the cemetary. Eventually, thanks to a Texas Senator that would end up becoming President LB Johnson this man, who paid the ultimate price for the freedom we now enjoy was FINALLY laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. With the vast numbers of foreigners that came to America and became citizens, I'm not surprised by the ignorance of racism back then but incredibly pissed at such racism towards a man that paid for our freedom with his life. MY QUESTION IS.... IN YOUR OPINION, is this type of ignorance unique to Americans alone? Or are there other countries that have social segregation during this period despite the race that is thought of as inferior being staunch Patriots? Of course, I'm fully aware of the Holocaust and all but I'm meaning besides that, but during the same time frame as WW2??
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Q & A I have an idea where by "the big gun" makes a comeback. These sea skimming very fast missiles could be countered by the shell splashes of a big gun fired in front of them. Considering these missiles, any idea what altitude they fly at? And would shell splashes be high enough to take them out? Make them explode? Cause them to veer off course? Or would that just cause them to go higher for a few moments & then back down? Let me know what you think. Especially if they could build a big gun ship based on the DesMoines autoloaders then they could maybe fire a barage fast enough & far enough to make the missiles hit their splashes. Of course it would also matter how far away these missiles are being fired & how many. But I think it's a good failsafe at least considering that they may not be able to fire enough missiles to counter a lot of missiles fired at once. But large shell splashes could theoretically take out quite a number of missiles.
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Drach, first off, this is NOT a question about this specific video. However, you just spoke about "butchering" French names & I just watched a "Dark Seas" video in which the guy calls "HMS Warspite"- "Warspit". Now I'm not sure of this person's nationality or pretty much anything else about him. I don't know, it does seem like this guy makes a lot of mistakes. And it kind of makes me feel like he does it on purpose so he gets more comments & has people on his YouTube channel for longer. I'm not sure. Or maybe he's German & is doing it as a dig against the British. But how do you feel about "Dark Seas Dude" calling Warspite, Warspit? Because it really ticked me off that he did this, & I'm not even British. So I would think that any Brits would be more ticked off than me about it! It really does seem to me he should be intelligent enough to know & pronounce Warspite correctly!!! It was, in my opinion, a very famous ship & doesn't deserve to be disrespected like that.
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The only thing worse than biting an apple & finding out there is worm in your apple is finding out there now half of a worm in your apple!
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@Deevo037 Really? So it's Americans doing that & NOT Germans? I mean, I could maybe see some German Americans doing that but idk, seems kinda a waste of time to me! Like those saying the Germans WON at Jutland! Yeah, OK. IF the High Seas Fleet won then how come they hurried to their home port & never sailed in force again? IF THEY had won then it would have been the Royal Navy that hurried to their home port instead of trying to chase down the remaining High Seas Fleet which is what really happened! Like it was said "The prisoners some what assaulted their jailers YET IN PRISON THEY REMAIN!!"😊😮😅
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If a fire in the 4" magazine could cause enough degradation in the ships defenses & then could have enough of an explosion to compromise the 15" magazine and cause it to explode then is the 4" magazine more of a danger to the ship than the 4" guns are protecting the ship from? Basically meaning is it really worth having those guns if they are causing such a danger. And were future ships designed so that an explosion in the secondary magazine would NOT cause enough damage to set off the primary magazines?
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, deer
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Wow, I made the mistake of listening to this but not watching as I was commuting home. Now I MUST replay the whole video & watch it at the same time. I find it all very intriguing. It was my thought that the turn along with the trough would have allowed the plunging shell through the deck armour, or the lack of deck armour. Yet, I am by no means one that knows or studies such things.
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After a bit of my own research I found another unlikely possible scenario. Because everything had been cleared for action this one petty officer was late to the galley to get a bite to eat. This petty officer was in charge of the aft 15" magazine. When he arrived at the galley he told the cook on duty he had 10 mins to get to his post. So the cook gave him a sandwich to eat. And some cookies for dessert. But the cook was almost out of whole milk & only had a small amount of 2% milk available. Well, not giving it any thought the cook mixed the whole milk with the 2% and gave it to the petty officer with the cookies who had just finished his sandwich & was hurrying to his station because action had just opened. Anyway, after arriving at his station the petty officer dipped his cookie & the shit blew up! Catching the 15" charges on fire the whole magazine exploded tearing the ship into quickly sinking pieces of wreckage. The petty officer having no idea the cook had given him such a volatile drink to go with his Oreo's! He never knew that he caused the deaths of all of his shipmates. And actually, what I believe, people remarked about seeing something "arrive" aboard Hood but wasn't sure if it was a shell hit from Bismarck. What it really was, seriously, was the "Angel of Death" had just arrived aboard the doomed ship. And although they weren't able to really see it, it was similar to seeing a ghost. But with the ship exploding, the "ghost" on board was quickly forgotten with the horror of the burning wreckage quickly sinking. WTF!!!???
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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.
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Smokers. Someone was having nicotine withdrawals & lit a cigarette way too close to the magazines! On several occasions! But considering all the evidence was blown up & sank it was never known for sure who did such a thing.
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Yeppers.
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@Crazyfrog41 Yes, you are very right. There is a reason for the expression "a sitting duck!" A target that can't move. Sooner or later it's going to have a round breach it's armor. So best to NOT be inside when it happens.
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Speaking of childhood disease killing someone measles & mumps can turn deadly, the main thing that would kill someone is if they already had a weak immune system & they could get a fever so high that it causes brain damage and/or heart problems. Once we learned how to fight the fever and symptoms of such disease. Then most kids would either easily get over them after a few days of rest. And once we started having immunizations for these diseases things improved even more. But also, with any type of illness, especially anyone at sea, dehydration could be a problem. Someone could be in need of fluids & just not getting them which could also affect your body trying to fight a disease.
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@thehillbillygamer2183 Evidently you took the brown acid at Woodstock. You need to lie down, & with your mind go back in time & take the Orange Sunshine acid instead. The girl wearing the Grateful Dead t-shirt is the one that has it. Then you can maybe see what is real & what is NOT. If you can't find the Orange Sunshine then you need to a mental health therapist. You can find some good ones free of charge. Just go to nearest ER & tell them you are f'u@ked up in the head. They will help.
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@davidknowles2491 Just in case you didn't notice. He doesn't cover anything past 1950. And furthermore, he doesn't like to deal with present day warships cuz of things being "classified" & he doesn't like to have to deal with political issues that could arise when discussing present day warships in general. And since most of the political issues surrounding WW2 have been resolved so that is neither here nor there. He is about discussing historical warships and historical battles. NOT discussing present day Navies.
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A Cargo Submarine sounds like a VERY SOUND INVESTMENT "IF YOU'R A DRUG SMUGGLER!" that is. And if you want to avoid being boarded by a Coast Guard or DEA or HLS or FBI or any number of State Police that have a Ocean Coast to guard like especially Florida which is surrounded on 3 sides by Ocean waters. The Gulf of Mexico on one side & the Atlantic Ocean on the other. And I once thought that Miami was the southern most part of Florida until after seeing a concert in Miami a friend of mine was driving & drove down to Key Largo. Which it was nice to wake up and see how blue the water was there & stuff. BUT when we got back & paid his mother for the rental car she also wanted us to pay for the extra mileage that he put on it driving down into the Keys. We told her that that was his idea & if we had known that he was going to put 300 extra miles on the car we would have objected. But that he did it & he could pay for that part of it. That we paid what we agreed to pay. My brother & I fell asleep in the backseat. We thought he was going to Orlando where Celia was living on Disney property. She had rode with us from Orlando. My brother & I had driven from Atlanta. And then Chris gets a flight to Orlando and we have to pick him up. And then we are late getting to the show because of it. The whole thing, if I had known he was going to show up, I would have skipped the whole ordeal! Because I had already learned that Chris was just one of those people that everything seemed to go wrong around him. Some was his fault, some just dumb luck, & some his plain stupidity thinking that he can just do whatever & get away with it. But, I got wise to his ways fairly quick. Even told my brother "if you want to hang out with Chris you go right ahead, but DON'T bring him around here no more. He's an accident waiting to happen & draws the police after him everywhere he goes. I HAVE NO NEED OF EITHER OF THOSE THINGS!!!"
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The comments & questions about the use it or lose it. I use to work for a company that sold computers to the US Gov't & the end of September was the end of the Gov'ts fiscal year & all of the armed services would spend a bundle on computers during that month. Actually from Labor day until Halloween we were required to work every day usually 12 hour days as well. Of course, we were paid well for it & our quarterly bonus was nice & hefty for that quarter as well. And as far as the pronunciations go, just pick one YOU PREFER & go with it. MOST know what you are talking about & but the ones that really matter imho are when it is named in honor of someone or to honor another vessel. Like I prefer Gayto but it could be Gato. But since I'm not sure Ì go with the one I prefer. Most are not going to mispronounce Evans or Johnston. But as long as your audience knows what you are referring to I don't see where it matters. If it is some kind of fish too then the pronunciation will be in the dictionary. If it isn't then go with what you prefer.
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I personally believe that SCUTTLING Bismark after all the battle damage it had received was basically impossible for the crew. The ship had major fires raging all over the ship. And the places that weren't on fire had water coming in or were already a tomb for the dead, dying & horribly mangled! The sailors that were left alive didn't care about scuttling the ship cuz it was OBVIOUS that the ship was sinking! Why bother when such a thing will merely hasten the ship to the depths lessening the chances of the survivors to get off the blasted thing! As soon as the Brits held their fire long enough for the cruisers to send torpedoes into each side of Bismark, all the sailors that could started abandoning ship! Someone giving the order to plant scuttling charges IMHO was a fabrication of the imaginations of the survivors in the effort to show someone was in command the entire battle. When in fact, the chain of command had broken down early in the battle and became "every man for himself" much quicker than the Germans would want anyone to believe. AND THAT is the reason that all these Germans argue that Bismark sank due to scuttling! And it was basically "lack of communication" that lead to the breakdown in command. However, most of the upper command died quickly at the beginning of the Battle. So it was up to the individual parts of the ship to command their sailors. And everyone tried to fight back best they could. But they were all exhausted and way outmatched. And the Brits would give no quarter until the very end.
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Yeah, Yeah, just blame it all on the dwarves. They were just really greedy & not concerned with the final product!!! Hey, I don't think gold has those type of issues. Maybe we should build some Golden Ships.
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France should have shot that idiot of an Admiral! He put himself & his view of being insulted by the British because someone came to speak with him that was of a lower rank but the officer spoke French and is why he was chosen, but as I was saying, the Admiral viewed this slight & put it above the lives of his men. The French should have sent someone of a much much lower rank to just shoot him in the head and maybe French Admirals would start behaving in a less haughty fashion and pay a little better attention to the circumstances at hand. Of course, the French probably just blamed the British but what did the French expect? They seriously thought that the British would casually sit back & wait while the French kiss Hitler's arse & then give him the entire French fleet? No way. The British were not about to trust the French once they started talking double talk & such. The French could have taken their ships to the USA to be preserved until after the war.
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@91YEHNAH But in Stalins defense, Germany attacked first. And why I'm "defending" Stalin I really don't know! Except for that whole thing about Poland. BEFORE the Allies agreed to help Russia there, imho, there should have been an agreement made that Poland goes back to being Poland at it's original borders NO MATTER WHAT! The thing about Germany & Russia splitting Poland in half had made Stalin respect Hitler cuz Hitler basically did what he wanted BUT had an "agreement" with Russia to "split" Poland. Which is why we helped established Isreal after the war so the Poles could have there own country. And now there is all these people yelling about the Palestinians should have "their" country back. It's a whole big hot mess! And I seriously doubt that there are any "Palestinians" left alive that were actually born in "Palestine". Cuz it's been Isreal for about 80 years now. But wtf do I know. It's not going to change no matter what I do or say or think. And it isn't going to change whether or not I get to eat tomorrow.
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And Russia is a major land power. They were able to stop the juggernaut of the Nazi army & push it all the way back to Berlin. I WOULDN'T CALL THAT PATHETIC. Although they were helped by some Allied convoys they built the machines in their factories & they fought the battles. I just wish that now they would stop trying to take over other countries & be content with the huge country they already have.
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Yeah, but after sailing all the way around the world the sailors & the ships were lucky just to make it there in one piece. Imagine having to March 12 hours a day for about a month and then about halfway thru the 30th day all of a sudden you have to go into battle against an enemy that has known you were coming the entire time & had the whole month to prepare. They were doomed before they ever left port!!!
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Yeah, Napoleon making the statement that "If he could rule the channel for a week that he could rule the world". Although he may have said that, it in no way makes it true! Although it may make it to where he can rule Britain, which I seriously doubt that having the channel for a week could help accomplish that! Mainly because "The World" is much larger than Napoleon realizes!!! And the Soviet Union or whatever Russia was being called then would have been much too populated for Napoleon to even attempt to invade. And then there are the America's as well. North & South America would not be easy to capture all the way from Europe either.
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Well that is your opinion. I found him rather informative & a bit funny, & kind of a break from the normal of Drach telling us the story. Considering the length of the narrative his comments made for a break in the narrative helping it to appear shorter than it really is. And also adding things that Drach had missed. Insufferable and annoying??? I don't think so but you are entitled to your opinion. Which is why we fought against the German's and the Axis Powers anyway. So while I disagree with you, I rejoice that we are able to disagree freely.
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Yeah, I can't help wonder that the very first Norwegian vessel, it's Captain not only failed his country miserably but failed his crew as well! 1) He should have never stopped his ship so that Germans could come aboard. That in itself makes you highly vulnerable. 2) He should have also realized to open fire without having to be told to open fire. And then telling the Germans of his intentions while he is a sitting duck was imho just plain stupid. 3) If I had been the Captain I would have sounded action stations & fired on those 3 destroyers. The Captain of any vessel has a responsibility for his crew & his country. I'm sure the Captain knew that Germany had been highly aggressive leading up to this & the presense of 3 German destroyers imo clearly established hostile intent & although he has the larger vessel he is outnumbered 3 to 1 & by stopping dead in the water... he clearly loses the tactical advantage that a moving vessel gives him & his crew. And although Norway may have always tried to remain neutral The Captain of that vessel failed his crew & country. In any type of engagement, time & tactical advantage is crucial to victory and lives saved. And just the fact those Destroyers are there makes it obvious of their hostile intent. He should have fired a warning shot. If they did not turn & go away he should have blown them out of the water!
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@Drachinifel Q & A YEAH during this Drydock you talk about some of the ingredients for Greek Fire. And I got to wondering, cuz it seemed to me that "liquid ashalt" would make a very good ingredient. It burns very well & is prone to stick to anything that it comes into contact with. Not sure how readily available it would be during that period, but it seems that it would be around somewhat enough to make a good decent quantity of the mixture.
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@Drachinifel Q & A Curiosity... in making your "Greek Fire" how come you don't use or try to use "Liquid Ashalt"? Seems to me that it would burn with vigor. And have a tendency to stick to everything that it comes in contact with.
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As an American male that weighs maybe 140 lbs wet, I do wish America could claim the same. Our current culture of people being terribly obese from eating too much McDonald's and the plain simple fact that these "fat" people for some inexplicable reason want to wear spandex making it very clear of just how overweight they really. It is very easy to make as many jokes as humanly possible. Simply put, the very site of some of these people makes it very difficult to muster a daily appetite. And so be very proud of having a culture of fine food & wine. Although I quit drinking alcohol in 2007 as a pact made between my wife & myself, ever since she passed away I've seriously considered going back to drinking wine. I've always had a passion for white zinfandel. However, it's just easier for me to not drink, it helps me to avoid getting into trouble.
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Well, HELLO??? Small wonder Admiral Lee did not try to take on that Japanese force at night. The previous action at Guadal Canal he had been on the Washington & did manage to sink a Battleship. HOWEVER, every other US ship was sunk except for the North Dakota which was pounded & had to withdraw. AND THE JAPANESE FORCE he would have to go against has THE YAMATO & MUSACHI BOTH TOGETHER!!! ADMIRAL LEE WAS VERY GOOD BUT EVERY BATTLESHIP PRESENT WOULD HAVE TO BE PERFECT & VERY LUCKY TO GO AGAINST 2 SHIPS WITH 18" GUNS!!! I have heard you say it many times, "most Navy's don't want a fair fight." And Admiral Lee probably saw that such a night engagement would be a huge risk & he didn't want to risk his ships & sailors when 1) he didn't need to and 2) he knew the carrier planes could take out those ships with much less risk of life. It really made no sense for Admiral Lee to risk the lives of thousands of young sailors when it was totally unnecessary. Air strikes would undoubtedly take out numbers of those Japanese ships. And then the survivors will flee.
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In retrospect, Admiral Lee was MUCH MORE intelligent than MOST give him credit for being. Admiral Lee knew how dangerous the Japanese torpedoes actually really were. And in a surface battle, day time & especially night those torpedoes are NOT easy to see & so not easy to avoid. While in a carrier battle, the only torpedoes that can hit you are being dropped by planes & are much easily spotted & avoided. So risking a battle line engagement at night was much more tilted in favor of the Japanese than other US Admirals really wanted to admit. But Admiral Lee knowing the ships under his command had had no practice with each other in battle line surface actions at all & complicating that with a night time surface action would be even worse. Why had they NOT practiced any of these scenarios? Because they were too busy protecting the fleet carriers! And Admiral Lee knew this & knew that the safest way for the US Navy to proceed was with their carrier planes doing the heavy lifting and taking out enemy ships. Although it could have been an awesome battleship action, Admiral Lee was very intelligent and restrained to not risk his battleships when he really didn't have to do so. Probably the most selfless & intelligent decision by a US Admiral during the war. Thousands of US sailors may have died that night had Lee taken that line action. ❤❤❤❤❤
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What I don't understand is why the Japanese didn't at least use bomber planes to drop food supplies and small arms ammunition to their troops on Guadal Canal? A number of good pilots could have taken off at night with fighter escorts and timed it to where they were arriving at dawn & dropped the resupply. Then turn & leave before the Cactus Air Force got planes in the air. Idk, did they try this at all?
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Even Halsey was a f_@k up. If it weren't for Nimitz getting good intelligence reports & Admirals like Lee & Fletcher even more of our men would have been lost.
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Why didn't the Japanese do air drops of food? I'm sure they had bombers that could carry 1000lb-1200lb bombs. They could have "bombed" their army with food, ya know, something with a parachute attachment. With enough bombers they could have at least fed them occasionally so they weren't starving to death. And maybe even drop some medical supplies as well as maybe some rifle ammunition so they could at least have some defenses. It's truly a wonder that these men didn't just go & surrender. "Look, I give up, just feed me, PLEASE!!" Idk, any decent Commander, rather than see all his men starve to death would have ordered a surrender. No food, no ammo to fight with. Surrender to the enemy & be there problem.
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Every time I hear this story it makes me a little more p-offed than b4. "DO NOT FIRE WITHOUT DIRECT PERMISSION FROM THE ADMIRAL". Is that like some kind of US Navy code for: I have no idea of what I'm doing & I'm completely oblivious to all the other night actions in this area & because of this every ship under my command will probably be decorating the bottom of Iron Bottom Sound by morning. Or even better, in short. I'm an idiot, & if you want to live, you had best not listen to me. Orders or not.
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Question: I was wondering, when USS Enterprise CV-6 received a refit on the US Pacific coast a torpedo blister was installed. Any idea what kind of effects this had on the speed & maneuverability of the ship? Are there any records of comments or concerns from or by the helmsmen, bridge crew, Executive Officer or Captain about the ships performance following the installation of the blister?
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Put out of ITS misery, or the Navy's misery? I'm guessing the answer to that would be: YES. As soon as I heard 3 inches of belt armor I was like "what"? A cruiser? Imho, if they had gotten 8 inches of armor & 8 inch guns then they would have been fairly tough!!
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The huge problem with the Soviets was Stalin's paranoia that someone was going to murder him & take his place! So anyone that proved that they were more intelligent than himself when it came to any subject then they were immediately stabbed or shot. Or stabbed then shot. Anyway, this led to everyone in Russia developing there own sense of Stalin paranoia. AND SO Stalin was paranoid that someone was going to kill him. And EVERYONE ELSE was paranoid Stalin was going to have him killed! And thousands of those places Zach
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@pedrofelipefreitas2666 Yeah, the USS Salem is a sister ship of DesMoine and is preserved as a museum ship. They have film footage of the automated guns in action on their YouTube channel. It's really cool to see it. I wish they had built a larger replica with 16" guns! Now that would be a great ship. But the DesMoine Class is still imo the best Cruisers ever built. And if they can build an 8" then they can build a 16". Problem is that aircraft & missiles can outrange such ships nowadays. So it would end up being a very expensive coffin for the sailors aboard her.
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I'm homeless & don't have a couch to search for coins. But occasionally I find green pennies in the street. Sometimes they look so nasty I leave 'em there.
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In your defense of the idea of "The K Class" submarines, you also forgot to include the fact that they were actually faster than the USA Battleship line & if any type of war had come about between Britain & the USA, after the Royal Navy had worked the kinks out of the K class they could have been a very potent weapon IF the war that the Washington/London Naval Treaty was designed to avoid had actually happened. And it also furthered submarine technology to a certain degree, the "does & don'ts" of designing subs if you will. It is a major shame that a lot of these lessons were hard won by the cost of a lot of lives. And I do hope that modern day submarine sailors recognize the sacrifice that was made by those that died in K class submarines! Cuz at the time, it was thought possible to make the scenario work. It wasn't until it was implemented that all the problems were encountered. And it wasn't JUST the problem of having boilers on a submarine.
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Wow, it's really a shame she didn't make Tahiti! After making it thru a typhoon & all the previous stuff, that was the least she deserved. Oh well.
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Idk4 sure but they could have probably done more damage by just putting all the torpedo launchers back onto the ship rather than the suicide torpedoes. I forget the name of the atoll where all the ships were gathering for the invasion of mainland Japan but that ship could have just infiltrated that huge ship anchorage & fired off 40 torpedoes at once & then TRY to beat a hasty retreat.
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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.
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Billy Mitchell, in my personal opinion, was only proven right by time, meaning that by the constant evolution of aircraft & aircraft carriers that EVENTUALLY battleships would become obsolete. However, at the time,(again) in my personal opinion, Billy Mitchell was incorrect that battleships were obsolete because of the aircraft at that time. And basically anti-aircraft fire power by the USA during WW2 PROVED that battleships were still very capable of dealing with large amounts of aircraft and that it was the invention of the jet engine being married with aircraft & rocket fueled missilles that spelled the doom of the modern battleships. Which made the aircraft too fast for anti-aircraft fire between horizon(line of sight) & the ship. And although the USA may have taken down the great Musashi & Yamato with aircraft, that would have been a much more difficult task if the Japanese had possessed the same types of anti-aircraft fire power as the USA at that time.
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It makes sense to have armor & speed & a armament that will take out your opponents quickly so that they cannot damage your ship.
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@bkjeong4302 Whatever dude. You just wanna argue & I don't care. Battleships were not obsolete in WW2. And to be honest they would still be a force to reckon with today. It's just that the aircraft carrier has about 500 miles of more offensive power.
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@bkjeong4302 NOT NECESSARILY. The USS Enterprise I do believe was very happy to have the AA Guns of the North Carolina near by & visa versa. It was a team effort with all the ships in the Navy having to do their part. Or at least that's the way I see it. Just one kinda ship isn't going to win the war alone! And you sound like you have some sort of beef with the way the war turned out. I wasn't even alive then but my Great Grandma had both brothers die in the war. They were both pilots. One was in Europe the other in the Pacific.
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@bkjeong4302 Yes, you say battleships are a dumb idea but it only takes one side to start a war, & if your country is NOT prepared with the right weapons to keep their people & country safe then there's a good chance that your country may not exist for long. Just look at the UK, 150 years ago the UK existed all over the world. Now look how things have changed.
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Yes, if you don't get a tear in your eyes at a beloved animal passing then in my eyes your subhuman. My Mom was crying cuz of having to put one of her dogs to sleep after 2 years of dog cancer. And my Mom said between her sobs "I hate f-in animals" and I replied to her "Well... Don't!!" And she started laughing. And so now she's laughing & crying at the same time. Idk, maybe you just had to of been there. The dog was Baby, a 14 yo Lhasa Apso. It is very unfortunate that the animals we love most have such short life spans compared to our own. But to stop loving is like saying "stop being human."
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@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.
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@kennethhanks6712 Thanks for that. Yes, with the war going on guys need not only a distraction but it is also love as well. It helps to remind you what you are fighting for.
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@kennethhanks6712 Thanks for the tip. I'm guessing USS Washington had a dog mascot. But I will do the due diligence and figure it out on my own. When I said that about the US I wasn't meaning they wouldn't have a dog on one of their ships, I was meaning that "hiring" him as a watch dog and giving him a free train pass as well as free food and all the other perks that Nuisance received, that is what I didn't see happening in the US Navy. And not that I think the US Navy is heartless either. I love this country of ours! I actually just rode past the Pentagon Metro on a Metro train. I've lived in/near DC since 1993 & although I grew up in Atlanta & I do miss living further south, but DC has just become home to me & I really can't imagine leaving.
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Definitely a great story & a great dog! Considering that Great Danes usually pass away after short lives because of heart difficulties it would seem that Nuisance had a ♥ that was good to go. It's a shame he was "put to sleep". Ya know, people that have the same condition are NOT allowed to commit suicide but they make the decision for the dog. Such is life. But it was really awesome of the Royal Navy to do all they did for him too. For some reason I don't see the US Navy doing anything like that.
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A dog tale
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Over half of the people that died that day were aboard the Arizona. I can't help but hope that most died immediately. What a nightmare it must have been for anyone to live thru all that but end up being stuck inside the ship to either suffocate or drown, or even worse eventually starve to death.
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WOW. PENSACOLA, FLORIDA???? You know you could have picked a better time of year to go to Pensacola and allowed yourself some leisure time to go to the beach there! Of all the beaches I've been on it was the best. Beautiful white sand beach. Back in 2007 my father was living there and having health problems and I went down there to help out my Step-mom & because of that I had a job with a local welding co that was doing an addition to Austal shipyard in Mobile, AL. Atm they were building what appeared to be a couple of Navy Cruisers or Destroyers inside. And during my commute I got to ride past the USS Alabama everyday. Also, as a child my Grandparents use to take me on to the base to buy groceries. And go to the beach. One year they were having a shark rodeo & I got to see a couple of 6' hammerhead sharks that were caught off of the pier. Got to eat some shark steaks which were OK. But we would also go camping & crabbing south of there in Destin. Which imho the area was completely destroyed by beach hotels now. But as a kid when I was there it was a wooded area and we would boil crabs over a fire in the mid to late 70's. Yeah, speaking of the Sullivan's and the ships in Buffalo, that could be included into someone going to see Niagara Falls. I had the joy of seeing Niagara Falls after seeing the Grateful Dead play at Rich Stadium in Buffalo back in the 90's. Our cash had been running short at that part of the Dead tour so I made & sold grill cheese sandwiches in the lot all day to be able to afford to go see the Falls. It was time we'll spent.
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That is frickin awesome.
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I thought it looked like the roof of some weirdo's house after a flood. Didn't imagine that someone would actually get inside the thing except at gun point maybe. AND also how is it not going to fall apart when you fire that gun?
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Yeah, actually it HAD JUST EATEN A Destroyer! I'm guessing that the destroyer didn't make it!? How terrible. Don't these sailors realize that these ships DON'T have brakes! And they cannot stop on a dime! Feed that monster, it looks hungry!
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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.
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Yeah, I personally don't think that the Royal Navy would have been able to win against Japan. Maybe, just maybe if the war had lasted until 1944 then maybe by then the UK would maybe start gaining the upper hand. But, one of the major factors in the Pacific War was the US taking out 4 of Japan's fleet carriers at Midway. If that doesn't happen then Japan remains a major juggernaut for quite sometime. Maybe long enough for a peace treaty. With Japan having the main bulk of their carrier force, armored carriers or not, they would realize bombs are having no affect & when they send 100 Betty's in for a torpedo strike you can almost guarantee they will eventually set up pincer attacks to where it won't matter which way a carrier turns. And those "long lances" ain't no joke!"! >】⁵Main reason no peace treaty happened with US & Japan is that cuz of Pearl Harbor attack US would not settle for anything less than a Japanese Unconditional Surrender. And Japanese were too proud to accept such a thing until they weren't. And an atomic weapon could have that affect on any society. And you happened to mention the US Navy's "Devastator" airplanes. They were only "devastating" to the pilots flying them, unfortunately. And after almost a whole squadron goes down, the few planes that actually got to launch torpedoes, get to see the torpedoes hit but not detonate on the hull of whatever lucky ship they were attacking. I personally feel that the Devastator being such a poor airplane and the torpedoes not exploding is why we had the "flight to no where" during the battle o Midway. The squadron leader didn't want to get his pilots killed knowing that they could accomplish very little in the way of damaging enemy ships. Everyone knew it was a poor plane for the job and I'm fairly certain they knew that the torpedoes were not functioning properly either. Makes you wonder why they were even sent. It's not like they could know that these planes would pull all the zeros down to sea level & make them use all of their ammo. Or did they know?
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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.
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That's messed up that the Zeppelin bombed the Destroyers that went in to get survivors of the sinking ship. Was the captain of the Zeppelin so ignorant that he didn't realize that they were going to rescue his fellow countrymen from certain death? That's just stupid. I would have been made sure he was court martialed!■
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If I'm wrong about you personally I do apologize. HOWEVER, I do believe Drach presents himself very well & it is a pleasure to listen to him. And he's not here to give us lessons on the English language. He is providing information on questions people have asked & in the process hopefully also learning things about war ships & battles & such that he previously did not know. And also, when asked, gives his point of view on the countless "what if" scenarios that in my opinion get in the way of the actual histories that have really happened that we have yet to learn about certain war ships. But it is something that Drach does, it has become a part of the channel, & so I just deal with it. I'm NOT going to complain everytime he answers a "what if" scenario no matter how idiotic it seems to me EVIDENTLY there are A LOT of people who are interested in such scenarios. When it's not what happened nor can it happen cuz that part of history is LONG PAST!! AND, occasionally, although it pains me to say it, sometimes some of the scenarios are interesting no matter how impossible this long after the fact. So like anything & everything in life this channel is no different. You enjoy the good and tolerate the not so good. But IMHO the good about this channel STRONGLY outweighs the bad!!!
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Well, dear sir, I had a older brother that was almost 4 years older than me. And when he was in the 10th grade in high school he took what I believe was equivalent to the "basic skills" test in schools. He had a score that said his intelligence was that of a second year college student. Also, if you ever sat & watched the show "Jeopardy" with him, he could give the question to almost EVERY answer on the show. Where I could MAYBE give the questions for a row. But when I was 17 I moved out of my parents place. I came back cuz my step-dad Billy got hurt at work. For the next 2 years I was the one that worked & paid the bills. And that included my older brother being there rent free while I paid all the bills. After Billy got an insurance settlement we moved to SC & we built a house. We meaning Billy built it and I helped everyday. My brother helped maybe 3 or 4 separate days. After it was built I eventually moved to Northern Virginia cuz I couldn't find work. My brother lived with Mama practically all his life. BY THIS POINT I KNOW YOUR ASKING "WHAT'S YOUR POINT?" Well here it is... Just cuz someone is intelligent doesn't mean that they are a functional human being capable of taking care of themselves and a family! And just because you can see this thing with Drach that bothers you doesn't mean that other people see it & it bothers them. Evidently and this is ONLY my personal opinion and I don't want to argue with you about it or make this into some huge thing that it's NOT! However, I think that you are wrong & what you are talking about is just something that you have produced in your head & has little to do with Drachs overall actual performance and word usage has been GREAT for well OVER 5 YEARS!!! It has helped build his channel into a channel that has been acquiring new viewers EVERY WEEK & DAY! Now, I seriously don't even see what you're complaining about but if Drach does MAYBE he will consider your point of view. BUT in the interest of the channel in general, I hope he just ignores you from here on out. Cuz to put it short & to the point: I kinda believe that you are either crazy or just not right in the head somehow & want to complain about something but not sure what or how you want to complain about something!!!.
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If Hood had been equipped with small tube boilers I'd venture a guess that the weight saved would have probably been put into thicker armor belt. Which may have saved it from going down with all hands in the Denmark Strait! Unfortunately 😢 Hood went down. And Bismark was doomed because of it. HMS Rodney seen to that. I love how Drach describes Rodney's 16" guns "snarling" a reply to the guns of Bismark! AND with the all forward armament no need to turn to unmask a rear turret. That's why I think that was truly a much better design for a battleship!
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AND the closing statement pretty much sums up ALL OF THE "What if" questions about the Japs doing this or that or the other. All it means is the Japanese might have to deal with getting hit with more than two nuclear weapons. Meaning more radioactive sites that are unhabitable in the long run. Plus it's "all over now" anyway!!!
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Yeah, giving individual Navies a grade is really not easy & really not fair for each Navy UNLESS you grade said Navy yearly. And you also have to look at how much funding EACH Navy is getting from their nation & how well they used that funding to accomplish the goals that they needed to meet.
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Yeah, in actuality NO, THE FRENCH WERE NOT RIGHT!!! One of France's biggest problems were that they first built ships to try to rival the Royal Navy, and then Italy, and then Germany. And they just didn't know who they might have to fight. And fighting Germany would have been more of a land battle than a naval battle. But NOT Italy. And then they became Allied with the British so that helped them. But left the British short handed when they surrendered to Germany so quick. And it's not just about timing but btw something is used. And now air power also has to be considered as well. And an actual sea going Navy is different than a coastal defense force Navy. And a nation has to decide what suits them best. If a nation doesn't have enough money or has no need for a sea going Navy then it's not practical to try to build one. But since France did have over seas possessions then they really needed ships capable of protecting their ships at sea that were going back & forth from the possessions and the possessions themselves. And so, it can easily be said that at the time France had this idea, it was SERIOUSLY A BAD IDEA!!!
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Yeah, what I was thinking is that if you are in the water, you can't really push on anything to get a screw to actually bite into the copper plating. Idk, it was KIND OF a good idea but I don't think that he had practiced doing such a thing on a similar vessel. The old "6P principle" Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance! If he had practiced doing such a maneuver several times first he may have either had more success or seen that it was impossible. One of the two.
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So "Wellings" after sending 8 months of reports, I'm guessing was aboard HMS Rodney on his way back to the States when Rodney turned around to go after Bismark?? He was aboard Rodney to witness a very famous part of history! I grew up knowing about Bismark sinking Hood & the Royal doing all it could to sink the Bismark afterwards. That plus reading a book about the Battle of Britain was probably the most I knew about WW2 to begin with. I don't remember learning hardly anything about WW2 in school. Most of what I know of WW2 has been from watching the History Channel plus my own research. Watching videos here on YouTube & books I've read.
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COMPLETELY AWESOME! TRULY AN AMERICAN HERO. Just with him cutting thru all the BS to get things done,(ie: AA Guns & fuses) he undoubtedly saved hundreds of American lives & also ended numerous enemy lives as well. Truly a shame someone like Lee was NOT around in the submarine ranks to do the same with the Mark 14 torpedo, I think it was called. But I think it was truly a shame that Lee was unable to at least witness the parades & celebrations of the end of WW2, considering it was men like him that helped lead us to victory.
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Hey Drach, I just wanted to say "Hello" & thank you for answering the question about the "Edmund Fitzgerald" in the way & manner that you did. It, of course, was not a warship. And as far as the time period you mainly like to cover, the Fitzgerald doesn't really fit with that either. However, lives were lost & those people had people that lived & loved them. And instead of finding a way to NOT answer the question, you gave it your best try. And by what I heard, you did a fairiy good job of it. Although I was not personally aware of any of the victims of this ship going down. I am certain that the people that were, were pleased at the seriousness of answering the question in the best way you knew how. Whenever a large group of people lose their lives people try to make sense of it. And the answers you gave make the most sense from the evidence discovered since then. So thank you.
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Well, with over 9 billion people in the world there are going to be a lot of weirdness. I don't understand people that enjoy pain! I'd be willing to bet that if they had to deal with the amount of pain I deal with on a daily basis they would grow tired of it really fast! There are times I get so tired of hurting I've thought about suicide. And I've never liked the idea of suicide for any reason. Anyone that likes pain, if they were in my body they would be in heaven. But, I'm fairly certain that they would get just as tired of it as I am!
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I grew up in the deep south & my Dad was a Gordon Lightfoot fan. So by the age of 5 or 6 I knew about the fate of the Edmond Fitzgerald. I never doubted that it was a true story & a major tragedy for the men aboard and the family & friends that knew them. I would have never thought that it was because they reached water that was more shallow and therefore the waves were bigger is probably why she sank. But it makes sense, when you have these big waves coming in & all of sudden the sea bed rises a couple hundred feet. Then there is less room in the water, then the waves get a lot bigger and once you are already there,there is nothing you can do about it! It's a very sad story. And it is a good reason to equip these ships with sonar so they know when they are approaching water that's not as shallow. On a calm day, not a big deal. But in a massive storm such a place is going to have swells growing up 50 to 100 feet.
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So the Nazi's had a hydrogen peroxide powered submarine & jet aircraft. When I pour peroxide on a dirty sore I often think about the dirty Nazi's!😊😮😂 Sorry, somebody had to say it!!
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As a true American I would just like to say that I whole heartedly agree with you that this future without huge warships that are big enough to carry huge guns are extremely boring. And I feel that we should have at least had two Des Moines like cruisers along with two USS Alabama type battleships made every 15 years just to make sure the technology doesn't die & we have them just in case. Not to mention, without the big guns what else does the Navy have to entice our younger generation to sign up? Oh we need you to sign up & for the next 4 years we are going to have you scraping barnacles off of an aircraft carrier so it can be placed in reserve. "OH, wow, that sounds like so much fun. Go ahead and sign me up for 8 years. By the way, exactly what is a barnacle?"
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You must not have heard the story about the pilot that practically beat an enemy plane apart with his landing gear cuz he was out of bullets.
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It really must be said. Taking the door off the magazine of a ship totally negates the safety the magazine was designed to implement. Any and ALL of the sailors that did this are and/or were guilty of gross negligence, incompetence & total ignorance. And most every sailor aboard paid the cost. Every sailor that knew that those safety mechanisms had been taken away should have spoken up & blown the whistle about it, so to speak. It should not have been kicked down the road like a tin can & ignored until battlecruisers started suffering catastrophic explosions & sinking with all hands in a matter of what??? Three ships in one battle? The only saving grace for the sailors aboard... their loved ones can truthfully say "They went out with a bang! A VERY BIG BANG"!!! I'm certain they covered it up so that close relatives couldn't sue the Gov't for negligence. Although it is a much different circumstance, whenever I hear of a magazine detonation I always think of the horrifying footage of the Arizona blowing up at Pearl Harbor. And how over a thousand lives can be snuffed out in a second!!!
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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.
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Yeah, well I convinced my wife of that before we ever married. She was five foot nothing and a beautiful brunette with blue eyes & an hourglass figure. She once caused a traffic accident just walking home from the pool in her bikini. Anyway, she had always been with guys that were 6' 4" & about 250lbs. Me, I'm about 170 at the time, 5'8". She once gave me the best compliment I've ever had.
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Actually Captain Evans had his guy working the signal lamp send him a message that read: "I"m bringing my boarding party & I'm taking scalps." Scared the shit out of that ol Japanese man. He ordered a full retreat and went straight to the head.
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@Groza_Dallocort Yes, I'm sure that was considered too. But knowing how well the Japanese can survive with just a small amount of rice, idk if that would have really worked. But now it's 2022 and we have 9 billion people in the world. Something big is going to happen in the next 20 years.
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I think she enjoyed being a storage vessel and wanted to remain as such. I guess most ships with a heart ♥ will run aground if given a chance on the way to a breakers yard!!!
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Although true on most occasions, however if the salvaged steel is used to make a brand new ship then something old is now new again and can sail merrily along with less problems than the older ship. And also have more purpose. Like a warship gets broken up & the steel used to make a freighter so now the ship instead of having to wait for a war to be useful. It can sail back & forth carrying goods back & forth & making profits for it's owners, & paying for it's cost & upkeep for years & years. And no one aboard ever gets killed or injured. You know, sort of like a heaven for a ship that gave its all during a war without being sunk. Rotting away whether on the surface of the sea or beneath it, is not dignified for a ship that has given good service for a few decades. So using it's steel to make something new is a very noble thing to do.
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I understand that Drach sometimes wants to bring in a guest that knows about these things. But I think I enjoy it a lot more when Drach studies what happened & relates what happened in his own words. Idk, maybe that's just me.
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As far as cheating the treaty goes you could build all these ships with just enough armor to hold them together BUT also have alternate armor made to be able to install in case war breaks out. Bringing each ship in for a quick refit as soon as war breaks out.
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I had never heard of the Laconia incident until today. And yes it does totally boggle the mind that someone could do such a thing. And I REALLY don't understand how someone could get a medal for such a thing! And rationalizing that a lot of these people are POW's, it still makes no sense. Helpless people in the water is helpless people in the water. And to attack helpless people should be a crime. Exactly what "medal" did he get? A cardboard cookie or a Bozo button? I definitely agree that the pilot should have been insubordinate & took no action. Just goes to show that sometimes ignorance is contagious and that just because you are on the right side doesn't mean you're always right. Definitely a dark day for the Allies, and especially for the USA. I find it hard to believe that people from my country could order & take such an ignorant action! Not denying it happened just feel ashamed that someone from my country could be so heartless. And I also feel like the USA should be more open about this incident and teach people to question authority more, especially when you are ordered to do something that is so clearly wrong!
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It's funny that King would "object" to British involvement considering the involvement of "USS Robin" in 1942 with the US & British sharing planes & CAP direction information. Which I'm sure had made a difference in '43 & '44!! And I'm sure that all the mothers in the US that were working in factories to help supply the war effort that had husband & sons fighting would be eager for the Brits to join in and put a quicker end to the war so their families could all be home.
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I'm curious about the white phosphorus shells that when used usually made whatever enemy surrender immediately!!
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That's cool. Thanks for that. Yeah, a lot of people think Callahan was NOT a good Admiral but he was ordered to 🛑 stop the IJN from shooting up Henderson Field. So, he tried to do what he could with what he had. God Bless Him. It's sad that he died while just following orders.
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@caseymuzio7609 The South Dakota was hurried into the Pacific cuz of the war & the US losing most of it's battleships at Pearl Harbor attack. And although they had practiced firing their guns. When South Dakota first fired at Guadal Canal they were pointed at an angle that for some reason caused electrical power failures. Luckily, Admiral Lee & USS Washington was there to stop the pounding South Dakota was receiving from Kirishima and turn Kirishima into floating wreckage in a matter of minutes!!! And also Luckily for South Dakota Kirishima only had 14" guns. Unfortunately for Kirishima Washington had 16" guns & a damn good gunnery crew!!!
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That is very true! However, the smaller & lighter shell is also going to slow a lot quicker in the water and if it's pointed like a normal shell it is likely to tumble as well. Which is why such ships would put their magazines BENEATH the water line. I believe it did once happen to a Cruiser to where a shell made it into a magazine but 1) because it hit the water first the shell flipped over backwards and then penatrated into the magazine & 2) cuz it flipped over backwards the trigger to detonate the shell was never flipped so no explosion & 3) cuz the shell was also followed by a massive amount of water pressure it soaked most of the powder before it COULD explode. I forget what ship it happened to, but I remember Drach talking about it at some time.
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@Drachinifel Yeah, considering that some of the battlecruisers under Beatty's command went BANG and were lost with all hands, why would you NOT choose Halsey? You would have a much better chance of living through a war than not.
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That about the sailor/radioman being asked to make pancakes, he should have asked someone. I knew how to make pancakes at a very young age & it is very easy. He probably didn't have "self rising" flour, in which case you have to add yeast & something else baking soda, I think, so that when you are cooking them they "rise". But pancakes are "self-rising" flour, eggs & milk & then you can add water as well to thin the mix. Billy, my step dad made the best pancakes. Each one almost as big as the plate. I'd fry the bacon to go with it while he was making the batter. Then I'd just get out of the way. The size he made them normally 2-3 pancakes per person was plenty even for the most ravenous appetite!
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So what your saying is that the first armored cruiser, although it led to much bigger and better things, was a French😢😢😢 hunk of junk that had nothing but problems. And that they were almost able to sell it, much like a used car that has been a lemon, but even after paying a third of the asking price they decided they didn't want it. A ship so uselessly that they tried to make it a cargo ship & it couldn't do that either. So they junked it. Poor ship. It had the sad misfortune of being French when French warships just weren't cool....😢😮 But at least it can say it was the start of something new & big.
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I just watched this video again after seeing it a year ago. It's fun seeing Drach turn into a pyromaniac!!
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Can you in any way imagine what it must have been like to be aboard Kaga when all this violence happened.
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@chijohnaok Now your talking! My Dad lived in Pace, Florida which is only about 30 mins from Pensacola & my Grandparents(actually my step Dads Mom & Dad) lived in Crestview,FL) I use to love going to the beach at Pensacola as a kid. Even though my Dads place was closer, I enjoyed being at my Grandparents place a lot more. I usually would go for 2 weeks in the summer. They had a fishing boat & we would go fishing on it 2x or 3x while I was there. And back then Destin, FL was a wooded area. And we would go there & go crabbing. Boil the crabs in a bucket over the fire. To see it now with hotels on the beach and such. It's like they ruined it. As if Florida didn't already have enough beaches. But the white sand at Pensacola is great!
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One of the questions I found most hilarious, actually it was the answer that was funny. I forget which Drydock it was but the question was: "Was the Barbary Pirates state sponsored or did they act on their own initiative? And as soon as I heard the question I said "Yes". And then you said it too. Although you went on with an explanation. But yeah, I enjoyed that one!
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@MrMont-ue8kh I would make a guess that the number of USN Cruisers that lost their bows during the Guadal Canal campaign would be a good example of the all or nothing scheme coming back to bite them in the front. However, considering that a lot of those cruisers didn't sink & eventually had their bows replaced it's hard to argue against it.
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I feel very cheated that this thing was never built! A very great idea and could you imagine the look on the U-boat Captains faces if they actually got to see this thing in their parascope? And then fire salxo after salvo of torpedoes to no effect!
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Wow! Dig the knew intro! Way to go. I like it!
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They must have been influenced some by the Americans and decided they wanted LOTS OF GUNS!!! At least none of them were sunk do to the lack of not shooting back. I hope they saved all the wine & cheese stores before they went to the bottom.
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Yes, although I had heard a little about the artificial Mulberry Harbors, it was never enough for me to really understand how it was actually built & put into place. And now, I still don't understand it all completely but I do have a much better idea of how it was done. I'd be willing to bet that was something that REALLY pissed Hitler off. 1) Cuz we built our own harbor & 2) He had heavily fortified all the harbors & 3) There was nothing he could do to stop it!!!!
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Yeah, as a child & then growing into an adult, on one hand I got teased by my family about being slow to accomplish whatever it was I was doing. But I had also always heard that anything worth doing; is worth doing right the first time. So when I had a task, I would concentrate on quality first, & then if I had to do it more, I would then concentrate on doing it faster & faster but with the same quality I had already previously established.
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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.
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Yeah, I had already heard Drach mention this numerous times. But this is the most in depth I've heard him speak of it. And to be honest, I didn't think it needed such a long & drawn out explanation. But there it is!!!
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Yeah, I looked at it from the inside. And I looked at it from the outside. And it's just as I figured! It goes all the way through!
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Speaking of dye packs in the shells so that you can tell which splash belongs to what ship. I remember watching a documentary about Operation Torch where the US was going against the Vichy French & going to land near and invade Casablanca. And because the US & the French had usually been allies they were hoping that the French would just "stand down" & welcome the US Forces. But that was not to be BUT the documentary went on to say that a shell splash landed so close to General Patton that it covered him with yelllow dye. On one hand I wonder if that was really true or just some made up BS Propaganda? But they went on to say that some of his aids were trying to wipe the dye off of him but he kept pushing them aside so he could see or figure out what was going on. So with the extra added bs it makes it sound believable. But a shell splash THAT CLOSE needs return fire & quickly. I don't see aides being more worried about wiping dye off of Patton than maybe getting behind some armor where it might be a little safer. I always wondered if that was true or just propaganda. But he did survive combat during WW1 and was wounded but continued to command his troops after getting shot in the leg & hip. I guess he just didn't fear death would find him until after the war was over. It's a pity he was killed but I think he was assassinated! If he had run for President he would have won against Eisenhower & we would have been in an all out war with Russia as soon as he was elected! Patton was adamant about winning back Poland. When he saw the concentration camps he felt that was the least they deserved was their own country back. And if Stalin hadn't made the deal with Hitler to split Poland things may not have happened the way they did.
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And I can't speak for all Americans. But I don't like the idea of war with China, Russia or anyone else for that matter. BUT with all the humans on this planet, how long before there are so many people we all suffocate from lack of oxygen? We have over 9 billion people in the world & populations everywhere are growing on a massive scale. I'm an old man and will probably die sooner rather than later. But I just wish that I could somehow wash all the evil from the world!, all the pollution from the air & waters and ease all the hostilities that people have & create towards each other. And cause anger & hatred to just disappear. I'm sure that will come soon enough for me in the form of death. But wouldn't it be really great if Jesus really did come back to earth and solved everything and made the world clean again and we are here to see it all happen? Although I do really wish for it. Idk. I just think of how we have totally trashed the earth. We should all be very ashamed of just how polluted we have let this world become.
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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.
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Yeah, Sheer talking about how the whole horizon lit up by the Grand Fleet firing it's gun's & Sheer called for the "180" which they had already practiced extensively. Pretty much answered the question. That they had already planned to fail & that's why they could do a "180" so easy is so that they all knew what to do WHEN the plan failed.
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I have watched this twice now or well most of it. For some reason I tend to fall asleep once you start talking about the German "destroyers". And miss pretty much the rest. Cuz when I awoke you were talking about the Russian destroyers. Idk, I guess I'll have to watch it again but start at where you started talking about the German Destroyers.
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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".
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Grond! Grond! Grond! Thanks for the Lord of the Rings metaphor. I'm curious DID YOU READ THE BOOKS or just see the movies??? And if you read the books & you like SciFi stuff too, I would like to recommend a book series to you called "Otherland" BY Tad Williams. It's 4 books all together & I'm not going to name each one here but hell, he might as well stay away for the moment. Very dangerous.
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Wow, I never read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. My brother read it & told me about it. I opted for "The Hobbit" instead and then "The Fellowship of the Ring." And after that I was hooked on Tolkien for quite a while. Also got into Tad Williams later on. His "Otherland" series was very remarkable & had the best ending. By the end of 3rd book and plunging through the 4th I kinda got bored & irritated with it. But once I got closer to the ending it got A LOT BETTER! I hoped that they could somehow make it a movie. It would take a lot of $$ & CGI but it would make 3- 4 great movies. Thanks for showing us the very first submarine. Cool idea. Shame that it didn't work right. Modern subs should take the idea of extra air tanks. Especially cuz it's so hard to accomplish something once people are not getting enough oxygen.
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You don't think Emma Watts is accepting random visitors?? But Drach YOU ARE NOT JUST A RANDOM VISITOR. You are Drachinifel the historieographer, or however you spell it! Hermione. Where do ya'll come up with these names?
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Yes, concerning the question about torpedo boats about 4 mins into the Drydock. You forgot to mention that the Kamchatka forced all the country's to fear actually using their torpedo boats. So all of them started building Destroyers instead. And upon learning of this the Captain of the Kamchatka his head swoll up 3x bigger than normal, you know, like the Grinch's heart. So when his comrades were getting pounded at Sushima he pushed the Kamchatka into the frey in an effort to save his comrades. However, the old ship was ill suited to be in such a scrap and fairly quickly she capsized & sank. And all the Japanese were confused cuz the remaining Russians were cheering as though they had won the battle. But so passed the Kamchatka one of the worst warships to ever darken the waves. So if you are ever near Sushima in honor of Kamchatka & in memory of old "Admiral Whats his face?" be sure to hurl a pair of binoculars into the waves just like he did so many times on that accursed voyage. AFTERWORDS: This comment was written as a simple effort to be humorous & if it has made you laugh or smile then it has achieved it's purpose. In NO WAY did I intend to make light of Russians or any other countrymen fighting & dying for and/or the defense of their nation. Such men, IMHO, are noble & are very great men. Everyone that has fought and/or fought & died should be held in honor no matter the circumstances of the campaign in which they fought. Thank you. My Grandfather on my Mom's side was in WW2 and suffered severe PTSD & was never right after the war. And on my Dad's side, my Great Grandma had 2 brothers who both became pilots. One died in Europe the other died in the Pacific. I was never told of any other details except that neither of their bodies were ever recovered.
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I would have to agree with you about comparing a Town cruiser to a Cleveland. Both are perfectly good at being a light cruiser but as far as which one is better depends on whatever role that cruiser is needed to to do. If it's going to accompany a carrier fleet then the Cleveland fits that role well but the Towns doing convoy escort with a couple of Destroyers or gunboats is much more suited for the role than a Cleveland.
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Yeah, the problem with telling people that there is a great big ship full of explosives on fire & about to explode in the harbor IS THAT STUPID THING INSIDE OF ALL OF US THAT SAYS "Hey, let's go watch this ship explode!" Instead of maybe trying to get as far away as possible, people tend to want to see what all the fuss is about. When they should listen to what they're being told & try to find a safe place away from the harbor. I had always heard that the ship was full of "fertilizer" commonly known as ammonia nitrate and because of the colision it began leaking diesel fuel into the cargo hold. And that the ship was not maneuverable & had caught fire. And it seems that I remember that from some documentary that was on TV. But since then I've really begun to question ALMOST ALL FACTS I've heard in documentaries over the span of my lifetime. Leaving me to search for the real truths in the things I thought I already knew. And a ship full of ammonia nitrate & diesel fuel probably could set off such an incredible explosion! What gets me is that 1800 people died from that explosion with all kinds of people trying to warn them about the danger. And instead of being sensible and trying to get somewhere to relative safety they instead decide "Well, we should be far enough away that if it does explode it won't hurt us here? I guess that with 1800 dead a lot of people were wrong about being far enough away. Not realizing that the ship was the largest floating pipe bomb of all time!
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OMG!!! I really had no idea that had happened. That is one of the saddest things I've ever heard concerning WW1! I'm gonna have to listen again just to make sure I get the date right. I wonder how many people that were present for that would actually die during the war? TRAGIC becomes so much of an understatement.
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Back in 2020 I was walking across a street & all of a sudden I realized I was in the air. And was thinking to myself "Why am I in the air?" Well in that instance while being "in the air" my brain told myself "well, you just got hit by a car & your ankle is broken". And then I was lying in the middle of the road. A lady said "sir, I'm so very sorry that I hit you. Can you get out of the road?" And I don't remember what I said back but I pulled out my phone & dialed 911. I told them where I was & that I had just got hit by a car. And then I called Brenda, the lady I had been staying with & told her where I was. My foot was off except that my Achilles tendon was still attached. I was in shock for quite a while. Later at the hospital, I remember a nurse woke me up to tell me to stop screaming. The shock had worn off while I was unconscious and it felt like my foot was on fire. I called her a name I rarely EVER call a female. And told what she could go do which wasn't very nice but I didn't appreciate being woken from my previous unconscious state to the reality of the pain I was experiencing. So with me cursing her she walked out & left me alone. I hadn't realized that I was screaming in pain until she woke me up. And I luckily went back out & didn't wake up until late the next day. Idk, it actually may have been 2 days. Not really sure.
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@EliteF22 Exactly what did they do to Fletcher?
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@vikkimcdonough6153 Did you ever think there was a reason that everyone in the Navy said their CVE hull designation stood for Combustible, Vulnerable & Expendable? Luckily for those aboard the Taffy 3's 6 CVE's Captain Evans of the USS Johnston(& the Hoel, & the Sammy B Roberts & I forget the others) didn't see it that way when the Japanese Center Force came a calling. I guess he figured that the 900+ crews of those 6 ships was his duty to protect them and that's what he did while he had a ship to do it with. The fact that he was alive to order the abandon ship but wasn't there when they were rescued 3 days later always bothered me. Makes me think that he had suffered a mortal wound during the battle that he didn't let anyone know about. Cuz I just don't see him dying from exposure or shark attack. Although the latter, is a huge threat for someone that's bleeding. Sharks are drawn to blood in the water & Evans had lost a couple of fingers in the battle, so he was bleeding. And sharks can sense exactly where the blood is coming from. Ultimately, he died at sea, so he probably was eaten, dead or alive. Unless he went down with the ship after locking himself inside & I can only see him doing that if he KNEW he was dying and didn't want to be shark bait. Which, I can see happening too. I guess we will never know.
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Yeah, every time I go in Harris Teeter the Pharmacist is really pushing that shingles vaccine. He really must be seriously bored. Have a good day.
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And I was wondering why they had a problem with Bob Marley.
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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.
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