Comments by "John Fisher" (@johnfisher9692) on "The Drydock - Episode 012" video.

Another great video Thaks for answering my question about British Vs German guns, it was very helpful. The summery of the fire control systems was also great. I have several references which state the same thing you did. German gunnery was very fast to get on target but accuracy dropped off rapidly as the battle wore on and fatigue set in while British gunnery was slower to get the range but improved quickly and stayed there as the system was far less tiring to use. Wonder if this means that staying at longer ranges was better for the British as the battle would be longer and German accuracy would diminish?
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I think the Germans focusing more on surface ships would have aided the British far more than the Germans. Less Subs means less merchant ships sunk, more supplies getting through and less damage to the British economy, while the limited number of extra surface ships would not have changed the strategic balance all that much given the difference in numbers between the GF and the HSF. than you add in the US 6th battle squadron. As Drachinifel has pointed out in previous episodes, the items which really dictate how fast you can build a ship are the guns and turrets. The guns take a great deal of time to make and the German Navy's biggest problem here was, believe it or not, the German Army. At the outbreak of war the German Army seized as many guns as they could for their land offensive, leaving the Navy scrambling. German ships building resources were limited compared to Britain and much slower. They had less large naval gun manufacturing ability. Also the blockade cut them off from obtaining nickel, a vital metal for making guns and armour for ships. I think if Germany had continued building the ships you listed, the British would have sped up the construction of all four post Jutland Admiral class BC's and the Mackensen's were no match for these as they were more contemporaries to the Lion class. My sources only list four Mackensen's ever contemplated, so 5-7 is a mystery to me unless you're getting confused with German ship naming policy.
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