Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "The Drydock - Episode 078" video.

One of the reasons for the superfiring height aft mount in the Littorio class was to work in hangers for their three seaplanes. The hangers had a track leading out to the stern catapult that allowed fairly quick mounting of the aircraft while protecting the aircraft from weather and blast effects from the main battery. US battleships using catapult storage of their floatplanes suffered repeated damage to the catapults and even had the aircraft blown overboard when the aft turret needed to fire mostly astern. It was actually a pretty good idea without having to result to the below decks and elevators used in the Cleveland class cruisers. These seemed like a good idea as well, but they had never ending problems with leakage through the elevator doors when they shipped water over the stern, and even from the torrential rains tajhat were a feature in the tropics. Mechanical problems with the elevators and even shock damage from near misses were also continuing problems.
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@captainloggy140 It would be hard to be more unlucky than having a brand new cruiser on its first combat voyage run into a Norwegian fortress manned by old men using even older torpedoes and guns and still find yourself on the bottom of a fiord. It there was ever a pinata version of a Blucher, the 1940 model was the best representative.
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The Argentine Navy tends to get glossed over because it was a neutral country, but her two modernized US built battleships, two modern heavy and one light cruisers, and 12 very modern British built destroyers was certainly a contender in terms of the minor navies. Argentina's Anglophile naval culture also led to RN-like standards of training, and kept operational with the same traditions of ship upkeep.
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