Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "The Drydock - Episode 090" video.
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Rats! I went to bed like a half hour before this was posted and then I decided to finish paining the guest room when I got up. I only started that six months ago, but no one can call me a procrastinator. One good thing about the Wu Flu is you start looking around the house for things to do so you keep occupied.
One of the biggest contributions to winning the war in the Pacific was a command hardly anyone has h=ever heard of. It was officially call the At Sea Logistics Service Group (ASLSG)., commonly know as the Fleet Train. It was a complete self contained command with everything from floating drydocks to escort carriers to destroyers, all to support the hundreds of oilers, supply ships, ammunition ships, and fleet tugs, along with refrigerator ships, frozen store ships, and even the famous ice cream barges. It came about due to a study in the 20's that sowed ships lost 10% of the combat efficiency for every thousand miles traveled as supplies of everything ran low and they were faced with a port call. There were no ports in the Pacific, so the supply train ended up replacing the fleet's stocks with everything from those floating drydocks, aircrew and aircrew replacements, fuel, oil, ammunition, food, almost 80,000 cartons of cigarettes, and over 40,000 bags of mail. There were 10-12 trains in operation at all times, some of which only existed to resupply the supply ships. It was really an amazing operation, and planning for it started back in the mid-20's.
If you have an interest in fleet training and logistics, read HM 18: To Train the Fleet for War: The U.S. Navy Fleet Problems, 1923-1940 . It can be downloaded at https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/historical-monographs/18/. It's 424 pages, some of which can be a little dry, but it's a good read overall.
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