Comments by "" (@VersusARCH) on "The Drydock - Episode 114" video.

  1. 00:00:32 There is a rather sensationalist account of one of the German Navy's shore bombardment in the Baltics here from 37:20 conducted by Task Force Thiele, centered around KMS Prinz Eugen I believe. I do wonder if the account is correct as in fine daylight weather the ships would have certainly received some unwanted attention of the Red Air force and neatly parking an entire tank brigade during an advance and expected German counterattack seems strange even if it was time to re-supply: https://youtu.be/R-FdIEgCJ_Y Many of the ships of the Soviet Baltic fleet were damaged and worn out by the siege of Leningrad. Soviet navy was more concerned with mines (the Baltic being VERY heavily mined by both sides - mines took a heavy toll even on Soviet submarines), German submarines and Luftwaffe smart bombs than with the remnants of the German navy surface ships.
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  2. 1:46:16 Soviet submarines preyed on neutral Swedish and Turkish ships trading with Germans or Romanians. Germans apart from unrestricted submarine warfare also quite often sank or captured neutral merchant ships with their Auxiliary cruisers. For instance Yugoslav steamsip Durmitor was captured by KMS Atlantis before Yugoslavia was attacked and sent to Italian East Africa with accumulated prisoners from previously taken or sunk ships.
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  3. 04:22:23 If the Germans failed to honor their agreements with Vichy France - the Vichy France had an option to sail its navy to the Allies. Had they done so at once - they would have been occupied at once. Simple. People seem to have a problem understanding that Vichy's interest on the whole was now AVOIDING war and occupation. At least until a favorable time for action came as in Operation Torch (at least for parts of the Vichy regime). The fleet was a bargaining chip for Vichy - as long as it was in their hands. Why they opted to scuttle rather than join the allies in 1942. is probably a combination of - Darlan's 1940s orders, anger over Oran and disrepair.
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  4. 2:18:00 HMS Jupiter vs I-60
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  5. 1:46:16 After Barbarossa, Soviet submarines preyed on neutral Swedish and Turkish ships trading with Germans, Romanians or Bulgarians. Germans in WW2, apart from unrestricted submarine warfare, also quite often sank or captured neutral merchant ships with their Auxiliary cruisers. For instance Yugoslav steamsip Durmitor was captured by KMS Atlantis before Yugoslavia was attacked and sent to Italian East Africa with accumulated prisoners from previously taken or sunk ships.
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