Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "Admiral Jackie Fisher - High Tech, High Strung, High Tempered (The Ships)" video.
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What indeed was his plan with Renown and Courageous? Think I would suggest that he was trying to get back to his original concept. As the battlecruisers had grown, their speed had not increased appreciably. So, with the last two generations, he makes another leap in speed, at the expense of protection and number of guns. I have read a claim that Renown was intended for the Baltic project. I have read the generally accepted narrative that Courageous was intended for the Baltic project. In reality, Renown was some five feet shallower draft than the immediately preceding battlecruisers, but Courageous' draft was only 14" less than Renown's. Hardly seems worth the bother for another 14". A letter from Fisher to d'Eyncourt was calling for a draft of no more than 22 1/2 feet, for Courageous, saying that that draft was "vital for Baltic work", but also saying that he and d'Eyncourt need to "make a good story for the Cabinet", and "It's on the Baltic necessity that we will carry these ships through in the Cabinet." Courageous missed that mark by over three feet. Courageous meets all of his design parameters, except draft. If draft was the key consideration, for the Baltic op, and the ship missed that parameter by over 3 feet, why was Courageous built? I'm thinking Courageous was built only because they would not let him build a third Renown. The Baltic op story was used to con the Cabinet, and was never his actual intention.
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@marktuffield6519 Thanks for the tip. I reviewed that video. As noted previously, my reading on the X-Lighters is completely at odds with what the speaker states. They were not laying around in British ports, waiting for the Baltic op, as the speaker claims. The speaker also does not disclose that Courageous, as built, missed that draft parameter by several feet, and was barely an improvement over Renown. He glosses over just how Fisher proposed to provoke the Germans into invading Denmark. And, if Germany did invade Denmark, would that allow enough time for the Danish/Swedish/British alliance the speaker claims? In 1940, it took Germany all of 6 hours to crush all resistance in Denmark. If the British tried to land on those two Danish islands that sit astride the straits, they would probably find them already occupied by the Germans. Looking at a map of that area, I see plenty of bays that the Germans could anchor old pre-dreadnoughts in, to create instant shore batteries. And that map that Fisher supposedly drew? Drawn in 1917, two years later. Was he trying to give the Baltic op the color of a serious plan, after the fact? Would not be the first time someone tried to rewrite history for personal benefit. All in all, I have trouble taking that speaker seriously. Here is something for your aviation enthusiast side. I presume you are aware of the Battle of the Coral Sea. I also presume you know of the Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber, and how they were slaughtered at Midway. You may know that Lexington was sunk at Coral Sea, and the wreck found in 2018. You may also be aware that a cluster of aircraft were found on the ocean bottom that had slid off the Lexington's deck as she sank. An expedition is scheduled to set sail in May, to attempt to recover some of those aircraft. At 11,000 feet, this is the deepest salvage ever attempted. Their targets are an F4F Wildcat that was flown by both Jimmy Thach and Butch O'Hare, and as many as all seven TBDs that are laying there. At present, there are no TBDs above water, anywhere in the world. Due to the cold, dark, oxygen starved, water, the planes are in good condition.
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