Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 283 (Part 1)" video.

  1. wrt the question about gas ejection systems in guns, the incident on Missouri that Drac mentioned produced several changes in USN turret design. At the time, the gunners were supposed to inspect the gun chamber for embers or flames, before ramming the next shot. Missouri was on a gunnery training exercise on April 13, 1904. After firing, the crew began ramming the next shot. When the first two bags were rammed, they immediately ignited. Inspection of the turret after the fire found the rammer still fully extended. Flames shooting out of the breech ignited the two bags still on the hoist, because the hoist was completely unprotected. Burning propellant fell from the hoist car in the turret down the barbette, igniting more charges in the handling room at the bottom of the barbette. Thirty six men died that day. The navy decreed that air injections systems be installed in the guns, and that hoists be completely enclosed in trunks with flash proof shutters.
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  2. wrt the question about the portability of floating drydocks, USS Dewey, YFD-1 was built in Maryland in 1905. In December, 05, her tow began, across the Atlantic, through the Med, through Suez and the Indian Ocean, arriving in the Philippines in July 1906. At the time, that was the longest tow every successfully completed.
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  3. wrt Japan signing Second London. First change is the gun size escalator would not be triggered, as the trigger was Japan not signing the treaty. Second change, if Japan built Yamato as anything remotely treaty complaint, 35-40,000 tons, western intelligence would never have caught on. Reportedly, it was the amount of material being ordered for Yamato that indicated it was well over treaty limits. The fact that Japan was building battleships in late 37 would not ring alarms, as the Kongos would start to age out in 40. If the displacement escalator is not triggered, the Iowas and Lions are never conceived. There was not much of Japan's 81,000 ton carrier allotment left after Kaga, given that Hōshō and Ryūjō were both under 10,000 tons. They probably could have built Sōryū, but there would not be enough tonnage left to build any of the other pre-war carriers, so the 23,000 ton limit does not come into play, as long as Japan holds to the treaty.
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