Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 266" video.

wrt the question about the Axis having adequate fuel supplies. The Vichy government was increasingly accommodating to the Axis. Luftwaffe aircraft were operating out of fields in Vichy held Syria. The Germans and Italians supported a coup in Iraq that put an Axis friendly regime in power. Oil was being produced at that time in Iraq. A 12" pipeline was operating, which ran between Kirkuk and Haifa. After the formation of Israel, part of that pipeline was repurposed for a new line to Baniyas, Syria. A rail line had been built by the Ottoman Empire from northern Iraq to the Med, but, after WWI, part of that rail line ventured into Turkey, which was neutral in WWII. In April 41, the Axis could have landed on friendly beaches in Syria, driven into friendly held oil fields in Iraq, and begun construction of rail and pipeline connections to bring the oil to friendly ports in the Med. The British invaded Iraq to reinstall a friendly regime in May 41, then invaded Vichy Syria in June 41, closing the window of opportunity the Axis had to secure a major oilfield. Can't help but wonder why Hitler decided invading Russia in June 41 was a better idea.
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When I visited the Constitution around 1970, there was a modern seat installed in one of the quarter galleries, with a pipe leading to the pier. Also in the 60s, I built a model kit of a topsail schooner that had what were effectively two outhouses in the aft corners of the main deck, which overhang the sides of the hull.
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@readingrailroadfan7683 fwiw, my take on making the three Alaskas useful, and save money at the same time: The DesMoines class cruisers were built as a platform for the autoloading 8" turrets, which were too big for the earlier classes of cruisers. The 12" turrets on the Alaskas were bigger than the autoloading 8", however. My take would be, instead of building three huge cruisers from the keel up, convert the already-built Alaskas to carry the autoloading 8". If the autoloader fails, the Alaskas could be converted back to their 12", or laid up.
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@ROBERTN-ut2il The Kongos were not really armored against 14", as they were battlecruisers. Wiki gives Kirishima's belt as 8-11" Washington opened up on Kirishima at 9,000 yards. At that range, Alaska's 12" could penetrate 18", and the 12" rate of fire was higher than the 16". On the other hand, the Alaskas were not as well protected against torpedoes as a battleship, so, if one or more had been in that battle, she could well have been sunk.
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