Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 256" video.

  1.  @hughgordon6435  To a degree, ship types could be recognized by their rig. A two masted ship would be a brig or snow, so probably relatively small. A two masted ship with a gaff rigged mainmast was a brigantine, probably civilian. A three masted ship with gaff rigged mizzen, was a barque, with gaff rigged mizzen and main, a barquentine, most likely civilian. All masts gaff rigged, a schooner, most likely civilian. Three square rigged masts, with nothing for size comparison, could be a ship of the line, frigate, sloop of war/corvette, or a civilian ship.
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  2.  @greenbean7853  convince the USN to stay with 14" at which point in time? There was a titanic debate, 14" vs 16", in 1916. Adm Strauss, head of BuOrd at the time, favored the 14", as more could be carried, and more guns equals more hits. The same thinking dominated at the Admiralty in the mid 30s, driving the reversion to 14" in the KGVs, before Second London mandated that change for everyone. The case for 14" always hung on the range that engagements were likely to be fought at. Adm Strauss insisted that engagements would never be fought at more than 12,000 yards. In the late 30s, Admiralty fighting instructions said to close, as rapidly as possible, to 16,000 yards, or less, before fully engaging. At those ranges, a 14" could penetrate well enough. What convinced the US SecNav and the General Board to override Adm Strauss' recommendation was Jutland, as ships successfully engaged at greater ranges, where a 14" might not penetrate, but a 16" would. The SecNav and General Board decided to go with 16" for the Colorado class in the summer of 1916, after analyzing Jutland. In his annual report that year, SecNav Daniels said the decision was made "over the objections of some officers". Strauss requested to be relieved at BuOrd and given sea duty. So, for the USN to stay with 14" would require every attempt to engage at greater ranges to fail miserably, which would validate Strauss' position, and the late 30s Admiralty fighting instructions.
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  3.  @vikkimcdonough6153  pushing muzzle velocity higher has it's costs, primarily bore wear. Design faces more issues as velocity is increased too. I have read that the RN tried 50 caliber guns, and they always proved unsatisfactory, though my readings did not say exactly why. The Germans seemed to have more success with 50 caliber guns, but post-war analysis showed the German guns to be made of considerably higher quality (and higher cost) steel, than British guns. The USN 14"/50 suffered very high dispersion when first introduced delivering 12 gun patterns at longer ranges of 1,200 to 3,200 yards. It was not until after 20 years of tweaking the guns, that the pattern size was reduced to 700 yards. At Surigao Strait, Tennessee and California reported patterns of 300-400 yards, at 20,000 yards. Additionally, the longer the barrel, the more it will tend to droop. The Navy Indian Head proving grounds were far too small to fire a 14"/50 with a full charge, so, even if the gun had been subjected to a test program prior to being put into production, the dispersion problem might not have been revealed. Dahlgren was big enough to allow full charge test firings, but it did not open until late 1918, long after the 14"/50s had been built, then superseded by the 16/45.
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  4.  @marckyle5895  the starboard side island was not universal at first. Pilots tended to turn left after an aborted approach. Most aircraft engines rotate clockwise, when viewed from the rear of the airplane. With the prop spinning clockwise, engine torque will tend to bank the airplane counterclockwise, making a left turn easier.
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  5.  @WALTERBROADDUS  I don't know what uniform policy was in the RN. In the USN, blue wool is worn in the winter, and white cotton in the summer. Apparently there are regional variations when the spring and fall shifts occur, and some bases in hot climates wear whites all the time. I am at a loss to explain men, even if from different ships, wearing blues and whites, in the same location, at the same time.
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  6.  @seanmalloy7249  yes, naval guns have a purge system. The USN started thinking about safety after a particularly lurid incident in the early 1900s. The drill up to that time was for the loaders to look inside the bore for flames or burning embers, before ramming the next round. One battleship was on a firing exercise when the loaders apparently missed something in the bore from the previous round. The moment the first two bags were rammed, they ignited, sending flames shooting out of the open breech. The USN had not twigged at all about flash tightness, so the flames from the breech ignited the other two bags sitting on the open hoist. Burning bits from the bags on the hoist fell down the barbette and ignited more charges at the bottom, that had been staged for loading onto the hoist. By some miracle, the fire did not spread to the magazine. Over 30 men died that day. The navy started retrofitting a compressed air purge system to the guns, and fitting trunks and flash doors around the hoists.
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