Comments by "Not shaped for sportive tricks" (@notshapedforsportivetricks2912) on "Drachinifel" channel.

  1. I don't think that the Beeb would appreciate either Drach's relaxed presentation style, nor his expressed political views. You might object "He hasn't expressed any obvious political views"; and I'd respond, "Exactly".
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  2. Apparently this wasn't accidental. The fench had a theory of what was called "fierce face" design, which as near as I can work out means that if you look angry, the enemy will be afraid to attack you. This apparently contrubuted to the inclusion of such features as exaggerated tumblehomes and semi pagoda masts. I don't think that the turk's artillery at Gallipoli were too impressed by this theory.
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  3. Fascinating. I have read contemporary accounts that dismissed Humphrey's ships as "a few fir-built frigates", which implies that fir was an inferior timber for ship building. Doubly puzzling as I understoid that the US frigates were mostly built from white oak. Possibly the fir was only used for key parts of the ship? Can anyone clarify this?
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  4.  @johnnash5118  Ahah! I thought that something like that might be the case. Thanks!
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  5. A few people here have commended Jeremy Clarkson's documentary "The Greatest Raid of All", opinions with which I concur. It's a fine, well-balanced film. By way of contrast, avoid the movie "Attack on the Iron Coast" like the plague. It's a fictionalised version of the raid and it's bloody awful.
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  6. A similar thing happened to the CGT liner Ile de France. The poor old thing was sunk in shallow water in the making of a hollywood pot-boiler called The Last Voyage. She was then raised and scrapped. A very undignified end.
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  7. Wow. Over 4,000 views and 50 comments within an hour of posting! In the non-YouTube world, that's called stalking.
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  8. " the ugliest ships in the US fleet" (pre-Zumwalt, obviously). Incidentally, how do we think the shade of Elmo feels about that particular honour? Obviously one likes to be remembered, but really ...
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  9. It probably kills the mood a bit, but in Oz, silverside is a type of corned beef, usually served with white sauce. Like I said, the knowledge rsther kills the mood. Imagine being one of the ships sunk by the USS Pastrami on Rye.
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  10. Wow! That frigate descaling its boilers at 41:53 must have had VERY tolerant neighbours. Especially on laundry day.
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  11. I had zamboni once. Not too bad if you smother it with grated parmesan cheese.
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  12. When you're just a little destroyer escort, I don't think that anyone can blame you for being a bit discombobulated after being hit by either of thise options.
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  13.  @Lowkeh  Nice catch, Loke. A BB indeed! Glad my handle amused you. The opening soliloquy of Richard III, my favourite Shakespeare history, is sadly all too apt in my case nowadays. 😭
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  14. And the Jeune École was actually jeune.
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  15. Jump starting an Iowa would be so Impressive; and much easier than trying to push start one of the buggers.
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  16.  @khaelamensha3624  To quote de Gaulle, how can you con a ship that has over 200 varieties of cheese behind armour?
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  17. The Volvos of the Sea.
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  18. Hi Drach. A couple of unrelated questions: 1- How did your splendid channel mascot manage to hang on to his splendid waxed moustaches given the RN's rather hostile attitude to such facial adornement? 2- How did various navies cope with the switch from imperial to metric measures, especially regarding construction and maintenance? Did they run twin systems or did everthing suddenly get labelled in fractions of a metre?
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  19. What a pity that the battleship HMS Camperdown wasn't fitted with a Lacoste ship brake ... though if she had one, I can imagine Tryon trying to do doughnuts in her. Purely in a spirit of tactical research, naturally.
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  20. Continuing the fine tradition of asking Drach "Why don't you cover <insert name of obscure vessel>", may I humbly propose HMAS Kinchela? This gallant tub was the slowest ship in the RAN in WWII. Such a slug in fact, that on her bows she did not display her name, but rather the hand-painted warning "DEAD SLOW". That's gotta be worth a Five Minute Guide.
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  21. The title "Battle for the Middle C" made me think of a disagreement during a piano duet.
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  22. The Royal Australian Navy has done the same. Sailors usually wear blue/grey disruptive pattern uniforms. These look pretty bloody silly when they also have high-vis reflective tape sewn onto the sleeves; even assuming an actual need for camoflaged uniform on board a ship. 😆
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  23. Very interesting. People nowadays often forget the long tranport and storage times that used to be involved in the movement of goods. I'm not surprised that this also applied to IPAs. Indeed, I would like to volunteer to do research on this topic. Actually, I have already started.
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  24. When considering the range of the G and N classes, you wouldn't have to change your bearings too much to bring Q turret in to play. Just chasing the fall of shot would probably be enough. And if your ship is damaged enough that you can't even maneuvre to that extent, it probably doesn't matter on what bearing your opponent is on.
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  25. Having your bow fall off tends to make most jobs easier. 😉
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  26. Don't be silly. It would be too long to fiy into any existing dock. No, a double-decker battleship would be much more practical. Smoking upstairs only, of course.
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  27. Interesting, but insufficiently hotel-like.
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  28.  @sw96  Heroines, surely.
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  29. If somewhat feebly.
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  30.  @dingdong2103  Some kind of did. I believe that the Cerberus and the other RN breastwork monitors could take on ballast so that their actual hulls were submerged and only the breastworks and the turrets were above water; making themselves even smaller targets.
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  31. A trip to the moon, On gossamer wings ...
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  32.  @sharlin648  I HAVE to read that. Thanks very much for the links. 👍
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  33. I suspect that he had just spotted his mother ashore and was waving to get her attention. "Hey Mum! Mum! Over here. Look at me, Mum. Hey Mum! Mum!" Or words to that effect.
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  34. The difference with which the japanese and the chinese regarded foreign experts is interesting. The japanese seemed to hire them, extract as much i formation from them as possible and then show them the door with a cheerful "We can take it from here". The chinese, by contrast, seemed to hire foreigners and then ignore them. They usually kept them on the payroll, but also actively isolated them, as it thus was a good way to avoid criticism. This wasn't just an habit of the decrepit Manchus either. It really continued until 1949.
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  35. Quite possibly. In the late 1960s, a norweigan explorer named Thor Heyerdahl tried to cross the Atlantic fron North Africa to South America in a reproduction of an egyptian papyrus boat named Ra. His theory was that ancient egyptians could have colonised america. Unfortunately, after they finished building the boat, they removed the rope used to put the curl in the boat's tail, presuming that it was now redundant. It wasn't. Half way across the Atlantic, Ra's stern began to sag and act like a brake until she began to disintegrate. A couple of years later, Heyerdahl tried again on Ra II, this time leaving the critical stern rope in place. He made it across that time.
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  36. Given the current state of the Exchequer, and their current states, I reckon that a five figure offer on a Queen Elizabeth would receive active consideration. It might take a while for the JCB to dig the hole in the river bank mind; though you could afford to receive the local council's orders to remove it with a degree of sang froid.
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  37. It also features on packets of Players Navy Cut cigarettes. (assuming that you can still but 'em).
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  38. That was HMS Rodney.
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  39. I visited her back in '94 and was really impressed by the quality of the preservation work, especially the public audio of the Battle of North Cape. I think that her set-back funnels make her much prettier than her sisters. She looks particularly good in stern three-quarter view; rather like Brigette Bardot. Very coquetteish.
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  40. If you going to San Fracisco Drach, Be sure to wear a flower in your hair; But don't wear your good shoes. 💩
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  41. OK, I'm intrigued. What on earth is a "reservist monk"? Is it a monk that does some basic military training on the weekend, a monk that can take over from a regular monk if one collects a censer to the temple, or just a particularly militant order of which I was previously unaware?
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  42.  @vespelian  Yep. I think "insane" neatly sums it up. Thanks.
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  43.  @AdamMGTF  I have a sneaking suspicion that Drach rather enjoyed Douglas Adams' books when he was a youngster.
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  44. Unless they were crewed by curling fanatics. Can you imagine the scenes? Von Scheer: Mein Gott, Franz! Zose vitches are boarding us mit brooms.
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  45. It was the Trent.
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  46. And if it was a 15" broadside from HMS Warspite ... 😁😁😁😁😁👍👍👍👍👍
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  47.  @Colt45hatchback  No, she passed her sea trials easilly. I was rather referring to what happened on her maiden voyage.
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  48.  @scottmason2557  They had two light escort craft, the Sirius and the Supply, though oddly both had all of their guns (bar a couple of small signal guns) stowed down in their holds to increase their carrying capacity.
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  49. Court date. Charged with making inappropriate advances to HMS Caroline.
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  50. I dont't care how outnumbered you were nor how gallantly you fought; there's something rather sad about being duffed up by a ship named Cherub.
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