Comments by "Ben Wilson" (@benwilson6145) on "Drachinifel" channel.

  1. The Navy missed an opportunity there, should have pointed at the House of Commons, we need to discuss this years funding.
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  2. Let us not forget the British Merchant Navy men and women, for 6 years they were at war , they were exposed to enemy attack 24 hours a day for all the time except for a few days a month in a foreign port. Every night they could be torpedoed without warning. When the ship is sunk they are off wages, dead or alive. The casualty rate was over 27%, a higher loss than the Army, Royal Navy or Royal Air force.
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  3. Spirited away?
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  4. Having worked with many of the 2W Dive Team and met several of the divers involved I feel confident at least some of the missing bars were recovered.
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  5.  @hazchemel  Karl Doenitz reported it. "On the other hand, the destroyers' survivors formed a welcome reinforcement to the land forces, and, according to Colonel-General Dietl, the holding of the Narvik area for so long a time thereafter would have been impossible without them."
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  6. From the Official ONI Report. Demoralization of the Bismarck's crew was now apparent. One officer is said to have drawn his revolver and shot several seamen who refused to obey him. Officers were reported to have committed suicide, and scores of the crew jumped overboard before the action ceased. Almost all of the 400 anti-aircraft gunners, for whom no special protection had been provided during surface action, became casualties. The upper deck was being pounded into a mass of twisted steel. Hatches and doors were jammed in all parts of the ship. Crews in two magazines were drowned when it became necessary to flood the chambers because of fire. A direct hit crashed into a forward compartment where 200 men were trapped under jammed hatches. Fires on the gun deck cut off the forward half of the ship. The air was dense with smoke, fumes and the gases generated by the bursting shells. Paint was burning off the bulkheads and many men without gas masks were suffocated. By 1000 all the Bismarck's 15-inch guns were out of action, and fire from the secondary battery was spasmodic. The Rodney, King George V, and the Norfolk, which had joined the action after spotting from the flanks, fired their last salvos front a range of only 8,300 yards. At 1010, out of the Bismarck's entire armament, only one anti-aircraft gun remained workable, The ship was a wreck, on fire fore and aft, and wallowing heavily. The British commander in chief broke off the gun action at 1022. The cruiser Dorsetshire then fired three torpedoes into the Bismarck, and she sank at 1037.
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  7. German's persisting with sliding breech blocks on warships was a Krupp practice, not a corrupt practice.
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  8. Strange in the subject of Italian Intelligence there was no mention the Italians stole the US Black Code from the US Embassy in Rome in September 1941. They then gave Major Fellers reports to the Germans. This was a major coup for the Italians.
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  9. Never seen a man so appropriately named. Admiral Sturdy (Sturdee) looks like he would stand facing a Force 12 without moving an inch. A proper seadog, not a womanising toff like Beatty.
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  10. Slow fragile biplanes are not dangerous, now write this 100 times Bismark.
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  11. German eyewitness accounts of the Normandy Beach bombardments are very graphic, the next strong point to them "disappearing" was a hit on morale. Accounts of dazed and confused troops are many, it was not just the big guns that were the target. The guns were also used to attack behind the beach on artillery and tanks.
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  12. A Royal Canadian Navy Captain said" The Clemson Class were the most dubious present since the Wooden Horse of Troy.
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  13.  @SgtSteel1  The last aircraft they made was the Vickers Vanguard
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  14. Captain Frederick Marryat' who served as a midshipman with Admiral Lord Cochrane. He created a publication "A Code of Signals for the Merchant Service" published in 1817. The first International general system of Signalling. The British Board of Trade first issued the "International Code of Signals" in 1857. One of the beauty of the signal is that the Flag or later Morse could allow signalling between people who did not require to understand the others language and still get the meaning.
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  15. Good for the 21 gun salute, two salutes in two minutes!
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  16. I recommend googling "The front fell off" its hilarious.
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  17. Ernest Cox salvaging the scuttled German High seas Fleet in the 1930's is in a very interesting book, "The man who bought a Navy"
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  18. The need to correct the Magnetic Compass predates Iron or Steel Ships. Captain Flinders wrote a treatise on the subject and a bar of mild steel was place ahead of the Compass Binnacle known as the Flinders Bar. this was to compensate for any iron fittings including cannons fitted in the ship. With the introduction of Iron and then Steel ships more compensation was need to mainly compensate for the magnetism built into the ship during construction. The great inventor Lord Kelvin used two soft iron spheres at each side of the compass, generally known as Lord Kelvins Ball's with additional hard magnets within the Compass Binnacle. The ship when new at at regular intervals requires to be swung and the magnetic's adjusted.
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  19. Crew join a blockade runner to sail to France. All killed when ship gets sunk by U 43
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  20. There are many ship collisions every year, and almost all will involve one ships bow hitting another ship. Merchant ships are designed to survive this as they are fitted with a collision bulkhead. Waves can damage a bow its a lot rarer, for a bit of interest google "the front fell off".
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  21. Tiddles on HMS Argus must be photographed close to the bow. The Collision Regulations require that the Ships bell be placed in the fore part of the vessel. It is part of the regulations that on arrival in port a Derat certificate must be produced and a question answered if there is any evidence of rodent activity. The most famous of ships cats in the Royal Navy was surely "Trim" Mathew Flinders cat, sadly lost on Mauritius.
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  22. 200 years old and all original, not one that has had every plank replaced. You can see where the original fitting was done with original timbers. Maybe Drach has got over his original plan to modernise her, Trincomalee has all that done 20 years ago.
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  23. The German Merchant Raiders also had to beware of U Boats as they tried to return home, two Kriegsmarine vessels the Doggerbank, and the Spreewald were sunk by U Boats.
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  24. HMS Edinburgh is further north
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  25. From the ONI Report. One torpedo struck amidships on the port side, one on the starboard quarter, and possibly a third on the port quarter; The torpedo which hit the starboard quarter wrecked the steering gear, jamming the rudders and causing the Bismarck to turn slowly in circles to the starboard. Frantic efforts were made to repair the damage: It was announced that the man who succeeded in freeing the rudders would be given the Knight Insignia of the Iron Cross. Divers succeeded in centering one rudder, but the other could not be freed, Efforts were made to steer the ship by her engines, but after a short period, instead of proceeding on her intended southeasterly course, the Bismarck was actually northwest of her position when the attack was made. There appears to have been further controversy among the officers. The captain, when asked by an officer whether he should try to blow off the jammed rudder, is reported to have replied, "Do what you like; I am through with it." The ship's best speed was now reduced to 10 to 12 knots.
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  26. HMS Trincomalee is a surviving British frigates of 1817, Trincomalee was built in Bombay, India, in teak, due to oak shortages in Britain, can be visited in Hartlepool.
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  27. The Nuclear test in Australia was Operation Hurricane, carried out near to the Monte Bello Islands in Western Australia
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  28. Probably not wise to put torpedos on the Flower Class. Lack of potential Targets. The sea would destroy them in the Winter gales. I suspect the Italian vessels would nor fare well in a winter storm in the North Atlantic.
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  29. A mention should be on Lieutenant Mills men damaging the ARA Guerrico using an anti tank missile in South Georgia.
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  30. MV Koolama was built by Harland and Wolf in Glasgow. It was ordered by State Ships of Western Australia. It carried all types of cargo and passengers to/from Fremantle all along the coast of Western Australia as far as Wyndam to the north. She was attacked off the the North Coast of Western Australia by Japanese aircraft. The Master beached the the vessel. The vessel was pumped dry and repaired by the crew and sailed to Wyndam and discharged the cargo. The Koolama was attacked by Japanese aircraft but not damaged, however the crew left the ship. The pumps were now clogged and the vessel and sank at the berth as a result of the initial damage. The Koolama was dragged from the berth but the wreck remain visible under the water to this day. There is a fascinating documentary from 2003 titled Malice or Mutiny. The Koolama Incident.
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  31. Cats, think you have the wrong end of the problem. Cats contract various disease's, if you have ever moved from one country to another, you need to quarantine your cats. Imagine the shock /horror if a cat on a Royal Navy ship bring a virulent cat disease to say Portsmouth from Africa/Asia/Wherever, or the other way around. A large number of very angry cat owners is not an enemy you want to have, plus a PR disaster.
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  32. There was a Chinese Steward who survived for 133 days in a raft in WW2
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  33. Its not a simple answer, if it was it wouldn't have been built. The reduced water plane are reduces the vessel Stability. The reduction in the amount of steel reduces the weight of steel at deck level and just below deck level increasing stability. The reduction in weight makes the vessel freeboard higher increasing stability
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  34. Named after Admiral Lord Cochrane
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  35. HMCS Stormont was converted into a yacht by Onassis renamed Christina O,still around, the bar stools are made from the foreskins of whales.
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  36. Ernest Cox, the man who bought a Navy, great engineer
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  37.  @gunner678  The Germans violated Norwegian neutrality by taking the Altmark into Norwegian waters with Allied Prisoners of War onboard. The The Norwegians failed to uphold there Neutrality by searching the Altmark. The final act of the British boarding the Altmark was a result of the failures of the Germans and Norwegians. I would say that the effect of this in causing the Germans to Invade the Neutral countries of Holland, Denmark and Norway without a declaration of war is zero. The plans were already made.
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  38. The ships sailing on the Great Lakes "Lakers" are built to lesser scantlines than "Ocean Going " vessels. This due to the fact that the waves in the Great Lakes are lesser than what an oceangoing vessel will meet.
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  39. I have a short history of the Kriegsmarine written by an ex Kriegsmarine Officer just after the war. There is a three remarkable photographs, one of the Glowworm firing torpedoes after the loss of her bow. The The second is the Glowworm upside down with crew on the hull, this taken through the gunsight on the Hipper. The third is the crew of the Glowworm climbing up a ladder on to the Hipper, the thick oil on the surface can be seen making it look like a swamp.
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  40. bit like the Vickers Aircraft Company
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  41. I find it highly unlikely that anyone would throw coins at the returning Grand Fleet from the Forth Bridge because the only bridge at the time was the Rail Bridge with no pedestrian access, the road bridge with pedestrian access was not opened until the mid 60's. There was for a long time a belief that is was lucky to throw a coin into the Forth as you passed over it in a train for the first time. This lead to people on ships passing under the rail bridge staying inside as you passed underneath the bridge.
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  42. you need to go to the History Channel
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  43. Been behind trucks equipped like that
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  44. HIJMS Ibuki escorted the ANZAC Troop convoy from Albany across the Indian Ocean in November 1914.
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  45. The crew of the Graph Spee were taken back to Germany in 1946 by the British ship Highland Monarch, they were escorted by HMNZS Achilles.
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  46. Anemometer
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  47. HMS Unicorn 1825 had been renamed HMS Cressy to free up the name for an aircraft carrier. It was as HMS Cressy she received the surrender of U 2326.
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  48.  @franksposato6072  HMAS Canberra was sunk by the USS Bagley
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  49. From a quick look at the specs of wartime British and Norwegian Tankers the speeds are mostly in the 10 to 12 knot rang with a rare 15 knot speed/ The Altmark and her sisters as Kriegsmarine built supply vessels are quoted at 21 knots
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  50. The bow of the Hawke struck the stern of the Olympic that means the stern of the Hawke and therefore the rudders were about 350 ft clear of the Olympic and not subject to interference between the two vessels.
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  51. On cargo packing. Pallets did not appear until the 1960s. On stealing cargo the culprits were the dockers/longshore men, a regular Ali Baba and the forty thieves all over the world. Ships crew had no access to the cargo holds at sea, the hatches were closed and trunk ways battened down. Crew did not access the holds except for exceptional circumstance, e.g. lashing cargo after a storm. If they crew stole cargo they would be sacked!
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  52. Nautical Mile, Call the world a circle, measure 90 degrees from Equator to Pole, in each degree there is 60 minutes, which is a nautical mile, total 5400 nautical miles,.The Metre, is similar , except its radians, 100 degrees from Equator to pole. Each Radian then divided into 100 parts which is a metre. One Metre cubed of fresh water is 1 Tonne.
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  53. Therefore Star Trek existence is due to the Admiral Lord Cochrane!
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  54. The Carpenter “Chippie” had a number of roles in the British Merchant Navy. One duty was daily to sound with a sounding line/tape all tanks and void spaces in the ship and record the results in a log book. All tanks and void spaces would have a sounding pipe leading from usually the main deck into the space requiring sounding. The sounding pipe was usually in the aft end of the bilge in the space. In event of a collision or allision the Chippie would go to the space where damage was most likely and start sounding the spaces to see if any water had entered. This would then give the Deck Officer and Captain knowledge of where the damage is, what was flooding and what was still “sound”. The spaces would then be pumped and the water levels checked.
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  55. Captain Winkle Brown landed a Mosquito on and took of several times in 1944 from HMS Indefatigable
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  56. The Luftwaffe carried out many raids on Lighthouses and Lightships around Britain in WW2. This lead to the deaths of many men, women and children as the light house keepers families lived in the grounds of the lighthouse. There is a Trinity House Memorial to the dead in a square in London.
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  57. The first purpose built Artic Exploration vessel to my knowledge was the Fram built for Nansen in 1893 in Larvik.
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  58. You should read "Bowman, Gerald (1964). The Man Who Bought a Navy: The Story of the World's Greatest Salvage Achievement at Scapa Flow."
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  59. A man who enjoyed fighting at night (and by day) was Admiral Lord Cochrane who engaged in cutting ships out to great success especially in Spain and Chile. He also undertook a very successful fire ship attack at Basque roads.
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  60. They had a great view of the battle?? Seasoned observers?
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  61. Yes
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  62. The Steiermark was not designed to carry cargos in bulk. The Steiermark was designed as a Cargo Liner for Hamburg America Line with a service speed of 18 knots. The crew of a Cargo liner would have been closer to 50 men.
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  63. William Dampier had an energetic Carpenter who managed to sink HMS Roebuck, on his own to the great distress of everyone onboard.
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  64. The small fuel lighter mentioned at 36 min was in fact the MV Ondina a Royal Dutch Tanker of 9070 Tonne. The ship had been damaged in an action with two Japanese Merchant Cruisers the Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru. The MV Ondina with assistance from the HMIS Bengal had sunk the Hokoku Maru was hit by a 4 inch shell from the MV Ondina causing the Long Lance Torpedo's to explode and eventually sink the ship. The Aikoku Maru shelled the MV Ondina causing fires to break out, The crew abandoned the tanker in lifeboats and were machine gunned by the Japanese. The HMIS Bengal having used all its shells sailed off. Aikoku Maru rescued the crew from the sunk sister Hokoku Maru and also sailed away. The survivors from the MV Ondina reboarded the tanker, put out the fires and sailed to Fremantle. The damaged MV Ondina could not be repaired but was used by Operation Potshot at Exmouth as a fuel depot for the submarines.
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  65. For the last century plus most anchors are stowed either totally within or partially within the Hawse pipe. The Hawse pipe often had nozzles within it or just outside where water could be sprayed on to the Chain to clean it. With a clay bottom the chain can emerge looking like a tube and the anchor as a solid looking block. The clay must be washed off as if it goes into the chain lockers it can block the suction. The clay would laugh at buckets of water.
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  66. I would estimate that more than 80% of the worlds merchant ships have been renamed and many have been renamed many many times. Those that haven't been renamed are new. Professional seafarers have no concerns about changing a ships name, maybe YouTubers do?
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  67. The whole "controversy" about the flag flying on the Kormoran is that there is no controversy. All witnesses state that the Kormoran had hoisted the German Flag. The only people who argue are conspiracy theory nuts, they were not there. The ability of a ship to hoist a wrapped flag and break it out takes 2 seconds, an irrelevant time period.
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  68. Thank you, I agree with you.
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  69. Yes in Tianjin
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  70.  @christopher5723  Belgrano's water tight doors had been painted so often that they could not close. The Argentinian Navy's Mechanics School was used to torture opponents to the regime not train mechanics.
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  71. There was several explosions on diesel powered Greek Flag tankers in the 70's/80's when they piped light crude from the cargo into the engine room and burned in the main engines.
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  72. Evans was an interesting man , knew about his Antarctic adventures but not this,
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  73.  @ThroneOfBhaal  She went aground on her way, and was scrapped where she grounded.
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  74. Many, many very large container ships were rengined from Steam Turbine and also Gas turbine to Diesel in the late 70's and 80's, This was done by cutting a very large hole in the ships side.
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  75. Its called the North Atlantic, poor ship design, the opposition did not suffer weather damage.
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  76. Winston Churchill "We said the Greeks fought as Hero's. Now we need to say Hero's fought like Greeks"
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  77. The Battle of Basque Roads is a naval action where the very best of the Royal Navy is shown in Cochrane's actions and the worst in Admiral Gambiers and later the Admiralty's actions.
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  78. Victoria has had both Labour and Liberal govements in the last 100 years , none have saved her, So stop political point scoring and bitching get out and start Save Cerberus campaign.
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  79. If you ever want to see a photo of a warship in a drydock that will have you scratching your head, it is so a ship upside down in the dock, resting on its superstructure and funnels. There are some around of ships of the Grand Fleet in a drydock in Rosyth in the 1930's.
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  80. The anchors on Apostle Paul's ship were released, that means the anchors were on the seabed and the ropes were floating on the surface, That would mean that they could easily be recovered, and as a valuable item would have been recovered.If the anchors had been lost with little or no line on them they might be there. The seabed around Malta is fairly clears, the water warm. recovery would have been possible even with lost anchors.
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  81. Would love for some one to calculate the distances steamed by the British Warships against the distances steamed by US Navy Warships. I feel that if this was published no one could ask the question about maintenance. Two and a half years on your own fighting the Nazi"s and the Italians plus the "French" was a big ask.
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  82. There has been several Passenger Vessels named Wappen Von Hamburg. An ex WAPPEN VON HAMBURG is undergoing restoration as the MV Aurora in Stockton California.
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  83. The drydock in which the hulls of the Bismarck and Tirpitz were built is still in operation in Blohm and Voss in Hamburg. It was specially built for this task. The only docks these ships could use in Occupied Europe was this and one at St Nazaire, the Normandy Dock. This was effectively put out of action by the St Nazaire Raid.
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  84. You like submarines
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  85. I suspect that the reason many men, not just the Navy stayed in an occupied country was "Family". If you leave for any reason, your family is in enemy hands, when will you see them again, if ever.
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  86. The other Submarine base in Western Australia during WW2 was in Exmouth Gulf and went under the name Operation Potshot. One of the tankers used was the damaged Dutch tanker MV Ondina. The Battle between the Ondina and HMIS Bengal and two Japanese Cruisers in a great piece of history.
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  87. For an excellent book on the finding of the Sydney try "The Search for the Sydney" by David Mearns. David has located dozens of ships including re-finding the Bismark and finding the Hood, Musashi, Derbyshire, Centaur and Rio Grande.
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  88. Maybe need to ask Captain Collins of HMS Sydney about that.
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  89. HMS Havoc was attacked off Spain in 1937 by an Italian submarine.
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  90. The Centaur was a Blue Funnel passenger ship converted to a Hospital ship. The wreck was located in December 2009 by David Mearns who also located the wrecks of the HMS Hood, HMAS Sydney, Musashi, Derbyshire and many more. The Centaur had in 1941 been the first vessel to pick up survivors from the Kormorant.
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  91. Strange , a vast quantity of land was appropriated by the USA. The Philippines remain a Roman Catholic country to this day. I suggest you read the The General's General: The Life And Times Of Arthur Macarthur
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  92.  @johannderjager4146  I agree with you, I am not a fan of the Catholic church, just historical accuracy
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  93. The sinking of Raider 16 (Atlantis) by HMS Devonshire was a good example of a prudent engagement of a Raider.
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  94. U 162 sank the Sailing vessel Florence M. Douglas a magnificent vessel of 119 tons off British Guiana in 1942. They did however save a small black pig they named Douglas and keep it as a pet.
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  95. The Ionosphere is the most important factor in radio propagation. The radio waves bounce off the ionosphere and may or may not be received. The location of the ship relative to that of the shore station therefore is important as is the wave length used. The Ionosphere limits move during the day/night effect. The Radio Operators often had to use night time to both send and receive messages.
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  96. A bit of cheek calling them the Narvik Class, in memory to the predecessors now residing at the bottom of Narvik Fjord.
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  97. The majority of the High Seas Fleet (the shallower ones) were salvage in the 1930's by a brilliant engineer, Ernest Cox. there is an interesting book about it by Gerald Bowman "The Man who bought a Navy". Very interesting book, my favorite picture is a German destroyer in a drydock sitting on its funnel/accommodation.
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  98. I agree with you, I cannot see any movable steel structures holding up against the sea. The only way to "protect" equipment is to give the ships a raised bow structure and increased freeboard. Then slow down in bad weather.
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  99.  @hajoos.8360  Relevance to the Atlantic Slave Trade?
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  100. U556 left the scene on midday on the 10th relived by U 74.
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  101. An interesting use of civilian ships was the use of Norwegian owned and operated fishing vessels on the Shetland Bus. This was the transport of refugees and volunteers from Norway to Shetland and the transport of weapons and saboteurs from Shetland to Norway.
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  102. In 1942 SOE and the Royal Navy boarded and cut out the Italian merchant vessel Duchessa d'Aosta and the German tug Likomba while they were at anchor at the Neutral island of Fernando Po. They then towed them to Nigeria.
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  103. The use of the masts on a ship to give an rough heading for the ship is entirely possible. The masts on a ship are placed to provide locations for the Mast Lights. The location of the Mast Lights are determined by the International Collision Regulations, this allows the OOW to determine the heading of any ship.
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  104.  @richardcutts196  There was a rumor that a Russian had bought a small passenger vessel and used to cruise off Somalia, The passengers (Russian) were then given a choice of weapons to use for defense. There was an interesting Documentary filmed on a Danish warship providing protection for the merchant ships off Somalia. They got an SOS from a Dutch ship being attacked. When the helicopter got near to the ship they saw a small boat on fire, they later found the Dutch ship had thrown Molotov cocktails on to the attacking boat.
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  105. The other use for raising a sunken target is to advance your knowledge of salvage, in a very practical hands on manner.
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  106. A conundrum? The Italian Navy maintained control over the Mediterranean and ensured the supply convoys went successfully to Libya. Rommel, where is my supplies?
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  107. Operation Sea Lion. Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, Kriegsmarine To produce new landing craft in great numbers and in time was, from the point of view of material and construction, no longer possible even though at this time the naval ferry barge (M. F. F.) had been designed and completed. It was, therefore, necessary to fall back in the greatest possible measure on available tugs, as well as barges of the coastal and inland water transport their very limited seaworthiness (up to sea 3); and, as most of them were not self-propelled, they required towing. Investigations were made into landing conditions on the south coast of England and current and weather conditions in the Channel.
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  108. Couple of points of interest you missed. Cheynes whaling Station with a preserved whale catcher. If you had listened to the Doctor, gone to Gallafrey to photograph the Daleks and get a couple of bottles of very nice wine.
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  109. Cochrane looked after all his crew, this caused him criticism from the Navy.
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  110.  @Mercmad  Except of course the Liberals have been in power 21 out of the last 25 years, so better blame them. When Labour was in power a Collins Class Submarine was named after him. The only ex RAN Officer in Politics is Mark McGowan Premier of WA. So please keep politics out of the memory of brave men.
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  111. I cant see why its consider acceptable to respect Naval vessels and allow Merchant vessels lost in war to be torn apart.
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  112. Geography is not your strong point!
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  113. There seems to be much confusion about the Deutschland Class fuel. There were many Diesel powered cargo vessels starting in the 1920', these traded world wide with a problem. The main advantage of using diesel engines was the fuel consumption, much lower so the diesel onboard will give a better range/duration. The Kriegsmarine had I think six purpose build supply ships which were designated to resupply the Deutschlands, Submarines and Merchant raiders. The Altmark had loaded a full cargo of Light Texas crude which it supplied to the Graf Spee. The Graf Spee then distilled the crude basically getting rid of the lighter parts and enclosed gas. The fact that the Graf Spee seems only to distil enough to fill the day tanks seems like very poor planning. I have doubts that the bunkers on Steam Ships could be used, its very thick heavy fuel that has to be heated before it can be used.
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  114. No port facilities, no flat land, no population, every item would have to be brought there. They also did not use Lewis and Harris. They did use Shetland for land based and seaplanes.
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  115. In the wintertime the U Boats will be protected by the weather, large seas. I am sure that statistics will prove that the U boats carried out fewer attacks and therefore less attacks on them.
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  116. Quote from an aide to Rommel. The Generalfeldmarschall had no illusions about the Luftwaffe; he knew perfectly well how weak it was. He therefore desired a maximum concentration of its efforts on the Allied ports of embarkation and assembly areas. However, he could express his wishes only, not give orders. I remember that he opposed making an air attack on Bristol because that city was situated outside the immediate concentration area of the invasion forces. Several times he requested the use of V-1’s against targets in embarkation and assembly areas. This request was refused each time, even though several of the V-1 installations were prepared for action. The reason given was that there were not yet enough V-1’s stored to sustain the initial volume of fire for a long period.
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  117. Cod agrees
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  118. He was awarded the Companion of the Order of Bath and was ADC to King George VI so still honoured
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  119.  @hajoos.8360  Please read the comment, I said nothing. I quoted Winston Churchill.
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  120.  @Notthetimeforit  The problem is that when this was filmed it was clearly a comic sketch, however now politicians will actually say things as stupid.
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  121.  @alexsis1778  I have no idea of what your point is! Its totally irrelevant to my comment. Chinese laundry men do not keep a lookout on any ship except maybe in your navy.
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  122. About two thirds of the containers are already in the hull. So you will lose one third of the containers. It would be fun to see a 400 metre container ship under sail.
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  123. The patron Saint of Russia is St Andrew, he was crucified on an X shaped cross hence the similarity of the X with the Scots Flag in the Union Flag alos for St Andrew.
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  124. The Philippines were already in a state of revolt. When the US Army landed the Spanish came to them a did a deal, the agreement was that the two forces would pretend to fight for several days, then the Spanish would surrender to the US Forces, and be sent to Spain. The Spanish were fearful of the Filipinos and though they would be killed. The Filipinos were also a bid confused as they thought the US was assisting them in overthrowing the Spanish, and instead found them to be a invading army.
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  125. King and MacArthur. Ego?
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  126. There is a huge amount of oil bubbling into the ocean off Trinidad even today, Trinidad has beautiful clean beaches.
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  127. There is an interesting video about HMIS Bengal, taking on two Japanese Merchant Cruiser along with a Royal Dutch Shell tanker.
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  128. San Demetrio had an interesting voyage immediately pre war. Rotterdam 6/8, Pernis 11/8. Brunsbuttel12/8. Hammershus 13/8. Helsinki 17/8. Tallinn 18/8. Riga.18.8. Tallinn 21//8. Riga 23/8.Falmouth 28/8. Tampico 17/9
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  129. Necessity is all that's required, the Soviets had no other answer.
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  130. Two Hunt Class destroyers HMS Bichester and HMS Zetland were attacked by a squadron of US operated Spitfires off Tunisia 9th May1943 during Operation Retribution.
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  131. The submarine was raised by a Treasure hunter, not a museum. The San Francisco Maritime Museum carried out a act of vandalism took the 4 masted barque Fennia from Port Stanley in the mid 70's "to save her". They hired a tug from Uruguay and the ship was towed to Montevideo for repair. The museum did not pay for the tow, the Fennia was sold at auction and scrapped in Montevideo.
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  132. The Royal Navy carried out amphibious operations throughout its entire existence. The started practising landing in the modern sense using troops and tanks in the mid 1920's in Ceylon away from prying eyes. they developed all the landing vessels and were building them in the mid 1930s.
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  133. The best most effective anchors are made from welded plate.
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  134. Not approriate to call them Gentleman Raiders when among their activities is machine gunning men in lifeboats.The capture of merchant seaman and passengers including women and children and handing them to the tender mercies of the Japanese.
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  135. The Graf Zeppelin had both propellers and Voith Propulsion. There are some large offshore vessels equipped with Voith, Edda seem to like them.
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  136. HMS Ajax did not bring the survivors of the the Graph Spee back to Germany, the Highland Monarch did. Departed Montevideo 16 Feb 1946, to Freetown, Lisbon, Bilbao and to Hamburg arriving 4 March 1946. She was escorted by HMS Ajax, she also brought the crew of the Tacoma which had been confiscated by the Uruguay Government on which some of the Graph Spee crew tried to escape on.. I image there was quite a party on the Ajax in Montevideo.
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  137. The rudder was jammed, this would make the Bismarck sheer and not tow easily, the speed would have been no more than 5 knots, goodbye Price Eugen as well.
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  138.  @timengineman2nd714  I am left wondering if you have ever towed any vessels, I am pretty sure you haven't.
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  139.  @murderouskitten2577  Think its you loosing it.
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  140.  @murderouskitten2577  I agree, your mind
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  141. Captain Frederick Marryat was the first of the writers of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era. He had first hand experience including serving onboard HMS Imperieuse, a frigate commanded by Lord Cochrane. He was also the man who brought news of Napoleon death to Britain.
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  142.  @tominiowa2513  The Falkland Islands are really not that wet, if I remember correct about 27 inches a year, Ireland, West coast of England and Scotland are far more rainier.
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  143. The reason that the Kriegsman could not send 2 or 3 U Boats into Scapa Flow is well explained if you read Gunther Prien's report on the attack. An 15m gap between blockships had be seen from the air and Doenitz chose his most skilled Captain for the task. There was only one Battleship in Scapa Flow as the RN knew that the anchorage was not safe.
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  144. Their were many merchant ships converted to AA ships, these included cargo ships and ferries. A ferry the Ulster Queen is credited with the first kill using radar controlled AA on Artic Convoy PQ18 when it shot down a JU 88 through cloud.
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  145. ​ @giancarlogarlaschi4388  So which Facists are you supporting? The ones that murdered over 22 million people? Or the Great Warriors that kidnapped students, tortured them, and threw them out of helicopters over the River Plate.,if the girl was pregnant was allowed to give birth before she too was thrown out of a helicopter, The baby then being given to the murder's to adopt. Choices? Hero's all.
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  146. There is a Mount Erebus a volcano in Antarctica. HMS Terror was the barracks in Sembawang Singapore.
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  147. There are periods of service that ships would have mixed crews, for example the Bathurst Class Corvettes, built in Australia for the Royal Indian Navy they were delivered to India by a combined Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and Royal Indian Navy crew. The other obvious cases would be when the Royal Navy handed over ships to friendly navies, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish etc and even the Soviet Union they will require a handover/support period until the new crew were familar. The Armed Merchant ships used by the Royal Navy often had a mixed Royal Navy/Merchant Navy crew.
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  148. Look up Zubian Tribal Class in WW1
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  149. Perhaps "Blowing Tubes" , cleaning the Boiler tubes.
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  150. The 3rd Minesweeping Flotilla of the Kriegsmarine had an interesting story, they were taken to Magedeburg, transported by road to the Danube and sailed down the Danube to the Black Sea. They were given orders to stop the Soviets supplies across the Kerch Straits, This they did with remarkable success with assistance from E Boats also send down the Danube. The called it nautical street fighting at often metres apart, some times operating so close that they were below the elevation of the Russian guns. They adapted what they could including using mine fields to control access and borrowed some multiple rocket launchers “Stalin Organs”. The achieved control of the Kerch Straits. In 1944 as the German army retreated the minesweepers were used to evacuate the army, taking up to 450 men at a time. They then retreated to Bulgaria and scuttle there ships. The return of the men through Bulgaria and Yugoslavia to Austria should be made into a film. They returned to Germany and were reformed.
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  151. Intelligence played a very large part, I understand why Cunningham went to Bletchley Park to thank them, saved many lives.
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  152. The first German magnetic mine was "captured" as dropped by parachute on mud flats on the River Thames and skillfully and heroically defused by mine experts from HMS Vernon.
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  153. Where/how did people throw coal and hiss at Warspite?
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  154. The ship beached at Gallipoli, the River Clyde is quite interesting, it was refloated and was not scrapped until 1966.
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  155. I am afraid ships do not berth in Perth unless very small. Fremantle is the port .
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  156. I would guess dropping the anchor gave the vessel a pretty good depth gauge!
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  157. Any twin screw ship has a basic ability to steer using the engines
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  158.  @Toe_Merchant  One deck below, no doubt with a small porthole that would have been covered by a deadlight. I have worked on several ships with Chinses Laundry men, they are fantastic at ironing and starching shirts. There are unlike the quartermaster and seaman totally untrained in keeping a lookout.
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  159. The OMAHA Group heavy ships were: Bombardment Group Commander Rear Adm. C. F. Bryant, USN USS Texas (flagship) (Old BB) Capt. C. A. Baker, USN USS Arkansas (Old battleship) Capt. F. G. Richards, USN FS Georges Levgues (Flag) (9-6", 8-3.5") Capt. de Vaisseau A. Laurin, FN FS Montcalm (cruiser) Capt. E. J. H. L. Deprez, FN HMS Glasgow (cruiser) 8-3.5" Capt. C. P. Clarke, RN
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  160. I note that the "attack cargo ship"' shown, and others I can find have no cranes. They do have derricks.
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  161. Soft Factors, Crew ability. Extract from The Cruise of the Bismarck! At 1030 on the 26th a Catalina of the Coastal Command sighted the Bismarck about 550 miles west of Land s End. The King George V, Rodney, and Renown were now converging on the Bay of Biscay. Reconnaissance planes from the Ark Royal took up the watch on the Bismarck, At 1500 an air striking force was dispatched from the Ark Royal, but its attack was ineffectual. The second and decisive attack was made by 15 Swordfish, armed with torpedoes, and lasted from 2055 to 2125, The 400 men assigned to the Bismarck's anti-aircraft guns maintained a furious barrage, but the crews, which had been on watch almost continuously for 5 days, were near exhaustion and their fire was not as effective as previously. The planes attacked simultaneously from a number of points, diving to the attack at an angle of about 50 .
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  162. I suspect that had Flying Boats had been efficient at rescuing people from the sea that is what the Maritime Nations would do so today. We have a mixture of inshore boats and Helicopters. I believe that Japan still has Flying Boats.
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  163. Underwater transit will be worse, as there is always a flow on the surface into the Mediterranean, and closer to the seabed a flow of more saline water out of the Mediterranean. Makes detecting the submarines hard.
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  164. Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald was not just in Charge of the Chilean Navy he was also later in charge of the Brazilian Navy. During the Napoleonic Wars there were French Admirals in charge of Spanish ships and vice versa
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  165. James Cameron was a film maker, not a group known for historical accuracy. He used the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh as his ship, he had previously used her for his film Titanic. Her two Mir Submersibles were used to film the wreck. I have looked through the 20cm vision ports and the vision is poor, so cameras would be better. Film makers like many modern revisionist authors of today use the made up "Controversy" to publish there works, there is nothing that counts as bad news.
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  166.  @spiritfoxmy6370  Suez is a sea level canal, so there is nothing to "control", no locks.
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  167. Increased Vessel beam means more stability not less.
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  168. The Kreigsmarine in its submarine's did machine gun merchant ship crews from sunk ships.
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  169. You need to tell that to Warspite!
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  170. Really surprised that Renolds joined the the US Merchant Marine
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  171.  @briancooper4959  So Ramillies won without firing a shot,
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  172. The marked deck line on a battle ship and your post of the Load line for a merchant ship will not be directly related. Samuel Plimsol was the inventor of the Load line, I'm sure he's on Wikipedia. This is to allow sufficient reserve stability in case of damage to ship. A naval ship has no need of this as they do not carry cargo. To try a logical guess it may be the equivalent of Deck Line marking, this is the highest line that that the ship can make water tight (not weather tight). In a merchant ship this is the line that the freeboard is measured from.
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  173. He was also Scots
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  174. I read that was true, when the Italians occupied Tobruk during the siege the Australian found large quantities of Italian provisions buried. The loved the wine but complained that they needed real food not that Italian crap.
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  175. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner?
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  176. Can the helmsman even see the sea? Often they were on a control centre not on the Bridge.
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  177. The ability of a submarine to launch and recover an aircraft in a seaway is probably the limiting reason for not carrying aircraft. The launch and recovery from a cruiser or battleship is bad enough, but a rolling submarine is a frightening thought.
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  178.  @Shadooe  The fall never kills you, its the sudden deacceleration at the bottom that does.
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  179. An Essay by Admiral Karl Doenitz [Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, Kriegsmarine] After the repulse of the English attack made from Mamsos, the only serious situation resulting from the enemy landing at Harstad was at Narvik. The attack by the English Navy on Narvik cost the German Navy 10 of their latest destroyers, which were unable to repel the attackers' superior strength. The fighting power of these ships had been seriously reduced by an extreme shortage of fuel. On the other hand, the destroyers' survivors formed a welcome reinforcement to the land forces, and, according to Colonel-General Dietl, the holding of the Narvik area for so long a time thereafter would have been impossible without them.
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  180. Named after Harry Hotspur?
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  181. The Cruise of the Bismarck The 400 men assigned to the Bismarck's anti-aircraft guns maintained a furious barrage, but the crews, which had been on watch almost continuously for 5 days, were near exhaustion and their fire was not as effective as previously. The planes attacked simultaneously from a number of points, diving to the attack at an angle of about 50 . One torpedo struck amidships on the port side, one on the starboard quarter, and possibly a third on the port quarter; The torpedo which hit the starboard quarter wrecked the steering gear, jamming the rudders and causing the Bismarck to turn slowly in circles to the starboard. Frantic efforts were made to repair the damage: It was announced that the man who succeeded in freeing the rudders would be given the Knight Insignia of the Iron Cross. Divers succeeded in centering one rudder, but the other could not be freed, Efforts were made to steer the ship by her engines, but after a short period, instead of proceeding on her intended southeasterly course, the Bismarck was actually northwest of her position when the attack was made. There appears to have been further controversy among the officers. The captain, when asked by an officer whether he should try to blow off the jammed rudder, is reported to have replied, "Do what you like; I am through with it." The ship's best speed was now reduced to 10 to 12 knots.
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  182. MV Ondina a tanker built in 1939 while in company with the HMIS Bengal was involved in a battle with two Japanese Merchant Raiders in the Indian Ocean. The Aikoku Maru (Captain Oishi Tamotsu) and Hokoku Maru (Captain Imazato Hiroshi) commenced firing at 1200 hours, and soon straddled the Ondina with their cruiser-armament. The first hit on Ondina ripped off a part of the main mast, leaving only a stump standing. The Ondina herself had her answer ready: the third shell fired by Ondina was a direct hit in the superstructure of Hokoku Maru, but apparently it did little to affect her speed or armament. Content with the hit, the gun captain then ordered the gunners to concentrate their fire on the stern. Only a few moments later, a lucky hit on the starboard torpedo mount turned the Hokoku Maru in a ball of red and yellow flames, and as the ship emerged from the smoke, she was listing heavily to starboard, and simultaneously started to settle by the stern. The explosion ripped off the stern and threw her two floatplanes overboard, while massive fires raged in the superstructure. The Ondina and the Bengal continued shooting at the Aikoku , until they ran out of ammunition. The HMIS Bengal sailed away and the Ondina was set on fire by the Aikoku, they abandoned ship in the lifeboats. The lifeboats were machine gunned by the Aikoku who rescued the survivors of the Hokoku and departed. The surviving crew reboarded the Ondina , extinguished the fires and sailed back to Fremantle. So a merchant Tanker sank a Japanese Merchant Cruiser.
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  183.  @Kiev_The_Great  The French fought the Germans bravely from day one and suffered huge casualties. They unlike some did not skip most of the war so idiots can throw insults from there basement!
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  184.  @zoranocokoljic8927  Sorry Gradian
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  185.  @TheAngelobarker  That worked well
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  186. The Royal Yacht Britannia was manned by the Royal Navy so plenty of dual role experienced crew.
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  187. The Rn has already used HMS Speedy several times, including by Admiral Lord Cochrane
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  188. ONI Report. By 1000 all the Bismarck's 15-inch guns were out of action, and fire from the secondary battery was spasmodic. The Rodney, King George V, and the Norfolk, which had joined the action after spotting from the flanks, fired their last salvos front a range of only 8,300 yards. At 1010, out of the Bismarck's entire armament, only one anti-aircraft gun remained workable, The ship was a wreck, on fire fore and aft, and wallowing heavily. The British commander in chief broke off the gun action at 1022. The cruiser Dorsetshire then fired three torpedoes into the Bismarck, and she sank at 1037.
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  189. A total missed point on the reason why the tanker bridge was amidship. The reason is very simple that there is a requirement that under the Collison Regulation for a lookout to be kept ahead, this is defined as a distance where the bow does not shadow any small vessel. The more modern tankers and bulk carriers achieve this by having a very tall superstructure, not found on containership who have a forward or amidship accommodation. The problem with a high superstructure is that it restricts the places the vessel can access.
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  190. The picture at the start makes no sense, using a sextant just before sunset total nonsense.
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  191. The Unicorn in Dundee ex HMS Unicorn was in Ordinary from build in 1825 and is pretty much still there untouched.
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  192. Not a Clemson
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  193.  @tobygeorgeharribo  The standard comment on sat divers was they need three of every item. One to use, one to lose and one to take home. Very resourceful people.
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  194. The Hanseatic League also had bases as far north as the Shetland Islands competing with the Dutch.
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  195. The angled deck was one of the three improvements to aircraft carrier design conceived by the Royal Navy that made fast-jet operations both possible and safe. The idea of canting or skewing the landing area to port of the ship's centreline had evolved from experiments with a rubber deck and Sea Vampire fighters without undercarriages in HMS Warrior in 1948. Although the rubber deck itself proved impractical, the ‘skewed deck’ as it was called at first was seen as a very effective way of making arrested landings safer on existing, relatively small, flight decks. Three new aircraft carriers joined there respective fleets in 1955 with all three British improvements to carrier flying. They were HMS Ark Royal in February, USS Forrestal in October and HMAS Melbourne (II) in November
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  196.  David Parry  Not sure the Royal Marines will like you adding British Army, they are part of the Royal Navy.
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  197. At 0857 the Bismarck sustained her first hit. Five minutes later a 16-inch shell from the Rodney apparently put the German battleship's A and B turrets out of action. C and D turrets were firing on the King George V when a shell from one of the British warships carried away the rangefinder and paralyzed the control position. These exchanges took place at a range of about 20,000 yards. By 0020 range had been narrowed to 11,500 yards; 10 minutes latter the Bismarck was on fire and virtually out of control, though her C and D turrets were still firing independently and her secondary battery was in use. Demoralization of the Bismarck's crew was now apparent. One officer is said to have drawn his revolver and shot several seamen who refused to obey him. Officers were reported to have committed suicide, and scores of the crew jumped overboard before the action ceased. Almost all of the 400 anti-aircraft gunners, for whom no special protection had been provided during surface action, became casualties. The upper deck was being pounded into a mass of twisted steel. Hatches and doors were jammed in all parts of the ship. Crews in two magazines were drowned when it became necessary to flood the chambers because of fire. A direct hit crashed into a forward compartment where 200 men were trapped under jammed hatches. Fires on the gun deck cut off the forward half of the ship. The air was dense with smoke, fumes and the gases generated by the bursting shells. Paint was burning off the bulkheads and many men without gas masks were suffocated.
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  198.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  Its taken from an Official US Report thats available online.
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  199. Two main types of boilers, water tube and smoke tube (Flue Gas) so both are right.
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  200. The single most limiting size factor in the USN was the Panama Canal.
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  201. The first transatlantic cable was laid by HMS Agamemnon and USS Niagara.
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  202. As a predecessor to the RNLI look up Grace Darling, a very brave lady.
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  203. You are unlikely to pass through a strait at night, especially prior to radar as navigation hazards and the possibility of grounding is the worry, you may require local knowledge/pilotage. War time more so, navigation lights will be out and the possibility mines being laid.
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  204. The use of the SS River Clyde as a landing ship was an actual and very impressive conversion of a merchant ship.
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  205. The man who bought a Navy by Gerald Bowman?
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  206.  @TheWareek  Neville Shutes book SlideRule, gives details on the construction of R100 and its successful trip to/from Canada. It leaves no doubt that the airship can cross/survive the North Atlantic. He also goes into details on the R101 and its many problems during construction.
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  207. Useless but interesting fact, one of the blockships at Scapa Flow is called the Carron, originally owned by the Carron Company.
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  208. I think prior to recommending a restoration of HMS Unicorn you actually visit her? She is as original today as when she was launched nearly two hundred years ago and is the oldest British built Warship afloat.. I have visited her several times and to see her as the her builders saw her is stunning. I have visited HMS Trincomalee and HMS Victory but both now have little of the original ship left after numerous refits, both a credit to there restorations,but the old story about the Richards axe, is it original. Yes its had three new handles and two new heads comes to mind. I was saddened by the plaque on HMS Victory, Here is the spot where Nelson died, Except the deck was replaced a hundred years ago and probability burned. I see that HMS Unicorn received a Heritage Fund Grant of twenty nine thousand pounds, probability not enough to restore a car never mind a two hundred year old ship.Please support the The Unicorn Preservation Society. I also had the privilege to visit HMS Dolphin of 1882 before her sad end in 1980. The only other original age of sail vessels are little harder to visit as they are in Port Stanley.
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  209. the almost 200 year old HMS Unicorn is still afloat and berthed in Dundee
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  210. Steam Ships require to "Bow Tubes" where compressed air is blown through the boilers to clean out the boilers of carbon build up. This produces large quantity of very black smke over a period of time.
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  211. Well if you drive from Perth to Albany another 50 k and your in Denmark
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  212. The appropriate weapon would have been a Shashka.
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  213. The Aikoku Maru, and the Hōkoku Maru, were converted merchant ships attacking merchant ships.
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  214. 534 was the shipyard number of the Passenger Liner in John Brown Shipyard for many years until she was named Queen Mary
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  215. IIs far from unusual that a tanker didn't explode, many tanker were shelled and torpedoed and many many more were in collisions and did not sink. The sailors on bulk carriers full of ore or steel went straight to the bottom.
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  216. Not possible as they were enemies until France fell
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  217. The naval staff and the U-boat command had expected great results from the use of U-boats. Because of the confined waters and the probable counter-action, it seemed likely that there would be frequent contact with the enemy; but the result of the U-boat activity was extraordinarily disappointing. The chief reason for this was torpedo failures. If a torpedo shortage had been evident in the early months of the war, it was now torpedo ineffectiveness in the Norwegian expedition which became disastrously apparent. As a result of being in contact with the enemy for extended periods, the U-boats were forced to remain submerged for a very long time. This caused pressure in the boat which penetrated the depth chamber of the torpedo and considerably increased its depth setting. For example, Klt. Prien was able to fire at close range at the big English transports near Harstad, but the torpedoes went too low. The reason for the increasing number of torpedo misses was only understood by the German Navy at a very much later date when the individual technical faults of the torpedoes were ascertained by systematic testing. It was actually true that, despite numerous opportunities to fire, there were few, if any, successes. The effect on the crews was marked. They lost confidence in the weapon, and the personal influence of the U-boat commander in chief was necessary to restore their morale. At the same time everything possible was done to overcome torpedo faults.
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  218. There seems to be confusion as to what a Crane is! There are no Cranes in the video. The lifting device as shown is a Derrick, It requires either a Mast or a King Post to operate, to provide the means of topping the Derrick. The Derrick is a completely dumb device. A crane is a device that is self contained and does not use a Mast or King Posts The only cranes I see in use prior to the 1960:s are used on Warships to launch and recover seaplanes. No sane sailor will use a crane to launch or recover a boat. That is what Davits are for, a Davit can be used to keep the boat or LCT close to the ships side so it does not slam against the hull and get damaged in an increased sea state. If a crane is used the rolling of the ship will cause the object at the end of a crane hook to swing and it may be violent
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  219. One of her guns is at the front of the Imperial War Museum
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  220. Crocodiles killed many Japanese in the Burma campaign. They were also active in PNG.
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  221. Star Sights are not taken at night, they are taken at Dawn and Dusk.
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  222. In WW! Germany used the chemical process to produce nitrates for explosives. They did not use the nitrates to keep up agriculture production and therefore people starved. Start of Nazi ideology ?
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  223. Stavanger Sta -vang-er in English
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  224.  @keithskelhorne3993  One round from a 84 mm Carl Gustav and two Law anti tank missiles.
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  225. The Altmark was designed and built for the Kriegsmarine along with three sister vessels, one of which ended up in the USN. The Ship was armed. The Norwegians should not have allowed a Kriegsmarine ship into there territorial waters.
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  226. Name a Nuclear powered warship after a country that bans visits by Nuclear powered warships????
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  227. It was why Bridges were enclosed and air conditioning fitted
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  228. Italian cruiser Polo surrendered and was boarded after the Battle of Cape Matapan, however she was unable to be towed away as she would have been attacked by aircraft next morning.
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  229. If the bulges increase the waterplane area then stability is increased. It is easy to ballast down a ship, with either Fuel, Potable Water or Sea Water.
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  230. There was an oval almost circular tug design called the Ship Docking Module (SDM) designed in the USA in the mid 1990's.
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  231.  @juanfrancisco9417  Las tropas españolas se rindieron a los americanos que las protegieron hasta que pudieron navegar a España
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  232. HMAS Sydney and Kormorant at 1500 yards
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  233. Hindsight is a gift. I do not doubt that twin rudders were considered but were not fitted after evaluation of advantages and disadvantages. Another wonderful piece of hindsight was for Hood to extend its armor a little deeper and that would have saved her. A third great piece of hindsight was Graf Spee to locate its fuel purification system behind the armored hull. I'm sure we could come up with another 50 useful items and only add 1500 tons to the weight of the vessel. I have from experience with a ship with twin props and a single rudder found that we lost steering below 3 knots, twin rudders would have given more maneuverability.
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  234. Skegs are used for many reasons other protecting than propeller shafts. They are a common feature in Voith Scheider tugs which have no propeller shafts.
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  235. HMS Terror and HMS Erebus were on a 2 to 3 year voyage to the Artic where resupply is difficult.
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  236. Allies did not mine the Norwegian waters.
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  237.  @rogersmith7396  Another Disney Special! Trincomalee is mostly a made up recreation! You have never seen Unicorn!
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  238. The gas tight citadel is only used in certain larger Naval ships, not in all naval vessels. Merchant ships use gas tight citadels in the ships that require it. Oil Tankers Chemical tankers Gas tankers. Drilling vessels Offshore support vessels. Some Ro RO and container vessels
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  239. One of the early adopters of Motor ships was the Bank Line of Glasgow. they purchased some second hand in the 1920's with one being built in Germany in 1916 and built a Class of 12. Several ships were used by the RN in WW2 as antiaircraft vessels. The Speybank was captured by the Atlantis. On a trip from Japan renamed Doggerbank she took the survivors of the Thor and Ukermark (ex Altmark) and war cargo to go to France. She was torpedoed by U 43 and all except 1 died.
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  240. The Passenger Liners setting the fastest Atlantic crossing would have had there stokers working non stop for five to six days.
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  241. Sailors always complain about the food!
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  242. Pilotage Regulations require Civilian ships to use Pilots. The use of a person with local knowledge is a sensible precaution and has been done for centuries. Naval ships of that nation do not legally require to use a a pilot but frequently do, if unfamiliar with the Port, remembering the person in command may be not of the Navigation or of seamanship branch. Naval ships of other countries require a pilot.
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  243. Several errors. There is no flag to denote being at anchor. (a) A vessel at anchor shall exhibit where it can best be seen: (i) in the fore part, an all-round white light or one ball; (ii) at or near the stern and at a lower level than the light prescribed in sub-paragraph (i), an all-round white light. Not sure what a Nations flag is, However in a foreign port the Flag of of the Country is flown from the highest yard and on the furthest Starboard hoist, The Ships own national flag is flown at the stern.
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  244.  @brucewilliams1892  It was not until 1010 on 26 May that British luck changed. A British Catalina aircraft of No. 209 Squadron, piloted by US Navy observer Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR (US Naval Reserve), spotted Bismarck at a range of about eight miles. While Ensign Smith flew the aircraft and evaded accurate German antiaircraft fire, his British copilot radioed a report of the enemy warship's location
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  245. Those same men when there vessel was captured or sunk were then off pay.
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  246. Glomar Explorer was scrapped in 2015
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  247. Endurance was recently rediscovered.
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  248. Robert FitzRoy Royal Navy , later Rear Admiral, was the man who pioneered weather forecasting at sea and set up what was to become the Meteorological Office, he was a very interesting and very capable man who was as Captain of the Beagle was "Darwin's Captain". The Meteorological Office placed equipment on British vessel to record at set times ,any parameters including air Pressure, wind speed and direction, temperature of air and sea, cloud amounts and types, With the advent of Telegraph the information was passed to the nearest coast station at 6 hourly intervals.
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  249.  @AlcaturMaethor  The problems are many, Pilots are far from ship recognition experts, ask the squadron of US Spitfire Pilots who attacked the Zetland and Bicester Hunt Class destroyers (86 in the class). The Straata Malacca was a ship less than 18 months old and never been in the UK or Australia.
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  250.  @TheWareek  The ignorant blame him for the actions of others.
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  251. Looked up losses and can only find two damaged by depth charges. HMS Wizard accidentally dropped one at Scapa Flow in shallow water severely damaged and out of action for 11 months. HMCS Assiniboine dropped six depth charges and rammed a U Boat, out of action for 4 and a half months I know there were man survivor's of sinking vessels killed when the vessel sank a the primed depth charges exploded.
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  252. Found two more, minor damage unlike the previous ones. HMS Lotus and HMS Puffin damage after dropping there own depth charges in an attack
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  253. Its a very interesting tale
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  254. From the USN ONI Report. At 0857 the Bismarck sustained her first hit. Five minutes later a 16-inch shell from the Rodney apparently put the German battleship's A and B turrets out of action. C and D turrets were firing on the King George V when a shell from one of the British warships carried away the rangefinder and paralyzed the control position. These exchanges took place at a range of about 20,000 yards. By 0020 range had been narrowed to 11,500 yards; 10 minutes latter the Bismarck was on fire and virtually out of control, though her C and D turrets were still firing independently and her secondary battery was in use. Demoralization of the Bismarck's crew was now apparent. One officer is said to have drawn his revolver and shot several seamen who refused to obey him. Officers were reported to have committed suicide, and scores of the crew jumped overboard before the action ceased. Almost all of the 400 anti-aircraft gunners, for whom no special protection had been provided during surface action, became casualties. The upper deck was being pounded into a mass of twisted steel. Hatches and doors were jammed in all parts of the ship. Crews in two magazines were drowned when it became necessary to flood the chambers because of fire. A direct hit crashed into a forward compartment where 200 men were trapped under jammed hatches. Fires on the gun deck cut off the forward half of the ship. The air was dense with smoke, fumes and the gases generated by the bursting shells. Paint was burning off the bulkheads and many men without gas masks were suffocated.
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  255. The Kormoran crew reported The a shot from HMAS passed through the funnel.This would not normally be a fatal blow but the Kormoran had her preheating for her fuel in the funnel, This was damages and the oil ignited and flowed into the engine room. Diemers sent the Chief Engineer to carry our firefighting, he was never to see him again. When it became apparent that the engine room fire would prevent any further movement of the ship Dietmers ordered abandon ship. While this was being carried out one of the collapsible lifeboats collapsed while being lowered sending all the men into the sea, these were most of the fatalities. The Aide de camp to Captain Deitmers a Herr Messerschmitt was so appalled by this loss of he set up a company making life rafts.
    2
  256. Try Japan, they lost ships in storms
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  257.  @richardcowling7381  I know and stated that!
    2
  258. U 162 sank the schooner Florence M. Douglas 200 G. T., sunk by shellfire on May 4, 1942, at 1300 EWT, about 65 miles 000' true of Georgetown Beacon.), perhaps one of the lesser sinking's. U-162 was commanded by Fregattenkapitän Jürgen Wattenberg He served in Admiral Graf Spee until she was scuttled off Montevideo on December 17, 1939, and was then interned in the Argentine. He escaped from Buenos Aires in April 1940. making his way back to Germany. The German Embassy provided forged passports, and other false documents were procured by a German resident of Buenos Aires. The exact route taken to Peru by Wattenberg is not known, but planes, busses, and horses for crossing the Andes were used by various other prisoners. At Callao, Peru, he embarked on the S. S. Rakuyo Maru, a Japanese steamer, which stopped at Los Angeles on June 12, 1940 before going to Japan.
    2
  259. The Italian Army were being so mauled by the Greeks that Hitler had to send the German Army to support them. The Nigerian troop of the British Army complained that they Italian retreated so fast in Somali that they couldn't catch up with them for a fight! They retreated faster than Rommel.
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  260. Many ships use heavy low value cargo as ballast. The ports on East Fife has the old houses roofed with red Dutch pantiles taken over from holland by vessels coming to get barrels of fish. All over the former colonies there are slate roof take from quarries in Scotland and Wales. Panamax bulk carries still load crushed rock from GlenSanda Quarry situated off Oban and take it to Houston.
    2
  261. Nonsense
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  262. Smiths Dock , Middlesbrough
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  263. Sadly died of overwork in 1940. The only memorial to him is the suburb of Henderson south of Fremantle. He got the government to buy land to the North of HMAS Stirling that he planned as a fleet base against the Japanese in 1936. He wanted to move that role from Singapore.
    2
  264. And are designed to survive heavy seas
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  265. I doubt that any Liner had a 60 ft freeboard, no one would sail on a ship, it would be very stiff with a very violent motion,
    2
  266.  @Primarch359  Please give a reference, no ship except a very large Crude Carrier or Bulk Carrier will have that freeboard. The depth pf the hull of the Titanic was only 59 feet 6 inches and with a draft of 34 feet 6 inches gives a freeboard of 25 feet.
    2
  267. HMS Campbeltown
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  268.  @chopchop7938  I think you should look at the Battle of Narvik, 50% of the German destroyers sunk in one battle
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  269. Cranes are a pretty recent addition on ships, there may have been used to launch float planes. On proper ships it was all derricks, and the boom at the base of a mast is your derrick, so already at hand, may require some additional rigging,
    2
  270. there is a good web site @defence.gov.au which in detail reconstructs the battle using German witness and analysis of the damage to the Sydney. The shells from Sydney went through the funnel of the Kormorant and damaged the oil preheating equipment causing burning oil to set fire to the engine room. The mines were deliberately detonated by the Kormorant crew. One of the major loss of life on the Kormorant was the failure of a collapsible life boat that failed on launching putting many crew into the sea. This after the War lead to Dietmers ADC a Herr Messerschmidt to start a company making liferafts.
    2
  271. Its hard to get the message at normal speed with morse due to atmospheric distortion, a minor glitch and the whole message is toast.
    2
  272.  @wrayday7149  AC/DC was in fact 4 Scots born musicians, only one was Australian
    2
  273. Do not leave a ship until it leaves you.
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  274. Having the double bottom extended to the water line would have rendered the vessel useless, unless you want a tanker!
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  275.  @lilidutour3617  All explained , You say you are a trained Mariners and you read tea leaves, point made.
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  276. My father went on one from Glasgow to Cape Town, he didn't remember the ships name but never forgot the trip. The ships then bought Fruit and Vegetables back to Britain. He liked the Nieuw Amsterdam on the next leg to Port Said.
    2
  277. The Red and Green "Binnacles" mentioned are not binnacles, they look like part of the steering gear, there is what looks like a binnacle pained grey between them, A binnacle hold a compass.
    2
  278. Designed by Smiths Dock Middleborough for Christian Salvesen (Leith) to use as a whale catcher in Antarctica.
    2
  279.  @stevewhite3424  You missed a point! That does not count as they scuttled themselves and Won!
    2
  280. Yo u wwould be interested in the "Shetland Bus" Norwegians escaping Norway and running agents back from Shetland to Norway.
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  281.  @Timrath  Google "the front fell off, its hilarious".
    2
  282. The Poles received so much grief from building ships in France they called the next ship built in France Gryf.
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  283. Nothing is so simple, yes you can build an unstable ship., but! You will never get it certified and never get it registered You may be arrested , charged and jailed if any one gets injured or killed.
    2
  284.  @frankbarnwell____  You need to forget about these small states and get one the size of Western Australia
    2
  285.  @ruedigerschwarz  Try reading the accounts of men, women and childern given to the Japanese by the Germans and held in captaivity until August 1945.
    2
  286.  @ruedigerschwarz  You may also explain why "Gentlemen" attacked a Egyptian Passenger ship the Zam Zam firing without warning into the vessel and sinking her. I fear the defination of gentlemen is being "extended". There are also numerious accounts of the ships firing on merchant ships that had surrendered.
    2
  287.  @ruedigerschwarz  Because Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Germany, excuses a NAZI Captain pumping 55 six inch shells into an unarmed Passenger Ship without warning ???? Carrying neutral American Missionaries and Ambulance Drivers. How sad an excuse. I think any one who defends Nazi atrocities against humanity is by defination a Nazi sympathiser at the minimum. Go listen to a four year old American boy describing getting into a damaged life boat which then sinks, listen to the mothers anguish for her family describing being locked into a cargo hold of a blockade runner fearing the death of herself and her family after being promised they would be landed in Brazil.
    2
  288. How about HMS Mimi and Touto on Lake Tanganyika
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  289.  @johnshepherd9676  Except they were all tucked up in there beds
    2
  290. Unless the ownership ship on the seabed is lost in the annals of time, any part of it or its cargo will have an owner. Claiming insurance simply means that the ship and cargo ownership are transferred to the insurance company or companies. In the case of war the "Insurance Company" was often the government who chartered the ship. The British Government therefore became owners of thousands of ships. They were happy to sell these vessels and cargo to "Salvage Companies" , who used whatever method they wanted including explosives to salvage the valuable parts without a thought for the seaman lost on these vessels whose remains were still entombed. The first salvage undertaken with the aim to respect the dead was the recovery of the Gold from HMS Edinburgh where is was decided to use "North Sea Diving Technology" to avoid disturbing the war grave and saturation divers were used who cut into the hull rather than blasting. This story is told along with many more in Keith Jessop's book Goldfinder. Ironically the dive vessel was German built, owned and operated.
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  291. English Colony like Virginia!
    2
  292. There are many warships in many navies designed by Shipyards and design companies. The Navies can also design and build disasters.
    2
  293. The Seven Seas including the Arctic and Antarctic Ocean would be difficult, I suggest Captain Cook as the first, though Balboa was first in the Antarctic. The other ships that have done it are Sealers/Whalers and now Scientific Research and Specialise Cruise vessels.
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  294. The last wooden wall broken up that I know of was the TS Dolphin, "HMS Dolphin (1882)" . She was beached at Boness on the River Forth 1980/81. The major value was said to be the copper sheathing on the hull. The timber was burnt. This was a tragedy.
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  295.  @gameandgamer1479  Perhaps it would have been better had they ceased fire. Then the group on the bridge trying to surrender would have been successful and lives saved.
    2
  296.  @GreenBlueWalkthrough  Bismarck could only escape disguised as a U Boat
    2
  297. ONI Report One torpedo struck amidships on the port side, one on the starboard quarter, and possibly a third on the port quarter; The torpedo which hit the starboard quarter wrecked the steering gear, jamming the rudders and causing the Bismarck to turn slowly in circles to the starboard. Frantic efforts were made to repair the damage: It was announced that the man who succeeded in freeing the rudders would be given the Knight Insignia of the Iron Cross. Divers succeeded in centering one rudder, but the other could not be freed, Efforts were made to steer the ship by her engines, but after a short period, instead of proceeding on her intended southeasterly course, the Bismarck was actually northwest of her position when the attack was made. There appears to have been further controversy among the officers. The captain, when asked by an officer whether he should try to blow off the jammed rudder, is reported to have replied, "Do what you like; I am through with it." The ship's best speed was now reduced to 10 to 12 knots.
    2
  298. Fastest crossing's is by the Australian built Hoverspeed Great Britain, then Catalonia and finale Cat Link V
    2
  299. ONI Report The upper deck was being pounded into a mass of twisted steel. Hatches and doors were jammed in all parts of the ship. Crews in two magazines were drowned when it became necessary to flood the chambers because of fire. A direct hit crashed into a forward compartment where 200 men were trapped under jammed hatches. Fires on the gun deck cut off the forward half of the ship. The air was dense with smoke, fumes and the gases generated by the bursting shells. Paint was burning off the bulkheads and many men without gas masks were suffocated.
    2
  300. He was in Command of HMS Starling. a Black Swan Class Sloop. not a Flower Class
    2
  301. The name Pacific is a misnomer, it is not peaceful at all. While maybe not as rough as Winter North Atlantic, it can be very rough, and the ability to have enormous fog banks is legendary. The route Panama to Japan takes you well North of Hawaii.
    2
  302. West of the Orkney Islands.
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  303. HMIS Bengal
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  304. The Japanese landed on Scott Reef and in the remote Kimberly area. There was a group called the North Australian Observer Unit that patrolled the coast from Broome to Cairns. There is a very interesting book called Curtains Cowboys.
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  305.  @timothyschmidt9566  A collision blame is always determined in percentage terms I am unaware of what that was but I'm sure it can be found. Some facts from the collision regulations. Do not make decision on scanty information especially scanty radar information. The collision regulations are based on vessels in sight of each other. You never turn to port towards another vessel. There will be endless talking heads with an opinion, generally worthless.
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  306. Captain Burnett of HMAS Sydney was an experienced officer starting his sea service in 1917. He spent a great deal of time on various Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy ships. He returned to Australia at the outbreak of war. HMAS Sydney was his first command. The reason for the close distance to Kormorant will never be known as there were no survivors from HMAS Sydney.
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  307.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  The O.N.I. Weekly. The Cruise of the Bismarck
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  308. The Captain appeared to have an angle of Lol.
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  309. You are mostly right except Merchant Navy ships could fly the Union Jack on the Forecastle.
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  310. 0825 The allies planned to occupy 4 German Major cities including Narvik?
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  311. It was named after Admiral Kidd
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  312. The hull would have been hulked and used in a port for storage of cargo.
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  313. Merchant ships need to meet the requirements of the Collision Regulations which require a mast in the fore part of the vessel to locate mast light on. The Southern Pride on which the Flowers were designed was a whale catcher.
    2
  314. I have read that Seeadler on Manus Island had at its peak 800 ships in harbour at one time
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  315. On the Bismark Lütjens had sent out a request to the U Boat Fleet to come and pick up his logs.The battleships, cruisers etc around the Bismark would have been a great target for the U boats, one was sighted. The Fleet had to disperse.
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  316. It would be easy to pump out the majority if the water, its on the bottom. Better to do this than sink!
    2
  317.  @CharlesStearman  They also removed the destroyer and its anti aircraft guns and depth charges from the the force . If you read about the Operation Pedestal you will then find another destroyer is allocated to escort the damaged one home, further depleting the escorts!
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  318. The Uckermark had been carrying a cargo of vegetable oil and bunker fuel for U Boats and Raiders, where did the petrol come from in Japan that caused the explosion?
    2
  319.  @timengineman2nd714  RMS?
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  320. Flag of Convenience is very complex, both Panama and Liberia were set up in the USA and still are. Your example of Maersk a Danish company is still complex, they have a subsidiary in the USA running US Flag vessels "See Captain Philips". They also charter vessels say owned and operated by a German company but painted and named for Maersk blue. You can also have a British flag vessel but with no British people on it.
    2
  321. Asbestosis is caused by total body load of asbestos, not an isolated exposure
    2
  322. Western Australia has a very nice Rum, its called the Ord River after the River in the states north. As the crow flies its about 1500 miles from Albany
    2
  323. It was the welds that failed not the steel. If the plate was the problem then riveted ships would have suffered as well.
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  324. No, one was lost in mysterious circumstances off PNG in WW1, the other was lost in the Dardanelles also in WW!
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  325. HM the King
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  326. There were pretty much no cranes on Merchant ships at that time, Cargo ships had derricks.
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  327. Thank you I found it.
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  328.  @GARDENER42  Thats the one, my favourite is the the photo of a cruiser in drydock in Rosyth sitting upside down on its superstructure.
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  329. How about HMS Speedy of 1892
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  330. Not sure how good they are, I suggest https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk
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  331.  joanne chon  Total rubbish, its a natural human emotion,
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  332. In the Victorian era the "worry" in Australia was an attack/invasion by Russia, maybe an interesting concept.
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  333. Not sure of where you get that idea from? The British did rescue some, and there were reunions between the rescuers and rescued until the late 70's. the Germans recued some as well with U boats and a weather ship. Here is the Nazi orders Early in 1940, Standing Order 154 went to U-boats: “Do not pick up survivors and take them with you. Do not worry about the merchant ship’s boats. Weather conditions and the distance to land play no part. Have a care only for your own ship and think only to attain your next success as soon as possible. We must be harsh in this war. The enemy began the war in order to destroy us, so nothing else matters. [Signed] DOENITZ.”
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  334. It was Aristotle Socrates Onassis ex husband of Jaqueline Kennedy that bought the HMCS Sackville and renamed its after his daughter Christina O, His bar stools were tastefully covered in Sperm Whale foreskins.
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  335.  @brentm9848  It may or may not have been a rogue wave, the actions of the person in charge oof the vessel also count. If the Captain does the sensible actions and reduces speed, heads into the waves, then less damage will be done. Keeping speed and course will cause more damage. Rogue waves are a useful item to blame.
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  336. For long service of a ship "not a museum type ship HMS Victory, USS Constitution" I suggest HMS Unicorn, launched in 1825 in ordinary and immediately used as a training vessel by the Royal Navy until 1969. Still afloat and now a museum ship in Dundee.
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  337. There was an interesting incident on a Survey vessel off Oman, the vessel was equipped with an underwater position reference system part of which included a pole on the end of which is a tracking head, this was lowered by a chain hoist through a hole in the bottom of the ship, To stop water ingress when the pole was recessed into the hull. The tube with a gate valve was fitted a the hull bottom. When lowering the pole with the valve still shut the chain broke, the pole on its way to the sea bed took out the gate valve. The ship is now left with an 18 inch hole in the hull which the ocean is filling, the ship despite the actions of her crew followed the pole to the sea bed.
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  338. The US took the plan seriously. The crews of U Boats captured of the US Coast in 1945 were tortured to extract knowledge on this plan.
    2
  339. The Thai"s saw an opportunity for territorial gains from French Indochina and British Malaya. This was done. They had previous fought the French in earlier in the war. Thailand did have Pro Japanese and Anti Japanese factions.
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  340.  @billbolton  Well they only had Japan and Japanese captured countries to trade with. Japan did not have much to trade. I looked up Thailand in my book of ship losses in WW2 but there are no entries as it skips from Switzerland to Turkey.
    2
  341. Napier was taken over by English Electric in 1942 , they saw the future in Jet engines for aircraft and discontinued the Sabre engine.
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  342. The Swordfish was by far the most successful Naval attack aircraft, Torpedeo/Dive bomber in WW2.
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  343. You have never heard poetry!
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  344.  @rackstraw  Agree , finger slip.
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  345. Its going to have to stop, you can recover a boat while maintaining a low speed the recovery of an aircraft is more difficult and a full stop will be needed. An Aircraft is a very fragile item. Also very weather dependent.
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  346. Many catamarans are SWATH, Small Waterplane, Twin Hulls. If you want to see a big cat try googling Pioneer Spirit.
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  347. Chief Petty Godde a survivor from the Scharnhorst stationed in conning tower reported . At 0824 saw two great columns of water rise up. He reported to the Captain "Several splashes estimated 8 inch guns 400 to 5000 metres Port Side. At this moment star shells illuminate the German ship fired from a different direction. Captain Hintze asked " No reports from the Radar?" The second salvo arrives. Then the radar reports a contact After 15 minutes Scharnhorst breaks off, her Radar being damaged.
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  348. The last Naval vessel "taken" by an enemy that I am aware off was the Hunt Class Destroyer Mendip who as the Egyptian Ibrahim el Awal , was captured by Israel on 31 October 1956 and commissioned as INS Haifa.
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  349. Aldis Lamp
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  350. The Vichy French in Senegal took a very extreme revenge on Allied Merchant Seaman who came ashore in the country. They included the crew of the Criton an Allied merchant ship which had been shelled and sunk by a Vichy Warship. The conditions of the camp were described as being that of a concentration camp.
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  351. The U-535 as raised from the North Sea in 1993
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  352.  @sarjim4381  This is a link to the report from the RAN. https://www.defence.gov.au/sydneyii/
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  353. The British did a much simpler system , they used Merchant ships as as Anti Aircraft Ships, the Ulster Queen using radar shot down a JU88 through the clouds on PQ18.
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  354.  @Drachinifel  The navies of a country act the same as shipping companies, they name their vessels how they want to, most are newbuild. You do not need to go go back 500 hundred years to find a renamed vessel in the Royal Navy. I am sure the Royal Navy has had a hundred renamed vessels in the past 100 years, indeed they exist in the present Royal Navy Fleet. The myth about renaming a ship as being unlucky is more Harry Potter than history.
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  355.  @Yandarval  Not sure of how that is related to the post, maybe you have a conspiracy theory? Your post is insulting to the Merchant Navy, it was there sailors that ensured the supplies to Britain were done. and the Nazi's defeated. The Merchant Navy had higher percentage losses that the Royal Navy, the Army and the Airforce.
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  356. There were many submarines rammed in WW@
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  357. HMS Trincomalee a ship of the Leda Class, and sister of Unicorn shows the alternative route of building the whole ship abroad, in this case India.
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  358. There were at least 11 collisions between U Boats in WW2, this lead to 12 U boats lost.
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  359. Auchtermuchty ?
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  360.  @NeuKrofta  Rakuyō Maru was sunk by USS Sealion II. Kachidoki Maru by USS Pampanito. A total of 1,559 Australian and British prisoners of war were killed in the incident
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  361. You and your love for small states! Western Australia is almost 4 times the size of Texas and almost twice the size of Alaska. Albany is practically a suburb of Perth. To fly to Kununurra in the states north you first fly to Broome, two a half hours in a 737, the an hour and a half in a smaller jet. From there go to Wyndam where SS Kooloma wreck can be seen at low water. It wad attacked by the Japanese in WW2 and finally sank.
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  362.  @lawrencelewis2592  There are some very interesting Pathe Film of the upside down ships passing under the Forth Bridge.
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  363. Slight problem, coal, each ship would need its own collier.
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  364. The decision to surrender Singapore was not Percivals to make. The decision was political by the Governor and made to reduce civilian casualties.
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  365. Endurance is on David Mearns wish list, so some hope there.
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  366. believe its being kept to be the voice of the Dalek Cruiser Exterminate.
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  367. For an interesting small ship look up HMS Speedy (1782)
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  368. The British Minister of Shipping at the outbreak on WW2 requisitioned pretty much every Passenger Ship, Cargo Ship and Tanker in the British Empire. The Passenger ships were used as Troop Transports, Armed Merchant Cruisers , and Hospital ships, As the war progressed other ships were chartered from invaded countries like the Netherlands and Norway. There were berths available for some ships but on government approval. There were some Neutral Ships from Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Turkey and even Egypt. There is an interesting tale on YouTube of USA Missionaries having difficulty in getting to Africa to carry out Gods work. They eventually got passage on an Egyptian ship the Zamzam, There they joined other civilian including a a Life Magazine photographer. As the sun rose one morning they had bee stalked by the raider Atlantis who immediately opened fire on the ship with at least 70 shells. the ship was on fire and sank. It is heart breaking to hear the words of a four year old thinking he was going to die. The the Neutral American Passengers were transferred the blockade runner Dresden who told them they were going to land them in Brazil, Instead they were sent to France locked in a hold expecting to be sunk at any time.Another Passenger Ship to be attacked by a German Raider was the SS Nankin, it was enroute from Perth to Calcutta. The vessel and crew were captured including and many civilian passengers Men Women and Children. The Civilians were handed over by the Germans to the tender care of the Japanese where they were interred in great hardships.
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  369.  @MartinCHorowitz  Simple question, when and where was the Queen Mary in England during the Second World War ? The last time she was in England was 30th August 1939, that shows a remarkable foresight into planning the D Day invasion.
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  370. “Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics.” Napoleon
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  371. I think its better than a oil tanker of the Titan Fleet. Titan Uranus.
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  372. U 78 was sunk in the Baltic by Soviet Artillery. fire from Soviet Army
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  373. Three US built submarine chasers were converted by the Norwegians to operate as part of the "Shetland Bus" operations from Scalloway in Shetland to Norway in WW2. They brought supplies to the Norwegian Resistance in Norway and brought out Agents, escaped Allied air crew and refugees from Norway. They used there speed to avoid detection by the Germans.
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  374. The Japanese navy murdered many of the people it rescued, cut there heads odd and threw them over the side. Read "Flyboys By James Bradley" The navy victims disappeared in the ocean and behind a screen of silence.
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  375. The Forth Rail Bridge has very substantial concrete bases. The Battleships were being towed upside down at less than 3 knots, not a large force to do damage to the bridge. I am curious of your source?
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  376. The Japanese Army modeled itself on the German Army! Enough said!
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  377.  @gregorywright4918  They also destroyed the pumps and pumping system, I believe that the dock did not open until 1946
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  378.  @jean-pierrelandry516  Steam turbines are far more reliable than Motor Ships at this time.
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  379.  @kevinsullivan3448  I never said they were stupid, I know who is a stupid bigot however.
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  380. " and the only preserved WW2 British destroyer." this is not correct, HMCS Haida is also a Brith WW2
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  381.  @Drachinifel  HMCS Haida is a British built destroyer of WW2. HMAS Vampire was Australian built in 1955, well worth a visit. Not a WW2 ship. Mikasa was not a WW2 destroyer. there were a couple of ex British vessels in the Egyptian navy, not sure of there fate.
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  382. Not sure what your point is?
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  383. It is a book by Dava Sobel
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  384.  @judgedeath3  The Sinking of the German Battleship Bismarck as Described in the B.d.U. [Commander U-boats] War Log, 24-31 May 1941 This meant that at least 6 boats were disposed along Bismarck's inward route, although 2 of them (U 556 and 98) had no torpedoes and one (U 74) was badly damaged. 0015 U 73 [commanded by Lieutenant Helmut Rosenbaum] sighted Bismarck and enemy forces in BE 6155. At 0042 the U-boats were ordered to search the area BE 6277 to BE 6192. Bismarck was to make beacon-signals to assist them. U 73 reported at 0231: "Last observation: Gunnery action between 3 units BE 6119. No further hydrophone bearing." A situation report of 2345 from C. in C. Fleet (which contained no position) showed that the battleship was surrounded by enemy forces. At 0300 U 556 [commanded by Lieutenant Herbert Wohlfahrt] obtained a bearing of 200 degrees from BE 6153. She observed a gunnery action at 0340 bearing 230 degrees 15 miles off from BE 6164 and herself made beacon signals. At 430 she reported gun flashes bearing 230 degrees from BE 6164 left bottom. No more D/F [direction finding] bearings of Bismarck. At 0700 C. in C. Fleet [Admiral Gunther Lutjens] requested that his War Logs be fetched by a U-boat. U 556, which was probably the nearest, was ordered to do this. At midday U 556 reported that she would have to return because of lack of fuel. U 74 received orders to fetch the War Log instead of her. As no further news was received which helped to clarify the situation, all U-boats taking part in the operation were ordered at 1326 to report their last sighting of Bismarck and any other observations made by them. Yes, No U Boats!
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  385.  @auscolpyrtosspott9175  There is a world shortage of containers
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  386.  @chocolatecatdad  (90% of the worlds trade is bt sea. I seems an odd argument that its better to transport goods by air in support of sailing ships.
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  387.  @chocolatecatdad  Pretty much everything that comes from Japan, China and Korea is is a container, this includes I Phones, electronics, clothing , furniture. Vast quantities of food fresh frozen and tinned also comes in containers. Cars and trucks in Ro Ro vessels. Oil in Tankers. Grain, and ore in bulk carriers.I suggest you buy the Admiralty Charts for Sailing vessel, 12 charts showing the recommended sailing routes by month. You will see how impractical it is.
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  388.  @richardstone3473  If you are on a ship in the middle of the ocean, no moon, no clouds, no pollution, no lights, its hard to pick out the main stars or planets. A hundred million stars in a great dome, and you feel so awestruck and insignificant at the same time.
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  389. You just need to visit to understand
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  390. ​ @WALTERBROADDUS  I lived in Houston and visited the Texas twice, fully agree.The messing and showers may also be a challenge
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  391.  @comeslittorissaxonici7395  Not any more
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  392. The moment HMS Exeter hit the Graph Spees oil refining plant the Graph Spee was history. Shallow draft, smaller tanks shorter range, less stable gun platform
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  393.  @mikehall4121  Go and argue with: Naval Guns at Normandy By Vice Admiral Morton L. Deyo, USN (Ret)
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  394. She was built for the Royal Navy as HMS Birkenhead therefore not civilian
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  395. Shouting
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  396. Think you are mistaken, maybe some research not on the internet?
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  397. The British Goverment also sold all the Merchant ships they owned as they were sunk, hundreds and they were often blown apart by explosives by the Salvage companies regardless of the bodies still onboard. Time for a Mea Culpa from the British Goverment!
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  398.  @sugarnads  At least 29000 on the British ships, plus Canadian, Norwegian, Swedish, Danes Dutch, Belgians, Indian, Australian, Kiwis and probably from all the Allied Nations.
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  399. I would recommend that to help preserve steel ships being afloat in fresh water would be preferable, to reduce rusting. Also ensure there is no stray electrical currents being generated.
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  400. Should be munitions ship
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  401. Also Temporary Lieutenant Thomas Wilkinson. RNR, , Captain of the Gallant HMS Li Wo
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  402. Happy with the Malacca Strait, never heard of the Sunday Strait!
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  403.  @alecblunden8615  Sunda Straits is a long way away, nearly 450 miles if I remember correctly. The Straata Banka also heads towards the Malacca Strait, but its easy to use the Java Sea and pass west of Borneo instead.
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  404. Should have been sponsored by XXXX
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  405. At 0857 the Bismarck sustained her first hit. Five minutes later a 16-inch shell from the Rodney apparently put the German battleship's A and B turrets out of action. C and D turrets were firing on the King George V when a shell from one of the British warships carried away the rangefinder and paralyzed the control position. These exchanges took place at a range of about 20,000 yards.
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  406. The Caribbean had there own refineries
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  407. The best "stories" are about Lord Cochrane, the real life hero that so many fictional characters are based on, the Hornblower, the O'Brien books and Master and Commander,
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  408. The awr was still happening for two more days
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  409. I think you missed Joe Kennedy
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  410.  @TerryDowne  Follow the money
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  411. Shallow North Sea???????
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  412.  @kegapr181  I think the your knowledge of the North Sea is thin to non existent. The oil rigs that that are seated? on the sea floor . Platforms can operate in several hundred feet of water. The deepest Oil rig that is "seated " on the sea floor that I am aware of is about 1,550 ft. Maybe buy a couple of charts?
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  413.  @kegapr181  Ignorance is bliss! Maybe only post on subjects you have information on?
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  414. British invention
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  415. Helidecks are great for walking and running.
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  416. The coal came from the UK and would not have been sold to the Germans
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  417.  @stevevalley7835  The reason for going to Port Stanley was a hope to capture coal. The Far East was now closed to Germany with its possession, Tsingtao, Guam, New Guinea, Narau now lost. I'm not sure how the Dutch East Indies would do but I suspect that was not an option.
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  418. The Flower Class corvettes were designed for to be very seaworthy vessels, cheap and easy to build, easy to operate , fit for purpose. The Clemsons were very complicated, old difficult to crew. The Clemsons were not stable, and had to have some equipment removed for stability reasons. There maneuvering characteristics were awful having the turning radius of a battleship. A Royal Canadian Navy Captain had this quote, "the most dubious gift since the Trojan Horse".
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  419.  @wolfsoldner9029  and your point is? Early in 1940, Standing Order 154 went to U-boats: “Do not pick up survivors and take them with you. Do not worry about the merchant ship’s boats. Weather conditions and the distance to land play no part. Have a care only for your own ship and think only to attain your next success as soon as possible. We must be harsh in this war. The enemy began the war in order to destroy us, so nothing else matters. [Signed] DOENITZ.” The records show that on 3 January 1942, Hitler discussed merchant shipping with the Japanese ambassador: “Merchant ships would be sunk without warning with the intention of killing as many of the crew as possible… We are fighting for our existence and our attitude cannot be ruled by humane feelings. For this reason he must give the order…that U-boats were to surface after torpedoing and shoot up the lifeboats. Ambassador Oshima heartily agreed… and said that the Japanese, too, are forced to follow similar methods…” The order of 17 September 1942. The order reads: “To all commanding officers: “1. No. attempt of any kind must be made at rescuing members of ships sunk, and this includes the picking up of persons in the water and putting them in lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats, and handing over food and water. Rescue runs counter to the rudimentary demands of warfare for the destruction of enemy ships and crews. “2. Orders for bringing in captains and chief engineers still apply. “3. Rescue the shipwrecked only if their statements will be of importance to your boat. “4. Be harsh, having in mind that the enemy takes no regard for women and children in his bombing attacks on German cities.” On the same date this order is recorded in the war diary of the flag officer submarines: “The attention of commanding officers is again drawn to the fact that all efforts to rescue members of crews of ships which have been sunk contradict the most primitive demands for the conduct of warfare by annihilating enemy ships and their crews. Orders concerning the bringing in of captains and engineers still stand.” The Nazi's were so nice people.
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  420.  @wolfsoldner9029  All my points were from the trial of the Nazi Doenitz who was lucky not to be executed, I will add two more bits of his trial to show how much of a Nazi he was and why you are wrong. How far can Karl Doenitz be considered to have been a thorough Nazi, responsible for indoctrinating the half million officers and men of the navy with theories of racial pride and racial hatred which led to the enslavement of conquered peoples and the slaughter of Jews? Here again the record is not absolutely clear. Doenitz, faced with quotations from his own statements supporting the Nazi ideology, strove to picture his Nazism as no more than loyalty to his soldier’s oath to the Fuehrer, and a call for wartime unity in the service under his command. It is not easy to accept Doenitz’s explanation that he became the heir to Hitler’s mantle, not because he was a known and fanatical Nazi, but solely because he was the senior officer of an “independent service.” To grant this would be to doubt the Nazism of Hitler himself. Captain Moehle of submarine headquarters Kiel, whose duty it was to brief submarine skippers on current orders before their departure on patrol, testified that he himself was in doubt as to the admiral’s meaning, and when next in Paris asked clarification from the admiral’s staff. There he was told the story of an outward-bound U-boat which sighted British airmen on a raft in the Bay of Biscay. Unable to take them aboard for lack for time, the submarine avoided them and continued on her mission. Her skipper so reported to Admiral Doenitz on his return. He was told that he had acted wrongly. If he could not capture the flyers he should have killed them on the raft to prevent their rescue and return to duty to fight against German submarines. Capt Moehle testified he repeated this story to submarine skippers who asked whether the order of 17 September meant to kill survivors. Capt Moehle’s testimony was partially substantiated by a Lieutenant Heisig, who stated that Doenitz, lecturing to the graduating class of the submarine officers school, gave the order the same interpretation. There were three reported caes of UBOats machine gunning survivors in the water, though due to the lack of witness only one was used at his trial. If you kill everyone then there are no witnesses. Now on to your other lie. Bismark survivors At 2059 U 74 [commanded by Lieutenant Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat] rescued 3 survivors in BE 6142 and according to their statements the ship must have been sunk at about 1000 in BE 5330, i.e. N.W. of BE 6150. This agreed with B.d.U's assumptions. So they can pick up survivors?!!!!!!!!! This is another sign of your beloved Nazi's at work on the Bismark, from USN ONI report. Demoralization of the Bismarck's crew was now apparent. One officer is said to have drawn his revolver and shot several seamen who refused to obey him. Officers were reported to have committed suicide, and scores of the crew jumped overboard before the action ceased
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  421. Tugs tow with their tow line on a winch, they take up the slack with the winch , not the movement of the tug. They can also easily lengthen the toe at any time. It takes less power to tow a battleship than you might think, I seem to remember a Crowley tug of the 8000 or 9000 BHP towing a Battleship from the West Coast to the East Coast around Cape Horn.
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  422. RFA Argus is a converted container ship. There are several civilian hospital ships all conversions engaged in supporting medical missions.
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  423.  @philiphumphrey1548  What ship is maneuverable with engines alone. None other than small very powerful boats. What changes did they make to Tirpitz?
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  424. There have been more mutinies in the Royal Australian Navy than in any other navy maintained by an English-speaking nation. see Mutiny! Naval insurrections in Australia and New Zealand by Tom Frame and Kevin Baker.
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  425. She was built in 1824 as Leda Class Frigate in Chatham, to Seppings direction. Never used in active duty she is in Dundee and well worth a visit, a remarkable survivor and I believe the oldest British built vessel still afloat.
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  426.  @bkjeong4302  did you ever read history? Go back to the cartoon channel!
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  427. Mulled wine
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  428. The Transporter Bridge on the Kiel Canal is interesting, there"s anothers in Middlesborough and Newport.
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  429.  @abrahamdozer6273  If you include the ability to close doors and ports and put the A/C on recycle like patrol boats then pretty much all merchant vessels built in the last 25 years will also be included.
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  430.  @abrahamdozer6273  I have done nuclear attack training . I have no idea what a box carrier is? Never seen one, so no idea how they lead to a miserably death? Yankee Golf.
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  431. ​ @abrahamdozer6273  Think you are confused with the Amazon guy who delivers box's to your mothers basement
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  432. It was a destroyer
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  433. The failure of the Norwegian Pinball wizards who "inspected" the Altmark is a stain on Norway for ever, they had to be Nazi sympathisers. There own brothers, fathers, sons were serving as Merchant seaman and they refused to heed the cries of the prisoners,.It is impossible to hide 300 bottles of beer from the Customs officers never mind 399 prisoners. I image they declared the cargo of Texas crude.
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  434. They did not start looking for the Sydney until five days later and it was a week after the sinking before they reached the site,any survivors well dispersed and by this stage probability none.
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  435.  Albert Felsen  Name one British Q Ship of World War 2. The Nazis started unrestricted submarine from the first day of WW2 with the sinking of the Athenia, Now lets look at Nazi Doenitz and his orders towards survivors. Early in 1940, Standing Order 154 went to U-boats: “Do not pick up survivors and take them with you. Do not worry about the merchant ship’s boats. Weather conditions and the distance to land play no part. Have a care only for your own ship and think only to attain your next success as soon as possible. We must be harsh in this war. The enemy began the war in order to destroy us, so nothing else matters. [Signed] DOENITZ.” The records show that on 3 January 1942, Hitler discussed merchant shipping with the Japanese ambassador: “Merchant ships would be sunk without warning with the intention of killing as many of the crew as possible… We are fighting for our existence and our attitude cannot be ruled by humane feelings. For this reason he must give the order…that U-boats were to surface after torpedoing and shoot up the lifeboats. Ambassador Oshima heartily agreed… and said that the Japanese, too, are forced to follow similar methods…” The order of 17 September 1942 reads: “To all commanding officers: “1. No. attempt of any kind must be made at rescuing members of ships sunk, and this includes the picking up of persons in the water and putting them in lifeboats, righting capsized lifeboats, and handing over food and water. Rescue runs counter to the rudimentary demands of warfare for the destruction of enemy ships and crews. “2. Orders for bringing in captains and chief engineers still apply. “3. Rescue the shipwrecked only if their statements will be of importance to your boat. “4. Be harsh, having in mind that the enemy takes no regard for women and children in his bombing attacks on German cities.” On the same date this order is recorded in the war diary of the flag officer submarines: “The attention of commanding officers is again drawn to the fact that all efforts to rescue members of crews of ships which have been sunk contradict the most primitive demands for the conduct of warfare by annihilating enemy ships and their crews. Orders concerning the bringing in of captains and engineers still stand.” The prosecution asked the reason for the statements “rescue runs counter to the rudimentary demands of warfare for the destruction of enemy ships and crews,” and “be harsh, having in mind that the enemy takes no regard of women and children.” Neither Doenitz nor is witness could answer these questions specifically. Though no admission of guilt could be wrung from Doenitz, the prosecution introduced testimony to show that at least one high-placed submarine officer did interpret this as an order to shoot survivors. Captain Moehle of submarine headquarters Kiel, whose duty it was to brief submarine skippers on current orders before their departure on patrol, testified that he himself was in doubt as to the admiral’s meaning, and when next in Paris asked clarification from the admiral’s staff. There he was told the story of an outward-bound U-boat which sighted British airmen on a raft in the Bay of Biscay. Unable to take them aboard for lack for time, the submarine avoided them and continued on her mission. Her skipper so reported to Admiral Doenitz on his return. He was told that he had acted wrongly. If he could not capture the flyers he should have killed them on the raft to prevent their rescue and return to duty to fight against German submarines. Capt Moehle testified he repeated this story to submarine skippers who asked whether the order of 17 September meant to kill survivors. Now for his guilt in murdering captured military personnel. Hitler, on 18 October 1942, signed a directive known throughout the service as the “Fuehrer’s Order”: “All enemies on so-called commando missions. . . challenged by German troops, even if . . . in uniform . . . are to be slaughtered to the last man . . . even . . . if . . . they are prepared to surrender. Individual commandos captured separately were to be “handed over to the SD” (security police). That, Doenitz admitted, meant they would be shot. This fact casts doubt on his subsequent denial, and the denial of Admiral Doenitz, that the shared the guilt for the execution of the crew of MTB 345. In July 1943 the British Motor Torpedo Boat 345 left the Shetlands on a mission to destroy German shipping and to lay mines in Norwegian waters. Attacked by superior German naval forces while hidden at the island of Apso, near Bergen, her captain destroyed his ship and surrendered himself and his crew as prisoners of war. They were interrogated by German naval intelligence officers, and, despite the recommendation of their naval interrogators that they be accorded prisoner-of-war treatment, they were turned over by the navy to the Security Police, on the suggestion, if not the insistence, of the naval commander in Norway, Admiral Schrader. The British sailor, Paul Robert Evans, who was one of the crew of a two-man torpedo fired against the Tirpitz in December 1942, was captured in uniform. He was executed a few weeks before Doenitz became commander in chief. Doenitz disclaimed knowledge and responsibility. Doenitz was found guilty on two charges, namely Crimes Against the Peace (i.e., waging was that are illegal under International Law) and War Crimes (i.e., contravention of rules governing the conduct of warfare). I suggest that the Nazis were capable of there own thoughts of murder, after all the murdered over 30 million people.
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  436. Except it was most probably Gustave Whitehead .
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  437.  @gizmophoto3577  Looked, he is not objective, Whitehead flew before the Wrights. The Smithsonian only have the Wrights aircraft if they defend the Wrights fraud.
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  438. Caledonian Canal max dimensions 150 ft by 35ft by draft 15.5 ft, definitely need to be pocket dreadnaughts
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  439.  @robertsolomielke5134  To Masters Orders and Pilots advice is the entry in the Log Book.
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  440. You need to read. The Man Who Bought a Navy: by Gerald Bowman,.Tells the story of Ernest Cox's Salvage of the fleet
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  441. The British commander in chief broke off the gun action at 1022. The cruiser Dorsetshire then fired three torpedoes into the Bismarck, and she sank at 1037. Yes Petty slow
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  442. You have not mentioned the oldest British built frigate the Unicorn, ex HMS Unicorn which is unique in being 90% original as built in 1825. All the other ships have been rebuilt , some many times. Her name was changed during WW2 to free the name Unicorn for an aircraft carrier/repair ship She as HMS Crecy took the surrender of U 2326 at wars end, A U boat surrendering to a 1825 built sailing Frigate of the Leda Class.
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  443. and the ships are registered in NOLA
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  444.  @jerichom11x  Agree with you totally. However Australia gets the term "Liberal" wrong as well.
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  445.  @snowyren5135  Time you "woke up" to the fact your political believes are not going to save the ship. Go get a soap box and go to your local park and shout your political nonsense there, not on a history channel. Glad to see your decommission of warships saved so many ships for Australia. There are plenty of right wing conspiracy channels to spread your nonsense, leave this channel alone.
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  446.  @snowythecat9596  Time you understood the definition of Woke, Woke is a term that refers to awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice. I applaud your concerns
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  447.  @snowyren5135  “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone at her.” The people crowded around him were so touched by their own consciences that they departed.
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  448.  @owenshebbeare2999  I only disagree with you on one point, I am not a Yank. I posted the definition without comment and hoped any intelligent person would either know the history, or look it up. There is so many who throw what they thing is insults that they do not understand. I fear they do not learn at all. We came into this with a lost point, I understand the wish and hope to save the Cerberus. It will not be helped by idiots posting insults at others. If it is to happen we all need to unite like we need to to achieve anything. It can be done, for inspiration look up findingsydney.com Many different people from many different backgrounds made it happen.
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  449. Dont forget the Kings Wife! Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (1900–2002) Wife of Albert who became George VI
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  450.  @ccalthrop6347  The RMS Queen Elizabeth was named after Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon the Queen at that time.
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  451.  @bebo4807  Rubbish
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  452. That was the source of the other 15 inch gun at the Imperial War Museum
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  453. There has been at least two memorial services to HMAS Sydney, one carried out by HMAS Sydney.
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  454. Then the Sultan of Zanzibar paid for the cost of the shells.
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  455. Battle of Mers-el-Kébir?
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  456.  @kemarisite  Thanks, was not aware of the distance
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  457. Oscarsborg Fortress?
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  458. 3 million dead Russian POW might disagree, 22 million dead civilians might also disagree, the Wehrmacht murdered some where between 8 and 9 million civilians.
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  459. The Navy built its RNR Fleet Replenishment at sea vessels, in South Korea by (DSME) Daewoo.
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  460.  @Locochris1956  Not sure where you got your definition of Metacentric Height from? Never seen that one before.A large metacetric height would make the ship very stiff, leading to a very quick roll period, maybe not the best for gunnery? Also a large metacentric height would not allow the ship to roll over in a turn. a large GM. large righting lever?
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  461.  @Locochris1956  I think you may have to study ship stability. You tell me the vessels are stiff, have a high metacentric height. Then you say they may roll over easily. These two statements are opposite. Stiff because of a high metacenric height means they will have a large righting lever, sharp roll and will not roll over. Bilge keels reduce rolling, not needed in a stiff vessel.The width of the ships would be set as a maximum by the locks in the Kiel Canal.
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  462.  @Fulcrum205  You have never been on a ship! A ship with a high metacentric height , a large GM has a very short and violent roll.
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  463.  @terrenceodgers5866  Not sure any aircraft would know the difference in vessels.
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  464.  @jannegrey  I suspect there were not many sailors with Electric Razors.
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  465.  @johnphillips519  Well done Herr Professor! You must have a degree in the "Blindingly Oblivious! There was oil washed up in Europe, Mediterranean and Far East. The cold climates take longer to recover.
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  466.  @alecblunden8615  The Grand Fleet wrecks were sold by the Royal Navy who wanted there ships removed so they could use the anchorage, and most were removed
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  467. Boris Johnson writes of Churchill: “No other politician has taken so many apparently risky positions. No other politician has been involved in so many cock-ups… flourishing in spite of them.”
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  468.  @Riazor1370  The Germans invaded Poland on the 1st of September. The Russians invaded Poland on the 17th of September. Your time line is wrong.
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  469. Looking at the film of Enterprise my opinion that is is more than steering that is being used, the quickness of turns means that the engines were also being used.
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  470. this is an excellent documentary by Ludvic Kennedy
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  471. Which Gunboats did that?
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  472. Funnels have often got many other purposes. One is an area to use the exhaust to preheat air and fuel. An area for aux machinery as the area under-deck is limited.
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  473. Fred Dibnah
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  474. Perhaps look at the RN in the Mediterranean? There were no German ships in the Atlantic, so was a pointless task. The RN did attack German vessels on the Norwegian Coast including sinking German U Boats.
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  475.  @genericpersonx333  Wasn't just well protected, it was almost non existent except for off Norway
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  476. Thank you
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  477. USS Wake?
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  478. Although in March the major attacks on convoys could still be carried out, by May it was quite clear that the enemy's air strength in the Atlantic, consisting of long-range planes and of carrier-borne aircraft, had increased enormously. Of even greater consequence, however, was the fact that the U-boats could be located at a great distance by the enemy's radar, apparently on short wave, without previous warning on their own receivers. They were then heavily attacked by destroyers and aircraft carriers without even seeing the convoy, which had been diverted. If, however, in spite of this a convoy was contacted, it was discovered that the problem of finding it was no longer the only difficulty in that U-boats could not now attack the convoy because its fire power forced them to submerge. From this new situation it was evident that the enemy's aircraft and destroyers must now be fitted with new radar. The U-boat losses, which previously had been 13 percent of all the boats at sea, rose rapidly to 30 to 50 percent. In 1943 alone, 43 U-boats were lost. These losses were suffered not only in convoy attacks, but everywhere at sea. There was no part of the Atlantic where the boats were safe from being located day and night by aircraft. All the U-boat entrance and exit channels in the Bay of Biscay were, in particular, most carefully watched. Losses here were especially high. Under these circumstances, the previous surface war on convoys could not be continued because, in the meantime, the favorable conditions in the American sphere of activity had also changed and U-boat successes had diminished considerably in that theater. Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, Kriegsmarine
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  479. reminds me of the old joke, whats the last thing that goes though a fly's mind when it hits the windscreen?
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  480. I doubt it
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  481. Only in post WW2 Warships
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  482. First Naval Architect failure
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  483. Many many ships have a mast aft of the funnel
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  484. Interesting so Britain is at fault in WW1 because Germany invaded Belgium and France!
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  485. The Suez Canal was owned the Suez Canal Company a joint British French venture. So it was a commercial operation, not a Goverment one, unlike the Panama Canal.
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  486. Metrological reports were made every six hours, the Officer of the Watch was responsible for recording the weather. The Coded Telegram was transmitted in Morse by the Radio Operator when he was on watch. The recording of the weather had been started in the early 1800's and was used by the Hydrographic Office to produce Weather Charts and Sailing directions
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  487. Did you learn about Christian missionaries and their wives and children who were on the Zam Zam when she was attacked?
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  488.  @LukeBunyip  Yes
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  489. Yes, Cheynes station with a preserved whale catcher and all the process equipment and a spotter plane. Two more catchers were scuttled in the bay.
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  490. Maybe you mean HMS Campbeltown?
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  491. Trying to one up HMAS Sydney.
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  492. Inflatable liferafts were not a thing in WW2
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  493. HMVS Cerberus
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  494. The War Department operated six Liberty ships Converted to Aircraft Repair Ships
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  495. Up a gum tree without a paddle!
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  496. This has been proved wrong. Many Greek Tankers stole crude oil from the cargo during the 70s/80s and blew us there diesel engines.
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  497.  @officernasty1111  Agreed, proof in action. Graf Spee's 'refinery' was basically a degasser to "Refine" the Texas Crude on the Altmark. The Altmark blew up in Japan, different reason.
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  498. Getting a Navy to name a ship after you is good, but not many had two countries name a ship after you is better and rarer. I can think only of two, HMS Cochrane / Almirante Cochrane and HMS Churchill and USN Winston S Churchill, and more?
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  499. It was the SAS that captured Bergen Belsen. They captured the commandant and most of the Staff. They were imprisoned and went on trial. No murders committed.
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  500. The Flower Class were superior sea vessels, they were designed for operation as Whale Catchers operated by Christian Salvesen off South Georgia. The Bathurst's were much lighter built and low draft. Ships do not lean, they either List or Roll!
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  501. Fuel for a steamship requires it to be kept warm at all times or it solidifies, diesel does not
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  502.  @jbepsilon  Your right, ger Free Surface Effect, this reduces or eliminates you Stability. Goodbye cruel sea!
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  503.  @dovetonsturdee7033  The Altmark had a full cargo of East Texas light crude loaded in Port Arthur. It is that oil that would have been refined. In later years various Greek owned ships piped light crude direct to the diesel engines, some times successful, some times not.
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  504. I was unaware that St Eustatius was where the Jews came from!
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  505. Thank you, a much needed explanation.
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  506. There is no "black magic " about forecasting a Typhoon. It is a well understood scientific principle where the drop in barometric pressure is measured and by observing the behavior of the wind, "veering or backing" will then tell you in what way you need to head to avoid the Dangerous semi circle. I am sure the USN had forecasters onboard to give advice to Halsey.
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  507.  @lilidutour3617  Then there is a simple answer, you know nothing about Meteorology so maybe stick to reading the tea leaves?
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  508.  @johnshepherd8687  NOAA and others give the best prediction possible track, are you suggesting that they should not do that? The basic rules for watching the barometer, if the pressure drops by 5 mb or 3 mb and the wind increases to Force 6 then there is little doubt that a TRS is around. Then the avoiding action should be taken. I doubt that any information from the area was available as it was all Japanese occupied except for the recently landed troops in the Philippines. I am sure the Fleet had there own Meteorologists onboard and that is the best place to get the most up to date information.
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  509.  @lilidutour3617  Surprised an "experienced mariner " did not know this. The information is in a publication that is on about 90% of the worlds fleet that sail on the worlds oceans , not the inland waterways and coastwise. The Mariners Handbook, NP 100, published by Hydrographic Office. They unfortunately do not have any advice on reading tea leaves, they do offer advice on early action.
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  510. By invading and plundering other countries.
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  511.  @WALTERBROADDUS  Look for TROOPSHIPS OF WORLD WAR II by ROLAND CHARLES Lists hundreds of ships including Cargo ships used by the US as Troopships.
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  512.  @WALTERBROADDUS  Was War a good idea?
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  513. During replenishment at sea you cannot have three ships maneuvering independently without having a disaster. It is normal for the tanker to keep course and speed and allow the warships to change course and speed to keep position. I have never seen a tanker not discharge its own oil. To use a shore based system would require hoses spread over the deck with many tank lids open, not ideal and control of the shore based equipment potentially dangerous.
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  514.  @Kiev_The_Great  Can white sails double for white flags? Was Your comment!
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  515. People interested in this story may be interested in the MV Ondina a Royal Dutch Tanker. The ship had been damaged in an action with two Japanese Merchant Cruisers the Aikoku Maru and Hokoku Maru. The MV Ondina with assistance from the HMIS Bengal had sunk the Hokoku Maru was hit by a 4 inch shell from the MV Ondina causing the Long Lance Torpedo's to explode and eventually sink the ship. The Aikoku Maru shelled the MV Ondina causing fires to break out, The crew abandoned the tanker in lifeboats and were machine gunned by the Japanese. The HMIS Bengal having used all its shells sailed off. Aikoku Maru rescued the crew from the sunk sister Hokoku Maru and also sailed away. The survivors from the MV Ondina reboarded the tanker, put out the fires and sailed to Fremantle.
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  516.  @alexandermonro6768  That is why it is defined as a minute of Latitude, there both the same at the equator or about the same. If you measure distance on a nautical chart using thr Longitude scale you are in error., The Earth is an oblate spheroid.
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  517. Two ships that have had there oil removed are the Royal Oak and the Blucker. What happened to the oil from the ships sunk in WW2 that escaped as the result of actions ?
    1
  518.  @mpetersen6  Yes, USCG Modoc
    1
  519.  @mpetersen6  The Pilot was Leonard B. Smith, Ensign, U.S. Navy.
    1
  520.  @derrickstorm6976  Thankyou, that stupid reply annoys me!
    1
  521.  @jerry2357  A slight detour to Leith will add the Royal Yacht Britannia.
    1
  522. Had there not have been a German presence in Norway the Russians could have taken over Norway.
    1
  523. The magic fog dispersal equipment is called the wind. Fog disperses at 15 knots
    1
  524. The Omen
    1
  525. Percentage wise Naval vessels are more likely to collide, allide or ground than merchant vessels. The simply do not have as much experience. You have no idea what went wrong on the vessel, wait until the report into the incident.
    1
  526. Jack Aubry is based on a very interesting man, Admiral Lord Cochrane, and the non fiction books on him are even better reading than O.Brien.
    1
  527.  @Andy_Ross1962  you can build and launch the vessel. You cannot insure the vessel, you cannot hire crew, you cannot carry passengers without some certification. I suspect that unless the vessel is certified you would not be able to carry pollutants "oil". You are going to have to get get insurance for wreck removal and again suspect that would be imposable You are going to have an interesting time, better have a lawyer on speed dial. If you manage to upset the Customs and Exercise then you are in major problems, they trump every one.
    1
  528. A Cunningham plan
    1
  529. Your more than three hundred years late. The Royal Navy studied this since the mid 1700 . The British Royal and Merchant Navy have recorded Metrological data since before the Napoleonic era, Strange phenomena ships and land get effected by Metrological conditions
    1
  530.  @ruedigerschwarz  What a stupid response. The vessel was a neutral vessel owned by the Egyptians. It was unarmed and attacked without warning. No orders to stop, no warningfired at it.There was no radio transmission attempts. 55 six inch shells fire at this old passenger vessel. Typical Nazi response. It was not a naval transport, again a typical Nazi anwser. Was the Nazi Captain in charge of the Atlantis psychic? How did he know it was a naval transport ? Then shell it 55 times, destoying the ship, destroying lifeboats. sinking the ship. Noble work indeed. They were amblances onboard, very dangerouus equipment. There were also American volunteer ambulance drivers! The passengers were mostly Americn missionaries and there families, there story is on YouTube, hear a four year old explain why he feared for his life? Childern being shelled, very Nazi. They were not taken to Brazil, another lie. They were kept men, women and childern in the hold of the ship and forced to be on a blockade runner to France while they feared for their lives every day. There was also an American news reporter onboard, his story is very interestng. Nazi Germany at its best, treating Neutral American missionaries as prisoners of war, not putting them on a neutral ship, not landing them in Brazil. There is no honour giving women and childern to be imprisoned by the Japanese. Or to place them locked in the hold of a blockade runner into France where either the British or the German Uboats may sink them.
    1
  531. Taranto was a heavily defended Port with dozens of warships inside. It was very well defended as was the ultra modern Bismarck. There were also far fewer Swordfish than TBD giving defences a better chance to hit them
    1
  532.  @shalaconballard9912  Maybe it was transported by a UFO?
    1
  533. One of her 15 inch guns is at the Imperial War Museum.
    1
  534. No the second
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  535. There is an interesting book called Swastikas in the Artic that covers the very interesting history of the Nazis setting up temporary Artic bases.
    1
  536. The British commander in chief broke off the gun action at 1022. The cruiser Dorsetshire then fired three torpedoes into the Bismarck, and she sank at 1037. Pretty slow.
    1
  537. I image they simply sold them.
    1
  538. There are many dozen, hundred? Container ships 400m or longer!
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  539. Yes been available for years
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  540. This is a very myopic response that could only be written by a non seafarer. A helmsman's never uses the compass after stating the course course in confined waters instead uses item at a distance. a helmsman in a heavy seas needs to see the waves so he can can correct the course.
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  541. The Anti Aircraft ship Ulster Queen claimed a JU 88 shot down above the cloud and never visually observed in mid September 1942 while escorting convoy PQ18 north of Norway. HMS Avenger was also using Radar for anti aircraft fire in this convoy.
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  542. ONI Report The cruise of the Bismark. At 1030 on the 26th a Catalina of the Coastal Command sighted the Bismarck about 550 miles west of Land s End. The King George V, Rodney, and Renown were now converging on the Bay of Biscay. Reconnaissance planes from the Ark Royal took up the watch on the Bismarck, At 1500 an air striking force was dispatched from the Ark Royal, but its attack was ineffectual. The second and decisive attack was made by 15 Swordfish, armed with torpedoes, and lasted from 2055 to 2125, The 400 men assigned to the Bismarck's anti-aircraft guns maintained a furious barrage, but the crews, which had been on watch almost continuously for 5 days, were near exhaustion and their fire was not as effective as previously. The planes attacked simultaneously from a number of points, diving to the attack at an angle of about 50 . One torpedo struck amidships on the port side, one on the starboard quarter, and possibly a third on the port quarter; The torpedo which hit the starboard quarter wrecked the steering gear, jamming the rudders and causing the Bismarck to turn slowly in circles to the starboard. Frantic efforts were made to repair the damage: It was announced that the man who succeeded in freeing the rudders would be given the Knight Insignia of the Iron Cross. Divers succeeded in centering one rudder, but the other could not be freed, Efforts were made to steer the ship by her engines, but after a short period, instead of proceeding on her intended southeasterly course, the Bismarck was actually northwest of her position when the attack was made. There appears to have been further controversy among the officers. The captain, when asked by an officer whether he should try to blow off the jammed rudder, is reported to have replied, "Do what you like; I am through with it." The ship's best speed was now reduced to 10 to 12 knots.
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  543. Not sure your distances in the UK are correct. Any one injured in Scapa Flow would go to Thurso , about 25 miles and either get treated there or Wick, if not a train to Inverness, Aberdeen, Perth Edinburgh or Glasgow. The sea distance to Leith is a little over 200 miles.
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  544. ​ @Pusserdoc  Where/why would there be 100000 casualties in Scapa Flow? I seem to think in WW! after action the ships went to the Firth of Forth to repatriate casualties. I would think the navy has relativity little causality numbers compared to an Army . After battle many are drowned and any serous will have to be stabilised onboard or die.
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  545.  @Pusserdoc  i suggest you visit Scapa Flow. There was a large shore establishment with Mess halls, Cinemas , Hospitals Offices Church Workshops etc. A large number of large houses were taken over on the Scottish mainland from Inverness to Berwick and used for the treatment of the wounded from France, particularly the long term, amputee's , gassed and shell shocked. The main method of transport to Scapa Flow was by rail to Thurso and then a ferry ride over. Stops torpedo attacks.
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  546. ​ @Pusserdoc  Its a lovely place, some of the earliest stone age structures in the world predating the Pyramids and Stonehenge, I have a fair bit of information on ships in WW2 but less in WW1. The British as a result of Covid have opened some archives and allow free downloads
    1
  547. The French have attached the Royal Navy many times, generally not worked out for them.
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  548. the and of the anchor chain (rope hasn't been used since the day of sail) is secured by the bitter end in the chain locker. It is only used in case of emergency or in a drydock when the chain is being laid out for inspection. The decent of the chain is controlled by the windlass and brake.
    1
  549. Drach was very political correct, the Allies actions were wrong, so unspecific.
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  550. The ship was a Refrigerated Cargo liner, she would have had accommodation for 12.
    1
  551.  @TrickiVicBB71  Who were the Allies that you are talking about?
    1
  552. Nelson suffered from sea sickness as well.
    1
  553.  @ph89787  It was alleged to be proposal by Robert Menzies. The name was given by MacArthur.
    1
  554. Does shooting at Venus count as shore bombardment?
    1
  555. The British used the island as a store to destroy surplus/captured mainly Naval munitions.
    1
  556. Many of the Nazi Officers escaped from Argentina and went to Peru where they were taken by Japanese Liners to Japan. From there the went by the Trans Siberian Railway back to Germany. The commander of U 162 Fregattenkapitän Jürgen Wattenberg was one of these man.
    1
  557. Think that is a simplified reply. Unless it is an abandoned ship then it will have an owner, The Owner of the Ship and Cargo may be different The Owner will probability be the insurer which may be a company or during the war the government. An internet search will show that especially cargo Spain and Portugal treasure ships if found will be claimed .
    1
  558. There is a replica of HMS Endeavour in Sydney at the Maritime Museum. Its a very interesting vessel to visit and you will be astonished by the smallness of the vessel and respect to all that sailed on the original vessel.
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  559.  @simonpitt8145  Your correct it was the Bismark that was built in Hamburg.
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  560. Barnes Wallis last success.
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  561. Very interesting
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  562. England had ceased to have a navy long before the US Civil War
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  563. Time difference, 5 to 8 hours behind
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  564. Was she actually in the Harbour? A very poor location for keeping a lookout.
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  565.  @falklandsgamer9156  Up near the Lady Elizabeth?
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  566. The first chariot attack on the Tirpitz was carried out by the Norwegian fishing vessel "Arthur" and this was commanded by Leif Larsen and crewed by men of the Shetland bus,. The Arthur got to within 5 miles of the Tirpitz when bad weather caused the two Chariots to break free, The Arthur was scuttled and the crew and divers headed to Sweden. They all made it except AB Evans who was wounded and captured by the Germans. The Germans later murdered AB Evans.
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  567. He certainly attacked an Egyptian Passenger Ship the Zam Zam. This was done without confirming her identification and without warning. There are several accounts of this on YouTube where American Missionaries and there children report what happened. He sank the Zam Zam and despite promises her passengers were sent locked in a hold of German Blockade runner to France. The tales on YouTube are very heart rendering.
    1
  568. The ONI "Post Mortems on Enemy Submarines" are a wonderful reading. You can appreciate the volume of the knowledge that they have gained from interrogations and many other sources no doubt including Jacques Stosskopf. All the details of of the submarine from first laydown to sinking, All the senior officers complete careers. The Politics of the U Boat service. The operations of the vessel and equipment. The Bases. The Pubs Inns and other establishments frequented by the crews. The gathering and understanding of the U boats was a great help in defeating them.
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  569. I stayed at the Hotel Piet Hein in Amsterdam a few years ago, I was amused to see on the welcome greeting on the TV screen" Piet Hein concurred the Spanish fleet in 1626" . Maybe not the best translation, I suspect it should be conquered.
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  570. Can you provide some details of where this is published
    1
  571. kept the unemployment rate down
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  572.  @John.0z  It was a tough job getting a River Class Frigate to Maralinga
    1
  573. Its not the outback, its agriculture land
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  574.  @ivangenov6782  Drachinfel stated that the Great Eastern laid the first transatlantic cable
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  575.  @thehunter5475  I have sailed across the North Atlantic many times, have you? Ships cross the North Atlantic without weather damage. The fact is this was a substandard design and build!!
    1
  576. A simple measure is if you can small H2S you can survive for a period. I you cannot smell H2S then there is either none of it will kill you quickly.
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  577.  @thunderhead180  3. Horizontal positioning and spacing of lights (a) When two masthead lights are prescribed for a power-driven vessel, the horizontal distance between them shall not be less than one half of the length of the vessel but need not be more than 100 metres. The forward light shall be placed not more than one quarter of the length of the vessel from the stem.
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  578. That"s why she was sunk.
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  579. If you look on the internet the use of fabricated Steel Plate to construct highly efficient anchors is easily found, try googling Bruce or Vryhof Anchors.
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  580.  @stevevalley7835  If Sheffield had not on its Sat communications it might well have had its radars working
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  581. Destroyer's bow design is to achieve high speed . A Ram bow would limit the speed making the destroyer of less use.
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  582. Rivet holes have there use, they stop cracks in the steel.
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  583.  @peterthomson4632 They had Tobruk and the wonderful efficient Italian Navy would run supplies there as well. No problem.
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  584. Perhaps if look back into the history of tanks you will find that the British invented combined arms in the 1930's long before Germany or the USA. The Germans attended the maneuver's as observers and learned from it. The British also invented the first modern tank in WW2, the Centurion, a way superior to any other tank and the model for the modern MBT.
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  585. I think that a bit of research will show that just as O’Connor defeat of the Italians in North Africa, this was replicated by Montgomerie’s vulture like destruction of Rommel’s Africa Corp in North Africa. Rommels failure to follow the combined armour doctrine is shown after the Africa’ Corp defeat at Mareth/Medenine, this was described by a Major in the Royal Tank Regiment (David Belchem), later to be the youngest Major General in the British Army) as. The three Panzer Divisions had such overwhelming success at Kasserine that their leaders and advisors were overconfident. They did not concern themselves with diversionary tactics, they adopted a phalanx type attack, demanding each division create a breach in the Eighth Army positions. Further research will show that Centurions of the Indian Army destroyed The US Armour of the Pakistani's. The Centurions of the Israeli Army destroyed the Panzers of the Syrian Army and later the Russian tanks also.
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  586. Its not a GPS system, its a Transit navigation system, a forerunner to GPS..
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  587. .incested ???
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  588. Japan was two and a half years late in starting a war, therefore all excess merchant ships had been with drawn, and bought or chartered to Britain.
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  589. Because the name came from England and thats how its pronounced in England.
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  590.  @Deevo037  You pronounced German and Japaneses ships correctly? No chance, get over it and stop being a snowflake.
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  591. The Soviet Union spent the first two years as a defacto Nazi ally.
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  592. Does any one know wat the man with the sextant is doing? The sun is too low to use to get a fix, plus he is not looking at the sun, also the the angle on the sextant is set for an object at about 60 degree elevation. The sun has not set never mind got to twilight' Its almost as bad a John Wayne's use of a sextant. Maybe from the Love Boat?
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  593. A well lead, experienced and trained crew is what you need.
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  594. A top of the line cruiser.
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  595. Don't forget Liberia is also non metric
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  596. I do not understand your statement,
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  597. The Royal Australian Navy has done a very interesting reconstruction of the battle. its easily found online.
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  598. "Example: the extended forcastles added to the Flower Class Corvettes in WWII that made them far more effective escorts because they beat the crap out of their crews to a considerably degree" What does that mean? The Flower Class were excellent sea boats designed as they were for Antarctic operations.
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  599.  @abrahamdozer6273  Sorry . time to do some reading. The Flower Class design were taken from Smiths Dock Middlesboro. The Design was prewar for Christian Salvesen as Whale catchers around South Georgia, which is in Antarctica. I met many seafarers who served on them both Pre and Post war (no they do not have a website and are all dead) and not one complained about the ship rolling or pitching. The complaints come from very brave men who were trained as Bank Managers, insurance salesmen who were on yachts pre war for a sail around the Isle of Wight. They were not professional seafarers, they were all in the Merchant or Royal Navy. Please do not quote third hand from a web site. You put a small vessel in the North Atlantic and it will Pitch and Roll. You maybe need to go and find the Quote from a Canadian Captain of a Clemson Destroyer. "This is the most dubious present since the Wooden Horse of Troy".
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  600.  @sarjim4381  The Flower class were small vessels, the only part to need design was to enclosed the area between the Forecastle and Main Accommodation. When they were Whale catchers they had a smaller crew and to get to the Harpoon on the Forecastle there was a raised walkway from the Bridge to the Forecastle. I really cannot see any enemy bothering to look at crew moving 30ft from the Accommodation to the Forecastle. The design was good but the Royal Navy adaption was less than optimal.
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  601.  @abrahamdozer6273  I do not understand your point? A corvette is a small ship, it will pitch roll and heave in a seaway, I guess you never sailed on a corvette except in a game. Unless you get a much larger ship that is what happens. So you except what happens in the ship. a good sea vessel is one that will survive a storm. Now go back to your World of Warships as it is obvious you have no experience on an actual ship.
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  602.  @abrahamdozer6273 Your "explanation" makes absolutely no sense . What is a rocker?!!!You have never sailed on these ships and I have. Appears you are both shaken and stirred. Please if you have any knowledge or experience use it. Purple bruises over your body, I do not know where you go or what you do.
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  603.  @abrahamdozer6273 You are making things up again. There is no Ship Construction term ROCKER!, Maybe you are confused with rocking chair, where you get your bananas and when you fall off you get the green and purple bruises? Take care and dont fall over.
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  604.  @abrahamdozer6273  I see no point is debating ship design with someone who knows nothing about ship design or ship operations. You also appear immune to reading and finding the truth. I expect your 30 min ferry crossing was the source of your information, Perhaps also try and increase your reading skills? The ships were originally WHALE CATCHER's not Whale Watchers.
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  605.  @abrahamdozer6273  I could use you as the comic distraction, how ignorance is bliss.
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  606.  @abrahamdozer6273  Dozer by name Dozy by nature.
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  607. Please read the introduction
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  608. Because the name came from England and thats how its pronounced in England.
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  609. It was done at the request of President Roosevelt who was to send two battleships as well to deter the Japanese. The USA did not send the Battleships but were to send B17 squadrons instead, this also did not happen. Churchill specifically signalled that the ships were not to go to sea without Aircover. I suggest you read some history!
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  610.  @bluelemming5296  I replied to an ill informed poster, I am aware of all the relevant points. It may come as surprise to you but on the 10th of December 1941 there was no naval experience of fighting the Japanese Airforce! They had sunk the USA Fleet at Pearl Harbour but that was a port operation. Churchill sent a telegram ordering Repulse and POW not to go to sea without air support but he was ignored.
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  611. They sailed into the Firth of Fort first and then were escorted by the British Fleet to Scapa Flow.
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  612. Not sure what the helmsman used if he did not use the compass.
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  613. Ship tonnage was original derived from the number of barrels they could carry as cargo, nothing to do with weight.
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  614. Why?
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  615. The British did not want the Graf Spee to sail in 72 hours, they tried to delay that so more Naval units could get there and ensure its destruction. The Germans had little to send to assist.
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  616. Plus there actions in Taranto and indeed throughout where ever they operated.
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  617. I have never heard about the ship sunk while carrying escaped Fenians, can you tell me what the ships name was so I can do some research.
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  618.  @walterCronkitesleftshoe6684  The Sinking of the German Battleship Bismarck as Described in the B.d.U. [Commander U-boats] War Log, 24-31 May 1941 0015 U 73 [commanded by Lieutenant Helmut Rosenbaum] sighted Bismarck and enemy forces in BE 6155. At 0042 the U-boats were ordered to search the area BE 6277 to BE 6192. Bismarck was to make beacon-signals to assist them. U 73 reported at 0231: "Last observation: Gunnery action between 3 units BE 6119. No further hydrophone bearing." A situation report of 2345 from C. in C. Fleet (which contained no position) showed that the battleship was surrounded by enemy forces. At 0300 U 556 [commanded by Lieutenant Herbert Wohlfahrt] obtained a bearing of 200 degrees from BE 6153. She observed a gunnery action at 0340 bearing 230 degrees 15 miles off from BE 6164 and herself made beacon signals. At 430 she reported gun flashes bearing 230 degrees from BE 6164 left bottom. No more D/F [direction finding] bearings of Bismarck. At 2059 U 74 [commanded by Lieutenant Eitel-Friedrich Kentrat] rescued 3 survivors in BE 6142 and according to their statements the ship must have been sunk at about 1000 in BE 5330, i.e. N.W. of BE 6150. This agreed with B.d.U's assumptions.
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  619. The simplest way to alter light houses/ bouys is to change characteristic of the light. I found the part on civilian ships charging around and going aground rather patronising . That is is why Light housed and bouys were placed in the first place, no electronic navigation. Without civilian ships charging around the oceans Britain would have had to sue for peace. Battleships are not good at carrying iron ore, oil or grain.
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  620. There are wooden ships been in Port Stanley been there for 150 plus years with minimum maintenance.
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  621. Bubble sextants were used in conjunction with Nauticak Almanacs and trig tables. Bubble sextants are less accurate than ordinary sextants but have the advantage of being able to be used without an actual horizon which restricts use to the period of twilight in the morning and evening
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  622. The torpedo hit aft of the Bridge, this was reported by the U Boat Commander, and can be seen on photos of the wreck. The cargo hold stopped in front of the Bridge, There is no cargo space behind the Bridge so no place to stow cargo.
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  623.  @mark_wotney9972  We now know what 200 pounds of lard can do
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  624. Because the name came from England and thats how its pronounced in England.
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  625.  @davidrobb3338  I am sure you pronounce Japanese and German names correctly?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not! It is a English name, if you want an Australian name try Canberra. My what a snowflake.
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  626.  @davidrobb3338  Not sure if you are being deliberately obtuse but you listened to an English man pronounce it correctly. He does not live in Australia and therefore does not pronounce it as Australians do. Maybe you need to make a dictionary of Australian place names?
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  627.  @brentm9848  There is nothing "freak" about a 40 ft wave, that is a normal wave in a Force 9 or 10.
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  628. You just need to go to a Student Union in the 70s to the 90s to get the same.
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  629. The Third Minesweeping Flotilla were sailed up the Elbe to Magdeburg. Then lifted out and transported on 64 wheel trailers (they weighted 120t). They were trucked to the Danube and relaunched. Sailed down the Danube to the Black Sea. Arrived about Nov 1943.
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  630. Simple conversions, Long Ton 2240 pounds, Metric tonne 1000kg or 2205 pounds, American ton 2000 pounds or 1000 kips. 10 ft is approx 3m No one has mentioned that Navies use Nautical miles and not statute miles
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  631. Getting into Port Stanley is very difficult, and very enclosed
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  632.  CipiRipi00  You can buy a chart of the world showing magnetic variation and its rate of change.
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  633. The Altmark was an armed Kriegsmarine vessel and as so should have been detained under international law
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  634.  @ricardokowalski1579  Wrong way around, Warships are not allowed to go into neutrals waters with POW onboard.
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  635.  @ricardokowalski1579  The British did know about the Merchant Navy men onboard! That is why they "barged" into Norwegian waters specifically for that reason! The Norwegians had shamefully failed to carry out the required action. It is not easy to "hide" 197 men on a tanker! I suspect the actions of the Nazi supporting Quislings. You need to look at your moral compass? You support the Nazi's illegal transit of Norwegian waters. You support the actions of Norway's failure to follow international law. Then you condemn Britain's actions in freeing the Merchant Navy men from Nazi prison!
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  636. I am a bit confused, USCGC Modoc was on ice patrol, but was rescuing torpedoed ships crews in the Bay of Biscay and yet saw the Bismark, none of this appears in the US Navy Report. This is the extract "Many anxious hours passed for the British, particularly as they assumed wrongly that Bismarck was retiring to the northeast. All hopes for finding her again rested on the many warships closing the area or in the long-range patrols by Coastal Command aircraft squadrons flying out of Britain and Iceland. In addition, many American patrol aircraft, including patrol squadron VP-52 out of Argentia, flew long search patrols in the waters of the western Atlantic. All these air patrols were made more difficult and dangerous by high winds, rain squalls, and low cloud cover. It was not until 1010 on 26 May that British luck changed. A British Catalina aircraft of No. 209 Squadron, piloted by US Navy observer Ensign Leonard B. Smith, USNR (US Naval Reserve), spotted Bismarck at a range of about eight miles. While Ensign Smith flew the aircraft and evaded accurate German antiaircraft fire, his British copilot radioed a report of the enemy warship's location."
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  637. Survival. Is a complex matter and the persons state of mind is the most important factor in deciding if you are going to live or die. An Icelandic Fisherman got swept overboard i an Icelandic winter, the sea temperature just above freezing, he was in the water for six hours, swam ashore and walked to the nearest habitation taking several hours and survived. He was recently married and had a three month old baby at home, this was his motivation to survive plus ?
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  638. Totally different design
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  639. Harland and Wolf were a Clyde based shipbuilder before they opened a shipyard in Belfast, they had three shipyards on the Clyde the last shut in the 1960's. They could have moved equipment and men to these shipyards.
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  640. You cannot armour the superstructure, its too heavy
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  641. Built by Smiths Dock Middleboro for Christian Salvesens of Leith.
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  642. Iran as also a significant source of oil for both the Soviets and British Commonwealth. I have no facts but understand Trinidad and Venezuela also provided oil.
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  643. How about an Official ONI Report? Demoralization of the Bismarck's crew was now apparent. One officer is said to have drawn his revolver and shot several seamen who refused to obey him. Officers were reported to have committed suicide, and scores of the crew jumped overboard before the action ceased. Almost all of the 400 anti-aircraft gunners, for whom no special protection had been provided during surface action, became casualties. The upper deck was being pounded into a mass of twisted steel. Hatches and doors were jammed in all parts of the ship. Crews in two magazines were drowned when it became necessary to flood the chambers because of fire. A direct hit crashed into a forward compartment where 200 men were trapped under jammed hatches. Fires on the gun deck cut off the forward half of the ship. The air was dense with smoke, fumes and the gases generated by the bursting shells. Paint was burning off the bulkheads and many men without gas masks were suffocated. By 1000 all the Bismarck's 15-inch guns were out of action, and fire from the secondary battery was spasmodic. The Rodney, King George V, and the Norfolk, which had joined the action after spotting from the flanks, fired their last salvos front a range of only 8,300 yards. At 1010, out of the Bismarck's entire armament, only one anti-aircraft gun remained workable, The ship was a wreck, on fire fore and aft, and wallowing heavily. The British commander in chief broke off the gun action at 1022. The cruiser Dorsetshire then fired three torpedoes into the Bismarck, and she sank at 1037.
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  644.  @VersusARCH  I have not read about a swarm of USAF aircraft attacking Italian warships, have you some examples? There is a report on a swarm of USAF aircraft attacking the RN Hunt Class destroyers Bichester and Zetland.
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  645. Sorry missed the A, HMAS Sydney
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  646.  @Fulcrum205  I have looked into the fates of the Navigatori destroyers, none were sunk by air attack.
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  647.  @Fulcrum205  You are correct, sunk off Cape Bon
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  648. They only hunted whales on the surface
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  649.  @gregorywright4918  The Japanese were invited in, the attack on Malaya as launched from Thailand.
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  650.  @tominiowa2513  I think you will find the bunker fuel for steamships and the bunker fuel of today for diesels is very different oil. The oil steam ships used were kept heated so it did not set.
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  651.  @tominiowa2513  No, its does not need to be heated to be stored or pumped, the oil used in Steam Ships did
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  652.  @tominiowa2513  Your going to have change the world, the word comes from to bunker coal, now is ships fuel, nit seen it used for Nuclear.
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  653.  @tominiowa2513  progression, Coa[, Oil Nuclear, Coal and Oil are hunkered.
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  654. The British Government allowed the desecrating of many hundred wrecks. They sold the wrecks to salvors who blew up the wrecks without any concern for them being war graves. Merchant Navy lost a higher percentage of its number than the Royal Navy, the Army or the Airforce.
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  655.  @gerarddelmonte8776  News Flash, Von Spee did not fight the English
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  656.  @gerarddelmonte8776  maybe do some research? The English Navy ceased to exist in 1707! You must be be a Trump supporter and do alternative Facts!
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  657.  @alexandermonro6768  These are well studied forces. Ship interaction is well known. Do you have a link to any alternative knowledge? Should we now insist ships remain 10 miles apart?
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  658. Worked sea for years , worked with hundreds of people, not one ever said they had been on a ship hit by lightning.
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  659.  @bluelemming5296  Willing to bet that the small Civilian Boats are in fact sailing Yachts, made of carbon fibre with there mast up!
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  660.  @tidaljunk  It messed up electronics. It didn't mess up the ship!
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  661. It depends what went wrong, could be a operational error or a valve failure
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  662. Having been to Port Stanley and visited the museum I am unaware if a Naval Base in the Falklands until after the Falklands War when Mare Harbour was built mainly to supply Mount Pleasant. Port Stanley is a great natural harbour and sheltered anchorage. There were are still are hulks of sailing ships which were hulked prior to WW1. Port Stanley and the Falklands did not have drydocks, cranes and steel working to repair vessels nor the skilled workforce. The Royal Navy could have brought "Repair Ships" into the harbour but there was no shore facilities.
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  663.  @hughgordon6435  I think if you do some research you will see HMS Exeter went to Port Stanley to carry out "Emergency Repairs" she was repaired in the UK. A coaling station would have been colliers at anchor in Port Stanley anchorage. There is no coal mined in the Falklands. The ship that trades around the Falklands used to go to Punta Arenas every couple of years for drydock.
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  664.  @kemarisite  Its total rubbish, she went to Rosyth and there is no place where this could happen, Drach is spreading lies.
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  665.  @kemarisite  You should take an additional two minutes! Its a RAIL Bridge! There is no access to pedestrians! To get Pedestrian access you need to wait until 1966! DUH!
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  666.  @kemarisite  Thee story was created by a London news paper to sell news papers! Was a total lie still spread by muppets! You have never seen the bridge, it is 8000 ft long, never crossed the Firth of Forth, know nothing of history. Maybe comment on something you know about like your mothers basement.
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  667.  @kemarisite  You are so well informed that you said Warspite went up the Tims or was it Thames, I am in awe or your stupidity. Drachinfel just repeats the lie as you do.
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  668.  @kyle857  You need help?
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  669. The Napier Deltic was based on Napier investigating the use of a diesel engine in aircraft. They bought the rights for a Junkers Jumo engine. it was unsuccessful in aircraft. After the war a Deltic was fitted in an E Boat, it weighed a third of the previous German petrol engine. There have been many opposed piston engines due to there weight to power ratio. The largest I am aware of was the Doxford Maine Engine
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  670. The British had since the mid 20s carried extensive beach landing exercises in Ceylon and were improving on the designs. Also notable these Glen Line vessels were Motor ships, the RN seemed to like Motor vessels and used many Bank Line vessels as well.
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  671. He was responsible for foisting his son on the Royal Navy, a terrible revenge.
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  672. The British had Fire support from the Navy in 1982 in the Falklands. The USN used fire support in the 80's in Lebenon
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  673. A U boat captured and sank a sailing vessel in WW2 in the Caribbean, and made there pet pig a prisoner.
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  674.  @glennsimpson7659  Have you been reading Cosmopolitan again?
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  675. Hindsight is 100%
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  676. Considering the state of the US Tanks in 1939 you maybe should understand where the experience and knowledge to built better tanks came from, pretty sure it wasn't the Nazi's!
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  677.  @bushyfromoz8834  I believe HMS Eskimo lost two bows in WW2
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  678. There is an easily googled report on the damage to the Carley float found with the body on it at Christmas Island.
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  679. Strange that all the record breaking voyages under sail were by Merchant ships!
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  680.  @lukedogwalker  "acting or done at leisure; unhurried or relaxed." , not something ever done by a merchant sailing ship, they had to make a living and not spend 90% of there time tied up in port!
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  681.  @ROBERTN-ut2il  Imagine that! Who would have known that!
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  682. The Germans were also intercepting blockade runners like the Doggerbank
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  683.  @egoalter1276  About what?
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  684.  @egoalter1276  I have spent many years at sea becoming a Captain, sailed with hundreds of professional mariners and never heard a single one talk about the myth of changing a ships name being bad luck. what is your experience?
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  685. The other items that Fleet Oilers require is accommodation and Galley for the additional crew, when you add a couple dozen AA gunners even more' The other addition is several Derricks to handle the hoses. I see no cranes in the photos.
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  686. Oxygen-deficient atmosphere in tanks and enclosed spaces is a far more dangerous and common problem than H2S in a ship. Hydrogen Sulphide can be smelt at down to about 2% concentration, Lack of oxygen has no smell.
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  687. There's at least two, Lee A. Tregurtha and the Alpena on the Great Lakes. There was a LCT still being used as a ferry out Long Island. Another Passenger vessel from WW2 still around is the Doulas of 1913 though I do not know her war service.
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  688. Flag Signals are flown from halyards, not ropes.
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  689. A collier with a full cargo of coal has a fairly gentle roll, the only problem would be when it was empty, and it had no ability to ballast the ship. If you want a problem ship try a bulk carrier with a cargo of steel, iron ingots, or various ores.
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  690.  @TrabberShir  There are no modern colliers. Bulk carriers carry coal. I am aware of the designs of Ore and Bulk carriers. I do not know what your definition of highest stability is? The highest Metacentric height in a ship carrying coal is when it has little coal onboard, thankfully this will only happen at a loading or discharge port now. A Bulk Carrier will add water ballast to saddle tanks and if designed to do so fill some holds full of ballast water. A collier a hundred years ago could not do that.
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  691. Ireland needed all its shipping supplies, Grain, OIl and people to be moved on British Ships, as well as Irish Ships. The Nazi's did not respect neutral ships even when they painted a large flag on the hull
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  692. you cannot legally arm a merchant ship.
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  693.  @patrickb4620  Please tell me when
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  694. And into Malaya
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  695. Langsdorff reason the scuttle the Graph Spee is known, it can easily be found online.
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  696. Ask the Americans they used the Iowa against Lebanon
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  697. Its a newspaper
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  698. Goodyear had rubber plantations in its Liberian colony
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  699.  @colinhunt4057  Doenitz. The situation which had developed in the destruction of the English expeditionary force and the weakness of the English land defenses caused us to entertain the idea of deciding the war in our favor by a rapid invasion of England. On account of the circumstances previously described as existing before the war and the surprisingly rapid development of the situation in the west, no preparations of any sort had been made. Since an invasion could only succeed if it took place quickly, in any case before the coming autumn, it was necessary now (Hitler himself gave orders for its preparation) to attempt to create the necessary conditions, both as regards material and training, with the greatest haste and with every means of improvisation. To produce new landing craft in great numbers and in time was, from the point of view of material and construction, no longer possible even though at this time the naval ferry barge (M. F. F.) had been designed and completed. It was, therefore, necessary to fall back in the greatest possible measure on available tugs, as well as barges of the coastal and inland water transport system. These were modified for landing purposes. Their greatest disadvantage lay in their very limited seaworthiness (up to sea 3); and, as most of them were not self-propelled, they required towing. Investigations were made into landing conditions on the south coast of England and current and weather conditions in the Channel. Training of the troops intended for the landing was extended as more of the necessary materials became available and all possible preparations of a tactical nature were made. From the beginning it was clear to the leaders that the invasion could succeed only under certain particular conditions. The navy was certainly not in a position to protect the landing forces against the English Fleet, whose full weight would have to be reckoned with in such a situation. This task would have to be taken over by the air force. To this end it was necessary not only to wipe out completely the Royal Air Force but also to attack beforehand the ports near the landing area with such effect that the English naval forces would have to withdraw to more distant bases. Otherwise the air force would not be able to prevent the enemy's naval forces from reaching the landing forces at night by short approach routes. When in September 1940 the preparations for invasion were complete, it also became apparent that complete defeat of the English Air Force had by no means been achieved. Thus, one of the most important prerequisites for an invasion was lacking. There could be no question of a short postponement, for once October and the beginning of the autumn gales had set in, a longer period of good weather such as would be required for success could no longer be expected. Postponement to the spring of 1941 could only render the military conditions less favorable. With such limited prospects of success, the resolve to carry on with the invasion of England could not be justified unless it presented the only and final means of ending successfully the war against England. This was not the case, for the German leaders saw in the Mediterranean another possibility of striking a decisive blow against England. This was quite apart from the shipping war which, as U-boat numbers increased and with the yet-hoped-for forceful participation of the air force, should gradually produce some result. Hitler, therefore, decided to abandon the invasion, although the apparent threat of it was to be maintained.
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  700. HMS Robin was a Airbase in Kirkwall adjacent to Scapa Flow
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  701. She was a Owasco-class cutter not a Flower Class
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  702. There is some debate about who won the first VC and how the 1st was decided, go to Youtuber Norris' History Corner, it interesting
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  703. Liner is not necessarily a passenger ship. A Liner is a vessel sailing on a set route, usually a cargo ship, example SS Example sailing from London 10th, loading for Cape Town, Singapore and Hong Kong. The Passenger Liners were also on a set route usually taking cargo as well as passengers, Cunard for example sailed the North Atlantic to USA and Canada, Union Castle sailed to South Africa. Cruise ships are not Liners. Vessel without a set route picking up "Random" cargo were called Tramps.
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  704.  @stevevernon1978  These are Grossadmiral Karl Dönitz, of the Kriegsmarine words.
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  705. Sir Amos Ayre, the Director of Merchant Shipbuilding, credits Douglas Thomson of Ben Line Steamers of Edinburgh as the originator of the MAC concept. The first MAC ship delivered was in April 1943. The Empire Macalpine was built in Burntisland and manned by Ben Line Steamers. The vessel remained owned by the Controller of Shipping and manned by Ben Line until 1946 when she was sold to McCowan and Cross and converted into a cargo ship the Derryanne. The vessel had many names and was finaly scrapped as the Pacific Endeavour in Hong Kong in 1970. This vessel was followed by a sister the Empire MacKendrick built at Burntisland and was operated by William Thomson & Co (the Ben Line Steamers). She was broken up in Split in 1973. The Empire Sir Amos Ayre, the Director of Merchant Shipbuilding, credits Douglas Thomson of Ben Line Steamers of Edinburgh as the originator of the MAC concept. The first MAC ship delivered was in April 1943. The Empire Macalpine was built in Burntisland and manned by Ben Line Steamers. The vessel remained owned by the Controller of Shipping and manned by Ben Line until 1946 when she was sold to McCowan and Cross and converted into a cargo ship the Derryanne. The vessel had many names and was finaly scrapped as the Pacific Endeavour in Hong Kong in 1970. This vessel was followed by a sister the Empire MacKendrick built at Burntisland and was operated by William Thomson & Co (the Ben Line Steamers). She was broken up in Split in 1973. was named after Captain Sir Amos Ayre, the Director of Merchant Shipbuilding, credits Douglas Thomson of Ben Line Steamers of Edinburgh as the originator of the MAC concept. The first MAC ship delivered was in April 1943. The Empire Macalpine was built in Burntisland and manned by Ben Line Steamers. The vessel remained owned by the Controller of Shipping and manned by Ben Line until 1946 when she was sold to McCowan and Cross and converted into a cargo ship the Derryanne. The vessel had many names and was finaly scrapped as the Pacific Endeavour in Hong Kong in 1970. This vessel was followed by a sister the Empire MacKendrick built at Burntisland and was operated by William Thomson & Co (the Ben Line Steamers). She was broken up in Split in 1973. The Empire MacKendrick was named after Captain EscortHMS Audacity.
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  706. You are right, from memory about 10% loss was used in calculation.
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  707. They had the naval ferry barge (M. F. F.).
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  708. Not a War Crime!
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  709.  @SvenTviking  Think that was Exeter
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  710. Not docked, they were off pay.
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  711. I think many do not understand what the rest of the words are!
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  712. There was another passenger ship Scharnhorst, that was taken over by Japan and turned into an aircraft carrier
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  713. Seems very improbable, suggest you find the source.
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  714. Poon Lim should get an honourable mention.He was a steward on the BenLomond when it was torpedoed by a UBoat off Brazil and was on a Carey Float for 133 days until he was rescued by fisherman off Brazil. The sole survivor.
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  715. Karlsruhe a light cruiser
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  716. The most basic instruction for collision avoidance is in a an end on, or near end on situation, both vessels shall alter course to starboard. The Empress of Ireland did not do this.
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  717. Sounds like an expert meeting place, a gift shop in a troopship that called in Britain for a couple of days at a time!
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  718. I suspect that on a PT boat all you hear is the engine on a PT Boat, the night was cloudy and moonless, and no ships had lights on. I find it disappointing that some one sitting in there mothers basement finds the courage to find fault with the Captain on the spot during the war.
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  719. I am not aware of a HMS Lusitania, can you provide details.
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  720.  @chocolatecatdad  Where? Some a reference l A reference please
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  721. Because the name came from England and thats how its pronounced in England.
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  722. Can you give a reference to Churchill saying that Australia could be sacrificed to the Japanese? MacArthur father General Arthur MacArthur was a great General, unlike his son, one of the conquerors of the Philippines. I agree there was no need to "recapture" the Philippines.
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  723.  @tominiowa2513  Strangely enough I have travelled to Darwin at least a dozen times. no surprise there. I suspect Brisbane might have been the target. The Japanese did send a party to the remote Island at Scott Reef and the Kimberly in Western Australia. Western Australia is a proper sized State, not a tiddler like Texas and Alaska.
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  724. I looked her up, built 1939, 9397 GRT, speed 12 knots. From March 1940 mostly running from Abadan to South Africa and Mozambique, side trip to Bombay. Arrived Copenhagen 26 Feb 1946.
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  725.  @TOKOLOSHE100  I have checked the Maersk's records and the Shipbuilders records. this is her machinery: Diesel, 4500 iHK B&W 7-cyl. 4SA type 774-TF-150 motor. 4500 Indicated Horse Power would be 12 knots maximum. To get 24 knots you would need 10 times that power. The only ships in convoy off East Africa were Troop ships.
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  726.  @genericpersonx333  The reason for diesel will also be economic, diesel is cheaper than petroleum. Graf Spee had less capable diesel engines apparently.
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  727. Not true, in WW2 the Germans had, and used Japan and her conquered lands to send "Prizes" to. The German used Spain as a resupply base. The Germans also used the Soviet Union as a supply and repair base prior to there invasion. Prior to the USA entry to WW2 the Germans used the USA to supply oil and other items. The Altmark loaded a full cargo of Texas Light Crude for supply to the Graf Spee as .bunkers. The Germans also used Vichy French occupied lads to support there war efforts.
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