Comments by "" (@BobSmith-dk8nw) on "The Regia Marina in WW2 - The Under-appreciated Navy (w. Vincent O'Hara)" video.

  1. There's a human thing that goes - "if you aren't the best - you are shit" that the Italians have a problem with. Of course - this is bull shit but - there are a lot of things about human beings that are bull shit. A more balanced look at the Axis Powers was that Italy rated about as good at the Japanese and better than the Hungarians, Romanians and Bulgarians. The Japanese had a much better Navy than the Italians but a much poorer Army. All of them were poorly equipped. The biggest problem all the Axis powers had was that they were allies with the Germans instead of the Americans. The Americans could not only nearly fully motorize their own army but contribute substantially to the motorization of the British, French and Russian Armies and - supply them with fuel. The Germans weren't capable of motorizing even a majority of their own Army - much less all of it - and did in fact have to de-motorize units as the war went on because of a lack of equipment and fuel. It's not like the Germans ever gave their allies anything - it's just that in comparison with what the Americans gave their allies - it really wasn't much at all. The thing is - none of the Axis Nations was ever prepared for WWII and none of them should have engaged in it. Of chief importance was the fact that not one of them had anything like enough oil to be going to war with anybody like who they did go to war with. The other thing is - that none of the Axis Powers was able to replace their losses. As the war progressed their enemies got stronger and they got weaker. While there was some real competence exhibited by some of the Axis Militaries much of their success was due as much to political bungling by their opponents as it was to their own prowess. In the West - the Belgians acted like utter imbeciles. The Dutch had some reason to believe that they could sit out WWII since they had been neutral in WWI but EVERYONE knew that the Germans were going to go through Belgium because they HAD gone through Belgium in WWI. For the Belgians to not beg the British and the French to come into their country to defend it the moment the Germans went into Poland was the height of stupidity. And yet, even after a lost German communications air craft came down in Belgium WITH the plans to attack Belgium - while they did show the plans to the British and the French they still idiotically clung to their neutrality. May 1940 could have been vastly different if there had been a line of French Infantry Corps going through the Ardennes instead of almost nobody. Once the British were by themselves and the Germans controlled the continent - then - until the Germans threw it all away in 1941 they were winning the war. So ... here's Italy, trying to play technological catch up and not having the ability to do it. Their stuff ... "wasn't that bad" ... but it was never the equal of the people they were fighting. They were always ... just a little bit behind. They improved - but by the time their improvements were deployed - they had become obsolete relative to others and the Italians were still behind the curve. As with the other Axis nations, after Taranto - the Italian Navy was never able to recover. Not having Naval Radar was a decisive disadvantage. Not to mention not having sonar!!!!! I had no idea about that! Hydrophones? My God ... As to not having Aircraft Carriers, the problem with the Italian Air Force's idea about all those bases it had - was that - Army/Navy Air Cooperation - NEVER worked. Ask Force Z. The British had fighter planes to try and protect Force Z from the unescorted bombers that sank the Prince of Wales and the Repulse - but - they weren't where they were needed when they were needed. A force that might suffer enemy air attack MUST have a Combat Air Patrol above it at all times. It also must have reinforcements for that CAP that can immediately launch and they MUST launch from a base that is WITH the ships about to be attacked - NOT some distance away. Even if they get the word immediately, scramble and launch - they'll never get there before the attack is over and the damage done. As to a land based CAP? While they may be able to reach the ships they are supposed to defend ... assuming they can find them ... they are going to spend the majority of their time in transit - rather than on patrol. The British, American and Japanese Navies knew that - the Italians didn't. As to Force Z not having air cover ... well ... it might have if the ship hadn't run aground ... but ... they were promised land based air cover ... As with the other Axis nations - the soldiers and sailors of Italy should be respected for doing what they could with what they had. .
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