Comments by "Geordiedog" (@geordiedog1749) on "Drachinifel" channel.

  1. I had a vision of some guy docking his fishing boat in Sydney Harbour and nipping ashore for some bait and finding a 40mm Bofors on his boat by the time he got back!
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  2. Lt Com. Roger Hill describes the loss of this ship in his book and he really puts the boot in. He had personally warned the COs that they were making a grave error in tactics and planning but he was waved off. Only thing worse than a cluster fuck like this is a totally avoidable cluster fuck!
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  3. Roger Hill, captain of the Ledbury was so appalled at the RNs abandonment of the Red Dusters during PQ17 he swore he would never do it again, no matter what his orders were. This had very important consequences as Ledbury was one of the destroyers that carried Ohio into Valletta harbour in August ‘42.
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  4. The Welshman was the saviour of Malta on many occasions
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  5. New video. Shoot, shoot, shoot! (Remember - “Fire” only means one thing on a ship!)
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  6. “We’ll call it……. ASDIC!” “Great name! What’s it stand for, then?” “Er……… dunno. We’ll figure that out later.”
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  7. The seagulls would also shite all over the periscope and render it opaque.
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  8. I read recently that by this stage of the Pacific war the Japanese had found standard tactics to have become suicidal so, instead, took up suicidal tactics. This actually proved less costly and more effective. I don’t know if that’s true or not but I think it’s worth exploring.
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  9. Listening to this just rams home how utterly, utterly awful the recent film is.
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  10. “Bi-pedal attack dogs” - never a truer word.
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  11.  @bigblue6917  it’s because they aaarrrr!!
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  12. Well done chaps. The addition of the animation certainly moves this into new territory. Very pro, dude!
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  13. Listening to the comprehensive AA suite I always feel sorry for the RNPS ships in ‘39 with their two Savage guns.
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  14. First casualty of any battle is your plan. So well done for improvised content!:)
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  15. I get the impression that USN staff would often concoct any excuse to get over to a RN vessel in order to get utterly shitfaced as an adjuvant.
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  16. Don’t forget Jack Aubrey was captured as well.
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  17. We, sir, are the Royal Navy, and We will Rule the Waves and we will NOT Waive the Rules!! (Hey, see what I did there, eh? Eh?)
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  18. I listen to some of your earlier work and compared the presentation - very much more professional and fluent. Great stuff, mate!
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  19. Not familiar with this guy but I’m very impressed by him. Sounds like a very decent man and an excellent officer.
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  20.  @lawrencewestby9229  Yes. Good point. Doesn’t take quite as much to train a body to ram his plane into a big old ship. They say landing is the hardest part of learning to fly and they can skip that bit.
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  21. Great stuff. Such a nuanced subject. Over simplified good small ships and bad bug ones.
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  22.  @iansadler4309  indeed. Bit of a ‘rookie error’ though, really. The idea of some idiot Rupert sending me off to be put in grave danger through stupidity or carelessness is the most terrifying aspect of war to me.
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  23. Not the easiest of tasks - making torpedoes. Nazis had issues initially, too.
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  24.  @robertmatch6550  The auto correct did it. It annoys me too.
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  25. Bismarck was scuttled. Because it was doomed. It was doomed because it was utterly wrecked. Or maybe they just decided to sink a perfectly sound ship for fun.
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  26. Just read a decent book about him. It’s a bit of a ‘got there in the end!’ type of story. Very decent officer and mariner.
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  27. To be fair the Fulmars were good at their job. Cos of the nature of carrier warfare the planes had to be able to do several jobs. They couldn’t be out n out fighters. Also, they weren’t expected to be duelling with other fighters (no Italian or German carriers in operation - only half built ones). Finally, losses from ..... well getting lost ... were very serious over the featureless ocean so a bespoke navigator was stipulated for the plane. Experience changed the doctrine somewhat but the basic idea was sound. The Fulmars replacement the Firefly was a very good bit of kit.
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  28.  @DangerB0ne Such a great story.
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  29. Sorry, but Pedestal did not fail!
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  30. The navigator of the Fulmar recon. crew who survived the night action against Bismarck was John Hoare. He describes his ordeal in his autobiography’Tumult in the Clouds’. Has anyone else read this book? I’m asking as I thought a better title would have been ‘Tumult in the Bar’ as he really seems to have just been permanently pissed throughout the war as he chronicles his war pub by pub and bar by bar. Can’t say I blame him, mind!
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  31. One thing about the Italians post war was that they had just sided with a group who turned out to be genocidally evil and therefore played down their contributions to that evil. “Yes we were in the war but we didn’t do any harm. We just surrendered or crashed or sank. No harm done! Alora “
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  32. Good old Janus. Doing what the RN was made for. Fighting the French.
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  33. Why are Pirates called Pirates….?
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  34. Kamikaze issue? You need ‘Royal Navy Armoured Carriers”.
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  35. All that walking about with the air full of metal is quite remarkable!
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  36. Does anyone know if you can get a transcript of the spotter plane comments mentioned at Calabria?
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  37. Drack.
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  38. Bluddy moon spiders...... menace they are.
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  39. That made me literally not figuratively lol
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  40. I’d go with that.
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  41. Who names a Military Vessel “Broke”?
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  42. The whole concept of anti aircraft cruisers is fascinating.
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  43.  @johnshepherd8687  That’s not the pint I’m making..... apart from the bit about Buffaloes... nothing was as bad as them (except when Finns flew them for some reason). I’m not saying the Air superiority element was lacking. I’m saying the Fulmar was good plane for carrier duties. You can make a long list of bespoke dog fighters that out match the Fulmar. But the Zero wasn’t as good as the Fulmar in ASW. The Martlet wasnt as good at recon. The Corsair couldn’t navigate over sea as well etc etc. It wasn’t designed as an AirSup. aircraft. It’s air 2 air specs where to be able to interdict enemy recon., bombers and torpedo planes and not tangle with single seat fighters. It was good at that multi role job the proof being that they continued the concept with the Firefly which deserved into the ‘50’s. Good dog fighter? No. Good multi-purpose carrier aircraft? Yes.
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  44.  @johnshepherd8687  I’ll stick with boring then:)
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  45. Bloody Washington and his bloody treaty. Could have some ace ships if it was for his meddling. What? Eh! ..... oh.
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  46. Great work Drak. However, you’re wrong about the Fulmar. To be fair, a lot of people are but the Fulmar was actually very effective kite and had a one to one ratio against land based fighters. Most of its losses where against defensive fire from bombers due to them having to close to suicidal ranges to defeat the armour as they only had .303s.
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  47.  @davidmurphy8190  well, quite! Pretty bloody damn close, in fact. Pedestal was the classic example of tactical defeat and strategic victory although you can argue that it was a tactical victory too. If he’s going to argue that first and second Sitre we’re Italian victories then he can’t claim Pedestal was a British defeat.
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  48.  @zhoufang996  Well, yes. Big picture and all that then yes. Good point.
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  49. Read a few accounts that mention submariners (sun - mariner) hearing the pistols going off first. This being very very very scary as it meant the damn thing was close.
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  50. “Dove!” Frickin’ “Dove” No!!!
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  51. How accurate do you think the RM assertion that they couldn’t sail their capitals due to fuel shortages were given that the preceding actions had been a weapons grade cluster fuck for them?
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  52. Wouldn’t it just be easier to assume that the Japanese ship was sunk unless stated otherwise?
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  53. “However, Jervis had one slight advantage. The Royal Navy is essentially a Death Cult and is manned by total fucking mentalists who just want to ram everyone and fly flag 16 no matter what!!”
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  54. Not surprising. You’d quite possibly be a US citizen if it wasn’t for 1812!
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  55. God. The Crab cream boys really bollocked things up in WW2, didn’t they!
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  56.  @Jon908584  yeah! What he said!;)
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  57. Underwater Torpedo Tubes v The other ones.
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  58.  @onenote6619  Maybe……. Maybe yore on to something!
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  59. “Fights among people with a naval i interest” only on the internet. Funny how polite they are in person.
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  60. Ben Bryant served on one. Just happen to be reading his autobiography.
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  61. Quite depressing when you have to shout “stay off my side!”
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  62. Cocking an Oerlikon 20mm is a pain though.... also, always had first two rounds as solid shot as SOP. Anyone know why? No prize alas...... apart from my respect of course!
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  63.  @Kromaatikse  it was just that. Yay. Main problem was ice in the barrel if the covers where lost. You don’t want an explosive round hitting it. Not sure it would be a problem in the Med or most of the pacific though. But that was the drill. Cocking the gun was done by pointing it straight up and attaching a short rope from the bolt carrier handle to the deck then putting the gun barrels down. Thus going leverage to pull the bolt and cock the weapon
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  64.  @Kromaatikse  is there a name for these caps?
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  65. Rodney fired her main battery in AA defence during Operation Pedestal. True dat....
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  66. It’s a gay club now.... oh no.... wrong Astoria,
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  67. For Gods sake don’t remove the ‘Most incredibly lucky shot ever control tower!’
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  68. So she cost slightly less than my Ford Fiesta! Cool.
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  69. I’d be quite happy if it was just you doing it but well done for getting extra opinion.
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  70. Great. Stuff I dint know cool!
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  71. Forza!
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  72. Tumblehome?
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  73. Armoured Carriers is mint!
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  74.  @wayhip yeah. “Doh-ve” not dived. Criminal!
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  75. Very…….. very………Big.
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  76. Lusty is a pretty girl.
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  77.  @Dave_Sisson  Ha. Yes. Good point:)
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  78.  @colbeausabre8842  you can delete and edit posts. Thank god you can !!! Jeez, some of the bollocks I’ve typed in a hurry. And auto-correct doesn’t help either. Anyway, thanks for that. I’ll look that stuff up.
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  79. Appalling nay criminal behaviour between two parts of a countries army.
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  80.  @gregorywright4918  Eh?
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  81.  @gregorywright4918  ah, I see. Gotcha. That incident is seen by many as the actual start of WW2. Then again some see the start as being 1914. Some see it as the start of the Franco-Prussian War. Some also think it didn’t end until the Berlin Wall came down. Can of worms?!
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  82. Nice one. Very interesting. Even if they were sneaky fookin’ prawns.
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  83. Shame the RN wasn’t about then. All of that ramming would have been utter bliss to your average madman in charge of a British naval vessel.
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  84.  @johnshepherd8687  I disagree. Hey ho...
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  85. Surely the issues around Hoods demise are all sorted now?
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  86. I now own the T-shirt and love boring the arse of people who ask me about it!!
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  87. So, basically A great big, f*+k off, game of ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’.
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  88.  @neutronalchemist3241  I think you need to go back and check your timeline. You’ll find your a bit out on what you’re saying.
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  89.  @neutronalchemist3241  it’s opinion of facts so I disagree with your summation. That said, I don’t understand the first bit at all. After Pedestal Malta was resupplied by convoy not by submarine. It was operational by September although the Beauforts plus some FAA Applecores and Stringbags had 2 squadrons there already and just needed Ohios fuel to recommence offensive ops. Your points about Sirte 1&2 are lost in the fact that the RN had and absolute moral supremacy over the Italian navy from start to finish. Same as they did over the Kreigsmarine. The Regina Marina expected to lose every time they set sail. And generally did. Nothing proved this more than Vians actions at the 2nd Sirte which was an abject failure on the Italians part on a par with Barents Sea. 1st Sirte was a two convoys avoiding each other until the RN lost a couple of ships after choosing to run into a minefield which reduced the MSF which then went back to Gib but it would have had to anyway once Fleigerkorp X returned to Sicily later that year. Cherry picking this proves nothing. I like history to be reviewed but revisionism for its own sake is silly. I happen to really like Italians but trying to rewrite history to give a completely wrong narrative is daft. For eg…The Germans didn’t like or rate the Italians, including Rommel and cherry picking a quote won’t change anything. The Italian military occasionally (very) doing in a war what was expected isn’t cause for praise, it just meant they weren’t abject for once. There were a lot of good reasons for this but the outcome is the same. The Regina Marine were bossed from start to finish by the RN. Save a few wee submarine with limpet mines they were too anxious to fight. I’m no jingoistic patriot for the uk. But history is occasionally obvious. And this is such an occasion. Faced with the Death Cult that is the British Royal Navy they were cowed. In my opinion etc etc etc
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  90.  @neutronalchemist3241  I’m sorry that this is proving so problematic for you, emotionally. I’m sorry you’ve decided to get patronising and I can see where this is going and frankly I can’t be bothered. When people start using “YOU” - in capitals in any argument my own ‘moral supremacy’ kicks in. I suggest you look up ‘reaction formation’. It might have been interesting to look at your viewpoints but I think we’re clearly both too far apart - when you can’t agree on basic facts it’s pretty pointless going on. All I’d say is there are tactical and strategic victories. Maybe have a look at what the differences are? Facts are indeed stubborn. As are interpretations of those facts. I can’t find any decent history book that agrees with you and as I did my History MA on Pedestal I’ve read a fair few. And yes Pedestal and PQ17 are both tragedy and disaster. One was a strategic and tactical one and one was wasn’t. Hell and death! Be nice if just once I didn’t end up with this cobblers. What is wrong with people? Why can’t people just discuss stuff? Always getting radgy from their keyboard a thousand miles away……. There’s people who want to discuss stuff and then there’s people who want to ‘win an argument’. Probably don’t have the assertiveness skills to ever do it f2f so they do it on the electricity thingy. Hey ho……………
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  91. See...... the RN would have left all those wrecks as a giant monument to the Huge Death Cult that is the British Military
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  92.  @Eleolius  That’s true. But then if losses were heavy anyway the same would be true if convention? Hmmmmmm…..
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  93.  @ronaldthompson4989  Ah. There you go, then. Cheers
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  94. Does anyone know why the Australia was scuttled and not scrapped ?
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  95.  @gregorywright4918  That would do. Planes get a mention, subs get assumed.
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  96. Oh that’s not remotely embarrassing at at all! Missing a stationary and half sunken ship at point blank range with a torpedo!
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  97. Great stuff. If your next collaboration could be Operation Pedestal that would be great. Ta:)
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  98. It kind of sounds like they scuttled her with 250 crew still on board. Obviously that’s not what happened.
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  99.  @gregorywright4918  Well, I’d bloody hope so after all this time!
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  100. Fulmars and their pilots are a wonderful breed of warrior.
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  101. Some possibility that the Val hits on the Armoured Carriers might be misinterpreted as mission kills for the carriers. Also, have you ever done a Force Z scenario with Lusty along rather than just the two capitals ?
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  102. “What’s it like to be the second biggest navy in the world?” “It’s ok, mate. What’s it like to be the second best navy in the world?”
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  103. Oooh! Right in the wine store!! Ouch!!!
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  104. Great work both!,
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  105. Ok, the Fairey Fulmar....... so, first thing anyone needs to know about the Fulmar was it was the MOST successful FAA fighter of WWII. This was because it mainly fought against exactly the type of aircraft it had been designed to fight against and also because it effectively operated with fledgling radar direction. One of the main reason it worked so well in the early days of Radar was because it was a two seater. Having an observer/navigator/radio operator in a naval aircraft is a dead good idea for many reasons. Firstly, if you get disoriented over the ocean looking down is surprisingly unhelpful (Things you don’t hear in a naval aircraft no. 421: “Ah! I know where we are now. I recognise that wave down there!”). Getting lost was a major issue for operations over water and caused a lot of loses. A bespoke navigator helped this to be avoided immeasurably. Secondly, it enabled the initially tricky, messy business of directing and vectoring fighters to their targets by radar to be done more effectively as the second crew member could do the liaising with the carriers radar operator and then tell his pilot where to go. No, not that sort of ‘tell where to go’. The vectoring type of where to go... Lastly, observation, a vital role of the carrier aircraft (which were expected to multi task especially in the limited hanger space of armoured carries) was obviously more effective with four mk1 eye balls than with just the one pair. One odd thing with the Fulmars 2nd crew member was the omission of a defensive weapon. The Fairey Battle from which the Fulmar was derived had a Vickers K or GO (Gas Operated) in the rear (not that it helped although it did claim the 1st RAF air to air kill of the war). However, rather like most of the later Beaufighters, the observer was left defenceless. Well, almost. Fulmar observers were sometimes given a “Tommy Gun’ -according to some sources - to shoot back with. This very likely would have not been an actual Thompson .45 SMG, the term being used in a generic way to mean any sub machine gun. It was more likely a Lanchester 9mm SMG. The RN was actually much better prepared for WWII than the army in this area of ordinance having ordered several thousand Lanchesters for its personnel pre-war. The army had taken its time and held a competition with the (both excellent) Beretta and Suomi being the winners and an order for 20,000 Suomis was placed with Finland who were about to ship them to England when Uncle Joe came a callin’ so they decided to hang on to them, instead.
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  106. An amazing story. And ship envied by every other in the Royal Navy for the Glowworm got to ram an enemy ship.
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  107. A very different world would be around us had this gone differently!!
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  108. What’s the netting slung under the turret of the RN destroyers, anyone?
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  109.  @scooterdescooter4018 I mean, hey, if they’re giving them away, why not!
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  110.  @TheAngelobarker  not sure I’m following you there, mate.
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  111. When I think wwII tankers I default to Oh Aytch Ten.
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  112. We’re the Nazi vessels firing into the wind? This helps the attacking ship as it causes the shells arc to steepen at the end of its approach as the wind blows against it and makes it drop more vertically. This would have meant shells falling onto Hoods weak spots with greater efficacy in terms of damage.
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  113. Poor Albacores. No one loves them ......
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  114. Magnificent.
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  115. If you’re ever in Tynemouth, North East England you should have a wee walk up to Collingwoods Monument.
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  116. The Royal Navy. A very effective death cult. God bless them all. Balls the size of planets.
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  117. Nice synchronicity with Armoured Carriers/Archivist.
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  118. Alt. history time. Post Dunkirk and Lord Halifax is locked in the Tower and the Peace deal between UK and Germany is a simple cease fire and nothing else. Mussolini goes mental insisting Hitler make the Brits give him ‘stuff’ in the Med. Hitler does what a ruthless opportunist would and shafts the Italians - pulling out of the war and leaving the Italian war with UK in the med. However, Hitler does promise material assistance to Il Duce. Il Duce decides that he can take on the UK with the French out of the way and the Brits having had a hiding in Europe. Thus, Med. theatre war between UK and Italian Fascist but this time the RM doesn’t have the limitation/excuse of ‘no oil’ for the battleships. How would it have played out? Obviously, looking at the RN v RM conflict more specifically. (Sorry if this has been already done - I must have missed it).
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  119. Not a huge fan of O’Hara if I’m absolutely honest. Obviously I love Drach so we’ll have to see what the third man is like.
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  120. Now just you look here! The RN has a very long and distinguished tradition of having our heavy cruiser blow to pieces for seemingly little damage!
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