Comments by "David Himmelsbach" (@davidhimmelsbach557) on "USS Montana - Guide 118" video.

  1. On paper, at one point, the USN intended to build a fantasy fleet with four Montanas and eight Iowas. There was a problem: the cost and time of construction was in orbit -- and there'd be no remotely equivalent opposing navy to thwart. In retrospect, one imagines that such a fleet was intended to counter Germany, France and Britain -- and Italy -- all at the same time. The supposition being that Hitler had conquered France AND Britain. In early 1942, this was not deemed excessive speculation. Remember that virtually everyone expected Hitler to conquer the the Soviet Union during the Autumn of 1941. Once it became obvious that carriers were the new capital ships, this paper fantasy went into the circular file. The Coral Sea and Midway ended all battleship fantasizing... as if prior events weren't enough. The Iowas were saved because of their carrier equivalent speed. During Halsey's venture north, his BBs attained 35 KNOTS in full battle readiness, something the British noted at the time -- and included in wartime media releases. Subsequent USN media never claimed that the Iowas could obtain more than 32 knots. Cute. All during the Cold War, the USN always under-claimed the statistics for is ships. Ditto for the USAF and USA. For example, the M1 tank, all variants, is the highest horse-power tank in the world. To obtain fuel economy -- stop the boys from sporting around -- a throat restrictor is in front of its turbine. US jets also fly with throat restrictors. These were removed for 1991 combat over Iraq. The gap in engineering and performance between the US and its NATO allies is great. It's why US military gear costs so much and seems to deliver such modest performance. Yet look at how long some US gear stays in service... starting with the Iowas -- deemed effective -- after upgrades -- into the 1990s -- and the end of the Cold War. (!!!) The Iraqi Campaign is what destroyed the USSR, BTW. The Red system of government turned on itself as the KGB, CP, GRU, and Red Army began the blame game -- something so predictable that I forecast the end of the USSR for mid-August of 1991. I got that one on the nose. (Gorby had to be in Sochi -- on vacation -- for the Revolution to begin. Pretty obvious, when you think about it.)
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