Comments by "David Elliott" (@davidelliott5843) on "Historigraph" channel.

  1. I'm not so sure the Argentine military has complained about sinking ARA General Belgrano. The fuss was (and continues to be) made by weak politicians (Argentine, British and some Europeans) looking for reasons to hide their own inadequacies.
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  2. Belgrano was a WW2 era ship sunk by just two WW2 era torpedoes. The question is not that she was hit but why was she not properly prepped for action. She was in a war for goodness sake yet she sank in minutes.
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  3. The Swordfish was not “that” old. First introduced in 1936. The Hawker Hurricane came in 1937. Spitfire in 1938. Flying any plane off a carrier heaving through North Atlantic swells was a serious problem. The only plane capable was the Fairey Swordfish and the type flew throughout WW2. Yes, it was slow, but it’s was virtually a STOL aircraft that could accurately launch a heavy torpedo. You could not have short takeoff AND high operating speeds all in the same plane. Even the clever Harrier was restricted on range and payload unless it took off conventionally.
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  4. Paul Marmol Nazi Germany did not have an operational aircraft carrier. But even if it had, they didn’t have a plane that could operate usefully in the Atlantic swells. Swordfish was slow but it was capable of operating while carrying a torpedo and launching it at wave top height without breaking the thing. Zero and Wildcat did not fly in the Atlantic.
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  5. Carriers are only a match for battleships when their weapons (aircraft) are operational. This ship was running with half of her boilers shut down, no scout aircraft flying and no flight readiness. She really was a sitting duck.
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  6. My Aunt was a nurse Sister at the Valletta military hospital. She was as upset as anyone at the cost of keeping them supplied but always said that saving Malta was absolutely worth it. Rommel certainly struggled to supply his front line but he only gave up when he ran out of supplies.
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  7. The Luftwaffe never had anything like the numbers of operational aircraft we are often told. During the Dunkirk evacuation, RAF was criticised for not taking down planes over the beaches. However, they did keep the Luftwaffe largely at bay and did lot of damage further inland.
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  8. Admiral King was a great leader - except for his near hatred for the British. He flatly refused to do anything that the British did. He did eventually wake up. But many seamen were lost for nothing.
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  9. The Swordfish was built to take off and land in North Atlantic weather with the ship pitching and rolling. At the time, a metal frame biplane was probably the only aircraft that could do that. The pilot who hit the Bismarck rudder said it was his experience at Taranto that saved him. He dropped the fish but stayed low. Those who climbed away got shot down. Stott 1971 said, "By the end of the war, the Swordfish held the distinction of having caused the destruction of a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft." (Wikipedia)
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  10.  @kristoffermangila . The edges of 40mm shell holes will be turned inward. Perfect for holding the circular patch while it’s welded.
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  11.  @MrSafer  what else is incorrect?
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  12. Swordfish was contemporary with the Hawker Hurricane. It was used throughout the war because it gave the capability to lift and launch heavy torpedoes with short take off. It was not safe without fighter cover, but was an effective weapon used throughout the war.
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  13. Regardless of their poor front line leadership, it's logistical failure that has doomed Russia into losing the Ukraine war. They simply can't think out of a very restricted box and it shows.
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  14. My father was 21 when WW2 broke out. He survived because his overactive thyroid had him thrown out of the army. But had Germany invaded, people like him would have been on the front lines. One brother fought with the Cheshire Regiment and survived. Another worked making Merlins for Rolls Royce. His eldest sister Alice, (born 1900) was a nurse on Malta from 1938 to 1942. She died in 1982. Another sister born 1904 died in 2008. While Alice was 1000 miles away, none of them would have sat back and allowed Hitler to overrun the country.
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  15.  @lairdcummings9092  U-Boats are small and cramped vessels they don’t have the space or the stores to carry prisoners.
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  16. The Corsair was one heck of a plane but that rear set cockpit and low wing made carrier operations “challenging”. The USN refused to take them until RN Fleet Air Arm pilots showed how it’s done with a curved approach. There’s a video on You Tube of a late model Spitfire, Mustang and Corsair flying low over a canal with rows of trees either side. The Corsair pilot is considerably higher. Good sense I suspect but probably the only option with its poor frontal view.
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  17. In short the Japanese overlords we’re so full of their own importance that no serious planning was ever done. They just threw some ships at PH and hoped USA would back down. Sheer lunacy that only a dictator ruling class could be guilty of.
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  18. Swordfish was an early STOL aircraft It wasn’t fast of course but had good lifting ability and could fly from a heaving carrier deck in the Atlantic swells. It was used throughout WW2 so was not obsolete by any means. The engine was powerful and the structural frame was steel with fabric covering. AA shells went straight through including tracers and explosive shells. The slow speed allowed torpedoes to be dropped very low and accurately.
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  19. UK did this yet amazing feat. Yet in 2010 the Ministry of Defence scrapped the Harriers so fast there was no chance to stop them. They have only just got the replacements and frankly not even close to enough. i can't help thinking they should have run F35 alongside GR9 Harrier.
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  20. WW1 had to be the most ridiculous war ever fought. The British had no National Interest in fight a war on European soil. Even less against Germany. But the upper classes were bored and spoiling for any war egged on by the press and propagandists.
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  21.  @hansheden  Bradley absolutely hated Patton. After D-Day he deliberately ignored all of Pattons ideas and every one was proved correct. Including that Allies should establish new borders by not stopping until they met the Russians. Patton yet again was correct with Russia crossing agreed lines and refusing to move back. Berlin for example.
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  22. The ship carrying Norwegian royalty and government was the safest way to evacuate them. It was correct to not join into the battle, but why was that not said at the time?
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  23. The American navy brass refused to accept that Japan could manufacture torpedoes with the speed & power of the Long Lance. Its engine was fed with pure compressed oxygen rather than compressed air. Nobody told Japanese engineers this was an “impossible” feat.
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  24. It’s not really fair to call the Swordfish “obsolete”. They were built to operate from carrier decks heaving in Atlantic swells. It was in use for the entire WW2.
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  25. Belgrano sank incredibly quickly. Was she properly prepared? I mean to sink that quickly after hits on bow and stern, her watertight doors must have been open.
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