Comments by "John Fisher" (@johnfisher9692) on "Drachinifel" channel.

  1. Thanks Drach And welcome back our old friend Mr Square Cube Law, it has been some time since we have been graced with your presence. I loved the comparison between the German heavy cruisers and potential Allied cruisers displacing the same, I also thought the Baltimore's were a far fairer opponent to a Hipper than a Treaty compliant County or US ship. Hmmm a 16,000 ton county would be interesting.
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  2.  @alexalbrecht5768 IMO Germany only ever built ONE Battlecruiser Von Der Tann. From the Moltke class onward the ships of 1stSg were designed to supplement the Battle line and were built far more on the scale of Battleships rather than as ships designed to hunt down and kill enemy cruisers, which was the original concept. They should more properly be called Light Fast Battleships not battlecruisers. But that argument rill rage till the end of time.
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  3.  @alexalbrecht5768 As I said, my opinion and the German ships were NOT designed to hunt cruisers as was the original concept, they were essentially second line BATTLESHIPS and build like that. Also not that the first battlecruisers the British built were the Lions. The six I class were conceived designed and built as Dreadnought Armoured Cruisers and were misused by putting them against ships with guns there were not built to face. The Lions proved well able to stand against Hippers ships and were still at sea ready to fight the next day while 1stSG ran whimpering for home unfit for battle. The loss of Queen Mary is less due to poor design than good and very lucky shooting by the Germans in hitting turrets and unstable propellant. German designs were nowhere near as great as you think and had many shortcomings that other Navy's couldn't tolerate such as overly cramped conditions for the crew as they were designed for very short deployments. There is more to a warship than simplistic comparisons of guns, speed and armour and German sea trial speeds were usually exaggerated
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  4. As always an awesome video Of course you're not the Mighty Jingles, you're the Mighty Drachinifel. One small comment on Nations sticking to the limits of the various Treaty's I have to point out the Japanese never did, even for a second. All the cruisers and carriers Japan built under the Treaty's were well above their announced displacement and usually well above the Treaty limits. The talk about the German love of light shell for higher rate of fire was great. History proves this failed by the way the British CL's with their 6inch guns dominated the German CL's armed with more numerous 4.1inch guns and the facat teh last CL's the Imperial Navy built were armed with 5.9inch. Yes, with four Admirals Hood would have gotten the rebuild she needed and combine that with eight Super Tigers, hmmm yummy. Now where can I get me those!! And wouldn't the US Navy be jealous of that considering their standard BB speed of 21 knots.
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  5. Thanks Drach, always a great learning experience I know Beatty gets massive criticism for reducing the safety measures for ammunition handling but why does no one ever criticize Hipper for doing the exact same damn thing early in the war and only the dedication and sacrifice of the crew enabled Seydlitz to survive that near fatal hit at Dogger Bank. And it was this survival that let the Germans learn just how dangerous their procedures were and correct them before Jutland. My theory is because Seydlitz did Not blow up, people forget this failure on Hippers part and Beatty gets much more flak because his similar failure came to light in THE major fleet action of the war.
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  6. Great video Although rushed into service I love how you pointed out just how formidable these ships became after all the teething troubles were corrected.
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  7. Thanks for another gret video I agree that any ship built as a follow on from the G3 or N3 classes would have been monsters that would laugh at most of the BB's built during WW2. One query I've long held is why the USA didn't shift most of their Atlantic Fleet to the Pacific after Pearl Harbour. the BB's, CV's and even the CA's had little to do in the Atlantic as the major threat there were U-Boats and very occasional converted merchant raiders. Why not shift the major surface units and fleet DD's to t he Pacific to reinforce the fleet there and just leave some CL's and DD's for convoy escort? Any major German units would have to get past the RN (and we know how hard that was) so why not rebalance things against the Japanese.
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  8. Utter nonsence When Bismarck was designed Germany was lucky to be able to build even the 15inch guns they did. Changing to the 16.5 would require complete replacement of the shell hoist system to handle the larger shell and charges Bismarck was just a poor, treaty breaking design
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  9. Thanks Drach Each one of these ships was almost a separate class of their own such was the rate of tech change.
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  10. I would have loved to have HMAS Tiger and HMNZS Princess Royal fully refitted and modernized in WW2 but the US loudly protested about HMAS Australia claiming it was part of the Royal Navy and counted among the ship which had to be scrapped to comply with the Washington Treaty. I also read that the Australian Navy had trouble crewing the ships after WW1 and the BC took too large a chunk of the limited manpower. Still, the RN could have "loaned" some people to crew both ships on a long term basis, You know, just between friends :)
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  11. Thanks Drach Excellent video on how operational requirements drive the design of any ship. Many criticize Rn carriers for the small air group but they faced a far different threat to US or Japanese carriers and once in the Pacific they adopted US deck park policy and their ability to resist damage far exceeded Japanese carriers. "Creative Japanese accounting" a PC way of saying Treaty breaking.
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  12. Hmm, getting late, need sleep! What? A new Drydock...coffee time! Don't let teh naysayers get you down Drach, they're just jealous of your knowledge, your soothing voice and that model of Queen Elizabeth. I don't think you're doing a reasonable job, you are doing a fantastic job here and I have learned so much. I may not agree with everything you've said, but what a boring old world it would be if everyone agreed all the time.
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  13. Great video for your half ton Drach. Take your cap off and wave your mouse and mic to acknowledge the cheers of the fans Loved how you pointed out the reason Swordfish survived Bismarck's AA was the fragments passed right through the fabric doing little damage. That makes far more sence than the Bismarck excuse makers saying the Swordfish flew too slow for the AA guns to properly track. And ignoring queries about the manually aimed 20 & 37mm guns.
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  14. Thanks Drach An amazing pair of French ships which seemed to be built to roughly the same design, a rarity for the MN.
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  15. Thanks again Drach for all your hard work in keeping us entertained and educated. People say Hood was wet aft Henri IV: Hold my wine
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  16. I think you mean a little younger than the KGV's and almost twice the displacement. HMS Hood developed 144,000 SHP and carried 8x15inch guns.
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  17. Thanks Drach I have been waiting for a video about how Battleships guns were made. This was so informative. I can only imagine that building ever bigger guns is far more complicated than just repeating what you are doing and just making it bigger, the stressed would have to be finely calculated or as you say, bad things happen. Does baby Drach need a plushie naval gun to go with her plushie shell?
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  18. Nice video Vesta was one of the many unsung heroes of the war, doing the very much needed but far less reported roles that were essential to any fleet. Wonder if the crew ever groaned at a 'repeat' customer ship coming back for more repairs saying "Damn it, we just patched you up"
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  19. There is a great book called Duels in the Sky by Captain Eric M.Brown. RN that covers this is a small way. Captain Brown was a RN fighter pilot and test pilot during WW2 and holds the world record for the most different types of aircraft flown. His assessment is that despite the changes to the bf109T it would have been a difficult aircraft to land on a carrier due to poor view and a tendency to drop a wing. The bf109 also shares the same weaknesses of the Spitfire when converted to naval use. Weak landing gear which caused many accidents as well as a short range.
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  20. A very interesting and thought provoking video Drachinifel There are so many variables in this it is very much a case of 'Viewer pick your favorite possibility.' The fact you took out the very poor decisions of the Japanese admirals really help their forces. Loved how you showed just how decisive an advantage technology can give one side in the right circumstances, especially when that edge in pronounced. Also, thank you for pointing out just how dangerous the Japanese long lance torpedoes were to the ships carrying them. Liquid oxygen and shell fire is a devastatingly bad combination which too few people realize. Another possible "What If" scenario to do would be" What if Beatty's signals officer didn't mess up at the Battle of Dogger Bank and the British BC's were able to chase the German BC's down.
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  21. Thanks for another gret video I had read that the British did trial high pressure boilers in the 1920's but as the results wre not promising they let the concept lapse, though other sources say the new boilers were not given a fair chance to prove themselves. The good point of the older boilers was that British machinery in WW2 was considered very reliable, a good point for a Navy stretched to the limit covering everything that needed to be covered but really needed many more ships.
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  22. Thanks for your efforts in another video Drach, informative as ever.
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  23. Great video Drach and gratz on reaching 50k subs. How jealous is Donitz? Now the next target is 100k Seeing the inevitable rise in the size of DD's brings to mind a quote from a book I read years and years ago. "As we increase the size and capability of our DD's, we gradually change them from the hunters to the hunted" Just can't remember where I read that.
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  24. Another great video Drach It's just my opinion but I think the Japanese in WW2 were so wedded to the Decisive Battle Doctrine because it did work for them once before, the battle of Tsushima Shortly after that battle Russia sued for peace whereas some modern theorists think if she had not the weaker Japanese economy would have forced them to negotiate for peace. The Japanese in turn did not examine the true reason for their stunning victory, that they basically had every possible advantage there was except sheer numbers and those superior Russian numbers were NOT an advantage. In this particular case quantity was not a quality all of its own, Thus they formed their own decisive battle doctrine based on the enemy doing what you think they will.
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  25. Loved the video Informative and also filled with tongue in cheek humor The German operation shows the advantage of good planning and surprise when combined with a bit of good luck and favorable weather conditions. Plus some overconfidence on the part of the British. Can we have a minutes silence for that poor bakery. It never hurt anyone
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  26. I can see where trying to wargame Jutland 2 electric boogaloo would be a nightmare with each side trying to get the most favorable conditions for their side. I have another wrinkle to add to any attempts for historical accuracy. How many of the Germans heavy Naval shells would fail to work? And I can see the swelling of German pride/arrogance screaming that's nonsence but if we're going for true historical accuracy, all too many of the WW2 heavy shells failed to work. Just ask HMS Prince of Wales
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  27. Great video Drach You show just how pointless and useless it is to pay off pirates or terrorists. It never works and costs much more in the long run than the cost of burning them out. It's a lesson we need to relearn with the current batch of pirates. Unfortunately they would probably run and hide behind women and children while live streaming to youtube about the barbarism of whichever Navy is sent to deal with their hideous crimes. And some bleeding hearts thousands of Km's away would side with these monsters, conveniently forgetting about what was done to the people they have kidnapped (enslaved?) and the stress to the victims family's.
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  28. Happy 100th guide, they are all awesome. It's a pity such a great ship was lost so early in the war. I'm sure she would have been of immence value in the Pacific once hte British had adopted the American system of a permanent deck park. This is certainly a case of "We learn by doing" Flaws in a ships design can sometimes only be found in actual combat operations as happened here. The lesson is to 'Take you lumps, learn from it and don't make the same mistake again"
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  29.  @CorePathway  Helped cripple and then sink Bismarck, crushed Scharnhorst, frightened Tirpitz so it only left its hiding place when it was safe to do so. Did better than most other heavy Naval guns. Germans BS a lot about hos "superior" their technology in WW2 was.
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  30. Poor ship seemed to have all the bad luck and reputation I hope they at least apologized to the USS Iowa for almost serving them a tin fish.
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  31. Excellent video about just how complicated designing a new ship can be, especially when technology and threats are changing so rapidly, Not to mention the even harder battles any Navy has with its own nations Treasury Department.
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  32. Thanks Drach. I can't recall who said it but a quote goes: While our nations may be at war, all sailors have a common enemy in the sea.
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  33. Great video Drach For ships never meant for front line service they certainly gave better than they got
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  34. Well I've survived another marathon dry dock, though it took quite a few sittings. Should we all put in for long service ribbons?
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  35. Poor Bearn It could have been worse Drach, someone might have asked for more information on the French pre Dreadnoughts 😀
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  36. Thanks Drach The sheer number of ships built is amazing when we look at today navy's. The amount of wood used in even one vessel would give an environmentalist nightmares.
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  37. This is a marathon Drydock. I htink it's the longest one yet. So what is planned for Episode 50? The all important half ton in cricketing language. Regarding that massive fleet of Ships of the line attacking Bismarck. In your scenario where everything goes right and the ships manage to get alongside Bismarck, what if they didn't blow themselves up but boarded it with pistols and cutlasses? Captain Drach urging his crew on to add yet another ship to the Royal Navy. Hmm and think of the prize money.
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  38. Loved the Babylon5 comment Drach. Absolutely one of my favorite sci-fi shows ever and it kicked Star Trek's ass all over the place with better story lines and dialogue. If you can try watching Farscape. A brilliant show made here in Australia and combined great characters, storyline and at times comedy. It wasn't afraid to laugh at itself.
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  39. Thanks Drach I never knew about these 1st Flower class and they were very interesting. The speed which they were built at sounds amazing and shows just how massive were the UK's ship building muscles
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  40. Thanks Drach for an excellent way to spend over half an hour. It looks like the US was quite lucky that the Japanese pilots were greedy to add to the tally when they diverted to North Carolina rather than making sure Enterprise was on her way to pay a visit to Davy Jones.
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  41. Thanks Drach for handling such a delicate topic carefully. I never had a problem with the sinking of the Belgrano. The situation can be boiled down to this. Argentina attacked and invaded British territory, causing a war. The Belgrano is an enemy combatant in a time of war and is therefore a legitimate target in any circumstance. Going by the argument that the ship was sailing away you could say the attack and sinking of HMS Ark Royal in WW2 was illegal as it was heading to port.
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  42. Escellent video there and something I never knew about, It's less about active stealth and more about misdirection. As you pointed out every eye was skyward during the raid and any explosions from Revenge's guns would have been written off to bombs hitting. I wonder if the modern stealth systems like paint and hull design would survive battle damage? What happens to the stealth rating if that paint is burnt off fom a fire or the hull is no longer that nice angle?
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  43. Thanks Drach Hope you remembered to put those pins back in on the pom-pom training wheels :)
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  44. Loved the explanation of the difference between the different types of armour. I agree that all too many poorly informed people just rave about how perfect German armour was and how much stronger it was supposed to be. Thanks for proving that not everything German wa the pinnacle of perfection and in some cases worse than other nations, I;ve had some people say the 1.5 inches of side plating on the Iowa's means their armour belt was equal to 13.5. inches of proper BB armour. Obviously this was not true as STS steel was not the equal of proper face hardened armour.
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  45. Always a welcome thing to see Drach. I also asked what happened to wooden ships when they were broken up, so thanks for answering that question,. I do wonder if Sir Drachinifel is a proponent of the all big sword approach to medieval warfare?
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  46.  @gerardmdelaney  I'm sure the Star Empire of Manticore will not let the name lapse. They are probably planning to reuse the name for a new SD(P)
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  47. Three in one day. Don't tire that golden voice out Drach, we need our regular dose of history. So the Nassau V2 class lol Better ships but still with a cumbersome turret arrangement. I say Billy Mitchell's demonstration did more harm to the aircraft lobby by his ridiculous and very obviously rigged attack, not to mention his assertion that it's easier to hit a ship underway than it is a stationary target. At the end experts said your could have sunk the BB with a carpenters hammer by smashing the porthole glass. His heart, and perhaps mind, were in the right place but he was too determined to win and ended up shooting himself in the foot. As Italy proved in WW2, high altitude level bombing is not the way to sink ships underway. Dive or torpedo is the way to go
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  48.  @bigblue6917  And eating steak and eggs in fine restaurants while US troops captured in the Philippines and Australians in New Guinea starved. There's a reason his own men gave him the nickname Dugout Doug. A place he never left until he got an excuse to skedaddle.
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  49. Thanks Drach A fitting tribute to a man who gave his life in service to his Queen and the Royal Navy
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  50. You'd think if Italy ws the one to declare War they would make sure their Navy was alerted and ready before they did that. I do suspect the the attack had been planned for some time given how fast and successful that was. Interesting to note the Austria-Hungry forces targeted military installations and gave civilians time to get to safety before opening fire in contrast to Hipper who appeared out of the dark and deliberately targeted civilians without warning.
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