Comments by "mpetersen6" (@mpetersen6) on "The Drydock - Episode 116" video.

  1. The last time I was this late the Russo Japanese war was already over.
    1
  2. Just my opinion. Taranto and Pearl Harbor really did not offer any lessons to the operation of capital ships at sea beyond the fact that they truely were vulnerable to aircraft launched torpedoes. At both Taranto and PH* the ships sunk by torpedoes were basically sitting ducks at anchor/tied up in harbor. A more important the lesson the British (and the USN) should have learned from Bismarck is capital ships operating at sea unsupported are exposed to attack by determined torpedo bombers**. The main reason that the US Navy thought the Anchorage at Pearl Harbor was safe at least from torpedo attack was the depth of the harbor. Just be ause you think an air dropped torpedoe will bury itself in the mud iz no reason that a potential adversary can't come up with a solution to the problem. One important lesson that the US Navy probably did learn is that the standard battleships were extremely vulnerable to plunging fire and armor piercing bombs. Especially if they were converted 16" armor piercing shells from the Nagato. The really important lesson from Force Z is do not operate capital ships without either aircover or adequate anti aircraft capabilities either through your own ship board AA or escorting destroyers. *Another over looked factor is the repeated warnings that had come out of Washington due either to over reaction or miss read intelligence. **And yes I realize that the AA shells from the Bismarck should have been able to shoot the Stringbags down had they hit anything to set their fuses off
    1