Comments by "Sar Jim" (@sarjim4381) on "America vs Germany 1941 - The Forgotten Conflict" video.

  1. The destroyers, known as the "1200 ton type" as a whole, of which the Reuben James was a member_ , have been given a bad rap by the Royal Navy. They were not "old" at a mere 20 years, especially considering the average age of British destroyer was around 23 years old. They did need some repairs and refitting because they had been sitting in reserve for about 15 of their 20 years in reserve. Some of the US equipment and armament was removed and replaced with equipment that more nearly matched that of an RN escort vessel. Once they had been refitted, the RN had the equivalent of a newly commissioned vessel in a couple months of refitting compared to the year or more it would have taken to construct a new vessel, not to mention it would have required materials the British just didn't have on hand. The RN, even for all complaining they did about the class, were lucky to have them available, since this came at low point in the Battle of the Atlantic. These admittedly less than perfect ships allowed the British to free up newer and better vessels.
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