Comments by "" (@VersusARCH) on "The Drydock - Episode 131" video.

  1. 4:47:45 there were cargo ships built for speed before WW2 - those carrying perishable goods, namely fruit, since refrigiration was still a very new thing back then and not very widespread yet. The so-called banana ships were prime candidates for WW2 merchant raiders, KMS Thor being a good example. Unlike fast passenger liners they were neither particularly big or expensive to operate.
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  2. About the basic Jeune Ecole principle - Yes, the bigger power can build a bigger number of smaller craft but if you just rendered its existing fleet of large surface combatants obsolete with effective small craft you just made them start over again making much of its previous investment in the exiting fleet a waste therefore making them invest 3-4 times as much as you did to maintain their naval superiority. So that way you do undermine their economy in the long run by an asymmetric approach. That was one of the major reasons UK went bankrupt in the world wars which itself was one of the major reasons for the breakup of their empire, and it could be argued that Germany actually used its submarine force in accordance with the Jeune Ecole principles.
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  3. Cannon is weapon that uses chemical propellant to launch non-reactive (at least initially) projectiles using a barrel whose caliber (diameter) is 20 mm or more and whose length exceeds 25 calibers (500 mm in case of a 20 mm cannon). Those similar weapons which have a barrel length between 10 and 25 calibers are howitzers and those with the barrel length below 10 calibers are mortars. Main battleship guns are cannons.
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