Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 275" video.

  1. Timing is everything department. In the armor piece a few days ago, I proposed an alt history where the US retains the belt armor made for the South Dakotas, then sells it to the UK for the KGVs, when the North Carolinas are designed with sloped belts. One objection was that the US armor would be inferior to the armor that the KGVs were designed with. The solution to that problem would be to replace the US armor with new, British armor, when it became available. Today, Drac addresses that question: the feasibility of replacing an armor belt. Photos of KGV and Prince of Wales launching shows their external belts were not installed when the ships were launched, answering the question whether the armor was structural or not. Would the South Dakota armor fit KGV? In December 1918. Repulse went into refit, which included removing her 6" belt, and replacing it with the 9" belt armor that had been made for Almirante Cochrane, which was now surplus. The only detail I am hazy on it how the armor was made to fit the different hull? There must have been means of using shims, or reshaping the more ductile back side of the armor, to fit.
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