Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "The Drydock - Episode 126" video.

  1. Regarding the South American battleship race, having reviewed your previous videos, a question comes to mind. Both HMS Canada and Erin were derived from existing RN battleship classes, but Agincourt was not. Agincourt's design, with the two widely spaced funnels, with two center-line turrets between, is unique among British ships. What Agincourt looks like, more than anything else, is Rivadavia. If someone had approached Fore River for a second generation Rivadavia, it would have looked like Agincourt, with the two midships turrets pulled in to the center-line. Is that what happened? Did Brazil go to Armstrong and say "we want a ship like Rivadavia, but with one more turret, to one-up Argentina"?
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  2.  @PelhamExpress  The Second London treaty specified a reduction in gun size to 14", effectively outlawing the 15"/42 for new construction, though the treaty did have an escalator clause permitting a return to 16" by, iirc, April 37, if any party to the previous treaties refused to sign the new one. Japan had given notice in 34 that it was dropping out of the treaty system, but the RN didn't want to wait until the April drop dead date, laying down the KGV and PoW on New Year Day of 37, the first day after the moratorium on BB construction ended. What puzzles me about the Lions, is why the Admiralty insisted on trying to reinvent the 16" gun. The UK and US were allies. The US had developed 16"/45 and 16"/50 guns in the late 30s. Seems the obvious thing to do would be for the Admiralty to send a purchase order to the USN for the required number of guns, and move on to the next issue.
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