The Drydock - Episode 110

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@ibbi32]

Could you please do a video on naval aircraft of ww1 and prelude to ww2

[@lutenantsweedpertasa]

In your interwar carriers video you said HMS Hermes and HMS Eagle were on anti-piracy operations, could you please go into more detail about these operations?

[@ArcticTemper]

What if the Samoan Crisis of 1898 broke out into a war between Germany and the US?

[@WaterWolf11]

Would you kindly do a wednesday special about drydock and port infrastructure and the protection of ships in them when it comes to the navy?

[@bushyfromoz8834]

Friendly reminder on the scrap iron flotilla ;)

[@kpdubbs7117]

Hey, Drach, you provide information and entertainment to a lot of us. I have no problem with you getting duly compensated for the tremendous amount of effort you clearly put into these videos. If it helps you to keep bringing this content to us, do it!

[@35Cypher]

Full speed for the sponsorship. Youre using it to preserve history and spread your knowledge to others. Its more than a noble cause and Im all in for you to be able to afford doing it.

[@jb76489]

11:57 “Completely unequal like destroyer vs battleship” *Angry USS Johnston noises*

[@Drachinifel]

To be fair that battleship never stood a chance, so definitely unfair. :D

[@greenseaships]

If I'm ever forced by the ill will of a woman to get a tiny little dog, I'm gonna name it Johnston!

[@sugarnads]

Capt vian harumphs

[@billbrockman779]

Just imagine chipping ice off the tower pagodas of a Fuso!

[@CSSVirginia]

Nope!

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

We need drug testing for questions like this.

[@bigblue6917]

That's not a euphemism by any chance.

[@CSSVirginia]

@@bigblue6917 With the weebs in chat? Who can tell anymore!

[@reaperking2121]

First no thank you. Second imagine doing it in high seas even bigger nope.

[@don_5283]

100% on board with you taking sponsorships to whatever extent is necessary to support such a worthy project as making rare images openly available to the public. Of all the people I follow, I trust you most of all to keep things properly balanced, and you will have my complete support throughout. Thank you for all you already do in illuminating all this fascinating history, and I look forward to more excellent content in the future. Also, best wishes in coming across the pond at some point in the future. Hopefully we'll have our merry little plague under control reasonably soon. I'm missing museum visits myself through all this.

[@Belsen85]

My feeling when I see an advertisement integration in videos of KZbinrs whom I like - is happiness. You are doing a tremendous job to all of us and it is absolutely normal to earn money on this. Moreover, if the money are spent wisely (for example, spending all your earning on the "Baltic tea" is not wise :)

[@sealpiercing8476]

I try to answer ad questions as if I am interested in all the products that they mention, for this reason. I'm poor, so I'm probably not actually a good revenue stream for anyone at the moment (although I wouldn't mind some ads for cheap online groceries I suppose), but I hope it helps.

[@buckchesterfield8886]

Well said!

42:00 But the Japanese could've just sent Russia a telegram going "....Dear Russians, but what about torpedo boats?" and before you know it, the Russian navy has sent GB and the US 2849462 telegrams warning them never to run any arctic convoy because of the scores of Japanese torpedo boats that are all over the North Sea.

[@andrewp8284]

And cleverly concealed torpedo boats at that! Ones that look suspiciously like fishing vessels!

[@acetuberjason6730]

The torpedo boats are disguised as oilers

[@merobo5066]

inb4 they sink the supply convoys because they think they are disguised torpedo boats

[@linnharamis1496]

If you need to take a few appropriate sponsorships- that’s fine with me. I continue to be amazed at level of detail you have on your channel. Please keep up the good work👍

[@sirdigbychickenceasar2654]

I don’t can’t think of any good reasons to object to whatever sponsorship or adverts you need to take on in order to continue the excellent content you produce on this. Channel, the Sunday dry dock and Wednesday specials are the highlight of my week.

[@lutenantsweedpertasa]

Last time I was this early Fisher was building “light” cruisers.

[@kyle857]

"Large light cruisers" wink*

[@coreys2686]

Clicked "like" at the beginning, because any history is good history to know.

[@bigblue6917]

I think we all do that Corey👍

[@deaks25]

On the question around sponsorship: if it's relevant to the channel content and is helping to fund ways to improve the channel/content/subject matter, then it's definitely a good thing. Funding a scanner so you can make historical photos available to everyone is absolutely a positive thing.

[@reaperking2121]

Drach Your content is so amazing. If you have to put sponsors or adds on some of your videos to keep these coming then by all means please do so. I love your videos with your great sense of humor and amazing and interesting history being shared. If I have to suffer through two minutes of adds or sponor ship mumbo jumbo on a video to keep these coming then that is something I do willingly.

[@Gingerbreadley]

Drach we don’t mind the sponsors at all. You do so much work for our enjoyment we don’t mind. Especially if you are using it for historical documentation.

[@tehllama42]

Relevant sponsorship that means we get more high quality information, and enables you to keep doing this in a way that is up to your standards? Please continue!

[@ThomasAllen90]

"something approximating,'all the drugs' " had me in a fit let me tell you. G'day & many thanks ^^

[@jamesfisher4326]

During the Battle Off Samar, carrier aircraft from sunken, damaged, and otherwise occupied carriers not only landed at army air force bases on land, but refueled and rearmed to attack again.

[@idanceforpennies281]

The Spanish-American war was one of the most successful, least-cost land grabs in history.

[@danieltaylor5231]

This week's drydock brought to you by Irn Bru!

[@admiraltiberius1989]

Fantastic video as always Drach. I personally think the US Navy going into the 1900s with a large and relatively advanced fleet could really change history. The two way arms race between Britain and Germany is instead a three way arms race and starts earlier with far deadlier consequences. And now I'm imagining a Japanese submarine with a copy of V1 rocket trying to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor in 1945. And it's just blotted from the map by an unnoticed blimp flying overhead that drops a bomb or charge and BOOM !!!! It would be a fitting end I think.

[@stephenpickering8063]

Drac - Would agree with the other comments on sponsorship. Provided it doesn't get massive intrusive or too unrelated then no problem. Especially if it helps you maintain your excellent work.

[@Pitchlock8251]

T-class full slavo, because overkill is under rated.

[@madalheidis]

The fact you misspelled salvo as 'slavo' may or may not be a possible improvement.

[@katana1430]

There is no Overkill. There is only "Open Fire!" and "I need to reload"

[@gerardmdelaney]

Enough is too little, Too much is not enough Overkill is just right SAC

[@davidbrennan660]

Listening splendour for a Sunday. Hurrah! So, Sir would like a 14” gun then....... ?

[@polygondwanaland8390]

[concealed carry intensities]

[@yalelingoz6346]

Yeah, I don't see the odd bit of sponsorship as a bad thing. Especially since you're going to make sure it's relevant. And I /really/ like the idea of a cash inflow to cover your costs here. I say go for it.

[@rogerhinman5427]

That missile on the deck of the USS Cusk is not a repainted V-1 but an LTV-N-2, the submarine-launched version of the US Army's JB-2 Loon. This was a US-built copy of the V-1 by Republic Aviation, Willys-Overland, Ford Motor Company, and various subcontractors. It was slightly re-engineered to have a greater wing area and had a different design to the front engine pylon but otherwise very closely resembled the V-1. This photo is probably from the first test firing on February 12, 1947 off Point Mugu, California.

[@Dave_Sisson]

If it looks like a V-1, smells like a V-1 and has the very distinctive V-1 sound... then it IS a V-1, even if it was built in a different factory and goes by another name. It looks like "Murica claiming credit for something that was 99% German engineered.

[@rogerhinman5427]

@@Dave_Sisson Gee, and I even said it was a US-built copy of the V-1 too. Your grasp of the obvious is limited.

[@KB4QAA]

11:05 Gun ranges. In my USN experience our reference books and intelligence provided 1. Max range and 2. Effective range. Rule of thumb was that Effective Range was about 60% of maximum range. USNR-ret'd, Tactical Action Officer, USS America 1993. Cheers. b.

[@polygondwanaland8390]

I'm now imagining Japanese ships with pagoda masts completely encased in ice. Pagodasicles. Probably quite briefly before capsizing from the thousands of tons of new top weight.

[@bkjeong4302]

In that case only the Yamatos would be fine, as they were the only Japanese big-gun vessels to not have pagoda masts.

[@andrewp8284]

Drach, in one of the next videos: “LETS PLAY RAID: SHADOW LEGENDS, START NOW FOR FREE!” Jokes aside, I don’t mind a future sponsor, especially if it’s something relevant to your channel’s focus.

[@sreckocuvalo8110]

''This battle of Jutland was sponsored by RAID: SHADOW LEGENDS, START NOW FOR FREE!”

[@AtomicBabel]

Thank you dear sir for answering my question on the T- Class torpedoe salvos!

[@williamharvey8895]

Hey Drach, good to know that your USA trip is coming along. In the south, Alabama is more or less opened up. No travel restrictions n such. Just to let you know.

[@Pentagon6519]

Who cares if a channel does sponsors? As long as it isn't a crap product and it doesn't make up most of the video what does it matter? It's an ad and creators should be able to make money off of the many many hours of enjoyment they bring. Just don't let it consume the vids or change you and I'm sure your fans will be fine with it.

[@benbregman7010]

Drach I have been a fan and patron since dd15 the amount of time you put in and content you provide is outstanding. For you to seek commercial sponsorship is totally understandable and Justified. Hope to c u in states 2021

[@jonyungk]

Drach, you mention the need to counter the increased threat of air attack as a reason for Britain's push for a lower main-gun caliber in the Second London Naval Treaty. With this threat in mind, was serious consideration made for rearming the Nelsons with twelve 5.25-in DP weapons in place of their 6-inch anti-ship and 4.7-in AA guns, or was there too much of a crunch to get the 5.25s to the then-building KGVs to give this any thought? Seems like it would have been a better use of tonnage and perhaps allowed more light AA guns to be carried.

[@spychain]

I can partially answer this. Based on the planned rebuild of Hood replacing her entire secondary battery with the 5.25in guns, I have a feeling any planned rebuild of Rodney and Nelson would have been the same way, at least in the stern. The port and starboard secondaries would have been more difficult to replace with the 5.25in due to the barbette associated with the turret going to be extremely close to the hull.

[@Industriestaubsauger]

Regarding missles on U-Boats. V-1 rockets were tested on german U-Boats during the war. But the effort and risk involed in a missle strike were considered too high for a meager Warhead. The U-Boat-Crew needed close to 2 hours - on the surface - preferable during daytime: to set up a wodden ramp and ready the V-1 (and fuel it). After the launch, the damn thing flies in a straight line - showing every airplane(and ship) excatly where to look for the culprint. A V-1 is not a stealthy weapon. Some engineering lunatic even considered and built(!) a submergeable launching platform for the much bigger V-2 - carried behind by the U-Boat(Type XXI was considered for this task). AFAIK no one in the Kriegsmarine came up with a design for a proper 'Ballistic-Missle-U-Boat' - But there are prewar designs for an 'Artillery-U-Boat' wich are also fun to look at. Someone came up with the idea for an 'Raketen-UBoot' AFAIK no missle-strike-mission was conducted by the Kriegsmarine One Source for your liking: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rXm4dImVeqmCfKs Postscript: German U-Boats carried at least 3 types of rockets. 1. Signal rockets - because no one will see your flag-signal during the night 2. rocket-propelled illumination flares with an unfolding parachute - when the signal rockets are not enough 3. 'SeeNotRakete' - literally Sea-Emergency-Rocket. A rocket-propelled rope. Used to rescue washed over comrades or shipwrecked enemies. Another use; During resupply on the sea - when the bad wheater in the atlantic did not allow the UBoat/Tender to get close enough for a handtossed rope.

[@douggallagher8809]

As suicidal as most submariners may be, i would not like to even begin to think of the dangers of trying to fuel a V2 at sea, even in a dead calm(if i remember, V1s used kerosene for the pulse jet). And carrying a fully fueled V2 on a sub; at the very 1st crash dive, the undersea lite like a Christmas tree, of exploding hydrogen peroxide

[@karlvongazenberg8398]

It would be nice if Drach would be sponsored by Irn Bru...

[@bigblue6917]

I thought he was. He's just subtle about it.

[@adenkyramud5005]

I would rather see him being sponsored by a rum company. For obvious reasons. Payment in alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

[@sugarnads]

🤢🤢🤢

[@ayayaybamba3445]

Don't bet on the US trip for the coming future. We still haven't figured out shit here and half the US is currently a GTA server.

[@dfgiuy22]

Lol... the GTA server analogy was fucking hilarious

[@kennj321]

I would like to see a future episode about the evolution of navigation systems the navys used. two important events were the 1707 British Scilly naval disaster and the 1923 US Honda Point disaster. its interesting they were so similar but 200+ years apart during a period that should have seen much progress. its also interesting in the Honda event the captains duty to his ship vs the fleet.

[@georgew2014]

While it was not a comparison, there was an episode on Honda Point. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mYXZlnqFj9Rklck

[@kennj321]

@@georgew2014 , thats pretty much it. although i would like to see how ship navigation improved over the next 25 years. Alsi it would be interesting to see how ship to ship and ship to base communications changed during the period as well.

[@johnshepherd8687]

Given that the South Carolina was designed about the same time as Dreadnaught I think the US Navy would have introduced the all big gun design several years earlier than Dreadnaught if the 1889 plan had been approved. It probably still would have been 18 knot ship with fewer innovations than Dreadnaught but it still would have revolutionized naval warfare.

[@VintageCarHistory]

Talking hotels? French Pre-Dreadnoughts are posting here?!?

[@disbeafakename167]

You leave those beautiful ships alone! They are doing their best!

[@bigblue6917]

Does look suspicious, doesn't it.

[@oldmangimp2468]

A talking hotel poses a question??? . The French pre-dreadnaughts speak!!!

[@michaelkneringer3194]

The " Intro and Outro" themes to your DryDock are classic. I hope somewhere down the road you will be able to expound on the choice of the subject matter.

[@blueboats7530]

For the T-class submarines, keep in mind the external tubes were 2 forward and 2 facing aft, so there was never a 10 torpedo salvo, and even a rapid follow-up with a stern shoot probably took an uncomfortably long time to execute, given the doubtful maneuverability of those boats. If I'm shooting all 8 forward and then running, I'm probably keeping the stern 2 for defense.

[@CharlesStearman]

HMS Trenchard v. IJN Ashigara: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_8_June_1945

[@kemarisite]

According to the wikipedia entry, citing Kemp, the group 1 T-class subs has two external tubes in the bow and two more facing forward at the base of the sail facing forward. Group 2 boats had the tubes on the sail moved to the rear and facing the rear, in addition to adding one internal stern tube. So the group 1 boats could volley off 10 torpedoes if desired.

[@AtomicBabel]

Thanks everyone for the additional info. That was me that asked about the T Class

[@ShuRugal]

"it would have been a symbolic attack, more than anything else" (V1 attack from submarine on US coast) you mean, kind of like packing a flight of B25 Mitchels onto a Yorktown and launching them on a one-way mission to Japan?

[@user-uf4qq7ij5r]

Disappointed Kormoran vs Sydney wasn't mentioned in "Improbable historical battle results", as it more than qualifies. Kormoran using just four of her total of six 6-inch guns annihilated a light cruiser armed with eight 6-inch guns plus four 4-inch guns. Being an actual warship, Sydney also had the advantages of central fire control, armor, and a much larger crew; yet Kormoran still won the battle, sinking Sydney with the loss of her entire 645-man crew.

[@brainletmong6302]

Yeah but it's all a question of whether or not kormoran has the advantage of surprise. The germans would wargame it out assuming that it did as they would of course know the Kormoran wouldn't survive being chased by the Sydney, so it was entirely within expectations, if a bit unlikely.

[@user-uf4qq7ij5r]

@@brainletmong6302 It's doubtful any surprise was achieved by Kormoran considering Sydney followed Kormoran, trained all her guns on her and treated her as a suspicious vessel from the very beginning of the encounter; indeed most sources agree both ships opened fire at approximately the same time. Did the Australian captain expect a mere merchant raider to challenge a light cruiser? Perhaps that was the real element of surprise in this battle.

[@polygondwanaland8390]

1:01:00 It seems to me that even if the KM had been given V1s, they were mounted and functional by late 1944, AND a Wolfpack of V1 submarines got to the coast of New York... What real impact would that have? A dozen of so V1s slamming into Manhattan would have been terrifying, yes, but at the end of the day the u-boats slink back to Germany and the course of the war is entirely unchanged, except maybe America is mad enough to test Gadget on Berlin instead of Nevada.

[@MartinWillett]

We must never forget that the sum total of US civilian casualties in WWII would fit in the back of a pickup truck without the need for the dogs to get out first. Some random attacks on any US city would have a psychological impact way above the completely negligible dent on war-fighting capacity. It might make the Americans fight dirtier but it may also stiffen the sinews in Germany in a similar manner to the effect on US morale from the Doolittle Raid. As an absolute minimum I can picture US aircrew chalking the addresses of city blocks in NYC onto the bigger bombs being delivered by the USAAF.

[@karlvongazenberg8398]

Around 0:25:00 - Coal bunkers as armor: and it could happed, that after a few (even non-penetration) hits coal dust can and occasionally acted as a thermobaric explosive.

[@bigblue6917]

In WW2 the Allies experimented with air fuel bombs using coal dust. The dust was released before the explosive was detonated. But it turned out it was not as easy to detonate the coal dust as you might expect, what with needing the right mixture of air and coal dust.

[@timberwolf1575]

@@bigblue6917 And the right particle size of coal dust. (As the particle size goes down the available surface area to react/combust goes up, trending toward infinite surface area as particle size decreases to 0.)

[@NM-wd7kx]

@@bigblue6917 I feel that Sod's law comes in to play here, 10% chance of detonation is a shitty bomb but also shitty armour.

[@karlvongazenberg8398]

@@NM-wd7kx To be exact, about 10% its a bomb, another 10% is a massive source of onboard fire, 40% just an empty compartment and 40% armor. Only justifiable because you need that coal for steaming.

[@toddwebb7521]

For improbable fight as it worked out I'll go with Denmark straight. Prince of Wales and Hood should have either one by itself been a match for the Bismarck and Hood basically got one shoted and with it's turret jam issues Prince of Wales had to turn tail and leg it out of there.

[@Yuzral]

*Looks at Vizcaya* Did the Spanish design the Graf Spee about 50 years early?

[@DannyHeywood]

The plural of 2 Texas is ''YEEE HAAA!'' Then shoot a Revolver randomly in the air (Regardless of whether you are inside on the ground floor or not)

[@reaperking2121]

And then rave about how your state is the best and consider succesion.

[@dj7291993]

Reaper King because when you are in Texas, there are only two types of people, Texans, and people who wish they were Texans....

[@reaperking2121]

@@dj7291993 Yes. As a New englander I support this statement a

[@vonskyme9133]

Speaking as a West Australian, I agree. Typical symptom of Small State Syndrome...

[@tibchy144]

@ 30:10 sails aren't a power source, they're the form of propulsion while wind is the power source

[@kelloggswag]

The Japanese operated in the Aleutians campaign, and I'm not aware of any arctic issues crippling their ships.

[@insignificantgnat9334]

Drachism of the day: "Most things are possible if you throw enough brute force and ignorance at it."

[@badpossum440]

Also destroyers bounce around a lot. makes accuracy hard.

[@MultiZirkon]

13:00 "Italian spread". ...to bad I can't use that expression. No one outside Drchinifans will understand it

[@chemputer]

Drach, when you say you are hosting the photos, where are you planning on doing it at? As I said before, I would be more than happy to help you set up a system, for free (this is something I personally think is a good cause and would be happy to donate my expertise), using Google Cloud free tier and archive.org's embed feature, which lets you both use the photos and add information about them, organize them, and such, while keeping said photos available *forever* since they're hosted on archive.org. There's a rather simple Python module that makes mass uploads to archive.org pretty easy, so that's no issue. If you *really* want to self host them, linode.com currently has a free $100 account credit for new accounts, though I think Google Cloud also has a $300 credit for new accounts, not 100% sure. Storage and bandwidth are going to be expensive, though, especially since I imagine you'll also want to host the .raw images and the .jpeg/.png in as high res as possible. If you've already got help, that's great. But my main concern is that if you die, and the bills stop getting paid, that the images stay available. The free tier combined with Cloudflare's free tier CDN would allow a *very* high amount of bandwidth off of a free server. I even have 3 servers in my basement, along with gigabit internet, that I would be happy to set up a VPS on for the purposes of hosting the pictures. (This is another option, setting up a server in your house) If anyone else has server space they could donate, we could possibly just use the free-tier as a load balancer with HAProxy, allowing it to divide load between the donated VPS. I'll send you a message on discord. This is something I think is incredibly important and would really like to contribute in some way, and unfortunately I am short on money at the moment.

[@jimtalbott9535]

If you look at Project Hula, it's clear that the US could have based some fighters on the Aleutian Islands - we DID, to supply and train the Soviets on use of landing craft, both small and large. Seems like the the harbor there (cold bay) being good enough for Landing Craft, getting an airfield set up devoted to fighters would be too difficult either.

[@RelativeGalaxy7]

Please no Raid Shadow Legends or Raycon advertisements 😂

[@craigpalmer9196]

IJN and war games, I have read that they would change the rules and refloat ships if needed to win, not only did they play fast and lose with weight & balance, but also anything that would get in the way of winning

[@papajohnloki]

well, I don't know if that was common practice, but Admiral Ugaki did at several points in the planning for the Midway operation, which does not make it unlikely that it was something that was used as a discretionary device by the judges.

[@Justin-rv7oy]

Hello Drach, the Japanese had started fitting its more important surface units (aircraft carriers, cruisers and battleships ) with radar by mid-late 1942, and starting around 1943 or so, its destroyers. 1-go and 2-go types specifically. It's important to note that this process took more time than the Germans, British, Americans. However, even by 1944-1945, many of their late-war small destroyers (like the Matsu class) were being fitted with radar. Regardless, Japanese radar use seems to be more widespread within the IJN than most Americans or Brits precieve. Even the Italian Guffo, which came online around the same time (1943) seems to get more recognition despite its extremely limited use during WW2. Do you think Japanese ship-based radar use is underreported / not really understood from western sources? I had heard they had reliability issues, but I was surprised to see that Japanese use and implementation stretched for such a long time (mid 1942 to 45). I'm sure some of the very late war units were very faulty given the rush and resource crunch, but I also suspect reliability may have been better than thought given thier use of 1-go and 2-go for almost three years on a multitude of units.

[@jonrolfson1686]

My dad, who was working the night-shift in a Puget Sound shipyard during his last year in high school (1944-45), has mentioned that Russian-flagged transport ships were a frequent sight in U.S. west coast ports. The Japanese, generally adhering to their pact with the USSR, pointedly avoided interference with Russian-flagged U.S. - USSR shipping in the Pacific, even though many of those Russian-flagged ships were carrying lend-lease military cargoes.

[@ScipioAfricanusI]

Improbable battle that would not have been believed, what about CSS Virginia and USS Congress/blockading fleet?

[@bkjeong4302]

That's an ironclad vs. a wooden vessel, not really unexpected.

[@johnfisher9692]

In your latest video about carriers you stated they replaced BB's about mid 1943 as THE capital unit but all the examples you gave were for Pacific operations. How much impact would a carrier have had in the Arctic, especially during winter and would it have been effective in the battle against Scharnhorst? I think the conditions of that battle showed the BB to still be the better choive as aircraft couldn't have been launched or recovered in that night action.

[@geoguy001]

Will we ever see the Sovietski Soyuz (project 23 class) in a video?

[@simonwaldock9689]

If you need to get sponsorship for something like the photos, go for it.

[@ad2309]

Given 20000 yrd = aprox 18km / 11 miles I'm suprised an unguided projectile fired from a moving/pitching ship at a moving/pitching ship ever hits, even at shorter ranges. Cheers

[@ScottKenny1978]

Well, yeah. That's a big challenge. The US solved it via mercury switches, so that the guns only fired when they were vertical. Don't know if other nations did as well.

[@runzeeducation5621]

I for one look forward to drydock episodes sponsored by age of empires 3 definitive edition. Or ultimate Admiral series .

[@websitesthatneedanem]

​Is there any way we can created an email list to be notified of your new videos? ( Utube stopped them Aug 13 )

[@Cookynator]

I suspect (though I have no documentary evidence for this, it just seems logical) that the 14 inch gun limit may not have just been to allow the Royal Navy to build balanced ships, it was also to try to keep everyone else within the treaty limits too. I.E. If you feel you have to have 16 inch guns (because everyone builds to the treaty limits there or there abouts), then unless you're Britain or the USA who have serious interests in seeing the treaties upheld, then the temptation to just lie and say you actually ballanced 16 inch gun battleship is 35,000 tons rather than the true 40-42,000 it is in reality is significant. Whereas when a 14 inch gunned ship is viable in 35,000 tons so what is there to lie about? (Unless your Germany and can't build an efficient modern battleship) That seems like a fairly sound logical idea, at least until Japan comes along and tells the British to shove their treaty where the sun has never set, because they're building a better battleship, one with blackjack and 18 inch guns!

[@williamchamberlain2263]

29:00 _might_ make commerce raiding a bit easier if you can rig sails to imitate a merchant at very long ranges.

[@nitehawk86]

Drachinifel: Planes are very oddly shaped boats.

[@kurumi394]

Planes are basically hydrofoils on steroids

[@Ulani101]

No objections to relevant, tactful, sponsorship if it serves a purpose. 👍

[@heinrichvonbaden8824]

at least I have no problems with history channels doing sponsorships (espcially with how little YT actually pays) and I'm very much sure that you will be able to stay away from the RAID SHADOW LEGENDS kinda adds and stick to normal useful ones like audible or one of the streaming platform and for the case that this comment isn't lost between the 300+ other ones, let me take this opportunity to compliment you heavily on your magnificent free work! Love from Germany

[@stevevalley7835]

wrt the question about the RN pushing for the reduction to 14" guns in Second London. Nothing prevented the Brits using 14" guns in the earlier treaties, if they wanted to do that to provide, what in their assessment, was a better balanced ship. The French had built the Dunkerques well below treaty maximums in both guns and displacement. Seems it's more a matter of the RN trying to use the treaty to force everyone else to build what the RN wants, rather than everyone else working their own design within the original parameters. This was done again wrt carriers. Seems the Brits did a survey of their repair facilities around the empire and found that some facilities could only handle a carrier of 23,000 tons, not the 27,000 tons the earlier treaties had allowed. So, Ark Royal was built to 22,000 and the Illustrious class built to 23,000. And, Second London cut the carrier tonnage limit to what the Brits wanted to build, not what any other party was capable of building. The "escalator clause" of Second London only covered the gun size increase from 14" to 16". It did not include the displacement increase. The displacement increase was negotiated between the US and UK in early 38, and, again, the Brits tried to limit the increase to the 41-42,000 ton range, the largest British facilities could handle. The US held out for 45,000, which they finally got in mid 38, enabling the Iowas. Without so much time wasted due to British obstruction wrt the tonnage increase, the US could have skipped the slow, cramped, South Dakotas and gone straight to the Iowas that they really wanted.

[@george_364]

Certainly all parties in the treaty negotiations tried to get a for themselves most favourable outcome, whilst the purpose of the treaties was to stop an arms race both in numbers and size of ships and armament. Limiting the size and armament of new ships favoured the navies that already had the larger ships or guns. Like the US Navy with the largest number of ships with 16 inch guns (Colorados) and the largest carriers (Lexingtons).

[@stevevalley7835]

@@george_364 Consider the spring of 38: Germany just annexed Austria, Italy had invaded Ethiopia, Japan had invaded China, Japan formally dropped out of the naval treaty, Italy was ignoring it, France was mad because the UK had done it's own naval deal with Germany, without consulting France. The world is catching fire, and the UK is still trying to make sure the one country still willing to talk with it, the US, can't build a bigger ship than the Brits can.

[@bigblue6917]

You had a question from a hotel. Wouldn't be French by any chance. Also was it based near, or possibly in, a French naval port. Just asking

[@yipingcuiv]

Drach, you clearly forgot Japan and USSR were not at war until August 1945. The Japanese also have no intention to provoke USSR. The pacific route was never interrupted during the entire war and delivered the biggest portion of land-leases materials. Remember, USSR and Japan were at peace, the merchant ships sailing the pacific route can simply put on a USSR flag, and sail right through Japan controlled waters.

[@geoguy001]

I think he was doing a 'What if?" scenario. Prior to Pearl Harbor, a lot of Japanese military leaders actually considered the USSR a bigger threat... check out "Origins of the Second World War in Asia & the Pacific" by Akira Irye www.amazon.com/Origins-Second-World-Asia-Pacific/dp/0582493498

[@thunderboltlightning6010]

@@geoguy001 The thing is, if the Japaneses wanted to, they certainly can block the pacific route, it's within their capability. The pacific route carried about 50% of land-lease materials to USSR during the war, it was not insignificant. Drach seems to think that route cased operation right after pearl harbor.

[@tommeakin1732]

Audio is much quieter?

[@coartramey7382]

Suppose Bismarck did not make its historic cruise, but waited until Tirpitz was ready. In August 1941, the two ships are sent unescorted into the North Atlantic for commerce raiding and slip through the GIUK gap. U-boats detect a large convoy heading east from Canada and the Kriegsmarine orders the two ships to intercept. They make contact in the mid-North Atlantic but find between them and the convoy the three KGV class battleships (Duke of York having been rushed out a bit), who carelessly left home without any screen ships or carriers but are otherwise ready to fight. What should the German admiral do? A head-on battle? Try to split the British ships into a 2:1 and a 1:1 duel? Try to evade the battleships and scatter the convoy? Leave and hunt elsewhere? Assume Beaufort 5 seas with good visibility.

[@DERP_Squad]

The standing orders for German capital ships was to avoid combat with Royal Navy capital ships under all circumstances. The most likely outcome would be the two Bismarck class battleships avoiding convoys being escorted by ww1 battleships until either they need to go back to docks for maintenance or they get found by a battlegroup set up specifically to hunt them down. Either way, they probably get stuck in port much like Scharnhorst and Geisanau did.

[@davidhegstrom3580]

Yes please a Wednesday special on the Glorioso? Too bad they did not have ships like that at traflager

[@ricksiehl3884]

The lend lease convoys from USA to Vladivostok ran through 1942 through the end of the war. Escorts were transferred to Soviets and manned by soviet navy as well. Japanese could have intercepted easily but choose not to in order to avoid the soviet threat of war

[@shawnmoore9980]

When it comes to USS Baltimore could it not be for steading sails? Remember stabilizers did not exist.

[@nineonine9082]

13:00 Was that a Roma Reference?

[@bificommander]

I think a wargame where a few escorts carrier and half a dozen destroyer (escorts) get ambushed by a massive fleet of battleships and cruisers, then drive them off, would have the referees getting some new dice to replace the clearly weighted dice they're using now. Shattered Sword states that during the Midway wargame, the officers playing the Americans immediately sailed their carriers to pretty much the same place as the Americans actually went, only for Yamamoto 's staff to overrule him because obviously the Americans would never do something that aggressive.

[@bkjeong4302]

Except that Samar wasn't that uneven in reality for a few reasons (mostly having to do with the fact the CVEs were significantly more capable and more numerous than traditional accounts of the engagement claim, but there were other facts such as the rest of Seventh Fleet plus the Japanese being too late to attack the landings anyways)

[@alanhughes6753]

The Japanese did wargame "Operation MI" (the attack on Midway) several times. Any result that went against the "Japanese" force was discounted by the umpires.

[@kurumi394]

To add to that, in one of their wargames a US dive bomber squadron broke through the screening A6Ms and made 9 hits on Akagi, sinking it. Then the generals turned it into 3 hits and basically resurrected her. Funny thing is Akagi did have three bombers coming after her but after one hit and two near misses she went to the bottom lol

[@cvproj]

5 Sep Index update posted: Word .doc format: www.dropbox.com/s/d1vb296u0ktb7rn/Drachinifel.doc?dl=0 Plaintext format: www.dropbox.com/s/d59s32w1yxurfck/Drachinifel.txt?dl=0

[@badcarbon7624]

Some of the saddest words I hear frequently. "And that brings us to the end of another Drydock" Drach; As a yank, as much as I would love for you to visit and hear your take on it, I strongly recommend you hold off. I've no intention of starting an argument and will not engage in one, but I feel compelled to point out that American basic covid protection standards are no where near those that are and have been practiced in your neck of the woods. If you've taken this into consideration and feel that for you it's an acceptable risk, please disregard this. Still I can't help but worry, that you may not be fully informed on the lackadaisical approach many Americans have decided is the proper course. I say this not as a proponent for one side against another, but rather as a host concerned for a welcomed quests well being.

[@mattwoodard2535]

Sadly, I have to agree. Things are messed up and if certain things happen, it could get "interesting" in a way that makes it a chapter in a history book. sm

[@michalsoukup1021]

tHE Northwest convoy route was still used throughout the war as Japan did not attack ships sailing under Soviet flag

[@ethanperks372]

Using Soviet bottoms the Vladivostok run was used until the USSR declaration of war on Japan by which time there was no Japanese opposition.

[@zednotzee7]

Could you do a series of vids on films with depictions of naval action telling us how accurate ( or otherwise ) they are ? Oh, and please do feel free to forget that that awful film Peal Harbour exists. I have been trying to do just that myself ever since I made the terrible error of watching it....

[@TraditionalAnglican]

zednotzee7 - And here we thought you were a masochist!😱😂😂

[@zednotzee7]

@@TraditionalAnglican I rather think that even the most ardent masochist would run in horror from that particular film had he watched it once lol.

[@richardmalcolm1457]

Ah, fresh Drach.

[@TheSlaughtermatic]

58:27 thats not a V1, its clearly a loon missile!

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

"What historical battle would nobody take seriously?" Battle off Samar? The Japanese Fleet ambushed some US Carriers and, arguably _lost more than the Americans did._ (Not that this is anything new, I'm just surprised that it wasn't mentioned.)

[@fabianzimmermann5495]

Yeah, I'm also surprised he didn't mention it.

[@randomguy-tg7ok]

Though I guess it becomes more believable if you either: A) Assume that Halsey wouldn't run off anyway so hey why not, or B) Assume Kurita will act as if he was an American player IRL.

[@novatopaz9880]

Fabian Zimmermann to be fair, I don’t think the battle of Samar was even contemplated in wargaming scenarios, that’s less brushed off as improbable and more like “Oi, mate, yes, you, gentlemen in the pointy top hat! Who put this group of bloody escort carriers and destroyers on my table top board? This is a fleet engagement simulation, not some play table for kids with overactive imaginations! Shoo now, or I’ll call the military police.” What I’m trying to say is that nobody thought it possible when doing their wargames, so there was nobody to call out it’s improbability and write it as such. It occured, and as a result made it’s own wargame scenario as a result of it happening. That sort of stuff. Idk.

[@bkjeong4302]

That one was actually a lot less one-sided than most realize.

[@JessicaZane4realz]

I think what makes these episodes enjoyable is your British accent.

[@stevevalley7835]

wrt the question about Japan v Russia, the thing would have been for Japan to attack the eastern end of Russia. Besides diverting Russian troops from fighting the Germans, occupying eastern Russia would make it possible to intercept US Lend Lease aircraft that were being flown to Russia via Alaska.

[@benclark3621]

What battle would the war gamers have tossed: Battle of Samar, especially from the Japanese perspective

[@blueboats7530]

Improbable: Battle off Samar . . . says hello

[@bkjeong4302]

Not as improbable as quite a few other battles once you look at the details (especially re: American airpower and its effectiveness in the battle)

[@TheDoctorMonkey]

Re sponsorship - crack on, the content is great, monetise away!

[@boneyardrendezvous]

Nothing wrong with a little sponsorship.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

RE Blockading the USSR. It would be Within the IJN's capability, albeit a strain, to disrupt traffic in and out of the Persian Gulf and mine the entrance to the Suez.

[@bigblue6917]

Interesting thought but would it be worth doing. What with the RN being in that area and the RAF could get some Beaufighters doing patrols with their 20 mm cannons and carrying rockets. That would really ruin your day.

[@yipingcuiv]

Big Blue It was mainly of political reasons. Japan and USSR were at peace up until Aug 1945. In fact the pacific route delivered about 50% of land-lease materials to the USSR during the war. And those merchant ships sailed right through Japanese costal waters in order to get to Vladivostok. They didn’t even bother to form convoys, just put on USSR flag an all was cool by the Japanese.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

@@bigblue6917 mines can be payed by subs and often were. As for RAF, as long as you know the range of enemy air, they are avoidable. Couple carrier read a few convoys and the British and then USSR are in trouble. Everytime you lay mines, it stops shipping until they are swept.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

@@bigblue6917 keep in mind when the IJN entered the Indian Ocean, the RN avoided combat until 44.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

@@yipingcuiv I don't blame them. The correlation of force was adverse in the extreme.

[@christopher5723]

Drydock, brought to you by raid shadow legends....