A Drydocked Battleship - What's below the waterline?

Today we take a look an exclusive look at what the underside of an Iowa class battleship looks like as we tour USS New Jersey in her drydock.
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[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@bkjeong4302]

If Spain had joined WWII, could the Espanas have been more suited for the supporting roles battleships were generally forced into in WWII than the battleships of either the Axis or the Allied powers? Their age would mean they’re not a new investment of resources that could have been used better elsewhere like the newer fast battleships, and their small size and slow speed isn’t really a problem for shore bombardment and might actually give them an advantage due to shallower draft and using up less fuel and manpower.

[@Swrdfshtrmbns]

What is the origin story of the US Navy cage mast? What is the philosophy of its design and did it work out well in actuality? Why did it go away?

[@themanformerlyknownascomme777]

Given the constantly changing nature of large capital ships even while under construction (as seen with examples like the North Carolina), just how likely would it be that USS United States would finish up as a more conventional carrier (much like how she appears in World of Warships) before she's even launched?

[@liberalsockpuppet4772]

The Holland Tunnel is the name of a tunnel from New Jersey to New York City.

[@lunarweasel]

This question was originally posted in your Italy/US trip announcement on youtube. People seemed to enjoy it, so here we go. :) -- How thick of lasagna would it take to stop an armor piercing round from New Jersey's 16" guns? Conditions: 8,000 yards. calm winds. lasagna used as armor at 90degrees to the surface of the water like belt armor. full charge of powder. both New Jersey and USS Lasagna are on a parallel course at 15 knots. fresh warm and ready to eat lasagna. Spinach and toppings your choice.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

Believe it or not, Battleship New Jersey’s propellors are probably even closer to where they were made than the ship itself is! That long building across the street that’s shaped like the letter M is actually the Naval Foundry and Propeller Center, where the US Navy has made its propellers since the 1920s. (The building to the north and east of the drydock)

[@jamescarter8693]

Damit man! sometime we get good extras in thes comment sections I love it

[@jamescarter8693]

And speaking of propellers my wife and I like two two storage bins count like the auction worst thing Wars thing and the last one we found a med Cruise book from the Saratoga from 1984 with some real photographs of people and I'm assuming it's the pillars off of it

[@brettpasquinelli7033]

Hi Drach. You mention you're not sure why the space between the skegs is called the Holland tunnel but I'll give a shot for the reason due to its American lingo nature...and well I'm an American. The battleship is of course named for the state New Jersey, now berthed in Camden NJ. One of the main throughfares into New York City and out of New Jersey is the Holland Tunnel across the Hudson River to Manhattan Island. So it may just be the nick name the crew or yard workers years ago gave this void given it's resemblance to a long tunnel and its remained that since.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

Being American myself, knowing the name of the ship, where it was made and having driven that tunnel, when I heard the name I just assumed that’s what it was named for. I’m sure there’s also room for some New York/New Jersey ribbing in there.

[@washingtonradio]

Being from Jersey, it looks like the Holland Tunnel has not exit on her, a reference to the rivalry between NJ and NY (mainly NYC aka 'The Big Blight').

[@cg9952]

Did anyone mention the Tunnel Bunnies???

[@vanceb1]

I had a tour when the ship was still in service. They had a long passageway below the main deck. It was several feet wide and a few hundred feet long. They called it "Broadway".

[@RonJohn63]

@@vanceb1 of course, the Holland Tunnel goes _under_ the Hudson River, not across it. 😀

[@alphaxalex1634]

Hey Drach I don’t know if you will ever see this but I hope one day for you to do a trip to my hometown of Hartlepool for a couple videos. We have the world’s second oldest ship still afloat (HMS Trincomalee) and we have the Heugh Gun Battery, the only shots to be fired at the December 1914 German raiders on Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool. They are a couple pieces of history that aren’t well known and I hope someone like yourself can help out by showing off these rare pieces of British history.

[@bullnukeoldman3794]

To my dying day I shall remember walking under my 17,000 ton cruiser in drydock. We had just landed it on the blocks earlier that day (completed around 1500 that afternoon) and were in the Engineering Logroom for a meeting around 1930 that evening when we felt something similar movement from a wake of a ship passing by closely. Then we realized that, "Hey! We're in drydock! WTH?". We beat it out of there up to the Main Deck and saw the hoses/cables/etc. connecting the ship to the drydock whipping up and down, the ramps from deck to drydock rattling and jumping. An earthquake was occurring. After this event was over, the Duty Engineer Officer decided that we needed to go down in dock and inspect things for damage or derangement. Four of us went down with US Navy cheap flashlights to look at things, hoping that the blocks were still in proper position hold that mass above our heads. Looked good, didn't waste time down there. Upon checking the list/trim bubble indicators in Main Control we saw that the 17,000 ton ship had rotated 3/4 of a degree on the blocks during the quake.

[@kennethdeanmiller7324]

@bullnukeoldman3794 Wow. Earthquakes are scarry no matter where you are! I was living in South Carolina and there was one there of all places. It made the fireplace chimney move. And afterwards we could see daylight through the brick block from inside the house.

[@Aiwendill]

you were lucky that that 17000 ton ship didnt ended like IJN battlecruiser Amagi. which had exactly same event happen in 1923 (Great Kanto Earthquake) and slipped completely off of her keelblocks damaging her to be a total loss...

[@kennethdeanmiller7324]

@@Aiwendill Yeah, they were going to convert her to be an aircraft carrier due to the Washington Naval Treaty. But it got scrapped instead.

[@hisdadjames4876]

Once again, Drach makes a fascinating video out of, quite literally, watching paint dry! Thanks👍

[@darrellsmith4204]

Can we take a moment and appreciate Drach's drone flying skills?

[@poowg2657]

Here here!

[@abraxas365]

Really great views, and a little dynamism when you were explaining the hull form, and following the "water" as you traveled aft, "out" of the Holland Tunnel.

[@jdrobertson42]

I’m just imagining a cartoon seagull chomping on a chunk of lard and calmly watching an out of control battleship rocket past.

[@cptjeff1]

Just so long as that seagull moves out of the way when the NJ starts sliding down toward it!

[@dsloop3907]

Or a bunch of them shrieking "MINE MINE MINE".

[@JayRock907]

On the Battleship New Jersey's channel I'd seen a picture that Ryan put in one of the videos of Him and Drach on the front of the New Jersey holding each other with the arms out just like Jack and Rose did in Titanic! 😂 haha it was too funny!

[@ytlas3]

The hull pitting has gotten worse since it was repaired during the 1987 drydocking at LBNSY. I was a part of the USS New Jersey Hull Accountability Project back in '87, spending 12 hours a day, 7 days a week (for months) in the bottom of the drydock. I'd seen Ryan's videos while the New Jersey was in drydock, but the drone gave a much closer view of the hull. You can also see the weld marks of the round "sand holes" that were cut in the hull so the tanks could be cleaned, blasted, and repainted.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Yesterday I saw an article about substandard welds being recently found on some US Navy ships, including USS New Jersey. I had to read the article to realize they were talking about the submarine of that name.

[@johncooke4057]

Thank you Sir Drach for helping me through troubles and as I paint my 1/1200 fleets!

[@KPen3750]

One of the other primary reasons for some of the heavy pitting was the extra electronics that were added in the 1980s. The USN didnt add any extra anodes as part of the 1981-1982 reactivation and she missed a drydock period in 1984. So it was only discovered in 1987 when she spent roughly 8 months in drydock to clad weld and repair the worst areas of pitting. It was one of my favorite facts to tell on my tours. Also per the amount of lard used: 100,000 pounds of the stuff

[@magosryzak7477]

I can't help but imagine New Jersey sliding off the slip way doing the greased up deaf guy impression

[@shinjiikari1021]

Also if I remember correctly, she was the only iowa class that didn't have impressed current protection

[@kennethdeanmiller7324]

@KPen3750 OMG!!! That's A LOT OF LARD!! That is crazy. I could see maybe a few barrels of the stuff being used but that's a ridiculous amount! No wonder it went all the way to the other side of the river! It was riding a huge wave of lard!

[@SocialistDistancing]

I like those interesting facts

[@ytlas3]

I was there in '87 when the New Jersey was put in drydock 1 at LBNSY. I remember rows of pristine looking zincs lining parts of the hull. I don't buy into the theory that there was too much paint between the hull and the zincs, because the painters had done countless ships, including the Missouri. I personally believe that some of the zincs were impure and harder than the metal they were attached to. For example, a company had sold some fake HY 80 to the shipyard, and when it was discovered on the New Jersey, the Navy and shipyard sued that company out of business. Fun facts about the clad welding.. lot of New Jersey crew members were still living on board the ship at the time. They had blue vinyl hoses running from the scuppers to the sewage tanks under the drydock. Every once in a while some sparks from a welder would burn an opening through one of the hoses, and sewage would drip out of the hoses to the drydock floor. Bad enough working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week for months on end, looking up every time we heard a crane go by, worrying about something falling over the side of the ship onto the drydock floor,(since the shipyard was also working inside the ship) we had to dodge the sewage.

[@thewarsztat4858]

It was awesome getting to see the NJ pass under the Walt Whitman when it was heading to dry dock. I’ve toured it a few times but getting to see her pass under the bridge really makes me appreciate her scale and beauty in a new way

[@ytlas3]

During New Jersey's first sea trial in Sept '82, the second day she started her full power run. Soon the New Jersey ran down the tail end of a storm. We were working back in the laundry, and I was in the section with the washing machines (port side). It was bad enough with the deck vibrating heavily during the full power run, but once New Jersey caught the storm and started to get pushed around, it became kind of treacherous back there. I was getting tossed between the washing machines and the hot water accumulation tank. Finally my leader who had been working in the dry cleaning/clothes folding compartment came out and said "screw this." 🙂

[@BalshazzarWastebasket]

drachinifel standing in proportion to uss new jersey, and yet he is a giant of our time!!

[@brianhall23]

We took this tour and absolutely loved it. It was so much fun.

[@amandarhodes4072]

What's bellow the waterline of a battleship? Short answer= More battleship. Long answer= hull plating, keel, drainage holes, sonar equipment, sacrificial zinc pads, rudder, propeller, propeller shaft, shaft alignment strut, torpedo tubes (sometimes), auxiliary rudder, paravane towing rod (usually mounted under the bow nose) Bilge keel stabilisers... ... ... more battleship.

[@arthurryan9952]

Drach, my wife and I enjoyed meeting you in person when we visited the ship.

[@billyhouse1943]

Thank you. I’ve been on the New Jersey, Lexington, Texas and Missouri. But this is a first for seeing under in this detail. Some videos of the Texas in dry dock. 24:40

[@josephparisi1458]

Drach, thank you for all the coverage of my home state's namesake ship. I got to see her in drydock and it was such a cool experience. My favorite part was when we got to duck walk underneath the ship. My tour guide asked a lot of history/seafaring questions to the group during our tour and I was able to answer a lot of them because of your channel.

[@charlesrogers9068]

Looking forward to seeing you speak on October 26th! BTW, I'm told that it's called the Holland Tunnel because it reminded shipyard works of the eponymously named tunnel running between New Jersy and lower Manhattan.

[@KirkKnoferle]

It was very nice to meet you when i did my dry dock tour. Didnt do the tour with you. However it was cool to meet you and have small chat while we were waiting. Really enjoy your channel and since i have met the man behind the voice its that must more personal. Sometimes when you meet public people they disappoint however you and the battleship crew were really personable. Dont tell Libby though but she is much smaler then I imagined. Was really a good time and so many of my Facebook "friends" ask me about it. Great memories and I got to "boop" an Iowa class battleship!

[@Solhai]

Great Fat Fact for the WWII era. Studying meals and food rationing in both the States and the UK - especially in the UK - the need for fats, oils, etc by the military, it would have been felt by most everyone how much lard was lost for cookies, basic non-boiling means of cooking (though broths of anything were useful), and flavor. Plus oiling up those naval guns! Butter was a gift. Wonderful tour for all of those who couldn't afford to make a visit in person - thank you kindly.

[@LuckyE-CV6]

Sir Drach, I went out to see the ship in late May and the tour helped me make a 1-350 LEGO brick version of the ship freehanded. I was able to meet Ryan at the end of my tour.

[@poowg2657]

I just figured the number 62 on the number 2 16" turret was the ships' number for ID from above. Awesome video!

[@Wolfeson28]

It is the hull number. The turrets are named 16-1, 16-2, and 16-3, after the caliber of their guns.

[@MrArcher7]

Great to see the underside. Being nearer the West coast, I've been to the Iowa. Very impressive.

[@Exkhaniber]

Hey, watching the video, just about 2/3rds of the way though. It was posted 6 hours ago, and the donation drive just ticked over to complete! Congrats Drac on helping Battleship New Jersey complete their donation drive in just 6 hours with 27 days remaining!

[@Niftynorm1]

Very good video and I always enjoy your lighthearted narration. As a former sailor I always enjoy your topics and your ship visits.

[@micodyerski1621]

I live next to Valley Forge Pa., on the East coast off USA. So proud that family worked in Philly Naval Shipyard.

[@FrankBarnwell-xi8my]

Thanks Alex and Ryan; and those guys beneath the propellers for an excellent perspective of scale.

[@StevenStyczinski-sy8cj]

I really appreciate that you “reviewed your videos “and realize that head mounted videos do have some adverse side effects. Mass Vomit in a movie theater has been known to be a yucky thing in the past because of visual motion, sickness.

[@Saturn_games]

I grew up on a coastal town with a lot of shipyards and the whole dry dock process still amazes me

[@nickgriffin5835]

I was there in drydock the first weekend they were doing tours on April 6th! It was an incredible experience. And the drone footage you have is outstanding. It's cool to see the finished paint up close!

[@hmsverdun]

Last time I arrived this early Jackie Fisher was still on HMS Renown (1895).

[@wavecannon3688]

Even though I'm Canadain, I'm proud that my ventures into America's beer market have contributed (possibly) to the anodes. ;)

[@bruceferguson6637]

As a crew member of the USS Saratoga (CV-60), I checked out her bottom when dry docked in 1974. She had been long overdue for an overhaul, and electrolysis took its toll on her hull. There were some pits in the bottom plating you could almost get your fist into.

[@davideverett1863]

If I recall U.S.S. Washington had some bad vibration problems and replacing the inboard propellors with five bladed propellors was part of the melioration of the problem. I wonder if this was also done on the Iowas as a preventative. Or perhaps that is simply how they learned about the advantages they later adopted regardless of vibration concerns.

[@theperegrine5185]

Excited to see new Drach post, even more excited to see it’s on NE coast where I’m from, even more excited I might have chance to see NJ in drydock, immediately learn this was released specifically after she’s out of drydock so no completion(bummed out). Learn you SOMEHOW got flight rights inside that area. Only five minutes in. Quite the rollercoaster.

[@DeviousAardvark]

I had the good fortune of visiting it while it was in drydock, truly a wonder and behemoth

[@RCAvhstape]

Drach, in New Jersey just across the river beyond those trees is where I grew up. When this ship was brought back into service in the 80s I wanted to serve aboard her but missed the chance. Fortunately she is home where she belongs in the South Jersey / Philly area and getting the attention she deserves. I so appreciate you making this video and others with Ryan.

[@dyerwulf5459]

I won't lie, when I saw the notification, I thought I was getting a drydock all about battleships

[@oscarlamuela4344]

That would have to be "a battleshipped drydock" 😂

[@AJMBLAZER]

The stern low thing! I was on the Missouri in January and yep, the bow seemed very high!

[@2down4up]

Thank you for this video Drach! I actually live in the mid Atlantic but a combination of fatherly duties and other requirements conspired to make sure I couldn’t get to New Jersey while she was in dry dock. I really really wanted though so I’m super thankful that I at least get this! Thanks again!

[@edwardcanavan]

An interesting subject for an episode I've never seen covered would be about the USN's bringing forward based maintenance assets with them while advancing across the Pacific, i.e. floating dry docks, aux ships with machine shops and metal working assets and rapidly constructed SY assets. In WW2 the most ships did not return to Pearl or the west coast except for major repairs or overhauls.

[@chrismaverick9828]

Admiral Lockwood's book "Sink'em All" covers an interesting bit of this although it is a bit anecdotal. Before becoming head of the subs from Pearl Harbor he was in charge of expanding the sub support facilities in Australia. Then he kept working to make sure they had the few available sub tenders where they needed to be in the Pacific, including rest areas for crews, etc and keeping up with the advancing line. Just the sub arm of things listed in his book shows just how complicated and essential the logistics and support side was. He was always struggling to keep a balance with the fleet as they often used the sub tenders as machinery repair for destroyers and smaller boats. They were all on the same side, fighting the same war, but he sometimes started to wonder about that, especially with the red tape difficulties in getting the lagoon at Midway enlarged to take on more subs. It's an excellent book and worth a read.

[@edwardcanavan]

@@chrismaverick9828 Thanks buddy. I have an interest in floating dry docks having worked in the Norfolk, NNSY, area for 30 yrs. The large ones, AFDL, are unbelievable sights. I worked sub availabilities and SRA's in AFDM 9.

[@Thom4ES]

Grande idea

[@glencrandall7051]

Very good tour. Very informative. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂

[@SocialistDistancing]

I've been on the USS Iowa. Very educational.

[@C2Baird]

Wow! Very cool mate. Great to see a different perspective/timeline of this amazing process of the preservation of an amazing boat.👍

[@Patrick_Cooper]

I was onboard the Coast Guard Cutter Campbell #32, in the Puget Sound drydocks, south Seattle, in the mid 70's. A very interesting thing to experience. Plus my mom only lived 15 miles north...

[@christiankrueger8048]

Thank you!

[@timjerrom7173]

WoW thank you sir, it's massive and honestly would not like to walk under 😬 but never seen from this perspective before.

[@abyssaljam441]

Drac... Venturi effect is the other way round the fluid going though a small channel will show down as the channel increases. It doesn't change the possible cause of the vibration just the direction of the underlying force...

[@wocket42]

Was looking for this comment :-)

[@medonk12rs]

Awesome. That flying session must have been great fun, congrats for this opportunity! Cheers :-)

[@HereticalKitsune]

The two people at 5:60 make the sheer size of the propellers and everything even more clear. DAMN, it's HUUUUUGE!

[@Norbrookc]

One of the great things about the drydock videos is that you get an appreciation of the true size of this ship. It's one thing to see the figures or a video of someone on the ship near some infrastructure, but another entirely to have it out of the water and see someone standing near the props.

[@Thom4ES]

Good eye...do desert folks under stand the shear size of these units?

[@PitchBlackYeti]

Huh, I never noticed that the inner and outer propellers were different. You do learn something new every day :)

[@cptjeff1]

Every single one is different- the port and starboard props rotate in different directions! So you have one 4 blade counterclockwise, one 5 blade counterclockwise, one 4 blade clockwise, one 5 blade clockwise!

[@chs76945]

Drach, "Holland Tunnel" is a big tunnel under the Hudson River in NYC. It's dimensions are not too different from the gap between the skegs, so I'd imagine it made yard workers think of it; 1930s/1940s NYC had a big presence in the naval and shipbuilding communities, so doubtless there was some familiarity.

[@kemarisite]

As someone who lives in California and did once drive the entire distance from Maryland back to California (after driving to Maryland by way of Texas first), I appreciate the acknowledgement of the tyranny of distance.

[@keiffermcmillan1]

the USS New Jersey looks awesome was very impossible to make this trip from Western Australia , so when the 80th Anniversary takes place i will be in Layte in the Philippines ... so i hope to be at the exact locations of where these mighty vessels were during these engagements

[@MotoroidARFC]

Nicely done

[@dcbadger2]

"Holland tunnel" is a nickname referencing the first ever vehicular crossing of the Hudson River, a tunnel built in (after looking at Google) 1927, and still in operation. It was a significant feat when it was built, and the space between those props is such that the reference is to the massive maw that gradually slopes down as if to suggest there is a subterranean tunnel at the other end.

[@gregcollins7602]

Hey Drach. It is hard for some of us to see battleships in our own state. I'm in Texas and it would take me over 9 hours and 580 miles to drive to Galveston from home. That's why I love the Drach.

[@fsodn]

Love it! I took the tour, and took and posted video from my 360 camera, but this drone footage is amazing!

[@foamslinger2787]

Wish I didn’t miss the tour!

[@cheesenoodles8316]

Excellent

[@andrewvenor8035]

The Holland Tunnel is named after the famous tunnel between New York City and Jersey City, New Jersey..

[@ShuRugal]

@9:15 - it is wild to see the shell plating at the stern sagging between the structural ribs. looks like an old fabric-skinned plane!

[@kineuhansen8629]

man what a sight it much have been to walk under a battleship

[@adventuresinmodelrailroading]

Battleship New Jersey? You mean Drach's American home.

[@appnzllr]

I toured BB62 several years ago. Very tight spaces. Narrow halls.

[@wildcolonialman]

Fascinating.

[@kevinbarry71]

It's called the Holland tunnel because that tunnel goes from New Jersey, under the Hudson river to Manhattan. And I guess it sounded better than the Lincoln tunnel

[@cameronnewton7053]

I cast summon New jersey! *New jersey falls from the sky and crushes small English town* The hand brake turn reference from battleship was awesome too.

[@alphax4785]

Visited her in drydock, when you're underneath her 45k ton hull you really feel how massive the ship is... while oddly when you're walking around her the colossal scale of the drydock itself makes her seem a lot smaller.

[@MartysRandomStuff]

Took my tour on the last weekend when the work was done, I thought the propellers would be the most impressive to stand under but it was the rudders that took that prize. Bought a zinc, not sure what I'm going to do with it, maybe make some zinc pens like I did with the old deck teak I got a few years ago.

[@JohnDiGiovanni-yh6ys]

Dude thanks and thumbs up.

[@nathanguyon7620]

"Hey baby. So. . . What's below the waterline?"

[@RNemy509]

Outstanding 😂

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

There's a similar story about the launching of Musashi. Mostly this was just launching her into a too small body of water. That was more of a problem at the time since they were being so secretive about her they couldn't do much to warn people in advance.

[@thurin84]

great video!

[@65gtotrips]

Man o man, there’s a lot going on, on that superstructure. A lot of different pieces of equipment and armament.

[@napalmholocaust9093]

Different metals and metal oxides in contact can also have a precipitation effect, reducing the oxide to a pure metal. Not ship materials, only example I have is silver oxide being reduced to pure silver by brass. The brass appears unaffected. It is happening on an oxide blackened antler for me, pure silver is creeping out around a brass pin. There's a big old book called "oxidation and corrosion" that I'd recommend.

[@napalmholocaust9093]

Happens with many oxides, just depends on electro-series placement compared to the other metal's rank whether it gives or receives electrons. *not an expert; just 30 years of on-and-off black, tin, and copper smithing, casting half a dozen metals, knife maker and some electrochemistry like electroplate and rust conversion. Silver and gold smithing a little bit too, more silver. Make my own progressive solders. I forget some of the explanations for things. Considering an electoseries tattoo. That's really the key.

[@lexington476]

37:47 😀.... I'm willing to bet that vile is buried in Drac's backyard next to the 14-in Vickers gun 😎.

[@F-Man]

BB-62 - my beloved

[@davidsachs4883]

A video just going over the features of just a huge dry dock would be good. I’ve seen a small dry dock but the aircraft carrier sized docks have a level of complexity far beyond a 19th century one still in use

[@abraxas365]

I could kick myself for missing the chance to see her in drydock!

[@kemarisite]

35:56 regarding rhe lard, Max Hastings (Retribution) tells the story of a couple of American POW slave laborers in Japan who, starving, ate the lard used to grease the slipways. They then died because the lard had been treated with arsenic to prevent insect infestation. So cookies probably weren't a viable alternative, and I'm curious what happened to the seagull population.

[@theterminalstupidityvariet1629]

As it turns out, birds have some level of resistance to arsenic poisoning, so I wouldn’t be surprised if the seagull population was largely unscathed

[@erniedesantis597]

The Holland Tunnel connects NY and NJ. It runs under the Hudson River.

[@samsmith2635]

17:25 We call things like this colloquially "Holland Tunnel" that feel like you are going underground, especially since the real Holland tunnel is two tubes which might have something to do with those hollow skegs since its two passable tubes. Its a local Jersey, PA, NY expression because the Tunnel was such a feat at the time of its construction it became an expression locally. - A Jerseyman, twice removed

[@ROTSTarge]

I hope the Hornet gets her time in dry dock some time soon. I've lost track of those plans

[@stargazer5784]

Thx Drach. It's such a shame that the UK didn't save one of their battleships. Any one of them would have been really neat. Damn.

[@Ebolson1019]

to add to the drydock list the sub USS Cobia in Wisconsin is currently raising funds for her drydocking

[@fouraces9137]

Thanks, always wondered why the different bladed props. It'd been great to have seen it in person but that whole distance and finance thing always seems to get in the way

[@damkayaker]

17:16 The Holland Tunnel was completed in 1927 between Jersey City, NJ and lower Manhattan in NYC. At that time it was the longest under water tunnel in the world.

[@74wrighty]

Great drone footage. I wish Britain had preserved one big battleship. American saved many.

[@francissullivan5900]

Two questions: How are you & Mrs D doing in regard to getting enough sleep? Has Baby Drach learned how to blow smoke rings yet?

[@Thom4ES]

Tma trick for baby drach. ( congrats btw ) I use 7 pop corn kernels in an empty plastic soda ..screw the top on very very tight. . Field grade rattle...[( under budget and ahead of schedule - as ever , )]

[@JamesBeresford-hy8hq]

Wouldn't it be fantastic if you could do one of these drydock tours of HM S Warspite.....a great opportunity missed to save a legend.

[@jwbullfrog9583]

the keel blocks remind me of the Cardiff giant. Odd where the mind goes on a video about a battleship.

[@MrTScolaro]

The Holland Tunnel runs underneath the Hudson river connecting New Jersey to New York.

[@jth877]

Being an engineer myself, I have a technical question regarding the lack of an impressed current cathodic protection system. These ships were not designed with these systems and spent decades in water and maybe a dozen years in service on average between them before the 80s. Why was the system now needed, and why was there not appreciative hull corrosion during WW2, Korea and Vietnam? Was there a massive electrical change when an 80s system was installed? Did ships get dry docked more often back in the day?

[@Drachinifel]

More frequent drydocks and this repainting, being more at sea or in salt water than fresh water meant the zinc block system worked better, I suspect also the anti-magnetic-mine de-gaussing system may have played a minor part

[@ChloeSpeecece]

Watching your channel is always an exciting and educational journey. Keep inspiring and teaching us with your videos!🚗🫦🥨

[@michaelimbesi2314]

I think that calling the space between the ship’s skegs “The Holland Tunnel” is probably a sailor nickname similar to calling the main passageway through the ship “Broadway”. The actual Holland Tunnel is one of the primary road tunnels into New York City. The entrance to it slopes downward at a pretty steep angle, and it has a pretty boxy cross section. If I had to guess, that space between the skegs resembles it enough that the sailors gave it that nickname while in drydock at some point.

[@Idahoguy10157]

Note about battleship launches. The USS California crossed the Napa River and went up on the bank. The Navy decided building battleships at Mare Island Shipyard was a mistake. The only battleship built on the west coast