Guadalcanal Campaign - Santa Cruz (IJN 2 : 2 USN)

Today we look at the fourth major battle of the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands.
Sources:
www.amazon.co.uk/Neptunes-Inferno-U-S-Navy-Guadalcanal/dp/B004KSEYHI
www.amazon.co.uk/Battle-History-Imperial-Japenese-Navy/dp/1591142199
www.amazon.co.uk/Ship-that-Held-Line-Bluejacket/dp/1557500088
www.cv6.org/ship/logs/action19...
Video footage courtesy of the US National Archives
Free naval photos and more - www.drachinifel.co.uk
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[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@GaldirEonai]

What's your overall opinion on Halsey? Looks to me like he had significantly more fuckups than great successes to his name...

[@dejangabrovsek6534]

Why did predreadnoughts and early dreadnoughts have such poor antitorpedo protection? Torpedoes and mines were not a new thing around 1900.

[@jamesd3472]

Who would have had the advantage in a fight between a refitted derflinger and an Alaska class battlecruiser? I'm curious how well the derflinger would have faired. Equally, how would it do against other 'super' (battle) cruiser designs considering that the RN respected the design enough to study it when the ships were raised.

[@DaveSCameron]

@@GaldirEonai Terrible acne... I hear..

[@DaveSCameron]

HMS Celendine, Flower Class WW2 RN.

[@wolftamer5463]

I was going to write a comment, but my laptop was replaced with a 20mm.

[@richmcgee434]

Only one of them?

[@CSSVirginia]

I'm jealous

[@species3167]

Yeah, if it were my laptop I'd call that an upgrade by 3 or 4 generations.

[@MephiticMiasma]

shots fired!

[@by200212]

WW2 Pacific Theatre Drinking Game: Take a shot every time the disorganization of the USN actually turns into an advantage.

[@charlesaugust8671]

Looking at all the major sea battles in the Solomon Campaign my liver says challenge accepted.

[@calvingreene90]

A Soviet era Russian General is quoted as saying "The reason that the American Army excels at war is because war is total chaos and chaos is something the American Army practices on a daily basis." I think he was trying to state the importance of battlefield initiative from junior officers and even enlisted men without being smited from above.

[@NVRAMboi]

Luck counts after the fact.

[@nyssfairchild2244]

@@calvingreene90 Reminds me of a quote that was something about "You cannot outsmart the US Army because they do not know their own plan"

[@davidelliott5843]

US approach was - Is that enemy or friendly? Who cares - Rat-tat-tat-tat

[@TheFlutecart]

Using the rooster tail wake of a battle ship to put out fires on your cruiser is some real top notch sailor stuff. Just an amazing moment in this battle.

[@mrz80]

Guess it beats putting out a call for "All hands repair forward to pee on fires!" :D

[@scooterdescooter4018]

​@@mrz80 imagine the smell. ick.

[@TBone-bz9mp]

Note to self: in exacting circumstances battleships can serve as effective fire extinguishers.

[@olliefoxx7165]

Had never even thought of the giant water spray they put up as helping other ships as well. A sailors life meant a whole different section of hell to handle

[@PSPaaskynen]

The Dutch Java-class cruisers could turn their propeller protectors upwards, which would throw up a curtain of spray and mist when the ships ran at high speed (This could reinforce the effectiveness of a smokescreen). Perhaps, US battleships had a similar device?

[@jgjgjg739]

@@PSPaaskynen might not be needed as battleships produce more power and subsequently larger spray of water.

[@bigblue6917]

You know that thing we normally avoid. The spray from the battleship. Let's use it to put out the fire.

[@richmcgee434]

As my grandfather (a WW2 vet) used to say, a stupid idea that works wasn't a stupid idea in the first place.

[@sreckocuvalo8110]

The unnamed officer writing a report shall from now on be known as: Officer Dakka.

[@theleva7]

Officer "Need More" Dakka

[@Jarumo76]

There is never enuff'

[@shoootme]

dat's warboss dakka ta yer.

[@richmcgee434]

@@shoootme Sounds more like a big mek ta me. 'E was talkin' about aimin' and targit di-recters and stuff. Dem lot's always keen on strappin' more gubbins and whatnot on perfektly gud dakka.

[@rwaitt14153]

LCDR Dakka USN

[@Kevin_Kennelly]

5:25 "As the Japanese had been told by the Army that they had, in fact, captured the airfield. This little omission didn't really do that much for Japanese Navy and Japanese Army relations, although, to be perfectly honest, there weren't that many bridges to burn at this point."

[@ph89787]

You can still burn the ashes

[@tcpratt1660]

Some mid grade IJN officer was probably court-martialed when it was discovered that, for the Midway operation, there were no landing craft available to the IJN at all, and the IJN had to borrow some from the IJA Infantry School (note, not permitted to commit ritual suicide before the court-martial, as the dishonor in the face of the enemy could not be assuaged without a ritual guilty verdict on the charges of aiding and abetting the enemy).

[@davidbrennan660]

The fact the Airfield being held by Americans or the Imperial Japanese Army would still mean it was available for strikes against the Imperial Japanese Naval Fleet.

[@Kevin_Kennelly]

@@tcpratt1660 It was MUCH worse than that. Read "Shattered Sword" by Parshall. At the end, he does a 'what if' speculation about how the IJN landings at Midway would have gone down, had they occurred. It was NOT good. It was Tarawa-level bad. Midway and Tarawa are both atolls. They share oceanic topographies. Thus, amphib assaults have identical problems. Except this time, it wouldn't be the USMC slogging thru the lagoon. This time, it was the USMC that was dug in and waiting. Fish in a barrel.

[@MrChickennugget360]

@@tcpratt1660 in all likelihood the IJN would just have them swim to shore rather than ask the Army for help.

[@IMarcaI]

"Do we actually need the ship? I mean, we could just tie thousands of 20mm together and float around on those."

[@nonamesplease6288]

Well, it is an aircraft carrier after all. You have to keep the planes somewhere and carry the ammo for all of those 20's. Everything else is just superfluous.

[@artificernathaniel3287]

@@nonamesplease6288 well you also need adequate sleeping arrangements for the gunners, to maintain a high level of performance. And a good place for eating chow with the mates and keeping the moral up with the strategic resource, ice cream, which is vital when in the middle of the Pacific heat. Ice cream can also be exchanged for goods and services, for alcoholic beverages from the British or for bribing destroyers to find every single downed airman in a hundred miles. I do shudder to think about what the allies would of accomplished if they had offered to do some transactions with british destroyers for ice cream. Without it, tribal destroyers had already done feats like steal enemy artillery pieces as trophies while on shore bombardment duty or suicidality chasing down battleships while alone to seemingly get into boarding range. In the Pacific theater, ask what a 55 gallon drum of ice cream ment to a tribal destroyer and they probably would of had a go at storming the imperial palace to make off with the emperors throne, (toilet or chair, whatever they could get their mits on), and then spending the next month endlessly griping about how they thought they were getting the other flavor ice cream in the hopes of getting another tub off you.

[@richmcgee434]

@@artificernathaniel3287 Funny you should mention "the other flavor" of ice cream. Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945, and I've heard apocryphal tales that part of the motivation behind their diverse selection of flavors was dissatisfaction with the variety available in the service during WW2. It's probably not true, but it does make a good bit of urban myth. The "31 flavors, one for every day of the month" slogan didn't come along till 1953 though.

[@PhantomP63]

@@artificernathaniel3287 Imagine if the Kidd and its ice cream machine traded rum with a Tribal. War over man, war over

[@species3167]

@@PhantomP63 Dude, now I have this imagine of HMS Eskimo running alongside USS Roberts looking for a scoop when IJN Yamato comes along... USS Roberts: Two scoops for the big ones, one per destroyer? HMS Eskimo: Bloody HELL YES! Onboard USS St, Lo someone starts selling tickets....

[@ph89787]

One thing both Yorktown's and Hornet's sinkings have in common. Is that damage control almost salvaged the ship but the IJN shows up at the last minute and everything becomes irrecoverable.

[@claymontgomery4616]

It's crazy that even with the Yorktown Class' weaknesses, they could take quite the beating before going down. Of course, in part to their damage control crew.

[@ph89787]

@@claymontgomery4616 that and Enterprise surviving the damage it suffered during the war.

[@sealpiercing8476]

Well, no. It wasn't almost saved. Engines were gone in an area that was about to be occupied by fast heavy IJN surface forces. It was presumably an eye-opener as to how much damage would have been recoverable if local security could have been maintained.

[@ph89787]

@@sealpiercing8476 actually power was almost restored when the Kates from Zuikaku and Jun,yo showed up.

[@seanmac1793]

They don't quit it's kind of a common theme among these stories.

[@tokul76]

Nobody told that Enterprise officer about 40mm yet? "I want more 20mm guns" "How many?" "All of them"

[@calvingreene90]

40 mm guns were still screaming all night with teething pain at that point.

[@kieranh2005]

He did mention them, and the report was very good, with teething issues.

[@petesheppard1709]

As I mentioned on the USS ENTERPRISE video, this was the battle in which my father was wounded. His pride at having served aboard her and having served under Halsey was evident to his passing. "His blood was in her steel; her steel was in his blood."

[@michaelblair5566]

It wasn't the ship. It was the men.

[@petesheppard1709]

@@michaelblair5566 Yep. But there's that attachment people develop with item that are involved with significant life events--especially sailors to their ships.

[@robertf3479]

@@michaelblair5566 There is an old belief among sailors; "When a sailor serves in a ship, especially a warship in combat, when he leaves that ship he leaves a bit of his soul with her but in exchange she gives him an equal bit of hers." - Paraphrased, I don't remember now where I heard it. Destroyer sailor here.

[@robertf3479]

@@petesheppard1709 "In the lives of many sailors there is one ship which to him is something special." - Douglas Reeman writing as 'Alexander Kent.'

[@petesheppard1709]

@@robertf3479 Excdllent quote. Reeman knew the sea and those who sailed it.

[@deaks25]

Love this guy writing the after-action report on Enterprise. CV6: "I need more guns" USN: "Ok, here have a bucket load of 20mm" CV6: "These are brilliant!! Give me more!" USN: "Umm you have a LOT. They're starting to cause stability issues." CV6: "So?" USN: "It's a 32,000 ton ship!!" CV6: "Ok, let's take stuff off." USN: "Fine, good. What do you recommend can be removed?" CV6: "Armour? Don't need that do we?" USN: "*sigh*" CV6: "GIVE ME ALL THE GUNS!!"

[@Errafri]

If anything he is *very* american 😂😂

[@deaks25]

@@Errafri maybe he’d actually wanted to serve on the USS 2nd Amendment but got stuck on Enterprise but was determined to live out his dream of having all the guns on his ship 🤣

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3_ckICCp52gjqM

[@Shadow-Kalbo1]

@ USS Dakka

[@spencerjensen1993]

Hahahaha! Love it! (200th like lol :)

[@MrThekingofrock97]

“Man I need something to listen to before I start work” Drach posts an IJN vs USN video

[@CanadianDolphinSurf]

"Peace was never a option"

[@richmcgee434]

*Before* you start? I've been painting 40K figures for a commission the whole time. Guess I'm doing it wrong. :)

[@a2rgaming863]

@@CanadianDolphinSurf Peace was an option, we just refuse to acknowledge it.

[@species3167]

@@a2rgaming863 It does give you more time tp restock on ammo thou...

[@raywhitehead730]

Lt. Commander Elias B Mott was the gunnery officer on the Enterprise, and he wrote that report. He was a graduate of Annapolis 1930. His duty station in combat was SKY control. While on the USS Enterprise. His first ships captain was the Fleet Admiral King, fist five star Admiral. Mott would go ion to supervise some elements if the the atomic bomb fests at Bikini Atol

[@greatgiginthesky1268]

Hence forth he shall be known as Lt. Commander Elias B. Dakka, for there is never enough.

[@Kumimono]

"Could we attach some Oerlikon's on the bomb. Safety reasons?"

[@terencewinters2154]

Mott shouldve gotten some stars for that report alone . Eloquent, cogent, and integrative of efficiencies the section chiefs needed. That is an engineering officers nightmare list but if it saves ships and lives BRILLIANT.

[@spencerjensen1993]

He has a name!

[@adamndirtyape]

Fleet Admiral King was known to have a ferocious temper and was always ready to fight anyone, anywhere. So your typo "fist five star Admiral" is probably a better description of him than you realize.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

I’ve always been so impressed by how aggressive and willing the Americans were to give major naval battle in 1942. They didn’t play it safe, that’s for sure.

[@kennethdawson7774]

Well, they had the whip of the memories of Pearl Harbor and the loss of the Philippines that drove a lot of strategic considerations and a human desire to "pay the b°°°°°°°s back". Plus on the logistical side, the Navy command knew we were outbuilding the Japanese by a very big margin. The more aggressive the Navy was in sinking Japanese ships, the better the odds in any future battle. The Japanese could never keep up, particularly in carrier assets - and particularly in trained and experienced pilots. Knock them back and keep them on the ropes was the thinking.

[@PhantomP63]

Early on, Ghormley was criticized for being too protective of the fleet. King brought in Halsey and it was game on.

[@CFarnwide]

Here are the instructions from Admiral Nimitz before Midway which I believe were the exact same for Coral Sea and the Solomons: “In carrying out the task assigned in OPERATION PLAN 29-42 you will be governed by the principle of calculated risk which you shall interpret to mean the avoidance of exposure of your force to attack by superior enemy forces without good prospect of inflicting, as a result of such exposure, greater damage to the enemy. This applies to a landing phase as well as during preliminary air attacks.” C. W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet By any means I’m not even close to being a novice historian, but I’m guessing it was a case of EXTREMELY CALCULATED aggression chosen by the Admirals?

[@Thumpalumpacus]

Adm Nimitz was much more aggressive than either Adm King, at the time, or later historians, gave him credit for.

[@inigobantok1579]

America had to hold the line in 1942 hence the ridiculous amount of carrier battles. Most of these battles are a reaction to a Japanese offensive including the two carrier battles at the Solomons.

[@olivermacke838]

I really like the Catalina footage.

[@Johnnycdrums]

Yeah, and nice weather too.

[@NoName-gp8ve]

One of my fav plane of the war

[@111doomer]

I think it's PATWING 1 based out of Noumea, (at the time of the battle) though the footage may be from Espiritu Santo where they moved in December 1942.

[@hazchemel]

@@111doomer thanks for that ;). I was trying to recognise the scenery. Catalinas operated from Trinity Bay, Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Saw them as a child in the '60s. Magical things, perfectly fascinating for a boy. Based on the 2 possibilities you mentioned, I'd plumb for ES, because the terrain is more varied and numerous in mountains, and seems to be not so heavily jungled as Noumea.

[@6thmichcav262]

And the Catapult plane recovery. Were those Kingfishers?

[@korbell1089]

Japanese Task Force: "We sank the Enterprise!" Japanese HQ:"Again?" Japanese Task Force: "No no, this time its for real!" Enterprise: "giggles."

[@jvtagle]

Enty: O kawaii koto

[@paulrasmussen8953]

Giggling while getting more guns

[@tyree9055]

I bet there are some Klingons that would report the destruction of the Enterprise too! 😆

[@kyleabrezzi]

Enterprise: OWARI DA!

[@claeysyilrs1558]

@@jvtagle more like OWARI DA!!

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

It's still a shame the the Enterprise wasn't turned into a museum ship. Out of 7 carrier vs. carrier she was in 6 of them except the Coral Sea.

[@ph89787]

All those battles had at least one Yorktown-Class present. Coral Sea-Yorktown Midway-Yorktown, Enterprise and Hornet Eastern Solomons-Enterprise Santa Cruz-Enterprise and Hornet. Philippine Sea-Enterprise Cape Engano-Enterprise.

[@PhantomP63]

USS Cabot, the last of the CVLs, was bought back from Spain, towed to Houston... and scrapped in 2002.

[@Engine33Truck]

Halsey personally led efforts to save her, but alas failed. She should’ve been maintained as a museum by the USN itself. Interesting note: her tripod mast was supposed to be saved, but an error led to her arriving at the scrapyard with the tripod laying on her flight deck.

[@CABOOSEBOB]

@@ph89787 enterprise always there

[@ppumpkin3282]

She was melted and turned into a spaceship.

[@himnosdecolombia7106]

Interesting note: An Aichi D3A “Val” dive bomber crew that bombed the USS Enterprise at the Battle of Santa Cruz also hit it during the Battle of Eastern Solomons, it was piloted by Lt. Kiyoto Furuta with Lt. Keiichi Arima in the gunners seat as the commander of the dive bomber both men survived the war

[@MrChickennugget360]

did they write a book? "how we bombed Enterprise twice and lived"

[@himnosdecolombia7106]

@@MrChickennugget360 one of them did but it was in Japanese, Lt. Arima was interviewed by someone for USS Enterprise website: www.cv6.org/company/accounts/arima/

[@markfryer9880]

Amazing that they both survived the war.

[@andrewtaylor940]

@@markfryer9880 truly amazing. Most early war well trained Japanese pilots didn’t come out of the Solomons alive or if alive, intact.

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

Wow! Talk about being able to hold a grudge.

[@100dollarpie]

The loss of USS Wasp resulted in the assignment of HMS Victorious to the US Pacific Fleet, where she served for about a year with codename USS Robin.

[@Maddog3060]

Enterprise officer: "We need more dakka"

[@KarlBunker]

The text of that report at the end was fascinating. Reports like that surely did more to win the war than most any act of heroism, but officers sitting down and writing lengthy reports never makes it into war movies for some reason.

[@mancubwwa]

Well there were some scenes of mjr Winters writing reports in Band of Brothers.

[@misterthegeoff9767]

I have this mental image of that officer typing away in his cabin, a 20mm oerlikon jammed in where his bunk used to be with the barrel pointed out of the porthole, his typewriter precariously balanced atop a stack of 20mm ammunition crates.

[@lepermunna]

@@misterthegeoff9767 hahaha

[@CFarnwide]

@@misterthegeoff9767 must be his personal sidearm.

[@Sorain1]

Funny thing is, I think you could make a pretty good movie out of those particular reports, the changes that ensued, and then the follow on reports. If one were to be as lavish with time as said officer wished to be with 20mm guns, one could make a nice short form series to expand on it.

[@muznick]

I liked the footage of the Kingfisher taxiing up to the ship.

[@johnbeauvais3159]

Yeah I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that before

[@minkymoo4794]

Me too. Never seen that before.

[@raygiordano1045]

The skill of the crew made the whole process look easy. I didn't know they recovered planes while the ship was underway. The tail gunner sure had a scary job, climbing on the wing and grabbing the hook while the plane was tossed by the sea.

[@0ld.Richard]

Not a Kingfisher. That's a Curtiss SOC Seagull.

[@wanderer651952]

Agreed. I don't think I've ever seen film of a U.S. Navy float-plane recovery. Did you notice the little raft-thingy the ship was towing? I assume it was to either/or calm the waves a bit, or to give the float something to rest on briefly while the plane was hooked up. Anyone know? Sure wouldn't like to try recovery in any kind of a sea.

[@Splattle101]

That report is excellent. That officer obviously collected and collated a lot of info for that analysis, and did a great job of it.

[@richardtaylor1652]

Safe to say that officer and his typewriter did more damage to the Japanese war effort at that stage than anything else the US had at the time.

[@georgewnewman3201]

That is the job of a USN ship captain after any battle his vessel has just come out of. To reflect more modern times I will say he or she is expected to be able to write after actions detailing: (1) what happened to the most minute detail during the battle; (2) cite details of what went right or wrong; and (3) recommend improvements in training, armament/equipment, changes in tactics, and so on to improve both ship and overall force performance in future.

[@jessegapp3068]

The phrase "A positively American amount of anti aircraft guns" comes to mind

[@ivangenov6782]

HMS Nelson moment

[@trevorday7923]

If you have to ask how many guns you need, you don't have enough yet 🤘🏻😎🇺🇸

[@aidanfarnan4683]

The officer writing that report: "In brief, we need Mor Dakka."

[@bernardrednix756]

when and how did the US navy recruit orks?

[@syvarris467]

@@bernardrednix756 the US armed forces have always had a strong attraction to any machine gun or auto cannon not nailed down. And if it is nailed down they’ll find a crowbar.

[@unclestone8406]

DA BOYZ IZ ALWAYZ GREEN AT HEART, HEHAHAHAHAHAAA

[@Ostentatiousnessness]

USS Enterprise: I’m not trapped in the western Pacific with you. You’re trapped in the western Pacific with me!

[@hariman7727]

"COWABUNGA IT IS!", to paraphrase.

[@kyleabrezzi]

IJN: didn't we sink you? Enterprise: I lived..

[@Cobra-King3]

@@kyleabrezzi nono, its "My death was, greatly exaggerated"

[@Deadxman616]

@@kyleabrezzi and I took that personally

[@underworldgameshd69]

“Did you die? Sadly yes but I lived!”

[@JohngrJohngr]

Drach's occasional wry comments about the tendency of the American navy to "overgun" their AA are clearly "shot down" by the Officer's report. He's basically saying look: The defensive fighter directoring is not working, the 5 inch guns cannot be trained by the director system, & they have frequent electrical problems, the lighter AA can't coordinate between the two people aiming, what seems to work in stopping enemy planes are the 20mm. So, he is saying, give us plenty of 20mm. He adds, what good is armor if you can't stop the bombers? Perfectly logical for that time and place.

[@sealpiercing8476]

Yeah. It's an answer to the question: which weapon system is ready to shoot down aircraft right now? Let's use more of that while working out the kinks in the others.

[@stanleyrogouski]

The South Dakota could take on any single Kongo that might come its way barring, I don't know, something like a complete electrical failure. LOL.

[@ph89787]

That's not ominous.

[@nathanaustin6988]

Just dont penny the fuses

[@bkjeong4302]

Note that SoDak's combat record at Santa Cruz is way overblown (the ship's crew had a chronic problem with this). She could have been left out of the engagement entirely and it wouldn't have made a significant difference.

[@tokul76]

Spoilers about next round.

[@richmcgee434]

Now what are the odds of that happening? :)

[@donkeyboy585]

“We are out of carriers” Essex Class...”hold my beer”

[@mcduck5]

Enterprise. HOLD THE DOOR!

[@Sshooter444]

Took a while to pour that beer

[@jgjgjg739]

@@mcduck5 Enterprise be like “Nah who needs a forward elevator deck.”

[@chrisvickers7928]

The US navy borrowed a British carrier, HMS Victorious, added American equipment and crew, and renamed it USS Robin. It served in the US navy from January to August 1943.

[@insignificantgnat9334]

Protoss Announcer: Carrier Has Arrived!

[@yb5515]

Question: Why were American torpedo aircraft so ineffective? Answer: About 85%-90% of the torpedoes supplied to the US Navy were of the unexploding variety.

[@kemarisite]

That's part of it. A bigger part is a variety of other problems with the torpedo (the Mark 13 torpedo apparently did not use the Mark 6 magnetic influence explorer that plagued submarines and destroyers) and their doctrine. Doctrine called for very low speed, low altitude drops, but those actually prevented good entry into the water with the torpedo frequently slapping the water almost flat or skipping off the surface before having a faulty run. It wouldn't be until mid-1944 that a variety of improvements to both torpedoes and doctrine made them effective weapon systems.

[@terryrussel3369]

Yea. And NOBODY in the manufacturing family tree believed what they were told about them ! Even Com Sub Pac at Pearl had to, in the end, conduct his own field tests on his unreliable torpedo's ! GOOD GRIEF !

[@allangibson2408]

@@kemarisite The Mk13 had the same problems as the Mk14 with depth keeping (ie they ran very deep - the faster the deeper) and a contact exploder that did not work when a square on impact occurred.

[@1ramyus]

That's because all decent Mark XIII Mod 0 torpedoes were expanded at the Coral Sea. Then Bureau of Ordinance decided to make them better and sent to the fleet an improved Mod 1 version, which proved to be disastrous at Midway and later on.

[@zogzog1063]

Bombs are just better than torpedoes. They travel faster and that is that. So even if bombs failed to explode at the same rate as the as the torps they would still be better. The only advantage of the torp is that often they were impossible to detect.

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

USS Enterpirse captian: "Stop blowing holes in my ship!"

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Enterprise's crew: Last carrier in the Pacific? *Then it is an even fight.* Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum would be proud.

[@franciscoduarteauthor]

He would indeed! For Sangheilos!

[@SonOfAB_tch2ndClass]

Enterprise Vs. Japan OWARI DA!

[@ph89787]

@@SonOfAB_tch2ndClass I was waiting for the Azur Lane comments to pop up

[@nonamesplease6288]

The esprit de corps and pure, barrel chested gung ho optimism is impressive and inspiring.

[@MikeJones-qn1gz]

Enterprise: “right now I feel like I could take on the whole empire myself”

[@georgesoros6415]

Drach, this series is your finest work so far. I've watched it six times. I've told all my fellow naval history friends about it and they watched it and found it amazing. I think I've known all about this for fifty years, since I first read Morison in sixth grade, yet your presentation is cogent, correct, and highly entertaining. Indeed, compelling. I have hacked your theme song for my ringtone. I hope you won't mind....BTW, that's also a free marketing idea. Most people are not that computer literate...your theme beginning is just the right length, has a fine even tone throughout, yet finishes with that unmistakable heavy naval gunfire. You could also sell your soothing voice as a cure for insomnia. I can fall asleep in two minutes watching old Drach things.....not brand new ones. Cheers! Ching Lee is one of my favs too....

[@rayschoch5882]

I will echo Scott Silvers (below). Instead of complaints, the report is full of fairly cold-blooded analysis, and while the learning curve may have been steep, the Navy (otherwise a hugely conservative institution) was nonetheless flexible enough to take the lessons from lost battles to heart and eventually modify operations, equipment and procedures to fit the reality Japan provided. I'm impressed with "Mr. 20 millimeter" as well.

[@sharpshooterpeonnut6919]

I am not sure I accept the premise that being conservative means resisting change when that change is for the better. The problem is most "change" that has occurred since World War 2 has not been for the better, and conservatives are wise enough to see that.

[@warwatcher91]

Genuinely curious to consider what change you consider bad. . .

[@jpjpjp453]

The classic IJN Pyrrhic victory. From wiki..."The most significant losses for the Japanese Navy were in aircrew. The U.S. lost 81 of the 175 aircraft that were available at the start of the battle; of these, 33 were fighters, 28 were dive-bombers, and 20 were torpedo bombers. Only 26 pilots and aircrew members were lost, though.The Japanese fared much worse, especially in airmen; in addition to losing 99 aircraft of the 203 involved in the battle, they lost 148 pilots and aircrew members, including two dive bomber group leaders, three torpedo squadron leaders, and eighteen other section or flight leaders.The most notable casualties were the commanders of the first two strikes - Murata and Seki. Forty-nine percent of the Japanese torpedo bomber aircrews involved in the battle were killed, along with 39% of the dive bomber crews and 20% of the fighter pilots.The Japanese lost more aircrew at Santa Cruz than they had lost in each of the three previous carrier battles at Coral Sea (90), Midway (110), and Eastern Solomons (61). By the end of the Santa Cruz battle, at least 409 of the 765 elite Japanese carrier aviators who had participated in the attack on Pearl Harbor were dead. Having lost so many of its veteran carrier aircrew, and with no quick way to replace them-because of an institutionalized limited capacity in its naval aircrew training programs and an absence of trained reserves-the undamaged Zuikaku and Jun'yō were also forced to return to Japan because of the scarcity of trained aircrew to man their air groups. Although the Japanese carriers returned to Truk by the summer of 1943, they played no further offensive role in the Solomon Islands campaign"

[@bkjeong4302]

Probably THE Pyrrhic victory of WWII.

[@jpjpjp453]

@@bkjeong4302 The Guadalcanal meatgrinder left the Japanese in a bad spot come Spring of 1943. As they come out worse for wear after the losses incurred, USN war production ships begin making their way into the theater in larger numbers.

[@timberwolf1575]

@@jpjpjp453 The great Essex, Cleveland, Independence, and Summer 3D printing machines were spun up.

[@augustosolari7721]

One quesiton I have though is how many high Quality pilots could the japanese training system pump out in a year. Maybe those, added to the 300 highly experienced veteran survivors could have still dealed a Big blow in early 1943, provided they werent wasted in the Solomon campaign.

[@jpjpjp453]

@@augustosolari7721 Prewar Japanese standards were such that sometimes no more than 100 candidates were accepted for training. Combined with the fact that frontline pilots stayed in combat until they died or were wounded and you could see the basic problems of enlarging their training program. Carrier pilots are one thing, but also there were the land based airfleets that were also being ground under by steady attrition. On the very first day the USMC landed on Guadalcanal, 23 G4M "Betties" were dispatched from Rabaul and 18 were shot down. Also, the steady losses in operations happening in New Guinea. Those air groups were bled dry in 1942.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

I LOVE these after action reports, and the USN historical section website is loaded with them. The submarine after action reports are riveting. My God those skippers were aggressive 💪

[@ivanthemadvandal8435]

Good sub CO's seem to have a lot of the same qualities as fighter pilots. Probably my favorite story is how the CO for Archerfish when it sank Shinano got the command partially due to his aggressive play style during a poker game.

[@kirbyculp3449]

Being lucky at cribbage was a good omen.

[@nihilnihil6995]

This is me being very stupid but would you mind linking the website ?

[@michaelbergman5095]

Would also be interested in where to read these action reports. Haven't had much luck in the mil archives I've found so far.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

@@nihilnihil6995YT won’t take the link History.navy.mil

[@BP-1988]

My father flew a SBD off the USS Hornet at the Battle of Santa Cruz. He was credited with hitting the Shokaku with a 1000 pounder. But on his return to the Hornet with his wounded gunner who had been hit by a Zero's 20 mm cannon, he found that the Hornet was dead in the water and listing. Fortunately, he was able to land on the Enterprise which probably saved his gunners life.

[@ppumpkin3282]

It sounds like the Hornet was a miserable mess. Was he at Midway? kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJjHaH2anZucj8U

[@BP-1988]

Yes he was also at Midway. He was on the "flight to nowhere" lead by Stanhope Ring which completely missed the IJN task force. He was able to get back to the Hornet and landed with less than 5 gallons of fuel. Others, mostly the fighter squadron planes from his ship weren't so lucky. The next day he did get a hit on one of Japanese cruisers. After the Hornet was sunk, he was assigned to the Lexington (CV-16) and flew at the attack on Truk and at the Battle of the Phillipine Sea which was documented in the book "Mission Beyond Darkness". Great read if you haven't seen it.

[@thanatosstorm]

@@BP-1988 The absolute balls your father and his gunner possessed cannot be understated. I am always in awe of their willingness to press home. Thanks for sharing. Also, much respect from an OIF vet.

[@BP-1988]

@@thanatosstorm Thank you for your words on Christmas. And thank you for your service to our country.

[@briancooper2112]

​@@BP-1988good book

[@CapricornEGO]

"Okay, I have literally put a 20mm in every non-essential place on the ship, including the mess hall. Where else can I put more of them?" Lt Dakka looks at the wide open space of the deck. "Hmmmmm, do we really need all those planes on the carrier?"

[@drtidrow]

"Send us as many 20mm guns as you can" signed, James Needmore Dakka, Lt USN ;-)

[@meansartin]

All of them?

[@ryanhodin5014]

"I'm worried that what you just heard was send me a lot of 20mm guns. What I said was send me all the 20mm guns you have. Do you understand?"

[@meansartin]

@@ryanhodin5014 we can send you the manufactorum

[@pistonar]

@@ryanhodin5014 If Ron Swanson wrote the report. LOL.

[@windwalker5765]

WWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

[@GM-fh5jp]

Murata's leadership and bravery in pressing home the attack against Hornet while under murderous AA fire was probably the finest carrier attack of the Pacific War and really marked the zenith of Japanese Carrier aviation. Knowing the Japanese as well as I do I can't help but feel sad every time the Santa Cruz battle is discussed. He was an impressive man, both in leadership qualities and also as a clever and wily tactician. I can't imagine the effect of his loss must have had on the remaining aircrews and officers of the Fleet. Sayonara Murata-san...yoku dekimashita.

[@sledgehammerk35]

Hornet was one tough ship. Was extremely happy to hear that they found her wreck.

[@cefloach9019]

US Navy: *scraps USS Enterprise CV-6 after staying in for the entire pacific war* Anybody with an IQ is the double digits: "This is not okie dokie"

[@scottdrone-silvers5179]

The after-action reports are EXCELLENT. It’s clear that the evaluation of information available to the writers was taken very seriously. The ability of the USN to make tactical adjustments based on their combat experience was both critical and impressive. As Drach indicates, there was a large learning curve, and not much time to learn what was needed.

[@olliefoxx7165]

When I listen/watch the early campaigns and hear all our mistakes and the damage we took learning from those mistakes be it tactical or technical its sobering. Our guys got in hellish exchanges and took epic damage. That we were able to adjust and turn the tables is very inspiring

[@nonamesplease6288]

There was a culture of learning, innovation, and self criticism in the Navy at the time. It is a credit to the men in command that such introspection and innovation was encouraged and the results were implemented.

[@MrChickennugget360]

US After action reports 1941-1945: we need more guns on our ships to shoot at things.

[@OtakuLoki]

What's particularly telling to me is the difference in the way that these reports were being read, evaluated and acted upon by the various departments back ashore, in comparison to BUORD's utterly botched response to the after action reports from use of the Mk. 14.

[@OtakuLoki]

@@nonamesplease6288 In some parts of the Navy. BUORD being a remarkable exception.

[@barrylucas8679]

Seeing the remarkable color film showing the PBYs makes me recall a story my father told me. Just after arriving at Pearl Harbor on a very windy day, dad told us about watching these huge airplanes sitting almost still while taking off into the wind. He claimed that sailors were able to walk alongside the aircraft and reach up and touch the bottom of the fuselage as the PBY labored down the runway. Dad's first ship was a 150 foot long wooden hulled former private yacht that was equipped with a couple machine guns and some depth charges. The class according to dad was "sub chaser". Love the channel.

[@CFarnwide]

Although probably not as slow as your PBY story, watching the Doolittle bombers lumbering for takeoff gives me a pretty good idea of what you are describing.

[@Theranthrope]

Lessons learned: *"NEED MORE DAKKA!"*

[@bernardrednix756]

the entire US armed force are orks then?

[@Errafri]

@@bernardrednix756 That sounds about right...

[@hariman7727]

"Quantity is a quality all of its own." (Paraphrased)

[@willbxtn]

"The Americans started the war with 5 carriers and are losing them fast. We've got this war in the bag!" "Yeah, what are they going to do, somehow build more than a dozen fleet carriers? Or build over 100 escort carriers? Or even more" light" carriers than they had of all types at the start of the war?" "Haha, you might as well say they're going to do all three!"

[@richardtaylor1652]

IJN at end of 1943: Why do I hear boss music?

[@turdferguson3803]

The Japanese were fully aware that the US would out produce them in the long term. The plan was to push the US out of the Pacific before their industrial capacity could save them. Had the US no longer possessed any bases to operate from in the Pacific it wouldn't matter how many carriers they had or were making.

[@haggis525]

Weren't there 24 Essex class fleet carriers? In addition to all the rest, of course.... the Jeep carriers did an awesome job, punching well above their weight.

[@drcovell]

Perfect 👍

[@IsmailSimba]

I used to wonder why the USS Enterprise just seemed to survive through everything. Now I don't.

[@MikeJones-qn1gz]

A credit to her build and her crew

[@johnaustin704]

Pearl Harbor really, REALLY made us Yanks mad and determined to hang on until we could wreak havoc on the Japanese to repay them for their visit on 7 Dec 41.

[@liberalsockpuppet4772]

It's the reason why the space ship in Star Trek is named Enterprise

[@kenduncan3221]

@keith moore And Lt Dakka

[@ppumpkin3282]

And why did the Hornet seem to have so much bad luck. At Midway they were pretty much useless.

[@JediKnight19852002]

"Out of carriers and you have to go in with heavy hitters" */Admiral Lee likes this

[@robintaberner]

A USN officer recommending more guns on a ship. Nothing changes does it.

[@bamagrad99]

The desire for more guns is as American as baseball and apple pie

[@treyhelms5282]

The more that things change....

[@pedrolopez8057]

too much massive overkill i almost enough

[@death2all79zx]

Love the Catalina footage.

[@rackstraw]

Admiral Kondo (clinking together empty sake bottles on his fingers): Halsey, come out to play-yay.

[@dalevines8832]

Wow. I had forgotten about that movie. Warriors come out and play-yay. Thanks man.

[@Johnnycdrums]

"The Warriors"

[@MikeJones-qn1gz]

Ha that’s so perfect 👌

[@ROTTERDXM]

@CreedOfHeresy Can you dig it?

[@keepyourbilsteins]

Admiral Kondo: "Your formation does not spark joy."

[@rocketguardian2001]

"You know what? Just send us the guns. We'll just start cutting junk off the ship so they fit. Hmm...Isn't Kinkaid like six pounds heavier than Spruance? Okay boys, send him over the side!"

[@Scarheart76]

Japanese aircrew: We sank Enterprise! Japanese officer: Again??

[@Owktree]

There are remarks by Japanese admirals (Ugaki's diary a primary source?) about the American propensity for re-using ship names right away. So they might well believe that they had sunk 4-5 "USS Enterprise" and the Americans had simply given the name out again.

[@ph89787]

Next battle. Owari Da!

[@charlesaugust8671]

By this battle Thatch's Beam Defense (AKA Weave) was a standard tactic. Notice how presence of Zeros no longer seemed an "Oh Shit!" moment for the raid escorts or CAP. Next problem? How to position and direct your CAP using radar in real time.

[@hatchcrazy]

I got curious about our mystery 20mm fan aboard the _Enterprise_ so I did a little poking around. I'm not a naval history expert, but here's what I found. After the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, _Enterprise_ submitted both an after-action report, containing the recommendation to place 20mm batteries "in every available space on all ships," and a separate gunnery officer's report, which contains the lines, "It is recommended that additional 20 mm guns be placed at all available spaces along the flight deck, particularly on the port side. If enough of them can be provided we should have little to fear from dive bombers." The similar language & sentiment inclines me to believe it was the author of the gunnery officer's report who submitted that recommendation to the after-action report as well. The gunnery report is signed by one Lieutenant Commander Orlin L. Livdahl, who actually won a Silver Star for his anti-aircraft gunnery in the Eastern Solomons & at Santa Cruz. The citation states, "By the excellent training and efficient direction of the anti-aircraft batteries of his ship, Lieutenant Commander Livdahl and his gun crew in both of these engagements accomplished the outstanding feat of shooting down nearly half of the attacking planes." Livdahl was also known to listen to the recommendations of his assistant gunnery officer, Elias "Benny" Mott. Mott gave an interview about the _Enterprise_ during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and was (along with his two brothers) the subject of the recent book _The Jersey Brothers._ Mott said about the Solomons that, "The tremendous number of 20-mms that we were able to bring to bear on each plane caused them either to miss or to drop in flames. ... My impression of the battle was that if we had a little more firepower, it might have been different." So while Livdahl's name is on the report, it sounds like it was Mott who hammered on the importance of the 20mms. Mott also apparently bonded with Admiral Halsey back when Mott was at the US Naval Academy and Halsey was a captain because both were from New Jersey, a state that gets a lot of trash-talk from the rest of the US. Sounds like Mott fit the "belligerent" part of the Jersey stereotype pretty well...

[@troydeckert7273]

So, were a lot more 20mm guns added? If so, how long did that take to happen?

[@thehandoftheking3314]

I'm so early the USN don't need to borrow a Royal Navy Carrier

[@UNSCrearadmiral]

I got here a little after we needed to Borrow that carrier

[@ThugShakers4Christ]

Aka the last meaningful contribution the British made to the Pacific campaign

[@thehandoftheking3314]

@@ThugShakers4Christ what typhoon?

[@Tepid24]

@@ThugShakers4Christ Ok there, Mr. King.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

Turns out they never used the Robin (Victorious) regardless - she was on station for 28 days off New Georgia in the Solomons and never saw combat.

[@trainman2226]

i can imagine this officer saying "GET RID OF HALF THE FIGHTERS 20MM OERLIKONS ARE MORE EFFECTIVE"

[@alanmcclenaghan7548]

How about fitting 20mm cannons to the fighters instead .50cal popguns, like the Zero and German planes!

[@Cobra-King3]

@@alanmcclenaghan7548 well they could , but pack only 200 rounds or so, the fast RoF of them meant you had about 3-4 seconds of fire

[@raywhitehead730]

It originally came as a surprise to me, many years ago, when I found out the Navy lost more men then the Marines, in the Guadalcanal

[@karl303]

thanks Drach, loving it. Also can I add HMS Jupiter to the request list of ships to cover? thanks. My grandfather lost a finger in ww2 on HMS Jupiter and wonder why lol

[@hamishneilson7140]

That's a real big brain move using the battleship wake to put out your fires, love that kind of thinkning.

[@SamGreeneRacing]

Have a big job interview this morning and the first thing I see when I wake up is my favorite creator uploaded overnight. These Drach-isms helped calm me down on the ride in. Thank you sir.

[@raygiordano1045]

Good luck, I hope you get the job.

[@species3167]

Whatever you do....don't ask the interviewer if sees any...you know.

[@Geredis089]

I just watched the whole run you made, and I Just realized, I'd love a whole video where we just listen to you reading Enterprise AAR reports, either in full, or in excerpt. Every one of those you quoted in this series was almost the best part of each of these episodes on the Guadalcanal naval engagements.

[@treyhelms5282]

Love hearing Drach and the Chieftain read WWII reports from US and British militaries. Something about their grammar, and of course subject matter, is thought-provoking. Drach's and Moran's diction (particulary Drach's) is also very engaging.

[@smokejaguarsix7757]

Once in a while youve got some good quips, "Its the Enterprise vs Japan now, that should be a fair fight." Honestly, thats pretty accurate too.

[@species3167]

Yes, but Japan still crying that her air search radar is OP....

[@hariman7727]

"I'll take the 500 on the left and you'll take the 500 on the right."

[@ph89787]

@@hariman7727 “screw you I’ll take 501.”

[@meansartin]

*takes a long swill of whiskey* Listen, bro. We take 20mm cannons and place them everywhere. Our cannons even get cannons, dude.

[@misterthegeoff9767]

using an expended 20mm casing as a shot glass because he had already jettisoned his whisky tumblers to free up more space for ammunition.

[@Mr.Praetor]

The USS Portland (CA-33) that you mentioned in this episode is quite the ship! I grew up in her namesake (Portland, Maine) and though the ship was not saved as a museam ship, the city of Portland does have a piece of the ship in Fort Allen Park with a number of plaques describing her valiant service. By the end of the war, her 16 Battle Stars made her one of the most decorated ships of the U.S Fleet

[@Engine33Truck]

I grew up down the street from a man who served on her throughout the war. I believe he may have served on her bridge. His stories were gripping.

[@geordiedog1749]

New video. Shoot, shoot, shoot! (Remember - “Fire” only means one thing on a ship!)

[@HemlockRidge]

CHOOT 'EM!

[@ringowunderlich2241]

Cruise officer: Alright, I'm getting the extinguisher.

[@denisecarroll827]

My grandfather Richard Armstrong survived the sinking of the Hornet. He wasn't even 22years old at the end of WW2.

[@AlisonFort]

I’m really grateful for this series on Guadalcanal - it is truly excellent

[@PopsP51]

Excellent color film included here as well as Black and white photos are a treasure trove for the historian and modeler! Thanks 👍

[@77thTrombone]

That was an exemplary after-action report. I'm glad Drach read it. "Ship's company will do their best to adapt the ship's configurations, regardless of support from BuShips and BuWeps...."

[@matrix3509]

Naval Engineer: "So how many Oerlikons do you want on this carrier?" Naval Officer: "Yes."

[@Tottleminerftw]

As long as nothing dramatic like complete power failure happens. Kirishima is taking notes.

[@HeiligerHeuler]

After 20:00 recarpeting the ship with 20mm oerlikons.... Drach I love you xD

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

OH BOI, More of the Guadalcanal Campaign

[@729060]

Gonna have like 10 more naval battles before we get out of Guadalcanal. Have barely touched ironbottom sound yet

[@Johnnycdrums]

"The Gallant Hours"(1960), underrated movie starring James Cagney.

[@richmcgee434]

"You know, the Japanese navy does have submarines. And some of them are rumored to carry aircraft." "Your point?" "Well, we don't have any 20mm AA guns that can respond to a submersible aircarft attack launched from *below* the waterline, do we? There's all that space down on the bottom of the hull just going to waste right now. And putting a bunch of guns along the keel would help shift the ship's center of gravity lower, so we could put even *more* guns up top!" "But...but how would the underwater gun crews breathe?" "Dolphins! We train dolphins to man our underwater 20mm AA battery!" "I don't think..." "Are you trying to leave the US navy unprepared for massed undersea airstrikes from Japanese submarine carriers? Are you?" On a tangentially related note, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was on the other day. :)

[@wanderer651952]

Reminds me of a short Sci-Fi story I read years ago, purporting to be a serious analysis of the perceived growing capability gap in the field of surf-board-riding amphibious assault cavalry. Funny. ;

[@jlvfr]

"Stability? What's that? Gimme guns! Their fire will stabilize us!"

[@Blei1986]

KEK imagine counterflooding your fleet carrier, so that you can max out the amount of 20mm AA guns

[@Karmag555]

"Captain! Starboard list has increased to 15 degrees!" "Then tell the starboard AA gunners to fire faster! The recoil will stabilize the ship!"

[@davidsarmas6494]

There is not a better source for explanation of the many battles the U.S. Navy had in WWII! Thank you for the hard work of teaching the history of Naval operations to no is history buffs! All I can say is excellent!

[@adamndirtyape]

I still can't believe that Enterprise wasn't preserved for historical purposes after the war. Other ships were, but the most decorated and probably the most important ship the USA ever operated was scrapped. Pity.

[@trainerfjk6269]

I like the fact that besides giving us the details of the battle, we are also getting excerpts from the report as to how make the carriers more survivable. I agree with one of the lines in the video-- to the effect that American carrier tactics evolved during Coral Sea, Midway, Santa Cruz battles to what we would see at the end of the war. I think the fact that there was somebody not pulling any punches in the after action report is to be saluted. I think all organizations should take this kind of critical self evaluation to heart.

[@aaronjohn6586]

Just love the layers to this story of 2 forces that collided.

[@TheOfficial007]

I really liked the after battle assessment. The detailed lessons really translated into progress.

[@timshenk2210]

My father was in US Navy from 39 to 46. He was in a tin can (destroyer - USS Bainbridge DDS 249) in the North Atlantic, points in Mediterranean and along the east coast of the US. He told me of sinking a German sub (I think on the US East coast) and said they were stuck on a sand bar you could look over deck and see them. In his words; "They didn't have a chance." Depth charges destroyed sub. bodies washed up and were laid on deck. My dad said they were just kids - teenagers. The whole war thing made him sick but he did his job. Before that, it was all a beer party in uniform kind of thing. If he were to tell you today, he would say: War is a bad BAD thing.

[@kavemanthewoodbutcher]

The comment section of Drach's videos are an endless source of comic genius, of the darkest sort!

[@troydeckert7273]

Drach's comment sections are some of the best historical reading out there. Thanks everyone. Keep it up!

[@SubBrief]

Hi Drachinifel, my viewers told me to subscribe to you and they were right. Great channel! I look forward to browsing your videos.

[@nihilnihil6995]

hey Jive love your videos

[@diegosilang4823]

One of the Hornet’s orphaned crewman was asked if he want to re-enlist. The Orphaned Hornet’s crewman replied “hell yeah, in the new Hornet” multiple Essex and Independence class carriers are already near completion.

[@anthony_horton]

The under way floatplane recovery footage at 24:10 is great. Looks like it took quite a bit of skill from both aircrew and the crew onboard.

[@thomas316]

Can you imagine being the guy that torpedoed and sunk your own ship while ditching? Meals in the ships canteen would be a lonely, lonely experience. 😬 Kills: -1.

[@nonamesplease6288]

One can only contemplate what nickname(s) was/were bestowed upon his return to his squadron.

[@myparceltape1169]

"I didn't arm the torpedo. It must have been done before I got her up."

[@tokencivilian8507]

He was pink until he was in 5 more battles without a team kill. (Obligatory world of warship reference).

[@CharliMorganMusic]

The humor of this channel is just, like, spicy tea.

[@Thornsaint5301]

Love the image of a small burning destroyer going next to a battleship to try and use the waves it creates to put out the fire.

[@tbamagic]

BIGGEST MISTAKE in USN history: SCRAPPING the most decorated ship in history: .... WW2's ENTERPRISE! Can you even imagine walking her decks today...the history????

[@Aiwendill]

they needed to free the name for naming other ships, like NCC-1701 :P

[@mpersad]

Great use of archive film and photos Drach! Excellent video.

[@wavecannon3688]

The U.S.S. Smith wins in the "Use what's available" category!

[@kenduncan3221]

And the quickest suppression of a major ship fire.

[@welshman357]

Love the after action reports Drach. Very cool to hear the officers perspectives on what was good and what needed improvement.

[@bobrusso1814]

Most excellent. Thank you. My Dad was an enlisted man on the LST 1014 during this time. Thinking of it now . . they didn’t even name those ships, just numbers, we had the eventuality of quantity. Remember my father telling me they would roll 55 gal drums of gas off the LST near the shore and they would float onto the beach. I didn’t know that a barrel of gasoline would float.

[@laszloharsanyi8320]

these after the battle evaluations are one of the most interesting things I found regarding military history. It's fascinating (and often sad) to see what was recognised as a failure, suggested to learn from it - and then in the next battle it was done again. I wonder if the Japanese evaluation reports were as thorough and sometimes very blunt about their own performance?

[@kenduncan3221]

The saddest ones are the Mark 14 submarine torpedo being written up as being defective many times and it took 2 years for the Navy to force Bureau of Ordnance to acknowledge that there was problems and fix them.

[@troydeckert7273]

​What were the primary reasons for that? Given the urgency, like submarines being sunk with all men lost, and U.S. ships lost and damaged, with IJN ships, including carriers!, then coming back the next day, weeks, and months, being in action taking out U.S. personnel, how did the contractor get away with that? Was there no press coverage,? Due to rah rah pressure or censurship? Who was in charge of this company, anyway, that sent non-working ordinance out? This is so bad it sounds as if the only logical explanation is it was successful Axis sabotage, as one earlier comment read, one deadly ememy of U.S. personnel was the Ordiance Bureau.@@kenduncan3221

[@tomhath8413]

IJN learned the hard way - you can't fight very many air battles when you lose half of your pilots each time.

[@louisandrus8532]

£

[@derweibhai]

My grandfather was an SBD tailgunner on Enterprise from 43-45.

[@marcmt4171]

Yes! I've been waiting for this. Drach, I love your channel.