French Pre-Dreadnoughts - Why Do they Look Like That?

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@glock22357]

How much, exactly, do you loathe French floating hotels?

[@Emu0181]

I know it's out of the channel's time period, but was wondering if you might do a video on USS Nautilus (SSN-571). Personally, I'm more interested in the engineering and development of the vessel and powerplant. Thanks regardless

[@Niels_Larsen]

With Time Ghost history launching the Korean war channel I have a ship suggestion. The famous danish hospital ship MS Jutlandia.

[@bkjeong4302]

If you could pick any ten non-French classes of warships from the time the channel covers to not be built based entirely based on aesthetics, which would you choose?

[@PortShaftBrake]

At what point did "establishment lists" (specified lists of Ship's crew numbers, specialisms ranks etc) start to be issued by Admiralties, rather than being at the discretion of the ship's Captain or owner?

[@jlvfr]

Another unintended efect of these designs: the ships became perfect examples and inspiration for Steampunk and anime!

[@SmolRacer]

I was thinking the same, steampunk submarines

[@jlvfr]

@@SmolRacer for that you have the french Surcouf, the british X1or the US (unbuilt) "Cruiser Submarine Type 2"

[@chrisplumb4284]

They look like Dwarven Warhammer Fantasy naval ships.

[@jlvfr]

@@chrisplumb4284 pretty sure this is where Games Workshop got their inspiration from...

[@犬まにまに]

I think this is where the origins of the arcade game Metal Slug, Akira Toriyama's mecha designs that influenced it, and Hayao Miyazaki's rounded, slightly organically deformed weapon designs that influenced it, originate. Howl's Moving Castle vividly depicts the reference and love for this ship.

[@admiraltiberius1989]

I remember when Drach did his first video on French Pre Dreadnoughts forever ago and it caused him such extreme levels of discomfort to do so.

[@m.streicher8286]

"When hotels go to war'

[@Scooternjng]

When Hotels went to war 😂

[@charlesbaker7703]

My first thought!

[@fire304]

I have been so looking forward to his follow-up to that video! Lol

[@rickyfrax5602]

I guess this is seeking closure for him

[@Niels_Larsen]

We present the second episode of Hotel goes to war: The hotel strikes back

[@CanalTremocos]

Looking at some of them is more like "The Rise of Hotelwalker"

[@tamsinp7711]

The Magnificent Hotels Sail Again?

[@pkscolax9480]

Drydock Q&A is too remote to make an effective hotel stay, but don't worry, we'll deal with your luggage soon enough.

[@sonicgoo1121]

Those Magnificent French in Their Floating Hotels.

[@riverraven7359]

Does that make part 3: Return of the Concierge?😂

[@jamesharmer9293]

You've missed the elephant in the room Drach. The reason that the French made their ships so wide, at and below the waterline, was to fit in a nice dark and cool wine cellar ...

[@SheepInACart]

Ironically the wine cellar is at the extreme ends of the ship, where it was narrower, so there choices made it less suitable for storing of wine.

[@Stevie-J]

fore wine cellars, aft cheese caves a truly civilized ship

[@baozenfhei9076]

Hon hon il know tout muche

[@CharlesYuditsky]

And of course The Vineyards as well

[@chrisloomis1489]

Excellent observation ... 😂

[@Xanthophyll1337]

These ships are honestly the pinnacle of engineering. Not because they're particularly well-designed, well-built, or even aesthetically pleasing (barring certain... esoteric preferences), of course. Instead, they represent the culmination of a series of limitations and compromises to design so extensive that it's genuinely impressive that any were built at all. Kudos to the French engineers of 150 years ago for somehow making it all work!

[@thanakonpraepanich4284]

Did they pioneered the attempts to cram functions and roles of three ships into one hull that USS Zumwalt tried to do decades later?

[@nathanjora7627]

« Kudos for making it work somehow » Seems to be our motto in engineering… And everything else really 😂

[@L0stEngineer]

21st century American Naval architecture is definitely giving these engineers a run for their money.

[@steven_003]

„The French copy no one, and no one copies the French“

[@satagaming9144]

@@steven_003 "I am the way, the truth, and the light. But sometimes the light is muzzle flash."

[@Crosshair84]

France went down a different Tech Tree than everyone else.

[@shotgunsorcerer5896]

Always does. But you can use gentlemen to steal tech like pourde b etc

[@rpreto72]

France knows best. History has shown us evidence of that on several occasions.

[@sergeipohkerova7211]

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it" - Britain "Are you challenging me?" - France

[@ricardokowalski1579]

French MN fell off the technology tree, hiting every ugly branch on the way down. It came to rest on the ground, with their faces firmly planted in the Béarn.

[@tomhalla426]

“The French copy no one, and no one copies the French” Gun Jesus.

[@Kilonum]

Fun fact: the French Pre Dreadnoughts video was the first Drach video I ever watched

[@kingleech16]

Second for me after “Voyage of the Damned”. What a fun channel.

[@raygiordano1045]

@@kingleech16 VotD is still one of my all time favorite Drach videos. I started watching Drach around the time he was giving up on the decent computer voice for his own, vastly superior, voice.

[@bigrob1344]

Same….first two videos I watched

[@TheFleetOfOceans]

Oh dear. I've been dreading this day and now it's finally here. Fleet's about to get his favourite ships annihilated by facts and logic.

[@hmsverdun]

Its ok FOO-i really like the KGV's but whenever I talk about them I can see Dr Clarke about to go into a rage because they didnt get 15 or 16 inch guns(which granted I tend to agree with).

[@Chung_Wang]

I pity the FOO

[@oliversmith9200]

Ah, but you see? Dread was misplaced. It didn't hurt at all. In fact it helped. We got the logistical constraints the French faced and the for the time respectable battle theory behind the course of development.

[@Cdodders27]

Thought you might be here

[@theguyeverybodylikes9667]

Not like it doesn't happen every monday

[@rafaeltait1203]

The french pre dreadnoughts are my favorite ships, they are so uncoventional, impratical and stereotypically steampunk that its hard to imagine what was going on the heads of the french designers back then.

[@spirz4557]

"Bullshit aléatoire go !"

[@dave_h_8742]

Absinthe?

[@RojCowles]

Madame? What kind of mushrooms are in this omelette? Quick! Bring me a knapkin, I have the urge to design a battleship!

[@chedelirio6984]

Absinthe. That was what was in the heads of the designers. Absinthe and the hips of their mistresses.

[@rlauder7210]

Back then? Have you ever sat in a Citroen? The French imitate no one. And no one imitates the French.

[@rpreto72]

Since Drach´s video on hotels go to sea, I'm 3D modeling the Jauréguiberry, it´s like redemption for all my past sins. Hope to finish it in 1 month or so. Thank you Drach for that.

[@cmmorales777]

I'd like to see your model.

[@rpreto72]

@@cmmorales777 Thank you for your interest. I'll post it here once finished. Most probably I'll link to my CGTrader account. It is being made to 1/350 scale; a bit over 300mm in size. This one is the first because it is the only I could find the general dockyard blueprints. Then, 4 more to go :)

[@jmulnick]

@@cmmorales777that is, of course, what she said 😂

[@AnimeSunglasses]

​@@rpreto72well I've got to see that too! What's your handle on CGTrader?

[@kingleech16]

That’s awesome!

[@argokarrus2731]

I know I'm outspoken about this, but in my humble opinion the French pre-dreads are some of the prettiest warships of their era

[@renesagahon4477]

Yes I agree The earlier ones. Especially

[@WatermelonDog202]

And French World War 1 landships were also beautiful

[@ArcanisUrriah]

I would go as far as to say of all time. Not all, as we have triremes, 18thC frigates and schooners etc, but definitely in that top ever ranking.

[@NCD3000-fp9ix]

My first introduction to French pre dreadnought designs was Howl's Moving Castle. It goes to show just ridiculous these ships looked when they don't look out of place in a world with a fantastical moving castle.

[@sammcbride101]

It also explains why the men were so quick to abandon ship. They knew it was becoming unstable and the capsizing was going to happen fast.

[@NCD3000-fp9ix]

@@sammcbride101 Also did not have a dedicated AA battery despite aircraft being a thing in that setting. Those ships probably got sunk in droves during that conflict. Much like how historical French pre dreadnoughts died in droves in the Dardanelles from weapons they were never designed to go up against.

[@krakenpots5693]

Miyazaki is absolutely obsessed with france, it seems. There are so many references to french boats, planes, cities, cultural icons all throughout his works!!! (There's actually probably as many references to french culture as there are to japanese culture, come to think of it!!!)

[@enchantereddie]

Here we go: Marine Nationale and Their Moving Castles

[@panagiotisgr8070]

​@@krakenpots5693 don't forget the Italians

[@katherinespezia4609]

God I love these ships so much. Granted that is because I don't have to serve aboard them or build them or design them or pay for them or rely on them to protect me, but they're just so FUN! So many funky shapes and fiddly bits to look at! They're endearing in the same way weirdly-shaped dogs are endearing. And they fit so perfectly into the overall aesthetic of the Belle Epoque. It seems fitting to me that the age of tumblehome hulls was perfectly aligned with the age of the bustle dress; they're kind of the same shape if you squint.

[@micnorton9487]

Yeah they're more like castles imo than hotels but many hotels of the period LOOKED like fortresses,, but the REAL allure of these ships imo had less to do with actual fighting capability and more with just looking badazz...

[@Goddot]

The Borzois of the Seas

[@Jacky-zt5ch]

Steampunk looking ahh battleships

[@micnorton9487]

@@katherinespezia4609 It occurs though,, females in designing a battleship would probably do a lot of cool stuff like "fiddly bits" of outcrops and cubbys and stepped deckworks for smaller AA guns and the badazz stacked look of Drach's "hotelwork" superstructure with big masthouses and soaring wing bridges an sh*t,, and because of course we know women ALL think size matters lol the big guns all massed forward like the Richelieu class French battleships...

[@mattbombly]

you nailed it 100%

[@markfryer9880]

After you described how the French dockyards would not cooperate or share suppliers, it occurred to me how difficult it would make maintenance and repair work. It was also the complete opposite of what the Royal Navy had been working towards since the time of Nelson and that was standardisation in as many things on board a warship as possible. You standardise the designs, the preordering, the building, the armaments, the training of the crew, and the availability of consumables and spares. Well at least that would be the intention. Mark from Melbourne Australia 🇦🇺

[@chrissouthgate4554]

Possible from the times of Pepys & Anderson.

[@donjones4719]

When listening to that part my reaction was this is so typically French. That damned stiff-necked pride and holding onto an offense taking priority over practicality even when it came to defending the nation. It also reminded me of the phrase about military designs (and general engineering?), "The French copy no one, and no one copies the French".

[@Tuning3434]

The French Navy sure went through an interesting arc: Jeun Ecole: _Torpedo!_ Rest of the World: but what if we just sit outside in our Battleships? Hotel Era: _Spread the guns_ Rest of the world: but what if we hit your magazine with our torpedo's? Dreadnought Era: _All the guns in a turret!_ Rest of the world: but what if we take one of your turrets out? It is like they've had a timetraveller on the admirality board, but who was also very much a fan of the lead sweetened Vino of the past.

[@32shumble]

I love those French designs ever since I saw the builder's models in a French museum decades ago!

[@clangerbasher]

I am looking at some photos now. I am not quite getting the full impact. A model to look at would be much better.

[@32shumble]

@@clangerbasher the museum was near the naval base in Toulon, France

[@clangerbasher]

@@32shumble Thank you.

[@kondor99999]

I love how they look! We went to the French naval museum in Paris and they had a wonderful model of the Hoche. What a crazy looking contraption!

[@Drewmikola]

Love these goofy boats. Thank you, as always, Drach. You're the best.

[@MrPeterhe]

I rewatched the original "hotel" video a couple of weeks ago. At the time I wondered what ideas and compromises were behind these ships. And then this video drops. Perfect!

[@unprofessionalreviews26]

IRN Alexander III almost capsized during relatively calm seas during trials and many said that due to the tumblehome design and many 75mm gun ports poorly protecting against water coming in during turns, these ships (Borodino class) had huge circulation radius. Of course on Tsushima there was no survivors but few observers stated that the ship heeled too much to one side during the battle due to too much water pumped by firefighting crews was circulating in the top deck and 75mm battery deck. After heeling the ship also got flooded through those decks through open gun ports and busted illuminators and capsized in a moment. Witnesses stated they saw survivors climbing onto the ships bottom that was seen floating in water with props still turning, but ultimately no one was saved in the heat of the battle and night time set quick. Borodino suffered similar fate, although some say one of the last IJN battleship shots detonated its magazine before dark issued. That was before detonation flags were invented, of course. One signal man, seaman Yuschin survived, according to him he was in Borodino's 75mm battery when large explosion shook the ship and it capsized, but he managed to swim out of the gun port and later saved by Japanese. War is hell.

[@cameronnewton7053]

*achievement earned: detonation* *Achievement earned: devastating strike*

[@Nordy941]

When hotels go to war is one of my favorite videos

[@fredjones5698]

thanks for making exquisite naval history videos my man

[@jec1ny]

To understand the French naval situation, you need to consider that state of politics post 1871 to 1914. A lot of this comes down to the fact that during that era, the French government's approach to naval policy and construction, was borderline dysfunctional. Which in some ways was simply a reflection of the broader political realities of the Third Republic. That, and that France was deeply conscious of the fact that the next war would be won or lost on land and that accordingly, France needed to focus mainly on its army. Something Kaiser Wilhelm II did not grasp.

[@FireFox_60]

Because the French were the pioneers of modern cruise ships, all rooms.

[@ndris88]

40 minutes well spent again, thanks for this video!

[@nco_gets_it]

What I have always wondered is not how they came to be what they were--the higher level weight and distribution consideration always made sense as well as French industrial capability. But I always wondered how they would fare in an actual fight. It seems to me that these ships might do better than expected--or far worse. A topic for another video?

[@youmukonpaku3168]

hm, given the design ancestry of the Borodino class and how they fared against everyone else's design philosophy in the hands of the Japanese, it seems the answer is "very poorly", but one wonders if that was a technical issue or one related to having been sailed the long way around the planet in the hands of an incompetent crew and worse officers.

[@L0stEngineer]

​@@youmukonpaku3168 As a counterpoint, the Slava held her own against a super dreadnought for a time. Perhaps, if the French design weren't cursed, badly built and crewed and travel worthy, they might have had a half a chance.

[@calliecooke1817]

I seldom comment on your channel, you and your followers are just so much more informed than I that I just sit back and soak up the knowledge. I was going to say something about a vid you did 5 years ago on the same subject, but already others have done so. I always thought that was a great title, "When Hotels Go To War." I think that may have been vid that got me subscribed to your channel. Enough dribble. Have you ever considered doing something on the Washington, DC Navy Yard? I have worked on various buildings there over the years and was surprised to learn that they had the most advanced blast furnace in the world at one time, turning out all the big rifles for US warships. Thanks Drach !!

[@myparceltape1169]

When I open YT I see every channel that I have subscribed to is showing it has a new video. Most of them don't when I check. Some have good ones.

[@micnorton9487]

GOOD SUGGESTION,, the Washington Navy Yard undoubtedly has a fascinating history because yeah,, you'd think the BIGGEST AND BEST guns would be made in a specialized foundry REAL close to the people who were buying them....

[@rodofiron100]

Drach, I have the opposite problem of not seeing your stuff. I seem to always have one of you videos playing as my "next up", regardless of what else I have been watching.

[@charlesmaurer6214]

That has happened to me a few times and if it is bed time I just let it go. His voice is calming and I love history so it just inspires dreams of building ships. Sometimes even spaceships.

[@irksomecodger9667]

Yeah, me too. His videos are always “next up” for me. I don’t mind it but it’s puzzling to me since the previous video is often not even remotely related to his work.

[@glauberglousger956]

I love them, they look so adorable, and I'd love them as a Plushie, they look so round and cuddleable The designs make sense in theory, but as much of the French stuff did, not really in practice, since capsizing in battle is a bit of a downside Love them, they look like fantasy ships, steampunk style, just add more guns

[@NCR-National-Reclamation-Gov]

I now want that

[@kieranjam2]

Engagement!! Huge fan of this channel, have been for ages. Put it on while I cook, really part of my routine :)

[@deversandbello]

2 1/2 more hours of this please. you’re the man drach, thanks for all the hard work.

[@Laudrien]

The hotels video was my first Drach video, It may very well still be my favourite

[@johnfisk811]

Thank you for this follow up to the hotels video. Nobody does a steampunk navy like the post Imperial French Navy. Fantastic sourcing of the photographs. Well done.

[@frankgulla2335]

Drach, what a tour de force, explaining the strange appearance of French pre-dreadnoughts. Than you for all the details and "causes" for these design of these ships.

[@tiberiusgracchus4222]

I actually love these ships. From a purely artistic perspective I think they're so cool looking. You'd expect the crew to look like Mad Max characters.

[@daviddrabick9018]

We are now familiar as to what the best turret ships should look like, but, as with locomotives, aircraft, etc., it took trial and error to get there...and it is a fascinating story. Thanks, Drachinifel!

[@nickjames2370]

Drachinifel, the subjects might be "challenging", but you have found plenty of superb photographs to illustrate the subject.

[@Red_5_Standing_By]

Thank you Drach! Love your work!

[@oliversmith9200]

As follow up to "When Hotels..." this edition is valuably explanatory of the logistical constraints and strategic needs to which the French of the time were required to conform and adapt ironclad design to. It's a long coming but good and settling chaser after the caustic jolt of the prior double shot. I feel much better. Thankyou.

[@Jayne22]

I enjoyed watching the previous education on French Dreadnoughts, and some of the witty comments. Had me 😂😂 on occasions. This one does help me understand the previous one. At some point I will watch them back to back. 😊

[@MattyFielding6]

Hell yeah! French pre dreadnoughts 2.0

[@simonwaldock9689]

Thank you for such a fascinating and informative insight into the French pre-dreadnaughts.

[@Lem0nsquid]

The French always had a way of making bizarre yet beautiful weapons of war. I respect their commitment to authenticity and making themselves to be unique

[@eflbrth]

Hi, a frenchie here to say hello, I just discover your work with this video. Very nice work.

[@rpreto72]

How awesome are these photos, all new to me. None from the web I think as I've never came across them. One can see how the hulls were lauched without the belt armor platting, I just had seen one such image!

[@TheArchemman]

Hello Drach, Your video on French Pre-dreadnaughts was first video I watched and it brought me to your channel. I love all you videos. Especially your 5 min guides (even though they're more than 5 min long). Please continue making videos.

[@bigsarge2085]

I have a room reservation at the Hotel-pre-Dreadnaught-de-Callais.

[@hippienixon2329]

You can talk all day about the pros and cons of this design philosophy, but in the end looking this awesome is priceless

[@Vorzeigeveganer]

Nice topic. Always wondered how the french L`ocean came to be. Know her from shogun 2 fall of the samurai.

[@jt_kirk]

I got excited when I saw "French Pre-dreadnaughts". No regrets!

[@gbcb8853]

Thanks for explaining why Chalons sur Saône had a thriving submarine building industry 500 miles from the sea

[@bultelpascal3819]

Incredible pictures ! ! Thx ! !

[@Hybris51129]

For some reason the French Pre Dreadnoughts video is probably the single most recommended video by KZbin in my feed for nearly 2 years before I saw it tapper off. Nice to have a follow up episode to that video.

[@jiks270]

Baguettes are one hell of drug.

[@khaelamensha3624]

Criticizing preDreadnought, OK, baguette, I warn you sir, this is a casus belli 😂 and you are right, warm just out of the oven it is a hard drug 🤣

[@jiks270]

@@khaelamensha3624 Also, on the 2nd day it is the only bread based product that can as effectively be used as a club!

[@spikespa5208]

@@jiks270 2nd day? No baguette ever lasted that long in my home.

[@charlesmaurer6214]

Basically an oversized doughnut hole, did a batch in high school and they were gone quick but a pea and cheese tort or tart hooked me on that odd for the US combo. BTW it was for a French class. J’ parle fransais mal.

[@donaldduff-mccracken448]

Thanks!

[@Yandarval]

The _REAL_ reason for the French love of the Tumblehome hull...more baguette storage. Keeping the extra long naval variant below the waterline keeps them safer. A more modern verson of the spar deck, the Baguette deck.

[@markymark3572]

French pre-drednoughts of this period also took forever & a day to build compared with their RN counterparts to the point that they were often obsolete when finally commissioned.

[@lukedogwalker]

Oh ho! Been waiting three (?) years for this to come down 😁 Time to take a late and lazy lunch break. Starting my weekend early with some floating hotels commentary 👍

[@chinnmw1]

Does anyone else see Drach's mini tutorials and immediately go to the web site to see the updates in actuality?

[@myparceltape1169]

I have thought of it but I don't want to interrupt Drach.

[@davidcashin1894]

I love these design constraint discussions and how Governments dealt with funding, infrastructure, treaty, experimentation, resources, strategy restrictions and philosophies. And then the fun topic of how the following conflict was not the one the Fleet planned on and how they dealt with it. One of my favorites is the beautiful design philosophy of the USN interwar cruisers and then the brutes loaded with AA weapons built during WWII.

[@coreyjblakey]

The original of this is one of my favorites! they are so strange. haha

[@coreyjblakey]

@@HighlanderNorth1 What? why? The weirdest part is that you posted this as a standalone comment, then came back 15 minutes later and posted it under my completely unrelated comment? and after a brief look, no one else. I just like the funny boats... never mentioned... anything... Why?

[@HighlanderNorth1]

@@coreyjblakey I was joking, as an attempt to bring humor to viewers who read it. There was nothing offensive or personal about my G-rated post, but i deleted it since it offended you. You insinuated that there was some sort of ill intent on my part for posting a harmless joke here in your thread. But in reality the only reason I did it was because there was a significant delay between the time I posted it as a standalone thread and the time it actually showed up for me to see. Since it didn't seem to post as a standalone thread, I posted it inside an existing thread(your's). But I'm pretty sure there's no ownership of threads here, so people can post anywhere they want. I didn't owe you an explanation, but I don't mind explaining myself when falsely accused of _"doing something bad"_ 🤨

[@coreyjblakey]

@@HighlanderNorth1 I never said bad, I said 'weird' what you did is perfectly legal and moral, nothing offensive, just weird, mostly because it was unrelated, came across very attention seeking, which makes it weirder because you only did it once haha I just think its weird, I would have preferred it if you had left it haha

[@andreasplosky8516]

17:55 these pictures are fantastic.

[@TheLeonhamm]

Yes! Hotel, Sweet Hotel .. at war at sea at night - alone, in the dark, where no one can hear you scream. Bliss. ;o) Oddly, as ever, very interesting. Cheers!

[@peloi111]

What a change in tone from the last video. Glad to see that you have finally realized, how special these ships were. In many ways, even more interesting than British or German ships. It does not matter that these designs failed miserably (Tsushima), they are magnificent examples of engineering

[@glenchapman3899]

That is why I enjoyed the video so much. Explained all the compromises that had to be put into the designs, and the advantages those compromises created. One thing I will say about tumble home hulls - They look meaner than the more standard designs lol

[@Claymore5]

Steampunk warships before steampunk was a thing! The French ships do look like they were designed by Kevin O'Neill for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...

[@jeromethiel4323]

A movie that was panned, but i quite liked.

[@MrBlindTony]

It's not related to the algorithm, but lately, I rarely have time to watch your videos due to very valid reasons. But finally, I managed to watch at least one. Greetings from Ukraine

[@ciceronincheese7195]

About a month ago, I bought my first book on sail. Suspiciously, KZbin recommended your tour of the USS Constitution that same day. Great video. Watching that, of course, recommended to me your tour of the HMS Victory. Also a great video. Finally, after watching this, I have subscribed. I like keeping my subscription list short, hence the hesitation, but well deserved. Excellent channel!

[@GregWhiteley]

Googly eyes at 24:21 😂 👀

[@cbrewitt]

Found Dory!

[@jeffpinceau1141]

Loved your first french pre dread video ! So, the second is liked and saved for watching it in the best way possible.

[@0_1_2]

1:57 video begins

[@aglez6370]

Fabulous. Any of your videos is a top level lecture. And a total pleasure to watch!

[@joearnold6881]

I wish I could see what was in all those little huts on all the masts and things

[@alun7006]

Telescopes, I would think. And speaking tubes down to the bridge and gunnery stations.

[@spikespa5208]

Cafés.

[@jrknauss1]

love having a followup video, anything on French design craziness is fantastic!

[@hmsverdun]

Ah Drach versus his nemesis French Pre Dreadnoughts only a minute into the main speech and I can hear the pain and sarcasm (Ok and also Battleship Bismark uber Stans).

[@alun7006]

Some superb photos in this video, which was entertaining and informative as always. Good stuff!

[@redjacc7581]

FUN FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@TheDeadbone1961]

Fascinating! Despite their industrial appearance - or maybe because of it - I love these ships. Knowing the logic behind their design makes them even more wonderful. Subscribed :)

[@isaiahjerue6564]

I really like the French pre-dreadnoughts, not because they are good, but because I find them very beautiful in an ugly kind of way.

[@pedenharley6266]

Thank you, Drach. This is such a fascinating period in ship design.

[@HansPottermann]

The French copy nobody, and nobody copies the French.

[@spikespa5208]

19:00 Can't help but paraphrase Jeremy Clarkson again. "Not only the ugliest ship I've ever seen, but the ugliest _thing_ I've ever seen."

[@HansPottermann]

@@spikespa5208 "This is brilliant-..." _points at HMS Centurion_ "but I like this!" _shows the abomination that is the Charlemagne_

[@irksomecodger9667]

I don’t mean to be pedantic but neither of those propositions are true.

[@HansPottermann]

@@irksomecodger9667 "I don't mean to be pedantic, but-" _proceeds to be pedantic_

[@spikespa5208]

Not a proposition. Opinion.

[@timkohchi2048]

Just saw this, oh joy!! Thanks, cheers from Brooklyn!

[@joelmontgomery4837]

AHHH. MY EYES. THE HORROR 😨

[@wttncfrep3628]

Thank you for this more in-depth look at the "why's" of French ship design

[@TomFynn]

The French design principle is to look around for good ideas everywhere else and then reject those on the grounds that they were not French ideas.

[@murrayscott9546]

Fascinating analysis. Most illuminating. Thanks, Drach.

[@nathanweitzman9531]

It's not polite to ask French dreadnoughts why they look like that

[@wildux8221]

Maybe it's not polite to ask British why theyr submarines don't work now ..indeed .

[@PulkaSkurken]

7:20 But also safer to have your docks up the rivers, easier to protect them from the enemy. One of several reasons why military / naval dockyards in Sweden are hidden in a "mountain" or around "mountains". Norway has was the perfect geo-locations for that tho. but the rock we have in Sweden and especially around Stockholm are SUPER hard. and gives good protection.

[@fighter835]

I do love how these ships look, thanks for the video Drach.

[@FlorentinoRebuildingCo.5644]

Got my coffee. Got my breakfast..........I'm not going to miss this one. Thanks Drach.

[@gussie88bunny]

That was excellent, thanks for explaining why these ships looked so awesomely crazy. Regards, Gus

[@davepx1]

Fascinating, and good to hear a sympathetic account of the tactical reasoning. Another advantage of going for fore/aft gunnery deployment rather than a broadside is presumably that while you can bring fewer of your main guns to bear, you're presenting your adversary with a far narrower target as you approach them or hasten away in the event of being outgunned, while your midship portion is harder to hit because there are other bits of the ship in the way. I'm all for charging vigorously and then scarpering if it doesn't quite come off.

[@christophercripps7639]

Infrastructure, like logistics, this is the consideration with which "professional," deep ocean navies concern thenselves. Floating dry docks, repair ships and hordes of escorting destroyers and carriers to protect the logistical tail from sub plus SeaBees to construct forward bases are what propelled the USN cross the Pacific. I recall reading a claum that the Admiralty & RN thought if we built a battleship of X tons, Germany can't match because it wouldn't fit through the Kiel Canal; Germany did concurrently build the bigger ship AND widen the canal.

[@malcolmtaylor518]

Some outstanding photos illustrating French gunnery layouts. Thanks for the video. The British used convex tumblehome on the armoured cruisers Warspite and Imperieuse. And lozenge main armament layout. The origin of French tactical doctrine begins with the defeat at Trafalgar. Remember Nelson ignored current tactical doctrine and broke the French line by charging it and then engaging in extreme close melee. The French pre dreadnoughts were going to emulate those moves.

[@dinomate9726]

Yay! A sequel to the first of your videos I watched!

[@ht8520]

This ers is my favorite for warships, there was just so many different ideas and new technologies were being developed fast

[@bigantplowright5711]

I used to draw battleships like that when I was 7. I think they like great!

[@benrobertson7855]

Some absolutely fantastic photos,thanks.

[@Subhumanoid_]

First video I saw from this channel was about High Seas Combat Hotels. Glad we are back full circle.

[@citycboy]

Good thing you've mentioned it and I checked cause my bell was probably disconnected by KZbin. Anyway lovely video on an interesting topic again. Oh btw, my dystopian wars army count has gone now to 9😊 Although I prefer the old school design of the minis and using a fleet action rules for an ease of play. Thanks!!!