How Aircraft Went To Sea - From Biplane Barges to Aircraft Carriers (feat. Drachinifel)

Today we are joined by Drachinifel, who is helping us navigate the muddy waters of aircraft carrier development: beginning with the earliest concepts of manned kites and ending with the fleet carriers that went into WW2.
Go check out Drachinifel's channel here - / @drachinifel
Want to join the community? Visit our Discord - / discord
Want to support the channel? I have a Patreon here - / rexshangar
0:00 Introduction
1:43 Balloon and Kite Carriers: at the wind's mercy
4:01 Fixed wing aircraft enter the scene
5:22 The first seaplane carriers
11:00 Push/Resistance for and against seaplane carriers
17:53 Aircraft carrying ships in WW1
20:20 Jutland, a semi-missed opportunity
23:13 Aircraft "Lighters" (a.k.a towable barges)
27:56 The first true aircraft carriers begin to appear
31:35 The proposed Wilhelmshaven raid: a complete missed opportunity
38:48 Early British and Japanese carriers
43:18 The Washington Naval Treaty: the problem of tonnage
48:58 How the Naval powers worked out their carrier doctrine
54:21 Early carrier operations: how easy was it for pilots?
59:12 Carrier landing difficulties (with video footage)
01:02:30 The challenge of finding the carrier following a mission
01:08:06 Carrier aircraft of the naval powers: what influenced them?
01:16:29 Royal Air Force vs Fleet Air Arm
01:25:39 HMS Ark Royal: The best interwar carrier?
01:29:26 Drach's favourite early aircraft carrier?

[@RexsHangar]

F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.

[@ruif1971]

Something from Blériot?

[@allancarey2604]

Can you do a video on the development of Australia’s aircraft production industry (pre war) & for something more esoteric, the development of the Aviation industry in PNG

[@MonsterEnergyQueen]

I would absolutely love to see somthing on the history of the P47 Thunderbolt

[@Philip271828]

[predictable] Fairey Fulmar [/predictable] It's more the system that it was used with that's interesting but there's surprisingly little out there on it that's accessible to the casual reader.

[@delfinenteddyson9865]

9:00 I would have loved to hear a bit more on the use of scout planes by german commerce raiders during the first WW

[@Drachinifel]

This was exceptionally fun!

[@RexsHangar]

Thank you for coming on! :D

[@datboi7893]

I can't wait to go home and watch the hell out of this. Thanks for making my night gentlemen.

[@jonathanwerner3664]

Considering the fact that throwing flying things at other people has been effective in stopping people since time immemorial, I'm glad that the transition between 16" cannon fire to aircraft delivered disruption in a naval sense is so well documented. I might be a bit slow on the best days, but I love it when folks share contextual knowledge.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

@@jonathanwerner3664 And ... shooting Airplanes at each other was very much what they were doing. .

[@sadwingsraging3044]

Now if we can just get The Amber King to invite you onto one of his deep dives and reveal you as The Fabricator General of Mars that a lot of us suspect you to be then this time-line will be complete. _All praise the Omnisiah😌_

[@blueseanomad7435]

Beyond delighted even though we all know this was going to happen sooner or later. I’m happy to live in an era where we can all share in this very niche conversation at great lengths.

[@robcaulfield58]

I have such a negative mindset about social media nowadays what with all the misinformation, culture war garbage, etc.; it's refreshing to remember that the internet enables all these wonderful, obscure communities to thrive.

[@channelcreatedtoallowmetoc4150]

Drach & Rex on the same show .It does not get any better than this!

[@GoranXII]

Drach and The Chieftain (possibly discussing amphibious landings) might get close...

[@rednaughtstudios]

Greg enters the chat…

[@Colt45hatchback]

@@rednaughtstudios was gonna say, need greg also for ultimate youtubeness and all the learning

[@gato2]

Drach talking about the ships that land the tanks described by Chieftain while Rex talks about the planes flying overhead all while Greg talks about all the engines and the aerodynamics of all three units. Also, maybe Ian explaining all the variants of machine gun in use.

[@ussliberty109]

​@@gato2 We'll need Military History Visualized to talk about the ground troops and tactics, then Steve to review the period rations.

[@Apocalyptico100]

Just want to take this moment to thank Rex's Hanger for such quality content. I never thought I would be so into old airplanes til I met channels like yours! 🥰 Thank youuu

[@spencerdawkins]

This is exactly what I came here to say. My father grew up in the 1930s, and was fascinated by military planes that were being introduced at that time, and by military planes used during the first world war. Once you add the military planes introduced during the second world war (which were riveting for everyone whose country was at war) and the planes at the dawn of flight, that covers the entire prop era of military aviation, and we talked about planes. So I was going to be a fan of this channel, but I'm still amazed at how many planes Rex covers in detail, including obscure planes that my father and I never talked about. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@RasmusDyhrFrederiksen]

The Trinity actually quartet: Rex, Drachnifel, Chieftain and Greg's Planes

[@jamescraig4479]

I am falling into this rabbit hole too! Now I am crazy to learn more about the Hawker Hart after seeing Rex's video of it...

[@derekbowbrick6233]

From Romulan warbirds to aircraft carriers Drach is sure making the rounds. Excellent colab by the way.

[@Cheka__]

Where is Drach talking about Romulan Warbirds? I'd like to see that.

[@derekbowbrick6233]

@@Cheka__ kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKuWeYdpfpylZqc That is part one of eight.

[@Vardyversity]

​@Cheka__ Venom Geek Media 98's KZbin channel. It's focused on Star Trek. There are at least a couple of videos where they compare Star Trek navy (ship classes, etc) with real-life navy. There are also one or two videos where they basically sit in a car going to or returning from an event and just basically geek about Star Trek and other stuff. Never knew watching two guys in a car could be so entertaining.

[@Ash007YT]

Much fun. Much aviation Much nerd. Much exciting dialogue and discussion from the two best creative people I know.

[@TheOreoOverlord]

Didn't expect to see you here lol.

[@RayyMusik]

Years ago I wrote something like “Rex is the Drachinifel of aircraft“. Now both legends in one video - it can‘t get any better.

[@Pheonixco]

Love these collabs with Drach, hope to see many many more between you two!

[@ccauf815]

So great when two of my favorite youtubers come together. Great video, hope we get more colabs between the two again.

[@X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X8X]

The synchronised clocks rotating beacon system is truly ingenious! Although I would be VERY nervous my watch might fail if I was a pilot...

[@HereticalKitsune]

Always a good time to have Drachinifel in a video!

[@EpochSecutor]

Oh my god I was waiting for this collaboration to happen. If only The Chieftain was here too, then we'd have all *3* covered.

[@philvanderlaan5942]

Aircraft carriers transporting tanks ?

[@wernerhahn141]

@@philvanderlaan5942 Sometimes if needed in wartime! But usually the tanks are very clumsy 'aircraft'.

[@RedtailFox1]

@@philvanderlaan5942 RAN during Vietnam. The former carrier HMAS Sydney was used as a vehicle transport during Vietnam

[@tdmddo]

Rex+Drach+Greg picking apart naval air battles would be best

[@jlvfr]

amphibious tanks with air support!

[@ravenechoseven9726]

Absolutely wonderful to see these two together!!

[@vladdrakul7851]

Yes they make a lovely couple don't they! I am subscribed to both. Both have great content and have given us all hours of joy and informed commentary!.

[@tedmustard2798]

Sorry for this belated comment. I have just finished watching this thought-provoking video. Many thanks Rex. I am ex-RAF but I always hankered after the FAA because it flew F6Fs and F4Us. By the time I was thinking of joining it (1968), the FAA was flying death-traps (Scimitars and Sea Vixens). Eventually I joined the RAF and flew helicopters! I think one of the reasons that FAA was so unprepared for WW2 when compared to the IJN's air arm (i.e. the FAA's lack of suitable aircraft, tactics and training - see the note below) was because the amalgamation of the RNAS and RFC aircrew in the RAF drained the RN career structure of the aircrew input which could have kept the RN much more air-minded. (Note: in WW2, the FAA's first encounter with a U-boat resulted in some of the attacking Skuas dirching beside the U-boat because the aircraft hit the debris and spray from their own bombs.) The RN's admirals did not include a Yamamoto, the FAA lacked a Fuchida and a Genda. There was one RN admiral who was air-minded enough to consider multi-carrier task group ops in the 1930s but his ideas were shelved during the Abyssinian crisis and never revisited. Funding would have been a problem but perhaps an air-minded cadre on senior and flag RN/FAA officers could have seen the FAA enter WW2 with, say, the Hawker Sea Hurricane, the Hawker Sea Henley and the Fairey Sea Battle (as a torpedo and level bomber with a similar performance to the B5N Kate) together with a well-practised concept of ops. With hindsight, I think the UK would have been better served in WW2 had the RAF been formed to provide just the air defence of UK and an independent strategic bomber force. The RN should have retained the RNAS with all the superb skills it had honed in WW1 and the RFC should have been retained to support the Army using the effective close support tactics developed in late 1917 and 1918. In WW2 it took the RAF three and a half years of combat before it could offer the effective and decisive close air support that it achieved first at the battle of Al Hamma in Tunisia in March 1943. Keep up the good work.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

HMS Ark Royal had a major flaw. Her engineering spaces lacked compartmentation. Once she started flooding it was really all over for her.

[@richmcgee434]

Oh hey, another crossover. Two of my favorite historical creators.

[@untruelie2640]

Oh my god. This is really happening. I can't quite believe it. This is the best crossover of all times. :D

[@shooter2055]

For Drach, this is a true "briefing" being less than a three hour presentation! 🙃

[@mkendallpk4321]

Having both Drachinifel and Rex equals a wonderful insight into the world of naval aircraft carriers.

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Yes, when you are going from the 180mph Bristol Bulldog of 1929 to 1939 and having the 300mph (and change) and 8 machine gun armed Hurricane and Spitfire coming into service, picking a carrier wing for the inter war era is a tad tricky. Every year an aircraft was coming into service, and the same year there was a prototype that would fly something like 10% higher and faster that would be in service in about 2 years. For those old enough to remember, the CPU clock cycle wars of the 1990's is much the same.

[@justfly7730]

I could listen those gentlemen for hours in any topic not alone just planes and ships.

[@martijn9568]

The Sopwith Cuckoo seems like a rather fun and interesting aircraft. It's also a rather capable aircraft. Rex, I'd like to hear more about it.👍

[@AndrewGivens]

Awesome to see two such enthusiastic and well-regarded KZbinrs working together like this. Thanks Rex and Drach!

[@Twelvegage511]

Different? Different!? You know what I think about things that are different? I love it! Excellent video, brother. Great job!

[@richardjamieson6681]

Re: the use of the Napier Sabre as a Fleet Air Arm powerplant.....This actually happened with the early model Blackburn Firebrand but history repeated itself as the Sabres were all required for Typhoons and Tempests and the Firebrand eventually entered (post-war) service as a strike fighter powered by a Centaurus radial.

[@jbepsilon]

Not sure an engine that was a famous maintenance nightmare and had a habit of catching fire if a backfire occurred is what I'd like to have on a carrier. ;) So maybe it was all for the best in the end that this didn't happen.

[@martijn9568]

​@@jbepsilon If it catches fire you just throw it overboard. Just ask the US Navy😉

[@allangibson8494]

And the Typhoon also got a Centaurus radial (as the Sea Fury).

[@MemorialRifleRange]

Huge fan of BOTH channels! Thank you!

[@davidkillin8466]

Very interesting, gentlemen. Follow both of you and really enjoyed the collaboration :)

[@gorbalsboy]

Fantastic, the light carrier concept was very interesting,this was a great success,well done guys

[@livethefuture2492]

Man, this was great! I thoroughly enjoyed this. Drach is such a great guest to have on and you two compliment each other's expertise perfectly. I really enjoyed these long deep dives just going in depth into the history of a particual subject. This was great and i hope you do more long form deep dives like this future!

[@splenditsanguinor]

Is drach the rex of ships or is rex the drach of planes? Even though Rex is a relative newcomer I put him in the same tier, really looking forward to see where he takes it. You go Rex!

[@Maritimesgestein]

I think the second one.

[@Emperorwingwong]

Yay when boat daddy and plane daddy get together, it’s a good day

[@jayyydizzzle]

Two of my favorites, back together again! Today's gonna be a good day!

[@markjohnson4170]

My opinion on the whole armored flight deck versus larger air group is that there was no right answer... as long as designers had to deal with the treaty restrictions, they had to choose one or the other and live with limitations imposed by that choice. It wasn't until the shackles were removed that much larger ships such as the Midway class allowed them to have their cake and eat it too! 🎂

[@mancubwwa]

It also heavily depended on what they were facing. While in most combat situations larger air group was probably superior, Armored flight decks proved very effecitive against Kamikazes. While Essexes hit faced long drydock time, In case of Ilustrious class it wast mostly a case of "all right boys, bring out mops and buckets"

[@rolfrevman]

The collaboration we have all been waiting for... Now u just need to give TIK a call...

[@not6js716]

Who?

[@Docthewrench]

Tik??

[@rolfrevman]

youtube.com/@TheImperatorKnight

[@miata1492]

Excellent suggestion regarding TIK! He's a military historian who belongs in the Rex/Drach level of knowledge . . . and I'll bet Drach knows who he is !

[@admiraltiberius1989]

Oh happy day !!! I've been waiting for this collaboration...this is fantastic 👏 Oh yeah...its all coming together now. Next Rex is gonna get with the Chieftain then the triangle will be completed.

[@kentl7228]

Impressive guest. This channel is growing in leaps and bounds. Well deserved for the obvious effort that is made.

[@SoloRenegade]

Wright Brothers used catapults on their first aircraft in Dayton, OH. They just didn't use or need very strong catapults.

[@GalileoAV]

Been waiting for this crossover episode for years, I'm a huge fan of carrier history and this is an amazing recap

[@drdoolittle5724]

Every American uses the word awesome for anything, like toothpaste etc etc but I only use it possibly once a year and I am using it now, AWESOME PRODUCTION GENTLEMAN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

[@vanzisraelescucha687]

Oh wow. I didn’t expect this collaboration. Awesome

[@hughjorgan5559]

As we used to say in wardroom poker games, “Here’s a pair to draw to”. Excellent discussion gentlemen.

[@kingdarius2554]

THIS is the crossover I've been waiting for

[@CodeNameHOSEY]

the crossover we've all been waiting for

[@arizona-hunter6684]

The last reference I was expecting was a Battlestar Galactica, that’s fun Drach can you do a breakdown of the ship? Rex, your videos always teach me something new about aviation keep flying.

[@johncordes7885]

So say we all

[@das_gruuben]

This is a pretty interesting topic. I feel like not many people know about early naval air operations, since Pearl Harbor was the first example of how viciously effective they could be. Good stuff, gentleman!

[@SoloRenegade]

The US made the Battlestar approach work in WW2 with hangar deck side catapult launches.

[@RMTStudios]

How much good will and inspiration those two people have brought to the World. Truly a meeting of icons.

[@MediumRareOpinions]

Well that was a delightful interview, you can tell when someone has real enthusiasm for a topic.

[@johnhargreaves3620]

WoW Rex that's one hell of a conservatory you've got ( yes I know) thanks for the content with Drach. Kind Regards

[@Meldonator]

that was a very interesting discussion ! 👍👏

[@964cuplove]

Nice !! A coop with Drach joins two of my favorite channels ! Add Greg’s airplanes next ;-)

[@jayg1438]

Greg's Airplanes is excellent. Love his engineer's perspective.

[@MicMc539]

coup not coop. I HATE young people!

[@lzappa9109]

11/10! Factual, time line, development by two really knowledge people. Both channels are really excellent, thank you.

[@LeriusDoman]

Great combination of two epic channels!

[@maxmustermann6612]

Absolutely fantastic video! Thx so much!

[@Claymore5]

Simply wonderful - really, really enjoyed this special!

[@adrianrutterford762]

Wonderful Video. Thanks to both of you for another fabulous collaboration.

[@haytorrock3312]

If you look at furious in some of your pictures you can see the flight deck slopes slightly upwards. This caused an issue when ferrying later marks of spitfires to malta, the propeller had a tendancy to hit the flight deck. They remedied thus by putting smaller props on. Apparently the Seafire had a similar issue with props pecking at the flight deck and some engineer officer went ahead and cropped the props to fix the problem.

[@TastyBusiness]

These crossover episodes between Rex and Drach are the best!

[@stephenkayser3147]

Much thanks for your united effort. I am subscribed to both of you. This effort taught me things I had only guessed at or not considered. Future history is always a mystery due to conditions and how we respond to them (especially our biases and limitations). I trust these lessons will have been learnt well by our present decision makers (history would indicate this is doubtful). Please keep up your great efforts at intelligent and well researched investigations.

[@hc3d]

Insane picture of three-floor aircraft carrier (middle floor has the turrets, the other two decks both have around 8 aircraft on them) at 57:49. I had no idea this was a thing.

[@invadegreece9281]

That’s Kaga or Akagi lol

[@davidcarr7436]

I've been watching both your channels for a while now, always entertaining and educational. Enjoyable, too! This is the first time I've seen either of you, and I'm quite surprised at how young you both are, considering your extensive knowledge. Thanks for making stuff worth watching.

[@Magurae]

This was just great and super fun. Thank you!

[@Marshaze1]

An awesome breakdown of the period and material by Drachinifel. It's great to see colaboration like this!

[@JJAmes-mb4du]

This is the best carrier development video I've seen. I love both your channels.

[@SuperchargedSupercharged]

Alas a dream has come true! Thank you! This is a great morning.

[@johncashwell1024]

A perfect start to my Saturday! Just sitting here enjoying my morning cuppa, waiting for the temp to increase by a few more degrees before I head out to the range for some ballistics testing.

[@sgthop]

Hoo damn this is a long one. Better make some popcorn.

[@WildBillCox13]

Nice. Collaboration with Drach. Most enjoyable.

[@billwebb5256]

An excellent collaboration! Loved it!

[@kingnull2697]

I can see Drachinifel's influence by length

[@HeedTheLorax]

Great collaboration, I think you guys were like, how do we get to show as many great photos as possible ?

[@mrfireball91]

I love this, thanks for collaborating! Really interesting and informative!

[@RocketmanS2K]

What a great and informative collaboration! Thank you both for lending your time and deep knowledge! Rex, it would be interesting to see a video outlining the differences in IJN and IJA aircraft designs both interwar and WWII.

[@ewanhogg3068]

Good to see a collaboration between Rex and Soggy Rex - or Drach and Windy Drach, whichever floats your boat and/or balloon.

[@stevekirk8546]

Thank you getlemen for a wonderul discussion and discourse on what for many of us must be a little known topic. Not only that, the information was delivered so well and was fascinating throughout. Thank you again.

[@straswa]

Great work Rex and Drach! Fantastic discussion.

[@bluestorm3628]

Well this should be a great one

[@TheLowstef]

Yay for collabs of awesome creators!

[@WalterBurton]

Wow. This is way more interesting than I expected it to be. Great conversation! 👍👍👍

[@jlvfr]

Damn! Literally this week I was thinking "Rex and Drachinifel should team up" and _boom_ !

[@FAMUCHOLLY]

Thanks guys; you are two of my favorite content providers!

[@johnsamsungs7570]

Congratulations on shaving! Looks much better.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

Excellent, great interview.

[@DIREWOLFx75]

Great video, great cooperation. Despite this subject being one i've spent a fair amount of time on myself, you still managed to extend my knowledge notably, well done.

[@jaws666]

Hi Rex...will you be doing a part 2 of this...such as how and why steam catipults and angled flights decks came about and how carrier jet operations differ from piston engined aircraft.

[@williamharvey8895]

Yay ,,,,,,,,,,,,,Drach!!!!!!! And we like things that make things go boom.

[@navalencyclopedia]

What a blast guys, keep it up !

[@Arnfrithr]

as a naval aviation lover this was amazing

[@DonDiesel85]

Thanks for the long-run video fellas... You and your bro. It t was very interesting & definitely appreciated.

[@camrsr5463]

Hell yes! Its my favorite bois!

[@stephenkneller6435]

Great episode! Thank you both.

[@warhawk4494]

Hell yeah! This video is going to be great.

[@masterofreality.o0o.535]

Drachinifel is a legend. Superb presentation.

[@thomasbernecky2078]

That was a very nice 95 minute chat on carriers, thanks gentlemen. Now for some fresh tea.

[@randomvariable1836]

Wonderful collaboration !!! What a great combination !!!

[@bruceknirs9987]

So awesome to see this happening

[@MarcWeertsMusic]

Excellent video! I had to get used to the different format but that was only a minute or two, and for the rest it was a fascinating hour and a half of listening that was never boring. Must have taken you ages though to find and insert all these great pictures though! 🙂

[@georgesvandenbergen2387]

Two of my favs streaming over a topic I was secretly wishing 4.. I'm over the moon)))) Keep up this amazing work, i cannot thank you enough..)))

[@ivanthemadvandal8435]

Great vid as usual Rex. Nice of Drac to support one of his penal colony cousins.