Richard O'Kane and USS Tang with special guest Drachinifel-Episode 206

[@Drachinifel]

Many thanks for having me on!

[@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar]

Our pleasure!

[@CFarnwide]

And thank you for being here!

[@william_toti]

Any time, Drach!

[@samuelclayton08]

Drach is a rockstar!!!

[@Jakal-pw8yq]

I know I'm late to the party here but I just wanted to thank Drac for adding so much to this episode!🇺🇲⚓️🙏💖🏝🍻💯

[@AdmiralYeti8042]

I’ve seen Drach involved in just about everything navy lately…it’s really cool to see Drach getting this level of acknowledgment for his years of effort.

[@robertstack2144]

Yes, his tub is full of little rubber carriers and battlewagons

[@joebombero1]

His videos on the Russian Navy during the Russian-Japanese War are legend

[@AdmiralYeti8042]

@@joebombero1 Kamchatka anyone?

[@jenlyon60]

Was seese wa

[@danielwallace8434]

Or the other way around... Pretty good recognition to get someone of his caliber on. I hope they keep making videos.

[@jeffreybaker4399]

If there is a single thing I enjoy about You Tube, it is the capacity to bring together great talents/channels. Unauthorized History and Drach, two of my favorites. Great episode guys. Learned a lot.

[@crazylegssw]

It's like when you watch a bunch of TV shows that have crossover episodes! It's great!

[@wolffweber7019]

If Jon Parshall was also in this party it would be perfect.

[@jeffreybaker4399]

@@wolffweber7019 Agreed.

[@RodneyGraves]

Never met O'Kane, but did run across Lucky Flucky walking to class across the Yard at USNA. The best salute I have ever had the honor to render.

[@joebombero1]

You didn't happen to know Glen Davis, class of '76, did you? He was my former brother-in-law.

[@RodneyGraves]

@@joebombero1 I was class of '87, so that was more than a decade before my time...

[@hourlardnsaver362]

I’m jealous. Fluckey is my favorite submariner of all time.

[@briankorbelik2873]

Outta left field, but "Mad" Freddy Warder of Seawolf was a hero since a young age.@@hourlardnsaver362

[@chrisschmalhofer4348]

Good to see you, Drach! Two of my favorite wwii channels!

[@jeffburrell7648]

Seth, Bill and Drach - a trifecta of naval history.

[@Gregolec]

Add Jim and Dave and get a full pentagon.

[@LA_Viking]

Another fascinating episode. The presence of Drachinifel was definitely a welcome addition to the normal hosts. His encyclopedic knowledge of arcane technical details was quite refreshing and I learned a significant amount that I was utterly clueless about.

[@AaronStuartHall]

It's funny, I was just listening as this started, then I looked up and saw Drach. Wow. This channel is getting better and better each episode.

[@MadLudwig]

Really enjoyed Drach's participation. He's a natural fit and made this especially enjoyable.

[@raucousindignation5811]

I was wondering when you'd have Drach on the podcast. And I knew Drach was touring the US. Hooray!!

[@refuge42]

This unofficial history series is superb in its detail and breath! ❤

[@billbaker4519]

I have been reading Naval History abput 60 of my 72 years. I thought I was well read and knew something. Then there is Drach!

[@wmsd45]

I got to see Captain Murray Frazee speak in his hometown of Gettysburg PA some years ago. He made 11 war patrols and got off the Grayback and Tang before they were sunk. He was later skipper of the Gar. He was really kind and signed my copy of Clear the Bridge. After the Navy, he came home to Gettysburg and became a country lawyer. RIP Fraz...

[@franciskey1505]

Y’all have been hitting it out of the park with your special guests. Well chosen. P.S. I love the length of this episode.. the longer the better as far as I am concerned.

[@Silverhks]

I'm right there with you. I do understand others are not though

[@jfuente]

Agreed!

[@kilcar]

The courage to go out in those dank, sweaty, smelly vessels, and endure constant ( almost) vibration and noise, including no privacy, takes exceptional people, to say the least. I remain in awe of all of them

[@RY-TIOUSRY]

Episodes on Wahoo & Tang are high on my 'top ten list. I was totally unaware of the massive impact both vessels had on the fleet implementing new aggressive tactics that became the norm foro all new submariner s to follow. both captains and crews paid enormously for their service. The country needs to be forever grateful from then like these.

[@RY-TIOUSRY]

The country needs to always remember the sacrifices these men made to defend our great nation during those harrowing early days of World war II against what at the time felt like an invincible Japanese force in the far away Pacific early 1943.

[@haldorasgirson9463]

To bad Drach couldn't have been part of the early US submarine shitshow episode. His vid "The Mark 14 torpedo: Failure is like onions" is fantastic analysis of all the Mark 14 problems and why.

[@964cuplove]

Drach is a great addition here. !!

[@captainbinghamton1319]

God bless the crew of the Tang, and god bless you folks at the unauthorized history of the Pacific war.for telling the story of the Tang..

[@robertperry7484]

I saw the recording time and thought it was unwisely long (especially for the ADD prevalent among KZbinrs of today). However, I started watching, blinked twice and it was over! Well done. The goal of any presentation is to have the audience regretting that it ended so soon and anxious to see the next one. Both objectives were met today.

[@AdmiralYeti8042]

I hope you guys do Fluckey and Barb. The Namquan harbor attack in less than 30 fathoms of water leaves me in awe every time I read Thunder Below.

[@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar]

Standby...

[@carstenwagner3355]

This is the true combo. The KZbin-Holy Trinity of WW2 Naval Warfare. Keep on going! 👍

[@jeffreymartin1489]

"He does exist!" I'm referring to the voice that is Drachinifel. Thank you for this episode.

[@bethcounard7760]

I love your episodes of submarine history in WW2. The full saga of the Tang and its crews survival in Japanese prison camp is an incredible story and one that Dick O'Kane almost did not survive.

[@mollybell5779]

Years ago I spent quite some time in WW2 computer sub simulators, mostly sh3 with the mods and and sometime sh4 in American subs in the Pacific. I got so heavily immersed in the tactical aspect that I learned how to use a slide rule, and found it extremely challenging and time consuming to work out a solution. Even with the tdc, I can't imagine being able to sink multiple targets in one engagement. Besides being gutsy, it required an incredible level of mathematical prowess to get it done. I'm glad somebody was able to do it. There's a lot of bang for the buck in these podcasts. So much info that I often watch them more than once. Now to go look up the KY senator that disclosed classified information regarding Japanese depth charges. Great stuff, as always. Having Drach as a guest was great. Thank you!

[@derekrohan9619]

Laying in bed watching and my girl thought I was watching something on cocain and Wu-tang. Haha

[@darrelllovett4722]

What I love about the podcast is the humanity that you guys bring to history. Bill; I wanted to be a sub sailor after reading "Clear the Bridge" in High School. I was a TM during the Reagan Administration.

[@william_toti]

Welcome aboard

[@darrelllovett4722]

@@william_toti thank you Captain.

[@CFarnwide]

Nice! I do not listen to Drachinifel all that often but sure enjoy it when I do. Great to see you managed to get him on for a few hours, I have to imagine his own channel keeps him busy enough!

[@nickwoods5150]

Amazing episode! My two favourite WW2 channels coming together, a marriage made in heaven!!!! Keep up the great work guys 👍🏻

[@petestorz172]

Doing a little guesstimation Math, those 22 aviators could represent anywhere from 7 to 15 planes' crews, depending on the bomber-fighter mix from which they came. Looked at in another way, if those aviators averaged 500 hours of flight time, those 22 aviators represent 11,000 hours of training and combat experience, possibly much more. Trained and experienced people are a very precious resource!

[@drtidrow]

Yep, just look at the late-war performance of Japanese aviation. They kept cutting training time, and the pilots basically became easy targets for experienced American pilots.

[@Isolder74]

@@drtidrow They also didn’t put as much effort to recover downed pilots so would lose men they could have put back into service. That’s another reason you’d see them try to crash into things if the where hit, they would feel they at least did something before dying.

[@brucewilson3619]

As a recent comment said this pod cast sounds like two guys chatting at a bar. I guess with Drach, the bar is now a pub.

[@william_toti]

It is indeed

[@Zephyrmec]

USN , circa 1979 aboard a fine Farragut class DDG, good cleaning solvents were necessary for delicate electronics equipment. After carefully searching the Supply stock lists, we found pure ethanol uncontaminated with the horrible contaminates that would render it unsafe for ingestion one thing slipped by us, the first 4 digits of the FSN were coded as to their appropriate department classification. Our 55 gallon drum of “cleaning solvent” was sporting the code for Medical use. We did manage to liberate 15 gallons from the drum before the supply and weapons officers ensured that the caps were removed before the barrel was sent to Davey Jones for his enjoyment. Vertrep (by helicopter underway) was a busy time, and it wasn’t too difficult to get 3- 5 gallon jugs of our solvent passed up to the auxiliary radio room for safe, secure storage. The correct mix down ratio was 1 part solvent, 3 parts Welch’s grape juice mixed double strength. We had to be very cautious with the mix, but it definitely did the job! Our OPS boss was a Mustang LCDR, originally a Korean War Vet, preparing to retire into what was called the TAR program, (terminally active reserve) he was retiring to take command of the Penn State ROTC. His stateroom was next to the Aux Radio room. He was a great officer and perfect security watch for our jungle juice!

[@nomar5spaulding]

On the topic of the escape devices and saying things like, "this isn't for us to escape the boat, this is to make mommy worry less." I heard my submariner brother once say almost exactly that once.

[@texasnutmegger3296]

I can't help but smile when I hear "Camp Shelby". I spent a week there in late 80s. I was in the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) and I was part of a team that evaluated a Field Artillery battalion from the Indiana National Guard. It was quite an experience but the only thing that stands out is that I got the worst case of chigger bites EVER. I simply refer to that place as the armpit of the south. If you want to experience Camp Shelby, take a sponge, soak it in hot water and then try to breathe through it. :)

[@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar]

This is the most accurate statement made yet so far on this channel. That being said, there are sections of post that are quite pretty.

[@jayjohnson9996]

My knowledge of submarines in World War 2 was very minimal but after listening to you guys I’m learning a lot. It was also good to see Drach in this episode because I followed him as well. I really do enjoy listening to you guys every week and I love it so keep it coming. Your #1 fan!!!!

[@ColinFreeman-kh9us]

These guys rock. So passionate and knowledgeable with great guests all simply top notch

[@MrBenjaminowns]

my absolute favourite KZbin channels working together :) thank you !

[@colinellis5243]

Totally Agree!

[@dave3156]

What a sad ending to a gallant ship and many of her crew. What a record! Thanks for bringing this story to us!

[@parrot849]

Another outstanding episode gentlemen. Seth, towards to end of the program you were mentioning the names of some of more noteworthy WW2 U.S. submarine skippers; One of my heroes of that rarified club was LCDR Sam Dealy. I think he was credited with sinking four or five Japanese destroyers in a single combat patrol. Unfortunately, he and submarine were lost on a subsequent patrol. The name of his submarine escapes me, but he and his crew we’re awesome naval warriors too.

[@sethparidon8654]

USS Harder

[@parrot849]

@@sethparidon8654 - TY Seth

[@gorgonzai]

Fascinating story and well done commentary. Such courageous men. I am a youngster, having been born at the end of 1944. Thanks for your expertise and for posting the stories of these greats.

[@mainiacjoe]

Concerning the final comments about mariner training vs combat training, I am reminded of my pilot father's checklist of what to do when facing an airborne emergency" "Aviate, Navigate, Communicate." Surviving the environment is foremost no matter what else you are tasked with.

[@daffodildude1143]

Had to stop the video at 16:05.. Great set up Seth! I feel like Kane became this mechanical and methodical machine after hearing about Mush. Not angry or bitter to work with, but lazer focused. Draçh has taught me so much....Who knew I could learn so much about armor plating? Great to see you here. Sitting on the edge of my seat. This is gonna be a good one.

[@UnauthorizedHistoryPacificWar]

Glad you enjoyed it! SP

[@MadLudwig]

Torpedo Juice! Gotta love it! My father-in-law told me all about how the crew would drink the torpedo alcohol while at sea on USS Poole (DE-151) during WWII in the Atlantic. They were disappointed when the Brooklyn Navy yard removed their torpedoes and replaced them with 40mm anti-aircraft guns midships just before heading off to the Pacific.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

USS Tang had a radio installation that was not approved by the Navy. Once again some food was exchanged for extra work and an antenna conduit was run through watertight bulkheads. This was for a shortwave receiver that the boat received as a gift. The radio was capable of receiving the frequencies used by the Navy at Truk lagoon. Once they had some flyers aboard they were way ahead of everyone else and heading to down pilots before they were told.

[@tishomingo4524]

Thanks for having Dachinifel on, have followed his great content for years.

[@lesmauldin3857]

Incredible blow by blow of the War patrols. Would be nice to hear about his post war career. Alex made a great but surprising guest.

[@Toto-no3mv]

Bill's final comments about mariners remind me of a Joseph Conrad quote, "The sea is not your friend".

[@jerrygeorgopoulos2313]

Amazing job. The anecdotes are what truly add additional insights into these legendary heroes. Thank you.

[@gordonbutler5142]

Phenomenal chat, absolutely world-class discussion.

[@Turd_Fergus0n]

I served on board his namesake ship, USS O'Kane DDG 77 out of Pearl Harbor. The ship was awesome

[@73Trident]

Great job! Seth and Bill you two are fantastic. And then you have Drach and Jon Parshall on on. All of my go to Naval historians getting together. Who's next? Thanks men this was great.

[@parrot849]

Thank you Drach for mentioning during the conversation regarding the USS Tang’s lifeguard missions that it wasn’t just the “pilots” of disabled allied aircraft that were being rescued by these submarines. Many of the downed flyers were in point of fact gunners, the backseat crewmen; enlisted men who unintentionally seem to be consistently unacknowledged in various narratives on the topic. It’s a bit nit-picky, but this omission has always kinda bugged me when this subject is discussed.

[@robertbaxter802]

I had the honor of teaching Joe Hranek to fly in the 1970's, Joe was an aircrewman flying from the Enterprise and rescued by Tang at Truk (Joe is deck level in the photo, second from left)

[@parrot849]

@@robertbaxter802 Thank you for that acknowledgement of Joe Hranek’s service as an enlisted man rear seat gunner/radioman flying in a U.S. Navy dive bomber (I’m assuming) risking his life along with his brave officer aviator partner on their harrowing missions defending our republic from a brutal dictatorship that was Imperial Japan during WWII.

[@jeffreyriese]

Based on last week's recommendation, I read "The Ghost Mountain Boys" this week. I also highly recommend it. Thanks for the heads up!

[@mpetersen6]

If you can find an audio copy it really brings a whole different experience to the book. Especially the letters.

[@stuartdollar9912]

Great collaboration with Drachinifel on this one.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

The test dive to 600' was incredible. One of the leaks was caused by the hose going to the depth gauge. They replaced the hose with hose from a welder. It cost Tang a large ham to have the ice cream machine installed. He also exchanged goods to replace the gaskets with oil resistant types. This gave Tang auxillary fuel tanks. They would run on the main tanks, then pump the auxiliary tanks to the mains before entering Japanese patrolled waters. They would flush the tanks before continuing on. Admiral O'Kane did not believe in ending a patrol due to fuel. He also added a crows nest on the shears. One critical thing he did was carry extra crew to train as replacements. When Tang would return from patrol it was inevitable that she would lose crew to new construction. Their replacements were already trained.

[@ziggle314]

Seeing your channels work together to produce such quality content on naval history is great. Each of you brings unique insights to the discussion. Thanks.

[@jamesthompson8133]

Great job guys!! I was also impressed on how many downed pilots subs gathered safely. Keep it up guys! Love it!!!

[@RodneyGraves]

The three youtube essential resources for Naval History are Drachinifel, the Operations Room/Intelligence Report, and Unauthorized History of the Pacific War....

[@maxlopez8552]

One of my favorite episodes. Drach is so knowledgeable. I really appreciate your (Seth and Bill's) dedication to this channel for bringing such extraordinary history to life. The level of detail and knowledge is so good. I saw a movie many years ago with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster I think showed a "boomerang torpedo" but never thought it could be true!

[@gregcollins7602]

Wow Drach! You guys have everyone I like on this podcast. I just spent the last week binge watching to get caught up and you guys do a two hour podcast on my favorite sub skipper (besides Bill) on the podcast that gets me caught up. This is great. Keep up the great work.

[@william_toti]

Haha

[@georgehughes8698]

Drach day drydock then unauthorized history with Drach!

[@leemathews1354]

CAPT Murray Frazee: He made eleven submarine war patrols, each averaging 60 days, the first seven in the Grayback and the last four in the Tang as second in command. He commanded the submarine GAR from 1944-45. For his gallantry in action, he received three awards of the Silver Star Medal and two of the Bronze Star Medal.

[@stevemccoy554]

Drach onboard? Let the good times roll!

[@markmogk4814]

Excellent choice of guests👍👍👍

[@philipmorrill8636]

Drach is in the house! Enjoyed this tremendously. I think it was from Admiral Lockwood's book that I read he didn't recognize O'Kane when he met him after his release from captivity (jaundice, emaciated, etc).

[@juantanamo33]

Yet another episode that I learn more and more from! They just keep getting better. Thanks again as usual and again lets get more people watching! Super stuff guys love it

[@robertmoffitt1336]

Torpedo juice! Lol 😄 "Gradual loss of feeling..."!!!! Lol 😄 I started binge watching from 101 a couple weeks back; I'm hoping to be caught up by the end of this week. I just decided to rewatch the episodes I've already seen, this podcast is THAT GOOD.

[@johnpancharian480]

I finished Clear The Bridge (O'Kane's war memoir) yesterday, and today I have the great fortune to find this video. I can't wait to sift through your other videos, as the first 38 minutes of this one were a delight. I'd watch more, but I"m late to work now because this was just too interesting. Thanks for some great content.

[@scottsherman6889]

Have you read O'Kane's "Wahoo"? I am blessed to have an autographed copy

[@charlesknutson3282]

thanks to all, especially Drach

[@stevensindt3087]

Another great episode. Just finished my 3rd watch and will watch again. Love the addition of Drach.

[@chrisrichmond6909]

These unauthorized are so far the best shows I've seen , keep up the great work guys !!!

[@colinellis5243]

TANG and O'Kane what a legendary and heroic epoch in the PTO! Even though they hunted and hunted it was not the IJN that sank TANG it was the USN Bureau of Ordnance.......given his own legendary career and fights with the Bureau of Ordance, Mush Morton but have been 'bitching in heavan' on how YANG was lost!

[@danielmaguire3010]

Drach = instant like from me

[@waylandcool]

I love Seth and Bill's reaction to Drach's habit of recreating things, in this case torpedo juice. If you really want some fun, look up Drach's attempts to recreate Greek fire......

[@benrobertson7855]

3 of my favourite u tubers together.great ,many thanks.

[@jameshannagan4256]

I love these crossover episodes.

[@williamerickson1238]

Gentlemen, Much enjoyed your topic the last few days. (Couldn't sit straight through). Commodore Toti, It seems you and I were in Pearl around the same time. I was aboard ASPRO (78'-early 80'). The point I wanted to make today was that I felt y'all seriously under-utilized Drachinifel. He is one of my favorite YT personalities and I keep up with his programs. In watching UAHPW yours kind of gravitates towards the biographical side of the story at hand. Drachinifel, being a marine engineer, leans more toward the engineering side. I'm thinking he could have contributed considerably more to the discussion describing how O'Kane utilized the technology he had to hand and perhaps describe in a bit more detail how that technology worked. O'Kane was an amazing boat driver. But credit where its due, he had outstanding training and experience given him by Morton. Anyway, hope you have Drachinifel aboard again in the future and that you pick his brain a bit more deeply. BZ

[@haldorasgirson9463]

Yah! Drachinifel is in the house.

[@grathian]

Need to bring Drach back for when you cover "USS Robin".

[@JeremyM-Navy]

"The sea, once it casts it's spell, holds one in it's net of wonder forever." - Cousteau Very thankful to finally have gotten to this episode , and hear about O'Kane, The Tang, and her crew. Slowly working my way through the episodes from the beginning, and thoroughly enjoying every second of the ride. "Submarines once, Submarines twice...holy jumping..." You know the rest. - Fast Attack

[@williamhigginsjr573]

RADM Dick O'Kane caused me to be a submariner as well, Bill. It is great to see my classmate here.

[@william_toti]

Thanks Bill!

[@williamhigginsjr573]

I read his book years before I went to the Naval Academy. I missed the opportunity to meet him in person.

[@johnhallett5846]

So many great boats and crews and commanders died in WW2. Mush Morton and the Wahoo; Sam Dealy and the Harder and all the rest. Who knows what they could have accomplished with even a decent torpedo in 1942

[@StylinandProfilinBBsandBBQ]

At 2:20:10 Drach says Albacore when mentioning the Shinano. I know he meant Archerfish but hey I’m going to say that I once corrected the great Drachinifel. 😁 Again guys, amazing episode!!

[@Gregolec]

lol

[@jeffholloway3882]

Great to see Drach, love his content, as I do you guys, great combo, now, get Jon to join all of ya, be a great show. Seth, I remember from you cast on Admiral king,you didn't think a picture existed that showed king smiling, Drach did a video on King, has a picture of him laughing. I tried to email it, but not tech savvy enough. Great collaboration. Great subject.

[@rogermartin4104]

we had a huge set of pedestal mounted binoculars on my ship.... everyone called them the big eye. it's incredible how much more detail you get from them than from a standard telescope.

[@william_toti]

Admiral Nimitz had one mounted at his house after the war to look over the Bay

[@jaymacpherson8167]

Speechless…and once again after UHPWP…tearing up.

[@spidrespidre]

Always awesome to see Drach involved with other channels, and yours in particular. Another great story well told

[@jeffreymartin8448]

Best 2 and half hours I've spent all week. Stories of the heroes on US subs during WWII have made me a better person. I guess that's how I deal with the endings. Hollywood, wanna make a billion bucks and a bunch of academy awards? USS Tang.

[@robertstack2144]

I'm glad to see a topic that Maximus Interruptus Bill has some famaliarity of the subject.

[@drtidrow]

1:08:25 Obviously Seth recorded this at home, as I spy a German shepherd in the background poking their nose around. :-)

[@Ozone814]

Drach!!! I was waiting for him to show up!

[@bksfv6812]

Great show and wonderful that Drach came in to contribute his vast knowledge as well!

[@jean-francoislemieux5509]

this is so good i have to watch it in 20 minutes segments so it will last longer!😀

[@christophermancini7380]

Awesome! All of you are doing so much to advance the relevance of WW2 naval history, and whom I feel like I could chat with for hours with my Brothers! Great episode as always, and I especially love discussing subs!

[@jahmanoog461]

I thought Mr OKane said afterwards that the pilot rescue mission, which he didnt want at first (you want to replace my torpedos with bunkbeds!) was very satisfying. His crew took care of the aviators, who were amazed at the underwater world. They ate well, glad to be alive all the way home. Good morale builder and successful mission.

[@scottsherman6889]

"If these guys wanted to leave Navy air, we had candidates"

[@asparceproton1]

About time you boys get the king of naval warfare youtube on the show!

[@fenderbender7360]

Great episode!

[@denniswiemer72]

Had a friend who served on the Cabot. Spoke of the torpedo juice and how the navy added a purple color. The senior guys made some junior guys drink it and when they survived, they all went back to drinking it.

[@tracygallaway36]

Thank You, Gents! This was just amazing. What a Skipper, what a boat. May all those who lost their lives in the US Navy Submarine Service rest in Peace, on Eternal Patrol.

[@wadesiedschlag5095]

Almost as long as a Drach patreon video. Time flew by.

[@bruceday6799]

Possibly your best episode ever, can't imagine how you might top Tang