Shore Bombardment in WW2 - We're in the re-landscaping business now!

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@MrIluvbutts]

What's your choice for favorite brand of tea?

[@roadrunner6224]

If then Lieutenant Commander King was present on the bridge of HMS Lion at the battle of Jutland, would he have caused an international incident?

[@TheArchaos]

How feasible/insane would it be to put land-based howitzers onto the deck of an aircraft-carrier and turn it into an impromptu battleship? (Learn2read)

[@volrosku.6075]

A big question on this were their ships outside of monitors explicitly designed as bombardment ships for example a bombardment cruiser with a higher than average main and secondary battery at the cost of higher end range finding and aa batteries.

[@ps-1476]

Even though the preliminary attacks on the Normandy beaches were massive, why did they do so little damage to the Atlantic Wall?

[@gybb1868]

As a Midshipman aboard HMS WARSPITE, my Grandfather was convinced that the 15 inch shells had missed the Axis battery on the North African coast and the shells coming back his way were getting uncomfortably close. He then saw the battery disappear into the sea. The wily captain had been aiming to collapse the cliff top itself bringing down everything on it.

[@clairekholin6935]

The cliff under the battery was probably a larger target and a direct hit to the battery may not have taken out all of the guns that were on the cliff, while collapsing the cliff would remove all the defenses in that area as well as any in front. The other factor is that collapsing the cliff would deal with any underground bunker, if there was one there, which would otherwise require infantry to fight into.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

"Do you see that bunker on that shore?" "Yes sir" "I don't want to." "Yes. Sir."

[@DidMyGrandfatherMakeThis]

Or if you have Warspite and a few monitors it becomes a case of: "See that village five miles inland?"

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

"See that groups of tank pound them"

[@muhammadnursyahmi9440]

Funny that, i once read on r/militarystories of a Army artillery liaison officer telling of his Vietnam War stories. One of them were his stories of one NVA artillery bunker that keep on pounding AVRN and US Marine positions and no matter how many counterbattery fires were done, the bunker remain operational. So in then end, USS New Jersey did the job, by pounding the bunker with it's 16-inch shells. The bunker (or more like the smoldering crater) were silent till the end of the war.

[@BattleManiac7]

@@muhammadnursyahmi9440 Nothing gets your point across like battleship caliber shells.

[@akumaking1]

*covers commander’s eyes*

[@The_Viscount]

I remember a story from Vietnam. A group of marines spotted a column of North Vietnamese armor coming down a road toward a US position. The marines involved lacked the equipment to take on the armor and requested fire support from any allied units in range. They received an affirmative from navy elements offshore who asked for the position of the targets. After receiving the coordinates, the marines were asked how close they were to the enemy. The local forces gave their response, the guy in charge thinking they were safe. "Recommend you pull back. We are firing by grid reference, and the jungle is too thick for our spotter plane." Confused, but not about to argue with the people who would be firing near them, the marines complied. Upon receiving confirmation that the marines had pulled back, their fire support radioed that ordinance was inbound, and the marines should take cover. A minute or so later, the valley where the armor was, and the marines had just left erupted in massive explosions that shook the ground. The ship requested confirmation that the targets were destroyed. The marines didn't find anything larger than a dinner plate. When they radioed to confirm the destruction of targets, the guy who requested fire support asked the name of the ship that helped them. Turns out they received fire support from New Jersey's 16-inch (406mm) guns.

[@swj719]

As I recall, hadn't the Jersey just gotten back in theater after having her guns worked on?

[@The_Viscount]

@@swj719 Honestly, I don't know. I don't even remember where I heard this story. I just remember how the marines were so confused when they were told to pull further back. I guess they were expecting their support to take the form of a rocket or missile strike. Not for the entire valley to disappear.

[@TheErilaz]

Shock and awe!

[@mrz80]

The Army would call on New Jersey when they needed a LZ in the jungle. Big J would fire one round, and blow a nice 50-to-100-yard circle into the jungle, just the thing for parking your whirlybird. :D

[@michaelsmith2723]

Anybody familiar with artillery or naval guns would use Ordnance not Ordinance which is a municipal law or a religious right. 50% to 60% of military fiction authors make this mistake. The other word is compliment instead of complement.

[@kmech3rd]

What times we live in that hearing a British man describe war is a relaxing, if not absolutely soothing activity. Morning, Drach!

[@donfelipe7510]

I confess his soothing tones have sent me off to a peaceful afternoon nap on more than one occasion. Like being read a bedtime story.

[@kmech3rd]

@@donfelipe7510 Not just you, man. I fall asleep most nights to parts 1 and 2 of the Second Pacific Squadron saga.

[@donfelipe7510]

@@kmech3rd Drach if you're reading this, we want more stories read in your pleasing tones. Especially if they involve blowing stuff up.

[@jimtalbott9535]

Interestingly, you can find a channel with a GERMAN man talking about war, and even that can be soothing - what a time to be alive! Lol.

[@donfelipe7510]

@@jimtalbott9535 Maybe I should try War Stories with Mark Felton

[@model-man7802]

Dad was on the California BB44 and described shore bombardment as "plowing the fields,pruning the trees and adding iron to the soil".

[@onlythewise1]

maybe my dad was next to your dad, my dad was on iowa bb61.

[@HEDGE1011]

@@onlythewise1 I’m grateful to the service of both of your dads! 🇺🇸

[@onlythewise1]

@@HEDGE1011 thanks to both of your dads

[@Colonel_Overkill]

now that is the ultimate gardening tool!!! Airates the soil, removes stumps, prunes neighbors and scares off weeds. What else is needed?

[@onlythewise1]

@@Colonel_Overkill each shell cost 20 thousand dollar's

[@bificommander]

"Yes, Iowa landscapers? My husband and I would like to have a pool in our garden." "Of course madam. Quick question, how far is your house from the coast line?" "Ehm, 15 miles I believe." "Very good, we can help you. How big should the pool be?" "We'd like a big pool. 6 feet deep, 50 feet long, 30 feet wide." "Understood madam. Just give us the GPS coordinates of where the pool should be, then step back a bit. Mike, load the 16 inch HE shells."

[@nitsu2947]

"LOADED SIR, READY TO FIRE"

[@superspecialsushi8296]

Ya know Frank, I’m feelin generous today, let’s give everyone a new pool today

[@murderouskitten2577]

Full HE would detonate too soon.

[@gokbay3057]

I feel like "step back a bit" is underselling it.

[@idontwanttoputmyname403]

I like to imagine that “Mike, load the 16 inch HE shells!” Is being yelled while still on the phone.

[@beaney56]

I always loved the story about USS Texas. The Germans assembled just outside her range. So the captain used controlled flooding on one side of the ship to increase gun elevation to hit them.

[@korbell1089]

battery commander: "snicker snicker...now try and hit us you verdammt Ameikanische!" "Does anyone else hear a train coming?"

[@sosogo4real]

CRISP WHITE SHEETS!

[@thomasmusso1147]

"We are out of range of the Allied Guns." Texas Captain, "Hold my Beer .. "

[@jhk8396]

@@sosogo4real _But sir, the ship will list to port!_ *AND THAT'LL GIVE THE GUNS THE ELEVATION THEY NEED*

[@sosogo4real]

@@jhk8396 AN ELEGANT SOLUTION!

[@hangonsnoop]

My dad is a Vietnam veteran and even though he was Army he had to admit that the bombardment capability that the battleship provided was staggering. He said that there was was a Vietcong unit that was in a group of caves on a top of a mountain. The battleship was able to just blow the top off the mountain.

[@the_undead]

This is the way I see it, you can either use like a five or six inch gun and be precise, or you can take 16-in HE shells and just flatten the area and be absolutely sure that there is nothing left alive.

[@genericpersonx333]

No idea where it came from but an old story passed around since WW2 is as follows: American interviews Japanese veteran of the Island Fighting; American: So who were the best jungle fighters? Japanese Veteran: The Australians. Slightly surprised, American asks: Who were the second best jungle fighters? Japanese Veteran: The English. American pride stinging, the American asked: What about the Americans??? Japanese Veteran: I cannot comment. We never fought the Americans in the jungle. They would blow the jungle away with many shells and we would fight among the craters. Sort of sums up the best part of being an American soldier in a big war. Over hill, over dale, US ordnance, be it navy, army, or air force, will blow everything to Hell.

[@eldergeeks7301]

My Favorite Shore Bombardment Story. Korea vs WW2, but still good. 15 Mar 1952: The Wisconsin receives her first direct hit in her history when one of four shells from a North Korean 152mm gun battery struck the shield of a starboard 40mm mount. Subsequently, the Wisconsin destroyed the battery with a full 16in salvo before continuing her mission. After destroying the artillery battery with her big guns, the Wisconsin received a message from one of her escorts, USS Buck (DD-761). The message read simply "Temper, temper".

[@Battleship009]

LOL.

[@mobiuscoreindustries]

" *how dare you challenge me, mortal?* " - Wisconsin before removing every atom of that artillery off the face of the planet

[@FlameDarkfire]

They turned that peninsula into a new bay.

[@RuralTowner]

Was looking for someone referenced that moment...

[@firestorm165]

You left out the best part. Apparently the Wisconsin messaged back "They started it"

[@peacockluke]

Offensive fire support = good Offensive fire support from a Battleship = more gooderer

[@MillerFourFingers]

I read some of the accounts of D-day at Normandy. Those guys were entirely grateful to the destroyer types that provided direct fire support.

[@neilgibbs3880]

@tokul76 No, good, gooder, gooderer, best, bestest, bestestest, 🤣🤣🤣

[@vomErsten]

@@neilgibbs3880 Gooderest!

[@atpyro7920]

"The answer? Use a gun. And if that don't work.... use more gun." More gun is gooderest!

[@TomFynn]

Fire support. Where "more" is always "betterer".

[@fdmackey3666]

A cousin of mine, while serving his second tour in South Vietnam, came to credit the USS New Jersey and her 16in guns with saving his life as well as the lives of the majority of his Marine rifle company. The company came under heavy small arms and machine gun fire while conducting a sweep near and on a beach. The company was pushed onto said beach and the Company Commander called for air support but none was available and (land based) artillery was too far away to be of any assistance. However, the USS New Jersey, on her way to provide fire support to another heavily engaged unit further up the coast, was able to unleash two full broadsides from her 16in main battery before continuing on. The C.O. had called for a "Danger Close" fire mission, and under the circumstances was unable to notify all of his Marines about the incoming 16in HE rounds before the first rounds hit. After the second broadside hit and the Marines regained some degree of their "composure" they came to realize that they were not only not receiving fire from the jungle anymore but that a large strip of the jungle was no longer there. My cousin stated that one of his fellow Marines was in such awe of the devastation that he asked their Platoon Sergeant "What the hell! Did the Air Force just nuke us? Why ain't we dead?". My cousin did make it clear that he and many of his fellow Marines suffered loss of hearing for life, and some received serious internal injuries due to concussion/blast effects. But thanks to several Medevac flights those with the more serious wounds and injuries made it to a field hospital and later to Da Nang.

[@karlkearney7308]

I understand this. It happened with our mothers too...maybe their children...who's that then?

[@nekomakhea9440]

Shore bombardment: When you need to let an entire ZIP code know they fucked up

[@dogloversrule8476]

pretty much, that is if they even know they were hit to begin with. atleast some people in that zip code won't even get the message before they're blown to kingdom come.

[@jehoiakimelidoronila5450]

Just imagine in a modern-day battlefield, in which the ships hacked the coms of the enemy & are considerate enough to notify them they fucked up, & gave a countdown that the shells are about to land on said enemy. The last message they'll ever get before annihilation

[@FlameDarkfire]

Shore bombardment is the very definition of ‘dear grid square.”

[@matejlieskovsky9625]

Imagine being countersniped by a gun whose caliber is measured in inches rather than milimeters...

[@tyree9055]

There's no imagining to it... You couldn't even run fast enough, because the 1st salvo would take you out. From the stories I've heard, the impacts of battleship rounds causes people to bounce off of the ground 12" or so (sometimes more, sometimes less). Earthquake machines at your service! 😅👍

[@tyree9055]

@asdrubale bisanzio 😄😆😅

[@swj719]

Whose shells had a bigger circumference than your waist.

[@gregparrott]

....and, rather than taking out a person with one shot, you're taking out a city block

[@matejlieskovsky9625]

@@gregparrott There is no kill like overkill

[@messmeister92]

Having stood in USS Texas’ shell craters at Point Du Hoc myself, I can confirm the bombardment would have been rather distracting for the German gunners.

[@lanceclement4087]

Keep in mind that many of these were bomb craters. Pointe du Hoc was extensively bombed from the air for a long time, as it was a very visually striking landmark that aborting bombers could spot and unload on, rather than dropping their bombs at sea

[@dickchese862]

I remember when an MM1 on the USS Nimitz we loaded weapons in the gulf, took three days to fill the magazine. Two weeks later reload, all I thought was " Who made us this angry? "

[@NavyVet4955]

I was on the Carl Vinson when 9/11 happened just as we left Singapore, once they decided where we should direct our anger we were taking on munitions and JP5 about every 10 days or so.

[@ThePinkus]

31:16 when You are in a Tiger and think You have more armor and more of a gun than anything Your enemy can bring along, but turns out Your enemy is HMS Rodney...

[@joshuahadams]

Might as well be hunting elephants with a .30-30 at that point. Sure you *might* screw it over in the long run with a lucky shot, but you don’t have the long run to look forward to.

[@mrz80]

My favorite shore bombardment tale comes from Tinian. USS Colorado was firing 16" AP at a Japanese bunker dug into a low cliff. Colorado was only a couple miles offshore, firing pretty much dead flat. Anyhow, two projectiles out of one salvo ricocheted off the volcanic rock, cleared the island, and **straddled** a US cruiser (USS Montpelier, I think?) who was firing at shore targets on the other side of the island. The rather shaken Captain of that worthy vessel promptly piled on a couple extra miles of seaway, recording in his log that they hadn't expected return fire quite that big! :D

[@tomsmith5216]

I was a helicopter crew chief in Vietnam. We had a "ferry" flight mission to pick up parts. It was early morning and we were at 1500 ft, near the coast. I could see a naval vessel, destroyer I believe comimg about parallel to the shore. I was thinking how cool it looked, when I suddenly realized it was firing its guns toward the hills and we were right in the line of fire. I yelled at the pilot and he headed for the deck. I don't know how close we might have been to the incoming rounds, but it scared the crap out of me.

[@beaney56]

When drac was talking about artillery problems, it really makes you appreciate the incredible genius behind modern self propelled guns and MLRS weapons.

[@robertslugg8361]

Watch for incoming shells, locate source, fire on source, and then get out of way of incoming shells. Land artillary is becoming as complex as the old naval problems, except starting and stopping a self propelled gun is a bit quicker than hitting the gas/brakes on a BB.

[@cheddar2648]

🇷🇺Katyusha🇷🇺

[@georgewnewman3201]

"Uhh, Captain, what brakes?"

[@JimBeam69er]

@@cheddar2648 wasn't nearly as effective as the nebelwerfer🇩🇪

[@invadegreece9281]

@@JimBeam69er lies

[@xthetenth]

Don't forget the little ships, the LCS(L)s that were useful in picket duty off Okinawa were also incredibly feisty little combatants. They were originally designed to keep suppressing enemy positions when the landing craft were too close for the big guns, so they were feisty little 250 gunboats with two twin deck bofors, either a 3" or single/dual director driven 40mm, 4 20mm oerlikons, 4 .50s and 10 rocket launchers, and got very close and traded automatic fire with the shore. Later on, with a director driven dual 40mm, they were the most useful support gunboats for the destroyers stuck out on picket duty off Okinawa as they received the tender attentions of large kamikaze attacks. That's a lot of fight in something one tenth the size of the modern destroyers.

[@Drachinifel]

They need their own video :)

[@ag7898]

From what I remember, there are stories of ships off of Okinawa and then mainland Japan basically not having anything to do at times. So they would just decide to head in close and set fire to some small part of land in front of them.

[@roterex9115]

I always thought gardening took too long turns out I was just doing it wrong the whole time

[@Leon_der_Luftige]

Well ofc you can just speedrun that by scorching the earth like that. Or just do what everyone does these days and have one of those zero-effort stone gardens.

[@roterex9115]

@@Leon_der_Luftige still more effort than battleship landscaping. BOOM no garden to work on

[@Talon3000]

Well in german you call watering a lawn "den Rasen sprengen" ... which can also be translated to "explode/ blow up the lawn" without context. So, yeah :D

[@tbretten]

@@Talon3000 Your comment made me look up the origin of 'Rasen sprengen' (-> to make water jump over the lawn, apparently). Wiki-article about the causative is really interesting, something I hadn't thought about before and never knew existed. So, thanks! : )

[@Willardmcd]

Lol nothing like gardening with 16” artillery shells .....count me in 😳

[@richmcgee434]

To paraphrase one of my old Full Thrust tee-shirts, "Bombardment? I prefer to think of it as a hostile weather phenomenon."

[@typehere6689]

I remember that game.

[@Nyet-Zdyes]

Ah, yes... "bring the rain"... or... "for what THEY are about to receive, may WE be truly thankful!"

[@mikespangler98]

Don't forget the Nautilus and Narwhal, submarines that had two 6" guns that were used for shore bombardment more than once. The Japanese were very puzzled when they couldn't find the cruiser that was firing those shells. I mean 6" shells had to come from a cruiser, right?

[@yamby6709]

6 inch isn't normal for subs. Majority of them only have 4 1/2 or 5 inch rarely higher. ( as far as i know tho, im basing on u boats and british subs.)

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

*laughs in French* there were baguetteboats with [even] bigger ones. I think there was one "Sourcouf" I think with a -battleship- heavy cruiser sized gun. Edit: it wasn't THAT big Edit 2: the one with the battleship grade 12 incher was the british M-Class.

[@MattBKn]

@@user-ft3jq5vi2l Surcouf had twin 8" guns in a turret

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

The Japanese also used submarine for coastal bombardment. In fact the only attacks on the North American mainland during the Second World War, were carried out by Japanese submarine deck guns against a few coastal targets in B.C., California, and Oregon.

[@ag7898]

My favorite was the US sub (drawing a blank on the name) that was able to add a train to their battle flag. Yes it wasn't shore bombardment. But still a baller move.

[@JagerEinheit]

Drach's landscaping services "you bring the rum, we'll deliver by the ton" someone put a BB on it and make that shirt. Will also accept the line "Blowing up turf all the way to the surf."

[@jamesharding3459]

On it.

[@SlavicCelery]

"Removing dandelions permanently"

[@derrith1877]

@@SlavicCelery Eh? Dandelions will be back next spring, maybe somewhat different locations in the garden.

[@SlavicCelery]

@@derrith1877 Will they technically ever be at the exact same elevation?

[@CSSVirginia]

Has to be Warspite

[@bigblue6917]

Amongst the photographs taken in Normandy there is one I particularly remember. It was a 60 ton Tiger tank resting upside down on its turret like a discarded toy. This was curtasy of one of the battleships taking part in the shore bombardment.

[@glenchapman3899]

If it is the incident I am thinking of. The Tigers were being individually targeted - and hit lol

[@bigblue6917]

@@glenchapman3899 No that's what I call a good shot.

[@kevinvogler2380]

I never get tired of hearing USS Texas engaging snipers Great video Drach!

[@Philip271828]

A bullet has a name on it. A grenade is marked "to whom it may concern." "Dear Grid Coordinates." Or "let me play you the song of my people."

[@hariman7727]

The ultimate in percussion instruments.

[@rooksfoot1184]

*send all..........................

[@Kumquat_Lord]

"This is a public service announcement"

[@Shojikitsune1]

FREEDOM!

[@AdamMGTF]

"what are you doing Baldrick". "Carving my name on HMS Rodney sir" Blackadder - ww2

[@strixaluco7423]

Just started the vid about shore bombardmend and I'm allready waiting for Drach to say Schleswig-Holstein. Edit: 21:36 YEEEEES GOOOD, that is allready worth an upvote

[@CSSVirginia]

That name always makes me think of cows.

[@steriskyline4470]

The way he says it is like when I’m at the McDonald’s drive thru asking for the bizarrely named special my wife wants to try

[@danieltaylor5231]

The video I want to see Military history visualized and Military Aviation History teach Drach how to say Schleswig-Holstein and he teaches them how to say squirrel.

[@blackace7782]

"We've got snipers in the hedgerows" USS Texas: SAY NO MORE

[@hart-of-gold]

The hedgerows have been removed, Sir.

[@muhammadnursyahmi9440]

@@hart-of-gold along with the nearby town

[@sthenzel]

...and the fields turned to ponds

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

I can't help wondering whether any of those snipers actually survived ? I mean, at best they'd be stone deaf and "somewhat shaken" after the first salvo, and maybe decide it was time to be somewhere else ? Hanging around making a nuisance of themselves would result in little more than a rather spectacular suicide.

[@swj719]

"We got you, fam."

[@davelewis3255]

We spent about 9 months doing gunfire support for the ground pounders and also raiding targets in North Vietnam when I was on board the heavy cruiser Newport News. Our 5" 38s got some counter battery practice up north and the 8" guns could reach pretty far inland. The marines were always very glad to have us around since they considered a 105mm to be a "big gun". 203mm is lots better.

[@Its-Just-Zip]

There are apocryphal stories of marines finding out that guns could in fact get too big when USS New Jersey or USS Iowa was around to provide fire support. IIRC from some of my Vietnam lore that there were a couple of complaints along the lines of "fire support was promt, accurate, and helpful; however it left nothing for the men to do after the conclusion of the fire support mission"

[@MrDirigible]

@11:00 Drach dont forget the Mediterranean where the US Navy put up a spirited defense to support allied forces facing Axis tank attacks against the Gaela bridgehead in Sicily. Such gunfire particularly from US light cruisers were crucial to breaking up Axis tank spearheads.

[@glennsimpson7659]

Likewise Anzio. Couldn’t have held the bridgeheads without naval gunfire support.

[@rogerlafrance6355]

It did not take long till ships fire control rooms were equipped with artillery and aircraft tactical radios for combined operations.

[@TheAngelobarker]

Yup whenever the Italians are being brave and pushing the allied back it's always "axis troops" 😂 the us navy eviscerated the poor italian tankers tho right on the 5 yard line.

[@genericpersonx333]

@@TheAngelobarker The bigger irony is that Italians and Germans nearly always fought well together, despite German arrogance implying otherwise. The Allies had a lot more trouble working together, and indeed did their best to stay away from each other in many operations. If the Allies had been as good fighting together as Italy and Germany were, I think the war would have been a LOT shorter.

[@bobchoate4403]

Old girl Texas, I have been on her a bunch of times and I’m glad they are putting some work into her

[@tyree9055]

She's rusty as hell too... ☹

[@frostwolf1907]

I screamed in joy when I saw they had her on an even keel. I've never seen her in person,but once she's been reopened after the drydocking I'm going to make sure to get down there as soon as possible.

[@bobchoate4403]

@@frostwolf1907 it was the first battleship I have ever been on as a small child with my dad, so that old girl has a special place in my heart

[@alanhughes6753]

I recall that there was on incident about a month or so after the Overload landings. A British Army force spotted a group of German panzers getting ready for an attack; they called the appropriate map co-ordinates back to the naval gun support. The Rodney responded to the request; its first salvo, fired at a range of 15 miles, landed directly on the target. Scratch one Panzer attack.

[@scottgiles7546]

Wonder if the Rodney and Texas crews had a bar/pub bet going.

[@dogsnads5634]

The best gunfire support story from Normandy was a British Lieutenant spotting for artillery. He saw some signs of German armour moving in the distance (lots of smoke and dust were making observation difficult). He relayed his command for fire back to the artillery command centre (UK observers don't request fire, they order it). At the artillery command post it was run up the command levels, and kept getting upgraded as it went through each command layer(this process happened incredibly quickly). Unbeknownst to the Forward Observer (who was probably in his early 20's or late teens) an attack by German Armoured Units was expected in that sector, his observation confirmed other intelligence. As a result his request for fire, which he expected to be answered by a couple of batteries of 25pdr guns at most, was upgraded to a Victor Target. This meant every gun in range was to fire a programme of shells at the co-ordinates issued by the command centre. He was quite surprised when the artillery fire commenced.....over 1,000 guns, including naval guns offshore, were firing...needless to say the expected German counterattack did not materialise...

[@CFarnwide]

@@dogsnads5634 Yikes! Could you imagine all that firepower hitting at the same time? 😱

[@CFarnwide]

@fred McMurray That would be a humbling site to see... 🤯 Did you need some dental work afterwards? 😉

[@georgewnewman3201]

A few points about using army/marine artillery during amphibious assaults, some Drachinifel pointed out and some he didn't directly address. 1) Artillery pieces were heavy and took quite a large group of men, munitions and additional equipment while naval guns had large ammo stores aboard ship (which provided transportation as well) and were manned by ship's crew. To that end (weight) artillery pieces were often loaded very early during landing prep and were scattered over the transport ships they were loaded aboard in an effort to balance loading and prevent ships becoming too unstable at sea and sinking. (2) The common artillery piece available to the landing forces were either 105 mm (4 in) or 155 mm (6 or 6.1 in) guns while naval units could often field 8 (200 mm) inch to 14 inch (355 mm) guns or 16 inch (406.5 mm), depending on what ships were available (10 inch and up were usually used on battleships, 6 inch to 12 inch were usually on cruisers and up to 6 inch were used on destroyers). (3) (not discussed directly by Drachinifel) army guns need real estate to be used, preferably land not being subject to attack, and during the early hours of an amphibious assault all the real estate is under enemy control. Naval guns have their own gun platforms that do not depend on dry land for use.

[@michaelimbesi2314]

Drach, we need a Wednesday special just focused on better telling some of the funny/quirky/interesting stories from shore bombardment missions. For example, the Rodney vs. Panzers or the Texas vs. snipers at DDay or the famous one with New Jersey in Vietnam.

[@Drachinifel]

Yep, but I always want to try and have a general overview in place first before diving into specific incidents :)

[@mpetersen6]

Add in Wisconsin vs T-34 in Korea.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Wow, that's a great photo of Eisenhower inspecting an overturned Tiger tank. The sheer power of gunfire that could toss 60 ton tanks around as if they were tumbleweeds is impressive in that picture, and must be just about overwhelming for ordinary soldiers.

[@cheddar2648]

There is a marvelous little story in "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" whereupon some brave Japanese swordsman stood on the beach brandishing his katana at a passing Fletcher class DD, metal glinting in the Pacific sunlight. The captain took the DD close into shore, and the gunnery officer released a 5in broadside upon the poor fellow, who was nowhere to be seen when the sand and smoke cleared.

[@ph89787]

I read that part and I think that was the Johnston.

[@SynchroScore]

@@ph89787 I just read that book myself. The Captain congratulated the Master Gunner on his accuracy, but also suggested he reserve ammunition for more appropriate targets.

[@kilotun8316]

One of my more senior colleagues likes to tell of the time they were on the shore bombardment range and having a great time firing off their 57 mm and making chunks of ground blow up. In fact they were having so much fun they lost track of time and were extremely surprised by a sudden screaming through the air and the beach they were shooting at just disappearing. It was then they realized that they were infringing on the USS NEW JERSEY's range time. Needless to say, they cheesed out of there as fast as they could.

[@Questknight12]

Do not interfer when the goddess and, her 16in weapons speak.

[@DavidVT23]

Or, to quote Shakespeare, "Come not between the dragon and his wrath." @@Questknight12

[@anoninunen]

William D Porter: "The only thing we can hit is an officer's geraniums, but we can at least turn that into a pool."

[@Edax_Royeaux]

One thing you learn about logistics, it's easier to move heavy equipment hundreds of miles by water than it is to move heavy equipment a handful of miles on land. This naturally would make naval ships the best heavy artillery platforms when it comes to mobility.

[@hmskinggeorgev7089]

Ah yes naval artillery truly the only real way to make ones landscaping dreams come true.

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

A cheap way of getting bath builds too 😂

[@athrowaway3487]

It certainly... expidites the process

[@BattleManiac7]

If only I had a naval gun, even something as small as a destroyer's, I wouldn't have spent so much time getting our backyard in shape after first moving in! SMH, no home/garden store can ever say they have everything you need. Didn't find a single one, so disappointed.

[@murderouskitten2577]

yes , nothing beats 460mm shells at gardening and trimming

[@muhammadnursyahmi9440]

@@murderouskitten2577 that's Yamato's 18-inch gun right?

[@deaks25]

I've always LOVED the story about USS Texas. I know it's just utilising the damage-control systems, but it must have been a little worrying to deliberately flood your undamaged ship to induce a list. German Troops: HA! Can't hit us now, we're too far in land. USS Texas: Let me sink myself slightly... German Troops: How does that help?? USS Texas: *resumes sharing high explosive freedom* My other favourite one is Warspite wearing out her gun barrels, heading back to port, getting some new ones, and then just resuming bombardment as if she'd just reloaded her ammo. All despite X-turret being inoperable thanks to the Fritz X hit...

[@swj719]

I love the episode of Ken Burns's WWII documentary when they do the Normandy invasion, and they get to the part about the ships not having reach. I always pause when they say they almost called the whole thing off to add "but the US Navy said "fuck that shit, we came here to kill Nazis." Bring her in closer, we can fix the bottom of the ship later."

[@ivanmonahhov2314]

Also Slava during WW1

[@cjmanson5692]

"Visual on the fortress off our port side." "Let's rearrange the furniture." "Yep. Time to redecorate." "FIRE!"

[@bruceinoz8002]

Battleship story; Back in the 1980's I was in a group that got a detailed tour of one of the US Navy's active battleships, the USS New Jersey, BB 62, then docked in Pearl Harbour. One of the "Boys Own" tales concerned a shore-bombardment mission off the coast of Lebanon. (Landscaping / "urban renewal" sort of thing). The call for fire was urgent, so they swung the guns over the side and carried on. Only when "rounds complete" was declared, did somebody remember the helicopter on the aft deck. It was more a collection of bent and twisted metal and composites. It was thus rather unceremoniously shoveled over the side to make way for a replacement. One thing to note: Guns of that size are normally fired broadside for several reasons. Firstly, you bring ALL of the big ones to bear on the target. Secondly and importantly, it is actually less stressful on the ship and the crew. Fired "fore and aft", especially with the ship in forward motion, means that the recoil impulse is transmitted to the rather rigid structure of the entire ship in line with the guns. This shockwave traveling through the hull metalwork is VERY unpleasant for crew members standing on the decks inside the hull. Fired "abeam", the whole hull "sloshes" a bit sideways, buffering the transmitted shockwave. Well, that's the story the port-side "B" turret safety officer told us. ALWAYS fly off your spotter / communications aircraft before cutting loose with 16-inch "naval rifles" for several hours.

[@Yaivenov]

"...and one very, VERY unfortunate sniper." XD

[@hariman7727]

Countersniping via "Dear grid coordinates".

[@datonecommieirongear2020]

Campers beware or be no more

[@Yaivenov]

@@hariman7727 "Target grid Golf Romeo Eight Six." "Where's the rest of the digits?" "There are none." "But that's an entire grid square!" "Yeah. I want it gone."

[@colinmartin9797]

A spectacular quote I just saw in "last stand of the tin can sailors" was about the USS Johnston's shore bombardment during the invasion of Kwajalein - Evans was ever the lunatic and took the ship in so close to the beach that "men from a damage control party broke out the rifles and made like Davy Crockett." Evans' fire control officer, Lieutenant Bob Hagen saw a Japanese officer on the beach waving a saber around trying to rally troops. He lined the man up in the fire control computer and clicked off a fire order. The ENTIRE ship's five inch broadside completely obliterated the dude. Evans just said to him right after the shot "Mr. Hagen, that was very good shooting. But in the future, try not to waste so much ammunition on one single individual." Evans and Capt. baker of the Texas were the biggest shore bombardment lunatics of the war. Evans ran out of his allotted ammo and then basically terrified the higher ups into giving him all the rounds he wanted, and Baker just decided to sink half his battleship just to yeet those rounds further inland.

[@joweeqc98]

This should have been how Top Gear did their landscaping special. Just imagine jezza yelling fire and captain slow enraged because his shed became part of the soil.

[@muhammadnursyahmi9440]

Ah, but then the Brits scrapped all their battleship, so that wasn't possible. The closest they can get is in Grand Tour where they "destroyed" Hammond Doomsday van by using (or actually heavily-edited) a Royal Navy's destroyer.

[@ph89787]

CLARKSON!!!!

[@beaney56]

Hahaha that was a great episode. Poor Hammond was so proud of that preper vehicle 🤣🤣🤣

[@Ingens_Scherz]

@@muhammadnursyahmi9440 Everyone scrapped their battleships decades ago so what is your point?

[@danemadsen2969]

@@muhammadnursyahmi9440 Even a destroyer with only a 4.5" gun (114mm!) can perform an effective shore sniping mission.

[@andrewcox4386]

There is a fantastic account of Agreement in the book Tobruk Commando by Gordon Langsborough. The support of the destroyers and MGBs at St Nazaire was a fantastic example of very close support for a raiding party.

[@Patton1944]

I made sure to stop by Point Du Hoc when I visited Europe a couple of years ago. The size of the craters was something to behold. Also, the presence of the official State Seal of Texas tickled me as a Texan. I also visited Longues-Sur-Mer and those coastal batteries were fun to see.

[@gdolson9419]

As a retired US Marine I love being able to call in Naval gunfire. I hear during the Anzio landings German tanks were unpleasantly surprised to be on the receiving end of a destroyers 5in guns. Seems Naval armor piercing rounds don't even notice a Tiger's armor.

[@scottgiles7546]

No. No it would not. Might not even trigger it.

[@egoalter1276]

127mm at long range in ballistic trajectory is insufficient to pierce much armour, but likely the blasting charge is sufficient to disable a tank.

[@chuckhaggard1584]

@@egoalter1276 bullshit.That would absolutely wreck a tank.

[@fthirtyfivemr]

Driving home from my shift in the emergency department and I see a new video from you. What a great way to destress on my way home. You rock Drach!

[@CSSVirginia]

Funny, I'm driving in to a medic truck shift.

[@rogerjenkinson7979]

Watching a video while driving? You may be de-stressing.All the other traffic is madly trying to avoid you.

[@robertslugg8361]

Driving home from Hopkins was usually like being in the video. :( How many of you have stored the back panel from a ballistic vest in the bottom of your briefcase.

[@crazy031089]

@@rogerjenkinson7979 drach's video's are actualy great to just listen to while driving. I do it as well all the time, never take my eyes off the road. It's one off the advantage of youtube premium, that way you can turn off your screen while a video is playing, saves battery and it can not distract you.

[@brett76544]

I can remember seeing an area hit with artillery in Desert Storm, then an old area from WWI in France that had not been reclaimed. Nothing compared to what I saw in pictures of the islands in WWII. Some of the photos just showed, craters with none of the trees there before to hide behind.

[@enoughothis]

The God of the Sea Poseidon was also called the Earthshaker, for his ability to cause earthquakes. Ironic, then, that those who sail the Seas also do a fair amount of that themselves, bringing the wrath of God to landlubbers.

[@Simon_Nonymous]

If you ever visit the German shore battery at Longues sur Mere, you will see direct hits from naval gunfire through the gunshield of one of the 152mm shore guns... I think the bombardment was assisted by radar ranging but it's still chilling to think of what happened when you see the entry hole and the holes made by shell splinters.

[@paavobergmann4920]

Been there. sobering.

[@ThumperE23]

In the Movie The Big Red One, the squad of infantry are hiding in a cave from a German advance. Suddenly all hell breaks loose and they are having to relay kill German Infantry. Suddenly it ends. The Sergeant gets out of the cave and calls HQ on the radio. What happened to the Germans was the USS Savannah, and he laughed when he told the squad how many miles off shore the ship was.

[@RCAvhstape]

Lee Marvin played the NCO, I remember that scene.

[@ThumperE23]

@@RCAvhstape great movie all around. Still a favorite to this day, and something about the cave scene as that's the one and the Christ on the Cross Scene stuck in my head.

[@mpetersen6]

@@ThumperE23 Which Christ on the Cross scene? The first or second one.

[@ThumperE23]

@@mpetersen6 The second one, with the baby being born at the end of it. The first few times I saw the movie I saw it after it started so I didn't see the first one until much later.

[@karlvongazenberg8398]

2nd iteration: Cpt: Do you see that bunker on that island? -Yes. Cpt: I do not want to. - The bunker AND the island, too?

[@nunyabidness674]

Ironicly, if it was a Greek Island and the actual Iowa... kzbin.info/www/bejne/enaqo51ni8xkb7c Start at 33:15 and go to 33:56

[@MapletreePaper]

@@nunyabidness674 Here's a link with the timestamp built in: kzbin.info/www/bejne/enaqo51ni8xkb7c

[@yes_head]

The dangers to ships close to shore was very real. My dad served on a destroyer in the Korean War that was conducting shore bombardment when it hit a mine. The bow was blown off and 9 sailors were killed. Scratch one tin can.

[@davecooper5751]

Same type deal with my dad on the Irwin, 76mm hits vs a mine though.

[@kemarisite]

One thing to keep in mind is that the Overlord planning was obsessed with tactical surprise, so even though the minesweeper would be visible the evening of D-1, the shore bombardment mission was limited to 30 minutes. This was to be followed up by heavy bombers , which were supposed to provide the real softening up of the beach defenses while the ships preserved their ammunition for on-call fire support after the troops hit the beaches. However, the bombers came in perpendicular to the beach, bombing through overcast using radar. Afraid of dropping short and hitting landing craft, the bombers instead dropped late and scattered their bomb loads a couple miles inland, contributing precisely nothing to the success of the operation. Note their fault, they were just being used to do something they physically could not do.

[@gregorywright4918]

Total waste of untrained heavy bombers. But surprise was critical.

[@donfelipe7510]

I always liked stories of ad hoc shore bombardment. Fitting spare guns to any ship available to give them a kind of ability in this regard. For example in the 1970s Britain became involved in fighting a communist insurgence in the Jebel region of Oman. In Storm Front by Rowland White there is an account of the Omani royal yacht being fitted with a 40mm bofors anti-aircraft gun that was found in a warehouse somewhere by some Royal Navy officers on loan to Oman. Along with a couple of .50 machine guns the yacht was used to bombard communist shore positions with enough effect to be worth a mention. While a 40mm gun isn't especially large by naval standards I don't think I'd like one pointed at me, and neither did these unfortunate insurgents. I recommend this book by the way, it's alternate title could be "how to fight a war on a budget."

[@shannonrhoads7099]

Atr least cabbage crates weren't crossing the briny! That's fighting cheap!

[@br0k3nman]

Ironically, Oman being one of the most stable nations in the Middle East because, I specify, in the MODERN era, being friend with the UK and US and the sultan just being generally decent to his people. Everywhere else seems to be a shit show or is only “stabilized” by authoritarian and theocratic regimes. Israel being a special situation all its own. I’m not discounting the history of EU and UK empires messing up the region, I’m just taking the last 30-40 years.

[@Alobo075]

I'll put it out to the group. HMS Campbeltown - old destroyer converted into a demolition charge, or one of the most successful shore bombardment vessels ever. You decide.

[@swj719]

Is that the ship the British commandos used to eff up a drydock?

[@Alobo075]

@@swj719 That's the one.

[@demonprinces17]

It was a suicide job

[@nunyabidness674]

Nearly swamped by the couple hundred brass knockers being toted between the knees of those commandos. Jeremy Clarkson did an EXCELLENT presentation on it. "Greatest Raid" will pop it in the search.

[@swj719]

@@nunyabidness674 that and the Victoria Cross one are just so great. I like to think that despite being a shaved ape, his father-in-law would have approved of the man.

[@jacafren5842]

Magnificent overview. Brilliant. It occurs to me that one odd WW2 instance of shore bombardment does not fit into your categories. On April 21 HMS Warspite, Barham and Valiant + the cruiser Gloucester and destroyers bombarded Tripoli for forty minutes. The objective was not tactic; there were no troops to support. It was rather to disrupt supplies of the Axis armies in North Africa. Cunningham was not pleased to perform the task (he thought bombers could do it), but his hand was forced by Churchill. Churchill argued, “The Chief of the Air Staff tells me that the same weight of bombs as you fired of shells into Tripoli in 42 minutes, viz, 530 tons, might have been dropped:…. By one Stirling squadron from Egypt in about 30 weeks.” Churchill, The Second World War, vol. III, p. 215.

[@mitchelloates9406]

There's an oft-used video clip, that you'll see in documentaries and programs regarding the First Gulf War in 1991. It's recorded footage from a U.S. drone aircraft, of Iraqi troops in Kuwait, holding up their hands and trying to signify surrender to the drone itself, as the drone was surveying the damage done following a shore bombardment mission by one of the Iowa-class battleships in service at the time. That drone belonged to the USS Wisconsin, which had conducted the bombardment mission with her 16 inch guns. A long time Navy friend, who was stationed aboard the Wisconsin for the entire conflict, watched that episode play out in real time - they were feeding the video from the drone to the ship's CCTV system, and he watched it on one of the monitors while he was eating on the mess decks.

[@tonytrotta9322]

The majority of the WW2 Pacific Island bombarding was done by the older battleships and cruisers for the newer battleships were used to screen the aircraft carriers. My dad who passed in 2017 at 92 years old was on the USS Louisville CA 28 and here is a list of some of her bombardments along with the older battleships: USS LOUISVILLE CA- 28 Heavy Cruiser 1944-45 1 - Extensive shelling Island of Wotje in Marshalls. 2 - Bombardment Roi & Namur Islands. 3 - Led gunfire support Eniwetok Island. 4 - Bombarded Palaus Island. 5 - Bombarded Truk & Sawatan. 6 - 11 days of continued fire support Siapan. 7 - Bombarded Tinian & Guam. 8 - Enter Leyte Gulf - support major allied invasion force & shelled shore installations for 7 straight days. 9 - Battle of Surigao Strait - Flagship for Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf. 10 - Support landings at Lingayen Gulf. Hit by (2) kamikaze & killed Rear Admiral Theodore Chandler & many sailors. 11 - Fire support for Okinawa. Hit by another Kamikaze - the 3 rd - initially identified as friendly. (1) hit battleship Mississippi. 12 - Delivered Bull Halsey’s officers & staff - (150) to USS Missouri. 13 - Continued fire support duties. 14 - War ends. 15 - Escorted surrendered Japanese ships from Tsingato, China to Jinsen, Korea.

[@ChenAnPin]

I still love the story of that one time a North Korean 152mm gun battery decided to take a punt at the battleship USS Wisconsin. The American gave a measured response with a full salvo of its 16" guns.

[@TheErilaz]

Ow.

[@loneneotank.5687]

Just want to thank you drach for all the content you make!

[@pegzounet]

17:30 desert storm comes to mind as an example of 16inch flavored diversion

[@jukebox_heroperson3994]

Especially since Iraqis surrendered to Missouri's drone

[@RCAvhstape]

@@jukebox_heroperson3994 "They're shooting at us with goddamn battleships now. Fuck this, I'm gonna surrender to that drone up there and hope they see it." - Iraqi soldier, probably.

[@karlvongazenberg8398]

3rd iteration: "Do you see that watertower?" - 24th of May, 1915, East of Italian Adriatic coast.

[@davidpnewton]

During the Korean War there was even an instance of the aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn being used for shore bombardment!

[@halojump123]

LOL!!! HMS - U-KNEE-KORN… NO SH!T. All of the sailors on that ship had to be tough.

[@j2m3_raiden5]

Yes. HMS Unicorn, the ship that looks better than any other in azur lane lmao

[@lizardb8694]

Shuuush it s not an aircraft carrier I tell You, your eyes can deceive You. It s an aviation repair and support ship. Admiral Henderson trolling level expert :)

[@ns7023]

Hold my sword LOL

[@thomasluczak2868]

you do a wonderful job creating a vivid picture to people like myself that never realized the naval aspect of warfare could be as interesting as ground based campaigns. thanks alot.

[@deonmurphy6383]

Back when I played D&D, one of the joke artifacts was a “Ring of New Jersey”. Which would summon a HE or armor Piercing 16” shell to hit a target. Make sure you weren’t in the area of effect. Minimum damage was ~880 points🤪 thank you auto correct for making it wrong.

[@kpdubbs7117]

Awesome, but missed opportunity on the naming... Ring of Missouri, (pronounced misery.)

[@demonprinces17]

Hack the game and add it

[@Philip271828]

Is that rolling 880 dice or was there a big mod?

[@deonmurphy6383]

@@Philip271828 type of dice would be up to DM but just using average would be faster so D6 = 880*3.5. Put a lot of pain on most anything.

[@nunyabidness674]

Tarrasque deletion incoming...

[@matthewrobinson4323]

Excellent video, as always. You brought back lots of memories for me. My ship, a destroyer fired something on the order of 5000 rounds of 5" shells in 3 months in Vietnam in 1968.

[@pedenharley6266]

I spent the morning wandering around BB55, and I find a Drach video for my afternoon. Not a bad day off!

[@snowdogs01]

How was Wilmington today? Imagine one of the 16 inch rounds on display aboard The Showboat paying a visit to a Pacific island....

[@Keatononame13]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video and splurge your knowledge into an easy to consume format. I hope you never get to the point where you feel your investment in time towards knowledge is under appreciated.

[@hansheden]

I like to ppoint out that at the Battle of Waterloo there were about 400 guns on the battlefield. HMS Victory had 100, just on her own.

[@issacfoster1113]

Soldier:Sir We are pinned by snipers! Officer:"Calls in Naval Sniper" Soldier:Sir German armored are Overwhelming us! Officer:"Calls in naval anti-tank"

[@mbr5742]

One of the german heavy cruisers did engage russian tanks

[@Paludion]

@@mbr5742 Deutshland/Lutzow ?

[@mbr5742]

@@Paludion That is one, during the defence of Stettin in April 45. But there was another where the cruiser was evacuating civilians. Since all active german heavies where involved that could have been either of them

[@mbr5742]

@@Paludion Found one more: "On 19 August 1944, the assault, which had been dubbed Unternehmen Doppelkopf (Operation Doppelkopf) got underway. It was preceded by a bombardment by the cruiser Prinz Eugen's 203mm guns, which destroyed forty-eight T-34s assembling in the square at Tukums. Strachwitz and the Nordland remnants meet on the 21st, and contact was restored between the army groups" ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_re-occupation_of_Latvia_in_1944 )

[@Kwolfx]

@@mbr5742 - And an American cruiser; I think it was the Brooklynn class light cruiser Savannah, engaged the Hermann Göring Panzer Division on Sicily. Why the Luftwaffe had a panzer division makes no sense at all, but they did.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

The USS Johnson ( of course ) anchored just of of Kwajalein turned naval bombardment into precision sniping.... 5 times 5 inch guns all firing on a single point 1000 yards away ....the result was Kwajalein was taken with only 10% of the casualties of Tarawa where close fire support wasn’t brought in soon enough .. like Omaha Beach ...

[@gregorywright4918]

They learned a lot of lessons the hard way from Tarawa. They also greatly increased the amount of pre-invasion bombardment, and captured a few uninhabited islets nearby the day before to emplace marine artillery on.

[@skyden24195]

I've always very much appreciated the odd fact that USS Missouri not only survived Pearl Harbor to avenge the attack and, relative to this video, participate in shore bombardments during WWII, then nearly 50 years later, would contribute shore bombardment during Operation Desert Storm. Now that's a *BATTLE* -ship!!!

[@heatherparisi7078]

Interesting monologue about the application of naval artillery support, "shore bombardment" with a variety of nice stock footage very well placed.

[@bjorntorlarsson]

A fifth reason for shore bombardment was tradition. As in opening a war like Schleswig-Holstein did at Westerplate and Iowa in Desert Storm. When throwing a party one should make an entrance in style. Showing off one of the biggest single weapons one has.

[@nunyabidness674]

bummer that a 16" gun is about 8th on the list, and that's if you stay non-nuclear. Ever hear of a MOAB?

[@joshuahadams]

@@nunyabidness674 I wonder what a MOAB’s worth of explosives would do with a Grand Slam or Tallboy penetrator would do? Grand Slams had about half a MOAB’s weight in payload, 4,600kg of Torpex iirc, but were made to detonate ten or twelve metres underground and turn shake the area apart. Double the filler weight and ditch the incendiary material and it’ll be a *big* return to blockbusters.

[@nunyabidness674]

@@joshuahadams Give it a 2 layer nose, outer layer being 1/4 inch carbon steel, inner layer being 1 1/2 inch cast iron. Add internal ribs of 1/4 x 2 inch mild steel strip and you have already added over 1100 lbs. to the weapon. If you go with non reinforced skin you're not adding any additional weight that a MOAB doesn't also use. The Tall Boy / Grand Slam had an overall weight closer to 10k Kg. which limited the amount of explosive that could be used. That armored penetrator is a heavy beast. If you were to fill the dead air space in an existing Tall Boy design, with aircraft available today, you'd probably get the effect you're describing. With the weight change from 10k Kg closer to 18K Kg you can do the math. Mass times velocity squared... Great concept! It does make you ponder for a minute. Ad slogan goes something along the lines of "We needed to install a cooling pond for a power plant. We were in a bit pressed for time, and so decided to rapidly excavate the area. Wanting to remain efficient we found a means of dispersing the excavated material across our build site as grading material. Why was there a crosshair painted on the ground? We wanted the 'Construction Crew' to know right where we wanted the pool located."

[@tombuchanan379]

I know you mentioned this was coming and not having watched the engine video yet it may not be the first time but I was 10 minutes into shore bombardment when I said "holy Crap those guns are moving!" Freaking awesome. Now back to re-landscaping.

[@mpersad]

Fascinating. I had no idea that the deliberate flooding of parts of the hull to achieve a list and raise the firing arc of a naval gun was a thing! Top video Drach!

[@davidbrennan660]

Passing the Channel over to the Gunner Officer.... “Your show Guns” Submarine Gun Missions (hit and run raids) on the Italian Coast during WWII are worth checking out the Memoirs from the Captain of the Unbroken tell of much such Skullduggery.... all marked on the Boat’s Jolly Roger of course.

[@crichtonbruce4329]

A wonderful video Sir! (or should I say "Yet another..) You constantly amaze me with your knowledge , and the excellence of your presentation.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

I think it would be good to discuss the lessons learned at Tarawa. Prewar doctrine vs results and subsequent changes.

[@RCAvhstape]

Sherrod's book on Tarawa is a good read.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

@@RCAvhstape try United States Marine Corps in WWII. It starts with Wake Island.

[@AdamMGTF]

@28:30. I've been to point du hoc twice. The guns weren't actually there. But the size of the craters 60 years later was mind boggling

[@absalomdraconis]

Let us all hold a moment for those poor snipers that got counter-sniped by cannons.

[@georgewnewman3201]

I don't know, He'd be just as dead if counter-sniped by a 81 mm mortar.

[@dylantowers9367]

Heck, even being counter-sniped by a 40mm anti-aircraft autocannon would suck. As one poor German sniper discovered during the 3rd battle of Narvik.

[@bthsr7113]

It was probably quick and they were fighting for the nazzzis, so who gives a $#it?

[@corypharr4572]

“Temper, Wisconsin.” USS Duncan (DDR-874) to USS Wisconsin (BB-64) after the latter fired a full main gun salvo in response to a 155mm NK shore battery that had managed to score a superficial hit on Whiskey. It went...poorly for the NK cannon cockers.

[@maryholder3795]

Wisconsin replied " But they started it".

[@MartinCHorowitz]

You should have mentioned the Use of Soviet Ships to slow Barbarossa near ports, One of the bright spots for the soviets in the early part of the invasion, also the use of Naval gun support to blunt the German counter attack at Anzio, which influenced to shore bombardment strategy at Normandy.

[@and15re1]

What better way to celebrate my birthday than with a Drach video :D

[@the_uglysteve6933]

Happy birthday

[@isaaclao2380]

Hbd to you

[@zachmedrano4569]

Happy birthday

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Happy birthday 🎉

[@steriskyline4470]

Happy birthday!

[@huskergator9479]

Dear Drach - Please consider a video about the shore bombarding monitors, as well as the converted landing craft you mentioned at the very end of this excellent video. Thank you so much!!

[@CAUSELESSREBEL]

In WW II my father was in the field artillery. His Div landed soon after DDay. At first he command a battery of 105 mm howitzers. He moved up to command an artillery regiment. That consisted of 3 batteries of 105s and one of 155 mm howitzers. The div had 2 batteries of 8 pinch howitzers and one of 8 in guns. Dad said those 12cguns were an enormous pain to move around. Came in handy at Metz though

[@MultiZirkon]

This beats TV-documentaries so thoroughly!...

[@jimtalbott9535]

“Demoralization” - no doubt, that’s an effective role. Just ask the Iraqi soldiers who surrendered to a drone from the USS Missouri.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

Like Dieppe, Tarawa taught some costly lessons. Pre world War II Marine Corps and Naval amphibious doctrine envisioned point blank flat trajectory high velocity artillery fire from ships to knock out Island or beach fortifications. It was determined after the landings in particular at Betio that black trajectory fire from even a battleship could not necessarily destroy Japanese Beach fortifications. Duplicate structures were built in Hawaiian Islands and testing was done using Naval gunfire and it was found that high trajectory fire could penetrate the roof of their fortification while flash trajectory could not penetrate their walls. the walls of non-concrete bunkers were made with coconut logs two rows secured with steel spikes connecting the two rows. They then filled the gap between the logs with sand and piled up sand around the outside against the wall. This stood up very well to Naval gun fire.

[@petersouthernboy6327]

The LSM(R) were USN Medium Landing Ships equipped with *continuously loaded* 5 inch spin stabilized rocket launchers. They were used to great effect in the Pacific theater island campaigns, and the volume and DENSITY of the fire support was quite effective from 1944 onwards. It is often stated that General Mitsuru Ushijima did not contest the American landings on Okinawa *at the beach* in part due to these rocket barrages.

[@hisdadjames4876]

Superb effort, Drach, to explain and illuminate a relatively neglected facet of naval warfare. Thx. 👏👏👏

[@nunyabeeswax9463]

2nd loader on a 3inch 50 and boat coxswain of a LCVP here. Then I entered the fun world of electronic warfare. BTW. I could of sank my ship once. It was a total fluke.

[@66WDB]

The effect of the Missouri and Wisconsin in 1991 was certainly of the morale sort, with the famous pictures of Iraqis attempting to surrender to the US drones. They were smart enough to recognize that where the drones were, that one ton projectiles were soon to follow.

[@Staghound]

great video as always Drach but I feel as though you skipped over one of the biggest advantages to a ship conducting the artillery's job; They can move! and not slowly either, by the time you've set up something like a 155mm Long Tom, which does take quite some time and fired a few rounds, the enemy artillery is going to start zeroing in on your location and you are going to come under more and more accurate counter battery attack so either you need to begin the lengthy process of packing down and moving or attempt to locate the enemy artillery and eliminate it, obviously during which time you aren't supporting your troops and you still may be eliminated. If you start recieving accurate indirect fire at sea you can simply sail 500m in a different direction and have them start the whole process of acquiring your position again whilst you still have theirs. Also naval gunners are pretty good at firing on the move so i'd imagine you can simply sail in circles for hours being very hard to hit. As well it allows for quick response artillery, maybe you've secured your own zone but 20 miles further up the coast they could do with some help you can simply power up the engines and get down there and there's no need to pack down/set up either, once you in range you can begin blasting away!