The Drydock - Episode 246

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@ww2airbornereeanactor224]

What battleship had the biggest propeller

[@lukemagro6060]

What would a super Yamato look like

[@craigfazekas3923]

What's with my USS PATOKA Rum Ration ? I want it- I want it now !! kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaOudqunm7KXa6s

[@sharlin648]

RE The AA fire one at the end,, wasn't the Pom-Pom still an inferior weapon to the Bofors and sure the barrel count is higher, the gun is worse.

[@hughgordon6435]

How many of the primary gun turrets on a Royal Navy battleship were manned by marines? And why?

[@shadowfox8748]

…… I’m somehow falling behind in dry docks again. I’m half way through like … 234 I think. Drach is a beast with content. Love your work

[@Hetstaine]

Yep, playing catch up as well!

[@dougjb7848]

I’ve never been close to current. Which is pretty awesome because I can select pretty much any random past episode and hear something new.

[@jasondiaz8431]

Im a pump on the Titanic with Drachs content.

[@shadowfox8748]

Depending on what you call caught up I’ve been caught up with the dry docks once … did 1-100 over about 3 months then slowly caught up when 130 or something was current. Stayed fairly up to date till about 170 or so. Maybe 190. Now if you add in the live dry docks … I’ll catch up if drach takes 6 months off

[@motorcop555]

In the same boat. Pun intended

[@mattreganowski8092]

Not sure why I love Drach's videos as much as I do but I do. I've always been fascinated by warships and their armament, and Drach has a relaxing presentation, but I can listen to his videos ALL DAY!!😧😧😄😄👍👍

[@joseph.d5187]

Thanks! I never had an interest in warships. Your vocal tone and knowledge makes it so interesting. Have a rum ration on your trip from me! : }

[@jonathanpersson1205]

Two of my fathers uncles were in the Wellinton Rifles who attacked and took Chinook Bair. One was killed and the other was shot through the neck but survived. The one who was killed was probably the youngest New Zealander killed at Gallipoli he gave a false age when enlisting and was only 17 when killed. The fact that this ridge was lost the next day was a sore point with the Kiwis who had suffered so much to take it.

[@seanmalloy7249]

1:03:00 -- I remember an article about the Avalon Hill boardgame "Advanced Squad Leader", where they quoted from interview with a German soldier from WWII who'd fought against the Russians, British, and Americans, commenting on the tactics of the various countries -- the Russians tended to be very rigid in their tactics, not adapting to changes in the flow of the battle; the British were more flexible, but still tended to follow the predetermined battle plan even when situations had changed to make it less effective; and the Americans, well, it was hard to judge what tactics the Americans used, because it was so hard to see through all of the explosions from the artillery. The Americans seem to have gone all in on the 'more dakka' design philosophy wherever possible.

[@tonyjanney1654]

I don’t know the source, but I remember an anecdote about a Russian army officer, who “advised” North Koreans, North Vietnamese, Warsaw Pact nations and the Iraqis through the cold war. He was asked for his analysis of American combat doctrine. He responded that it really it didn’t matter since the Americans didn’t seem to be particularly interested in following their own philosophies.

[@kanrakucheese]

And when they broke with that doctrine for Rolling Thunder, it resulted in defeat.

[@sugarnads]

Germans: a hail of machinegun fire British: accurate fast rifle fire Americans: how much artillery? Yes.

[@SSSeTEDS]

The US had the Erie class of gun boats which were similar to the Dutch Flores. They were newer, larger and faster in comparison and as a result more versatile. Only built two. Erie would be sunk early by U-boat while acting as an escort. Charleston was active as an escort ship and for shore bombardment in the Alaska theater. They were nearly identical except for armor and heavy guns to the Treasury Class cutters which were perhaps the most successful US naval ships of the mid-1930s. Their substantial size made them excellent in arctic waters and upgradable. They had the higherst U-boat per ship kill rate of any class in US service. They were kept in Coast Guard service into the late-1980s.

[@JevansUK]

Missing factor in the case of Prinz Eugen and Bismarck, is that PE was desperately in need for refuel and when she finds the tanker she was down to a few hundred tons of fuel. If she stays with Bismarck she going to limiting Bismarck's pace as they need to save fuel so she potentially is as far ahead of the home fleet and refueling with CS1 still in contact is an impossibility so the really was no choice to release PE

[@mpetersen6]

Nice to have a question responded to 👍

[@misterflibble6601]

Thank you, Drach for using oriented instead or orien-TA-ted.

[@dougjb7848]

All and all, this was an excellent episode, irregardless weather their were any errors in grammer or syntax.

[@gorbalsboy]

It was a very good drydock the whole spelling and pronunciation thing is ovirratted

[@LeCharles07]

@@dougjb7848 It's so fustrating when people get simple words wrong.

[@keab42]

9:40 So Starfleet is really dumb for keeping the whole ship's senior staff on the Bridge during battles.

[@sugarnads]

Hardly their dumbest move. Sending all the senior staff on away missions is beyond stupid😊

[@douglaswhite9777]

I really enjoy watching your program. I hope you were continuing for many years very informative to the past and for us to deal with the future we must know the past good luck wish you nothing but the best keep up the good work love your programming God bless and protect you and yours long live the republic.

[@mattreganowski8092]

😀😀👍👍Thanks!

[@philoaviaticus]

I too like Naval history. Three of my ancestors were US Navy, one a fighting Seabee. I am a retired AF flight surgeon.

[@jayg1438]

You are going to love this channel. Thanks for your family's service.

[@808bigisland]

flight surgeon? You sure it's not called fight surgeon?

[@jayg1438]

@@808bigisland The role is actually called Flight Surgeon. My understanding is they are doctors/surgeons flown into hot spots as needed.

[@scootergsp]

Drach, some weird audio stuttering start occurring around the 55:00-ish mark. Nothing horrible, but thought you might want to look into it. Great video as always.

[@LeCharles07]

I heard it too and was about to comment. I think it's a problem with the compression because it didn't sound like it was a problem with the mic.

[@andrewhudgins9564]

Same thought it was my headphones.

[@Drachinifel]

I think it was caused by a supposed audio improvement software from nvidia nominating itself as a primary microphone.

[@benwilson6145]

Probably not wise to put torpedos on the Flower Class. Lack of potential Targets. The sea would destroy them in the Winter gales. I suspect the Italian vessels would nor fare well in a winter storm in the North Atlantic.

[@88porpoise]

45:30 It is pretty broad thing with Nazi Germany, western countries being heavily.incested in overstating its military capabilities. It seems to boil down to four things (with the exact combination varying on a case by case basis): 1) Look how awesome they were, no wonder we got our butts kicked for a couple years. 2) Look how awesome their tanks and ships and weapons etc, so much better than ours. But we won with inferior weapons so we must be that much better than the Germans. 3) Look how awesome those Germans and their weapons were in WWII, dont you want them on our side in WWIII? 4) Senior German officers having a massive influence on the official post-war histories. Not sure how much it applies to the naval side, but Halder, Mannstein, etc basically wrote the history of the Eastern Front to amount to "see how awesome we were, we only lost because of Hitler".

[@benwilson6145]

.incested ???

[@seetengtan6746]

16:00 They are now only discovering significant structural cracking issues with the Independence class LCS trimarans. It would appear that once you grow catamarans and trimarans beyond the size of light corvettes and patrol boats, you will need very heavy strength support structures connecting the the two hulls or large outriggers.

[@JP-th8sq]

At 49:39, LiDAR can only see through a tree canopy at insano amounts of pulses per square meter or foot. I actually just finished up a project where my forestry plots and cruising were put against a LiDAR scan of my universities forest.

[@SynchroScore]

The book _The Lost City of the Monkey God_ is about the search for the legendary "White City" in Honduras, and that included extensive LIDAR surveys to identify possible human constructions through the jungle canopy.

[@M.M.83-U]

00:15:57 what about light and/or escort carriers? The ton to cubic meter ratio is much more favorable. 00:23:33 nitpic: the Gabbiano class has indeed an official complement of seven 20 mm but in "only" five mounts, two twin 20x65 Breda and 3 single 20x70 Oerlikon or Scottin

[@johnbeyrau7611]

Regarding the question about the Standard Oil Tankers. The following is avalible on Abebooks: "Ships of the Esso Fleet in World War II" Several copies are listed..

[@gyrene_asea4133]

Also, the American Maritime Museum (Baltimore, MD ?) has a service desk with many of the records of U.S. Merchant Sailors "Seaman's Papers". If you contact them they will provide a copy of what they have, usually dates of sailing out on varied ships. My father was U.S. Merchantman, he was an A.B. at the outbreak of the war. Because he was rated and graduated from High School, he was allowed to attend the Merchant Officer's Course at New Haven, CT run by the U.S.C.G. Saved his life likely as he was in class from March 42 and didn't ship out until September 42, missing the "Happy Time" of the U-boats.

[@genericpersonx333]

00:28:39 - It seems that the US and Germany were the only WW II navies that embraced the submarine as an independent raider. Is it accurate to say everyone else was fixated on the fleet scout role ? Both Britain and the Soviet Union attempted to use submarines in the Baltic early in the war to ravage German shipping, but they ran up against the fact the Kriegsmarine had learned hard lessons from the Great War and really doubled down on effective ASW operations in the region. It is often forgotten Germany actually had convoy systems in place before Britain did in the Great War because British submarines so quickly ravaged German shipping in the Baltic and North Sea. Desiring NOT to repeat that pain, the Kriegsmarine exploited its near-absolute control of the entrances to the Baltic at both ends to basically make it impossible for significant numbers of enemy submarines to break in. Extensive minefields limited access to start with and a large fleet of ASW escorts with excellent hydrophones made it hard for those that did to operate long before they were caught. With control of the coasts and air, it was also effectively impossible for submarines to surface in the Baltic without someone on the Axis side seeing them quickly. Add in that much German shipping was being done on neutral Swedish ships as well, it became very cost-ineffective for submarines to sortie in the Baltic. So it was not for want of desire that the Red Navy and Royal Navy were not butchering the Fascists!

[@benwilson6145]

Perhaps look at the RN in the Mediterranean? There were no German ships in the Atlantic, so was a pointless task. The RN did attack German vessels on the Norwegian Coast including sinking German U Boats.

[@genericpersonx333]

@@benwilson6145 I am well aware the RN operated elsewhere. I just mention that the richest hunting ground for German merchant mariners was unusually well-protected, so the Royal Navy and Red Navy never could really flesh out their submarine kill counts.

[@benwilson6145]

@@genericpersonx333 Wasn't just well protected, it was almost non existent except for off Norway

[@renebatsch2555]

Townsends - KZbin 20 minutes ago. Food That Time Forgot: Ships Biscuits I'm going to watch it after Drydock

[@pwmiles56]

00:12:46 - 'Ladies, Gentlemen and members of the Royal Navy'? - there seem to be a lot of urban myths about this. "Gentlemen" didn't have to have titles, in fact the great majority didn't, but you generally knew who was one. One of Jane Austen's heroines, Anne in 'Persuasion', who is herself the daughter of a baronet, marries a Royal Navy captain. This possibly reflects Austen's feelings about the matter, since two of her brothers were naval officers. At any rate "Ladies, Gentlemen and officers of the Royal Navy" would seem to imply that naval officers weren't gentlemen, when many if not most actually were. (The slightly higher standing of Esquire was conferred by a military rank of Army captain or above, and equivalents, which in the Navy would be Lieutenant.)

[@jozg44]

Strictly, in terms of the feudal system, a gentleman was the lowest-ranking noble (as in, permitted to bear arms and have a familial coat of arms). Later it signified someone from a family who owned (but did not work) land, had the right to a coat of arms, then it became a small land/property owner whose ancestors had been freemen, and by the mid-18th century had generally phased into denoting someone from the propertied/landowning class (and upwards) with independent income and a literate and basically classical education. As Drachinifel says, the RN appointed its officers based on a combination of official merit and semi-official patronage, unlike the Army which, via the commission purchase system, basically ensured that all its officers had the status and means to be - at least - gentlemen. Naval officers could - and did - come from much more humble backgrounds and many were certainly not gentlemen in the technical sense of being from arms-bearing landowning families. Therefore the formal court address became "Ladies, Gentlemen and Officers of the Royal Navy" because, as commissioned officers, RN officers had the status and rights of gentlemen, but were not necessarily *actually* gentlemen. Of course even in the 'meritocratic' RN you went a lot further if you could 'pass for a gentleman' as well as 'pass for an officer'. That social divide lingered for a long time, right into WW2 with the common characterisation of the RN and its two reserve arms - RNR: Sailors pretending to be gentlemen. RNVR: Gentlemen pretending to be sailors. RN: Sailors and gentlemen (if in an RN wardroom) or 'Neither pretending to be both' if in a ship run by the 'Wavy Navies'... The 'it's a warning/punishment for the [something] mutiny' came along later as a post-hoc moral lesson and smacks of a 'fo'c'sle folktale' told to ensure new sailors weren't too in awe of the mighty officers on the quarterdeck. The same story attaches itself to why naval officers carry their sword at the trail (hung from the belt in slings and the scabbard carried in the left hand, rather than hooked onto the belt) - supposedly it's either a monarch-enforced sign of disgrace following a mutiny or an Admiralty edict so that officers couldn't draw their swords single-handed against a rating in a fit of pique after a (usually unspecified) officer did just that and inspired a mutiny. In fact wearing swords at the trail was a common fashion across the British services in the 18th/19th century, and had benefits for the RN - it was easier to climb into, sit in, and get out of a ship's boat when carrying a sword attached on slings, rather than rigidly hooked to your waist - so was 'fossilised' in the dress regulations. Various cavalry regiments also carry their swords at the trail for similar reasons - it doesn't get in the way so much when mounting or dismounting a horse.

[@stnylan]

My father, who served in RN all his working life, claimed RN officers couldn't be gentlemen because some officers broke their word to the Spithead mutineers and George III declaimed they were no gentlemen. I have never investigated the truth of this because I don't want that to be false, though I suspect it is, at the very least, poetic licence:)

[@camenbert5837]

The British upper class (gentry is the lower half of that, up to baronet, nobilty is above). The exact definition/qualification of gentry is unclear. Unlike, eg, the French where the line was clear and fixed (skint upper class couldn't work), it was always possible to drop down to yeoman/merchant/clergy/law and bob back up. Indeed for lesser gentry, working in a profession (again never absolutely defined) was not a problem. This probably explains the interest in signifiers, there was no absolute test other than carrying it off to the approval of one's community (and not smelling of dung), so everyone's social antenna had to be turned up to 11. This allowed a much more flexible elite, preventing a fossilised aristocracy, and most of the material for eng lit comedies for the last 500 years.

[@JevansUK]

My understanding of Modoc is that she was there during the Victorious air strike and was then stumbled upon by CS1 Norfolk give orders to engage but PoW declined being able to identify the ship as neutral.This is given in Suffolks log occiring just after midnight on the 25th may about an hour later PoW would briefly exchange fire with Bismarck. Modoc's top speed of 16 knot would make it virtually impossible for her to have been anywhere near Bismarck when the air search and force h coming in to the area happened.

[@sovietdominion]

The Flores class also worn out there barrels and they where replaced with similar weapons from a dutch cruiser

[@mflashhist500]

Do you have a rough itinerary yet for your Australian trip ?? Would love to come along and say hi ! 👍

[@ROBERTNABORNEY-f3k]

The Gabbianos could also switch over toi electric motors powered by batteries. "These ships were equipped with electric 'creep' motors with an endurance of 16 nautical miles (30 km; 18 mi) at 6 knots (11 km/h; 6.9 mph) for silent running while engaged in anti-submarine searches," A unique capability

[@BigPapaKaiser]

On the subject of catamarans, I and the other War Thudner connoisseurs can only say one thing: *W I R L B E L B A R G E*

[@ousou78]

That thing used to be broken but now there are so much more powerful boats it just became a good boat. Let's not forget the amazingly slow speed that will make you fall in sleep in big maps.

[@BleedingUranium]

I would LOVE a five minute guide on those wonderfully hilarious barges haha

[@BigPapaKaiser]

@@ousou78 it is still a *W I R L B E L B A R G E*. And the others are not.

[@dragontdc]

As for catamarans, I think a case could be made for their use as helicopter and vstol aircraft carriers. They might also make very good submarine tenders or even floating drydocks if one uses their heavy lift capabilities. If one were to consider using one as a dedicated combat vessel, I think vertical-launch missile systems would be much better than turrets and the double hulls could fit significantly more tubes than a conventional vessel.

[@borntoclimb7116]

Very interesting

[@plasmaburndeath]

anyone else hear audio breaking up during parts of this video or was it just me? but ty for the hard work Drach 🙂

[@Tuning3434]

I don't if anybody else has said this before, but your volume level on the intro music has been quite low for quite a while now. It always catches me offguard compared to the audiolevels used on other channels and ad breaks. Volume level of voice is fine though, but your intro's are great, so I feel like I am missing part of the experience.

[@BaseReality]

There is also a substantial amount of audio popping in this video. The section at 00:53:03 - The Battle of Chunuk Bair is probably the bit that has the worst. Not absolutely terrible but quite distracting.

[@sugarnads]

Nope. Its fine.

[@Trek001]

Another good drydock, Drach That being said, can you return to the previous set up for the mic as its producing an odd echo/groaning noise in the background

[@SCjunk]

Re war graves consider the wrecks of Aboukir Hogue and Cressy, sold by HMG to a Dutch company in 1954 then onto a German company broken up in 2011. Dare one say any complaint by HMG about grave despoilment is hypocracy.

[@benwilson6145]

The British Goverment also sold all the Merchant ships they owned as they were sunk, hundreds and they were often blown apart by explosives by the Salvage companies regardless of the bodies still onboard. Time for a Mea Culpa from the British Goverment!

[@sugarnads]

How many went down with those ships?

[@benwilson6145]

@@sugarnads At least 29000 on the British ships, plus Canadian, Norwegian, Swedish, Danes Dutch, Belgians, Indian, Australian, Kiwis and probably from all the Allied Nations.

[@SCjunk]

@@sugarnads 1459 but as it was a training squadron many killed were enlisted boys, and many of the men on board were older reservists who had been recalled to the colours for War service and therefore had family ashore.

[@jackvonkuehn9038]

Ladies and Gentleman covers literally every member of the human race. I think the very English definition of Gentleman is the most likely explanation

[@ROBERTNABORNEY-f3k]

AA Firepower - 1) 40mm wore more effective than the Two Pounder - so ido Befast's numbers make up for that? 2) Task Force 38 / 58 by late 1944 / 45 had more AA guns Than were mounted in the entire British Isles (General Sir Frederick Pile looked on enviously)

[@spudskie3907]

In a book whose title escapes me, the author believes that Swordfish from Victorious circled the Modoc, asked the cutter where the Bismarck was, and were told.

[@duwop544]

Ah, of course that beautiful submarine shown is Italian. Was wondering. They have style, don't they.

[@timengineman2nd714]

@ 0:37:49 One thing that the Prince Eugen could have done would assist the Bismark by taking her under "tow" basically providing steering via the towing cable which would have allowed the Bismark to go faster than she did, perhaps allowing her to get under air cover before the RN caught up with her... Not sure what that would have done since the RN had more than enough firepower to sink both ships, and against maneuvering high speed ships the Luftwaffe probably would have issues making much of an affect, other than making the RN Ships even lower on fuel after the ship to ship combat was over, due to the high speeds used to limit the damage received from the Luftwaffe.

[@benwilson6145]

The rudder was jammed, this would make the Bismarck sheer and not tow easily, the speed would have been no more than 5 knots, goodbye Price Eugen as well.

[@timengineman2nd714]

@@benwilson6145 They could have used the Prince Eugen off to one side to help counter this. If they could have worked up to 7.5 knots (or 10) that probably would have allowed the Bismark to get under air cover.

[@benwilson6145]

@@timengineman2nd714 I am left wondering if you have ever towed any vessels, I am pretty sure you haven't.

[@timengineman2nd714]

@@benwilson6145 Boats with another boat, one was an older inboard engined craft with a jammed ruder and my smaller boat was basically their rudder. Lake Michigan, so some "good sized" waves.

[@tomdolan9761]

One assumes the fighter cap of an Essex class would interfere with the radio controlled parent aircraft of a Fritz X.

[@georgewallis7802]

. .. might want to check the damage the old lady took from those bombs . . .

[@lexington476]

When you purchase a commission, who or what are you purchasing it from?

[@sovietdominion]

The goverment

[@pwmiles56]

The officer who had it before

[@mochiebellina8190]

The corrupt hierarchy

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

Usually from the officer who currently held it. It's useful to think of the sale of commissions as a kind of retirement plan. For example, if you purchased a lieutenantcy ( and assuming that there were no wars to thin out the ranks a liitle and let you earn a promotion) , then after about ten years or so you might be able to purchase a captaincy (which naturally cost more). Repeat every 10 years or so and by the time you retire, you might þe a colonel with a nice little nest egg. Of course, some damned frenchman might blow your head off in the low countries while you're still a lieutenant; then bang goes your retirement in Leamington.

[@ROBERTNABORNEY-f3k]

Not worth having a fighter seaplane - Tell that to Rufe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakajima_A6M2-N and Rex en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kawanishi_N1K#See_also. The IJN made good use of them and the REX could take on the F4U and F6F with the odds even

[@tulsatrash]

Ah another Drydock.

[@thehandoftheking3314]

12:46 when I was in the Army we used to joke it was because the Navy barely rate as people

[@davidbirt8486]

whilst the pong goes where you go to, hence pongos❤

[@thehandoftheking3314]

@@davidbirt8486 always knew the Skate couldn't stand the smell of hard work. But you know what, after 3 weeks in a maggot I'm astounded we ever snuck up on anybody.

[@davidbirt8486]

@@thehandoftheking3314 Sounds kinky.............

[@thehandoftheking3314]

@@davidbirt8486 🤣 the only kinks are in the Gimpy

[@HMSVanguard46]

How are some of you guys from a day ago?

[@neilscotter5191]

I think the patreons get the vid a bit earlier.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

Videos are released to Patreon before being released KZbin.

[@camenbert5837]

They get it the same time as the rest of us, they just get to travel in time...

[@bigsarge2085]

✌

[@chrisangus7078]

"Officer's of the royal navy are not gentle men you are pigs "queen Ann after admiral Bryn execution another reason why Officer's on land stay sat when toast the crown always like these legends lol

[@salty4496]

:)

[@merlinwizard1000]

124th, 8 May 2023

[@silas4lagoon776]

Third.

[@LeCharles07]

69th, come at me.

[@ROBERTNABORNEY-f3k]

Flores and Soemba had two rangefinders, one over the bridge and the other aft. Flores mounted a 2-pounder pom-pom and 4 20mm Hotchkiss ans Soemba 8 20mm Oerlikon in addition to their main batteries in WW2, a respectable AA battery for their size en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flores-class_gunboat