The Drydock - Episode 077

00:00:18 - Channel Admin and Corrections

00:03:20 - How exactly does one accidentally signal that they're under attack?

00:06:18 - Did the gunner in HMS Malaya eat his birthday cake after all was settled and done?

00:07:46 - What made Kamchatka's crew so bad?

00:12:21 - When did the Royal Navy become, well, the Royal Navy?

00:18:25 - How advanced were the Japanese on radar compared to Germany?

00:21:41 - The Laconia incident. Allies right or wrong?

00:30:41 - Why wasn't Tirpitz attacked by Allied battleships in port?

00:34:19 - During the age of sail, were the various navies; UK, French, Spanish, US, etc., all using the same caliber guns?

00:37:47 - Mers-El-Kebir style incident in the Suez Crisis?

00:44:31 - How would the WW1 to WW2 development of cruisers deviate from the historical designs without the restrictions imposed by the Washington and London Treaty's?

00:51:31 - How did British intercepted and more importantly, decoded, orders for General Belgrano and why did they admit that they were able to do so?

00:55:23 - Was Operation Rheinübung a good idea?

00:59:18 - Did B-17's ever hit a moving ship at sea?

[mattblom]

I did not know of this Laconia incident previous to today's Drydock. It really pissed me off and I commend Drach on taking an unequivocal stand. That's utter bull excrement.

[VintageCarHistory]

The Laconia incident came up at the Nuremberg trials. Doenitz was charged with various conspiracies, waging a war of aggression and crimes against the laws of war. From the stand, Doenitz testified that his orders not to rescue survivors that he issued right after the Laconia incident was a result of said incident and therefor fully justifiable. His attorney, Otto Kranzbuehler, was able to get Admiral Nimitz to admit that there were standing orders in the US Navy submarine service nearly identical to the Grossadmiral's. The US government never confirmed or denied the Laconia incident at the trials and therefor Doenitz was found guilty of violating the Second London Naval Treaty and thus guilty of crimes against the laws of war. However, no sentence was passed for this specific charge.

[kendramalm]

Kamchatka's problem was that they got serf farmers when they were looking for surf charmers!

[davidford]

12:29 "well that's an odd question for a talking train"


That made me laugh more than it probably should have

[darrellsmith]

Just found out that by supporting Drachinifel for a measly $5/mo. on Patreon I get access to Drydock episodes a day early. I'm now a time traveler..

[CSSVirginia]

30-06:. .30 is it's caliber in "standard" or imperial measure. 06 denotes it was adopted by the US army in 1906. If anyone is interested.

[bigblue]

Just a quick note for those who have not seen it yet. One of the USN's new carriers is to be named USS Doris Miller after the black American sailor who was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions at Pearl Harbour.

[fabianzimmermann]

I start to believe, that the Kamchatka was Seymours mentor for sending signals.

[JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

One of the biggest problems for the Bismark, Vice-Admiral Günther Lütjens prolific use of his radio. He did not realize the difference between radar signals being picked up by the Metox assuming they were equipped with that or something similar, did not indicate they were at the range approaching detection values. He assumed since they were detecting radar signals they were being tracked. There were a few instances of the trailing cruisers having lost radar contact, but Vice-Admiral Lütjens did not realize this.

[arb]

.30-06 is pronounced " thirty-ought-six". Just FYI. Love the videos.

[CharlesStearman]

Regarding incorrect signals, there is also the possibility of the sending and receiving ships using different versions of the code book. According to the book "The Fleet That Had to Die" by Richard Hough, the Russian navy had been issued with a new signal book shortly before the 2nd Pacific Squadron departed. During an exercise which Rozhestvensky held while it was at Madagascar, a signal to a group of destroyers to 'form line abreast' resulted in them scattering in all directions, and the subsequent post-mortem found most of them were still using the old signal book.

[MultiZirkon]

R.M.S. Laconia: I am so glad Drach not in any way condone the American pilots in this incident. I have known the story for some years, and it makes my blood pressure peak so badly that I just have to skip through parts of the story here, to listen to how Drach is telling the story at a later time...

[JediKnight]

Regarding cannonball size/weight issues. During the Battle of Gettysburg of the American Civil War, one of the Union Army primary pieces of field artillery was the 10 pdr Parrott rifle bored in 2.9". However, because the 3" 10-pdr was being introduced, some batteries received part of their ammunition in 3" shot, instead of 2.9".

[admiraltiberius]

Fantastic video Drach, always love your passion and the care you put into your videos.
Btw rain in England??
Huh that is very weird and totally out of the norm.
The Laconia incident is one of those things that makes the debate of good, evil in WW2 very much a black, grey and white subject. It absolutely chills the blood.

[thenneklkt]

Asking the big questions.

"Did he get that cake tho?"

[phluphie]

My only disagreement w/ Drach re: the Laconia is that it doesn't seem like a black mark for the Allies. But rather a black mark for the US Army Air Corps. Or maybe that specific unit.

[John-ruud]

Re Kamchatka, it is very common that "you see what you expect to see." At Pearl Harbor the Japanese planes were not initially identified as hostile (until they started strafing and bombing) in part because the U.S. symbol was a red ball in a white star in a blue ball. But when the Enterprise planes returned that evening they were identified as hostile and shot at, again in part because of the markings.

[rmod]

Drach: Thirty-Zero-Six
Freeaboos: *triggered*

[joshthomas-moore]

So i think Drach's next rantish video will be the laconia incident

[adamtruong]

The pilot who attacked U-156 and the captain that ordered such a dastardly action don't even deserve sarcasm, that's how awful their actions were.
If I were in a position of high authority and I was informed of this, I would make a bee line for everyone responsible for the war crime, barge through literally anything in my way, confront them with me grabbing them by the collar, put the consequences of their actions into their faces, personally chose their punishments, counter everything that they have to defend themselves, and I would make sure that none of them get awarded or get away with it myself with the help of trusted comrades, and ONLY them.
The captain that started this rescue I will give all the respect I can, he's more human than the some people above his position.

So yeah the Allies and Axis both had good and evil people within their ranks.