The Drydock - Episode 153

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:47 - Beards in the navy and WW1

00:05:07 - Which ship would you raise from the depths?

00:08:44 - If Glorious had been sailing with her standard compliment of aircraft, do you believe she would have stood a chance against the Scharnhorsts if she had spotted them closing in time? At least enough to get away.

00:12:07 - What is the best layout for the main armament for a capital ship?

00:16:44 - HMS Belleisle target practice

00:21:32 - Any word on your trip to America?

00:22:37 - Biggest sub killers in convoy operations?

00:24:50 - How were US Army ships/boats used during WW2?

00:27:23 - Why the Allies won and the Axis lost?

00:33:48 - Refinement of radar fidelity in WW2

00:36:52 - How was the royal navy organised at the start of WW2 and how did it differ from WW1?

00:39:55 - WW2 carrier based aircraft vs land based aircraft?

00:47:35 - Role of Malta and comparison to Gibraltar?

00:50:54 - Rotary cannon in WW2?

00:55:23 - How were main battery guns on battleships cleaned?

00:57:11 - Are submarines itegrated or seperate to the rest of the navy?

01:02:16 - Project CADILLAC

01:07:47 - Tanaka at Leyte Gulf?

01:10:34 - KW45 and KW50 warships

01:12:51 - During WWII was it possible for aircraft to carry rockets with a warhead that could badly damage or sink a capital ship?

01:16:31 - 'Crash boats'

01:22:59 - 'Chaff' at sea

01:27:58 - Warships the US built for other countries in the early 20th century

01:33:20 - How did navies decide on the number of screws in their naval designs, and why did some choose to use the triple screw layout?

01:38:35 - How long were ex-German WW1 ships kept operational?

01:46:44 - Iowa-class and nuclear shells?

01:49:03 - Why did the Germans not seek outside technical help in building up their navy in the 1930's?

01:50:00 - Why the code name USS Robin for HMS Victorious?

01:55:46 - The Polish government seemed to know by the 1930s that it faced imminent threats from the Soviet Union or the Germans, did the Polish ever have plans for a 1940s navy that involved heavy surface units or capital ships?

01:57:34 - In the movie "Master and Commander" they make a big deal about American design of the enemy ship. Is this grounded in anything? Were there American advances in shipbuilding at that time that would have impressed someone in the Royal Navy?

02:01:01 - Which WW2 capital ship had the best torpedo defense system?

02:12:39 - Ships carrying small torpedoes for their own torpedo boats

02:17:41 - Why did ironclad battleship gun calibre decrease towards the end of the 19th Century?

02:21:38 - In 1938-39 how did the French navy prepare for war with Germany and Italy?

02:25:37 - SHP, IHP, BHP, what?

02:29:45 - WW2 fleet balances with more construction capacity?

02:36:30 - Boatswain, coxswain, fill-in-the-blank swain... What the fill-in-the-blank is a swain?

02:39:42 - In the WWII era, at what ranges were the primary and secondary battleship batteries able to shift focus from just trying to hit the enemy ship to targeting specific components of the enemy ship?

00:43:48 - Who made up an average bridge watch on a warship and who was on the bridge during general quarters. And where did they put them all!

02:47:43 - Plan Orange and fleet oilers

02:53:06 - New York class and submarines

02:57:16 - What were the limitations of naval communications in WWI?

03:01:47 - Postal system in the Age of Sail?

03:04:26 - Could Amagi have been salvaged?

03:06:14 - Why were convoys resisted in WW1?

03:11:26 - How much emphasis was placed on training in personal close combat for sailors in the age of sail? And was there any PT as in modern navies, or did the hard work take care of that?

03:15:14 - How does ships machinery and armour etc cope with the ship flexing?

03:17:56 - US Armoured Cruisers

03:24:46 - Who sank more tonnage in WW1: Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière of U 35 or the entire Royal Navy?

03:26:52 - HMS Refit and Repair. Did Renown and Repulse deserve their reputation for unreliability?

03:29:03 - German WW2 decoys for U-boats?

03:32:26 - How many Allied ships were put out of action or sunk escorting the Mediterranean Convoys?

03:35:09 - How effective do you think aircraft carriers would have been in a hypothetical Anglo-American war of the late 20s/ early 30s?

03:39:28 - Was there any contemporary opposition to deploying the Invincible and Indefatigable classes of battlecruiser into the battlecruiser squadrons of the Grand Fleet, where they would reasonably be expected to encounter German battlecruisers?

03:47:57 - Burial at sea

03:50:51 - Was the sinking of the RMS Lusitania a legal act and was it justified?

03:59:33 - Why not more mines and subs between Savo and Guadalcanal?

[Drachinifel]

04:02:26 - Why did no-one spot South Dakota's circuit problems before it went out to fight Kirishima?

04:06:48 - Why the Hancock/Ticonderoga name swap?

04:08:47 - The West Africa Squadron

04:16:30 - Rules and procedures surrounding a ship striking its colors in the WW2 era?

04:20:10 - Surprising technology of the Regia Marina

04:21:51 - In the Age of Sail, how long could cannon last (assuming it hadn't become obsolete)?

04:24:57 - Before radar what sort of fire control did WWII DDs have?

04:26:25 - What was the process and mechanisms used to load the main battery guns of capital ships of the late 19th and early 20th century?

04:30:38 - Warship scrap value

04:34:06 - Improvements to Iowa-class battlesiphs #5 and #6?

04:37:02 - What was the lightest armored and/or lowest displacement ship that carried a dreadnought gun (12 inch/45 caliber or larger)?

04:38:20 - Submarine vulnerability to naval shells

04:41:12 - German I-400 type submarine?

04:43:57 - Golden BB vs Slow Death for capital ships?

04:48:44 - X-Craft exploits

04:51:38 - Divers and damaged ships at sea

04:55:12 - Atlantic Wall and secret bases

05:00:09 - When does an oared ship become a galley?

05:03:39 - Type 89 AA gun

05:07:41 - Plotting rooms in the Grand Fleet?

05:10:10 - If armour won over gunnery

05:13:33 - Bath Iron Works

05:14:01 - Burning Questions about Bad Coal

05:20:42 - Submarine bow shape vs Ship bow shape

05:25:25 - Building battleship guns

05:32:06 - Axis codebreakers

05:35:53 - Was there ever a ship design with an all-aft main battery?

05:37:11 - Was Sovereign of the Seas worth it?

05:40:26 - How were heavy parts of a ship taken to the slipway for installation?

05:42:43 - Why did people listen to Mahan?

05:47:43 - Carriers in storms

05:50:41 - Alternative armamament for the Lion class?

05:56:47 - How in the age of sail were orders relayed inside of ship's during battle?

05:59:25 - If the Mark 14's issues were mostly fixed prior to the attack on pearl harbor, how effective of a weapon could it have been? Could submarine warfare actually have made a noticeable difference?

06:02:12 - How did the torpedo bomber disaster at Midway affect US doctrinal attitude towards torpedo bombing for the remainder of the war?

06:04:37 - How different do you think the naval battle of Guadalcanal would have gone had Admiral Scott maintained command of the American task force, given his demonstrated capacity to better manage the ships and take advantage of radar?

06:07:48 - Channel Admin / 250k subs competition

[ZozoRage]

Honestly. The thing I appreciate the most about Drach, is the willingness to say he isn't an expert, yet still goes to the fullest to give you correct and extensive information. As well as recognising that other experts who differ in opinion are just as credible, but just see things from a different perspective

[raigarmullerson]

Me: "I wish Drachinifel would upload longer videos"
Drachinifel: "Uploads a 6 hour video"
Me:"Well that escalated quickly"

[ThiccDaddy]

Spending half of my 4th of July listening to a British man talk about warships. I love the internet.

[animal]

6 hours for a day that's going to last 12 hrs. I'm going to have a great day listening to today's dry dock.

[washingtonradio]

My take on the sinking of the (HMS) Lusitania is it was a legal target because of the Admiralty orders requiring merchant ships to attack any surfaced U-boot by ramming or any other means available. This converts all British merchant men into warships, thus legal targets. This was not well known at the time.

Also, I take the view that ANY ammunition on a civilian ship makes it a legitimate target for sinking without warning. It was well known at the time because of the filing of supplementary manifests after the ships sailed. This happened with the Lusitania.

[maxinelouchis]

One place you should consider visiting is Vicksburg, Mississippi. There is a Union ironclad, the Cairo, which has been raised for the river and set up in a very easy to access display. The size of this ship is surprising.

[flattblackcopper]

Thanks Drach for making a July 4th long weekend better with a 6 hour drydock, my mans a machine

[theMoerster]

I grew a full beard just while listening to this Drydock

[WildBillCox]

Tiny Tim. I talked with an Avenger pilot who told me about firing one at a dockside warehouse cluster. The missile MISSED the harbor, striking the hill behind it. The hill slid down and wrecked the backs of the warehouses.

[Gepedrglass]

These 6 hours, plus the 5 hours I haven't watched from the last patreon drydock, means it's gonna be a good day.

[bjarkih]

I laughed out loud about the Johnston ensuring that Yamato stays down :)

[nichtvorhanden]

More than 6h of Drydock. Thanks for this great effort Drach.

[erikgranqvist]

The hours of content every month - how do you manage to do it? Very impressive!

[davidharner]

A significant portion of available U.S. commercial fast oilers (subsidised by USN) were converted to Sangamon class carriers.

[Meatwadsan]

Thanks Drach! Can't wait for your interview with the marine engineer!

[MA]

Old Vulcan crewman here.
You could put something like an m163 or m167 turret on a ship but like Drac said ammo consumption becomes an issue. Even firing in 60 round burst these things go through a lot of ammunition. The range is so limited that you'd really be better off putting some 40s on instead.

It also occurs to me that these are electrically primed so power consumption might be an issue

[WDB]

Regarding bituminous or anthracite coal in ships' boilers. In the US Civil War it appears that blockade runners ran most efficiently on bituminous coal. Some of them were captured and sent back out by the Union Navy to enforce the blockade. Coaling stations kept a separate stash of bituminous coal just for these ships, as opposed to the anthracite that their own ships used. I do not know what about their boilers made them use bituminous coal better than the normally superior anthracite.

[CharlesStearman]

Regarding the wearing out of age-of-sail cannons, I remember something I read in a novel (I think it may have been one of the Hornblower books) regarding the repair of a gun in which the touchhole had become enlarged by the hot gasses escaping though it when the gun was fired (this would gradually erode the metal around it). It was repaired using a conical plug with a new touch-hole drilled in it, which was fitted into the old touchhole from the inside and then securely seated by firing the gun a few times with a reduced charge.

[AtomicBabel]

6 hours of Drach!!! A terrific way to top this off is with fireworks!
Happy Independence Day!