The Drydock - Episode 232 (Part 1)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:30 - Why did breech-loading take so long to transistion from small arms to ships guns?

00:05:14 - What do you consider the most promising naval project sunk by admirals (or possibly generals from other branches) trying to get those resources for their own pet projects?

00:10:05 - John Jellicoe and his burshes with death

00:16:05 - Ancient curved stern-posts?

00:20:33 - CORRECTION TO PREVIOUS DRYDOCK - Ancient building techniques

00:22:36 - What typically happens to a ship and its crew when it is interned by a neutral power, such as the Imperial Russian cruiser Aurora when it arrived in U.S.-controlled Manila following the Battle of Tsushima?

00:27:31 - What's on the main mast of a WW1 German battleship/cruiser?

00:29:47 - New battleship penetration tables by Bill Jurens

00:37:07 - In the eras when visual sighting were dominant for spotting and gunnery, could a crafty time-travelling captain make use of Vantablack in any creative ways for concealment or camouflage?

00:40:45 - Small or unusual items with an impressive feat or quite the story?

00:44:02 - How well would aircraft from various nations operate on foreign carriers for example Japanese aircraft operating from U.S carriers and so on?

00:48:10 - Naval wargame of Operation Sealion?

00:50:54 - Movable dockyard cranes?

00:55:37 - Was Penang in then-occupied Malaya the only port in World War Two shared by all three major Axis navies i.e. the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Kriegsmarine and the Regia Marina?

00:57:18 - Did navies ever consciously design destroyers/cruisers/battleships to look similar to each other to confuse visual identification?

01:01:39 - What happened that changed the relationship between France and England?

01:09:49 - In the early Cold War would it have made sense to keep one of the Oakland subclass of the Atlanta class in USN service to serve as a floating test bed for new weapons development?

01:12:45 - How much time would be needed to prepare Pearl Harbour for attack?

01:17:16 - What difference could high speed cargo ships make in WW1 and WW2?

01:21:51 - Fleet organization over time

01:28:30 - Do you believe that alternate history has a place in the historical world with the understanding its more of a bridge to expand the historical community or should be snuffed out?

01:41:05 - Sails going one way, flags another?

01:45:14 - Broadside on and citadel penetration?

01:50:38 - Besides code breaking, did the American and British military conduct any sort of intelligence gathering in Japan pre WW2?

01:53:24 - What is your favorite battle of the Anglo Dutch wars?

01:54:39 - Yamato AA shells?

01:59:19 - Tell us about Maurice Thompson?

02:07:30 - Ratio of crew lost per merchant sunk in WW2?

02:11:33 - In storms, how much is the speed loss and how does it affect ships of different sizes?

02:17:29 - Range in WW1/WW2?

02:22:42 - Many WWI-era battleships had secondary batteries housed in casements. Experience showed that the casements were often flooded and inoperable in a seaway. The designers were smart, so what unexpected factor led them to adopt this design approach?

02:27:21 - What do we know of the Chola invasion of Srivijaya in 1025 and the shape of Naval Warfare in the far east before the arrival of Europeans?

02:30:44 - Just how much could a crew do to repair an age of sail frigate by putting ashore, say in South America and cutting down trees and such?

02:34:02 - If Japan had agreed to the 2nd London Naval Treaty, what do you think a treaty compliant Japanese battleship design would have looked like?

02:37:52 - Film of Admiral Nelson?

02:41:26 - Who do you think put more post-war effort in attempting to white-wash some of their more questionable wartime decisions, Admiral Beatty or Admiral Halsey?

02:45:16 - If the Interwar navies had access to modern Diesel engines (50-55 % brake efficiency and 30-100 W/kg depending on size), would these have been a workable alternative to steam turbines and if so for what ship classes?

02:48:49 - What would the likely outcome have been if the Germans had stood and fought in the action off Lofoten?

02:53:26 - Unusual tactics to counter unusual weapons?

02:58:07 - Could you talk a little more about the incident where 6th Battle Squadron (with US battlewagons) nearly led the Grand Fleet into battle against the High Seas Fleet in WWI?

[shooter]

Your discussion of "vanta black" resonates with me. I painted my Cessna 172 in a blue used by USAF for vehicles in the past. I did paint some broad, yellow bands on the wings. Many people thought this a variation of "Blue Angels" colors. Tower controllers LOVED IT! I often received compliments from tower guys that they were able to see me at far greater distances than typical, "white with trim color" machines.

[roberthilton]

Drach, for your 'visual identification' question response, I'm surprised there was no mention of night recognition issues that the IJN had with recognizing USS Washington and South Dakota at the second night Battle of Guadalcanal. The INJ lookouts identified the two battleships as 'cruisers' until they trained searchlights on South Dakota, and a lookout on Atago identified Washington as a battleship just before she fired on the Kirishima.

[marlinstout]

RE one nation's planes landing on another's carriers. In a book I read about USS Enterprise (IIRC it was "The Big E" by Edwin Stafford, but I could be misremembering) there was an account mentioned from the Battle of the Phillipine Sea (the 'Turn on the lights' incident) where a Japanese plane attempted to land on the Enterprise. According to the account, it tried to land 3 times, apparently being foiled each time by differences between USN and IJN landing signals. The explanation was that essentially US LSO signals were meant to inform the pilot of his position relative to the carrier, and Japanese ones were intended to tell the pilot where to go. So if a US LSO holds his paddles high he's telling the pilot "You are high", whereas a Japanese LSO making the same gesture would mean "You need to climb". This would be the biggest issue, assuming the plane in question would be able to operate on a foreign carrier, to it actually doing so; Are the pilots and deck crews able to understand each other's signals? While there are plenty of similarities between how different nations' carriers operated in WWII, the Devil is in the details, and little glitches in communication can cause Bad Things to happen.

[prussianhill]

I imagine that the "What If Sealion" video will be an absolute beast to put together, but its definitely a Drach video that I will be looking forward to

[pocanthutrex]

Regarding unusual items recovered from wrecks, I highly recommend the Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia and their exhibits, particularly that of the USS Monitor. The objects they brought up from the Monitor's wreck (including the turret and its Dahlgren guns) and the ongoing preservation are fascinating.

[tommasobalconi]

16:05 What Drach said here is broadly on point, but if you want more specific info on that, you can google the article: 'Bird-head devices on Mediterranean ships'. It is a study specifically aimed at akrostolion (pl. akrostolia, the bow ornament) and aphlaston (pl. aphlasta, the stern ornament), although the bottom lines remains there is still much argument as to their use and such longevity unchanged.
Also it may be counterintuitive, but studies show for a given thickness of wood the ancient mortise and tenon construction is exceptionally stronger than more modern plank on frame. The main reason it was abandoned is that it requires a massive amount of material (planks need a minimum thickness for a slot to be cut into it without breaking), and very time-consuming. Planks on frames could be much thinner, and therefore easier to work with, and took less material than building a shell-first hull. So if anyone would have magically found enough wood to build a ship of line shell-first, it would have been stronger than a plank on frame hull. The caveat to that is, it would have been if the planks were the same thickness, but a ship like Victory has a hull about 60 cm (2 ft) thick, from four to six times the thickness of the largest shell-first plank ever found in a wreck.

[Jacob-W-]

27 knots on a merchant ship ;O that's like light speed for us! I started my career on a fruit carreer, that one sailign with cargo that can rot, and needs to go to market fast, topped out at 23 knots. Currently working on heavy lift carreers. we do indeed cruise in the 12 to 16 kn, depending on the schedule and contract and such. But absolute top is 18 knots but then we are overclocking the engine. But the hull is not designed for it, there is just extra power installed to push trough the ice if we go up north (or south) or to maintain speed longer in bad weather.
I never did push the engine to that range tho, and cannot imagine situations that would be necesary other then SHTF situation, like being in the black sea in feb'22 that would be a: nope lets get out of here NOW situation, where fuel consumption could be ignored for a few hours.

[davidvik]

01:17:16 Just an FYI: The eight Sealand SL-7 container ships of the 1970's (now Algol Class Fast Sealift Ships) with 120, 00 Hp were capable of 33kts and operated at 27 kts. Likely the only cargo ships ever capable of such speed. When the fuel price increased in the 70's operating costs skyrocketed, and Sealand was never able to operate them at a profit. For sure speed comes at great cost. The Navy acquired them in the early 1980s, and are now part of the ready reserve fleet.

[michaelimbesi]

I worked at Philly Shipyard, on the site of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard. Dry Docks 4 and 5 were built together and originally had the ability to share cranes, via a loop around the dry dock service building in the middle (Building 620)

(Edit to add building number)

[timenginemannd]

0:22:36 I imagine that the Enlisted members of the Aurora were extremely happy to be interned by the US, especially if they were removed from the ship and put ashore in barracks! (A noticeable increase in the quality of the food they got to eat would be (just) the first major difference!)

[Primarch]

I come and see 1 view and 1 like. 100 percent approval.

[theawickward]

Vantablack would have quite the psychological effect on your enemy, regardless of aiming problems; I'd certainly be creeped out if a large, vaguely boat-shaped shadow loomed up and started shooting at me.

[bkjeong]

25:00 the Japanese actually never stopped with the tradition of not armouring their battleships against their own main guns; the Yamatos had no immunity zone against their main battery (which says more about their guns than their armour to be honest), with the exception of their turret face.

[phildyrtt]

A joy and mind opening sharing with our masterful prof.

[barryslemmings]

Re longbows:
A big area for me as I am currently writing my second book (England's Livery Wars). I think Robert Hardy mentioned two longbows and two arrows surviving from the medieval period prior to the discovery of the Mary Rose.

[KibuFox]

In the case of alternate histories, one of the more interesting ones I've seen, is a series a friend of mine was working on. It centers around a rather plausible scenario where Hitler, and much of his inner circle, are killed in a plane crash just prior to the start of WW2. With the 'head of the snake' cut off, he's been toying around with what changes both politically and war wise that would bring about, as it makes Stalin the 'big bad' in the scenario. This has been used in a series of short stories, but also in our wargaming sessions to produce some very interesting, and plausible scenarios.

[sk]

R.E. intelligence gathering in Japan, Moe Berg, backup catcher for the Cleveland Indians, was on a barnstorming tour in Japan with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and others in 1934 and, as the story goes, secretly filmed the Tokyo skyline and harbor with a movie camera from the roof of a hospital building. How he came to do this or how the film was delivered to the US government is unclear, but it was allegedly used in planning the Doolittle raid.

[DABrock-author]

Hi Drach,

Thank you for your comments on writing good alternate history (1:28:30). I've tried to be very careful with this when writing my 'Republic of Texas Navy' series, taking one basic change, (Texas remaining independent) and working out how thinks might change from that departure point. So far, the first two books have been fairly well received, which hopefully means I've been doing it right.

[jlvfr]

Alternate history: The Bismarck sinks everything!
Drach: *roars*

[twinkyoctopus]

I always look forward to these to see what monstrosity of a name fletcher has put together this time