00:00:00 – Intro
00:00:26 – How much would a modern gyro stabilizer affect gunnery in each era of warship (age of sail-ww2)?
00:05:23 – Could La Argentina have been brought back for the Falklands?
00:10:09 – How effective were the secondary batteries on ships that weren’t dual purpose?
00:14:46 – A naval history case of `its a horrendous idea at best, but its fun, and eventually, somehow not as bad`?
00:16:57 – Replacing Beatty in March 1916?
00:20:57 – Overpowered ships, engine-wise?
00:22:27 – Have there been any occurrences where battleships employed their main battery to engage multiple enemy vessels simultaneously?
00:23:59 – Full Admiral classes effect on modernisation of other ships?
00:28:41 – Effect of more Deutschlands?
00:32:20 – The Japanese Navy wasn’t shy about substituting wood for steel in warship fixtures and fittings to conserve imported iron ore for more vital purposes. Why did they choose to use linoleum as apposed to wood for decking?
00:33:50 – Japanese carrier doctrine at Midway?
00:39:09 – Video game mechanics for naval warfare?
00:42:33 – How much do we know about the Yamato’s these days?
00:45:15 – Extra attachments to binoculars?
00:47:22 – On coal fueled warships, how dangerous was it to be a stoker, and which dangers did they face?
00:49:43 – What is a ‘goofing’ platform?
00:51:46 – Victory vs Ocean class
00:54:14 – How do you control the depth at which a depth charge detonates in WW2?
00:56:39 – Rocketing turrets?
01:00:40 – How did ship types get their names (i.e. Corvettes, Frigates, Battleships, destroyers, schooners, brigs, etc etc) and what were the first and last ships to really be classified as such?
01:06:49 – In the age of sail how were iron cannons kept from rusting while at
sea?
01:09:08 – What did the typical sailors meal looked like in the british, us, german, italian, japanese and soviet navy during WW2? (uboat and surface combat vessels)
01:15:37 – Torpedo damage to Shimakaze?
01:19:27 – Did the Dutch ships that survived the end of ABDA have any meaningful involvement in the remainder of the war?
01:21:14 – During WW2, how much use was the UK able to make of the English Channel for civilian traffic?
01:22:54 – How did clothing work on RN Age of Sail Ships? Did the average sailor have any real change of clothes?
01:25:47 – In your opinion do you think the post-war modernization of HMS Victorious was worth the immense cost and time?
01:28:50 – How tolerated was the use of opium by Royal Navy sailors before during and after the opium wars?
01:32:36 – How could a KGV transit the Suez Canal?
01:35:40 – How would you make a escort battleship?
01:37:57 – How much does speed matter on a strategic level?
01:46:15 – How naval does a ship have to be to get a Five Minute Guide?
01:49:05 – How important was the Naval Defense Act of 1889 and was it successful in what the British wanted to accomplish?
01:55:49 – In an alternate scenario where the British end up being the ones who mainly fight the Japanese how do you think their naval tactics and ships would hold up?
02:03:11 – If their had been a major fleet battle between 2 navies primarily equipped with Steam Ships of the Line, say Britain or France, how would such a battle likely play out?
02:09:07 – Power density of 2cycle vs 4cycle diesel engines in subs?
02:12:33 – How high up the Royal Marine rank structure could/can a Royal Marine be promoted while serving on a Royal Navy vessel while retaining command commensurate with his rank? Taking this to its logical end, hypothetically can a Royal Marine Officer command a Royal Navy capital ship? Has this ever occurred?
02:16:02 – HMAS Vampire going to action stations?
02:18:15 – Australia Trip June 2023 – https://www.ship-shape.org.uk/
source
Pinned post for Q&A 🙂
Listened to these videos or rather found your channel in a sad time in my life. But damn you make naval content interesting. I love it
Sometimes you have to exceed your authority to do your duty.
In an emergancy most soldiers will follow anybody giving coherent orders.
on the question of Britain against Japan, would Singapore have fallen. there would have been more British Army units in Malaya and the base at Singapore would also have had a far larger number of ships and the classic loss of force Z might not have happened as they would have had an aircraft carrier with them.
Ref Meals – My dad served on the USS San Jacinto (CVL30) and he could remember going to the galley late at night (really very early morning) after working hours to fix a misbehaving piece of electronic gear and begging. Mid rats were not yet a US Navy custom, but he often got what was considered good eating in the Western Pacific circa 1944/45. – a sandwich made from sliced canned SPAM and sliced canned cheese (sometimes in rather strange flavors….Pimento, anyone?) on freshly baked (from flour, yeast and powdered milk) bread sometimes still warm from the ovens. Washed down by strong US Navy coffee (My dad said that if Brazil hadn't been an ally of the US, the war would have lasted years longer). He was grateful, he might have been a soldier or marine and eating C or K rations – if they made it to the front.
I believe an escort battleship was a WW2 concept to convert a battleship into a massive anti aircraft platform. The incomplete French battleship Jean Bart was briefly considered for conversion. Her second quad main turret would not have been fitted and 16 twin 5/38 turrets would have been fitted along with 8 quad 40 Bofors and a bunch of 20mm. Another design would have taken the US battleship Kentucky and fitted her with 16 twin 5/54s and 6 twin 3/50s mounts. The 16 inch guns would be replaced with three quad 8/55 automatic turrets. The 8 inchers would have fired a guided round. The guided 8 inch round showed promise but was canceled when guided missiles proved to be better.
A full 4 hull Admiral class instead of the R class and Nelson's opens up some interesting scenarios, the Bismarck run could either have been a monstrous loss for the RN or alternatively a complete curbstomp of the Kriegsmarine once the cruisers join in. If Scharnhorst and Gneisenau run into a Renown or Queen Elizabeth on convoy escort instead of slower ships that would get messy, likewise four Admirals in 1942-3 would be tremendous help escorting US carriers in the Pacific…(let's assume force z takes an alternative route and survive , 6 British capital ships in the Pacific would be a substantial kick in Japanese prospects).
1:09:08 the JMSDF to this day serves curry on Fridays. The tradition apparently goes back into Meiji times. Of course I'm pretty sure the general deprivation of war put a halt to that.
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago and the next best time is now"
In regards of naval warfare PC games, try out War Thunder. I think, they managed to implement a very realistic behaviour of the ships movement and also a very detailed damage model, at least in the realistic battle mode. Only research of all of a ships modules and new ships in the tech tree takes ages…
On the opium question, this puts me in mind of something Jerry Pournelle wrote in his Codominium series:
"There is no regulation against drinking or being drunk on duty. There are very firm regulations against rendering yourself unfit for duty."
I love Floppy the dog. You need a doggo cam in a small window when you do your livestream.
64th, 1 May 2023
Just want to say thank you drach for not only such great content during waking hours but also for being a channel I can fall asleep to
A hypothetical Major Harvey on San Francisco on Friday the 13th might conceivably have found himself at the top of the surviving officer list until it gets back to base or has a chance to transfer a qualified office.
"Babe, it's 4 p.m., it's time for your goof platforming!"
"…Yes Admiral Cunningham…"
1:02:43 You also get Lineships (Germans and Russians for example).
The Fairbanks-Morse opposed-piston diesels that were used on the vast majority of U.S. sub in WW2 were a 2-stroke design. I don't recall reading about any issues in regard to fuel consumption, and they were generally considered the most reliable, as compared to other engines. I could very easily have missed something, though.
Tomonaga. The story of Hiryu's air group commander, Joichi Tomonaga, is the first name that should come to mind when analyzing Japanese doctrine at Midway.
Tomonaga led the 108-plane raid on Midway from the cockpit of a B5N Kate torpedo plane which, like the other 35 B5Ns from Carrier Division 2 (Hiryu and Soryu) was equipped with 800-kg land-attack munitions instead of Type 91 torpedoes, while Carrier Division 1 (Akagi and Kaga) supplied 36 D3A Vals armed with 242-kg land-attack munitions. Often forgotten is the last third of the strike: there were 36 A6M Zeros escorting the force, indicating the truth that Japanese doctrine called for a heavy fighter escort for the Kido Butai's strikes, and thus hypothetical strike-only Japanese carriers would have to launch significant numbers of fighters anyway…though the extreme range/endurance of the Zero (1000 NM, almost double Tomonaga's B5N) meant the First Air Fleet could conceivably launch a massive CAP before spotting and launching the dive bombers and torpedo planes and then replenishing the CAP–most sources indicated Nagumo's carriers had more than 50 A6Ms flying combat air patrol when VB-3, VF-3, VT-3, VB-6 and VS-6 all arrived simultaneously at 1025L on 4 June 1942.
Nagumo's "dilemma," such as it was, wasn't just whether to strike now or later; rather it was a question if Tomonaga and 96 other Japanese pilots should land or ditch (11 planes in the strike had been shot down or ditched over or near Midway Atoll). None of the Kido Butai's carriers had strike aircraft spotted for takeoff, as Carrier Division 1's B5Ns were being rearmed in the hangars and Carrier Division 2's D3As were warming up their engines below deck, but would have to be spotted before slinging the 250-kg anti-ship bombs.
Allowing Yamaguchi to launch his Vals would have at best reduced the available flight decks to recover Tomonaga's strike from four to two; which would likely dangerously overload Akagi and Kaga, plus 14 of the remaining 97 Japanese planes from Midway were badly damaged, increasing markedly the risk of landing mishaps. Was it really questionable that Nagumo did not decide to risk throwing away over 40% of his air strength?
In a point of fact, Japanese carrier doctrine allowed there to be a response 35 minutes after the Dauntlesses destroyed 75% of the First Air Fleet–Hiryu sent off 18 D3As escorted by 6 A6Ms at 1100L, and Tomonaga took off again 2.5 hours later to lead 10 B5Ns and 6 A6Ms against Yorktown…over which Lt. Commander Thach, CO of VF-3 shot down and killed Tomonaga. Japanese doctrine bagged Yorktown, as had Nagumo launched everything like TF 16 did in the morning against Midway, there would have been no response from Hiryu for hours.
What is inexplicable was Yorktown's decision to not launch a second deckload of Dauntlesses. She launched VT-3 first which departed immediately, then respotted and launched VB-3 and VF-3, with Thach's and Leslie's faster F4Fs and SBDs naturally overtaking Massey's TBDs before all proceeding to target.
http://www.cv6.org/1942/midway/midway_2.htm
Scouting Five REALLY should have been launched with Leslie and Bombing Three, as the Wildcat was dramatically faster than the Dauntless so Thach could have overhauled Leslie, Short and Massey. Leslie was under the impression that VS-5 was right behind him, and ordered Short to hit Hiryu while Leslie sank Soryu. Why Fletcher and Buckmaster left Short and the rest of VS-5 cooling their heels in Yorktown's ready rooms is anyone's guess.
Uncle Drach, how about an episode on “best ship names”, joined with corresponding ship class and war record? Yes, “HMS Victory” is an easy in, but my personal fave is “HMS Nemesis” (kinda makes your knees shake just to face that name!). Maybe even section it off by nations (IJN had some poetic names, for sure).
In the tropics it would have been possible to desalinate water.
I imagine the goofing deck or platform is similar to vultures row on a carrier
Strategic speed is the reason why nuke carriers and subs are so powerful, especially the latter. They can me a bolt for a crucial area of the sea and be there without delay compared to diesal subs that are more of a slow, mobile minefield.
Regarding fire ships, I was watching something about (if I recall) the Battle of Quebec and they mentioned fire ships. I think it was the British towing them away from their fleet. The quote was "Hello mate, have you ever taken Hell in tow before?"
Reference GOOFING DECK: How far back in history does this term go? I've never heard this term before, understandably since I'm a retired American soldier and not a British sailor, but the first thing I thought of was the German verb "guken" – to look, peek, or peep. Is it conceivable that there was interchange with a German maritime practice, or possibly the word has Anglo-Saxon origins?
2 stroke diesels have to run at a much higher rpm to produce hp and torque
The Malta-class aircraft carrier was a British large aircraft carrier design of World War II. Four ships were ordered in 1943 for the Royal Navy, but changing tactical concepts, based on American experience in the Pacific War, caused repeated changes to the design, which was not completed before the end of the war. All four ships were cancelled in 1945 before they were laid down. wiki
I keep seeing references to night-time capability of RN carriers. Without any supporting evidence they could strike a enemy task force at sea. The US and IJN launched strikes pre-dawn, and other times landed at night. The RN did that and hit a harbor at night. Is there any example of RN carriers hitting enemy ships at sea at night?
After hearing histories of Savo Island (Neptune's Inferno), I'm pretty sure the RN would have gotten some rude awakenings by the IJN in night fighting with cruisers and destroyers with Long Lances? Perhaps it was for the best it was only a close miss in the Indian Ocean Raid on Ceylon? The RN probably wouldn't have been caught with our pants down quite like our USN did, but it still gets back to radar and believing in what radar could and did do? Even more, that natural British RN superiority might have contributed to some unexpected results? As our own ignorance, poor intelligence of Japanese culture and technology fooled us in the beginning of the Pacific War.
The more of Floppy's contributions we hear, the better!
Can you do the HMNZS Bellona for one of your deep dive videos.
An escort battleship is a pretty silly concept when you think about it. A battleship is an offensive weapon almost by definition; but I suppose that if you wanted something cheap & nasty to scare off surface raiders, you might get something like a pre-dreadnought. Obviously you can't use a commercial hull, but you could cut costs in various ways. I would imagine:
* around 8,000 tons
* maybe 450' in length and 75' beam
* 4 x 12" in two turrets forward
* 8 x 4.5" DP in four turrets
* the usual AA outfit
* minimal belt & turret armour (8" proof only)
* 20 knots max (maybe even using triple expansion).
As I said, a bit of a silly idea, really.
Escort battleship: I wondered about HMS Iron Duke in a WW2 environment.
Remove the two superfiring turrets, the casemates and put light and heavy AA wherever it will fit. You might have something that will scare off anything up to the heavy cruiser weight class and be a risk to a Scharhorts and a bit uncomfortable to approach with a plane.
00:39:09 – Video game mechanics for naval warfare?
One thing I really hate in Naval Warfare Games is health bars. Their fine in multiplayer games like World of Warships, but in single player games, they should not exist.
I like it when you might destroy a ship with a few salvos by hitting the magazine or some other vital area or you might pummel the ship dozens of times before it goes down. It's stupid when it's just 'Hit a Battleships 10 times to sink it. Hit a destroyer 4 times to sink it' etc.
Floppy's contributions are fine but please consider making a slide/card to insert for all floppy segments.
i am a firm supporter of: if there is a dog or cat, we get to see the dog or cat.
Interestingly, the Americans never could completely decide whether to go with four-stroke or two-stroke diesels for their subs; right up to the end of the war, the American submarine fleet had a mixture of four-strokes and opposed-piston two-strokes.