00:00:00 – Intro
00:00:42 – What wood types were typically used by the large navies of the world for shipbuilding?
00:04:48 – How did the Spanish crews compete to the British crews in terms of skill and experience?
00:10:19 – Was there a frantic rush to cancel ship-of-the-line that were being planned once ironclads and the steam engine had proven themselves?
00:14:11 – How do you rate the Santa Ana design compared to their contemporaries in both france and england?
00:19:45 – What are some never built ship designs that you think had the most potential to be good designs?
00:24:29 – Why didn’t the Germans not produce anything larger then 11″ prior to Bismarck and Tirpitz for the Sharnhorst class and the pocket battle ships when they obviously didn’t care about naval limitations in the interwar period?
00:28:37 – How was WMD protection implemented on older steam-powered warships, where forced draft system might have proved a problem in case there’s airborne radioisotopes or chemical weaponry outside?
00:32:02 – Why do some barrels have a more pronounced neck at the end of the barrels and some don’t?
00:36:00 – RN deserters and the USN prior to the War of 1812?
00:42:45 – What if the Great Lakes had seen all 5 ships of the line completed?
00:48:03 – Is “demolishing fire” synonymous to “withering fire” so far as terminology of the era is concerned?
00:49:58 – In Master and Commander, Midshipman Calamy was promoted to acting 3rd lieutenant. Calamy would still have to pass his lieutenant’s exam, right? Were such promotions common, and what significance did they have?
00:53:41 – Royal Navy plans for Operation Sea Lion?
01:01:38 – USS Minneapolis and USS Pittsburgh lost their bows, for different reasons, during World War 2. Is their survival as extraordinary as it seems?
The term "withering fire" is found in the context of land battles as well as at sea, and (in my mind at least) describes a high volume and/or rate of fire.
As much trouble as the RN had in the Med with the Italians and 10th Flieger Korp, I thought the response to the Sealion question was a little cavalier. If the Germans treat Air superiority over the Channel (suppression / destruction of 11 Group) as the minimum requirement, then the RN may succeed in getting to the Channel and running amok for a while. This would most likely be at such high cost that if the first time isn't decisive, they may not have any more tries left in them even if they can muster the ships. Each attempt wouldn't need to be wiped out to be defeated. All the Germans would have to do is enough damage to convince them to turn back. Also the minefields would have been defended so it may not have been as easy as described to clear them nor as fast.
The big difference would have been if the Germans made a go of it in July to September 1940 or made serious attempts to prepare for the crossing and tried in May to July 1941. A lot would have to go right for a German invasion to succeed in either period but the Royal Navy would have paid a high price in 1940 to stop it and probably a crippling one in 1941 to make enough go wrong. The British Army was a mess in 1940 and even in 1941 could not respond to German Armored Warfare tactics very effectively. The RAF had no close air support doctrine and could not effectively coordinate with either the Army or the Navy yet. The Luftwaffe was not that great at anti shipping tactics in 1940 and the Germans were still using defective torpedoes. Both those issues were much improved in 1941 but the Luftwaffe was still not any better at coordinating with their Navy than the RAF was in either period.
Enjoyed the show but it would be way more interesting if you took the losing side in these hypotheticals to see what you think they could have realistically done to improve their outcomes. Even if the other side is distasteful to you. (Like say the French in the Napoleonic Wars.)🙂
Flared barrels are an aesthetic choice and give sailors something to polish and clean between engagements. 😉 Maybe ask Jingles he served in the Royal Navy in the 1970's? I'm sure he'd give some more insights on WMD prep.
Wheraboos need to suck harder. U boats escorting landing craft??
How stupid
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I suppose Drach has covered this before, but how does the world's Navy's handicap themselves compared to their rivals or allies? And was it accurate? Also, what was the prevalence of naval spies to uncover rivals technology? Hull design technology had to have been a pinnacle of concern.
Is it wrong of me to have the widest possible grin on my face upon hearing my question having made it into an episode of The Drydock?
What about the Cuban Mahogony Ships?
9:30. As Jack Aubrey said: "The pleasant thing about fighting with the Spaniards, Mr Ellis, is not that they are shy, for they are not, but that they are never, never ready"
i would think sailors would tend toward a multi-lingual bunch, given hitting the tavernas, houses of ill repute, and traders visited in foreign ports… am i mistaken?
I served as a Boiler Technician in the USN from 1970-74 on a Fletcher Class DD, and a Knox Class DE/FF.
Yes the fireroom was the hot spot of the ship thermally, and radiologically. As commented earlier the USN went away from pressurized firerooms for the reasons state. Combustion air was provided by forced draft blowers connected to an air casing that enclosed the boiler. Space ventilation was provided by exhaust and supply fans. Under a nuclear attack the ships saltwater washdown would be activated drenching the in a continuous deluge of water to wash away the fallout. The space ventilation would be secured and protective masks would be donned. The Knox Class had a control booth with AC, but on the Fletcher Class this would have been hell with the crew likely dying from the heat before the radiation. The washdown may have scrubbed some of the contamination from the air, but not enough to matter. We all knew that the boilers would be the hosts to significant contamination. I don't recall doing much drilling on this. I think we felt it was not likely to happen and if it did there wasn't much we could do about it.
Drach might I ask you the source of the Picture, for several reasons, one of which, is a favourite Sailing channel of mine RAN Sailing( you may have have heard of them)they're currently building their new yacht in a barn in Sweden, and have just got to the stage, that almost matches your opening pic, And also to enquire if that is the RN's new stealth warship
If the Germans and Japanese had won WW2 would the allies and subsequently NATO would have been able to defeat the combined fleets of the Soviet Union and Germany?
Aing on Aing on Drach you almost got away, with that picture of a G3 Battleship, I know Hollywood are heavily into alternative realities, but does that mean in this pic, Either (a) Tower Bridge was built up near Putney, (b)the ship looks bigger than it really is, So can easily fit under Tower Bridge, Or are you trying to suggest Sherlock Holms couldn't have fallen from it, as it was never built, 😂😂😂😂😂
I have been reading "The Mighty Moo" about the USS Cowpens (CVL 25). The book notes that the airgroup had night landing qualifications in 1943. While the US Navy had no night carrier attack capability at this stage in the war they had the capability to fly at night. Could the US carriers launch an attack on the fly if they had to? There were radar equipped Avengers at this point. Escort carriers in the Atlantic started night ops in early 1944. What prevented fleet carriers operating in the Pacific from rapidly acquitted night attack capability?
00:23:52 The 1864 Royal Sovereign had four turrets in the cut down hull of a former 121 gun ship of the line but it rose without trace, as it was out of service by 1873, so would have been around as a reference multi-turret ship during designing and building of the likes of Devastation.
Huzzah, I am finally current on all of the Drydock episodes, and the other videos as well.
It's taken two years plus to catch up with the drydocks.
Also, Spain's merchant navy was not as large as the English, so the pool of manpower with experience would be much smaller. Also, being a continental power, they had to compete with the Army for human resources.
Listening to you answer these random questions always leaves me in awe of your expertise. The amount of research/knowledge you put into each answer is always a mini history lesson that usually goes above and beyond what the listener asked.
Pittsburgh represent! CA 72 USS PITTSBURGH – longest ship in the world—1500nm from her bow to her stern! If you ever decide to visit USS Requin, let me know. I’ll take you on a fine tour of our fair city.
So why are not tank guns, firing projectiles at a ,mile per second, not built this way?
Japanese destroyer Amatsukaze also lost her bow, and ended up with a rather dorky-looking short replacement for the rest of her service.
You can have some of our sunshine. We're supposed to be hitting triple digits in Utah this week.
Did the US Navy design the tanker from that Clark and Dawes sketch?
Re: the Royal Navy's plan to stop an invasion.
Well, we'll start by sending in Warspite….
(Yes, I'm aware Warspite might have been elsewhere. Don't ruin my fun. 😊)
"HMS Eskimo managed to lose her bows twice, which seems a little bit careless to me…" LOL!
Thinking of the Luftwaffe trying to support Sealion made me realize that I don’t recall any British capital ships being sunk by them. What was the largest HMS sunk by German aircraft?