Pinned post for Q&A :)

Thank you for flipping all your photos over to make for easier viewing. I don't know how those Australians do it living upsidedown.

Albany boy here! Some of my earliest memories are playing on the Amity as a kid. Many times was Trafalgar refought there. Now my kids play on her!

Drach, as any pedantic Western Australian will tell you, it's Al(as in Capone)bany. As a resident of the east coast of Australia, I've been to Western Australia twice, and had my mispronunciation corrected about 100 times per trip. Love your work.

I have visited the Anzac Museum/ Memorial in Albany. My wife is from Fremantle, my Sister in Law lives in Albany. What really impressed me is the depth of the sentiment that is really a part of Australia today relative to the Anzacs and Gallipoli. There is heartbreak in looking at those photos of the men loading aboard the troop ships at Albany. Many, many of those men never made it back home. Gallipoli is today, a very real and emotional touch point for the Australian people.

arrowroot is a thickening agent, like cornflower, you would add it to a thin gruel to turn it into more of a porridge consistency. You'd take it on ships because you don't get any weevils in it.

In the early 1950's my 17 year old dad hitched a ride from the UK to Australia on a merchant ship. His first job in Australia was with the Albany whaling station. While awaiting processing the whaling station used to inflate the whales and leave them floating in the bay. They gave him a dinghy, snorkelling gear and a long pole with a firing pin and shotgun shell on the end and told him to clear out the Great White's that were feeding on the whale carcasses. He ended up making a small fortune from selling the sharks on top of what the whaling company was paying him.

The HMAS Sydney / SMS Emden fight was the very first battle honor won by the still-young Royal Australian Navy, quite a big deal. One of the Emden's guns is part of a memorial commemorating the action here in Sydney. Regarding Japanese sub operations in ww2, it is worth noting that minisubs actually got into Sydney Harbor, one of the parent subs fired shells that landed in a Sydney suburb, and a recon plane from same overflew Sydney. Furthermore, there are indications that the Japanese did land small raiding parties in isolated areas of northern Australia, but they were either soon withdrawn or "swallowed up" by the hostile conditions there. The fear of Japanese invasion was a very real thing, considering the speed of their advance down through Southeast Asia.

From the other perspective, I never thought much of driving to Albany from Perth over the years. Then I spent a few years in Belgium and I decided to drive down to Portugal. I remember driving through France in under a day and thinking "Jeez, France is a lot smaller than it looks!"

My wife and her family are mostly from this area. I just went back to Albany in November of 2023 to take her ashes home. Took one of my grandsons and visited with a daughter and granddaughter over there as well as her father. Got to tour the whaling station and Amity and soak up the atmosphere my wife came from. What a beautiful laid-back Harbor town. I sure miss that woman . I love and miss you Andrea

Ah, the perils of looking at Australia or the US on a small scale map...

I used to drive trucks allover Australia when I got out of the Navy. Whenever I ran late my cranky Boss used to say "but Lad, its only that far on the map" Sheesh.

Huzzah! The Australia trip videos arrive! Once again it was awesome to sit down and chat with you in Fremantle Drach.

I'm glad you survived our drop bears and Vegemite. Thanks for coming to Australia.

As a south west WA boy, seeing Drach Talk and travel about my region is like a Fever Dream 😅😅

G'day. I was a 15 year old Junior Recruit in the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Leeuwin, Fremantle West Aus. In Leeuwin, in 1974, we had an Academic Instructor who had been one of the scientists involved in the design of the Ikara. He pronounced it as "Eyekara".

I had to chuckle a bit when you described the logistics of getting from Perth to Albany. That roo time sounds a lot like dawn and dusk in many places here in the US with the deer. Great vid on the naval history of the area.

Hi Drac, I picked up on your comment on the panoramic shots of ships in Malta's Grand Harbour. I live in Malta and Grand Harbour is large. However, Valletta is a peninsular. On the other side from Grand Harbour is Marsamxett Harbour which incorporate Manoel Island (Fort Manoel) which was also a massive parking space for warships. Happy to meet if you are coming this way.

"Two hotels with similar names in the same city" in Perth, I did this once in San Diego. I thought I had picked out and reserved a room at the traditional hotel right across the street from the County offices where our meeting was, but instead I had picked out another one of the same name about a mile north along the waterfront. Nice walk.

I know the USS Antietam pulled into Albany back in '97... because I was on it. Great little town and great memories.

Drach you are one hard working S.O.G. one whom obviously loves his work. As we also certainly do, thank you.

The blackout precautions in WW2 weren't absurd by any stretch. It wasn't only Darwin that was attacked by Japanese planes, they attacked several towns in WA also. The worst attack being in Broome, but also Port Headland, Oslo and Exmouth (which was the southern most attack by Japanese aircraft on Australia). Apart from the planes though, as my dad likes to tell us (he was a young boy in Perth during WW2), the existence of Japanese midget subs was well known, and indeed they made it into Sydney Harbour if not King George Sound. His sea scout troop spent a lot of time on aircraft and ship identification (those silhouette charts for identification at a distance). I'm pretty sure there was a merit badge for it. ;)

Served 24 years in the Navy and my first port of call was Albany on HMAS Supply in 1982. We were not supposed to go there but went through a massive storm crossing the Bight. Our front cargo area was flooded, and we had a bucket brigade for 3 days (too much carboard in flooded space to use pumps) before pulling into Albany.

Hey Drach, really enjoyed this episode. I'm an ex USN sailor and during the mid 70's the DE / Frigate the I was in did a "show the flag" trip to Australia. Leaving from Subic Bay Philippines we steamed to Pearl Harbor by way of Singapore, Darwin, Freemantle, ALBANY, Brisbane, Auckland New Zealand, and Pago Pago American Samoa. Kind of the long way around since we were on our way home but no one complained. We had a great time. I was glad to see some of the history of Albany, which most Americans have never heard of, in your post. Thanks

thanks Drach, always nice to see more of your Australian visit, even if we had to keep a close eye on Dr. Clarke to make sure he didn't try and make off with HMAS Vampire hidden in his luggage 😁 It is true that Australia's sheer size still comes as a shock to people given today's technology. Even chatting to friends in the US they just don't get how BIG our country is and that the "Great State of Texas" would be swallowed almost unnoticed by Queensland or the Northern Territory let alone Western Australia

every time my family heads down to Albany my mum always checks the convict list for the Amity and points out our convict ancestor so as a result I have always had a strong bond with the ship and town glad to see that you enjoyed your trip Drach and I am still annoyed that I had to work when you were at Freo :(

Van Diemens land (Demons land) 😆 my Cornish ancestors sailed on the brig Amity and Buffalo. While my Great Grandfather crewed on the HMT Corvieto in the 1914 convoy. I have my boat builder there just around the corner from the Amity. So I enjoyed your video

Some of the more obscure bits of WW1 had echoes down the years - Japanese involvement against Germany resulted in Japan receiving a League of Nations mandate over former German colonial possessions in the Pacific north of the Equator - Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mariana Islands - which they weren't keen on relinquishing come WW2. Incidentally, Amity's connection with Brisbane is remembered in the name of Amity Point (and the small town Amity) on Stradbroke Island, in the passage into Moreton Bay and on into Brisbane.

AE2 was the first Allied Submarine to force the Dardennels and run amok, on the night of the ANZAC Landings. Prior and post attempts to get into the Sea of Marmara were rewarded with the VC. Please Drach read up on the very brave actions of the Officers and Crew of AE2. SENT BY an Aussie Submariner. Also don't forget the USN torpedo trials conducted in Princess Margaret Harbour to improve the performance of their submarines

Be still my beating heart, the Australia Trip Videos have arrived !! 🎉 Looking forward to seeing your impressions of the interesting bits of naval history we have hoarded in 🇦🇺 . We were just recently in Western Australia but did not make it to Albany, now I will definitely have to go there next time !!

Thanks for a terrific video and so glad my countrymen showed you some good Aussie hospitality Hope you get to other parts of Ozz. Cheers.

Wonderful legacy, thank you Drach & Aussies!

Funny calling Jurien a bit north of Albany, by 600km give or take. Thanks from WA for covering our little piece of naval history Drach.

I believe that 4.5 gun turret is from HMAS Stuart, DE48, a ship I served on for nearly 2 years. We went to Albany twice while I was onboard in the 80s-90s. It looks a lot greener there now! I also learned how to pronounce Albany there…🤣🇦🇺

Happy New Year and thanks again to you and your team for visiting WA last year and making time for us at the meet up.

For those thinking about Drach's discussion of the distance between Perth and Albany have a look at The Bibbulmun Track. A much loved walking track between the two. Short by the standards of some of the big tracks but one of Australias best.

Welcome to the New Year!

Got to visit Albany! My father was there on the Holland in '42 doing submarine periscope repair. Thanks Drach!

That was awesome . Converted passenger ship Benella brought my grandparents to Melbourne in 1922.

Drach, from historian to tourist and back to historian in one flight. Well done.

Me seeing the Amity: "That's hardly a ship, and more of a boat!😧"

Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks for this, it's nice to see appreciation of my homeland. I really enjoyed seeing the sights of Albany from your point of view after having been there multiple times on holiday trips from Perth. Thanks also for your Rottnest video, which almost everyone in Perth has visited. It is surprising that we have some good things in our museums. I'm also glad to hear your pronunciation of Albany correct in the Rottnest video! I'm super glad you were well looked after by the locals; we all do that given we know how far you'll have travelled to visit us.

Wellington NZ has specific plaques on their harbor dedicated to the individual ships that sailed as part of the WW1 First Convoy.

Years ago during one of my first night solo flights, I ended up maneuvering quite aggressively to avoid my wing tip lights. I've heard it mumbled since around the bar that I am not the only one, so I think it is a pretty common optical illusion.

Thank you, Drachinifel.

Aloha Drach; Happy New Year! Brillian tour. Mahalo nui loa

Here's to the Antipodes! Glad you were well treated Down Under! Happy Wednesday.

Drach that was great and really nice the way the community came together to help the trip

Yo this is amazing. Perfect timing for me to now fall back asleep too. Thank you so much!

When time permits you really need to visit South Australia. Theres a preserved victorian era coastal fort, a reasonable maritime museum, and a clipper undergoing preservation. And in Whyalla there's a Bathurst-Class out of the water alongside a very substantial maritime museum, and if I recall correctly there are preserved coastal fortifications there too.

Yay! Finally up to the Straya episodes! Luv ya work Drach.

Thanks again, Drach, for an interesting look into our Australian friends' background in Naval importance. Beautiful rebuilt ship, and the description of what was shoehorned into it was incredible. Now factor in the crew and passengers! 😮

Drach, I really enjoy your videos. The best ones are where you travel. Me traveling to these far away locations will never happen. Through your videos I get to see these ships and history, thank you. Have Blessed New Years.

Excellent! I've been looking forward to the first videos from the Australia trip. It was great meeting you in Canberra later on. I might have to visit Albany again at some point to check out th naval history there in more depth myself.

HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best to you and yours D cheers

That was very interesting. Thanks Drach.

Great beginning to your AUS visit. Looking forward to more. Many places in WA, NT and QLD were bombed by the Japanese aircraft flown off aircraft carriers. My father drove piles at Townsville to repair naval wharves damaged by air raids during WW11.

"Roo-gnarock" made me laugh out loud.

Nice to hear your recent trip didn't end getting 007'd or screaming "F'n Skippy!" in a crash.

I can relate to Drach’s disappointment of a rainy Australia. Fed up with the drizzling cold of Seattle one February, I decided to go camping in the most reliably sunniest, hottest place in the western USA: Death Valley! When I arrived, Death Valley was cold and drizzling. There are times when words fail you, and you can only shake your head. (Next day it was sunny and 100 F, so it all worked out in the end.)

I've been waiting patiently for the Aussie trip content. Yay! Really appreciated this episode. Gotta say though, if I don't get a recounting of the Catalpa's story next episode, I'll be very miffed.

Couple of points of interest you missed. Cheynes whaling Station with a preserved whale catcher. If you had listened to the Doctor, gone to Gallafrey to photograph the Daleks and get a couple of bottles of very nice wine.

I went for the Whaling Museum instead and visited the Cheynes IV

Yet another classic episode Mr Drach sir. Looking forward to the next antipodean instalment. Thanx. 🦀🇦🇺✌️

It's cool to get to see these smaller places. It seems like a cool place to visit- way off the beaten track. I hope you get to do more of these trips, it's cool getting to see the travel slides, as it were. I don't enjoy flying, getting to see places is the one thing that makes me do it.

Arrowroot is a just another starch made out of dried root. It is like tapioca. It is good for making puddings. It would have just added variety to the diet.

Looking forward to the Cerberus story, swam out to her many times, and climbed aboard, there was a movement at one time to recover and make a museum of her. Don’t know the status of that now. Hope you had a good time and have happy memories. Take care.

Nice bit of overhead photography on the Amity there Drac considering the side wind. Nothing but a DJI quad can do that so well.

It was neat to hear about my dads ship uss Pelious sub tender. When you mentioned they were latter movedbcloser to the front line. Thats a fact they were moved far enough forward they wete in range of and recived visits by japaneese aircraft. My dad was an electrician and his steaming station was auxiliary stearing station over the rudder at the rear ofvthe ship but cant remember his battle station? Naval higher up quickly decited that airattacks did not speed refitting submarines and mpved them back to perth iirc.

Drach narrating London from the air is the best

Thanks Drach 😊

Heck, in the USA hitting a deer is normal. I clipped a young one as it jumped in panic and I clipped it's left hind leg and it flew upside down and landed on the road. I literally knocked the sh#t out of it. But as I got out of my pickup it got up, did a little shiver and shake, twitched it's tail and trotted off, so venison was off the menu. As the bumper sticker says: "Eat At The Roadkill Cafe! From Your Grill To Ours"

Thanx for the fine travelog 😁😁😁👍

Just to add a few things from your trip. The official war histories from WW! and WWII are available for download from the Australian War Memorial. There is one volumes on WWI and two on WWII. Albany was one of several small garrisoned settlements to be established in 1826 - off the top of my head two others were Post Essington and Westernport Bay. Many of the 6 inch gun emplacements used 6 inch guns from the Town Class cruisers. These came with curved gun shields. It looks like the guns at Albany were given more gun shields to protect them from overhead attack by aircraft. This was quite typical once the threat of strafing and bombing was appreciated. I am looking forward to more videos.

First video for 2024 and a happy new year to everyone!

My god. That ship was travelling around the south coast? That's very close to the "moody" Southern Ocean, famous for giant waves battering much bigger modern illegal fishing ships. Even hugging the coast is a gamble, with desert most of the way between Adelaide and Perth. Very gutsy indeed.

A particularly relaxed and delightful video, though none the less informative….and I say that having watched the whole Drach oeuvre of some 500 or so😂

Thanks Drach.

Thanks Drach

I grew up in Adelaide and we used to have a bunch of coastal forts because "the Russians were coming" but most are gone now but one is a museum and another is a police academy now

Anyone else notice the Concorde just chilling on the tarmac during his takeoff video?

Amity seems a lot smaller than I remember. I was very upset I wasnt able to meet with you Drach in perth due to illness.

I suspect the arrowroot was used for its starchy properties, maybe to make biscuits. The channel in to Oyster Harbour is too small for anything but local fishing boats, but I did see a navy/coast guard cutter anchored in there once. From memory it was being decommissioned or something like that, not coming and going regularly.

Thank you for taking us on your trip! Regards, Thomas PS. Any old radio/radar/electronics equipment there?

17 hours?😳 For the pain and suffering lad. Thanks for showing these. No way will I ever make it there so these are the next best thing.

Albany, Australia. I hope their steamed hams made for an unforgettable luncheon.

Having been raised in Rita Eastern Washington state, your description of “Kangarock” sounds familiar to my time dodging mule-deer on our highways.

A good book to read: Red Sun on the Kangaroo Paw. Japanaese air raids and attacks on Western Australian during Wold War 2 by Kevin Gomm.

The Amity looks absolutely tiny. I can’t imagine crossing the abyss in that thing.

OMG so annoyed i didn't see this video when it came out. was born in albany raised out in the country 100ks east but have been through those forts a few times!

Nothing says "amity" quite like the five gunports visible on _Amity's_ starboard side. ;-)

There are heaps of shipwrecks all the way up the coast from Albany all the way up to north of Perth. A favourite of mine is the Blackwall Frigate that’s sunk off the coast of my hometown. Theres a fair few between cape Leeuwin and cape Naturaliste as well, including one that was smuggling Irish political prisoners that had escaped from Fremantle prison.

As a long time viewer, sometimes commenter I have to say this episode is the best of all worlds for me. I used to serve British tourists here in Florida, and have a few friends Australia and NZ. But even I will admit... Drachinifel how do you learn to pronounce words? Van Damienen's land? ( 11:27 ) "Van Damien's Land" is a song by U2 for chris sakes...

Arrow root is a flour used for thickening foods, similar to cornflour but cooks transparent, so tends to be used more in desserts. Gods nows what they used it for 🤔

Thankz

Hey my home town , about time Albany got mentioned 😊... and pronounce AL- bany as in Al capone, nothing grates an Albanians gears more then hearing our towns name mispronounced...

HMAS Perth is also sunk down there as a dive site.

😂😂😂 I live in Western Australia 🇦🇺 😂😂😂 the ANZAC memorial Museum in Albany is fantastic 🎉 🔥 🔥 🔥

I thank you Drach for reigniting my teenage interest in military history. My question is:Did the US Navy have war plans against the British Empire in the last 100 years the channel covers? Were any such plans realistic? If these plans exist did they have anyy chance for success? My guess on the last question is not a snowballs chance in the Negev Dessert. Was it during World war II the commissioned strength of the US Navy exceed that of the Royal Navy?