Will you consider a special on the nuke tests at Bikini Atol?

Why did some nations (Japan) equip their submarines with aircraft while others (USA, Germany) did not? The IJN seemed to want their submarines to be able to scout for themselves - was this ever useful? Such scouting aircraft seem like they would have been incredibly useful to uboats in the Atlantic.

Quite a while ago, I recall you saying that HMS Renown had a good crew in general, and a very dangerous gunnery crew in particular; Could you tell us about some other ships from your periods of study with crew sections that were standouts amongst standouts?

Q: Has any ship ever been fitted with a 'howitzer'. To deliver plunging fire at closer ranges?

I'd like you to address the Royal Canadian Navy's immediate post-WW2 "Dissension in the ranks: the ‘mutinies’ that never were ", as one article in the official Canadian history puts it. (Google that article on the Canada.ca website.)

At first I was like "wut". but then I was like oh get it

Front loading or top loading Whirlpool? 😉

I dread to think what Scylas secret weapon would have been

Explain?

@@nemom225 , see greek mythology please :-)

Probably my favorite Dido. Built by my favorite shipyard, Harland and Wolff, and probably one of the longest surviving of her class.

No one in my family ever served on the Black Prince, probably because no one in my family has lived in the UK for the past 300+ years. However, I can proudly boast that I played the Black Prince in World of Warships, as a free, introductory tier 1 cruiser(all tier 1 ships are cruisers). But that probably doesn't count.... Lol. 😁

@@HighlanderNorth1 Different ship, that's Black Swan, an ASW Sloop.

If memory serves HMS BLACK PRINCE was at Utah Beach Normandy. My late Dad was on the USS KIOWA there to ! Small world! I salute you Dad for his service!

@@jerrymccrae7202 that’s right Black Prince was attached to the Americans. They say that Belfast was the first British ship to open fire but my dad said it was wrong they had already anchored and were picking off pre determined targets from map references. I think he said USS Clancey was with them as well. When they stopped bombarding he got up on deck to to see the ship was surrounded by dead jellyfish killed by the concussion. Dad drew the short straw in stations for D Day, being an EM PO he was in the low power room which was at the lowest point in the ship. I’d love to get to the record office and check the ships log against Belfast’s.

Hahahahah.

Whilst in Jersey we noted a number of headstones in the cemetery referred to this brave crew RIP

Well, it IS Boxing Day, and maybe he had other RL things to do...

>t.Cdr Hill, commanding officer of Grenville was threatened with court martial when he stated that the Germans knew that Charybdis and the supporting force would follow their usual routine and that their actions were predictable. The Royal Navy walked right into a trap thanks to the stupidity of staff officers based in Plymouth because the voice of a serving officer serving at sea with great distinction was not listened to and due attention and consideration given to his wise council..

@@Jon908584 - "Counsel is a noun or a verb relating to advice or the act of giving advice. One who gives advice is referred to as a counsellor. The homophone council only has a noun form, and usually refers to groups or committees that decide rules and laws, or provide guidance. Members of a council are councillors but what they engage in is actually counseling."

@@Jon908584 yeah! What he said!;)

Think Roskill acknowledges the repetition of previous tactics was largely responsible for this debacle.

@@iansadler4309 indeed. Bit of a ‘rookie error’ though, really. The idea of some idiot Rupert sending me off to be put in grave danger through stupidity or carelessness is the most terrifying aspect of war to me.

got to love the Admiralty's choice of names for ships of war.

@@jwenting Greek historic names were popular for warships. Blue Funnel.merchant ships were also called after Ancient Greek heroes and chsracters in the Oddesey and the Iliad.

@@ronnieince4568 Fortunately, HMS Medea never betrayed them.

@@RedXlV true .The RN started the Second World War with 60 cruisers , war losses amounted to 30 and 30 new cruisers were commissioned. .Two survive in the UK today -HMS Belfast in London and HMS Caroline from.the First World War in Belfast .I think the Canadians also have one and possibly India as museum ships.

@@jwenting The RN certainly has a talent for it. I'm a fan of the older names like Indefatigable and Inflexible and Indomitable...but the modern Type 45/Daring HMS DRAGON is pretty good too! (OK..the dragon painting on the bow is probably what sets her apart!)

Stay warm. Bring along extra coffee so you can write "KPDubbs71 was here." in the snow. Merry & Happy to you and all Drachers.

The Americans had the best navy because they added the most guns because of course they did. 😋

Well, you did rename the Flower-Class Corvettes the Action-Class, because you didn't feel confident going into battle aboard a vessel named Pansy or Periwinkle

True facts

@@TheEDFLegacy I must admit, for an anti-aircraft cruiser it seems light on weaponry compared to an American ship. We do love our guns.

@@weldonwin yes but what about the USS snapdragon? That would have worked.

Merry Sanguinala

Its quite fitting that it was part of the Dido class, as the monster Charybdis hails primarily from the Odyssey, a book that parralels the Aeneid, of which Dido was a character in.

@@disceva6443 Well, there were several characters besides six headed sea monsters ;)

Why thank you. 😁

Mithras be with you.

Now imagine if they had another pair of 4.5" twin turrets available to mount for their C turrets.

@@RedXlV There wasn't room. They had to modify the bridge anyway to get 2 4.5'' turrets in. And the 4.5s had a very fast rate of fire.

I agree - I did like the book with the author being able to show the feelings and activities involved while knowing the ship intimately. Recommended

@@bluemu The bit where Hughes went to see her being broken up is very poignant.

Wet survivor: ,"So, rather like Beatty and Seymour, with the difference that the Admiralty actually has *learned* something from our object lesson. Fair enough."

The Duke of Wellington on his first campaign (Flanders) as LTC Wellsley, commanding the 33rd Foot - "I had learned what not to do and that is always something"

Thank you for keeping your content add free :)

Make some interesting Five Minute Guides

All thanks to the dullards serving on the staff of the responsible flag officer who refused to alter set routines that had achieved no vestige of success or to listen to a serving officer at the sharp end. It didn't require any positive thinking on the part of the Kriegsmarine to predict actions by the RN.

only 2 hits on her....not exactly Gunther Prien numbers on display here...

Merry Christmas

@@mikeholton9876 three total hits out of 24, 12.5%, not even the 15% the Japanese believes they needed for their decisive battle doctrine. Much better than most surface warfare actions, where 5% hits or less is not unusual.

I would wish you a Merry Sanguinala, but I don't want to make you cry. Happy Holidays!

[TORPBEATS INTENSIFY]

And Scylla

The later Leander class frigate was often called "Cherry B". Dunno if that applied to the 1939 Charybdis.

I have an original seaman's cap from this skip don't know how it made its way to America

That's what I always pronounced it. If you keep saying dee-do it sounds like a Greek police car.

Yes its Die-do with a greek/roman pronunciation, she was the mythological founder and first queen of Carthage. Dee-do is the american english pronunciation for its meaning as a showy prank.

I can back that up. During my time in the RN (76 to98) the Leander class frigate was allways referred to as "Diedo", never "Deedo".

@@watcherzero5256 There is no word on this planet that we Yanks won't cheerily mispronounce, redefine and add to our wonderful mishmash of madness that used to be the English language.

@@watcherzero5256 Sorry, but as an American, I learned Die-doe for the queen and ship

Yeah she was named for the mythological Dido, the first queen and founder of the city of Carthage.

@@watcherzero5256 As one of her descendants, I resent her being called "mythological"

@@colbeausabre8842 Well as the only accounts are from hundreds of years later for example in the Aenid and the person she supposedly married being born 400 years before she was while neither her nor her brother are recorded to have children (Pygmalion was the last of his royal line).

In the past Drach's said he generally won't take this channel past about 1950 for a couple reasons - data on newer ships tends to still be classified (as so can only be speculated about) and wanting to avoid getting caught up in more politically contentious recent naval conflicts. But hey, maybe that'll end up being a moving window - so as things get declassified and additional ships age to that roughly 70 years ago mark maybe those ships could start appearing here :D

And add a episode on HMS Ulysses

Dido as per Fido is how the RN pronounce it.

Interesting read that one....really felt bad for him given his post war experiences...

@@trooperdgb9722 Yes indeed. ( I realised someone else has already mentioned this book, didn't spot it as reading comments on phone)

@@peterwren8177 Wow...three people in one place who have read that book! (I have never met anyone else who has lol)

@@trooperdgb9722 Four.

@@dovetonsturdee7033 Awesome! I have to admit MY copy is a paperback in VERY poor shape....

The Type 39s were similar to the British pre-war A-I class destroyers, although slightly slower.

The 5.25's that were mounted as coast defense/anti aircraft guns, like all other heavy flak in British service (3, 3.7 and 4.5 inch) belonged to the Army, not the RAF. "In early 1942 the Governor of Gibraltar sought 5.25-in guns for dual anti-aircraft/coast defence role. None was forthcoming. However, later that year Anti-Aircraft Command in UK acquired three twin-gun turrets from the Admiralty, which were installed around London in permanent positions. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_5.25-inch_naval_gun#/media/File:Twin_5.25_inch_AA_guns_Primrose_Hill_1943_IWM_H_032322.jpg Trials and use led the army to design a single gun mounting in two marks, both with an underground engine room to provide electrical and hydraulic power for traverse, elevation, fuze setting, ramming and other tasks. Fitted with the standard army Machine Fuze Setter No 10, these guns had a rate of fire of 10 rds/min and a maximum height of 50,000 ft, with an effective height of 36,000 ft.[18] Mark 1A was a mild steel turret for anti-aircraft use only, Mk 1B was an armoured turret for anti aircraft and coast defence use. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_5.25-inch_naval_gun#/media/File:5.25_inch_gun_Port_Moresby_1944_AWM_075214.jpeg The gun was designated Mk 2. By the end of 1943 only 16 of the new guns had been installed, far below projections. By the end of the war 164 guns had been produced. The high-explosive shells were fuzed with the standard army No 208 mechanical time fuze, used with 3.7 and 4.5-inch anti-aircraft guns. The guns remained in service after World War II, and in 1953 11 guns were installed in Gibraltar" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QF_5.25-inch_naval_gun#/media/File:5.25-inch_BL_Dual_Purpose_Gun.jpg

@@dovetonsturdee7033 The Krauts insisted on calling their destroyers "Torpedo boats" for many years. Here's a "real" KM torpedo boat vs the "fleet torpedo boats" of this action en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_37_torpedo_boat en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_39_torpedo_boat 1700 tons, 4 X 4.1 inch guns, 6 X 21 inch torpedo tubes is a destroyer

I'd like to know that as well.

Preferably in a video (or series) on blockades and blockade runners, down through the ages.

Same here my maternal grandfather missing at sea as his body was never found.

Facing a whirlpool of exploding 4.5" shells?

Dang, that's a good one... You may want to add it to his pinned post (at the top) for Drydock questions.

Per gun it's a wash but the early Atlanta class has twice as many guns 16 vs 8 so the Atlanta wins in output but both guns of the Dido class the 4.7 and 5.25inch are better in surface combat than the 5/38 US gun. The UK built 16 Dido class with all commissioned by January 1944 with 5 lost the USA had commissioned 6 of the 8 Atlanta's by that time though 2 had been lost with the last 2 in August 44 and February 45

@@Ushio01 Unquestionably Atlanta. The 5.25 inch mounts were notoriously crowded which meant they did not achieve in practice their theoretical ROF 0f 12 rpm, but instead were limited to 7-8 rpm. From the NAVWEAPS site " Unfortunately, the original design of the gunhouse was cramped and the heavy projectile and cartridge cases resulted in a lower rate of fire than expected. In addition, the slow elevating and training speeds of the mounts were found to be inadequate for engaging modern high-speed aircraft." "As designed, the expected rate of fire for these guns was 10 - 12 rpm. However, the heavy weight of the projectile and cartridge case plus the semi-automated fuze setting mechanism meant that this round required much crew handling before it could be rammed into the breach. The tight design of the gunhouse also interfered with the smooth crew operation necessary to achieve high rates of fire. In the chapter regarding the design of the King George V class, "British Battleships of World War Two" states that: "The mounting was designed for a rate of fire of ten to twelve rounds per minute, but, in fact, the crews could not transfer shell and cordite from the hoists to the loading-trays at this speed, and the more usual rate of fire was seven to eight rounds per minute." This would imply that cruisers would have a similar rate of fire, as the layout of their gunhouse and movement of ammunition was essentially the same as for the battleship mounting. The 5-38 inch had a theoretical rate of fire of 12 rounds/minute, but well drilled crews are routinely recorded as achieving up to 20 rpm. The AA cruiser HMS Delhi was unique in being rearmed with five 5-38's "the gunnery officer on Delhi reported that during gunnery trials in February and March 1942 that these guns were able to fire 25 rounds per minute with the ready-use ammunition stored in the handling rooms and 15 rounds per minute with the normal supply from the magazines. So we're talking Dido class = 5 turrets X 2 guns/turret X 8 rounds per gun = 80 rpm X 80 lbs/shell = 6400 lbs/minute Oakland subclass (better apples to apples than the Atlantas) = 6 turrets X 2 guns/turret X 20 rounds/gun = 240 rpm (even at 12 rpm, it's 144 rpm) X 54 lbs/shell = 12,960 lbs/minute An Atlanta would tear a Dido apart. It's only hope would be to stay out of range (24,000 vs 17,000 yards, No wonder the IJN talked about the "American 5 inch machine gun"

I think in the latest episode of Armchair Admirals World of Warships channel they discuss this in more depth.

Went to the Med and melted

It was a night action.

That's all the guns and turrets they had. It was get the ship finished and in action asap since there was a war on and sitting in a dockyard is being a target to Luftwaffe air raids. Unlike Destroyers and smaller ships big ships were valuable targets.

Could you mean the Degausing Cables used to protect warships from magnetic mines?

I don’t think so. Take a look at the photos at 1:00 minute and that at 1:46. I recall such photos from different HMS, like KGV, Belfast, Renown. It looks like chains, not cables. Never seen such on other nations ships.

@@Patrick-pm1sn It IS degaussing cables to protect against magnetic mines. It was developed be the British early on in the war when they managed to defuse a German magnetic mine. Cruisers and larger vessels were fitted with the apparatus. They used different methods for smaller warships and merchant ships.

Thank you very much Peter! Much appreciated! This looks very improvised compared to the German MES System. Anti Magnetic Mine Equipment used in different Navies would be a nice future topic here.

@@peterflitcroft9756 No it is NOT. Those are paravane cabless

It was HMS Royalist.

@@davidb6576 Thank you. It has been many years since I read the book, and as best I remember, MacLean served in a Dido, but the ship's name escaped me.

@@petesheppard1709 Hopefully, he wasn't the Kapok Kid.

@@johngregory4801 At least Alistair (and ROYALIST) survived the war. I only read the book once. I prefer the heros to survive, though real life isn't nearly so accomdating.

My father served as a coder on HMS Royalist. Mention made in the book 'Sink the Hugaro' - the last Japanese naval action of WW11, I believe.

Over the years, he RN has had six ships called Charybdis - so they seem quite OK with it.

Well, hitting the seabed at speed probably didn't do it any favours either. 😀

@@Drachinifel True, perhaps it also experienced secondary explosions like Boller or magazine!

Everyone did...the "fog of war" is universal...there are examples from all major navies...

Supply issues, only 8 4.5 inch mountings could be spared by the time they were to be fitted out. Actually preferred by many to their 5.25 inch half sisters because they were much less crowded

Screw the damn Krauts, war is NOT a game

Me too...