I knew a gentleman in his final years who had been a plank owner on Montpelier and had served on that ship on a 40mm mount throughout the war. As a child he had known true poverty during the depression, and while he didn’t talk too much about the fighting his ship saw with a kid like me, he always wanted to talk about the gedunk aboard his ship. He loved ice cream and he had never eaten so much good food before in his life. I had been looking forward to this episode as I remember this now deceased friend. Thank you for making it, and tonight I will lift a bowl of ice cream in memory of Jim and in thanksgiving for his service and that of his shipmates.

I'm always impressed by Drachs' ability to speak on Naval History, off the top of his head. The depth and breadth of his knowledge is truly impressive.

Outstanding episode. Drachinfel is a wonderful resource. He did an episode on 18th century shipboard food and actually cooked some hardtack biscuits and salted beef and ate it with his wife laughing in the background. He is a treasure.

Love the videos with Drac. You watch one of his videos and 3 hours later you’re learning about French steel manufacturing for ship building in WW1 and wondering how in the heck you got here. Great work gentleman.

USS Foote was towed to Florida Island (Solomons) for integrity repairs, then was barge towed all the way to San Pedro for full repairs and modernization. Participated in combat for the last year of the war, remarkable.

Drach! This is awesome glad to see you. Hey now let’s just work in a way to reinforce that Warspite is the greatest battleship ever and we’ll be good.😂😉

My father was a radioman on the bridge of the USS Stanley during this battle. A couple of years before he died he was telling me this story and I asked him to write it down. He conveyed the chaos of the night and the air attack the following day. I am grateful he wrote this and will pass it to my children. Recently, I was reading about the Stanley engine room crew. They had an exhaust leak and had to tend the boilers through the night using oxygen canisters. God bless them all

Again an absolutely amazing episode guys. As a European interested in WW2 - my focus has always been the European theater. Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway and the nuclear strikes we have learned about. Now I am equally intrigued and interested in everything related to the Pacific war as well - because of your amazing story telling. Thanks !!!

Two of my FAVORITE shows together... I love it! And Seth, thanks for the woodpecker lips comment because I’m going to have a lot of fun repackaging that one to repeat😂Classic!

Thanks guys for making my boring evening more enjoyable. Your efforts are greatly appreciated….

Another outstanding episode gentlemen! Really appreciate Drachinifel's unbiased views as well! Regarding the question near the end about the location of the repair base the USS Foote was towed too, here is an excerpt from her history from Naval History and Heritage Command. "Putting into Vella Lavella 1 October 1943 with an LST convoy which she had joined at sea, Foote joined in fighting off an enemy air attack later that day, splashing at least one plane. She escorted the LSTs back to Guadalcanal, returning to convoy duty until covering the landings on the Treasuries 26 and 27 October. She put out from Purvis Bay 31 October to bombard Buka and the Shortlands, neutralizing enemy airfields to prevent air opposition to the Bougainville landings. Alerted to the movement of an enemy task force, Foote made contact by radar in the early morning of 2 November, and in the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay which followed, she was hit by an enemy torpedo which blew off her stern, as the other ships of her division launched the torpedo attacks which helped sink two Japanese ships and turned back the planned assault by the Japanese task force on the shipping off Bougainville. With 3 killed and 17 wounded, Foote's men kept their ship afloat despite the fact that both engines were stopped, steering control lost and the main deck awash aft. They also manned their guns to splash at least one wave of Japanese planes which attacked the American ships the next morning. She was towed into Purvis Bay 4 November for repairs." Also, the battle damage report from Navsource.com indicates several fuel oil tanks were damaged and exposed to the sea which probably explains the report the water in the fuel that shut down the boilers. Again, my compliments to Seth, Captain Toti and Drachinifel for another outstanding broadcast!

Drachinifel is an outstanding presenter of naval history, and your vision and analysis is pertinent and valuable as we are heading for war and it is our future advisary whom has the manufacturing advantage in the coming war.

Can't beleive you don't have more subscribers. You re very good at what you do. Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

There is almost no more supreme irony within the IJN, that not only Yamamoto, but also Admiral Toyoda who later held the same post until the end of the war, both were openly opposed to war with the United States before the whole thing began. Toyoda in fact was quoted as saying, war with the US was unwinnable. I cannot even imagine being in that role. Told everyone 6 years before this was a bad idea, now everyone else has been relieved or killed and you're supposed to go give it your best shot, when it is crystaly clear it is lost. Even the most brainwashed of commanders couldn't possibly have been unaware of the US unlimited supply of fuel, unlimited manpower, equipment and armaments and unlimited industrial power; I just can't wrap my head around what drives an entire society to run headlong into that.

Awesome overload this morning. My two favorite channels combined!

One of my favorite quotes of the WWII Pacific War is recounted in a USNI article by Robert Marsh (Tactics Rule at Empress Augusta Bay) of a radio exchange between Captain Burke and Commander Austin, the 2 US destroyer division commanders, when Burke's destroyers accidentally engaged Austin's: “For goodness sake, Arleigh, stop shooting at me.” Burke's reply, “Okay, Count. I won’t shoot any more but excuse the four salvos that are on the way.”

From the tactical situation, with all advantages to the USN, I was surprised more damage wasn’t sustained by the IJN. In earlier radar directed fire actions it seemed that all/most ship radars locked onto the first or largest target. With that tremendous volume of fire, did a few IJN ships take the bulk of fire and allow the others to reply with little to no damage? I love when you have guests. Drach is one of the best.

To some degree, I think this battle was a precursor to Surigao Strait, in the sense that DDs were not tethered to heavier ships and heavier guns' fire was controlled by radar rather than visually.

You guys are AWESOME . Thank you for your time. CPT Bill I hope your throat heals. You guys ROCK. SGT DOUG, RECON, 101ST, RVN 68-69.

So good to see you guys together with one of the most preeminent Naval historians, Drachinifel. For further information there is a very nice USN animated film here on KZfaq of this battle, which involved Cleveland Class light cruisers effectively using their radars in the night engagement.

Great Torpedo Tuesday. Drach is a naval encyclopedia. I really appreciate Drach fighting the late hours and sleep to bring us this wonderful podcast. Love watching these episodes.

I just started a new job after weeks of being home with my wife and newborn daughter. Normally I would listen to this the second it dropped, but starting today your episodes will just have to be delayed gratification. I look forward to this podcast every Tuesday and today (like always) I was not disappointed. Thanks for all the work you guys put into this. It has become one of my favorite parts of my week.

Bill, as an Air Force Nerd, I have the utmost repesect for your personal heroism of our nation's Combined Armed Forces, representing the highest intellect, management and courage. Thank your for the maps and that beautiful wall behind you. I'm praying for you great men and the thousands of hours of research, the 7 books I have read because of Ya'll, the rare photos and especially Seth's wonderful narrative.

So glad you are covering the Pacific Campaigns in this manner. Back in the 70’s when I was around 14, I became hooked on WWII Pacific history. Read every book I could get my hands on. This series is a great reminder of that time for me. Thanks

Fun fact, Admiral Burke, who was obviously retired by then, gave a speech at least one of the various ceremonies regarding his name sake ship. There's a video lurking around on KZfaq somewhere.

Thanks! Couple weeks ago my grandson was watching Episode 218 with me. He asked...Gmpa...have you watched ALL 218 episodes? I Said..."I only wish"!! Thanks for another great episode 220...wow!

Please thank "Drach". I'm sure as you mentioned Seth many of us are subscribers to his channel as well.

Agreed! Drach and Unauthorized are indeed my two favorite shows!

Outstanding! A Second to None Top File History examination by a fun group of navy experts, historians, veterans, of WW2 Pacific battles and operations Gentlemen all.

Thank you. This is a great series. One of the things that I like best is that you try to explain the hell that the regular soldier went through. Keep up the great but hard work.

My dad was a FCM-3 on DD-794 USS Irwin and always said never ever mess with a 5 inch 38 cal on radar at 21 rounds per min times 5 guns.

Really like this guest's (Drach) precision. Can we hear from him some more? The three of you excel (as in mutually reinforce). Great piece! Great scholarship all. Most enjoyable,

Great episode, thank you. Sorry Drachinifel had to be up at a crazy hour but appreciate that he was there! As I was listening to the comments that the US navy had made huge progress incorporating learnings from the prior year, I hope the culture in the Navy continues to emphasis adaptation. Probably not since it has been 80 years since we learned that lesson, but hopefully so. Bill often comments how he tries to point out lessons from WWII are still incredibly relevant.

Thank you to all three of you, another great presentation. Go Navy!

This is the best thing to drive around for my job and listen to. I binge listened to everything in about 2 weeks, and now I excitedly await the weekly stipend.

Wonderful again Drak, Seth and Bill.

Another battle I knew nothing about I really love this show.

Thank you for another fantastic episode. A great three-hander, or four if you count the behind the scenes silent contribution from Seth's canine friend

"Tougher than woodpecker lips!" Think I just discovered my favorite new slogan, Seth! 😂 Great job gentlemen. I really enjoy these episodes where you have invited Drach to participate. His technical input brings those episodes to a much higher degree of understanding in terms of tactics, techniques and procedures in addition to the resulting actions and outcomes.

Good to see Drach on this episode. The track charts of the battle are worth a look. You can easily find them on line from a couple of different sources. In particular, the US cruiser column made several simultaneous 180 degree turns which put Denver in the lead, then Montpellier, etc. So they were operating very well together as a unit. Perhaps the turns also had some effect on gunnery accuracy, as the turrets also had to swing around about 180 degrees and reacquire targets? Nevertheless, Denver was hit by three duds (eight inch) which caused her to take on some water. I think Montpellier was hit by the base plate of an eight shell. Not sure how that would happen, but it's in the record. Cheers guys, and thanks.

Fantastic. How you got Drach to participate is even more impressive. “Nimitz had a dart board with MacArthur on the face.” Brilliant and to the point.

The Cleveland class recieves much praise, and perhaps rightfully so. But.... Given that by this stage of the war the CA was primarily used for carrier AA escort and the CL has become the main surface warfare ship, I would have definitely given the nod to the St. Louis class. I would trade the four extra 5" guns of the Cleveland for the three extra 6" of the St. Louis, and those up to 30 extra 6" projectiles downrange per minute on the broadside. I have enjoyed every video you gentleman have released, and the cooperation with this channel with Drachinfel was a special treat indeed!

Good morning Mr. Paridon, Capt. Toti & Drachinifel it s 06:19 EST hours here. I'm looking forward to another great episode.

James Fahey's "Pacific War Diary" about his time on the Montpellier is a classic. Hopefully most of your viewers have read it, if not, they should!

I have taken up long walks lately (hikes?). My favorite accoutrement is to listen to these podcasts while I walk…sometimes for hours in the forest. The stories inspire me to bear the pain of getting into condition. Thank you again gents.

Seth, Bill, Drach another excellent Masters class in the evolution of USN operational and tactical doctrine in the SW Pacific. More Drach in future podcasts, please.. How about an episode dedicated to the legendary 31 knot Captain Arleigh Burke with Drach and other guests of your choice? Thanks for all your wonderful work.

Love Drac. I'm a subscriber to his channel also.

Love your work gentlemen. I need your help writing a book about a Fletcher class destroyer. 90% of the proceeds go to fund a home in washington dc for homeless veterans and veterans in recovery or suffering from PTSD. Im hoping to get popular historians to write one chapter each. Im friends with Richard Rashke. He wrote Useful Enemies and Escape from Sobibor. I live here and ill be going to the Naval Heritage Museum this week.

As a retired SWO stumbling across this channel a few weeks ago, I have been enjoying these episodes immensely. I would add to you comments about the various US commanders at Guadalcanal keeping the DDa on a "short leash" wasn't so much from dogma or resistance as to fear of fractidie. The ships were often thrown together without having the time to learn how to operate as a team with a known engagement policy from the flag. Keep in mind most of the ships in the earlier campaigns did not have radar (or effective radar) and thier was no IFF. Even with the "tight leash" , there were a number of cases of friendly fires on US destroyers (and even Cruisers - Atlanta). Admiral Lee gave free reign to his 4 DDs in part due to the fact of the technology on his two modern BBs.

Bravo zulu gentlemen, a great video, great content, and great to see drach again from his last drydock!!!!!

Great guest, Drachinifel. Interested in this battle, makes a good comparison to Savo, only the US was better prepared.

Another great episode. It has been enjoyable watching your detailed analysis of these battles as the US pushed up the Slot in these campaigns in the Solomon Islands

Great detailed and interesting podcast. Drachinifel is a great addition.

You guys bring so much to the table thanks!

One of the best "radar directed throw everything and the kitchen sink at them" engagements of the war. Glad you made one on Empress Augusta Bay.

I'm gladened to see that 10s of thousands view two or three guys tell the story of those days. Outstanding! There may be hope for us (and US) after all.

Outstanding 😊😊 luv your content 👏 I could watch your vids every day!!

Keep em coming!!! I can't wait till next Tuesday!! Thank you

I look forward to these videos every week..

Another great one, guys ! Glad to see Drac visiting, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the ships, strategy, and tactics, just wind him up, and let him go. . TY

Oh goodness! What a set of cutie pies! 🥰 But yeah. Thoroughly enjoyed your podcast, as always. So much to learn, and your presentations are always top notch. Thank you all for sharing your passion and knowledge. Also... Cutie... Pies!!! 🥰😁😘

Drach! You guys really are in the big leagues.

As always you guys deliver great work

I am addicted to this show. One of the best 👍

I think those 5” weigh about 53 lbs each. Those guys must have been pretty stout. Another wonderful job guys! I was excited to see a new video!! Thank y’all!!!

So well done fellas. Truly outstanding. Thank you.

Oh boy, Sea Stories from my favorite Historians. Gotta get my coffee.😊

As someone who looks at history to make sense of today this was a great episode. Navy learning from its mistakes and creating new ideas and tactics. IJN stuck in a failing dogma and success of past victories. Hope and despair side by side. Great stories well told.

My three favorite KZfaqrs all in one video!

Yes! Drach! Another great episode gents! Thank you!

Excellent, as usual. A battle I never heard of, but now I know. Thank you

Great podcast and it was great to have Drach's commentary.

Always top quality presentation and Drach only makes it better!

Great way to start my day!

Thank you gentlemen. Informative and entertaining yet again! I always find out more about anything I might have known some or a little about previously. Wishing Drach great travels to Aussie land! Enjoyed the America visit immensely.

You area great team! hank you for taking the time and putting ithe effort to create these videos. Although I have read about everything I could find about the Pacific war, I learned something new each time I watch. I appreciate your guests and the insights that they provide. You are a great example of excellence in action. Thanks again

Durable = USS Birmingham (CL-62) is a fair example. Great show gentlemen and always good to see Drach. I've learned quite a bit from both channels.

Love these collaborations! Fire at will!

Masterful summary at the end by Drach.

Well done gentleman. Thanks!

Good job guy’s

9,000-ton Burke class "destroyers" giving extensive side eye to Arleigh Burke commanding 2,100-ton Fletcher class destroyers. On the Cleveland class, I'm kind of surprised Drach didn't get back to his "designed for but not with" theory and compare the armor to the British County-class cruisers. These were rigidly treaty compliant with no belt armor, and then refitted with a 4.5" belt as soon as the treaty system broke down. The Clevelands, with up to 5" armor thickness, had protection comparable to the (ostensibly bigger) County class cruisers. On Seth's comment about the Japanese coming in with a less cohesive force than a year before at Savo Island, I think this is overstated. Mikawa had his flagship (Chokai), two random light cruisers, one random destroyer, and then the one intact formation, the four old heavy cruisers of Cruiser Division 8. Myoko and Haguro were from the same class even if they hadn't trained together much, and Japanese destroyers were basically Japanese destroyers. On the Coastwatchers, that was an Australian program, with data shared with the Americans. Commander Eric Feldt was an officer in the Royal Australian Navy and the head of the Coastwatcher program.

Not to be too crude, but you dudes know your s**t. I just recently discovered your site, and your informed discussions of this amazing and endlessly fascinating subject (the Pacific War and the US Navy) never cease to impress. Thanks for what you do.

I watched to the end and look forward to new videos every Tuesday.

At this point, the USN was winning several "races": technology; learning from experiences; ship repair; building new ships. The Clevelands, Brooklyns, and Fletchers were pretty amazing classes, and the 6"/47 and 5"/38 were amazing guns. The Clevelands and Fletchers especially were well balanced in their capabilities (Most Brooklyns had the older 5"/25 AA guns).

Congratulations on episode 50. Looking forward to the next 50.

Thank you for sharing your combined knowledge.

Feldt also wrote a book on the coastwatchers. Well worth reading. It was not the easy effort that one might imagine from Drach’s brief description. The radios were enormous things, requiring many men to carry them and the huge batteries. The Nips spent a lot of effort tracking them down, thus requiring frequent movement (and slaughter in villages thought to be helping the coast watcher). My uncle was one - originally near Rabaul where he had been the patrol officer pre war - and was later inserted on the north coast to scout Nip positions prior to landings. Getting out to report was hairy. On one occasion his nighttime submarine rendezvous failed to come and he was left out at sea in daylight in a canoe. It was strafed by the airforce and his report was scathing about the pilot’s accuracy.

I met a man who was on the Foote when it was hit. He told me that after the Foote was hit, a cruiser went between them and the Japanese and the cruiser made smoke to screen the Foote. I appreciate having had the chance to listen to Max Flint.

Sometime in very late '42, the VT fuse was issued to the US Navy which basically revolutionized anti-aircraft defense. From that point, instead of guessing where the plane and shell were going to intersect and setting the timer for that distance and hoping it was exactly right, the gunners just had to guess when the radar in the fuse should activate and anything within the set distance (a plane, rain, land, etc.) would set off the fuse. This was completely devastating to aircraft, just like it is to infantry (my background is field artillery).

The thing about the Baltimore-class is by the time they were available it was basically too late for the cruiser vs cruiser battles.

Thanks covering this battle.

So glad i recently discovered this podcast. This is EXACTLY what i was looking for, espcially the lil details that usuall are outside of most histories.

Sneaky Drach, doing videos that don't immediately go to the top of my watch list because they're on someone else's channel. Love the content, video, guests, hosts and everything!

Great show. Keeping the streak alive. More maps please.

God bless Arlie Burke and all the other heroic sailors and old sea dogs will put themselves in harm's way for our sake during World War II! God bless all the courageous veterans with nerves of steel who risked everything and selflessly sacrificed so much to protect our countries and preserve the freedoms we enjoy today! God bless all the souls - military and civilian - that we have lost in times of war! God bless America! God bless us all and grant us peace!

My 2 favorite WW2 History channels , clear and factual, Thank you guys

Thank-you Bill for the save at the end...

Thanks to Drach. He looks really tired.

Excellently done !