The Drydock - Episode 315
Added 2024-09-14 08:00:04 +0000 UTC00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:49 - We've never had a real ship called Thunderchild, but what are the closest names real warships have come to Thunderchild?
00:01:35 - How would Bearn compare to Eagle if she had been converted with only turbines instead of VTEs and turbines?
00:03:19 - Had USS United States been completed, how long do you think she would have been in service? Would she have outlasted the Midways or would she have been gone relatively soon?
00:09:23 - What is the sweetspot speed a carrier must achieve to best support flight operations? How has that speed changed over time?
00:14:44 - Operational issues for a Free French fleet in exile?
00:18:10 - During the WW2 time frame. Was any naval or land based bombing on shipping done with napalm or drop tanks filled with fuel?
00:21:16 - What were the major differences when it came to shore bombardment at Normandy vs in the Pacific campaigns?
00:24:58 - The close in fire support from three destroyers may have saved the Omaha Beach landings. Who were these extremely bold Skippers that drew the fire away from the pinned down troops. Was this ordered by Hewitt or someone up high, or improvised by the destroyers?
00:28:16 - When was the interview recorded & how old is Mr. Gardner?
00:28:54 - East India China Convoy's and the Empire's vulnerability?
00:33:09 - Please talk about drumming signals and what role musicians played on ships?
00:38:41 - What kind of decisions are made as to the placement of torpedo tubes on surface ships? Midship vs stern vs bow
00:42:44 - Dockyard cranes in age of sail?
00:46:24 - Instead of building Nelson and Rodney as they were historically, would the Royal Navy have been better off under the conditions of the naval treaties by building them as "improved Hoods", allowing these three fast ships to share flagship duties and rotate into the shipyards for refit on a timely basis prior to WWII starting?
00:52:20 - What are the protocols for flying flags on warships before they're commissioned?
00:55:50 - Why didn't the first attack group off of Midway radio back that they have spotted 4 carriers? That message could have been received by the 3 carriers and Hornet's attack group wouldn't just do a weather check?
01:02:16 - You frequently ask people to add additional information in the comments on topics in which you are inexpert. Which resulting discussions did you find the most informative?
Comments
At 55:50 the discussion of reporting the location of the Japanese carriers at Midway tends to center on the pilots. The USAAF pilots were notoriously bad at telling a destroyer from a battleship. However, the location would have been the responsibility of the planes navigator. Only B-17s and B-26s would have carried a navigator. To perform a location fix without two radio beacons (Midway would have turned them off even if they had them) require two sextant sightings of the sun taken about 15 minutes apart with the plane on a steady course and altitude. I did this many times navigating a T-29/C-131 and the best you can do is a triangle about 5 miles a side. Dead reckoning which is what they actually did, would be just as good in this situation. Why Midway didn't broadcast that, or why USS Nautilus in the middle of the Japanese fleet didn't is another question.
Allen Parmet
2024-09-20 19:06:24 +0000 UTCYour mention of signaling got me curious. Were there any age of sail RN officers who were known to be colorblind and how did that effect, if at all, flag signals? Or would that have been disqualifying for service?
David Pierce
2024-09-15 15:03:20 +0000 UTCAnother tour de force from you Drach. Many thanks.
James Hain
2024-09-14 22:53:17 +0000 UTCYou are forgetting Hollywoods contribution! 😀 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Pacific
Jellicoe Cats
2024-09-14 21:28:45 +0000 UTCOddly the picture of a theoretical USS United States, CV-58, has placed Vought F7U Cutlass fighters on deck. What a pairing! the Cutlass was probably the worst jet ever to land on a carrier. Operational only from 1951 to 1958, of the 320 built 78 were lost in peacetime accidents, saw no combat and was considered the most dangerous plane in the Navy's inventory-dangerous to the pilot!
Allen Parmet
2024-09-14 20:02:12 +0000 UTCFive major warships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Thunderer ;. I'd go with the 1872 model, Alex. HMS Thunderer (1760) was a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1760. Battle honour: 'Achille 1761'. She was wrecked in 1780. HMS Thunderer (1783) was a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1783; Battle honours: First of June 1794, St. Lucia 1796 and Trafalgar 1805. Broken up 1814. HMS Thunderer (1831) was an 84-gun second-rate launched in 1831, which fought in Syria 1840. She was used as a target from 1863, was renamed HMS Nettle in 1870, and was finally sold in 1901. HMS Thunderer (1872) was a Devastation-class ironclad - the world's first mastless battleships - launched in 1872 and sold in 1909 HMS Thunderer (1911) was an Orion-class battleship launched in 1911, which fought at Jutland 1916, and was broken up in 1927. HMS Thunderer was the name given to the Royal Naval Engineering College, located at Keyham, and later Manadon. The college was founded in 1880, later commissioned as HMS Thunderer in 1946, and finally paid off in 1995. The land at Manadon is now the site of a housing development. Additional minor war vessel, and cancelled uses of the name: HMS Thunderer (1776) was a 14-gun ketch-rigged 'Radeau' gun-raft, which was awarded the Battle Honour Lake Champlain 1776, but was lost the following year. HMS Thunderer (1818) was to have been a 74-gun third-rate, but she was renamed HMS Talavera in 1817, prior to her launch in 1818 HMS Thunderer (1939) was to have been a Lion-class battleship. She was ordered in 1939, but work was suspended in 1942, and she was finally cancelled in 1944
BEAUSABRE23
2024-09-14 18:06:57 +0000 UTCThe Poles had Grom and Blyskawica - Thunder and Lightning. There have been 10 HMS Lightnings and
BEAUSABRE23
2024-09-14 18:06:39 +0000 UTCI'm sorry by your car trouble. Getting the engine replaced is very stressful.
John Plate
2024-09-14 17:43:23 +0000 UTCI really tried to come see you in Cleveland, alas, work. The old fart that was my sith lord on the ship we were on lives up that way and I was hoping we could meet you. Thanks for all you do drach.
Jeff s holloway
2024-09-14 12:26:49 +0000 UTC
