The Drydock - Episode 044
Added 2019-06-01 09:00:03 +0000 UTC
Comments
QnA: You mention that several dreadnaught battleships suffered from "main gun" issues, could you go into greater detail the common issues ships had with there main guns and if any particular nations had specific issues that kept reoccurring in the ship's main gun designs or manufacture. How were new main gun designs and turrets tested, and did any particular navies have systemic issues that led to their main gun problems?
Robert Henry Illston
2019-06-02 17:57:24 +0000 UTCI have been an engineer, designer and scientist in the defence services and nuclear industries for 50 years retiring at 70 recently as a subject matter expert on submarines, I have been involved in tanks, aircraft and ship design and build. The question of the Royal Navy and how it should currently operate and in future be built as with the other services (air and land) a very complex question with many compromises due to the constraints of money and where the citizens of the UK wish their government to spend their taxes. The navy is the only real service that can significantly project power on a global basis at the current levels of technology. The perceived future threat is what designers have to work with and create capabilities that will work against these threats; the naval designers, scientists and "innovators" have to work on development of systems for threat in 50 years time on air and land this tends to be less than 25 years. In my later years on submarines I was working on innovation for existing fleet improvement (refit), next submarine build and future submarine design for 50 years in the future. As builders and designers we can create extra-ordinary future machines but what do you really want them to accomplish and how much do you want to spend and what will the citizens who have to pay allow you to spend. There are so many considerations to take into account, it can change from year to year for the next 50 years. The improvement that would keep a global effective force for the least expenditure would be (as an island) a combined services plan, design and budget and take out the self preservation of each of the services, this will never happen and it would make some interesting discussion, An excellent assessment from you of all these questions using what is termed "common sense" which is in short supply in the industries and services I have worked
John Hargreaves
2019-06-02 11:56:12 +0000 UTCTime to sit down for a nice cigar, a 23 year aged rum and.... Holy BLEEP ... a two hour episode? Good thing I'm settled in for the night.
Steve A
2019-06-02 01:16:10 +0000 UTCI would love to see more of your battle series, will you be doing one for the Battle of Midway?
Robert Henry Illston
2019-06-01 18:27:52 +0000 UTCthat CV65 Q and A was great, lol. On par with the most shelled piece of real estate in existence, with the armor breached threw sheer erosion of all the artillery bombardments, lol.
ZarconDeeGrissom
2019-06-01 15:30:07 +0000 UTC
