00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:40 - Which class of Regia Marina warship made the greatest contribution to the overall Axis war effort?
00:02:24 - Was the Italian attempt at an aircraft carrier a good design. And if it had been finished earlier in the war could it have made any difference in the Mediterranean?
00:09:49 - In the Hornblower TV series various characters say the line "Two, Six, Heave" was this an actual command in the Royal Navy at the time and if so why did they use "T...
2025-07-12 08:00:05 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - Why did the IJN even try (though fail) to meet treaty limits for their cruisers if they were still planning to lie about their displacements?
00:05:09 - Why no Italian battlecruisers?
00:11:29 - Where the Baltimore class conversions any good?
00:15:51 - What made the Oregon City subtype distinct from the Baltimores?
00:17:50 - Bombers, carriers and magazines, oh my!
00:25:27 - Why did the Kriegsmarine not deploy Admiral Hipper ...
2025-07-05 08:00:04 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:29 - When was the “naval attaché” was created and why?
00:05:26 - If the Scharnhorst's had recieved both their Atlantic bows, and* the 15" guns, would you be comfortable putting them against the Renowns?
00:09:45 - How do you rate the credibility/reliability of Hara Tameichi's accounts?
00:17:17 - How would Italy siding with the central powers (either in 1914 or when they historically entered the war) affect the naval wars in WW1?
00:...
2025-06-28 10:00:07 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:29 - Was Hedgehog derived from earlier ASW howitzers?
00:05:10 - When did the US Navy start using letter/number codes to identify a ship’s category and number?
00:14:41 - How soon would the USAAF have bombed Yamato if she'd managed to beach herself?
00:18:28 - Possible 'light' carrier arms race?
00:27:19 - Were bulges ever deliberately used to change hull form?
00:30:00 - What happens when a turbine strips? Is it the gears on the dr...
2025-06-28 07:45:01 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:38 - Despite her low freeboard, HMS Devastation is not considered to be a monitor. What characteristics are there that qualifies her as something other than a monitor?
00:03:37 - Warships at tropical anchorages are often photographed with large awnings covering their ends. How was the deck space below the awnings used? And are there use cases that probably would not have been considered if awnings were not available/deployed?
00:06:59 - How many role...
2025-06-21 08:00:06 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:36 - Did the british have any plans to use the 24.5 inch torpedoes on anything other then Nelson and Rodney?
00:04:26 - German Hedgehog equivilant?
00:07:40 - Was work ever done on cooling naval gun barrels?
00:11:25 - Just how did submarine commanders estimate/calculate the tonnage of the merchant ships they had sunk?
00:14:23 - Offensive Range in different settings?
00:19:08 - Had the Australian Federal Government not bowed to pres...
2025-06-14 08:00:03 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:36 - Would you argue that every post-1935 class of battleship is a heavily armored derivation of the battlecruiser as accomplished much earlier by Hood?
00:07:13 - Should Arizona have been at Bremerton on Dec 7th?
00:10:06 - Ideal emergency R class refit?
00:15:19 - County class armour scheme?
00:19:31 - How/where did Sweden get the oil for the navy in WWII?
00:20:35 - What compromises did the Swedes make with their destroyers?
2025-06-07 08:00:05 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:42 - Confusion between Scharnhorst and Bismarck class?
00:03:37 - Bofors artillery catalouge?
00:07:21 - Why did the Soviet Black Sea fleet perform poorly?
00:10:53 - What do you think will be the next drastic change in naval power?
00:22:56 - Cases where larger marine animals got involved in navy operations?
00:25:32 - Were any warships built of Jarrah wood?
00:27:58 - How was Dreadnought so much larger than it’s predecessor...
2025-05-31 08:00:03 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:26 - Could Shinano have been completed as a battleship in time for Leyte Gulf?
00:02:30 - Is the same shell used for all purposes in a DP gun?
00:06:14 - Notable examples where a competent job by somebody much too junior to be doing it was important to a positive outcome?
00:11:44 - How inferior is secondary and tertiary/turret rangefinders to main or radar guided gunnery? Would the shift be noticeable in terms of accurate fire on the enemy?
<...
2025-05-24 09:30:01 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - At what distance from the impact point do the effects of HE shells fired from the main battery of a battleship become negligible when fired at a land target?
00:07:52 - Did the Japanese launch a search for 'Shangri-La'?
00:10:00 - In your opinion, would the USN of the 1890s have been better off building two or three more Olympia-class ships instead of Maine and Texas?
00:13:38 - Was there ever a ship or other technology that navies had, but ...
2025-05-24 07:30:02 +0000 UTC
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Hello everyone! I'm proud to announce that my book on HMS Belfast will be having a launch event aboard HMS Belfast herself in the afternoon of Saturday 31st of May, 1300-1700.
There will be a short presentation on the ships history, book signings, a fun quiz with extra prizes and a few other goodies you can only get by meeting Drach in person!
Due to venue limitations there are only a limited number of tickets (available at the link below). These will be available exclusively to ...
2025-05-22 20:39:23 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:38 - Did any crews try to disguise tankers to fool U-Boats?
00:03:48 - Why was no thought given to preserving any of the historically important auxiliary vessels when it seems many far less important or preservation-worthy vessels were?
00:08:24 - How different would each Navy of the major nations had looked in WW2, had the Washington and London Naval treaties not been agreed?
00:16:09 - Do you think that CAD, 3d scanning, and virtual/augmented ...
2025-05-17 08:00:03 +0000 UTC
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Many thanks to USS Cod!
2025-05-14 10:00:09 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - In your opinion, between Vanguard, Richelieu and Littorio, which was the most powerful of the 15” gun final-generation European battleships, accounting for Vanguard being built a few years later than the other two?
00:08:44 - Autism and the Navy?
00:17:28 - Was the fall of the Spanish navy completely due to factors outside of their control?
00:22:30 - If my understanding is correct, some ship from the french navy where sent in the pacific...
2025-05-10 07:00:06 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - French pre-dreadnought design elements that were good?
00:06:49 - Obviously the British didn't know Dreadnaught was coming so what did they call battleships in the 1890s
00:11:08 - How well did old ships hold up under fire?
00:15:46 - Changing guns on a battleship?
00:23:46 - How does radar tell distance vs size of objects?
00:29:28 - Why did the Japanese even build Shimakaze when the construction of the AA-specialized Akizukis ...
2025-05-03 07:00:05 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:33 - How were Tribal class captains selected?
00:06:01 - Were any ships blown up in battle due to coal bunker fires?
00:10:21 - Could the USA have demanded more from Spain at the end of the Spanish-American War?
00:15:51 - At what point, if any, during WW2 did the Japanese begin to regard the Allies as something other than cowardly and soft?
00:19:48 - The misadventures of interwar Thornycroft export destroyer designs?
00:24:18 - If t...
2025-04-26 10:30:02 +0000 UTC
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As promised, a mostly-colour-corrected walkaround of The Sullivans using a 4D stabilised camera, in glorious 4k! Exclusive to Patreon! :)
2025-04-26 09:38:46 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:33 - For the April fools question. Which Navy the channel covers would have the best chance of fighting dragons or incorporating them in their doctrine?
00:05:11 - Why are some RN ship classes named for the lead ship and others for the general name type?
00:11:35 - Did nations ever slightly sabotage ships building for foreign nations?
00:15:23 - Secondary batteries on post WW1 battleships?
00:19:08 - How were ship classes defined in various...
2025-04-26 09:30:02 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:42 - Would earlier ironclads had led to iron ships with turrets and casemate main guns?
00:05:57 - Glorious ship names on tiny ships?
00:07:46 - What's with the turret layout on the planned G3 class battlecruisers and N3 class battleships?
00:14:25 - Why did some pre-dreadnoughts develop with two funnels alongside each other?
00:16:10 - What would an Italian-style money-is-no-object rebuild of older American or British battleships (such as...
2025-04-19 08:00:12 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:36 - How well would a BK-1124 have fared against a US Civil War River Monitor?
00:04:58 - Will you one day cover the naval battles in the War of the Triple Alliance?
00:11:38 - Why aren't tank turrets placed on ships more often?
00:16:41 - Why does the Montreux convention treat aircraft carriers differently from other types of capital ship?
00:23:54 - Methods of correcting a ships compass before Kelvin Spheres?
00:29:14 - Why was th...
2025-04-12 08:26:19 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:42 - What's your personal favorite naming scheme for each major navy in the period the channel covers?
00:06:01 - Penetration capabilities of WW2 capital ships?
00:14:51 - Has every single major navy at some point had a destroyer named thunder or lightning?
00:15:53 - How exaggerated was A. Iachino's statement regarding the Littorio Class' dispersion?
00:19:13 - What were some absolutely crazy ideas for destroyers?
00:22:01 - Redesi...
2025-04-05 08:00:06 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:28 - When did Admiral Spruance know about the atomic bomb and is there a record of his staff's reaction?
00:05:16 - What would happen if a battleship shell passed close by?
00:09:20 - How do ship designers get together and decide who gets what space for all these various sub systems needed in a ship near the end of the period the channel covers. Further how long would it take to design a whole ship?
00:17:48 - Is there a hard and fast rule to sep...
2025-03-29 10:00:08 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:31 - US Navy supporters used the South American battleships to push the creation of the New Steel Navy. Were these ships an actual threat, or just fear mongering?
00:05:01 - During the US Civil War what were some of the naval operations and strategies of the European Powers?
00:10:54 - Were there ever any serious efforts to mount air or surface search radar on the Akron class?
00:13:29 - In the 18th century what sort of punishment would an offic...
2025-03-29 08:45:01 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - What was the ultimate fate of the HMS Decoy?
00:03:12 - Why use a torpedo boat to command a submarine squadron?
00:05:32 - Why wasn't the name "Contra" chosen over "Destroyer"?
00:06:58 - How does Drach not have scurvy?
00:07:43 - Linoleum decking on torpedo boats?
00:09:03 - What is the highest number of mounted guns ever put on a warship?
00:10:04 - How would RN capital ships reallocate the fuel storage allocated volume ...
2025-03-22 09:00:15 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - Was HMS St. Lawrance and co the only time the British ever conceived of using super short range man o wars to defend the coasts of their island (or other imperial territories) or are there other vessels that I'm not aware of?
00:05:18 - How do you keep a ship as small as HMS Lightning trimmed when moving torpedoes around?
00:07:35 - Have you ever put together a spreadsheet on the changes over time to main gun range vs the sighting system in use? ...
2025-03-15 09:00:14 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - Why did Destructor not immediatly spawn a response?
00:04:02 - Given the advancements in material science since the last battleships were built, how much more protected would a battleship be if built with modern materials?
00:13:15 - Could the IJN have effectively curtailed Ulithi's use as a forward staging area, and more importantly rest&repair stop?
00:18:19 - Why did the IJN find it easier to work with O2 instead of H202, whereas in t...
2025-03-08 09:00:10 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:37 - What degree of casualties to disease should have been expected to occur for the royal navy during operations in the Caribbean during the 18th century?
00:06:34 - Did the Allies in WWII know about the german Alberich "Anti-Sonar-Coating" and how effective was it?
00:12:00 - Did Germany and Italy have a coherent strategy for deploying their ocean going and coastal submarines during WW2 to make the best use of the attributes of each type?
00:1...
2025-03-01 09:42:02 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:27 - Captain Leslie E Gehres?
00:05:34 - How does one counter flood and do it well?
00:10:14 - French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861 by Winfield & Roberts?
00:12:49 - Understanding Track Charts?
00:16:28 - Why are HMS Renown's Captain's not better known?
00:20:49 - How much did the WNT's anti-fortification of the Pacific rule help the IJN?
00:23:42 - Has the naval design principle of "Speed will be our armor" ever bee...
2025-02-22 10:30:02 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:33 - Earlier Long range bombers for Coastal Command?
00:04:41 - Historical figures that make you ask "WHY?!"
00:11:17 - Was there a major difference in life expectancy based on where you were station on a ship in the WW1/WW2 era?
00:15:29 - What were the strategic and tactical advantages the Age of Sail Royal Navy due to the large scale copper production in South Wales, which allowed them to put cladding on warship hulls?
00:19:38 - During ...
2025-02-22 09:30:01 +0000 UTC
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00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:38 - Why was the Japanese seaplane carrier nisshan armed with 6 140mm guns in turrets?
00:04:18 - Why and how did people camoflague ships?
00:10:28 - Was the 6" secondary battery a good or bad idea?
00:16:42 - Were USAAF efforts to mine the seas between Japan and the mainland successful in fully blockading Japan and bringing them to the peace negotiations?
00:21:21 - Why weren't triple turrets developed for HMS Hood?
00:26:33 - USS E...
2025-02-15 08:00:05 +0000 UTC
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