Drachinifel

The Drydock - Episode 336

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:43 - Would aerial mines be more effective than aerial bombs?

00:06:33 - Why did the Iowa's HC shell have a shorter range than the AP shell?

00:13:01 - Has there ever been any reluctance/opposition to the use of 'foreign' mythological names like Orion, Bellerophon, Hector, Hercules, etc to name RN ships?

00:16:57 - Books on Operation Sealion?

00:23:57 - Given that all-centreline main batteries seem like a no-brainer once the technology for t...

The Drydock - Episode 335

00:00:00 - Intro

00:03:53 - Do we know if any dreadnoughts ever did fire a salvo dead ahead in either war? I.e did the disadvantage of having wing turrets and flat bows ever pay off?

00:03:53 - In terms of ship classes where a variety of designs were put forth and one was selected to be taken forward, which one do you think the Navy in question made the wrong choice given the actual circumstances that class ended up in?

00:10:15 - What effect do you think a triple turret w...

The Drydock - Episode 334 (Part 2)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:27 - How are coastal defence battleships supposed to work?

00:09:55 - Why did Imperial Germany think it was a good idea to embarrass the US in 1917 with submarine attacks?

00:15:30 - Did navies have policies to push less-than-ideal Captains to 'safe' positions?

00:21:04 - "I am taking command of the fleet!" When would this happen?

00:26:39 - Modified naval ensigns specifically for distress signals?

00:30:29 - During the period the cha...

The Drydock - Episode 334 (Part 1)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:34 - Who would you say are some outstanding leaders outside the last three great naval powers in the time the channel covers?

00:05:35 - As impressive a feat as the capture of U-505 was, how significant was the Enigma machine found aboard it?

00:07:42 - Which nation would have benefitted most from a US-style rationalisation of types?

00:13:24 - In the movie “Sink the Bismarck” during the Battle of the Denmark Straits sequence, what is the tur...

The Drydock - Episode 333

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:42 - What led to the development of the US Navy’s cage mast?

00:05:16 - Was the XXI the first submarine class to be built at different locations and then put together like a German version of IKEA furniture, or was that concept developed before?

00:07:40 - Were there ever any plans to use the advancements that led to the XXI and XXIII classes in a major modenisation program for existing german subs like type VII and IXs?

00:12:10 - Why did the ...

Patreon Updates & Long Time Patreon Rewards

Hello everyone!

A couple of quick notes:

-As of today there is a new Patreon Tier, Captain, this had a limited number of slots but adds a few additional benefits, a naval themed calendar sent to you! The ability to request PDF's of the scripts for certain videos, and if you are subscribed at that tier for a while you'll also get a free signed copy of any book I publish during your subscription period.

-I've already had the 2025 calendars made with some spares in case one o...

The Drydock - Episode 332

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:34 - What happened to any Kriegsmarine surface ships that survived WW2?

00:05:43 - Other than Holland's Hollands, and Armstrong's Elswick cruisers, are there any other cases of a particular type of warship becoming almost synonomous with a single manufacturer?

00:07:50 - Had war in europe broken out earlier, how effective do you think the gas/petro-electric submarines would have been in comparison to their Diesel Electric successors? Did they have an...

The Drydock - Episode 331

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:47 - Did Beatty and Seymour's poor signalling at the end of the Run to the South actually save the Battlecruiser Fleet from destruction?

00:08:02 - What is the earliest possible year a 'proper' U-boat like submarine could be constructed?

00:12:16 - How did the Victorious/Illustrious etc endure so many bomb hits and survive but one bomb sank the Hiryu?

00:18:20 - Why would France accept the Washington Naval Treaty?

00:23:12 - USS North Caro...

The Drydock - Episode 330 (Part 2)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:29 - A brief overview of the developments of galley equipment from the first electrified galleys though to the end of WWII/Start of the cold war?

00:06:16 - US fast battleship magazine/secondary seperation from machinery rooms?

00:13:44 - Ships maximum speed in combat?

00:17:45 - How is it that even Nelson was not above reproach for alleged marital misgivings while Beatty seems impervious to the miasma of a marriage that only a tabloid writer cou...

The Drydock - Episode 330 (Part 1)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:40 - What is the difference between an "iron hulled" ship and an "ironclad" one?

00:05:23 - Concerning the Lexingtons, if the navy hadn’t been so determined on turbo electric and gone with steam turbines instead, what could they have done with the design in both their battlecruiser and carrier configurations? Could they at least have foregone the treaty cheating?

00:11:16 - Why all the effort to re-float the USS Oklahoma?

00:15:22 - Historical...

The Drydock - Episode 329

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:47 - Why do some perceive the Shokaku's as useless?

00:05:29 - How did the IJN get its pilot levels back up again before Leyte?

00:13:16 - Re-enactment of Turtle's mission?

00:15:57 - Could you build a Hunley analouge in 1775?

00:18:35 - What is Tirpitz really did go after PQ-17 and it didn't scatter?

00:24:37 - It doesn't seem as though casemate guns couldn't be elevated very far, thus reducing their range. Was this a reflection of ...

The Drydock - Episode 328

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:47 - In hindsight were the modernised/rebuilt ironclads (Vasco da Gama, Numancia and Vitoria, IJN Fuso, and the Mesudiye etc.) ever a decent idea or should the money spent on them have been used on other smaller yet more modern ships?

00:06:16 - How long were 19th century fortress guns effective for?

00:13:26 - Why was grapeshot not used earlier?

00:19:26 - Wood framing and planking on a pre-dreadnought?

00:22:20 - Why does the French pre-...

The Drydock - Episode 327

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:47 - Any way for the ironclad era to have avoided so many missteps?

00:06:39 - Did anyone of the period when sails were still used try to get around the spark problem by placing the funnel in an unconventional spot?

00:10:39 - Did any navy of the era the channel covers keep records of deaths related directly to accidents in the rigging?

00:14:27 - For a battleship, is having a citadel too small to keep the ship afloat on its own really a disadv...

The Drydock - Episode 326

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:01 - Why did the IJN go with their 'subs as capital ship killers' strategy?

00:08:38 - Active sonar on WWII Submarines?

00:13:30 - Submarine camo in WW2?

00:19:07 - Where was the Marine Nationale going to deploy it's fleet if it was completed?

00:26:56 - Why was the US seemingly not concerned by either the Argentine-Chilean naval arms race or the later and larger scale South American dreadnought arms race?

00:30:08 - Why weren't destr...

So, I wrote a book...

To those of you who keep asking "When are you going to write a book Drach?", well, I wrote a book (hopefully the first of many), and you can pre-order it on the USNI website from today, release date is April 2025.

If you order this month you can (if not already a member) take advantage of my discount code 'DRACH' to get some money off, and you can catch up with the rest of the Naval History Special Edition series in the Holiday Catalogue Sale, as well as a number of other excellent wo...

The Drydock - Episode 325 (Part 2)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - What if John Paul Jones remained in Imperial Russian Service?

00:04:29 - Why were cutting out operations often successful?

00:11:23 - Why shell vs armour penetration figures do you use?

00:20:28 - Could the Courageous class be modernised into useful gun-based vessels?

00:26:06 - What would at-sea firefighting efforts look like around the 1850s-1870s?

00:28:36 - When is the last recorded time in history that a naval officer used t...

The Drydock - Epsiode 325 (Part 1)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - Royal Marines in the Napoleonic Era?

00:08:58 - Why were Kitakami and Oi converted to fast transports so quickly?

00:12:21 - How many (percentage) sailors during the napoleonic wars were pressed into service?

00:19:03 - G3/Amagi/Lexington carriers at higher numbers?

00:23:01 - Sails on RN monitors?

00:25:23 - Which navy had the most oppressive amount of paperwork for its officers to fill out?

00:27:57 - Good political naval...

The Drydock - Episode 324

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - Has any navy tried to build multiple small warships in one capital ship-sized drydock?

00:04:56 - Which of the V-boat classes, if it could have it's problems fixed, had the most potential?

00:09:57 - Advantages of single-screw escorts?

00:13:41 - On the M-Class submarines, what would have been feasible retrofits to alleviate the primary issues of the 12” gun and make the class Atleast somewhat viable for the Second World War?

00:19:...

The Drydock - Episode 323

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - How would you design and use surface ships in this role to improve their effectiveness and/or survivability?

00:07:36 - Will you ever go to Bermuda?

00:09:25 - What would you say is the most common type of british submarine in WW2?

00:12:28 - What was the operational performance of the original big gun variant of the M class?

00:18:23 - X1 or class of them against Japan in WW2?

00:22:22 - Why not take out convoy escorts first, th...

The Drydock - Episode 322

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - Why was Menetheus used to produce beer and not tea?

00:03:22 - Could the USN could have sold the Aircraft Carrier (Medium), aka the CVV, to foreign navies?

00:08:14 - What if HMAS Australia was back with Chicago and Canberra?

00:14:35 - Wooden cargo ships of WW2?

00:18:28 - Why was Santissima Trinidad called the largest warship in the world?

00:21:45 - Potential changes to the 2nd London Naval Treaty?

00:27:56 - Impact of ...

The Drydock - Episode 321 (Part 2)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:30 - If Japan somehow managed to take Hawaii, what's the best way to retake it?

00:08:12 - Best views for shipping in different time periods?

00:11:03 - Where do you sit on the scale of ULTRA solved everything and shortened the war by 3+ years, to, the impacts of ULTRA are given too much weight. And why?

00:14:27 - Why were the funnels on early British cruisers raked back?

00:17:05 - Inverting Leyte Gulf?

00:20:36 - Spanish Treasure G...

The Drydock - Episode 321 (Part 1)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:30 - Did the interwar German Navy try to retain surface ship design skills?

00:05:54 - 'Sink the Bismarck' film questions?

00:09:58 - Naval officers who accidentally sabotaged their own side?

00:14:57 - Influence of ships on standard equipment ID's?

00:18:50 - Had USS Olympia been built as an armored cruiser instead of a protected cruiser would she still have been sent to the Ppacific during Spanish-American War

00:21:28 - How were th...

The Drydock - Episode 320

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:45 - Given the constantly changing nature of large capital ships even while under construction (as seen with examples like the North Carolina), just how likely would it be that USS United States would finish up as a more conventional carrier (much like how she appears in World of Warships) before she's even launched?

00:04:20 - Assuming that USS United States is either completed or quickly refited after a short period of time to a more conventional design, ...

The Drydock - Episode 319

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - G14 carrier vs Malta or Midway?

00:05:00 - Why weren't medium cruisers ever a thing?

00:09:35 - If flat deck carriers had never been a thing, what would seaplane "fleet carriers" look like?

00:14:20 - What would Grand Admiral Drach's doctrine be for fighting a naval war with one of the top naval powers, as a nation with a smaller fleet?

00:23:14 - In Drydock 303 you said you had found new information that made you change your stance on...

The Drydock - Episode 318

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:38 - Re-use of ships machinery in civillian roles?

00:04:48 - Is Yamato's fame ahistorical?

00:08:58 - Why so few twin/triple combo armament schemes?

00:14:34 - UK keeping battleships post WW2?

00:23:09 - 'Easy upgrades' for a frigate/DE design in the interwar period?

00:28:57 - USS Texas at Jutland?

00:33:38 - Why was almost everyone unhappy with almost every treaty cruiser?

00:38:23 - Do you have any strong opinions on h...

September Patron Poll - Special Video Subject

Here is where you can vote on the Patreon-selected special video subject for publication in October 2024.

Highly-voted nominations that are not successful will be 'rolled over' once before needing a renomination, unless they receive no votes/one vote (these  can  be re-nominated for next month).

The Drydock - Episode 317 (Part 2)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:27 - How did Von der Tann manage to hit and destroy Indefatigable so quickly?

00:05:36 - If modern combustible case ammunition (like what we see on some attack aircraft) technology was made available and practical for naval caliber guns just after WWI, what would the likely impacts be on autoloader technology as it was being developed.

00:08:10 - What are some great naval examples of someone just saying 'no' to the best laid plans of their opposition?<...

The Drydock - Episode 317 (Part 1)

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:32 - How did officer advancement boards/tests in the RN come about? How did standardization set in? Are they still administered in some form today?

00:06:27 - WW2 supply routes to the USSR via the Pacific?

00:10:45 - Anti-shipping stakes at the Siege of La Rochelle?

00:15:38 - What types of ships resupplied the British and Commonwealth forces garrison at Tobruk during their siege in 1941?

00:21:02 - Which hypothetical/prototype ship design ...

The Drydock - Episode 316

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:45 - Do you expect anything earth-shattering from WW2 declassification?

00:05:43 - Alternatives to the IJN 25mm?

00:09:49 - If your desired armor thickness is a bit more more that your steel industry can make and you are forced to use inefficient multiple layers, is it better to have each layer be half the desired thickness, or for one layer to be the maximum thickness you CAN make and the second to be thinner, just making up the remainder?

00:15...

The Drydock - Episode 315

00:00:00 - 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...