Why did the h-39 battleship have 6 forward facing underwater torpedo tubes? Is there any information on why this was done instead of just giving the ship some midship mounted deck launchers like Tirpitz had?
Imagine for a moment that some mad genius sees _Turbinia_ in 1897 and realizes that, if you built the turbine to withstand somewhat-higher temperatures and you make sure to use oil (or another fuel which doesn't produce nasty ash residue when burnt), you can use the combustion gasses to drive the turbine directly, cutting out the whole "boiler" business entirely and freeing up a huge amount of weight for things like more gun, more armor, or more speed. Our mad genius then gets to work, and, a decade and a half later, they've successfully produced a gas turbine suitable for powering a large warship. Admiral Fisher takes notice, and, realizing this will be perfect for making _ship go fast,_ designs the _Queen Elizabeths_ to use GT power. What happens?
Given there is quite a diverse set of names you could ever give a ship. Have there ever been any cases of confusion arising from ships having the same name or a navy being particularly perturbed at another navy using one of "Their" names.
I have visited the Anzac Museum/ Memorial in Albany. My wife is from Fremantle, my Sister in Law lives in Albany. What really impressed me is the depth of the sentiment that is really a part of Australia today relative to the Anzacs and Gallipoli. There is heartbreak in looking at those photos of the men loading aboard the troop ships at Albany. Many, many of those men never made it back home. Gallipoli is today, a very real and emotional touch point for the Australian people.
Drach, as any pedantic Western Australian will tell you, it's Al(as in Capone)bany. As a resident of the east coast of Australia, I've been to Western Australia twice, and had my mispronunciation corrected about 100 times per trip. Love your work.
He is renowned for his mispronunciation. 😂 he used to call HMS Ajax ( A-Jacks) as I-axe😂. Has an odd pronunciation of theatre too. But we love his videos, so look the other way.
@@akula9713The "i-axe" pronunciation is a fairly common one, something to do with Classical Greek. Don't forget "dee-dough" for "dye-dough." 😊 Speaking words and names of a dead (or deadish) languages is a dodgy affair, yes? Hell, in the US we can't agree on how to say "Gato" or "Garand."
G'day. I was a 15 year old Junior Recruit in the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Leeuwin, Fremantle West Aus. In Leeuwin, in 1974, we had an Academic Instructor who had been one of the scientists involved in the design of the Ikara. He pronounced it as "Eyekara".
My wife and her family are mostly from this area. I just went back to Albany in November of 2023 to take her ashes home. Took one of my grandsons and visited with a daughter and granddaughter over there as well as her father. Got to tour the whaling station and Amity and soak up the atmosphere my wife came from. What a beautiful laid-back Harbor town. I sure miss that woman . I love and miss you Andrea
I had to chuckle a bit when you described the logistics of getting from Perth to Albany. That roo time sounds a lot like dawn and dusk in many places here in the US with the deer. Great vid on the naval history of the area.
Both times I've been to Albany, in 2016 and 2023, I drove a rental car from Perth Airport to Albany. Not much in between the two but several small towns and loads of kangaroos. LOL beautiful area
From the other perspective, I never thought much of driving to Albany from Perth over the years. Then I spent a few years in Belgium and I decided to drive down to Portugal. I remember driving through France in under a day and thinking "Jeez, France is a lot smaller than it looks!"
Blimey! The first time I rode my motorcycle into France from England I was a little stunned when two inches on the map was a f*** sight more than two inches on the map of Essex! I rode from Provence to Bayeux in a rather disappointing rainstorm overnight and thought it was really quite a long way. I was a bit wet too. The Alps were quite exciting, my friend declaring we should avoid the Autoroutes was less so.
The HMAS Sydney / SMS Emden fight was the very first battle honor won by the still-young Royal Australian Navy, quite a big deal. One of the Emden's guns is part of a memorial commemorating the action here in Sydney. Regarding Japanese sub operations in ww2, it is worth noting that minisubs actually got into Sydney Harbor, one of the parent subs fired shells that landed in a Sydney suburb, and a recon plane from same overflew Sydney. Furthermore, there are indications that the Japanese did land small raiding parties in isolated areas of northern Australia, but they were either soon withdrawn or "swallowed up" by the hostile conditions there. The fear of Japanese invasion was a very real thing, considering the speed of their advance down through Southeast Asia.
Though the Sydney outranged the Emden, the German ship managed to hit her with her guns elevated to maximum range (so I've read) which imposed a certain amount of damage on Sydney before she was destroyed.
@@stevenlowe3026 A certain amount. The Emden's crew were an elite bunch and Sydney's crew, whilst certainly competent, were comparitively green. The Emden was caught at a disadvantage to start with, and then faced an opponent which, on paper, outclassed her in every way - speed, armament, armor, etc.. But under different circumstances, it COULD have been a very different story. Noteworthy is that, during ww2, the second HMAS Sydney meet her end relatively close by, when she encountered, sunk and was sunk by the German raider Kormoran off the coast of WA..
@@7thsealord888 That's right, and at the hands of a vessel that was by no means her match in armament or armour. Surprise was a factor, as the Sydney II thgought she was doing a routine check on an ordinary merchant ship, but surprise *shouldn't* have been a factor. As far as I can make out, she abandoned the normal precautions and of course Kormoran's first shots destroyed the bridge, killing the captain, and IIRC also destroyed one or more of the fore gun turrets.
@@stevenlowe3026 Regarding the Sydney-Kormoran battle, it is said that the Sydney's then-captain was a cautious, by-the-book type (and I do not mean that as necessarily a bad thing). Based on what the (German) survivors reported, it is plausible that Sydney suspected the Kormoran of being a raider SUPPLY ship (which had been encountered in Australian waters before). With that in mind, she approached closely in order to get a party on board ASAP, and so prevent any attempts at scuttling (which had also happened before). One possibility, anyhow. Then too, we have absolutely no idea what was happening on Sydney's bridge. Perhaps there was a distraction in those last critical moments? We'll never know.
AE2 was the first Allied Submarine to force the Dardennels and run amok, on the night of the ANZAC Landings. Prior and post attempts to get into the Sea of Marmara were rewarded with the VC. Please Drach read up on the very brave actions of the Officers and Crew of AE2. SENT BY an Aussie Submariner. Also don't forget the USN torpedo trials conducted in Princess Margaret Harbour to improve the performance of their submarines
I used to drive trucks allover Australia when I got out of the Navy. Whenever I ran late my cranky Boss used to say "but Lad, its only that far on the map" Sheesh.
In the early 1950's my 17 year old dad hitched a ride from the UK to Australia on a merchant ship. His first job in Australia was with the Albany whaling station. While awaiting processing the whaling station used to inflate the whales and leave them floating in the bay. They gave him a dinghy, snorkelling gear and a long pole with a firing pin and shotgun shell on the end and told him to clear out the Great White's that were feeding on the whale carcasses. He ended up making a small fortune from selling the sharks on top of what the whaling company was paying him.
Hi Drac, I picked up on your comment on the panoramic shots of ships in Malta's Grand Harbour. I live in Malta and Grand Harbour is large. However, Valletta is a peninsular. On the other side from Grand Harbour is Marsamxett Harbour which incorporate Manoel Island (Fort Manoel) which was also a massive parking space for warships. Happy to meet if you are coming this way.
Great video mate , hard to believe the size of Amity and the tonnes of stuff packed on to it very brave men women and cattle to take that journey over west . The size of our big brown land will trickyou I remember working and drinking at Hughenden when the bus from Townsville would stop over full of backpackers after a fairly normal days drive and the comments of how far till we get to Uluru/Ayers Rock where quite funny and the look on their faces when you showed them on the big map on the wall of the pub was priceless. Thanks for the Australian content Drach .
"Two hotels with similar names in the same city" in Perth, I did this once in San Diego. I thought I had picked out and reserved a room at the traditional hotel right across the street from the County offices where our meeting was, but instead I had picked out another one of the same name about a mile north along the waterfront. Nice walk.
Hey Drach, really enjoyed this episode. I'm an ex USN sailor and during the mid 70's the DE / Frigate the I was in did a "show the flag" trip to Australia. Leaving from Subic Bay Philippines we steamed to Pearl Harbor by way of Singapore, Darwin, Freemantle, ALBANY, Brisbane, Auckland New Zealand, and Pago Pago American Samoa. Kind of the long way around since we were on our way home but no one complained. We had a great time. I was glad to see some of the history of Albany, which most Americans have never heard of, in your post. Thanks
Be still my beating heart, the Australia Trip Videos have arrived !! 🎉 Looking forward to seeing your impressions of the interesting bits of naval history we have hoarded in 🇦🇺 . We were just recently in Western Australia but did not make it to Albany, now I will definitely have to go there next time !!
Drach, I really enjoy your videos. The best ones are where you travel. Me traveling to these far away locations will never happen. Through your videos I get to see these ships and history, thank you. Have Blessed New Years.
Some of the more obscure bits of WW1 had echoes down the years - Japanese involvement against Germany resulted in Japan receiving a League of Nations mandate over former German colonial possessions in the Pacific north of the Equator - Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mariana Islands - which they weren't keen on relinquishing come WW2. Incidentally, Amity's connection with Brisbane is remembered in the name of Amity Point (and the small town Amity) on Stradbroke Island, in the passage into Moreton Bay and on into Brisbane.
Van Diemens land (Demons land) 😆 my Cornish ancestors sailed on the brig Amity and Buffalo. While my Great Grandfather crewed on the HMT Corvieto in the 1914 convoy. I have my boat builder there just around the corner from the Amity. So I enjoyed your video
I believe that 4.5 gun turret is from HMAS Stuart, DE48, a ship I served on for nearly 2 years. We went to Albany twice while I was onboard in the 80s-90s. It looks a lot greener there now! I also learned how to pronounce Albany there…🤣🇦🇺
The blackout precautions in WW2 weren't absurd by any stretch. It wasn't only Darwin that was attacked by Japanese planes, they attacked several towns in WA also. The worst attack being in Broome, but also Port Headland, Oslo and Exmouth (which was the southern most attack by Japanese aircraft on Australia). Apart from the planes though, as my dad likes to tell us (he was a young boy in Perth during WW2), the existence of Japanese midget subs was well known, and indeed they made it into Sydney Harbour if not King George Sound. His sea scout troop spent a lot of time on aircraft and ship identification (those silhouette charts for identification at a distance). I'm pretty sure there was a merit badge for it. ;)
When time permits you really need to visit South Australia. Theres a preserved victorian era coastal fort, a reasonable maritime museum, and a clipper undergoing preservation. And in Whyalla there's a Bathurst-Class out of the water alongside a very substantial maritime museum, and if I recall correctly there are preserved coastal fortifications there too.
every time my family heads down to Albany my mum always checks the convict list for the Amity and points out our convict ancestor so as a result I have always had a strong bond with the ship and town glad to see that you enjoyed your trip Drach and I am still annoyed that I had to work when you were at Freo :(
For those thinking about Drach's discussion of the distance between Perth and Albany have a look at The Bibbulmun Track. A much loved walking track between the two. Short by the standards of some of the big tracks but one of Australias best.
Excellent! I've been looking forward to the first videos from the Australia trip. It was great meeting you in Canberra later on. I might have to visit Albany again at some point to check out th naval history there in more depth myself.
Awesome! Thanks for this, it's nice to see appreciation of my homeland. I really enjoyed seeing the sights of Albany from your point of view after having been there multiple times on holiday trips from Perth. Thanks also for your Rottnest video, which almost everyone in Perth has visited. It is surprising that we have some good things in our museums. I'm also glad to hear your pronunciation of Albany correct in the Rottnest video! I'm super glad you were well looked after by the locals; we all do that given we know how far you'll have travelled to visit us.
thanks Drach, always nice to see more of your Australian visit, even if we had to keep a close eye on Dr. Clarke to make sure he didn't try and make off with HMAS Vampire hidden in his luggage 😁 It is true that Australia's sheer size still comes as a shock to people given today's technology. Even chatting to friends in the US they just don't get how BIG our country is and that the "Great State of Texas" would be swallowed almost unnoticed by Queensland or the Northern Territory let alone Western Australia
Years ago during one of my first night solo flights, I ended up maneuvering quite aggressively to avoid my wing tip lights. I've heard it mumbled since around the bar that I am not the only one, so I think it is a pretty common optical illusion.
Arrowroot is a just another starch made out of dried root. It is like tapioca. It is good for making puddings. It would have just added variety to the diet.
It's cool to get to see these smaller places. It seems like a cool place to visit- way off the beaten track. I hope you get to do more of these trips, it's cool getting to see the travel slides, as it were. I don't enjoy flying, getting to see places is the one thing that makes me do it.
Couple of points of interest you missed. Cheynes whaling Station with a preserved whale catcher. If you had listened to the Doctor, gone to Gallafrey to photograph the Daleks and get a couple of bottles of very nice wine.
Looking forward to the Cerberus story, swam out to her many times, and climbed aboard, there was a movement at one time to recover and make a museum of her. Don’t know the status of that now. Hope you had a good time and have happy memories. Take care.
It was neat to hear about my dads ship uss Pelious sub tender. When you mentioned they were latter movedbcloser to the front line. Thats a fact they were moved far enough forward they wete in range of and recived visits by japaneese aircraft. My dad was an electrician and his steaming station was auxiliary stearing station over the rudder at the rear ofvthe ship but cant remember his battle station? Naval higher up quickly decited that airattacks did not speed refitting submarines and mpved them back to perth iirc.
I've been waiting patiently for the Aussie trip content. Yay! Really appreciated this episode. Gotta say though, if I don't get a recounting of the Catalpa's story next episode, I'll be very miffed.
I can relate to Drach’s disappointment of a rainy Australia. Fed up with the drizzling cold of Seattle one February, I decided to go camping in the most reliably sunniest, hottest place in the western USA: Death Valley! When I arrived, Death Valley was cold and drizzling. There are times when words fail you, and you can only shake your head. (Next day it was sunny and 100 F, so it all worked out in the end.)
The winter in Perth is usually mild although it can be a bit wet. I lived in Scarborough and I think only once did I have a thin sheen of ice on my car's windscreen and the windscreen wipers shifted that in one swipe. The summer in Perth is usually dry unless the remnants of a cyclone make it's way down the coast.
Thanks again, Drach, for an interesting look into our Australian friends' background in Naval importance. Beautiful rebuilt ship, and the description of what was shoehorned into it was incredible. Now factor in the crew and passengers! 😮
I suspect the arrowroot was used for its starchy properties, maybe to make biscuits. The channel in to Oyster Harbour is too small for anything but local fishing boats, but I did see a navy/coast guard cutter anchored in there once. From memory it was being decommissioned or something like that, not coming and going regularly.
Great beginning to your AUS visit. Looking forward to more. Many places in WA, NT and QLD were bombed by the Japanese aircraft flown off aircraft carriers. My father drove piles at Townsville to repair naval wharves damaged by air raids during WW11.
As a long time viewer, sometimes commenter I have to say this episode is the best of all worlds for me. I used to serve British tourists here in Florida, and have a few friends Australia and NZ. But even I will admit... Drachinifel how do you learn to pronounce words? Van Damienen's land? ( 11:27 ) "Van Damien's Land" is a song by U2 for chris sakes...
Just to add a few things from your trip. The official war histories from WW! and WWII are available for download from the Australian War Memorial. There is one volumes on WWI and two on WWII. Albany was one of several small garrisoned settlements to be established in 1826 - off the top of my head two others were Post Essington and Westernport Bay. Many of the 6 inch gun emplacements used 6 inch guns from the Town Class cruisers. These came with curved gun shields. It looks like the guns at Albany were given more gun shields to protect them from overhead attack by aircraft. This was quite typical once the threat of strafing and bombing was appreciated. I am looking forward to more videos.
Arrow root is a flour used for thickening foods, similar to cornflour but cooks transparent, so tends to be used more in desserts. Gods nows what they used it for 🤔
There are heaps of shipwrecks all the way up the coast from Albany all the way up to north of Perth. A favourite of mine is the Blackwall Frigate that’s sunk off the coast of my hometown. Theres a fair few between cape Leeuwin and cape Naturaliste as well, including one that was smuggling Irish political prisoners that had escaped from Fremantle prison.
Also, all around Perth there are a smorgasbord of great war/2nd World War era naval defences to be found. Many of the observation posts are just left to nature and the graffiti artists but at least one of the naval batteries operates as a museum and offers guided tours of the tunnels.
I looked up on a map where Albany is. There is a funny name for an island just off of Vancover pennisula called Mistaken Island. Looking how if you would've approached the harbor entance from the south, I can see how it got it's name.
My god. That ship was travelling around the south coast? That's very close to the "moody" Southern Ocean, famous for giant waves battering much bigger modern illegal fishing ships. Even hugging the coast is a gamble, with desert most of the way between Adelaide and Perth. Very gutsy indeed.
Amity is a pretty little ship but. . .can you imagine what it smelled like below decks after several months at sea and crowded with people and livestock? It would have absolutely reeked. Yes they had soap but I doubt that the ship carried enough fresh water for bathing. Also, regular bathing (20th Century style) was not a thing in this time period.
Another excellent episode thank you. I live in Michigan near Lake Erie, some naval history of the war of 1812. I have a question concerning naval guns, if you eliminate all the external variables ie.. wind, temp, butterfly wing beats in China etc. how accurate can these guns be? If I fired three of the same round from the same gun at the same aiming point would I put three rounds through the same hole, or would I be lucky to stay in the same time zone.
Pinned post for Q&A :)
did any Navy during the time period this channel covers use Steam motors instead of steam engines/turbines?
Why did the h-39 battleship have 6 forward facing underwater torpedo tubes? Is there any information on why this was done instead of just giving the ship some midship mounted deck launchers like Tirpitz had?
You must have driven through Williams ? To get to Albany ?
Imagine for a moment that some mad genius sees _Turbinia_ in 1897 and realizes that, if you built the turbine to withstand somewhat-higher temperatures and you make sure to use oil (or another fuel which doesn't produce nasty ash residue when burnt), you can use the combustion gasses to drive the turbine directly, cutting out the whole "boiler" business entirely and freeing up a huge amount of weight for things like more gun, more armor, or more speed.
Our mad genius then gets to work, and, a decade and a half later, they've successfully produced a gas turbine suitable for powering a large warship. Admiral Fisher takes notice, and, realizing this will be perfect for making _ship go fast,_ designs the _Queen Elizabeths_ to use GT power.
What happens?
Given there is quite a diverse set of names you could ever give a ship. Have there ever been any cases of confusion arising from ships having the same name or a navy being particularly perturbed at another navy using one of "Their" names.
Thank you for flipping all your photos over to make for easier viewing. I don't know how those Australians do it living upsidedown.
We crap out of our mouths and talk out of our arses, simple.
Albany boy here! Some of my earliest memories are playing on the Amity as a kid. Many times was Trafalgar refought there. Now my kids play on her!
Southwest Wa bois 🫡
30 kms out of Narrogin 😂😂😂
Well done son
I'm not sure if I hit my head harder on the Amity or that whaling ship...
17 hours?😳 For the pain and suffering lad. Thanks for showing these. No way will I ever make it there so these are the next best thing.
I have visited the Anzac Museum/ Memorial in Albany. My wife is from Fremantle, my Sister in Law lives in Albany. What really impressed me is the depth of the sentiment that is really a part of Australia today relative to the Anzacs and Gallipoli. There is heartbreak in looking at those photos of the men loading aboard the troop ships at Albany. Many, many of those men never made it back home. Gallipoli is today, a very real and emotional touch point for the Australian people.
Huzzah! The Australia trip videos arrive! Once again it was awesome to sit down and chat with you in Fremantle Drach.
Drach, as any pedantic Western Australian will tell you, it's Al(as in Capone)bany. As a resident of the east coast of Australia, I've been to Western Australia twice, and had my mispronunciation corrected about 100 times per trip. Love your work.
this....
They never get it right do they mate
He is renowned for his mispronunciation. 😂 he used to call HMS Ajax ( A-Jacks) as I-axe😂. Has an odd pronunciation of theatre too. But we love his videos, so look the other way.
@@akula9713The "i-axe" pronunciation is a fairly common one, something to do with Classical Greek.
Don't forget "dee-dough" for "dye-dough." 😊
Speaking words and names of a dead (or deadish) languages is a dodgy affair, yes?
Hell, in the US we can't agree on how to say "Gato" or "Garand."
and Drach was advised before he came, and was told when he was here, and he forgot
G'day. I was a 15 year old Junior Recruit in the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Leeuwin, Fremantle West Aus. In Leeuwin, in 1974, we had an Academic Instructor who had been one of the scientists involved in the design of the Ikara. He pronounced it as "Eyekara".
My wife and her family are mostly from this area. I just went back to Albany in November of 2023 to take her ashes home. Took one of my grandsons and visited with a daughter and granddaughter over there as well as her father. Got to tour the whaling station and Amity and soak up the atmosphere my wife came from. What a beautiful laid-back Harbor town. I sure miss that woman . I love and miss you Andrea
💔😔
I had to chuckle a bit when you described the logistics of getting from Perth to Albany. That roo time sounds a lot like dawn and dusk in many places here in the US with the deer. Great vid on the naval history of the area.
Both times I've been to Albany, in 2016 and 2023, I drove a rental car from Perth Airport to Albany. Not much in between the two but several small towns and loads of kangaroos. LOL beautiful area
From the other perspective, I never thought much of driving to Albany from Perth over the years. Then I spent a few years in Belgium and I decided to drive down to Portugal. I remember driving through France in under a day and thinking "Jeez, France is a lot smaller than it looks!"
As a Belgian, I employ you to never say that to the French.
@@timgodderis1918getting paid to ignore the French is my dream job!
Blimey!
The first time I rode my motorcycle into France from England I was a little stunned when two inches on the map was a f*** sight more than two inches on the map of Essex!
I rode from Provence to Bayeux in a rather disappointing rainstorm overnight and thought it was really quite a long way. I was a bit wet too. The Alps were quite exciting, my friend declaring we should avoid the Autoroutes was less so.
Well if you drive from Perth to Albany another 50 k and your in Denmark
Australia, America, and Russia are just built different. 4 hours is a short roadtrip.
As a south west WA boy, seeing Drach Talk and travel about my region is like a Fever Dream 😅😅
The HMAS Sydney / SMS Emden fight was the very first battle honor won by the still-young Royal Australian Navy, quite a big deal. One of the Emden's guns is part of a memorial commemorating the action here in Sydney.
Regarding Japanese sub operations in ww2, it is worth noting that minisubs actually got into Sydney Harbor, one of the parent subs fired shells that landed in a Sydney suburb, and a recon plane from same overflew Sydney. Furthermore, there are indications that the Japanese did land small raiding parties in isolated areas of northern Australia, but they were either soon withdrawn or "swallowed up" by the hostile conditions there. The fear of Japanese invasion was a very real thing, considering the speed of their advance down through Southeast Asia.
Japanese submarines also attacked Newcastle.
Though the Sydney outranged the Emden, the German ship managed to hit her with her guns elevated to maximum range (so I've read) which imposed a certain amount of damage on Sydney before she was destroyed.
@@stevenlowe3026 A certain amount.
The Emden's crew were an elite bunch and Sydney's crew, whilst certainly competent, were comparitively green. The Emden was caught at a disadvantage to start with, and then faced an opponent which, on paper, outclassed her in every way - speed, armament, armor, etc.. But under different circumstances, it COULD have been a very different story.
Noteworthy is that, during ww2, the second HMAS Sydney meet her end relatively close by, when she encountered, sunk and was sunk by the German raider Kormoran off the coast of WA..
@@7thsealord888 That's right, and at the hands of a vessel that was by no means her match in armament or armour. Surprise was a factor, as the Sydney II thgought she was doing a routine check on an ordinary merchant ship, but surprise *shouldn't* have been a factor. As far as I can make out, she abandoned the normal precautions and of course Kormoran's first shots destroyed the bridge, killing the captain, and IIRC also destroyed one or more of the fore gun turrets.
@@stevenlowe3026 Regarding the Sydney-Kormoran battle, it is said that the Sydney's then-captain was a cautious, by-the-book type (and I do not mean that as necessarily a bad thing).
Based on what the (German) survivors reported, it is plausible that Sydney suspected the Kormoran of being a raider SUPPLY ship (which had been encountered in Australian waters before). With that in mind, she approached closely in order to get a party on board ASAP, and so prevent any attempts at scuttling (which had also happened before). One possibility, anyhow.
Then too, we have absolutely no idea what was happening on Sydney's bridge. Perhaps there was a distraction in those last critical moments? We'll never know.
AE2 was the first Allied Submarine to force the Dardennels and run amok, on the night of the ANZAC Landings. Prior and post attempts to get into the Sea of Marmara were rewarded with the VC. Please Drach read up on the very brave actions of the Officers and Crew of AE2. SENT BY an Aussie Submariner. Also don't forget the USN torpedo trials conducted in Princess Margaret Harbour to improve the performance of their submarines
I used to drive trucks allover Australia when I got out of the Navy. Whenever I ran late my cranky Boss used to say "but Lad, its only that far on the map" Sheesh.
My wife do exactly the same... See we can go and be back in one day! (one trip was about 300 miles at least ) 😂
@@khaelamensha3624I think she means she wants to spend a whole day sitting next to you, talking to you. Kinda sweet.
@@StumpfForFreedom while why not but while I am driving? 😂
Drach you are one hard working S.O.G. one whom obviously loves his work. As we also certainly do, thank you.
In the early 1950's my 17 year old dad hitched a ride from the UK to Australia on a merchant ship. His first job in Australia was with the Albany whaling station. While awaiting processing the whaling station used to inflate the whales and leave them floating in the bay. They gave him a dinghy, snorkelling gear and a long pole with a firing pin and shotgun shell on the end and told him to clear out the Great White's that were feeding on the whale carcasses. He ended up making a small fortune from selling the sharks on top of what the whaling company was paying him.
Ok, Aussies are real men.
I'm glad you survived our drop bears and Vegemite. Thanks for coming to Australia.
Hi Drac, I picked up on your comment on the panoramic shots of ships in Malta's Grand Harbour. I live in Malta and Grand Harbour is large. However, Valletta is a peninsular. On the other side from Grand Harbour is Marsamxett Harbour which incorporate Manoel Island (Fort Manoel) which was also a massive parking space for warships. Happy to meet if you are coming this way.
I'll definitely be making an announcement before any travel to Malta :)
👍🏻@@Drachinifel
Great video mate , hard to believe the size of Amity and the tonnes of stuff packed on to it very brave men women and cattle to take that journey over west . The size of our big brown land will trickyou I remember working and drinking at Hughenden when the bus from Townsville would stop over full of backpackers after a fairly normal days drive and the comments of how far till we get to Uluru/Ayers Rock where quite funny and the look on their faces when you showed them on the big map on the wall of the pub was priceless. Thanks for the Australian content Drach .
I know the USS Antietam pulled into Albany back in '97... because I was on it. Great little town and great memories.
Thanks!
Ah, the perils of looking at Australia or the US on a small scale map...
"Two hotels with similar names in the same city" in Perth, I did this once in San Diego. I thought I had picked out and reserved a room at the traditional hotel right across the street from the County offices where our meeting was, but instead I had picked out another one of the same name about a mile north along the waterfront. Nice walk.
Hey Drach, really enjoyed this episode. I'm an ex USN sailor and during the mid 70's the DE / Frigate the I was in did a "show the flag" trip to Australia. Leaving from Subic Bay Philippines we steamed to Pearl Harbor by way of Singapore, Darwin, Freemantle, ALBANY, Brisbane, Auckland New Zealand, and Pago Pago American Samoa. Kind of the long way around since we were on our way home but no one complained. We had a great time. I was glad to see some of the history of Albany, which most Americans have never heard of, in your post. Thanks
Happy New Year and thanks again to you and your team for visiting WA last year and making time for us at the meet up.
Wonderful legacy, thank you Drach & Aussies!
Alarmingly amazing alliteration! Absolutely astounding.
Aussies & Drach! @@MonkeyJedi99
Thanks for a terrific video and so glad my countrymen showed you some good Aussie hospitality
Hope you get to other parts of Ozz. Cheers.
Be still my beating heart, the Australia Trip Videos have arrived !! 🎉 Looking forward to seeing your impressions of the interesting bits of naval history we have hoarded in 🇦🇺 .
We were just recently in Western Australia but did not make it to Albany, now I will definitely have to go there next time !!
Welcome to the New Year!
Drach, I really enjoy your videos. The best ones are where you travel. Me traveling to these far away locations will never happen. Through your videos I get to see these ships and history, thank you. Have Blessed New Years.
Some of the more obscure bits of WW1 had echoes down the years - Japanese involvement against Germany resulted in Japan receiving a League of Nations mandate over former German colonial possessions in the Pacific north of the Equator - Palau, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mariana Islands - which they weren't keen on relinquishing come WW2.
Incidentally, Amity's connection with Brisbane is remembered in the name of Amity Point (and the small town Amity) on Stradbroke Island, in the passage into Moreton Bay and on into Brisbane.
Got to visit Albany! My father was there on the Holland in '42 doing submarine periscope repair. Thanks Drach!
Van Diemens land (Demons land) 😆 my Cornish ancestors sailed on the brig Amity and Buffalo. While my Great Grandfather crewed on the HMT Corvieto in the 1914 convoy. I have my boat builder there just around the corner from the Amity. So I enjoyed your video
I believe that 4.5 gun turret is from HMAS Stuart, DE48, a ship I served on for nearly 2 years. We went to Albany twice while I was onboard in the 80s-90s. It looks a lot greener there now!
I also learned how to pronounce Albany there…🤣🇦🇺
The blackout precautions in WW2 weren't absurd by any stretch. It wasn't only Darwin that was attacked by Japanese planes, they attacked several towns in WA also. The worst attack being in Broome, but also Port Headland, Oslo and Exmouth (which was the southern most attack by Japanese aircraft on Australia). Apart from the planes though, as my dad likes to tell us (he was a young boy in Perth during WW2), the existence of Japanese midget subs was well known, and indeed they made it into Sydney Harbour if not King George Sound. His sea scout troop spent a lot of time on aircraft and ship identification (those silhouette charts for identification at a distance). I'm pretty sure there was a merit badge for it. ;)
And North qld as well as Sydney and other by submarines and their aircraft if I remember rightly
Wellington NZ has specific plaques on their harbor dedicated to the individual ships that sailed as part of the WW1 First Convoy.
When time permits you really need to visit South Australia. Theres a preserved victorian era coastal fort, a reasonable maritime museum, and a clipper undergoing preservation. And in Whyalla there's a Bathurst-Class out of the water alongside a very substantial maritime museum, and if I recall correctly there are preserved coastal fortifications there too.
every time my family heads down to Albany my mum always checks the convict list for the Amity and points out our convict ancestor so as a result I have always had a strong bond with the ship and town glad to see that you enjoyed your trip Drach and I am still annoyed that I had to work when you were at Freo :(
That was awesome . Converted passenger ship Benella brought my grandparents to Melbourne in 1922.
For those thinking about Drach's discussion of the distance between Perth and Albany have a look at The Bibbulmun Track. A much loved walking track between the two. Short by the standards of some of the big tracks but one of Australias best.
Excellent! I've been looking forward to the first videos from the Australia trip. It was great meeting you in Canberra later on. I might have to visit Albany again at some point to check out th naval history there in more depth myself.
Drach that was great and really nice the way the community came together to help the trip
I went for the Whaling Museum instead and visited the Cheynes IV
Funny calling Jurien a bit north of Albany, by 600km give or take. Thanks from WA for covering our little piece of naval history Drach.
That was very interesting. Thanks Drach.
Thank you, Drachinifel.
Awesome! Thanks for this, it's nice to see appreciation of my homeland. I really enjoyed seeing the sights of Albany from your point of view after having been there multiple times on holiday trips from Perth. Thanks also for your Rottnest video, which almost everyone in Perth has visited. It is surprising that we have some good things in our museums. I'm also glad to hear your pronunciation of Albany correct in the Rottnest video! I'm super glad you were well looked after by the locals; we all do that given we know how far you'll have travelled to visit us.
thanks Drach, always nice to see more of your Australian visit, even if we had to keep a close eye on Dr. Clarke to make sure he didn't try and make off with HMAS Vampire hidden in his luggage 😁
It is true that Australia's sheer size still comes as a shock to people given today's technology. Even chatting to friends in the US they just don't get how BIG our country is and that the "Great State of Texas" would be swallowed almost unnoticed by Queensland or the Northern Territory let alone Western Australia
That’s good to know, I would’ve been gutted if it wasn’t there when I went today.
Years ago during one of my first night solo flights, I ended up maneuvering quite aggressively to avoid my wing tip lights. I've heard it mumbled since around the bar that I am not the only one, so I think it is a pretty common optical illusion.
Arrowroot is a just another starch made out of dried root. It is like tapioca. It is good for making puddings. It would have just added variety to the diet.
I seem to recall that it was the name of a biscuit when I was growing up in Perth in the 1960s.
Yo this is amazing. Perfect timing for me to now fall back asleep too. Thank you so much!
Here's to the Antipodes! Glad you were well treated Down Under! Happy Wednesday.
Yay! Finally up to the Straya episodes! Luv ya work Drach.
Thanks Drach 😊
It's cool to get to see these smaller places. It seems like a cool place to visit- way off the beaten track.
I hope you get to do more of these trips, it's cool getting to see the travel slides, as it were. I don't enjoy flying, getting to see places is the one thing that makes me do it.
Excellent doco on Albany commonly known as one the best places in this incredible country.
Couple of points of interest you missed. Cheynes whaling Station with a preserved whale catcher. If you had listened to the Doctor, gone to Gallafrey to photograph the Daleks and get a couple of bottles of very nice wine.
Drach, from historian to tourist and back to historian in one flight. Well done.
Thankz
Thanks Drach
Looking forward to the Cerberus story, swam out to her many times, and climbed aboard, there was a movement at one time to recover and make a museum of her. Don’t know the status of that now.
Hope you had a good time and have happy memories.
Take care.
It was neat to hear about my dads ship uss Pelious sub tender. When you mentioned they were latter movedbcloser to the front line. Thats a fact they were moved far enough forward they wete in range of and recived visits by japaneese aircraft. My dad was an electrician and his steaming station was auxiliary stearing station over the rudder at the rear ofvthe ship but cant remember his battle station? Naval higher up quickly decited that airattacks did not speed refitting submarines and mpved them back to perth iirc.
I've been waiting patiently for the Aussie trip content. Yay! Really appreciated this episode. Gotta say though, if I don't get a recounting of the Catalpa's story next episode, I'll be very miffed.
"Roo-gnarock" made me laugh out loud.
Nice bit of overhead photography on the Amity there Drac considering the side wind. Nothing but a DJI quad can do that so well.
I can relate to Drach’s disappointment of a rainy Australia.
Fed up with the drizzling cold of Seattle one February, I decided to go camping in the most reliably sunniest, hottest place in the western USA: Death Valley!
When I arrived, Death Valley was cold and drizzling. There are times when words fail you, and you can only shake your head.
(Next day it was sunny and 100 F, so it all worked out in the end.)
The winter in Perth is usually mild although it can be a bit wet. I lived in Scarborough and I think only once did I have a thin sheen of ice on my car's windscreen and the windscreen wipers shifted that in one swipe. The summer in Perth is usually dry unless the remnants of a cyclone make it's way down the coast.
Thanks again, Drach, for an interesting look into our Australian friends' background in Naval importance. Beautiful rebuilt ship, and the description of what was shoehorned into it was incredible. Now factor in the crew and passengers! 😮
Drach got a subscriber to drive him 4 hours each way through the Australian outback.
Drach has also never seen Wolf Creek (2005)
Its not the outback, its agriculture land
Aloha Drach; Happy New Year! Brillian tour. Mahalo nui loa
Drach narrating London from the air is the best
HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best to you and yours D cheers
Anyone else notice the Concorde just chilling on the tarmac during his takeoff video?
I suspect the arrowroot was used for its starchy properties, maybe to make biscuits.
The channel in to Oyster Harbour is too small for anything but local fishing boats, but I did see a navy/coast guard cutter anchored in there once. From memory it was being decommissioned or something like that, not coming and going regularly.
One use of arrowroot is as a thickening agent.... similar to cornstarch.
Great beginning to your AUS visit. Looking forward to more. Many places in WA, NT and QLD were bombed by the Japanese aircraft flown off aircraft carriers. My father drove piles at Townsville to repair naval wharves damaged by air raids during WW11.
Me seeing the Amity:
"That's hardly a ship, and more of a boat!😧"
As a long time viewer, sometimes commenter I have to say this episode is the best of all worlds for me. I used to serve British tourists here in Florida, and have a few friends Australia and NZ. But even I will admit... Drachinifel how do you learn to pronounce words? Van Damienen's land? ( 11:27 ) "Van Damien's Land" is a song by U2 for chris sakes...
Having been raised in Rita Eastern Washington state, your description of “Kangarock” sounds familiar to my time dodging mule-deer on our highways.
Just to add a few things from your trip. The official war histories from WW! and WWII are available for download from the Australian War Memorial. There is one volumes on WWI and two on WWII.
Albany was one of several small garrisoned settlements to be established in 1826 - off the top of my head two others were Post Essington and Westernport Bay.
Many of the 6 inch gun emplacements used 6 inch guns from the Town Class cruisers. These came with curved gun shields. It looks like the guns at Albany were given more gun shields to protect them from overhead attack by aircraft. This was quite typical once the threat of strafing and bombing was appreciated.
I am looking forward to more videos.
Thank you for taking us on your trip!
Regards,
Thomas
PS. Any old radio/radar/electronics equipment there?
Was that a Concorde in the lower left out the window during takeoff?
Maybe... If so it's some sort of storage.
G-BOAB (208) is stored at Heathrow 'Point Rocket'. She is regularly cleaned and still in good shape externally. Internally - not so much.
First video for 2024 and a happy new year to everyone!
I do apprecciate that you crank the sound up to compete with adverts!
Nothing says "amity" quite like the five gunports visible on _Amity's_ starboard side. ;-)
1:19 No mention of the Concorde you flew over?
Arrow root is a flour used for thickening foods, similar to cornflour but cooks transparent, so tends to be used more in desserts. Gods nows what they used it for 🤔
Well, currently we make biscuits with it to dunk in our tea.
Thanx for the fine travelog 😁😁😁👍
There are heaps of shipwrecks all the way up the coast from Albany all the way up to north of Perth. A favourite of mine is the Blackwall Frigate that’s sunk off the coast of my hometown. Theres a fair few between cape Leeuwin and cape Naturaliste as well, including one that was smuggling Irish political prisoners that had escaped from Fremantle prison.
Also, all around Perth there are a smorgasbord of great war/2nd World War era naval defences to be found. Many of the observation posts are just left to nature and the graffiti artists but at least one of the naval batteries operates as a museum and offers guided tours of the tunnels.
I have never heard about the ship sunk while carrying escaped Fenians, can you tell me what the ships name was so I can do some research.
Nice to hear your recent trip didn't end getting 007'd or screaming "F'n Skippy!" in a crash.
6:05 That would have been a great time to cut in a shot of Tony Robinson saying "I've got a cunning plan."
I looked up on a map where Albany is. There is a funny name for an island just off of Vancover pennisula called Mistaken Island. Looking how if you would've approached the harbor entance from the south, I can see how it got it's name.
Arrowroot, starch flour, similar in use to corn flour for thickening... if you're a pacific islander you might be using it some "poke"
A good book to read: Red Sun on the Kangaroo Paw. Japanaese air raids and attacks on Western Australian during Wold War 2 by Kevin Gomm.
Amity seems a lot smaller than I remember. I was very upset I wasnt able to meet with you Drach in perth due to illness.
Yet another classic episode Mr Drach sir. Looking forward to the next antipodean instalment. Thanx.
🦀🇦🇺✌️
My god. That ship was travelling around the south coast? That's very close to the "moody" Southern Ocean, famous for giant waves battering much bigger modern illegal fishing ships. Even hugging the coast is a gamble, with desert most of the way between Adelaide and Perth. Very gutsy indeed.
Albany, just outside King George Sound? Southern Ocean
@@popefang No, getting there from anywhere.
The Amity looks absolutely tiny. I can’t imagine crossing the abyss in that thing.
What about the Duyfken and, even worse, the Santa Maria and the Matthew.
@@stevenlowe3026 They’re grrrrreat! 🐅 Hell, people did these voyages on little more than rafts at some points. Most never made it.
Amity is a pretty little ship but. . .can you imagine what it smelled like below decks after several months at sea and crowded with people and livestock? It would have absolutely reeked. Yes they had soap but I doubt that the ship carried enough fresh water for bathing. Also, regular bathing (20th Century style) was not a thing in this time period.
Another excellent episode thank you. I live in Michigan near Lake Erie, some naval history of the war of 1812. I have a question concerning naval guns, if you eliminate all the external variables ie.. wind, temp, butterfly wing beats in China etc. how accurate can these guns be? If I fired three of the same round from the same gun at the same aiming point would I put three rounds through the same hole, or would I be lucky to stay in the same time zone.
Albany, Australia.
I hope their steamed hams made for an unforgettable luncheon.