Amity, Anzacs and Air Raids? - Albany, Australia

Поделиться
HTML-код
  • Опубликовано: 30 июл 2024
  • We kick off 2024 with a look at the first port of call during the Shipshape Australia tour of 2023, the port city of Albany!
    Naval History books, use code 'DRACH' for 25% off - www.usni.org/press/books?f%5B...
    Free naval photos and channel posters - www.drachinifel.co.uk
    Want to support the channel? - / drachinifel
    Want to talk about ships? / discord
    'Legionnaire' by Scott Buckley - released under CC-BY 4.0. www.scottbuckley.com.au

Комментарии • 418

  • @Drachinifel
    @Drachinifel  6 месяцев назад +17

    Pinned post for Q&A :)

    • @themanformerlyknownascomme777
      @themanformerlyknownascomme777 6 месяцев назад

      did any Navy during the time period this channel covers use Steam motors instead of steam engines/turbines?

    • @brendonbewersdorf986
      @brendonbewersdorf986 6 месяцев назад

      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?

    • @zaynevanday142
      @zaynevanday142 6 месяцев назад +1

      You must have driven through Williams ? To get to Albany ?

    • @vikkimcdonough6153
      @vikkimcdonough6153 6 месяцев назад

      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?

    • @guybarnes8247
      @guybarnes8247 6 месяцев назад +1

      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.

  • @aaronporebski9502
    @aaronporebski9502 7 месяцев назад +101

    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!

    • @Millzee117
      @Millzee117 6 месяцев назад +5

      Southwest Wa bois 🫡

    • @zaynevanday142
      @zaynevanday142 6 месяцев назад

      30 kms out of Narrogin 😂😂😂

    • @gasgaslex_photos
      @gasgaslex_photos 6 месяцев назад

      Well done son

    • @chimpboy12345
      @chimpboy12345 6 месяцев назад +5

      I'm not sure if I hit my head harder on the Amity or that whaling ship...

  • @alex7x57
    @alex7x57 6 месяцев назад +52

    Thank you for flipping all your photos over to make for easier viewing. I don't know how those Australians do it living upsidedown.

    • @Biggus63
      @Biggus63 2 месяца назад +1

      We crap out of our mouths and talk out of our arses, simple.

  • @SewingandCaring
    @SewingandCaring 7 месяцев назад +136

    arrowroot is a thickening agent, like cornflower, you would add it to a thin gruel to turn it into more of a porridge consistency. You'd take it on ships because you don't get any weevils in it.

    • @ar4040smith
      @ar4040smith 7 месяцев назад +8

      Interesting, thanks

    • @charlesknutson3282
      @charlesknutson3282 6 месяцев назад +4

      my GG grandmother in the us Canada border used arrowroot for a thickening b face powder for her daughters c as a protein and birth defect preventing supplement.

    • @iainmc9859
      @iainmc9859 6 месяцев назад +12

      There is a medical reason as well. It puts a bung in diarrhoea. Just thought you might like to know that 😊

    • @OtakuLoki
      @OtakuLoki 6 месяцев назад +6

      It's used today very often as the thickener for clear glazes on fruit tarts. Not likely use aboard ship, but can be fun to play with in the kitchen.

    • @arkadikharovscabinetofcuri3465
      @arkadikharovscabinetofcuri3465 6 месяцев назад +3

      Beat me to it mate

  • @mikedale1422
    @mikedale1422 6 месяцев назад +26

    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.

  • @driftwood4394
    @driftwood4394 6 месяцев назад +31

    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!"

    • @timgodderis1918
      @timgodderis1918 6 месяцев назад +3

      As a Belgian, I employ you to never say that to the French.

    • @r.k.5031
      @r.k.5031 6 месяцев назад +2

      ​@@timgodderis1918getting paid to ignore the French is my dream job!

    • @tinymonster9762
      @tinymonster9762 6 месяцев назад

      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.

    • @benwilson6145
      @benwilson6145 6 месяцев назад +2

      Well if you drive from Perth to Albany another 50 k and your in Denmark

    • @ussliberty109
      @ussliberty109 6 месяцев назад +3

      Australia, America, and Russia are just built different. 4 hours is a short roadtrip.

  • @teddythewonderlizard1448
    @teddythewonderlizard1448 7 месяцев назад +181

    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.

    • @stretchpadawan1
      @stretchpadawan1 7 месяцев назад +4

      this....

    • @robertsimpson6324
      @robertsimpson6324 7 месяцев назад +7

      They never get it right do they mate

    • @akula9713
      @akula9713 6 месяцев назад +7

      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.

    • @mbryson2899
      @mbryson2899 6 месяцев назад +15

      ​@@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."

    • @popefang
      @popefang 6 месяцев назад +7

      and Drach was advised before he came, and was told when he was here, and he forgot

  • @Hollywood113807
    @Hollywood113807 7 месяцев назад +30

    Huzzah! The Australia trip videos arrive! Once again it was awesome to sit down and chat with you in Fremantle Drach.

  • @StuSaville
    @StuSaville 6 месяцев назад +13

    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.

  • @andrewdale3695
    @andrewdale3695 6 месяцев назад +30

    Ah, the perils of looking at Australia or the US on a small scale map...

  • @thelonerick
    @thelonerick 6 месяцев назад +3

    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

  • @Millzee117
    @Millzee117 6 месяцев назад +23

    As a south west WA boy, seeing Drach Talk and travel about my region is like a Fever Dream 😅😅

  • @RM-au9mm
    @RM-au9mm 7 месяцев назад +27

    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.

    • @khaelamensha3624
      @khaelamensha3624 6 месяцев назад +5

      My wife do exactly the same... See we can go and be back in one day! (one trip was about 300 miles at least ) 😂

    • @StumpfForFreedom
      @StumpfForFreedom 6 месяцев назад +1

      ​@@khaelamensha3624I think she means she wants to spend a whole day sitting next to you, talking to you. Kinda sweet.

    • @khaelamensha3624
      @khaelamensha3624 6 месяцев назад

      @@StumpfForFreedom while why not but while I am driving? 😂

  • @7thsealord888
    @7thsealord888 6 месяцев назад +74

    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.

    • @MorrisHillmanProductions
      @MorrisHillmanProductions 6 месяцев назад +2

      Japanese submarines also attacked Newcastle.

    • @stevenlowe3026
      @stevenlowe3026 6 месяцев назад

      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.

    • @7thsealord888
      @7thsealord888 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@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..

    • @stevenlowe3026
      @stevenlowe3026 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@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.

    • @7thsealord888
      @7thsealord888 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@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.

  • @ArrDee49
    @ArrDee49 6 месяцев назад +3

    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".

  • @user-ti7tt9cd9b
    @user-ti7tt9cd9b 6 месяцев назад +5

    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.

    • @Drachinifel
      @Drachinifel  6 месяцев назад +1

      I'll definitely be making an announcement before any travel to Malta :)

    • @user-ti7tt9cd9b
      @user-ti7tt9cd9b 6 месяцев назад

      👍🏻@@Drachinifel

    • @jonathanbiggar4973
      @jonathanbiggar4973 6 месяцев назад

      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 .

  • @questionmark05
    @questionmark05 7 месяцев назад +36

    I'm glad you survived our drop bears and Vegemite. Thanks for coming to Australia.

  • @tokencivilian8507
    @tokencivilian8507 6 месяцев назад +4

    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.

    • @thelonerick
      @thelonerick 6 месяцев назад +2

      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

  • @kemarisite
    @kemarisite 6 месяцев назад +10

    "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.

  • @gunnerdaddy4400
    @gunnerdaddy4400 6 месяцев назад +4

    I know the USS Antietam pulled into Albany back in '97... because I was on it. Great little town and great memories.

  • @tullyontherocks
    @tullyontherocks 6 месяцев назад +5

    Drach you are one hard working S.O.G. one whom obviously loves his work. As we also certainly do, thank you.

  • @chimpboy12345
    @chimpboy12345 6 месяцев назад +8

    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. ;)

    • @solreaver83
      @solreaver83 6 месяцев назад +1

      And North qld as well as Sydney and other by submarines and their aircraft if I remember rightly

  • @H0PeeY
    @H0PeeY 6 месяцев назад +4

    Served 24 years in the Navy and my first port of call was Albany on HMAS Supply in 1982. We were not supposed to go there but went through a massive storm crossing the Bight. Our front cargo area was flooded, and we had a bucket brigade for 3 days (too much carboard in flooded space to use pumps) before pulling into Albany.

  • @VintageCarHistory
    @VintageCarHistory 7 месяцев назад +5

    Welcome to the New Year!

  • @michael5265
    @michael5265 7 месяцев назад +10

    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

  • @johnbiddle1829
    @johnbiddle1829 6 месяцев назад +3

    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.

  • @AlbertComelles1970
    @AlbertComelles1970 6 месяцев назад +17

    Wonderful legacy, thank you Drach & Aussies!

    • @MonkeyJedi99
      @MonkeyJedi99 6 месяцев назад +1

      Alarmingly amazing alliteration! Absolutely astounding.

    • @AlbertComelles1970
      @AlbertComelles1970 6 месяцев назад

      Aussies & Drach! @@MonkeyJedi99

  • @georgechord5376
    @georgechord5376 6 месяцев назад +3

    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

  • @mflashhist500
    @mflashhist500 6 месяцев назад +8

    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 !!

  • @bamafan-in-OZ
    @bamafan-in-OZ 7 месяцев назад +11

    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.

  • @johnfisher9692
    @johnfisher9692 6 месяцев назад +8

    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

    • @jacklang3314
      @jacklang3314 6 месяцев назад

      That’s good to know, I would’ve been gutted if it wasn’t there when I went today.

  • @baobo67
    @baobo67 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @scottmason2557
    @scottmason2557 6 месяцев назад +12

    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 :(

  • @MrNicoJac
    @MrNicoJac 6 месяцев назад +2

    Me seeing the Amity:
    "That's hardly a ship, and more of a boat!😧"

  • @williamgreen7415
    @williamgreen7415 6 месяцев назад +1

    Thanks!

  • @paulmeakin3376
    @paulmeakin3376 6 месяцев назад +2

    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

  • @TheRogueWolf
    @TheRogueWolf 6 месяцев назад +3

    "Roo-gnarock" made me laugh out loud.

  • @jonathanwoody7242
    @jonathanwoody7242 6 месяцев назад +1

    Got to visit Albany! My father was there on the Holland in '42 doing submarine periscope repair. Thanks Drach!

  • @Madalf71
    @Madalf71 6 месяцев назад +1

    That was awesome . Converted passenger ship Benella brought my grandparents to Melbourne in 1922.

  • @maxinelouchis7272
    @maxinelouchis7272 6 месяцев назад +2

    Drach, from historian to tourist and back to historian in one flight. Well done.

  • @Midlife-Adventures
    @Midlife-Adventures 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @cardboardempire
    @cardboardempire 6 месяцев назад +2

    Wellington NZ has specific plaques on their harbor dedicated to the individual ships that sailed as part of the WW1 First Convoy.

  • @NamingIsHard1234
    @NamingIsHard1234 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @davidlees2963
    @davidlees2963 6 месяцев назад +2

    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.

    • @simonkevnorris
      @simonkevnorris 6 месяцев назад

      I seem to recall that it was the name of a biscuit when I was growing up in Perth in the 1960s.

  • @felixtheswiss
    @felixtheswiss 6 месяцев назад +2

    I went for the Whaling Museum instead and visited the Cheynes IV

  • @danielgarner2938
    @danielgarner2938 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @robertmatch6550
    @robertmatch6550 6 месяцев назад +2

    Here's to the Antipodes! Glad you were well treated Down Under! Happy Wednesday.

  • @kevinschultz7040
    @kevinschultz7040 7 месяцев назад +2

    Yo this is amazing. Perfect timing for me to now fall back asleep too. Thank you so much!

  • @benwilson6145
    @benwilson6145 6 месяцев назад +4

    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.

  • @alanmoffat4680
    @alanmoffat4680 6 месяцев назад +3

    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.

  • @jeffbybee5207
    @jeffbybee5207 7 месяцев назад +5

    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.

  • @buonafortuna8928
    @buonafortuna8928 6 месяцев назад +1

    Drach that was great and really nice the way the community came together to help the trip

  • @agesflow6815
    @agesflow6815 7 месяцев назад +2

    Thank you, Drachinifel.

  • @charleswade2514
    @charleswade2514 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @frankbodenschatz173
    @frankbodenschatz173 6 месяцев назад +2

    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! 😮

  • @JohnSamuelarcadiagt5
    @JohnSamuelarcadiagt5 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @ChopperBruce
    @ChopperBruce 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @napalmholocaust9093
    @napalmholocaust9093 6 месяцев назад +3

    Nice to hear your recent trip didn't end getting 007'd or screaming "F'n Skippy!" in a crash.

  • @krispycool1
    @krispycool1 6 месяцев назад +5

    I grew up in Adelaide and we used to have a bunch of coastal forts because "the Russians were coming" but most are gone now but one is a museum and another is a police academy now

    • @flakstruk-8481
      @flakstruk-8481 6 месяцев назад

      We had a gunboat too, its a wreck on a beach in qld now

  • @NoName-ds5uq
    @NoName-ds5uq 6 месяцев назад +1

    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…🤣🇦🇺

  • @Moredread25
    @Moredread25 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @animal16365
    @animal16365 7 месяцев назад +10

    17 hrs in economy. That's brutal

    • @francistaylor1822
      @francistaylor1822 6 месяцев назад +2

      Not too bad....unless its crowded or if you are sick

    • @animal16365
      @animal16365 6 месяцев назад +1

      @francistaylor1822
      Very true. My longest flight was from Rome to Atlanta which was 11 hrs. After visiting Rome and doing all that walking. My legs were cramped and feet had blisters. And the flight was full

    • @lonnieanderson6138
      @lonnieanderson6138 6 месяцев назад +1

      Just flew to Sydney in December. Long trip but so well worth it to visit, even though it was only for about 11 days. Sydney, the Blue Mountains and Jervis Bay were wonderful and we had great weather. Hope to return again some day. (Hiked 100 miles in 10 days - pretty good romp after just turning 70).

    • @montecarlo1651
      @montecarlo1651 6 месяцев назад +1

      @@animal16365 Try Melbourne to Rome in the speedy time of 20 hrs, non stop. 24 hrs with a stop in Bangkok or Singapore, where you cold briefly stretch your legs in the terminal as the plane refueled and changed crew, was the norm.

    • @JohnSamuelarcadiagt5
      @JohnSamuelarcadiagt5 6 месяцев назад +1

      Welcome to the Australia tax. I don't know if they still do, but Qantas used to use Singapore as a central switching hub. Flights would depart Australia to Singapore, and then passengers would transfer to the flight taking them to where they were actually going. Just 6 - 8 hours to Singapore as opening step in your journey...

  • @Big_E_Soul_Fragment
    @Big_E_Soul_Fragment 7 месяцев назад +3

    First video for 2024 and a happy new year to everyone!

  • @simonolsen9995
    @simonolsen9995 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @paulwallis7586
    @paulwallis7586 7 месяцев назад +6

    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.

    • @popefang
      @popefang 6 месяцев назад

      Albany, just outside King George Sound? Southern Ocean

    • @paulwallis7586
      @paulwallis7586 6 месяцев назад

      @@popefang No, getting there from anywhere.

  • @hmsbelfast2019
    @hmsbelfast2019 6 месяцев назад +1

    Drach narrating London from the air is the best

  • @Terry_Fritz
    @Terry_Fritz 6 месяцев назад +1

    Nice bit of overhead photography on the Amity there Drac considering the side wind. Nothing but a DJI quad can do that so well.

  • @pebrede
    @pebrede 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @davidmeek8017
    @davidmeek8017 6 месяцев назад

    Aloha Drach; Happy New Year! Brillian tour. Mahalo nui loa

  • @hughboyd2904
    @hughboyd2904 6 месяцев назад

    Yay! Finally up to the Straya episodes! Luv ya work Drach.

  • @chiseldrock
    @chiseldrock 6 месяцев назад

    HAPPY NEW YEAR and all the best to you and yours D cheers

  • @73Trident
    @73Trident 6 месяцев назад

    That was very interesting. Thanks Drach.

  • @seangeoghegan
    @seangeoghegan 5 месяцев назад

    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.

  • @davekrab3363
    @davekrab3363 6 месяцев назад +2

    Yet another classic episode Mr Drach sir. Looking forward to the next antipodean instalment. Thanx.
    🦀🇦🇺✌️

  • @The_ZeroLine
    @The_ZeroLine 6 месяцев назад +2

    The Amity looks absolutely tiny. I can’t imagine crossing the abyss in that thing.

    • @stevenlowe3026
      @stevenlowe3026 6 месяцев назад +1

      What about the Duyfken and, even worse, the Santa Maria and the Matthew.

    • @The_ZeroLine
      @The_ZeroLine 6 месяцев назад

      @@stevenlowe3026 They’re grrrrreat! 🐅 Hell, people did these voyages on little more than rafts at some points. Most never made it.

  • @gerardlabelle9626
    @gerardlabelle9626 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.)

    • @simonkevnorris
      @simonkevnorris 6 месяцев назад

      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.

  • @Iain1957
    @Iain1957 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @gasgaslex_photos
    @gasgaslex_photos 6 месяцев назад +2

    Hey my home town , about time Albany got mentioned 😊... and pronounce AL- bany as in Al capone, nothing grates an Albanians gears more then hearing our towns name mispronounced...

  • @aurictech4378
    @aurictech4378 6 месяцев назад +1

    Nothing says "amity" quite like the five gunports visible on _Amity's_ starboard side. ;-)

  • @1chrisandangie
    @1chrisandangie 6 месяцев назад +4

    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.

  • @verysilentmouse
    @verysilentmouse 6 месяцев назад +2

    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.

  • @toddgreener
    @toddgreener 6 месяцев назад +1

    Anyone else notice the Concorde just chilling on the tarmac during his takeoff video?

  • @Pusserdoc
    @Pusserdoc 6 месяцев назад

    Thanks Drach 😊

  • @stretch3281
    @stretch3281 7 месяцев назад +3

    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 🤔

  • @battlestarmercury
    @battlestarmercury 6 месяцев назад +4

    I thank you Drach for reigniting my teenage interest in military history. My question is:Did the US Navy have war plans against the British Empire in the last 100 years the channel covers? Were any such plans realistic? If these plans exist did they have anyy chance for success? My guess on the last question is not a snowballs chance in the Negev Dessert. Was it during World war II the commissioned strength of the US Navy exceed that of the Royal Navy?

    • @advanceaustralia4861
      @advanceaustralia4861 6 месяцев назад +2

      Thinking the Unthinkable: British and American Naval Strategies for an Anglo-American War, 1918-1931
      Christopher M. Bell

  • @rokoala2636
    @rokoala2636 6 месяцев назад +2

    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.

  • @hisdadjames4876
    @hisdadjames4876 6 месяцев назад +1

    A particularly relaxed and delightful video, though none the less informative….and I say that having watched the whole Drach oeuvre of some 500 or so😂

  • @user-hw1qo2mu9e
    @user-hw1qo2mu9e 6 месяцев назад

    Thanks Drach.

  • @lewiswestfall2687
    @lewiswestfall2687 6 месяцев назад

    Thanks Drach

  • @simonjester0074
    @simonjester0074 6 месяцев назад

    Thanx for the fine travelog 😁😁😁👍

  • @keirenroberts2588
    @keirenroberts2588 6 месяцев назад +3

    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.

    • @keirenroberts2588
      @keirenroberts2588 6 месяцев назад

      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.

    • @benwilson6145
      @benwilson6145 6 месяцев назад

      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.

  • @deepgardening
    @deepgardening 6 месяцев назад +7

    Heck, in the USA hitting a deer is normal. I clipped a young one as it jumped in panic and I clipped it's left hind leg and it flew upside down and landed on the road. I literally knocked the sh#t out of it. But as I got out of my pickup it got up, did a little shiver and shake, twitched it's tail and trotted off, so venison was off the menu. As the bumper sticker says: "Eat At The Roadkill Cafe! From Your Grill To Ours"

    • @crichtonbruce4329
      @crichtonbruce4329 6 месяцев назад

      Near Ottawa, Ontario my sister ran into and killed a deer, plus totaled her brand new Volvo. She was offered the deer but, as she has a hard time boiling water, she declined.

  • @jimtalbott9535
    @jimtalbott9535 6 месяцев назад +1

    Having been raised in Rita Eastern Washington state, your description of “Kangarock” sounds familiar to my time dodging mule-deer on our highways.

  • @cartmann94
    @cartmann94 7 месяцев назад +9

    Albany, Australia.
    I hope their steamed hams made for an unforgettable luncheon.

  • @zaynevanday142
    @zaynevanday142 6 месяцев назад +1

    This is the coldest summer I’ve had in Australia 😂😂😂

    • @paulstefanovich5217
      @paulstefanovich5217 6 месяцев назад

      Come to WA.Plenty warm here

    • @simonkevnorris
      @simonkevnorris 6 месяцев назад

      I grew up in Perth, I think I recall one occasion I had vapour off my breath in the winter and thought it was cold! Although I did have a raincoat for the set days I'd just have a t-shirt and windcheater (sweater) along with jeans or trousers. Inland from Perth it could be a lot colder in winter (freezing).

  • @thomasvandevelde8157
    @thomasvandevelde8157 6 месяцев назад +1

    Thank you for taking us on your trip!
    Regards,
    Thomas
    PS. Any old radio/radar/electronics equipment there?

  • @zaynevanday142
    @zaynevanday142 6 месяцев назад +1

    😂😂😂 I live in Western Australia 🇦🇺 😂😂😂 the ANZAC memorial Museum in Albany is fantastic 🎉 🔥 🔥 🔥

  • @williestyle35
    @williestyle35 6 месяцев назад +2

    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...

  • @steveschainost7590
    @steveschainost7590 6 месяцев назад +1

    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.

  • @randomblogger2835
    @randomblogger2835 6 месяцев назад

    I do apprecciate that you crank the sound up to compete with adverts!