Great to see Drax again. I hope that he can get some money together, so he doesn’t have to sleep in his car anymore and have a proper shave. I’ve got £5 if that helps? On great programs like this, I want to see him at the helm of a WW2 battleship, or a u boat in the Atlantic during a battle re-enactment. Failing that, I’d accept having him onboard a WW2 ship or u boat, at a port or wherever they’re kept. I’m sure many people will be happy to contribute towards this. Ty.
@@eyerollthereforeiam1709 Yes, Drach and Mrs Drach have been blesses with a lovely baby girl dubbed mini Drach After her birth there were comments about creating plushie toys for her like a plushie battlecruiser😁
Outstanding content, gentlemen. Drachinifel is the best naval history channel on YT, hands down, and Admiral Parry's 8 Bells lecture is so good that I watched it twice. Thanks for bringing them together.
I’m very happy to see Drach in this forum. Hopefully, he will reach an even wider audience with his encyclopedic knowledge of naval history. Also, he can discuss history and also be entertaining- and that is not always the case with history videos.👍
Chris Parry really knows his stuff. As he points out the vast majority of convoys weren't even attacked and didn't lose a single ship but that situation only came about because the Allies were successful in sinking U boats at a steady rate. I'd love to hear Chris Parry's views on the Artic Convoy battles which were often vicious complex confrontations.
History Undone has become a staple for me when I sit down for my Friday post work chippy takeaway. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a RUclips show as much
There's a common thread running through WW2; the Allies, western and eastern, ended up being able to build stuff faster than the Germans could destroy it.
The Battle of the Atlantic cascades to Britain's ports and this creates a major bottleneck. Merchant ships that had pre-war delivered cargo to the major east coast ports such as London are diverted to the smaller ports on the west coast. Not enough berths. Ships wait off the coast for days. Too few stevedores, and they were a grouchy and quarrelsome group. Insufficient number of cranes and warehouses. Cargo is piling up. The rail system was not fit for purpose to transport goods east to the population centres and factories and deliver fuel to the west coast. Insufficient oil tank storage and bunkering facilities as well. The collier ships carrying coal from Wales to the eastern cities are disrupted - coal was king in Britain during the war. Once France falls, it worsens. Continental Europe had been Britain's largest trade partner, and this did not require deep sea vessels. Shifting trade to the US and the New World requires more deep-sea vessels. The blue-water ships Britain had were used often for trade with the Empire, and they fear losing this service. London decides to keep this a priority. And the Americans didn't have a large number of deep-sea vessels as well due the Seamen's Act of 1915 and the Jones Act of 1920; before September '39 two-thirds of America's international commerce was carried aboard cheaper foreign-flagged ships. Much of America's fleet was old and slow until the Liberty ships are launched in large numbers. Fortunately Britain was able to obtain the service of the great majority of Norway's merchant fleet. Not only was it the world's fourth largest, it was open-sea, modern, and fast. And they had 272 large oil tankers too. More than 1000 Norwegian ships serve the Allies' cause. Forty per cent of the fuel delivered to Britain in '40 and '41 arrives aboard Norwegian tankers. Britain also picks up much of the Dutch fleet (7th largest in the world), the Greek fleet (9th) as well as free French (8th) and many German, Italian, and Danish ships seized overseas as prizes. It was also able to charter a large number of the Swedish fleet, the 10th largest. To understand what Britain had to contend with logistically _at home_ for the first 14 to 16 months of the war and how it was resolved, read Prof C.B.A. 'Betty' Behrens's book _Merchant shipping and the demands of war_ , which is a volume of Britain's official history of WWII. It's online.
It really does. I get the impression that a lot of the guests - Nick Moran, James Holland etc are fans of the show themselves and have been happy to guest slot on it. It's a tragedy it's not more highly subbed
Otto Kretschmer , U99 get's virtually no mention in the history of the battle of the Atlantic in popular media, despite being the most successful U boat commander of WW2. When he could he was known to surface and give lifeboats of his victims supplies and a course to steer for the nearest land. Drach, that would make a good video for you. My reference is the book, The golden Horseshoe, Terrance Robertson.
His nickname was Silent Otto because he sensibly refused to give away his position by responding to most of the demands for communications from HQ which he regarded as pointless control freakery.
It would’ve taken longer but Germany was never going to keep up with: A the US ability to make thousands of aircraft and dozens of ships - A MONTH! B the rapid technological advances of radar and sonar. The U Boats had no long term chance to succeed
Great presentation...I am really glad you folks did not get too far out with the alternate history scenarios. I gotta say that I think you folks covered the topic and debate pretty much spot on...IMHO. 👍💯
Thanks to both experts on this show. I always learn alot. I love learning about naval and military history. I really appreciate both of them taking the time to explain historical military and naval warfare. Thank you gentlemen for your time making this video
Why? Drach has never denied that Bismark was powerful. His contention is that Bismark and Tirpitz were inefficient. And that the US, UK, Japan, or Italians could have gotten the same capability out of 10,000 or so fewer tons.
Since the Adm Parry uses the Tirpitz that sets his time frame no earlier than Feb 1941. Lets look at what the KMS could put to sea KMS Capitol Ships (4) Bismark Tirpitz Scharnhosrt Gneisenau Heavy Cruisers (3) Lutzo Scheer Prinz Eugen Light Cruisers (3) Emden Koln Leipzig Nurnberg This may serve as a fleet in being.. but it is not a very creditable threat to the surface forces of the RN and it would only get far worse on Dec 8, 1941
Donitz may have been a control freak but he clearly wasn't a details man. Having 300 u-boats is one thing. Problem is they'd have to be rowed to the mid-atlantic gap because Germany wouldn't have nearly enough fuel-oil to sustain a months long campaign. The great thing about all of those dockyard-queen surface ships is that they weren't going anywhere, burning precious fuel they'd do nothing to replace.
WW2 greatest strategic planning naval mistake by the Axis: Failing to understand that mass deployment of much larger submarine fleets from day one was their essential key to early victory.
The Type XXI U-boat came about during WW2 when they realized they were failing. It was not a plan before WW2. There is no way they could have got it right then made enough of them in any sort of reasonable timescale. It also had flaws.
I read one book on the Battle of the Atlantic (can't remember which one) that said that around the time the allies started using centimetric radar a captured British sailor told the Germans the Allies had developed a device to detect METOX, and that's how they were suddenly able to find the U-boats. They frantically sent out messages to all their boats to turn off their METOX!
The reason why KMS Bismark sank so fast, in my opinion, is not only the damage she already had received, but the British Torpedos AND the Scuttling Charges doing damage almost at the same time!
If Germany had 300 submarines in 1940 then the Royal Navy would have had many more escort destroyers as they would react to what was being built in the 1930’s.
wow.. those U-Boats had crews in 1940 were born in 1933 or later amazing.. That is some well trained 2nd graders. (time mark 10:33) That is history channel level of accuracy
I think you couldn't have found two better experts to expound upon this subject. It's difficult for us to put ourselves in the shoes of those political and military leaders during that time, given our hindsight. I must always remind myself that things looked very dark at numerous points in the Atlantic campaign for Britain. The U-boats came the closest to breaking British political will IMO, and if several things had gone better for the Kriegsmarine than it is plausible that some sort of negotiated agreement may have come about. My one question is what would have been the fate of the Royal Navy after such a defeat? If Germany had gained access to the ships of England it may have made them very difficult to defeat by the United States. What of Canada and the rest of the dominions? What would be their status?
B29 would have hit Germany with B29 from Iceland. Conventional or Atomic. Also Northern Ireland could have been taken by US and Canada. US forces had ships built for Pacific, the Atlantic was a small lake by comparison.
Great to see Drax again. I hope that he can get some money together so he doesn’t have to sleep in his car anymore and have a proper shave. I’ve got £5 if that helps? On great programs like this, I want to see him at the helm of a WW2 battleship, or a u boat in the Atlantic during a battle re-enactment. Failing that, I’d accept having him onboard a WW2 ship or u boat, at a port or wherever they’re kept. I’m sure many people will be happy to contribute towards this. Ty.
Adm Perry kind of understates allied merchant losses a little. 14,500,000 tons was alot of lost shipping, totaling over 3000 ships and around 70,000 merchant and naval lives lost as well. He's still a great guest to have on board though.
It's not nothing, certainly, but sufficient supplies were getting through from the beginning, and the delivery numbers were always trending upwards, so the Germans may have been achieving some tactical success in sinking ships, but strategically stopping deliveries they were ineffective, and operationally their Navy was being depleted while the Allies Navy was rapidly increasing in numbers and capabilities; at best they get a participation trophy, they certainly didn't win anything outright, just presided over a slow downwards run into irrelevancy, an ineffectual speed bump on the path to the Allies success.
Germans, same as Japanese, failed to pull both sub commanders(G) and ace pilots(G & J), to train others , with the vital experience they have from combat. The Allies did the opposite. Also, the ussr should NOT be credited (imo) with being such a big factor, because, the US supplied them with tons of equipment. Take that away and it's another story, especially the trucks.
That's just silly. Might as well say the US should not be credited since the UK provided them an island base from which to mount a European offensive. No reason to minimize the contributions of either, though.
Well, the aid of the Western allies was crucial, but I must disagree with the claim that the USSR was not "a big factor" in the fight against Germany. Roughly 80% (in words: eighty percent of German losses) occurred on the Eastern front. How anyone could come up with the idea that the Red Army should not be credited as such a big factor is beyond me. Not meant as an insult or mean remark, but just plain facts.
The Soviets still had to fight. You can give them all the equipment and recourses you want but at the end of the day it still has to be used. Like another commenter said. The majority of the German military that died, died on the eastern front. The largest conflict in human history was the eastern front. It’d be foolish to disregard that
@@Rokaize German finances and resources were bled white fighting the British and Americans in the west. German manpower was bled white fighting the Soviets in the east. End result Germany crushed.
That was very interesting and I have a warm glow of pride in my British heart. Also - the Atlantic is VERY big. And The Almighty deemed that the British Isles and America would dominate both sides of it. When will continental powers finally understand they can’t do naval power? Yes. I’m looking at YOU Russia…
well, the U-boats could have been stopped much earlier, if coastal command had their hands of 80 (the number they estimated for covering the vital routes) of the four engined bombers. but churchill was fixed on attacking the germans at home....
This is true, but for all its faults the bombing campaign did slow down the construction of U-boats. By direct bombing, countered by distributing production, which was then countered by hitting transport. There is a report on the XXI which says that the dockyard had multiple examples of several sections. But not any to complete a full boat. In addition, they had to keep correcting mistakes by inexperienced manufacturers.
@@chrissouthgate4554 you are right for 1943-45, with the american bombing the coastal yards and the attacks on the railway system. but the production of the Short Stirling (to name the first) startet in 1940 (15) and ramped up in 1941 (153) to 1943 (462). HP Halifax with 6/162/801 respectivly. So there could have been a chance.... In the video we heard of the conflict between Luftwaffe and Navy about the flying stock, there was a similiar struggle between the fleet air arm and the RAF. which is understandable, cause resources were limited. so the decision was made to give the planes to Harris. his night attacks made a huge impact on living conditions as he attacked th burnable town centers not the industrial quarters, but even if a railway station was the aim and hit , train could pass by the destroyed town center after 2 to 3 days
No. Bismarck class is not significantly better in a battle than many of the RN battleships. The fantasy of a lone BB winning the day in a fight lay rusting in the river plate.
Some legal difficulties with getting local authorities in U.S. to turn off the lights Some public minded citizens tried to help spot UBoats with their car headlights whilst pulled up on the coastline. More silhouettes (sigh)
It is a shame that the hid they full story of WATU (Western Approaches Tactical Unit) for so long.... Basically until almost all of the men and Women who served so well were dead.
Drach gives interviews from his car wasn't on my list for 2024 :D looks like an interview about a top current topic and not about the convoy battle 80 years ago :D Nothing negative here.
Admiral Donitz told Hitler how many subs would be needed, Hitler did not authorize the building of that many subs. Hitler made bad decisions about ships and aircraft.
I really love this series, even if I don't always agree with the what-if assessments in every episode. However...could we make sure guests are required to livestream from a reasonable office or room, or even studio (those exist for lease lol)...and not from someone's car?
I've been watching Drach's videos for years and he's never even been visible. It never bothered me a bit. He could have just as easily run a photo of a battleship or submarine here, and I would have never known the difference. I might be in the minority here but I don't think so.
Drach usually streams from his office. I saw it mentioned in another comment that he might've been streaming from the car so as to not disturb the new Baby Drach; little miss Drachette having only been born recently and so probably requiring quite the amount of attention (and discretion).
What if the Germans realize Aircraft carries are the future and focus on that and come 1940 they have some? Could that enable an invasion of England because they could use that air power to make the English fleet unable to control the channel fully?
There’s nothing that carrier based air could have done to clear the seas around Britain that land based air couldn’t have done better. It wasn’t a lack of airfields that cost Germany the Battle of Britain.
The "what if" bit ignores completely that Germany is beaten in the east from late 1942. The Russians would still have taken Berlin in 1945. So your "what if" is completely irrelevant.
How do you not mention the Soviets in a what if scenario like this? Germany all of a sudden can access oil, they take north Africa and probably the whole Mediterranean becomes a German lake. Now they either don't invade the USSR or do it much later. Without the Royal Navy Germany is probably the odds-on favorite to win WW2.
How would Germany get rid of the Royal Navy? Works come to worse they just retreat to Canada.Also, all the oil in the world will not unglass German homeland
You are right that maybe the Royal Navy might have retreated to Canada, Vichy France style. But IF Germany is in control of England there use would be complicated to say the least. (Frankly I don't see any real path that Germany could have conquered Great Britain that starts in 1939)
A show about the greatest band in the world. I thought at first, you were talking about IRON MAIDEN. But then you started talking about The Beatles. What a disappointment.... But that's just me!
You mean the guy who has probably read as many books or more than historians? And has been combing through the National Archives? Or were you referring to Anthony Tully and Jon Parshall, neither of whom are historians by training.
Remember to subscribe to Times Radio History: www.youtube.com/@TimesRadioHistory?sub_confirmation=1
omg DRACH on TIMESRADIO
! !
! !
Great to see Drax again. I hope that he can get some money together, so he doesn’t have to sleep in his car anymore and have a proper shave. I’ve got £5 if that helps?
On great programs like this, I want to see him at the helm of a WW2 battleship, or a u boat in the Atlantic during a battle re-enactment.
Failing that, I’d accept having him onboard a WW2 ship or u boat, at a port or wherever they’re kept. I’m sure many people will be happy to contribute towards this.
Ty.
Drach is popping up everywhere these days. Love to see it.
To think there was a time he did not talk on his own videos!
The Doug Demuro of warship history on RUclips👍🇺🇸
Hello :D
@ Glad for all your success, Drach! You earned it!
True, last week I opened my garden shed. Guess what? Drachinifel.
Phoning in from the Drachmobile 😅
Im surprised its not a boat.
@@grrg1963 Maybe it's amphibious... ;)
@@jeffbangle4710if yes it is a Lotus😉😂
Filming from the car, mustn't disturb mini-Drach
I haven't been following in a while.. Is there a Baby Drach? I have a vision of flag signals rising from a crib.
"Engage the diaper more closely"
@@eyerollthereforeiam1709 There is for sure a little pink-clothed baby-Drach.
@@eyerollthereforeiam1709 Yes, Drach and Mrs Drach have been blesses with a lovely baby girl dubbed mini Drach
After her birth there were comments about creating plushie toys for her like a plushie battlecruiser😁
The correct term is Drachling!
Outstanding content, gentlemen. Drachinifel is the best naval history channel on YT, hands down, and Admiral Parry's 8 Bells lecture is so good that I watched it twice. Thanks for bringing them together.
I’m very happy to see Drach in this forum. Hopefully, he will reach an even wider audience with his encyclopedic knowledge of naval history. Also, he can discuss history and also be entertaining- and that is not always the case with history videos.👍
Chris Parry really knows his stuff. As he points out the vast majority of convoys weren't even attacked and didn't lose a single ship but that situation only came about because the Allies were successful in sinking U boats at a steady rate.
I'd love to hear Chris Parry's views on the Artic Convoy battles which were often vicious complex confrontations.
Drach is a legend!
Drach and Adm Chris - this is the sort of stuff we want!
Thanks for the great video!
Drachinifel is the best.
I've seen so many of these, I might give this one a miss.......
sees Drach.
Sigh. Go on, then.
😂😂😂😂😂
He’s a great historian especially with his excellent oratory skills. In a narration sense…😳
The Royal Navy did send 30 vessels with crews to help the US Navy in 1942. I sailed with a number of American WWII mariners early in my career.
History Undone has become a staple for me when I sit down for my Friday post work chippy takeaway. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a RUclips show as much
"The UK is a huge bung in the plug hole" I thought this was a family show!
Events for the Soviets would've also gone far worse had the Atlantic been lost. They were heavily reliant on Lend Lease as well.
There's a common thread running through WW2; the Allies, western and eastern, ended up being able to build stuff faster than the Germans could destroy it.
That, and oil supply.
It also helped that they destroyed Germans and their stuff faster than they could be replaced as well
The Battle of the Atlantic cascades to Britain's ports and this creates a major bottleneck. Merchant ships that had pre-war delivered cargo to the major east coast ports such as London are diverted to the smaller ports on the west coast. Not enough berths. Ships wait off the coast for days. Too few stevedores, and they were a grouchy and quarrelsome group. Insufficient number of cranes and warehouses. Cargo is piling up. The rail system was not fit for purpose to transport goods east to the population centres and factories and deliver fuel to the west coast. Insufficient oil tank storage and bunkering facilities as well. The collier ships carrying coal from Wales to the eastern cities are disrupted - coal was king in Britain during the war. Once France falls, it worsens. Continental Europe had been Britain's largest trade partner, and this did not require deep sea vessels. Shifting trade to the US and the New World requires more deep-sea vessels. The blue-water ships Britain had were used often for trade with the Empire, and they fear losing this service. London decides to keep this a priority. And the Americans didn't have a large number of deep-sea vessels as well due the Seamen's Act of 1915 and the Jones Act of 1920; before September '39 two-thirds of America's international commerce was carried aboard cheaper foreign-flagged ships. Much of America's fleet was old and slow until the Liberty ships are launched in large numbers. Fortunately Britain was able to obtain the service of the great majority of Norway's merchant fleet. Not only was it the world's fourth largest, it was open-sea, modern, and fast. And they had 272 large oil tankers too. More than 1000 Norwegian ships serve the Allies' cause. Forty per cent of the fuel delivered to Britain in '40 and '41 arrives aboard Norwegian tankers. Britain also picks up much of the Dutch fleet (7th largest in the world), the Greek fleet (9th) as well as free French (8th) and many German, Italian, and Danish ships seized overseas as prizes. It was also able to charter a large number of the Swedish fleet, the 10th largest. To understand what Britain had to contend with logistically _at home_ for the first 14 to 16 months of the war and how it was resolved, read Prof C.B.A. 'Betty' Behrens's book _Merchant shipping and the demands of war_ , which is a volume of Britain's official history of WWII. It's online.
Tell ya what, the channel gets good guests on.
It really does. I get the impression that a lot of the guests - Nick Moran, James Holland etc are fans of the show themselves and have been happy to guest slot on it.
It's a tragedy it's not more highly subbed
Otto Kretschmer , U99 get's virtually no mention in the history of the battle of the Atlantic in popular media, despite being the most successful U boat commander of WW2. When he could he was known to surface and give lifeboats of his victims supplies and a course to steer for the nearest land. Drach, that would make a good video for you. My reference is the book, The golden Horseshoe, Terrance Robertson.
Woody has had the Sharkhunters guy on to talk about it.
His nickname was Silent Otto because he sensibly refused to give away his position by responding to most of the demands for communications from HQ which he regarded as pointless control freakery.
It would’ve taken longer but Germany was never going to keep up with:
A the US ability to make thousands of aircraft and dozens of ships - A MONTH!
B the rapid technological advances of radar and sonar.
The U Boats had no long term chance to succeed
More Drachinifel!!!
Always have to watch Drachinefel
Outstanding show Keep up these excellent presentations
Thank you for this episode. Iv always been interested in naval warfare in ww2 and the battle of the Atlantic in particular. Really enjoyed it 👍
Great presentation...I am really glad you folks did not get too far out with the alternate history scenarios. I gotta say that I think you folks covered the topic and debate pretty much spot on...IMHO. 👍💯
excellent programme. Thanks to you all and especially the two experts.
Thanks to both experts on this show. I always learn alot. I love learning about naval and military history. I really appreciate both of them taking the time to explain historical military and naval warfare. Thank you gentlemen for your time making this video
9:35 I'm _amazed_ Drach managed to stay quiet through that, considering his opinions on the Bismark and her design.
Why? Drach has never denied that Bismark was powerful. His contention is that Bismark and Tirpitz were inefficient. And that the US, UK, Japan, or Italians could have gotten the same capability out of 10,000 or so fewer tons.
Bismarck has gotten called overrated for so long and so loudly that it's becoming underrated.
Since the Adm Parry uses the Tirpitz that sets his time frame no earlier than Feb 1941. Lets look at what the KMS could put to sea
KMS
Capitol Ships (4) Bismark Tirpitz Scharnhosrt Gneisenau
Heavy Cruisers (3) Lutzo Scheer Prinz Eugen
Light Cruisers (3) Emden Koln Leipzig Nurnberg
This may serve as a fleet in being.. but it is not a very creditable threat to the surface forces of the RN and it would only get far worse on Dec 8, 1941
I was looking forward for this "what if" scenario discussion!!
EXCELLENT ¡¡¡¡¡ What about an episode about the Falkland - 1982 ?
I bet that mini Drach is exercising her lungs. 😂
Donitz may have been a control freak but he clearly wasn't a details man. Having 300 u-boats is one thing. Problem is they'd have to be rowed to the mid-atlantic gap because Germany wouldn't have nearly enough fuel-oil to sustain a months long campaign.
The great thing about all of those dockyard-queen surface ships is that they weren't going anywhere, burning precious fuel they'd do nothing to replace.
WW2 greatest strategic planning naval mistake by the Axis: Failing to understand that mass deployment of much larger submarine fleets from day one was their essential key to early victory.
The Type XXI U-boat came about during WW2 when they realized they were failing. It was not a plan before WW2. There is no way they could have got it right then made enough of them in any sort of reasonable timescale. It also had flaws.
I read one book on the Battle of the Atlantic (can't remember which one) that said that around the time the allies started using centimetric radar a captured British sailor told the Germans the Allies had developed a device to detect METOX, and that's how they were suddenly able to find the U-boats. They frantically sent out messages to all their boats to turn off their METOX!
The reason why KMS Bismark sank so fast, in my opinion, is not only the damage she already had received, but the British Torpedos AND the Scuttling Charges doing damage almost at the same time!
Love me some Drach
Brilliant stuff
If Germany had 300 submarines in 1940 then the Royal Navy would have had many more escort destroyers as they would react to what was being built in the 1930’s.
Great show!
Great program Thanks.
wow.. those U-Boats had crews in 1940 were born in 1933 or later amazing.. That is some well trained 2nd graders. (time mark 10:33) That is history channel level of accuracy
Drach looks hella fly in that thumbnail, tho!
Love this pod cast
Great topic for the guests.
I think you couldn't have found two better experts to expound upon this subject. It's difficult for us to put ourselves in the shoes of those political and military leaders during that time, given our hindsight. I must always remind myself that things looked very dark at numerous points in the Atlantic campaign for Britain. The U-boats came the closest to breaking British political will IMO, and if several things had gone better for the Kriegsmarine than it is plausible that some sort of negotiated agreement may have come about. My one question is what would have been the fate of the Royal Navy after such a defeat? If Germany had gained access to the ships of England it may have made them very difficult to defeat by the United States. What of Canada and the rest of the dominions? What would be their status?
The RN would have retreated to the dominions and allied countries to fight on.
B29 would have hit Germany with B29 from Iceland. Conventional or Atomic. Also Northern Ireland could have been taken by US and Canada. US forces had ships built for Pacific, the Atlantic was a small lake by comparison.
I didn't know about Operation Vegetarian... looks it up.. oh no...
Wild! I never heard of it either.
Holy smoke. It would have been bad!
Ohhhhh yeah. Thank heavens they didn't let THAT genie out of the bottle.
Great to see Drax again. I hope that he can get some money together so he doesn’t have to sleep in his car anymore and have a proper shave. I’ve got £5 if that helps?
On great programs like this, I want to see him at the helm of a WW2 battleship, or a u boat in the Atlantic during a battle re-enactment.
Failing that, I’d accept having him onboard a WW2 ship or u boat, at a port or wherever they’re kept. I’m sure many people will be happy to contribute towards this.
Ty.
No amount of money's gonna help, he's looking like that because he's got a mini-Drach in the house :P.
A battle of samaur episode would be good, what if the Japanese commander didn't run away?
Adm Perry kind of understates allied merchant losses a little. 14,500,000 tons was alot of lost shipping, totaling over 3000 ships and around 70,000 merchant and naval lives lost as well. He's still a great guest to have on board though.
It's not nothing, certainly, but sufficient supplies were getting through from the beginning, and the delivery numbers were always trending upwards, so the Germans may have been achieving some tactical success in sinking ships, but strategically stopping deliveries they were ineffective, and operationally their Navy was being depleted while the Allies Navy was rapidly increasing in numbers and capabilities; at best they get a participation trophy, they certainly didn't win anything outright, just presided over a slow downwards run into irrelevancy, an ineffectual speed bump on the path to the Allies success.
With Britain out of the picture, Hitler could have thrown all his stuff at Russia.
Canada hasn't been a dominion since 1867.
The lack of German naval aviation was a terrible blunder.
Drach is everywhere
If you want us to keep a Royal Navy we need to fund it!
Why is Drach in his car?
Four Rotor Enigma U-570/HMS Graph
Suggest reading THE BIG ONE series by Stuart Slade which explores this possibility.
Germans, same as Japanese, failed to pull both sub commanders(G) and ace pilots(G & J), to train others , with the vital experience they have from combat. The Allies did the opposite.
Also, the ussr should NOT be credited (imo) with being such a big factor, because, the US supplied them with tons of equipment. Take that away and it's another story, especially the trucks.
That's just silly. Might as well say the US should not be credited since the UK provided them an island base from which to mount a European offensive. No reason to minimize the contributions of either, though.
The allies had far more resources. Everything else are details.
Well, the aid of the Western allies was crucial, but I must disagree with the claim that the USSR was not "a big factor" in the fight against Germany.
Roughly 80% (in words: eighty percent of German losses) occurred on the Eastern front. How anyone could come up with the idea that the Red Army should not be credited as such a big factor is beyond me. Not meant as an insult or mean remark, but just plain facts.
The Soviets still had to fight. You can give them all the equipment and recourses you want but at the end of the day it still has to be used.
Like another commenter said. The majority of the German military that died, died on the eastern front. The largest conflict in human history was the eastern front. It’d be foolish to disregard that
@@Rokaize German finances and resources were bled white fighting the British and Americans in the west. German manpower was bled white fighting the Soviets in the east. End result Germany crushed.
This is why I love Perun. Good, solid analysis backed by the data. Thanks Perun. Fantastic work!
That was very interesting and I have a warm glow of pride in my British heart.
Also - the Atlantic is VERY big. And The Almighty deemed that the British Isles and America would dominate both sides of it.
When will continental powers finally understand they can’t do naval power?
Yes. I’m looking at YOU Russia…
What if the Germans hadn't committed forces to North Africa? Or had limited operations to taking and defending the Suez (or oil fields).
Hedge hogs and squid mounts gave the escorts real teeth.
well, the U-boats could have been stopped much earlier, if coastal command had their hands of 80 (the number they estimated for covering the vital routes) of the four engined bombers. but churchill was fixed on attacking the germans at home....
This is true, but for all its faults the bombing campaign did slow down the construction of U-boats. By direct bombing, countered by distributing production, which was then countered by hitting transport. There is a report on the XXI which says that the dockyard had multiple examples of several sections. But not any to complete a full boat. In addition, they had to keep correcting mistakes by inexperienced manufacturers.
@@chrissouthgate4554 you are right for 1943-45, with the american bombing the coastal yards and the attacks on the railway system.
but the production of the Short Stirling (to name the first) startet in 1940 (15) and ramped up in 1941 (153) to 1943 (462). HP Halifax with 6/162/801 respectivly.
So there could have been a chance....
In the video we heard of the conflict between Luftwaffe and Navy about the flying stock, there was a similiar struggle between the fleet air arm and the RAF. which is understandable, cause resources were limited. so the decision was made to give the planes to Harris. his night attacks made a huge impact on living conditions as he attacked th burnable town centers not the industrial quarters, but even if a railway station was the aim and hit , train could pass by the destroyed town center after 2 to 3 days
No. Bismarck class is not significantly better in a battle than many of the RN battleships.
The fantasy of a lone BB winning the day in a fight lay rusting in the river plate.
Some legal difficulties with getting local authorities in U.S. to turn off the lights
Some public minded citizens tried to help spot UBoats with their car headlights whilst pulled up on the coastline.
More silhouettes (sigh)
It is a shame that the hid they full story of WATU (Western Approaches Tactical Unit) for so long.... Basically until almost all of the men and Women who served so well were dead.
Drach gives interviews from his car wasn't on my list for 2024 :D looks like an interview about a top current topic and not about the convoy battle 80 years ago :D Nothing negative here.
HMS Beagle? Charles Darwin VC!
All part of the evolution of anti-submarine warfate.
I don't think so.
Admiral Donitz told Hitler how many subs would be needed, Hitler did not authorize the building of that many subs. Hitler made bad decisions about ships and aircraft.
I really love this series, even if I don't always agree with the what-if assessments in every episode. However...could we make sure guests are required to livestream from a reasonable office or room, or even studio (those exist for lease lol)...and not from someone's car?
I've been watching Drach's videos for years and he's never even been visible. It never bothered me a bit. He could have just as easily run a photo of a battleship or submarine here, and I would have never known the difference. I might be in the minority here but I don't think so.
Drach usually streams from his office. I saw it mentioned in another comment that he might've been streaming from the car so as to not disturb the new Baby Drach; little miss Drachette having only been born recently and so probably requiring quite the amount of attention (and discretion).
The atomic bomb was a German bomb surrounded by a German submarine to the Americans.
What if the Germans realize Aircraft carries are the future and focus on that and come 1940 they have some? Could that enable an invasion of England because they could use that air power to make the English fleet unable to control the channel fully?
Once France fell, the whole channel was under land based air cover.
There’s nothing that carrier based air could have done to clear the seas around Britain that land based air couldn’t have done better. It wasn’t a lack of airfields that cost Germany the Battle of Britain.
Whatever Germany decides it's going to build, Britain would simply respond in order to counter it.
Strategic bombing prevented a uboat victory....
Thank god Holland hasn’t been sniffing about this otherwise excellent show since his earlier unwelcome contribution
why would you fight the ocean? it won and it swallowed all your stuff lol
The "what if" bit ignores completely that Germany is beaten in the east from late 1942. The Russians would still have taken Berlin in 1945. So your "what if" is completely irrelevant.
Dustbin, Dustbin, Beware, Beware. NDBs .
Imma touch you
From the car? U either got lost or traffic was bad.
drachs still photo showing hot-boy summer!
Interesting you ask so.eone a question and another answers
How do you not mention the Soviets in a what if scenario like this? Germany all of a sudden can access oil, they take north Africa and probably the whole Mediterranean becomes a German lake. Now they either don't invade the USSR or do it much later. Without the Royal Navy Germany is probably the odds-on favorite to win WW2.
How would Germany get rid of the Royal Navy? Works come to worse they just retreat to Canada.Also, all the oil in the world will not unglass German homeland
You are right that maybe the Royal Navy might have retreated to Canada, Vichy France style. But IF Germany is in control of England there use would be complicated to say the least. (Frankly I don't see any real path that Germany could have conquered Great Britain that starts in 1939)
Yeah yeah a horse with wings could fly
A show about the greatest band in the world. I thought at first, you were talking about IRON MAIDEN.
But then you started talking about The Beatles. What a disappointment....
But that's just me!
No. Period.
If the Allies lost the battle of the Atlantic the Germans could have Dropped Atomic Bombs on the Allies, They invented it after all.
No they did not.
@@rayofhope1114 Oh yes , they did, we only learned of it from a Swedish Scientist. Sorry.
Your full of shiteberlo
It's amazing how much screentime a guy who isn't a historian gets, and is falsely attributed to be a subject matter expert. 😂😂😂😂😂
So, tell me @CaptainSeato, when was the last time you were invited to speak by the United States Naval Institute?
You mean the guy who has probably read as many books or more than historians? And has been combing through the National Archives? Or were you referring to Anthony Tully and Jon Parshall, neither of whom are historians by training.
Hush, gentlemen. I don't think that Seathole is unfamiliar with the term autodidact.
I rather suspect that he's not a real captain, either.
@@PeteOttonhe's neither of those guys, but thanks for trying.😂
@@gwtpictgwtpict4214as if that means anything, when it's not an actual historian invited to speak. 😂