Pinned post for Q&A :)

@scottgiles7546

2 жыл бұрын

Just how good were the USN Standard Battleships, yes there was a range of them, against their age competitors? There were quite a few countries building battleships in the run up to WWI and only a few were battle tested so questions remain. If this has been answered could someone provide a link to it?

@josh8344

2 жыл бұрын

“Relations” between sailors, their concubines, and assorted others. How common were any of these things and how were they addressed?

@thehandoftheking3314

2 жыл бұрын

Hi drach, thank you for the answers to my two questions in the last, 203, dry dock. To follow on from the HMS Audacious sinking, can you tell us more about the sinking of HMS Royal Oak in the same vein. Was it design issues, operating practice or simply the detonation of high explosives that overwhelmed the defenses regardless?

@edwarddunne2758

2 жыл бұрын

Was there any real purpose to the various expeditions to the Northwest Passage, other than, to quote George Mallory, "because it's there"? It's not as though the British Empire, or anyone else could use the passage, as it has only been recently that the passage been free of ice enough for shipping to pass. Am I missing something?

@brendonbewersdorf986

2 жыл бұрын

Did swedish navy submarines do anything of note during WW2?

I love how Drach refers to a 30m overview of a lesser known theater as a "very brief high level overview" when many channels would call that a "deep dive"... the depth and consistency of content is astounding

@murraystewartj

Жыл бұрын

Anything less than 4 hours is "brief" to Drach these days. Not complaining as I have severe tinnitus so I leave his stuff on autoplay so I can sleep at night. Seriously - much better than smooth jazz or babbling brooks - just Mr. Long Winded droning on and on. Quite relaxing, actually, like being read to as a child.

@AnimeSunglasses

Жыл бұрын

Drach refuses to let his vocabulary be gaslit by the conventionally short attention spans of KZread.

@42sbw

Жыл бұрын

A true expert. Different types of content for different people.... Fascinating, informative...Brand new info to me. Wonder if Dratch goes off bullet notes, cuff, script, or something else.

@trainskitsetc

11 ай бұрын

​@@murraystewartj I do not have tinnitus but do have many traumatic memories that stop me getting good sleep, i have learned an unbelievable amount while being talked to sleep by this channel 😁

My Uncle, a Canadian soldier, did garrison duty in Jamaica during the war. There he met my Aunt. They married and moved to Canada. My Mother partly decided to study at a 🇨🇦University partly because her sister was in 🇨🇦. There she met my Father. They recently celebrated 70 years of marriage. So yes an important theatre of the war as far as I am concerned.

@simonvirus6417

2 жыл бұрын

Stories and history such as these make that scumbag criminal Trudeaux even more appalling . From Australia

@Sphere723

2 жыл бұрын

My uncle raped a woman in Cuba.

@majorlee76251

2 жыл бұрын

Congrats to your folks on their commitment to each other.😀

@AnimeSunglasses

2 жыл бұрын

Congratulations to your parents, Aunt & Uncle, and yourself!

@jameschenard7691

2 жыл бұрын

Congratulations to your folks and thank you for sharing that!!! 😃👍

I may never recover from the shock of learning that a B-18 squadron found a combat role and actually caused harm to the enemy

@sadwingsraging3044

Жыл бұрын

Art Deco go brrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

@brookeshenfield7156

6 күн бұрын

One of them got U-520 off Canada later…

My uncle was a US merchant seaman. Torpedoed twice and in the water coming out of Aruba. If that wasn't enough, it happened again coming into Murmansk. I was very young when he passed away, and never heard anything first hand from him. Thank you for giving me an understanding of what his war might have looked like.

@CAUSELESSREBEL

2 жыл бұрын

Ages ago, I scuba dived over a couple of torpedoed ships off Aruba. One was a tanker. The other was a cargo ship of some kind. They were sunk in 1943 but I don't know dates. I dove on them in 1963. A fascinating experience for a young teen.

@naughtiusmaximus830

2 жыл бұрын

My grandfather landed in the later waves at Normandy. His trans-Atlantic crossing was almost certainly the most dangerous part of his tour of duty.

@dreamcrusher112

2 жыл бұрын

@@naughtiusmaximus830 By 44 and 45 the sea was rather safe. The 3000 mile journey for Op Torch wasn't even spotted and that was in 42!

@naughtiusmaximus830

2 жыл бұрын

@@dreamcrusher112 I believe he was in Torch if that was N. Africa. He was a French translator.

@CAUSELESSREBEL

Жыл бұрын

@@naughtiusmaximus830 My dad also landed at Normandy. His division was part of 3rd Army. Patton. But his Atlantic crossing was via ocean liner. She could outrun any uboat. Her escorts had a hard time keeping up, my dad told me.

Hi Drach, long time viewer from Trinidad here, our secondary school history syllabus never covers Trinidad's minor roles in WW2 even though we had many US airbases and a submarine base aside from still being part of ths British Empire, so it makes me happy to have my island even mentioned in this video, cause you've already done more than my History teachers did in 5 years

@patrickbateman783

2 жыл бұрын

🇹🇹💪💪💪

@markfryer9880

Жыл бұрын

You were a part of the Bases for Destroyers Deal between Churchill and Roosevelt, hence the US Bases in otherwise British Commonwealth.

@johnmaynard9722

Жыл бұрын

I would like to know any info or reference sources for the USA Army in Trinidad during WWII. My father served as an Army officer in Trinidad during the war. Dummy me just thought he was lucky and got a cushy assignment, so I never queried my father about his service. I dearly wish that I had gotten him to talk more about his experience. About the only thing I learned from him was that he was in French Guyana at one time and the villages had open sewers running along the streets. It did not dawn on me that it might have been controlled by Vichy France! After his memorial service, his older brother told us that my father was an explosives disarmament officer sent to Trinidad to help disarm torpedoes that washed ashore. However, once he finally arrived in Trinidad, that need had dissipated. We had no idea! Army ROTC helped to pay for his university studies at Michigan Tech Univ. (current name) and he was later called up in anticipation of the war. He went from a 2nd Lt. to a Lt. Col. by the time of his discharge. He was promoted each year he served. I believe he was involved in training the troops down there. Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks.

@connoissuer_of_class

Жыл бұрын

Visited Trinidad a few years ago (not the touristy north) beautiful country, amazingly friendly people and amazing food. The doubles were a great treat although I can’t handle spice.

@RandomTrinidadian

Жыл бұрын

Did not know there were other Trinis here, other than myself

I work in the last WWII anti-submarine airship hangar on the east coast; just celebrated its 80th year of existence.

@camenbert5837

2 жыл бұрын

The last ww1 anti-submarine hangar is still going in the uk m.kzread.info/dash/bejne/iKGFpNSSj7muXaw.html

@richardm3023

2 жыл бұрын

Lakehurst N.J.?

@saltycrabber7516

2 жыл бұрын

Or perhaps Elizabeth City NC ?

Aruban here. Grandparents from my mothers' side have told me stories of the war, they were kids at the time. They had drills at school, when the siren would go off and they had to get under the desks for cover. The anti-sub warfare planes would fly almost directly overhead from the Dakota airfield heading in the direction of Lago. My grandma told me she had seen the aftermath of the tankers that were torpedoed near the Lago Refinery. She said that the sea was on fire, as if the water itself had turned into flames. My grandparents from my fathers side were already married with children and my grandfather worked at the Lago Refinery at the time. My father told me that his mother said that back then they were ordered to move from where they lived to another village further away from the refinery, in case it got bombarded. My grandmother stated that if her husband were to die in the resulting explosion, who would then earn an income to feed the family and that it would be better to die in the same explosion. Thus they stayed where they were. The foundations of the artillery batteries on the hill that overlooked the Lago refinery still exist. A local tv station has also made a documentary of the attack doing interviews with people who witnessed the attacks and getting footage from that time. All of those people are in their late 80s or older now.

@CdnArmchairGeneral

2 жыл бұрын

Would love to hear more about your grandparents' recollections, along with any leads or information you could offer me for my dissertation research.

@dave8599

Жыл бұрын

I didnt even know Aruba existed until that Natalie girl was murdered there a while ago. Pretty island?

I had _no_ idea how much the aluminium industry depended on the area... the bit on avoiding bread rations by making sandwiches was hilarious.

@nikaszekeval6850

2 жыл бұрын

Aluminum production was also why the US took control of Greenland, with the local government and Dutch ambassador's approval. It was then, and up till the deposit played out in the 1980s the world's largest, and probably majority, know deposit of cryolite. Which is a critical solvent that makes large scale aluminum refining economically possible.

My father served in the US Coast Guard during WWII in the Caribbean and the North Atlantic. He served on Sub-Chasers which were just a little larger than PT boats but were designed to hunt subs in flotillas, but not being very successful in that role. He was based in Trinidad and Cuba...at least as far as I know. I do know that he lost his taste for ketchup and peanut butter through those years as they came in large cans which quickly spoiled once opened aboard ship in the hot, humid conditions of the Caribbean. I think the men who served on sub-chasers deserve at least an honorable mention, despite their lack of much success for their service.

@emintey

2 жыл бұрын

Here is what the sub-chasers would have looked like. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Submarine_chaser

@seanquigley3605

2 жыл бұрын

Believe the actor Kirk Douglas was serving on a Sub-Chaser in the area at the same time. You should look it up and see if they served on the same one.

@arthurdebacker9918

2 жыл бұрын

Saw

@nickdanger3802

Жыл бұрын

Submarine Chasers of the U.S. Navy kzread.info/dash/bejne/i42CptN9gd3FiKg.html

@stevewhite3424

Жыл бұрын

Your father and the men that served on those subchasers deserve the same respect as anyone else who was in the military at the time period. They all wrote the same check to their governments to give their lives if and when needed. Mad respect to your father and the men that served with him.

I remember my grandmother telling me, who was born shortly before the war and lived in a small village in Devon, talk about the amazement she felt seeing a banana for the first time. Then the utter disgust she felt when she tried to eat it with its skin on.

@yc2673

2 жыл бұрын

Haha good story! In France for my grand fathers banana were rare to find on the markets, everyone wanted them, when people had them they ate too much of them, causing wc problems afterthat. Cos' people don't know but if you eat let's say 5 or 6 banana, you will have a hard time on toilet after that^^

@jayschafer1760

2 жыл бұрын

@@yc2673 Yes, sometimes economics teachers depict two neighboring island countries, one producing only bananas and another producing only dates, as a metaphor to explain the need for trade. 😅

@ZGryphon

Жыл бұрын

I've read similar stories about oranges in postwar Germany. A whole generation of German children had never seen one before.

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

@@ZGryphon or chocolate or gum Search Lt Halvorson, the candy bomber from the Berlin airlift. He died earlier this year

I'll add to the marvelous comments I've just read: My late father commanded a sub chaser in the Caribbean in mid-1942, when he didn't see how the Allies could win the war. One reminiscence stood out: some merchant seamen picked up by his ship had swallowed fuel oil and begged my father to shoot them. He left it at that until 20 years ago I pressed him to tell me if he did. "Yes," he said. The convoys out of Curacao at that time had at most several escorts--not enough to ward off U-Boats. He went off to the Pacific, to be wounded of Saipan. It was something of a relief: "I missed the coming of the kamikazes."

A family friend spent most of the war during the "Shipping Season" on cargo ships hauling bauxite/ alumina from the Caribbean to the smelter at Arvida, Quebec. In the "off season" he was kept busy like his full time peers, dealing with emergency repairs to the various vital coal fired power stations across the country.

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

Much of that bauxite was off-loaded @ the Kaiser dock in Baton Rouge. Plant is now shuttered

My father worked in Aruba for Standard Oil, I still have his Lago security pass. He left in 1940 to join the Royal Navy and survived the war some of his American friends were killed in the Uboat attacks on tankers.

A very sincere thank you for this video. This effected my Dad (as a kid) and Grandfather in Guatemala. Metal toys vanished so my Grandfather made wooden toys for my Dad. Car batteries became scarce so people learned to park their cars on hills and "bump start" their manual transmissions to start their cars. My Grandfather setup a banana drying factory so that he could export dried banana chips during the war.

@CdnArmchairGeneral

2 жыл бұрын

Carlos, would like to hear more about your father and grandfather's experiences and memories for my dissertation research, if possible.

@CarlosGomez-vt9pk

2 жыл бұрын

@@CdnArmchairGeneral I will ask my Dad and try to get more info for you.

I have always considered myself well versed in most of the theaters conflict during WWII. I knew nothing of the Caribbean. Thank you Drach!

“Amateurs talk strategy. Professionals talk logistics” - *General Omar Bradley* During wartime the complex and delicate supply chains become evident, to the point of becoming painful. Sugar, henequen fibers, crude oil and refined products, come to the top of the list. Other equally vital things don't make headlines. -Cinchona/quine bark from Peru to make anti-malarial drugs was essential to the pacific island campaign -The caribeean is dotted with salt works that had served their european metropolis for centuries. Lack of salt complicated the canning of food for troops, and the regular civilian industry had a hard time preserving food. -The chocolate bar became an icon because the cocoa trade to europe was squashed, while it was now abundant and looking for markets in the americas. And if you suddenly want to increase the size of the Royal Navy... where are you going to *get the rum* for it? 😁

@paulpeterson4216

2 жыл бұрын

The only people who say that are American generals. If you are always fighting your wars on the opposite side of one ocean or another, yes, logistics is king. WWII was certainly a war over resources and moving them was important; but, strategy was still much more important for anyone other than the Americans (and Canadians).

@bread8283

2 жыл бұрын

@@paulpeterson4216 a huge contribution to Germany’s loss in the war was its logistics, or lack thereof. It doesn’t matter how sound your strategy is if you don’t have tanks, fuel to move them, or food and ammo for your soldiers

@20chocsaday

2 жыл бұрын

INCREASE by dilution with cold tea. The newbies won't notice.

@AnimeSunglasses

2 жыл бұрын

@@20chocsaday ...you may be underestimating the power of complaints from senior seamen...

@Conn30Mtenor

2 жыл бұрын

@@paulpeterson4216 Not true. "An army marches on its stomach" - Napoleon Bonaparte. Xerxes made massive preparations for his invasion of Greece, I could go on and on. Strategy doesn't happen without logistics.

Citizen of Trinidad here. My grandfather, who used to take watch at the port here, often used to tell me, one night, a U-boat snuck into harbor and sank a ship. Only inclination they had was when the ship exploded at its moorings and sank. It's nice to have a video about the war in my region. :)

@Kris-qy7hh

Жыл бұрын

Trinidad Citizen here too!

My dad talks sometimes of the rations during the war, but one thing always bothered me about the rations was sugar. Never could understand why it was in short supply. Thank you for the reasoning behind it.

@richardrichard5409

2 жыл бұрын

😮

@Beaguins

Жыл бұрын

There's a very good KZread video explaining the long-term rationing of sugar. It's titled "What's Happened to Sugar (1945)" and it's from shortly after the war. Sugar was needed for the manufacture of many different things, and while the demand increased, the supply decreased. As with all agricultural products, its production couldn't be increased quickly.

@Beaguins

Жыл бұрын

@Off Road Guy Are you saying that petrocarbon production on Trinidad in the 1880s is related to the shortage of sugar during WW2?

I heard somewhere the steel drum (the musical instrument) was invented because of the multitude 0f 50 gallon oil drums sitting around Trinidad/ Tobaggo after the war

@unistrut

2 жыл бұрын

There were some steel pan instruments before that (using brake drums and biscuit tins, and whatnot) but the modern steel drum came from those pannists taking up surplus barrels and modifying them. I remember having to explain to a director that they couldn't have a steel drum band in their 'period accurate' play set in the 1780s because the instrument didn't exist yet.

My dad was a boy in Jamaica in 1941. He told me decades ago that sacks of flour would wash up from torpedoed cargo ships and while the sea ruined the outer shell, the inner part was then protected and was perfectly edible. Never in my life seen a documentary on this theater. U da man!!!

This one reminds me of when I was a kid, we had a game called "Bermuda Triangle" where the object was to ship goods such as oil & sugar around the Caribbean without getting your ship swallowed by the big ominous cloud.

I remember reading stories that here in Puerto Rico of the rationing of flour and other foodstuffs during WW2. There was much rejoicing in August 1945 when restrictions were lifted and the traditional bread 🥖 became freely available once again.

@BlindMansRevenge2002

2 жыл бұрын

I swear, my parents go through at least one of those things a day every time we go back to the island

My father flew blimps in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico during the Second Great Debate, thank you for this. He never talked about it much..

@emintey

Жыл бұрын

They seldom do, do they...?

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

Second Great Debate... gonna have to 'borrow' that

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

@@emintey dad only told 1 story... setting down in Iceland after being lost... and all 4 engines stopped cold just after touchdown. Said he climbed out and kissed the ground. My grandfather... nothing. His ship, USS Wilkes had her flag used for the second flag raising. Have a letter home postmarked 2 September 1945 Tokyo Bay. If I had to quests probably the 'fleet that came to stay' off Okinawa

One of our neighbours when we first moved to Miami Beach was a woman who recounted watching from the roof deck/bar of a hotel as a U-boat sunk a freighter by deck gun just offshore of the Beach. She particularly remembered the "salty language" of the freighter's crew when they rowed ashore at the sandy beach next to the hotel. I had friends who dove on a u-boat wreck situated in the reefs offshore of the Beach. My favourite story is of the U-boat that supposedly sailed up the Mississippi river as far as Natchez Mississippi. The Mississippi is quite deep from the shoals at it's mouth on up to I believe Memphis Tennessee. The river is about two hundred feet deep from New Orleans on down to the mouth.

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

Not this year And a salt water intrusion is about to start affecting NO's water supply. I grew up in Baton Rouge

Great work! I did not previously know the Italians joined the Germans in commerce raiding with submarines in the Western Atlantic.

Drach, the 'coupon books' were an extension of the US wartime rationing system used on the mainland. Essentially any goods that was to be rationed had both a cost in dollars, and coupons. Rationed goods required enough of the right kind of stamp, and if you ran out that was it for the month. Macaroni and Cheese for example shot up in popularity, because a single stamp could get you two boxes.

@ZGryphon

Жыл бұрын

My mother still tells fond childhood stories about the Government Cheese, which evidently continued to be a thing well into the 1950s.

Use to have people living near me, who remember helping survivors of U-Boat attacks when they washed ashore. My grand dad use to tell the story where he was working near the port (Trinidad) one night when an Oil Tanker was torpedoed in harbour. Also .. a couple of the hangers the Americans built in Trinidad are not only still standing, but one is currently being used by the Local Defense Force as a training base.

@bigblue6917

2 жыл бұрын

Rather appropriate really

@RandomTrinidadian

2 жыл бұрын

@@bigblue6917 one other thing, it supposedly have a wreck of a German U-Boat (locals named it "Sagaboy") somewhere off the coast of Tobago. But as far as I know, no one has ever found/looked for it.

My great uncle served aboard an RCN flower class corvette in the Caribbean

@CdnArmchairGeneral

2 жыл бұрын

Which Corvette did he serve on?

@jordankashuba3467

2 жыл бұрын

@@CdnArmchairGeneral no idea? I only learned what kind of ship about 2 years ago when this channel made me obsessed with naval history. niether.my uncle or mom knew? Sadly enough.They said he never really talked about it

It's usualy around the half way point on these videos that I find myself cursing the Vichy government in my best Al Murray pub landlord voice.

My kids asked me why I watch these video all the time and I really couldn't explain it to them, they just make me happy.

@bigblue6917

2 жыл бұрын

Excellent educational quality

@myopiniongoodyouropinionbad

2 жыл бұрын

My Sunday morning ritual is to get a cup of coffee and watch the dry dock on my big TV. Even if I don't watch all the way through. My wife calls him "boring ship guy" LOL

Excellent bit of history. Very well done. I have learned something today.

As a Brit who relocated to Panama, I found little information (or interest) here about the events of WW2 but, after some research, found some interesting stories - from the pre-war concerns, the panic in 1941, to it becoming something of a backwater by the end of the war. The stories included the amusing and the tragic, the last armed mutiny on a Royal Navy vessel (while in the Canal Zone), and the awful treatment of both local and deported Peruvians of Japanese origin. Even though brought up as a kid on war stories, I knew little about what the war meant in Panama and the Caribbean - and I guess the same would be true of most of my generation

This had to be tough to get down to 33 minutes. It filled in many gaps in my "knowledge". Thank you for your hard work!

I had a co-worker who was from the gulf coast of Texas. He insisted somewhere along the Texas coast was a U-Boat scuttled in coastal shallow water. He never mentioned any particular location

@lukum55

2 жыл бұрын

There was only one U-boat that was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico, that was U-166 and she lies in about 1500m of water near New Orleans

@lumpusmaximus8257

Жыл бұрын

@@lukum55 I heard one was lost sort of near Galveston

Years ago I met several people who lived in Trinidad and they told about the first time they saw a ship blow up in the Port-of-Spain harbour. They didn't know what it was for a good long time since the government wasn't talking about the german uboats to the people.

After damaging the end of the deck gun barrel U156 went out to sea and used all the hacksaw blades on the sub to cut off the damaged end of the deck gun barrel and returned to try again the next night. But shore batteries were awake this time and encouraged the sub to rethink it's efforts.

Special Interest as this is the theater my Grandfather fought in on the British side out of Trinidad (on a corvette). My family (well grandparents) had lost lots of family-owned land to the allies when they took over a Navy base and never quite gave it back.

the Caribbean submarine warfare was intense. As mentioned 400 'local' ships sunk with family, friends, and colleagues all concerned. And the 'happy times' as the USA (King) ignored the lessons learned from WW1 or early WW2 to save lives and ships.

@ramal5708

2 жыл бұрын

Blame King, not the USA as a whole

@nickdanger3802

Жыл бұрын

Losses to U boots in 1917?

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

@@ramal5708 ...read somewhere that he was an anglophobe and resisted learning from/listening to what the British admiralty we're telling him. Don't remember source... sorry. Amazing what tidbits get buried in your memory

@kenneth9874

Жыл бұрын

Then the sad times when US aircraft carrying US homing torpedoes did so many of them in

The information about rationing and control of frming on the islands was especially interesting.

The German U-Boat campaign in the Caribean affected the cherry Harvest in Door County Wisconsin. Migrant workers from Jamacia could no longer make it to the US and with local laborers in the military overseas the labor void was filled by German POWs. Great book, Stalag Wisconsin.

@Drewmikola

2 жыл бұрын

Picking cherries in Wisconsin, with many lonely local girls, sounds down wonderful even as a PoW. Those guys had to be some of the luckiest guys in the Wehrmacht.

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

@@Drewmikola ... doubtful the POWs would get even a glimpse of the local frauleins... plenty of armed guards glad not to be being shot at, but still a little resentful they weren't, while buddies were dying these lucky sobs are living in luxury. More than likely their mind set

My dad's ship (Empire Bede) was sunk off Cuba in 1942. The full story of the War in the Atlantic (Caribbean chapter) has never been known to me, until now. Many thanks for your efforts

I'm still confounded that I had never heard of the Oakville before this channel and I'm from Canada.

@CdnArmchairGeneral

2 жыл бұрын

@razorburn645, there's a book called Oakville's Flower written by Sean Livingston that talks about HMCS OAKVILLE and U-94. Great story. Let me know if you need any help tracking it down.

I keep seeing a repeating theme of Germany shooting themselves in the foot by just sinking everything they can find.

@juansantos-lq2kz

2 жыл бұрын

Live by the sword; die by the sword.

@Trooper_No.2102

2 жыл бұрын

Hitler: "I have a brilliant plan! Let's indiscriminately sink everyship that wanders to close to our subs! I am sure there won't be unintended consequences at all!" Hitlers staff: "Ya! Das ish wunderbar Ida mein furher!"

Drachinifel, grand professeur of all seas and weapons. Caribic? Convoys? Politics? Strategy? Data? You put it into great comprehensive overview how is impossible to find in history book. Many thanks for your jaw dropping effort!

My father was a boy living near Vernam Field US air base in Jamaica, he remembers air raid wardens enforcing lights out and US aircraft flying in and out. An old co worker back in the 90's was serving with British Forces at the time and was posted at Port Royal tracking U Boats. Another old co worker remembers oil slicks flotsam and jetsam floating onto the island's north coast from torpedoed transports. The war hardly troubled rural Jamaicans, they were not dependent on modern conveniences and easily adapted back to old ways as certain imported items became rationed or no longer available.

@dave8599

2 жыл бұрын

I had a chemistry professor who worked on the A bomb, He worked with Oppie on the Bomb.

Two thoughts: 1. Thank you for addressing the economic and morale aspects of the campaigns in the Caribbean beyond simply the direct war materiel efforts. 2. I think it could be argued that the sabotage of Bearn was meant to look ineffective, but by leaving the vessel where it could be "salvaged" and sent to the US it tied up far more resources away from actual useful use of resources (time, money and material) than any other potential outcome! :P

@AnimeSunglasses

2 жыл бұрын

A decent point, BUT the Bern would have been sent for a refit no matter what, at least to replace her AA armament. Can't recall if Drach has a video on her yet...

@richardm3023

2 жыл бұрын

The USA was building and overhauling ships so fast, no one would have noticed one more.

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

@@AnimeSunglasses ...refit in Mobile, that's the closest shipyard I' m aware of...INGALLS

Very interesting. This begs the natural question, "The Caribbean in WW1 - ???".

Further reading (for beneath the waves): The U-Boat War in the Caribbean. By Gaylord Kelshall

US Army Airforce/Navy: Having an inter-service rivalry IJA/Navy: You too huh? US Army Airforce/Navy: Not as bad as you two though

@adambosman9611

2 жыл бұрын

The US Branches actually went to couples counseling XD

@beboy12003

2 жыл бұрын

Best comment ever.

@denisrobertmay875

Жыл бұрын

The British created the RAF to referee between their two more Senior Services but they ended fighting both of them.

@josephpadula2283

Жыл бұрын

The Navy sent their representatives to the couples counseling with instruction to prove the Navy had never made a mistake! BuOrd had to miss a few sessions however, something about a small torpedo issue…

Now I want a Rum and Coca Cola...

It is a fascinating piece of history that doesn't get talked about much. Thanks Drach

6:36 The Submarine Leonardo Da Vinci became the highest scoring non-german submarine of the entire war, higher than USS Tang the US most successful submarine

@wellwell7950

2 жыл бұрын

sinking 17 ships of 120,243 GRT

@michaelkovacic2608

2 жыл бұрын

Her commander received a German Knight's Cross, but I believe he was never actually awarded it, since the boat was lost on the return voyage.

@simonvirus6417

2 жыл бұрын

I was just thinking what a great submarine crew to be a part of with that name.

@dave8599

2 жыл бұрын

How great is it to be on a sub and murderer merchantmen for hitler? Pure evil they are. why aspire to be evil?

Oil, sugar and… French? Did not expect to be slapped with the F-word by Drach this morning, but certainly not unwelcome!

Dad's favorite port of Call was New Orleans, he did say early in the war it was dangerous getting there.

Magnificent job, Drach. The amount of information you managed to pack into half an hour was amazing. Your good self and Mark Felton are far and away the best WW2 documentarists, providing reliable information in an entertaining way without the gabbling that seems to be a feature of many other contributors. As you say, the Caribbean and it's neighbouring countries is a little covered field of WW2 study. Considering that this area was as vital to the Allies as the East Indies were to Japan, we need to see more work such as yours to redress the balance. Thankfully, the Allies, if belatedly in the case if the USA, unlike the Japanese, realised the importance of anti-submarine warfare and managed to gain full control of the situation in time. Thank you, once again, for a fascinating and absorbing introduction to the Battle of the Caribbean.

@philgiglio7922

Жыл бұрын

Timeghost army is worth a look: weekly breakdown of events ASW isn't attack, it's defensive in nature and that's not the samurai/Bushedo code. High command in the IJN was pushing for Yamato in 1932, & lying about the cost

@kenneth9874

Жыл бұрын

Felton isn't that reliable

The caribean the most underated battle front and importand region for the alied war effort. people tend to forget how much oil was refined at the dutch anitlles and how much bauxite /aluminium and other materials came from dutch colonies. .

@oscarsusan3834

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah it’s not sexy stuff,so it’s overlooked.

@ricardokowalski1579

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah... everybody knows who Rommel or Patton is... but nobody remembers the name of the quartermaster that kept their men fueled and fed. "hundred of tanks destroyed" is a better headline than "seven thousand pounds of butter arrived fresh today" I got my priorities straight... *I want butter on my toast* , I can't eat a toasted tank.😁

@martinsaunders2942

2 жыл бұрын

A lot of the bauxite was extracted in Jamaica I believe.

@marcusfranconium3392

2 жыл бұрын

@@martinsaunders2942 Suriname counted over 68% for bauxite production.

@Mikey300

2 жыл бұрын

@@martinsaunders2942 And the development of Jamaican bauxite deposits--massive as they have proved to be--was a post-war effort that didn't bear fruit until the mid 1950s. Bauxite is a funny mineral - you might say that "all Bauxite is NOT created equal". The type and proportions of the aluminum oxides contained, along with the kinds and proportions of the impurities contained (mostly oxides of iron, titanium, and silicon) significantly impact the behavior of the Bayer process by which the aluminum oxides are separated from the rest of the ore. Particularly important is the proportion and type of silicon oxides present in the bauxite, because some types of silicon oxides consume a significant amount of the sodium hydroxide solution used in the process, reducing the output of the desired aluminum oxide. Other types of silicon oxides - such as those found in Australian bauxite - do not react with the sodium hydroxide to adversely affect the refinery process. Apparently it was discovered in the mid-1940s that Jamaican bauxite was not suitable for processing in the existing North American alumina refineries, which had been optimized to refine either Arkansas, British Guinea, or Dutch Guinea bauxite. Process developments after the War were able to solve those problems.

"A bunch of people forgot how to eat bananas". Oh, Drach, you are the best.

Your videos are always excellent. Topical woth nice bits of insights and oddments added in for color. Good work.

Great episode. Way to shine the light on a lesser know naval theater of WW2. The North Atlantic and the entirety of the Pacific campaigns, plus the Med, get the bulk of the coverage. Is it possible to do a similar 1/2 hour or so outline of the key points in the South Atlantic and another in the Indian Ocean campaigns? Each had their own exciting events (Graf Spee, IJN raid in 42, etc) that overshadowed the remainder of the action. Also - was there anything exciting, at all, off the west coast of South America during WW2?

a bit late but few correction and more info on Aruba. Aruba had 2 oil refineries the Lago company one and a Dutch Shell company one under the name of Arend Petroleum Maatschappij. Aruba had one of the largest Oil refinery at the time during the war 6 tankers were sunked, 2 damaged. one of the torpedo missed the targetted ship and beached itself and when the dutch marines tried to dismantle it a day later it exploded killing 4 of them.

The work that you do, Sir, is golden! Please keep it up and thank you!

Genuinely educational. Thanks, Drach. A lovely job of providing a strategic perspective.

Another very interesting video, Drach. Looking forward to more.

Thank your for making this Drach.

Great vid as always on a topic that is rarely covered. Thank you.

Love your diverse discussions. I’m particularly interested in all WW II but you put a fresh spin on everything.

Note that loofahs are not actually sponges. They're the fruit of a vine from the same family as cucumbers.

Hi, Many great pics and your very nice map provided an excellent refresher course in geography.

Didn't know there was this much WWII action in the Caribbean. Thanks.

Excellent RR. I knew some about this theater of WWII, but now I'm up to speed on it. Thanks Drach.

Interesting video, thanks Drach.

An informative and entertaining review of this topic. Thank you!👍

Excellent coverage of the battle of the Caribbean

good work Drach. Thanx ! i always learn something...!

I am glad to find out more about this because my grandfather served in such operations in WW2 yet didn’t speak about them as he felt he was given it easy as to the boys going to the front line Europe and Japan

Thank you for illuminating this aspect of the war.

On a trip to the Bahamas many years ago I was told that a British man had built a facility, on what is now Paradise Island for German U-boats. You can actually see it in the James Bond movie "Thunderball". Or so I was told at the time.

How close Vichy came to joining the Axis as a co-belligerent is not full appreciated and perhaps only the threat of having to go to war with the USA prevented that.

Admiral King was well known as an Anglo-Phobe and refused all the assistance the British Admiralty offered. Consequently hundreds of American Merchantmen lost their lives because of Kings refusal to adopt the Royal Navy's Convoy System to name but one specific issue

@boobah5643

2 жыл бұрын

Near as I can tell, King wasn't afraid of the English (which is what "anglophobe" means.) Dude had problems with the British, yes, but it was less that they were British and rather more that they weren't American. It's just that circumstances meant that the British had experience he should have listened to (but didn't) and were strong enough that he was forced to care what they thought, and that was true of nobody else he wasn't shooting at. Did it get his own sailors, and their allies, killed in ways he could have prevented? Almost certainly. Was there anyone else who could have done the job better? Quite possibly not.

@jamesjarrait2231

2 жыл бұрын

This post looks familiar. I understand you don’t like the man; from I have seen that doesn’t make you an outlier. But we don’t need repeat posts do we? Drach posted a great video about King, warts and all.

@nickdanger3802

Жыл бұрын

"Royal Navy's Convoy System" how did that work out for Convoy PQ17?

@nickdanger3802

Жыл бұрын

Churchill "In all these circumstances it was inevitable that the joint American and British, losses in the past 15 months should exceed the limits for which we British ourselves, in the days when we were 1470 alone, had budgeted. However, when the vast expansion in the United States shipbuilding is added to the credit side, the position is very definitely improved." Hansard WAR SITUATION HC Deb 11 February 1943 page

My Dad remembers his first encounter with a Banana. When we were little we always thought he was winding us up.

@daviethomson5707

2 жыл бұрын

My family grew up near the docks in Glasgow, and as such, had "access" to various items in demand at the time. My uncles and some of their friends, who where still mostly at school, had a great wee side line in selling bananas and oranges to most of Govan, (one of my uncles, until the day he died, still had the nickname Jimmy bananas, due to his war time exploits) and to avoid suspision, they moved the stuff about in my dads pram (he was born in 42), with him lying on top of it. When I was young, I used to think they where making all this up, but as I got older, I realised they where actually telling the truth, and things really where that bad.

Nicely covered, thanks!

I’d hate to be the German NCO in command of the sub deck gun crew that didn’t remove the tampion before opening fire. Would love to be a fly on the wall when he explained that to his skipper.

Extremely well done treatise on that area of WW II. Thank you.

one of the only theaters where airships played a key role in ww2 patrolling for u-boats

As the great-great-great grandson (maternal) of French Caribbean colonists, I appreciate all honesty of the region.

Wow. I'm curious as to how long it took Drach to compile all this information about the economical/logistical impacts of the war on the islands and then how each island responded to it.

Another brilliant vid thanks

The bit about bannans 20:54 I did that

Thank you for covering this topic . I think it's nearly always over looked why I don't know . In my opinion it is an integral part of WWII just as much as any other area of operation was . Heroism and loss of life was important as it was in any theatre of operation.

really interesting video!!!!

Outstanding! As most informative and interesting bit of historical morsel.

Very interesting. Didnt know much about this theater of war before

Very good video.

Hi and good day, i live in Barbados and have heard my Dad speak quite a few times on the war days, he was born in 1933, he spoke of the rationing with rice being very hard to get and saying that the only really readily food was English and Sweet Potato, he said that they had learned to eat them in just about every possible way to cook them, said that there was a pretty heavy presence of German spying on shipping as some convoys used to form up in Carlisle Bay before crossing the Atlantic, he did say that for a few nights after the convoys leaving you could see the fires from the ships being sunk at night with lifeboats and sailors being returned to Barbados after their ship being sunk. As for the other rationing that you mentioned, he did say that people got very adept at packing grass into car and truck tyres to keep them usable. There were i understand 3 or so 'Sub chasers' stationed in Barbados and Trinidad and that at one time with them laid up for repairs on dry dock the U514 i think it was attacked and sunk the CNS Cornwallis in Carlisle bay but with her in shallow water she rested on the bottom and was patched up and sent for repairs , this was on the 11 th of September 1942, yes, our own 9/11, Dad spoke of feeling the concussion from the explosion from where he was in Worthing, some 8 or so miles distant . www.bajanthings.com/cornwallis-torpedoing-carlisle-bay-1942-75th-anniversary/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Cornwallis uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/3382.html

Fortunately Germans tend to be poor at spy craft. If they would have stockpiled supplies for submarine operations on the French islands thing would have been significantly worse for the Allies.

@benwilson6145

2 жыл бұрын

Not possible as they were enemies until France fell

@calvingreene90

2 жыл бұрын

@@benwilson6145 Before the war France was Germany's largest trading partner. And done secretly.

@hermitoldguy6312

2 жыл бұрын

How would an import/export merchant stock up on torpedoes without the whole island knowing it?

@calvingreene90

2 жыл бұрын

@@hermitoldguy6312 Modify the Torpedoes of in smaller pieces, put additional items in the crates, and lots of yelling and complaining accusations of fraud on the part of the shippers, and a little slight of hand.

@johnreed8336

2 жыл бұрын

Probably due to German arrogance.

super nice vid sir, thx. I'd wondered why Germany hadn't hit supply lines down there - turns out they did and handed us our hats for two years. Love the info on the interaction with French colonies too.

Thank you Drach for highlighting the Caribbean theatre. Only thing I knew prior to this was U-Boats did operate and sink merchant vessels in the area. But that was it. Didn't know about the valuable resources and issues with French politics and fleet at the time

Thank you. That was an education.

This is the best channel on KZread.