Drachinifel Naval what if

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James A Pratt III
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Drachinifel Naval what if

#1

Post by James A Pratt III » 10 May 2019, 00:53

On youtube there is a section Drachinifel which deals with warships they have a number of ship vs ships, naval battles and what if?

The what ifs include:
The Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet what if the HSF instead on mutiny goes out to fight the Grand fleet for one last time.

Battle of Samar (Alternate History) US 7th fleet old battleships cruisers and destroyers taken on Kuritas force.

Also:
The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron voyage of the damned. A LOL funny account of the Russian Baltic fleets voyage to the Far East. Which is sadly true. As one poster note planned by the 3 stooges carried out by the Key stone cops

Peter89
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Re: Drachinifel Naval what if

#2

Post by Peter89 » 24 Apr 2023, 14:58

James A Pratt III wrote:
10 May 2019, 00:53
On youtube there is a section Drachinifel which deals with warships they have a number of ship vs ships, naval battles and what if?

The what ifs include:
The Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet what if the HSF instead on mutiny goes out to fight the Grand fleet for one last time.

Battle of Samar (Alternate History) US 7th fleet old battleships cruisers and destroyers taken on Kuritas force.

Also:
The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron voyage of the damned. A LOL funny account of the Russian Baltic fleets voyage to the Far East. Which is sadly true. As one poster note planned by the 3 stooges carried out by the Key stone cops
If such thing was attempted, it would have been a Todesritt instead of a Last Ride. The Germans tested their strengths and weaknesses at Jütland, and Scheer concluded that it was impossible to defeat the Grand Fleet.

Then there was the French fleet, the Italian fleet, the Japanese and US fleet, thus the Germans had practically zero chance to achieve anything with their surface fleet.
"Everything remained theory and hypothesis. On paper, in his plans, in his head, he juggled with Geschwaders and Divisions, while in reality there were really only makeshift squadrons at his disposal."


Carl Schwamberger
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Re: Drachinifel Naval what if

#3

Post by Carl Schwamberger » 24 Apr 2023, 21:06

Battle of Samar (Alternate History) US 7th fleet old battleships cruisers and destroyers taken on Kuritas force.

Some friends & I walked through this one in preparation for gaming it. If its a straight up surface battle BB vs BB the Japanese have a small advantage.

But, thats never going to happen. Adding in air support from the CVE, or whatever air support from the fleet carriers that eventually joins the balance is tipped to the USN.

Note that the IJN never fought in terms of a all or nothing doctrine like the Army. No naval equivalents of Banzai charges. The IJN was a tough opponent, but in few to none of the battles did they stand and fight to the last ship. Tracing though every naval battle the common characteristic is that if things are clearly against them, or ambiguous, the admiral on the spot choose to break off and retire.

At the Balikipan battle the Japanese commander choose not to pursue and destroy the USN force, ditto at the Java Sea battle.

At the Coral Sea battle the Japanese leaders choose to break off, not running down the US with their intact surface force, and they canceled the amphibious operation aimed at Miline Bay. The same thing occurred at the Midway battle. Yamamoto decided to retire his large and intact surface fleet.

Savo Island. Japanese commander retired after sinking some enemy surface ships, but was unwilling to risk searching for the rest of the enemy fleet.


In the next three surface naval battle of Guadalcanal the Japanese commander choose to retire after a cruiser or two was damaged/sunk rather than try to close to a decisive victory, or complete the bombardment mission and cover the transport mission.


The Tassafaronga battle saw the Japanese commander retire & abandon the supply mission, after torpedoing four USN cruisers.


I could go on with the two carrier battles during the Guadalcanal battles or the other surface ship actions in 1943. But, the same thing can be observed. The Japanese commanders were not wimps or cowards, but in each case they miscalculated the situation and choose force preservation over engaging the enemy more closely.

So... if the US 7th Fleet in encountered, rather than a weak destroyer flotilla, the japanese commander is liable to shoot it out for a bit, then retire.

ThatZenoGuy
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Re: Drachinifel Naval what if

#4

Post by ThatZenoGuy » 26 Apr 2023, 16:28

llucklinn wrote:
24 Apr 2023, 10:12
Drachinifel is a YouTube content creator who specializes in creating videos about naval history and the technology behind naval warfare.
Who makes these ads? Jesus christ they're too obvious.

Geoffrey Cooke
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Location: Texas

Re: Drachinifel Naval what if

#5

Post by Geoffrey Cooke » 09 Jun 2023, 05:03

This is the video he’s talking about when it comes to the HSF making a last stand sortie in 1918.
https://youtu.be/YrTeYcRXDEw

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