Innovating Victory - How Technology Changed the Battlefield
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ก.ย. 2024
- Today, with the help of returning guest Vince O'Hara and new guest Leonard R Heinz, we take a quick look at how to select six technologies that radically changed how naval wars were fought, and how to write a book about them!
+++++++++++++++++
Pick up a copy here:
www.usni.org/p...
www.amazon.co....
Other works:
www.amazon.co....
+++++++++++++++++
Want to support the channel? - / drachinifel
Want a shirt/mug/hoodie - shop.spreadshi...
Want a medal? - www.etsy.com/u...
Want to talk about ships? / discord
Want to get some books? www.amazon.co.uk/shop/drachinifel
Drydock Episodes in podcast format - / user-21912004
Pinned post for Q&A :)
Oh hello there, just a question-
Are the Republique and Patrie in the game world of warships actually based off of legitimate designs, or are they simply just made up conjectuals?
I've really enjoyed your U.S. tour videos, I am native to the state of Alabama and am curious if you were able to visit the U.S.S. Alabama (BB-60). It's one of my favorite places to visit. Also, how did the Alabama and her sister South Dakota class Battleships stack up against other designs of the war.
If you could take any post-WWI ship back to 1905 and commission it into the Royal Navy in place of Dreadnought, which ship would you choose? Assume that the infrastructure necessary for operating the ship is brought over with the vessel and that there are manuals for the ship’s design, capabilities, the doctrine she was built around, etc on board.
I don't know if you have covered this subject yet, but I think a topic about armed merchant cruisers (AMC - i.e an ocean liner/cruise ship being outfitted with guns and pressed into the services) will be really interesting.
The AMC was used in such a large number at the early stage of the war, with a ship pressed into the navy regardless of the size (including the (U)SS Leviathan, the largest ship in the world at that time). Even though the drawbacks of such a ship were clearly demonstrated in the battle between the Carmania and Cap Trafalgar, there were still a large number of AMCs that soldiered until the armistice under the troopship classification.
Honestly, I think I could do with more Rum Rations and fewer Drydocks.
Another reason as to why this is the most informative & digestible naval history channel on TH-cam. Very well done, gents !!!
🚬😎
The point you raised about the narrative of “our tech was so much better” and the unspoken counterargument of “if we were so much better why didn’t we win even faster?” is something I’ve noticed a lot recently as the narrative of WWII has swung towards the Axis being backwards compared to the Allies: while this is overall true, it‘s starting to swing too far in the opposite direction nowadays.
One good example of this is how so, SO many seemingly knowledgeable people often claim the IJN literally did not have any sort of mechanical fire control systems (mostly in the context of the infamous Iowa vs. Yamato discussion) due to exaggerations/distortions of analysis of American vs. Japanese fire control systems (when the reality was that the American FCS were better, but the Japanese ones weren’t nonexistent or downright awful).
It also goes to the old quote. “Just because you have it. Doesn’t mean you know how to use it.” For example, during the Night brawls at Guadalcanal. Most of the USN ships had radar (of various types). But it’s basically worth screw all if the guy looking at the screen can’t tell the difference between a ship and an island.
Yeah in the American civil war the South lasted as long as the nazis did in WW2 with every disadvantage in the book.
@@ph89787 Yeah and the famous mistake of thinking the Japanese sneak attack of Pearl harbor was our own bombers.
@@ph89787
This is another thing: just because you have a technical/technological advantage doesn’t mean you realize it well enough to make the most out of it.
@@bkjeong4302 also in the early war. Good old fashion racism helped the Japanese. As the allies initially underestimated them.
As an retired IT guy this spoke to me in ways you might not imagine. If something's new to your world then you view it with apprehension but some take it beyond that to fear of the technology and either ignore it or refuse to use it. Guadalcanal is a fine example when the admiral in charge not familiar with or trusting radar which was probably a significant factor in the loss. The book is one I'll buy since the staggered trail of development to implementation has always fascinated me. For example how did a bean growing on a bush in a south american jungle end up being mutated and manipulated into a hot beverage? Who had that idea? But you guys held back the curtain to not only this part goes here and this is why but you apparently got the differences in philosophy between combatants. Was a very entertaining hour or so thanks Drach
I would be interested in your opinions about having the 'credentials' to work with/on technology as fluid as IT seems to be vs actual ability to operate & repair the systems, hope that makes sense, I want my cardiologist to be certified, but am not concerned weather the person fixing my laptop is certified or not
@@jefferynelson if they're certified by CompTIA then they know the basics, those creds have to be renewed every 3 years here in the states. Some sort of degree/diploma from a credible institution like Community College, Trade School etc should be just as good. That gamer who works on his families computers eh not so much on yours, too much chance of physical damage or loss of data due to lack of knowledge that one would get during education and training. It's quite a bit like finding a mechanic to work on your vehicle. I do doubt that your wife would hear from the cardiologist "Your husband needs some surgery however due to the expense of repair and updating it would be cheaper to get a new one" LOL
There was a story my father told me about a project he worked on as a contractor after getting out of the Navy; it was, if my memory is good, an advanced signal processor that would allow a radar to discard certain types of jamming. During an exercise when this was being tested, the battle group was heavily jammed, but the radar on the frigate with the new system had clear targeting, but the battle group was unwilling to accept that this pipsqueak frigate had good targeting, while their more powerful radars and EW suites didn't... until the commander of the group, who'd transferred to the frigate to see for himself how the system performed, got on the radio and announced, "This is Jehovah... Himself. You _will_ take targeting direction from..." It illustrates fairly well how people can be unwilling to accept that something new can do a task better until they're forced into it.
@@jefferynelson
You've accidentally hit the nail on the head.
Certification does not equal quality, and quality does not require certification.
You *may* get someone to help with your laptop who knows what they're doing, you may get a charlatan.
It depends how much you care about your hardware, and more importantly your data.
Obviously a Dr's credentials (and capabilities) are far more important than a tech who repairs *single* machines. But what about teams who maintain security of data sets in banks and other sensitive situations.
Certification helps ensure competence.
As a licensed Electrician who also was a Field Radio operations, repair and maintenance in the Army (77-83). I learned to build my own computers, troubleshoot them, and was certified in the installation of Networks, security, communications, fire Alarms and took courses and was certified by CompTIA. I chose those fields and expanding my knowledge I think in large part was due to my dad getting us involved in creative things (model building) so I became interested in history, how things were constructed, what each part did that made whatever I was building or using work. It is fascinating. What's more fascinating is that half of the things we come up with is by some obscure thing that happened while trying to invent or doing something else. Musical Instruments for example, bread is another. How did early human development figure out to bake the bread, or make potato chips, make popcorn. I am fairly certain we stumbled on it while doing something completely different. no different than the Microwave for cooking, reheating. Does great for boiling water but still needs work on the cooking part.
Tech always changes the battlefield. A universal truth. Another truth is that a US Marine can always find a way to break it...
That Marines can break ACOG optics, optics known for being so durable there are cases of them being shot through and still working, still blows my mind
@@TheNinjaGumball Exactly what I was thinking of.
You spend the money to send Sailors and Marines to advanced technical schools, and the natural response remains to troubleshoot using a hammer first.
th-cam.com/users/shortscS8e-QvXH3g?feature=share
And that a British squaddie robbed it.
Herman Wouk (through LT Thomas Keefer) summed it up best: "The first thing you've got to learn about this ship is that she was designed by geniuses, to be run by idiots."
I believe I Caine see just what you are talking about. 😜😁😂
Sorry, I could not resist, I will show myself out. LOL
Not just ships....
@@brianj.841 Exactly. I was trying to stick to the quote from the book and movie.
... and Wouk also wrote another truth in so much of modern life "When in danger or doubt, run in circles, scream and shout" Ineptitude is active and loud.
@@gyrene_asea4133 So That's who wrote that marvelous phrase. :)
On writing manuals: I work in IT tech support and ocasionally have to write "how to" manuals for users. I always write them as if 5 year olds are reading them, and cram with with printscreens and basic language (as in "press button to start") and I *_still_* get questions that are beyond dumb and prove people never read them...
I am reminded of the line in Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny" wehere someone comments that the navy is a system devised by geniuses for execution by idiots.
I am reminded of how gamers complain about quest markers and why signalling is so obvious then you watch any letsplay or livestream and can see someone miss clearly signalled things
The discussion about importance of understandable and useful manuals reminds me how often Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles references back to the US Naval Air System's 'Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators' (1965). They did such a good job with that manual that the FAA still links to is as a handbook for all pilots.
Greg's the man.👍🏻
"Escaping outside of your own comfort zone, outside of your own national mythologies is very important thing to do." That's what I was trying to do, and it's blowing me away to know what is really going on outside!
I'm glad to hear the truism acknowledged that new technologies function differently in the field than in the lab/on paper. There is a reason that "Superiority" should be on the reading list in everyone's academy and OCS.
Thanks to Drach & these outstanding guests. We appreciate you gentleman.
The great thing here is that Drac just stays quiet and let's the two authors just ramble about the writing process and their PoV.
You touched on enigma briefly which I have some interest in. The basic principle is extremely secure and was used up until relatively recently in the commercial world, the rapid increase in computing power from the 1970s made it easier to break but a recent project on the BOINC network to decode the unsolved intercepts took several years to crack them all with many computers working on the problem. That said the Germans made a fundamental error by encoding the whole message which gave a 'crib' into the decoding as they started and ended in a pretty consistent manner. Knowing that most ended 'Heil Hitler' and that a letter could never encode as itself for example. Many who have written about Bletchley Park with experience from WW2 talk about this at length. Technology is hard to develop but easy to defeat if used poorly.
Great episode as always and another volume for the bookshelf.
There was even a book published which gave the principles by which a BASIC program should be written to decode an Enigma transmission.
It even included a sample to decipher.
As another former tech writer, amen to good training and user manuals for scaling up!
What a heart warming example of the young taking valuable lessons from the old guys, and the old guys nurturing the next generation.
I could listen to you three guys for hours.
Nice callout in the beginning for Othias of C&Rsenal…well done.! Delightful surprise as I just have recently found Drac’s channel
It's a good sensible description of someone burrowing to get at the whole story.
C&Rsenal are good.
Len opens his introduction by immediately putting himself down with a C&Rsenal reference. You sir, have my attention.
Glad to see more great guest on this channel. Drach does a great job of interviewing guest without interrupting repeating or repeating what the guest has said and over again the the way a few channels do.
This book is 40% off at USNI. 18 bucks definitely worth the price
I know Drach's channel doesn't cover the Missile Age, but I find it highly fascinating that the Jeune École hasn't made a comeback yet with missiles. It's especially fascinating considering the fact that any notable modern surface warship can carry the modern equivalent of the 16" cannon, and thus have a much more level playing field, even if some warships obviously carry more than others
Isn't that basically modern naval doctrine nowadays, outside of carriers? Lots of destroyers and frigates armed with torpedoes/missiles, supported by heavily armed subs, and if the country can afford it, carriers as the backbone.
It feels close to the spirit of the doctrine
Swedish naval strategy in 1950-2000 was to use many very small missile boats. Basically Jeune École. But this was for coastal defense of course, not the high seas.
See en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norrk%C3%B6ping-class_missile_boat .
But maybe just a few such ships doesn't mean Jeune École :-). Just find it interesting.
Jeune Ecole is in Full effect. battleships such as Iowa or Battlecruisers (Even the Kirovs) are a thing of the past i can only See them or s Heavy like Cruiser Return with railguns as primary weapon
Jeune École came back with a vengance when the Argentinians fired an Exocet from a trailer, and more recently a truck fired some Neptunes.
It is no longer that small cheap *boats* can pack a punch... is that *DIRT CHEAP TRUCKS* can pack so much harm you dare not approach the coastline.
Respectfully.
The Navy NEETS manuals are the best electronics course out there. I concur, the Navy does great technical writing.
You have to remember that Navy manuals are written so the average High School graduate can operate and maintain the equipment at a high lvl.
@@georgehughes8698 I'd say that's the hallmark of great technical writing; the ability to convey the salient information in such a way that it is easily accessible to non- specialists. I can't tell you how many books I've run across all these years where they explained concepts in such a way that you had to know what they were talking about before you could understand what they were talking about. It's an art form that the Navy is especially good at. Also a shout- out to the ARRL. They're excellent at this too.
You certainly sold me on this book. It's exactly my area of interest, how technology influences war.
As a great fan of naval history, I find this fascinating. These gentlemen have so much combined knowledge, along with the ability to both explain technical ideas and present them in an interesting fashion. One of my favorite authors was Douglas Reeman aka Alexander Kent. Several years ago, I impetuously decided to send an email to him to tell him how much I enjoyed his writings, and, being the gentleman he was, he wrote back to me. Mr. O'hara and Mr. Heinz seem to be of this same ilk. And, of course, we know that Drach is the ultimate naval social butterfly! Happy Holidays to all!
That was a great point about making training and manuals easy enough for all the new crews and commanders to learn and understand, especially if many of them may not have had grown up with extensive education.
I'm always thrilled to see Vince O'Hara on this channel, and excited to hear what Leonard Heinz has to say!
The tech manuals and videos of the 1940s of explaining very technical things in the simplest way possible is definitely an important feat of writing ability.
With regard to WW1 radio transmitters, they were not voice transmitters. They were strictly code. They were also DAMPED WAVE, spark coil transmitters. It would be very difficult to design such a transmitter with a variable output power; they were either on or off. By that time they usually used a rotary spark gap, and so transmitted a tone which was developed by the pulsing spark across the rotary gap, but the output power was a function of the power of the spark coil which was fixed. Without a rotary gap, but the earlier type, a fixed gap, the output sounds rather like a match scratching on a cellar wall. It was not until the development of the vacuum tube CONTINUOUS WAVE transmitter that such power control was possible, and these came into common use after the war.
The British managed to reduce the strength of their own transmissions in the period, so it was possible to do :)
love this format of discussion, perfect to listen to as a podcast when working, thanks a lot for your work and for the passion that transpires from you and your guests.
Thank you Drach, adding to my already insanely long reading list.
Gentlemen, Thank you very much for the session. I did watch to the end, although I'm not focused on Naval history, but as a "land guy" I'm a consumer of the effects provided by my colleagues in the senior service.
Great video, bought my copy about 20 minutes in, £27.33 on Amazon UK for the hardback (though the price has since gone up to £25.44 and if this continues it will soon cost more than the Kindle version which, for some odd reason, costs more than the paper copy). Only problem is that this Christmas present to myself may not arrive until the 29th. Still, I think that a bunch of history books are already sitting under the tree so I'll not be short of reading.
If you look at tech from a more fundamental aspect it is amazing how much WW2 tech was dominated by maxwells equations, phasor analysis and linear feedback and control theory. They give you all wired and wireless long distance communications,RADAR, guidance systems,and computers, And information theory to the list and encrption, and code breaking join the list.
Thanks. I appreciate the focus on innovation and tech.
Vince and Leonard could right several books on the general overview of Technology from 1900 thru WW II. It would end up being 4 -6 volumes or more depending on how many they cover in each book. Their is plenty of technical books on each piece in and of themselves. Such as all these mechanical computers i.e. radar, ASDIC, Fire Control, Bombsights, Radio etc., would all lead to computer systems that are in every household, Military vehicle, aircraft, ship and submarine, weapons just to name a few
Sharing an "attaboy!" with you, the last half of the discussions summarizes a beef that I have with many of the histories being published recently. You can make the same complaint about the histories published about the land battles in WWI, or even the narrative of the whole war. Also WWII (although the base of literature is vastly larger), and almost every other key engagement in the past. Usually they are one-sided in the language of the writer, too chronologically limited, and too focused on the headline engagements. They also inevitably end up being called like a football game rather than an engagement of people who are in the moment. Thank-you all for moving counter to this trend, and keep up the good work.👍👍
I really enjoyed this long form interview of two such knowledgeable gentlemen. Excellent work Drach!
I loved this collaberation video. These men are great at pointing out what most miss when looking at history. I too, had thought that the different countries were behind or ahead of us in certain tech and here it was something totally different in truth. Thanks for having them on Drachs.
One thing about USN tech manuals. There was, when I was in 75-83, a tech manual, more of a pamphlet, about the operation and use of the navy standard flash light and all it's lens configuration. USN never left you without the info you needed.
Another great presentation, Thanks all!
Wonderful perspectives from these gentlemen. They are spot on about how most documentarians focus on events. Approaching history from the technology angle creates much greater perspective into the various users' doctrine and execution of operations. This is fascinating stuff. Thank you Drach!
I'd heard the, "The Italians didn't have radar," thingy, so it's interesting that even when they had excellent range info, their turret-gun-powder-shell system caused crazy shell dispersion. There really was no magic silver bullet technology. From what I've read about various battles, it apparently took pretty much all of 1942 for the USN to integrate radar, radio, and pilot training into a reasonably effective fighter direction system. At least the USN had the techno-tools to work it out. The IJN seems to have lacked radar, had poor radios in their fighters, and their pilot culture/training may not have been receptive, in 1942, to fighter direction by radar and radio.
Thanks. It's always interesting to listen to Historians talking about their works.
One of the things mentioned that I've said myself on more than one occasion was that you don't really know how something is really going to work until you actually try and use it - in a situation where the other side has significant capabilities as well.
.
"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." -Condensed from Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf von Moltke
Great interview! Off to buy the books. Thanks Drach.
Thanks so much for having Vince on your channel after the last time you had him on the channel. I order his book on operation torch which I really enjoyed. I can hardly wait until I get my copy of the new book. It is my Christmas present to myself.
This was a great insight into how a subject is developed into a book by collaboration between two brilliant thinkers. I have taken inspiration as I am in the process of writing my own book about just one small addition to the technology, the development of one type of vessel, the US Patrol Craft series of all metal Subchasers in WW2. Some of these technologies were incorporated in their design such as radar, TBS, depth charges, and the little known "Mouse Trap" anti-submarine mortar bomb thrower-sort of an early American version of the "Hedgehog." Brilliant discussion.
Their book is on my Christmas list.👍
Very interesting stuff. I hope I will finde the time to read it at some point.
Great guests and thank you for bringing us this topic Drach.
Would be great to see a few more focused interviews around specific subjects or questions such as Bernhard Kast brings us with historians like Dr. Roman Toppel. I really love that format and would enjoy seeing it on your channel.
Brilliant video, Drach! 😎
Thanks to the authors for this interesting thought provoking book. I’m adding it to this years reading list and will keep an eye out for their other submissions both past and future.
I gotta find these on audio. I drive for a living . all i do is listen to books all day long
My Dad was an allied merchant sailor from the kick off of WWII and he said in the very early days their AA system was a series of steam tubes pointed in the air with a foot operated valve, you pulled the pin on a hand grenade dropped it in the tube and stood on the valve to shoot it in the air.
What could go wrong 😬
Never heard mention of such in all the books read over the years. Not to seem derogatory, but, your description sounds like a bit of desperate innovation. Just as, or more dangerous, to the user as to the target. Interesting!
I had the handbook for my BSA Starfire. The first instruction was how to take the wooden crate apart. And then how to fill the battery.
Exellent video. I learn certain things and got new point of view, thank you.
Great interview and discussion, thanks guys!
I bought the book I cant wait to dig in after heading you two speak Len and Vincent
What an affable trio you are, very interesting listen
Superb video, again Drach. Thank you. I ordered the book today. Looking forward to reading it. I could have missed it but, I was hoping they would tell us what other specific areas of innovation they focused on in the book besides radar and radio.
They mentioned fire control was one innovations they did not cover. So I thought it would be worth mentioning Trent Hone’s excellent book, Learning War, does an outstanding job of on that very subject.
Radar, radio, aircraft, submarines, torpedoes and mines :)
Got an hour of cardio (left) ahead of me. This is just what i needed. Thx Drach
Drach I was wondering what naval history books you would recommend for looking into the med in ww2
Wishing you could add more tech to the book sounds like a great reason to do a second book
I literally saw that exact tactical diameter drawing at 25:47 in a packet of material given out in one of my classes by the professor!
I guess that there's an argument to be made that if any one technology was the most impactful, it would be aviation.
And my reasoning for that would be that all other technological developments enhance in some way existing capabilities and further existing ways of ship design:
- Add canons / guns that shoot heavier, more explosive ordnance at larger distances.
- Add better protection against said canons / guns.
- Improve the propulsion
- Improve communication amongst the fleet
- Improve detection of enemy ships
This lead to enormous changes en revolutions in ship building and in the way sea wars were fought, but all changes basically still were improvements on the same idea: the better battleship.
Aviation however lead to the aircraft carrier which basically seems to have obsoleted the battleship. It has ended the race for bigger heavier faster battleships with bigger heavier guns.
Although I guess that an argument could also be made that the modern (nuclear) submarine has replaced the surface battleship and the missile has replaced the heavy naval gun.
It seems like someone could write an interesting book just on aircraft engine development, (power to weight ratio) which is the key element of the development of air power. And that would be my choice for the most important technology... though, as they said, radio is a crucial factor to the effectiveness of aircraft.
And then there's signals monitoring and cryptographic intelligence, which is actually an aspect of radio technology.
Amazon is calling my name.
Many thanks
One of my favorite quotes when it comes to dispelling the myths of your nation/side during a war comes from an Australian infantryman in North Africa in 1941, he was like: 'Now I've heard it said the Italians can't fight, and they surrender at the first possible oppotunity. I can say they sure weren't fighting the same bloody Italians I was fighting!'
One military writer told me that if you want to learn about a subject, write a book about it.
The comments @1:14:35 re: integrating various sensor capabilities to present a single battle picture still apply today. It's called 'intelligence fusion' and it is no easier now than it was many years ago because of the rate at which communications, weapons and sensor technologies continue to develop concurrent with battles in progress. The fundamentals and challenges associated with killing The Bad Guys really have not changed for thousands of years.
Drachinifel, I was curious on a challenging thought involving RMS Titanic. When it first struck the iceberg the comments of, "we have about 45 min before she sinks, and the pumps will only buy minutes," has stuck in my head. In reality she took hours to sink. How much additional pumping capacity would have been needed to at least keep her afloat?
Actually, I'm impressed by IJN and Regia Marina. Italy and Japan were not huge industrial juggernauts the British Empire or United States were. They still managed to get within the shouting distance, especially Japan starting so much behind everyone else.
The Japanese focus on qualitative superiority really paid dividends. It took, what, eighteen months for the US to catch up in that respect? Two years, even? The gulf in expertise in night-fighting and carrier operations was extraordinary, and Japanese victories in those first few months would've been unthinkable to the Allies beforehand.
Yes, yes, Having the latest scanner for diagnostics on a car does you no additional good if you don't know how to use all the new features, Reminds me of the fancy watch I have that has a huge book of instructions, but the reality is I only use to tell time as I forget how to access the additional features.
This is fantastic. I just got on amazon and ordered the book for my Brother In Law who would love something like this. (He's pretty casual, so the selling point was "pop history".) I appreciate the authors' enthusiasm to learn together with the readers through the process of writing the book. Sounds like a winner and hopefully I can borrow the book from my BIL when he's done with it. Thanks guys! 👍 (Also for recognizing my favorite determined idiot, Othias. 😂)
Well in terms of manual, I guess for older navies of tradition the oral transmission might be a big part, while newer navies might understand better the needs for clear instructions and training, but if your manuals and instructions with the technology falls in enemy hands you also loose an advantage so I guess it's very useful now but might have been dangerous then, maybe not in their point of view as US was a bit underestimating the skill and technology of IJN if I understood well.
"Fiction has to make sense. Reality doesn't." - Drachism of the Day
A little fun history fact about sea mines..Sharks "taste" what has caught their attention by rubbing up against it. This is why SCUBA divers are taught that if a shark comes in your direction, try to turn so that what the shark comes in contact with is the air tank. During WW2 the Allies were losing many sea mines because sharks were "tasting" them." As a solution, a woman developed a shark repellent that is still used today. The formula was actually the first recipe the woman developed, though many of us can remember that Julia Child became a Chef of high regard.
The French Fleet; rather notable in participating on both sides of the War and losing in both alignments.
Funny how Technology and Design are so productive in generating new doctrine. Always ask myself who influenced who.
All ships can become a submersible - but only a few can rise back to the surface.
Hey Drach, have you ever thought of lending your engineering skills to the HM$ Lenox replica, being built in Deptford? I would love for that to come to fruition. Also, this was a fascinating video. :)
I guess I was hoping that this presentation would focus more on the technologies outlined in the book. The obscure references only made me wish that the subject of the book would have taken centre stage.
And as far as older generations, using modern stuff…if you had WWII American commanders, that were magically young men again, you could retrain them in technology, give them the current manuals, a slight brush up in training, and they could run our guys in a war just fine, as surprise, surprise they are much the same, the fine details/technology, and so the seed and range have changed, but the base tactics haven’t really changed in most cases, from then. Minus individual things like IEDS, and drones. But the base level of running infantry/mechanized infantry, or tanks/ships…is at least for us, much the same, just now we are faster, longer ranged. See far more, have stealth. More accurate in our systems. The USMC’s basic layout for infantry still goes back to what Chesty Puller came up with in the 20’s and 30’s…still works just fine to this day, because he came up with the basic layout and use of an infantry platoon, where you change the details, not the basis. So it’s highly adaptable, even a century later. The US Army has had far more base changes since then, but could still grab a component WWII leader, give him brush up training, and he could run soldier’s today, besides his junior officers and NCO’s would know the details, and how to make his orders happen, if they don’t, you need new officers and NCO’s.
I always thought of radar as just an extension of radio
You make my day, go quicker.
Thanks for that 😘
"Wait a minute, we can hear what they're saying...we can tell generally where they are". Man that's still relevant insight.
RN basic training in 1960's electronics. Old USN films would describe electron flow as: ".... the gubitrons come round and collect on this plate...or... the goody verses baddy current flow".
We all Aced the exams.
Having designed and introduced new diagnostic systems for Military Aircraft, a lot of the issue with achieving successful adoption if technology still exist.
it takes years to win because it also takes time to tool up industry, train a plussed-up military, transport that newly manufacture equipment and newly trained troops to the battlefield.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Great presentation👍
Drachinifel should be on global TV at this point!
Well done!
Awesome book looks like. Might pick it up. Any chance of an Audible Audiobook?
Surely that book cover should feature the pivotal attack on the Japanese carriers at Midway????
BT3 Bryant checking in again.
And we’ll look at our naval guns, we went for 16” super heavies on our newest of that era, that could shoot the older, lighter shells. Even had our systems calibrated and figured out for them, if we needed too, our heavy use of carriers, including building a stupid amount of escort carriers. And our ships. An American, came up with the modern way, still used to this day to build ships, during WWII. At least the general system to do so, and his pay. and health care, training, education was revolutionary for wide scale adoption in a company. That’s how he got and kept so many workers. Kraft macaroni and cheese came about because of WWII, a fast, easy to make meal for women who were now part of the Industrialized work force. So is many packaged foods still around, and synthesized things like soaps, etc, even M&M’s we needed things made, that will stand up to desert/tropical heat, not melt, or be made unuseable, we also needed to make sand things at level that was never seen before and frankly insane, to supply ourselves, our men fighting and Allie’s, and replace losses. Ours was, I’ll call it the industrial renaissance, we took it to a whole new level, optimized everything from production to shipping, like sending it and ships. And training, truly, fully interchangeable parts on damn near everything. We used slightly substandard things, in ways even to wars end, because to stop production of systems and parts was unacceptable, our whole force was equipped with slightly older systems and parts. And unless you could seamlessly change over, we weren’t gonna do it, unless we absolutely had to
"The Russians had some direct experience with mines in the Russo-Japanese war..."
When you have to somehow deal with them from halfway around the world, yep, you will.
12:05 - Getting Gilligan’s Island vibes right there…..
Thank you.
Ty 😊 🙏 😊
New rechnology can permit new tacttics to arise, cuh as fire control allowing greater ranges and the rise of use of the big gun, but tactical innovation, or its desire, can force technology to be developed inb a particular direction such as the development of the centimetric radar and the VT fuse "we need better radar allowing us to be more precise or detect small objects at short ranges because it would be REALLY useful tactically".
And the people who want to understand them. Such as his lord and saviour Vice Admiral Willis Augustus “Ching” Lee.