Infantry and missile weapons challenge heavy cavalry
Montgomery's account of medieval warfare distinguishes the defensive tactics that could win battles from the offensive action needed to win campaigns.
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Crossbow mechanisms, training, and defensive shooting
The crossbow combined a mechanically drawn bow with a stock, allowing comparatively untrained soldiers to shoot from defensive loopholes.
Mail, plate additions, and the gaps in medieval armour
Changes in helmets, quilted protection, mail, and metal plates improved protection while leaving vulnerable gaps.
Timing cavalry divisions and reserves at Lewes
Simon de Montfort's victory at Lewes illustrates the value of ground, surprise, and a reserve committed at the right moment.
Scutage financed soldiers beyond the feudal service limit
Commuting feudal service into a cash payment let English kings hire soldiers for longer campaigns, while mercenary bands could become a danger in peacetime.
Tournaments trained fighters and rewarded captures
Medieval tournaments could rehearse real combat, build reputations, and reward successful fighters through captured horses and ransomed opponents.
Crossbow training and magazine-fed designs
A crossbow's simple loading and firing sequence reduced the need for years of training, while magazine-fed designs supplied another line of development.
How should a carrier group cover detached escorts?
Detaching two escorts raises a concern about how many trained ships will remain with Queen Elizabeth's carrier group.
Crossbows simplified training while longbows simplified production
Longbows could be produced quickly with the right timber and skills, while crossbows were harder to build and easier to use.
What would Turkey lose by abandoning Montreux?
The Montreux Convention gives Turkey an established basis for controlling naval passage through the Straits.
Would unified command have changed Leyte Gulf?
A Leyte Gulf counterfactual favours unified strategic command under Nimitz and Kinkaid in operational command.
Was Russia likely behind the Czech ammunition-depot explosion?
Alleged Russian involvement in the Czech ammunition-depot explosion draws a comparison with the operatives associated with Salisbury.
Queen Elizabeth's outward route leaves the return voyage open
A question about Queen Elizabeth's route to Japan draws a distinction between the outward itinerary and the unannounced return route.
Why could Nimitz not simply command Leyte from forward waters?
A proposal for Nimitz to move forward runs into the communications demands of joint command.
Which close-in weapon system is best?
Kashtan's firepower, Phalanx's targeting, Bofors 40 mm guns, and uncertainty about a Chinese system complicate a single ranking of close-in weapons.
Longbows and warships shaped managed forests
Purpose-planted yew for longbows and oak for ships connect military equipment with deliberate timber cultivation.
A 76 mm gun and the preference for layered point defence
A 76 mm automatic gun attracts interest, but there is a concern that choosing it can mean omitting a point-defence missile system.
Italian ships combine gun calibres with several missile layers
An Italian example combines 76 mm and 25 mm guns with several surface-to-air missile layers.
Which periods and subjects are covered by this research and teaching?
Research on interwar naval aviation sits alongside earlier work on carrier design, the Falklands War, and sea basing.
A ship list is not yet a multinational task group
A proposed coalition escort force requires more joint exercises and shared communications before it can operate as a coherent task group.
Why does sabotage not automatically trigger war?
The Czech depot discussion distinguishes a hostile covert act from the political decision to classify it as an act of war.
Why NATO membership does not complete task-group integration
Recent shared training determines how readily ships can join a carrier group, even when most belong to NATO navies.
Are P-700 launchers also angled on an aircraft carrier?
A question about the P-700's visible launch angle receives a brief, qualified answer about its carrier installation.
A viewer links the Czech depot response to proof and escalation
A viewer offers plausible deniability, lack of concrete proof, and NATO's unwillingness to go to war with Russia as reasons for the response to the Czech depot explosion.
Why known destroyer wrecks still need investigation
A question about HMS Mohawk and HMS Bedouin distinguishes a wreck's known location from a site that has received serious archaeological study.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Nine missing Tribal-class destroyer wrecks
Nine Tribal-class destroyers are named as missing wrecks in a 2021 discussion of archaeological gaps.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Why finding a warship wreck is only the beginning
A discussion of missing and under-studied destroyer wrecks separates discovery from the historical work needed after a site is located.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Could divers study the wreck of HMS Glowworm?
A depth question leads to a proposal for studying deep warship wrecks while exercising specialist naval diving skills.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Why discovering a wreck also creates a protection problem
The loss of Java Sea wrecks prompts a discussion of the tension between locating historic sites and exposing them to salvage.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Basil Jones and the wartime destroyer command track
Basil Jones excelled in operational destroyer command while avoiding the staff appointments that supported promotion.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Radar, line-abreast tactics, and the Battle of Ushant
Jones experiments with destroyer formations until a difficult line-abreast approach gives radar and forward guns the clearest night-fighting arcs.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Why Basil Jones had room to experiment before D-Day
A viewer questions the freedom given to a Tribal-class flotilla leader during preparations for operations in the Channel.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Canadian and Polish ships at the Battle of Ushant
Canadian Tribal-class destroyers and Polish warships joined the British force against German ships at Ushant.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Robert Sherbrooke finds his calling in destroyers
Sherbrooke's unusually late move from capital ships and cruisers into destroyers leads to repeated Tribal-class commands and flotilla leadership.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Sherbrooke shields convoy JW 51B in the Barents Sea
Sherbrooke's destroyers repeatedly threaten a much stronger German force, preserving convoy JW 51B despite severe wounds and heavy odds.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Why JW 51B was defended differently from PQ 17
A viewer asks how the defence of JW 51B contrasts with the earlier PQ 17 disaster.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
A balanced surface fleet for Poland
A modern force-structure question separates ships optimized for Baltic defence from vessels able to deploy with allies.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
How weather shaped operations near North Cape
A weather question contrasts two very different hazards facing ships in Arctic waters.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Which ship disabled Scharnhorst's radar at North Cape?
A correction identifies HMS Belfast's 6-inch gunfire as the source of Scharnhorst's radar loss.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
William Agnew, Force K, and small-force command
William Agnew's commands link cruiser leadership, Malta's Force K, and eventual command of HMS Vanguard.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Force K dismantles the Duisburg convoy
Agnew pairs cruisers with destroyers, uses radar and deception, and prioritizes deliberate accuracy in a devastating night attack on an Axis convoy.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Why sea-going officers leave as command posts shrink
A discussion of promotion argues that shrinking fleets also remove the sea commands that retain action-oriented officers.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Philip Vian's path from destroyers to the British Pacific Fleet
Vian's commands span destroyer flotillas, cruisers, carriers, amphibious operations, and the Home Fleet.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
The selective command course for surface-warfare officers
A comparison with the submarine Perisher course presents the Royal Navy's less mythologized but similarly demanding surface command training.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Did Philip Vian lack the aviation experience to command carriers?
A viewer asks whether criticism of Vian's limited aviation background is fair.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Vian boards Altmark inside a Norwegian fjord
HMS Cossack forces its way into Jossingfjord, boards Altmark, and frees prisoners taken by Admiral Graf Spee.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
Why did Vian free Altmark's prisoners but leave the ship?
A viewer asks why Cossack did not capture Altmark after the boarding succeeded.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·
What weapons did Altmark's boarding parties carry?
A question about cutlasses opens a discussion of the mixed weapons and training used by cruiser and destroyer boarding parties.
From Patreon 21: Notable WW2 commanders of smaller naval forces ·