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Naval History Questions Live... with Irn Bru... which is a scottish soft drink... not fizzy whisky!
Study Naval History Questions Live... with Irn Bru... which is a scottish soft drink... not fizzy whisky!, a Dr. Alex Clarke video from 17 Sept 2023, with 29 time notes. Topics include Alternate History, Live Q&A…
Time notes
- 10:53QuestionWhat is the significance of the St. Laurent-class destroyer escorts?AnswerQ&A
They were useful Canadian ASW escorts whose later helicopter fit strengthened the mission they were designed to perform, even though the wider naval technology picture was changing quickly.
- 16:14Why the Mark 33 twin 3-inch mount remained usefulNotable Point
The Mark 33 twin 3-inch mount was valued because one practical weapon could engage aircraft, torpedo boats, missile boats, and other small targets.
- 19:36QuestionCould 30-knot America’s Cup-style boats be useful for coast guards or navies?AnswerQ&A
Their performance is impressive, but turning one into a useful naval craft means accepting the much harder requirements of weapons, boats, payload, and rough-sea endurance.
- 21:49QuestionHow should tunnel vision be understood in naval command?AnswerQ&A
It can affect both commander and staff, so a functioning staff must challenge a leader who is overlooking part of the situation.
- 23:10QuestionWhat should observers look for in the rebuilt Udaloy-class Marshal Shaposhnikov?AnswerQ&A
Determine whether it received the complete specified refit, because partial or paper-only modernization would expose a serious procurement and accountability failure.
- 27:19QuestionHow plausible is a Penus-class semi-submersible torpedo cruiser?AnswerQ&A
It is a deeply unattractive solution: by the time it looks sensible, the wider naval situation has probably deteriorated beyond recovery.
- 28:04QuestionWould replacing Spain’s worst flag officers greatly improve a later European war?AnswerQ&A
Probably not; the force’s systemic problems, particularly logistics, would require far more than a few personnel changes.
- 28:29QuestionCould the Allies have mounted a Dardanelles-style landing against Austria-Hungary in the First World War?AnswerQ&A
They could have tried, but the defensive geography, fortifications, and fleet would make it an exceptionally expensive operation with little strategic payoff.
- 30:36QuestionWhat was the importance of the recent strike on a Black Sea dry dock?AnswerQ&A
It struck a maintenance bottleneck and two valuable naval assets at once, combining Russian logistics and sea-denial vulnerabilities in one exposed location.
- 32:39QuestionCould the Anglo-Japanese Alliance have led to war between Britain and the United States in the 1920s?AnswerQ&A
No; the two powers lacked a convincing motive for war, and Britain was already looking for a politically acceptable way to distance itself from Japan.
- 36:09QuestionWho was the better commander: an early frigate captain or a twentieth-century cruiser captain?AnswerQ&A
There is no single answer: the mission, period, and environment determine which professional skills matter most.
- 37:14QuestionDo Anglo-American war plans show that a war in the 1920s or 1930s was likely?AnswerQ&A
No. Major militaries keep contingency plans for dangerous possibilities; the plans acknowledged the scale of the scenario rather than predicting it.
- 40:36QuestionWould several 100,000-ton British and American carriers make a four-carrier Soviet fleet look weak?AnswerQ&A
Not weak in isolation, but clearly third in a three-way comparison with two much larger carrier forces.
- 41:11QuestionHow might four each of the M1, M2, and M3 designs have been used in the Second World War?AnswerQ&A
The minelaying M3 type has the clearest role; submarine cruisers are much harder to place confidently in a practical wartime employment scheme.
- 41:50QuestionWere there plans for the Russian Black Sea Fleet to support the Dardanelles campaign?AnswerQ&A
There were ideas, but the contested Black Sea and the local force balance made support a more complicated prospect than it first appears.
- 42:34QuestionWhat would Britain do if an otherwise allied United States annexed Canada?AnswerQ&A
The cause would determine Britain’s response, but an unprovoked American attack on Canada would demand a strong reaction rather than quiet acceptance.
- 46:23QuestionDid any designer or shipbuilder try to improve Kort-nozzle steering on three-screw ships?AnswerQ&A
Probably, based on memory, but the designer or builder could not be identified without further research.
- 47:08QuestionHow should historians assess contested commanders such as Richmond Kelly Turner?AnswerQ&A
Reconstruct their information and competing advice at the time, rather than assuming later knowledge made the correct choice obvious.
- 48:58QuestionWhich British families produced multiple prime ministers or several senior political figures?AnswerQ&A
The Pitts provide the clearest two-prime-minister example, while the Chamberlains illustrate a family with one prime minister and several other prominent figures.
- 50:03QuestionIf Green Cheese, Blue Slug, and Short Hellcat had been acquired, might they have been used in the Falklands War?AnswerQ&A
If the missiles were available on ships operating in the war zone, they would have been used.
- 50:48QuestionWhat is the point of Turkey building small corvettes for Ukraine?AnswerQ&A
They may chiefly support merchant-vessel escort and anti-submarine work, helping sustain maritime trade despite ongoing missile threats.
- 51:19QuestionCould better anti-ship missiles have prevented Britain from losing its aircraft carriers?AnswerQ&A
Probably not; the central struggle was a Treasury-driven funding and inter-service conflict, not simply missile capability.
- 52:33QuestionDoes a submarine with vertical-launch cells full of anti-ship missiles count as a cruiser submarine?AnswerQ&A
Sort of: the analogy is plausible, but the clearest conclusion is that it would be a dangerous surprise rather than a neatly defined cruiser type.
- 53:28QuestionWhat changes if the Second World War begins in 1942?AnswerQ&A
Britain gains a far stronger escort force and more time for construction and modernization, producing a significantly more capable Royal Navy than Germany’s relative improvement.
- 1:05:27QuestionCould Graf Zeppelin have been completed by 1942, and would it change the naval balance?AnswerQ&A
Completion is possible in the scenario, but Britain’s much larger construction and modernization programme would still leave Germany well behind.
- 1:07:24QuestionWould a retained Blue Slug evolve, and what could replace Short Hellcat?AnswerQ&A
Blue Slug would probably gain an improved version; the replacement choice would likely be a British missile, Exocet, or Harpoon.
- 1:09:06QuestionWill Britain receive only two Type 83 destroyers?AnswerQ&A
At least six are expected: the fleet needs the hulls and the government has strong reasons to keep the yards active.
- 1:12:58QuestionWhat would replace Short Hellcat if it was a helicopter-launched anti-ship missile?AnswerQ&A
Sea Skua is the most likely successor, potentially with a heavier variant in an alternate development path.
- 1:14:42QuestionWhat would have to change for the Second World War to begin as late as 1942?AnswerQ&A
A great deal: Hitler and the regime’s pattern of escalating risk would need to change, producing a fundamentally different timeline.