Interesting Military Facts & Stories You Discovered

[Husky_Khan]

I mean, true.
DId the japs ever win a battle against the US in the pacific when numbers were even or in their favor?

Tassafaronga and Savo Island are probably the most notable.

 

[Harlock]

I thought it was Shinano that had the idiotic DC crew that left all the hatches open and resulted in her loss just outside Toyko Bay.

Or did Taiho also go down due to crap dam-con practices?

Yeah her too, she took a torpedo that cracked an avgas tank filling the hanger with fumes. She had armoured deck so it started to build up, normally you'd drop elevators and let natural airflow clear it out along with various vents. Unfortunately the commander still wanted to conduct air ops so the elevators were kept up.
So instead the damage control activated all fans and vents tied into the aircon system to suck out the fumes, which it did by spreading them through the entire ship. Someone somewhere made a spark and that was that.

Shinano was a disaster but she did have a weak understrength crew and I think she was still fitting out, Taiho was fully operational and it should have been pretty straightforward to clear the fumes, US and RN ships had the same problems several times and survived fine. Shame as it was probably the best Japanese carrier, but at the same time it did keep a lot of our guys alive

 

[Bacle]

Yeah her too, she took a torpedo that cracked an avgas tank filling the hanger with fumes. She had armoured deck so it started to build up, normally you'd drop elevators and let natural airflow clear it out along with various vents. Unfortunately the commander still wanted to conduct air ops so the elevators were kept up.
So instead the damage control activated all fans and vents tied into the aircon system to suck out the fumes, which it did by spreading them through the entire ship. Someone somewhere made a spark and that was that.

Shinano was a disaster but she did have a weak understrength crew and I think she was still fitting out, Taiho was fully operational and it should have been pretty straightforward to clear the fumes, US and RN ships had the same problems several times and survived fine. Shame as it was probably the best Japanese carrier, but at the same time it did keep a lot of our guys alive

Taiho's commander seriously wanted to keep air-ops going while he had an av-gas fume leak in the hanger, and instead they used the AC to try to vent the fumes...that's a new level of dumb.

 

[Harlock]

Taiho's commander seriously wanted to keep air-ops going while he had an av-gas fume leak in the hanger, and instead they used the AC to try to vent the fumes...that's a new level of dumb.

Somewhat ironic the ship immolated itself when its name translates as Great Phoenix

Worst bit was it took six and a half hours between the torpedo hit and the explosion. They had all that time and presumably knew this was a bad, bad idea to keep using the flight deck when the ship was in such danger. And yet...

The design was like a small Midway class, very tough, very high quality with real command and control facilities and radar to correct the mistakes of Midway and actually direct her aircraft. It could have been a revolution in IJN carrier doctrine reflecting Allied techniques, but unlucky for them they never got the chance to test it

 

[Bacle]

Somewhat ironic the ship immolated itself when its name translates as Great Phoenix

Worst bit was it took six and a half hours between the torpedo hit and the explosion. They had all that time and presumably knew this was a bad, bad idea to keep using the flight deck when the ship was in such danger. And yet...

The design was like a small Midway class, very tough, very high quality with real command and control facilities and radar to correct the mistakes of Midway and actually direct her aircraft. It could have been a revolution in IJN carrier doctrine reflecting Allied techniques, but unlucky for them they never got the chance to test it

6.5 hours...and he didn't even want to stop air-ops for a little while to vent the ship...the torpedo didn't sink the Taiho, her commander did.

 

[Harlock]

6.5 hours...and he didn't even want to stop air-ops for a little while to vent the ship...the torpedo didn't sink the Taiho, her commander did.

Pretty much. At one point the forward lift jammed halfway down which would have left the deck with a big gap in it. So rather than take that as a sign from above the Commander had the lift well planked over so those planes could fly.

She was at the time taking part in a battle which probably helps explain some of the choices, but it doesn't take six and a half hours to launch a strike

 

[Aldarion]

Regarding damage control, Prince of Wales got sunk by, essentially, an unlucky torpedo hit and her own shaft:

https://pacificwrecks.com/ships/hms/prince_of_wales/death-of-a-battleship-2012-update.pdf

 

[Husky_Khan]

Today while checking out the comments section of a Historiograph Video about the US Submarine Campaign against Japan, I learned about how Kentucky Representative Andrew J. May might've been responsible for the death of almost a thousand US Submariners through leaking classified information to the press after a tour of US military facilities.

May was responsible for a major release of highly confidential military information during World War II known as the May Incident. U.S. submarines had been conducting a successful undersea war against Japanese shipping during World War II, frequently escaping their anti-submarine depth charge attacks. May revealed the deficiencies of Japanese depth-charge tactics in a press conference held in June 1943 on his return from a war zone junket. At this press conference, he revealed the highly sensitive fact that American submarines had a high survival rate because Japanese depth charges were exploding at too shallow a depth. Various press associations sent this leaked news story over their wires and many newspapers published it, including one in Honolulu, Hawaii.

After the news became public, Japanese naval antisubmarine forces began adjusting their depth charges to explode at a greater depth.Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, estimated that May's security breach cost the United States Navy as many as ten submarines and 800 crewmen killed in action. He said, "I hear Congressman May said the Jap depth charges are not set deep enough. He would be pleased to know that the Japs set them deeper now."

Loose Lips Do Sink Ships

To engage a US submarine that was running deep at 360 feet, it would take the older depth charge nearly a minute to get down to that depth. Andrew Jackson

www.warhistoryonline.com

Here's the video where I found the comment and followed up on it.

 

[bintananth]

Today while checking out the comments section of a Historiograph Video about the US Submarine Campaign against Japan, I learned about how Kentucky Representative Andrew J. May might've been responsible for the death of almost a thousand US Submariners through leaking classified information to the press after a tour of US military facilities.

Loose Lips Do Sink Ships

To engage a US submarine that was running deep at 360 feet, it would take the older depth charge nearly a minute to get down to that depth. Andrew Jackson

www.warhistoryonline.com

Here's the video where I found the comment and followed up on it.

Someone in his position should know better than to say anything to the press when asked about operations beyond basically "Things are going well" and keep their mouth shut when pressed for details.

 

[Doomsought]

Someone in his position should know better than to say anything to the press when asked about operations beyond basically "Things are going well" and keep their mouth shut when pressed for details.

Nothing he could possibly have said, including passing out a full list of all submarine orders, could have done as much damage as buords.

 

[Bacle]

Nothing he could possibly have said, including passing out a full list of all submarine orders, could have done as much damage as buords.

Nah, BuOrds at least wasn't telling the enemy that they had set their charges to shallow.

Iffy torps are not great, but are survivable, as long as you prep for circlur runs, and scoot when right after you shoot.

What that fucker did, for what amounts to lols and press coverage, actually killed multiple crews during wartime that might have otherwise survived.

 

[Doomsought]

Iffy torps are not great, but are survivable, as long as you prep for circlur runs, and scoot when right after you shoot.

The torpedo literally did not work at all. It was so bad that we should have charge BuOrds as enemy saboteurs and it would have stuck.

 

[Husky_Khan]

First is the story about James B. Harris, born to a Welsh Father and Japanese Mother in Japan. He had blue eyes, spoke English, raised Catholic and had affinity for both his British and Japanese upbringing and love for both parents. He was also naturalized as a Japanese citizen after his Fathers death, changing his name to Hirayangi.

With the outbreak of World War Two, James Hirayangi was one of hundreds of foreign born Japanese citizens rounded up and arrested for belief of having "Allied" nation nationalities and spent eight months in an internment camp waiting to be exchanged. Instead his Japanese citizenship was finally confirmed and he was shipped from internment to being drafted in the Army and spent four years serving in Northern China fighting mostly the Chinese Communists Considered in peak physical condition entering the army, by late in the war, his body down due to multiple injuries aggravated by starvation and a failing liver and he was evacuated back to Japan a few months before the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria.

James B. Harris: Profile of a Naturalized Imperial Japanese Soldier

The Imperial Army of Japan had a few "blue eyed" soldiers among its ranks. English teacher, radio broadcaster, and Japan Times correspondent J.B. Harris was one of them.

www.turning-japanese.info

The second story is about a Filipino pilot named Jesus Villamor who almost made ace during the Japanese Invasion of the Philippines in 1941 and claimed all of his kills from within the cockpit of the mighty Boeing P-26 Peashooter as a member of the 6th Pursuit Squadron! He got at least two kills on enemy Zeroes with a third unconfirmed one. During his military career he also trained on the B-17 Bomber and even helped train the future General Eisenhower in operating one as well as the PT-17 biplane for reconnaissance flights.

Jesús A. Villamor

Jesús Antonio Villamor (1914-1971) was a Filipino American pilot who fought the Japanese in World War II. Villamor was one of seven children. He studied commerce at De La Salle College (now DLSU-Manila) in Manila, hoping to pursue a business career. During summer, he and his family went to...

military-history.fandom.com

Jesus Villamor - Recipient -

Villamor was one of seven children. He studied commerce at De La Salle College (now DLSU-Manila) in Manila, hoping to pursue a business career. He joi...

valor.militarytimes.com

 

[Bacle]

Rogan interviewing Gen. McMaster.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Learned about this from the Star Wars/Military History YouTuber The Front. It's about the Coastal Picket Force or Corsair Fleet which was a bunch of civilians eventually included into the US Coast Guard who helped patrol the East Coast of the United States from the threat of German U-Boats. A lot of the vessels were fishing or recreational craft and even included racing yachts. One of them was even manned by the writer Ernest Hemingway.



And an article on the topic I found afterwards.

'Corsair Fleet' - The Brave American Civilian Crews Who Took On WW2 Submarines To Protect The Coast

In 1942 a new type of warship was created: volunteers sailing on yachts and fishing vessels going out to hunt for German Submarines.

www.warhistoryonline.com

 

[Husky_Khan]

Learned off of Twitter no less about a one armed British tanker veteran of World War One named Ewen Cameron Bruce who despite being ordered not to since he was just a trainer, helped lead an outnumbered Combined Arms assault upon the Fortress of Tsaritsyn, defended by Red Army troops under the leadership of noted bank robber Joseph Stalin. The White forces were ones under the command of the colorful Baron Pyotr Wrangel.

Battle of Tsaritsyn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[TheRejectionist]

Brazil fought covertly in Angola for a very short periodo of time and we sent medics to Uncle Sam in South Vietnam.

 

[SchrodingersWehraboo]

This breaks down the conflicting mess of agendas behind Operation Weserubung and the ensuing occupation.

 

[Husky_Khan]

Aqaba, a Jordanian town off of the Red Sea... apparently has an Underwater Military Museum. Likely the only purposely made underwater military museum as well I would imagine.

Aqaba Launches the First Underwater Military Museum

Off the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, you can explore the first Underwater Military Museum. If you're a history buff and diver, then this might just be the place for you...

blog.padi.com

Here's a video with loud pretentious music playing over it.

 

[Harlock]

The only vessel currently serving in the USN to have sunk an enemy ship in action is the USS Constitution.

The second to last one was a Frigate that wasted an Iranian ship in the late 80s which retired a few years ago