Pinned post for Q&A :)

32:05 "...and after a polite request that in no way shape or form involved the transfer of a substantial amount of Navy Issue Rum, and no you cant prove anything as all the paper work was tragically eaten later on by a wild Bunyip!"
Now thats what I call a RUM RATION! :3

It was so funny in a tragic way seeing that image of the british cruiser with a cartoony shadow of the kamikaze plane that hit the armored belt.

500 pound bomb: [Explodes on Formidables flight deck.]
Formidable: "'Tis but a scratch."

In 1964 the by then heavily rebuilt HMS Victorious visited Yokusuka. One of the senior Japanese dignatories being entertained by the ship at a reception remarked that he was delighted to be able to visit a vessel that his late brother had "landed on" in 1945!

The beautiful destroyer we see at 14:55 is HMS Whelp - R37.

I checked because it did not look like any British destroyer I had seen before (not being Alex or Alex).

HMS Whelp was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war assigned to the Eastern and Pacific Fleets. She screened British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the Japanese-occupied Nicobar Islands, the Dutch East Indies, Formosa and near Okinawa. Whelp was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945 and later in Hong Kong.

I often wonder how many Reacquisitions Officers deserve Victory Crosses and Medals of Honor for the lives they've saved by their under the table wheeling and dealing.

As an american i am very grateful for these kinds of videos as what we learn in the USA is soo focused on our own contributions that stuff like this rarely gets the light of day

Drach, thank you for filling in the considerable "blanks" for me regarding the actions of the RN Pacific Fleet. I especially enjoy any and all instances of cooperation (and sharing of equipment) between the Royal Navy (incl the commonwealths) and U.S. Navy. Had no idea regarding the P-40 Kittyhawks/Warhawks external fuel tanks being used with the Sea Fire. (GEEK out!) Very cool. Thanks again from the states.

4:05 the KGV class ships are so good looking... Love them.

RN Supply Section - Sydney -  sir I have two weird signals here from the BPF.  What are they?  The first is requesting twice the typical ration of rum.  The other is saying the Chief Artificer on the Victorious was bored and manufactured 200 drop tanks for the Seafires.  Okay, did you inquire about them.  Well regarding the rum, apparently everytime someone yelled Kamikaze, Admiral Vian would order up spirits.  Are you sure about that?  Yes, Captain Scorcese confirmed this.  Ok, I don't want to hear anymore, just fill the order.😂

The drop tanks are a wonderful detail.  It is amazing what can be accomplished when the paperwork is kept out of the way.

13:18 always loved this comment about the British armored carriers, how they would just sweep the wreck of the Kamikaze off the side, while their contemporaries would need heavy repairs and a lot of time off.

Hi Drach, big fan from Brazil, love your work

Great episode! Thank you for paying much overdue attention to the BPF’s contribution to the Okinawa Campaign.

"Now, all that remained  .... was to find an electrician to reconnect all the cabling."

What! Now? Sorry Guv, can't possibly fit you in before Thursday fortnight.

Been there. Done that.

Superb video, Drach! The clips of the kamikaze attacks and their aftermath emphasized the effectiveness of armored flight decks, for which the reduced numbers of aircraft and ovi-thermal radiation seems a small price to pay. As a Yank, I felt a glow of fraternal pride in the severe competence & cooperation of British Pacific Fleet in the Okinawa campaign, notwithstanding the “tragedy” (31:16) of the lost paperwork in the repurposed P-40 drop tank affair (heh). Thanks for another great episode! 😎

The P-40 drop tank exchange occurred in June 1945, when the HMS Implaccable anchored at Manus, Admiralty Islands. Her Seafire III squadrons experimented unsuccessfully with 35, 45 and 90 gal slipper tanks, when they learned from the Americans that about 100 P-40 drop tanks are stored in New Guinea. Since these 90 gal long-range tanks have been successfully adopted on Spitfires in Malta and North Africa, the skippers of the Seafire squadrons arranged a destroyer to pick up the rusty tanks in exchange of two crates of Johnnie Walker whiskey.

32:38 I think there could be an entire episode of unauthorized requisitions.  Dozens of accounts of ships detail the armament they were issued with and then immediately note crew upgrades often with no mention of provenance.

I am in possession of two pieces of propeller that my father picked up as souvenirs after the Kamikazi attack on the Imdom. He was a South African who was seconded to the RN.
His station was on the AA guns.