Read on Twitter
For new followers here's a thread of threads, in case any of this nonsense interests you.
I'll keep updating it as I go.
Starting (obviously) with the big one... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1246364316355514368?s=20
I'll keep updating it as I go.
Starting (obviously) with the big one... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1246364316355514368?s=20
My one true love though is French pre-Dreadnoughts. Expect these ugly sods to keep popping up. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1084933071667974146?s=20
They had wine cellars, you know: https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1181671612384448513?s=20
I'm not stopping with them. Unfortunately neither were the French. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1237127453195321344?s=20
At some point the Russians decided to get in on the action.
Unbelievably they managed to make them worse.
(at some point I need to revisit this story, because it was even weirder than this summary would have you believe). https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1096109457837355008?s=20
Unbelievably they managed to make them worse.
(at some point I need to revisit this story, because it was even weirder than this summary would have you believe). https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1096109457837355008?s=20
I'm actually surprised by how little I've written about the Russian military, given their general attitude of "more dakka"... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1258473531949621249?s=20
And the sense that a whole new world of mechanical mishaps is waiting for me on the eastern side of the old Iron Curtain is hardly dispelled by the Bella: https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1175361303105478656?s=20
This wasn't meant to be a thread. It just sort of... happened. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1251248461267324933?s=20
Any one of this guy's airplanes would merit a thread on their own, but one stands out head and shoulders above the others. Ironically that'd be about the same height as it achieved in flight. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1092902690470924288?s=20
At the other end of the scale, here's something that proves bad ideas can also come in small packages.
I'm starting to notice how often I refer to the laws of physics in these threads. It's a lot more often than the designers do. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1191845470609530885?s=20
I'm starting to notice how often I refer to the laws of physics in these threads. It's a lot more often than the designers do. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1191845470609530885?s=20
Talking of things in small packages, let's talk about something lovely, shall we?
Erm, okay. Maybe not the first tweet in this thread. The rest of it though... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1249247028217024512?s=20
Erm, okay. Maybe not the first tweet in this thread. The rest of it though... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1249247028217024512?s=20
Because someone did me the favour of digging it out earlier, here's the story of how British Rail's modernisation plan went off the rails... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1111048626674036742?s=20
British Rail's modernisation plan could have been worse, I suppose. At least it didn't involve any of these... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1251812178702798848?s=20
Never mind attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, it's smouldering wreckage on the surface of Venus (or just as likely Siberia) that's where it's at.
(health warning - by Venusian standards the USSR did okay. It's Mars that really vexed them) https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1103416497974767618?s=20
(health warning - by Venusian standards the USSR did okay. It's Mars that really vexed them) https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1103416497974767618?s=20
This thread of rocket gifs doesn't really go anywhere, but then neither do they. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1101233963220246533?s=20
Until 1970 the Royal Navy maintained the tradition of serving a daily tot of rum. In the case of the submarine design department it's frequently a surprise to learn they were limited to just the one... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1090350394482589697?s=20
This fellow's engineering skill was terrible.
It took a long time for everyone to get the message... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1288994068685639682?s=20
It took a long time for everyone to get the message... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1288994068685639682?s=20
Distraught at their pre-Dreadnoughts either being sunk or sent to the knacker's yard, the inter-war French navy had an urgent operational requirement for something comfortingly ugly... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1126557246958260227?s=20
I'm genuinely not prejudiced against the French Navy. They're certainly more entertaining than most.
It sometimes seems like the Royal Navy's submarines were determined to race them to the bottom though. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1126972209166258176?s=20
It sometimes seems like the Royal Navy's submarines were determined to race them to the bottom though. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1126972209166258176?s=20
Minelaying is simple, right? Sail out, throw a load of items prejudicial to continued flotation overboard, come home.
Turns out that the boat you use makes a difference... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1138575270569500673?s=20
Turns out that the boat you use makes a difference... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1138575270569500673?s=20
Just when you think we've scraped the barrel of "terrible things to do to submarines"... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1292401031964434432?s=20
If anyone ever did perfect the flying submarine, I guess you'd need something to chase them: https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1088177235100684290?s=20
You might have thought engineers had worked out most of the ways to design things badly by now... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1098334063440597000?s=20
Partially RTing this for the morning crowd. The big issue with the Thunderscreech was the unreliable T40 engine, which was all torque and no action. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1294424717319864325?s=20
Full confession: I'm not always rude about stuff. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1294952002011770880?s=20
And if an Ikea Turbinia floats your boat, how about the Swedish one? That, er, possibly sinks it. We're not really sure. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1296190970720129032?s=20
If you're still agonising over your holiday choices, why not consider an all-inclusive Seige of Turin? With 4 lovely armies to choose from and social distancing enforced by the latest in trace italienne, 1640s Turin offers everything except competence. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1224797233293471745?s=20
Most countries build dry docks to fix ships. The Russian navy has... other ideas. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1301842121423548416?s=20
Somebody pointed me at this thread earlier, asking if I'd read it.
Bit embarrassing all round, really. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1269209103466930176?s=20
Bit embarrassing all round, really. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1269209103466930176?s=20
Nevil Shute once wrote that "I have sat for four years in an office in the Admiralty with occasional trips to sea to see my things go
wrong", and he wasn't joking... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1311301508336582657?s=20
wrong", and he wasn't joking... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1311301508336582657?s=20
Adding this to the big old thread of threads now so I don't forget and can find it again next #AdaLovelaceDay https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1315788958362730497?s=20
I'm blocked on Twitter by the Brunel fan club for calling him a ratsucker. Here's why... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1317861024792481797?s=20
Trafalgar Day got me thinking... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1318852390615998464?s=20
Lightning bolts: https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1319958823877095424?s=20
"réjà vu (n): the nagging feeling that no matter how stupid something appears, we'll almost certainly see it happen again" https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1321124154494636039?s=20
Somehow this tale of ships that go bang in the night, and the sinister activities of Toulon's postcard cartel, never got added to the list. So let's fix that now.... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1304706178182778880?s=20
Pleased to report the name was the least of its issues... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1314908694866518016?s=20
Features some of the worst paint jobs ever applied to aircraft. Also the worst kit designs ever applied to footballers. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1302341047234768901?s=20
Naval vessels embarrassing themselves in a ramming incident? Well thank heavens modern navies don't do that sort of thing... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1308454358766546945?s=20
I really hope this thing had the banging sound system it so richly deserved. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1324794791666876419?s=20
Me: I've got the thread of threads up to date! Rejoice!
Also me: Hang on, where's that thread on... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1281180911372042240?s=20
Also me: Hang on, where's that thread on... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1281180911372042240?s=20
When Twitter announced "fleets" every naval historian and commentator on there made exactly the same joke.
Didn't see any reason I should miss out... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1328794309064347651?s=20
Didn't see any reason I should miss out... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1328794309064347651?s=20
Just realised I'd forgotten about this thing. After lots of therapy the same is hopefully true for its pilot. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1277911533314506752?s=20
I deliberately waited for #InternationalMensDay to add this to the thread of threads, for hopefully obvious reasons.
It quickly gets onto the original Dupuy de Lôme, which turned out to be an even bigger load of balls... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1213253430183124992?s=20
It quickly gets onto the original Dupuy de Lôme, which turned out to be an even bigger load of balls... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1213253430183124992?s=20
Yes, yes, yes. The shark-repellent Bat-Spray set a high bar, but it turns out the Bat Bomb was even sillier... https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1330489985108238340?s=20
It's extremely childish to laugh at rude names on maps.
I am that child. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1226983069195915265?s=20
I am that child. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1226983069195915265?s=20
One for the rivet counters and those who remember Stephen Pile's Book of Heroic Failures - good old Franny Webb: his incompetence https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1085654674252812288?s=20
One of the images in this thread has the wrong number of masts and is clearly a different ship. Why not join the dozens of others who have smugly pointed it out? https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1135673431775764480?s=20
The Venn diagram between medicine and locomotives is small but fruitful. If your bowel movements look like anything in this thread please see a doctor. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1180087901884964866?s=20
This is only small so it barely even got a thread. It's so cute I couldn't leave it out though. https://twitter.com/TheDreadShips/status/1250703431058116608?s=20
