I'm a big fan of Drachinifel, even as someone who isn't really interested in naval history outside of his channel. He goes into so many different topics, from analysis of naval battles, individual ships, ship engineering in general, notable people and historical eras
Drachinifel's level of knowledge about naval history is pretty astounding, it's not just all pre video prep as he did a live Q&A on the Battleship New Jersey and he was able to get into an insane level of detail about relatively niche incidents.
However he's also got rose tinted glasses when it comes to the RN during WWII. He gives offers very generous interpretations of RN performance particularly when it comes to the Mediterranean theatre.
The historian Sir Max Hastings has been scathing of the RN during WWII. For example the fact that the Tirpitz was able to keep half a dozen capital ships in home waters right up until the end of 1944. In particular he criticised the way post war the RN Fleet Air Arm tried to turn the limited damage they inflicted on a stationary Bismarck which involved the use of 3 fleet carriers into some sort of military accomplishment.
There was the way the RN insisted on sending large submarines into the med where they often fell prey to mines or aircraft achieving very little. Or their use of heavy cruisers and battleships as little more than anti aircraft platforms. At the same time as the RN was being swept from the indian ocean.
Read up on the Indian ocean raid, and reflect on just how lucky the eastern fleet were that they didn't get the battle they were looking for with the Japanese combined fleet because it would have been a disaster.
My biggest criticism of Drachinifel though is that he keeps trying to push the idea that the italian Regia Marina was really some sort of threat. Italian destroyers, and special forces were good, but it was obvious by 1942 that their heavy units didn't have the desire or fuel to leave port on operations. The whole med campaign was a sideshow, but the RN suffered massive casualties for little real effect on the war. They didn't even manage to keep the suez canal open because the Luftwaffe made it impossible for ships to transit.
Then there was his video on Mers El Kebir which didn't use any french sources. It also didn't mention how the only ships the RN were able to sink were ones that hadn't got underway. Once the French ships started manouvering even at a few knots inside the harbor the RN scored precisely 0 hits.
