Midshipman Jenkins was thrilled. Just 18 months ago he had left his school, Stoneyhurst Collage in Lancashire and joined His Majesty's Royal Navy. A year was spent at Dartmouth collage learning the key points of seamanship and the glorious traditions of the Royal Navy, then his first posting to the cruiser HMS Cumberland. From now on training would be very much on the job, but the Cumberland was a fine vessel, with a fine crew under the command of Captain Ward, a commander who was respected through out the senior service. With in weeks of joining the ship war was declared on Germany and he was eager to play his small part in the next heroic chapter of the Navy. However the weeks rolled by with very little in the way of excitement. The Cumberland patrolled the home waters with out a sniff of the Hun. The only break in the daily drudge of patrol work was on the rare occassion they stopped a 'suspicious' foreign merchant vessel. There had been talk of Q-ships and armed merchant raiders, but all the had really encountered was a Belgium coaster and a Danish Tramp steamer. Then the news of the Battle of Lyme Bay reached the Cumberland. At the time of the engagement the Cumberland was patroling off Dogger Bank, but he knew that if Ward and the Cumberland had been closer they would have made the difference... Then a week later he noticed a change to life onboard the cruiser. Captain Ward was spending more time in conference with senior officers, drills and training in everything from gunnery to damage control increased greatly in number, duration and intencity, and the Cumberland was heading North up the east coast in the company of serveral other ships. Something big was on. When at last they reached their destination off the Firth of Forth he knew for sure something very big indeed was a foot. Warships filled the seas as far as the eye could see. Everything from the tiny sleek torpedo boat destroyers to the vast majestic hulls of the latest dreadnaughts was there, perhaps the entire Royal Navy, the white ensign flying at every masthead. Talk amongst the crew was full of phrases such as "remember the Hereford", "revenge for Lyme Bay" and "kicking the Kaisers arse". One wag was even painting slogans like "shove this up yer Kaiser" and "A gift for Torturpitz" on the torpedos in the armory. Talk was of the greatest navel battle in history was ahead, and he, Midshipman Johnny Jenkins would not only witness it, but be a part of it.... The fleet sailed enmass on the morning of November 2nd. After a few hours of shuffling to get the vast armada into formation, the fleet headed south east across the North Sea, destination... Germany. Jenkins was off duty and dozing in his bunk the next morning when at about 08:00 he was stired by bells and bugles sounding gerneral quarters. He had never dressed so fast in his life, and by 08:04 he reported to the bridge and stood back awaiting orders. Captain Ward addressed his officers, "About ten minutes ago our scouting forces engaged the enemy scouting force, battle is inevitable, I will not wish you luck, as I know everyone of you will do your duty for the ship, for the fleet, for the service, for the King and for the nation. However I think we have time for tea, Jenkins, do the honours." He saluted and reboiled the urn, the took a tray around the bridge crew, tea all round with extra sugar for 'Taffy' Tarr, the helmsman. He sipped his cup slowly and watched the clock on the wall tick the minutes by in what seamed like an absolute age. All the time watch with nervous unease at the growing pall of smoke on the horizon and hearing the rumble of gun fire as the scouts clashed, but a glance outside at the might of the navy around him and his fears were eased He couldn't remember exactly were things had started to go wrong, but from the Cumberland position on the Western flank and the stream of incoming reports he had watched it all unfold. The battle lines had met and the great guns had barked out, at first nothing seamed to happening apart from the great plumes of water showing fall of shot from both sides. Reports of a Britsh destroyer sinking had arrived but on the bridge all was calm and the Cumberland was away from the thick of it. The a look out reported a lone German destroyer breaking out of the enemy lines and speeding into heart of the British formation, firing torpedos as she dodged a hellish barrarge of fire. As he watched that part of the fleets battle line fell apart as the battleships tried to avoid the destroyers crazed attack. As if inspied by the destroyers heroics the rest of the German fleets turned up their line... and broke it. In a few minutes the orderly British fleet was in chaos. He saw one battleship, pounded by German guns slow down to be engulfed by the enemy fleet and blasted to a burning wreck. A shortwhile later a deafing report filled the air as HMS Collingwwod exploded... By noon the Britsh fleet was in complete disaray, the German line had divided into three or four divisions, each one cutting deeply into the Britsh fleet, isolating the British battleships either alone or in small groups, blasting them to the point of sinking then moving on leaving the following German cruisers to apply the coup de grace. The rest of the British fleet was running, they were heading west. Signals were confussed and it appeared the pride of the empire was being routed by the Hun. The Cumberland had avoided most of the fighting so far, but it looked like it was far to late for the British cruisers to turn the tide. Jenkins looked at Captain Ward. His commanders face was calm, but his eyes flashed with anger and sorrow as reluctently gave the order to turn away. War was hell, a lesson Jenkins was learning fast....
You don't want battles of this length in the future? But... Tortuga... I watch you exclusively FOR the battles! Your commentary and control over your fleet is great and very engaging!
That's really good to hear. Thank you for the compliments as well. Still, I'm trying to imagine how we'll make it to 1950 if I have battles like this every war.
This battle is proof that the British can't keep up with Kriegsmarine. Great fleet management Tortuga, lots of stressful moments and decisions making for a great episode!
Damn, thanks for the mention! Since the battle isn't over yet, I decided not to carry on with the personal logs on this video (Since I'm pretty sure everyone would still be banging their heads against the Brits), but I'll try adding another Lore news article from the past. Thanks for the splendid video, keep those tea pots deep below the water! God save the Kaiser!
Admiral Tortuga is truly a man ahead of its time, predicting the global warming 100 years in advance the great admiral convinced the british to lend their best battleships to serve as artificial reefs on the bottom of the ocean. His important contribution helped avoid the great coral mass death, tought it did cause the great british mass death. Oh well, c'est la vite i suppose
MFW TortugaPower refers to a large-scale fleet battle as an excursion. O.o The fleet battle is going wildly in your favor. I hope you don't disengage too late. You can't control how long large-scale fleet engagements last. We've all seen them last hours, especially when this many ships are involved. Please don't diminish the videos. Your coordination and command are what single you out in the RTW community.
Thank you very much! It's great to get the reassurance that people are interested to watch even a three-part battle. (Selfishly I have to admit in all honesty that they are draining to deal with, all the stress...)
20:17 "She has much less armor. I mean, if the Camperdown have 8 inches of DECK that is really not a lot...hehe" Wow, Tortuga is a size queen confirmed
3 NOV 1908, 1054 The German Hochseeflotte has by this time divided itself into individual battle divisions, each under the command of a Vizeadmiral, Konteradmiral, or Kommodore, and all steam back to the center where the battle rages. In the north, Schlachtschiffe of Battle Division 13 steam back down to rejoin their sisters in the battered Battle Division 9. To the south, Battle Division 18's Linienschiffe steam north to join their sisters in Battle Division 20. In the center, Battle Division 16 retreats having allowed Battle Division 18 to escape a brutal pounding. The British Home Fleet , on the other hand, has fallen into complete disarray. There is no sign of a coordinated line of battle, and individual battleships turn and mill about aimlessly, firing at German ships as the opportunity presents itself. The exception to the British confusion is the division of large Dreadnought Armored Cruisers, which steam at a distance. They exchange some fire with Battle Division 16, but after receiving several 28cm and 15cm hits, the cruisers retreat. They are not, after all, armored to stand up to a proper capital ship in the line of battle. Behind them, the Anson-class dreadnoughts reform a line. Between the Inflexibles and the Ansons, Battle Division 16 takes several serious hits from large 14” shells. The six contaminated boilers on Schleswig-Holstein have been partly vented overboard and refilled with clean feed water, in a process called a blow down. This has reduced the salt concentration, allowing the boilers to be returned to service. As the main steam valves are opened, the three giant triple-expansion steam piston engines turn faster and faster. Not much spare feed water remains, but the ship is back at battle speed. In an amazing display of professional skill, the Hochseeflotte reforms into a line of battle, although it is not the same order they initially sortied in. The Schlachtschiffe and lighter Linienschiffe bombard the British dreadnoughts and cruisers. To the south, at the tail end of the reformed line, Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein assail the older British battleships with heavy and medium Krupp cannons, preventing them from establishing a coordinated force. An 11” shell from a Camperdown-class ship smashes into a thin portion of Schleswig-Holstein's belt armor, wrecking auxiliary ventilation machinery. The German ship has found the range, however, and is rewarded with a string of shell hits from both the main and secondary battery. With the large cruisers having moved to the disengaged side of the dreadnoughts to take cover, the three Ansons face the full firepower of four Hohenzollerns and four Bierhalles. At this range, the shells are not likely to penetrate the belt armor, but the upperworks are wrecked and several gun turrets are disabled. Several hits on the thinner extended portion of the armor belt do, however, smash through into the hull of the ship. To the south, a series of 11” and 7.5” projectiles strike home on the Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein. The acrid odor of burnt flesh corrupts the air, already overwhelmed with coal and cordite fumes. Konteradmiral Otto de Kepnig leans in to the voice tube to issue an order, but catches a welcome sight out of the corner of his eye: Linienschiffe of Battle Division 18 have joined his formation to offer a strong front to the enemy. The old British battleships turn and flee from the massive weight of fire. Schleswig-Holstein fires another full broadside: four 30.5cm guns and 8 15cm guns spit fire and fury at the enemy. A spotter up in the spotting mast tracks the shells as they fly the 3.5km to the target, and notes the small flashes of hits on the hull, superstructure, and forward turret. Suddenly a huge column of flame shoots out of the hole in the face of the turret, then the entire front half of the ship is obscured by a flash of fire and smoke. The din of battle seems to quiet for a few moments. Ten seconds later, the deafening boom reaches the ship, rattling the bones of every crewman not sheltered deep inside. As the smoke clears, the stern of the ship is still visible, sliding beneath the waves, a painted nameplate marking the grave of HMS Revenge. Despite the shocking loss of an entire battleship, the Home Fleet has no choice but to continue the action. A 7.5” shell slams into the after fire control room on the Schleswig-Holstein. Although it fails to detonate, the wind from its supersonic passage wrecks the rangefinder and the spall from the penetration reduces the crewmen manning the station to corpses. There is no time to mourn their deaths as the battle rages on. The Gunnery Officer on SMS Kaiser des Deutchen Reiches reports 50% of main battery ammunition has been expended, and he is far from alone in making that report. Low ammunition or not, the tide of battle is strongly in favor of the Hochseeflotte. Großadmiral Torturpitz orders the fleet to turn west and cut off the battleships to the south. Several threatening British destroyers force the Linienschiffe SMS Heligoland to break off, but the destroyers are driven back by heavy fire from SMS Karsch allowing the Schlachtschiffe to continue unimpeded. SMS Otto der Groß leads Battle Division 18 in to close combat with the scattered battleships of the Home Fleet, targeting a second-class battleship of the Ariadne class. It soon circles out of control and burning heavily. Other battleships retreat in disorder, every ship hoping the stragglers will slow down the advancing German fleet. SMS Heligoland, en echelon to the north of the Schlachtschiffe, quakes as a 14” shell drills through her armored hide. It explodes inside the #1 generator room. The steam-powered dynamo is torn from its mounting and shell fragments pepper the electrical switchboards, shorting the electrical circuits together. In a green flash of burning copper, the switchboard explodes, and the electrical transient blows the main fuse on the #2 dynamo in the other generator room. Deep inside the steel beast, there is no sunlight for when the incandescent lights go out with a slight pop. The boiler rooms are lit with the bright orange glow of the coal fires, but the engine rooms and magazines and gun houses are darker than a starless night with a new moon. The Kapitan orders a flag hoisted to signal that his ship is out of control. Turning back from her assault on a British destroyer, SMS Karsch sees the flag and rushes to cover the crippled ship. The Hochseeflotte pursues the broken Home Fleet, half of the Hohenzollerns teaming up with half of the Wapen von Hamburgs to crush the older British battleships. The other Hohenzollerns coordinate their fire with the Bierhalles to drive off the Inflexibles and pummel the Ansons. A lucky 30.5cm shell penetrates the steering room of HMS Anson herself, the hydraulic mechanism jamming the rudder hard over and sending the ship into a crazed circle. Großadmiral Torturpitz clearly sees his moment of triumph. He cries out “Das ist der Höhepunkt, die dicke Frau singt!” (This is the climax, the fat lady sings!) As the order is sent for all ships to attack, reports start to arrive of ammunition running as low as 20% in some ships. SMS Balmung looses a torpedo into the second-class battleship HMS Drake, but expends the last of her 24cm ammunition. Her main gun crews request permission and abandon the turrets to carry ammunition for the secondary battery. Battle Division Division 18 steams in close to HMS Anson. SMS Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein pass within a thousand meters of the stricken dreadnought, pounding it with a fusillade of 30.5cm and 15cm projectiles. Anson defiantly returns fire with 5” shells, but her main armament remains mute. Konteradmiral Otto de Kepnig orders his division around for a second pass, roaring that he wants to be close enough to shoot them with his hunting Mauser. SMS Balmung, main ammunition exhausted, passes within 500 meters to fire yet another torpedo at HMS Redoubtable. The deadly little fish erupts against the side of the Dreadnought, pushing hundreds of tons of unwelcome ocean into the ship. The German ships smell blood in the water and circle the trapped warship while the remains of the Home Fleet retreats in general disarray.
Part 2 is done, yet more exceptional writing! I think that I will need to post the amazing RP content on the RtW2 forum so that more people can appreciate this. It's that good. Off to part 3...
This was an awesome episode! I love how Tortuga is really really smart with his tactics and strategies as well as the adeptness with which he played this battle. Can't wait for the next one!
Seems we struck a might blow the British Navy, they certainly won't be recovering from this battle for a long time, someone in the British High Comand is going to get punished for this defeat. I'm sure the Kaiser is very proud of your service in fact he might be so proud he might generous enough to gift you your own castle or a manor. Keep up the good work and bring glory to the German Empire.
Thanks, these are the battles I watch your channel for. Love the way armor works now, and it will be interesting to see your fleet communications improve.
To say the truth, I won't be surprised when the final outcome of this battle will be British towel thrown on the ring since they already lost many heavy ships and plenty others (including practically all Ansons) were damaged when so far, on the Hohseeflotte side no ship was sunk and couple got damaged, but I believe the bulk of the fleet will be very soon operational again. And if those two yolo Ansons will be sunk as well when Germans won't lose any then this will be a pretty heavy moral blow for the Royal Navy morale (assuming this game even consider such factor). On the side note, I think that yolo raid of S60 might contribute into initial chaos within RN line and the fact that she got away facing alone practically core of the Home Fleet is absolutely amazing... considering the fact that destroyers of that time were practically one hit KO for anything over 100mm. And last but not least... RtW2 is one of those rare games of this day where you actually CAN show your broadside to the enemy ship... and maybe I'm wrong but more I look at those battles more I think that battles here are presented at a very realistic level, and even S60 case can be explained when taking under consideration fact of her high speed and very low profile in comparison even to CLs not to mention battleships and don't forget that she maneuvered between RN ships so they do have difficult time to target her without risk of hitting friendly ship which played on S60 favor.
I agree with all that you wrote. We certainly have the British against the ropes unless something goes horribly wrong in the final bit. I think the S60 was very lucky but believable, as in a DD could have gotten similarly lucky in her shoes (the main DD, I think "Johnson" or was that the Captain's name, from the Battle of Samar comes to mind). So yes, RtW2 is properly great!
The battle goes well, both for my ship and the rest of the Kriegsmarine! We have scored several more hits upon the enemy, including upon one of their upgunned Inflexible cruisers, taking little fire in return. Indeed, it appears that most hits upon us were deflected by our superior Krupp steel armour. I even found time to enjoy a meal of weinerschnitzel just after what sounded like one of their battleships exploding like a champagne bottle under pressure. We are currently heading south to take a bite out of a major portion of the British fleet, and have expended over half our ammunition warding off reinforcements. Ludwig just reported terrible news to me at Bier O'clock! One of their Ansom dreadnoughts is steaming towards the Heligoland, our comrade Bierhalle who took a nasty hit earlier and is attempting to withdraw! I may be a drinker and not a fighter, but this will not stand! We will assist our drinking buddy and sink this ship as a world first!
Really enjoying this series and I'm loving this multi-episode battle. I've watched your RTW stuff off and on for a little while but just submitted a name for the first time. Here's hoping if/when she gets made that she doesn't let you down. o7
I like the big battles the best. I'd take a five parter over a bunch of upgrade/foreign stations/cruiser battles type videos. The one in your U.S. series where you fought Japan to annihilation with monster battleships was your best I've seen in your RTW series.
In my case it's a matter of waiting to long to do it... but Tortuga is probably holding down the Shift Key and left clicking in the direction on the map he wants his ships to move. There may be some kind of Hotkey but I'm not aware of it offhand.
The british were doing ok losing only a couple very obsolete battleships until they suddenly dove right into your formation with two of their best ships.
@@TortugaPower Checked it out a few minutes ago, 250 ships, I believe. Still, as I saw how many ships from the British alone were cruising over the map I was just baffled, haha :D
Letter From Midshipman Charb to Freida Charb: Mother oh mother I only have little time to write. We are in battle and I must write a quick letter in case of my immediate demise. I am fearful for our beloved Freidrich. The ship he was commanding, the S60 was sent valiantly to harass the English Battleships. The madman cut through their lines and released volleys of torpedoes and for sure caused the demise of the entire English Armada. Oh god though mother, when our ship passed by his after he retreated, you should have seen it. holes the size of our automobile were implanted in it. It was all but a burning wreak and I am afraid he might have died. I looked desperately for him but his ship was too far away to see anything. He was the reason I joined the navy to be like him leading a German warship. Father was even proud of him when he joined seeing him take up the skills that he once possessed as a captain. Now to see that he might die. Mother remember when father said how the Prussians burned down his family house in Alsace-Lorraine when he was a child. How he described the fire all around him. Well i too see that now as ships are being beaten to a pulp on both sides. There is debris in the war and sometimes a body. I can all but vividly remember a glorious German afloat off the port side of our ship. There was a sickening shade of maroon coming from a vast gaping hole in his stomach where his entrails once existed. Oh mother our ship has been hit by multiple shells and I am fearful of my life. I have lied and said that I have gone to the bathroom as I write this letter. I am such a coward, my brother has risked his life and my country needs me. Mother I must go, please tell all of my younger brothers and sisters me and Freidrich love them. You dearest, Pie
Your battles sessions are so long because you´re engaging into very invested micromanaging which is a perfectly fine playstyle but in the end can be stressful, time consuming, and some would argue that it isn´t very realistic in sense of what is possible for a fleet commander and some would further claim it is cheesing the already troubled AI even more. Alot of your viewers seem to enjoy your thorough managing but to be honest I personally never could play a RTW campaign this way due to time constrains and workload fatigue. Alternatively (and luckily for me because I otherwise wouldn´t play it) RTW offers the ability to automate alot of the formation and duties like escort screens, allowing you to focus on moving of the bigger battle elements and still being invested into important tactic considerations but without million clicks and hours of time investment. Sure you won´t get the same perfect results as you do with this micromanaging. Like I said this is a perfect way to play RTW as nobody should judge on what playstyle one prefers but if the time investment bothers you its worth a try. I had probably spent 1/5 of your 120 minutes on this battle.
Great point. I really don't like the captain's mode management, but I also hate when the AI does stuff that I know I could do better. Real battles were full of the same "what is he doing?!" moments, but it's hard to allow it when I know there's an option to control them myself. What's more, it's stupid but there is some pressure in publishing these to make them great quality. If I end up losing a battle, I have the negative of sifting through 50% Captain Hindsight comments. I appreciate the constructive criticism, but it's easier on me not to feed the critics to begin with =)
@@TortugaPower its absolutely not stupid and I can see your point. I know a gaming youtuber personally and he is a confident guy with integrity and we talked about the same issue. Every time he uploaded his gameplay with suboptimal outcomes, mistakes, defeats it was inevitable that Captain Hindsights would flock his comments en masse in order to explain him what he could´ve done better regarding every single (split-second) decision. He helped himself with shadow-blocking the worst ones and not "feeding" others but still if one is not happy with a radical no-read or no-comment policy and is interested in the good & constructive comments there is no way to escape sifting the Cpt. Hindsight ones ;-) But what really bothered him was the fact that he ended up spewing-out classics like "omg I am so bad at this" because he didn´t manage his 100th heroic victory in a row, spent hours with live self-criticism about his videogaming habits, and started to waste considerable time with cutting suboptimal outcomes out, or even secretely reloaded / save-scummed games in order to display perfect results and to avoid criticism, hurting his own game experience to a point it wasn´t fun anymore. He told me that this is a common practice, especially among the prominent gaming youtubers to do stuff like this (and even going further... into fake territory) in order to create these super-success "wow!" stories and click magnets which then probably even further interacts with viewer´s expectations and causes a vicious circle. In the end he stopped with this madness and just uploaded natural content full with mistakes and fails and playing games the way he enjoys. While it indeed impacted his view and sub count he noticed that it was exactly the passive-aggressive and Cpt. Hindsight users that became more and more absent, probably barraging an another channel now.
Thankfully, I haven't experienced the feedback to those levels (probably because my channel is rather small and I mostly play very niche games that usually only mature folk are interested in), but I very much sympathize with your friend. I'm not at all surprised to learn about the negative effects it can have on people.
![[RARE BATTLE FOOTAGE] WW1 Battleships [1914 - 1918] In Color 60 FPS WW1 HD](/img/n.gif)
Midshipman Jenkins was thrilled. Just 18 months ago he had left his school, Stoneyhurst Collage in Lancashire and joined His Majesty's Royal Navy. A year was spent at Dartmouth collage learning the key points of seamanship and the glorious traditions of the Royal Navy, then his first posting to the cruiser HMS Cumberland. From now on training would be very much on the job, but the Cumberland was a fine vessel, with a fine crew under the command of Captain Ward, a commander who was respected through out the senior service.
With in weeks of joining the ship war was declared on Germany and he was eager to play his small part in the next heroic chapter of the Navy. However the weeks rolled by with very little in the way of excitement. The Cumberland patrolled the home waters with out a sniff of the Hun. The only break in the daily drudge of patrol work was on the rare occassion they stopped a 'suspicious' foreign merchant vessel. There had been talk of Q-ships and armed merchant raiders, but all the had really encountered was a Belgium coaster and a Danish Tramp steamer.
Then the news of the Battle of Lyme Bay reached the Cumberland. At the time of the engagement the Cumberland was patroling off Dogger Bank, but he knew that if Ward and the Cumberland had been closer they would have made the difference...
Then a week later he noticed a change to life onboard the cruiser. Captain Ward was spending more time in conference with senior officers, drills and training in everything from gunnery to damage control increased greatly in number, duration and intencity, and the Cumberland was heading North up the east coast in the company of serveral other ships. Something big was on.
When at last they reached their destination off the Firth of Forth he knew for sure something very big indeed was a foot. Warships filled the seas as far as the eye could see. Everything from the tiny sleek torpedo boat destroyers to the vast majestic hulls of the latest dreadnaughts was there, perhaps the entire Royal Navy, the white ensign flying at every masthead. Talk amongst the crew was full of phrases such as "remember the Hereford", "revenge for Lyme Bay" and "kicking the Kaisers arse". One wag was even painting slogans like "shove this up yer Kaiser" and "A gift for Torturpitz" on the torpedos in the armory. Talk was of the greatest navel battle in history was ahead, and he, Midshipman Johnny Jenkins would not only witness it, but be a part of it....
The fleet sailed enmass on the morning of November 2nd. After a few hours of shuffling to get the vast armada into formation, the fleet headed south east across the North Sea, destination... Germany. Jenkins was off duty and dozing in his bunk the next morning when at about 08:00 he was stired by bells and bugles sounding gerneral quarters. He had never dressed so fast in his life, and by 08:04 he reported to the bridge and stood back awaiting orders.
Captain Ward addressed his officers, "About ten minutes ago our scouting forces engaged the enemy scouting force, battle is inevitable, I will not wish you luck, as I know everyone of you will do your duty for the ship, for the fleet, for the service, for the King and for the nation. However I think we have time for tea, Jenkins, do the honours."
He saluted and reboiled the urn, the took a tray around the bridge crew, tea all round with extra sugar for 'Taffy' Tarr, the helmsman. He sipped his cup slowly and watched the clock on the wall tick the minutes by in what seamed like an absolute age. All the time watch with nervous unease at the growing pall of smoke on the horizon and hearing the rumble of gun fire as the scouts clashed, but a glance outside at the might of the navy around him and his fears were eased
He couldn't remember exactly were things had started to go wrong, but from the Cumberland position on the Western flank and the stream of incoming reports he had watched it all unfold. The battle lines had met and the great guns had barked out, at first nothing seamed to happening apart from the great plumes of water showing fall of shot from both sides. Reports of a Britsh destroyer sinking had arrived but on the bridge all was calm and the Cumberland was away from the thick of it. The a look out reported a lone German destroyer breaking out of the enemy lines and speeding into heart of the British formation, firing torpedos as she dodged a hellish barrarge of fire. As he watched that part of the fleets battle line fell apart as the battleships tried to avoid the destroyers crazed attack.
As if inspied by the destroyers heroics the rest of the German fleets turned up their line... and broke it. In a few minutes the orderly British fleet was in chaos. He saw one battleship, pounded by German guns slow down to be engulfed by the enemy fleet and blasted to a burning wreck. A shortwhile later a deafing report filled the air as HMS Collingwwod exploded... By noon the Britsh fleet was in complete disaray, the German line had divided into three or four divisions, each one cutting deeply into the Britsh fleet, isolating the British battleships either alone or in small groups, blasting them to the point of sinking then moving on leaving the following German cruisers to apply the coup de grace.
The rest of the British fleet was running, they were heading west. Signals were confussed and it appeared the pride of the empire was being routed by the Hun. The Cumberland had avoided most of the fighting so far, but it looked like it was far to late for the British cruisers to turn the tide. Jenkins looked at Captain Ward. His commanders face was calm, but his eyes flashed with anger and sorrow as reluctently gave the order to turn away. War was hell, a lesson Jenkins was learning fast....
Excellent man! Perfectly written.
This is amazing. Please keep it up!
You don't want battles of this length in the future?
But... Tortuga... I watch you exclusively FOR the battles! Your commentary and control over your fleet is great and very engaging!
I agree I also like the long battles
wot he said...
That's really good to hear. Thank you for the compliments as well.
Still, I'm trying to imagine how we'll make it to 1950 if I have battles like this every war.
I would like rear admiral battles since min-maxing everything seems a bit like... cheating maybe?
@@TortugaPower I am watch one guy play roller coaster tycoon, from beginning to end, with all the missions. He's only been at it five years!!
This battle is proof that the British can't keep up with Kriegsmarine. Great fleet management Tortuga, lots of stressful moments and decisions making for a great episode!
Extremely stressful! The proverbial fat lady hasn't sung yet, but I am starting to breathe normally again.
Am I hearing Sabaton in the distance?
Kaiserlich Marine btw, not the Kriegsmarine
Damn, thanks for the mention! Since the battle isn't over yet, I decided not to carry on with the personal logs on this video (Since I'm pretty sure everyone would still be banging their heads against the Brits), but I'll try adding another Lore news article from the past. Thanks for the splendid video, keep those tea pots deep below the water!
God save the Kaiser!
Well deserved! And never feel pressure to post. I have a hard enough time keeping up =P
There's just something beautiful about a really long line of warships.
I completely agree.
Admiral Tortuga is truly a man ahead of its time, predicting the global warming 100 years in advance the great admiral convinced the british to lend their best battleships to serve as artificial reefs on the bottom of the ocean.
His important contribution helped avoid the great coral mass death, tought it did cause the great british mass death. Oh well, c'est la vite i suppose
We all must do our part, and I'm just happy to be at the forefront of this environmental initiative.
MFW TortugaPower refers to a large-scale fleet battle as an excursion. O.o
The fleet battle is going wildly in your favor. I hope you don't disengage too late.
You can't control how long large-scale fleet engagements last. We've all seen them last hours, especially when this many ships are involved. Please don't diminish the videos. Your coordination and command are what single you out in the RTW community.
Thank you very much! It's great to get the reassurance that people are interested to watch even a three-part battle. (Selfishly I have to admit in all honesty that they are draining to deal with, all the stress...)
Oh, man. What a conundrum. I didn't realize they drained you that much. Hopefully 3 part megabattles will be few and far between.
20:17
"She has much less armor. I mean, if the Camperdown have 8 inches of DECK that is really not a lot...hehe"
Wow, Tortuga is a size queen confirmed
3 NOV 1908, 1054
The German Hochseeflotte has by this time divided itself into individual battle divisions, each under the command of a Vizeadmiral, Konteradmiral, or Kommodore, and all steam back to the center where the battle rages. In the north, Schlachtschiffe of Battle Division 13 steam back down to rejoin their sisters in the battered Battle Division 9. To the south, Battle Division 18's Linienschiffe steam north to join their sisters in Battle Division 20. In the center, Battle Division 16 retreats having allowed Battle Division 18 to escape a brutal pounding. The British Home Fleet , on the other hand, has fallen into complete disarray. There is no sign of a coordinated line of battle, and individual battleships turn and mill about aimlessly, firing at German ships as the opportunity presents itself.
The exception to the British confusion is the division of large Dreadnought Armored Cruisers, which steam at a distance. They exchange some fire with Battle Division 16, but after receiving several 28cm and 15cm hits, the cruisers retreat. They are not, after all, armored to stand up to a proper capital ship in the line of battle. Behind them, the Anson-class dreadnoughts reform a line. Between the Inflexibles and the Ansons, Battle Division 16 takes several serious hits from large 14” shells.
The six contaminated boilers on Schleswig-Holstein have been partly vented overboard and refilled with clean feed water, in a process called a blow down. This has reduced the salt concentration, allowing the boilers to be returned to service. As the main steam valves are opened, the three giant triple-expansion steam piston engines turn faster and faster. Not much spare feed water remains, but the ship is back at battle speed.
In an amazing display of professional skill, the Hochseeflotte reforms into a line of battle, although it is not the same order they initially sortied in. The Schlachtschiffe and lighter Linienschiffe bombard the British dreadnoughts and cruisers. To the south, at the tail end of the reformed line, Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein assail the older British battleships with heavy and medium Krupp cannons, preventing them from establishing a coordinated force. An 11” shell from a Camperdown-class ship smashes into a thin portion of Schleswig-Holstein's belt armor, wrecking auxiliary ventilation machinery. The German ship has found the range, however, and is rewarded with a string of shell hits from both the main and secondary battery.
With the large cruisers having moved to the disengaged side of the dreadnoughts to take cover, the three Ansons face the full firepower of four Hohenzollerns and four Bierhalles. At this range, the shells are not likely to penetrate the belt armor, but the upperworks are wrecked and several gun turrets are disabled. Several hits on the thinner extended portion of the armor belt do, however, smash through into the hull of the ship.
To the south, a series of 11” and 7.5” projectiles strike home on the Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein. The acrid odor of burnt flesh corrupts the air, already overwhelmed with coal and cordite fumes. Konteradmiral Otto de Kepnig leans in to the voice tube to issue an order, but catches a welcome sight out of the corner of his eye: Linienschiffe of Battle Division 18 have joined his formation to offer a strong front to the enemy. The old British battleships turn and flee from the massive weight of fire.
Schleswig-Holstein fires another full broadside: four 30.5cm guns and 8 15cm guns spit fire and fury at the enemy. A spotter up in the spotting mast tracks the shells as they fly the 3.5km to the target, and notes the small flashes of hits on the hull, superstructure, and forward turret. Suddenly a huge column of flame shoots out of the hole in the face of the turret, then the entire front half of the ship is obscured by a flash of fire and smoke. The din of battle seems to quiet for a few moments. Ten seconds later, the deafening boom reaches the ship, rattling the bones of every crewman not sheltered deep inside. As the smoke clears, the stern of the ship is still visible, sliding beneath the waves, a painted nameplate marking the grave of HMS Revenge.
Despite the shocking loss of an entire battleship, the Home Fleet has no choice but to continue the action. A 7.5” shell slams into the after fire control room on the Schleswig-Holstein. Although it fails to detonate, the wind from its supersonic passage wrecks the rangefinder and the spall from the penetration reduces the crewmen manning the station to corpses. There is no time to mourn their deaths as the battle rages on. The Gunnery Officer on SMS Kaiser des Deutchen Reiches reports 50% of main battery ammunition has been expended, and he is far from alone in making that report.
Low ammunition or not, the tide of battle is strongly in favor of the Hochseeflotte. Großadmiral Torturpitz orders the fleet to turn west and cut off the battleships to the south. Several threatening British destroyers force the Linienschiffe SMS Heligoland to break off, but the destroyers are driven back by heavy fire from SMS Karsch allowing the Schlachtschiffe to continue unimpeded. SMS Otto der Groß leads Battle Division 18 in to close combat with the scattered battleships of the Home Fleet, targeting a second-class battleship of the Ariadne class. It soon circles out of control and burning heavily. Other battleships retreat in disorder, every ship hoping the stragglers will slow down the advancing German fleet.
SMS Heligoland, en echelon to the north of the Schlachtschiffe, quakes as a 14” shell drills through her armored hide. It explodes inside the #1 generator room. The steam-powered dynamo is torn from its mounting and shell fragments pepper the electrical switchboards, shorting the electrical circuits together. In a green flash of burning copper, the switchboard explodes, and the electrical transient blows the main fuse on the #2 dynamo in the other generator room. Deep inside the steel beast, there is no sunlight for when the incandescent lights go out with a slight pop. The boiler rooms are lit with the bright orange glow of the coal fires, but the engine rooms and magazines and gun houses are darker than a starless night with a new moon. The Kapitan orders a flag hoisted to signal that his ship is out of control. Turning back from her assault on a British destroyer, SMS Karsch sees the flag and rushes to cover the crippled ship.
The Hochseeflotte pursues the broken Home Fleet, half of the Hohenzollerns teaming up with half of the Wapen von Hamburgs to crush the older British battleships. The other Hohenzollerns coordinate their fire with the Bierhalles to drive off the Inflexibles and pummel the Ansons. A lucky 30.5cm shell penetrates the steering room of HMS Anson herself, the hydraulic mechanism jamming the rudder hard over and sending the ship into a crazed circle. Großadmiral Torturpitz clearly sees his moment of triumph. He cries out “Das ist der Höhepunkt, die dicke Frau singt!” (This is the climax, the fat lady sings!) As the order is sent for all ships to attack, reports start to arrive of ammunition running as low as 20% in some ships. SMS Balmung looses a torpedo into the second-class battleship HMS Drake, but expends the last of her 24cm ammunition. Her main gun crews request permission and abandon the turrets to carry ammunition for the secondary battery.
Battle Division Division 18 steams in close to HMS Anson. SMS Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein pass within a thousand meters of the stricken dreadnought, pounding it with a fusillade of 30.5cm and 15cm projectiles. Anson defiantly returns fire with 5” shells, but her main armament remains mute. Konteradmiral Otto de Kepnig orders his division around for a second pass, roaring that he wants to be close enough to shoot them with his hunting Mauser. SMS Balmung, main ammunition exhausted, passes within 500 meters to fire yet another torpedo at HMS Redoubtable. The deadly little fish erupts against the side of the Dreadnought, pushing hundreds of tons of unwelcome ocean into the ship. The German ships smell blood in the water and circle the trapped warship while the remains of the Home Fleet retreats in general disarray.
Part 2 is done, yet more exceptional writing! I think that I will need to post the amazing RP content on the RtW2 forum so that more people can appreciate this. It's that good.
Off to part 3...
great story but maybe some Spaces or alinea's to make it better to read? still well done writing it though.
This was an awesome episode!
I love how Tortuga is really really smart with his tactics and strategies as well as the adeptness with which he played this battle.
Can't wait for the next one!
Thank you for the compliment and the positive comment. We won't always be this lucky, but I'll take it in this one!
Seems we struck a might blow the British Navy, they certainly won't be recovering from this battle for a long time, someone in the British High Comand is going to get punished for this defeat.
I'm sure the Kaiser is very proud of your service in fact he might be so proud he might generous enough to gift you your own castle or a manor.
Keep up the good work and bring glory to the German Empire.
Do the CAs charge in to launch torpedoes yelling "The Kaiser protects!"?
"Sail me closer, I want to hit them with my sword!"
I already like the imagery, but tell me is this a reference to something that I'm not familiar with?
@@TortugaPower it's a Warhammer 40k joke.
Thanks, these are the battles I watch your channel for. Love the way armor works now, and it will be interesting to see your fleet communications improve.
Yeah, I'll be very happy to have a lot less signaling errors...
To say the truth, I won't be surprised when the final outcome of this battle will be British towel thrown on the ring since they already lost many heavy ships and plenty others (including practically all Ansons) were damaged when so far, on the Hohseeflotte side no ship was sunk and couple got damaged, but I believe the bulk of the fleet will be very soon operational again.
And if those two yolo Ansons will be sunk as well when Germans won't lose any then this will be a pretty heavy moral blow for the Royal Navy morale (assuming this game even consider such factor).
On the side note, I think that yolo raid of S60 might contribute into initial chaos within RN line and the fact that she got away facing alone practically core of the Home Fleet is absolutely amazing... considering the fact that destroyers of that time were practically one hit KO for anything over 100mm.
And last but not least... RtW2 is one of those rare games of this day where you actually CAN show your broadside to the enemy ship... and maybe I'm wrong but more I look at those battles more I think that battles here are presented at a very realistic level, and even S60 case can be explained when taking under consideration fact of her high speed and very low profile in comparison even to CLs not to mention battleships and don't forget that she maneuvered between RN ships so they do have difficult time to target her without risk of hitting friendly ship which played on S60 favor.
I agree with all that you wrote. We certainly have the British against the ropes unless something goes horribly wrong in the final bit. I think the S60 was very lucky but believable, as in a DD could have gotten similarly lucky in her shoes (the main DD, I think "Johnson" or was that the Captain's name, from the Battle of Samar comes to mind).
So yes, RtW2 is properly great!
"the AI in this game is extremely good"
goes near land once
Yes, they are not scripted to deal with land very well. I still think it's good work for a one-man dev team.
The battle goes well, both for my ship and the rest of the Kriegsmarine! We have scored several more hits upon the enemy, including upon one of their upgunned Inflexible cruisers, taking little fire in return. Indeed, it appears that most hits upon us were deflected by our superior Krupp steel armour. I even found time to enjoy a meal of weinerschnitzel just after what sounded like one of their battleships exploding like a champagne bottle under pressure. We are currently heading south to take a bite out of a major portion of the British fleet, and have expended over half our ammunition warding off reinforcements.
Ludwig just reported terrible news to me at Bier O'clock! One of their Ansom dreadnoughts is steaming towards the Heligoland, our comrade Bierhalle who took a nasty hit earlier and is attempting to withdraw! I may be a drinker and not a fighter, but this will not stand! We will assist our drinking buddy and sink this ship as a world first!
Great series. Loved watching the first rule the waves and the second one looks good as well.
Thank you! Yes the second one is very satisfying so far, and I have a feeling it will continue to improve.
Really enjoying this series and I'm loving this multi-episode battle. I've watched your RTW stuff off and on for a little while but just submitted a name for the first time. Here's hoping if/when she gets made that she doesn't let you down. o7
Thank you, Kadet! This will be a long series so I think we'll get most people in. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy!
I like the big battles the best. I'd take a five parter over a bunch of upgrade/foreign stations/cruiser battles type videos. The one in your U.S. series where you fought Japan to annihilation with monster battleships was your best I've seen in your RTW series.
Thanks, that's very good feedback for me! It seems like the consensus too, so bring on the big battles.
choreographing this battle is going to be a pain for film directors and book writers.
Do not attempt with real ships, collisions are not fun!
DD S60 is USS Johnston reincarnate
Except she didn't sink at the end of the battle!
TortugaPower
Give that captain an Knights Cross with oak leaves, sword and diamond and an Iron Cross to all the crew
Tip: always flank your enemy with destroyers (2 divisions or more) I had 12 destroyers of mine killed and got 3 BB sunk and 1 CA
Totally worth
Works well if you have DDs.
Is it just me, or did the AI direct the RN to fragment halfway through the battle?
We broke them! I mostly didn't understand the Anson's turning back east into us.
Play Sink the Bismarck.
But change the Bismarck with Anson!
Their fates, it seems, will be the same.
how do you change steering by just clicking the map?
In my case it's a matter of waiting to long to do it... but Tortuga is probably holding down the Shift Key and left clicking in the direction on the map he wants his ships to move. There may be some kind of Hotkey but I'm not aware of it offhand.
Yes, shift-click to change course of selected group
Any reason why my game unpauses as soon as I move one division while you can keep the game paused while setting up courses?
Are you control+clicking? Use shift-click instead.
The mighty German fleet in all its superiority crushes their adversary.
After the brutal efficiency here, we'd expect a huge victory in the war! ...
Say what did you need to do to submit a name?
Because I feel that a certain port city needs some representation.
Google form link in the video description.
Sound effect volume seems good :)
Good to know.
Why does it matter how long the battles are? arent they part of the fun?
Just a moment of self-doubt, although I can say the battles are sure as hell stressful for me =P
The british were doing ok losing only a couple very obsolete battleships until they suddenly dove right into your formation with two of their best ships.
I found that a bit odd as well. It felt like the AI broke for a moment, or at least I can't figure out what their objective there was.
@@TortugaPower I think that first one did lose its rudder. It immediately circled around out of control right into your lines.
Tortuga ASMR 49:56
Haha, better than the Tortuga's family interruptions.
PLease name youre next Drednoughtclass Freiburg-class.
Nice viedeo
Make sure to submit your name using the link in the video description!
I had gotten a British magazine blown up.
British are great for flash fires.
@@TortugaPower exactly no wonder jutland exposed British weakness
That has to be the biggest naval battle mankind will ever witness. Jesus Christ... :D
I think this one is smaller than historic Jutland! (edit; also hard to compare with the Age of Sail, but Trafalgar was over 20 capital ships each)
@@TortugaPower
Checked it out a few minutes ago, 250 ships, I believe.
Still, as I saw how many ships from the British alone were cruising over the map I was just baffled, haha :D
Letter From Midshipman Charb to Freida Charb:
Mother oh mother I only have little time to write. We are in battle and I must write a quick letter in case of my immediate demise. I am fearful for our beloved Freidrich. The ship he was commanding, the S60 was sent valiantly to harass the English Battleships. The madman cut through their lines and released volleys of torpedoes and for sure caused the demise of the entire English Armada. Oh god though mother, when our ship passed by his after he retreated, you should have seen it. holes the size of our automobile were implanted in it. It was all but a burning wreak and I am afraid he might have died. I looked desperately for him but his ship was too far away to see anything. He was the reason I joined the navy to be like him leading a German warship. Father was even proud of him when he joined seeing him take up the skills that he once possessed as a captain. Now to see that he might die. Mother remember when father said how the Prussians burned down his family house in Alsace-Lorraine when he was a child. How he described the fire all around him. Well i too see that now as ships are being beaten to a pulp on both sides. There is debris in the war and sometimes a body. I can all but vividly remember a glorious German afloat off the port side of our ship. There was a sickening shade of maroon coming from a vast gaping hole in his stomach where his entrails once existed. Oh mother our ship has been hit by multiple shells and I am fearful of my life. I have lied and said that I have gone to the bathroom as I write this letter. I am such a coward, my brother has risked his life and my country needs me. Mother I must go, please tell all of my younger brothers and sisters me and Freidrich love them.
You dearest,
Pie
War and realistic description thereof is not for the faint of heart.
Your battles sessions are so long because you´re engaging into very invested micromanaging which is a perfectly fine playstyle but in the end can be stressful, time consuming, and some would argue that it isn´t very realistic in sense of what is possible for a fleet commander and some would further claim it is cheesing the already troubled AI even more. Alot of your viewers seem to enjoy your thorough managing but to be honest I personally never could play a RTW campaign this way due to time constrains and workload fatigue. Alternatively (and luckily for me because I otherwise wouldn´t play it) RTW offers the ability to automate alot of the formation and duties like escort screens, allowing you to focus on moving of the bigger battle elements and still being invested into important tactic considerations but without million clicks and hours of time investment. Sure you won´t get the same perfect results as you do with this micromanaging. Like I said this is a perfect way to play RTW as nobody should judge on what playstyle one prefers but if the time investment bothers you its worth a try. I had probably spent 1/5 of your 120 minutes on this battle.
Great point. I really don't like the captain's mode management, but I also hate when the AI does stuff that I know I could do better. Real battles were full of the same "what is he doing?!" moments, but it's hard to allow it when I know there's an option to control them myself.
What's more, it's stupid but there is some pressure in publishing these to make them great quality. If I end up losing a battle, I have the negative of sifting through 50% Captain Hindsight comments. I appreciate the constructive criticism, but it's easier on me not to feed the critics to begin with =)
@@TortugaPower its absolutely not stupid and I can see your point. I know a gaming youtuber personally and he is a confident guy with integrity and we talked about the same issue. Every time he uploaded his gameplay with suboptimal outcomes, mistakes, defeats it was inevitable that Captain Hindsights would flock his comments en masse in order to explain him what he could´ve done better regarding every single (split-second) decision. He helped himself with shadow-blocking the worst ones and not "feeding" others but still if one is not happy with a radical no-read or no-comment policy and is interested in the good & constructive comments there is no way to escape sifting the Cpt. Hindsight ones ;-) But what really bothered him was the fact that he ended up spewing-out classics like "omg I am so bad at this" because he didn´t manage his 100th heroic victory in a row, spent hours with live self-criticism about his videogaming habits, and started to waste considerable time with cutting suboptimal outcomes out, or even secretely reloaded / save-scummed games in order to display perfect results and to avoid criticism, hurting his own game experience to a point it wasn´t fun anymore. He told me that this is a common practice, especially among the prominent gaming youtubers to do stuff like this (and even going further... into fake territory) in order to create these super-success "wow!" stories and click magnets which then probably even further interacts with viewer´s expectations and causes a vicious circle. In the end he stopped with this madness and just uploaded natural content full with mistakes and fails and playing games the way he enjoys. While it indeed impacted his view and sub count he noticed that it was exactly the passive-aggressive and Cpt. Hindsight users that became more and more absent, probably barraging an another channel now.
Thankfully, I haven't experienced the feedback to those levels (probably because my channel is rather small and I mostly play very niche games that usually only mature folk are interested in), but I very much sympathize with your friend. I'm not at all surprised to learn about the negative effects it can have on people.