The Dumbest Russian Voyage Nobody Talks About - Blue Jay Reaction

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  • Опубліковано 28 лис 2022
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 905

  • @navajoguy8102
    @navajoguy8102 Рік тому +1797

    My favorite quote about the Second Pacific Squadron was a Russian officer's initial assessment of their combat readiness and said "half these men know nothing, and the other half have forgotten everything".

    • @bthsr7113
      @bthsr7113 Рік тому +156

      And in the event they remembered anything, it was usually the wrong thing.

    • @cdcdrr
      @cdcdrr Рік тому +68

      If I had to sum them up, I'd probably go with "Half of them don't speak Russian very well. The other half are minorities."

    • @Autechltd
      @Autechltd Рік тому +31

      My favourite part was when a crewman got drunk and went Davey Jones going around asking people
      "Do you fear death" 0.o

    • @bthsr7113
      @bthsr7113 Рік тому +16

      @@Autechltd It was a fair question for that voyage, even if that crewman's reasoning wasn't sound.

    • @Sodapop-rd5ku
      @Sodapop-rd5ku Рік тому +26

      *Looks at USSR navy*
      *Looks at Russian navy*
      Ya that aged like frozen water
      Stuck in time

  • @yochitoranaga
    @yochitoranaga Рік тому +1165

    It is an injustice that this story never got a dark comedy movie made out of it.

    • @StevelyBruckShut
      @StevelyBruckShut Рік тому +161

      Yeah I got very heavy Death of Stalin vibes from hearing this story

    • @Yuzral
      @Yuzral Рік тому +105

      The problem with that idea is that movies have to be plausible. Real life does not.

    • @erikrungemadsen2081
      @erikrungemadsen2081 Рік тому +51

      @@StevelyBruckShut that or the Monty Python crew.

    • @prestonjones1653
      @prestonjones1653 Рік тому +72

      @@Yuzral
      I remember watching a heist movie based on an incredibly stupid real event. Half way through the movie they had to throw up a title card that said "Yes, this is still a true story."
      Can't remember what the movie was though. Pretty sure it had the Rock in it.

    • @andriandrason1318
      @andriandrason1318 Рік тому +32

      @@prestonjones1653 Pain & Gain.

  • @joshportal2808
    @joshportal2808 Рік тому +979

    What Blue Jay forgets to mention is that somehow most of the animals from Madagascar survived the battle with Japan. Some were taken as war trophies and some were actually sent back to Russia. The cursing parrot actually died it first year in Russia and it’s body is still in the Japan Ruso war museum in Moscow.

    • @erikrungemadsen2081
      @erikrungemadsen2081 Рік тому +109

      The parrot was taken from us to soon!

    • @TheShadowwarrior80
      @TheShadowwarrior80 Рік тому +103

      So, the vodka drinking snake survived! What is it with drinking Vodka making you immune to death?

    • @joshportal2808
      @joshportal2808 Рік тому +183

      @@TheShadowwarrior80 The Snake went from drinking Vodka to Sake. The snake was never sent back to Russia but stayed in Japan. It lived in Japan for another 12 years before dying from old age. It was actually listed as one of the many captured soldiers during the war. It’s body is in the Tokyo Japan-Russo war museum. It lived in the capital as one of the emperor’s many pets.

    • @littlekuribohimposte
      @littlekuribohimposte Рік тому +69

      @@joshportal2808 So it wasn't picky about getting plastered.

    • @prestonjones1653
      @prestonjones1653 Рік тому +30

      @@joshportal2808
      Much like the snake, I too went from vodka to sake

  • @ImperialGeneral
    @ImperialGeneral Рік тому +715

    Two massive historical achievements were made at the Battle of Tsushima: The Japanese won possibly the greatest naval victory in-between Trafalgar and Midway, and the Russian Baltic Fleet actually managed to make it all the way to Tsushima.

    • @xuanquang9815
      @xuanquang9815 Рік тому +89

      And Aurora somehow managed to survive til this day

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +76

      @@xuanquang9815 Which is a small wonder seeing all the rest of the fleet kept shooting at it.

    • @toawing
      @toawing Рік тому +38

      For what its worth the Vice admiral had realised just how poor this fleet was (before leaving Russia) and how poor the gunnery was.
      By tsushima he had managed to improve their gunnery somewhat and a few Japanese ships were damaged to the point of complete combat ineffectiveness.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +38

      @@toawing Yes that was no small feat and he was the only one beside a handful that had any idea what they were doing.
      It was a lot like herding cats.

    • @Exodon2020
      @Exodon2020 11 місяців тому +1

      @@toawing And all while they received so little ammo that were wasn't really much to spare for target practice.

  • @ryanstefan9378
    @ryanstefan9378 Рік тому +197

    His reaction to the parrot saying the Russian “curse words” almost killed me 🤣🤣🤣

  • @KibuFox
    @KibuFox Рік тому +53

    There's a legend that when the Admiral was in hospital after his capture (he had been injured), he reportedly was told the list of ships sunk. When they came to the name of the Kamchatka... which had been a thorn in his side from the start, he reportedly breathed a sigh of relief and said "Thank God!"

    • @Matticitt
      @Matticitt 4 місяці тому +9

      A fleet so bad even the admiral is glad it's sunk.

  • @FNT86
    @FNT86 Рік тому +278

    I'm Russian, lived back home for quite a long time and nothing in here surprises me even a bit. This is exactly why everything is going the way it is since 2/24. I know this is not the place to comment on current events, just seems fitting.
    P.S. The parrot screams "The enemies are approaching from the East!". Interesting choice there.

    • @polarpunk8861
      @polarpunk8861 Рік тому +20

      Nice thanks for the translation man! Nbd about the current events we know Russia is not with Putin.

    • @sickly300salt3
      @sickly300salt3 Рік тому +16

      I think it's just a voice line stolen from Call Of Duty

    • @biteme9486
      @biteme9486 Рік тому +7

      I just hope you don't get conscripted

    • @FNT86
      @FNT86 Рік тому +18

      @@biteme9486 no worries, left that blessed space some time ago :)

    • @elonmuch491
      @elonmuch491 Рік тому +9

      I know I’m late as fuck, but I hope you’re doing well. I know quite a few Russians (I live in Germany), and they all basically tell the same story. I hope though that things get better for you guys soon!

  • @MrAagaard
    @MrAagaard Рік тому +416

    one story about Admiral Rozhestvensky (who supposedly was a fairly competent naval officer) was that he kept certain of his battleships the closest to him in formation, not only to keep an eye on them, but also to hurl abuse at their commanders. he also supposedly gave several of the ships in the fleet less than savory nicknames

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +48

      That ship would be the Kamchatka!

    • @nukclear2741
      @nukclear2741 Рік тому +40

      @@Isolder74 the Kamchatka herself wasn't mentioned in the comment directly.
      She was just one of the ships that got a name.
      But is by far the most infamous one.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +43

      @@nukclear2741 The Kamchatka got the special case of spending most of the voyage in that position. It just never showed any sign of improvement.

    • @GaldirEonai
      @GaldirEonai Рік тому +26

      The Kamchatka also wasn't a battleship, or any kind of combat vessel really. She was a repair ship, armed only with a few small guns for defense against...torpedo boats.

    • @nukclear2741
      @nukclear2741 Рік тому

      @@GaldirEonai I genuinely wish she was sunk by torpedo boats.
      But no, the Japanese cruisers had to ruin it.

  • @holdencross5904
    @holdencross5904 Рік тому +294

    Fun fact. My great great grandma WAS born in 1874 and DIED in 1979 before she turned 105! She lived through EVERYTHING you mentioned. She lived a long life experiencing many horrible yet fascinating events.

    • @prestonjones1653
      @prestonjones1653 Рік тому +35

      She took "May you live in interesting times" to the extreme.

    • @holdencross5904
      @holdencross5904 Рік тому +27

      @@prestonjones1653 yeah she really did and holy shit she lived a full life

    • @AllPileup
      @AllPileup Рік тому +13

      Born before telephone. Died after Men on Moon. Wow!

    • @mgtowstanleyzoltanov9808
      @mgtowstanleyzoltanov9808 Рік тому +1

      As a woman probably cared or involved in none

    • @FaithRox
      @FaithRox Рік тому +3

      I despise this perspective. Everything in the past was always bad and horrible and everything sucked.
      They'll be saying that about modern times in a hundred years and then again a hundred years after. We don't take note when people are happy and thriving, either today or back then. Your grandmother will have experienced overwhelming joy and happiness that hopefully we shall experience.

  • @stevenchoza6391
    @stevenchoza6391 Рік тому +372

    There’s one particular ship called the Kamchatka, that was a special hell for the admiral to deal with. It was the ship that was “attacked by eight torpedo boats,” which it also claimed happened several times later on in the journey and it also attacked a French, German, and Danish vessel, nearly starting a war with all three nations. It did not survive Tsushima.
    I highly recommend the videos on this expedition and ship by the UA-cam channel Drachinfel.

    • @mr.jancok4413
      @mr.jancok4413 Рік тому +85

      ah yes, Kamchatka, the most effective Japanese warship that never serve the Japanese

    • @stevenchoza6391
      @stevenchoza6391 Рік тому +7

      @@mr.jancok4413
      Indeed.

    • @duelgundam
      @duelgundam Рік тому +60

      In fact, the admiral's first response to hearing that the Kamchatka was sunken in the battle was, basically: "Oh, thank f*ing Christ."

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +33

      The Kamchatka was pretty much the cause of almost every instance of trouble caused in the whole voyage. They even cut the telegraph cable.

    • @alexwest2573
      @alexwest2573 Рік тому +13

      I’ve watched Drachinfel’s video on the second pacific squadron atleast 3 times it’s hilarious

  • @IkLms11
    @IkLms11 Рік тому +688

    Haven't watched yet but this video rocks. Drachinifel has a longer video on this one that is a bit more in depth and longer (about 42 minutes long) that's well worth the watch as well. It's called "The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron - The Voyage of the Damned". It's fantastic. He's also got some other great naval history videos as well

    • @yochitoranaga
      @yochitoranaga Рік тому +93

      I second that :D "Do you see torpedo boats?"- Kamshatka

    • @Hendricus56
      @Hendricus56 Рік тому +7

      If his videos wouldn't be so long (and uninteresting for most), I would say they would be great reaction material

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +16

      Watch out for torpedo boats!

    • @wesleywilkinson6629
      @wesleywilkinson6629 Рік тому +13

      Animarchy has one on the Aurora that covers this and is a little more interesting that Drachinifel
      Edit:
      Its on Aurora not Kamchatka oops

    • @Calimbandil87
      @Calimbandil87 Рік тому +11

      I second that. The story about the little ship that really, really couldn't.

  • @goldosprey
    @goldosprey Рік тому +85

    VTH: There is no way this is real
    Bluejay: Proceedes to explain how everything happened
    VTH:...*Facepalm* This explains so much about Tsushima

    • @painvillegaming4119
      @painvillegaming4119 Рік тому +9

      The only time I have ever seen Chris react like this was during the crusade

    • @Edax_Royeaux
      @Edax_Royeaux Рік тому +3

      Even if it had been the Royal Navy at Tsushima, they'd have been in a bad position to fight.

    • @ntfoperative9432
      @ntfoperative9432 2 місяці тому

      @@Edax_Royeauxat least the Royal Navy would have given the Japanese a run for their money

    • @Edax_Royeaux
      @Edax_Royeaux 2 місяці тому

      @@ntfoperative9432 Maybe, maybe not, Jutland exposed the age old British problem of having a bunch of incompetent officers at the very top along with a endemic disregard for the safety features on their ships in order to fire their guns faster.

  • @7thsealord888
    @7thsealord888 Рік тому +95

    The voyage of the 2nd Pacific Squadron is one of those events where, if someone made even a semi-accurate movie or series or whatever about what happened, nobody would believe it. It literally was a slow motion disaster. That its commander actually got the fleet as far as he did makes him deserving of several medals.

    • @bthsr7113
      @bthsr7113 Рік тому +15

      Admiral consonant shit show was the best man for the job, and if he'd had better crews, fewer floating bullseyes, and no Kamchatka, he might have had a fair fight.

    • @7thsealord888
      @7thsealord888 Рік тому +11

      @@bthsr7113 Maybe, just maybe, if he had somehow got the Kamchatka and its crew to switch sides ....... :)

    • @bthsr7113
      @bthsr7113 Рік тому +9

      @@7thsealord888 Total victory for Russian fleet.

    • @michaeledmunds7056
      @michaeledmunds7056 Рік тому +10

      @@bthsr7113 sailors "We are sick of terrible treatment under Russia! We are defecting!"
      Admiral: "Oh, thank God..."

    • @leechowning8728
      @leechowning8728 Рік тому +3

      Seriously, if they made it into a movie, we would all be saying they made it up. They were so out-classed that history collectively said "let's just forget this whole thing, deal?".

  • @gkiferonhs
    @gkiferonhs Рік тому +279

    I had the good fortune to spend significant time with my grandfather. Born in the 1880's on a subsistence homestead in the Ozarks (if you are familiar with the book Shepherd of the Hills, he grew up with those people - we have pictures of my mother as a baby sitting on the laps of some of the characters from the book) he saw us go from plowing with mules to landing men on the moon. He thought it was all just wonderful and amazing!

  • @anonymousunknown4811
    @anonymousunknown4811 Рік тому +82

    The fact that they managed to inflict any casualties was already a miracle in enough itself

    • @prestonjones1653
      @prestonjones1653 Рік тому +16

      Simple, they believed they were firing on friendlies

    • @cpj93070
      @cpj93070 Рік тому +10

      There is a seriously possibility that this fleet never even in the battle scored a hit, remember, in the Battle of Tsushima there was two more Russian fleets partaking in the battle besides the Baltic one.

    • @ninjabearpress2574
      @ninjabearpress2574 Рік тому +8

      The Russians would've had better luck hauling their ships out of the water, putting them on wheels and rolling them across Siberia.

    • @Edax_Royeaux
      @Edax_Royeaux Рік тому +2

      The Japanese Flagship Mikasa was hit more than 40 times during the battle, including 10 twelve-inch and 22 six-inch shells.

  • @trentonebel9088
    @trentonebel9088 Рік тому +46

    I’ve often struggled with feelings of ineptitude and inadequacy in my young adult life. I often wonder how I’ve gotten as far as I have and maybe suffered from imposter syndrome for what little I’ve accomplished , no matter the significance.
    Then this video happened. And I feel a little bit less like an imposter or inadequate.

  • @Dalipsingh111111
    @Dalipsingh111111 Рік тому +46

    Imagine Zar Nicholas having to explain to the british that his ships shot at their fisherman, because they thought they were a japanese fleet.

    • @dstblj5222
      @dstblj5222 9 місяців тому +4

      Especially cause he was explaining it to his cousin

  • @Joni_Tarvainen
    @Joni_Tarvainen Рік тому +95

    I actually spoke about this exact voyage to my taxi driver while I visited hospital for a routine check. He was howling in laughter while I told about this and he ended up closing his tax meter around half a way back home.
    So kids, spend attention in class and read history, it might pay out some day 😁

  • @Killachow23
    @Killachow23 Рік тому +82

    14:00 One of my favorite things I've learned from studying history is that reality is often stranger than fiction. Somehow the ridiculousness of some events does make it seem more real though. All of us have lived through something truly absurd and history seems to reflect that part of the human experience too.

    • @prestonjones1653
      @prestonjones1653 Рік тому +14

      I forget which author said this but his quote sums up this voyage, among several other events like the Taiping Rebellion or the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand, "The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction must be realistic."

    • @artofthepossible7329
      @artofthepossible7329 Рік тому +4

      @@prestonjones1653 Mark Twain.

  • @DERP_Squad
    @DERP_Squad Рік тому +210

    Drachinifel did a very good video on the second Pacific squadron titled 'The Voyage of the Damned'.
    Now, does anyone see Torpedo boats, or more disturbingly, the Kamchatka?

    • @MrAagaard
      @MrAagaard Рік тому +19

      yeah, it would be incredibly funny, if it wasn't for the horrible death and drowning in ice-cold water that became the fate for alot of those involved.

    • @DERP_Squad
      @DERP_Squad Рік тому +13

      @@MrAagaard that would be the damned bit of the voyage of the damned

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +10

      I do feel sorry for Admiral Rozzy and the Aurora for being stuck being a part of this mess.

    • @trinalgalaxy5943
      @trinalgalaxy5943 Рік тому +7

      I think the Kamchatka is signaling us... about... torpedo BOATS!

    • @thehandoftheking3314
      @thehandoftheking3314 Рік тому +8

      @@Isolder74 his chief of staff had a stroke trying to deal with all this shit

  • @richeybaumann1755
    @richeybaumann1755 Рік тому +32

    One thing he doesn't mention in this video is that the reason that Admiral Rozhestvensky didn't train his men is because he wasn't given any ammunition. They didn't want them wasting supplies so they didn't have enough to train or practice until they got to Japan.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +17

      And a shipment that was supposed to be ammunition ended up being winter boots and fur coats.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +9

      They didn’t even issue him half full magazines. It’s as if they wanted him to fail.

  • @Harv72b
    @Harv72b Рік тому +4

    16:53 "It's a miracle that they killed any Japanese soldiers at all."
    Actually, I'm pretty sure they died of laughter.

  • @Oleksandr.Derkach
    @Oleksandr.Derkach Рік тому +25

    By the way, this war included the last time russian flagship being sunk in a war until Moskva that was sunk this year

    • @phillee2814
      @phillee2814 Рік тому +8

      To lose one flagship might be regarded as unfortunate, to lose two sounds like carelessness!
      [with apologies to Oscar Wilde]

    • @cesariglesias297
      @cesariglesias297 9 місяців тому +2

      Specialy against the big Ukraine Baltic fleet?

  • @imjustlookingformywatch
    @imjustlookingformywatch Рік тому +105

    Love Bluejay. Absolutely the most unique educational animator to pop up after Sam Onella took his break. I get as excited for his stuff as I do about Sam's

    • @ianison877
      @ianison877 Рік тому +2

      If you like this and haven’t tried already, check out Oversimplified

    • @imjustlookingformywatch
      @imjustlookingformywatch Рік тому +4

      @@ianison877 oh yeah I've seen them. Don't really like them. Can't seem to put my finger on why though.

    • @kaijuroar8415
      @kaijuroar8415 2 місяці тому +1

      ​@@imjustlookingformywatch Late reply, but they do make several reoccuring jokes which are funny the first time, but the fact that they are almost always included in every video it does get dull quickly.

    • @imjustlookingformywatch
      @imjustlookingformywatch 2 місяці тому

      @@kaijuroar8415 I haven't really even watched enough to know what those jokes would be.

  • @unluckyirish2763
    @unluckyirish2763 Рік тому +22

    Drachinifel has an excellent series on this voyage. Highly reccomended

  • @ThatGUY666666
    @ThatGUY666666 Рік тому +17

    This is one of those stories that should be made into a movie. The only issue I can see would be that it is so over-the-top that I imagine a lot of people will have trouble believing it.

    • @duelgundam
      @duelgundam Рік тому +2

      It would probably be better as a tv mini series

  • @boxofturtles761
    @boxofturtles761 Рік тому +82

    I’m happy to see you branching off from the history of india, great video sam!

  • @wolfskid15
    @wolfskid15 Рік тому +11

    I'm kind of surprised the Kamchatka didn't get more mentions in this video. You could make a whole video just based off their antics

  • @Davey-Boyd
    @Davey-Boyd Рік тому +56

    I will echo others here. This video was great, but for a more in-depth, longer (and even funnier) depiction the video by the naval historian Drachinifel is a must see! It's called "The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron - The Voyage of the Damned". There are a lot of events and context missed off this version (which is fine due to length).

  • @Shaosprojects
    @Shaosprojects Рік тому +6

    “How do you not know whether a torpedo hit your or not?” Has got to be the best part of the video 😂

    • @givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935
      @givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 Рік тому +1

      The British Navy’s Royal Oak was hit by a torpedo at night in 1939 at anchor in harbour, they assumed a spontaneous explosion in a paint locker and didn’t check it out! They had no idea that the bow had been hit. U-47 the attacking U boat had retreated but had plenty of time to come back in again and sank the battleship with three more hits.

  • @gerritvalkering1068
    @gerritvalkering1068 9 місяців тому +2

    Having heard this story somewhat before
    7:17 "This is not a good start" - and they barely got started yet
    He left out the part where the crew was sampling the interesting Madagascan delicacy of 'opium'. Honestly, it explains a lot

  • @dancarlson4779
    @dancarlson4779 Рік тому +20

    This is without a doubt the most hilarious event to ever take place

  • @Vollification
    @Vollification Рік тому +5

    15:19 "Facepalm" basically covers this entire voyage. That they even made it to Korea is a miracle.

  • @JLS639
    @JLS639 Рік тому +8

    This video gave me new insight into why Admiral Togo brushed off the comparison to Yi Sun Shin for winning the battle of the Tsushima Strait

    • @glenchapman3899
      @glenchapman3899 Рік тому +2

      Well I would argue with him. He was out numbered two to one in heavies, and his tactical conduct of the battle was absolutely brilliant. The tactics he used would have done significant damage to even the best fleet on the ocean.

  • @bentoth9555
    @bentoth9555 5 місяців тому +2

    The binoculars thing reminds me of NCIS. Tony would keep a ton of spare cell phones on hand for when Gibbs inevitably broke one.

  • @mikibabic8187
    @mikibabic8187 Рік тому +24

    I'm very glad to see that you are covering this topic, it's one of my favorite parts of history.
    I see that some others already mentioned Drachinifel's channel and I couldn't agree more. When it comes to naval history I believe his channel is the best one out there.
    As potential review's I would recommend either ''Battle of Lissa'' (who can forget the ''bezeuge mich!'' part) or his ''War of 1812 - Fresh Water edition''

    • @Corsair37
      @Corsair37 Рік тому +2

      Drachinifel's 2 parter on this history is absolutely hilarious.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +2

      @@Corsair37 Three parter if you include his 5 minute guide, more or less, on the Kamchatka!

  • @c2dmkr252
    @c2dmkr252 Рік тому +17

    If you want to get more info Drachinifel has two videos on the Russian Baltic Fleet, the first covering context of the voyage in detail, the vassals involved and what happened in detail in the first video and the second covering the battle of Tsushima, its a really good long watch and really sets in how bad things were. It also gives a lot of credit to Admiral Rozhestvensky, a competent commander who had to deal with trying to lead the dregs of crew and ships (including pre-dreadnaughts and a few examples of even more outdated ships) and eventually despite the poor performance in the battle showing a level of valour that I just want other people to see it to give that admiral credit.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +4

      Well they were all Pre-Dreadnoughts, seeing Dreadnought hadn’t been built yet. The problem for the Russians was that a good portion of their fleet was made up up designs that were outdated even by the standards of Pre-Dreadnoughts. A good portion of the cruisers were not really warships but civilian ships that had been militarized and then commissioned as warships.
      PS if you look over French ship designs from the period you’ll get a headache and seeing several of the newest Russian designs in this fleet were based on those you can understand why they did so horribly in combat.

  • @derrislie7771
    @derrislie7771 Рік тому +4

    I'm just impressed that they thought the Japanese are attacking them, at DENMARK AND BRITISH COAST

  • @Sunstreaker2k5
    @Sunstreaker2k5 Рік тому +17

    If you want another good one from his list, the 1904 Olympic Marathon video is equally as funny :) So glad you finally did this one though, I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

  • @NorthAmericanSlacker
    @NorthAmericanSlacker Рік тому +5

    My great grandfather was born in 1882 and died in 1982. When I think about what he saw in his life, it is just staggering.

  • @anderskorsback4104
    @anderskorsback4104 Рік тому +13

    I don't think there were any dreadnoughts in this war yet. HMS Dreadnought itself was launched in 1904. On the contrary, I've heard this war as being referred to as the only proper war between great powers using pre-dreadnought battleships. Even if "proper" might be stretching it, considering Russian performance.

    • @SampoPaalanen
      @SampoPaalanen Рік тому +1

      Well it was proper in the sense the Russians were actually trying, just because they couldn't have fought their way out of a wet paper bag doesn't mean they didn't try (and fail). It's just the Russian leadership badly under estimated Japan as an opponent and thus went into the conflict comically under prepared.
      And if that wasn't bad enough as it was this whole thing started because the Russian elite wanted to boost their ego and prestige instead of fixing the issues with the country that was causing the unrest why the elite wanted the prestige boost to begin with and it failed so badly it was one of the final straws that caused the 1905 revolution in Russia (it wasn't the only reason as there had plenty of unrest even before the war).

    • @givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935
      @givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 Рік тому

      There were battleships before Dreadnought.

    • @anderskorsback4104
      @anderskorsback4104 Рік тому +1

      @@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935 sure, but they weren't dreadnoughts in the proper sense of the term. Dreadnoughts combined several new features that previous battleships did not have: Steam turbines, uniform calibre armament under centralized fire control, citadel armour schemes and anti-flooding compartmentalization.

  • @kemarisite
    @kemarisite Рік тому +8

    One quick correction: HMS Dreadnought would be launched in 1906, after the Russo-Japanese War. Dreadnought's principal thing, of being an "all big gun" battleship was actually in response to the way the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima were fought. It was an idea that had been kicking around for a few years (Cuniberti in 1903), but the battles in the Russo-Japanese War confirmed that battleships going forward would need large batteries of heavy guns to be effective.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому

      It was looking at the performance of the ships on both sides that lead to Dreadnought being designed. The British observer on the Japanese flagship noted that one battle had begun the smaller caliper secondary guns did nothing more then confuse the range-finders as you could hardly tell which shell splashes were which.
      So Fisher decided that you only needed the main caliper guns and designed a battleship with just those junking all other guns but for the anti-torpedo boat secondaries.

  • @bobogus7559
    @bobogus7559 9 місяців тому +1

    8:05 This reminds me of a humorous dialogue exchange between two battle droids in The Clone Wars episode "Shadow of Malevolence":
    Droid 1: "Boy, this is a lot more fun when they're not shooting back!"
    Droid 2: "I still can't seem to hit anything."

  • @Awells89
    @Awells89 Рік тому +4

    There's a show on Netflix called The Last Czars (Definitely recommend checking it out by the way) and there's a scene where Nicholas is debating with his generals about Japan and when Nick decides to send in the Fleet one of the generals pretty much says "ok fine but don't come to me when it all goes to shit"

  • @cl1cka
    @cl1cka Рік тому +12

    There is actually A LOT that was missed in the video - like that the Admiral didn't want to go and thought it was doomed exercise, the crew wasn't trained sailors but conscripts and MANY more.

  • @MrDdaland
    @MrDdaland Рік тому +5

    I'll add to the Drach recommendation. His profile of the Kamchatka "The most effective Japanese warship to never serve the Japanese navy" is just under 10 minutes, so good to react to
    Couple of points to ponder-
    Japan was allied with Great Britain at the time. GB was very involved in training the Japanese Navy and English shipyards were building ships for Japan-: including torpedo boars. So not totally inconceivable to run into Japanese ships in the North Seas / Baltic

    • @maximaldinotrap
      @maximaldinotrap Рік тому

      Not inconceivable but very fucking unlikely as it would require the Japanese to know what Russia was up to from the beginning.

  • @ZeroSpawn47
    @ZeroSpawn47 Рік тому +30

    I prefer Drachinifel's coverage of this subject. He went into a lot more detail on everything. The voyage of the damned was way worse/sillier than Blue Jay made it sound, and he didn't even mention the Kamchatka.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +5

      Oh he did, just didn’t call it out but for the funeral salute.

  • @nukclear2741
    @nukclear2741 Рік тому +7

    It should be noted that there are some stories where the Russian Admiral simply didn't take the Suez canal because it would be slow and was the first place the Japanese could've realistically been at.
    Add to that, the 3rd pacific squadron (yes there was a third that was sent to reinforce the second, to which Rozhestvensky took the action of refusing to tell them where he was because his reinforcements were beyond outdated even for the time period) was sent through the canal, and was let through.
    Also about the Battle of Tsushima, the Japanese ships did not get off lightly. Rozhestvensky's ship stubbornly kept shooting at the Japanese for a long while before finally going down.
    Not to mention the Japanese battleships that took very heavy damage.
    Realistically, what screwed the Russians over the most in regards to the battle was the fact that the entire fleet was given enough ammunition for *one* firing drill, and a major battle.
    Also, two russian cruisers managed to flee the battle.
    One of them, the Aurora, fled to the Philippines.
    If that sounds familiar, that's because the ship is still around to this day.
    (Mainly because it's been immortalized for revolution based reasons even though what it did for the revolution was more or less sit there and fire some shells)

  • @klutttmuttsprutt6087
    @klutttmuttsprutt6087 Рік тому +4

    I second everyone, Drachinifels TWO videos, part one _The Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron - Voyage of the Damned_ and part 2 _Battle of Tsushima - When the 2nd Pacific Squadron thought it couldn't get any worse..._ are in dept, and in this case there is a lot of dept! When you thought it couldn't get any worse ...

  • @Jaris84R
    @Jaris84R Рік тому +3

    Rozhestvensky actually painted the smokestacks of his ships in golden yellow, which made them easier to spot during the battle.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 5 місяців тому

      That was the standard livery for the Russian Navy at the time. Rozzy had nothing to do with it.

  • @maximaldinotrap
    @maximaldinotrap Рік тому +1

    As another video on this subject said: The numerous threats faced by the Russian Second Pacific Squadron were:
    Imaginary Japanese torpedo boats, real English fishing boats, The Kamchatka, almost starting a war with a global super power, accidentally shooting up their own ships, The Kamchatka, disease, mountainous seas, The Kamchatka, poisonous snakes, prophets of the end times, The Kamchatka, highborn officers running rat hunts through the fleet, being saddled with a bunch of obsolete floating targets that only served to slow them down, and, of course, The Kamchatka.

  • @thehandoftheking3314
    @thehandoftheking3314 Рік тому +2

    Admiral Jackie Fisher started his Navy career on Ships of The Line like those of trafalgar.
    He would go on to be the man who designed and launched HMS Dreadnought and would see aircraft carriers used.
    That's quite the technological development path.

  • @trionwolf8998
    @trionwolf8998 Рік тому +7

    you should watch Drachnifels video on this, its called voyaged of the damned

  • @HDMS_Kingslayer
    @HDMS_Kingslayer Рік тому +11

    So happy you found this one... funniest history video I've seen. Awesome reaction as always, "Sam" XD

  • @niki8280
    @niki8280 Рік тому +18

    I remember my first time researching this unbelievable voyage. I couldn't believe it either. I was looking for articles debunking these ridiculous events but just realized that they were very, very real.
    Dem Russkies be crazy.

  • @ojpete
    @ojpete Рік тому +2

    As soon as I saw the title show up on the recommended list I knew exactly which story it was going to be about and started giggling. Your reaction didn't disappoint, it was great, thank you for the reaction. Blue Jay does good work, although my favorite history series are from Khan Academy and Extra History. Khan Academy has an amazing series on the French Revolution

  • @raydenjack4378
    @raydenjack4378 Рік тому +6

    Just want you to know that i love you and your channel. I appreciate the historical information you add. Hugs from Brazil 🇧🇷

  • @bigd8924
    @bigd8924 Рік тому +3

    18 minutes of non-stop laughter lol...

  • @Hoube14
    @Hoube14 Рік тому +1

    Loving the bluejay reactions, i had never heard of his channel but i always check his videos out after yours cuz they are so fun, he is so creative and its such a blast to watch you react to

  • @RBN1939
    @RBN1939 Рік тому +4

    (15:23) the admiral is holding a newspaper for the 1904 Olympic Maraton which was another failure in organisation leading to many of those involved falling ill and nearly dying BlueJay made a video similar to this one on it you should check that one out

    • @jdotoz
      @jdotoz 2 місяці тому

      Jon Bois also has a Pretty Good video about it.

  • @AMacLeod426
    @AMacLeod426 Рік тому +8

    Soo happy to see this after your prior reaction to BlueJay, loved it! Also posting to bump the multitude of recommendations for Drachinifel's 'Voyage of the Damned' two-parter. Far more detailed and informative, and just as funny (if not funnier, depending on one's appreciation for dry Brit wit)

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +2

      Three parter, you can’t leave out the five minute guide on the Kamchatka!

  • @iz_that_mj
    @iz_that_mj Рік тому +24

    I absolutely love your videos and have pointed a few of my friends who struggle in history class to your channel. I remember a few years back when reaction videos were sort of frowned upon on UA-cam, but I think you really do them right and add so much information. I hope you have a great day, and let’s go beat Iran, GO U.S.A!

  • @soulman4292
    @soulman4292 2 місяці тому +1

    BlueJay is such a good creator because he rarely has to embellish the facts. Oftentimes it’s simply his delivery of such absurd information in rapid fire that makes me laugh, and enjoy the video.
    I really love living in a time and place where this is possible. I love being a casual history nerd that can consume gobs of content, and learn, laugh, and always get such a wide variety of perspectives on events thought to be “settled history” ❤
    Also VTH repping NE Ohio makes him the realest!!
    I’m personally CLE native that moved to TOL for business, and better opportunities.

  • @vanhagar3000
    @vanhagar3000 Рік тому +1

    I already had this favorited, but I didn't watch this until you did a reaction. Now I've watched a ton of his videos, I love how this channel introduces me to other history bloggers.

  • @spirosgreek1171
    @spirosgreek1171 Рік тому +5

    Love this video and your reaction. I also broke down to laughter when watching it for the first time 😂😂
    Some other videos of the channel that i loved and i reccomend you to check out are "Historic Duels that put the Wild West to Shame" and "History's Worst Olympic Marathon in a Nutshell".

  • @greenknightofwar7024
    @greenknightofwar7024 Рік тому +5

    This was hilarious. If you told anyone about this who doesn’t know anything about it they would think you were completely lying. But sometimes the truth is more funny than anything fake.

  • @saulestrada9156
    @saulestrada9156 Рік тому +2

    16:52 got me good "It's a miracle they even killed Japanese sailors at all" 😂😂

  • @dennis2376
    @dennis2376 Рік тому +1

    It is just like seeing photo with a Civil War veteran standing next to a fighter jet, mind blown.

  • @Neneset
    @Neneset Рік тому +5

    Drachinifel's video on this is better. I'd love to see you look at that one.

  • @itz_ex0_279
    @itz_ex0_279 Рік тому +3

    I would love to watch a dark comedy movie about this journey

  • @dennycarty4576
    @dennycarty4576 10 місяців тому

    Seriously I have continue to watch this again and again. One of my favorites!!!

  • @steel8231
    @steel8231 2 місяці тому +2

    Wasn't Teddy the guy who coined the phrase "Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick"? With a philosophy like that a Noble Peace Prize and a Medal of Honor just means he managed to live up to it.

  • @Elmarby
    @Elmarby Рік тому +5

    Just here to mentioned that Drachinifel made a MUCH better video on this. One I suspect was used as a source for this video.

  • @bthsr7113
    @bthsr7113 Рік тому +4

    if you want more detail, Drachfinel did a lovely video on the voyage and also the battle. He also did a nice one on the battle of Samar.

    • @Isolder74
      @Isolder74 Рік тому +2

      Indeed Captain Evans is a mad lad!

  • @henryJBonaparte
    @henryJBonaparte 10 місяців тому

    This is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite reaction on your channel. One of many!

  • @junecaffyn357
    @junecaffyn357 4 місяці тому

    I saw this about a year ago and loved it so much, I had to watch it again - I could not stop LOL, it’s unbelievable but true !

  • @fanofeverything598
    @fanofeverything598 Рік тому +3

    Is gonna be so interesting if you talk more about the Russian and Japanese war, I seen it reference in a show I watch. But I hope to learn more about it

  • @Silvercrypto-xk4zy
    @Silvercrypto-xk4zy Рік тому +6

    i laughed way harder than anyone should have regarding a war. like yu said many times, it was hard to believe this much absurdity could actually be real

  • @MarthaDwyer
    @MarthaDwyer Рік тому +1

    My grandmother was born in 1905, married in 1927 and died in 1995. She told stories of having a hired helper in the winter who went into the basement and put coal in the furnace at 5 am so that it was warm when everyone woke up in the morning. She saw a man walk on the moon and flew in jets.

  • @samhunt9361
    @samhunt9361 Рік тому +1

    Thanks for bringing this lovely channel to my attention, I suppose it's the way of life, Mr Beat brings me to you and now you bring me to Oversimplified and this guy.

  • @gidi3250
    @gidi3250 Рік тому +3

    From what I recall the only russian ship to survive the battle and managed to sail back home was the aurora, witch later would take part in the revolutions and her captain tried to stop her crew from joining the St Petersburg revolution Feb 1917 and the crew killed him, then formed a revolution committee and elected a new captain. She would serve as a training vessel in 1922 and serve as part of the Baltic fleet visiting other nations in the Baltic sea, her guns where taken during ww2 and used as artillery in the defence of Leningrad and she would be bombed and sunk in an air raid. Post war she was made a meusem ship and have been made a flagship in the Russian navy due to her past actions (kinda like HMS Victory is still technically apart of the UK navy) and she's still a meusem ship. Also the Russian admiral and the Japanese admiral stood high up on their ships and directed the battle of Tsushima and the Japanese fleet shot the Russian admiral at the start of the battle.

  • @brandonarmienti6875
    @brandonarmienti6875 Рік тому +7

    I was hoping that you would react to this. So many laughs at the idiotic decisions of this voyage🤣.

  • @jamessapp4989
    @jamessapp4989 Рік тому +2

    Other Blue Jay videos I recommend are "obscure escapes throughout history in a nutshell", and "wacky war tactics in a nutshell part 1 and 2". Part 2 of war tactics has one from the American Civil War, try and guess what it is.

  • @pop5678eye
    @pop5678eye Рік тому +1

    This should be taught as a textbook example on how the outcome of many battles are not determined by tactics but fail on strategic grounds before they even begin.

  • @matthewpeterson5281
    @matthewpeterson5281 Рік тому +5

    It really is incredible that with all those mishaps along the long trip to japan they never realized that maybe they were not prepared enough for success in a real fight. So many missed signs.

    • @imjustlookingformywatch
      @imjustlookingformywatch Рік тому +4

      It's a miracle they ever made it to japan.

    • @Montcalf091
      @Montcalf091 Рік тому +3

      Oh, the commander knew, he didn't want to be assigned to it in the first place. It was people at home that made decisions and didn't care what was actually happening.

    • @matthewpeterson5281
      @matthewpeterson5281 Рік тому +3

      @@imjustlookingformywatch You're not kidding. Practically sank themselves before getting there and with that level of incompetence it really is impressive they were even able to navigate anywhere near japan. Especially like... on purpose. Interestingly it seems not too much has changed over the years in regards to how the russian armed forces operate.

    • @matthewpeterson5281
      @matthewpeterson5281 Рік тому

      @@Montcalf091 I bet they started caring when over 2 dozen of their ships never came home. But... too late then.

    • @Montcalf091
      @Montcalf091 Рік тому

      @@matthewpeterson5281 pretty much

  • @lukaslambs5780
    @lukaslambs5780 Рік тому +4

    I’d be curious to see a list that made by you, maybe something like top most underrated historical figures or most interesting facts about the civil war or something. Regardless, I always love your content. I know my main man Sam Nixon can always be counted on to produce some truly inspiring Indian history videos!

  • @charlescurren674
    @charlescurren674 Рік тому +1

    When I was sailing around Madagascar, we visited a spot called "Russian Bay". One of the Russian ships had decided they had had enough, so they just pulled in and stopped, built a village and stayed!

  • @benterbenter9281
    @benterbenter9281 Рік тому

    @8:00 - Reminds me of a cruiseship that sunk a Venezualan warship that got sunk by a cruiseship.

  • @crown7639
    @crown7639 Рік тому +5

    I’ve seen a couple of people mention this. Drachinifel has a video on this voyage and I’ll add my voice to saying you need to check it out. It hilarious and it does not seem real at times.

  • @EpicnessYeet
    @EpicnessYeet Рік тому +3

    BlueJay is an amazing content creator, you should also react to his video "Historic Duels that put the Wild West to Shame", I highly recommend it.

  • @dragonknightofgames
    @dragonknightofgames 9 місяців тому +1

    This proofs that History can be more crazy than fiction.
    Love the stuf you doing, making the day brighter with such content :D

  • @krebsgewehr
    @krebsgewehr Рік тому

    This is honestly hilarious I'll definitely check out more of their videos.

  • @jkent9915
    @jkent9915 Рік тому +3

    If Mr Bean was a Navy:

  • @extrahistory8956
    @extrahistory8956 Рік тому +3

    If you are interested in getting an overall better understanding of the Russo-Japanese battles at both land and sea, you can check out _The Great War_ channel's video on it.

  • @dasone886
    @dasone886 Рік тому

    I've been waiting for you to react on Bluejay for about a half year now and finally seeing you watching one of my favorite videos he made made my week! Please keep watching more of his videos. Special an older video called "History's Worst Olympic Marathon in a Nutshell" is both hilarious and interesting historical moment to learn more about.

  • @ALDO-un7ol
    @ALDO-un7ol Рік тому

    This is one of my favorite videos you have done. Your reactions are classic, and had me laughing the whole time.

  • @Agent_N7
    @Agent_N7 Рік тому +3

    Given the incompetence on display in Ukraine I can believe every word

  • @xJavelin1
    @xJavelin1 Рік тому +5

    If you want to know more about this topic, go watch Drachinifel's video on "The Voyage of the Dammed". Way longer, but way better too. Historical and hilarious! This video was just popcorn by comparison

  • @dasone886
    @dasone886 Рік тому

    Looking forward to more Blue Jay videos!

  • @dr.atheist3087
    @dr.atheist3087 Рік тому +2

    I'd say Oversimplified, Sam O'nella, Blue Jay, and Extra History(credits) are the top tier in animated history content.

    • @dr.atheist3087
      @dr.atheist3087 Рік тому +1

      Very true I believe he is splintering off a bit to do topics that are more science based as well though unless I'm mixing him up with someone.