The Ship that Became America's Most Brutal Payback Weapon
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- Опубліковано 25 січ 2024
- Sunlight painted a serene picture across the Pacific’s waters as sailors exchanged stories and laughs over morning cigarettes. The tranquil scene was disrupted by a distant, growing hum - the unmistakable drone of approaching aircraft.
Pearl Harbor’s sailors could not have imagined the horror they were about to experience when their calm morning was abruptly torn apart. Metallic shrieks and the roar of exploding bombs thundered all around them.
The imposing USS West Virginia quickly found herself in the crosshairs, assailed by a barrage of bombs and torpedoes that ripped through her sturdy decks.
Ash-covered sailors fought bravely against the flames’ relentless advance. Water roared in through torn steel while desperate hands tried stemming the flood, their fingers raw and bloodied.
The pungent tang of burning salt water, oil, and seared flesh created a dreadful experience that would haunt the battleship’s survivors for the rest of their lives. Gunners fired skyward at the swarm of Japanese warplanes even as the West Virginia groaned and shuddered.
But, in the end, even her valiant resistance wasn’t enough. The once-proud West Virginia succumbed, settling mournfully into the harbor’s shallow embrace. But like the American spirit, the colossal warship would rise again. Before the war was over, it would bring vengeance to those who had sunk her…
Thanks for this! This was the ship my Dad served aboard after she was rebuilt. He was a radio operator and served on Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's radio crew during the Battle of Surigao Strait, if I have it right. He was always very proud to have served on the ship a fellow Utahn commanded so heroically. I shared this with a lot of family who didn't really know a lot about his service. Thanks again.
Hi Todd; Our Dads were shipmates. They had much to be proud of. Cheers!
Thank you for this tale.
POOR CAPTAIN BENNION AWFUL THING
My grandfathers friend served on her. Claimed it was haunted.
@@jailbird1133it wasn’t “haunted”. It was Spiritually Crewed. These Men showed commitment beyond this life.
I have a small notebook in which my Dad kept a list of each shell fired by the main guns during the Battle of Surigao Strait. He was Fire Control in the Main Battery Plot. John Spofford Millar, 25 March 1920-11 December 1995, my hero.
That is amazing. Have you ever thought about publishing, or otherwise making available,a copy of it? I'd pay good money to see something like that. Anyway, thanks for sharing and thank you for your dad's service.
Mine too now, thanks for sharing.
The Nimitz national pacific war museum in Fredericksburg Texas may be interested in exhibiting that. Let me know
That’s pure strategical history. Pardon me for asking, but could you share some of the numbers?
@@Mr101editz I’ll dig it out and post photos of the pages. If that doesn’t work, I’ll write them down.
The re-floating and repairing of all of those ships lost in Pearl Harbor, is one of the most incredible feats of engineering that I have ever heard of. Absolutely incredible!
One capsized shit was rolled back upright
Look up the pic of all the rigging
@@paulbartels6585 That would be the Oklahoma. She was later towed towards the west coast but sank in a storm. Her and Arizona were the only two ships un-salvageable.
That is why Surigao Strait is some times called The Revenge of the Pearl Harbor Battleships.
@@racketyjack7621
BB31 Utah, but by this time she was just doing target towing...
She is sitting on the bottom off PH. Her memorial is across Ford Island, NW of Arizona's.
I've watched a series of videos outlining how the Oklahoma was righted. The sheer effort is breathtaking. They basically emptied her of water and then yanked her upright. Sadly, she went under in a storm while being towed to the West Coast.
My grandfather served on the Florida in WW1. In WW2, he served as a Seabee on Guadalcanal. Giants walked the earth in those days.
My grandfather was at pearl on Dec 7. When it was my turn in the Navy I was proud to serve on the USS West Virginia SSBN 736. She has parts from her ww2 name sake on board. So she is still at sea.
My Dad and Mom Served in the Army and My Brother and his Wife Served in the USMC. I was the only Smart One since I Served in the NAVY. I think it's cool that your Sub had parts onboard from its namesake. I served on 4 Tincans and the 4th One that I was on was named after an Enlisted Sailor HM3 Wayne Caron (MOH) Vietnam. I was Happy when I found out that they are going to name the next Carrier after the WW2 Pearl Harbor Hero Doris Miller.
Thank you both
@@user-tx6hl9fx4x one of the next two, anyway. The Navy is building two at once. One to be the new Enterprise, containing parts from both her predecessors, the other to be the second ship named after Miller.
@@MGower4465 When in Norfolk Virginia I went on the USS America to visit and I was thinking that these are to big for a Tincan Sailor 😂. I did like when we were at Sea and refueling from a Carrier. We got to watch Planes taking off and landing on those Floating Airports. Plus I got to see the USS IOWA Firing her 16 inch guns then she Fired all 9 at once. There are days that I wish that I was still in 😀.
I must have gotten something in my eye.
So cool, my grandad served in Pacific in WW ll, he was on Yorktown, sunk at Midway, survived the war..
CV-5
A fitting tribute to my father, who survived, and the others. Thank-you!!
As a Proud West by God Virginian and sailor this fill me with tears of pride! Long live the Wee Vee!
The BEST Virginia!
As a West Virginian, the is a "humble" pride that I have for the crews that sailed on the U.S.S. West Virginia. After WWII, it was scrapped, but parts of it survived and were displayed all over the state. From West Virginia University where a flag pole was displayed to deck guns in other cities. Some of these relics may no longer be displayed outside in the elements.
My grandfather was on the USS Helena when it was torpedoed at Pearl. He was transferred to the USS California once it was raised and repaired. He served on the Old Prune Barge for the remainder of the war.
Thank you for honoring her this way. She was beautiful and TOUGH! Great vid
My grandfather used to tell me the memories he could of Pearl Harbor. His ship would have been there if it had not had engine trouble. Shortly later while he had pneumonia it was realized he was under age, he was sent back, got better,hit age and reenlisted and came back as his new ship, LST343 was commissioned. They both where there in the Pacific during just about every major naval battle, including Latea. I was fortunate enough to hear about these battles and learned early in life what our freedom costs.
The rebuilds of USS West Virginia and USS California made their secondary armament similar to that of the modern North Carolina and South Dakota classes. The older ships' 5"/51 anti ship and 5"/25 AA batteries were removed and replaced with 5"/38 dual purpose guns in twin turrets. California "only" had 12 14"/50 main guns, and West Virginia "only" 8 16"/45 main guns, compared to North Carolina's 9 16"/45 main guns, but the big difference was that the older battleships' maximum speed was still just 21 Kn. California and West Virginia could not keep pace with USN fleet carriers. However, their maximum speed was similar to that of escort carriers, making for a good task force grouping.
I was born in Oklahoma, I was saddened to find out the USS Oklahoma was in route to San Diego while being towed back for repairs after Pearl Harbor. And was not allowed to get revenge like the W.Virginia.
USS Oklahoma was deemed too badly damaged to repair and never was. In 1947 she was being towed back to the West Coast to be scrapped. USS West Virginia was more heavily armed and more modern.
Thank you to all of the men and women that sacrifice so much for us every day so we can be free and safe! Thank you from a grateful Nation! May the good Lord bless each and every one, and may he bless and protect the United States and her people now and forever!
My Grandfather was already in the Navy on December 7th. In a few days, he went from New Jersey to Hawaii and was part of the rescue group on the West Virginia and the mine sweeper Oglala. He said that it was the worst thing he ever saw during the war. When he arrived he weighed about 190 pound and in a month he was a little over 170. The situation between the bodies, the smell due to the burning fuel and the work made it almost impossible to eat and keep anything down.
West Virginia's profile is one of the most beautiful I've seen on a warship. Gorgeous lines... a wonder of naval architecture. She is one of my favorite ships from that era.. amazing ship with an amazing history
My father was on an LSI ROCKET SHIP as a radio operator. I have his diary that lists the GMT time and date of all the actions he was in. At Okinawa his ship was crashed into by a Japanese Betty bomber. Bomber ordnance did not explode but Aviation fuel flooded the decks. Several ship,ages were killed. They had to use axes and torches to cut the plane out of the superstructure it took several days to do this. Dad stayed in military and retired as a SGT/MAJ IN THE ARMY. HIS SHIPMATES WERE 18 to 22 years old.
Thank you. Bless our Vets 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I read up on raising those ships. The soup that came out of them.......
(Shudder) The salvage crews deserve WAY more recognition.
Timely video. Better than just checking out the news.
Re the Battle of Surigao Strait, the force met by 7th Fleet battleships, cruisers, and destroyers was what the USN called the "Southern Force". It consisted of two battleships, Fuso and Yamashiro plus a heavy cruiser and a few destroyers. USN PT boats were positioned at the entrance to the strait, to harass and report the Japanese force. USN destroyer squadrons were positioned along the sides of the strait so as to carry out torpedo attacks on the Japanese force. The Fuso and some Japanese destroyers were sunk by the attacks. Yamashiro was damaged by one or more torpedoes, but does seem to have been hit by USN battleships and cruisers. Yamashiro, apparently, was finished off by another torpedo attack. The "Southern Force" was basically wiped out by the far larger USN force. But the "Southern Force" also succeeded in drawing 7th Fleet's surface force away from the fleet's escort carrier "Taffys".
It was Ozawa's "Northern Force" comprised mostly of nearly empty carriers that drew off Halsey's fleet carriers and fast battleships, and allowed Kurita's "Center Force" to hit Taffy 3 off of Samar with what should have been overwhelming force .... but Taffy 3 (and every other American airplane in the area) fought back with amazing ferocity and skill .... such that Kuria retired after losing 3 heavy cruisers and and every other ship in the group damaged ... in exchange for 2 CVE's, DD's, and ~2 dozen aircraft lost.
In the prep for the landing on Leyte, TF38 attacked Formosa (among other locations) to diminish its ability to attack and complicate the Leyte landings. The IJN decided that the well established airbases on Formosa presented an opportunity to severely damage TF38 and poured its incompletely trained carrier air groups into the fight over Formosa. IJN losses there were the reason Ozawa's carriers had something like 100 aircraft, many of whose pilots had not even been trained to land on a carrier.
I highly recommend reading the book "The last stand of the tin can Sailors" by James D Hornfischer.@@danieparriott265
The above correctly identifies the Japanese ships in the Battle of Surigao Strait as "Southern Force", not "Center Force" as named in the video's 12 min mark.
@@petestorz172 They had also lost a ton of pilots and aircraft in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
It was very symbolic that the West Virginia was in Tokyo Harbor for the signing, seeing that it was the first defeat for the Americans at the very start.
My Dad was on the WeeVee in Tokyo Bay. He missed the surrender ceremony, as he and many others were rotated out to head back to the States. He says they would have had a great view of the ceremony. But, he was headed home to his family, so no complaints!
I understand why they used an Iowa class, but it would have been really cool if they would have held the ceremony aboard the West Virginia.
The Logistical, salvage and repair capability of the the 1941- 1945, USN, continues to amaze me.
I was thinking the other that ALL of the tremendous efforts of the Pac theater took place over just 4 years. Yes, the machine was humming.
They were powered by hate, we see it was quite effective, revenge is a dish best served cold.
The thumbnail clearly shows a Nevada-class battleship being righted - it has a triple turret and a twin turret. The USS West Virginia had all twin turrets. The ship in the thumbnail is the USS Oklahoma, which was a total loss.
USS Oklahoma being turned upright in 1943.
These videos us "representative" clips, not actual clips of the subjects. I'm sure it's hard to find all the actual clips needed to make something like this.
I believe the thumbnail was of the USS Tennessee BB-43. Just look up a picture of it, and you will find that Thumbnail and the picture of it are the same.
It’s just stock footage from the period. Don’t lose your shit over pedantry
@@dcollins850 But it is typical of these Dark videos to show something other than what is being discussed. There were numerous shots of heavy cruisers shown while describing the West Virginia and even one instance where her armament was being discussed where a pre-war destroyer was shown. It is an aggravating common problem of Dark videos.
It's so bad ass that Doris Miller is getting CVN 81 named after him!
the whole story of the salvage of the sunken vessels at Pearl Harbor is remarkable
The fury of a population that feels they were taken advantage of, can drive vengeance for a long time. The amazing speed at which repairs were done on damaged ships back during that war, was incredible,and then, the manufacture of more ships in such a short time, essentially buried axis services with very well equipped army, navy, and planes. The U.S.'s manufacturing being isolated half a world away, allowed it to churn out war machinery at an amazing pace, going from 4 surviving carriers after Pearl, to about 30 by war's end only 3 years later. The belief that having a maintained military force to discourage warfare against the country, was kept to this day, where we have essentially 7 complete 'navies', each with it's own carrier, escort carriers, and a full assortment of support vessels, not to mention all the sight unseen submarines.
@@d.e.b.b5788 the ability of their industry to re tool to war manufacture is incredible. If you see WW2 made .50 cal machine guns the makers stamps are amazing, I remember seeing one stamped Frigidaire who changed from fridges to heavy machine guns. Many other strange makers, can’t remember them now
@@d.e.b.b5788 The US Navy had seven active fleet aircraft carriers on December 7th 1941. There were the two Lexington Class, three Yorktown class, plus Ranger and Wasp. In addition a half dozen Essex Class were being built before the Japanese attacked.
Resilience indeed- from the inter-war 20's & 30's, 9 torp+bomb hits and The silt of Pearl Harbor to
Flag Ship at Leyte Gulf!
The U.S. ship did not face the Japanese Center Force in Surigau Strait. It fought the Japanese Southern Force. The Center Force was up near Samar and fought the U. S. Taffy 3, small escort carriers. The Battle of Surigau Strait was the last battleship vs battleship fight in WW2. The WV fought well.
Very true and the scary thing is when Halsey did not send TF 34 to help the ships around the Samar beaches Oldendorf was ordered to make best speed to help the Taffey's even though with a fleet speed of 21 knots at flank speed they were unlikely to arrive in time. If TF 34 had been sent in time the Japanese Center force might have met a similar fate to the Southern force with the Fleet Gunnery Champion leading it might have been even worse for the Japanese. A friend an myself have war gamed Oldendorf's ships actually arriving in time to try and help but they are out ranged and out gunned by the Japanese battleships even if the Yamato is not in position to help.
I was a lucky Marine back in 1988. I was on USS MISSOURI BB63. When USS Missouri & USS New Jersey pull into Pearl a ceremony was done. We were the only ships allowed to dock on BATTLESHIP ROW. Its right the USS MISSOURI is beside USS ARIZONA. The Battleship that was the start of WW2 and the Battleship were Japan surrender to end WW2. While on board we were gonna go to Tokyo Bay,THAT WAS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.
Thanks for this video. My grandfather served on this ship after it was rebuilt after Pearl Harbor.
There is a training video by the USN on the sixteen inch fifty that shows the complexity of those giant rifles… they are all gone now, but I remember the Navy’s big gun-slingers.
A number are museum ships, like the Iowas with their 16" guns, so you can still see them up close...
Crossing the T at Suriga. Some great videos about that engagement.
The ultimate battleship maneuver, crossing the t.
Yeah... That was a very, very pitched battle. Between the straight lined with torpedo boats and destroyers firing torpedoes (which finally actually worked by that point in the war,) crossing the T, having radar fire control that could accurately target the Japanese vessels at night beyond visual range, and then the aircraft in the morning to clean up what was left, there wasn't much hope for Southern Force to ever make it through the straight. Center Force, however, was an entirely different story... That was also a very pitched battle... but the other way. And yet the USN managed to fend off Center Force anyway, despite the critical mistake of sending the fast battleships and fleet carriers after the decoy carrier force in the North.
I forget the name of his ship, but my grandfather served as an underwater welder on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. It's incredible how often these titans were damaged to the point of returning to port, or in this case even sinking, but fighting on after repairs .
The advent of the fast battleships ensured the obsolescence of the standard battleships as they had the speed of a battlecruiser without the vulnerability of the battlecruisers. The Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal showed how survivable the fast battleships were when the South Dakota took fire from about the same range that the Washington would open fire and survived with no penetrations into the critical spaces where the Washington turned the Kirishima into a sinking wreck with the Washington's first volley. Every volley after that just hastened the demise if the Kirishima.
The advent of the fast battleships also ensured the obsolescence of the battlecruiser.
Cutting into the hull above water could and probably would release air pressure and permit further flooding, it’s a nightmare scenario for sure. And to hear about the muffled screams just breaks my heart.
Your documentaries are always superlative: excellent video, writing and narration. You clearly appreciate naval warfare, as do I. Please keep up the good work!
WEE VEE: EVEN IN DEATH I STILL SERVE.
I love my adoptive home state of WEST BY GOD VIRGINIA and how definitely the ship she gave her name proved to be a defiant symbol of Resolve
Wow that was really awesome. So well done you guys,give yourselves pats on the back for this one. She has had a majestic life thank you for telling us her history
Strong men create good times. What they accomplished is too amazing to wrap my mind around
Extremely well done. Dramatic … without sacrificing historical accuracy.
The US Navy had a *massive* advantage at Pearl Harbor. The harbor is *extremely* shallow, less than 100 feet deep. As a result, all but 3 of the ship lost or damaged on December 7th were eventually repaired and returned to service.
40 feet deep
Thank you for sharing
💪🏆🙏💙😎
The thumbnail to this video is the USS Oklahoma being righted. This and the USS Arizona were the only two battleships that did not have the chance to kill Japanese.
A couple of the Arizona's guns were installed on the USS Nevada late in the war and used to pound Iwo Jima.
@@DK-gy7ll After "Operation Meeting house", March 9, 1945 demonstration why would you continue to fight. Had they surrendered how many lives would have been saved. The emperor was a war criminal.
Absolutely Amazing!
A very interesting story about a great ship in WW2, thanks.
Thanks for an awesome historical video. Well Done US Navy!
Actually the battle of Leyte Gulf when Admiral Oldendorf "crossed the T", it was against Southern, not Central force. Central force was fought off by Taffy 3
Excellent work, please do all the Pearl Harbor battleship stores!
I may be mistaken but I believe that Dorie Miller was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. A US warship has just been named in his honor.
Navy Cross, but should have gotten CMH.
I could also be mistaken but I believe Doris Miller was the first black man in US history to receive the Navy Cross
@@insulman100 Yes, he was.
there is no CMH it's the MOH
Yes a new Ford-class carrier. Will be the fourth one, following Gerald Ford, John F Kennedy, and Enterprise.
nice video, great content!
Why didn't they moved to save and preserve West Virginia? She Along with California, Nevada, Tennessee and Pennsylvania should have been saved given their resilience at Pearl Harbor and their path for payback against Japan. Words alone aren't enough to tell the rich history of these great vessels.
At least they have the Iowa class battle wagons as museum ships. I live in AZ, we have a barrel of the Arizona, next to a Missouri barrel, a start of war, and the end of the war..
@@RussMills-gl5qs Oh nice. That's a very humbling way to keep the memory of the battleships alive. I live in New York, and I went down to visit USS New Jersey back in June 2021. The experience was beyond amazing. I'm currently in the plans of visiting Hawaii next January and visit both Missouri and Arizona in Pearl whilst taking a much-needed vacation.
@@NFS_Challenger54 I saw pearl on 2012, very moving experience.
The short answer is money. The public could not even raise enough money to preserve the USS Enterprise, which was the most decorated ship in US Navy history with 20 battle stars. The Navy hung on to her, which is not inexpensive, until 1959 hoping some group could scrape together enough money to make a museum ship out of her but the effort necessary was never forthcoming.
Look at how close the old protected cruiser Olympia came to sinking due to lack of money for upkeep, and she is an established museum ship.
@@philsalvatore3902 Damn, didn't know Olympia was THAT close to being lost. I did some research several months back on the "last" all-gun cruiser built and commissioned; the French Post War era cruiser Colbert (C611). She was preserved as a museum ship from 1993 up to 2006 when funds to keep the museum going dried up. She was towed to mothballs until it was decided to scrap her in 2016. I hope the same fate doesn't befall the remaining battleships that are museums across the country.
Excellent narration
She was a stunningly beautiful ship as well as fearsome!
Pay back will hurt you
It's a byatch 😆
Wow, thanks for telling this remarkable story of heroism. Americans must not forget how they used to be... and how they COULD be great again.
I always thought the Atomic Bomb was the most brutal payback weapon for Pearl Harbor. As far as I know, Japan did not know the USA was ready to deploy any A-bombs, although they probably suspected they were working on them, since both Germany and Japan were developing their own A-bombs.
The payback was the surprise attack of the A-bombs, not just the brutal destructiveness.
Why do you fight?
Tirpitz, "Für das Vaterland"
Nelson, "For King and Country!"
Kirishima, "For the Emperor!"
West Virginia, "Revenge."
well done thank you
Thank you for posting your excellent video on BB-48 USS West Virginia! It's a shame that this gallant ship "Wee Vee" couldn't have been saved and taken to West Virginia after all she had been through to serve as a WW2 memorial.
Nice comeback 👏 👌 👍
Once you've smelled burnt human flesh, you never forget it. RIP to my 2 shipmates who made the ultimate sacrifice, 45 years ago, 22 Feb 1979. God bless you sirs. ♥️🙏♥️🙏♥️🙏 🫡 🇺🇸
If there are any experienced older sailors out there, maybe you can answer a question for me. Can you hear and feel the throb of the engines on a battleship when the ship is in motion, on the top deck, or does it seem to move silently? I guess what I’m really asking, is when the ship is in motion is it noisy?
The only experience I have is on Nimitz class Carriers. On the flight deck when running at 30+ knots all there is the wind. Below decks the only noise is the sound of ventilation systems keeping the spaces cool. When I did a short detachment on LPH 10 USS Tripoli when running at 15 knots it was noisey everywhere on the ship.
Served aboard the Oriskany CVA34 it was not quiet while underway. She shook as she hit the waves during storms and it was loud!
Our helo det was deployed on USS Sacramento AOE-1. She was a big multi product fast combat support ship, a fleet oiler, ammunition ship and dry stores ship rolled into a single big hull. They were 52,000 tons, so larger than most WWII battleships with two shafts powered by half of an Iowa class power plant. At 32 knots they were also faster than many of her escorts. The four Sacramento class split the power plants of two incomplete Iowas that were unfinished at the end of WWII. The were silent underway. No vibration or anything. By comparison the 20,000 ton single shaft ammo ship I did a long cruise on rattled and shook like an old Dodge pick up on a washboard dirt road. Not engine noise, just constant jiggling and rattling of cabinets and fittings. The prop would come out of the water when the bow was buried in a big swell and the whole ship would shake like you were sitting on a giant orbital sander. Both of these were steam powered. I think on gas turbine ships there is some engine whine audible. You can certainly hear the turbines when something like a Ticonderoga comes alongside for fuel. As a cadet in the Coast Guard Academy I rode the old USCGC Taney, the only surviving ship from the Pearl Harbor attack, across the Atlantic. She is steam powered and was silent on board.
Wee vee is a beast in world of warships legends and she was one of my first ships in axis vs allies war at sea
Always I Say Thank You, Dark Seas for these Great & awesome Tributes. To the Men and the Women of what was the Greatest Generation that this Entire WORLD 🌍🌍 has so far apparently Raised. To Lead Mankind in it's long duration of trying too deal with cohabitation on it's Many Landscapes, Continent's and it's Island's.
Throughout it's Vast Region's, Area's & Over it's amazing Surface n Oceans. Thanks Again for Sharing this Great Stuff. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏.
My father was on the Mighty Mo, but I can't help but wonder why the WeVi wasn't used for the signings instead. That symbolism would have been appreciated.
It was criminal that one of the Battleships raised after December 7th wasn't kept as a museum.
We need to bring back updated Battle Ships like the old school Battle ships but with heavy armor sleek hull modern radar sets ,ecw, Cwis, torpedo tubes , missiles and best of all 12 16" guns with the new programmable shells, surface to air, ship to ship and surface to surface, rolling frame launchers and nuclear propulsion!! Those old school behemoths were awsome and devastating and would truly shake possible enemies!! HOOAAH!!
Soon ships will be obsolete to marine drones.
The days of banging away with guns on ships at shore targets or other ships are long past. Cruise missiles make naval gunfire obsolete. In fact they make it a suicide mission. There isn't a gun made or even reasonably envisioned that can match the range and hitting power of modern anti ship cruise missiles. Find out what a BROACH warhead is. You find them in weapons like JSOW-C1, JASSM, LRASM and Storm Shadow/SCALP. They can cut through several meters of steel reinforced concrete. There isn't a ship ever made that could defeat a BROACH warhead. The tough part for the battleship is that it will engaged with such missiles from many hundreds of miles beyond the range of its guns, even if its guns are firing rocket propelled shells.
If you want to know what amphibious warfare will look like in the future study the operation to take an airfield in southern Afghanistan called Rhino in November 2001. The Marines stationed on ships in the North Arabian Sea conducted the operation entirely by air over some 450 nautical miles. Due to the long range the assault force used only their CH-53Es refueling from Marine Corps KC-130s. Gen Mattis was in charge. He left all of his armor and artillery on the ships and relied on Marine Corps AV-8Bs using precision guided munitions for close air support. Rhino was captured successfully putting the Marines at the back door of the Taliban's headquarters in Kandahar.
With the introduction of the V-22 the Marines have the ability to conduct assaults from far offshore, keeping the assault force far from the enemy shore and allowing them to strike from multiple axes at once. The days of a big landing force hitting the beach against an opposing force, shelling it with ships close offshore is a suicide mission in an age when your enemy can sit back hundreds of miles lobbing cruise missiles at your ships and ballistic missiles at the landing beach. The rule today is to attack by air from stand off distances, distribute your force geographically and maneuver to concentrate power when ready to strike. A repeat of something like Inchon is not going to be successful against a dug in enemy with modern weapons.
Error: Yamashiro and Fuso (from Southern Force, Battle of Surigao Strait, not Central Force in the Battle off Samar) were not at all involved in 7 Dec Pearl Harbor attack. The two IJN battleships there were Kirishima and Hiei.
The latest aircraft carrier to be ordered is named for Doris "Dorie" Miller. I cannot recall if construction has started, but she is next in line.
The last time the "T" was crossed was during the Battle of Surigao Strait. The five BB's who did it were not the modern BB's, but their older cousins. California, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia were the ships. All but the Mississippi were damaged or sunk at Pearl Harbor.
Several ships, even my grandfather's ship the Columbia (Clevland class light cruiser) took credit for taking out the Fuso and Yamashiro; but the credit goes to torpedoes from the destroyers. They turned the battle against the heavy battleships.
Just shows what goes around comes around !!
FIRST COMMENT!!! YESS!!!! Saw this 48 seconds after it was posted!!! Keep up the good work!!!!!
YOU WERE SECOND!!!
NO!!!!
😂 😂 😂
Keep trying!!!!!
Wee Vee looked a lot more like a South Dakota Class after her reconstruction at Bremerton. I always thought the new superstructure along with the 5" 38 twin mounts was a major improvement both in aesthetics and functionality.
“They set out to raise their fallen battleships from Pear Harbor’s shallow depths.” Shallow depths. Interesting.
The Surigao Strait was the southern force. The main central force was against taffy 3 to the north.
Fair winds and following seas , all those lost that fateful day . And to all sailors still at sea .
The USS Claude V Ricketts a DDG was ported with the USS Belknap after the Belknap collision with the USS Kennedy. I was stationed in Rota Spain at the time. The Ricketts was in support as the Belknap was being towed back to the US. What a mess the Belknap was.
All 16” guns on American warships were built at the Mesta Machine Company in West Homestead PA outside of Pittsburgh PA. They had a special section called the “Barbette” area with 500 ton overhead cranes to move the large pieces of machined pieces around that area of the huge machine shop.
Mesta built the steel Mills in America. They had unlimited skill in designing and manufacturing any machinery.
They got their revenge
The West Virginia should've been preserved as a museum-ship instead of being ignominiously scrapped, that was a disgraceful and dishonourable act of vandalism.
No, the WV did not meet the center force that night but the Southern force, 2 old IJN BBs, a couple cruisers and destroyers. had they engaged the actual center force they most likely would of been pummeled by it (Contained Yamato, Nagato, Kongo as well as 12 cruisers and many DDs)
It should be noted that at the time, no one thought the aircraft carrier, submarine and torpedoes (once they fixed the detonators and remembered to set them for straight travel by default instead of the wild weasel circle) would be as effective as they turned out to be. They were just the vessels they had operational till they could refloat the battleships sunk at Pearl Harbour. Also, no one thought the battleships could be refloated as quickly as they were, certainly not the Japanese who thought Pearl Harbour would keep the US out of the war...
Crazy that of all the sailors involved, only one of them had a name.
And then we gave Japan an up close and personal look at the sun.....twice.
At 12:09 mentions they met the IJN Center force. I believe this to be the southern force in the Surigao Strait.
the WV should have been a museum ship.
Doris Miller is getting an aircraft carrier named for him - the first black man to win the Navy Cross.
"I didn't hear no bell!"
Love the WeeVee!
I know Japan had aircraft as well as mini subs on the attack at Pearl Harbor, but I never understood why there wasn’t better reconnaissance done before the attack.. They knew the key was to take out the aircraft carriers and anything less would be a mistake.
Fun fact, the tug Hoga seen in some of the clips is part of the martime museum in North little rock
Imaging the work involved in refloating and repairing this huge ship. Could we do it today....I wonder ?
Throw stones at the sleeping giant at your peril as one day he will awaken shake off his wounds and seek revenge on the stone throwers
While I love the Missouri I think the End of War signing should of been on the West Virginia......
My cousin's brother in law was blown off the deck of a ship at Pearl. He said he was lucky to be able to swim through the floating oil to safety, because much of it was on fire. I can't remember which ship he was on.
great ship! imo the japanese made a huge mistake not attempting to take hawaii permanently when they had the upper hand. taking it back would probably have been very difficult considering the distance to mainland and shape of the navy at the time
They used the most advanced naval shells in the world. So even though they were smaller than Yatmaot's 18" shells, they had better penetration values due to the exception weight (for a 16" shell) and advanced metallurgy.
Yamato*
0:49
Burning salt water
Correction-USS Maryland was not heavily damaged in the attack.
I know I said that the inter chapter titles were off-putting, but I can see some still in the subtitles. Honestly, it would be nice to have some small mark like those in the video. Before you would stop the music and focus on a whole-frame title for a few seconds. Maybe make them smaller and faster, and don't stop the music. Or else put a relevant photo in the background to help explain the chapter title.