The Battles of Narvik - 3 battles, 3 sides, 1 week

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  • Опубліковано 7 жов 2024
  • Today we look at the three Battles of Narvik and how they both shaped and could have shaped the future of the war.
    Sources:
    Dr Alexander Clarke - / @dralexclarke
    ADM 199/473 - Royal Navy Archived Battle Reports and History (National Archives - Kew)
    www.amazon.co.uk/German-Invasion-Norway-April-1940-ebook/dp/B00KEURQAI
    www.amazon.co.uk/Operations-Campaign-Norway-April-June-Histories/dp/0714651192
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КОМЕНТАРІ • 1,3 тис.

  • @Drachinifel
    @Drachinifel  4 роки тому +94

    Pinned post for Q&A :)

    • @fabianzimmermann5495
      @fabianzimmermann5495 4 роки тому +7

      Georgios Averoff replaces either HMS Good Hope or HMS Monmouth at Coronel. What happens

    • @ibbi32
      @ibbi32 4 роки тому +4

      Could the emden realistically speaking done any more without endangering herself more or even survived till and throughout 1915

    • @fghgkyuuyk6116
      @fghgkyuuyk6116 4 роки тому +7

      Norish= Norge=Norway. and Eidsvoll was the birthplace of the Norwegian constitution.

    • @blogsblogs2348
      @blogsblogs2348 4 роки тому +4

      Jan used correctly.... rather than as a female name... this week

    • @ukaszgrzesik7231
      @ukaszgrzesik7231 4 роки тому +13

      Can you make episode like the one about boilers, but for history of watertight bulkheads and compartmentalisation of ships? Who first implemented it? Is it true that medieval Chinese ships had watertight sections already?

  • @tronellefsen5519
    @tronellefsen5519 Рік тому +228

    My fathers uncle was the telegraph operator on board Eidsvold, and one of the 8 survivors. He allowed me to hear the story once before he died, because he knew how interested I am in history, but never again, because of the trauma. Couple things: He said Eidsvold did not have enough heat in the boilers to start accelerating or steer. Also he heard the conversation with the German coming aboard the bridge, as he was located just on the side. They did try the "you are now protected", but it soon turned into a threat the Norwegian captain did not respond too. Also, when the german boat was returning, my fathers uncle watched the German officer give a hand signal on the way, and that set the torpedo attack in motion immediately, so there was no time ti initiate attack before the torpedo hits. He fell in the water, managed to find something floating from the ship, and eventually got to the shore and lived.

    • @JohnRodriguesPhotographer
      @JohnRodriguesPhotographer Рік тому +18

      Glad your grand uncle survived. It is hard to imagine the boilers weren't ready for action.

  • @admiraltiberius1989
    @admiraltiberius1989 4 роки тому +649

    No one expects HMS Warspite at point blank range.
    And no one survives either.

    • @peternickle1884
      @peternickle1884 4 роки тому +14

      Not everything she rammed sank

    • @alacrityaudiooffice7716
      @alacrityaudiooffice7716 4 роки тому +29

      Hahaha!!! And HMS Hostile. What great names and great braveness.

    • @bkjeong4302
      @bkjeong4302 4 роки тому +8

      To be honest, in this situation a Town-clsss would probably have been an overall better option (still more than big and tough enough to dismember the crappy German destroyers with ease, while being less costly to operate and easier to maneuver in a fjord).

    • @admiraltiberius1989
      @admiraltiberius1989 4 роки тому +41

      @@bkjeong4302 yes but the crushing morale effect of a battleship coming in and firing its guns over open sights right down at almost level elevation is pretty back breaking.

    • @dropdead234
      @dropdead234 4 роки тому +46

      Point-blank range. Battleship main battery. Ick. "If the BB hits, do not roll for damage."

  • @elysiankentarchy1531
    @elysiankentarchy1531 3 роки тому +502

    The torpedoes fired at Warspite didn't suffer premature detonation because of the torpedoes being faulty, they suffered premature detonation because they entered into Warspite's Angry Field and exploded.

    • @sawyerawr5783
      @sawyerawr5783 2 роки тому +73

      Violating Warspite's personal bubble has the tendency to quickly turn that bubble into a violence bubble...in rapid fashion

    • @Sherwoody
      @Sherwoody 2 роки тому +37

      She just stared them down.

    • @chrisj683
      @chrisj683 2 роки тому +46

      Anti-Torpedo field. A.T. field. Warspite was a mecha, knew it.

    • @michaelbrogan7537
      @michaelbrogan7537 2 роки тому +24

      She really has an "angry field" you are exactly right! What a warship!

    • @standard-carrier-wo-chan
      @standard-carrier-wo-chan 2 роки тому +27

      You can say that sheer spite caused that torpedo to explode early

  • @jimtalbott9535
    @jimtalbott9535 4 роки тому +369

    42:40 - "Who issued us with these damn torpedoes??"
    US Ordnance Bureau - whistles quietly and walks quickly away.....

    • @blanca-borb
      @blanca-borb 4 роки тому +24

      The perfect Sabotage

    • @nukclear2741
      @nukclear2741 4 роки тому +17

      Zachy Pwner the oss was more active than we thought...

    • @sawyerawr5783
      @sawyerawr5783 4 роки тому +13

      USS Tinosa: "And I thought we had it bad."

    • @benwilson6145
      @benwilson6145 3 роки тому +2

      The naval staff and the U-boat command had expected great results from the use of U-boats. Because of the confined waters and the probable counter-action, it seemed likely that there would be frequent contact with the enemy; but the result of the U-boat activity was extraordinarily disappointing. The chief reason for this was torpedo failures. If a torpedo shortage had been evident in the early months of the war, it was now torpedo ineffectiveness in the Norwegian expedition which became disastrously apparent. As a result of being in contact with the enemy for extended periods, the U-boats were forced to remain submerged for a very long time. This caused pressure in the boat which penetrated the depth chamber of the torpedo and considerably increased its depth setting. For example, Klt. Prien was able to fire at close range at the big English transports near Harstad, but the torpedoes went too low. The reason for the increasing number of torpedo misses was only understood by the German Navy at a very much later date when the individual technical faults of the torpedoes were ascertained by systematic testing. It was actually true that, despite numerous opportunities to fire, there were few, if any, successes. The effect on the crews was marked. They lost confidence in the weapon, and the personal influence of the U-boat commander in chief was necessary to restore their morale. At the same time everything possible was done to overcome torpedo faults.

    • @stevevernon1978
      @stevevernon1978 3 роки тому +5

      @@benwilson6145 and almost everything you say about the German torpedoes, would be said later about the USN torpedoes... except the last line.

  • @Isolder74
    @Isolder74 4 роки тому +444

    Warspite. The Forest Gump of Battleships. It was everywhere and did everything.
    And always was doing something important.

    • @ThroneOfBhaal
      @ThroneOfBhaal 3 роки тому +23

      And then she was scraped. Perhaps the greatest naval history crime I can think of.

    • @Ealsante
      @Ealsante 3 роки тому +36

      Life is like a box of chocolates. I jest chaps, this is a box of fiery death and this old lady is about to open it!

    • @drewjohnson-85
      @drewjohnson-85 3 роки тому +37

      @@ThroneOfBhaal I can think of one other just as great, USS Enterprise CV-6, The embodiment of the Pacific War scrapped by the same nation who she brought hope to in those dark days just after Pearl Harbor, I honestly cannot say which is the greater crime the Grand Old Lady’s scrapping or the Grey Ghost’s

    • @casematecardinal
      @casematecardinal 3 роки тому +15

      *cough cough* USS Texas *cought*
      And she is still around...

    • @drewjohnson-85
      @drewjohnson-85 3 роки тому +19

      @@casematecardinal Yes USS Texas is a great battleship as well, we can only hope that unlike Warspite and Enterprise, she can be saved and will be with us for many more years to come.

  • @gwtpictgwtpict4214
    @gwtpictgwtpict4214 4 роки тому +418

    Animation on the Swordfish was sheer genius, took me a few seconds close watching to realise it actually was moving. Well done Sir!

    • @davidbrennan660
      @davidbrennan660 4 роки тому +25

      At one point to almost floated up a bit.... .
      Great gag.

    • @thomaskositzki9424
      @thomaskositzki9424 4 роки тому +4

      I didn't even notice. XD

    • @paquebot_T6
      @paquebot_T6 4 роки тому +54

      "Took me a few seconds to realize it was moving". Just like actual history.

    • @jakublulek3261
      @jakublulek3261 3 роки тому +11

      And I would expect that it would fly faster when dive-bombing. But seeing Swordfish dive-bombing is hilarious to watch and scary to experience.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +7

      @@paquebot_T6 you can't defend if you don't don't know your being attacked.

  • @tommybason6057
    @tommybason6057 4 роки тому +292

    German sniper: *fires one tiny round at sailors*
    Pom-pom mount: *YOU DARE OPPOSE ME MORTAL*

    • @Jpdt19
      @Jpdt19 4 роки тому +41

      Shades of USS Texas at Cherbourg in 1944. Responding to light shore fire with 14 inch shells.

    • @observationsfromthebunker9639
      @observationsfromthebunker9639 4 роки тому +61

      RN Petty Officer: What the- Sir, we're being fired on by those Jerries in yon house!
      RN Officer: Bold chaps, aren't they? Give them a lesson on who has the bigger guns.
      RN Petty Officer: Aye-aye sir! Alright lads, let those Jerries in the brown house have it!!
      POM-POM-POM-POM-POM-POM-POM-POM
      German Sergeant: Do that again Karl, und I will shoot you my self!!!

    • @doubleducks814
      @doubleducks814 4 роки тому +9

      Like when you pull knife and he pulls a gun

    • @Ebolson1019
      @Ebolson1019 4 роки тому +13

      DoubleDucks more like when you pull a nerf gun and he pulls a 20mm anti tank gun

    • @nozdormu89
      @nozdormu89 4 роки тому +20

      Kinda like USS Wisconsin responding to taking the first hit ever in its career, fired by 150mm artillery, with 16in Shells.

  • @GaldirEonai
    @GaldirEonai 4 роки тому +483

    An interesting side note: The survivors from the german ships were organized into an impromptu infantry force that got named the _Gebirgsmarine._ "Mountain Navy".

    • @notshapedforsportivetricks2912
      @notshapedforsportivetricks2912 4 роки тому +29

      Didn't Switzerland have one of those?

    • @hazchemel
      @hazchemel 3 роки тому +11

      Fair dinkum? How do you know this?

    • @benwilson6145
      @benwilson6145 3 роки тому +54

      @@hazchemel Karl Doenitz reported it. "On the other hand, the destroyers' survivors formed a welcome reinforcement to the land forces, and, according to Colonel-General Dietl, the holding of the Narvik area for so long a time thereafter would have been impossible without them."

    • @hazchemel
      @hazchemel 3 роки тому

      @@benwilson6145 thanks

    • @stevengoodloe3893
      @stevengoodloe3893 3 роки тому

      @@benwilson6145 That is fascinating

  • @Big_E_Soul_Fragment
    @Big_E_Soul_Fragment 4 роки тому +816

    Germans: You are being defended from the British. *Please do not resist.*
    Norwegians: *Press X to doubt*

    • @theleva7
      @theleva7 4 роки тому +102

      British: *Looking at Warspite entering fjord with Jaws theme playing in the background* Defended? From us? You know, it would be a shame if all those destroyers you got there suddenly stopped existing, wouldn't it?

    • @Battleship009
      @Battleship009 4 роки тому +20

      @@theleva7 Congrats, you amused me.

    • @raymondmoomaw5423
      @raymondmoomaw5423 4 роки тому +5

      Lmfao!

    • @bradymenting5120
      @bradymenting5120 4 роки тому +18

      "Did we say you? we meant us. We are defending us from the British, using your land. Please do not resist."

    • @Assassinus2
      @Assassinus2 4 роки тому +26

      “We’ve invaded Europe. Please respect us or else we might invade you as well.”
      “Okay,” said Norway.
      So the Germans came over, ready for war, but died in a fjord. But they tried again, and had a nice time fighting with the Royal Navy, but then died in a fjord.
      With apologies to Bill Wurtz.

  • @tonygibson6806
    @tonygibson6806 4 роки тому +163

    Laws of physics don't apply to Swordfish, they operate in a different paradigm of reality.

    • @artbrann
      @artbrann 4 роки тому +15

      someone stole the plans from a reality operating on anime physics

    • @ahmedrazick4946
      @ahmedrazick4946 4 роки тому +13

      Germany: Swordfish OP plz nerf

    • @derekjohnstone4888
      @derekjohnstone4888 3 роки тому +9

      For a plane named after a fish, they really seemed to be allergic to going in the water.

    • @jakublulek3261
      @jakublulek3261 3 роки тому +1

      As were Gloster Gladiators. Who else than British (and Soviets at the start, fair enough but that was not deliberate choice on their part) went into WWII with bloody biplanes and still won.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +2

      @@jakublulek3261 Malta: I'll take your entire stock! Or three might do.

  • @shooter2055
    @shooter2055 4 роки тому +174

    Cossack's pom-pom gunner was an American ex-pat following standard USN counter-sniper doctrine. ;-) Remember! If there's deck space, bolt a gun to it!

    • @isaiahcampbell488
      @isaiahcampbell488 3 роки тому +19

      Unused deck space is wasted deck space!

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +8

      @@isaiahcampbell488 unless it's a flight deck or in the blast zone of 8in+ guns.

    • @danhammond8406
      @danhammond8406 2 роки тому

      If you love it put a gun on it

    • @dalehawthorne6301
      @dalehawthorne6301 2 роки тому +10

      Somewhere I came across a story that Admiral Ernie King had been disappointed with the performance of the cruiser Boise in the Battle of Cape Esperance, and he walked the deck and directed that an AA gun be placed where every crew's poker game normally took place. I'm not sure of the truth of this at all, but it does reflect your point.

    • @masterskrain2630
      @masterskrain2630 Рік тому +1

      He might have ended up on the U.S.S., Enterprise, suggesting less armor and MORE AA Guns...

  • @JohnSmith-kg2rt
    @JohnSmith-kg2rt 4 роки тому +169

    USS Texas would disagree that pom poms are overkill for engaging a sniper

    • @andrewlucia865
      @andrewlucia865 4 роки тому +9

      i was thinking exactly that during that section of the video.

    • @dashingrapscallion8812
      @dashingrapscallion8812 4 роки тому +25

      USS Nevada would emphatically agree (with 14 inch exclamation points).

    • @JohnSmith-kg2rt
      @JohnSmith-kg2rt 3 роки тому +14

      Yes the best way to suppress a sniper is a full broadside of 14 inch shells (10)

    • @legionx4046
      @legionx4046 3 роки тому

      @@JohnSmith-kg2rt hey it works lol

    • @jamesharding3459
      @jamesharding3459 3 роки тому +13

      @@legionx4046 You’ve suppressed the sniper, his spotted, his whole battalion, and the Panzer regiment one county over.

  • @lionheartx-ray4135
    @lionheartx-ray4135 4 роки тому +288

    I imagine that the dive-bombing swordfish was pretty much a helicopter.

    • @gordonhopkins1573
      @gordonhopkins1573 4 роки тому +3

      Skuas :)

    • @taccovert4
      @taccovert4 4 роки тому +33

      I can see that playing an awful lot like Sir Lancelot's charge in Monty Python and the Holy Grail........

    • @lionheartx-ray4135
      @lionheartx-ray4135 4 роки тому +8

      @@taccovert4
      Couldn't help my self ua-cam.com/video/gHdDxKy2QW0/v-deo.html

    • @McNubbys
      @McNubbys 4 роки тому +29

      The sub should have just used an industrial fan to push the Swordfish off course lol🤣

    • @lionheartx-ray4135
      @lionheartx-ray4135 4 роки тому +4

      @@McNubbys Brilliant!!

  • @SuperTelecom
    @SuperTelecom 4 роки тому +378

    "Huh, that's a big destroyer"
    Some German captain - April 13, 1940

    • @maryrosetran5109
      @maryrosetran5109 4 роки тому +15

      @Jesus H Christ Same here.

    • @reager90
      @reager90 4 роки тому +21

      And as that captain says that line he pulls out a cigarette light's it in a calm oh s**** motion.

    • @sawyerawr5783
      @sawyerawr5783 4 роки тому +18

      aaand then the entire hill behind him explodes...

    • @McNubbys
      @McNubbys 4 роки тому +4

      Points lol🤣

    • @SuperTelecom
      @SuperTelecom 4 роки тому +23

      They started getting that "sinking" feeling soon after

  • @deaks25
    @deaks25 4 роки тому +222

    "Warspite was ordered to lead the attack." Which translates to "Please make sure the Tribal's don't go completely insane and attempt to liberate Norway single-handedly."
    Tribal's to the German DDs as they storm into the Fjord in a full blown Angry-Small-Ship rage: "HI!! What's up guys!!"
    I do think it's very important to remember the sailors and men on all sides who are lost in conflict and I do very much admire the closing screen where you do exactly that.

    • @gwtpictgwtpict4214
      @gwtpictgwtpict4214 4 роки тому +7

      Come on ladies, time to go home :-)

    • @gwtpictgwtpict4214
      @gwtpictgwtpict4214 4 роки тому +14

      @boris boris Well, for your sake I hope you're never on the losing side in a conflict. We're not talking Himmler, Heydrich and co here, we're talking Matrose Hans Schmidt who joined the Kriegsmarine to earn a living 80+ years ago.

    • @MS-gr2nv
      @MS-gr2nv 4 роки тому +1

      LOL....what do you mean LIBERATE? Norway was successfully invaded, BEF and FEF were kicked right out.

    • @JohnSmith-kg2rt
      @JohnSmith-kg2rt 4 роки тому +6

      If I recall correctly a significant amount of the German Navy (can’t spell it) predated Hitlers rise to power

    • @Nerezza1
      @Nerezza1 4 роки тому +1

      @boris boris Because all German enlisted men and officers were Nazis.

  • @beachboy0505
    @beachboy0505 4 роки тому +132

    Oddly enough, the British have a derogatory opinion of the naval Swordfish but the German and Italian navy have found this plane yo be absolutely deadly.

    • @overboss9599
      @overboss9599 3 роки тому +20

      Unsurprising. It's an out of date biplane that has literally been outrun by a destroyer. Compared to the spitfire, it's an embarrassment. But to the people facing the darn thing, it's a surprisingly deadly weapon that cost them a great deal of men and material.

    • @advorak8529
      @advorak8529 3 роки тому +22

      @@overboss9599 Bismark's AA directors could not cope with such a *slow* aircraft. It still hit almost all of them and was very impressive to the crews of the Swordfish in question.
      But there's a lot of not-that-critical fabric on these biplanes you can hit and shred and make the plane looking like a really bad AA shrapnel day ... without affecting the performance and structural strength much. But one single tiny shrapnel to the pilot or engine or POL reserves in just the right spot ... and down she goes ...

    • @Debbiebabe69
      @Debbiebabe69 2 роки тому +31

      The reason the Swordfish is held in such low regards by the British is because something like 95% of Swordfish pilots in the war ended up killed. They were known by the wives and children of pilots as 'flying coffins', and groups of those whos husbands/fathers were lost flying those things soon formed, and passed the hatred of them onto their children, grandchildren, and so on. When the later generations asked what their father/grandfather/great grandfather did in the war, they often reply they were 'killed by the Royal Navy forcing them to fly those wooden death traps'.
      Thats why everyone else seems to love the Swordfish and how they managed to defeat much more modern warships, but the British hold them in such low esteem - because it was British people's relatives who were sent out to die in them.
      Think of it another way. You have more chance of surviving by visiting Hiroshima on the day the nuke went off, than being assigned to fly Swordfish in the war.

    • @Fulcrum205
      @Fulcrum205 2 роки тому +2

      Imagine what they would have thought if the Fleet Air Arm had decided to field an outdated torpedo bomber instead of archaeological artifact

    • @SennaAugustus
      @SennaAugustus 2 роки тому +15

      @@Debbiebabe69 What are you talking about, the Swordfish was the favourite of the fleet air arm, and their reputation was instead to always bring their pilots back home (only the Channel Dash was a disaster). Go to the Armoured Carriers UA-cam channel and listen to how the real pilots remember the Swordfish.

  • @karlvongazenberg8398
    @karlvongazenberg8398 4 роки тому +210

    The most reliable torpedoes in this theater were produced about 40 years ago, in Whitehead factory, in the late Austro-Hungarian Empire... Unfortunately in the side of the Blucher.

    • @ineednochannelyoutube5384
      @ineednochannelyoutube5384 4 роки тому +57

      Whithead Mk-1s were slower than most ships involved and had a shorter range than a roman era onager, but they would work for all eternity, and blow up a modern dreadnought just as well, as an ironclad.
      One wonders what happened to torpedo fusing in the intervening decades.

    • @TheKingoftheKongs
      @TheKingoftheKongs 4 роки тому +41

      @@ineednochannelyoutube5384 Someone rotated it 90 degrees, apparently

    • @michealmatthews9377
      @michealmatthews9377 4 роки тому +6

      whitehead a fellow boltonian

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +12

      @@TheKingoftheKongs US Bururo of Ordenense: *Backs away slowly*

    • @jedimasterdraco6950
      @jedimasterdraco6950 2 роки тому +6

      @@warhistory1895 USS Barb: Oh no you don't. We need a target for our shore-related combat practice.

  • @AtomicBabel
    @AtomicBabel 4 роки тому +124

    After the action, Vice Admiral Whitworth wrote of the Swordfish floatplane, "The reports made by Warspite's aircraft were invaluable. I doubt if ever a shipborne aircraft has been used to such good purpose as it was in this operation."
    War Planes of the Second World War, Vol 6 Floatplanes. William Green 1962

    • @johnevans7261
      @johnevans7261 3 роки тому +13

      And its pilot was a Petty Officer Rating Pilot whose duties were supposed to be restricted to second-line tasks such as target-towing. 'Ben' Rice was also present at Matapan and was eventually commissioned - what a player he was.

  • @mattblom3990
    @mattblom3990 4 роки тому +61

    The naval action around Norway is, in my opinion, the most underrated and one of the more interesting naval campaigns of the entire war.

    • @assaraan9407
      @assaraan9407 4 місяці тому

      the northern front in general is more or less ignored a lot of the time

  • @Dedfaction
    @Dedfaction 4 роки тому +282

    The idea of a random boatload of British sailors barreling ashore in a launch, stealing the first things they see that aren't nailed down (or are, crowbars are a thing) then hightailing it back has me giggling.

    • @Colt45hatchback
      @Colt45hatchback 4 роки тому +39

      Bloke spots motorcycle with binoculars, drops binoculars, before they hit the ground he's in a boat heading for the shore 😂

    • @GaldirEonai
      @GaldirEonai 4 роки тому +31

      Let's be fair, they did leave a destroyer's bow behind in trade...

    • @thehandoftheking3314
      @thehandoftheking3314 4 роки тому +14

      Scouse crew?

    • @neiloflongbeck5705
      @neiloflongbeck5705 4 роки тому +63

      It's called mine sweeping, as in "It's mine sir, and I'm sweeping it away to my locker."

    • @bradymenting5120
      @bradymenting5120 4 роки тому +27

      "Hans, where did we park the motorcycle?"

  • @isakmlster4453
    @isakmlster4453 2 роки тому +48

    My father comes from a small farm on a steep hillside on the northern side of the Ofotfjord, and this is the place we used to go during long weekends or the summer. The fjord is 8km wide at that place, and 350m deep. You can see diagonally over to Narvik, which is about 12km away. The area surrounding is called 'Veggen' - meaning the wall. So it's 150m of steep mountain side down to the fjord, and an immense view. At the bottom, in a crack in the mountain, my grandfather had managed to cram a boat house. During the battles of Narvik in 1940, my fathers' oldest sister was 14 years old. They were seven siblings, she born in 1926, my father in 1944. She told me a story about the battles. How the shells were cracked in the mountains around, and how the fjord would light up from fires and gunfire. On the dawn of the next day she saw loads of small, black dots on the fjord below, and my grandfather urgently wanted to go down the steep path to the boat house. Her uncle going with. She wanted to come with as well, but my grandfather told her no, this was mans work. She wondered a lot about what all these bobbing, black dots were. But after a couple of hours they were getting fewer, and soon they all disappeared. Her father and uncle were away all day fishing bodies of the men from the sea.

  • @davidford85
    @davidford85 4 роки тому +49

    42:24 I can just imagine this like a scene from a Carry On film. The U-boat Commander asking for a time out while he radios command to rage and the British force politely and patiently waiting for the Commander to finish his rant, before continuing the battle 😂😂

    • @B1ENTERTAINMENT30
      @B1ENTERTAINMENT30 Рік тому +3

      and the brits can hear him yelling obscenities from his post without the hydrophones 🤣🤣

  • @tehllama42
    @tehllama42 4 роки тому +29

    I can say with excellent confidence that the physics behind the Swordfish being successfully used in a dive bombing attack works because of the way gravity interacts with the pilot's MASSIVE BRASS attachments.

  • @nozdormu89
    @nozdormu89 4 роки тому +62

    Hero's crew: "so when do we get Prize money?"
    The Admiralty "wait what?"

    • @johnevans7261
      @johnevans7261 3 роки тому +2

      Prize money was paid for ships that could be valued and sold in the Admiralty Courts to be used again, and no longer applied in WW2. The German destroyers were all sunk or wrecked, so no prize money would have been payable anyway. But under the old system, RN crews would have been entitled to 'gun money' and 'head money', paid for the number of enemy guns lost and enemy seamen killed or captured respectively.

  • @notshapedforsportivetricks2912
    @notshapedforsportivetricks2912 4 роки тому +68

    U63 crewman: Captain, is that aircraft trying to dive bomb us?
    U63 Captain: I'm ... not ... sure.

  • @craigmesh9210
    @craigmesh9210 4 роки тому +188

    Warspite decides a new destroyer policy for Germany, dont have any

  • @Scoobydcs
    @Scoobydcs 4 роки тому +119

    Penelope and the destroyers. Good band name that

  • @Maddog3060
    @Maddog3060 4 роки тому +89

    It's amazing how the Swordfish constantly did things that other aircraft couldn't do, in spite of AND because of its obsolescence. One might cheekily wonder why the dang thing isn't still in service with the RN to this day. ;)

    • @fluffly3606
      @fluffly3606 3 роки тому +8

      I wonder how much a dipping sonar set weighs...

    • @Debbiebabe69
      @Debbiebabe69 2 роки тому +18

      The reason the Swordfish is held in such low regards by the British is because something like 95% of Swordfish pilots in the war ended up killed. They were known by the wives and children of pilots as 'flying coffins', and groups of those whos husbands/fathers were lost flying those things soon formed, and passed the hatred of them onto their children, grandchildren, and so on. When the later generations asked what their father/grandfather/great grandfather did in the war, they often reply they were 'killed by the Royal Navy forcing them to fly those wooden death traps'.
      Thats why everyone else seems to love the Swordfish and how they managed to defeat much more modern warships, but the British hold them in such low esteem - because it was British people's relatives who were sent out to die in them.
      Think of it another way. You have more chance of surviving by visiting Hiroshima on the day the nuke went off, than being assigned to fly Swordfish in the war.

    • @901Sherman
      @901Sherman Рік тому +6

      Given what pilot casualties and attrition rates were like (especially with torpedo planes in genersl), its unliekly that they'd be significantly better of had there been a more modern alternative for thos stringbags.

    • @JPKelly-xr7tr
      @JPKelly-xr7tr Рік тому +2

      ​@@Debbiebabe69Sources to substantiate your comments - ?

    • @B1ENTERTAINMENT30
      @B1ENTERTAINMENT30 Рік тому +1

      well I mean, we are apparently bringing back the PBY, soooooooooo 😂

  • @SennaAugustus
    @SennaAugustus 4 роки тому +61

    A ship with a broken rudder called "the most manoeuvrable" is insane.

    • @mancubwwa
      @mancubwwa 3 роки тому +21

      TBH at low speeds and in confined spaces manouvering by engines is way more effective. So the 4 vs 2 screws argument is perfectly valid.

    • @bara922
      @bara922 11 місяців тому

      There is the famous line about how the Grand Old Lady can move when she wants to

  • @robinpayne125
    @robinpayne125 4 роки тому +52

    Given Warspite's history of "rudder issues" I find the whole notion of her being manoeuvrable somewhat amusing

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +11

      She doesn't need to be manverable, because she can go through the land.

    • @grahamstrouse1165
      @grahamstrouse1165 Рік тому +1

      Maneuvering on screws as a very viable option under the circumstances. The fully modernized QEs would have been slightly more optimal but if you find yourself in a spot where you really need a BB that can operate as a destroyer leader Warspite’s still a pretty good choice…😉

    • @B1ENTERTAINMENT30
      @B1ENTERTAINMENT30 Рік тому +1

      All I can see now is Nelson broadcasting "skill issue" to Bismarck 😂

  • @frankmarano7530
    @frankmarano7530 3 роки тому +20

    I’m proud to have been on the first US Navy ship to enter Narvik since WW2. USS Luce DDG-38 in September 1976. Steaming up the fiord was exhilarating, a long river with high mountain peaks on either side.

  • @seandevitt00
    @seandevitt00 4 роки тому +40

    Penelope and the Tribals is my new band name.

  • @merkavamayhem5846
    @merkavamayhem5846 4 роки тому +26

    That section with the swordfish was utterly hilarious. I tip my hat to both of you

  • @GeordieSwordsman
    @GeordieSwordsman 4 роки тому +40

    Three way battle between the Tribals, Warspite and the U-boat captains to decide which is the angriest thing afloat.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +6

      Probably the 20 year old battleship with a outstanding service history in both World Wars.

  • @richardkotorac5423
    @richardkotorac5423 4 роки тому +107

    3 battles with 3 sides in one week, now that sounds like a world war.

    • @Natogoon
      @Natogoon 4 роки тому +6

      Sounds British

    • @RobInTDot
      @RobInTDot 4 роки тому +13

      Sounds like 1066, only compressed

    • @zacharyzier314
      @zacharyzier314 4 роки тому +7

      Sounds like a visit to the in-laws

    • @yankeeclipper4326
      @yankeeclipper4326 4 роки тому +5

      Sounds like a family wedding ☺️

  • @kiloalphasierra
    @kiloalphasierra 4 роки тому +16

    You have to love the Naming of British ships: HMS Hostile, Havoc, Warspite, Hunter, Hardy, etc.

  • @nicholas209
    @nicholas209 4 роки тому +177

    Ah yes, Narvik, aka when German destroyers started checking for Warspite under their bed before they went to sleep.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +4

      But didn't check the fjord.

    • @Boxghost102
      @Boxghost102 3 роки тому +3

      There weren't any left to check under their bed after.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +5

      @@Boxghost102 A checklist for doing reconnaissance:
      Step 1: Have working ships.

    • @B1ENTERTAINMENT30
      @B1ENTERTAINMENT30 Рік тому

      nah, they don't get no bed, warspite took it from them out of sheer rage

  • @KaonashiKobayashi
    @KaonashiKobayashi 4 роки тому +87

    Last time I was this early the Second Pacific Squadron was still floating.

    • @presidentmerkinmuffley6769
      @presidentmerkinmuffley6769 4 роки тому +12

      Only a handful of binoculars had been thrown.....

    • @KaonashiKobayashi
      @KaonashiKobayashi 4 роки тому +8

      @@presidentmerkinmuffley6769 They hadn't even cracked open the 3rd crate of them yet!

    • @seanarano4754
      @seanarano4754 4 роки тому +9

      last time i was this early none of the fleet has said anything about seeing a torpedo boat

    • @treyhelms5282
      @treyhelms5282 4 роки тому +10

      @@seanarano4754 Did someone say "torpedo boats"? 😮

    • @historygeek0018
      @historygeek0018 4 роки тому +4

      Wait. Are we in Japan yet?

  • @daviddb2528
    @daviddb2528 3 роки тому +4

    The thing I like about these videos is that they work quite well as 'radio' with just an occasional glance at the screen if one is ostensibly busy with something else like DIY or household chores

    • @thecrackpotfarmer9488
      @thecrackpotfarmer9488 5 місяців тому

      I have rarely watched any of his videos, as most of my time is operating farm machinery, I can rarely watch, but I always listen. Fantastic material for long days on the tractor. Puts the kids to sleep too.

  • @HMSFord
    @HMSFord 4 роки тому +20

    During the part about the Swordfish dive-bomb attack, I really like that the graphic of the Swordfish SLOWLY descends. I didn't notice it at first.

  • @joshthomas-moore2656
    @joshthomas-moore2656 4 роки тому +46

    54:36 Swordfish ignoring physics sounds about right. Honestly this thing is an anime hero at this point and we should just declare it a god.

    • @jeebus6263
      @jeebus6263 4 роки тому +7

      I'm pretty sure Dragon Ball Z would conjure an appropriate sense of waiting in anticipation throughout an entire episode for a single pair of shots to land, complete with cutscenes from other storylines before flashback to the divebombing facial expressions.

    • @thomaskositzki9424
      @thomaskositzki9424 4 роки тому +3

      Lulz!

    • @ahmedrazick4946
      @ahmedrazick4946 4 роки тому +11

      @@jeebus6263 5 episodes of the swordfish pilot deciding to dive. Another 5 for the dive itself. Another 5 for the bombs to hit and sink the sub.
      The Swordfish is clearly the inspiration for One Punch Man.

    • @joshthomas-moore2656
      @joshthomas-moore2656 4 роки тому +6

      @@ahmedrazick4946 That is believeable, hillarious and some what terrifying.

  • @Assassinus2
    @Assassinus2 4 роки тому +90

    I feel like “scones and jam” may have become a British euphemism for “a generous helping of explosives delivered via cannon shell and torpedo.”

    • @Patrick-pm1sn
      @Patrick-pm1sn 4 роки тому +3

      I have no Sense for stuff like this. We also do not refer to „sending 2419 German Bratwurst“ to London (as V1 flying bombs), so I kind of dislike such belittling.

    • @sanitarycockroach9038
      @sanitarycockroach9038 4 роки тому +1

      Kind of like 18 inch freedom packages in America

    • @GaryNumeroUno
      @GaryNumeroUno 4 роки тому +5

      @@Patrick-pm1sn Don't fret Patrick. Euphemisms are a truly British thing; like our humour. It is unique and makes us who we are.

    • @sjonnieplayfull5859
      @sjonnieplayfull5859 4 роки тому

      @@Patrick-pm1sn no problem, the German take on humor is known...

    • @Assassinus2
      @Assassinus2 4 роки тому +5

      sjonnie playfull To quote someone (I want to say it’s Bismarck from Military Aviation History), German humor is no laughing matter.
      :)

  • @dayaautum6983
    @dayaautum6983 4 роки тому +39

    So basically after enjoying a hunting trip shooting chipmunks with 12 gauge shot guns the British Admiral decided to use this tactic again by sending in Warspite to give full broadsides at point blank range at destroyers.

    • @JohnSmith-kg2rt
      @JohnSmith-kg2rt 3 роки тому +1

      No such thing as overkill or too many guns wait wrong navy on the guns

    • @dayaautum6983
      @dayaautum6983 3 роки тому +9

      @@JohnSmith-kg2rt Next up, torpedoing row boats and depth charging minnow fish.

    • @JohnSmith-kg2rt
      @JohnSmith-kg2rt 3 роки тому +1

      @@dayaautum6983 that is actually mentioned in a tv show about a Canadian Mountie who helps out a detective in some US city in the opening episode where he is asked why he arrested someone for over fishing they had been using explosives

    • @dayaautum6983
      @dayaautum6983 3 роки тому +3

      @@JohnSmith-kg2rt Yes, using dyno mite to either kill or knock out fish so they float to the top is illegal and over fishing for a quick and easy buck. It's a trick as old as explosives are and devastates an ecosystem, no one will be fishing there after you do that for awhile.
      Which does call to question Drach's stance on the origins of the Canadian Royal Navy since nationals from both sides were guilty of poaching and officials from both sides were wanting to stop it. You need a police force or game wardens with ordinary boats, not submarines cruisers and destroyers.

    • @JohnSmith-kg2rt
      @JohnSmith-kg2rt 3 роки тому +1

      @@dayaautum6983 well cruisers could police it but it will be a heavy policing action just imagine seeing a cruiser enforcing fishing rights . Would be funny

  • @phaasch
    @phaasch 4 роки тому +60

    HMS Eskimo: " Damn. There goes my bows, and "A" turret. Ok, attack- full speed astern!"

  • @heber0101
    @heber0101 Рік тому +4

    An excellent account of the running battles at Narvik. I did some research on the British vessels that were involved. The Tribal-class destroyers were quite the story. It tells you just how serious a conflict it was from 1940 to 1942. OF the 16 Tribals that were commissioned, only 4 were still afloat and functioning at the end of the war.
    It was a level of warfare that none of us today can really comprehend.

  • @sadwingsraging3044
    @sadwingsraging3044 4 роки тому +31

    Hour and a half huh?
    Cap'n dished out double rations this week boys! Three cheers are in order I think!

  • @pierQRzt180
    @pierQRzt180 4 роки тому +13

    in the age of short videos and attention span, 1h long videos from independent creators. Yes. Quality !

  • @slinkerdeer
    @slinkerdeer 4 роки тому +69

    Ahh, 84 minutes of excellent naval history told by our favourite Naval Historian. Life is good

    • @adenkyramud5005
      @adenkyramud5005 4 роки тому +2

      Even makes depression fuck off for once xD works even better than a bottle of rum. And without the hangovers.

    • @pioneer_1148
      @pioneer_1148 4 роки тому +7

      84 mins mate. There aren't 100 minutes in an hour

    • @lukewest7216
      @lukewest7216 4 роки тому +3

      > 124 minutes
      Oof

    • @slinkerdeer
      @slinkerdeer 4 роки тому

      @@pioneer_1148 happy?

    • @caelestigladii
      @caelestigladii 4 роки тому

      Slinkerdeer Thank him brother. Not mock him.

  • @toothedacorn4724
    @toothedacorn4724 4 роки тому +101

    Each component of the swordfish is personally and individually blessed by the reigning and all previous british monarchs continuously during construction and assembly, thus creating the god plane

    • @sawyerawr5783
      @sawyerawr5783 4 роки тому +22

      so....the monarchy is a bunch of tech priests? Praise the Omnissiah!

    • @Hidensee
      @Hidensee 3 роки тому +6

      @@sawyerawr5783 Emperor Protect!!!

  • @sebastianriemer1777
    @sebastianriemer1777 4 роки тому +83

    A dive bombing swordfish? Imagine the dialog between the pilot and the bomber:
    Bombs out?
    Not yet.
    Now?
    Wait a little.
    Now?
    No.
    Now?
    Just a little closer.
    Now?
    Soon.
    Now?
    Getting closer....
    🤣

    • @laughingtraitor1969
      @laughingtraitor1969 3 роки тому +15

      ... we're going to have to level out for a bit, they're getting away!

    • @duvetofreason16
      @duvetofreason16 3 роки тому +5

      Tea's ready, bombs out?
      Just a little more

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +5

      "Should I start building this 1000-piece puzzle of Norway?"
      "Sure, we might have time."

    • @danhammond8406
      @danhammond8406 2 роки тому +1

      Are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, Don't make me turn this plane around, we will get there when we get there

  • @Big_E_Soul_Fragment
    @Big_E_Soul_Fragment 4 роки тому +14

    Oh boy 1 hour and 24 minutes of Drach and Dr. Clarke

  • @santiago5388
    @santiago5388 4 роки тому +13

    I can't tell you how much I like the battle reports, one of my favorite content you put out, that this one includes Doc Clark just makes it evem better.
    Keep the up the great job. Best wishes from Colombia.

  • @masterskrain2630
    @masterskrain2630 2 роки тому +3

    "Penelope and The Destroyers"...sounds like a great band name!

  • @firstkaiser472
    @firstkaiser472 4 роки тому +12

    Yes I have been searching for a ww2 battle of Narvik in UA-cam & google ,man your a life saver

  • @ewok40k
    @ewok40k 4 роки тому +68

    No one:
    Especially not Kriegsmarine:
    RN sending BB into narrow fjord

    • @letoubib21
      @letoubib21 4 роки тому +4

      Well, the perfidious Albion --- again *. . .*

    • @piritskenyer
      @piritskenyer 4 роки тому +7

      "Sir, they sank two destroyers and killed the flottila leader.
      *UNGABUNGA IT IS* "

  • @marcmt4171
    @marcmt4171 4 роки тому +5

    Every Wednesday I embark on what is usually some unsavory but necessary task or project but I am undeterred bc I got a new Drach vid to listen to

    • @marcmt4171
      @marcmt4171 Рік тому

      Lol drach has been in my life for a while now! Good stuff...good stuff.

  • @yalelingoz6346
    @yalelingoz6346 4 роки тому +14

    Ooh perfect timing. I just got home with pizza, the kettle has boiled, and here's an hour and a half long Wednesday special.

  • @ctierneysmc
    @ctierneysmc 4 роки тому +7

    Just noticed the swordfish slowly moving down the screen, well done Drach.

  • @wbnc66
    @wbnc66 4 роки тому +21

    German Navy: Destroyers can't fight battleships!
    Taffy 3: I beg to differ.

    • @johngregory4801
      @johngregory4801 3 роки тому

      Taffy 3 wasn't made up of destroyers, it was made up of men who used what little they had to do the impossible. It's amazing those tin cans could carry so many men with solid steel balls.

    • @wbnc66
      @wbnc66 3 роки тому +1

      @@johngregory4801 Point well taken :D
      A five-inch gun did all this damage?....
      No sir we captured a Destroyer crewman and he bashed his way out with his scrotum...

  • @trevortrevortsr2
    @trevortrevortsr2 4 роки тому +18

    You guys are total geeks - not only is this post full of detail you even had fun with it

    • @Nipplator99999999999
      @Nipplator99999999999 4 роки тому +3

      I feel right at home, and it's nice that you can trade knowledge without toxic interference.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +1

      @@Nipplator99999999999 yeah, it's nice.

  • @MultiEinsteinium
    @MultiEinsteinium 4 роки тому +13

    I can only call that a thrilling re-telling. I'd love to see a Band of Brothers style TV series of these three battles.

  • @bjrnarestlen1234
    @bjrnarestlen1234 4 роки тому +35

    As for why the Eidsvold didn't open fire, one can only speculate. But as norwegian officer-training had been woefully inadequate in the past 20 years, and if we are to compare to the army's reaction to fighting the germans, one can speculate that the resistance towards firing, can stem from a lack of mental training to commit to actually defend the country. One has several examples from the land-campagin that the norwegian officers caved in, when fighting started, or one experienced collateral damage to civilian property. One honourable exception, was the commander at Oscarsborg; Colonel Birger Eriksen, who has become famous in Norwegian history for stating -when asked by one of his subordinates if they really were to fire on the Blücher: "Visst fanden skal der skytes med skarpt!"
    (Which roughly translates into "We are sure as hell going to shoot live ammo"

    • @norsenomad
      @norsenomad 3 роки тому +12

      Not "one honourable exception", but an honourable exception - because there were many. Yes, oberst (colonel) Birger Eriksen certainly is one of the honourable exceptions, for his leadership, resolve and spectacular result of attacking and sinking the German heavy cruiser, during the important and fateful Battle of Drøbak Sound, on early morning of 9 April and until surrender on morning of 10 April 1940.
      Nevertheless, since the title of this video is "The Battles of NARVIK", I would say that FIRST AND FOREMOST should the following man of war be mentioned - because he is tied directly to the Narvik campaigns, had higher strategic responsibility, delivered military excellence consistently over time, his men were Arctic locals that showed remarkable perseverance, and even outlasted all allied support:
      Generalmajor (major general) Carl Gustav Fleischer of the Norwegian Army. This man of war led the command of the Norwegian 6th Army Division (5 infantry battalions and 1 mountain artillery battalion), and mobilized from the Nordland, Troms and Finnmark populous already on 8 April 1940, long before national mobilization was eventually ordered by the incoming Chief of Defense, at 6 o'clock in the morning of 11 April 1940. For the allied assembly, Fleischer was given responsibility for cooperation with the allied forces in Narvik.
      Fleischer's defense strategy was a series of aggressive, offensive operations against the invaders. Pushing back parts of German Operation Weserübung from Narvik, his forces of 6,000 Norwegian soldiers delivered during 62 days the longest military defense against German invasion on European soil in WW2 (except for the UK and Soviet Union). Fleischer is said to be one of the first Allied generals to inflict defeat on German forces in WW2. Many operations were executed in the high mountains north-east of Narvik during late winter storms of April (at latitude 68° North). Their adversaries were 2,000 alpine trained and better armed 139th Gebirgsjäger regiment of Austria, among other German units, in hard contact numerous times.
      Decorations awarded to generalmajor Fleischer for outstanding planning and management of operations during the campaign in North Norway:
      - Krigskorset; med sverd (War Cross with Star, the highest Norwegian military award).
      - The Most Honourable Order of the Bath; Knight Grand Commander (4th highest of the British Order of Knights).
      - Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari; Silver cross (the highest Polish military award).
      - Croix de Guerre; with star (the French War Cross with star).
      A comment to the statements "the resistance towards firing" and "the Army's reaction to fighting the Germans": these statements are too generalizing and unconditionally discrediting, which is unfortunate. Several Norwegian Army regiments in West and North-West Norway, some in Trøndelag, and even a full Army Division from North Norway, did mobilize properly and fought German forces for weeks and months - with great courage and determination.
      Some examples: the Norwegian troops at Hegra Fortress (during the 25 day siege), 4. feltbrigade of Voss (4th field brigade), and Infantry Regiment of Møre (IR 11) - all mobilized fully and fought well and in series of hard contacts, e.g. the neutralization of the 180-man strong German Fallschirmjägerregiment 1 raid, clearing of the escape route for the King and government of Norway, and more, until early and mid May 1940. While there could have been many instances of officers that "caved in", as you phrased it, the officers and soldiers from the units I mention above were not hesitant to fight. Instead, these officers and conscripts mobilized in full numbers (IR 11 even added an extra battalion of volunteers) and fought well against a formidable and highly prepared invading enemy, for a month or more (disarmed on 29 April/1 May/15 May).
      As mentioned earlier, Norwegian 6th Army Division with transferred regiments from Trøndelag (IR 12 and IR 13) fought for more than two months - long after the capitol fell (6th Division disarmed on 10 June 1940).
      And finally, the last Norwegian officer to surrender command to the enemy was oberstløytnant (lieutenant colonel) Edvard Os, who had command of the Varanger Battalion/6 Div in East Finnmark until 23 July 1940 - three and a half months after the invasion of Norway started.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому +2

      He also said when asked about firing on the Blucher (translated) "I will either be decorated, or I will be court-martialed, fire!"

    • @OmmerSyssel
      @OmmerSyssel 2 роки тому +1

      @@norsenomad Honestly the conflict between honourable Fleischer and his pacifist army leaders and government should be mentioned.
      He actually committed suicide because of their humiliation, and were only decorated after his death ...

    • @norsenomad
      @norsenomad 2 роки тому +5

      @@OmmerSyssel I agree, completely. How Fleischer (and even his widow) was treated is a disgrace. That whole government was a disgrace, and from what I have found, probably the worst in the modern history of our country. (For the sake of Norway, I hope there never was, and never will be, any worse than that...). I can recommend two first-hand witness books: "General Fleischers efterlatte papirer", published on his widow's request after her death (1947) and "6. divisjon" (1946) by Odd Lindbäck-Larsen, his 2nd in command for many years and during the Narvik land battles, April - June 1940. Both books are written in Norwegian language, and will bring you as close to the facts of that great war history as you can ever get.

  • @janethamilton3731
    @janethamilton3731 2 роки тому +7

    My uncle Stanley was one of the crew members killed aboard HMS Eskimo on the 13th April 1940 RIP Uncle Stan. David Hamilton his nephew.

    • @simontaylor5418
      @simontaylor5418 Рік тому +1

      My father, also called Stanley was on the Eskimo, he always told the story the ship was known as 'HMS Half a Mo' after the bow was blown off. After basic repairs she was towed home backwards across the North Sea...

  • @propellhatt
    @propellhatt 4 роки тому +5

    I visited the Narvik War museum this summer, it has an incredibly impressive collection of items and stories from the fighting in and around Narvik. Highly, highly recommended.

  • @leftnoname
    @leftnoname 3 роки тому +14

    Regardless of of the outcome of the battle and the war, it should be said that the men on both British and German side did their duty until the last means were exhausted or their lives were cut short.

  • @nitsu2947
    @nitsu2947 4 роки тому +22

    oof Hardy would never realize Hunter would never wake up from that nap

  • @Odin029
    @Odin029 4 роки тому +94

    I'm starting to think the Swordfish is the best plane of all time that everybody thinks is terrible.

    • @Cailus3542
      @Cailus3542 3 роки тому +19

      The Swordfish sunk more Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft during WW2. Yeah, seriously.

    • @looinrims
      @looinrims 3 роки тому +2

      @@Cailus3542 of course, there were more of them in higher traffic areas

    • @johnevans7261
      @johnevans7261 3 роки тому +2

      When I saw Swordfish III NF389 starting and running up her engine at RNAS Lee-on-Solent I lost all interest in the trials of prototype hovercraft SRN1 that I was supposed to be watching and fell in love with the Stringbag there and then instead. I was six years old. Now i'm sixty-seven and still besotted with Pusser's Favourite Flying Machine, even if my friend Eric 'Winkle' Brown wasn't. We agreed to disagree on that one.

    • @warhistory1895
      @warhistory1895 3 роки тому

      It's the bane of large Axis Warships everywhere, so yeah.

    • @chrisoddy8744
      @chrisoddy8744 2 роки тому +4

      Didn't the SBD Dauntless also have a similar story? Yes it might not look as antiquated but it was due for retirement in a similar manner and yet they still nailed four flat tops in a day.

  • @christianoutlaw
    @christianoutlaw 3 роки тому +25

    HMS Dreadnought: “I rammed and sank a U-boat”
    HMS Warspite *launches Swordfish* “Hold my beer”
    And the Koellner when it sees the destroyers coming into sight holds up a sign saying “yipe!”. Then when Warspite comes into sight the sign changes to “YIPE!!!!”

  • @wagram
    @wagram 4 роки тому +6

    The father of a friend of mine witnessed parts of this battle as a kid. He was out on the fjord in a row boat. He told he saw an german sea plane that by the looks of it was to heavy loaded to take off, it just sped across the water until it was destroyed by british gun fire.

  • @TwigstarA
    @TwigstarA 4 роки тому +26

    Engage the enemy more closely - classic RN

  • @robertyoung6396
    @robertyoung6396 2 роки тому +3

    Brilliant video, I visited Narvik in the winter 1981 in HMS Ardent. So much history in a beautiful setting.
    Thanks👍

  • @cutelasscutlass876
    @cutelasscutlass876 4 роки тому +62

    Warspite time, fellas! Time to break out the 15” fun!

    • @Scoobydcs
      @Scoobydcs 4 роки тому +1

      I wonder if she was notorious to the Germans already

    • @cutelasscutlass876
      @cutelasscutlass876 4 роки тому +7

      eatthisvr6 Probably some from Jutland, but I’m not sure if she was quite as famous so she would’ve been in ‘45.

    • @antonyborlase3965
      @antonyborlase3965 4 роки тому +5

      And just because it’s been mentioned never, it’s a shame she was sent to the scrappers.

  • @adenkyramud5005
    @adenkyramud5005 4 роки тому +116

    Rate your German pronunciation with 7.5 out of 10, I will. I could understand most of the names without knowing these ships, but still not quite there xD TH in German is just T for example. V in German is more like F. Von would therefore be pronounced as fon for English Speakers. But hey you're getting better at it with each video you make. Also, replace the rum with Jägermeister before saying the names. Gives you an immediate Stat boost of +5 german😂

    • @stefanjoeres7149
      @stefanjoeres7149 4 роки тому +5

      JÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄGAAAAAAAAAAAAMEISTAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

    • @jimmywrangles
      @jimmywrangles 4 роки тому +2

      Lolz

    • @ulrikschackmeyer848
      @ulrikschackmeyer848 4 роки тому +12

      Agree with pronunciation comment above. And please check your Weserübung video for the stream of correction and suggestions to your pronunciation of 'Norge'. Otherwise another stellar performance as one has rightly come to expect from you.

    • @22KaTsh
      @22KaTsh 4 роки тому +2

      Ulrik Schack Meyer +10 for “pronunciation of Norge” .... esp. as it’s named after the motherland 😱

    • @77thTrombone
      @77thTrombone 4 роки тому +3

      Drach - almost totally agree with A'den, but I'd've given you an 8. I wasn't going to mention the "th" thing, but he's right, and only as a minor point.
      Happily _Derfflinger_ was not involved here. That one was particularly hard on my ears.
      If ever we cross paths, the Jägermeister will be on me!

  • @nowthisisgaming117
    @nowthisisgaming117 Рік тому +2

    Thank you so much for all the Naval history. It is quite awesome stumbling upon such a gem of a channel! Please keep it up!

  • @jamesb695
    @jamesb695 3 роки тому +4

    Watching this makes me fondly remember my grandad talking about his experiences during the war, he was aboard HMS Kimberley throughout it all. Well made video as usual Drach!

  • @Shrapnel-tj3il
    @Shrapnel-tj3il 4 роки тому +44

    Imagine how different this story would have been if the German torpedoes worked right. They had spooky good accuracy.

    • @Lassisvulgaris
      @Lassisvulgaris 4 роки тому +11

      History's curse: What if.....

    • @maxqiu4134
      @maxqiu4134 3 роки тому +12

      Right? I think it's the biggest what if of this series of battles. A single submarine torpedo hit is probably more than enough to cripple any destroyer. The Kriegsmarine might've been able to sink 2 or 3 more destroyers and maybe even do some serious damage to Warpsite. The submarines honestly could've completely changed the outcome of this battle.

    • @SennaAugustus
      @SennaAugustus Рік тому +2

      "What if" in this scenario is the premise of one of the missions of the game Silent Hunter 5.

    • @avengercannon
      @avengercannon Рік тому

      American Submarine Forces Intensify

    • @grahamstrouse1165
      @grahamstrouse1165 Рік тому +1

      The fact is nobody’s magnetic exploders were working well at this point in history. Tech hadn’t caught up to theory.

  • @McNubbys
    @McNubbys 4 роки тому +39

    Drachinifel: ...40mm pom poms might be a bit overkill for a sniper...
    USS Texas: (wiggles 14in guns) Are they really overkill lol🤣

    • @chrisoddy8744
      @chrisoddy8744 3 роки тому +6

      It's similar to that incident with the (insert correct battleship here - I think it was the USS New Jersey) who got shot at by a single North Korean 152mm artillery piece. So naturally, she turned all of her turrets round and blew the poor gun to pieces with a full broadside of 9 16" guns. Following this, one of her escorting ships radioed over "Temper, temper!!"
      Basically, don't shoot at a battleship no matter how small your gun is.

    • @McNubbys
      @McNubbys 3 роки тому +4

      @@chrisoddy8744 It was the Wisconsin 😊

    • @chrisoddy8744
      @chrisoddy8744 2 роки тому +5

      @@McNubbys Thought I'd got it wrong! Thanks for the correction.

    • @McNubbys
      @McNubbys 2 роки тому +1

      @@chrisoddy8744 Nope, nailed it😊

  • @TheRealAndTrue
    @TheRealAndTrue 3 роки тому +2

    I enjoy the spoken history and its thoroughness. I would appreciate more maps with changing/moving graphics directly relevant to what is being said in each moment

  • @roscoewhite3793
    @roscoewhite3793 4 роки тому +17

    Swordfish gunner to pilot of dive-bombing Swordfish; "Are we there yet?"

    • @LankyAssMofka
      @LankyAssMofka 4 роки тому +2

      Ask me one more time and I swear I'll turn this plane around.

    • @danhammond8406
      @danhammond8406 3 роки тому +1

      Are we there yet, are we there yet, Are we there yet, are we there yet, Are we there yet, are we there yet,

    • @JWagener10
      @JWagener10 3 роки тому +1

      @@LankyAssMofka Turn it around?!? I thought we were flying backwards already!

  • @marvinmauldin4361
    @marvinmauldin4361 2 роки тому +6

    I should think that Hostile would be a poor choice for the name of a ship.
    "Have you spotted anything? "
    "Yes, sir, Hostile."
    "A hostile has been spotted! Open fire on the hostile!"
    "Wait, sir, the Hostile..."
    "Another hostile! Fire at will! Protect your rear! Protect your other rear! Protect both rears simultaneously!"

  • @pf6797
    @pf6797 4 роки тому +5

    Thorough amusement at the idea of Swordfish switching to helicopter mode.

  • @christopherconard2831
    @christopherconard2831 4 роки тому +23

    Ahh, that wonderful moment when a Swordfish chose to self identify as a Stuka.

    • @antonalerte1189
      @antonalerte1189 4 роки тому +1

      Christopher Conard or a Harrier in full “hover” mode!

    • @Hidensee
      @Hidensee 3 роки тому +2

      @@antonalerte1189 Harrier: That is my grandfather

  • @wackysparrow1768
    @wackysparrow1768 4 роки тому +6

    That moment I realized that the diving swordfish actually moved really slowly across the screen :D

    • @Shadooe
      @Shadooe 4 роки тому

      I thought it was actual footage from the day.

  • @Eboreg2
    @Eboreg2 4 роки тому +22

    I think sending in the H-class was a case of "Ablative Reconnaissance" i.e. finding the enemy by getting cheap assets killed/destroyed in their location.

    • @ulrikschackmeyer848
      @ulrikschackmeyer848 4 роки тому +11

      I think that is what 'Chieftan' (Irish-American tank commander) in American calls 'recon by fire' or 'recon by death'.

    • @jeebus6263
      @jeebus6263 4 роки тому +12

      Lol, reminds me how we use to joke about my grandma "parking by braille".

    • @111doomer
      @111doomer 4 роки тому +2

      It's the naval equivalent of "advance to contact".

  • @EstellammaSS
    @EstellammaSS 4 роки тому +18

    @55:48 I only realized it now the swordfish in the picture is moving lol.

  • @timsimms65707
    @timsimms65707 4 роки тому +5

    Thanks for this, you guys make me laugh. A great way to unwind after work. Warspite is one of my favorites and the swordfish routine left me in stiches. :D

  • @timsimms65707
    @timsimms65707 4 роки тому +1

    Just finished watching. I must say this is one of the best videos yet. I hope you two will collaborate on more of them. The respect you show and your knowledge and wit make it all work very well. Now I must have my second coffee and go to work, thank you gentlemen.

  • @danebelling9526
    @danebelling9526 4 роки тому +5

    Cup of coffee and a drac video is a good morning!

  • @MarcStjames-rq1dm
    @MarcStjames-rq1dm 3 роки тому +2

    Any action that Warspite was involved in was exciting.... what a ship to serve on!!!!

  • @alganhar1
    @alganhar1 4 роки тому +15

    Talking about the Royal Marine Division, the real shame about that is it never really got formed, and other than the Headquarters it never saw action, being dissolved in 1943. This is a real irony, as the Headquarters saw action, including its tanks, but the Division was dissolved because it was never able to get its infantry complement to anywhere close to full strength. This is, in my opinion, due to the massive proliferation of Commando, a huge proportion of whom were of course Royal Marines. The constant shift of Royal Marine infantry into the Commando's pretty much sounded the death knell of the Royal Marine Division.
    The only time the 'Division' saw action was Operation Ironclad, the invasion of Madagascar, there is at least one picture I have seen of Armoured vehicles bearing the insignia of the Royal Marine Division on board an LCT heading for that operation. It is one Dr Clarke has put up actually, trying to ID the vehicle type if I remember correctly. It was some months ago. However, the Division, even by 1942 essentially had no infantry, despite it being a Light Infantry Division.... As a result it is, to my knowledge, the only Division in the British Army to have won a Battle Honour without actually have anything in the way of actual troops!
    It's tanks turned out to be quite useful, they did not have many, 6 lights and 6 Infantry tanks, I would need to check the sources but I believe they were 6 Tetrarchs and 6 Matilda II's. Could be wrong there though. Fairly certain the Matilda's is right but I may be wrong with the lights.....

    • @piney4562
      @piney4562 4 роки тому +1

      Well, as far as I understand it, the RM division, was just a left over from the RMLI. And frankly the RMLI was an obsolete concept by this point. The need for a commando force far out stripped the need for elite light infantry. Except of course in the far east. But the far east could manage with the Chindits and the Gurkhas. For a long time, commando units were the only British land forces able to do any real damage to German occupied Europe.
      Although in some ways it is indeed a shame that the RMLI didn't get a big, showy, last hurrah. In the wider context of the war, it was for the best. (Excluding this particular incident, wherein a compliment of marines could have quite easily had a major impact on the war in Norway, and Europe as a whole.)

    • @heavytube7890
      @heavytube7890 Рік тому +1

      I understand this is quite late however you're right on the lights being Tetrarchs - i believe the infantry tanks were however Valentines.

  • @TomFynn
    @TomFynn Рік тому +2

    One of my granddads was a stationed in northern Norway, driving and maintaining trucks and snowplows. He fired his sidearm only once, out of a window, curious to see if it would actually work. The bang shocked him so much, he never fired it again. Only combat he ever saw was against the ever present mosquitos. The insects not the...anyway. One day his company commander came to him and said "The war is over, we're going home." So they boarded a freight train, rode down the length of Sweden for several days, got on a ferry to Germany and that, as they say was that. He always said, we should count ourselves lucky we lost the war, otherwise we would have had to salute every lamppost. Or he said we'd have had to salute at every lamppost. Can't quite recall. The way things were going, it would probably wouldn't have made much of a difference.

  • @jpacker7977
    @jpacker7977 2 роки тому +5

    "one of the set running along the surface and slamming into Eskimo's bow, which promptly folded down vertically complete with "A" turret. And somewhat irritated by this turn of events, "B" turret decided to keep firing, as did the aft turrets"
    I love properly applied English understatement.

  • @vespelian5769
    @vespelian5769 4 роки тому +7

    Great stuff as ever especially including the first Norwegian action.

  • @keeroy
    @keeroy 3 роки тому +6

    the tribal class was one of the best destroyer classess of WWII, if not the best. definitely my favourite. it´s a shame most of them were lost...

  • @88porpoise
    @88porpoise 4 роки тому +6

    Interesting hearing how the destroyer force considered themselves elite and had significant prestige. I think the public’s view is generally the destroyers would get whatever’s left after manning the larger ships.

  • @chrisf4659
    @chrisf4659 2 роки тому +3

    Nice of you to include actual film footage of the Swordfish divebombing at 56:00 :)

  • @mattwoodard2535
    @mattwoodard2535 4 роки тому +25

    When given orders to fire you FIRE. Don't give the enemy a freaking warning. In the 2nd battle HMS Hostile lived up to her name in spades. sm

    • @imergence9628
      @imergence9628 4 роки тому +2

      However, when you're an officer who never expected to have to fire and who did not want to start a war he wouldn't want to immediately open fire and so he hesitated. Yes you can critique him but he had good intentions at heart but yes he did ignore orders and should've opened fire

    • @mattwoodard2535
      @mattwoodard2535 4 роки тому +3

      @@imergence9628 The war had already started. It would have been one thing if only he was killed, but most of his men died with him. He failed not only his crew, but his entire nation. sm

  • @dalehawthorne6301
    @dalehawthorne6301 2 роки тому +7

    Two things I noticed. First, the use and intended role of the Tribals in taking out enemy destroyers with gunfire was paralleled by the Japanese in WW II with the use of their small light cruisers like Jintsu, Nagara and Sendai in the Battle of the Java Sea and off Guadalcanal. I've thought that the US could have used the Omahas like that for some surface battles. Second, I wonder if some of the the US destroyer captains in the Pacific were influenced by the aggressive actions of the British destroyers fought in these battles. My thought was specifically of Jesse G. Coward as captain of the USS Sterett in the action of November 13, where his ship kept fighting after some shell hits and helped mortally damage Yudachi, and then of course in the classic torpedo attack in the Battle of Surigao Strait.

  • @WildBillCox13
    @WildBillCox13 4 роки тому +2

    A complex story well worth the telling. Nice work, you two.