The Ramming of HMS Punjabi
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2021
- In times of war, the sinking of a vessel can come from a plethora of ways. Be it by enemy gunfire, dive bombers, waiting submarines and their torpedos, etc. But even just benign things like seeing something that isn't there can do you in. On the 1st of May, 1942, that's exactly what happened to a destroyer of the Royal Navy, the HMS Punjabi. This is her story.
#Disaster #WW2 #History
Works Cited:
uboat.net/allies/warships/shi...
www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chr...
www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?1...
www.britisharmedforces.org/pa...
nineteenkeys.blogspot.com/2009...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Pun...
Channel Merch:
www.teepublic.com/user/dragon...
Dragon Rise Studio (Channel Artist):
Facebook: / dragonrisestudio
Twitter: / spallspartan
Instagram: / dragonrisestudio
Check out my other social media:
Twitch: Twitch.tv/uscgazimuth
Facebook: / maritimehorror
Twitter: / maritimehorrors
Discord: / discord
Patreon: / maritimehorrors
My Uncle was on the deck of the USS Washington when the collision occurred. I recall him telling me about this moment and how surreal it was to see the halves of the ship come out of the fog, pass by the Washington on either side as she made way, then just as quickly disappear into the fog off it's stern. He told me that the Washington had assumed it was a enemy submarine that had attacked and when the depth charges went off they were convinced. He also recalled the horror of seeing crewmen falling out of the open halves of the Punjabi before it disappeared back into the fog. He did not go into many details but I knew there was more. I was a teenager at the time when we talked about this. That was over 45 years ago but I can clearly recall how shook he was telling it. He never told me the name of the ship he saw and I never wanted to ask for fear of upsetting him. I only figured it out after seeing this video tonight. Thank you for helping me piece his words to what happened.
My great Uncle was a main battery gunner aboard HMS King George V, he was on her most of the war including sinking Bismarck and this event. He used to tell this story because he was up on deck at the time and witnessed the whole thing, he didn’t really know what happened at first due to the fog, he thought the ships engines were stalling or something, only to behold they sliced an ally destroyer clean in 2 just like butter.
These Tribals were very powerful "pocket cruisers" for their size. So few of them survived the war because they were deployed so aggressively, not because they were "unsuccessful" in some way. Tribals were always on the attack, wherever they sailed. After WWII, they saw considerable action in Korea and the Canadian Tribals were used as pickets along the North Korean shores and as carrier escorts. They were famous for their "train busting" where they would literally shoot the the North Korean trains off the tracks.
Love tribals
@@--Dani It looks like I've become involved with the bunch of volunteers that look after Haida.
Dr. Clarke & Drach would agree. They have quiet the hard on for those things, and for good reason
That’s so interesting. I wish we still had small, tough ships like this.
The RAN loved theirs as well, the last, HMAS Arunta remained in service until 1969. They were very fine ships indeed and the RN ones were a stalwart of the Russian convoys.
Loses usually reflect usage.The Tribals were pushed hard and were very effective. Their loss rate is proof of that effectiveness, not a factor placing it in question.
Yes I was confused by his assessment
@@bravo795mp He is an America, they won WW2 on there own
Thanks for adding this tragic story to your UA-cam collection. My uncle Jack who was only 20 years old at the time, died in this tragic accident. (SUMMERS, EDWIN JOHN), Midshipman, Royal Naval Reserve, Son of Charles William and Constance Summers, of Zeerust, Transvaal, South Africa
You should do the sinking of the El Faro. Driving into a category 5 hurricane in the middle of the night would be terrifying
I's like to see this too. It seems they knowingly drive into the hurricane but as always there's more to it than that including some problems which still exist.
Well... there's your problem
@@P_RO_ oh.. heard of that one. Apparently the captain was using out-of-date info about the storm's course, and accidentally entered the storm. Which, realistically, was incompetence. He should not have been using out-of-date info. While you can argue that he might not have known... it was his JOB to know. So at the end of the day... it was his fault, even if it was not directly his doing. He knew how dangerous the storm was. He WASN'T planning to go into it, but neglected to get up-to-date info.
It boggles the mind. Did he not know how to get up-to-date info? Again, if that's true... incompetence.
ua-cam.com/video/-BNDub3h2_I/v-deo.html
Brick Immortar made a good video covering the El Faro sinking.
My grandfather was a gunner in the RN during WW2 first on HMS Cossack then after she was lost he was assigned as a gunner on armed merchant ships and did quite a few Russian convoys. I remember my dad telling me about how as a child his father told him how terrible the conditions where , how they’d be hammering the ice off the ship 24hrs a day to stop the ships capsizing due to how top heavy they became with it and how if you went in to the water you would not survive , must have been terrifying even for the seasoned sailors like him .
Different terror for everyone: soldiers could only wait for that one bullet, grenade or shell to tear them apart. People around them dying, friend and foe. Every single day.
Submarineners would wait in terror for hours if they would be sunk and they would face certain drowning in complete darkness. Cold, damp and cramped.
Pilots faced burning alive or falling out of the sky with no means of escape. Screaming while they wait for the impact. Or slowly die of thrist on a life raft, forgotten.
Tank men would have to endure coffin sized cold or hot steel box where they would be lucky if the tank exploded instantly. Worse, they would burn to death or be shot while climbing outside.
Pick your poison. War is hell for everyone, everyone is scarred in some way and anyone can die in a horrible way while being exhausted and starving, not knowing which is actually worse.
I would be catatonic. And I'm a very capable person. It amazes me what soldiers and sailors can pull themselves together and accomplish, especially with many of them being barely more than children themselves. Just incredible.
@@alaric_ Officers tend to die in greater comfort than the Enlisted.
To be honest your fear keeps you alive in these situations it keeps you sharp it keeps you focused.
I'd be worried if you weren't scared
@@heritagehillsecurity8778 very moronic thing to say
Minor corrections for the Narvik section.
Tribals participated in the Third Battle of Narvik, not the second (the first was fought between Norwegian coastal defence ships present and Germans, and the second between the H-class destroyers of the Royal Navy detailed at first to deal with Germans).
Second, it was actually a very important battle. Kriegsmarine lost majority of their fleet destroyers there.
There was a Tribal class in WW1 as well. Famously Zulu had her stern blown off and Nubian was smashed forward in a ramming. The two undamaged halves were united in a new ship named "Zubian"!
Or Nulu
Gotta chime in. It's not "ship horsepower", it's "shaft horsepower". The HP is measured from the shaft. 2:19
Came early just to say your Edmond Fitzgerald video was absolutely fantastic. I have to agree with the comment saying your documentary was the best of the Fitz since the 1995 one, and hands down was of higher quality then the one done by fascinating horrors. Keep up the work you got real talent mate
Thanks, King George V. That means a lot. Also don't feel bad about hitting Punjabi, it wasn't your fault.
@@MaritimeHorrors I’m still dealing with survivors guilt
God's speed, shipmate. Try and keep that British stiff upper lip.
@@MaritimeHorrors Thank you kind sir :)
To be fair, Fascinating Horror generally focuses more on land bound disasters, while Maritime Horrors, as per his name, does sea based disasters. So of course his will be more detailed. That being said, I agree that Maritime's video of the Fitz was amazing.
When Haida was a museum ship in Toronto, I used to play on board like we were at sea.
I climbed her decks many a time as well back in the early 80s
@@the_lost_navigator Late sixties, or very early seventies.
Fightin'est Canadian Ship!!! HAIDA!!!!
Is she not on display anymore?
@@somebloke3869 Haida has been 'restored' and is now berthed in Hamilton.
Great video! At 2:21, that would be shaft horsepower, not ship horsepower. The tale of the Punjabi reminds me that the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne (R21) rammed and sank HMAS Voyager (D04) in 1964 and also rammed and sank USS Frank E. Evans (DD-754) in 1969. Small ships need to stay clear of larger vessels.
Thats what we informally call the "rule of tonnage" if it can perform a bifurcation on you and have it not register as much as driving over a speed bump.... then stay the F* out of his way.
Fun bit though the colregs are silent on tonnage, except in a round about and indirect way in regards to vessels "constrained by draft" so a 16 foot center console fishing boat, and a 100,000 ton VLCC are addressed the same way by the rules as power driven vessels, so as an example, TECHNICALLY if the tanker is approaching the little center console at about a right angle to the center console's port (left bow) then the tiny boat TECHNICALLY had the right of way over the tanker... however it would be foolish to try to claim that right.
On a side note whether professionally (I sail as chief mate on a refrigeratored bulk carrier) or on my own vessel (seen in my avatar) I use the same policy, if a vessel is in sight I try to hail them on the radio to ascertain what there intentions are and to give them mine and discus CPA, TCPA and all that other fun stuff
Melbourne sank the highest tonnage of any carrier post war.
@@jaysonlima9271 what total rubbish
5:00 - Captain Roppe of the Glowworm would receive the Victoria Cross for his actions. Interestingly, he received that medal on the recommendation of Captain Heye, the Captain of the Admiral Hipper.
British Marine Ships names, gotta love em. Everything from Vampire to Warspike to Glow Worm.
Found you by accident a week or so ago and I'm loving learning about life on the high seas as an explorer. My ancestors took part in exploration (my Swiss great great grandfather met my Brazilian great great grandmother thanks to his career of exploring) so I should know a lot already but it's better late than never I guess 🤷♀️😄 many thanks for your fascinating uploads, hugs from Scotland 😁❤⚓
The skipper of glowworm, lt cmdr Gerard Roope, was awarded the VC for the attack on hipper. Hippers skipper, kapitan zur see hellmuth heye, wrote to the UK government via the red cross, to say Roope should be awarded the VC
Is the letter publicly available anywhere that you're aware of? I would love to read that.
@@trekker105 I've not seen it myself but I'd imagine either the admiralty or the national archive at Kew would have at least a transcript.
@@trekker105 I would say it forms a part of the citation so a record will exist. I'd venture that an email to The Imperial War Museum would locate it for you.
Also. Hipper's skipper. Fun to say.
Gloworms action was Incredible, well worth a read.
My grandfather served on this ship!
So did my father. He was one of the men picked up from the water. Coated in oil, he swam to a liferaft. His naval records tell the story.
Hey dude - wish you all the best on that Merchant Mariner certificate thing! Your videos are so well researched and produced that they're always worth the wait :)
Great Video, my late uncle was an 18year old crew man on the Punjabi. on the rare occasion I managed to get him to talk about the war he told me about the fact that the crew on his half of the boat survived while the other side all drowned. He said he was rescued and taken to Scappa Flow then was taken to London to join a new ship. He ended the war as a bosun on a landing craft at Monte Casino...what those guys went through at such a young age is amazing !!
Have you ever heard the story about the night, about a week after D-Day, that the carrier HMS Tracker accidentally rammed the Canadian frigate HMCS Teme in the Bay of Biscay ? My father was one of the survivors on the Teme. The Teme was dam near cut in half.
Thanks, great video. My Dad was on Ashanti on PQ 18, they had to take Somali on tow when her engine room was blown out by a torpedo.
Well worth the wait, thanks for another quality video! I love the research that you put into little known maritime disasters, and the respect with which you cover them. Best of luck on your merchant mariners course, and, of course, fair winds and following seas, shipmate.
Thank you very much for the support, shipmate!
When I was 7 or 8 my Grandma actually took me to the HMCS Haida. Got to go onto the ship and everything. I know that this channel focuses on ships, but another cool historical site in Hamilton is the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum.
In the Warplane Museum is an Avro Lancaster. A huge WWII bomber. Out of the 17 surviving and mostly intact Lancaster, only 2 of them are air worthy… and the one in Hamilton is one of them.
HMCS Haida is docked several minutes from my girlfriends house. I stop and look at her every time we’re in area. Her son and I have been on a few times. Shes a very prideful piece!
Oh man! I've not even heard of this one! I love learning about these lesser known ships! Also welcome back, we missed you.
O hell yea! Just found this channel, awesome work. Really excited to watch it grow.
Many thanks for this fascinating video. My uncle went down with the Punjabi at age 25, a week after being made lieutenant.
Great great video my friend. Excellent production and fascinating facts and stories. Just earned a new sub!! May God bless all the works of your hands matey!
Probably the Norwegian Sea if near Iceland & heading toward USSR, not the North Sea. Your diagram at 8:32 shows this. Good story though, thank you. RIP HMS Punjabi.
Dr Alexander Clark, a British Naval Historian, and a youtuber, has published an excellent book which covers the Tribal, Battle and Daring classes of destroyers. Lots of really great information about those very active vessels.
Your channel came as a suggestion and I am glad that I clicked on it. Great channel!!
My grandfather was one of the survivors of HMS Punjabi.
He later took part in Operation: Deadlight, scuttling the U-boat fleet after the war.
I love hearing you tell these stories! Thank you! Please keep making them !!😊
Another banger. Keep it up! I like that you seem to cover less well-known events like this and I always look forward to seeing that new video notification pop up!
Appreciate the support, shipmate. I'm glad people like the lesser known stuff.
Wow! Good for you. Licensed mariner here too. If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me. I just love your content and have binge watched most of it. Bravo Zulu, for a job well done!
These videos of yours hit like a 10pm history channel documentary and I’m here for it
Kind of appropriate coming across this after watching another vid of the 1971 sinking of the ins khukri. It is almost reminiscent of the ramming of the uss frank evans by the hmas Melbourne during the late ‘60s.
They are very familiar situations, yes. Also I hadn't heard of the Khukri, I'll have to look into that one further. Thank you, shipmate.
my great grandfather was on the Melbourne during that incident
Your go to soundtrack is awesome.
Thanks for another great video.
Study hard, your future probably won't depend on youtube but it will on your education.
When you retire you can write history fulltime.
And I hope I'm here to read it.
Oh absolutely, this channel was really just something I made to get through COVID and I never expected it to do so well. My main focus is on my career. But I'll probably get a laptop to write and record while underway.
@@MaritimeHorrors that is good news, your content is top notch.
This may be my new favorite channel
First time viewer...thumbs up! This is EXACTLY why I went infantry over air Force or navy! Scary Stuff bro!
I really enjoyed this one, thank you Maritime Horrors- I think this, more than any of the other ships you have covered, conveys the horror of war.....brave men enduring often horrendous conditions in the freezing Arctic waters, far from home and family, always at the mercy of U boats or German destroyers....and ironically in this case coming to grief due to a simple error and collision with an Allied ship.
Hi, great video well researched and presented, I have now subscribed. I do have a suggestion that qualifies as a real maritime horror on a grand scale and that is the sinking of RMS Lancastria on 17 June 1940, while evacuating troops and civilians from France. Officially it is believed that 4,000 lost their lives but it is thought possible there were several thousand more.
Not even kidding for the past five videos UA-cam has refused to recommend your next video as the autoplay, it's on pure rating your good channel and UA-cam intentionally keeps on trying to lead me away,
These are nothing but awesome videos. Thank you!
Am doing my master 5 atm and med 2..very detailed and time consuming..thanks mate from Australia 🇭🇲🇺🇸
To agree with the many others below, my Grandfather was aboard HMS Sikh at the second battle of sirte, where she laid down a smoke-screen and staring down the barrel of Littorio's guns at knife fighting range. Tribals saw a lot of losses because as some of the newest, and best destroyers available, they were used aggressively in some of the most contested areas early in the war. With the French bowing out of the war, the Italians bowing into the war, the Royal Navy was stretched as thin as possible to cover several theaters by themselves.
I just wondered if you’d consider looking at the Union Star and the Solomon Brown. The former was a bulk carrier, the latter was a lifeboat. They both foundered off the Cornish coastline. It was an incredibly sad incident but the seamanship and bravery still stands as a lesson . It’s one of those points in time that stand out for everyone who has the remotest connection.
Would like you to know that there is a documentary on UA-cam about the incident. I can't remember the name of it at the moment but I highly recommend it.
Oft misstated, SHP means Shaft Horse Power (not ship horse power). This is the power available on the output side of the reduction gear. The engine power would be stated as BHP (Break Horse Power). The difference will be due to friction losses and any power take offs to run pumps and generators.
BHP is Brake Horse Power.
which maritime disaster was it where a few boats were going around a cape, got their bearings mixed up, and crashed, and then a full fleet drove through them? i've been trying to figure this out for a while now
The Honda Point Disaster of 1923, perhaps? Seven US destroyers ran aground.
ua-cam.com/video/IZS0RpOgdfQ/v-deo.html I believe you’re looking for this
@@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat thats the one! thank you so much!
I don't know if you have notifications for old videos turned on, but I hope you see this, Mr. M. Horrors. Firstly, I enjoy your content & I hope you make another video soon. Secondly, could you make an explainer vid on what each of the ship honorifics mean? RMS, HMS, HMCS, etc. Thank you!
Thank you so much for uploading maritime history about battles that some of us have never heard. My father was in WW2. This is very interesting.
I subbed. Good story telling.
Thanks what a great story.
Awesome shows keep it up 👍
Can you do a video on the Queen Mary/Curacao collision?
No drydock at Scapa Flow. ...... Scapa is an anchorage, not a dockyard.
Gren-nook, not Gree-nook.
Dev-onport, not DAVENport.
Otherwise a good telling of a great Royal Navy ship!
Although I took to the army side of the family, my late father was a WW2 submarine officer with a DSC, and my grandfather was in WW1, and given the ship's bell of HMS Colossus, the 1910 battleship, on his retirement, and which served as our front door bell at our family home, Cleeve, no more than 15 miles from Devonport. ...... So I grew up with the Navy!
An open bridge in the north Atlantic would b a wet and miserable place.
Attention all hands!
I now have merch! My channel artist has made up some merch on her teepublic. All funds go to paying her for the wonderful work she does. So if you want to show your support for the channel and the great art she does, pick something up!
www.teepublic.com/user/dragonrise_studio/albums/146205-maritime-horrors
What's a depth charge? It sounds like it should be something that triggers a detonation at a certain depth, but why? To kill the crew instantly instead of drowning? To keep the ship from being salvaged?
It's an anti submarine weapon. It detonates underwater at a certain depth (on a timer I believe) and can damage or outright destroy a submersible craft, due the pressure shockwave of the explosion. Pretty scary if you are in the sub in question.
@@lieutenantpolo oh wow! I really appreciate your explanation, thanks! It all makes sense now. Yikes!
I'm actually trying very hard ~not~ to imagine being on a sub with one of those coming! 😱
I'm adding this as yet another entry on the list of reasons why you'll never see this mountain girl in a submarine! 🙃
@@nobody8328 ; For more context the baseline Tribal class carried 20 depth charges, if those were the Mark VII type then you have roughly 2.6 metric tons of TNT in total stored on board.
Outstanding and good luck to you!
At 5:47 I believe you mean Devonport Dockyard, it's 2 minutes away from me and is huge! Other than that a great and informative video!
I wondered that 😂 just rusting nuclear subs there now haha
Awesome video as always! keep up the good work
3:50 it wasn't just an error on the part of the crew which caused to loss of Thetis - rather a combination of factors - in aviation terms the 'Swiss Cheese' model.
imagine your loved one going off to war only to hear the door was left open on their submarine during sea trials...
Good luck to you with your maritime career! Love your content!
Great video man
HMCS Haida was worked harder then seen possible, performing her duties with high efficiency, but was also extremely well kept. HMCS Haida and the other Canadian Tribal Class HMCS Athabaskan were very well kept compared to the Royal Navy Tribals, which by the end of the war, the ones that survived were so badly beaten and in rough shape, that there was no question, they were scrapped instead if being kept. HMCS Athabaskan would still be around with Haida, if she wasn't lost to a German Destroyer during a battle in the north Atlantic, which Haida was apart of and was the battle that made Haida famous as a Destroyer Killer (of course it wasn't just that battle but it started there). 4 Tribals took part in that battle if I remember right, 2 Royal Navy, and 2 Royal Canadian Navy, which both saw the loss of 1 ship, Canada losing HMCS Athabaskan, and Britain losing one of the 2 others to the same thing, torpedo from a German Destroyer. Haida chased the German destroyers, not bothering with her torpedoes, just firing the main guns as fast as possible, causing one of the German ships to run aground, later bombed by allied bombers to ensure its destruction. She chased off the other 3, causing major damage to 2 of them, 1 later sinking from the damages. Haida rescued what crew survived from Athabaskan, and the crew that survived the crash on the German Destroyer.
HMCS Haida is the last surviving Tribal Class Destroyer, a proud icon of the Royal Canadian Navy.
The Haida is moored in my backyard, we had 2 Athabaskin's in the RCN, the last one was just scraped a few years back.
Aye, aye Captain. If you ever want for a crewman, I would be honoured to serve
Have you done or thought about doing one on HMS Royal Oak?
The Tribals were fantastic ships. HMS Cossak probably the most famous but HMS Nubian earned 13 battle stars - only equaled by HMS Jervis ((J-class Destroyer) and HMS Orion (Leander class cruiser) and only bettered by HMS Warspite!
You should do video of the sinking of the Bismarck
i made a video on the viking sally murder and i think your videos are awesome. so i give you permission to do it to :) can’t Wait for the video.
you just earned yourself another subby. congrats.
Could you do on on HMAS Armadale? On board was Edward "Teddy" Sheehan, the only RAN sailor to receive the Victoria Cross.
The mind can do funny things. Under stress, malnutrition, or sleep deprivation, the human brain can play tricks. Seeing things that aren’t there, or scaling them up to monster sized things that are in actuality, relatively small. Not just sight, but all the senses can be tricked, or worst case, will trick themselves.
Very nice iteration
what an honour that would have been to escort one of the greatest battleships ever built, HMS Warspite... I would give anything to see HMS Warspite in person (kind of impossible I know... being scrapped in 1947, not before breaking free of tow ships and sailing on her own for 22km until she ran aground off Prussia Cove, being scrapped there taking 3 years)
Brilliant video thank you 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Ha! Went to spend the afternoon with the Haida, last weekend.
Royal Navy destroyer crews were a different breed of sailors. They were essentially a large clique who believed their ships superior combatants. And they certainly used their ships as if they truly were superior
You get cocky after Narvik. Crushing German destroyers that were ~500 tons bigger with bigger guns on average.
Thank you for contacting the NMC...you will hear back in a year or so...via a random unsuspected and sudden e mail...to tell you there was a problem with form 719b...
you filled out form 719k which is no longer valid...even though nothing changed from the previous form to the present form...please correct this and resubmit.
Oh yo I'm from Tuscaloosa this was fun to hear about
as a Hamiltonian and grandson of someone who served on the Haida as soon as you said tribal class destroyer i got exited
did the lookout survive the collision ?
Amazing detail great work thanks for sharing 🦘👍
Damn, I've watched all 17
Glad you enjoy them, shipmate!
Oh dear
I am trying to get my MMC as well! I know its 2 years later than this, but maybe we'll see each other aboard one day!
It has pretty lines! I will give it that.
I am half Haida. So of course HMCS Haida is my favorite destroyer.
I've always been told that my grandad was on Hms punjabi he survived the collision , does anyone know where a list of survivors can be obtained?
Was the lookout one who survived?
What a great name for a ship HMAS Punjabi, can imagine that the food was 👍.
and you pronounced Wichita correctly LOL now for a little bit of abbreviation work. When you see SHP on a ship it stands for Shaft Horse Power, but that wasn't much of a mistake, Keep up the good work. Oh and the tribals were fine ships, tends to be in destroyers that the good modern boats are sent into battles and the old used up ones are used in lesser theaters. Probably the Tribals were the best of the prewar destroyers. The only ships that I can think of that were really betters were the US Fletchers and the similar Sumner and Gearing. The American destroyers had years of development to help them and the advantage of working in the generally more peaceful Pacific
You should do the Ehime Maru
imagine being that lookout that "cried wolf" and got 49 of his friends killed..... and cost 100s of thousands in damage + a lost ship (and plus the damaged ship not able to fight for several weeks/months)
.
i hope the poor guy didnt let it effect him much...... mistakes happen, being cautious is USUALLY better than not
the Punjabi could have also turned on her lights..... or made less of a turn / turned the other way..... or speed up / slowed down
.
plenty of ways this "false wolf call" could have turned out just fine..... with no loss of life
.
.
its war..... shit happens
I saw a video about the Thetus. Truly sad...🌹⚓
Love the word Punjabi. That is all.