@@liberalsockpuppet4772 As a tier 6 premium ship, she is immediately outclassed as soon as she's in a tier 7 battle, let alone a tier 8. Wargaming made her just good enough to dominate tier 5 battles and to perform well in her own tier, but they made it obvious they did not want her fighting newer vessels and she's had multiple stealth nerfs since I bought her in the public beta early access phase of the game. In many ways, the regular tech tree German BBs are so much better fighters than Warspite - but, that's because the Kriegsmarine ships are close range brawlers and the Warspite is a long range sniper, thus the World of Warships maps are too small for her.
@@GazbeardThe video references legends and I’m sure the other person is too. On legends it’s a tier 5 BB and is one of if not the best tier 5 in the game and is a very good value for money ship if someone wants to get a mid tier BB
Yes, but it’s also understandable as to why she was. Emotionally we all dislike it, but considering her state it made sense (plus the state of Britain post war)
Thank you for making that very relevant connection. Both ships spoke loudly to the national character and spirit of their respective navies and nations. I will never understand it.
I wish Saratoga at least would have been preserved she would've made a Great museum ship plus she and Enterprise and ranger were the oldest USN carriers by 1945
My dad served on Warspite for two years 41-43 as a gunner/torpedoman and he said he was very proud to have been a member of her crew as i was proud of him.
@@nemosis9449 Briefly. I think he was on the Warspite from'43-45. Before that he was in the merchant marine before getting quite badly injured and recovering in Malta.
@@bujler Looking thru my dad's papers he was lightly wounded at Crete then went to the USA via pearl harbour then was transferred to destroyer's when she was back in UK for refit.
That is something to be proud of, I would love to be able to walk her decks and feel her move under my feet. What a privilege to serve on the Grand Old Lady.
Britain couldn't afford to keep her. Not as a combat ship and certainly not as a museum ship. That's as much a part of her history as her service. It's important to remember and learn from. That's what history is all about.
Clement Attlee was PM at the time Warspite was scrapped. No one would consider that Attlee was anything but a fierce British Patriot; he had served at Gallipoli in WW1 and, although a Labour PM, he was not friendly to the Soviet Union as the Cold War started. However, he had won a landslide in 1945, with many servicemen votes, by promising a welfare state with broad nationalization of key industries, housing reform, publically-funded healthcare, and many other features of a social democracy. This found wide favor with a British population that had suffered two world wars in two successive generations. At the same time, Britian was heavily in debt, and Attlee's promises could only be fulfilled by more debt or more taxes on an already-heavily taxed public. IIRC there were a couple of attempts to raise the funds needed to preserve Warspite, but in the end it could not be done without a substantial contribution from the British Government, and Attlee, right or wrong, decided that the state could not afford it. I think he faced substantial opposition from the more radical left in his caucus, who viewed that money spent on Warspite would be preserving a symbol of the class diffferences that permeated British society, and they would have none of it. At the same time the public's memories of the war were horrific, and few had the perspective of pride and nostalga that they had in later generations. So, while we all think now that it was a shame that Warspite wasn't preserved, I think it is at least possible to understand the context in which the decision was taken. This is also history. For me, it is more difficult to understand the scrapping of USS Enterprise. The American government had few, if any, of the economic or political constraints that the UK did in the postwar period, and Enterprise had a phenominal war record, especially early in the Pacific war when it went mostly the Japanese way. Enterprise was the one ship that sustained the USN through Midway, Guadalcanal, and held the fort until the Essex class arrived. She should have been saved.
@yourmanufacturingguru001 I didn't know that, thank you. While that does not make up for what should have happened -the preservation of the ship as a museum; it is better than nothing. Ideally, the hull fragment with the ship's name would be positioned so that the Annapolis Cadets view it often, perhaps when forming up every morning, or perhaps for graduation ceremonies. Some would take it for granted, but my hope would be that many would pause and think about how the crew fought their ship intelligently and with great valour. An uncommon combination, but exactly what the USN needed in 1942. My wish would be that the cadets absorb as much of the fighting spirit of "Big E". My prayer would be that the cadets' ships, in their future careers, have the same toughness and survivability that USS Enterprise did in her active sea service.
@@robruss62 Although I would have liked Warspite to be preserved, we have to remember that Warspite was pretty beat up and probably would not have lasted long in preservation - note the issues with USS Texas. And Britain was much better off under the Atlee government, just the founding alone of the National Health system alone is worth it. Do some research regarding the infant mortality rate under the Conservatives pre war and after the war under Labour.
Imagine how amazing it would be if, hypothetically, HMS Warspite was in a permanent dry dock next to HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. What a sight that would be!
I'm not one for sentimentality, she was built for a purpose and her purpose had passed. Her resources were, for better or worse, better spent elsewhere. The memory lives on, an infamous, storied weapon used to win a world war, a fantastic legacy.
A full history of Warspite would take hours to narrate, but I would like to add a couple of things that were not mentioned, or only partly. During Narvik her spotter plane found one of the U-Boats in a side estuary and accurately bombed and sank it. It was the first time that a Battleship had sunk another ship using aircraft. Then there was her re-barrelling after D-Day. To do this she had to head north, the quickest route being via the Straits of Dover. In taking this route she became the first British Battleship to go through the straights since the war began. Her final battle honours are for Walcheren. This was the last amphibious landing in the European theatre of the war which secured control of the port of Antwerp for the Allies, one of the final nails in Germany's coffin. Again, to do this she sailed right up the river to attack the defences, much like she had sailed up the fjord at Narvik. I have also heard that she was the first to open fire on D-Day not just one of the first, and that the hit at Calabria was also the longest, not second longest range, although that was maybe just for actual Battleships. Also at Calabria the reason she took on two of the newest and most powerful Battleships in the world (as the Italian pair were) at the same time was because Malaya who was supposed to be with her had suffered engine trouble enroute. Warspite did not know that Malaya had fixed her problems and was steaming at full speed to assist so Warspite decided to have a go anyway. By the time Malaya arrived it was all over in part due to that long range hit from Warspite which seriously worried the Italians causing them to withdraw to preserve their irreplaceable ships. On the steering problem when she started circling at Jutland there happened to be a seriously damaged Cruiser in the middle and they thought Warspite was creating a diversion to save them! Regardless, it almost certainly did save them. She literally fought from the beginning of WW1 to the end of WW2 in just about every major engagement and in every theatre the British took part in. And she won. If we owed the victory in the skies over Southern England to "The Few" then we owed victory in the seas to "The Grand Old Lady". Frankly the Germans must have been sick of the sight of her.
At Narvik, Penelope grounded at the entrance to the fjords, which resulted in Warspite as the replacement. On the German side, the destroyers were supposed to be protected by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, but the pair were chased away by Renown earlier. At Calabria, the faster Warspite took on the role of battlecruiser, to support the outgunned cruiser division. She also did a few (controlled) circles to wait for her sister to catch up. Malaya then proceeded to fire blindly because she was watching the fall of her sister's shots. Royal Sovereign never made it to the battle and this resulted in sending the rest of the QEs into the Mediterranean. Warspite was the 4th to fire on D-Day, Orion and Roberts joint first, then Belfast, then Warspite.
She wasn't the first to open fire on D-day. Hit at Calabria was basically tied for the longest battleship hit ever, Gnesienau on Glorious was basically the same range (given the error involved)
I think you'll find it was a destroyer. During Jutland, when the destroyer was virtually guaranteed to be sunk, it was the Warspite's failed steering that put her between the destroyer and the German battleships. The last the destroyer's crew saw of her, as she allowed them to make their escape, was her disappearing in amongst the many giant plumes of water created by the enemy's shells, with sheets of flame erupting from her ownguns. To the crew of the small destroyer it must have been an awesome and welcome sight.
This ship is the biggest argument I've heard that machine spirits from 40k exist. It fits too well. Deciding to spin in place back toward the Germans at Jutland rather than run away, shrugging off nearly every single method of sinking ships (shells, bombs from planes, mines, torpoedos etc) to fight another day, had the Italian Fleet which she'd bullied for years at this point surrender to her at Malta, wore her guns out firing at D-Day, and after it was decided she'd be scrapped, resisted her crew and marooned herself on the coast rather than go to the breakers.
Not the first time she sailed without power, she had previously done so at Messina after being hit by the Fritz X, in circles and then sideways. Of course, at the time she was escorted by one of Messina's monsters, Scylla.
Some other fun Warspite facts: - She had a hilarious habit of crashing into things. Other ships, docks, rocks, you name it. Somehow she always came out pretty much undamaged while whatever she hit... not so much. - She was the first battleship to fire on D-day (and second ship overall, after HMS Belfast). - Warspite was hit by two German Fritz-X bombs, the same as Roma (the flagship of the Italian Fleet). Warspite survived, while the much newer Roma sank. - Her 15 battle honours would translate to something like 32 American battle stars (the systems used by the RN and USN are VERY different), making her easily the most decorated ship of either war.
@@MasterCheeks-2552IIRC battle stars are awarded for individual battles, while battle honours are for an entire campaign. Eg, Warspite took part in multiple battles in the Mediterranean theatre that would have each earned a battle star, but was only awarded the singular “Mediterranean” battle honour.
@@MasterCheeks-2552 Battle stars were issued to United States Navy warships for "meritorious participation in battle", or for having suffered damage during battle conditions. Under those conditions a ship could fail to fire a single shot and still get a battle star, assuming they came under attack by the enemy. They're a participation award in a way, more of a 'this ship fought the enemy here' kind of deal. Battle honours were different. For one they are not awarded for battles lost or 'fought badly'. While it's possible to get a battle honour for a single ship action, it would still be inclusive of the whole campaign. For example, there were 3 separate battles at Narvik - the USN system would award a battle star for each individual battle, while the RN system would simply list 'Narvik' to include all 3 as a wider campaign (Warspite herself has a single battle honour that reads 'Mediterranean 1940-41-43', which covers multiple smaller engagements that would each earn an individual star under the USN).
@@MasterCheeks-2552 Battle honours, as it implies, require honour. The ship must do well during a battle or campaign to earn it. For example, Warspite and others escorted Illustrious at Taranto, but didn't receive an honour, because only one ship fought. With one exception (Hood and PoW vs Bismarck), if you were sunk or otherwise did badly, you don't get an honour (PoW didn't get an honour vs Japan).
Warspite, a name that will forever be remembered in Naval History as a Legendary Vessel. The Most famous one maybe gone but its legend will live on. The Grand Old Lady never fell to the enemy, and even fought its fate but ultimately lost.
no she succeeded! she changed her fate to going down in a way a true warship should, the bottom of the ocean, she sunk in defiance of the enemy (the government), and no matter what ideology you support war spite is respected. The grand old lady, was sunk at the hands of the enemy in 1947!
There has been 7 Warspites and none have sunk. Even the nuclear sub was a wild one, she rammed a Soviet nuclear sub and was chased by the entire Soviet Navy.
01:35 I'd imagine that news about the Kongō-class would've reached the Admiralty pretty fast, seeing as Kongō was built in the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness...
It is a tragedy that in a couple of decades trade union excesses (all work was over budget and overdue, because of strike action and unreasonable demands) had driven shipbuilding away from the UK, mainly to Japan!
You say you have no subject And your brushes all have dried; But come to Marazion At the ebbing of the tide. And look you out to seaward, Where my Lady battle scarred Hugs the rock that is more welcome, Than the shameful breakers yard. Paint her there upon the sunset In her glory and despair, With the diadem of victory Still in flower upon her hair. Let her whisper as she settles Of her blooding long ago, In the mist than mingles Jutland With the might of Scapa Flow. Let her tell you, too, of Narvick With its snowy hills, and then Of Matapan, Salerno And the shoals of Walcheren; And finally of Malta, When along the purple street Came in trail the Roman Navy To surrender at her feet. Of all these honours conscious, How could she bear to be Delivered to the spoiler Or severed from the sea ? So hasten then and paint her In the last flush of her pride On the rocks of Marazion, At the ebbing of the tide.
I always imagined that she was rounding Prussia Cove and her old soul thought "There's something German I haven't had a go at." And then tried to ram it.
I believe it was Agincourt that arrived to help save Warspite at Jutland when her rudder had jammed. Again. Agincourt fired broadside after broadside, 14 x 12” shells each time from her seven gun turrets which were each named after a day of the week instead of the usual A, B, X ,Y for four turrets or A, B, Q, X, Y for five turrets. Agincourt was described as lighting up with a huge flash from stem to stern with each broadside, putting to shame the many who’d said she would be unable to ever fire a full broadside. At Normandy on 11th June, Warspite was positioned to support Allied troops inland of Gold beach. Here it was that Captain Kelsey issued a command unique in British naval gunnery: ‘Fifty rounds 15” rapid fire’ This was aimed at woodland where there was a growing concentration of enemy troops and armour. The fire opened up very accurately but, as the Captain knew it would, it became less accurate as the barrage continued. This suited Kelsey perfectly, since he was certain that as initial accuracy fell off it would provide the added benefit of chasing the enemy forces out of the woodland ~ which it did most successfully. Her gunners received the thanks of the General commanding the 50th Division for their invaluable contribution that day.
The reference is lost now, Agincourt was then described as "looking more like a Brock's Benefit (fireworks show held in London) than a battleship". A cruiser who was in front of Agincourt flew out of the water from the shockwave of her full broadside. On a separate occasion to the 50 rounds (vs 12th and Lehr Divisions on 11 June), Warspite was phoned by the army to clear the 21st Panzer Division who had held back British paratroopers on D-Day itself.
@ It had been suggested that Agincourt would never be able to fire a full broadside without breaking her back or just rolling over. But I don’t think the gloriously named Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson d'Eyncourt ever designed a bad battleship. The only things that broke when she first fired a broadside were a large amount of the tableware and glassware in the officer’s wardroom. She must also have had the most socially diverse crew on a British battleship, with officers ~ and a 13 year old naval cadet ~ coming from the Royal Yachts and many crew from naval prisons and detention barracks. Just out of interest, could you please advise me which cruiser was it that suffered blast damage from Agincourt’s 12” guns? I’ve read the report of a Lieutenant Horatio Westmacott who was in the foretop in charge of the 6” secondary batteries but he doesn’t mention any cruisers apart from his old ship Defence passing Agincourt during the action but Defence was destroyed by enemy fire.
When Warspite saw the full broadside of Agincourt open fire the entire ship was enveloped in the bright flash and then by the huge plume of smoke from the 14 guns. For a moment Warspite thought that Agincourt had suffered a magazine explosion from enemy fire only to see the smoke clear and Agincourt hiding behind looking quite proud.
A nice thought. If somehow one could salvage some of the armor plate, it would make an awesome straight razor. The armor would be a high-alloy, fully killed, fine-grained steel; the best that the technology of the day could provide. It could take a great edge; if the hardness was not sufficient for good durability, it could be case-hardened so that the edge could be hardened to 60+ Rockwell C. I have some Japanese knives that are hardened carbon steel; they require prompt cleaning and oiling after use to prevent corrosion, rust stains, and deterioration of the edge. Straight razors are generally cleaned, dried, and stropped after every use, so there is no reason a straight razor made from Warspite armor couldn't have another life in regular use. A safety razor blade made from armor steel would corrode too rapidly for repeated use, but I reckon that most everybody would keep a safety razor blade made from Warspite framed as a commemoration piece, like you said. However I think that it would be more fitting to have a piece of the ship in continued use, and I would be proud to shave with a razor made from that remarkable ship.
@@jonnyblayze5149 My dude, some of the sewing machines on my channel are older than Warspite and there isn't a speck of wear on any of the gearing, these things are so precise unless you use the lightest of oils on them they can't turn. This is because they cost a fortune at the time and no expense was spared in manufacturing. For example the 201k was the equivalent of 6 months wages, and were expected to last generations, which they have done. It's actually sad that most people today think of expensive kitchen knives as the best steel money can buy, when 100 years ago random household objects, let alone war ships, contained much better metal as standard. (My 201k is made out of a recycled spitfire and is still perfect)
Warspite's charge into confined waters to blast the German destroyer fleet at Narvik was one of the most decisive acts of the war. After losing half of their destroyer fleet in a single action the Kreigsmarine knew that the proposed Operation Sealion a few months later was a non-starter and were dead set against it. She literally saved Britain from an invasion, and all the global consequences that would have occurred had it been successful.
10 extra destroyers would hardly had been enough to make Sealion a reality. Even at full strength, KM was not strong enough to support an invasion in 1940.
There was never a chance the Kreigsmarine could hold the channel, and they knew it. There was never a chance the Luftwaffe could cover the beaches or the airborne landings after BoB, and they knew it. There was never a chance the Army could sustain itself without stable supply lanes, and they knew it. Even the concept of making opposed landings from retrofitted canal barges was widely seen as impractical, and the proposed Tauchpanzer (snorkel tanks to be deployed by heavy crane barges within small-arms distance of the beach then driven blindly up to a mile under 15 meters of water) was likely the worst invention of the war. Even with thier destroyers if Germany had launched Sealion it would have trapped tens if not a hundred thousand of their most veteran troops to be destroyed without hope of retreat - infantry, assuming they overcame the beach fortifications, left sitting under constant air and artillery attacks without their own heavy support at a time when man-carried AT was limited to grenades whose supply could not be renewed taking casualties that could not be evacuated. Wondering if attacking a port city to secure resupply docks would mean anything when Rodney and Nelson and Hood were waiting to race three hundred Swordfish and Albacore to anything stupid enough to sail without a royal ensign. Even among the most optimistic, Oslofjord's treatment of Blücher had already quelled the few hardliners who believed the tactics designed for Norway could be applied to Britain.
@@Anon4859 Ok, but how many submarines would Germany have thrown at the task? When you read about all the major naval engagements of both world wars, the one element that terrified Admirals was submarines. If Narvik was instructional, so was Scapa and Royal Oak.
@@terrycunningham8118 If that was the case, the German forces in North Africa would have easily overcome resistance from the relatively minor and far more widely spread RN and RAF forces opposing German supply lines through the Med. They weree even supported by the Italians, who had a larger and more experienced navy than the German's. Instead a force that never numbered more than a quater of the Home Fleet operating hundreds of miles from home ports around natural chokepoints while guarding slow unarmed merchant vessels.... managed to crush the combined German/Italian force. The same chokes that allowed u-boats to find Allied shipping also trapped them once discovered, because while torpedo boats are able to use their speed to take advantage of land cover, u-boats are best able to hide in wide open and deep seas. It wasn't lossless, but that didn't help Rommel put fuel in his panzers despite holding dozens of ports capable of acting as resupply bases, and against a home invasion the RN would have held their field of battle until every last shell was fired and every hull lost to ramming or bording. A single surprise raid days into the war does nothing to change the blance of power in the hypothetical Channel conflict. They had one shot before defences were readied, and to their credit they took it... Unless you think Germany could sneak u-boats into every defended Home Fleet port in the UK to destroy the entire RN in port, but chose not to do so out of some sporting honour?
The action at Narvik is something that really astounds me. It could have ended badly had the Germans been better prepared, managed to pull off some sort of ambush, or had better success with the torpedoes they fired. It was very ballsy to send Warspite straight at them at close range, but that decision paid off well for the British in an otherwise mostly gloomy Norway campaign.
Apparently Spite is an old English name for a Woodpecker, and the first Warspite which fought against the Spanish Armada, was one of the earlier warships designed to defeat an enemy by using a gun deck of similar cannons to fire through the enemy ships hull. Rather than the older style of fighting a land battle with an enhanced chance of drowning*. Hence the name Warspite, a ship designed to peck holes in the wooden hulls of enemy ships. So unlike the ship the name is actually a joke, but then the English have always made a joke about everything. *Thanks to Drachinifel for this joke.
@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2The relevance to woodpeckers only came in the 20th century. The name comes from a comment by Queen Elizabeth in the aftermath of the Battle off Portland 1588 on the bravery of Sir Martin Frobisher, where in “war’s spite” and Spanish opposition, he managed to win the battle. Queen Elizabeth then decided to name the next second rate built War’s-Spite, which happened 8 years later.
So, The Grand Old Lady: > Busted in front of Kaiser's HSF unintentionally saved fellow fleetmate Warrior and lived. > Barged in Narvik Fjords and took out HALF of Kriegsmarine's entire destroyer fleet (plus 1 U-boat w/ its seaplane) > Ran back and forth with the Mediterranean fleet, causing mayhem at both Regia Marina and Kriegsmarine. > Tanked Luftwaffe strike after strike at her, even ate one Fritzx Glider Bomb. > Bombarded Normandy to the point her guns were worn out, literally. > Got sent to the scrapyard before throwing herself to the cliff. The fact that this ship wasn't turned into a museum considering her 2 world wars service still makes me seethe.
@@TTTT-oc4eb There is a single submarine vs submarine kill and it's the HMS Venturer that has that honour. Every other sub was sunk by ships or aircraft.
It’s such a shame and tragedy that HMS Warspite did not survived to become a historic museum ship now only HMS Belfast and HMS Cavalier are left in UK today.
And i live within walking distance of HMS Cavalier, haven't been in the dockyard for a while, will definetly need to plan a journey down there next year
It’s fully understandable at the time why Warspite had to be scrapped. She was seen as outdated and held together by twine and prayers. The cost to renovate and repair her would’ve been astronomical when Britain needed funds directed elsewhere. What isn’t understandable is that virtually NOTHING about her was preserved. No gun barrel, no propeller, no bell, and no anchor. Hardly anything is left of her. Personally, I think the fact she beached herself should’ve opened the idea of her being scuttled rather than scrapped. It would’ve allowed people to visit her and allow her to patrol the sea for eternity.
Warspites Bell, the battle ensign she wore at Jutland, a chapel door and some other items are enshrined at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
I'm glad to see that in the far flung future, when Salerno is once again invaded in the year 19443, HMS Warspite will return from the dead to once again assist the British Empire in securing another victory over its enemies. (For those who don't understand, pause the video at 12:32).
My grandad Thomas Walker (AKA Hooky) Served on Warspite during WW1 and was at Jutland. I still have a picture of the Warspite crew all sitting/ standing in front of the main bow gun turrets. He spoke very fondly of the ship and its crew, he would have loved this video. Thank you
As the only QE class battleship named after a country. It would be great to have a video on its life and service history. I have seen it's watch bell in real life and it is amazing how a country small as ours (now Malaysia) to have been recognised and given such an honour!
Indeed. Although, I feel a good US runner-up would be another dreadnought, the late-WW1 USS Nevada, being present at Pearl Harbor, The Normandy Landings, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, etc.
i remember my old man telling me about salerno, said at twilight the shells from the capital ships glowed as they passed overhead and they were 500 yards offshore when they let loose,that noise alone must have been something else
A fact to her repair at Puget Sound Naval, she was originally to go into Esquimalt Graving Dry Dock, outside Victoria, B.C. but because that drydock was already extremely busy, she was sent to the be fixed at the American dockyard. Our mother, was a young teenager at the time and she told me WARSPITE was anchored within plain sight of the citizens of Victoria.
Thanks for this. If any Warship deserved a video of it's own, surely The Warspite is the one. Whatever anyone threw at her, she refused to go down. Whatever she was asked to do, she tore into it like a Mama Tiger. Being scrapped is the fate of most ships - they can't last forever - but even then she made it on her own terms: "Oh, yeah? Well you'll have to come and get me!" Some ship.
Hey there I've been watching your content for years now and its always really good, the best videos you did in my opinion where the three videos on the battle of budapest. Those videos were insanely good and I would really love it if you did something like that again for other battles, maybe moscow or sevastopol or stalingrad. I loved how you spilt it in to three videos and didn't just focus on the battle for the city itself but what lead up to it and the battles in the surrounding areas, anyway keep up the great work.
To my mind comes Sovereign of the Seas. She was active for 60 years, the first 3-decker and kept on beeing at the forefront of technological development in her time. If we could agree to apply the term "Battleship" on her, she´d be my contender for the title of Greatest BB ever built. Don´t wanna take anything away from the significance of HMS Warspite, but 350 years ago Men of War weren´t not just weapon systems, but also symbols of the state, or the ruler, which was a very similar thing back in the day.
Animarchy said it best “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with ME” [Doom music “the only thing they fear is you”] “It was like shelling peas”
Ah yes the famous battle of Salerno in the future year of 19443 (0:27)... Wait... does that mean she wasn't scraped she was sent into the future where shes needed most😮
Officer: so, what is this? Sailor: I think the professor, who showed up, said it was a “flux capacitor”, sir Officer: Well as long as nothing… (Ship teleports into the future and back) (Capacitor seen being thrown off the ship)
Many years ago in a country auction (pre-internet) I bought the rangefinder telescope from Warspite, in its mahogany long box and with full provenance. It was sourced originally from the scrapping off Cornwall. I am bequeathing the item, which I believe is the most important artefact in British history since the Norman Conquest, to the archives centre at my alma mater, Churchill College at Cambridge University. The telescope was used to sight and fire on the German destroyers at Narvik. That action meant that the Germans did not have enough destroyers left in the summer of 1940 to mount an effective invasion of Britain as the ten remaining destroyers were insufficient to guard a contested passage across the narrow seas. The Warspite was, in my view, the reason (with apologies to valiant Fighter Command) that we are not now speaking German (although some of us do from choice when required, but that is rather different). Furthermore, the success of Warspite at Narvik led to the fall of Chamberlain and the appointment of Churchill as PM. That is another story as to actual culpability for the disastrous Narvik land debacle, but Warspite certainly saved Churchill's reputation and his bacon, as it were. The rest is of course, history.
A good if short video that skimmed over her history and what badly damaged her of Italy had already sent a larger, modern Italian battleship to the bottom, she was a heavy weight that refused to go down in a fight and made the scrappers job particularly hard :)
Rodney makes a strong case for greatest battleship ever, fought Bismark, was the only battleship to torpedo another battleship, hit a moving tank while herself moving and doing so with only 1 minor refit, while her sister Nelson and other BBs got several. She had been worked so hard that is 44 she was deemed u fit for service, but she fought on for several months before being put in reserve. And the best reason she was the best looking boat of any country in the war.
Amateur historical naval nerd here, like we all are. She had the best name along with the best service, and clearly an amazing crew at all times. I wonder how many other battleships served two world wars and survived? Genuinely interested.
Most were scrapped after WWI. On the British side, there were 4 QEs and 4 Rs who survived both wars. Iron Duke was technically in WWII but in a limited role as an AA battery, and Centurion served in a limited role as a decoy ship.
USS Texas kind of served during WWI as she and other US ships joined the Grand Fleet in 1917 as 6th Battle Squadron and was then very active during WWII. She even has a crazy story of her own; during the Normandy campaign she didn't have the range to hit German positions, so the crew flooded one of her torpedo bulges to cause a slight list, which then gave her enough range to hit German positions. She survives today and so is the torch bearer for all early Dreadnoughts.
The late, great Spike Milligan mentioned Warspite in one of his war memoirs on the Italy campaign. On arriving on a transport to Italy, their unit sees Warspite in a bay, using her huge guns to fire far inland to support the Allied advance. With each salvo the great ship would rock back and forth quite a number of degrees. A sailor watching the explosions inland comments "that's not doing Jerry much good", then looking at the tilt the ship rocked by on each salvo he added "it's not doing Warspite much good either!"
She was a ship like no other, even though she had 4 sisters, there was something about her that was special and set her apart. She should have been saved to serve on as a museum, that not one 20th century Royal Navy Battleship is left to us is a crime against history. RIP to the Grand Old Lady.
Why is it you think it would be a crime it's just called life your country was broke and needed the scrap what did you think the ships have to be here for anybody learn about them or their history
@@timsimms65707 I don't care where you stand. And a rusted piece of junky metal is not going to teach you more than the book would. Besides your broke country couldn't afford it
@@jonnyblayze5149 Dude I've seen you in other comments on here giving it the business, do us all a favour and give it a rest and some damned reverence on the name Warspite.
I'd say Warspite is absolutely a top contender for Greatest Battleship in history, both in terms of Service Record, Historical Significance, and placement. I'd personally also argue the same for the United States' Battleship New Jersey, which is in turn their most decorated Battleship.
@@doodledangernoodle2517 You fight with the navy that you have, and for most of the war the US Navy didn't have New Jersey. And, let's face it, by the time the US did have New Jersey and her sister ships the result was no longer in doubt. Definitely not true of Warspite.
For years I've been considering how to turn Warspite into a feature length movie or mini-series. Such an amazing story! Thanks for putting this together.
She should have been preserved as a museum ship, it's a damn shame that the government chose to disregard her. Perhaps even more than HMS Victory, she was the stubborn old lady of the Royal Navy.
Probably because the grand old lady saw more combat than the rest of them put together! HMS Warspite, demonstrating value for money to the tax payer for around 30 years.
My great-great-uncle was a midshipman aboard Warspite at Jutland, in one of the forward turrets. There was a NZ oral history project that had his experience of the battle, but it's been taken offline. The one bit I remember is his story of a boy being sent out to deliver a message and returning in rags, his clothes having been blown off by the blast of Warspite's own broadside.
@johnaustin6853 Cecil Burnaby Prickett, was made a rear admiral in 1934. He's buried down here in Weymouth, in an unassuming family plot with his wife and kids, along with his father who was also a captian for the RN. Theres a timeline for him on google which was intresting to look at. Edit: The information on him isnt great and after looking again i couldnt find the link to warspite directly, but still a cool find, and served on HMS Princess Royal at the battle of Jutland.
It’s criminal that Warspite wasn’t preserved after WW2 just as criminal as Dreadnaught not being preserved after WW1. Ships like that deserved to be preserved as history. HMS Dreadnaught was one of the biggest leaps Ship Design in history. And HMS Warspite was the most decorated Royal Navy Ship since HMS Victory. The fact neither were preserved baffles me to this day especially coming from a country that has perhaps the most famous maritime history in the world.
Why who cares they're just useless pieces of old metal you needed the money what would you do just have it sitting there rotten taking up space eating more money
Warspite's return from Jutland was a story in itself. First she was chased by 2 U-boats, the second one she attempted to ram but failed because she was steering blindly by reserve steering. She couldn't use her guns because the U-boat was too close. That U-boat dived so quickly her tail came out of the water. German media have said that some ships like Warspite had ran away from battle, and she was an ugly sight at Rosyth, dirty and beaten up, so the workers at Rosyth believed the reports, and pelted coal at her from the Forth Bridge (because they also believed foreign oil took away jobs from local coal). Some crew surprised their families because they thought she sunk, and believed the media covered it up by calling Warspite a battlecruiser (it was actually Queen Mary). The steering issue turned out to be a design flaw, and the rest of the QEs suffered similar problems turning hard at high speed. They were subsequently forced to slow down when executing such sharp turns.
The only other battle hardened battleship that comes to mind is USS Nevada. Bombed, burnt, subsequently refloated and repaired, she softened up beach heads from Alaska to Okinawa, protected Atlantic convoys, and participated in landings on both sides of France. If that's not enough, she shrugged off two atomic bomb tests and then was expended as a shelling target by the USS iowa.
Very appropriate. There was one difference, Nevada never fought a fleet action. Warspite fought Jutland, Salerno and Cape Matapan, and, in a forgetful, casual moment, Narvik, eating German destroyers in double handfuls, and supporting Taranto.
@@indrajitgupta3280 It's true that Nevada missed out on any fleet action. At least other Pearl Harbor survivors got some action in Surigao Straight. Otherwise, these old battlewagons didn't much use other than sea-borne artillery.
Whenever I'm playing Victoria in Civilization 6, I always name at least one of my Battleships Warspite. It's always the one that gets the most promotions, too
12:12 Probably a mercy for the Japanese. As I suspect the one thing worse than the Atomic Bombs. Would be if Warspite and Enterprise were to join forces.
Sovereign of the Seas is similarly worthy of the title, though from a different era. She massively changed the definition of a capital chip of the time, served fo 6 decades and was still an intimidating force compared to most ships at the end of that. Also, in a different definition of the word Decorated, she was was one of the most decorated ships ever built, having a truly vast amount of gold leaf. She is well worth a video being done about her.
Incoming Americans to say the Missouri was better Incoming Wehraboos to say that the Bismarck was the biggest bestest “super battleship” that totally would’ve single handily ended the war
Sadly for the later, Rodney knocked most of his guns out (in one hit) in the first proper fight with the royal navy. Otherwise he would do what the high sea fleet can’t do alone.
In terms of design and construction the Iowa class probably were the zenith of Battleship design and execution. But they arrived at the tail end of the battleship era and never had the chance to prove their capability as such. Bismark definitely was not the be all and end all of battleship design, as a recent Drachinifel video details. It was a slightly enhanced WW1 design; largely because Germany had been forbidden from building capital ships and had no experience in more modern design and construction concepts.
There ain't much to be proud of today in this country but watching this has made me feel proud again, my dad bless him was serving on HMS valiant in the far eastern fleet.
I think it was HMS Valiant that escorted my Grandfather on his return journey from North Africa to Australia during the war. He always brought up how being on a troop ship (a French liner from memory) made him nervous but they had a massive escort home before being sent to fight in the jungles.
@goodshipkaraboudjan I remember my dad saying that he actually saw Australia,,they where anchored off shore on HMS valiant, unfortunately he said he never set foot on land. Proud of all who served.
In the timespan of the world wars definitely, but I'd say Battleship New Jersey could also contend for the title of the world's greatest battleship from its action in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf.
Thank you for saying Puget Sound correctly! I also had no idea such a legendary British battleship was refitted at a Naval Yard ive driven past many times.
HMS Warspite was a gallant, brave Lady with a Crew that continuously took it on the Chin and came back for more. To her indomitable fighting Spirit we would wish her and her gallant crew a Fair Wind and a Following Sea.
Excellent commentary. Quite a remarkable vessel. A lot of the other battleships were hardly effective for the efforts involved in creating them. The end of a technical line was often the same. For example the Atlantic liners. Such a shame as the end breed was often the most interesting. Thank you for a most interesting presentation. Rmb5*
I'm an Amercan. HMS Warspite is, in my opinion, the most historic and significant warship of the 20th century. Surpassing USS Texas, of fame and many battle stars and edging out even USS Enterprise by a tiny margin. If I could only pick One to bring back it would have to be HMS Warspite. Britain doesn't keep as many as we do. Chopping up HMS Vanguard was a mistake too. A ship like Vanguard is a good thing to keep in your Back Pocket.
The HMS _Warspite_ on top of its illustrious career also has one of the unquestionably most badass-sounding names of any warship in history, and that's saying something for a ship that shares its naval history with the likes of _Victory,_ _Invincible,_ _Dreadnought_ and _Cockchafer._
Download World of Warships: Legends and play for free on Xbox and PS - wowsl.co/3AylaR8
Warspite plays well in the game, by the way. It's a good deal.
@@liberalsockpuppet4772 unreal ship
Say what you want about the Yanks. at least they appreciate their navy still.🤷♀
@@liberalsockpuppet4772 As a tier 6 premium ship, she is immediately outclassed as soon as she's in a tier 7 battle, let alone a tier 8. Wargaming made her just good enough to dominate tier 5 battles and to perform well in her own tier, but they made it obvious they did not want her fighting newer vessels and she's had multiple stealth nerfs since I bought her in the public beta early access phase of the game. In many ways, the regular tech tree German BBs are so much better fighters than Warspite - but, that's because the Kriegsmarine ships are close range brawlers and the Warspite is a long range sniper, thus the World of Warships maps are too small for her.
@@GazbeardThe video references legends and I’m sure the other person is too.
On legends it’s a tier 5 BB and is one of if not the best tier 5 in the game and is a very good value for money ship if someone wants to get a mid tier BB
Its a historical shame that she was scrapped.
Yes, but it’s also understandable as to why she was. Emotionally we all dislike it, but considering her state it made sense (plus the state of Britain post war)
If she was russian, she'd be the black sea flagship now!🤣🤣
No it's not, you have model kits, there's no sane justification to keep upkeeping that thing unless it saved the queen all by itself, lol.
just like the Enterprise (CV-6)
Imagine the revenue it would have made today as a museum..
The fact that both HMS Warspite and USS Enterprise was scrapped is a crime against history.
Thank you for making that very relevant connection. Both ships spoke loudly to the national character and spirit of their respective navies and nations. I will never understand it.
I’d also include the USS Barb and the KMS Prinz Eugen
I wish Saratoga at least would have been preserved she would've made a Great museum ship plus she and Enterprise and ranger were the oldest USN carriers by 1945
Why do governments complete the jobs that their enemies tried and failed to do?
@@aking-plums6985 $$$$
My dad served on Warspite for two years 41-43 as a gunner/torpedoman and he said he was very proud to have been a member of her crew as i was proud of him.
My grandad was on the Warspite. I think he was an AA gunner.
@@bujler Dad was on the 6" port side so might have know him.
@@nemosis9449 Briefly. I think he was on the Warspite from'43-45. Before that he was in the merchant marine before getting quite badly injured and recovering in Malta.
@@bujler Looking thru my dad's papers he was lightly wounded at Crete then went to the USA via pearl harbour then was transferred to destroyer's when she was back in UK for refit.
That is something to be proud of, I would love to be able to walk her decks and feel her move under my feet. What a privilege to serve on the Grand Old Lady.
This one should never have been scrapped. Warspite did it all and more than many museum battleships, and yet she was scrapped.
And given Britain's connections to battleship development it is doubly terrible. They should have kept a battleship, and it should have been Warspite.
Britain couldn't afford to keep her. Not as a combat ship and certainly not as a museum ship.
That's as much a part of her history as her service. It's important to remember and learn from. That's what history is all about.
Clement Attlee was PM at the time Warspite was scrapped. No one would consider that Attlee was anything but a fierce British Patriot; he had served at Gallipoli in WW1 and, although a Labour PM, he was not friendly to the Soviet Union as the Cold War started. However, he had won a landslide in 1945, with many servicemen votes, by promising a welfare state with broad nationalization of key industries, housing reform, publically-funded healthcare, and many other features of a social democracy. This found wide favor with a British population that had suffered two world wars in two successive generations. At the same time, Britian was heavily in debt, and Attlee's promises could only be fulfilled by more debt or more taxes on an already-heavily taxed public.
IIRC there were a couple of attempts to raise the funds needed to preserve Warspite, but in the end it could not be done without a substantial contribution from the British Government, and Attlee, right or wrong, decided that the state could not afford it. I think he faced substantial opposition from the more radical left in his caucus, who viewed that money spent on Warspite would be preserving a symbol of the class diffferences that permeated British society, and they would have none of it. At the same time the public's memories of the war were horrific, and few had the perspective of pride and nostalga that they had in later generations.
So, while we all think now that it was a shame that Warspite wasn't preserved, I think it is at least possible to understand the context in which the decision was taken. This is also history.
For me, it is more difficult to understand the scrapping of USS Enterprise. The American government had few, if any, of the economic or political constraints that the UK did in the postwar period, and Enterprise had a phenominal war record, especially early in the Pacific war when it went mostly the Japanese way. Enterprise was the one ship that sustained the USN through Midway, Guadalcanal, and held the fort until the Essex class arrived. She should have been saved.
Thank you for the context on HMS Warspite's scrapping.
Enterprises stern name was cut off hull and is now in Annapolis Maryland
@yourmanufacturingguru001
I didn't know that, thank you. While that does not make up for what should have happened -the preservation of the ship as a museum; it is better than nothing. Ideally, the hull fragment with the ship's name would be positioned so that the Annapolis Cadets view it often, perhaps when forming up every morning, or perhaps for graduation ceremonies. Some would take it for granted, but my hope would be that many would pause and think about how the crew fought their ship intelligently and with great valour. An uncommon combination, but exactly what the USN needed in 1942. My wish would be that the cadets absorb as much of the fighting spirit of "Big E". My prayer would be that the cadets' ships, in their future careers, have the same toughness and survivability that USS Enterprise did in her active sea service.
Yet another casualty of the greatest electoral catastrophe in british history
@@robruss62 Although I would have liked Warspite to be preserved, we have to remember that Warspite was pretty beat up and probably would not have lasted long in preservation - note the issues with USS Texas. And Britain was much better off under the Atlee government, just the founding alone of the National Health system alone is worth it. Do some research regarding the infant mortality rate under the Conservatives pre war and after the war under Labour.
Imagine how amazing it would be if, hypothetically, HMS Warspite was in a permanent dry dock next to HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. What a sight that would be!
I would trade Victory for Warspite in a heartbeat.
@shingshongshamalama I mean we could trade her for Caroline,the C's weren't much use in WW2 and Caroline herself had a basically bland record
@@shingshongshamalamaNOOO NOT THE VICTORY!
I'm not one for sentimentality, she was built for a purpose and her purpose had passed. Her resources were, for better or worse, better spent elsewhere. The memory lives on, an infamous, storied weapon used to win a world war, a fantastic legacy.
The weight of one shell is almost the same as a mark one Ford Escort!
A full history of Warspite would take hours to narrate, but I would like to add a couple of things that were not mentioned, or only partly. During Narvik her spotter plane found one of the U-Boats in a side estuary and accurately bombed and sank it. It was the first time that a Battleship had sunk another ship using aircraft. Then there was her re-barrelling after D-Day. To do this she had to head north, the quickest route being via the Straits of Dover. In taking this route she became the first British Battleship to go through the straights since the war began. Her final battle honours are for Walcheren. This was the last amphibious landing in the European theatre of the war which secured control of the port of Antwerp for the Allies, one of the final nails in Germany's coffin. Again, to do this she sailed right up the river to attack the defences, much like she had sailed up the fjord at Narvik. I have also heard that she was the first to open fire on D-Day not just one of the first, and that the hit at Calabria was also the longest, not second longest range, although that was maybe just for actual Battleships. Also at Calabria the reason she took on two of the newest and most powerful Battleships in the world (as the Italian pair were) at the same time was because Malaya who was supposed to be with her had suffered engine trouble enroute. Warspite did not know that Malaya had fixed her problems and was steaming at full speed to assist so Warspite decided to have a go anyway. By the time Malaya arrived it was all over in part due to that long range hit from Warspite which seriously worried the Italians causing them to withdraw to preserve their irreplaceable ships. On the steering problem when she started circling at Jutland there happened to be a seriously damaged Cruiser in the middle and they thought Warspite was creating a diversion to save them! Regardless, it almost certainly did save them. She literally fought from the beginning of WW1 to the end of WW2 in just about every major engagement and in every theatre the British took part in. And she won. If we owed the victory in the skies over Southern England to "The Few" then we owed victory in the seas to "The Grand Old Lady". Frankly the Germans must have been sick of the sight of her.
At Narvik, Penelope grounded at the entrance to the fjords, which resulted in Warspite as the replacement. On the German side, the destroyers were supposed to be protected by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, but the pair were chased away by Renown earlier.
At Calabria, the faster Warspite took on the role of battlecruiser, to support the outgunned cruiser division. She also did a few (controlled) circles to wait for her sister to catch up. Malaya then proceeded to fire blindly because she was watching the fall of her sister's shots. Royal Sovereign never made it to the battle and this resulted in sending the rest of the QEs into the Mediterranean.
Warspite was the 4th to fire on D-Day, Orion and Roberts joint first, then Belfast, then Warspite.
She wasn't the first to open fire on D-day. Hit at Calabria was basically tied for the longest battleship hit ever, Gnesienau on Glorious was basically the same range (given the error involved)
@@tomriley5790 Scharnhorst was the one who made the long range hit on Glorius
Whoever was flying that spotter plain is a main character. Sinking a sub with I'm assuming 1 or 2 bombs at the most is bad a.
I think you'll find it was a destroyer. During Jutland, when the destroyer was virtually guaranteed to be sunk, it was the Warspite's failed steering that put her between the destroyer and the German battleships. The last the destroyer's crew saw of her, as she allowed them to make their escape, was her disappearing in amongst the many giant plumes of water created by the enemy's shells, with sheets of flame erupting from her ownguns. To the crew of the small destroyer it must have been an awesome and welcome sight.
This ship is the biggest argument I've heard that machine spirits from 40k exist. It fits too well. Deciding to spin in place back toward the Germans at Jutland rather than run away, shrugging off nearly every single method of sinking ships (shells, bombs from planes, mines, torpoedos etc) to fight another day, had the Italian Fleet which she'd bullied for years at this point surrender to her at Malta, wore her guns out firing at D-Day, and after it was decided she'd be scrapped, resisted her crew and marooned herself on the coast rather than go to the breakers.
By the Omnisiah you're right!
Redditor.
By the grace of the Golden Throne
Not the first time she sailed without power, she had previously done so at Messina after being hit by the Fritz X, in circles and then sideways. Of course, at the time she was escorted by one of Messina's monsters, Scylla.
An epic post for an epic ship!
Some other fun Warspite facts:
- She had a hilarious habit of crashing into things. Other ships, docks, rocks, you name it. Somehow she always came out pretty much undamaged while whatever she hit... not so much.
- She was the first battleship to fire on D-day (and second ship overall, after HMS Belfast).
- Warspite was hit by two German Fritz-X bombs, the same as Roma (the flagship of the Italian Fleet). Warspite survived, while the much newer Roma sank.
- Her 15 battle honours would translate to something like 32 American battle stars (the systems used by the RN and USN are VERY different), making her easily the most decorated ship of either war.
What’s the difference between battle stars and battle honours
@@MasterCheeks-2552IIRC battle stars are awarded for individual battles, while battle honours are for an entire campaign. Eg, Warspite took part in multiple battles in the Mediterranean theatre that would have each earned a battle star, but was only awarded the singular “Mediterranean” battle honour.
@@MasterCheeks-2552 Battle stars were issued to United States Navy warships for "meritorious participation in battle", or for having suffered damage during battle conditions. Under those conditions a ship could fail to fire a single shot and still get a battle star, assuming they came under attack by the enemy. They're a participation award in a way, more of a 'this ship fought the enemy here' kind of deal.
Battle honours were different. For one they are not awarded for battles lost or 'fought badly'. While it's possible to get a battle honour for a single ship action, it would still be inclusive of the whole campaign. For example, there were 3 separate battles at Narvik - the USN system would award a battle star for each individual battle, while the RN system would simply list 'Narvik' to include all 3 as a wider campaign (Warspite herself has a single battle honour that reads 'Mediterranean 1940-41-43', which covers multiple smaller engagements that would each earn an individual star under the USN).
She dodged many shells and bombs and bullets by literally not engaging in direct combat against the Imperial Japanese Navy
@@MasterCheeks-2552 Battle honours, as it implies, require honour. The ship must do well during a battle or campaign to earn it. For example, Warspite and others escorted Illustrious at Taranto, but didn't receive an honour, because only one ship fought. With one exception (Hood and PoW vs Bismarck), if you were sunk or otherwise did badly, you don't get an honour (PoW didn't get an honour vs Japan).
Warspite, a name that will forever be remembered in Naval History as a Legendary Vessel.
The Most famous one maybe gone but its legend will live on.
The Grand Old Lady never fell to the enemy, and even fought its fate but ultimately lost.
no she succeeded! she changed her fate to going down in a way a true warship should, the bottom of the ocean, she sunk in defiance of the enemy (the government), and no matter what ideology you support war spite is respected. The grand old lady, was sunk at the hands of the enemy in 1947!
There has been 7 Warspites and none have sunk. Even the nuclear sub was a wild one, she rammed a Soviet nuclear sub and was chased by the entire Soviet Navy.
01:35 I'd imagine that news about the Kongō-class would've reached the Admiralty pretty fast, seeing as Kongō was built in the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness...
😂
It is a tragedy that in a couple of decades trade union excesses (all work was over budget and overdue, because of strike action and unreasonable demands) had driven shipbuilding away from the UK, mainly to Japan!
That she broke tow and grounded herself says “I won’t go. I will remain on these Isles I lived to defend.”
I'd not be too surprised if the skeleton crew slipped the tow lines to spare her the indignity of a breakers yard.
You say you have no subject
And your brushes all have dried;
But come to Marazion
At the ebbing of the tide.
And look you out to seaward,
Where my Lady battle scarred
Hugs the rock that is more welcome,
Than the shameful breakers yard.
Paint her there upon the sunset
In her glory and despair,
With the diadem of victory
Still in flower upon her hair.
Let her whisper as she settles
Of her blooding long ago,
In the mist than mingles Jutland
With the might of Scapa Flow.
Let her tell you, too, of Narvick
With its snowy hills, and then
Of Matapan, Salerno
And the shoals of Walcheren;
And finally of Malta,
When along the purple street
Came in trail the Roman Navy
To surrender at her feet.
Of all these honours conscious,
How could she bear to be
Delivered to the spoiler
Or severed from the sea ?
So hasten then and paint her
In the last flush of her pride
On the rocks of Marazion,
At the ebbing of the tide.
This I found beautiful.
Every time I read this poem it brings me to tears.
Who wrote this? I love good English poetry like this.
@paulcrow4827 Lieutenant Commander R. A. B. Mitchell, one of her sailors.
I always imagined that she was rounding Prussia Cove and her old soul thought "There's something German I haven't had a go at." And then tried to ram it.
I believe it was Agincourt that arrived to help save Warspite at Jutland when her rudder had jammed. Again.
Agincourt fired broadside after broadside, 14 x 12” shells each time from her seven gun turrets which were each named after a day of the week instead of the usual A, B, X ,Y for four turrets or A, B, Q, X, Y for five turrets.
Agincourt was described as lighting up with a huge flash from stem to stern with each broadside, putting to shame the many who’d said she would be unable to ever fire a full broadside.
At Normandy on 11th June, Warspite was positioned to support Allied troops inland of Gold beach. Here it was that Captain Kelsey issued a command unique in British naval gunnery:
‘Fifty rounds 15” rapid fire’
This was aimed at woodland where there was a growing concentration of enemy troops and armour. The fire opened up very accurately but, as the Captain knew it would, it became less accurate as the barrage continued. This suited Kelsey perfectly, since he was certain that as initial accuracy fell off it would provide the added benefit of chasing the enemy forces out of the woodland ~ which it did most successfully. Her gunners received the thanks of the General commanding the 50th Division for their invaluable contribution that day.
The reference is lost now, Agincourt was then described as "looking more like a Brock's Benefit (fireworks show held in London) than a battleship". A cruiser who was in front of Agincourt flew out of the water from the shockwave of her full broadside.
On a separate occasion to the 50 rounds (vs 12th and Lehr Divisions on 11 June), Warspite was phoned by the army to clear the 21st Panzer Division who had held back British paratroopers on D-Day itself.
@ It had been suggested that Agincourt would never be able to fire a full broadside without breaking her back or just rolling over. But I don’t think the gloriously named Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson d'Eyncourt ever designed a bad battleship. The only things that broke when she first fired a broadside were a large amount of the tableware and glassware in the officer’s wardroom. She must also have had the most socially diverse crew on a British battleship, with officers ~ and a 13 year old naval cadet ~ coming from the Royal Yachts and many crew from naval prisons and detention barracks.
Just out of interest, could you please advise me which cruiser was it that suffered blast damage from Agincourt’s 12” guns? I’ve read the report of a Lieutenant Horatio Westmacott who was in the foretop in charge of the 6” secondary batteries but he doesn’t mention any cruisers apart from his old ship Defence passing Agincourt during the action but Defence was destroyed by enemy fire.
When Warspite saw the full broadside of Agincourt open fire the entire ship was enveloped in the bright flash and then by the huge plume of smoke from the 14 guns. For a moment Warspite thought that Agincourt had suffered a magazine explosion from enemy fire only to see the smoke clear and Agincourt hiding behind looking quite proud.
The only ship that sems to have her armor material listed as "Plot"😉
😂😂
I'd love to argue that the Enterprise might also have "plot" listed as her armor material
If I knew that one of my razor blades was made from Warsprites steel, I'd have it framed and placed above the mantle.
A nice thought. If somehow one could salvage some of the armor plate, it would make an awesome straight razor. The armor would be a high-alloy, fully killed, fine-grained steel; the best that the technology of the day could provide. It could take a great edge; if the hardness was not sufficient for good durability, it could be case-hardened so that the edge could be hardened to 60+ Rockwell C. I have some Japanese knives that are hardened carbon steel; they require prompt cleaning and oiling after use to prevent corrosion, rust stains, and deterioration of the edge. Straight razors are generally cleaned, dried, and stropped after every use, so there is no reason a straight razor made from Warspite armor couldn't have another life in regular use.
A safety razor blade made from armor steel would corrode too rapidly for repeated use, but I reckon that most everybody would keep a safety razor blade made from Warspite framed as a commemoration piece, like you said. However I think that it would be more fitting to have a piece of the ship in continued use, and I would be proud to shave with a razor made from that remarkable ship.
@@gavinmclaren9416"the best that the technology of the day could provide"
BWAHHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! great joke kid
@@jonnyblayze5149 My dude, some of the sewing machines on my channel are older than Warspite and there isn't a speck of wear on any of the gearing, these things are so precise unless you use the lightest of oils on them they can't turn. This is because they cost a fortune at the time and no expense was spared in manufacturing. For example the 201k was the equivalent of 6 months wages, and were expected to last generations, which they have done. It's actually sad that most people today think of expensive kitchen knives as the best steel money can buy, when 100 years ago random household objects, let alone war ships, contained much better metal as standard. (My 201k is made out of a recycled spitfire and is still perfect)
@@gavinmclaren9416
Great reply !
I would still frame my piece, and I'd be happy knowing that your piece is hard at work and appreciated.
@@66kandFrends
One day, our children's children's children may still possess these pieces of fine steel which, by then, may be incredibly rare.
Warspite's charge into confined waters to blast the German destroyer fleet at Narvik was one of the most decisive acts of the war. After losing half of their destroyer fleet in a single action the Kreigsmarine knew that the proposed Operation Sealion a few months later was a non-starter and were dead set against it. She literally saved Britain from an invasion, and all the global consequences that would have occurred had it been successful.
10 extra destroyers would hardly had been enough to make Sealion a reality. Even at full strength, KM was not strong enough to support an invasion in 1940.
There was never a chance the Kreigsmarine could hold the channel, and they knew it. There was never a chance the Luftwaffe could cover the beaches or the airborne landings after BoB, and they knew it. There was never a chance the Army could sustain itself without stable supply lanes, and they knew it. Even the concept of making opposed landings from retrofitted canal barges was widely seen as impractical, and the proposed Tauchpanzer (snorkel tanks to be deployed by heavy crane barges within small-arms distance of the beach then driven blindly up to a mile under 15 meters of water) was likely the worst invention of the war. Even with thier destroyers if Germany had launched Sealion it would have trapped tens if not a hundred thousand of their most veteran troops to be destroyed without hope of retreat - infantry, assuming they overcame the beach fortifications, left sitting under constant air and artillery attacks without their own heavy support at a time when man-carried AT was limited to grenades whose supply could not be renewed taking casualties that could not be evacuated. Wondering if attacking a port city to secure resupply docks would mean anything when Rodney and Nelson and Hood were waiting to race three hundred Swordfish and Albacore to anything stupid enough to sail without a royal ensign.
Even among the most optimistic, Oslofjord's treatment of Blücher had already quelled the few hardliners who believed the tactics designed for Norway could be applied to Britain.
@@Anon4859 Ok, but how many submarines would Germany have thrown at the task? When you read about all the major naval engagements of both world wars, the one element that terrified Admirals was submarines. If Narvik was instructional, so was Scapa and Royal Oak.
@@terrycunningham8118 If that was the case, the German forces in North Africa would have easily overcome resistance from the relatively minor and far more widely spread RN and RAF forces opposing German supply lines through the Med. They weree even supported by the Italians, who had a larger and more experienced navy than the German's. Instead a force that never numbered more than a quater of the Home Fleet operating hundreds of miles from home ports around natural chokepoints while guarding slow unarmed merchant vessels.... managed to crush the combined German/Italian force.
The same chokes that allowed u-boats to find Allied shipping also trapped them once discovered, because while torpedo boats are able to use their speed to take advantage of land cover, u-boats are best able to hide in wide open and deep seas. It wasn't lossless, but that didn't help Rommel put fuel in his panzers despite holding dozens of ports capable of acting as resupply bases, and against a home invasion the RN would have held their field of battle until every last shell was fired and every hull lost to ramming or bording.
A single surprise raid days into the war does nothing to change the blance of power in the hypothetical Channel conflict. They had one shot before defences were readied, and to their credit they took it... Unless you think Germany could sneak u-boats into every defended Home Fleet port in the UK to destroy the entire RN in port, but chose not to do so out of some sporting honour?
The action at Narvik is something that really astounds me. It could have ended badly had the Germans been better prepared, managed to pull off some sort of ambush, or had better success with the torpedoes they fired. It was very ballsy to send Warspite straight at them at close range, but that decision paid off well for the British in an otherwise mostly gloomy Norway campaign.
With a name like Warspite, its no wonder she was a titan on the waves
Pretty sure most of her effectiveness in battle came from the coolness of her name alone.
“I do despise the hardships of war…”
Animarchy adds: “… but I’m damn good at it!”
Apparently Spite is an old English name for a Woodpecker, and the first Warspite which fought against the Spanish Armada, was one of the earlier warships designed to defeat an enemy by using a gun deck of similar cannons to fire through the enemy ships hull. Rather than the older style of fighting a land battle with an enhanced chance of drowning*. Hence the name Warspite, a ship designed to peck holes in the wooden hulls of enemy ships.
So unlike the ship the name is actually a joke, but then the English have always made a joke about everything.
*Thanks to Drachinifel for this joke.
@@meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee2The relevance to woodpeckers only came in the 20th century. The name comes from a comment by Queen Elizabeth in the aftermath of the Battle off Portland 1588 on the bravery of Sir Martin Frobisher, where in “war’s spite” and Spanish opposition, he managed to win the battle. Queen Elizabeth then decided to name the next second rate built War’s-Spite, which happened 8 years later.
So, The Grand Old Lady:
> Busted in front of Kaiser's HSF unintentionally saved fellow fleetmate Warrior and lived.
> Barged in Narvik Fjords and took out HALF of Kriegsmarine's entire destroyer fleet (plus 1 U-boat w/ its seaplane)
> Ran back and forth with the Mediterranean fleet, causing mayhem at both Regia Marina and Kriegsmarine.
> Tanked Luftwaffe strike after strike at her, even ate one Fritzx Glider Bomb.
> Bombarded Normandy to the point her guns were worn out, literally.
> Got sent to the scrapyard before throwing herself to the cliff.
The fact that this ship wasn't turned into a museum considering her 2 world wars service still makes me seethe.
Most of the German destroyers at Narvik were sunk by their British counterparts.
@@TTTT-oc4eb There is a single submarine vs submarine kill and it's the HMS Venturer that has that honour.
Every other sub was sunk by ships or aircraft.
It’s such a shame and tragedy that HMS Warspite did not survived to become a historic museum ship now only HMS Belfast and HMS Cavalier are left in UK today.
Hms Caroline also still exists in belfast, a light cruiser from 1914 thats the last surviving ship from jutland.
@ Oh yes and her too I forgot about that!
@@loyalpiper its crazy she was only decommissioned in 2011
@@melissareohorn74362nd longest commissioned british warship behind victory
And i live within walking distance of HMS Cavalier, haven't been in the dockyard for a while, will definetly need to plan a journey down there next year
Warspite must've been like
I've had enough of this shit, i'm not moving an inch
Warspite: Bloody hell. You lads are taking far too long. (Promptly crashes into a convenient pile of rocks.) Good enough.
According to the newspapers at the time, she was aided by "her oldest loves, the wind and the sea".
I am quite fond of both HMS Warspite and HMS Rodney. Both took care of business like no others.
I too have a big soft spot for HMS Rodney.
Rodnol ftw!
It’s fully understandable at the time why Warspite had to be scrapped. She was seen as outdated and held together by twine and prayers. The cost to renovate and repair her would’ve been astronomical when Britain needed funds directed elsewhere.
What isn’t understandable is that virtually NOTHING about her was preserved. No gun barrel, no propeller, no bell, and no anchor. Hardly anything is left of her.
Personally, I think the fact she beached herself should’ve opened the idea of her being scuttled rather than scrapped. It would’ve allowed people to visit her and allow her to patrol the sea for eternity.
Why would you save any of it just some crappy piece of metal that they needed the money for after a devastating War who cares
Warspites Bell, the battle ensign she wore at Jutland, a chapel door and some other items are enshrined at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
@@jonnyblayze5149 tell that to anyone who gives a shit about WW2 naval history.
@@jonnyblayze5149if anyone feels stupid. Nothing y’all say will ever be dumber than this moron with his ignorant comment
@@boattguyafloat Glad the bell is there. Don't know quite why, but it's the heart of every ship.
If Enterprise was the best of her kind, Warspite was the best of her kind.
Agreed 📚🇬🇧
And Yamato was the best of her kind
@@VIDEOVISTAVIEW2020 the best coral reef. Can't be the best if you get sunk.
@@VIDEOVISTAVIEW2020yeah but in terms of Japan turning one ship into a museum it shoulda been the Nagato
@@NuclearBomb-ow4zfnagato didn’t belong to Japan after the war
I'm glad to see that in the far flung future, when Salerno is once again invaded in the year 19443, HMS Warspite will return from the dead to once again assist the British Empire in securing another victory over its enemies. (For those who don't understand, pause the video at 12:32).
Ah yes the Space Battleship Warspite
What "Empire"?
🤣😂🤭👉
My grandad Thomas Walker (AKA Hooky) Served on Warspite during WW1 and was at Jutland. I still have a picture of the Warspite crew all sitting/ standing in front of the main bow gun turrets. He spoke very fondly of the ship and its crew, he would have loved this video. Thank you
As the only QE class battleship named after a country. It would be great to have a video on its life and service history. I have seen it's watch bell in real life and it is amazing how a country small as ours (now Malaysia) to have been recognised and given such an honour!
The money to build Malaya was given to Britain by the people of Malaya, hence the name.
Your videos have given me a great appreciation for the Royal Navy! Thank you for your great videos
Warspite is such a mood of a name. If it were the name of an Imperium ship in the Warhammer 40K universe, I'd not bat an eye.
Warspite was the name of a cruiser in battle fleet gothic
Warspite was essentially the USS Enterprise of the Royal Navy. "One of the most revered and decorated ships of World War II." - Battle 360.
And both sadly scrapped. What a shame.
@@RyanKlapperich Agreed.
Indeed. Although, I feel a good US runner-up would be another dreadnought, the late-WW1 USS Nevada, being present at Pearl Harbor, The Normandy Landings, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, etc.
@@Alpha_627 Fully agree.
No it was the warspite of the royal Navy. the Enterprise was the Enterprise and the Royal Navy didn't have one
i remember my old man telling me about salerno, said at twilight the shells from the capital ships glowed as they passed overhead and they were 500 yards offshore when they let loose,that noise alone must have been something else
That was an awesome video! Thanks for posting! I loved the ending music too!
A fact to her repair at Puget Sound Naval, she was originally to go into Esquimalt Graving Dry Dock, outside Victoria, B.C. but because that drydock was already extremely busy, she was sent to the be fixed at the American dockyard. Our mother, was a young teenager at the time and she told me WARSPITE was anchored within plain sight of the citizens of Victoria.
Thanks for this. If any Warship deserved a video of it's own, surely The Warspite is the one. Whatever anyone threw at her, she refused to go down. Whatever she was asked to do, she tore into it like a Mama Tiger. Being scrapped is the fate of most ships - they can't last forever - but even then she made it on her own terms: "Oh, yeah? Well you'll have to come and get me!" Some ship.
12:33 A battle in Salerno in 19,443? THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!
Duh, warspite was converted to a voidship in 18,876
Hey there I've been watching your content for years now and its always really good, the best videos you did in my opinion where the three videos on the battle of budapest. Those videos were insanely good and I would really love it if you did something like that again for other battles, maybe moscow or sevastopol or stalingrad. I loved how you spilt it in to three videos and didn't just focus on the battle for the city itself but what lead up to it and the battles in the surrounding areas, anyway keep up the great work.
To my mind comes Sovereign of the Seas. She was active for 60 years, the first 3-decker and kept on beeing at the forefront of technological development in her time. If we could agree to apply the term "Battleship" on her, she´d be my contender for the title of Greatest BB ever built. Don´t wanna take anything away from the significance of HMS Warspite, but 350 years ago Men of War weren´t not just weapon systems, but also symbols of the state, or the ruler, which was a very similar thing back in the day.
Animarchy said it best “I’m not locked in here with you, you’re locked in here with ME”
[Doom music “the only thing they fear is you”]
“It was like shelling peas”
Ah yes the famous battle of Salerno in the future year of 19443 (0:27)... Wait... does that mean she wasn't scraped she was sent into the future where shes needed most😮
space battleship warspite
@@historigraph That's enough to bring me to half mast.
Officer: so, what is this?
Sailor: I think the professor, who showed up, said it was a “flux capacitor”, sir
Officer: Well as long as nothing…
(Ship teleports into the future and back)
(Capacitor seen being thrown off the ship)
@MrXbow4300 I like the idea of trying to get her to go at 77knots to activate the flux capacitor.
@@abyssaljam441 A 33.000 ton battleship moving at 77 knots? The wake would be horrendous.
Many years ago in a country auction (pre-internet) I bought the rangefinder telescope from Warspite, in its mahogany long box and with full provenance. It was sourced originally from the scrapping off Cornwall. I am bequeathing the item, which I believe is the most important artefact in British history since the Norman Conquest, to the archives centre at my alma mater, Churchill College at Cambridge University. The telescope was used to sight and fire on the German destroyers at Narvik. That action meant that the Germans did not have enough destroyers left in the summer of 1940 to mount an effective invasion of Britain as the ten remaining destroyers were insufficient to guard a contested passage across the narrow seas. The Warspite was, in my view, the reason (with apologies to valiant Fighter Command) that we are not now speaking German (although some of us do from choice when required, but that is rather different). Furthermore, the success of Warspite at Narvik led to the fall of Chamberlain and the appointment of Churchill as PM. That is another story as to actual culpability for the disastrous Narvik land debacle, but Warspite certainly saved Churchill's reputation and his bacon, as it were. The rest is of course, history.
I love the Warspite and QEs in general! Such beautiful ships!
Much better than the "R" class. But they were built as an economy version of the QEs
A good if short video that skimmed over her history and what badly damaged her of Italy had already sent a larger, modern Italian battleship to the bottom, she was a heavy weight that refused to go down in a fight and made the scrappers job particularly hard :)
Rodney makes a strong case for greatest battleship ever, fought Bismark, was the only battleship to torpedo another battleship, hit a moving tank while herself moving and doing so with only 1 minor refit, while her sister Nelson and other BBs got several. She had been worked so hard that is 44 she was deemed u fit for service, but she fought on for several months before being put in reserve. And the best reason she was the best looking boat of any country in the war.
Rodney had help with bismarck.
Bismarck was also damaged.
Warspite has a better claim.
@@joshuacartermusic Warspite in both her WW1 and WW2 forms was also better looking than Rodney. THE classic battleship.
I've heard of this ship before. But didn't know much about her story. So thanks for telling her story.
Amateur historical naval nerd here, like we all are. She had the best name along with the best service, and clearly an amazing crew at all times. I wonder how many other battleships served two world wars and survived? Genuinely interested.
Most were scrapped after WWI. On the British side, there were 4 QEs and 4 Rs who survived both wars. Iron Duke was technically in WWII but in a limited role as an AA battery, and Centurion served in a limited role as a decoy ship.
USS Texas kind of served during WWI as she and other US ships joined the Grand Fleet in 1917 as 6th Battle Squadron and was then very active during WWII.
She even has a crazy story of her own; during the Normandy campaign she didn't have the range to hit German positions, so the crew flooded one of her torpedo bulges to cause a slight list, which then gave her enough range to hit German positions.
She survives today and so is the torch bearer for all early Dreadnoughts.
I don't think I'd ever heard of HMS Warspite before. This is an amazing story; thank you for making this video!
If Adrian Carton de Wiart was a ship, it'd be her.
The late, great Spike Milligan mentioned Warspite in one of his war memoirs on the Italy campaign. On arriving on a transport to Italy, their unit sees Warspite in a bay, using her huge guns to fire far inland to support the Allied advance. With each salvo the great ship would rock back and forth quite a number of degrees. A sailor watching the explosions inland comments "that's not doing Jerry much good", then looking at the tilt the ship rocked by on each salvo he added "it's not doing Warspite much good either!"
She was a ship like no other, even though she had 4 sisters, there was something about her that was special and set her apart. She should have been saved to serve on as a museum, that not one 20th century Royal Navy Battleship is left to us is a crime against history. RIP to the Grand Old Lady.
Why is it you think it would be a crime it's just called life your country was broke and needed the scrap what did you think the ships have to be here for anybody learn about them or their history
@@jonnyblayze5149 Because there is no substitute for the real thing, a book can only take you so far and I stand by my statement.
@@timsimms65707 I don't care where you stand. And a rusted piece of junky metal is not going to teach you more than the book would. Besides your broke country couldn't afford it
I play WoWSL and have had Warspite since I started a few years ago. She is my most played, and most loved battleship.
The Grand Old Lady... The fact she got scrapped was a crime...
A crime no it was called recycling that's what they all do to Old chunks of useless metal
@@jonnyblayze5149 Dude I've seen you in other comments on here giving it the business, do us all a favour and give it a rest and some damned reverence on the name Warspite.
@almondgaming85 why would I do that when weirdos like you still respond. See the irony in your response?
@almondgaming85 and f*** Warspite
@@jonnyblayze5149 sure the irony in my comment 😂 check the irony in yours considering you've been dropping comments multiple times on this video 😂
Amazing visuals and quality commentaries must be a Historigraph video! Really enjoyed this one. Thanks for all your efforts to keep us entertained.
YOO MY FAVORITE NAVAL UA-camR POSTS AND ITS ABOUT MY FAVORITE BATTLESHIP ❤❤❤❤
There was and never has been a tougher battleship. I salute you grand old lady.
I'd say Warspite is absolutely a top contender for Greatest Battleship in history, both in terms of Service Record, Historical Significance, and placement. I'd personally also argue the same for the United States' Battleship New Jersey, which is in turn their most decorated Battleship.
war spite beats NJ any day, did NJ ever sink a battleship or battlecruiser? nope but warspite sunk line 20 (exaggerating)
@@bigbison6593service history wise? Warspite absolutely takes the cake. But in a duel, New Jersey smokes her.
@@doodledangernoodle2517 You fight with the navy that you have, and for most of the war the US Navy didn't have New Jersey.
And, let's face it, by the time the US did have New Jersey and her sister ships the result was no longer in doubt.
Definitely not true of Warspite.
@@johnreynolds7996there was still doubt nobody knew they were going to win the war when the New Jersey was launched
@@bigbison6593yeah great ship........... where is it at again?🤣😂🤭👉
For years I've been considering how to turn Warspite into a feature length movie or mini-series. Such an amazing story! Thanks for putting this together.
She should have been preserved as a museum ship, it's a damn shame that the government chose to disregard her. Perhaps even more than HMS Victory, she was the stubborn old lady of the Royal Navy.
Fantastic video as always. The irony or Warspite's end, was very interesting.
why does noone ever mention the previous ships that carried the name warspite? the name is literally dripping in amazing lore
Probably because the grand old lady saw more combat than the rest of them put together!
HMS Warspite, demonstrating value for money to the tax payer for around 30 years.
There's a whole book about the various Warspites, from Drake's to the last one. Iain Ballantyne is the author.
My great-great-uncle was a midshipman aboard Warspite at Jutland, in one of the forward turrets. There was a NZ oral history project that had his experience of the battle, but it's been taken offline. The one bit I remember is his story of a boy being sent out to deliver a message and returning in rags, his clothes having been blown off by the blast of Warspite's own broadside.
My grandad (MBE) served on HMS Warspite. He was aboard in Narvik when she vapourised the Erich Koellner.
He might have known my great grandfather, Harold Croft, who served on her as a Supplies Officer
Funny timing on this. I found a rear admiral's grave the other day just around the corner from where i live, and he captained warspite.
Where is that, and his name? Genuinely interested.
@johnaustin6853 Cecil Burnaby Prickett, was made a rear admiral in 1934. He's buried down here in Weymouth, in an unassuming family plot with his wife and kids, along with his father who was also a captian for the RN.
Theres a timeline for him on google which was intresting to look at.
Edit: The information on him isnt great and after looking again i couldnt find the link to warspite directly, but still a cool find, and served on HMS Princess Royal at the battle of Jutland.
It’s criminal that Warspite wasn’t preserved after WW2 just as criminal as Dreadnaught not being preserved after WW1.
Ships like that deserved to be preserved as history. HMS Dreadnaught was one of the biggest leaps Ship Design in history. And HMS Warspite was the most decorated Royal Navy Ship since HMS Victory.
The fact neither were preserved baffles me to this day especially coming from a country that has perhaps the most famous maritime history in the world.
Why who cares they're just useless pieces of old metal you needed the money what would you do just have it sitting there rotten taking up space eating more money
Great work. There won't ever be another ship like her anytime soon
Warspite's return from Jutland was a story in itself. First she was chased by 2 U-boats, the second one she attempted to ram but failed because she was steering blindly by reserve steering. She couldn't use her guns because the U-boat was too close. That U-boat dived so quickly her tail came out of the water.
German media have said that some ships like Warspite had ran away from battle, and she was an ugly sight at Rosyth, dirty and beaten up, so the workers at Rosyth believed the reports, and pelted coal at her from the Forth Bridge (because they also believed foreign oil took away jobs from local coal). Some crew surprised their families because they thought she sunk, and believed the media covered it up by calling Warspite a battlecruiser (it was actually Queen Mary).
The steering issue turned out to be a design flaw, and the rest of the QEs suffered similar problems turning hard at high speed. They were subsequently forced to slow down when executing such sharp turns.
Still, with all her flaws, especially the steering problem, she was the greatest of all dreadnoughts.
Good old girl. I’m not sure what led the government to think they could kill her after everything she survived, but she really did show them
The only other battle hardened battleship that comes to mind is USS Nevada. Bombed, burnt, subsequently refloated and repaired, she softened up beach heads from Alaska to Okinawa, protected Atlantic convoys, and participated in landings on both sides of France. If that's not enough, she shrugged off two atomic bomb tests and then was expended as a shelling target by the USS iowa.
Very appropriate.
There was one difference, Nevada never fought a fleet action. Warspite fought Jutland, Salerno and Cape Matapan, and, in a forgetful, casual moment, Narvik, eating German destroyers in double handfuls, and supporting Taranto.
@@indrajitgupta3280 It's true that Nevada missed out on any fleet action. At least other Pearl Harbor survivors got some action in Surigao Straight. Otherwise, these old battlewagons didn't much use other than sea-borne artillery.
I’ve been watching your videos since the beginning, fantastic job with these WW11 videos. Keep them coming!
1:20 let that sink in
If a few of those hit, you'll sink alright 😂😂
Whenever I'm playing Victoria in Civilization 6, I always name at least one of my Battleships Warspite. It's always the one that gets the most promotions, too
The RN used to have some truly chad names for warships. 'Revenge' 'Warspite' 'Dreadnought' and many more.
The name Dreadnought will return soon.
@@deanbarlow8344 As will Warspite
I like Vengeance and Valiant.
@@Tommy29004We have a "Vengeance" currently in service.
iirc one of the new nuclear subs will be named Warspite
0:32 OH MY GOD SHE’S HUGE. Now THATS how you capture the essence of a battleship
Such a great ship, rip Warspite
My Grandad served on the Warspite.
That was a helluva story, helluva history. One helluva ship. Thanks much.
Hell yes, the Grand Old Lady awaits!!
Great vid. I knew her name of course, but had no idea she was so storied.
12:12 Probably a mercy for the Japanese. As I suspect the one thing worse than the Atomic Bombs. Would be if Warspite and Enterprise were to join forces.
Sovereign of the Seas is similarly worthy of the title, though from a different era. She massively changed the definition of a capital chip of the time, served fo 6 decades and was still an intimidating force compared to most ships at the end of that. Also, in a different definition of the word Decorated, she was was one of the most decorated ships ever built, having a truly vast amount of gold leaf. She is well worth a video being done about her.
I would say greatest *warship* ever built
I wouldn't say that because then she'd have to fight victory's reputation which spanned a career of over 50 years active service
I agree. HMS Warspite had the most distinguished career of any battleship. Nice presentation.
Incoming Americans to say the Missouri was better
Incoming Wehraboos to say that the Bismarck was the biggest bestest “super battleship” that totally would’ve single handily ended the war
Sadly for the later, Rodney knocked most of his guns out (in one hit) in the first proper fight with the royal navy. Otherwise he would do what the high sea fleet can’t do alone.
Fragile egos
In terms of design and construction the Iowa class probably were the zenith of Battleship design and execution. But they arrived at the tail end of the battleship era and never had the chance to prove their capability as such. Bismark definitely was not the be all and end all of battleship design, as a recent Drachinifel video details. It was a slightly enhanced WW1 design; largely because Germany had been forbidden from building capital ships and had no experience in more modern design and construction concepts.
Battleships in name only. Almost none of the "best battleships" ever served in the role of a battleship, that is, a ship in a line of battle.
There ain't much to be proud of today in this country but watching this has made me feel proud again, my dad bless him was serving on HMS valiant in the far eastern fleet.
I think it was HMS Valiant that escorted my Grandfather on his return journey from North Africa to Australia during the war. He always brought up how being on a troop ship (a French liner from memory) made him nervous but they had a massive escort home before being sent to fight in the jungles.
@goodshipkaraboudjan I remember my dad saying that he actually saw Australia,,they where anchored off shore on HMS valiant, unfortunately he said he never set foot on land. Proud of all who served.
Babe wake up new Historigraph video released
No contender anywhere. WARSPITE was a LEGEND!
Wasn't the Kongos built in the uk? surly it didnt take long to reach the admiralty...
yes indeed
wonderful history of an amazing ship. Thank you.
In the timespan of the world wars definitely, but I'd say Battleship New Jersey could also contend for the title of the world's greatest battleship from its action in Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf.
Yeah I would say New Jersey is the other chief contender for sure
lmao.
not even close.
Literally in no danger in all those wars
New Jersey's the world greatest monitor.
Another fine episode. I love your work.
Thanks for posting!
Hands down, one of your best videos to date
Thank you for saying Puget Sound correctly! I also had no idea such a legendary British battleship was refitted at a Naval Yard ive driven past many times.
HMS Warspite was a gallant, brave Lady with a Crew that continuously took it on the Chin and came back for more. To her indomitable fighting Spirit we would wish her and her gallant crew a Fair Wind and a Following Sea.
YES FINALLY WARSPITE VIDEO IVE BEEN WATING FOR THIS
Excellent commentary. Quite a remarkable vessel. A lot of the other battleships were hardly effective for the efforts involved in creating them. The end of a technical line was often the same. For example the Atlantic liners. Such a shame as the end breed was often the most interesting. Thank you for a most interesting presentation. Rmb5*
Wow… She was one of the most storied war ships in history! Thanks for the video!
I'm an Amercan. HMS Warspite is, in my opinion, the most historic and significant warship of the 20th century. Surpassing USS Texas, of fame and many battle stars and edging out even USS Enterprise by a tiny margin. If I could only pick One to bring back it would have to be HMS Warspite. Britain doesn't keep as many as we do. Chopping up HMS Vanguard was a mistake too. A ship like Vanguard is a good thing to keep in your Back Pocket.
Incredible history!
Truly the finest of her kind. I maintain modest collection of pieces of her deck.
The HMS _Warspite_ on top of its illustrious career also has one of the unquestionably most badass-sounding names of any warship in history, and that's saying something for a ship that shares its naval history with the likes of _Victory,_ _Invincible,_ _Dreadnought_ and _Cockchafer._
Great video. Thanks for posting.