Battleship USS Tennessee and World War 2
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- Опубліковано 2 чер 2022
- USS Tennessee was already an aging vessel when she was moored alongside USS West Virginia and ahead of USS Arizona on December 7, 1941. But the "Big Ten" would not only survive the attack, she would go on to participate in more battles and fire more salvos than any other US battleship of the Second World War.
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There was a gentleman who volunteered at the blood drives when I donated who wore a Pearl Harbor Survivor cap. I chatted with him while drinking juice and learned he'd been on Tennessee. When she went in for the major refit he became a submariner for the rest of the war. He passed away a few years ago at around 105.
My grandfather, Gunner's Mate 2nd Class Will Colbert was serving as a mess steward aboard U.S.S. TENNESSEE (BB 43) on December 7, 1941. He told my mother that when he rushed to a 5 inch 51 caliber gun mount to help pass ammo, he saw his best friend get killed by machine gun fire fro a Japanese Zero. Thanks for uploading the video.
Thank you and your family for having served for our Freedoms
❤️🇺🇸💯
@@charliesschroedinger You are welcome. Thanks for your service also.⚔️🏅💯
@@lloydknighten5071 why THANK YOU!
3rd generation Vet here.
Grandfather was a signal Officer for the Army over Iowa Jima and at Leyte. Father was a SeaBee 7 for the Navy in Vietnam.
I was a 13f Forward Observer in the Army for the 1st Cav. Div. in the early 90's.
Wouldn't have it any other way. To serve, it's too know the honor.
To honor, it's to know the service!
A Salute to your Grandfather Sir.
@@charliesschroedinger God bless all the Families like yours that fight to keep us free! Thank You for Your service !:-)
💜🙏⚡️
Never clicked so fast on one of your videos. My Grand Uncle James Lewis Robie was on the USS Tennessee. He was not on it during the attack on Pearl Harbor as he just enlisted a few days before. I have all of his momentos including a post card of the USS Tennessee he sent to his mother. From the note on the postcard you can tell how proud he was of his ship. He was killed along with 7 others on June 15, 1944 in the Battle of Saipan and buried at sea. I have the sad telegram telling my great grandma of her sons death. I wish I could have met him. Thank you for covering the remarkable battleship that my Grand Uncle was so proud of.
I salute your Uncle ma'am, thanks for sharing that information about him. My great uncle was an Army Paratrooper in WWII. He survived the war but sadly passed away just before I was born.
Another thanks for sharing this info of your Uncle. My grandfathers, one Army, one Navy, both served in and survived WWII. And, later, my dad served and survived Vietnam(173 Airborne). They are all with your uncle now. Since I have personal memories of them I cannot extend to enough the sympathy I have for you for not getting to know your uncle. I greatly appreciate his service. And that of his contemporaries. Without which or country would more than likely have become a place we wouldn’t want to be. God bless you, Lori
@@robertfree1908
Thank you for such a beautiful tribute . We all stand in salute to our gallant hero’s who served our country in her time of need , and won a war that we absolutely needed to win to save the world 🇺🇸
@@robertfree1908
Thanks very much your kind reply.
I’m always honored to hear these remembrances of those young lads, ( remember many of them fibbed about their age just to gain admission to the military ) and men , who dropped everything they loved, and didn’t hesitate to join up . I served in the Army 1964-1970, stateside in the Military Transport Corps.
We trained & became skilled at loading & unloading all types of cargo & freight & vehicles aboard
trucks, trains, ships and planes, excluding troops and ordnance ( ammo).🇺🇸
@@jnstonbely5215 And thank you for your service. I alas am not a vet. I did the warehouse and OTR truck driving thing in the civilian world. I maintain fiber optic cable for the city of Garland, TX and others. Had to get away from crushing my spine in the seat of a truck
A friend's ancient grandfather, Artie, after living in the States for decades, still referred to us in conversation as "the colonies". He was serving on a collier ferrying coal to a U.S. capital ship on the day that somebody decided that the U.S. Fleet was larger than the British Fleet.
The American O.O.D. yelled down to Artie through a megaphone (not a bullhorn, a megaphone) "How's life in the world's second largest navy?"
Artie yelled back, "Just fine, Leftenent. How's life in the world's second best?"
What a wag 'ol Artie was. Two world wars. Enthralling as a kid to sit at his knee & hear stories of ordinary men doing extraordinary things.
You just have to love their quick dry humour. Great story
I LOVE IT!!! We Americans may be better at many things, but dry British wit?
It's an art form all by itself.
@@johngregory4801 You gotta love the Brit penchant for searing dry wit and their piercing barbs. Ain't NO ONE better at it, that's for sure!
@@leftistsarenotpeople From Douglass Adams to Drachinifel, as I said...
It's an art form.
Thank you for mentioning the USS Tennessee Museum in Huntsville in Scott County, Tennessee. It sits on the campus of Scott High School, where I had my first teaching job. I was able to tour it a few times, and I'm proud of the ship that carried the name of my home state.
Every one here should be proud to have the museum in our home town
The West Virginia was sunk at Pearl Harbor _and_ was in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered four years later. What an amazing journey…
Six Torpedoes, three Bombs....West Virginia, California, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Tennessee rose to be a formable force.....they got revenge at Suriago Strait. at Leyte Gulf
Should have had the surrender ceremony on the deck of West Virginia.. Oh right. I forgot . Truman did not choose his home state's ship the Missouri or the one his daughter christened in The Brooklyn Navy Yard. The Navy picked her . Yeah . Right. 😂 Tell me another joke. The Commander in Chief had no say . 😂😂😂 The Brown Nosing Navy.
The entire ship's complement came from Tennessee. Nifty!
Only the initial crew when she was first placed into service.
By the time WW2 came around, she had crew from nearly every state in the union on board.
The Tennessee with a clipper bow and shapely hull weight 32,000 tons, could do 22 knots with only 23,000 shaft horse power. She had electric drive propulsion. In this type of marine propulsion, two turbines were directly connected to two 4,242-volt, two-phase generators, which in turn fed four 5,200-kilowatt, slow-turning motors directly coupled to the propeller shafts in place of gearing. With electric drive, warships could dispense with the separate reverse turbine, would enjoy greater watertight subdivision (the turbogenerator did not have to be directly connected to the drive shafts).
Was it just Tennessee, or all of her class that shared propulsion technology with submarines? Intriguing stuff. Thanks for the info.
My first ship, a 1940's USCG Bouy Tender, had diesel electric drive.
Totally by coincidence, my second ship had the same engines as a WWII sub, but with direct drive and controllable pitch propellers.
@@HM2SGT Tennessee class, Colorado class, and the Lexington class (at first CC Battle Cruisers which were then made into Aircraft Carriers (USS Lexington & USS Saratoga (which can be scuba dived on at Bikini Atoll) under the Washington Treaty)) were the ships that had Turbo-Electric as did a few classes of US Navy Destroyers Escorts!
During a drought the USS Saratoga actually supplied power to a section of the West Coast when they needed to save what water was left in the area for drinking water .vs. running the Hydro-Electric Generators!
Not true sharing of propulsion technology, since they didn't use the boilers & turbines to charge batteries for underwater propulsion (lol).
@@timengineman2nd714 Ask, and thou shall receive. And how! 😃👍
@@HM2SGT You're welcome!
History ... "Freedom is realized when Facts are Known."
Appreciate the History Guy.
Beth
Tennessee, USA
Degrees: Sociology, Journalism, and *History!*
Why did you get three different degrees in social studies
12:34 Small little nitpick for accuracy. The Japanese battleships at the Battle of Surigao Strait were both Fuso-class: the Fuso and Yamashiro which were both destroyed.
The Mogami was a Mogami-class converted heavy cruiser which escaped the battle with heavy damage.
Great video. Always good to hear about naval history from different people and other Standard-class battleships, since my home state of Arizona did not get a chance.
Not the only factual error I noticed in the video, unfortunately.
Mogami didn't quite escape. Might have if she hadn't been rammed by a sister ship which was late to the battle!
Mostly true, but Fuso never made it far enough to engage the USN battle line. (The advance American destroyers and small craft torpedoed and sank her.) Only Yamashiro and Mogami were exchanging fire with Tennessee and the other American battlewagons.
It would be great just to have pictures of the faces of the Japanese when they realized that the ships bombarding them were the very ones they claimed to have destroyed in their back stabbing, cowardly sneak attack on Pearl Harbor!
@@richardcline1337 I'm not sure how backstabby it can be when the USN spent the previous two decades planning primarily for war with Japan. As far as cowardly... the Japanese (correctly) believed they couldn't take the US in a straight fight, weren't willing to do what it would take to avoid the fight (the US demands were _so_ unreasonable; they amounted to 'stop invading all of your neighbors... or at least don't invade our colonies,') and so stacked the odds as much in their own favor as they could.
I'm not saying the Japanese cause was just; I _am_ saying that simultaneously attacking Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia while still bogged down in China aren't exactly the actions of a nation that isn't brave.
The post Pearl refit of Tennessee, California and the WeeVee were some of the most visually impressive and distinctive warships ever put to sea.
Notice how they we're then bristling with AA guns. 11:02
@@paulenterline3107 Pearl Harbor taught the US Navy a valuable lesson they took well to heart. We never lost another battleship after Pearl, and the ones that could keep up became the carrier’s primary surface air defense. Ironic that the Japanese didn’t heed their own lessons.
WeeVee almost looked like a SoDak if you squinted your eyes (or looked through binoculars from thousands of yards away). Very impressive indeed! 😃 Those old 16" guns were not quite as good as the North Carolinas', South Dakotas', or the Iowas' guns, but they got the job done quite well. A shame that the old hoists couldn't accommodate the more capable shells. :'( Oh well. 8 lighter 16" shells are still a serious pounding, even if 9 superheavy shells are better.
@@mannys9130 She was an extremely capable warship regardless of the fact the battleship was no longer the focal point of naval warfare.
I very much appreciate this one. My father was a 5" gun crewman on the Tennessee. He liked to retell the story of how he cam to serve on her. Dad grew up in northeast TN but the nearest recruiting station was in Virginia. He was told by the recruiter that if he signed on for the Navy there he would serve in the Atlantic. The thought of being attacked by Uboats caused Dad to ask the recruiter where he could enlist to ensure he wouldn't have to face that threat. So he took a bus to Nashville where he enlisted and after basic was assigned to the Tennessee on which he served throughout all the ship's campaigns in the Pacific and earned a Purple Heart at Surigao Strait. But he missed the Uboats.
Born and raised in Chattanooga, I'm very proud of my Volunteer state heritage. The Tennessee did her state proud in her long service. Wish she could have been saved.
It was absolutely crucial that the Tennessee survived pearl harbor. The loss of her naval gunfire support. Would have certainly resulted in more casualties onshore. You simply can't replace a floating, armoured, mobile, 14in gun platform.
The four Iowa class with their 16in 50cal guns just said hold our beers
@@vvt7825 So did the 4 South Dakotas, and the 4 North Carolinas. They each had 9 16" 45 caliber main battery guns similar to the Iowas, and the same number of 5" 38 caliber secondaries. They all had radar fire control. All fired the same 1,900lb HE shells and 2,700lb AP superheavy shells. The only difference was a bit of firing range and muzzle velocity. The Iowas could reach out a bit further. The USS Washington absolutely blasted the Kirishima out of the god damned water with radar guided 16" gunfire at night. South Dakota would've tag teamed the Kirishima too if it wasn't for a doofus engineer who took it upon himself to screw around with the electrical system which crippled the ship after the first 16" salvo... 🙄 The USS Massachusetts pummeled the Jean Bart, and may have sunk her if the early US 16" AP shell fuzes were more reliable. The Massachusetts actually fired the first and the last US 16" shell of WW2. 😎 The first was at Jean Bart, the last was at the island of Okinawa. If Halsey hadn't turned around, the Massachusetts and the other 16" fast battleships would have turned the Japanese decoy carrier fleet into bits of scrap metal at Leyte Gulf. As it turned out though, the old standards got the last battleship-battleship action at Surigao Strait where their 14" guns were proven to still be jusssstttttt fine at giving the Japanese a real good "How ya' doin' mama?" 😸 Where the Iowas and SoDaks really said "Hold my beer" was in regard to their AA batteries. Those ships were a floating "no fly zone" bristling with their 5" dual purpose secondaries, 40mm Bofors, and 20mm "door knockers." 😸 Any Japanese pilot who flew within 40mm range of those 8 ships was automatically a Kamikaze whether they were going to crash or not, because that was a suicide mission for sure. 😸
@@vvt7825 Those 16in guns firing in unison against a fortified island must have been a sight to behold. The early bombardment of Iwo Jima lasted 9 months but the pre-landing bombardment was reduced from 10 days to 3 days. And even after all the bombing the Marines still suffered 6,000+ killed. War truly is hell.
I absolutely agree that the bombardment support from the “old battleships” was a crucial service.
@@mannys9130 >> There were only two ‘North Carolina’s’. Beautiful ships though.
As a Tennessee native and naval history buff, I wish she could have made it up the Mississippi.
We here in Alabama got ours , but because its on Mobile Bay
@@dangreene3895 here in North Carolina we've got ours too, down in Wilmington on the Cape Fear River.
@@cleverusername9369 They are something to go through you can get lost in the bowels of the ship
@@dangreene3895 One of things you learn aboard ship, is where the main passageways go so you don't get lost.
@@rutabagasteu Yeah I got confused didn't think I would ever find my way out of there
I'm a Georgia fan but I can't help but say "Go Vols!" after this video. Thanks for great video.
Mathew, you are Dawg Gone Right....!! BB43 won the honors as the most accurate firing Battleship of the Navy during numerous sea trials in the 30's. Her real nick-name was "The Rebel" as a partial salute to Alvin York and David Crockett for outstanding marksmanship of a well drilled crew.... Rocky Top salutes the 2021 National Champions and keeping the SEC banner high....
Thank you so much, HG, for recognizing our beloved USS Tennessee! No sirree bobolinko, would I ever trade my BB43 cap from Pearl Harbor, but if I ever get another one, you'll get it! USS Tennessee history deserves to be remembered!
My brother served on USS Missouri during the first Gulf War and USS Midway CV 41 in the late 80s. I held my first re-enlistment on USS Arizona Memorial in 1986
So?
@@nedludd7622 Why such a Negative Nancy?? Someone might find it interesting and relatable since my brother served on 2 World War II Era ships and I re-enlisted on an historic ship as Arizona...
@@RetiredSailor60 "my served"? what does that mean? Who cares? It has nothing to do with the subject.
@@nedludd7622 But does anyone care what *you* think?
@@spikespa5208 Apparently you do.
Im a Retired Marine from East Tennessee. Never knew that the Tennessee had done all that. NEver knew in all my travels through Scott county that they had the Bell from the ship.
Semper FI !
My great uncle from east Tennessee was a enlisted seamen on board.
Semi-related: there's a book by Edward Raymer called "Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941―A Navy Diver’s Memoir" that tells the truly harrowing work done by the salvage divers to raise and repair the ships in the days/weeks/months after the attack.
Of course everyone's fav naval histriographer, Drachinfel, has a great 3-part series on it.
Can you just imagine diving into the WeeVee to pull rotting, water-logged corpses out of compartment after compartment all day long? Can you even imagine making your way to the room where a few bodies were strewn about, lying amongst numerous dead batteries, empty food containers, and probably a lot of excrement? Imagine picking up the calendar next to them with almost 2 weeks crossed off, realizing that they survived that long in their armored metal coffin in the pitch black darkness knowing that crews were on the other side of the hull but totally unable to save them. If the crews cut the hull with a saw, the air would quickly vent out and flood the compartment. The saw couldn't cut a hole big enough fast enough to get them out. A cutting torch was quicker, but all of the oil and gasoline floating around would have set everyone ablaze, so that was not possible either. Those boys, almost children, survived day after day in hell, and there was nothing they could do to prevent it nor to escape from their unexpected makeshift tomb. :'( It's nightmare fuel. The guards of the harbor immediately following the attack absolutely loathed standing guard near the West Virginia because they could not bear to stand there doing nothing as the cacophony of banging and tapping could be heard from all the compartments where men were trapped hopelessly inside begging for rescue. Bangbangbang, bang...bang...bang, bangbangbang. Horrifying. Never forget those men.
Thank you for this episode. My dad served in USS Tennessee, joining the ship at Bremerton during the modernization. He was a radioman and sailed in her until after the Kamikaze attack at Okinawa.
He was there for all her battles except Pearl Harbor. He never spoke of his experiences until shortly before his passing in 2001.
He approached me to ask if I’d write down his memories so they could be included in the archives of the World War Two museum at New Orleans. I never knew till then what it was like to be a battleship sailor in wartime.
He said when he first saw her, she was the biggest thing he’d ever seen. A wall of steel that went on and on and on. He spoke of Kiska and Attu, Tarawa, and Saipan. He described how shore bombardment worked with spotter planes relaying target information and how at one point five battleships fired at a single Japanese soldier who was unfortunate enough to be seen by the spotter plane.
He told me of watching the Marines’ landing craft get hung up crossing the reef and many Marines drowning during that long walk to the beach. He told me all he could remember, sometimes with tears in his eyes. Sometimes with a smile remembering old shipmates.
Anyway, thank you for remembering the USS Tennessee. My dads old ship was worth remembering.
I served in the USN from 1990-96 aboard a Spruance Class Destroyer, USS John Rodgers (DD-983) and feel a real kinship with all those sailors who served before and after me. It makes me proud to learn about the bravery, service and sacrifice of these sailors from WWII.
My grandfather was a machinist on the Tennessee! Great video
Tennessee was the first ship my father served on after enlisting in 1930.
My favorite WWII warship, bar none. Thanks for the vid.
BB43, "The Rebel!" She was the deadliest and most fastest to shoot during the majority of the 1930's sea exercises... Interesting to note, when she was being broken up, anything with her name was highly prized, hence there are a lot of pieces of BB43 on the collectors market....
What a Great Episode, as always on a Very Great Warship. The USS Tennessee was a totally Awesome Navel Vessel, with a Glorious Record too Boot 👢👢. Although She was Eventually Scraped Out like so Many Other's we're. She did leave a Lasting & Glorious Legacy behind.
May She & Her Crew's RIP Eternally.
The sheer scale of the salvage efforts at Pearl are spectacular to read about. Looking at the damaged/sunk listing you have to wonder if any other navy in the world could have made the comeback ours managed. Out of all the damage and carnage among the big ships, only Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma could not be brought back to service. The rest were raised, repaired, and sent out to avenge their sisters' and their own savage beatings. A testament to men and machine, and to the industrial might of their country.
Technically Oklahoma was readied for repair and refit, but by the time she was righted and refloated it was deemed she was not needed and focus had shifted to carrier construction.
My father served on the USS TENNESSEE during WWII. He passed away 4 years ago. Still very proud of my father.
Proud to be a Tennessean-! Thanks for this History Guy!
Just a small piece of historical trivia. Prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor, the commander of the Pacific fleet was designated as "Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet", which was abbreviated as "CinCUS". (Pronounce that phonetically to understand.) Shortly after the attack, the designation was changed to "Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet" (CinCPac), which is still used today. Gee, I wonder why they made the change? Another small piece of history that should be remembered.
Not quite. Your thinking of Commander in Chief United States, which was CINCUS. That's at the Pentagon. That was changed to COMINCH after Pearl.
@@stevek8829 Steve, thanks for your input. I stand partially corrected. I say partially because although COMINCH is indeed at the Pentagon now, in December of 41 it would have been at the War Department in downtown Washington. Ground was broken for the Pentagon 11 Sept 41 and it was dedicated 15 Jan 43. Still, you are correct that CICUS/COMINCH was located in Washington and commanded both the Pacific and Atlantic fleets. Again, thanks for setting the record straight.
My Uncle Jack served on the Tennessee from 1943 until the end of the war. He was in one of the 5" turrets. He kept a diary while onboard which no one knew about until he died. His comment about the kamakaze was, "Yesteday I was never so scared in my life". He was fairly close to where it hit. There is a short UA-cam video that was taken by a Navy photographer that shows the hit.
Wish I had asked him questions while he was around but he never talked about the war in front of us kids.
When your family is done with that heirloom, I hope it is given - or at least long-term loaned- to the USS Tennessee Museum mentioned in the video.
A dear neighbor of mine was from Tennessee and was a Gunners Mate on the Battleship Tennessee. He was one of the three people visible in the "fighting tops" in the iconic photo of the Tennessee and Maryland during the attack. He would have been in a card game on the Arizona had he not paused to write a letter home. He said that they had to dynamite the mooring piers to have enough room to get away from the Maryland.
Being a retired Chief Gunners Mate, his is the first name in my charge book when I made Chief. I also had the honor of presenting his widow with the flag at his funeral.
Captain Mervyn Bennion was killed in action during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, while in command of the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48). He was mortally wounded by a shrapnel shard from the nearby USS Tennessee after she was hit by a bomb.
What a shame that the most decorated battleship in US HISTORY was scraped
Had the Mississippi river been deep enough...BB-43 would be a spectacular sight to see. I agree. It's sad.
How else are they to get the barnacles off?
@@randallmarsh1187 Good one! I just caught that.
Drachinafel did a very in-depth deep dive of the salvage efforts after the Pearl Harbor attack. As well as has a video about the Tennessee class.
Also, Brother Muruo is doing a ship v ship battleship league. The Tennessee class is in the currently going 3rd Division with the Nelson, Queen Elizabeth, Ise, Nagato, and Strasbourg (the Division 4 winner). She is currently towards the top of the leader board after quickly dispatching both Strasbourg and Ise in 1v1 match ups.
What a wonderful history of one of the most important ship's of World War II. Thank you very much!!!
14:21 A battleship sailing up the Mississippi River would have been quite a sight.
Thank you, History Guy; your UA-cam contributions are always fascinating.
My Grandfather served on The Big Ten from 42 to 45 as a Gunner’s Mate. He was so proud since he was from Tennessee. I have the dice he used to gamble on the ship. Greatest Man I’ve ever known.
You've done the Tennessee, the Nevada and the Pennsylvania, I think the old WeeVee deserves its own episode
Her memory, and success stand as testament to the brave men who faced the world at war aboard her. Freedom rings for their effort, and sacrifice!
Thank you very much for this video about the USS Tennessee. My father in law (RIP) told me he left on board the USS Tennessee from San Francisco and engaged in sea battles in the Pacific campaign. He was the sole native (Navajo) on this crew and he and a Latino friend were only minority people on the ship and thinks there was another native but never got to get acquainted and never saw him again after Saipan. His Latino friend was almost shot when mistaken for a Japanese at one of their R & R when going back aboard the ship. He thinks his friend's name was Lopez and he was from Texas. I only got to hear his story when he was near death. He always wore a baseball cap with USS Tennessee embroidered on the cap and I asked him about his cap and that's when he opened up about his Pacific adventures. I wish I'd asked him earlier and learned later he never talked about his military life other than he served in the US Navy. He may have confused Philadelphia with New York City where he disembarked and hitch hiked all the way back to New Mexico.
Tennessee forever!
If you couldn't tell, this PROUD adopted son of the Volunteer State is stoked to hear of a battleship bearing the name of Home, and of said battleship's history.
THANK YOU
My grandfather served on Tennessee from September 41 through the end of the war. I have a picture from the ship's yearbook showing him carrying litters across the deck in the aftermath of the attacks on December 7th. R.I.P. S1C Tommy Thompson, and R.I.P. USS Tennessee.
My Dad served abord the USS California. He was a switchboard operator R Division damage control. He survived the attack and stayed with the ship throughout the rebuild. He was sent to shorthand school just prior to the Okinawa Invasion. He retired in 1960.
Thanks from a Tennessean. My dad served from ‘43-45, on the Langley, a new carrier. He was proud of both ships.
My dad served onboard the USS California from it's rebuild until the end of the war. I'd like to point out that the Tennessee and the California collided on on 23 August 1944. Tennessee suffered a steering malfunction that caused her to turn out of line and collide with California, tearing a hole in the latter's bow. Seven crewmen aboard California were killed. There was a lot of rivalry between the crews of the two battleships. My father spoke of many fights that broke out when the two crews found themselves ashore at the same time.
I live in Ridgecrest Ca. I had the honor to meet a Veteran of WWII who served on the Tennessee in a 5 inch gun mount at the Battle Leyte Gulf.
A now deceased friend Al Nordhues served on the Surigao Straits Tennessee during WWII. He was a part of the battle with the Surigao Straits in which the small fleet ambushed the Japanese Navy fleet of Battleships and Heavy Cruisers. Al treasured his time on board the Tennesse. He was on board when it was modernized in 1941.
It's a shame we couldn't get anymore use out of Tennessee. She was modernize and came out of WWII as a brand new ship.
This is the first I'm learning about this!!! Awesome stuff!!! My hat's off to the brave sailors and, marines of the Big Ten!!! Y'all definitely rock and, kick major @$$!!!!
I have always loved listening to the stories of my Navy. Thank you THG, much appreciated. Keep 'em coming!
BM2 USN 1977-84
5:10 I love the contrast of colours!
Sweet Yessus... great intro and content. The Strategic, doctrine and logistical concepts are illustrative of the US adaptability of hulls and technology that isn't appreciated... adapt, improvise and overcome.
I met a WW2 Navy Veteran and Sams Club last week. He also served in Korea. As a navy veteran myself, I was honored to meet him. I served back when there were a few WW2 veterans still on active duty. I met a warrant who has been at Pearl Harbor. The heroes of the War are getting few. We are diminished as a nation with their passing.
Your presentations are absolutely the finest, most accurate, and best researched of any that I view( and I watch A Lot of historic videos). I learn something new and thought provoking every time I watch your work, which is not a statement I could make about any other presenter. Thank you for your exceptional efforts; please keep up the good work!
Again, thank you Lance! You should have your own history Channel show by now!
My Uncle Jack Bohnstedt was a Merchant Marine welder about the Vestal repair ship that day. The next morning everyone on the Vestal joined the Navy and he spent the remainder of the war repairing Navy ships in the South Pacific. He spent two weeks cutting men out of ships. He only talked of it once, he described to my Dad in 1947 how they could hear men hitting the bulkheads with wrenches and how the tapping would get weaker and weaker and he knew that he would not be successful at pulling out live men this time. He told the tale with tears in his eyes and I tell the tale now with tears in my own eyes. Let us as a People be worthy of such men as these. God Bless America!
THANK YOU for this story...I grow up seeing the bell at our courthouse but never knew of her history. Makes me proud to be from this small county that now that we care for this GREAT part of history.
I always enjoy stores about my favorite USN ships: Battleships.
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A viewer mentioned that Mogami was a heavy cruiser, not a battleship. I apologize for the error.
A few viewers have taken issue with Sgt. Major Emmons’ claim that a bomb had gone down the funnel of USS Arizona. That is a direct quotation from a witnesses to the battle, and represents his perception at the time.
It does look like that in the film footage but it’s probably deceptive.
@@jaybee9269 It is deceptive. Inspections of the wreck of Arizona revealed that the heavy, armored gratings found in the various boiler uptakes (exhausts) were all intact. What the "plume of smoke" was is probably soot shaken loose by the detonation of the 14" powder magazine forward and then blown up the stack as a massive cloud making it appear that there was an explosion.
What we see is the result of the explosion forward forcing its way through bulkheads along pipelines and cableways in those bulkheads. Everything forward of the superstructure was demolished by the force of that explosion.
@@robertf3479 >> Thank you! I think I read about that bomb hit but it has been a very long time now.
@@jaybee9269 I got interested in the history of the USS Arizona and the other battleships at Pearl Harbor while I was stationed there. That was when I learned about the wreck of USS Utah on the other side of Ford Island from Arizona, visiting that memorial site.
@@robertf3479 >> I wasn’t aware of the Utah Memorial the one time I visited Pearl Harbor. The Arizona Memorial and USS Missouri were wonderful l, though.
Thank you THG. I get emotional when I hear these stories… the incredible bravery and execution under the worst conditions. We owe those men (ship yard workers, sailors, support personnel) everything.
At the end of the video the drydock showing Tennessee in Phillie also contained the California. The two sisters were scrapped side by side with California going first.Dad went back to California after losing the Yorktown at Midway and rode it fo the rest of the war then went to the brand new Midway.
At PH, BB-43 had 5"/51 rapid fire anti-ship guns in casemates, and 5"/25 AA guns, common for the era. These were replaced in the 1942-1943 rebuild with two-gun turret mounted 5"/38 dual purpose guns (much like classmate USS California). The 5"/38s, plus the radar controlled directors plus proximity fused shells made this the best AA suite in the war, while still usable for fighting smaller craft or bombarding shore targets not requiring 14" shells.
What does BB-43 mean I’ve seen it a lot in the comments Sorry probably a dumb question
@@lukehorning3404 , "BB-43" is the USN's hull number for the battleship USS Tennessee. I'm lazy and used the hull number instead of the ship's name.
My dad always said he got his good luck all at 1 time. He was assigned to the USS ARIZONA in WW2. He arrived in Hawaii on or about December 14th 1941 and was supposed to report to his ship on Monday morning December 18th 1941. He was there and he lost part of a finger. But, that was all, and spent his entire tour working at cleaning the harbor. He never saw any sea duty at all.
It always saddens me when an historic craft of any kind is broken up for scrap. I know it's the circle of life, so to speak, but it is a depressing thing.
My uncle was a navy diver who helped re-float the ships that could be salvaged. Nasty work.
What an absolute beast of a ship she was.
BB 43 was to be the California, but there was objection of a the California being built on the east coast. Hence, Tennessee BB-43 was laid down and finished for sea trials first and cited as The Tennessee Class. Her all "Volunteer" crew was by Volunteer request as the Lady's first compliant and crew. As the first Super-dreadnought, she had a few issues with her propulsion system that was never corrected till her refit. It is rare that the citing of the same bob load that struck the Arizona struck The Rebel too. The splinters from that near-miss killed the skipper of the West Virginia. Her AAR is a study on what happened to the Arizona. Being patched up and sailed to Washington, she reemerged as a whole new Lady ready, able and wanting to fight; and fight she did... The lessons of low angle skip/ricochet lessons of Tarawa were learned. As stated, she provided fire support for numerous invasions of Nimitz's island hopping and is praised for actions at Iwo Jima where the skipper took her in close so that all guns could bear against Suribachi and laid heavy fire that enabled the marines to ascend the mount and raise the flag with all of the distraction. She also received returning fire from the Mount and sailed to safer waters. As to the Southern Battle of the Philippines Campaign, Battle of Surigao Straits she and her mates put hard, sinking shots on the last of Battleship Surface action. Her actions during the invasion of Okinawa are renown for taking hits, giving fire and protecting her fleet.... The sail home of the Ole Rebel was sad, and the film footage of her being to scrap sends me to tears. I attended a number of the ship's compliment reunions and they were a proud lt. The scrapbooks were filled with smiling faces and the 10 Battle-stars were earned in the hearts of her sailors. The Tennessee State Museum hosts a fine collection of fittings, ephemera, and belongings. Her ship's Silver Service is displayed in Nashville and the tea/coffee service is aboard the current USS Tennessee, SSBN 734. Her shoulder patch and guidon honors BB43 and the legacy of being the 4th ship to be named in Honor of the Volunteer State.... The People of Tennessee are Honored by the service of her namesake ships and know the sacrifice of the sailors her serve and compliment her....!! David Farragut's Rocky Top Sailors are always ready to serve the People, the Nation and Their Constitution... For the record, her real nickname was "The Ole Rebel" as a nod to York and Crockett for her all but total domination of firing exercises during the 1930's. There is a famous postcard of 4 bed sheet target with 8 main gun holes; one rifle missed. It is a record to this day....
My next door neighbor was a gun captain on the Tennessee during WWII. He never talked about it much to us kids, so I'm glad for you presenting this video about her. Thank you.
As a Tennessean you should know we are sick and tired of all the nice things we hear about ourselves and our state (we are very humble people). Now we have to hear about what great sailors we can be even though we are landlocked from the ocean. We have enough people moving here and now there will just be more. It all started with that Alamo thing in Texas and we just volunteer here, there and everywhere. I was strangely proud every time you said Big Ten. I bet they played the Chattanooga Cho Cho over the loud speakers of the ship (if it was written at that time). Love you channel. Much love from Tennessee!
Chattanooga Choo Choo was released in August 1941 and was the first song to receive a gold record, having sold 1.2 by February 1942, so your speculation is a possibility. (Source: Chattanooga Choo Choo - Wikipedia.)
Amazing that something built to fight a totally different, earlier war, turned out to be so nice to have around in the next totally different war. Great video, I enjoyed this a lot!
I am a navy ship enthusiast, although I served in the Army. I'm delighted to find a fellow Navy ship maven.
Best show on UA-cam! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️👍👍❤️💯🔥
There was no country in the world that could have did what we did after Pearl Harbor . Not only did we repair our ships , we built so many that by the end of the war one of our fleets was bigger than any countries Navy .
It was a HUGE mistake! The fleet was sunk in shallow water. Easy peezie!
@@todiathink8864 Drawing a neutral country into the war was the biggest mistake, second to that was no aircraft carriers to sink at Pearl
@@paddington1670 still my point being it was a tactical victory but A HUGE strategic mistake.
I do greatly enjoy your videos. Thank you.
My great grandfather, Rear Admiral Harley F Cope, captained the USS Tennessee (BB43) from September '45 to December 46.
Once again, excellent presentation. Thank you! ❤
One of the Big Five battleships Tennessee, California, Colorado, Maryland, and West Virginia.
The Tennessee is one of my favorite warships. As built she was both sleek and powerful with those massive Cage Masts. after her upgrade she wasn't quite as sleek but was all the more powerful looking with the massive number of guns covering her decks. Definitely a major warship in either configuration. Her speed is often maligned but, as shown, racing around was not what she was made for, she was made to go wherever she wanted and dare anyone to oppose her being there, and that's what she did, plenty fast enough to keep up with the amphibious forces, which was what was important. She was a great ship.
The history of 'Silly String' deserves to be remembered.
Oh oh! Drachinifel has some serious competition!
I love that you done a story about the Tennessee I has a friend that was aboard her he told me many stories of his travels aboard her and all the battles he was in a great bunch of Americans they all were indeed Thank you history guy one of your best👍👍
I can dig how her girth would make it impossible to navigate a river, even one as mighty as the Miss, but at the very least they should have removed a turret to send to Tennessee.
I don't know if her beam would have been an issue even back in 1959. Pretty wide and pretty long tows were going up and down the Lower Mississippi even back then. I couldn't find anything online that detailed the problem but I would suppose it was probably her fixed height. Above Baton Rouge the bridges over the river are a good bit lower and if I remember correctly most if not all are fixed. You can only cut off so much superstructure to make a ship fit before it becomes an exercise in futility and cost prohibitive. Her draft could have also been an issue and that's a double-edged sword, so to speak. The more you lighten a ship to raise her draft to get through shallower water the higher you raise her superstructure.
Such IMPORTANT history!
Thank you for this!
By the time of the second world war the ships were pretty much obsolete for the reasons you mentioned but there was something else you didn't mention. These ships were immense fuel guzzlers. Even though they were considered quite slow they used a lot more fuel then the more modern faster ships. That's why they weren't really seen in the early part of the war; even the ones that were serviceable. Only later when logistics supported it were these ships used for heavy bombardment
Um, I think as pointed out in the video, all the Standard Battleships that survived Pearl Harbor were having battle damage repaired for at least a year. This is the first I’ve read of a fuel mileage problem. If anything, the repairs made things worse because they added torpedo bulges to either side of the hull, slowing them even more.
Think you're right. Reason they weren't used early on around Guadalcanal, New Guinea etc.Didn't have enough oilers to support both them and the carriers
Another epic episode! Thanks THG!
Proud Tennessean here. GO BIG TEN! I'd say she embodies the idea of "The Volunteer State".
Thank you for the lesson.
You haved covered several ships histories.
This one like the others is outstanding.
great video, wish it could have been saved as a museum.
It's too bad that all the surviving battlewagons from WWII couldn't be preserved as museums, they each had a story to tell. Thankfully there are some left to keep us aware of what a war that was. I'm a North Carolinian and have been to my state's namesake many times. I always see something I missed the time before, and a new lesson learned.
Go Volunteers. Bless my forebears.
Thanks for another great vid.
The history you reveal is indeed worth remembering.
Respect to all the matelow's who served on this great vessel.
I think this is the most interesting History Guy I remember watching ever. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.🙂🙂
Ooops. Ran all the way to my computer but another viewer already caught the Mogami error. No biggie, your work is still the BEST!
My Dad was Pearl Harbor survivor. I met men from the Tennessee at picnics in San Diego.
My Dad and his twin brother were on the Tennessee joining in Bremerton, Washington. His mother had to sign to allow them to serve. They served through all the campaigns before being discharged in Philadelphia. He was on the 5 inch guns while his brother was on the forward 14 inch gun. I have the Tennessee's annual and have looked at the battle campaigns since I was a child. My father is still alive at 99 ,but sadly his twin passed away two years ago. They used to go to the reunions, but got to old to travel. It would be interesting to see if anyone who served on the ship is still alive. His older brother served on the Alabama.
Ive wrote this once before. The largest non nuclear explosion that took place in western Canada in the early 1950's to get rid of a rock that sank many ships, It's one heck of a story you'd find it fascinating. I remember it as I was about 10yrs old at the time
Thank you for the facts I am from Tennessee and I never knew that the first crew was all tennesseans it does my heart proud to know that these men stood and fought during the attack on Pearl harbor and held a cool head while fighting I am so proud that it almost brings me to tears to know that my fellow Tennessee is had stood up and fought for America and I did not know that they had fought in so many battles and campaigns and it just goes to show you what a few good Tennessee's can do tennesseans have been the first to volunteer for many wars we had Tennessee volunteers that went to the Alamo and I really believe if it hadn't been for Tennessee since being there that Texas would be speaking Spanish
Love those Big five rebuilts, wish at least one was a museum along with CV 6, damn Navy.
Great video! Thanks for sharing this story, of the U.S.S. Tennessee, with us! Again, great video!