The Longest Battleship-on-Battleship Hit | July 1940
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- Опубліковано 5 тра 2021
- In July 1940, the British Mediterranean Fleet, of the Royal Navy, set off from Egypt to escort a convoy of ships sailing from Malta; however, within a day, this task had changed, with the Fleet's C-in-C, Admiral Andrew Cunningham, ordering the convoys to be delayed whilst he turned his Northwards to intercept an Italian Fleet. What followed was a large-scale Naval engagement that would see the British Battleship, HMS Warspite, take on two Italian Battleships that led to her achieving the longest Battleship-on-Battleship hit in Military History.
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- The Conversation by Theatre of Delays
- Reflection by Oliver Michael
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Hi all,
I just wanted to mention that whilst HMS Warspite holds the record for the longest Battleship-on-Battleship hit, she is actually tied with the German Battleship, the Scharnhorst, for achieving the longest Naval shot in Military History.
On the 8 June 1940, a month before Warspite made her record, the Scharnhorst hit the British Aircraft Carrier, HMS Glorious, at roughly the same distance of 24km (14-miles). During the engagement, which took place off the coast of Norway, the Scharnhorst was supported by her sister Battleship, the Gneisenau, which was also engaging HMS Glorious. Despite going up against the two German Battleships, Glorious' two escorting Destroyers, HMS Acasta and HMS Ardent, began returning fire, with a torpedo from the Acasta striking and significantly damaging the Scharnhorst. However, the efforts of the Destroyers would not be enough to turn the tide of the engagement, and both the Acasta and Ardent, as well as HMS Glorious, would be sunk by the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, with 1,531 servicemen sadly losing their lives from the three warships; only 40 men would survive and would later be rescued.
Very fascinating! But from what I've heard, the exact records of Scharnhorst and Warspite firing shots are extremely difficult to pinpoint which of the two warships had the longer range beyond 100 yards or so. Looking up, the Guinness Book of World Records mentions both battleships sharing the record for the longest shots.
Germans had state of the art radar controlled Targeting systems being brand new ships, Brits managed to Liberate the system off the sunken Graf Spee 6 months prior, not sure how long it took to copy or reverse engineer & incorporate it into the RN.
@@Wolfsschanze99 So you're saying the Germans got their hit due to precision gunnery and the Brits just got lucky with theirs?
@@rickkephartactual7706 Yep you are correct. The RN got so lucky it totally decimated the entire German surface fleet. I wish I was that lucky!
@@timphillips9954 Don't be a Jerk, I was referring to the shots taken by the two ships in question not the entire war. Don't get your panties in a bunch.
HMS Warspite never should have been scrapped. I am American and I will admit a history buff of the second World War. There is a mystical quality to that ship! She should have been a museum. It's really a shame.
In 1946 the UK genuinely did not have the funds to do that. There had been a tremendous amount oh houses destroyed. Every goes on about the Dresden raids but they forget the firestorms in London and the flattening of most of Coventry. The UK needed several million new homes to be built in 1946. That took priority as well as getting the water and electricity supply reliable again.
Totally agree. That ship had a soul.
If the country wasn't broke and the cultural attitudes were different. They could have have saved her
@@gordonlawrence1448 1) I know the UK was broken financially. Europe even more so from the land war. 2) my mother was a nurse in London during the war. She was in two different bomb shelters that took direct hits. She was left permanently deaf in her right ear. She also had PTSD and claustrophobia.
@@gordonlawrence1448 BTW the UK repaid their lend lease unlike most.
“They were saved from a precarious position by HMS Warspite coming into action” that sentence always gives me chills just thinking of the sheer power she had.
Also not the first time British cruisers were saved by the Grand Old Lady!
During the Battle of Jutland in 1916, Warspite took a hit in the middle of a turn that jammed her rudders hard over, causing her to careen out of control in wide, spiralling circles around the crippled armoured cruiser HMS Warrior, who made a narrow escape as virtually the entire German battleline shifted their fire from the cruiser to the much more valuable Warspite. The crew of the Warrior thought the battleship had deliberately charged into the guns of the entire High Seas Fleet to rescue them, but nope - just a steering gear breakdown!
My grandfather served on HMS Warspite. I’ve the greatest respect for him and all his shipmates.
May God bless them all for their service! Cheers!
HMS Warspite was one of the most successful battleships ever, in two World Wars she received 15 battle honours, including Jutland
We british scrap everything the minute it isn't required. Shame
@@oliverwood1062 After WW2 we had a cheap ass Labour Goverment that sold everything for scrap, or sold it to anyone with cash.
Imagine serving on a ship named the "Decoy". That's a step above it being called "Bullet bait".
Was thinking the same lol
Well by this point the british figured out that the more unsinkable a ship sounds the higher its chance to sink.
Hms decoy survived ww2 and was scrapped in 1946
Lmao
The old "tin cans" were the heartbeat of the Navy . They didn't just hunt submarines . Crazy , yes . Suicidal , maybe . Balls of steel , definitely .
you should see some of the names of the Flower Class corvette's. one was called HMS Primrose ;)
I love Warspite even more now : coolest name and longest hit!
You should look up HMS Warspite by Drachinifel on YT
She is Legendary and still to this day she has the most battle honours of any ship in the royal navy history 👍
@@samuel10125 ditto dracinfel video is the best I've watched
Rodney as part of Operation Epsom held at bay a Panzer Division from crossing a bridge with accurate fire from 35km!
BELLI DURA DESPICO
My Father was on Warspite all through the war. A lucky ship. Thanks 🇬🇧🏴
My Great Uncle was on Hood, not so lucky.
@@CIMAmotor Yes that was an absolute tragedy RIP to him and all who lost their lives in the war at such a young age on all sides!🇬🇧🏴
Warspite is more mighty than the Hood.
@@DeathScythe357 certainly luckier. Respect to all who lost their lives on all sides, all very brave men.🇬🇧🏴
@@CIMAmotor hood was tragic its a shame she never got her refit maybe it could have saved her. Rip to your uncle and I thank him for his service
Warspite was never scrapped, she lives on with all the admiration of old and young alike. My favourite Warspite story, she fired the first salvo of D-Day, depleted her magazine, went back got some more, wore out her guns, went back, got some more, and kept shelling until the Allies had made enough advances to put her guns out of enemy range. Then there's Narvik... The Grand Old Lady indeed. Great work, liked and subbed.
Michael Thomas -officially the first salvo on D Day was fired by HMS Belfast at 5 .27 am She was ordered to be the first to open fire but in fact another ship.believed to be HMS Orion positioned westward loosed off a salvo as early at 05 .23 . .However the Admiralty had embedded a journalist Rex North to record the official.opening fire and he recorded Belfast as firing first.
@@ronnieince4568 HMS Warspite was the first to fire at exactly 5:30am, as confirmed by the Royal Navy themselves.
@@joe4066 well if you read the "official "record it was HMS Belfast but an official reporter who was embedded by the Admiralty said that HMS Orion fired first The official log of HMS Belfast records her as opening fire first So take your pick of the "official " and "unofficial " versions.
@@joe4066 well Belfast fired at 5 .27 am; Orion supposedly at 5.23 am so your time if 5.30 am for Warspite is definitely later than the above ..
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And Calabria, I believe with the same Swordfish spotting as at Narvik. Using her 15" on destroyers and heavy cruisers, no half measures there.
That's the first time I have heard of the Warspite's 15" guns referred to in metric. The Warspite also has the most battle honours of any ship in the Royal Navy and has had many interesting engagements. During the action following D day, a panzer group having gone to hide in a wood, the commander of the Warspite gave the order "50 rounds, 15 inch, rapid fire". The only time such an order has been issued.
Then also what happened to her at Jutland
@@juno1915 Yes. Top ship the Warspite.
What a proud lady she would not allow them to talk her to the breakers she had the last word
@@cliffbird7983 Yes. Such a shame she was not preserved for the nation. Now the last of her lies of St Michael's mount.
Benedict, was there not a similar bombardment of Rommel's Africa Korps tanks from the RN in the Med?
I have heard it said from sailors who served on Warspite that after this shot the gun, which was in one of the aft turrets, never worked properly again. It wasn't the barrel (which would have been periodically replaced) but that the elevation required and force needed to make the shot literally bent the mounting meaning it was never 'true' again.
In this engagement the grand old lady effectively took on an entire Italian fleet single handed and saw them all off rendering the Italian fleet pretty much useless for the rest of the war. the RN Cruisers were outmatched so she went and rescued them and then she took on two newer bigger battleships than herself with Malaya being somewhat out of range and bringing up the rear to help much so as the Italians noted Warspite split her fire between the two. There was a reason Cunningham felt comfortable with going in like that, he fancied his chances while he was on that ship.
Warspite was like that short, Irish and permanently pissed bloke at the bar who never stops fighting, you know the one where breaking a chair over his head seems like a good idea until you realise it just made more angry. Even the breakers couldn't get her.
She despised the hardships of war, so she made sure everyone understood that.
The Malaya was one of the Warspite’s sister ships and if she managed to close the range, the two battle ships could have destroyed the Italian ships
"Bet you can't hit this shot."
"Watch me."
-British sailors on July 9 1940 (probably).
Britain, land of tea, fish and chips and bloody SNIPERS.
Insert "have a cup of tea first" between the first and last line. That really happened.
'hold me rum'. 😂
@@Joshua_N-A There not called 'The Senior Service' for Nowt ! thats for sure.
@@handlesarefeckinstupid You mean tea?
Referring to a 15 inch British battleship gun as 381mm is like referring to a German 88 as a 3.46 inch gun. It's just wrong.
I was equally interested in the aft and the stern guns firing at different ships, I wonder where the bow guns were firing?
It's just that no one outside Britain and the us would understand what 15' means
@@dani.zambomagno yeah but its a british battleship so it should be 15'
I concur with the complaints about it.
metric mania. at the time the usage was imperial and that is how it should be referenced now. for those poor ignorant barely schooled types that cannot translate metric to inches who cares?
I've said for many many years (after reading all about 'HMS Warspite' and her accomplishments) that SHE should be docked on the Thames for people to visit, she had an illustrious history and survived both wars and many battles including Jutland (albeit only just!!) I would have paid time and time again to visit such a 'Hero' she was truly amazing "Belli dura despicio"
The warspite is the most bad ass battle ship ever , that thing did everything, and also didn’t want to leave England and ran a dry in Cornwall when being took to be scrapped , such a shame she should be a museam ship not scrapped
@@howardchambers9679 Launched in 1913, a Dreadnought , Queen Elizabeth Class Ship. Ran aground in 1947, scrapped in 1950. She earned more Battle honour's than any other Royal Navy Ship. BUT--Sentimentality can be expensive, especially after fighting a World War, and ending up bankrupt.
I think Warspite also survived a direct hit from a German Fritz-X bomb. If this is true another accomplishment for Warspite.
@@timlevis3630 Yes, the Warspite survived a direct hit by a Fritz X.
Along with multiple bombs. No matter how hard the Axis tried over 2 World Wars they could not sink her.
There's the possibility the Warspite survived being hit by a porcelain water container commonly used to wash cooking containers too.
Same fate for the carrier Enterprise.
@@johnrflinn May they cruise the everlasting seas together with favourable winds
people say the Iowa is a sexy battleship that the bismarck was a technological wonder and the Yamato the mightiest.
But in my mind this ship built and did see action in the 1 and 2WW. is what a battleship truly was, built in the golden age of battleships and served until carriers and planes took over.
This was a ship that knew what war was.
hit by the 1400kg Fritz-X radio controlled glide bomb, near her funnel pierces her and leaves a 20 foot hole in her bottom The hole is plugged by filling the affected compartments with concrete leaving x turret and a boiler room incapacitated. For D-Day she still joins the bombardment force with her remaining six 15 guns.
She fires more than 300 shells by June 7th and, periodically rearming, continues until her guns are worn out. She is the first British ship to need her guns replaced from use in the war. On her way to have this work done she hits a mine and requires additional repairs and this takes until August. She is now down to 3 functioning shafts and a top speed of 15 knots. Back on the bombardment line she last fires her guns in anger in shore bombardment on November 1, 1944
Warspite's history is just amazing, a truly blessed construct ...
There are so many bad ass stories about HMS Warspite, but my favorite is HMS Warspite version of destroyer hunting... in a fjord in Norway. the battle of Narvik where HMS Warspite and a couple of destroyers... that engagement is so awesome to read about and what type of danger HMS Warspite was in during that engagement
One of my many ex-servicemen workmates was a volunteer Royal Navy gunnery officer when the war started on HMS Hardy under it's very aggressive Captain Warburton Lee. The Hardy was ambushed outgunned and sunk by a superior number of German Heavy 5 inch gun Fleet destroyers in Narvick Fiord during The First Battle of Narvick. He was very lucky to survive the battle of Narvick as he had to swim ashore and then avoid the german army patrols. Thankfully he got picked up by Warspite during The Second Battle of Narvick. He served in a number of warships as a gunnery officer in the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Indian, and the Pacific Oceans off Leyte he was always in the thick of the action and he unfortunately finished the war as deaf as a post from his exposure to the noise.......What a Great Man he was ............
Thanks for this. It's a pleasure not to have to listen to drums beating and an overlay of music piled on to create excitement. A beautiful report.
That should be read by many a Utube publishers and kept in mind.
Fun fact: the thumbnail of this video is of the Warspite bombarding shore targets at the Normandy landings. Her “X” turret (turret 3) is locked in the traveling position and not firing due to battle damage sustained in the mediterranean when a German Fritz X bomb blew out part of her keel, crippling her and very nearly sending her to the bottom.
I bet that pissed off the Royals!
Every day is a school day!! Excellent as always. Great content well delivered and properly researched. Well done
A ship that had such a presence a defiant nature until her sad and un-graceful ending at the hands of the breakers
No, she stuck two fingers up to them too and decided to end her days resting on the seabed in Prussia Cove instead.
Love getting notifications of your new uploads. Thanks for the great content.
The Warspite took part in the Battle of Jutland too. She was our greatest ever battleship and let’s face it, we’ve had a few
during Jutland Warspite was kicked so badly it took alog time getting home
@@michaelpielorz9283
WTF?
"Although she had been extensively damaged, Warspite could still raise steam and was ordered back to Rosyth during the evening of 31 May by Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, commander of the 5th Battle Squadron. Whilst travelling across the North Sea the ship came under attack from a German U-boat. The U-boat fired three torpedoes, all of which missed their target. Warspite later attempted to ram a surfaced U-boat. She signalled ahead for escorts and a squadron of torpedo boats came out to meet her. They were too slow to screen her effectively, but there were no more encounters with German vessels and she reached Rosyth safely on the morning of 1 June"
What calendar do you use?
That's a serious accomplishment. The amount of skill from the target director must have been amazing. A moving target and moving firing platform hitting at that distance. Difficult to put it lightly.
Although upgraded, it's incredible to think HMS Warspite was launched in 1913! An amazing vessel.
Absolute bruiser of a ship.
There's something about the way they made ships back in 1913 that's when another amazing ship the Battleship Texas was put in to production.
Exceptionally fine job the posting comes with subtitle which is clear as a crystal bell in understanding the chronicle well done COMPLIMENT
Just discovered you and the material, your voice and calm presentation got me immediately - Subscribed and Thumbs-up.
The Queen Elizabeth class were awesome warships, from their first day of service until the end of WWII. Thanks for the video.
Interesting video!!!!
A great battle ship , it is a real disappointment that she was not saved for the nation. The fact Britain does not have a battle ship in preservation is a disgrace!!!
As always excellent content. For once I had already read up on this battle, however BZ to you, and I look forward to your next presentation 👍
A great shot from an even greater ship..
Probably a lot of luck involved but still a nice shot.
Why oh why does the commentary give the Gun gauge in metric rather than the proper inches?
If you are going to do it do it right!
We claim the longest tank on tank kill, longest battleship hit. Time to take back the sniper record from the Canadians
Give it a try - maybe in Mali
Don't forget we at least had the longest Air Raid as well. As I think the Americans beat the record of Op Blackbuck.
@@paulj7736 The B52s from Louisiana to Iraq in the opener of Desert Storm right? Worse ways to lose the record, that’s seriously impressive!
Are you for real? You want to have someone killed just to claim a record?
@@harryfaber Yes.
Yep she was Britain’s most historic warship that served in both world wars , such a shame the ship was not preserved as a museum ship like they have done in the US. She even did not what to go , when under tow to be scrapped her tow was broken . The most luckiest and historic ship to have served in many battles and conflicts and to have survived, and then be scrapped by the nation she served so well over many years.
The truth is, we just don't have the resources to preserve more ships than we already have. Even now, we often find ourselves struggling to get enough money to preserve our current ones. We don't really have anywhere to put them that isn't needed by current military assets or trade etc. Our naval history is our longest and most glorious but as long as the memories live on then so will the ships. We also pass down ship names, one of our nuclear submarines is called Warpsite.
Thank you much for posting this. This is some great history.
All the assertions of 'luck' notwithstanding, British naval gunnery has always been world class. Any big gun broadside at that distance has a considerable amount of randomness, but keeping the shots on target will eventually result in a telling hit. They would have had no 'luck' at all without the skill to put the shots clustered around the target.
"British naval gunnery has always been world class" - except at Jutland, arguably?
@@conistonoldman they pretty well pounded the Geman fleet, and took a lot of hits as well.
@@conistonoldman Beatty's battle cruisers gunnery was awful, the rest of the High Seas fleet was pretty good.
@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 it doesn’t help when the bloody things keep blowing up
@@gwtpictgwtpict4214 "Grand Fleet" not High Seas Fleet - that was the name of the German Fleet.
Great quote from Themistocles. He won the pivotal battle of Salamis twice over. Firstly about a decade before the battle he made sure that the Athenian fleet was built. Then before the battle, when the Greeks did not want to fight at Salamis, he ensured that the battle happened by informing the Persians where the Greeks were and allowing them to trap them. He got the fleet, the battle and the victory.
Orator-persuader that Themistocles was, he told the Athenians that their wooden walls would protect them - and persuaded the State to build ships . . . the result is well-known. A great pity that the ungrateful Athenians, egged on by the jealous Spartans, exiled this great man, the saviour of his country.
Honestly it’s sad that us brits scraped our battleships it’s sad considering our national pride back then 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
We probably needed the scrap metal to rebuild britain.
@@exb.r.buckeyeman845 yeah true but it is sad that a very few ships survived ww2
The barnacles were slowing them down
@@margin606 sheeeeeeeeshhhhh
Wonderful! Thanks for posting.
Great upload as always!
The HMS Warspite is well known by longtime Bremerton, Washington residents for spending time at the Bremerton Navy Yard for repairs in October of 1941. She had been damaged in an engagement against the Axis powers before the US officially entered the war. The few senior citizens still around in Bremerton who were living there then fondly remember her and her crew.
My dad was one of her crew.
I am on my boat at the Bremerton Marina as I read your comment, a mere hundred yards away from the Naval base.
Naval warfare boggles my mind. You could serve on a ship for years without being hit, but when you were the results were horrific. Some of the extended battles with ships landing multiple blows give you a window into hell.
And the loss of lives was hugh if things didn't go your way, and in a very short space of time, like been in a small town, population wise as well, that is rapidly sunk, but difficult to escape from.
Many years ago I worked with a man who served on HMS Rodney throughout the war and was present at the sinking of the Bismarck. I remember him telling me that there was no jubilation at the hits Rodney scored on Bismarck, just pity for the poor devils on the receiving end, and relief that Bismarck wasn't going to fire back.
He witnessed the hit that penetrated Bismarck's Bruno turret and exploded inside, knowing he'd just seen a lot of young men like himself blown to pieces. Even forty years later it was obvious that the memory of it appalled him.
Epic as usual, very well presented.
Lions lead by Lions. The Med fleet was fearless in the face of overwhelming odds - makes you proud to be British.
Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel (and the simple).
@@mehrcat1 You think? How about the first building block of the victorious?
There's nothing more simple than parroting inane quotes, Joe.
@@MrRealstreet Well said.
@@mehrcat1 Not to be pedantic, but what Dr. Johnson meant by "patriotism" was a group of politicians (whom he disliked) who, in opposition to a prime minister of the day, called themselves the Patriot Party. James Boswell, who recorded the remark, went on to say, "But let it be considered, that he did not mean a real and generous love of our country, but that pretended patriotism which so many, in all ages and countries, have made a cloak for self-interest."
Other ship - "Which opponent do I engage?"
Warspite - "All of them"
@hognoxious and in this engagement. She seemed to always have a mind of her own.
While I enjoy all of your vids, I really enjoyed this one. Not the usual. Love this channel.
Thank you for this video, Liveth for Evermore. By the way, the Royal Navy's guns were always described in inches; not by the Continental metric system. For example, not 381 millimetres! HMS WARSPITE HAD 15 INCH GUNS.
Happy to say I walked around the decks of the HMS Belfast as a boy in the 1970's ... a ship that was active during the D-Day Landings ... some History has at least been preserved!
who then helped to sink the scharnhorst
@@hugorogers2973 Indeed!
yep me too circa 1976
HMS Warspite: Semper in pugna. Never a dull moment, in either of the world wars. It even fought the scrap men.
The scrap men?
"Belli dura despicio"
she could take those hard knocks of war she despised and dish them out too.
Mate, your narration is fantastic. Would you consider narrating one of the classic war history books? I would listen to it in a heartbeat.
Great video. You should do the British Army Apache raid on Brega, Libya during Op ELLAMY in 2011
My father did convoy runs in the Mediterranean. I have his medals. He also has the Burma Star.
He also said his convoy escorts was done in a rowing boat.
Excellent video and content as always.☯️🎩♠️
Fascinating, thank you. I recall the radio reports at the time, We were somewhat' It was good news at a difficult period.!
Thanks for another great video. You really need to do a documentary with the unique style and crisp delivery that you have
So, the British hold joint first longest battleship on battleship hit, and also longest tank on tank kill. Noice, don't mess with the british lol, they get shit done
the German claim for longest hit is only 1 way where Has WARSPITES claim is backed up by the Italians, the longest range shot recorded by the Germans' was several 100feet shorter than Warspites hit
Drachinifel is somewhere screaming right now
Naw; he’s glad to have more naval history on the webs.
@@billbrockman779 About Warspite.
@@audiosurfarchive Got it.
No fleet ever looked better in newsreels but proved to be a paper tiger than the Italian fleet. The Royal Navy had great success with the attack on Taranto and the high seas battle. Given that, it's sad to think that the Royal Navy(Allies) paid such a high price to get even one freighter safely in port in Malta. Of course, any such re-supply convoy was subject to the Luftwaffe, E-boats, U-boots, and mines. The fact the RN got the main Italian navy to remain in port was quite an accomplishment...
My Dad was a Royal marine on board HMS Malaya his station was gun layer in Y turret.
Great respect for all who went through hell for our freedom . Thanks
That's amazing, 14 miles away and landing a hit on a moving target, impressive deadly accuracy.
@John Shields: ... and no computers for firing control, indeed impressive deadly accuracy, as you very well put it into words !!!
All done in an analog world, very impressive. Sure they had a little luck mixed in there too
So the Italian Air Force bombed their own Navy ships, and then thought they had sunk half the British Navy in the Med.
What a balls up, I bet their Navy wasn't happy.
I have Italian friends. Love them to bits because they're friendly, warm, & good natured. They're also rather "excitable", with a tendency to exaggerate so I take what they say with a pinch of salt, and the very LAST thing I'd do is trust them to organise anything ! Mussolini should maybe have taken a similar view of his own forces.
@@Kevin-mx1vi Is it true the Northern Italians designed the ships and the Southern Italians sailed them? If true, that could explain a lot.
They managed to sink my Dad's ship!
Well it happens! Even our own Fleet Air Arm tried to torpedo HMS Sheffield mistaking her for the Bismarck - they were told the Bismarck was the only ship sailing alone and found the Sheffield who had been detached from the fleet without informing the Ark Royal, one big grey ship on her own looks like any other in the North Atlantic! (And presumably in the Med as well!)
Mussolini was a fool and tended to completely misunderstand things. Hitler was the same as were his people around him.
Hitler lost the war the moment he invaded France because it created a sequence of events that Nazi Germany could not cope with.
Once they invaded France it brought the British to the battle and then the Americans. Which was a war they could never win.
That ship should have been turned into a museum ship...what a shame not to have one Royal Navy Battleship...same with Enterprise here in US, two ships that did so much.
The name suits this ship so much it unbelievable
According to Italian air force claims, 112 of the 16 British ships were destroyed.
Hahha
Plainly, they were using Fat Benito's "Nuovo Matematica" to calculate their successes . . . .
Excellent videos and commentary. Thank you and well done.
Warspite probably was the most fearsome battleship in the minds of the Italians after this.
I like the atmosphere of this talk.
“AH FUCK YES LONGSHOT LETS GO”- HMS Warspite, 1940
HMS Decoy - what a great name
My father was a crewmember at that time. He was the Chief Petty Offier in charge of the ship's fianances. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 98.5.
I'm sure he had some incredible stories, care to share any?
Love the videos.
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 Narvik
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.
-Lieutenant-Commander R.A.B. Mitchell
A lovely and poignant tribute to a Great Lady of the Sea; thank you for positing this.
Can not believe this battleship was scrapped considering the history she had
Nice one mate
Good video. Just one thing, the Italian Battleship's name is pronounced Chee sar eh, not See Sar. Criminal that Warspite wasn't preserved. An amazing ship.
..and "Hereward" is pronounced "Herr-a -wood".
14 mile range. That's incredible they could lob a shell that far let alone dial in the target at such a distance.
The Aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was hit from that range as well, but with a much smaller gun (11 inch) around the same time, ending with her sinking along with her 2 destroyers.
@hognoxious Yep, but even if he came from submarines he did many dumb things on that voyage, probably out of
Arrogance though!
Well done Warspite (:
The 15"/42 gun, ridiculously accurate... HMS Warspite, in the middle of it all, as usual. The Grand Lady should have been saved.
HMS Warspite had 15inch guns, the metric system wasn't in use by the Royal Navy at that time.
I absolutely love how aggressive the British Navy is. Report from the sub of superior numbers and no hesitation, in they go.
It’s been proven time and and again in warfare that aggression is usually the best policy.
I think it was Guderian or maybe Rommel who observed in the early days of WW2 that it was usually enough to be the first to open fire to gain the upper hand in any combat, as it immediately put the enemy on the defensive.
What a ship she was, Warspite - a legend.
It really is sad they didn't keep her and turn her into a museum. Wonderful ship no doubt with a crew proud to serve on her.
I think the Belfast on the Thames is as close as we'll get now
@@burants89 Sadly true though Belfast seen action against the Scharnhorst At the North Cape what a sight Warspite would of been anchored as a museum.
Nice piece of work, thanks for this production. Please stick to inches for naval guns, though!
Great article and record of the Warspite's achievement. One small blemish - "Cesare" is pronounced Cheh.zuh.ray.
Another blemish by the commentator, H is pronounced aitch not haitch.
@@johnbarton7543 "Blemish" And I suppose you're a linguist who is experienced and learned enough to be able to dictate how all of the English speakers from across the world ought to speak?
The Italian battleship Cesare is pronounced chez array, oh and aft and stern are the same place lol, I think you meant her forward turrets (A and B turrets) on Cesare and her stern turrets (C and D) on Cavour.
Even as a Brit, his odd pronouciations were driving me crazy!!!
I think the rear turrets should be called X and Y, if they are superfiring, C and D turrets should be front turrets, superfiring over A and B, not that ever happened... at least not D
@@windoverwaves6781 Yes you are absolutely correct ( in my defense I WAS writing the comment in the wee hours of the morning after a very long day) aft turrets ARE labeled X and Y...........I realised as I re read after posting............then thought what the hell lol
😁
Pronunciation: likewise Count chi-ano. Ciao i grazie! Lastly, WW1 era dreadnoughts with midships turrets were designated P/Q.
The Warspite was a special ship.
Very interesting account, thanks.
Warspite, so committed to her place on the sea, broke tow and refused to be scrapped. Rumour has it her name will live on as one of the new Dreadnought class of submarine.
Certainly will be. They will be named Dreadnought, Warspite, Valiant and King George VI.
I’m not an expert but to hit a small target 14 miles away is quite an achievement. It must have been a team effort but the guy who did the rangefinding and targeting is the at the top of his game
Check out the Battle Surigao StrAights. Many hits at night at very long ranges. West Virginia, 13 miles.
The the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was hit from around that range as well, but with a smaller gun (11 inch) around that time, she ended up been sunk with her two destroyers with a loss of over 1500 lives!
@@raywhitehead730 radar
@@Alex-cw3rz Not in 1940
@@craigstewart1532 I was talking about the Battle Of Surigao Strait 1944, as that person was claiming how good West Virginia was, even though that was down to radar, unlike Warspite.
What the hell is 380 mm. If you mean 15", say 15". That's how main armament is measured. Inches.
That's strange @Liveth For Evermore, I've been subbed to this channel for a LONG time. This video popped up in my feed and when I clicked, it says I'm not subbed. Very strange, I like this channel.
Re-subbed.
Some very strange things going on, same here. YT fookin over LFE.
Would be very interested in a video on the S.A.S. Iranian embassy siege in 1980. Love your videos.
@what has it been deleted? I can't find it.
@@hex2637 I looked as well and it doesn't appear to be there. Also when looking at the All Uploads tab, I thought there should be more videos, maybe some are deleted/private/unlisted. ;( but yes the SAS siege has been done.
@@pandabear4321gogo i kinda thought it had been done before i wrote the comment too but when i wanted to show it to a friend I couldn't find it. A reupload would be nice if it has been made.
@@hex2637 Unless this is a textbook example of Mandela Effect happening Haha
@@pandabear4321gogo my first thought when i saw your comment lmao
Please don't use mm for British Naval guns, HMS Warspite had 15 inch main guns and, even today in 2022 Royal Navy main ships guns are given in inchs, not mm.
The Grand Old Lady was just 3 years old when she entered WW1. In the Battle of Jutland, she took a hit which temporarily put her steering gear out of action. She couldn't just sit there like a sitting duck, she was forced to sail in a large circle which brought her close to the Germans. She did 3 circles until the steering gear was repaired. She took 15 hits and survived. Note that 4 battlecruisers were sunk during that battle, and no battleships. A rule was made that battlecruisers were not to engage capital ships at long range due to the thin deck armour which made them vulnerable to high flying long range shells. If the battlecruiser Hood had stuck to this rule she might not have been got by the Bismark.
Logs suggest Hood did try to close range against Bismarck because even after her refit the armour scheme remained a vulnerability, however the shooting from the German ship was simply too good - and perhaps a bit lucky - unluck for Hood and her crew. We'll never know how it would have gone if Hood had gotten closer without taking damage
Thanks for a fascinating bit of history.. BTW, at 5:51 you say “...volley firing with the aft turrets trained on the Cesare and the stern ones on the Cavour”. Perhaps you meant forward instead of aft?
AFT is inner gun on rear of ship, STERN is outer gun rear of ship
HMS Warspite achieved the most battle stars of any Royal Navy craft ever!
Good evening people.....from the UK.Have a great evening , day, or night
You too mate
Thanks. Greetings from early morning in OZ.
Great video again. You should do one on the attack of Taranto by HMS Illustrious. Pretty much ended the Italian fleet for the rest of WWII.
Yes, and the Japanese Naval Command also played close attention to this engagement but unfortunately we did not ,and the attack on Pearl Harbor soon followed
No they didn't ended the Italian fleet operations at all, only 3 battleships were hit during the Taranto raid and only one never came back to service, plus after Matapan and Taranto the Italians won a pretty big number of battles against the british fleet
one of the greatest ship in WW2 thanks to the crews skills and the old lady Warspite