Cruisers vs Zeppelin: HMAS Sydney and HMS Dublin vs L 43, 1917
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- On May 4, 1917, one of the strangest air and sea battles in history took place in the North Sea in a fight so desperate that both sides literally fired until they ran out of ammunition.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As very few images of the actual event are available in the Public Domain, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
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All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. No images or content are primarily intended to shock and disgust. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Non censuram.
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Script by THG
#history #thehistoryguy #WWI
At the start I say "54,000 long ton." That should be 5400 long tons. I apologize for the error.
Thanks for the reply back, all of us meaning me, can do these slip ups. Always enjoy your talks, look forward to the next. Have a safe day.
@unixfreak31 You are correct, all of his videos are a 10 score.
I'll allow it. Lol
That is a common mistake for me. Glad to know I am in good company.
Ha! Imagine how much coal you’d have to shovel to move a 54,000 ton cruiser at 28 knots. 😅 🙂 Love your videos. 👍🏻
The foremast tower of HMAS Sydney is still looking out over Sydney Harbour today.
Thanks for another great story of this ship.
Visited it a couple of years ago, it was pretty awesome standing under it.
Yes what an amazing history it has !!
Part of Sydney’s bow is on the shore north east of the Harbour Bridge.
The tripod mast at Bradleys Head replaced her pole mast in 1917.
It shows that even a battle fought to a draw with no blood drawn can still be bloody interesting.
"Not one of them hit us." What a smart ass, I hope that guy got a medal.
@JZ's BFF I don't know, when I went to Oz several years ago the main thing I noticed was the large multitudes of very beautiful women. It was almost like going to Sweden, Norway, or Portugual. I was impressed 😁
The sailor who complained that nothing ever happened, even after a two hour fight with a zeppelin HAD to have been a teenager!
Can't imagine writing up that report- engaged Zeppelin until all ammo expended, we parted on good terms 😁
The end sentence, 'not one of them hit us.' After a fight with a Zeppelin. So Australian.
More like a typical sailor's response. 🙄🙄
@@michaelwarren2391 Both are admirably laconic
Straight forward. Very much like Chauvel's order for the charge at Be'er Sheva. 'Put Grant (4th Light Horse Brigade) straight at them. No charge of the Light Brigade confusion in that.
Ah the ending. Yes, war is 99% boredom and 1% mind blowing insanity. Yet that 1% stands out so much more.
Good video, still love your channel.
that guy had a death wish, if a bomb had gone down a smoke stack.
15 months of preparing for 15 minutes of excitement if I recall the saying correctly
Wow ... I had no idea that the HMAS Sydney had these incredible accomplishments. Many thanks HG for bringing this history out of the shadows. When I pass the foremast of the HMAS Sydney tomorrow at Bradleys Head I'll keep a lookout for Zeppelins
Good to see this on the public record. My father was on board The Sydney during this fight with the Zeppelin - we have a bomb fragment from this fight. Otherwise, after the battle with The Emden, "Sydney" spent most the war in the Caribbean, stopping blockade running from the USA (which was neutral until 1917 and a source of supplies for the Germans).
The airships were ineffective as strategic bombers but did manage to create another front which forced the british to commit military resources to their home soil.
That sounds like it made them great strategic bombers.
Sagittarius rising has a chapter about the life of British pilots trying to intercept Gotha's during WWI. They were ultimately harder to find being smaller and faster, the true precursor to the blitz
In fairness 'the British' didn't. As far as I'm aware the Germans only bombed England. Mainly SE England. Wales, Scotland and island were untouched.
Noteable that the air ships bombed France as well.
In the case of both countries. The effort expended in defence was out of proportion to the attacks. But it was still a tiny percent of allied effort during the war. It diverted 1000s of men and women in a war where the allies deployed tens of millions of men at the front and millions of women at home.
A great topic of history. But in reality it nudged the course of the war like a squirrel nudges a mighty oak tree.
I have always been fascinated with the "behind the story" stories. You bring a unique style to telling these stories. Your ability & technique in telling these stories along with the history itself is captivating, to say the least. Thank you for making history interesting.
I was listening to this in my garden earlier and right around 13:28, where 'strategic bombing of the second World War' is mentioned, I was overflown by the RAF's Spitfire Mk XVI (she's quite distinctive because she is the only Spitfire in their collection with clipped wings). Quite a sight, and quite a coincidence. Rest asured, that I went back to re-watch the part drowned out by the Spitfire's engine.
Thanks for another delightful and interesting video.
Ha! 'Ya gotta love the sound of the old warbirds. I have had B-17, B-25, and an F4F-3 (!) overfly my house in the last two years doing pattern work at Williams Field (Now Gateway Airport) near Phoenix, AZ. As a kid I used to go to the airshows out west to get that thrill of an overflight by Merlin engines in the ever popular P-51 Mustangs.
I have to commend your pronunciation of the name Dumaresq. I live in the New England area of NSW in Australia where the Dumaresq family settled in the early nineteenth century. Being prominent early residents there are a considerable number of things named after them including a dam and a railway station. Most people who don't live here can never pronounce the name correctly. So well done.
"None of 'em hit us!" *shrug*
I'm editorializing and allowing myself some artistic license, here, but it reminds me of the construction of the USS New Jersey.
When lowering a turret onto the ship, the guy in charge pretty much ignored the weight ratings of the gantry crane, so stood in the barbette, thinking he'd be crushed if the crane failed and wouldn't have to answer to anyone.
Well, it all worked out. "What are you all so bent out of shape about? I told you it'd work!"
More balls than brains 😂
@@quest4adventure495 My feeling also
As I watched the opening of the video I was curious what “design” was zapped onto the THG logo. I couldn’t tell on my iPhone. So I froze the screen, and enlarged the still shot. It is a picture of The History Guy, arms crossed, sitting at his desk! I’m such a nerd.
So nobody died?
Just a Friday afternoon at a typical Aussie pub then.
Oy.
The rise, fall and reemergence of the bowtie.. History That Deserves to Be Remembered
Thanks, not a battle I had heard of although the Zeppelin raids I did know well.
Fascinating! While aerial bombardment of enemy warships would see no fruit until the 1920s, the development and successful use of the aerial torpedo in Ww1 would make a great history guy episode!
I loved the ending. " not one of them hit us" 🤣 Thank you again for a wonderfully done video! You always seem to hit it out of the park!
That was a lot of fun!
Thank you so much for another...I had no idea moment...
It reminds me of a dog fight where a fence separates the two dogs. Lots of snarling and barking but no real bites.
Or a bro-down, where two bros circle each other in a parking lot posturing and talking trash but never actually coming to blows.
@@RCAvhstape no more like both Bros are to drunk to hit each other or the broad side of a ship.
Thanks for shining a light in this story , hmas Sydney was and still is a famous name in both the ran and Australian history. But not many people would know about this chapter in her history.
you and dan carlin practically keep me sane! endless gratitude for your wit and wonderful way of sharing stories
"But not one of 'em hit us" is logic that deserves to be remembered.
NOW THIS IS WHATS CALLED A GENTLEMANLY FIGHT OR WAS A FLIGHT THANKS FOR A GOOD STORY 👍.
Thank you for the second story on our favourite Australian ship!
Thanks for Sharing... So Much History... Unfortunately Not Many People Following
Zeppelins: Filled with 100% Safe, All-Natural Hydrogen!
Hydrogen is an important element of water. Who doesn't like water?
@@RCAvhstape People that are scared of "Dihydrogen Monoxide"...
@@matthewsermons7247 Dihydrogen monoxide is a leading source of drownings and corrosion and should be banned!
@@RCAvhstape Hydrogen hydroxide is much safer.
Another problem for the anti aircraft battery on the surface ship would be the required ammo that was required to bring down a zeppelin. You can't just punch holes in it and expect it to ignite. You need a projectile that spews propellant out the side of the actual bullet and travels slow. Something that confounded biplane interceptors until such a round was invented later in the war. I think you did a video on that in-fact. Did the ship have such a round? They were more common for fighter interceptors. I'm not aware of naval batteries having them at the time since such encounters (as noted) were rare to the extreme. Side-Question : I think you ran an ad for them previously but I can't find it - where do you get your glasses? I'm looking for a new pair.
I'll feed the algorithm by saying keep feeding your brains with the good stuff like this.
Thank you for the lesson.
Certainly one of the few battles in war where a lot of excitement was not accompanied by blood and suffering.
A Sopwith Pup scrambled from Sydney's sister-ship, HMS Yarmouth, achieved the first aerial victory for a plane launched from a ship when it downed zeppelin L23, August 21, 1917
Fun fact; A nearly identical battle occurred between L 6 (Lz 31) and HMS Empress in 1914. Thank you for telling this story! 11:42 is a painting of the battle. I wish that when talking about L 43 we saw images of that airship rather than footage of other zeppelins, but this was a great video.
I wish they would bring back the Zeppelin for leisurely travel Denver to LA for example
My father who was born in 1915 had an early memory of seeing a Zeppelin being shot down over Enfield, North London late in WW1.
Excellent episode, as usual. My only challenge is occassionally deciphering a phrase or three, in the rapid speech tempo. But I'll definitely take it!😎
Thanks much!
"not one of them hit us". A bitching sailor is a happy sailor...
Caught the 54,000 long ton. Just figured it was a slip up. Another great video as always
Still a fascinating story. If memory serves,” the Zeppelin Fighters” by Author Arch Whitehouse, was brilliant.
I’m glad I make my small donation to you each month for content like this.
The Hindenburg versus the Titanic. I'm sure somebody out there in hollyweird could make it work. Sounds like something the Asylum Films would do.
I will kill to see this made, so I can watch the Pitch Meeting about it.
ww2 happens in 1935.....rms titanic is commissioned as an auxiliary cruiser and troop transport. the Hindenberg is as strategic zep bomber.
@@joshuabessire9169 "so you have a movie for me?"
"I sure do its called Hindenburg vs Titanic"
"Really? Really? *sigh* I could have been a doctor. I had good grades. what am I doing here?"
"Money. You like money"
"oh yeah yeah yeah money!"
lt can't be any worse than *Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Killer* There is also another movie where Honest Abe fights zombies too.
I do enjoy your videos. Some what of a history guy myself, I also read a lot of the subject. I hope we do learn a lot by remembering our history. I find we do forget our past we make the same mistakes.
I love this channel for the content of the history guy.
I believe that the British raid at Taranto was instrumental in helping the Japanese configure torpedoes for Pearl Harbor attack. Both Taranto and Pearl Harbor are shallow water harbors
The Pearl Harbour attack was already planned but indeed, it could be said Taranto acted as proof of concept.
thanks
I have greatly enjoyed all of your wonderful episodes of forgotten history. I am a flyer and I particularly look forward to any and all aviation-related installments. I fly "bush planes" like the "Piper Cubs" of WWII episode depicts and would suggest an episode covering ALL of the "L" planes from WWII, KOREA and Viet Nam. I have a friend who flew "Bird Dogs" in Nam and he verified, first hand, the facts of their effectiveness in combat. The History of the development of the "L" planes from the venerable Piper J-3 (L-4) to the OV-10, I believe, deserves to be remembered. They have now been replaced by "drones"...
Thank you history guy!! Great work Sir
Love that last line!!
As Maxwell Smart would say, "Missed it by that much!"
Always enjoyable. I used to work at the St louis arsenal. Would love to hear its history.
"Not one of em hit us. 🤷🏻"
Testicular fortitude right there
The British certainly know their way with ocean going vessels. Thank God
Ah - it was HMAS Sydney belonging to the Austtralian Navy- even if built in the UK and under the overall command of the British Admiralty (as all Australia's ships were).
I love the history of the Wars. Excellent presentation
I love your vids and your ties. They are always entertaining
Keep em coming. Love this channel.
Another stellar episode, HG... thank you!!!
Great vlog as always! Fun fact: during ww1 Bergen line was the link between Europe and the UK. Imagine how much Mail they had onboard the ships.
“pushed the envelope”
😉👏👏👏
THG another great story. Thank you very much.
Two of my greatest "wishes" are or would be(should I ever discover a lamp containing a Genie) to make transatlantic crossings aboard a true ocean liner and an Airship. Sadly it won't ever happen, because a tumor in my head and neck precludes flying and limits my income due to disability retirement. And I suppose the fact that no Zepplins exist that make such a crossing.
Both are from a time when , although a speedy crossing was desired, people still had the time aboard to truly savor the experience. It is a true shame that giant, passenger airships went the way of the dinosaurs. Nowadays, a flight , especially one of several hours, is a thing of dread. Crammed into an aluminum tube, like sardines in a can, with tiny windows (which really doesn't matter as the modern aircraft flies so high that our usual view is the tops of clouds), a screaming baby in the seat behind you, and some guy wearing a wife beater tee shirt, shorts and flip flops, who has limited experience with deodorant and personal hygeine, sitting next to you. With a flight attendant that is thoroughly bored with their job serving you at best mediocre food and small watered down beverages.
With the death of airships and the severe decline in ocean liners (to my knowledge only Cunard offers such service aboard one of its 3 Queens), and the modern need to have things happen as quickly as is possible, we lost something. Gone are the days when half the fun of getting somewhere, was the journey itself.
Although this video is about warfare, the pictures of the stately Zeppelins still conjure up the mental images huge airships making their stately journeys whike those aboard stared down and pointed out the scenery below and those on the ground who likewise stared up and pointed at the technological marvel floating above.
THG, you are a truly gifted storyteller, a veritable bard, allowing us to use our minds eye to conjure up images of a bygone era. Thank you again.
If you can afford a Cunard Trans Atlantic crossing you can afford a Business class ticket on many modern airlines... If you could afford todays equivalent of a 1930's Zeppelin fare you could afford a First Class airfare (or three)
Sydney was ONE of the ships escorting Australian AND New Zealand troops
Amazing job 👍👍
Thanks for another excellent history lesson! 😺
I love your channel Always learn something awesome.
Great episode!!
If you compare this to the dismal performance of the B-17s at Midway, these Zeppelins did amazingly well from 21,000 ft (6400 m). It seems impossible to even attempt against moving ships from that altitude.
High altitude bombing essentially required targets that couldn't run away- like cities.
The zeppelins’ slow speed was crucial to their accuracy. It’s a lot easier to hit a 30 knot ship when you can match its course and speed instead of trying to calculate bomb trajectory at 250 mph from 30,000 feet.
Interesting note about that: when Carl Norden was asked to build a bombsight for the U.S. Navy to hit moving ships from level flying aircraft, he told the Navy "I can design a bombsight to hit stationary ships from 17,000 feet, but once they start moving, the mathematics go out the window."
It didn't stop the U.S. Navy from funding his efforts, or him from improving his bombsights.
@@markkover8040 Exactly. With a zeppelin, you can minimize the variables by matching the ship's course and speed, but it's a lot tougher to be accurate in a much faster and less maneuverable bomber.
@@bluemarlin8138 The problem for the Zeppelin crew was, as this program pointed out, the lower you are, the more accurate you can be, but lower meant putting the airship into anti-aircraft range. The higher the altitude bombs are dropped from, the longer the time the target ship or ships has to observe the bombs falling and get out of the way of them.
The real curiosity in this case, is what the ammunition was like that the British AA gunners were firing? What kind of damage could the shells have done if they had hit the Zeppelin?
I always thought zeppelin was way better music than the cruisers...were talking music right?
Awesome story
Actually, the "cows hide" reference at 3:35 should be "cows intestines' or more correctly "goldbeaters skin" which is a processed version of such intestines. This was used for the actual gas tight hydrogen lifting cells of Zeppelins. Hides are significantly thicker and heavier that goldbeaters skin materials.
Dude..I love that you display a US COAST GUARD Officer cap on your wall.
(John McCormick, US Coast Guard CPO, ret)
Interesting innovations. History forgotten.
Slight correction: Hydrogen is not explosive, it is merely flammable. It can be made to explode, but only if mixed with oxygen in the correct proportions. As near as I know, no Zeppelin ever exploded; They just burned spectacularly.
Question my good man, this ships tonnage, 54000 long tons for a cruiser, isn't that very large for a cruiser a battle ship may be. I have to say I am much more knowable on second world war and post war due to my father serving during that time. I guess I will have to study more on the great one. Thanks, I really enjoy your level of knowledge on well every thing, keep up the good work. From a fan from Nova Scotia Canada.
He meant 5,400 tons. 54,000 tons is about what an Iowa class battleship displaces with a full combat load.
He corrected that mistake in a comment he posted.
13:50 although this happened it was a terrible demonstration and actually showed the limits of aircraft more than their abilities in 1921, the ships were static, it used pre-dreadnoughts, on one test half the bombs couldn't be dropped, the ship was not firing back and it took hours and didn't even sink the ship. Pearl Harbour was actually influenced by The Raid on Taranto by the British.
I'm not sure if you've done a video but since you mentioned him, Billy Mitchell is a big bag of interesting.
Congratulations on 1 million subscribers.
Excellent, as always!
I'd like to see you do a video on US Navy F-class submarines. These were built pre- WWI, and were generally a disaster. Accidents of this class took the lives of dozens of sailors, including a great-uncle of mine in 1914.
Love the Howard Chandler Christie poster. We have the same one here in Melbourne.
Christy..not Christie..or even Crusty.
Fed the algorithm.
Dumaresq pronounced dew-mar-esk here in SEQueensland. The Dumaresq River forms, in part, the border between Qld and NSW in our SE border region.
Perhaps, if you haven't already done so, do a video on how Billy Mitchell proved that one could sink a ship using an aerial bomb and he was greatly persecuted for it, even being court martialed.
Great lesson on WW I battles.
The Battle of Jutland was between the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet and the German fleet not the Allied fleet as you said.
Amazing!
My grandfather witnessed the Zeppelin raid on London in Sept 1915. The first bombs fell only a block away from where he was staying at the time. He vowed then and there to become a pilot and help defend London from the air from the big beasts. He then joined the RNAS in Dec 1915 and was sent to France to join No. 5 Wing RNAS, the first purpose built bomber squadron, in March 1916. Later that year he won the DSC for bombing a Zeppelin shed in Brussels and also numerous ammo dumps and other targets before being shot down and interned in Holland for the second half of the war. He survived the war and wrote voluminous diaries on his adventures which I turned into a book for the war's centennial. He'd make a great subject for THG.
While the WWI army bombing zeppelins became too vulnerable by the invention of the incinerary bullet and fast climbing fighters, prior to that they suffered no higher losses to direct ground fire than did the RAF or USAAF during their German bombing campaign in WWII. As you noted, even from the sea zeppelins were hard to hit since they stayed just out of range of the Sydney's AA gun. But even after being replace by bombing airplanes, until the end of WWI, zeppelins did very well as long range scouts for the WWI German battle fleet, and in the Sydney's case, U-Boats target scouting. Their exceptional scouting and observation effectiveness in the Battle of Jutland was noted by the British. That led to both the British and the U.S. Navy to continue development and construction of large long-range scouting-only rigid airships throughout the 1920s to protect their battle fleets far out to sea. This was at a time when aircraft carriers were still experimental and sea based aircraft too limited by sea conditions. and time-on-station. The use of large rigid zeppelin-type scouting airships finally ended in the early 1930's with the loss of both the U.S. Navy's Akron & Macon, with aircraft carriers taking their place for fleet scouting and protection.
I was never interested in history as a kid in class but now I’m the number one student 😀
Respectfully Sir, the HMAS Sydney was in no way 54,000 long tons. If it were, that would make it the size of a battleship of WW2.
5400 long tons is what he meant to say
sorry- my mistake.
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel How dare you not be perfect! 😉
Again, please note that I meant no disrespect whatsoever. I would like to further express my gratitude and appreciation for your excellent narratives. I especially enjoy your work regarding naval history, as I am the third generation in my family to have served aboard submarines. Your recent telling of the visitation to Newport, Rhode Island of the U-53 in 1916 was particularly of interest to me, having visited Newport many times. Cheers
@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Terribly sorry Sir, to have stepped in, however this does not blunt my enthusiasm for your most excellent channel. As to mistakes, I have made many, and likely in the mind of some latter commenter, to include deigning to have spoken concerning ship tonnage. I remain your most humble enthusiastic fan.
Count Zeppelin was not idle when his airships were being shot down by high altitude Allied planes and incendiary bullets. He then developed and built some 60 enormous Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI four-engined biplane strategic bombers which successfully bombed Britain from 1917 to 1918! I should add that the Scottish town of Rosyth is pronounced with the second syllable like the word 'scythe'.
I'd say it would be near impossible for a zeppelin to hit a light cruiser with free falling bombs from over 21,000 feet.
I love this channel
Great content!!
One of the most amazing engagements of WWI.
I remember first coming across it many years ago, and thinking "ships vs Zeppelins? Hell yeah!"😀
Love when Australia 🇦🇺 gets a mention.
Excellent video 📹 👏
If the zeppelin was at 21000 ft., was the crew on oxygen?
“It’s in range! Fire!”
Zeppelin flies higher
*surprised Pikachu*
What happened to the aircraft carrier?
It was more of a glorified seaplane tender with a limited ability to launch aircraft from the deck. But the first proper aircraft carrier first appeared around 1918.
HMS Campania is an interesting story- she missed Jutland because they missed the message to sail. It was an older ship when converted, and always had equipment issues. She sank in a squall in 1918.
Great question and great response. Many thanks from an Aussie.
I have a suggestion for a forgotten topic. The Republic of Texas peace council with Sam Houston and the multiply north Texas tribes ie Wacos, Tawokoni, Keechi, Cherokee and other tribes.