Assuming equal fire control and fine weather, who would win in a 1v1 between an upsized Graf Spee with two Scharnhorst turrets and 6-inch belt armour vs USS Baltimore?
Why did ships with an odd number of guns leading to them having a single gun in one turret such as De Ruyter and Blyskawica have the single gun in the front, i would have thought it would go astern to maximise the forward firepower?
My father-in-law was a very young trainee onboard of the De Ruyter, a "zeuntje" as they were called. He just arrived in the Dutch Indies days before the fleet was assembled and was thrown into battle almost directly. He survived the Battle in the Java Sea, and was "lucky" to be picked up by a Japanese ship. The remainder of the war he spended first in a pow-camp on Sumatra, and then he was shipped to Malaysia to work on the railroad. When liberation came, he weighted only half as much as when he left The Netherlands as a boy. In Australia he was hospitalised as he was to weak to travel home,and met my Mother-in-law , then an Australian volunteer nurse. They married, and moved to his hometown Amsterdam. He died unexpected from an illness when traveling to Indonesia to attend a rememberance ceremony for his fallen comrades. I think he would be heart-broken if he knew what was done to their seaman's grave nowadays.
The Netherlands and any other Colonial power has an interesting opportunity for introspection when it comes to resources extraction without due care or concern. We looted the world for centuries, did we not?
@@CorePathway Does it matter? Every country in history has been guilty of crimes against other countries: conquest, theft, murder, whatever. If all of those are now "hypocritical" about injustice, complete silence is the result. You're basically trying to shut everyone up.
@@passantNL Is your critique of my critique designed to shut me up? What happened to having a discussion, and exchange of ideas? Why does anyone have to be shut up?
@@passantNL bruh, "opportunity for introspection" = "trying to shut everyone up"? man, you really need to either brush up on reading comprehension or get a dictionary
@@rex-5380 He edited his text after I responded to it. Initially it said that former colonial powers were hypocrites to complain about looting graves. Then he changed that to "opportunity for introspection". I'm all for introspection, but that doesn't mean that we should be quiet when other people commit crimes just because our past isn't without "reasons for introspection".
"destroyed by grave robbers" is putting it lightly, they lifted the whole wreck (of this and many other ships) and sold it as scrap. there is nothing left but a dent in the sea floor.
@@barrybolton1396 wake up your idea and stop living in toxic lies . Go Google or read. These wreck are in Indonesian water . Use the cavity inside your head for a moment before you open your gap.
@@ramal5708 Not "De Zeven" (which would mean "The 7") but "De Zeven Provinciën" ("The 7 Provinces") which are the original provinces of the Netherlands that declared independence from Spain in the 16th century. Names like Zeven Provincien or De Ruyter, and several others, are reused over and over.
@@passantNL The Royal Dutch Navy is even by royal decree required to always have a 'Van Speijk' in the fleet. HNLMS Dokkum was even renamed Van Speijk to bridge the gap between the 9 year gap between the decommisioning of the 1963-vintage Van Speijk class frigate to the Karel Doorman class frigate of 1995.
Sadly, you must end so many stories by saying, "before being destroyed by grave robbers." To which I typically append, "May they burn in hell." Grave robbers are such a tragic end to befall the graves of heroic combatants from all sides.
Grave robbers are a bane in history. And "May they burn in hell", except for the very few who unwittingly saved "treasures" from being lost forever. Those few can burn, just not as badly as the others.
@@emanggitulah4319 By international law, this was a recognized grave site, and thus was absolutely and appropriately a legitimately owned territory. It is owned by the dead.
And let's not be under the impression this is done by some poor fishermen trying to augment their income. While relatively "shallow", these wrecks are still deep enough to require sophisticated underwater recovery equipment with heavy-lift salvage capability. i.e. a country's gov't or some corporate entity. Pre-1945 steel is extremely valuable as "low-background" (pre nuclear atmospheric testing) steel used in medical and nuclear instrumentation. Scapa Flow HSF wrecks are another source, but that's not grave-robbing.
Those grave robbers sent the wrecks to the breakers illegally. The wrecks of the battle of the Java Seas have been completely removed. These were not grave robbers looking for valuables in a ship poking some extra holes in the ship to get to them, but to recycle the whole ship completely.
The picture at 3:19 is the wrong De Ruyter. It's the post-war 8x152mm + 8x57mm ship. Dutch ships can be confusing because Dutch law requires certain names to be in the fleet constantly, so you get names recycled almost immediately instead of wating a decade or so, like the RN does.
It would be interesting to know more about the "Royal Indian Navy" ships during WW2. There was one incident where a small anti-submarine escort took on two Japanese auxiliary cruisers and won!
Ahh the story of HMIS Bengal J243 Bathurst class Australian Minesweeper an the MV Ondina which was set apon by commerce raiders an sank the larger more dangerous Hokoku Maru an all near Cocos Island a sight of another famous battle from another war before.
Thanks for guide on Hr.Ms. De Ruyter. I've always been very interested in this ship. This was only reinforced when I found out that a brother of my grandfather was serving on the Hr.Ms. De Ruyter and that he was killed in the sinking on February 28, 1942
Still, despite the communication difficulties in his hotchpotch of ships, Doorman kept the Japanese at bay for quite a long time, if later battles in 1942 are used as a comparison.
@@PSPaaskynen That’s a matter of opinion, as Doorman managed to postpone the invasion of Java by less than 24 hours, while losing almost the entire squadron in a matter of days. Doorman didn’t believe in this confrontation but performed his duty. He felt that all available ships should fall back on Australia and reorganize into squadrons with sufficient backing which actually stood a chance of survival.
Correct ,they went on a memorial to place a plaque , but there was nothing there. .later other ships like Java .Kortenaar , exeter all seemed missing or partialy salvaged.
@@CalasTyphon488 Couldnt be in more agreement. it took years to find them and record their locations and a few years later gone. Just makes you wonder , what happend to the explosives still on board.
Is it just me, or does history have an odd trend of putting ships that aren't best suited for combat, in combat, while ships that were designed to utterly crush opposition, almost never saw it against opposing vessels? It's not just me right?
In the '80s, the US military knew they didn't have the manufacturing economy of the 1940s. They called it "go to war with what you have". You go to war with what you have. Basically Japan started the war with what they had. In 1941 they had the Zero. In 1945 they had the Zero. In 1941 the USA had the Wildcat. In 1945 the USA the Bearcat was just hitting squadron use. In Vietnam the USA had the F-4 in 1965. By 1972 they still had the F-4. Last, those dutch colonies only benefited a few rich families & businesses, like "Shell Oil". The Dutch had to pay the costs of defending the rich colonies.
I assume you’re referring to something like Yamato? It first saw real action long after it would have made any difference. At least one reason for this is that there is risk in combat, even to a superior warship. Just the presence of a powerful ship/fleet can remove certain strategic and tactical options of the enemy without actually fighting. Additionally, the best warships are often the most expensive. Commanders are sometimes understandably reluctant to risk the loss of such an investment-and its power of deterrence-when a smaller force can do the job almost as well and for half the risk. It’s a bit unfair to call cruiser task forces “cannon fodder “, but the idea is similar. A cruiser can’t bring the same firepower to the party, but is also more easily replaced than a battleship-and losing a few cruisers won’t break the back of a fleet like a few lucky torpedo hits across a battle line would. The Japanese kantai kessen plan called for holding back the biggest surface ships until the chance for victory was the greatest-minimizing risk to their most powerful assets. It didn’t work out that way, of course. In the case of the Dutch…they kind of lost the war before it started.
The Japanese were willing to take casualties in order to inflict damage. Send a group of destroyers out to fight a couple of cruisers and there's a very good chance you'll lose some of them; but arm them with very good torpedoes like the Long Lance and the enemy will be weakened enough that the heavies can finish the job with a much lower risk of being damaged.
I had read about ABDA's campaign, but I did not know that DeRuyter and the rest of the Dutch fleet were so inadequate compared to their IJN counterparts. Thanks for this information; it puts the result of the ABDA campaign in better perspective. The ferocious defense the Allied force put up is a credit to the competence and courage of these sailors.
Great little doc about a doomed ship. My grandfather was stationed on light cruiser HMS Tromp. As mentioned she was damaged before the Battle o/t Java Sea and didn't take part. Had she been there, she - and my grandfather - probably wouldn't have survived the war.
I hope the ghosts of the drowned sailors haunt the grave robbers for eternity. For those brave men to have their final resting place violated is unacceptable!
Not suprising as german deutschland class was invisioned by INKAVOS dutch german company in the netherlands . i would recomend reading INKAVOS a sheep in fox clothing. if you read about that company and what designs they came up with , you will get an awkward chill .
I'm not saying the loss of the ship itself wasn't tragic but the salvaging of these wrecks is infuriating unfortunately there's no way to keep somebody watching over these war Graves which keep on getting desecrated and violated by these bastards who need to be brought to Justice
Great vid Drach, the De Ruyter is my favorite Dutch warship. So glad she is in World of Warships. Curse those scrappers who desecrated the sunken wreck.
Looks simular to the Tromp class flotila leaders . 1 had 3 turrest of 2x6 inch , 4 x 75 mm aa 4x2 40mm Hazemyer Stabalized bofors 6x 20mm oerlikons and 2x3 torpedo tubes. 130 meters long. With its sister slightly different , 5x2 4inch turrets. 4x2 40mm bofors 8x 20mm oerlikons. also 130 meters.
Probably got some help from the Dutch Navy museum in Den Helder. Drach got himself an proper veteran escort during the WoWs event there a few years back.
About the grave-robbing: The worth of the steel is extremely high, because it it was made before the first nuclear weapons detonations. Due to nuclear tests, all metal made today holds tiny amounts of radioactive materials. This ruins it for use in high-sensitivity sensors in medical radiological equipment and scientific equipment. Not istope-polluted metal is so rare today, that you can make a lot of money salvaging those ships.
Interesting how, being heavily damaged was a life saver for ABDA ships. Boise and Marblehead were both retired from the theater due to damage, and lived to fight another day. The ships that stayed, died.
Also HMAS Hobart - only lightly damaged by bombing, but unable to refuel in time to join the Battle of the Java Sea, which for her was a lucky break indeed.
I believe another light cruiser of the dutch navy HNLMS Tromp also had this “luck” which prevented her from being sent to the battle of the java sea and thus she survived the war
At 3:19 to 3:53, you have the wrong De Ruyter for this video. What is notable is that you don't slip very much, but when you do it makes me laugh. It was still a good video.
Excellent video. Although politics prevented the ship getting a proper forth turret, it's very much worth mentioning that the dubbel 40 mm AA guns where stabilised. A Dutch design and being the then best in the world. Taken up by the US Navy. I'm convinced this being top was due to the wake up call of the Navy and politicians after the bombing of the warship de Zeven Provincien being bombed by a Dutch Dornier Wal aircraft. In so doing stopping the mutiny. (Side note it being ironic that the bomber was ordered to make a near miss, yet accedentaly scored a hit)
The aft steering room has about as low of ceiling as the gun decks on HMS Victory. A rock climbing or spelunking helmet would be a good idea for many museum ship tours.
De Ruyter did not promptly sink, she sank over nearly three hours to a single torpedo. It would also be nice to credit the torpedo that sank De Ruyter to the heavy cruiser Haguro, and the torpedo that sank Java to the heavy cruiser Nachi.
Thank you for paying attention to the dutch navy. Just 2 pointers, karel doorman was a schout bij nacht in rank, which is equivalent to captain in other navies.he was in command of the fleet yes, but not the commander, that was conrad a ship a day hellfrich. Point 2 is that you called tromp a cruiser. It was a destroyer and a nasty one. It is one of the few surves vessels in the royal netherlands navy to sink Japanese vessels. Maybe also interesting for your channel, did you know aboute the nine merchant aircraft carriers that where owned bij a sub company from shell, and used by the dutch and British navy?
Thank you for this excellent post. I have always been fascinated by the battles surrounding Singapore, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. The bravery of the ABDA sailors was impressive, but the professionalism of theIJN was too much for them. Have you covered the Tromp?
Good Evening Drachinifel Love your videos, always entertaining. Could you consider doing a video on SMS Wolf I know it would be a popular video amongst the faithful I have read the books on the subject and love the story What a marvellous feat of seamanship to pull it off Have a good day/night and I look forward to your next video Brian Ward, WW2 Nut
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism " Work began on stripping Tirpitz's wreck soon after rescue efforts ended, and continued until the late 1950s. Before the end of the war, German personnel removed the ship's bronze propellers and some other components so they could be melted down.[75] The wreck was sold to a Norwegian scrap dealing company in 1948, and was broken up in situ. Salvage work concluded in 1957, by which time most remnants of the battleship had been removed. The human remains which were recovered from the wreck by scrappers were initially buried alongside unwanted parts of Tirpitz, but this ceased following complaints by a local church minister. The remains of hundreds of others were recovered and buried in Norwegian cemeteries.[76]"
@@kerberos623 Thanks for the info. Seems there is little difference between the scrappers today and those of the Tirpitz. We’re the recovered crew remains buried in German war cemeteries or just in a corner of some field?
@@pf824 i think from memory of film in a documentary i saw years ago it was in the cemetery of a local church. Defo consecrated ground, if not some official German burial thing.
I can’t understand how any of the Western powers were still upholding the Washington and London Naval treaties when Japanese heavy cruiser designs were clearly over the 10,000 ton limit. The Allies would pay dearly in 1942 during the Solomon campaign.
RN was mostly interested in MOAR cruisers to be able to defend all their interests all over, to the extend they've build cruiser-like destroyers like the Tribals. And in the end thay had there battle cruiser fleet to help out if need arised. IJN cruisers where sacrificing a lot to build the heavy armament + aviation facilities on their hullls, even if they pulled considerable over the limit. And don't forget, bar the unknown Yamato's, the IJN capital ships where some of the oldest units around and mostly undergunned with the exception of the Nagato's / Yamato's
Steel from WW2 vessels is worth x 10 times the standard price for steel. This is due the fact that most other steel is "infected" with radiation from atom bomb testing. The "low background steel" from these wrecks is needed for the most delicate/sensitive medical devices.
The steel of the Ruiter is not sold in that little and nowadays tiny non existing market. Paroting knowledge is something different than knowing the knowledge.....
@@Triggernlfrl I accept your point. I do have one question though, how did you source your knowledge on this topic and how is it that you arent just parroting it?
would having a carrier or fast capital ship (BC) have made a difference to ABDA commands success or would the Japanese just shift more resources like Zuiho or KONGO to deal with it?
The Japanese command of the air would have meant that any Dutch BCs would have been just as vulnerable to air strikes as were Prince of Wales and Repulse. A carrier would have made a big difference but the Dutch had no suitable aircraft for it, even if they could have afforded to build one. The KNLI Air Force had a few Fokker D. XXI and Republic P-36 Lancer fighters (if I recall correctly) but were unable to provide air cover for the fleet at sea. The Dutch fleet had its own air arm, consisting of Do.24s for recon, but these were taken away by the KNLI Government for civilian evacuations at the start of 1942. Realistically, only 2-3 British or USN carriers could have made a real difference. The Japanese were just too numerous, professional and prepared.
Thanks to the series of diesel punk novels called the destroyermen I always wondered how Adm Dorman actually ended up thanks, I knew I'd heard of De ruyter before today thanks for scratching that itch and have you read destroyermen?
Not realy , it might have been lighter armoured and less firepower but when launched it was one of the most modern cruisers around . advanced fire control , Hazemayer Bofor mounts, and many other inovations . that other ships lacked.
@@kms_scharnhorst And still you miss the fact that this ship was build with uparming and armouring in mind. perhaps some reading in to INKAVOS and Nevesbu designs would help . Dutch larger ships where always on max draft of around 6 meters , and de Ruyter was 5 meters. 32 knots as only used is rarely used only to evade or intercept . even now no ship travels at 32 knots even if they are build for it . and never in battle lines or formations. Also dont be fooled by the 150 mm guns as they didnt use standard shells , they used shells that where 2.8 kg heavier than ordinary shells used on british ships. or other navys . with the same and even slighty higher velocity . F=m*a equals more punching power. And you are missing an entire chapter of refits that would be done in 1940. Like added radar , updated protection increased fire power , and many other upgrades . Shooting down several Japanese aircraft in her carreer and only suffereing Two 200 mm shell hits with out significant damage . of the 1000 shels both haguru and nachi fired . seems that armour scheme was not that bad . Other cruisers had much less armour or less speed . I suggest dont look at world of warships as that is just a unrealisitc game and just read up on actual statistics . of cruisers in well any reputable book. Exeter was hit by two 200 mm shells and had to be scutteled.
Your more accurate than you think. Both came from the same design Bureaux IVS /Inkavos. Size wise they where quite simular . The Deutschland class was 186 meters 20,5 meters wide Draft 7.25 meters. Displacement 10.800 Ton st 14.520 T full The de Ruyter 171.meters .15.7 meters wide draft 5.1 meters .Displacement 6.545 T st 7.669 T full. So size wise its simular and with all the trimmings as intended it would come close to the deutschland class ships.
True but the 20 cm guns of the japanese had little effect only 2 shells hit the light armour and had no effect on the ship . After the torpedo hit it also took 3 hrs for the ship to sink . Sometimes light armour is better than thick armour
Pinned post for Q&A :)
Edit - Apologies for the post-war De Ruyter sneaking in there at 3:20
Assuming equal fire control and fine weather, who would win in a 1v1 between an upsized Graf Spee with two Scharnhorst turrets and 6-inch belt armour vs USS Baltimore?
at 3:54 you displayed the wrong De Ruyter me thinks...
Why did ships with an odd number of guns leading to them having a single gun in one turret such as De Ruyter and Blyskawica have the single gun in the front, i would have thought it would go astern to maximise the forward firepower?
Were the Type 15 and Type 16 ASW Frigates just stop-gaps and were the Type 62 AAW Frigates intended to be the same?
What is the name of the music you always use at the beginning of your videos ?
My father-in-law was a very young trainee onboard of the De Ruyter, a "zeuntje" as they were called. He just arrived in the Dutch Indies days before the fleet was assembled and was thrown into battle almost directly. He survived the Battle in the Java Sea, and was "lucky" to be picked up by a Japanese ship. The remainder of the war he spended first in a pow-camp on Sumatra, and then he was shipped to Malaysia to work on the railroad. When liberation came, he weighted only half as much as when he left The Netherlands as a boy. In Australia he was hospitalised as he was to weak to travel home,and met my Mother-in-law , then an Australian volunteer nurse. They married, and moved to his hometown Amsterdam. He died unexpected from an illness when traveling to Indonesia to attend a rememberance ceremony for his fallen comrades. I think he would be heart-broken if he knew what was done to their seaman's grave nowadays.
The Netherlands and any other Colonial power has an interesting opportunity for introspection when it comes to resources extraction without due care or concern. We looted the world for centuries, did we not?
@@CorePathway Does it matter? Every country in history has been guilty of crimes against other countries: conquest, theft, murder, whatever. If all of those are now "hypocritical" about injustice, complete silence is the result. You're basically trying to shut everyone up.
@@passantNL Is your critique of my critique designed to shut me up? What happened to having a discussion, and exchange of ideas? Why does anyone have to be shut up?
@@passantNL bruh, "opportunity for introspection" = "trying to shut everyone up"? man, you really need to either brush up on reading comprehension or get a dictionary
@@rex-5380 He edited his text after I responded to it. Initially it said that former colonial powers were hypocrites to complain about looting graves. Then he changed that to "opportunity for introspection". I'm all for introspection, but that doesn't mean that we should be quiet when other people commit crimes just because our past isn't without "reasons for introspection".
"destroyed by grave robbers" is putting it lightly, they lifted the whole wreck (of this and many other ships) and sold it as scrap. there is nothing left but a dent in the sea floor.
It bothers me all the more that skeletal remains were found when the wrecks were hauled up, and the bones scattered and tossed with such lack of care
China
@@barrybolton1396 wake up your idea and stop living in toxic lies . Go Google or read. These wreck are in Indonesian water . Use the cavity inside your head for a moment before you open your gap.
@@MarkzOng Nice try, china's puppet
@@M65V19 these fools never fails to bemused me . Go see the world , it's huge our there . Stop living in a well .
Another excellent ship bio Drach, though the De Ruyter at 3.19 is the successor namesake De Zeven Provinciën class cruiser of the 1950s.
@@ramal5708 Not "De Zeven" (which would mean "The 7") but "De Zeven Provinciën" ("The 7 Provinces") which are the original provinces of the Netherlands that declared independence from Spain in the 16th century. Names like Zeven Provincien or De Ruyter, and several others, are reused over and over.
@@passantNL The Royal Dutch Navy is even by royal decree required to always have a 'Van Speijk' in the fleet. HNLMS Dokkum was even renamed Van Speijk to bridge the gap between the 9 year gap between the decommisioning of the 1963-vintage Van Speijk class frigate to the Karel Doorman class frigate of 1995.
Sadly, you must end so many stories by saying, "before being destroyed by grave robbers." To which I typically append, "May they burn in hell." Grave robbers are such a tragic end to befall the graves of heroic combatants from all sides.
Grave robbers are a bane in history. And "May they burn in hell", except for the very few who unwittingly saved "treasures" from being lost forever. Those few can burn, just not as badly as the others.
Wasn't their territory anyway...
@@emanggitulah4319 By international law, this was a recognized grave site, and thus was absolutely and appropriately a legitimately owned territory. It is owned by the dead.
To add insult to injury, grave robbers actually blasted the wreck and mined/salvaged the metal, regardless of human remains or artefacts from the age.
And let's not be under the impression this is done by some poor fishermen trying to augment their income. While relatively "shallow", these wrecks are still deep enough to require sophisticated underwater recovery equipment with heavy-lift salvage capability. i.e. a country's gov't or some corporate entity. Pre-1945 steel is extremely valuable as "low-background" (pre nuclear atmospheric testing) steel used in medical and nuclear instrumentation. Scapa Flow HSF wrecks are another source, but that's not grave-robbing.
"destroyed by grave robbers" is even worse a fate for a ship and especially for those entombed in it than the usual "sent to the breakers".
I know! I knew that ending was coming, and it still hit like a truck, especially after all of the woe that befell the ship and her crew. :(
Those grave robbers sent the wrecks to the breakers illegally. The wrecks of the battle of the Java Seas have been completely removed. These were not grave robbers looking for valuables in a ship poking some extra holes in the ship to get to them, but to recycle the whole ship completely.
@@barthoving2053 yes, i know.
“Admiral Doorman is dead. De Ruyter’s finished.”
A gold star for anyone who knows where that’s from
The movie "Admiral"???
Battlestations: Pacific, the third Japanese mission.
@@Trek001 Thats about Michiel de Ruyter himself, not the ship
@@dutchthespitfire3204 So I see - I've never heard of this supposed game, just saw the name and thought that might be a line in it
*Java Sea OST drums intensify*
The picture at 3:19 is the wrong De Ruyter. It's the post-war 8x152mm + 8x57mm ship. Dutch ships can be confusing because Dutch law requires certain names to be in the fleet constantly, so you get names recycled almost immediately instead of wating a decade or so, like the RN does.
I *just* checked your channel for the video. Wasn't there yet … is my clock off? Now I see it. Ha!
Excellent as always. Their resistance might've seemed futile, but it was heroic and inspiring nonetheless!
There was a Chinese dredge that was caught scavenging metal off HMS Prince of Wales and Repulse a few years ago. Wonder how much is left.
Morning! just ended work day. Excellent timing.
It would be interesting to know more about the "Royal Indian Navy" ships during WW2. There was one incident where a small anti-submarine escort took on two Japanese auxiliary cruisers and won!
Ahh the story of HMIS Bengal J243 Bathurst class Australian Minesweeper an the MV Ondina which was set apon by commerce raiders an sank the larger more dangerous Hokoku Maru an all near Cocos Island a sight of another famous battle from another war before.
@@lordwintertown8284 Yes, those were the ships! Thanks.
As an Indian, I greatly appreciate this! I'd love to hear more about the Royal Indian Navy's victories!
Thanks for guide on Hr.Ms. De Ruyter. I've always been very interested in this ship. This was only reinforced when I found out that a brother of my grandfather was serving on the Hr.Ms. De Ruyter and that he was killed in the sinking on February 28, 1942
I use this as my Dutch cruiser in my tabletop games on my channel ...keep up the great research
Battle of the Java Sea - three navies with a hodgepodge of ships that had never worked together against the IJN. Not good odds there!
And that's without being outgunned and being outmanned
Language challenges, too.
Still, despite the communication difficulties in his hotchpotch of ships, Doorman kept the Japanese at bay for quite a long time, if later battles in 1942 are used as a comparison.
@@PSPaaskynen That’s a matter of opinion, as Doorman managed to postpone the invasion of Java by less than 24 hours, while losing almost the entire squadron in a matter of days. Doorman didn’t believe in this confrontation but performed his duty. He felt that all available ships should fall back on Australia and reorganize into squadrons with sufficient backing which actually stood a chance of survival.
I like these pint-size cruisers. And I see that this episode launches a bunch of cruiser-centric ship guides! Looking forward to the coming episodes.
Wasn't it doormans grandson who was going to lay a wreath at the wreck that discovered it had been robbed ? The morals of some people are disturbing .
Correct ,they went on a memorial to place a plaque , but there was nothing there. .later other ships like Java .Kortenaar , exeter all seemed missing or partialy salvaged.
@@marcusfranconium3392 shocking behaviour of some people looting old warships , no different to grave robbing .
@@CalasTyphon488 Couldnt be in more agreement. it took years to find them and record their locations and a few years later gone.
Just makes you wonder , what happend to the explosives still on board.
Historiograph uploaded a video about this recently.
@@BountyFlamor yeah that's correct went looking after seeing this , good video as well
Ah yes, a Royal Dutch ship.
*The Spice must flow*
Multiple meanings there , historical and sci-fi ..
*G E K O L O N I S E E R D M A K K E R S!*
More about Royal Dutch Shell oil then spices.
Is it just me, or does history have an odd trend of putting ships that aren't best suited for combat, in combat, while ships that were designed to utterly crush opposition, almost never saw it against opposing vessels? It's not just me right?
In the '80s, the US military knew they didn't have the manufacturing economy of the 1940s. They called it "go to war with what you have". You go to war with what you have. Basically Japan started the war with what they had. In 1941 they had the Zero. In 1945 they had the Zero. In 1941 the USA had the Wildcat. In 1945 the USA the Bearcat was just hitting squadron use. In Vietnam the USA had the F-4 in 1965. By 1972 they still had the F-4. Last, those dutch colonies only benefited a few rich families & businesses, like "Shell Oil". The Dutch had to pay the costs of defending the rich colonies.
I assume you’re referring to something like Yamato? It first saw real action long after it would have made any difference. At least one reason for this is that there is risk in combat, even to a superior warship. Just the presence of a powerful ship/fleet can remove certain strategic and tactical options of the enemy without actually fighting. Additionally, the best warships are often the most expensive. Commanders are sometimes understandably reluctant to risk the loss of such an investment-and its power of deterrence-when a smaller force can do the job almost as well and for half the risk.
It’s a bit unfair to call cruiser task forces “cannon fodder “, but the idea is similar. A cruiser can’t bring the same firepower to the party, but is also more easily replaced than a battleship-and losing a few cruisers won’t break the back of a fleet like a few lucky torpedo hits across a battle line would. The Japanese kantai kessen plan called for holding back the biggest surface ships until the chance for victory was the greatest-minimizing risk to their most powerful assets. It didn’t work out that way, of course.
In the case of the Dutch…they kind of lost the war before it started.
The saying goes something like peace through strength.
The Japanese were willing to take casualties in order to inflict damage. Send a group of destroyers out to fight a couple of cruisers and there's a very good chance you'll lose some of them; but arm them with very good torpedoes like the Long Lance and the enemy will be weakened enough that the heavies can finish the job with a much lower risk of being damaged.
Hi, I'm taking a guess at what your saying too. How about the Tirpitz, or the Dunkerque-class battleships for example?
Thank you Drachinifel.
I had read about ABDA's campaign, but I did not know that DeRuyter and the rest of the Dutch fleet were so inadequate compared to their IJN counterparts. Thanks for this information; it puts the result of the ABDA campaign in better perspective. The ferocious defense the Allied force put up is a credit to the competence and courage of these sailors.
2:35 (screen fades to black) "? Phone! Not now! Wtf?!?"
2:38 (video starts) "Oooh. Cooool."
I just ended my homework, so this is a good surprise for me, keep up the good work!
As a dutchman with great interest in my countries ww2 history this was a exiting vid a shame though that she was destroyed by graverobbers
a very interesting ship, quite good looking too
Great little doc about a doomed ship. My grandfather was stationed on light cruiser HMS Tromp. As mentioned she was damaged before the Battle o/t Java Sea and didn't take part. Had she been there, she - and my grandfather - probably wouldn't have survived the war.
Thanks Drach for putting the guides back in order.
Love this five minutes guide. Very well done. I just hate the people justifying grave robbing in the comments.
I hope the ghosts of the drowned sailors haunt the grave robbers for eternity. For those brave men to have their final resting place violated is unacceptable!
Anyone else see Graf Spee’s hull when they look at De Ruyter?
Not suprising as german deutschland class was invisioned by INKAVOS dutch german company in the netherlands . i would recomend reading INKAVOS a sheep in fox clothing. if you read about that company and what designs they came up with , you will get an awkward chill .
He fails to mention the german company that built the pocket battleships also designed this ship....
The very supposed Heavy Cruiser ended up very obsolete and more of a "Light Cruiser" or maybe even a Large Destroyer.
Ye
They needed the 1047 project in that battle
⁹
well pacifisms will do that to you
@@maikson97 ?
I'm not saying the loss of the ship itself wasn't tragic but the salvaging of these wrecks is infuriating unfortunately there's no way to keep somebody watching over these war Graves which keep on getting desecrated and violated by these bastards who need to be brought to Justice
Thank you for this episode.
Great vid Drach, the De Ruyter is my favorite Dutch warship. So glad she is in World of Warships. Curse those scrappers who desecrated the sunken wreck.
The ship at 03.20 is one of the 2 Dutch post war cruisers.
Yesss a dutch ship
Interesting comparison with RN Arethusa class light cruisers with 6 × 6in in 3 turrets n 4 × 4in (some later 8×4 in dual purpose ) n light AA
Looks simular to the Tromp class flotila leaders . 1 had 3 turrest of 2x6 inch , 4 x 75 mm aa 4x2 40mm Hazemyer Stabalized bofors 6x 20mm oerlikons and 2x3 torpedo tubes. 130 meters long.
With its sister slightly different , 5x2 4inch turrets. 4x2 40mm bofors 8x 20mm oerlikons. also 130 meters.
No one's going to talk about the original film he scrounged up? No? Well awesome addition anyway
Probably got some help from the Dutch Navy museum in Den Helder. Drach got himself an proper veteran escort during the WoWs event there a few years back.
Strange you didn't mention that *De Ruyter* was designed by the same German company that designed the German *Deutschland* class heavy cruisers.
The Hulls look a Lot alike
@@augustosolari7721 Yea, the superstructure looks pretty much the same
You could have fooled me if you said the ship at 1:30 was Graf Spee under construction
thnx for the video Drach
yay! go Drach Go Drach!
gotta love it ; i'm watching a doco on a ship I havn't heard of.
"I am attacking, follow me!"
Great primal videos used here!
Woah! the first 5 minute guide with an actual period video associated with it! this is new
About the grave-robbing:
The worth of the steel is extremely high, because it it was made before the first nuclear weapons detonations. Due to nuclear tests, all metal made today holds tiny amounts of radioactive materials. This ruins it for use in high-sensitivity sensors in medical radiological equipment and scientific equipment. Not istope-polluted metal is so rare today, that you can make a lot of money salvaging those ships.
Lovely looking ship looks like a Deutchland class
Great work Sir thank you
Interesting how, being heavily damaged was a life saver for ABDA ships. Boise and Marblehead were both retired from the theater due to damage, and lived to fight another day. The ships that stayed, died.
similar to the common soldier, get wounded and lay in the hospital while the rest of your group has a new mission they might never return from.
Also HMAS Hobart - only lightly damaged by bombing, but unable to refuel in time to join the Battle of the Java Sea, which for her was a lucky break indeed.
I believe another light cruiser of the dutch navy HNLMS Tromp also had this “luck” which prevented her from being sent to the battle of the java sea and thus she survived the war
At 3:19 to 3:53, you have the wrong De Ruyter for this video. What is notable is that you don't slip very much, but when you do it makes me laugh. It was still a good video.
The picture at 5:15 reminds me of the Deutschland class.
The designs in the '20 and '30's were very much influenced by german designs, as companies like Krupp and so delivered a lot of material.
@@kommissarkillemall2848
Thanks
May we have a 5-Minute Guide for the Yamato after her 2199 retrofit?
On April 1, or course.
YESSSSSSS
Am I correct that the second image was of a later 1953 HMS De Ruyter?
yes, that's indeed correct.
Excellent video. Although politics prevented the ship getting a proper forth turret, it's very much worth mentioning that the dubbel 40 mm AA guns where stabilised.
A Dutch design and being the then best in the world. Taken up by the US Navy.
I'm convinced this being top was due to the wake up call of the Navy and politicians after the bombing of the warship de Zeven Provincien being bombed by a Dutch Dornier Wal aircraft. In so doing stopping the mutiny. (Side note it being ironic that the bomber was ordered to make a near miss, yet accedentaly scored a hit)
love the video inserts.
Awesome!
The shape of the hull and the superstructure remind me of German's Pocket Battleship, Graff Spee.
That would make sense as it was designed by the same company.
The namesake deserves an episode of his own
Can you do a guide on the gerard callenburgh class destroyers
please
If you want to learn more about this forgotten period of the pacific war pick up the book rising sun falling skies.
Beautiful ship.... Def has a Graf Spee vibe though...
It was based on the Deutschland class so that's why it looks similair
Hey Drache, are you going to see USS Salem? Looks pretty interesting. See the NJ website.
The aft steering room has about as low of ceiling as the gun decks on HMS Victory.
A rock climbing or spelunking helmet would be a good idea for many museum ship tours.
2021: modern day grave robbers appear in a drach video.. again.
De Ruyter did not promptly sink, she sank over nearly three hours to a single torpedo. It would also be nice to credit the torpedo that sank De Ruyter to the heavy cruiser Haguro, and the torpedo that sank Java to the heavy cruiser Nachi.
Thank you for paying attention to the dutch navy. Just 2 pointers, karel doorman was a schout bij nacht in rank, which is equivalent to captain in other navies.he was in command of the fleet yes, but not the commander, that was conrad a ship a day hellfrich. Point 2 is that you called tromp a cruiser. It was a destroyer and a nasty one. It is one of the few surves vessels in the royal netherlands navy to sink Japanese vessels. Maybe also interesting for your channel, did you know aboute the nine merchant aircraft carriers that where owned bij a sub company from shell, and used by the dutch and British navy?
Thank you for this excellent post. I have always been fascinated by the battles surrounding Singapore, the Philippines and the Dutch East Indies. The bravery of the ABDA sailors was impressive, but the professionalism of theIJN was too much for them. Have you covered the Tromp?
ABDA: About to Be Destroyed with Alacrity........ 😓
On 3.20 there is mistakingly placed a photograph of the post war"De Ruyter" (later the "Almirante Grau" of the Peruvian navy).
What ship is pictured at 3:25? Photo labeled "De Ruyter" but clearly not the same ship as pictured several times earlier in the presentation.
Good Evening Drachinifel Love your videos, always entertaining.
Could you consider doing a video on SMS Wolf I know it would be a popular video amongst the faithful I have read the books on the subject and love the story What a marvellous feat of seamanship to pull it off Have a good day/night and I look forward to your next video Brian Ward, WW2 Nut
It's like a Deutschland class.
Nice!
Looks like Graf spee
Why this ship design reminds me of Deutschland class. Hull shape and conning tower are almost same as on Deutschland class.
might want to check the description Drachinfiel youve got "Royal Duutch Navy"
damn, i can smell the spice so badly in this video
On a similar note re war graves and their remains being respected, what happened to those of the crew of the Tirpitz?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Catechism "
Work began on stripping Tirpitz's wreck soon after rescue efforts ended, and continued until the late 1950s. Before the end of the war, German personnel removed the ship's bronze propellers and some other components so they could be melted down.[75] The wreck was sold to a Norwegian scrap dealing company in 1948, and was broken up in situ. Salvage work concluded in 1957, by which time most remnants of the battleship had been removed. The human remains which were recovered from the wreck by scrappers were initially buried alongside unwanted parts of Tirpitz, but this ceased following complaints by a local church minister. The remains of hundreds of others were recovered and buried in Norwegian cemeteries.[76]"
@@kerberos623
Thanks for the info. Seems there is little difference between the scrappers today and those of the Tirpitz.
We’re the recovered crew remains buried in German war cemeteries or just in a corner of some field?
@@pf824 All I got is that wiki entry where it says "in norwegian cemetaries". sorry don't know more then that.
@@pf824 i think from memory of film in a documentary i saw years ago it was in the cemetery of a local church. Defo consecrated ground, if not some official German burial thing.
@@keefymckeefface8330 Thanks.
the people who have robbed these graves will burn forever in hell... may they all rest in peace
I can’t understand how any of the Western powers were still upholding the Washington and London Naval treaties when Japanese heavy cruiser designs were clearly over the 10,000 ton limit. The Allies would pay dearly in 1942 during the Solomon campaign.
RN was mostly interested in MOAR cruisers to be able to defend all their interests all over, to the extend they've build cruiser-like destroyers like the Tribals. And in the end thay had there battle cruiser fleet to help out if need arised.
IJN cruisers where sacrificing a lot to build the heavy armament + aviation facilities on their hullls, even if they pulled considerable over the limit. And don't forget, bar the unknown Yamato's, the IJN capital ships where some of the oldest units around and mostly undergunned with the exception of the Nagato's / Yamato's
Speaking of de Ruyter and maybe slightly off topic but could you do something on HMS Royal Charles (1655) ?
If only one of these great ships would rise from their watery grave to swallow the hull of a grave robber whole; thus taking all THEIR metal! 😡
Cant remember Drach, have you done a video on BB-13 USS Virginia
Yay, Dutch ships
Steel from WW2 vessels is worth x 10 times the standard price for steel. This is due the fact that most other steel is "infected" with radiation from atom bomb testing. The "low background steel" from these wrecks is needed for the most delicate/sensitive medical devices.
The steel of the Ruiter is not sold in that little and nowadays tiny non existing market.
Paroting knowledge is something different than knowing the knowledge.....
@@Triggernlfrl I accept your point. I do have one question though, how did you source your knowledge on this topic and how is it that you arent just parroting it?
would having a carrier or fast capital ship (BC) have made a difference to ABDA commands success or would the Japanese just shift more resources like Zuiho or KONGO to deal with it?
The Japanese command of the air would have meant that any Dutch BCs would have been just as vulnerable to air strikes as were Prince of Wales and Repulse. A carrier would have made a big difference but the Dutch had no suitable aircraft for it, even if they could have afforded to build one. The KNLI Air Force had a few Fokker D. XXI and Republic P-36 Lancer fighters (if I recall correctly) but were unable to provide air cover for the fleet at sea. The Dutch fleet had its own air arm, consisting of Do.24s for recon, but these were taken away by the KNLI Government for civilian evacuations at the start of 1942. Realistically, only 2-3 British or USN carriers could have made a real difference. The Japanese were just too numerous, professional and prepared.
Funny how similar it looks to Graf Spee at 2:16
3:23 diffrent de ruyter?
Is it just me? Or is De Ruyter's hull design near identical to Germany's Lutzow Class Pocket Battleships?
Time for a Bloody Mary
Poor Dorman
Thanks to the series of diesel punk novels called the destroyermen I always wondered how Adm Dorman actually ended up thanks, I knew I'd heard of De ruyter before today thanks for scratching that itch and have you read destroyermen?
Make-em longer :)
Personally I'd prefer not to acknowledge the existence of grave robbers and instead pretend it's simply sailing again, like a modern flying Dutchman.
👍
Economy Class Cruiser
Not realy , it might have been lighter armoured and less firepower but when launched it was one of the most modern cruisers around . advanced fire control , Hazemayer Bofor mounts, and many other inovations . that other ships lacked.
@@kms_scharnhorst And still you miss the fact that this ship was build with uparming and armouring in mind. perhaps some reading in to INKAVOS and Nevesbu designs would help . Dutch larger ships where always on max draft of around 6 meters , and de Ruyter was 5 meters.
32 knots as only used is rarely used only to evade or intercept . even now no ship travels at 32 knots even if they are build for it . and never in battle lines or formations.
Also dont be fooled by the 150 mm guns as they didnt use standard shells , they used shells that where 2.8 kg heavier than ordinary shells used on british ships. or other navys . with the same and even slighty higher velocity . F=m*a equals more punching power.
And you are missing an entire chapter of refits that would be done in 1940. Like added radar , updated protection increased fire power , and many other upgrades .
Shooting down several Japanese aircraft in her carreer and only suffereing Two 200 mm shell hits with out significant damage . of the 1000 shels both haguru and nachi fired . seems that armour scheme was not that bad . Other cruisers had much less armour or less speed .
I suggest dont look at world of warships as that is just a unrealisitc game and just read up on actual statistics . of cruisers in well any reputable book.
Exeter was hit by two 200 mm shells and had to be scutteled.
im not gonna lie, but from a certain angle De Ruyter looks like a really small proportioned Graf Spee
Your more accurate than you think. Both came from the same design Bureaux IVS /Inkavos. Size wise they where quite simular .
The Deutschland class was 186 meters 20,5 meters wide Draft 7.25 meters. Displacement 10.800 Ton st 14.520 T full
The de Ruyter 171.meters .15.7 meters wide draft 5.1 meters .Displacement 6.545 T st 7.669 T full.
So size wise its simular and with all the trimmings as intended it would come close to the deutschland class ships.
There were tanks with thicker armor than this ship was built with at the time.
True but the 20 cm guns of the japanese had little effect only 2 shells hit the light armour and had no effect on the ship . After the torpedo hit it also took 3 hrs for the ship to sink .
Sometimes light armour is better than thick armour
Huzzah!
She is quite a businesswoman.... (Ido universe)
Sigh, just how many De Ruyters were there? I think they should be always numbered.
10 so far and counting .
Ah the sandwich spread! Hagelslag