Britain's Pearl Harbor - Indian Ocean Raid 1942 Animated
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ต.ค. 2021
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Sources:
Evan Mawdsley, The War For the Sea: A Maritime history of World War 2
Gyln Prysor, Citizen Sailors
Corelli Barnett, Engage the Enemy More Closely
Edwyn Gray, Operation Pacific
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Will you make a video on HMS Warspites most legendary feat when she scored the longest battleship to battleship hit in history against the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare?
@@MCLegend13 maybe
@@historigraph Small correction: When you show the Info card of Kido Butais vessels at around 4:25 you show Abukuma as a heavy cruiser when it was in fact a light one.
Otherwise fantastic video.
Thank you for covering parts of wars nobody talks about.
@@historigraph but I don’t need play it, I already have it from long ago when my friend showed me.
P.S. it was like last year
My dad, Horace Gardner, was on the Hermes when it was sunk. He was a stoker but was off watch when the attack happened so led a fire party as the bombs rained down. It due to this that, though wounded, he survived and was rescued after spending five hours in the sea. He later learned that no one in the engine rooms survived the sinking. He spent two years in a naval hospital and was returned to active service in 1944 and was on a minesweeper in the channel on the lead up to the Normandy landings. He lived to the age of 90
God bless his soul, and his vessel, off the coast of SriLanka
I have the Hermes reports if you want them.
I heard it was near trincomalee..visit sri lanka one day...
@@heshangunarathna3262 yes it was, my dad was there as well
@@jeffsukulelepage7948 😁
The best ending you ever had. It summed up something that I had been vaguely aware of when reading about Britain in the Far East in WW2 but have never seen holistically and comprehensively reviewed from what I had been typically shown and read in historical media from the British Isles. The obsessive nature of the discussion around the Battle of Britain and the Hunt for Bismarck when compared with the sparce coverage of the Pacific war for the British had always bothered me. This raid just shows that "the war you plan for, isn't always the one you get into." Well done and keep up the great work
There was a reason they focused on battle of Britain and Bismarck.
Im in the exact same boat! :)
Britain started the war as the primary Imperial power on earth and ended it as junior partner of the Allies. That's why the narrative changed. The failed defense of the Empire was swept under the table and the defense of the British Isles was emphasized to create the story of the small British underdog that held out against the world. Made it easier to digest the loss of Imperial power and prestige while retaining the glorification of the war effort.
@@ijh867zter6 Britain was already losing out #1 economy wise by 1900. Pretty good navy, tech, and administration carried them on as #1 politically till 1940s (longer without WWII). Not bad if you ask me.
Well I don't think they would really like to discuss a losing side or time they had
I didn't even know Japan got this far west. The logistics of fighting that far away from Japan must have been a tremendous challenge.
And ultimately overstretched themselves. But from their point of view they didn't have much choice; it was a case of grab everything they could while the Allies were on the back foot, fortify it as much as possible, and hope to sue for peace and keep most of it.
That... didn't work out terribly well.
They had ports from their ally of Siam as you can see on the map at 3:21.
Hawaii was still yet further from Japan.
Yes, in the classic PacWar sim the supplies only trickle into Rangoon making a invasion of India very difficult (I've managed it though). Navally the best base is captured Singapore which is not ideally placed for controlling the Indian ocean. Rangoon would be OK if it had supplies.
Because what internet memes would have you believe are hardly true, the Japanese weren’t bad at logistics, as their ability to conquer half of China in 18 months would show, in 1944 as they’re getting butt fucked
Here they’re not butt fucked, and in their element, the ocean
@@looinrims yea conquered half of China in 18 months and then spent the next five years doing what exactly? Hey remember when the German army conquered half of the USSR (which actually had an army and not a collection of peasants armed with shovels and pitchforks)? Oh that’s right, both Germany and Japan had shit for logistics, which contributed to why neither of them managed to actually finish off their land invasion.
Japan’s logistics were total garbage. The army didn’t take logistics seriously (their war college gave no shits about logistics). They couldn’t even reliably supply their army with food (hey something they shared with their German counterparts. Mind you it’s estimated 50% of Japan’s armed forces deaths were due to starvation) and put almost no effort into protecting marine convoys which allowed the US Navy to absolutely demolish Japan economically later in the war. They spent so much blood, money, and oil to control the resources of SE Asia and then didn’t bother to set up a system to reliably transport those resources back to the home islands, Epic fail.
Im sri lankan. My grandpa fought against the Japanese in Trincomalee. He told me this story. 95 years old Grandpa passed away in 2012.
He is a true hero! 🫡
RIP to your grandpa. Good long life though!
Your Grandfather is puppet traitor
RIP
5:27 The Catalina in your story was RCAF🇨🇦 hero Leonard Birchall, "The savior of Ceylon" from by hometown of Kingston Ontario. His plane was ambushed by zeros as soon as he was spotted and crashed in the water and taken POW until the end of the war. He never knew whether his message made it back to Somerville before his plane was attacked
Sri Lankan lakes, especially around Colombo, has these plants known as Jappan Jabara growing. The British had placed them in the lakes since they believed the Japanese planes would be on a one way trip to Ceylon and they would mistake these plants to be open grounds where planes could land. Several Japanese planes mistook it got caught in the bait and landed in lakes thinking its plain ground. To this day, some japanese planes can be found under the lakes around Colombo
It was just 1 air raid by the Japanese and they lost 7 planes in the attack. With no mention of any of those planes landing or any pilot taken prisoner. Reeks of bullshit that any plane would've landed in a lake when they were bombing a harbour. What pilot would fly inland when their carriers is in the opposite direction, the open sea where they came from.
@@glenglen6386 take a good look at the map of colombo. Count the lakes near the harbor
What's the point? It's a one way trip and the pilot intended to ditch the plane anyway. It's more like a soldier who waste ammunition on a dead enemy just to vent their anger.
@@fadlya.rahman4113 It's not a one way trip, the majority of the Japanese airplanes returned to their carriers.
@@DonKatuwawala mmm of 7 planes you say "some" just chose to land on what was plant covered lakes after they received damage. Some as in what, 3 out of 7 was damaged to the point they attempted to emergency land and 2 or even all 3 landed on lakes.
My great grandma was in her youth when this happened. According to her, they have had shelters built in case of more attacks. WW2 really was a world war.
Man warspite really was everywhere
She could've engaged Kongo in a gunnery duel. Clash of British-made battleships
Yes, that ship really got around! She's lucky to have avoided those Japanese carriers.
The British should’ve kept Warspite as a museum ship.
Like the Japanese should’ve done the same with the carrier Katsuragi, the Americans with Enterprise, Italy with Vittorio Veneto, and the French with Richelieu.
This is assuming Operation Crossroads still consists of the same ships. If not, I would’ve loved to see Prinz Eugen and Nagato as museum ships.
@@gregorylumban-gaol3889 : There’s no way the victorious Allies would allow any of the defeated Axis nations to keep any big warships after the war, even as museum ships. They had to be scrapped or sunk.
@@georgecoventry8441 Man, I have some homework. Which Turks are the descendants of which Turkic empire and which places did they occupy? ( google is not opening please reply)
Thanks a lot for mentioning your sources on the description! Not only does it look good that you're willing to mention sources but gives viewers material for further reading.
Yes its a habit I've been meaning to start doing. Should be on every vid from now
@@historigraph are we going to see Midway next?
@@historigraph Is there a possibility of that the next video would be about, "How Andaman and Nicobar Islands were captured by Japanese" or "Battle of Imphal" or "Chindit Brigade".
@@sublimefermion2205 Man, I have some homework. Which Turks are the descendants of which Turkic empire and which places did they occupy? ( google is not opening please reply)
The Indian Ocean Raid was also one of the most disastrous episodes for the fledgling South African Naval Forces. A total of 65 officers and men, all of whom were volunteers seconded to the Royal Navy, lost their lives with the sinking of HMSs Dorsetshire, Cornwall, Hermes and Hollyhock. (HMS Hollyhock was a corvette nor mentioned in the video)
What saddens me is that this is not commemorated in SA and so few people know of it. SANF with their little ships also did outstanding work in the Mediterranean and Burma which is hardly recognised. HMSAS Natal was the first and only ship to sink a U-boat while still on sea trials. Thousands of South African volunteers served in the Royal Navy and Fleet Air Arm.
@@willactually7509
Hopefully soon someone will do some video's about the South African army and navy in ww2. It's time for the story to be told.
God bless all who served.
@@thomaslawson801 I am surprised no major channel has taken that up
My grandfather spoke highly of the South African crew members he had on HMS Cornwall, as well as his time in port in Durban .. Shot Bru
These battles are hardly talked about. Ceylon contributed to WW11. About 1 million enlisted, two hundred thousand saw action. And about 30 pilots flew for the Royal Ceylon airforce in the battle of Britain, Africa and Asia.
That is interesting... I never heard Ceylon's pilots who fought during battle of Britain
Because the RN disgraced itself unending.
I've neglected in my readings on the early war in the Pacific, the efforts of the Royal Navy. I'm happy to say these have been incredibly informative. These opening months are often bypassed for the more famed battles like Midway or Stalingrad, yet these chained defeats paint a picture of how dire moral and the strategic picture was in the first half of 1942.
I think this quote from Churchills memoirs shows how grim things were looking.
"‘Prime Minister, I have to report to you that the Prince of Wales and the Repulse have both been sunk by the Japanese-we think by aircraft. [Vice Admiral] Tom Phillips is drowned.’ ‘Are you sure it’s true?’ ‘There is no doubt at all.’ So I put the telephone down. I was thankful to be alone. In all the war I never received a more direct shock. The reader of these pages will realise how many efforts, hopes, and plans foundered with these two ships. As I turned over and twisted in bed the full horror of the news sank in upon me. There were no British or American capital ships in the Indian Ocean or the Pacific except the American survivors of Pearl Harbour, who were hastening back to California. Over all this vast expanse of waters Japan was supreme, and we everywhere were weak and naked.”
And this was before the events of this video.
The USS Saratoga was torpedoed and put out of commission for 3 months in August 1942. The USS Wasp was sunk in September, leave the USS Hornet as the only allied fleet carrier in the entire Pacific at the end of 1942. The US Navy begged the British to help and HMS Victorious was loaned to them for the next 6 months and helped stem the tide of the IJN advance.
Dire for those on the front line yes…
But in the minds of the British high command, the Americans will take care of the Japanese. For even if the Japanese can maintain military hardware advantage against the allies, they will soon enough run out of fuel to power them.
@@boxhawk5070 Man, I have some homework. Which Turks are the descendants of which Turkic empire and which places did they occupy? ( google is not opening please reply)
Underrated video. Few are aware about these events.
We were taught that Japan carried out a bombing raid on two of our cities, but we were never taught the details of this operation.
So thank you for the video.
But the British fought back. In July 1944 HMS WOLFE joined the Eastern Fleet at Trincomalee, Ceylon, for support of 2nd Submarine Flotilla. It was to play a major role in the Burma campaign. My father, now 97 years young, served on her.
@2:32 And as an American, we appreciated the aid of Britain and those steel deck carriers of theirs, especially in Okinawa (our decks were made of wood). British carriers filled the void in our fleet as we lost a dozen carriers (11 to Japan, 1 to Germany) during WWII. That, and figuring out how to land a Corsair on a deck.
The US had 100 operational aircraft carriers in 1945. They had no need of the small British carriers
@@tylerclayton6081 Nonetheless, they were there. And glory they deserve.
Here's a delightful quote from Wikipedia:
"In March 1945, while supporting the invasion of Okinawa, the BPF had sole responsibility for operations in the Sakishima Islands. Its role was to suppress Japanese air activity, using gunfire and air attack, at potential kamikaze staging airfields that would otherwise be a threat to US Navy vessels operating at Okinawa. The British fleet carriers with their armoured flight decks were subject to heavy and repeated kamikaze attacks, but they proved highly resistant, and returned to action relatively quickly. The USN liaison officer on Indefatigable commented: "When a kamikaze hits a US carrier it means 6 months of repair at Pearl [Harbor]. When a kamikaze hits a Limey carrier it's just a case of 'Sweepers, man your brooms'.""
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Pacific_Fleet#Ships
And while researching my response, I came across this page listing British carriers, of which more than a few were made by the US. Interesting.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_aircraft_carriers_of_the_United_Kingdom
So when you say "small", keep in mind that some of them came from here. :)
@@MrWaalkmanHaha, sweepers man your brooms. That’s a good one 😂
I had never known about this before and I’m very glad you made this.
You left out Canadian Leonard Birchall who was known as the Savior of Columbo. Who on April 4th spotting the Japanese Fleet heading for Columbo and was able to warn the Base of a Japanese Attack. He spent the rest of the War in a Japanese POW camp. While there He helped reduce the Allied Death rate from 30% to less than 2%.
This has to be one of the most underrated operations in the eastern theatre.. loved your coverage
My grandfather Allan T. Dougall was an officer (junior LT) on loan/training from the Canadian Navy assigned to the British Navy onboard the HMS Cornwall when it was sunk. Being in the engine room at the time of the attack he was one of the last to leave the ship as it was sinking. He survived 72 hours in the ocean near the Maldives after witnessing several of his crew members succumb to their injuries, shark attacks and strafing from the Japanese air crews. He offered his own lifejacket to a badly injured crew member who somehow also managed to survive, and then spent the next 72 hours in the Indian Ocean, with no life jacket and hardly any crew around him. (he purposely separated himself from the larger groups after the sharks moved in). ...What a legacy to live up too. Thank you to everyone who posts their families history and experiences.
Incredible story - thanks for sharing!
Britain practically faced the same conclusion with the US. Prioritise Europe, go after the Pacific later.
PS: Will we see a coverage of the Royal Navy’s reformed fleet against Japan in 1945?
In all likelihood, yes
@@historigraph Thanks dude, naval history is so much overlooked, and the asians theatre of the war is too, feels good to learn more about this half of the war
Those of who (particularly Americans) think that the continental United States was never potentially in danger of invasion, or at least subjugation, by imperial Japan would do well to watch this.
@@historigraph Awesome, the last few videos have been quite depressing for us Brits, would be nice to see us kicking arse again.
Japan never wanted to invade the us
Good video which puts into context for me the loss of HMS Cornwall. My Uncle died on Cornwall when it was sunk, he was 21. RIP
Been studying this war for 15 years. Never once heard of this battle. That's why I'm so thankful for this channel you guys cover things I never come across.
Lol, you can tell that you are caucasian. Every nation teaches only the aspect of WW2 that affected them. Every nation has a completely different version of events. Most white people have little idea of the indochina, China, india, Burma and Eastern African theaters of war.
@@zeitgeistx5239 I'm American. I'm part black part white.
And no not many do. Even fewer know the details.
If you've been studying the war for 15 years, I hope you've figured out a lot of what we have been told is a lie.
@6:18 The pilot of that PBY Catalina was a man that went to my highschool before the war. He was able to warn about the incoming fleet before getting shot down
A couple of times (such as 6:40) you called HMS Dorsetshire, "Devonshire." HMS Devonshire was another County class heavy cruiser that actually survived the war.
Yes, also a couple of references to fleets heading East or North East when they were actually heading West or North West. That apart, great video.
150 Bombers on Ceylon might have substantially shortened the war in the Pacific. Especially if they had a fighter escort. The battle of Midway that same year is thought to have turned the war in the Pacific. I suppose it is possible that the glory for that turn might have gone to Britain if they had found a way to redirect some of their firepower.
When you see battles and hear results like this, Pearl Harbor and Darwin, it would really make someone believe Japan was unbeatable. That was until Midway.
Japan didn't attack Pearl Harbour, britain did to drag America into the war on Britain's side.
Japan was only going to attack south into the dutch east indies and british posessions to get the oil.
@@AustralianChristianFascists they hit the Philippines and wake only hours after the attack.
@@Shoehandler1142 No, it didn't. Japan didn't have a large enough military to go head to head against both Britain and America at the same time.
It was a false flag to get America into the war. British military strategists planned it out in 1938.
These videos are very well explained.
The Catalina pilot who found the Japanese fleet was Len Birchall. The warning that he gave meant that the RAF was not caught on the ground and although they had higher losses they were able to do some damage to the Japanese and convince them that surprise was lost. The Japanese were counting on surprise and incredibly were not confident that they could tackle a prepared enemy.
Birchall was abused as a prisoner but was an incredible leader, no doubt saving many of his men and was the primary witness against the commandant. Birchall told him that the Allies would win the war and he would see him hanged.
Mission accomplished.
I have a letter from Birchall in which he detailed his experiences as a "guest" on board the Akagi.
Thank you for the series, and for your hard work Historigraph.
Always excellent. The only thing I noticed is that you said Devonshire when you meant Dorsetshire.
I agree Devonshire was on the Malta convoy duty
These videos about the Pacific Theatre are fantastic! Keep it up!
You comment multiple times on every video he releases. Desperate for attention? 🤔
@@loveofmangos001 Oh come on don't be so toxic!
@@loveofmangos001 what? Not allowed to be a fan?
@@Big_E_Soul_Fragment
No it's not being a fan. It's just weird and creepy in many ways
You have been doing the exact same stuff on Drachinifel's video too.
@@loveofmangos001 Eh, just love commenting on various channels I enjoy like this channel and Drach...and more. Besides, commenting helps with the algorithm too. Sorry if you find it strange, then.
These are excellent; they shed light into a rarely featured aspect of the war.
The video does miss out the radar-equipped Albacores from the carriers (yes, the British had that capability!) getting a reasonable fix on the Japanese carriers. The report then got mixed up and the opportunity for a strike was missed. There's a few naval historians out there asking "what if" there. They're not talking about a Midway style airstrike, more of a Matapan disabling-action by day or night (RN torpedo bombers were the only naval air force capable of night landings at sea at this point), for Warspite with its radar to attack at night. If it worked well once before...
Armoured flight decks being made to sound like a bad thing because of the impact on the air group size, but it was a conscious trade-off for increased survivability. Look at the beating Illustrious took in the Med; a bit touch and go but it survived to be back in action eventually.
Yes, the Royal Navy had problems with the Eastern Fleet, but they had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.
The pressure of fighting a naval war in three fronts has it's burdens though, which is also key to remember when asking why the Eastern Fleet seems a little rag-tag when at the time the Italians still had a strong fleet and Tirpitz was a constant threat.
I AGREE !!! CEYLON WAS VERY FORTIFIED BY THE ALLIES AND DURING THE TWO RAIDS IN COLOMBO AND TRINCOMALEE ALLIES WAR PLANES GAVE A GOOD RESISTANCE !!! BECAUSE OF THE BEATINGS JAPAN GOT THEY NEVER TRIED TO INVADE CEYLON AGAIN AFTER 1942 !!!
@@milindaratnasuriya Man, I have some homework. Which Turks are the descendants of which Turkic empire and which places did they occupy? ( google is not opening please reply)
Pacific = Unarmored decks
Atlantic/North Sea/Med = Armored decks
Drachinifel did a good video on why the above is largely true.
The Japanese surface fleet was excellent at night fighting and 4 BATTLE CRUISERS AGAINST the HMS WARSPITE even at night would have gone bad for the WARSPITE. Plus the Zeros would have shredded any CAP the ROYAL NAVY put up which would have allowed the KATE TORPEDO BOMBERS an easy hand at those 2 British carriers. The ROYAL NAVY'S only hope lay in the ALBACOREs making a daring TORPEDO night attack with Radar to guide them in.
@MILINDA RATNASURIYA they never tried again because 2 months later they lost half their carrier strength at MIDWAY against the US NAVY.
This was indeed the most crucial point in the war for the British! At this point they were quite literally on the ropes! Now having to fight the Japanese along with the Germans and Italians that they already had their hands full with in Europe. At least the United States was in the war now to back them up. But even they could only do so much. 1942 would be the pivotal year for both sides when it came to who could deal the decisive blow on the other.
Clear and informative, seen a few of your videos and felt you have earnt another subscriber.
Now this is the kind of historical content I like to see in my feed. This is the type of history that is not usually talked in my country’s(Sri Lanka) history. The events of the video are only summarised that the harbours of Trincomalee and Colombo got bombed by the Japanese navy during a time when anti-imperialism rhetoric was growing in the common populace.
i only knew mental hospital got bombed. Plus oil tanks.
The same is true of India. 2,500,000 men fought for Britain in WWII, but they were not heroes when they came home, nor were the 40,000 who were on the Japanese side. It was all overshadowed by Partition, which brought displaced up to 20 million people and killed up to 2,000,000 civilians.
Summerville's Force as a fleet in being was the most important aspect of his fleet being in the Indian Ocean in my opinion. By removing them from the board effectively the Japanese didn't have to worry about Naval operations in their rear areas compared to their commitments in the central and southern Pacific.
This whole japanese raid is the equivalent of Taranto. Secure the rear.
When I saw the number of ships in each navy I thought it could have been an epic battle on the scale of the Battle of the Coral Sea...however when you described the British forces I realized it would have been a slaughter more than a battle, specially since that Japanese unit had gathered combat experiencie for months and were sharp as an arrow!
Another fantastic video!
Same. I was thinking how cool it would be to see the 4 Revenge class battleships and Warspite engaging the Japanese Fleet. But then when thinking about it... It would’ve been cool. I doubt it would’ve gone well.
@@jamiengo2343 It would have been fine in a battleship vs battleship battle but not against carriers.
@@Ushio01 still no.. he even said at the start of the video that only Warspite was somewhat modern... the british made the correct decision by not engaging
Right, also because probabilly their (few and obsolete) aircrafts would've been butchered by the Zeros, so no air support for the fleet
@@alessiodecarolis Man, I have some homework. Which Turks are the descendants of which Turkic empire and which places did they occupy? ( google is not opening please reply)
I love these animations, they are so well made
Hopefully someday to see a Operation Harpoon episode, it was one of the few Italian victories.
Excellent work. I’ve been seeking these battles, early stages of WWII, for quite some time and your channel delivers. Cheers! 🍻
i live for seeing these videos. Keep it up man.
Fantastic breakdown!!!
Love your content. It makes my day every time I see you’ve posted a new video. Keep it up!
Great video, never heard of this before.
Been waiting for this for a long time
Excellent knowledge. TY for this
Looking forward to this video. Perhaps the only channel that covers the early Pacific theatre in such detail!
The Brits had a considerable talent to sail with defenceless carriers through enemy-dominated waters.
Hermes was basically an escort carrier in size, speed and capability.
The Strait between India and Ceylon wasn't (and still isn't) accessible to deep draught vessels. Therefore the options were:
A)Stay in Trincomalee
B)Run for the Carnatic Coast
C)Try to sneak past the Japanese fleet
Perhaps the British felt that taking refuge in audacity was their best chance.
@@Siddingsby Hermes‘ draught was 8.5 m. Minimum (!) depth of Palk Street is 9 m. The should have taken the northern route.
@@RayyMusik The Palk Strait lies to the north of the area in question and is bounded to the south by Adam's Bridge. Adam's Bridge is a long line of low-lying islands, reefs and sand banks. The deepest part of Adam's Bridge is perhaps only a metre deep on average. The Indian government has been debating the idea of building a canal here for many decades: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sethusamudram_Shipping_Canal_Project
@@RayyMusik Hermes would not have gone any further than the Palk Bay after entering the Palk strait.
Another superb video - thank you 😊
I too a Sri Lankan, My Grandfather was an RAF radio operator during WWII. My dad and aunt said London knows him very well on his code sign. They said Grandpa never told any of his duties during the great war until his last days. Before he passed, he started to talk about those mission and orders unconsciously on his dying bed, my dad said what ever he said was unclear, but they sure he spoke about the war. They also said the queen decorated him and got a medal. I was so young when he passed have few memories of him. Aunt has no idea where she kept his medal. And now I know why he never talked about war.
Thank you Charith for your nation's efforts. My father was onboard HMS Dorsetshire during this episode (he survived her sinking and died in 2013 aged 93) and always spoke of how kind and hard working the Ceylonese people had shown themselves to be. God bless your country in its current tribulations.
Excellent presentation as always. Thank you for covering these lesser known, but no less pivotal, Pacific campaigns.
Man, if the Japanese had just been a bit better at cryptography who knows what would have happened
By the time they reached Papua New Guinea and were defeated by the Australians, they were already over extended and their merchant fleet was being ripped apart by Allied submarines. There was no way they could have ever won the war once they started it. Admiral Yamamoto said so himself.
It has fascinated that the Japanese strategy seems to have been completely dependent on a their opponents giving up. Would love to know how those discussions went.
@@miguelservetus9534 I'd recommend a really excellent video titled 'The Grand Strategy of Japan, 1919 - 1941' by Strategy Stuff! Before I watched that it really made no sense to me either
such a great video thanks
One of those japaneese plains try to land on a lake filled with lotus leaves and crash landed outskirt of colombo where i was living ...but it happened nearly 80 years ago...the plain was dug up in 1990s and the pilots who drowned were mumified on the lake with hair and all..
"the pilots who drowned were mumified on the lake with hair and all.."
Lol...!
Hermes and Vampire were found in 2011 HMAS Vampire is lying perilously on the edge of a deep submarine trench making it difficult to properly investigate the wreck a huge disappointment to the crews families a similar disaster to the loss of HMAS Sydney the previous year a mystery only fully resolved in 2014,RIP the lost crews.
Thanks for this interesting report. I'm from Sri Lanka. HMS Hermes wreck is lying off the coast of Batticaloa, Sri Lanka and it's a well known driving spot.
Always brilliant videos thank you
This was a really valuable video !!!
Also to add to the conclusion, after Churchill’s assurances were shown to be false, the events of 1942 in the Indies and Indian Ocean forced Australia irrevocably into the American sphere. A couple of months after these events, the Australian parliament ratified the Statute of Westminster, which was the previously agreed instrument of independence for the dominions.
Japan had not only attacked Peal Harbour on 7th December 1941, but also attacked the British in the far east. By 1942 Britain was two years into war and on the back foot, assurances really had little worth at that point, other than the assurance that Britain were losing life's in the far east and it was not for the want of effort.
@@robert6106 - oh I dunno, Churchill had dozens of divisions doing nothing in Britain, even though the Germans were fully committed in the east. And he found an army to defend Burma.
And the Allies won in Africa despite Churchill’s rage at the AIF leaving. But anyway as an high aristocratic poobah he always disliked Australians, who from WW1 mocked toffs like him and completely lack the class deference Britons are conditioned into.
He actually did abandon Australia to Japanese occupation at the Acadia conference, this six weeks before Singapore fell. It was only because USN CinC King slipped some text in about protecting supply lines, and was determined to fight the Japanese in the Pacific with what he had, that Coral Sea was fought and Australia saved.
@@TenOrbital You have to realise that Britain was on the ropes at that point and never recovered after the war.
@@robert6106 - No, Churchill made a choice not to defend Australia, supposedly an equal part of the empire, which had twice come to Britain's aid with everything. He was then able to find an army to defend Burma. While being churlish about the AIF.
It wouldn't have taken much to return the solidarity Australia twice gave Britain.
@Mike Fisher tbf Australian military spending just a couple years before ww1 was like 1%. Low even by todays standards, nothing for the time.
Considering that the commonwealth laid out at the time that all nations were equal and not subordinate, its incredibly entitled to expect Britain to basically pick up the bill and responsibility for everything. If Australia were a protectorate of Britain then that would be true, but it wasnt. Dont assert independence but then not actually assert it meaningfully.
Hermes Captain takes his ship back to where the Japanese are to attack, then sails without any planes to protect it.
That's brilliant.🤦♂️😪
The planes would have been useless. It's a good thing they weren't there.
You think that 12 Swordfish aircraft operating in daylight would have been able to do much?
@@dovetonsturdee7033 - Ever hear of the Bismarck?
@@BA-gn3qb I'm not sure what you are talking about. Bismarck had no air cover at all. The Japanese Task Force had five carriers with 116 A6Ms aboard. Somerville's radar equipped Albacores might perhaps have achieved something with a night attack, but do you seriously believe 814 Squadron's Swordfish could possibly have survived in daylight?
Very nice presentation and interesting information.
Good work mate, thanks.
“And then the Battle of Midway would happen.” An almost casual comment with (obviously) devastatingly massive implications.
I hope you remain in the Asian region for the next series something like the Indian and Burma campaign or the Chinese campaign
You must have read my mind, been waiting so long for someone to cover the Indian Ocean raid.
what a fox is a hunter 7:31
Didn't know about this part of the war. Though from what I've learnt there is usually a big gap of knowledge of what took place in the pacific between Peral Harbour and Midway. Maybe because the Allies at the time were getting hammered by the Japanese.
To be fair, Pearl Harbour and Midway was only 6 months apart…
@@spmchannel8362 Which was, and is quite a lot of time. A much longer time than was taken in D-day for instance, yet the latter is covered far more.
Armoured carriers had smaller air groups, but a big reason for this was, due to their being primarily designed for the Atlantic, they did not park their aircraft on the deck like the USN did.
They could not hang spare aircraft from the ceiling like the USN did either, but the RN carriers could operate more aircraft than they generally did. The big problem with the FAA was their aircraft.
But, put in perspective, only 2 other countries had better carrier aircraft than they did.
The armoured deck design was primarily because the RN knew they'd be operating in areas close enough for land-based bombers which carried far more powerful weapons that the IJN carrier bombers. For clarity, Hermes took 40 hits from carrier based bombers but it only took one or two hits from a Fritz X to sink ships in the Med.
Excellent video!
Thank for you making an incredible series of highly engaging and interesting videos on a topic I barely knew about.
Anybody else ever played the board game Victory in the Pacific, and wondered why you have to withdraw all those British battleships? Now I know why.
Yes, indeed. That's exactly why. It was a fun game...but the Japanese had to go all out right from the start and take great losses to win it. They could win....but only at a terrible cost in ships.
"And then the battle of Midway would happen.." The way you said it was too funny.
Enjoyed the video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
Nice analysis.
To be fair to Somerville, his strategy worked like a charm for Cunningham at Cape Matapan.
That's the 'what if'...what if Somerville took the risk and got his Albacores to make a night torpedo attack against a defenseless Japanese Kido Butai (no night combat air patrol, no useable anti-aircraft systems at night)...
The question would be, could Force A survive the revenge attack in the morning?
@@dclark142002If Somerville took the risk, if his fleet was in right position, if Albacores were launched in good direction, if they actually found Nagumo fleet, if theirs' attack would actually work, if any torpedo damage would actually be a real threat to hit warships...
That many ifs that fall of USSR in 1941 seems more possible in comparison. One way or another, Force A would almost certainly be gone in this scenario. Funny enough, war situation would only be WORSE. Since if Nagumo actually would lose carrier or two, Japanese would more than likely simply drop Midway operation plan, meaning that there is no devastating defeat there which leaves them with more carriers left for second half of 1942.
Great video! The Indian Ocean Raid is one of the most interesting what-if of the war. And one of the lesser known. Sommerville came so close to launch its night-strike on April 5th, it literally was a case of a single Zero pilot shooting down a British scout just at the right moment.
my school was the British army camp in Colombo during the ww2 and some of buildings were built in that time
Love your videos
It was the Imperial Japanese Navy that was largely responsible for the destruction and eventual exit of the British Royal Navy from the Indian Ocean. The British Empire collapsed in Asia because of the assaults of Japan and the rising opposition of National Liberation Movements to foreign occupation of Asia. Indian leader Netaji Subash Chandra Bose joined hands with Tojo of Japan to establish a Greater East Asian co - prosperity sphere in Asia. Japan's legacy in the WW2 was the acceleration of grant of independence for European colonies in Asia.
Interesting war of putting it, I can see the logic there.
IMO its true post-WW2 legacy: fucking up the KMT so hard the CCP could roll over them after the war, completely destroying the colonial administration of French Indochina which led to the Vietnam war of independence and US-Vietnam War, similar things also happened in Myanmar and Indonesia.
Japan fucked the region up so hard it led to decades of even more destructive war and when that passed, decades of geopolitical instability that will last for who knows how long.
@@BoxStudioExecutive The British Empire was successful because of Gunboat Diplomacy. Royal Navy played a pivotal role in the rise and consolidation of the British Empire. Imperial expansion ceased with the humiliating defeat to the Japanese in Singapore and sinking of the pride of the Royal Navy, the Prince of Wales, and other key Battleships in the Indian Ocean. With the defeat and exit of the Royal Navy from the territorial waters of Asian countries, British Gunboat Diplomacy in the Orient came to a grinding halt. Japan is entitled to greater credit than any other country for restoring Asia to the Asians.
@@senakaweeraratna741 they just had to rape and murder millions of them to achieve it. So admirable!
@@silverhost9782 That has been the propaganda of the enemies of Asia, which was conquered and occupied almost totally by people from another continent. Japan put an end to Western domination of Asia.
good video. Many in Australia think that the British valued India over Australia. Churchill wanted the Australian 7th infantry division deployed to Burma. If this had been done, the land battle for Port Moresby and Milne Bay would have been lost. Before the battle of the Coral Sea, Australia could only get around 25 P 40s to defend Port Moresby. These planes gave better than they got but were destroyed just before the battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese could have seized Port Moresby after the Coral Sea if they were more aggressive.
I hope you cover this period. BTW, your coverage of the Singapore campaign was great.
I'm reminded of a story (I don't remember the exact details) of a transport that took off from Port Moresby and got jumped by a couple of Japanese fighters. It managed to escape and get back to PM but the evasive maneuvers had put so much stress of the airframe they couldn't get the doors open.
More likely, the Allies saw the attack on India as actual, and one on Australia as possible, though improbable.
Always moaning.
Curtain standing up to Churchill on our troops coming home sure put the skids under Pig Iron Bob.
My grandad was a Swordfish mechanic on HMS Hermes and was ashore when she put to sea hurriedly. He never spoke much about what happened or even about the rest of the war.
Thanks,useful video.
Seeing Japan steamrolling their way through Asia at the beginning of the war makes you wonder what the hell happened to them. Were Midway and Guadalcanal that devastating?
All kinds of stuff. Imagine if they had utilized their navy to support an amphibious invasion into Ceylon/Sri Lanka at that time. It would've put alot more pressure on India. But of course, Imperialist Japan had the U.S. to worry about the most.
To answer your question; yes they were. Imagine building up a super elite force, the envy of the world, capable of doing what some might call the impossible. And then imagine losing them, and losing the institutional knowledge they had learned and experience gained. That was what Midway and Guadalcanal had done. By the end of the Battle of Santa Cruz, there were 356 Japanese aviators still alive that had been at Pearl Harbour; they had started with 765. That's over 50% casualty rate and it's not even been a year of war. And replacements, trained to the standards of those they were to replace, simply couldn't come fast enough. Japan produced several hundred new pilots per year- they anticipated needing 15,000 for the war against America and had started with only 3,500. So instead more and more pilots are arriving on the frontline, not fully trained and yet forced into battle regardless.
To give an example, at the end of the Santa Cruz action 6 Kate's from Junyo attcked the carrier Hornet, which was stationary, disabled and without air cover. Despite this, of 6 torpedoes launched only 2 actually hit the carrier (and then only 1 exploded but you can't fault the pilot for that). And then another strike of 10 Vals and Kates managed to land another 2 bomb hits and a near miss. Compared to the performance of the Kido Butai here and elsewhere at the start of the war, it's not a pretty picture.
Couple these losses with Japanese arrogance and increasing American material and adaptability, and the Japanese navy by the end of the Guadalcanal campaign was entering a death spiral from which it could not escape.
Not only the loss of the trained personnel hurt, but also the lack of the industrial capacity to readily replace lost planes, let alone ships. Partly that was infrastructure related, partly available workforce issues, but another large part of it was the unrestricted submarine warfare which left japan bereft of materials. Japan started the war with something like 6 or 7 fleet carriers, and built no more than 2 during the war, iirc. That's compared to the US ending the war with over 30 fleet carriers and at least double that in escort and jeep carriers.
Midway was absolutely devastating to the Japanese Navy. In fact that was the last offensive action they could take. They were fighting a defensive war from then on. Coral Sea was an action that resulted in a draw then Midway destroyed the offensive capabilities of their Navy. The result was they couldn't keep their troops on Guadalcanal supplied. They had to operate at night and eventually only their submarines were able to get close enough to deliver a few paltry supplies. Their Guadalcanal troops were literally starving which was a tactic that McArthur devised referred to as " Cutting them off and letting them die on the vine." All of their army actions were suicide missions with no hope of reinforcement or resupply.
@@danielebrparish4271 I would argue that the Japanese Navy could still take offensive action after Midway, but these were more like counter-offensive actions as the US began to dictate the tempo of the war in the Pacific.
Also, MacArthur didn't have any say in the Guadalcanal campaign since it didn't actually fall under his command area. Plus, his idea of "cutting them off" was different to Guadalcanal- MacArthur thought that some islands, if they didn't hold strategic or political importance, could and should be ignored in US offensive plans. So, the ships that supplied them could still be sunk, but the US wouldn't land troops to take the islands, allowing for a quicker and less costly advance up the south pacific.
I have to say the art on the thumbnails are phenomenal.
Love your content Historigraph! I'm always learning from it
Thank you, I never new this history.
Because of the Indian Ocean Raid, the Japanese Navy didn’t have enough carriers at the Battle of the Coral Sea.
And because they didn’t have enough carriers at the Battle of Coral Sea, they wouldn’t have enough carriers at the Battle of Midway.
So sending the Japanese fleet carrier force (Kido Butai) into the Indian Ocean Raid was a major strategic mistake.
The Japanese should have sent their slowest 6 battleships (Nagato class, Ise class and Fuso class) into the Indian Ocean instead, supported by 3 light carriers and 6 heavy cruisers (plus destroyers and submarines). Then they could have fought a decisive battleship engagement with the British Eastern Fleet.
To be fair though, nobody could’ve predicted how the war would play out. And the Battle of Coral Sea could’ve gone better for the Japanese if they had used their scout planes earlier. Had they accurately targeted US carriers, Yorktown could’ve been sunk. This would in turn change the course of the Battle of Midway, the entire pacific theatre and subsequently, the war.
Ultimately though, what we call strategic mistake would’ve been considered a major success if a single dive bomber or torpedo bomber managed to strike the opponent
@@nihalr_ : The initial Japanese plan for the Battle of the Coral Sea assumed that there would be NO American carriers present. The Japanese fleet carrier Kaga and light carrier Shoho were to support the amphibious invasion of Port Moresby, and take on the US and Australian land-based aircraft in the area.
After the American carrier attack by Lexington and Yorktown on the Japanese landings at Lae in March, the Japanese Navy decided to send Shokaku and Zuikaku instead of Kaga. But that still wasn’t a large enough force for the job, considering that the Japanese carriers also had to deal with enemy land based air units as well for the operation to succeed.
This is especially true when you consider that the Americans actually sent Enterprise and Hornet to the Coral Sea as well! Although they arrived just too late to take part in the battle.
Because the Japanese fleet carriers had fewer aircraft than the American ones, and also lacked radar, the Japanese really needed to have 2 carriers attacking every 1 American one, to be certain of victory in battle. That’s why the original Japanese plan for the Battle of Midway envisaged 6 Japanese carriers being present, not 4.
@@timonsolus like i said, with the information we have today, it is possible for us to determine what the best course of action for the Japanese or the United States would have been. Back then information was valuable, but in the end, a lot depended on luck (or maybe skill).
For example, imagine the battle of Coral sea happened in the exact same way, except a single bomb (or torpedo) that missed the Yorktown back then made proper contact and sunk the ship. Now, US carriers would be outnumbered 1:2 at midway. Nimitz wouldn’t have won the battle. The kido butai might’ve been preserved as museums, legendary warships that defeated the US.
@@nihalr_ : Without the Yorktown, the US air attack on the Japanese carriers in the Battle of Midway would have been less successful.
The Kaga and Akagi were sunk by 33 SBD dive bombers from the Enterprise. Since only 3 SBDs attacked Akagi, there's a chance she might have survived without the Yorktown's TBD torpedo bombers drawing away the Zero CAP.
The aircraft from the Hornet failed to sink anything (her torpedo bombers were all shot down, and her dive bombers and fighters failed to find the Japanese fleet).
Historically, SBD's from the Yorktown sank Soryu. So if Yorktown had not been present, Soryu as well as Hiryu would have survived the American attack.
The Japanese counterattack would have been stronger, with planes from at least 2 carriers involved. It's possible that both Hornet and Enterprise would have been sunk.
@@timonsolus In the absence of the Yorktown, Nimitz might have chosen to keep the remaining carriers safe rather than attempt any ambush. It would make sense to retreat all the way back to the west coast, and wait until the other carriers were ready.
New to the channel. Came from recommendations. Knew about Japanese bombing eastern indian ports but not Ceylon. Well explained.
Japanese did very bad things during the war but its interesting how they defeated Brits in Asia, taking after city after city.
Excellent coverage of the lesser known WW2 battles. Great job.
The Indian Ocean Raid is one of the famous battles/sorties conducted by IJN's Kido Butai. It often overshadowed the Battle of Eastern Solomons that is part of the "5 carrier battles of WWII" series.
Ironically, the ad just before this video promotes Yokohama rubber company.
Living in the US you hear so much of the War in the Pacific. I had no idea there was such a large Naval action in the Indian Ocean. It is sad to say, but I would guess 50% of the US couldn't find India on a Map.
After 20 years there, could the average american point to afghanistan on a map?
Americans care a lot less about the world than their ruling class does.
50% couldn't find Nebraska on a map..................................... 😉
@@jimihendrix991 I suspect youre right!
Interesting, I had never even heard of this raid before
An interesting pronunciation of Ceylon.
Underrated history channel. Keep up the fantastic work!
Good explanation about an aspect of the war I didn't know in detail. Note for Japanese pronunciation; try not to put accents on any syllable. It's na-gu-mo not na-GU-mo, etc.
Wow I never knew about this battle.
Fighting on multiple fronts is a worst case scenario, but Great Britain’s priorites made sense. Losing your colonies was a huge loss, but you’re fortunate to have survived the war.
In terms of content, narration, graphics and audio, I find your content second-to-none. Thank you! And please keep them coming!
Great video👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻.