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The one reason Ark Royal sank was the Damage control officer, had preveously had only been on Cruisers which had a totally different way to control listing due to hull dammage. Had he any aircraft carrier damage control experience, the way he tried to counteract the list would have been very differnt. This is explained in great detail by Drachinifel's youtube channel & Dr Alexander Clarke's channel, both are highly knowlageable obout naval history & if you have not seen them I would highly recommend them.
My Uncle was on Aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. He unfortunately went down with the Ship at the age of 18 years in 1939. I am the custodian of his Atlantic Star. So much for King and Country.
Though horrifically tragic of course, I do enjoy hearing from the descendents of service members of WWII. I'm from the states, but I'm glad to see that the sacrifice of those brave Brits is still remembered in the UK. God bless y'all from across the pond.
My grandfather Albert (Ted) Draycott was abroad when it sunk. He was remembered at Luton naval club and donated his cap band. I have some photos taken on board. R i p grandad u done us proud.
@THG Driver It is the very fact that the swordfish was slow and low that the Bismarck never managed to shoot down a single swordfish in both attacks. There are 6 reasons but the fact that their guns did not point down is a major one. One of the swordfish was hit 175 times by Bismarck and still flew home to HMS Victorious. Esmonde's aircraft had half of the lower port wing blown away by a 6" shell before he made his attacking run then returned to HMS Victorious. One of the Swordfish had the bottom of the aircraft blown away by the plume of water from a 15" shell. The TAG (gunner) had to sit on a beam as his feet were dangling over the sea. I have not mentioned TARANTO here, where they carried out the attack on Italy's fleet and was copied by the Japanese at Pearl Harbour. These "obsolete" aircraft were operating for the duration of the war and sunk more tonnage of enemy shipping than any other allied aircraft. Obsolete it may have been, DEADLY it certainly was.
My Grandfather, Donald Bray, was on board when it was torpedoed. Before he died he would tell me story's as a kid about his time there and still remembered the sound of the torpedo hitting them.
A fella lived about 200 yards down the road from my grandparents he’d been on the artic convoys. You could hear him scream at night. Man had been in some serious horrors
My grandfather was on the HMS Renown and because they were part of the same battle group his ship was always sailing together with the Ark Royal. I can’t help but feel a personal connection to the Ark Royal because of this.
@James Schulz Force H stuck together as a team and were very efficient at what they did. HMS Sheffield was also part of the team. They had a tough job along with all the ships operating in the Mediterranean. Being so close to land all the time meant they were under constant threat of air attack.
@@BikersDoItSittingDown Yeah I read the log and was able to read about what force H was doing every day of the war and I have to say Force H was incredible hunting down the Admiral Graf Spee, Hipper, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and later the Bismarck. It was like reading a story book then when I got to the part where it said the Ark Royal sunk after all that it really hit me.
It brings me great sadness to tell you that many ships from all countries in WW2 have been taken from their final resting place by the Chinese for scrap metal including HMS RENOWN and HMS PRINCE OF WALES. This is makes my blood boil with rage, all those men that gave their live for us to live in peace now, their graves have been taken by the greedy Chinese, will all knew they was a sneaky little rotten bunch but this is lower than low.
If the Ark Royal had not been sunk, it would have participated in the land invasion of Japan after Germany was defeated. Luckily, the war ended before a land invasion was launched because the butcher bill for such an action would have been unmerciful.
My Dad was on HMS Illustrious and was with the American fleet in the Sea of Japan. He would have appreciated watching this and brought back memories of how the carriers played an important part in world war II. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten
My Uncle, Jack Davies was also on HMS Illustrious in the Pacific during WW2. He was an aircraft artificer who serviced the planes. He told my Mum that one of the pilots, a New Zealander I think, saw his cross and asked him if he could borrow it. Uncle Jack said no because it was given to him by my Gan. He always regretted it because the pilot and two others never came back. They were captured by the Japanese and when I was looking up information on Illustrious for my Mum years later I discovered that they had been beheaded. Uncle Jack had passed away at just 48 years old in 1969 so fortunately he never knew what happened to those poor men. He was in sick bay with malaria when the guns started firing and all the men thought she was under attack but they were firing the guns to mark the end of the war in the Pacific. The bravery of all those who served in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts can never be underestimated or forgotten. 🇬🇧
Thank you for your reply. My dad died in 1993. He worked maintaining and repairing the aircraft. It is highly likely that my Dad and your uncle’s paths would have crossed. He had fond memories of the people he served with. His mates called him Jackie Pat. His full name was Jack Paterson. Still have his photo album and his diary. Seems unreal but an entry in his diary read…attacked by kamikaze no damage….He would be pleased that people like you remember and are able to share their personal memories.
For those (including myself) who thought he mispronounced OFFICER... ar·tif·i·cer noun: ARCHAIC noun: artificer; plural noun: artificers a skilled craftsman or inventor. BRITISH•MILITARY a skilled mechanic in the armed forces. A very cool word IMO!
My Grandfather, Geoffrey Brown, served on the Ark Royal and stayed with the Navy after the end of WW2, and was stationed in Sri Lanka (then Celon) in the 1950's.
They truly were the greatest generation. Not just because of what they did during the war, and they did accomplish amazing feats during the war. Even their wives and everyone else back home rose to the challenge and did amazing things. My grandmother had a Rosie Riveter certificate and my grandfather was injured in the aircraft carrier he served on, the Essex. But their accomplishments after the war may make them the Greatest Generation even more so. They built the world’s greatest economy ever, making America a superpower. Many, many of them were then able to send their children to college, typically the first people in their families to ever have gone to college, the baby boomers, who created more wealth than the nation had ever seen, wealth the following generations have had a difficult time maintaining. Making your children more successful than you is the mark of a great generation. In that regard they will likely always be the most successful generation in history, not only creating a suponer nation, but lifting their children to heights they never believed possible.
@@HiddenHistoryYT thank you. We are a military family. We’ve had every generation serve, including both my wife and I. I am named after my great uncle, my grandmother’s brother, who was a naval fighter pilot killed in WW2.
@@alanjm1234 Kind of. Each American carrier that was sunk took multiple torpedo hits to sink. Wheras the Yorktown took a bomb on the deck in the Battle of the Coral Sea and was ready to go at Midway. Not completely repaired, but ready for flight operations. American carriers that took multiple bomb hits were out of action for repairs, but they weren't destroyed.
That’s why Japan lost Four Aircraft Carriers at Midway, their damage control was useless. That’s why the Yorktown survived the battle of Coral Sea and almost survived Midway, their damage control was Solid.
Kinda a combination of different factors the us being extremely lucky to catch the Japanese with their pants down with planes and arms on the deck about to take off. As well as damage control training that was ludicrious to american and other western power's standards. The japanese i believe could not do damage control unless a superior officer told them to start it and not all the crew were trained in damage control, whereas in the us navy most everyone was given basic damage control/firefighting training (could be wrong was 80 years ago). Most of japan's carriers damage control was disabled in the initial attack on each ship rendering it useless at midway. Short of the ki-tan(i think it is called) or long lance torpedo most of japan's war tech was not particularly good in the long run. Japan made alot of stupid decisions in regards to how it fought the war against the us, in regards to new pilot training(keep the old veterans flying till they die), equipment having multiple types of one ammunition that is not standardized ect. Tl Dr. Japan did not it seems to plan out ahead for a long war, in tech, supply and personal training, the us seems as though it did the exact opposite overprepared for everything.
Just a quick note on British military pronunciation: Lieutenant is not pronounced Loo- Tenant as it is in America It is “Leff-tenant” This applies to all the Britsih armed forces and the Crown dependency administration, such as Leff-Tenant” Governors of Australia and Canada and remnants of the old Empire.
It should be noted that this is one of the first aircraft carriers in the world, built between the wars. It should also be noted that it had survived many attacks in the years it served, so many that the Nazis declared it sunk many times. When compared to the new USA Essex class aircraft carriers, it was able to take a good deal of battle damage, though no where near as good as our new fleet carriers.
@@treeaddict When a British aircraft carrier was hit by kamikazes(They were kept close to Japan so they would get attacked before the USA fleet) Most were operational within a few hours. Some were hit twice. When an Essex class was hit by a kamikaze, it was out for days or months. The Essex had wooden decks whereas the Fleet carriers had armoured flight decks. USS Saratoga hit 21feb45 sent to Bremerton for repairs USS Enterprise hit 11Apr45 repaired at Ulithi hit again 14May45 Repaired at Puget Sound USS Intrepid (now in New York as a museum Hit 25Nov44 Repaired in San Francisco The list is larger which you can google HMS Formidable 4 May 1945 Struck by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" carrying one 250 kg bomb which created a 2 foot square hole and a 24 x 20 foot depression in the armored flight deck. The hole in the flight deck was temporarily patched with wood and concrete with thin steel plates tack welded on top. She was able to operate aircraft by the next morning. 9 May 1945 Struck by a kamikaze into the after deck park which killed one and wounded eight. Deck depressed 4.5 inches with a supporting beam distorted by 3 inches Able to launch and land aircraft 50 minutes later HMS Illustrious 6 April 45 A Yokosuka D4Y3 Suisei "Judy" kamikaze struck a glancing blow to the island after the plane crashed into the sea, its bomb exploded underwater close alongside. This inflicted severe structural damage, with the outer hull opened up and some of the frames cracked. The damage did not interrupt flight operations, but speed was limited to 19 knots. HMS Indefatigable 1Apr45 truck by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" carrying one 250 kg bomb on the starboard side of island at the junction with the flight deck Able to land Seafires about forty minutes after attack HMS Indomitable 4 May 1945 A Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" Kamikaze belly-landed next to the island but broke up and went over the side and inflicted no damage. HMS Victorious 1 April 1945 Attacked by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" which struck its starboard wing against the port side of the flight deck, causing the plane to cartwheel into the sea where its 250 kg bomb exploded underwater about 80 feet from the ship's side. Tons of water, fuel and fragments of both plane and pilot were thrown on the deck, but the ship escaped damage. 9 May 1945 Struck by two kamikazes "Zeke" making a shallow dive which hit the flight deck at Frame 30 near the forward lift The second kamikaze hit a glancing blow against the port side aft, destroying four Corsairs and a 40 mm gun director it was able to fly off planes one hour later and could land planes twelve hours later Please do check my facts and let me know if you disagree with any of them It is little known that the British were hunting down kamikazes in the pacific so it does not surprise me that you are unaware of this. Another interesting fact is that the Queen's husband was on a destroyer here, defending the fleet carriers and picking up airman from the sea.
Fascinating. Thank you. A legend in my family line in NZ, had the Ark Royal making it to Neutral Rio for recovery and repair. Clearly this was but story time, and thank you for the actual history, as quite unaware till now. Although well aware the Ark Royal did get Swordfish up in the air to look for the Bismarck.
'sAnk four sailing vessels'! 'We sank the carrier.' / 'We have sunk the carrier; 'I swam' / 'I have swum' Great video - excellent scripting and choice of images. Informative and enjoyable - thanks, well done, and best regards
In February 11 she sunk 4 sailing vessels, the Egyptian Al Kasbana ( The Winner), and Sabah El Kheir (Good Morning), the Lebanese Hosney and the Palestinian Dolphin. The Palestinian and Lebanese ships were civilian ships, as the Palestinian one was a cargo ship carrying oil.
I'm so glad that the fire extinguishing systems weren't a cause of the sinking. It was my Grandfather who designed and supervised the installation of the fire systems!
While they did, they also brought catapults, angled deck, the mirror landing system, and they were the first to purpose build/lay down an aircraft carrier, the HMS Hermes. The Royal Navy had some fantastic Inovations for aircraft carriers.
To the keyboard warriors suggesting that that Captain gave up the ship too early. Remember that HMS Courageous was sunk in very similar initial circumstances two weeks into the war in September 1939 ; A torpedo strike, knocking out all power to the ship, which then capsized and sank in 20 minutes taking 2/3rds of the ships company with her. Knowingly that more carriers were in the pipeline, that help could come from Gib , that trained crew at that stage were at a premium and facing an initial list of 20%, while being cut off from damage control assessments by the loss of internal phones , you can see the Captain's worry that his ship would go down with a similar speed and loss of life and understand the Abandon Ship order
@fredbrandon1645actually its also quite common: there are fairly modern warships lacking any backup generators: because it saves space and money. Personally I think its bloody stupid…….
With an enemy that will attack during a tea break, there is no end of unsportsmanlike things they will do. Can't be ready for everything when they don't play by the rules :)
My late friend P.O. Patrick McKeon photographed the sinking from his photo recon (PRU) Spitfire. I asked him if I could have the pictures and he said "No". When he died in 2008 his widow threw them out.
So, what eventually happened to the captains of the U-boat? Did they survive the war? What was the end result of the Ark Royal's captain? Did he ever command again?
Id like to know the same . I think the RN captain did nothing wrong , and should have been commended for saving all but one of his crew ; I also think that Grand Admiral Doenitz , being a non-Nazi and an honourable German officer , probably would have commended the Captain of the U-Boat . I had a dear old friend , now departed , who was a Czechoslovakianconscript into the Kriegsmarine and ended up serving on an E boat in the med . A shell landed on deck without exploding , and without hesitation , Freddie threw it over the side , For that , he was personally awarded a medal by Admiral Doenitz , and commended for his bravery ; Freddie replied , in perfect german ( for he was a linguist before the war ) , that it wasn't bravery but self preservation as the thing could have exploded at any moment = the admiral laughed . What a great story !
Rear-Admiral Loben Edward Harold Maund, CBE After the HMS ARK ROYAL Maund became Director of Combined Operations, Middle East Director of Combined Operations, India Rear-Admiral, Landing Ships and Craft
As someone else said they actually held a high ranking NATO position eventually. I’ll make sure to add details like those to future videos if people are interested! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
@@derekheeps1244 You have an interesting version of history... If admiral doenitz was a "non-nazi" why did hitler nominate doenitz as the last german WW2 leader? Let me suggest why.... Because doenitz was actually a nazi party member occupying significant positions in the party... and adolphus was peeved when he heard the nominal deputy leader fatty goering had tried contacting the allies for peace terms. So before adolphus shot himself, he ordered fatty to be arrested and executed, and doenitz to assume leadership of the party and country... which big Karl obediently did.
@Hidden History Thank you. He told me about how he and the crew was on shore leave in Gibraltar when news came from the Admiralty that HMS Hood had been sunk by the Bismarck. They were told to cast off immediately to intercept Bismarck off the coast of France as the Rodney, King George V, Dorsetshire, Norfolk and Suffolk were on their way to intercept and sink her. My Uncle's job was armourer and he fitted torpedoes to the Stringbags (Swordfish) in readiness. One of those torpedoes slammed into Bismarck's rudder, jamming it, which doomed her as all she could do was steam in circles and await her fate.
You know when a aircraft carrier is one of the best when a more modern version was built and given the same name. I had seen the modern version in Portsmouth port a few times and what a beast she was
the captain was clearly not captain-material. He had had two short periods of command, of a WWI destroyer and of a cruiser, but was mainly a staff officer. The total lack of damage control speaks volumes. Ark Royal - even the modern one - was always a "happy ship", probably due to a relaxed attitude to training and discipline. Always a bad sign on a warship. The clue is in the name "warship".
My father captain rmj hutton was the captain of hms laforey who went alongside ark royal to try to provide electrican power - it was to his regret they did not manage to do it
but, without power the pumps to provide pressurized water to fight the fire and dewater the flooded spaces (yes Navies use fire hoses to run pumps to dewater spaces) any damage control party would have not been able to do much more than close hatches which would not dewater any spaces, but would contain fires.
The only thing that British carriers didn't need to fear, were Kamikaze attacks - armoured flight decks! Submarine attacks or a large warship could be problematic though......
The armoured carriers yes, could take pretty nasty bombs pretty well too. Ark Royal wasn’t an armoured carrier though, she was designed for the pacific.
The 'electronic communications failure' seems a bit implausible. Surely there would be a combination of telephones and an electro-mechanical engine room to bridge telegraph system?
You are correct. British ships rarely used radios as it gives away their position. If a Swordfish ditched in the sea, it would radio back to the ship by morse to let the ship know but the ship would not reply. The ship did ping out a radio signal every minute so aircraft could use the time of the ping to home in on the ship.
As a kid I was fascinated by these ships what they did and how they did it, the Ark Royal always had a special place in my heart. A point of interest did you know that the Chinese are salvaging the metals from WW2 ships and have taken many war grave ships like HMS Prince of Wales and Renown. I wonder where it will stop because they do some despicable things and have no respect, in my opinion if the eat dogs, cats, and eat anything what sadness this brings to pet lovers, sorry just going off on a tangent. The British government knows about this but the public are unaware of the robbing of our dead sailors of their war graves and final resting place, it makes my blood boil. Anyone interested just google it or use TH-cam for research and you will find the evidence.
The Chinese have no reason to like or respect the Royal Navy or its sunken ships. The scrap metals are a valuable resource and should not be wasted. Nothing is going to bring the dead seamen back to life, and after all those decades there would be no human remains left anyway. You are being both racist and over sentimental.
Ships don't "tilt" they list, they don't "over turn" they capsize. Other than that great video on the unfortunate end of a beautiful ship. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the nomenclature corrections. Between typical TH-cam blunders, and recent generations, this is one way to teach these things. You were not unkind, and you were correct. Now one thing I don't know, is what is the meaning of the name "Ark Royal"? (Especially the Ark part.) Yes we admit when we don't know something.
@willrose5055 Very interesting! In this they refer to the list as the ship "heeling" to starboard. I guess the difference would be British terminology vs US. Thank you for sharing!
A very interesting story and a professional video! 🥇👍 This video deserves thousands likes. Please, everybody out there. Upvote this video so many more can see it!
The U Boat launched more than one torpedo. The one that hit ran too deep, and went under the keel, but it exploded there and did catastrophic damage . The design flaw didn't help but Ark Royal was in very serious trouble. An tilted? Srsly?
Theoretically if different decisions had been made the ship wouldn’t have sunk, but yes the ship doesn’t sink without the torpedo! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
An interesting story , one which I was unaware of . While the captain did well in saving his crew , I wonder if it might have been possible to fly off the several aircraft on deck before the listing became too extreme ? Does anyone know how much of a list would have made it impossible for these aircraft to have taken off . With only 30 or so miles to Gibraltar , they presumably could have flown there . It is also surprising that knocking out one boiler room disabled all electrical power , and half the propulsion . I know this was a long time ago , but would it not have been simple enough to have had pipework which enabled a cross feed of steam from one side of the ship to the other for just such an eventuality , and also generators on each side of the ship . I know such things will have been addressed now , but it is still a surprising lack of foresight . Even Titanic had multiple generators , some of which could work independently , and she could operate with only some boilers lit . I hope the captain was excused after his Court martial since it seemed he acted only with the best interests of his crew in mind , and the fact that there was only one single fatality , to my mind merited a commendation , not a Court martial . While he was the enemy , I know the Captain of the U-Boat was just doing his job , and I hope he too got a commendation for sinking such a prestigious enemy capital ship , just as we would have rewarded one of our officers in the same circumstances . Unlike the U-Boat captain who sank the Lusitania , knowing full well the ship carried many civilians , including women and children , and ultimately his action backfired when it brought the USA into WW1 , this attack was on a legitimate enemy warship , so , with apologies to those who may think otherwise , I think the U-boat captain was entirely justified , from his perspective , in what he did . Of course , nowadays , former enemies are now respectful friends , and I think it is OK to respect former enemies who conducted themselves properly within the rules of war . I think this applies more to naval forces than it does to the other services .
Great question, I’ll see what I can find on that. Initial google of it isn’t turning up too many results but this has got me interested now! Appreciate you watching as well and have a great rest of your week :)
I'm not sure if it was even possible to launch aircraft, even Swordfish once the ship began to take on a list. The design of the engineering spaces and main plant worked against her with the "Boiler Flat" being one large compartment (my take from this video) rather than being divided into several smaller compartments as was done in U.S. carriers. And as the narrator pointed out, the lack of any backup power supply such as diesel generators kept pumps and other equipment from being used once the boilers were extinguished by flooding. Not mentioned in the narration, shock damage from the torpedo hit may well have ruptured fuel lines as well as piping for fire fighting, overboard water discharge, bulkheads and so on to add to the progressive flooding problems.
@@HiddenHistoryYT Planes were launched by steaming at 20knotts into the wind. Launching with a listing deck, a slowing carrier not necessary pointing into the wind and without a flight crew to untie and hold the aircraft would surely only be possible in a drill without the panic brought about by a hole in the hull
You mention 26 ships and 42K tons destroyed by the U-81 (mostly unarmed merchants, so... ) but how many lives were lost? What rules of engagement were in effect at that time?
Commentary is word for word from the wikipedia article. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ark_Royal_(91) nce power was then lost, it was impossible to prevent the ship from sinking-her fate was more the result of design flaws than of the actions of her captain
What a fantastic tally for U81. Britain lost a large number of capital ships not only to the Nazis but also the Japanese. The British navy never recovered its status as a global power after the complacent Admiralty did nothing to change the gung-ho attitude of senior officers..
1 torpedo and an entire warship lost.. This is poor leadership in a crisis. Should have counter flooded and use crew to close compartments, get the engines running
“An Artificer is an appointment held by a member of an armed forces service who is skilled at working on electronic, electrical, electro-mechanical and/or mechanical devices.[1] The specific term "artificer" for this function is typical of the armed forces of countries that are or have been in the British Commonwealth and refers to a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer. Artificer is a job title and not a rank.”
@@BikersDoItSittingDown The CO had to send runners to the engine room because they lost power and couldn’t communicate. This implies they did not have sound powered phones onboard.
Why does it seem like Brit Generals/upper rank Officers oftentimes lack leadership/tactical skills but the Soldiers and Sailors are a warrior class unto themselves? High respects to the latter!!!
I believe it’s because the people in those positions back then often got there because they were born into the upper class and not because they were actually the best for the job. But luckily they had a great naval tradition that the sailors continued to carry on! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
I think you are spot on. And yes, the Brit enlisted have shown their valor from Agincourt to the Falklands (and proud to have served with them in GWOT). BTW: Your Hidden History is well worth the watch. Cheers to future presentations!
That's not generally the case with the RN, who have the tradition and reputation for being extremely aggressive in the face of the enemy. Any study of RN WW2 operations in the Med shows that in spite of often having a lack of air cover the RN repeatedly pulling the Army's nether regions out of the fire at significant cost. And they took every opportunity that presented itself to attack the Italians. Spanked the Italians at Taranto and Matapan. Exhibit A, the bloke in charge... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cunningham,_1st_Viscount_Cunningham_of_Hyndhope
@@rednaughtstudios Yes and it was a tradition in the old Royal Navy to rise up through the ranks, like Nelson. Most of the best Royal Navy commanders started from the bottom ranks, unlike other services. Nelsons naval career began on 1 January 1771, when he reported to the newly commissioned third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an ordinary seaman and coxswain.
@@rednaughtstudios Fully agree with your assessment of RN sailors. It's just situations like sending out the Prince of Wales and Repulse, w/o air cover and the Coventry and Sheffield being in a similar setting that is unsettling. What was the Admiralty thinking? In any case, respect for every KIA Brit throughout our nation's' time working together to keep the world safe from tyrants.
Sunk by U-81? Are you talking another Warship? HMS Ark Royal 91? How did you make this up? HMS Ark Royal R09 which was another warship never deployed to battles however scrapped in earlier 80s n the crews was allowed to visit the ship yard and say goodbye to that ship!
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The one reason Ark Royal sank was the Damage control officer, had preveously had only been on Cruisers which had a totally different way to control listing due to hull dammage. Had he any aircraft carrier damage control experience, the way he tried to counteract the list would have been very differnt. This is explained in great detail by Drachinifel's youtube channel & Dr Alexander Clarke's channel, both are highly knowlageable obout naval history & if you have not seen them I would highly recommend them.
RACIST CHANNEL ,TYPICAL OF AMERICANS 😡
My father was on that ship when she was hit, and was one of the 4 men to go back on and try and save her. His name was po Kenneth milward.
Sure
@@navalcomand1981Why Chris!?!? Don’t be an arse. Cheers 🇬🇧✌🏻
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Bro she or he?
@robertschaeffer4010bro thinks every story is cap
My Uncle was on Aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. He unfortunately went down with the Ship at the age of 18 years in 1939. I am the custodian of his Atlantic Star. So much for King and Country.
My ex wifes Grandfather Royal Marine Cornish, was killed on HMS Courageous.. Rip Sir. ✝
Thank you to him for his service and sacrifice, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Though horrifically tragic of course, I do enjoy hearing from the descendents of service members of WWII.
I'm from the states, but I'm glad to see that the sacrifice of those brave Brits is still remembered in the UK.
God bless y'all from across the pond.
Man that sub hated the Egyptians and other middle eastern ships
😂 Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Or were they just easy pray.
@@chrisardern4594
Prey*
@@negativeindustrial oops
I wonder they were English or French ships under an Egyptian ir Syrian flag.
My grandfather Albert (Ted) Draycott was abroad when it sunk. He was remembered at Luton naval club and donated his cap band. I have some photos taken on board. R i p grandad u done us proud.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
@THG Driver
It is the very fact that the swordfish was slow and low that the Bismarck never managed to shoot down a single swordfish in both attacks.
There are 6 reasons but the fact that their guns did not point down is a major one.
One of the swordfish was hit 175 times by Bismarck and still flew home to HMS Victorious.
Esmonde's aircraft had half of the lower port wing blown away by a 6" shell before he made his attacking run then returned to HMS Victorious.
One of the Swordfish had the bottom of the aircraft blown away by the plume of water from a 15" shell. The TAG (gunner) had to sit on a beam as his feet were dangling over the sea.
I have not mentioned TARANTO here, where they carried out the attack on Italy's fleet and was copied by the Japanese at Pearl Harbour.
These "obsolete" aircraft were operating for the duration of the war and sunk more tonnage of enemy shipping than any other allied aircraft.
Obsolete it may have been, DEADLY it certainly was.
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
A shipmates grandfather was onboard when it was sunk. The ship that rescued him was then sunk! Not his best week 😮
Thank you for your service! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
My Grandfather, Donald Bray, was on board when it was torpedoed. Before he died he would tell me story's as a kid about his time there and still remembered the sound of the torpedo hitting them.
A fella lived about 200 yards down the road from my grandparents he’d been on the artic convoys.
You could hear him scream at night. Man had been in some serious horrors
So glad your grandfather shared his oral history with you so that you can pass it down to other generations.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Leff-tenant, not Loo-tenant.
These were Royal Navy officers. 😊
My grandfather was on the HMS Renown and because they were part of the same battle group his ship was always sailing together with the Ark Royal. I can’t help but feel a personal connection to the Ark Royal because of this.
@James Schulz
Force H stuck together as a team and were very efficient at what they did. HMS Sheffield was also part of the team.
They had a tough job along with all the ships operating in the Mediterranean.
Being so close to land all the time meant they were under constant threat of air attack.
@@BikersDoItSittingDown Yeah I read the log and was able to read about what force H was doing every day of the war and I have to say Force H was incredible hunting down the Admiral Graf Spee, Hipper, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and later the Bismarck. It was like reading a story book then when I got to the part where it said the Ark Royal sunk after all that it really hit me.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
It brings me great sadness to tell you that many ships from all countries in WW2 have been taken from their final resting place by the Chinese for scrap metal including HMS RENOWN and HMS PRINCE OF WALES.
This is makes my blood boil with rage, all those men that gave their live for us to live in peace now, their graves have been taken by the greedy Chinese, will all knew they was a sneaky little rotten bunch but this is lower than low.
U-81 had its finest moment here. As for HMS Ark Royal the lessons learned from her sinking were passed on to later types of aircraft carriers.
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
My uncle, Eric Duncan, was one of the survivors of the sinking.
God bless him !
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
I had a neighbor that survived the Barham
He live until 1999
One of my uncles was an army medic based in Gibraltar and helped treat survivors of the Ark Royal.
@@jeffblacky
Wow
it is hard to imagine anyone surviving
Ark Royal is one of my all time favorite aircraft carriers (after the Big E.) Would’ve loved to see Ark Royal do her thing in the Pacific…
Shame she didn’t get to. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
She was a beautiful looking carrier.
If the Ark Royal had not been sunk, it would have participated in the land invasion of Japan after Germany was defeated. Luckily, the war ended before a land invasion was launched because the butcher bill for such an action would have been unmerciful.
M@@sartainja
My Dad was on HMS Illustrious and was with the American fleet in the Sea of Japan. He would have appreciated watching this and brought back memories of how the carriers played an important part in world war II. Their sacrifice will never be forgotten
My Uncle, Jack Davies was also on HMS Illustrious in the Pacific during WW2. He was an aircraft artificer who serviced the planes. He told my Mum that one of the pilots, a New Zealander I think, saw his cross and asked him if he could borrow it. Uncle Jack said no because it was given to him by my Gan. He always regretted it because the pilot and two others never came back. They were captured by the Japanese and when I was looking up information on Illustrious for my Mum years later I discovered that they had been beheaded. Uncle Jack had passed away at just 48 years old in 1969 so fortunately he never knew what happened to those poor men. He was in sick bay with malaria when the guns started firing and all the men thought she was under attack but they were firing the guns to mark the end of the war in the Pacific. The bravery of all those who served in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts can never be underestimated or forgotten. 🇬🇧
Thank you for your reply. My dad died in 1993. He worked maintaining and repairing the aircraft. It is highly likely that my Dad and your uncle’s paths would have crossed. He had fond memories of the people he served with. His mates called him Jackie Pat. His full name was Jack Paterson. Still have his photo album and his diary. Seems unreal but an entry in his diary read…attacked by kamikaze no damage….He would be pleased that people like you remember and are able to share their personal memories.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Wow! Thank you to him for his service as well, a true hero!
“The design flaw sank the ship” erm I am pretty sure the torpedo did that bro.
Could’ve been saved if different decisions had been made! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Quite correct! A "design flaw" may have meant it couldn't be saved, but it sure as shite didn't sink it!
For those (including myself) who thought he mispronounced OFFICER...
ar·tif·i·cer
noun: ARCHAIC
noun: artificer; plural noun: artificers
a skilled craftsman or inventor.
BRITISH•MILITARY
a skilled mechanic in the armed forces.
A very cool word IMO!
I had the same reaction the first time I ever heard it! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
the word artificer is well enough known
Known as a “Tiffy” in my day.
@@derekheeps1244 Said William Shakespeare to Henry Morgan...
My Grandfather, Geoffrey Brown, served on the Ark Royal and stayed with the Navy after the end of WW2, and was stationed in Sri Lanka (then Celon) in the 1950's.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
So happy that all but one survived.
A minor miracle! Have a great rest of your week :)
I have a massive amount of respect for any and all World War 2 Veterans ! Very few of them are left ?
Unfortunately yes. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
The youngest veteran at D Day landing this year, was 98 years young,
So can't be many left.
They truly were the greatest generation. Not just because of what they did during the war, and they did accomplish amazing feats during the war. Even their wives and everyone else back home rose to the challenge and did amazing things. My grandmother had a Rosie Riveter certificate and my grandfather was injured in the aircraft carrier he served on, the Essex. But their accomplishments after the war may make them the Greatest Generation even more so. They built the world’s greatest economy ever, making America a superpower. Many, many of them were then able to send their children to college, typically the first people in their families to ever have gone to college, the baby boomers, who created more wealth than the nation had ever seen, wealth the following generations have had a difficult time maintaining.
Making your children more successful than you is the mark of a great generation. In that regard they will likely always be the most successful generation in history, not only creating a suponer nation, but lifting their children to heights they never believed possible.
@@srcastic8764 thank you to both of them for their service to this country!
@@HiddenHistoryYT thank you. We are a military family. We’ve had every generation serve, including both my wife and I. I am named after my great uncle, my grandmother’s brother, who was a naval fighter pilot killed in WW2.
Makes me really appreciate the compartmentalization and design damage control of the US Carriers of WW 2
Truly were top class! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
US carrier's wooden decks were a significant vulnerability though.
Makes one wonder why important ships like Arc Royal didn't have "skirts" that could be lowered into the water at night, protecting the sides.
@@RemusKingOfRome Ark Royal was not equipt with fitting for torpedo nets. Also torpedo nets can be used while a vessel was underway.
@@alanjm1234 Kind of. Each American carrier that was sunk took multiple torpedo hits to sink. Wheras the Yorktown took a bomb on the deck in the Battle of the Coral Sea and was ready to go at Midway. Not completely repaired, but ready for flight operations.
American carriers that took multiple bomb hits were out of action for repairs, but they weren't destroyed.
That’s why Japan lost Four Aircraft Carriers at Midway, their damage control was useless. That’s why the Yorktown survived the battle of Coral Sea and almost survived Midway, their damage control was Solid.
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Kinda a combination of different factors the us being extremely lucky to catch the Japanese with their pants down with planes and arms on the deck about to take off. As well as damage control training that was ludicrious to american and other western power's standards.
The japanese i believe could not do damage control unless a superior officer told them to start it and not all the crew were trained in damage control, whereas in the us navy most everyone was given basic damage control/firefighting training (could be wrong was 80 years ago).
Most of japan's carriers damage control was disabled in the initial attack on each ship rendering it useless at midway. Short of the ki-tan(i think it is called) or long lance torpedo most of japan's war tech was not particularly good in the long run.
Japan made alot of stupid decisions in regards to how it fought the war against the us, in regards to new pilot training(keep the old veterans flying till they die), equipment having multiple types of one ammunition that is not standardized ect.
Tl Dr. Japan did not it seems to plan out ahead for a long war, in tech, supply and personal training, the us seems as though it did the exact opposite overprepared for everything.
The Royal Navy has no loo-tenants, it has left tenants, Royal Navy ship do not tilt or overturn, they list and capsize. other than that, all good.
Thanks for the feedback! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Just a quick note on British military pronunciation: Lieutenant is not pronounced Loo- Tenant as it is in America
It is “Leff-tenant”
This applies to all the Britsih armed forces and the Crown dependency administration, such as Leff-Tenant” Governors of Australia and Canada and remnants of the old Empire.
Appreciate the feedback! Will fix for the future. Thank you for watching and have a great week :)
It should be noted that this is one of the first aircraft carriers in the world, built between the wars.
It should also be noted that it had survived many attacks in the years it served, so many that the Nazis declared it sunk many times.
When compared to the new USA Essex class aircraft carriers, it was able to take a good deal of battle damage, though no where near as good as our new fleet carriers.
Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
@@treeaddict
When a British aircraft carrier was hit by kamikazes(They were kept close to Japan so they would get attacked before the USA fleet)
Most were operational within a few hours.
Some were hit twice.
When an Essex class was hit by a kamikaze, it was out for days or months.
The Essex had wooden decks whereas the Fleet carriers had armoured flight decks.
USS Saratoga hit 21feb45
sent to Bremerton for repairs
USS Enterprise hit 11Apr45
repaired at Ulithi
hit again 14May45
Repaired at Puget Sound
USS Intrepid (now in New York as a museum
Hit 25Nov44
Repaired in San Francisco
The list is larger which you can google
HMS Formidable
4 May 1945
Struck by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" carrying one 250 kg bomb which created a 2 foot square hole and a 24 x 20 foot depression in the armored flight deck.
The hole in the flight deck was temporarily patched with wood and concrete with thin steel plates tack welded on top. She was able to operate aircraft by the next morning.
9 May 1945
Struck by a kamikaze into the after deck park which killed one and wounded eight. Deck depressed 4.5 inches with a supporting beam distorted by 3 inches
Able to launch and land aircraft 50 minutes later
HMS Illustrious
6 April 45
A Yokosuka D4Y3 Suisei "Judy" kamikaze struck a glancing blow to the island
after the plane crashed into the sea, its bomb exploded underwater close alongside. This inflicted severe structural damage, with the outer hull opened up and some of the frames cracked. The damage did not interrupt flight operations, but speed was limited to 19 knots.
HMS Indefatigable
1Apr45
truck by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" carrying one 250 kg bomb on the starboard side of island at the junction with the flight deck
Able to land Seafires about forty minutes after attack
HMS Indomitable
4 May 1945
A Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" Kamikaze belly-landed next to the island but broke up and went over the side and inflicted no damage.
HMS Victorious
1 April 1945
Attacked by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" which struck its starboard wing against the port side of the flight deck, causing the plane to cartwheel into the sea where its 250 kg bomb exploded underwater about 80 feet from the ship's side. Tons of water, fuel and fragments of both plane and pilot were thrown on the deck, but the ship escaped damage.
9 May 1945
Struck by two kamikazes
"Zeke" making a shallow dive which hit the flight deck at Frame 30 near the forward lift
The second kamikaze hit a glancing blow against the port side aft, destroying four Corsairs and a 40 mm gun director
it was able to fly off planes one hour later and could land planes twelve hours later
Please do check my facts and let me know if you disagree with any of them
It is little known that the British were hunting down kamikazes in the pacific so it does not surprise me that you are unaware of this.
Another interesting fact is that the Queen's husband was on a destroyer here, defending the fleet carriers and picking up airman from the sea.
@@BikersDoItSittingDown Very well put!
Remember the 2 ark royal carriers were built at lairds yard on the wirral
@@BikersDoItSittingDown British carriers definitely didn’t shy away from any fights!
Fascinating. Thank you. A legend in my family line in NZ, had the Ark Royal making it to Neutral Rio for recovery and repair. Clearly this was but story time, and thank you for the actual history, as quite unaware till now. Although well aware the Ark Royal did get Swordfish up in the air to look for the Bismarck.
Glad to hear! Greatly appreciate you watching and have a fantastic week :)
The swordfish were instrumental in the Bismark's sinking.
'sAnk four sailing vessels'!
'We sank the carrier.' / 'We have sunk the carrier; 'I swam' / 'I have swum'
Great video - excellent scripting and choice of images.
Informative and enjoyable - thanks, well done, and best regards
@@notreallydavidut
Ok
Amazing what submarines could do back then.
Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
In February 11 she sunk 4 sailing vessels, the Egyptian Al Kasbana ( The Winner), and Sabah El Kheir (Good Morning), the Lebanese Hosney and the Palestinian Dolphin. The Palestinian and Lebanese ships were civilian ships, as the Palestinian one was a cargo ship carrying oil.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
My grandfather was onboard when she was hit - they only lost 1 man
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
I'm so glad that the fire extinguishing systems weren't a cause of the sinking. It was my Grandfather who designed and supervised the installation of the fire systems!
Wow, that is incredible! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Damn, that little sub meant business! Sinking a French "Sub" destroyer. How ironic.
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Did the British ultimately equip future ships with diesel generators to supplement electrical generation?
Yes.
Yep! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
While they did, they also brought catapults, angled deck, the mirror landing system, and they were the first to purpose build/lay down an aircraft carrier, the HMS Hermes. The Royal Navy had some fantastic Inovations for aircraft carriers.
To the keyboard warriors suggesting that that Captain gave up the ship too early.
Remember that HMS Courageous was sunk in very similar initial circumstances two weeks into the war in September 1939 ; A torpedo strike, knocking out all power to the ship, which then capsized and sank in 20 minutes taking 2/3rds of the ships company with her.
Knowingly that more carriers were in the pipeline, that help could come from Gib , that trained crew at that stage were at a premium and facing an initial list of 20%, while being cut off from damage control assessments by the loss of internal phones , you can see the Captain's worry that his ship would go down with a similar speed and loss of life and understand the Abandon Ship order
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
To have a capital ship such as a carrier without emergency diesel generators is incredibly foolish.
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
We've now got a carrier without crew or aircraft. And you think not having a genny is a problem?
@fredbrandon1645. EXACTLY 🤷♂️🤦♂️
@fredbrandon1645actually its also quite common: there are fairly modern warships lacking any backup generators: because it saves space and money. Personally I think its bloody stupid…….
With an enemy that will attack during a tea break, there is no end of unsportsmanlike things they will do. Can't be ready for everything when they don't play by the rules :)
My late friend P.O. Patrick McKeon photographed the sinking from his photo recon (PRU) Spitfire. I asked him if I could have the pictures and he said "No". When he died in 2008 his widow threw them out.
So damn typical of family not appreciating things. Really sad.
Wow! Very unfortunate. Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
So, what eventually happened to the captains of the U-boat? Did they survive the war? What was the end result of the Ark Royal's captain? Did he ever command again?
Id like to know the same . I think the RN captain did nothing wrong , and should have been commended for saving all but one of his crew ; I also think that Grand Admiral Doenitz , being a non-Nazi and an honourable German officer , probably would have commended the Captain of the U-Boat . I had a dear old friend , now departed , who was a Czechoslovakianconscript into the Kriegsmarine and ended up serving on an E boat in the med . A shell landed on deck without exploding , and without hesitation , Freddie threw it over the side , For that , he was personally awarded a medal by Admiral Doenitz , and commended for his bravery ; Freddie replied , in perfect german ( for he was a linguist before the war ) , that it wasn't bravery but self preservation as the thing could have exploded at any moment = the admiral laughed . What a great story !
Guggenberger not only survived the war but ended up being the deputy chief of NATO Northern Command
Rear-Admiral Loben Edward Harold Maund, CBE
After the HMS ARK ROYAL Maund became
Director of Combined Operations, Middle East
Director of Combined Operations, India
Rear-Admiral, Landing Ships and Craft
As someone else said they actually held a high ranking NATO position eventually. I’ll make sure to add details like those to future videos if people are interested!
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
@@derekheeps1244 You have an interesting version of history... If admiral doenitz was a "non-nazi" why did hitler nominate doenitz as the last german WW2 leader?
Let me suggest why.... Because doenitz was actually a nazi party member occupying significant positions in the party... and adolphus was peeved when he heard the nominal deputy leader fatty goering had tried contacting the allies for peace terms. So before adolphus shot himself, he ordered fatty to be arrested and executed, and doenitz to assume leadership of the party and country... which big Karl obediently did.
My grandad john hill served
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
My late Uncle served aboard the Ark Royal
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
@Hidden History Thank you. He told me about how he and the crew was on shore leave in Gibraltar when news came from the Admiralty that HMS Hood had been sunk by the Bismarck.
They were told to cast off immediately to intercept Bismarck off the coast of France as the Rodney, King George V, Dorsetshire, Norfolk and Suffolk were on their way to intercept and sink her.
My Uncle's job was armourer and he fitted torpedoes to the Stringbags (Swordfish) in readiness.
One of those torpedoes slammed into Bismarck's rudder, jamming it, which doomed her as all she could do was steam in circles and await her fate.
@@darranweston9425 absolutely incredible!
You know when a aircraft carrier is one of the best when a more modern version was built and given the same name. I had seen the modern version in Portsmouth port a few times and what a beast she was
Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
the captain was clearly not captain-material. He had had two short periods of command, of a WWI destroyer and of a cruiser, but was mainly a staff officer. The total lack of damage control speaks volumes. Ark Royal - even the modern one - was always a "happy ship", probably due to a relaxed attitude to training and discipline. Always a bad sign on a warship. The clue is in the name "warship".
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
My father captain rmj hutton was the captain of hms laforey who went alongside ark royal to try to provide electrican power - it was to his regret they did not manage to do it
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
but, without power the pumps to provide pressurized water to fight the fire and dewater the flooded spaces (yes Navies use fire hoses to run pumps to dewater spaces) any damage control party would have not been able to do much more than close hatches which would not dewater any spaces, but would contain fires.
Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
Thanks for sharing this amazing story!
The only thing that British carriers didn't need to fear, were Kamikaze attacks - armoured flight decks! Submarine attacks or a large warship could be problematic though......
The armoured carriers yes, could take pretty nasty bombs pretty well too. Ark Royal wasn’t an armoured carrier though, she was designed for the pacific.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
@@snebbywebby2587
was she?
I understand that one, slightly older seaman was drowned in his bunk shortly after the torpedo struck.
You are correct! Thanks for watching and have an awesome week :)
The 'electronic communications failure' seems a bit implausible. Surely there would be a combination of telephones and an electro-mechanical engine room to bridge telegraph system?
You are correct.
British ships rarely used radios as it gives away their position.
If a Swordfish ditched in the sea, it would radio back to the ship by morse to let the ship know but the ship would not reply.
The ship did ping out a radio signal every minute so aircraft could use the time of the ping to home in on the ship.
My father John Hunt Hedley known to his friends as Jack serve on the Ark Royal and also The hood
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero!
As a kid I was fascinated by these ships what they did and how they did it, the Ark Royal always had a special place in my heart.
A point of interest did you know that the Chinese are salvaging the metals from WW2 ships and have taken many war grave ships like HMS Prince of Wales and Renown.
I wonder where it will stop because they do some despicable things and have no respect,
in my opinion if the eat dogs, cats, and eat anything what sadness this brings to pet lovers, sorry just going off on a tangent.
The British government knows about this but the public are unaware of the robbing of our dead sailors of their war graves and final resting place, it makes my blood boil.
Anyone interested just google it or use TH-cam for research and you will find the evidence.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
The Chinese have no reason to like or respect the Royal Navy or its sunken ships. The scrap metals are a valuable resource and should not be wasted. Nothing is going to bring the dead seamen back to life, and after all those decades there would be no human remains left anyway. You are being both racist and over sentimental.
My Dad was on that ship.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Thanks for this👍
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Ships don't "tilt" they list, they don't "over turn" they capsize. Other than that great video on the unfortunate end of a beautiful ship. Thanks for sharing!
Appreciate the feedback, will make sure that isn’t used again! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Thanks for the nomenclature corrections.
Between typical TH-cam blunders, and recent generations, this is one way to teach these things. You were not unkind, and you were correct.
Now one thing I don't know, is what is the meaning of the name "Ark Royal"? (Especially the Ark part.)
Yes we admit when we don't know something.
@@michaeldougfir9807 Protector of Royalty, since an ark is designed to keep something safe.
Just what I was going to say.
@willrose5055 Very interesting! In this they refer to the list as the ship "heeling" to starboard. I guess the difference would be British terminology vs US. Thank you for sharing!
Its a good thing the weather was good and the sea almost flat calm. Had the weather been rough they may not have been able to rescue all hands.
Yep! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Another banger, keep up the great work!
Greatly appreciate it! Will do and have a great week :)
My Uncle I never Knew Died on that ship . Some nice photo's I have never seen before . RIP Uncle Brian.
respect
Thank you to him for his service and sacrifice, he is truly a hero who will always be remembered!
Have a great rest of your week :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT Thank you
My grandad Thomas Clarke, was air lifted off this ship the day before it was hit, due to ill health.
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
A very interesting story and a professional video! 🥇👍
This video deserves thousands likes.
Please, everybody out there. Upvote this video so many more can see it!
Greatly appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a fantastic week :)
The U Boat launched more than one torpedo. The one that hit ran too deep, and went under the keel, but it exploded there and did catastrophic damage . The design flaw didn't help but Ark Royal was in very serious trouble.
An tilted? Srsly?
Loo-tenant Commander?
Interesting video!!
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
I was aboard the Ark Royal in 1992
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ark_Royal_(R07)
Thank you for your service! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
My father served aboard her. He was aboard when she was hit.
Thank you to him for his service!
She should have been preserved
So the Germans sunk the Ark Royal and was not sunk by a Design Flaw..
Theoretically if different decisions had been made the ship wouldn’t have sunk, but yes the ship doesn’t sink without the torpedo! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
An interesting story , one which I was unaware of .
While the captain did well in saving his crew , I wonder if it might have been possible to fly off the several aircraft on deck before the listing became too extreme ? Does anyone know how much of a list would have made it impossible for these aircraft to have taken off . With only 30 or so miles to Gibraltar , they presumably could have flown there .
It is also surprising that knocking out one boiler room disabled all electrical power , and half the propulsion . I know this was a long time ago , but would it not have been simple enough to have had pipework which enabled a cross feed of steam from one side of the ship to the other for just such an eventuality , and also generators on each side of the ship . I know such things will have been addressed now , but it is still a surprising lack of foresight . Even Titanic had multiple generators , some of which could work independently , and she could operate with only some boilers lit .
I hope the captain was excused after his Court martial since it seemed he acted only with the best interests of his crew in mind , and the fact that there was only one single fatality , to my mind merited a commendation , not a Court martial .
While he was the enemy , I know the Captain of the U-Boat was just doing his job , and I hope he too got a commendation for sinking such a prestigious enemy capital ship , just as we would have rewarded one of our officers in the same circumstances . Unlike the U-Boat captain who sank the Lusitania , knowing full well the ship carried many civilians , including women and children , and ultimately his action backfired when it brought the USA into WW1 , this attack was on a legitimate enemy warship , so , with apologies to those who may think otherwise , I think the U-boat captain was entirely justified , from his perspective , in what he did .
Of course , nowadays , former enemies are now respectful friends , and I think it is OK to respect former enemies who conducted themselves properly within the rules of war . I think this applies more to naval forces than it does to the other services .
Great question, I’ll see what I can find on that. Initial google of it isn’t turning up too many results but this has got me interested now! Appreciate you watching as well and have a great rest of your week :)
I'm not sure if it was even possible to launch aircraft, even Swordfish once the ship began to take on a list.
The design of the engineering spaces and main plant worked against her with the "Boiler Flat" being one large compartment (my take from this video) rather than being divided into several smaller compartments as was done in U.S. carriers. And as the narrator pointed out, the lack of any backup power supply such as diesel generators kept pumps and other equipment from being used once the boilers were extinguished by flooding.
Not mentioned in the narration, shock damage from the torpedo hit may well have ruptured fuel lines as well as piping for fire fighting, overboard water discharge, bulkheads and so on to add to the progressive flooding problems.
it is routine for the captain and surviving officers to attend a court martial if a ship is lost.
@@HiddenHistoryYT Planes were launched by steaming at 20knotts into the wind. Launching with a listing deck, a slowing carrier not necessary pointing into the wind and without a flight crew to untie and hold the aircraft would surely only be possible in a drill without the panic brought about by a hole in the hull
It's a funny name that but fair play to the googie-burger or whatever. Sinking this pretty sweet ship.
Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your weekend :)
You mention 26 ships and 42K tons destroyed by the U-81 (mostly unarmed merchants, so... ) but how many lives were lost? What rules of engagement were in effect at that time?
It either SANK or was SUNK.
Wow I wonder how the tea was?
I imagine it got cold! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Why do videos on the Royal Navy always get spammed with dislikes?
Not sure tbh. Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
U-81
Sunk on 9 January 1944 by US bombers in Pola, Croatia.
Wreck raised on 22 April 1944 and scrapped[
U-81 obviously a real fighting boat.
An interesting and well told story.
Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
The headline is for the Carrier Ark Royal. Vlog is for U-81 of the German Navy.😮
Can’t have one without the other ;)
It's "list" and "capsize". Young children know that.
Jeez, must be a as lighthearted as a hatful of arseholes when the grandkids come around to your place! How old are they?
My dad was on HMS Noahsark and he said he and his sister were the only two monkeys on board.
high quality channel
Greatly appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Nice video...thanks.
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Menudo papelón el de la Royal Navy en la SGM , gran flota submarina.
Commentary is word for word from the wikipedia article. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Ark_Royal_(91) nce power was then lost, it was impossible to prevent the ship from sinking-her fate was more the result of design flaws than of the actions of her captain
Oh your comment, I was like my commentary is not haha. Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Whoever discovered the submarine sonar signal but dismissed it as a friendly should be court-martialed instead.
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I didnt read much about WW2 history, see the thumbnail i thought it was RO9 who did
Great video anyway
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
My uncle Dogue bradshaw was a pom pom gunner on this , he was the youngest sailor on it
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Brave wolves of the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Well, my dad's pocket watch went down with this great ship. He didn't. 😊
Thank you to him for his service, a true hero! Appreciate you watching & have a great week :)
Unsinkable Sam sinks a 3rd.
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Excellent! Had heard parts of the story before but never this much detail. Thanks!
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"List" not "tilt", and "sank" not "sunk" (except for the last "sunk" which is correct).
Yeah, that faulty german torpedo.
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judging by how many people in the comments had relatives on it at the time I think the real reason it sunk was over crowding
😂 appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
What a fantastic tally for U81. Britain lost a large number of capital ships not only to the Nazis but also the Japanese. The British navy never recovered its status as a global power after the complacent Admiralty did nothing to change the gung-ho attitude of senior officers..
what a stupid comment
30 foot by 130 foot hole? Did I hear that correctly? Because that is about the size of my house!
Yep!
My father was also on Ark Royal
Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero!
This was really interesting
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1 torpedo and an entire warship lost.. This is poor leadership in a crisis. Should have counter flooded and use crew to close compartments, get the engines running
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*_Just curious, what is an artificer?_*
Skilled petty officer, ie in engine room.
“An Artificer is an appointment held by a member of an armed forces service who is skilled at working on electronic, electrical, electro-mechanical and/or mechanical devices.[1] The specific term "artificer" for this function is typical of the armed forces of countries that are or have been in the British Commonwealth and refers to a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer. Artificer is a job title and not a rank.”
@@HiddenHistoryYT I see. Thanks.
Do British ships not have sound-powered phones?
Why would they use phones?
@@BikersDoItSittingDown The CO had to send runners to the engine room because they lost power and couldn’t communicate. This implies they did not have sound powered phones onboard.
Why does it seem like Brit Generals/upper rank Officers oftentimes lack leadership/tactical skills but the Soldiers and Sailors are a warrior class unto themselves? High respects to the latter!!!
I believe it’s because the people in those positions back then often got there because they were born into the upper class and not because they were actually the best for the job. But luckily they had a great naval tradition that the sailors continued to carry on! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
I think you are spot on. And yes, the Brit enlisted have shown their valor from Agincourt to the Falklands (and proud to have served with them in GWOT). BTW: Your Hidden History is well worth the watch. Cheers to future presentations!
That's not generally the case with the RN, who have the tradition and reputation for being extremely aggressive in the face of the enemy. Any study of RN WW2 operations in the Med shows that in spite of often having a lack of air cover the RN repeatedly pulling the Army's nether regions out of the fire at significant cost. And they took every opportunity that presented itself to attack the Italians. Spanked the Italians at Taranto and Matapan. Exhibit A, the bloke in charge...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cunningham,_1st_Viscount_Cunningham_of_Hyndhope
@@rednaughtstudios Yes and it was a tradition in the old Royal Navy to rise up through the ranks, like Nelson. Most of the best Royal Navy commanders started from the bottom ranks, unlike other services. Nelsons naval career began on 1 January 1771, when he reported to the newly commissioned third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an ordinary seaman and coxswain.
@@rednaughtstudios Fully agree with your assessment of RN sailors. It's just situations like sending out the Prince of Wales and Repulse, w/o air cover and the Coventry and Sheffield being in a similar setting that is unsettling. What was the Admiralty thinking? In any case, respect for every KIA Brit throughout our nation's' time working together to keep the world safe from tyrants.
God bless all the sailors
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Right back at you ! Fantastic channel .
@@andreasjacovides4800 Greatly appreciate it!
Listing..not tilting. But a great video all the same. Well done fella
Will correct in the future! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Sunk by U-81? Are you talking another Warship? HMS Ark Royal 91? How did you make this up? HMS Ark Royal R09 which was another warship never deployed to battles however scrapped in earlier 80s n the crews was allowed to visit the ship yard and say goodbye to that ship!
man that intro gets me fired up everytime
Turn me up Josh
The end of the British Empire.... right there in a single scene.