Where is the list of all the members of operation Odysseus? All I can see is the logos at the beginning and although I know of many of them there are some I don’t recognise.
This also puts into perspective how devastating it was when one of these behemoths sank. A sizable portion of the nations GDP, as well as enough artillery pieces to outfit an army, all lost below the waves where they could never be recovered.
justin beath They were built to be used in the same general role as ships-of-the-line (blast enemy naval vessels from long range while being too big to be sunk by anything but an equal opponent). They were supposed to be the superweapons that would determine everything Except that never happened. Only a handful of battleship engagements happened in WWI and WWII combined, and they weren’t engagements that turned the tide of battle like everyone on all sides was hoping for. In WWI everybody was too chicken to use battleships properly. In WWII aircraft carriers could do the job of maritime domination far better than a battleship, and battleships became relegated to doing things that could have been done much more cost-effectively with cruisers or even destroyers. So: it turns out every nation with them just ended up wasting money.
@@bkjeong4302 To be fair the British had good reason to be chicken with their battleships during WW1. Why risk your battleships when your navy is already starving the enemy? There was no need to have a decisive naval battle.
The problem with these ships is they don't have enough guns. They should triple the number of guns and put ducks underneath them all, to counteract the weight problem. Because ducks float.
@John Ashtone It's soo much more difficult to transport guns on land, you can't harness the wind and lay back, you have to push it yourself or with horses. Horses eat a lot and Humans are too weak to push large artillery pieces, It was and still is more efficent to move on the sea than on ground, even now the avarage ship carries goods and resources 2 times more fuel efficently than any train or rig.
@John Ashtone A first rate line of battle ship has more than 100 guns. The Spanish warship Santisima Trinidad was rated at 112 guns but carried 140 during the battle off Cape Trafalgar. Add that to the fact that most field armies carried 12 pounders as their biggest guns while the Santisima Trinidad carried 30 36 pounders on her lower deck.
Let me just point out that the guns on warships were recovered, when it was possible. The vasa for example, the majority of her guns were recovered by the use of diving bells after she sunk. Guns were so expensive that it was worth the massive effort.
@@BrandonF i hase one Question why in the time of the Giant and big Sail ships why there was offen only Canons used to perporate the ship and rearly to try in Battle to set the enemy Ships on Fire they are made out of Wood Sail they for the modern eyes View easy to burn?
@@killerkraut9179 Incendiary weapons were as much of a danger to the ships using them as to the ones they were used against. Shore batteries used red hot cannonballs on occasion, experiments with those on ships proved far too dangerous. Also, sinking enemy vessels was always only the second best option. Capturing was far more desirable. Dedicated fireships were rarely successful although used quite often. Shells/grenades were (at sea) only fired from mortars and this required specially constructed ships. Even on land precision fire with those was extremly difficult. On a heaving ship against moving targets it was futile, so mortar ships were exclusively used against stationary targets (on shore or ships at anchor). Same is true about Congreve rockets. Once reliable grenades (with impact fuses) for straight shooting cannons were available, wooden warships without iron armor became obsolete rather quickly.
@@killerkraut9179 The Seeadler was a not a regular warship but a civilian sail ship that got an engine and a piece of light artillery added. She preyed on helpless merchant ships and would not have survived an encounter with any actual warship (unlike some other German commerce raiders).
I adore this, especially how you included naval history, my favourite part of a war. Not to mention other ships more larger than the victory, such as the Santissima Trinidad, with 140 guns, along 4 gun decks! The Napoleonic wars naval side is truly a sight to behold, the stories from the seas are fascinating. I think all people who like learning about the American war of Independence and Napoleonic wars should most defiantly read and learn about these ships.
These warships show that prior to the aviation age, the true test of a nation's industrial creativity was the warship whether powered by oars, sails, or steam for nothing else at the time took more skill and effort to create and then deploy.
I saw it in port there as well when I was a young boy. It’s a truly beautiful ship, and really helps you to understand the power of these vessels when you stand beside or onboard it.
Spectacular, my esteemed! As a History major, Operation Odysseus is much appreciated. Splendid narration and approach to the topic, which merits a rightful subscription!
The music playing at about the 4:30 mark is "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - the best rendition I've heard was by Vaughan Williams. This is the sad music playing in Master and Commander: Far Side of the World when the crewman who fell overboard in heavy seas has to be given up for lost to save the ship and the lives of the entire crew.
Its interesting how the geography of Britain forced the nation to put so much effort into its navey. This not only saved the country from countless invasions, but also propelled technology into the industrial age and then to today. Its fascinating how nature guides humanity towards complexity.
Aww, ships of the line and sailing ships in general! I've always been fascinated by them, but sadly only few TH-camrs (even those who have a focus on history) barely ever touch that topic. Btw, i just found your channel and instantly subscribed.
Thanks for your reply! Do you plan to make more naval focused videos someday? Maybe examining and explaining naval batte tactics (single ships or fleets), sailing in general and other things related to naval warfare in those times. This is such a huge and fascinating topic, i wonder why only so few people give it the attention it deserves.
You certainly gave a new perception of these incredible wooden ships of the line. Some very interesting information about the comparison of the major Napoleonic land battles and sea battles in terms of guns, their cannon sizes and people who participated. Thanks for posting.
Love how the very suitable and not at all intrusive background music is by one of the BEST English composers EVAH, Ralph Von Williams. Well done, me laddies!!
Great video really great way to get across the true cost and splendor of the 1st rate ships!!!! A point that is often forgotten about when looking at Carriers in the US Navy is that the cost of the planes is not included. So the $13 Billion cost is without planes. Using the Nimitz carrier airwing as a guide (could not find Fords carrier airwing) would be about $4 Billion extra. so its really a $17 Billon all together so it's .085% of the US GDP.
A big and large Navy with sizable ships were the life lines of the biggest oversea empires humans created. Without them neither the Spanish, Portugese, British or Dutch Empire would have reached such heights and greatness. All thanks to behemoths like these
Brandon, this was fantastic, I found you only yesterday going about re-enacting and uniform etc, I have subscribed. You have an obvious passion for all things historic and it shines through whatever you speak about. A great channel, which I'm glad to now be a part of. BTW, I myself was an NCO in the British Army, I served in the 1st Bn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, formerly the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, who were originally the 5th Regiment of Foot, (The Fighting Fifth, as described by Wellington, who often selected them as his personal bodyguard). They saw a lot of service in North America, including Lexington, and at Brandywine Creek they broke the Continental Army's centre and captured five cannon.
I'm glad that one of the great last hurrahs of the ship of the line was the Austro-Hungarian Kaiser preforming a ram against an armored ship at the battle of Lissa in the Italio-Austrian war. They didn't go obsolete without a fight
The ship was big they said, it'd be fun they said. Every time I go to the historic dockyard in Portsmouth I struggle to fit my 185cm tall self through the door of that thing.
You could also mention that the need to secure the raw materials, such as Baltic pine for the masts, was a key priority of British foreign policy, and that the need to fund the fleet was a key factor in the emergence of modern banking and taxation. These ships really did help shape the modern world.
I had never really thought about the influence of military spending on the development of modern banking systems, that sounds like a fascinating topic for a potential article.
There's a town near where I grew up that has a population of ~890. HMS Victory would have required every man, every woman, and most children in that town. That's an impressive vessel!
To think that nearly a hundred years before the launch of the Victory, the Dutch had already helped the Swedes construct a similarly sized vessel; the Stora Kronan (also known as Kronan), which numbered a 122 guns and about 800 souls just alike. She was, an absolute exception for her day, being the single largest vessel in the world at the time. She would, if compared to any other vessel, be closest to the Trinidad (again, built nearly a hundred years later), with her 140 guns and 900 souls aboard. Which, is not all that much larger. I do however think, that the Stora Kronan looked more impressive than these later vessels. Merely due to the decoration of her stern ans bow.
British navy owes a lot to the Dutch. The wars with the Dutch helped the British navy into the powerhouse it became. Took many of the ideas of the Dutch and after the stewert monarchy Prince of orange was jubilanty welcomed to take the crown of Britain and interdiction of tea.
@@roythescrub461 Well quite frankly, the disaster of the Vasa was the fault of the trandlators doing their work at the shipyard on which she was built. The building master was Dutchman, and so was about a quarter of the workforce working on her (they were in service of the VOC at the time, and their services were rented out to the Swedish crown), however; The issue was that the translatoon of a Foot (length). The Dutch and Swedish ones differed ever so slightly. And since most Dutchmen were working on the larboard/portside (left) of the hull, that side turned out to be ever so slightly larger in circumference. While the Swedish one had a smaller circumference. Ending up with an uneven hull. This was not noticed at the time, mostly due to the language barrier (as far as I am aware). This mistake, combined with the fact that the guns aboard the Vasa were not attached to the hull by ropes like on Dutch and English vessels at the time caused the disaster when she just left port. When she left port, the slightly larger waves of the Baltic sea swept her over her starboard, to such an extend that some of the larboard guns rolled to starboard, bringing her out of balance so horribly that the lower gundeck's gunports were brought down into the water, causing them to let in the water. Thereby flooding her in a few minutes, and causing her to capsize. The Stora Kronan met a similar fate, for during the battle of Øland (I believe), in 1672 (If I remember correctly), she made ready to turn around against the wind, when the Swedish fleet was being pluaged by a Dutch squadron in the rear of their formation. So, the Kronan, making her way against the wind, kept the gunports of her lower gundeck open, in spite of the strong wind (her captain, was a completely inexperienced admiral, who only recently was appointed by himself, having only been a minister for some years before) So; She turned, the lower gunports reached the waterline on her lee, and flooded the lower gundeck in a mere few minutes. She capsizded, just as some of the Dutch vessels passed by, and fired into her now exposed bottom. The powder hold was hit, and she, togther with her 800 crew, were blown sky-high in an instant. Quite the shame she had to fall at the hands of the same people who built her.
@@JariB. very interesting, I've seen the Vasa several times and it is undoubtedly a beautiful ship so it's a shame it sank. Doesn't make the event any less embarrassing, even if it technically wasn't any of the builders fault directly.
You are somewhat exaggerating the size and power of the Kronan. In fact Victory is considerably larger and more powerful. Kronan was more comparable to the English Sovereign of the Seas built about 30 years before Kronan and also renowned for her lavish decoration.
Brandon, one of the things, I would like for you to do with regard to wearing historic military uniforms, is to pay your respects at certain monuments and battle sites that correspond to the uniform. For instance, in Great Britain, you could wear the uniform of the British Tommy at a monument or site that memorializes the British soldier of World War I or II. Not only does it provide great background, but it also provides great historical context and honors both the veterans and the fallen. I think the relatives and ancestors would look upon it very kindly. My two shillings. Best regards.
I know that your idea is well-meant, but as a descendant (though not yet an ancestor), and having served in a minor way myself, I would prefer not to see this happening. Paying respect happens inside yourself. Wearing a uniform in public to which you are not entitled is vulgar self advertisement. Depending on the context and behaviour, it may also be illegal.
Good job, Brandon! Though you did wax lyrical a bit, it's nice to hear it done well. I have to turn you on to a song about a British seaman, called "Old Admirals" by Al Stewart, from the early 1970s. It's loosely based on the life of First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher. Fisher was responsible, as you're probably aware, for the development of the new "Dreadnought" ships. He also implemented many other innovations, such as teaching sailors to swim. I learned to swim the same way, as my grandfather had taught my mother, who was born in Glasgow. I still can remember the USS Constitution - famous as "Old Ironsides"- sailing after it's renovation 15 years ago, on TV. It's only a frigate. It was a big deal for Walter Cronkite, a famous American news reader, who was also a life-long sailor, to be offered to take the wheel. (The steering wheel was a technical wonder when it was introduced to wooden sailing ships - a ship with a wheel could turn on a penny and blast a slower opponent to pieces.) I have enjoyed sea stories for more than 50 years. I thank you again, keep up the good work.
Cost of maintaing a ship of the line. Pay of officers down jack-tars. Officers mess as opposed to crews mess. How they filled their days, what they ate, where they slept. Marines sea duty when not in combat. Sanding the deck. Maintaining the rigging. All skills required to keep the ship in order.
The US operates around 20+ aircraft carriers alone. 11 super carriers and approximately 10-15 amphibious assault ships. The AAS is essentially the modern day escort carrier. The Tarawa, wasp and American classes are all examples of this smaller carrier.
Wow, around 103 3rd rates and 134 5th rates big frigates, those where the real power of the Royal Navy, no doubt! And not forget de sloops of war, not much firepower but very fast en excellent for smaller 'secret' missions or to transport officers from one big ship to another. Great channel, please continue to learn us history!
Napoleon Total war ship battles are kinda interesting, but annoying how they make them end early. THey are also very clunky to handle. Ships dont just stay in a line and once your line gets all twisted up, it just turns into a giant fluster cluck......... Seeing those back then would probably be the same sense of awe we get when we see a Battleship up close today, or when ATC sees the Russian AN-225 at an airport. Just awesome sight to see.
Very impressive. Its hard to get me interested as I am an old git who has heard it all but you made your point very well. I always think if you turn a ship of the line upside down you got a huge building the size of a church. I mean that is frigging HUGE. And made of wood ! Awesome.
I thoroughly enjoyed your work, you have truly shown how titanic these ships where. My Grandad is a former Navy seaman, he volunteers as a tour guide on board the HMS Victory as well as HMS Warrior, the first Steel hulled sail ship. Just one criticism. The Royal Navy is a United Kingdom force, not just England. Alot of ships have been constructed in Scotland for example, both Super carriers have been constructed in the Royal Rosyth Dockyard, of which my is a Metal fabricator and has constructed both ships from the start. You really have shown how magnificent the Royal Navy actually was, embarrassing to think we have a mere 79 ships. I do believe we have more Global combat ships to be funded but some are starting construction 2021 to support the Elisabeth and the the Prince of Wales.
guns on a battlefield are only used to control the battlefield. Good to have them, but too many would create a sort of problem. Small cannons replaced by cavalry were a very useful tactic tool. On a vessel, guns are an attack tool, necessary to crack the wooden wall of an enemy ship. More guns better, only limited by what negative attributes their weight creates to the ship.
As a US Merchant Mariner it brings me joy to see you talking about such influential and beautiful vessels. I wanted to ask though, do you know how many men were dedicated to each station during battle? With 104 guns for 800 men how many men did the Victory have left over for Navigation, manning the rigging, and damage control?
I can't say for certain, but I recall learning that frigates (not the correct ship class I know) would dedicate 70% of their crew to firing the guns during combat. I imagine that Ships of the Line would have something similar.
I believe the official crew for each gun was 5 men, although they often used fewer. It wasn't uncommon for ships to sail significantly under strength. It only took about 50 men to sail one, and a couple of officers to navigate, so they had plenty left over for sailing and fighting on deck. Vital damage control was carried out by the ship's carpenter and his assistants, usually about 10 men IIRC. These ships were built to absorb punishment, possibly even more so than the battleships of the 20th century, and it was uncommon for them to take damage that would cause them to sink before the end of an engagement unless a magazine was struck, in which case damage control wouldn't do much. Once an engagement was concluded, the carpenter could take men from the crew to speed up repairs. It's also worth mentioning that the crew of 800 is for every station to be manned at the same time. Often only a single broadside was used at once, and a cannon could theoretically be crewed by only one man if necessary, although obviously it'd be less effective. On top of that, most close engagements were fought without requiring a change of sail, so the sailors were usually free to perform any other task required of them.
Dismissing the number of trees, and the miles of cordage used to construct and power these vessels, downplays the human impact of skill and industrial capacity required to build vessels of this type. I think this series would be better served with a narrator and writer who have a real appreciation of economies of scale, and the historical context within which the English proved their naval prowess.
I was already interested in this Operation Odysseus business from Red's Venice video, now I'm really interested. It's my day off tomorrow, going to check me out the playlist.
Keep in mind that many cathedrals and large churches were considerably taller than ~200 feet. Ulm Minster is about 540 feet tall, still the tallest church in the world. Strasbourg Cathedral (the tallest fully built in the Middle Ages) is 466 feet tall. Portsmouth's cathedral was actually short for a building of that kind.
I’m currently rereading the Hornblower series. C.S. Forester is very good at picking out the logistical problems for a naval captain at the time, especially on blockade service on the French Atlantic coast.
If you are going to consider industry full metal working then yes this ship is pre industrial. But I promise you these ships were built using true industry! Things like the guns, ammunition, planks, sails, blocks and rope used on these ships were made on an industrial scale using machinery and large scale smithing for guns and shot. That's not even considering the massive amount of small arms and swords on the ship. These were also made on an industrial scale.
Well, generally enjoyed the video, but just one small misconception. Borodino was far from the largest battle of the napoleonic wars. That eould be Leipzig, where the size of all armies combined was over 550 thousabd men. Dwarfs Borodino
So Nelson had 1066 guns at Trafalgar? I would be interested in the dynamics of fighting these ships; technique, tactics, and strategy, perhaps dissecting a particular battle. A reference to Patrick O'Brian?
Royal Charls: its transom (is that the right word) is to be seen in Amsterdam from the 17th century, you are welcome to visit it. Michiel de Ruyter says hallo!
Seeing all those redcoats makes me want to throw some tea in the harbor, if nobody gets where I’m getting this from, I just saw this video in my recommended
Fantastic content! Thank you! We do have a distorted image of the past as we always apply our modern understanding of things. We look at the past through a modern lens, we judge and interpret the past, from the positions of our time.
Also the Battle of Borodino while a relatively unknown battle in the mainstream public holds the record for the most deaths in a single day of any conflict.
Wonderful video, off topic comment during your travels around the UK did you ever make it to the north of England there is some remarkable historical sites up here that I’m sure you would love if you have not been already as the north doesn’t receive much in the way of tourism a lot of the history here goes unnoticed.
It's hard to grasp the hight of these ships. Too bad that the masts of HMS Victory are currently down but at least I can look forward to when they'll be put back up in ~15 years.
You missed the amount of firepower the Victory had with an example. Like one or two broadsides on the Bucentaure (French flagship) was enough to render it out of action
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but this video got me wondering. I don't know long 19th century warfare very well, but I do know that taking on a shore battery with ship fire was almost impossible and only rarely attempted, even more rarely successful. Consider, for example, the siege of Boston in the American Revolutionary War, where 59 guns put on Dorchester Heights made the entire British position untenable. Something like the Victory alone would outgun those landbound cannons almost 2-1, yet actually trying to knock them out with sea-borne cannon fire would have been viewed as suicidal. (And probably was suicidal). At a long rambling preamble, why was landbound cannon so able to defeat sea-borne cannon, and able to overcome what would have been truly colossal disparities of weight of shot?
One of her brothers became an admiral, another a post-captain. Her position on life, British culture, and even slavery all seem to have been based on some measure on a very close connection with the navy. Austen accurately describes ships, officers and navy life in Persuasion and Mansfield Park. The jokes in both novels are pretty funny (for example: young Lt Price as a third Lieutenant on a slope is literally the lowest ranked commissioned officer in the entire RN). Her midshipman in Mansfield Park serves on many of the same ships her brothers were on. Austen's concepts of democracy or leveling seem to be based on the idea of self-merit, which in turn probably derived from the concept of merit based promotion that the RN was a leading example of in the late 18th century (classist views strengthening in the RN in the very late Georgian society). Her scenes were pastoral but her heroes were naval. It should come as no surprise that the soldiers in her novels are usually antagonists or incompetents. Austen clearly knew what was happening in the Napoleonic Wars and the wider world - and this was informed by her love of the navy and the officers serving in it.
It would be great if you covered the late era man of war ships that served in the 1850's at the pinnacle of the age. Those ships were about 240 ft. In length with between 131 to 140 guns and steam propulsion. Now those were behemoths
Your figure for 20 carriers of all types is incorrect, as shown in the image presented. That figure holds up only for FLEET CARRIERS, not all types. That number is much larger
GDP calculations prior to the great depression are speculative at best. There's likely fairly clear records of government budgetary plans going back centuries and those would be far more beneficial to get a good idea of the true cost of these ships than GDP
The battle at Leipzig is not for ntohing called the "Völkerschlacht" or "battle of the nations" with roughly 500.000 soldiers involved and 4000 guns. Imagine 40 HMS Victory's and a small town in a fight.
Wow, this partially explains why the British common people hated pressing so much. Kidnapping enough men to complete the compliment of every ship in the Navy would have made a real dent in the sailor and nautical-based tradesmen population! No wonder the people of Boston rioted in the 1740s (War of Jenkins Ear/ Austrian Succession) over Navy ships stopping only long enough to kidnap a bunch of sailors and leave. Particularly when they stopped homeward bound merchant vessels and left them with barely enough men to sail the ship!
Worse than leaving barely enough men, the Navy would impress the most experienced men preferentially, so possibly no one left to properly sail the merchant ship except to the nearest port. Merchants sailed with the smallest crew that could handle the ship, while the Navy required lots of spares to cover breakage in battle (i.e., 100 dead on a first rate could not be allowed affect its battle efficiency).
...another important point: If todays goverment says, they need more ships for their navy, the economy produces more iron and steel and just build them... If the goverment in the 18th century said, that they need ships, they had to wait - sometimes for decades - that enought trees were growing for the wood to construct the vessels...!
Actually, that is not the case. I've read an article the other day that pointed the fact that for instance France has twice the wooded area today than it had in 1800.
Saw a piece in Sweden about a area set aside for growing timbers for the navy in the mid 19th century. It was now ready for harvesting. A local priest had protested this use of agricultural land back then. He said that "Knowing humanity, I do not doubt that there will be wars in 150 years. However I doubt they will be fighting them with wooden ships."
Nevertheless those ships were build during the industrial revolution. Here we ran out of trees after the sixteenth century due to some earlier industrial revolution.
It is not unheard of, when one ship in a duel of two, ran out of ammunition, for the other ship to resupply it. Silly as it sounds, this _has_ taken place.
Great descriptions, and I appreciate the video. I would tone down what you think other people image just a bit. That might be the only inaccurate point of your telling.
Imagen seeing this back in the day. Would be the same as seeing a F-35 or any other hightech, highly expensive military toys today. Maybe even more impactfull, since we have media where we see those things in.
Please see the video description for some corrections!
Distasteful troll reported. Got your back mate.
@@ANZACS100 I support you in your Endeavors!
@@knightlypoleaxe2501 cheers
Where is the list of all the members of operation Odysseus? All I can see is the logos at the beginning and although I know of many of them there are some I don’t recognise.
USS Gerald R Ford is almost 200 feet longer than the HMS Queen Elizabeth, so the QE is definitely not the largest ship ever
This also puts into perspective how devastating it was when one of these behemoths sank. A sizable portion of the nations GDP, as well as enough artillery pieces to outfit an army, all lost below the waves where they could never be recovered.
And also why they were always sought as prizes, and why it was such a loss when you accidentally sunk an enemy vessel!
Brandon F.
At least ships-of-the-line were actually useful in their intended role.
Dreadnought and post-dreadnought BBs however.....
@@bkjeong4302 and how were they ineffective
justin beath
They were built to be used in the same general role as ships-of-the-line (blast enemy naval vessels from long range while being too big to be sunk by anything but an equal opponent). They were supposed to be the superweapons that would determine everything
Except that never happened. Only a handful of battleship engagements happened in WWI and WWII combined, and they weren’t engagements that turned the tide of battle like everyone on all sides was hoping for.
In WWI everybody was too chicken to use battleships properly.
In WWII aircraft carriers could do the job of maritime domination far better than a battleship, and battleships became relegated to doing things that could have been done much more cost-effectively with cruisers or even destroyers.
So: it turns out every nation with them just ended up wasting money.
@@bkjeong4302 To be fair the British had good reason to be chicken with their battleships during WW1. Why risk your battleships when your navy is already starving the enemy? There was no need to have a decisive naval battle.
The problem with these ships is they don't have enough guns. They should triple the number of guns and put ducks underneath them all, to counteract the weight problem. Because ducks float.
Have you considered a job at BAE Systems?
@@BrandonF I think that simply adding guns is forgetting that you also need ammunition and safety system that would increase the weight to much
Louis Nonyourbuissnes more ducks
@@launderedsilvrr2110 but that will take us so much room
@@louisnonyourbuissnes5191 woooooosh
So much for infinity war being the most ambitious crossover
Anthony Hayes amphibious. Get it. Naval history... ok
Endgame though
Imagine a Ship of the Line with Infinity stones!!!!
Woohooo! #operationodysseus is growing.
ad astra per aspera for #operationodysseus
A single ship of the line would carry more guns than the entire American continental army
@John Ashtone It's soo much more difficult to transport guns on land, you can't harness the wind and lay back, you have to push it yourself or with horses. Horses eat a lot and Humans are too weak to push large artillery pieces, It was and still is more efficent to move on the sea than on ground, even now the avarage ship carries goods and resources 2 times more fuel efficently than any train or rig.
@John Ashtone A first rate line of battle ship has more than 100 guns. The Spanish warship Santisima Trinidad was rated at 112 guns but carried 140 during the battle off Cape Trafalgar. Add that to the fact that most field armies carried 12 pounders as their biggest guns while the Santisima Trinidad carried 30 36 pounders on her lower deck.
@@patrioticamerican6414 Who cares?
Let me just point out that the guns on warships were recovered, when it was possible. The vasa for example, the majority of her guns were recovered by the use of diving bells after she sunk. Guns were so expensive that it was worth the massive effort.
@@patrioticamerican6414 better at treason maybe
Brandon great video, but where's your camera!
Whenever I write a script, I do a 'voiceover' video like this. Whenever you actually see me it's all unscripted!
@@BrandonF i hase one Question why in the time of the Giant and big Sail ships why there was offen only Canons used to perporate the ship and rearly to try in Battle to set the enemy Ships on Fire they are made out of Wood Sail they for the modern eyes View easy to burn?
@@killerkraut9179 Incendiary weapons were as much of a danger to the ships using them as to the ones they were used against. Shore batteries used red hot cannonballs on occasion, experiments with those on ships proved far too dangerous.
Also, sinking enemy vessels was always only the second best option. Capturing was far more desirable.
Dedicated fireships were rarely successful although used quite often.
Shells/grenades were (at sea) only fired from mortars and this required specially constructed ships. Even on land precision fire with those was extremly difficult. On a heaving ship against moving targets it was futile, so mortar ships were exclusively used against stationary targets (on shore or ships at anchor). Same is true about Congreve rockets.
Once reliable grenades (with impact fuses) for straight shooting cannons were available, wooden warships without iron armor became obsolete rather quickly.
@@Segalmed in the First World War Felix Graf Luckner Fighting with a Sail Ship named Seeadler.
@@killerkraut9179 The Seeadler was a not a regular warship but a civilian sail ship that got an engine and a piece of light artillery added. She preyed on helpless merchant ships and would not have survived an encounter with any actual warship (unlike some other German commerce raiders).
I adore this, especially how you included naval history, my favourite part of a war. Not to mention other ships more larger than the victory, such as the Santissima Trinidad, with 140 guns, along 4 gun decks! The Napoleonic wars naval side is truly a sight to behold, the stories from the seas are fascinating. I think all people who like learning about the American war of Independence and Napoleonic wars should most defiantly read and learn about these ships.
The beauty of these ships are time-less and require all the same special skills that have always been required. Pure seamanship. A beauty to behold.
These warships show that prior to the aviation age, the true test of a nation's industrial creativity was the warship whether powered by oars, sails, or steam for nothing else at the time took more skill and effort to create and then deploy.
Still does. Consider how many nations can support a single fleet aircraft carrier?
>Largest battle is Borodino
>Keyboard Warrior Mode engaged
>Scrolls down and sees description
Never mind.
That one was a silly mistake on my part!
I saw Nelsons ship at portsmouth - that was IMPRESSIVE.
VC YT Wish to see it one day, even if it might hurt me as a Frenchman
I saw it in port there as well when I was a young boy. It’s a truly beautiful ship, and really helps you to understand the power of these vessels when you stand beside or onboard it.
Thomas CATTY xD
@@thomascatty379 As long as you keep your fishing vessels out of our waters then you have nothing to fear.
Spectacular, my esteemed! As a History major, Operation Odysseus is much appreciated. Splendid narration and approach to the topic, which merits a rightful subscription!
Well thank you! I am glad that you enjoyed my contribution to the project.
The music playing at about the 4:30 mark is "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis" - the best rendition I've heard was by Vaughan Williams. This is the sad music playing in Master and Commander: Far Side of the World when the crewman who fell overboard in heavy seas has to be given up for lost to save the ship and the lives of the entire crew.
Great vid. Now I want to binge read one of my Master and Commander books.
Its interesting how the geography of Britain forced the nation to put so much effort into its navey. This not only saved the country from countless invasions, but also propelled technology into the industrial age and then to today. Its fascinating how nature guides humanity towards complexity.
Aww, ships of the line and sailing ships in general! I've always been fascinated by them, but sadly only few TH-camrs (even those who have a focus on history) barely ever touch that topic.
Btw, i just found your channel and instantly subscribed.
Hah, I am glad to hear it! Thank you!
Thanks for your reply!
Do you plan to make more naval focused videos someday?
Maybe examining and explaining naval batte tactics (single ships or fleets), sailing in general and other things related to naval warfare in those times.
This is such a huge and fascinating topic, i wonder why only so few people give it the attention it deserves.
First video I have seen. Honestly I am loving your commentary. I will be here for more.
Stuff like the 122 gun heavy first rate was the true giant of it's time
You certainly gave a new perception of these incredible wooden ships of the line. Some very interesting information about the comparison of the major Napoleonic land battles and sea battles in terms of guns, their cannon sizes and people who participated. Thanks for posting.
And thank you for watching!
Love how the very suitable and not at all intrusive background music is by one of the BEST English composers EVAH, Ralph Von Williams. Well done, me laddies!!
The ships are one thing, the bravery of the men is what made them. Don't forget the powder monkeys who were boys between 10 and 12 years old.
Great video really great way to get across the true cost and splendor of the 1st rate ships!!!!
A point that is often forgotten about when looking at Carriers in the US Navy is that the cost of the planes is not included. So the $13 Billion cost is without planes. Using the Nimitz carrier airwing as a guide (could not find Fords carrier airwing) would be about $4 Billion extra. so its really a $17 Billon all together so it's .085% of the US GDP.
A big and large Navy with sizable ships were the life lines of the biggest oversea empires humans created. Without them neither the Spanish, Portugese, British or Dutch Empire would have reached such heights and greatness. All thanks to behemoths like these
Brandon, this was fantastic, I found you only yesterday going about re-enacting and uniform etc, I have subscribed. You have an obvious passion for all things historic and it shines through whatever you speak about. A great channel, which I'm glad to now be a part of.
BTW, I myself was an NCO in the British Army, I served in the 1st Bn, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, formerly the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, who were originally the 5th Regiment of Foot, (The Fighting Fifth, as described by Wellington, who often selected them as his personal bodyguard).
They saw a lot of service in North America, including Lexington, and at Brandywine Creek they broke the Continental Army's centre and captured five cannon.
Love the Master and Commander music in the background. Very thematic
Best comparison for modern context for size, use the introduction sequence of Star Wars A New Hope.
I'm glad that one of the great last hurrahs of the ship of the line was the Austro-Hungarian Kaiser preforming a ram against an armored ship at the battle of Lissa in the Italio-Austrian war. They didn't go obsolete without a fight
Nice vid...
Napoleon I Bonaparte A tissue for the Emperor!
Viva la France
We must consolidate, consolidate! We'll train our men on the march!
The ship was big they said, it'd be fun they said. Every time I go to the historic dockyard in Portsmouth I struggle to fit my 185cm tall self through the door of that thing.
You could also mention that the need to secure the raw materials, such as Baltic pine for the masts, was a key priority of British foreign policy, and that the need to fund the fleet was a key factor in the emergence of modern banking and taxation. These ships really did help shape the modern world.
I had never really thought about the influence of military spending on the development of modern banking systems, that sounds like a fascinating topic for a potential article.
There's a town near where I grew up that has a population of ~890. HMS Victory would have required every man, every woman, and most children in that town. That's an impressive vessel!
To think that nearly a hundred years before the launch of the Victory, the Dutch had already helped the Swedes construct a similarly sized vessel; the Stora Kronan (also known as Kronan), which numbered a 122 guns and about 800 souls just alike. She was, an absolute exception for her day, being the single largest vessel in the world at the time. She would, if compared to any other vessel, be closest to the Trinidad (again, built nearly a hundred years later), with her 140 guns and 900 souls aboard. Which, is not all that much larger.
I do however think, that the Stora Kronan looked more impressive than these later vessels. Merely due to the decoration of her stern ans bow.
British navy owes a lot to the Dutch. The wars with the Dutch helped the British navy into the powerhouse it became. Took many of the ideas of the Dutch and after the stewert monarchy Prince of orange was jubilanty welcomed to take the crown of Britain and interdiction of tea.
Heh, we don't talk about the Vasa
@@roythescrub461 Well quite frankly, the disaster of the Vasa was the fault of the trandlators doing their work at the shipyard on which she was built. The building master was Dutchman, and so was about a quarter of the workforce working on her (they were in service of the VOC at the time, and their services were rented out to the Swedish crown), however; The issue was that the translatoon of a Foot (length). The Dutch and Swedish ones differed ever so slightly. And since most Dutchmen were working on the larboard/portside (left) of the hull, that side turned out to be ever so slightly larger in circumference. While the Swedish one had a smaller circumference. Ending up with an uneven hull. This was not noticed at the time, mostly due to the language barrier (as far as I am aware).
This mistake, combined with the fact that the guns aboard the Vasa were not attached to the hull by ropes like on Dutch and English vessels at the time caused the disaster when she just left port.
When she left port, the slightly larger waves of the Baltic sea swept her over her starboard, to such an extend that some of the larboard guns rolled to starboard, bringing her out of balance so horribly that the lower gundeck's gunports were brought down into the water, causing them to let in the water. Thereby flooding her in a few minutes, and causing her to capsize.
The Stora Kronan met a similar fate, for during the battle of Øland (I believe), in 1672 (If I remember correctly), she made ready to turn around against the wind, when the Swedish fleet was being pluaged by a Dutch squadron in the rear of their formation. So, the Kronan, making her way against the wind, kept the gunports of her lower gundeck open, in spite of the strong wind (her captain, was a completely inexperienced admiral, who only recently was appointed by himself, having only been a minister for some years before)
So; She turned, the lower gunports reached the waterline on her lee, and flooded the lower gundeck in a mere few minutes. She capsizded, just as some of the Dutch vessels passed by, and fired into her now exposed bottom. The powder hold was hit, and she, togther with her 800 crew, were blown sky-high in an instant.
Quite the shame she had to fall at the hands of the same people who built her.
@@JariB. very interesting, I've seen the Vasa several times and it is undoubtedly a beautiful ship so it's a shame it sank. Doesn't make the event any less embarrassing, even if it technically wasn't any of the builders fault directly.
You are somewhat exaggerating the size and power of the Kronan. In fact Victory is considerably larger and more powerful. Kronan was more comparable to the English Sovereign of the Seas built about 30 years before Kronan and also renowned for her lavish decoration.
I love your voice. You're so good at telling a story. You have a new subscriber.
The fact that they had more than 100 3rd rates is just mindblowing
Brandon, one of the things, I would like for you to do with regard to wearing historic military uniforms, is to pay your respects at certain monuments and battle sites that correspond to the uniform. For instance, in Great Britain, you could wear the uniform of the British Tommy at a monument or site that memorializes the British soldier of World War I or II. Not only does it provide great background, but it also provides great historical context and honors both the veterans and the fallen. I think the relatives and ancestors would look upon it very kindly. My two shillings. Best regards.
I know that your idea is well-meant, but as a descendant (though not yet an ancestor), and having served in a minor way myself, I would prefer not to see this happening. Paying respect happens inside yourself. Wearing a uniform in public to which you are not entitled is vulgar self advertisement. Depending on the context and behaviour, it may also be illegal.
I think we’d rather have you spell in the Oxford way.
Good job, Brandon! Though you did wax lyrical a bit, it's nice to hear it done well. I have to turn you on to a song about a British seaman, called "Old Admirals" by Al Stewart, from the early 1970s. It's loosely based on the life of First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher. Fisher was responsible, as you're probably aware, for the development of the new "Dreadnought" ships. He also implemented many other innovations, such as teaching sailors to swim. I learned to swim the same way, as my grandfather had taught my mother, who was born in Glasgow. I still can remember the USS Constitution - famous as "Old Ironsides"- sailing after it's renovation 15 years ago, on TV. It's only a frigate. It was a big deal for Walter Cronkite, a famous American news reader, who was also a life-long sailor, to be offered to take the wheel. (The steering wheel was a technical wonder when it was introduced to wooden sailing ships - a ship with a wheel could turn on a penny and blast a slower opponent to pieces.) I have enjoyed sea stories for more than 50 years. I thank you again, keep up the good work.
Cost of maintaing a ship of the line.
Pay of officers down jack-tars.
Officers mess as opposed to crews mess.
How they filled their days, what they ate, where they slept.
Marines sea duty when not in combat.
Sanding the deck.
Maintaining the rigging.
All skills required to keep the ship in order.
a brilliant video given contemporary examples as well as modern GDP comparisons give one some realistic idea of the real cost to the nation
The US operates around 20+ aircraft carriers alone. 11 super carriers and approximately 10-15 amphibious assault ships. The AAS is essentially the modern day escort carrier. The Tarawa, wasp and American classes are all examples of this smaller carrier.
What a wonderful narration.
Wow, around 103 3rd rates and 134 5th rates big frigates, those where the real power of the Royal Navy, no doubt! And not forget de sloops of war, not much firepower but very fast en excellent for smaller 'secret' missions or to transport officers from one big ship to another. Great channel, please continue to learn us history!
Where do you get those numbers? I'd love to be able to do more videos like this in future and feature stats like that!
Very very fine work sir. My compliments.
Napoleon Total war ship battles are kinda interesting, but annoying how they make them end early. THey are also very clunky to handle. Ships dont just stay in a line and once your line gets all twisted up, it just turns into a giant fluster cluck.........
Seeing those back then would probably be the same sense of awe we get when we see a Battleship up close today, or when ATC sees the Russian AN-225 at an airport. Just awesome sight to see.
Very impressive. Its hard to get me interested as I am an old git who has heard it all but you made your point very well. I always think if you turn a ship of the line upside down you got a huge building the size of a church. I mean that is frigging HUGE. And made of wood ! Awesome.
As someone who comes from a naval city those numbersate very impressive
I like how you used the same music that was in Master and Commander: Far Side of The World.
I thoroughly enjoyed your work, you have truly shown how titanic these ships where.
My Grandad is a former Navy seaman, he volunteers as a tour guide on board the HMS Victory as well as HMS Warrior, the first Steel hulled sail ship.
Just one criticism. The Royal Navy is a United Kingdom force, not just England. Alot of ships have been constructed in Scotland for example, both Super carriers have been constructed in the Royal Rosyth Dockyard, of which my is a Metal fabricator and has constructed both ships from the start.
You really have shown how magnificent the Royal Navy actually was, embarrassing to think we have a mere 79 ships. I do believe we have more Global combat ships to be funded but some are starting construction 2021 to support the Elisabeth and the the Prince of Wales.
Thanks for the show.
These ships dominated all oceans and coastlines for all of their time.
guns on a battlefield are only used to control the battlefield. Good to have them, but too many would create a sort of problem. Small cannons replaced by cavalry were a very useful tactic tool.
On a vessel, guns are an attack tool, necessary to crack the wooden wall of an enemy ship. More guns better, only limited by what negative attributes their weight creates to the ship.
As a US Merchant Mariner it brings me joy to see you talking about such influential and beautiful vessels.
I wanted to ask though, do you know how many men were dedicated to each station during battle? With 104 guns for 800 men how many men did the Victory have left over for Navigation, manning the rigging, and damage control?
I can't say for certain, but I recall learning that frigates (not the correct ship class I know) would dedicate 70% of their crew to firing the guns during combat. I imagine that Ships of the Line would have something similar.
Also bear in mind that usually half the guns would be on the side away from the enemy and not fired.
I believe the official crew for each gun was 5 men, although they often used fewer. It wasn't uncommon for ships to sail significantly under strength. It only took about 50 men to sail one, and a couple of officers to navigate, so they had plenty left over for sailing and fighting on deck.
Vital damage control was carried out by the ship's carpenter and his assistants, usually about 10 men IIRC. These ships were built to absorb punishment, possibly even more so than the battleships of the 20th century, and it was uncommon for them to take damage that would cause them to sink before the end of an engagement unless a magazine was struck, in which case damage control wouldn't do much. Once an engagement was concluded, the carpenter could take men from the crew to speed up repairs.
It's also worth mentioning that the crew of 800 is for every station to be manned at the same time. Often only a single broadside was used at once, and a cannon could theoretically be crewed by only one man if necessary, although obviously it'd be less effective. On top of that, most close engagements were fought without requiring a change of sail, so the sailors were usually free to perform any other task required of them.
Dismissing the number of trees, and the miles of cordage used to construct and power these vessels, downplays the human impact of skill and industrial capacity required to build vessels of this type. I think this series would be better served with a narrator and writer who have a real appreciation of economies of scale, and the historical context within which the English proved their naval prowess.
I was already interested in this Operation Odysseus business from Red's Venice video, now I'm really interested. It's my day off tomorrow, going to check me out the playlist.
Sounds like a lovely plan!
Keep in mind that many cathedrals and large churches were considerably taller than ~200 feet. Ulm Minster is about 540 feet tall, still the tallest church in the world. Strasbourg Cathedral (the tallest fully built in the Middle Ages) is 466 feet tall. Portsmouth's cathedral was actually short for a building of that kind.
I’m currently rereading the Hornblower series. C.S. Forester is very good at picking out the logistical problems for a naval captain at the time, especially on blockade service on the French Atlantic coast.
If you are going to consider industry full metal working then yes this ship is pre industrial. But I promise you these ships were built using true industry! Things like the guns, ammunition, planks, sails, blocks and rope used on these ships were made on an industrial scale using machinery and large scale smithing for guns and shot. That's not even considering the massive amount of small arms and swords on the ship. These were also made on an industrial scale.
Well, generally enjoyed the video, but just one small misconception. Borodino was far from the largest battle of the napoleonic wars. That eould be Leipzig, where the size of all armies combined was over 550 thousabd men. Dwarfs Borodino
I would absolutely recommend anyone to visit HMS Victory in Portsmouth. It is simply awesome.
So Nelson had 1066 guns at Trafalgar?
I would be interested in the dynamics of fighting these ships; technique, tactics, and strategy, perhaps dissecting a particular battle.
A reference to Patrick O'Brian?
Royal Charls: its transom (is that the right word) is to be seen in Amsterdam from the 17th century, you are welcome to visit it.
Michiel de Ruyter says hallo!
Seeing all those redcoats makes me want to throw some tea in the harbor, if nobody gets where I’m getting this from, I just saw this video in my recommended
Good vid. 👍
But overly dramatic & too preachy.
Amazing comparison!!
A guy from Napoleon's blackguards described Victory as touching the skies.
Fantastic content! Thank you! We do have a distorted image of the past as we always apply our modern understanding of things. We look at the past through a modern lens, we judge and interpret the past, from the positions of our time.
If you liked this video, I can recommend two book series to you: Aubrey-Maturin by Patrick O'Brian, and Safehold by David Weber.
Also the Battle of Borodino while a relatively unknown battle in the mainstream public holds the record for the most deaths in a single day of any conflict.
Wonderful video, off topic comment during your travels around the UK did you ever make it to the north of England there is some remarkable historical sites up here that I’m sure you would love if you have not been already as the north doesn’t receive much in the way of tourism a lot of the history here goes unnoticed.
It's hard to grasp the hight of these ships. Too bad that the masts of HMS Victory are currently down but at least I can look forward to when they'll be put back up in ~15 years.
32k subscribers dont do justice to the quality of the content you make,
Buck up man love from pakistan
Well thank you! Here's hoping others share the view, eh?
You missed the amount of firepower the Victory had with an example. Like one or two broadsides on the Bucentaure (French flagship) was enough to render it out of action
the intro is awesome for real though
Perhaps this is a stupid question, but this video got me wondering. I don't know long 19th century warfare very well, but I do know that taking on a shore battery with ship fire was almost impossible and only rarely attempted, even more rarely successful. Consider, for example, the siege of Boston in the American Revolutionary War, where 59 guns put on Dorchester Heights made the entire British position untenable. Something like the Victory alone would outgun those landbound cannons almost 2-1, yet actually trying to knock them out with sea-borne cannon fire would have been viewed as suicidal. (And probably was suicidal).
At a long rambling preamble, why was landbound cannon so able to defeat sea-borne cannon, and able to overcome what would have been truly colossal disparities of weight of shot?
A lot of it would have to do with elevation, and if the ship's guns could even reach the fortifications.
Jane Austen wrote all her books while this ship sailed, an as lived in the same county, so probably saw the ship when in dock.
#janeausten
One of her brothers became an admiral, another a post-captain. Her position on life, British culture, and even slavery all seem to have been based on some measure on a very close connection with the navy. Austen accurately describes ships, officers and navy life in Persuasion and Mansfield Park. The jokes in both novels are pretty funny (for example: young Lt Price as a third Lieutenant on a slope is literally the lowest ranked commissioned officer in the entire RN). Her midshipman in Mansfield Park serves on many of the same ships her brothers were on. Austen's concepts of democracy or leveling seem to be based on the idea of self-merit, which in turn probably derived from the concept of merit based promotion that the RN was a leading example of in the late 18th century (classist views strengthening in the RN in the very late Georgian society). Her scenes were pastoral but her heroes were naval. It should come as no surprise that the soldiers in her novels are usually antagonists or incompetents. Austen clearly knew what was happening in the Napoleonic Wars and the wider world - and this was informed by her love of the navy and the officers serving in it.
Think of the amazing supply and logistics chain required to build, equip, maintain, chandler & victual those ships.
It would be great if you covered the late era man of war ships that served in the 1850's at the pinnacle of the age. Those ships were about 240 ft. In length with between 131 to 140 guns and steam propulsion. Now those were behemoths
I mean... These ships were taller than most modern ships are today despite way larger displacement
Let's put it this way, it takes 3 turns to build one in empire total war.
Your figure for 20 carriers of all types is incorrect, as shown in the image presented. That figure holds up only for FLEET CARRIERS, not all types. That number is much larger
GDP calculations prior to the great depression are speculative at best. There's likely fairly clear records of government budgetary plans going back centuries and those would be far more beneficial to get a good idea of the true cost of these ships than GDP
+10 points for the Vaughan Williams respect.
Came back many months later.
Nice use of master and commander music
2:00
how many cords of wood were used!
to forge the metal,
provide the pitch!?
The battle at Leipzig is not for ntohing called the "Völkerschlacht" or "battle of the nations" with roughly 500.000 soldiers involved and 4000 guns. Imagine 40 HMS Victory's and a small town in a fight.
You haven't added enough cannons, take it to sinking weight and take it back a notch.
Santisima Trinidad,The Largest Of Warship Of Ship Of The Line In The Age Of Wooden And Sail Ships Also The Heaviest Armament At That Time.
Clippers are a great ecological alternative to Jet planes ✈️ but you need to reserve 20 days free while you get somewhere
Your best video
Wow, this partially explains why the British common people hated pressing so much. Kidnapping enough men to complete the compliment of every ship in the Navy would have made a real dent in the sailor and nautical-based tradesmen population! No wonder the people of Boston rioted in the 1740s (War of Jenkins Ear/ Austrian Succession) over Navy ships stopping only long enough to kidnap a bunch of sailors and leave. Particularly when they stopped homeward bound merchant vessels and left them with barely enough men to sail the ship!
Worse than leaving barely enough men, the Navy would impress the most experienced men preferentially, so possibly no one left to properly sail the merchant ship except to the nearest port. Merchants sailed with the smallest crew that could handle the ship, while the Navy required lots of spares to cover breakage in battle (i.e., 100 dead on a first rate could not be allowed affect its battle efficiency).
Long live the memory of Themistocles, the original strategist of the Athenian navy's wooden walls!
Great vide my guy :)
Thank you!
...another important point:
If todays goverment says, they need more ships for their navy, the economy produces more iron and steel and just build them...
If the goverment in the 18th century said, that they need ships, they had to wait - sometimes for decades - that enought trees were growing for the wood to construct the vessels...!
Well, there were a bunch of forests back then compared to today.
Actually, that is not the case. I've read an article the other day that pointed the fact that for instance France has twice the wooded area today than it had in 1800.
Saw a piece in Sweden about a area set aside for growing timbers for the navy in the mid 19th century. It was now ready for harvesting. A local priest had protested this use of agricultural land back then. He said that "Knowing humanity, I do not doubt that there will be wars in 150 years. However I doubt they will be fighting them with wooden ships."
Nevertheless those ships were build during the industrial revolution.
Here we ran out of trees after the sixteenth century due to some earlier industrial revolution.
Why didn't they just buy wood somewhere?
It is not unheard of, when one ship in a duel of two, ran out of ammunition, for the other ship to resupply it.
Silly as it sounds, this _has_ taken place.
Hello! Brandon. I have a question do
1st rate has a hundred guns right?
100 guns and upwards. The largest first rates such as the Santísima Trinindad or the USS Pennsylvania had 130 and 140 cannons respectively
Great descriptions, and I appreciate the video. I would tone down what you think other people image just a bit. That might be the only inaccurate point of your telling.
18th century battleships , how cool is that!
Brandon, I think you need to dial up the dramatic tone a little - it's hard to tell that you're excited over this topic... ;-)
Imagen seeing this back in the day. Would be the same as seeing a F-35 or any other hightech, highly expensive military toys today. Maybe even more impactfull, since we have media where we see those things in.
8:39 - FINALLY SOMEONE SAID IT!