HMS Victory firing rolling broadside
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.พ. 2025
- Victory fires her Great Guns. Imagine this at Trafalgar where up to seventy four ships were firing eh?
en.m.wikipedia...
Interesting thought, in those days the "low frequencies" of large cannon fire, pipe organs and thunder were pretty much the only times most people would ever hear them which made them even more awesome still.
A great description of how Victory worked day to day, a must - see.
• 3D Guide to Britain's ...
19th Century naval gunfire simulation, probably not quite what you imagined!
• Gunfire Naval Battle ...
To hear the sound of REAL cannon fire tested go here:
• How much Damage can th...
Cool animated video of ship to ship action:
• Video
Imagine ninety ships doing something like that for three hours.
Followed swimming in freezing water.
Isn't that what the bombardment that ended the opium wars was like? Seem to remember reading that somewhere once.
In rough seas and deck splinters flying everywhere
@@myopiniongoodyouropinionbad Yep, sailing round the Med would be Jolly enough but a Naval Battle would be terrible.
@Chris George Think the main exchange of fire was about three hours, with forty minutes of pandemonium in the middle of that. Either side I'd agree you've got a few hours for the Fleets to close and the pursuit of ships trying to disengage. Staggers me how Nelson could plan a Battle like that but he knew what he was doing.
I dont know why the algorithm recommended a 7 year old video of a broadside bombardment to me but im not complaining
Thanks TH-cam
7 Years too late!!
because it's fuckin epic
It was pretty awesome though.
Touché
Wish more historical ships where preserved. Love these old Man o Wars and tall ships...
Hms is a first rate I believe
Constitution is a heavy frigate
All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by
Man o war is a slang term. This is a galleon
@@lifeunderthestarstv Man of war is not a slang term and Victory definitely isn’t a galleon.
*sigh....launches Total War: Napoleon*
Ew dude. Empire all the way.
@@MrFichstar Empire is a busted up ass piece of shit.
@@MrFichstar I wish there were some kind of combination of Empire and Napoleon. Empire has a far superior map and trade options (in general, the economics in empire are just much better), but Napoleon has better mechanics... the liberation of provinces, more diplomatic options, more interesting units and better battle gameplay.
@@MrFichstar Empire is cooler in general, but the gameplay/mechanics in Napoleon are solid.
FotS Naval combat is the peak of sail/steam naval combat in TW.
I appreciate the French PoV being included as the 2nd view angle
xD
2021: So coool :0
1761: Blood and guts everywhere, screams of howling pain.
the guys next to you: hundreds of wooden splinters in their skin, blood everywhere, pieces of flesh hanging off
you: giant piece of wood sticking out of your chest.
rating: 0.1/10 wouldn't follow press gangs again.
in 1761 the victory wasnt even built
The best thing about it is that it also lays down a smokescreen while firing which makes it completely impossible for anyone aboard to tell if they hit anything.
That's what the crows nest is for. You yell down and hope someone down there still has eardrums.
@@MR-TH-camChangedMyHandle And not to mention they would usually be under way so the smoke would clear away as the ship moved forward.
I assume the crows nest and the deck of the ship may use flags to communicate as well.
"You see that spanish ship there?"
"Aye, sir"
"I don't want to anymore"
"AYE AYE SIR!"
Hahah!!! ^^
WHAT????
“Mission accomplished, sir! Enemy vessel no longer visible through all the smoke!”
For those who don't know: This is one of the most legendary, decorated, and experienced ships to ever exist. It is centuries old, and parts of the original ship still remain.
Behold one of the mightiest vessels to ever sail the seas.
The three rows of guns had a different size (calibre), large at the bottom to small at the top. From the top, 12 pounders, 24 pounders and 32 pounders (the weights of the cannon balls). When built she had 42 pounders on the bottom deck but in high seas they made the ship so low in the water the gun ports could not be opened for fear of swamping the ship hence the replacement 32 pounders, much easier to manipulate and load but not so hard hitting.
Which guns were used in action depended on the number and size of the opponent/s and how much damage and where was desired upon the enemy. A quick action preferably to knock out sails and rudder, then close in and board was better as a captured ship could be sold or taken into service by the Admiralty and the proceeds, known as prize money would be shared amongst the ship's crew who captured it. Under a captain/Admiral like Nelson a sailor could make a large amount of cash.
There were other guns fore and aft too called "stern and bow Chasers" often made of brass and restricted generally to 12 pounders, for structural reasons, but had long barrels for greater pinpoint accuracy and to maximise range. These would mostly be used to try and bring down rigging and cripple rudders to stop a ship and could, of course, kill or injure officers and men conning the ship.
A 32 pounder could hole the hull of a large opponent at up to a mile and a half away and do considerable damage to rigging.
I hope this helps.
"STOP BLOWING HOLES IN MY SHIP" - Some guy 600ft away
Captain Jack Sparrow was a lesser known participant in the battle XD
Video quality is amazing for something recorded in 1759
I say, English ingenuity old sod!
Bro pulled up to the drive-by and shot the scallywag right out of em
Another video that suddenly just got recommended to everyone after seven years
@User2o2 Now over 1,000,000 views. Quite popular still.
They just broadsided the entire town to dust and the crowd just cheers.
*_enemy ship sunk after the fourth shot_*
"Captain, we've destroyed the enemy"
"What?"
*_continues to fire the other 100 cannons"_*
Gotta have that celebratory fire
How she must have loved that, that old ship of the line, to waken from her long sleep to the creak and squeal of blocks and tackle running out her pride and purpose, to feel the rumble of heavy wheels on her battle decks. How her wooden heart must have soared to the pounding, pounding, pounding of her rolling broadside, black power tongues of fire scorching her gun ports again, the jerk on her ribs of the guns recoil, the thunderation and hellfire spewing forth, once again.To arms, to arms, to war and and blood and ripping shot, feeling once again her scars from battles long forgot by men. To feel the power to change the world and make it slave. Such a dream, such a dream she must have thought, such a beautiful dream.
she never sleeps, she keeps her vigil, as the oldest commissioned ship still afloat. Her sails cannot take her at sea anymore, but she's still there, standing high and proud, like a great-grandmother to all warships at sea, aged, but robust as an oak.
Beautifully written, Fred! You have captured the feeling exactly! ❤️
Damn man thats raw feeling. Incredible passion!
@@fredwood8158 beautifully written.
HMS VICTORY was in active service for many years and like many large wooden warships became a floating hulk supporting the fleet. She was towed into No 2 Dock at Portsmouth Naval Base and given a huge restoration. Most of the wood making up the ship frame is original from built and most of the hull and decks. She gets contintinual restoration but at over 200 years old now needs some significant work and a major programme to do that is underway.
Many thanks for the insight and information, it is encouraging to find so much interest in this part of our heritage. Looking up wood "seasoning" gives an insight into the way wood behaves long-term. Oak is an oily wood and will continue to exude the oily sap for a very long time so it is unnecessary, and possibly counter productive, to apply any finish. Hence, you will see oak beams in constructions that look aged and worn but which still hold their structural integrity.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_drying
It is also encouraging to host a video where commenting is so pleasant and informative.
Certain deck timbers are original, but not many.
thank you TH-cam algorithm for showing me such a masterpiece
It really is a shame that more of these sail giants weren't preserved. I'd love to compare this to one from France or Spain (one of their super galleons) in terms of design and armament.
why did this suddenly get reccomended
The algorithm's understanding of a funeral volley.
no idea... GOD SAVE THE QUEEEEEEEEN
Epic history TV did a video on it a few days ago
We're being farmed.
because they correctly predicted that you would click on it (and comment). It's not so complicated. It shows you stuff that you want to see.
Somewhere in France and Spain a bunch of people suddenly got Goosebumps when this happened.
@Sl Mi sureeee 🤣
Imagine getting fire insurance for this event?
"So you want let off how many pounds of Black Powder on your 300 year old wooden ship?".
Lol
"I love the smell of cannon in the morning. Smells like ... HMS Victory." - Horatio Nelson, probably.
@@Rekaert Smells like old farts too when blasting away.
@@sirjohng1 Probably the sulphur content I'd expect.
From a time when “Ships were made of wood and men were made of steel”.
Absolutely. I try to imagine myself being on the receiving end of this. I think I’d be dead within a very short period of time lol.
Today they were Teens whith a joystick. ...
The cyborg army destroyed our navy in minutes
@@SilverMothAudio they don't. Cause they are not real. ..
@@stefanwiebers9991 no shit
I love myself some old random videos of old random things brought to you by the TH-cam algorithm.
I love the smell of ruling the waves in the morning
Says some runt on the internet.
Says the guy that sits on the side filming while real men take action. That's why you come online and harass people eh boy?
@@joshschneider9766 Your mates died for eff-all, tools of American imperialism. Stupid see you NT.
Your mum is it all of the trade but we like her
@@Franko6f3 Fucking moron.
"Oh Victory, Victory, how you distract my poor brain", uttered Admiral Lord Nelson while dying of his wound below decks on his Flagship. HMS Victory had just unloaded another broadside at the enemy during the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805.
The rolling broadside was how a bow-rake or stern-rake was done; the guns fire as they came to bear as you sailed past the bow or stern of the enemy ship at close range. It was an especially vicious and effective way of destroying an enemy ship. Each ball, and there's a lot of them, would pass down the length of the enemy ship, killing and wrecking as it went.
That must have been terrifying in its time, just imagine those canons popping out while facing you, you know the volley is coming, there's no escape.
Hard to starboard?
like the scene from black sails were the spanish man of war obliterates 2 pirate ships
"see that colony over there?"
"Yes, Captain"
"I don't want to anymore"
"Aye sir"
England does not have the best track record for subduing its colonies. Unless you are merely referring to the captains view of the colony temporarily being obscured by smoke...
@@drewburt4315 Literally no one had a great track record for subduing colonies. That's why the colonial era ended.
man i can only imagine the backblast of the soundwaves you'd get from this on deck. clothes would stick to like they were dripping wet
And they probably were, as well
Wow! those cars in the parking lot never stood a chance
It's what they get for letting the meters expire.
THE ALGORITHM HAS SPOKEN. LET IT LISTEN TO THE SWEET SOUND OF YOUR CANNONS.
Imagine that poor Englishman when the next day he went to open his shop and found it completely shredded to pieces by cannon fire from the Victory. :(
F
F
I once heard a cannon being fired for real in North Wales (and not just a fire cracker like here). A cannonball was fired (illegally) across the Menai Straits landing in the sand dunes at Newborough Warren resulting in a prosecution. It was only good luck that no one was killed. Although a few miles away it was a loud thunderous roar. Victory's broadside must have been deafeningly terrifying even to those not in the line of fire.
Where I live it would be perfectly legal to fire off a cannon, so long as it you're on your own property.
@@thitsugaya1224 Lemme guess, Texas?
@@reclusiarchgrimaldus1269 Yes, but it's not exclusive to Texas, at the federal level, and in most states, muzzleloading black powder weapons aren't legally classified as firearms. Therefore, they aren't usually restricted by laws governing firearms. Of course firing one off in public would still garner several criminal charges, such as reckless endangerment, disturbing the piece, and possible destruction of public or private property if the cannon ball hits something.
@@thitsugaya1224 Well, you're half right. Technically it's still classified as a dangerous entity/explosive device in most states if it's actually loaded, and in most non-texas states the sale of black powder itself is regulated.
Oi, you got a loicence for that cannon?
Why was the King of Spain so unhappy with the Armada?
He was only getting 5 miles per galleon.
Cute. Remember Cartagena de Indias!
😂
@@chrisr6142 The Latin ability to reiterate irrelevant battles should be studied
I'm sure the Victory felt good letting off some cannon vibrations among the decks. The smell of gun powder and the thundering roar...
yeah going deaf must have felt nice o.0
These are modern electrically activated powder charges. Nobody was on the gundecks
It would be like being on a crowded bus that's on fire in the middle of a gunfight in the vast nothingness of an ocean with hungry sharks awaiting your demise. Not to mention, the horrible food, sanitation and sleeping arrangements.
Impressive and its firing just blank charges which are probably only creating a third of the impact and soundwave. Now imagine that three times louder and done simultaneously by about 70 ships and you got the battle of trafalgar. Can't even begin to imagine the absolute chaos during those times and trying to shout orders in that noise.
Those 'charges were just fireworks, the cannons are fake.
See the real cannon test firing I have just added:
th-cam.com/video/WSXaCkQ9sF8/w-d-xo.html
"The crown hath determined thine hearing loss is not in relation to thy service"
... so nothing has changed there mate
Imagine being below decks firing those guns. The heat, noise,smell & fire, terrifying
Reminds me of "night fire exercises" with the Marines. In Hawaii, they even had a C-130 gunship with rotary cannons. So many tracer rounds criss-crossing in the night sky!
@@pennysargent9557 :And the horrendous incoming fire which could rip through the ships sides and scatter terrible wood splinters like shrapnel which caused most of the human damage. Hell hath no fury like a sailing ship to ship battle.
@sirjohng1 I was trying very hard not to imagine those horrors, although know it was hell. God help them all.
These ships suddenly make a lot more 'sense' when you see the firepower they're capable of, it suddenly looks like a war machine as opposed to a swashbucklin' sea bus.
To give you an order of magnitude, the HSM Victory has 104 guns.
During a large battle, each army only had a few hundred cannons. At Austerlitz for example, Napoleon had 139 guns, while Russia and Austria between 160 and 278.
So the biggest ships had a firepower comparable to an entire army. Granted, the army also had thousands of small arms and the ship can only fire half its guns in one direction but that's still considerable.
@@Duke_of_Lorraine A true mobile floating fortress.
That is a lot of firepower !
By the time the bottom row fired, the top row is reloaded.
Once Again the algorithm god's have gathered us here.
Let us rejoice in this beautiful sound.
Until the next time.
Q. Why did Royal Navy ships have glass bottoms?
A. So they could keep an eye on the French Navy.
@Edwards Your "battle winner" was Corsican. Take him out the equation and the figures are very different.
@@scobra5941 Corsica is a French island, he was still French lol
@@Firebolt193 he was italian. just because its owned by the french doesnt make him ethnically french
@Aussie Pom sounds like Darwinism to me. Sucks to suck.
@@notyou6942 Ethnicity doesn't have shit to do with it, it's a matter of nationality.
Just for a moment, imagine the carnage of trafalgar the moment the 2 british columns, victory at the head, broke the franco-spanish line and unleashed a full broadside into the vunerable rear of the franco-spanish ships. Glass, wood, iron, blood, bone, and guts all flying about in a space so cramped you can't stand up in, let alone the deafening sounds of wood and iron being rent apart, and the agonisng screams of dying men laying on the gun decks now slick with blood.... Naval battles in the age of sail were not a pretty place, nor was any battlefield, land or sea.
You painted a picture there mate
Dude, everything okay at home?
Man, now imagine how it would sound if all those cannons were loaded with shot.
I imagine it would sound about the same with added screams.
@@longshot7601 If firing a ball they would use more powder and more pressure gets built up behind the ball. I do black powder musket shooting and we have a 1 1/2' cannon. Video on my channel. You definitely need hearing protection using it. The gunners on the Victory must have gone deaf quickly.
Those British sailors must have been going deaf, same for the Spanish and French.
It's a staggering fact that the Victory was already 40 years old at the time of the battle of Trafalgar. She's well worth a visit next time you're in Portsmouth. Nearby, HMS Warrior is also worth seeing.
I visited both, and have to say I was much less impressed by the Warrior - except of course for her size. The Victory feels more like history itself; the Warrior more like a cleaned-up museum.
Like me, you may find she is a lot smaller than you think and wonder at how 800 or so men and boys could find room to sail in her.
@@sirjohng1 and three women.
@John Chapman “The courage of three women, possibly prostitutes, who nursed casualties on HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, experiencing naval warfare at its most brutal, will be commemorated on 19 October when a Limited Edition rum commissioned by the Royal Society of Chemistry is uncorked in London's Isle of Dogs” October 2005. Yes probably there by ‘other’ means!
French navy disliked this video
Remarkable that they're still doing this and able to fire anything at all on a warship that's well over 200 years old. From what I saw in the cannon flashes, it looked like the bottom row of gunports was shut - so even with smaller charges and all, this looked like perhaps the 12 and 24 pounder cannon on the top two decks and quarterdeck, but not the very heavy 32 pounders on the lowest gun deck. Very cool to see this.
I hate to be that guy, but I don't think that they used the cannons here. Modern pyrotechnics were likely used instead, for safety reasons. Victory is a very old ship, and firing a few dozen cannon in sequence could've damaged the hull, to say nothing of the fire risk.
Also, TH-cam recommended me this 9 years later....
@@Louis_Bailey : One of over 2 million now😎👍🏻
And me!!
POV, you are a level 5 schooner and the jackdaw saw you
real
So im not the only saying that this was a good game, huh?
so many guns! by the time the final gun was done fireing, the first could have probably been reloaded and ready to fire again! this must have brought so much terror into the enemies facing these ships... just the sheer CONSTANT volley of metal balls heading your way....
By the time the cannon fire would have reached the back of the ship the front would have re loaded and would have started firing again. Whoever the target was it would have felt like they were being hit by a cannonball machine gun. Not something you would want to experience at all lol
When you need to destroy everything in that general direction....
Now here is where the over-used word "AWESOME" really applies!
This ship is older than the USA. Strange thought that.
Not that old then.
255 is pretty old
@@VS-et4pn for a human life span but nothing els
@@dylandcan9665 for a preserved warship, that is still old. Most other warships that were preserved nowadays are from WW2 and WW1.
There are less than two dozen ships this old in existence world wide. So yes, for a ship of sail that is tremendously old.
I think they got'em.
Nelson were is the French fleet ?
Epic History TV makes a videos of HMS Victory, and a few days later everyone is watching this video XD
Does wonders to the algorithm when a popular channel does a successful video on a downturn topic :P
Apparently the Victory had more guns on her than Wellington had in the entire peninsular campaign. When you read of the carnage of Trafalgar, this makes it seem all the more horrific, especially when you realise that the French tactic was to shoot at the sails and break contact, where as the Royal Navy fired at the hull to disable the ship / kill crew.
It's why British drill focused on rate of fire rather than precision, maximise casualties before closing and boarding.
@@tomoslewis9656 Also helped by retractable guns that recoiled back into the gundeck after firing allowing the guncrew to reload faster (I believe 3 times faster) than the French & Spanish whose fixed guns required a crewman to climb out the gunport and along the barrel then be passed the swab, the charge, the ram, etc. then climb back. RN crews were like a F1 pit crew, every man knew his job and when to do it. Also French ships tended to fire as the ship rose on the swell, to lob fire at the rigging while RN ships fired as the ship fell.
@@efnissien Sorry but the french also had guns on wheels that recoiled. Even the "fixed" guns that were in fact mortars (4 on the deck) had sliding baseplates. The slow rate of fire was due to the fact that during the revolution the gunners corps of La Royale was disbanded. Without the seniors to pass the know how and no specialists the sailors were a bit untrained compared to their british counterpart. You are right about the tendancy of the french to fire at the rigging "le tir à démâter" instead of the hull "le tir à plein bois".
I served in the RN on a modern Frigate. When they fired the gun the whole ship would shake and fill the compartments with the smell of cordite. I can’t imagine what it would have been like when the ships were made of wood, and the men were made of steel.
@@TwoSixHeave In the early 80's I think it was we took our children to Madam Tussaud's who put on an amazing full sized model display of part of Victory's main gun deck. A battle was being fought with all the sounds of men, cannons going off, hits being received and yes, even the smell of sulphur from the cannon ball propellant, gunpowder. It was ACE.
The men were actually made of iron. 😊
Never mind being on Victory when she was firing a broadside in anger, imagine facing her in battle. I almost feel sorry for the French. Almost.
@@tudyk21 Wooden ships and iron men.
Sends chills down your spine. Wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of that massive fusillade.
I hope they at least put a frenchman on the other end
starboard side?
Trudeau will do.
@@mikelindellspillow2609 I think he's passed
also remember that these men at that time trained to the point, that when the last cannon fired the first was ready to go again, and they could keep it up till they sank the enemy or ran out of ammo, and to be on the receiving end...truly terrifying.
Jezus I heard that Royal Navy's budget was cut but I had no idea they had to pull this out of reserve!
It's always been a Commissioned war vessel. It's never been out of service.
@@malcpaul996 Can the USS Ironsides still fire it's canons? We need a Merican version of this video.
@@kyltredragmire4939 In an even fight, broadside on broadside, the Constitution would have been matchwood after a single boradside from the Victory. The Constitution was a heavy frigate, somewhere between a 5th and 4th rate, whereas the Victory was a 1st rate. The Constitution would, if faced off against anything bigger than it, run away as it was hopelessly outclassed and outgunned. Against other frigates and smaller ships it was a good ship but against anything bigger or against a British Razee it would have got murdered.
@@MCDrB-wq8ed I wasn't asking for them to be pitted against each other. Or even to be near each other for that matter. I just want a video where the USS Constitution fires all of its canons in a rolling broadside.
@@kyltredragmire4939 The point is the Constitution is a 44 gun single deck frigate, Victory is a 106 gun 3 deck first rate. A rolling broadside from the Constitution would not be even half as inpressive as this.
how could you possibly see or even BREATHE under deck with all that gunpowder smoke ? - and that was a single salvo - they would do this for HOURS during battle !!! - incredible display beyond words
Dunno why this has been recommended today, but bloody hell that was great.
same
Could you imagine what a full blown naval battle must've looked and sounded like?!?
no, everyone would be deaf XD
WHAT? I can't hear a thing!
you should watch Black Sails.
As a former French Navy signalman, you will easily understand that this warship is not the one i prefer; but nonetheless, in 1997, during a halt in Potsmouth, i felt very glad to have the honor to salute her as the flagship of the Royal Navy. Next day, I made a visit onboard, and it was a really strange feeling to walk on the deck where such a great sailor as Admiral Nelson was fired dead.
Naval combat at that time was something incredibly violent, courage and heroism were at both camps.
Really impressive video!!
surrender
@@AdmiralZhao007 i prefer refering to Captain Surcouf : "à l'abordage !!"
As a former French Navy signalman, you will easily understand that this warship is not the one I prefer
Okay, that made me chuckle. Well played.
I was told by a member of the ship's crew, about 30 years ago, that when a VIP visit is planned the police sometimes use sniffer dogs to check for any planted explosives prior to the visit. He also said that there is one area that the dogs refuse to check, the place on the orlop deck where Nelson expired. I cannot verify this, you might want to speak to a Portsmouth based sniffer dog.
*Plot Twist:* The apartments across the harbor will have 72 new vacancies after some "remodeling" and clean-up is complete.
can you imagine what the battle of trafalgar must have looked like? to see over 2 dozen ships firing off broadsides like this constantly would have been a sight to behold
When I served in the Navy in 1805 our Captain told us to perform a sneak attack at night so we put a pillow in front of the cannon to muffle the sound. The enemy had no idea we were there!
Baron Munchausen? Is it really you???
@@cristianabarsuglia629 Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. Thanks for giving a name to my abuse.
Back in the late 90’s while working in Southampton I visited Portsmouth and HMS Victory at her dockyard. Very impressive vessel and you could feel her power but what struck me was the height or lack of between decks.
I’m going to put it on my bucket list and make a re-visit as soon as this Covid carry on has been put to bed
Welcome to episode 3,784 of random videos that were recommended to me
yep
Same
WOOOOWWWWWW YOU MEAN YOU FOUND THIS VIDEO ON TH-cam WITHOUT SPECIFICALLY SEARCHING FOR IT??? HOW ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE
@@theycallme_nightmaster Sir, this is a Wendy's.
@@yourdreams2440 sorry my bad can I get UHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
"What do you mean we missed?"
Somewhere a gunnery officer is rolling in his grave at how uncoordinated and erratic this rolling barrage is :D
Still fun to watch though, unless you’re a French sailor…
Jack Aubrey would've said it was too slow, no grog for the gun crews tonight!
It is known as 'fire as you bear' leaving it to each gun captain to fire at a suitable target. It is not intended to be a 'broadside'. The cannon are fakes and the explosions are pyrotechnics.
As CS Forester pointed out in one of his books, a single Ship of the Line had more guns than an entire artillery brigade. Used properly they had a devastating effect.
All the comments within the last few days on a 7 year old video, suddenly blessed by the algorithm.
It's a wonder there was ever a winner when 2 similar ships like this passed each other broadside.
Ask the French and Spanish... 8^)
Yes because the British used carronades; very heavy guns used at close range plus we could fire more broadsides per minute than the French/Spanish. No chance 1v1 up close
Who ever fired fastest, generally the British as they spent far more time in gunnery practice than the French and Spanish could fire 2 broadsides before their opponents fired 1.
those are tiny charges its firing. I wish I could see how it would actually look like firing its cannons. I bet the noise and smoke would be several times larger than this.
Back in the 1960' at the London Planetarium there was a great scenario of the the Victory and a demonstration area of what the gun deck was like with the canons being fired. Took my kids there and they had the sulphurous smells associated with the firing too, it was amazing and so loud. Not there now I guess.
Not like I want to be on a gun deck during a battle, but I imagine the whole ship shook during a bradsde when the guns rolled back against their hawsers.
Tiny charges of flash powder. If you’ve ever looked up archive film of a destroyer-grade naval gun from the the 20th century firing, you’ll get an idea of the real blast effect.
@@sirjohng1 there's the Peter Harrison Planetarium at Greenwich Park. But it doesn't have a gun deck :(
258 years later and it’s still impressive AF!🇺🇸🇬🇧
BB-63 laughs and says "You scratched my paint".
"One minute for one broadside? You are the disgrace of the Royal Navy"
"But, Sir, we only have one training every century".
What is the normal time for a broadside?
Muzzle loading guns that have to be swabbed, powder loaded with a gun ladle, then wadding rammed in, then shot, then more wadding, gun moved to the port, powder or a fuse out in the touch hole, then elevated and aimed.
60 seconds is crazy fast
@@calvinnickel9995 A well maintained crew could reload the cannons of HMS Victory in combat in 90 sek or less
@@calvinnickel9995 The 60 seconds are not for reload, but just to fire loaded guns row by row (which is the normal procedure to ensure continuous fire and avoid too great pressure on the ship's side, which is tied to the blocking ropes).
Victory is a 100 gun ships on 3 decks, so 33 rows, that should not need more than 30 seconds.
Ah, this was uploaded on my birthday. What a lovely present :)
@@TheCoolCucumber Correct. I think some people might have interpreted it as being the day I posted that comment 😄
"It's just... good business"
One thing people often don't realise about naval warfare back then was the power of the cannon. At Waterloo, Napoleon had 250 pieces of artillery with most being 12 pounders. Wellington had 157 guns with most being 9 pounders. At Trafalgar Nelson had 27 ships, three of them including the Victory, were First rates with more than 100 guns each. The French fleet had 33 ships with two having 250 guns between them. Four ships out of fifty had more artillery than the entire British and French armies at Waterloo. And the naval guns were twice the size and more of the army guns.
the ships normally had more guns, but their power was much more limited, not only because and where more difficult to aim, thus it have to be a full board fire to cause damage, and normally it wouldn't cause much damage.
Crew must have gone deaf after a battle.
WHAT?
@@BBoySnakeDogG clever
Can’t believe that bell tower is still standing. Their aim is terrible
The Victory alone had more guns than Wellington had at his disposal in the Peninsular war. Her guns could fire 3 times in the time the French/Spanish ships could load due to the guns rolling back into the gundeck allowing easier access for the gun crew to work like a F1 pit crew. The gun crews were better drilled. And of course, she is still the command ship of the home defence fleet & in that capacity the flagship of the entire fleet. Only about 10% of the ship on display is the ship that fought in Trafalgar, most is rebuilds & restoration - the main gundeck is the largest piece still original.
Something something *Ship of Theseus*
@@Feandromar Ship of Theseus refers to the point a ship / object ceases to be the original following refits / restoration.
@@efnissien Thank you, Captain Obvious.
@@Feandromar not everyone is aware of the Ship of Theseus reference.
Don’t all guns roll back? Hadn’t they done so since the 15th century?
algorithm: Lets throw some cannon fire at his feed because...... well why not
That is scary impressive, It must have been terrifying at the Battle of Trafalgar with up to 74 warships engaging in battle then closing on each other to board and fight hand to hand.
The Victory and Nelson were the first in the British fleet's line of battle, if I remember anything about the history. As soon as the French and Spanish ships of the line had the Victory in range, they opened fire...and it took a while before the Victory's first guns were lined up with a target.
Overall, I think the engagement itself was about an hour. The other two hours were comprised of the fleets closing with each other.
The only time "WEEEEE!" has ever been shouted at the end of a volley of cannon fire
You clearly haven't been to america
@@pioneer_1148 underrated comment
I got to visit the HMS Victory in 1992. I also threw down a few pints at the small private bar that was near there for the Victory's crew after they closed for tours. They gave me a copper plaque of the ship. I gave them a few USS Eisenhower Zippo lighters and other trinkets. Lots of preservation in work on the ship at the time. Very memorable experience.
Now that you have a baseline for how loud a naval battle was, consider this. The actual powder charges used was at least twice as large, as a cannon firing a real cannonball produces a LOT more smoke then that, twice the powder per cannon, twice as loud per cannon. Now imagine that the enemy vessel is firing back in optimal cannon range (Roughly 250 meters) and you've got a cannon firing twice as loud as this, every few seconds from BOTH ships, producing what sailors called "the fog of war" (Basically all of the smoke from the cannon shots) and you've got an 18 century naval battle.
the sound is also different. It can be a whoosh as the ball itself flies out of the ship
@warteyeguy True! Didn't think about that!
Absolutely agree, although I think every few seconds is a bit optimistic. A rapid crew could apparently get off three shots in just under five minutes.
@hadorstapa I mean not really, assuming there is only 2 ships involved in this imaginary fight because there very easily could be 20+ ships in a naval battle. Even if there's only 2, each ship having that many cannons. Each gun crew being different skill levels from each side. Being told to fire at will, there would be a cannon from either ship firing every few seconds or so. Even if it's not literally every few seconds, the adrenaline created from the battle would definitely make it seem like it was every few seconds.
"Stop blowing holes in me ship!"
Yep, that's pretty much what every Spanish captain yelled when Victory started blasting.
What a guy
I know those guns...
Time to watch what the algorithm has brought us to
rip old betsy
The Algorythm has picked you.
Now THAT comes as a suprise to me! In my youth, I spend many holidays in England ( I am German), as my parents wanted me to learn english. I always had a weak spot for the Royal Navy and visited Portsmouth as often as I could. HMS Victory always was a highlight to visit. I was even allowed to walk on the deck, arranged by a British Naval Officer, who saw me staring at the ship for hours. I don't know about today, but back in the 70s, the ship was not open to the public at the time of my visits. He was apparently high-ranked enough to make that arrangement.
But I was completely unaware of the fact, that the old lady still could and would fire it's guns!
Can somebody explain to me the occasion when this happened? She is such a beautiful ship and I appreciate the efforts to preserve her.
Lol......VE day maybe?..... jokes aside its probably an anniversary of the Battle of Trafagar.
@@unhippy1 No insult taken. VE day IS a day to celebrate. I am as glad as any British that Nazi Germany got defeated.
I read in the comments, that this was fireworks not actually using the guns. I just want to know the occasion. I would consider it a risk using fireworks on such a significant piece of history.
@@virtualinfinity6280 Not everyone realises that the defeat of Nazism was a longterm German victory. My grandfather left Germany as a refugee in the 1930s and never hated the country of his birth or held any animus for her citizens (although the Nazis and any Hitlerjugend kids his own age were another matter. He hated them, and rightly so)
I wish naval reenacting was more possible
*We often forget about the sheer amount of gunpowder smoke a full broadside would have generated...not only would it have filled the entire lower decks full of smoke to the point where viability was almost zero but the inability to breath, the coughing and chocking until the smoke had cleared, and then the noise would have left you almost deaf, nothing but a ringing in your ears......and then the endurance of another full battery of guns...all over again, unless you haven't been killed already by the flying shrapnel of wood splintered off by enemy cannon balls hitting your ship !*
It ain´t pretty, but thats what we do.
To be a sailor has been one of the worst jobs, or fate a human could have up until very recently.
Yes, all of that. (depending on wind-drift at the time.) I've often tried to imagine the entire scene - and soon get overwhelmed by the utter horror of it all. Yes, I read the Hornblower series avidly. 'Master & Commander' did a slap-up job of a realistic depiction. There'd be deafening noise, choking smoke and sudden messy death all around.
War ain't good for any living thing.
Yes, it's astounding what people endure just to kill each other.
England expects that every man will do his duty
if THIS is my duty sign me up
Those days are long gone, unfortunately.
@Waynep1066 National Service will sort that out. It should never have been abolished in the first place!
Imagine this at Trafalgar where up to seventy four ships were firing eh? Where the term Fog of War was initiated
It comes from the phrase fog to war from Clausewitz
It's a higher number than that, I'm pretty sure the simasta Trinidad was 122 guns or something