No Battleship Battle Bigger than This
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
- It was the height of the First World War. Despite Germany’s formidable gains in Continental Europe, its High Seas Fleet continued to be constrained to port by the much more powerful Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy.
After taking command of the fleet, Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer was determined to break free of the brutal blockade once and for all. Thus, he devised a plan to split the British Grand Fleet into a smaller group, lure them into a trap, and destroy them before the larger group could intercede.
Scheer ordered his first Scouting Group under Franz Hipper to venture north with the intention to lure Sir David Beatty’s battlecruiser fleet out to sea while keeping Sir John Jellicoe’s Grand Fleet unconcerned with the minor conflict.
Once engaged, Hipper would dash south with Beatty’s fleet in hot pursuit and lead the British right into the muzzles of Scheer’s fleet, delivering an unprecedented blow to the British Royal Navy.
On May 31, 1916, Scheer successfully lured Beatty’s fleet into the Northern Sea; however, he was unaware that the British had intercepted and decoded his communications and would now have to face the full might of the Royal Navy.
The ensuing battle would become the last major confrontation fought primarily between battleships in world history...
In the 1970's when I was a young school boy I spoke to an old man and his wife when giving out harvest festival gifts from school and it turned out he was a Jutland veteran who was aboard a British destroyer as a stoker and his ship was sunk in the night action after the main clash. Feels surreal now to reach so far back into history and have spoken to one of the brave sailors that fought in that epic action.
llll
For those interested in more on this topic. It's known as the Battle of Jutland.
thank you..will do
In Germany it's the Skagerrak battle
And there is a LOT more to the story... the incompetence of Beatty, the command and control decisions that killed thousands of British sailors (leaving ammo material outside of protective custody in gun turrets) and Beatty's lack of communication to his fellow capital ships (because he ordered THAT battlegroup to be too far for flag communication). Very likely, THAT mistake cost many thousands of British battle cruiser sailors' lives! No wonder the British boo'd the returning navy as they arrived at port.
I thought it odd that no reference was made to this being the Battle of Jutland.
The Narrator did not mention Jutland once.
It's worth noting that the High Seas Fleet never moved in force again. They're precious battleships and battlecruisers were too valuable to risk. An unused weapon is a useless weapon.
The HSF actually did sortie a few times after Jutland, but the British never took the bait.
ICBMs have never been used in combat. I would say they serve their purpose without having to be launched.
@@bkjeong4302 That's why I specified "never moved in force". There was never a major engagement after Jutland.
@@ThatGuy-cw8gb That premise was the basis of MAD. I grew up during the Cold War. Don't forget the "missile gap" the false belief that the Russians had more than us. Fake missiles and, more commonly, the same missile being photographed multiple times was just as good as real missiles if that's the strategy.
@@rayceeya8659 Yes it was. Mutually Assured Destruction. Very effective at limiting war to endless proxy wars.
You don't understand the size and scope of those ships until you see that final picture of all those men on Deck. What a massive boat!
And standing in line on the upturned hull of their rolled-over battleship - how did they get up there?
The only dreadnought still around is the Battleship Texas, and they just put it in Dry dock for major repairs so there are videos here on TH-cam that show the true size of these beasts fully out of water if you want to see the true scale of how absolutely massive they were, and remember they were small compared to the Battleships of the 30's and 40's.
Nah... No picture or video on a 15 inch screen or smaller is going to quite do it justice. There are sites, tours, and display ships around the Nation... GO... SEE...
THE best way to truly understand what the incredible vessels were and are is to walk aboard, talk to a few of the tour guides, and stand on their decks for yourself. When you stare up the barrel of a 12 inch 50 caliber, suddenly you realize what great hell it must've been to be there when she roared. After that, when you see the pictures of the fire belching out on a test or practice run, the picture will tell you a whole new story you didn't quite wrap your head around before...
The same for an aircraft carrier, or even the latest of the nuclear submarine fleet... ANY chance you get to go see such a monstrosity, I encourage you to take it. You'll understand when you get there. ;o)
I served on a battleship. Beautiful ships, living conditions not great
The point is that Jellicoe did preserve his Fleet which maintained the Embargo of food to Germany. The Germans proclaimed that they had won Jutland and so German civilians demanded why their Fleet did not pursue the British Fleet again and again.
The result was the German Fleet did not venture out again and were considered “Cowards” by their Nation.
The end of the War started when starving German civilians revolted in German cities.
Food riots began in Germany in 1915!
It's also true that crews of the High Seas Fleet refused to obey any orders to stage a suicidal sortie against the Grand Fleet in late 1918.
@@stevenpilling5318 - Sitting idle for over 2 years, the High Seas Fleet was likely in no condition to challenge the Royal Navy.
@@scootergeorge7089 That's just it. They weren't.
@@freddieclark That's true, but the cause then was transport problems, not an absolute lack of product, as it would be three years later.
A note on German losses, the battleship that was sunk was Pommern, a pre-dreadnought less heavily gunned and slower than Dreadnought type battleships. Similarly, three British cruisers sunk were obsolescent or obsolete armored cruisers. The big losses in the sinkings of these ships, IMO, were the trained and experienced sailors.
Those pre-dreadnoughts were nicknamed "Fünf-Minuten-Schiffe" (Five-Minute Ships), because that's how long their crews expected to survive in a battle with modern dreadnoughts. With only 1 of the 6 being sunk, despite sailing between the two fleets to sacrifice themselves to give the more modern and valuable ships a better chance to escape, the pre-dreadnoughts gave quite a good account of themselves despite their obsolescence.
Though this no doubt had a lot to do with the poor quality of British shells and the poor gunnery of most of the British battlecruisers.
@@RedXlV People forget that while being technically a modern war the use of last century tactics and thought was rife throughout those 4 years so It's not quite poor gunnery per say as it was the current naval doctrine of the RN that was unchanged since the wooden ships of the line in that it's better to fire faster and more often than be slower and more accurate so the antifash fire doors and mechanisams for the transfer of the cordite were left open by the gunnery crews and the guns were being pre filled with more and more shells and cordite than what was supposed to be allowed which is what the "Bad design" of the RN ships (while partly right) comes from it was more horrifically bad practices encoraged by the captains and overlooked by the admirals so put an oversized heavy cruiser with a turret and the corriders below it full of cordite and shells as well as the very doors and mechanisms designed to stop that being left open and you have a ship made from exspodium
@@ronanwaring3408 You are confusing the rate of fire obsession of David Beatty, commander of the battlecruiser fleet, with the wiser counsel of John Jellicoe, commander of the Grand Fleet.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 If your talking about the ignoring of safety protocols then maybe I am
@@ronanwaring3408 Which 'safety protocols?' None were ignored within the Grand Fleet.
Jutland? Takes guess in the first 10 sec
That long?
👍Du gewinnst! You win a all paid vacation to Scapa flow where you will be interned as 3rd class boatswain mate for 3 months aboard a British submarine. Thanks for playing!🥇🎈
@@king_br0k lol yo yo that point it was a solid 95% at second 10 crossed into the 100% threshold
@@senorpepper3405 oh the joys of being trapped in a metal tube for months on end
9:24 What a great high def picture! Old film and cameras were capable of making some very crisp, clear, high definition pictures and videos. If the film had nice tiny grain sizes, and the camera was high quality with no light leaks and high quality glass lenses which were well focused, the resulting black and white photographs were stunningly clear despite the rudimentary tech.
A friend of mine's dad, was an engineer for the ship yard that built HMS Warspite. During The Battle of Jutland/Skager Warspite some how managed to jam the rudder in a hard Port turn. She spent most of the battle steaming in a circle. It's a much longer story than this, but if they were at full ahead, the rudder would be jammed hard to port or starboard. This was because they truncated the design of the boat at the round end!
I'm getting flashbacks to hundreds of hours of Drachinifel's Drydock episodes.
Those German range finders will get you every time .
I should note that it wasn't a charge by torpedo boats that covered Scheer's second turn away, but one by Hipper's battlecruisers. This was famously remembered as the Death Ride. Amazingly, all but one of those ships survived due to their robust construction. Unlike their British counterparts, the German battlecruisers were sufficiently armoured to prevent being blown up by plunging shells that could penetrate a magazine. Also, their powder was more stable and their loading drill better followed. It's also interesting to note that only one battleship was lost at Jutland. It was SMS Pommern, an obsolete pre-dreadnaught that was ambushed in the dark by British destroyers and blown up with torpedoes.
Very interesting, would you say that armour prevailed over shells at Jutland, as a generalization?
@@landontesar3070 Ignoring the many other facets of the battle, it would seem that the armour of the dreadnought battleship stood up well in a big gun slugfest. Their weaknesses to mines and torpedoes weren't a decisive factor. It was the vulnerability of the lightly constructed British battlecruisers that turned it into a phyrric victory for the Royal Navy.
It was the concentration of the British on fast rather than accurate fire, the storage of gun cotton rounds in the turrets and the relaxed attitude of the protective doors between the magazines and turrets as well.
It is not entirely correct that the German ships were better built; they were built with a different purpose in mind. British ships went on extended voyages lasting years across the Empire, much of which was in hot climates so internal spaces were much larger to provide more comfort for the crews. German ships were only meant to go out for a few weeks so comfort was not such a consideration, so internal spaces were much smaller.
I agree with you, but one point that you missed was that the British had a bad habit of leaving the bulkhead doors on the Gun Turrets open during battle. So when a shell hit very close to that open door, it was easier for the flames to go into the turret and down into the magazine hold and then explode.
Based on numbers, it was tactical defeat for the British.. However, it was an operational/strategic victory because the German fleet never sortied again.
The GF was far more accurate than the HSF and tactically Sheer was forced to turn away every time. The GF was ready to sail the next day while the HSF required weeks of repairs. Had it not been for the poor performance of the Common Shell (something that Jellicoe had fought to have changed) the HSF would have lost 4-6 capital ships.
Nah not tactical defeat, in your dreams, to win you have to stay in battle, not retire
I am ex Royal Navy and I think it was a defeat for the British
An American newspaper at the time summed the battle up by saying -
" The German fleet has assaulted its jailer, but it is still in jail."
Basically the Royal Navy lost more material, but it was out again on patrol again within days.
The German fleet sat around in port for the rest of the war and the crews became bored and mutinous.
@@agwhitaker Theoretically the HSF had the ability and in smaller formations still did sortie, but the German high command became way too scared of loosing any of their capital ships to risk another engagement at the scale of Jutland. But it’s was probably the right call for the as the British would be even better prepared if it were to come to another clash at such a huge scale.
Almost 45,000 Royal Navy sailors died in the Great War and, for most, the sea is their last resting place. Those without graves are mostly commemorated on the huge naval memorials at Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth.
On each of them memorials I know the 1 in Portsmouth have 2 sailors both sides 1 young the other older with beard. Same person. Was modeld using my grandad. He served with mountbaton destroyer fleet in the med on HMS kipling. He pulled mountbaton from sinking HMS Kelly. Kipling was hit and sunk soon after. A story my dad tells me lol
That is the sad part of war, generals make plans and they know that they are sending many soldiers to their deat, that is part of the planning, we see this so clearly in the invasion of ukraine by russia. I know there is no way around it but is so sad.
Some footage and pictures do not apply to the commentary, e.g. narrator mentions Adm. Scheer, but shows Adm. Hipper. French battleships are shown although no any French unit took part at Jutland! In top of that, it is claimed that the German High Seas Fleet were "inferior" to the British. The truth is: the Germans were outnumbered by the Grand Fleet, but whether or not they were inferior remains debatable. How could the High Seas Fleet be inferior if they inflicted three times higher casualties to the enemy than sustained themselves? What's been constantly ignored by British authors is that Imperial German naval architecture was in fact superior to the British and came up with extraordinary sturdy ships which could take the heaviest punch and still remain afloat. No any German battleship was lost in WW 1 due to magazine explosion. Three British battlecruisers and three armored cruisers were blown up at Jutland while the most gravely damaged German ship (SMS "Seydlitz") was kept afloat and made it back to her home base. My personal advice: Come down from your high horse and stop ignoring the historical facts! Cheers
One thing to note about Admiral Beatty is that he was a fox hunting man and he loved the chase
He should have stuck to fox hunting. If curious, consult Drachinifel's channel.
Another person who owed his position to Churchill's misjudgements. In truth there was a lot wrong with the Royal Navy at the time; their tactics, procedures and communications had been sclerified by a long period of peace. All of this came back to bite them at Jutland and if it had not been for Jellicoe the losses may have been far worse.
Also, it didn’t help that Beatty insisted on keeping Ralph “Flags” Seymour as his Flag Lieutenant, wherever he went. “Flags” was a sycophantic hanger-oner from Beatty’s social circle. Having almost no signal training, and a child’s mind, Seymour’s incompetence was the stuff of legend.
@@jamesm3471 Yes, I understand that he stuffed up more than once in failing to appreciate what additional signals needed to be sent with Beatty's minimalist approach to communicating.
@@jamesm3471 Beatty waited until after he started taking criticism in the 1920s to throw Seymour under the bus.
If Beatty had dismissed Seymour after his blunders at Scarborough or Dogger Bank and brought in somebody who was actually a proper signals officer, Jutland would likely have seen as a modern-day Trafalgar, with Jellicoe and Beatty becoming the modern-day Nelson and Collingwood.
Not surprisingly, Seymour was a distant cousin of Churchill.
Jolly good effort at describing an incredibly complex battle. The first British ship to spot the Germans was the Light Cruiser HMS Galatea.
My grandfather was stationed on Iron Duke but during WW2, he was a comms engineer and trainer and rode ships as they moved from place to place teaching and upgrading comms equipment, new systems etc training crews on the fly going from anywhere in the home bases to Gib and often had to be shipped to returning ships from an outgoing convoy escort by Bosun's chair with his little crew.
Absolutely outstanding detailing chain of events during WW1 naval operations. I have shared this with many others military and civilian alike. I salute you for your dedication, time, research and desire to share your passion for WW1 naval history to thousands. 👍🏻😉🇺🇸
That was the most positive spin on the Battle of Jutland that I've ever heard...
If you liked this read Robert K Massie's Dreadnaught, about the naval arms race leading to WW1 and then Castles of Steel, about the actual naval battles during the war. Amazing reads.
Wow. You've grown much since your early videos. This was top tier my friend. Top tier.
I love the engineering of this era.
Like floating grand cathedrals of steel and blood
Beatty was a liability at Jutland thank God for Jellicoe
Hear hear
8645 figures have been raised at Thyborøn in the northern part of Jutland, Denmark as a memorial for all the men lost at sea.
I don't know a lot about this time period. The naval aspect is fascinating! Thank you?!! Make more!
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
He is remembered for his comment at Jutland that "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today", after two of his ships exploded.
Jellico did not "ignore" the enemy's position. He inquired where it was, and Beatty at first, first gave him a very unclear answer as to the German high seas fleet position. In latter years, Beatty tried to get charts and records changed about the engagements, to make himself look better, but those requests were denied.
Very interesting, you always make these points of history come to life , thank you.
His biggest mistake was not reading the room. His enemy the Brits would have been praying for him to try something like this, and would have gone all in at even the slightest hint it was happening. They were so thirsty for this battle that conventional thinking was just not up to the task.
The British gunners scored plenty of hits on the German ships but it was known that the shells were not effective- they detonated too soon- when had they detonated later, they would have entered engineering spaces inside the ships and caused catastrophic damage. Not replacing the shells when this was known was presumably a cost decision in a war that created vast demand for munitions, so the shells remained and this led to a lucky escape for a number of German ships.
Weren't the British still using Picric acid explosives at that point in time while the Germans were using TNT? There is a huge difference in the effectiveness of those explosives.
I enjoyed it very very much
I love all your channels but especially the seas😃👍🏼
Thank you very much for a concise and accurate narrative of this important naval event.
With your interesting header sections, I'm just waiting for one to squeeze in. I can just hear you saying it now in that hypervigilant tone... 'THE COFFEE BREAK'..."so lads before we go into battle, lets ave a cupa and tell a few bawdy's!"
After three of his battle cruisers blew up, the British admiral is said to have remarked "I say, there seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today." how's that for stiff upper lip Brit understatement?
You’re wrong in your introduction statement that “no major naval battle had occurred” before 1916 in WW1.
Love the channel.
so I am 47 and was a big fan of the history channel and discovery channel back in the day. I haven't watched regular TV in probably 15 years. Your channels have scratched that history and machinery itch i've been missing.
Check out Drachinefal and Mark Felton if you get the chance. Two great channels that I'm sure you'll love!
The music was PERFECT for this video.
During WWI the Germans were also the last to employ a ship under sail as a warship, they had a Windjammer with a deck gun that wrecked havoc on logistical ships. The captain of that windjammer also entertained the officers from the sunken ships in the same fashion that officers of foreign navies were treated prior to the ironclads ever being built.
I've never realized, the the British Navy was such a force during WW1 & WW2.
Jutland was complicated to say the least.....Painful for both the British and the Germans, the real significance of Jutland that it maintained a tight blockade of Germany, thereby starving her and ending the horrors of WWI a lot sooner......Many lives were saved by the heroism of these brave sailors. That is the lesson.
The only man that could lose the war in an afternoon
The Battle Of Jutland. The first battle that the greatest warship ever built would take part in only just being built and tested. Jutland proved to be the ultimate test for the 3rd Queen Elizabeth Class Dreadnought of 5, HMS Warspite. While her involvement in the battle was short due to having to retreat after taking possibly the worst beating of any warship ever that still remained afloat and under her own power, she proved the Queen Elizabeth Class was no joke. At one point in the battle, while her rudder was jammed, she had nearly every gun possible of the High Seas Fleet aimed at her, which allowed HMS Warrior to escape being destroyed, only to sink while on the way to an allied port.
Damages were extensive to Warspite, and she would have been scrapped then and there if not for Churchill himself pushing to have her repaired and recommissioned, which basically involved rebuilding the whole ship, taking several years to do so... But it was well worth it, as she went on to make the Royal Navy proud, taking part in more naval operations and battles/engagements then any other warship. Warspite to this day still holds many records, like hitting a moving target, while on the move from the longest distance which happened to be the Italian Battleship "Giulio Cesare", and it was a hell of a shot as it crippled the battleship by exploding the smoke funnel, forcing smoke into the boiler and engine rooms, forcing the crews out, and only escaping with a fraction of her mobility... Also she holds the one and only kill of a U-boat using the onboard recon plane with a Jerry rigged torpedo strapped to the bottom. She was also given one of the greatest honours on June 6th, 1944. With all allied nations involved and all their warships, HMS Warspite was given the honour of being the first ship to open fire on the beaches of Normandy.
The Grand Old lady may have had the most impressive service record of any warship ever, but that wasn't enough to save her after WW2 had ended. She was decommissioned, stripped of all her guns and ammunition, and in 1947, she was sent to be scrapped despite the outcry to keep her, but because of the state of the UK economy, a ship of her size and the work needed to be done to her already was just too much... However Warspite would end up having the last laugh.
On the way to be scrapped, she broke free of the towing ship, with the skeleton crew unable to stop her. She sailed on her own for 22km until she rammed she shallow shore of Prussia Cove, embedding herself into the deep mud, and filled with enough water to sink a bit more into the mud, making it impossible to break her free. She had now become an attraction for the locals, and the nearest point to her was named "Warspite Point". Because nothing could budge the warship, she was scrapped on the spot, taking over 3 years to do so, and the costs were way more then it was worth, ending up costing more then it would have been to keep her around. When she was finally re floated, only her stripped hull remained, as everything else was gone, including the super structure. She went out on her own terms, spitting in the faces of those who wanted to save money and scrap her instead of keep her.
There is only 1 Queen Elizabeth class left in existence to this day, and she lays at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, likely in 2 large pieces, with billions of smaller pieces spread out all over the place. HMS Barham, the 4th Queen Elizabeth, also a veteran of Jutland, was struck by a salvo of torpedoes on November 25th, 1941, rolled to port 90 degrees, and exploded. The rear magazine detonated, likely splitting the ship into 2 pieces while obliterating a good portion of the ship in the process. She was the only Queen the Axis managed to sink, despite how much they tried to sink Warspite and her other sister ships Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, Warspite, and Malaya. Barham's wreck has yet to be found, since she went down in some of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean, making it a real challenge to spot anything really.
It is a damn shame that the British scrapped all of their great battleships that survived WW2. Here in the USA, there are still 9 battleships, now used as floating museums around the country. We still have all four Iowa class battleships, along with the old pre WW1 battleship Texas.
The US Navy had originally ordered six Iowa class battleships, but two were cancelled after the keels were laid, and later scrapped.
There were also plans to build five Montana class super battleships, which would have been very close to the size of the two Japanese super battleships, the Yamato and the Musashi. They were cancelled before any construction began. It would have been something to see one of those!
@@mkay1957 Britain kept vary few ships because their economy had tanked real hard because of the war, and could at least make some money by scrapping most of their ships instead of paying hundreds of thousands on upkeep and repairs. I think the largest ship they kept was HMS Belfast, a Heavy Cruiser. It is still much cheaper to maintain Belfast over a Dreadnought like Warspite, less ship to maintain, less cost. The US and Canada were in much better shape in regards to the economy, so both could choose which ships to keep and which to scrap or mothball, and pretty much every ship kept had a vary respectable service record, and tended to scrap those that were not as important or used vary much.
Take HMCS Haida for example, a Canadian Tribal Class Destroyer, she is the last surviving Tribal Class. 27 of those destroyers were built, and a further 5 were planned but cancelled. 13 of them were lost in battle, including one of the 8 that belonged to the Royal Canadian Navy, HMCS Athabaskan, lost in the same battle that HMCS Haida earned her reputation.
4 of the 16 under the Royal Navy survived the war to then be scrapped, one was sunk by their own battleship (HMS King George V) due to ramming, the rest lost in battle. The remaining 3 under the Royal Australian army survived only to be scrapped as well. HMCS Haida however, due to her service and reputation, was saved and is currently a floating museum in Hamilton, Ontario.
Haida, although was a Destroyer, was a Destroyer killer, modified by the Royal Canadian Navy, she relied more on her main guns then torpedoes, and was quite deadly with her main guns, and responsible for the destruction of several German Destroyers by main battery (Destroying German Destroyer T29, T27, Z32 with help by HMCS Huron, U-boat U-971 with help by HMS Eskimo, and possibly another U-boat and light destroyer, During Korean War she destroyed 2 trains and half of another) . She was also one of the most well kept Tribal Class destroyers, where the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy didn't treat the Tribal's very well, often covered in rust and other debris from not being maintained, where Haida and Athabaskan before she was lost, were kept in the best shape possible, all while not having as strict rules and such as the Royal Navy had on their ships. Keep a ship in good shape and she will perform at her best, and be a lot less expensive to maintain, which is likely why Britain scrapped their remaining Tribals, as again, they were not in good shape by the end of the war, and that is excluding any battle damage yet to be repaired.
On a side note, Haida's crew were recognized as honorary Texans for rescuing the crew of a downed American B-29 in the Atlantic in 1949, the certificate given I believe is in Haida since she is a museum ship now after her service ended in the early 1960's.
One of the best narratives of The Battle of Jutland that I have ever seen.
Tactically the Germans won Jutland as they inflicted more damage than they received. The British won strategically as the High Seas Fleet never tried again.
While a true statement the victors are the ones that control the battlefield after the fight, the whole point of fighting the battle in the first place.
@@ifax1245 well it was still a tactical success for the germany
Same result both sides death
@@Benepene The Kaiserliche marines plan was to isolate a portion of the Royal Navy and destroy it thus reducing the material difference. I admit the Kaiserliche marine did have some success but it was no where near enough to be worth the risk. Many of the German capital ships were badly mauled, some close to sinking but they returned to port. After the battle the RN was combat effective within 48 hours and ready for round 2. "The prisoner had assaulted the jailer but was still in jail."
There was an excellent documentary series in the early Eighties called "Sea Power". It was hosted by the retired British Admiral Hill-Norton. Referring to Jutland he said, "The British sufferered a heavier loss but retained control of the sea lanes, which is afterall, what seapower is all about". I wouldn't mind viewing that documentary again.
Great explanation of Jutland!
Everybody has a plan, until they get punched in the face. - Mile Tyson
An important part understanding the German fleets intentions was a civilian volunteer radio listening service. Developments in British direction finding were able to report the movement of ships only seven miles to the south south. The realisation was heavy units were being readied for action. The game was afoot.
The battleship Szent István (8:24) was not at Jutland, nor were any Austrian ships, oh and Hippers flagship was Lutzow, but on that one I wont judge it might be a pronunciation error or the German taught in the Midwest may show an accent.
I like your inclusion of film of the ships at sea, which must be rare footage. I'd like to see more if it can be found and included.
You can walk through this online in the historically correct weather conditions. We lost more ships, true BUT, when you see the sim with the sinking sun behind therefore backlighting the British ships whereas, the Kriegsmarine were well and truly shielded by the dusk, you can see why the RN gunnery wasnt as good. Also, the RN were so keen to engage and sink the Kriegsmaring that they piled cordite in the open to be able to fire a lot faster. H& S went out the window and what an awful price to pay. One hit, flash....Gone in sixty seconds...
German's Code was intercepted, and they should have used their submarines to scout and attack the Grand Fleet. But the British were the Grand Masters of the High Seas. America coming into the War didn't help for Germany one bit.
So, a couple poor choices of words in the first two minutes. Firstly, Jutland was NOT the last time battleships shot at battleships. Observe the Battle of Samar, The Battle of Casablanca, and the Battle of Mers el Kabir. Secondly, Jutland was FAR from "primarily a battleship fight". Aircraft were involved. Submarines from both sides were involved. Cruisers and destroyers formed scouting and screening forces for both fleets and fought their own separate engagements during the fight. It was far more involved, but the other parts aren't as "glamorous" as 60,000 ton behemoths shooting Volkswagen beetles at each other from 15 kilometers away.
An amazing story. Such bravery from these men of Valor. Today, it seems like no one is willing to lay their' life down for even a noble cause.
... Have you been living under a rock for the last 7 months?
The Dark channels are absolute quality. Thank you so much for your hard work!
not even close, its only maybe a tiny bit better than modern History Channel
In WWI, the Germans were too timid, afraid to to lose ships, in WWII they pissed their ships away trying to use them to kill freighters by sending them out alone or in small numbers. The big problem is there was no serious thought of what they wanted heir fleet to do for the war effort. Limited thinking.
Germany had superior ships, but inferior numbers and opportunities to rearm and refuel.
Both WW1 and WW2 they tried to take on the world and discovered it's very large and no one nation will rule it all.
They were formidable and capable of dealing winning blows to any ONE nation they faced. They were unwise in trying to conquer the world.
The issue is that the Germans were significantly outnumbered had no real ability to replace their losses. They "won" at Jutland in the sense of inflicting more losses than they took, and yet within a few months the balance of forces was even more lopsided in Britain's favor with the completion of the battleships Resolution and Ramillies and battlecruisers Renown and Repulse. The latter two replacing Britain's losses at Jutland with more powerful ships, and the former two countering Germany's own completion of the battleships Bayern and Baden. And this got even worse for Germany in December 1917 when the Grand Fleet was reinforced by the 6th Battle Squadron (aka US Navy Battleship Division 9).
Meaning that a war of attrition wasn't going to play to Germany's advantage unless they could win absolutely decisive victories. Which Jutland pretty well proved weren't going to be available, since Britain wasn't going to sail out only part of their fleet and risk allowing Germany local superiority. (This having been what Scheer and Hipper hoped to achieve at Jutland. To isolate the Battlecruiser Fleet and inflict severe losses if not absolute destruction on it by forcing it to fight the entire High Seas Fleet. Had their codes not been broken, this plan had a very good chance of working given that Hipper was a better admiral than Beatty and his own battlecruisers were durable enough to survive an early beating while drawing Beatty into the jaws of Scheer's battleships.) Whenever the High Seas Fleet came out to fight, the entire Grand Fleet was going to sail to meet them.
@@Dewydidit Germany tried conquering the world? Hitler asked nothing of England or France and begged them for peace. Even after defeating the world's two leading colonial armies in Western Europe and allowing 300,000 English troops to escape back to England, the most magnanimous offer of peace was presented to England. In 1941; Deputy Fuhrer Rudolf Hess, flew a lone mission with a signed peace treaty to Scotland in an effort to negotiate peace; to stop the war. After being captured they made him out to be a mad man and did not release the details. Hess was jailed at Nuremberg and the only prisoner they never released. He was still alive in 1988, when he was declared to have committed suicide in his 90's; it seems he was murdered to prevent his release.
The Soviet Union openly stated that it would be a world revolution and this was their goal. The Soviet Union invaded 7 Countries in less then 12 months and the only major power to try and stop them was Germany. The Western powers saved the Soviet Union and almost immediately after the war, they were declared the danger that Germany had been warning of. Though it is commonly said that Germany attacked the Soviet Union unprovoked or that they pursued war with England or France. The British Empire controlled upward's of 2/3's of the world. The story of WWII is totally warped and it is so sad that so many have such a wrong idea of it's causes and objectives.
I was told by an old Scotsman that some of the German admiral's and captains wanted to use the U-boats and their surface fleet to destroy as much of the Royal Navy as possible by setting a trap for them shortly after the beginning of the war but were always ignored. My flight started boarding and we didn't get to finish to conversation so I don't know what the actual plan would of been for that. Feign retreat under a smoke screen and draw them into a wall of torpedoes? My knowledge of naval strategy is pretty damned limited. Anyone on here with more than me have an idea how that could of been pulled off? U-boats in a pitched battle between battle ships and cruisers seems awfully dicey to me.
They could not match in skill or experience the Royal Navy.
When the USA entered combat, our industrial might outclassed them in numbers.
when the Grand Fleet finally opened fire it must seem as if all of naval warfare history was leading up to that moment.
Dude must be so good at luring out his enemy. He lured out the whole thing.
The ghost of that crafty Lord Horatio Nelson was there.
this is a Story for an epic Movie
@1:33-4 there's a dog at the ship launch! Blink once, and you'll miss it.
I remember seeing picture of half of a ship sticking out of the water with the other half having come to rest on the bottom of the shallow North Sea. Also didn't a British ship try to make contact with the rest of the fleet after darkness fell only to discover that they were actually in amongst the German Fleet. They where promptly destroyed.
It was the Duke of Edinburgh armored-cruiser HMS Black-Prince which unfortunately thought the High-Sea-Fleet which who was the Royal-Navy's Grand-Fleet But then the Royal-Navy's doomed armored-cruiser attempted to escape and virtually the entire High-Seas-Fleet of sixteen dreadnoughts blew it's doors completely off and the 857 officers and men died and went to the bottom
It is a famous USN saying *Fast Ships in Harm's Way*. As another respondent already stated. Unused Weapon is a wasted one.
Something must be wrong with out Bloody ⚓🚢 ships today!🤔
"To avoid uncontrolled flash fires, please keep doors closed"... Nah, we want maximum rate-of-fire ... oops.
Germany assaulted their jailer but are still behind bars 🤣🤣🤣.
Scheer wanted to entice portions of the Home Fleet out and defeat them in detail, unfortunately for him he enticed everyone out, but having said that the RN losses on that day do show that his strategy was viable.
There is something wrong with our bloody ships!
yet another example of numbers defeating technology
0:02 I said Jutland just looking at the title. Beat you to it. LOL, but good show. 🤣
Brilliant historical commentary
Point of historical fact: while this was a the grandest naval battle since Trafalgar, it was NOT the last time battleships would square off against one another. That distinction came in 1944. The epic Battle of the Surigao Strait. Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf BRILLIANTLY led his squadron of old WW1-ERA battleships, MOST WERE VICTIMS OF THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR!!!! They covered themselves MAGNIFICENTLY BY SMASHING TO HELL THE JAPANESE SOUTHERN FORCE BY "CROSSING THE ENEMY'S 'T'!!!!!" That, friends, was THE LAST duel between battleships ever fought on the world's oceans!!!!
Sounds like coping to me.
@@copoloco4984 What??? Wth are you talking about???
Was an extremely one sided battle, but a battle none the less. Not sure if Fuso or Yamashiro even got to return fire at the American battleship.
@Danny n In a word: no. All the Imperial Japanese Navy battleships were POST-WW1; pre-WW2-era ships.
@@carpocolypsenow As best as I could recall, I don't believe so. Because, by this late-stage in the war, I believe that our WW1-era battleships were retro-fitted with radar masts that were SO ACCURATE, they could, QUITE, LITERALLY, SEE THE SHELL SPLASHES ON THE SCREENS AND, HAVE THE GUNNERS ADJUST FIRE. ACCORDINGLY!!
There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today ----- David Beatty
Great video
Thanks
One of the German battlecruisers ordered to relieve the pressure on the van of the German fleet, by charging the British line abreast of dreadnought battleships; observed "the belching guns of the enemy from one end of the horizon to the other".......24 British battleships firing full broadsides.
You make great videos, thank you. Unfortunately this one was marred by the very intrusive music track. Those loud violin solos and the orchestra really interfered with your commentary. It was like attempting to listen to a storyteller, while a loud Orchestra was playing alongside! It was terribly distracting! Thank you for your contributions, and best wishes.
I miss battleships, but those things… *insert carriers, jets, missiles, destroyers, etc.* they are a nightmare
Thanks great vid
Brave men all.
Hearts of oak.
A tragic loss.
Lest we forget.
❤️🇦🇺🦘👍
Fascinating documentary, one of your best! Thank you!
It's a bitch when they read your mail. The best laid plans ...
Am American Secretary of State, stupidly said of American code breaking in the late 20s early 30s, "gentlemen don't read each others mail". Fortunately code breaking was instituted again.
Henry L Stimson.
@@carlwessels2671 Yup, and improved and broken and improved again ...
Now we have some VERY solid coding methods, some of which were unbreakable with very recent 'present day' technology, although it has been demonstrated that even breaking those is possible. This was done by a quantum computer recently, in one case, anyway. To my mind it was the event that clued me in that there is actually something real to quantum computing. It did what no digital computer could ever do, unless it got REALLY 'lucky'. It is ever thus.
@@MrJdsenior Thanks for the reply. I learned a little about quantum computing. Best wishes to you and your family.
@@carlwessels2671 If you ever really understand it, come back and educate ME! Same for you and yours! Cheers.
The old graphic of the battle is wrong, the Scheer ordered his ships to turn 180 degrees independently, rather than one by one turning around a pivot point.
This allowed the High Seas Fleet to make their escape almost instantly, rather than continue to show themselves as they slowly turned away.
Enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up for the support of your channel
The battle of Jutland was the first proper naval engagement where modern technology like torpedoes, planes and even zeppelins were used in combat for the first. Many were in experienced in the new weapon systems. It was also worth mentioning the Royal navy could out produce and were the leading naval power at the time with dreadnoughts and battlecruisers were innovative designs by the British at the time.
Could I suggest the ‘battle of the may island ‘ for a future video a catastrophe of epic proportions with s squadron of submarine and several cruisers battleships lost . The squadron of steam powered submarines left rosyth and ended up all crashing motorway pileup style after being cut across by a trawler by the isle of may . Not a German in sight
50 years ago I knew Admiral Scheer's Great Nephew. They looked almost like twins.
This really was an epic battle.
H.M.S. Royal Sovereign
Scheer should’ve found a way to get 40-50 uboats involved….the results could’ve been castastrophic for the brits
have studied WW! & WW2 for over 50 years and read thousands of books, magazines and printed studies and Dark Docs & Dark Seas continues to teach me with his amazing knowledge.
Cool, Thanx!!
3:41 - novel and unique pronunciation of Rosyth the naval base on the River Forth !!!
It's said Ross-Scythe, one word ........ to rhyme with the agricultural hand held cutting tool.
Similarly, Beatty is not pronounced as Batey.
And NOW I'm off to play World of Warships (unashamed plug)
Amazing video. Been an avid viewer of this and every other dark channel. I might have to watch it once again to see if furthermore was mentioned but is a great video to recap the greatest sea battle of the first world war.
The dreadnaughts clash AT LAST!!!!!!
Fun fact: One of the main reasons for the british losses was the fact that they ignored basic fire protection regulations. As a result, some hits that should have been survivable now had the punch to blow the ship up.
I would like more of this type of thing with strategy
The Germans knew that the British AP shells were crap ( the Swedish told them ) but after the battle when the Germans evaluated the damage on their fleet that they realised how lucky they had been and recognised that if the British had decent AP shells they would of lost about 6 capital ships ….the British knew their AP shells were crap too …in fact Jellico had put it to the admiralty the year before but after Jutland it became top of the Royal Navy hit list ….
"The Swedish told them". Well that clears up did Germany have knowledge of our AP shells either detonating on contact or just not detonating at all. I'd like to know where you got evidence of Sweden actively conspiring to help the Germans. Seeing as they were staunchly neutral but with a quite favorable lean towards the British. Also I'm pretty sure the High Seas Fleet got any information on our shells when Blucher was sunk and I want to say Motkle took a hammering at Dogger Bank where they were lucky to survive cos of excellent damage response and their handling of their cordite charges plus the Royal Navies shells being somewhat erratically competent etc
Shells were made by mixed Civilian work force, after the battle shells were built by military personnel.
The admiralty knew the shells were inferior before the battle too 👈😑
The British gunnery was faster than the German but less accurate. Something like only 2% hit their target!
Typical British .... Everyone knew the AP shells were crap .... but you are not getting newer better ones untill you use all the old shells ...!!
"there seems to be something wrong with our ships today!" Beatty to his flag captain after the PRINCESS ROYAL blew up.
During his first mission in the Atlantic Ocean (Operation Rheinübung), Bismarck engaged the Royal Navy in the Danish Strait, who wanted to prevent his exit to the Atlantic Ocean, and sank the Royal Navy flagship HMS Hood in just 5 shots.
By the end of the war;
Bismarck took three hits from the Prince of Wales.
Prinz Eugen took no hits.
Hood sank as a result of a hit from Bismarck
Prince Of Wales took 7 hits, 4 from Bismarck and 3 from Prinz Eugen
Norfolk and Suffolk took no hits.
Although Bismarck's injuries did not reduce his combat power, it caused both his maximum speed to drop to 28 knots and the loss of fuel by flooding his front with 2000 tons of water and leaning at a small angle. Their effects would be seen in the later stages of the war.
I'd like to see a treatment of the HMS Agincourt's history prior to, and including, the battle of Jutland.
You should never name a ship "Invincible"; at some point, it WILL come back at you.