The film was shot on location. The three 28 cm guns are still there. As well as an even older 30,5cm gun. Worth mentioning is the fact that there were Also some 15-20 hits made by 15cm guns from the mainland. The torpedoroom, guns and the whole Island is now a museum and open to the public. The Norwegian army ceased activity on the Island in the early 2000s…According to some sources, the torpedo battery was active until the end of the cold war (with upgraded equipment). Also they fired blank charges through the real guns ( the first time they were fired since about 1950)
The hits made by the 15CM guns were important for damaging the fire fighting ability and an engine room. At such short range they could easily penetrate a heavy cruisers armor.
As a Norwegian I appreciate the fact that you chose to highlight this important event in my countrys history. One of my favorite movies - several scenes where the goosebumpfactor is high!
Interesting Fact: When the Blucher sank, she had a few thousand galleons of oil which the majority of the oil was pumped out in the 90s due to environmental concerns. However, not all of the oil was removed and there is still 47 liters of oil that is unreachable.
I can’t help but be moved by stories like this. Soldiers who choose to lash out against an enemy that they know they cannot defeat, rather than go down without a fight.
The episode ‘Hitler’s Killer Warships’ in the series ‘Drain the Oceans’ on National Geographic features the Blucher as one of four ships they feature in the episode.
«Either i will get Court Marshalled, or i will get Decorated.» «Fire!» The most Badass Words from a Norwegian Officer. Also, i Like that this is featchured! (Also, King Haakon IIIV Actually a Day before the Invasion, he Curled up in a Ball, and was hella Tired.
40 year old torpedoes made by a country that no longer existed at the time they were used. Mindboggling. But then I'm told that some of the .50 bmg ammo used in Desert Storm were made during WW2.
@@ulflyng The issue was more on the magnetic exploders than the electric engines of the torpedoes, the British, German and US magnetic torpedoes had issues at this time and they solved them later on. The contact exploder that the Whiteheads had was more reliable, which was proven to be true when they hit the Blücher.
Had the opportunity to visit Tromsø, Norway- an unbelievably beautiful place- and stand next to the crater made by the tall-boy bombs the British used to sink the Tirpitz. 1200 men died just yards from shore, trapped in her hull, drowned by the rising tide. The craters from the bombs that missed her still evident today. Maybe the 1955 movie, “Above the Waves” might have the makings of an episode. Maybe …. Keep up the great work. It’s Wildly entertaining for us crossover history/movie geeks!
Blücher's sinking was an entierly preventable disaster for the Kreigsmarine, just one of many instances displaying Germany's incompetence at fighting the naval war. An interesting fact is that Blücher had only commissioned into the navy 3 days beforehand, and was still in the process of 'working up'.
Very good video, Johnny. I had the chance to visit Oskarsborg twice. Very impressive sight. The guns are still in place and show quite some nasty battle scars on the turrets and guns themselves. They also displayed a shell sitting on a lorry that was used to transport it from the magazine to the guns. It’s absolutely massive! No wonder they couldn’t reload fast enough. The reason for that famous quote is that the commander tried in vain to reach central command and was left to act without orders. His notes resurfaced much later showing the timeline of that night. He is also credited with bringing everyone underground before the Luftwaffe started bombing the place. Didn’t loose a single man that night.
“Act without orders”. That is only partly true. Under the regulations his standing order was to block the passage to anyone trying to pass in anger. One can understand that he sought support from higher ranks, but his orders where there.
I still wonder if Denmark could have held out longer in the 9th...but the fact that Norway held out and kept fighting is pretty remarkable. keep doing these reviews/battles with movies
Denmark has no natural barriers to speak of and very little ground to give up. To their credit, though, when the Germans started rounding up Jews, they were able to get virtually all of them to Sweden.
@@krystal20delight61 a fair few Danes joined the Royal Marines/Commandos, and many Danish seamen played their part in the Battle of the Atlantic...Jan Molby ex Liverpool great Dane has a great Scouse accent..
Also in Norway is the sunken German destroyer Z2 Georg Thiele that beached on April 13th 1940. Today, the wreck is one of the most popular diving sites in Narvik.
Johnny scores again, sharing a great video featuring a little known battle in a movie I've never heard of. ps- Nice footage of the Szent Istvan turning turtle. A little Italian torpedo boat sank her surprising everyone.
Very good movie. The title, The King's Choice, refers to his decision to urge the government to continue the fight. Like many modern constitutional monarchies, the king had no real power, but he did command a lot of respect. The actor that played king Haakon bears an uncanny similarity.
Thank you for this installment. I have been keenly interested in details of the torpedo station, and it's operation. I remember seeing a drawing of it's layout at one point, but details on it's operation are few and far between.
I love this event. I love how one leader made the right call at a pivotal moment. Sure Norway ultimately lost, but he bought them enough time to organize.
Remember that the Norwegian merchant marine greatly contributed to the allied victory, carrying 40 % of the oil prioducts to UK during the first critical month of the war. Without that the RAF wouldn't have been able to resist the Luftwaffe. During the 1000 ships strong Nortraship fleet continued to carry vital supplies for the Allies, with the loss of many lives and ships.
People have often wonder why Germany never invaded Sweden. One of the major factors was lack of warships because of loses while invading Norway. Between the Norwegians, as we see here, and the British Royal Navy, such as at Narvik, the German navy was depleted to half its then strength. So German was not in a fit state to in invade Sweden. The Blucher has got to be one of the shortest wartime naval careers in WW2. She was commissioned 20th September 1939, just 20 days days after Germany invaded Poland and 17 day after the war started. And she was sunk on the 9th of April 1940. She must have still had the smell of fresh paint when she sank.
@@michaelpielorz9283 Same reasons Germany invaded Norway, likely, plus a few more. 1 - To take control of the local industrial potential and infrastructure, and use it to bolster the German war effort. 2 - Propaganda reasons related to justifying their claim as rightful heir to the Viking warriors. 3 - To have more land for Germans to settle in, furthering their eugenics programs using their ideology of Lebensraum. 4 - To further secure supply lines between Scandinavia and mainland Europe. 5 - *(This one is speculation on my part, take it with a pinch of salt)* To aid in the upcoming Operation Barbarossa, by both cutting the USSR off from Allied support in the Baltic Sea and Arctic, and setting up a second major front for the advance by betraying the Finnish too, invading Russia from the north AND the east.
The Battle of Drøbak Sound is one of the best WWII stories in my opinion. And the movie depicted it excellently... Can i point sth, not very important? From 3:55 to 4:07, judging from the ship's design and the triple gun turret it's either Gneisenau or Scharnhorst. Blucher had double gun turrets. However i haven't seen this footage so I'm glad you included them!!
Yes! Goodness I tried my best to find some Blucher footage but no luck so sometimes I'm just stuck with "General Kriegsmarine footage" and I kind of hope most people understand that.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Yes, of course, it's a common tactic... Furthermore it's not like the Germans filmed every single launch of their ships XD It was more common to film the big boys (Scharnhorst, Bismarck, Graf Spee etc) and do those big ceremonies they did with the flowers, flags and stuff... I'm not sure if i have ever seen footage of any of the Admiral Hipper class cruisers being launched generally.... After i wrote this i searched for AH class launch footage and there was not a single one so yeah....ahaha
There is a similar story in the Netherlands. Not (directly) with ships, but well, maybe it is worth to check out "the battle of Kornwerderzand" or "battle for the Afsluitdijk". What made this remarkable, was that, despite the Dutch surrendering in four days, at Kornwerderzand they managed to hold off the Germans. Some say it is the only place where the German Blitzkrieg was stopped at the continent. In all, it proved to be quite futile, though...
there's written thousands of books on various figts and battles during WW2 in norway. and domestic documentaries and films have been made in hundreds. keep looking )=
Hi Mr.Johnson!! The video is brilliant, You really takes new level of quality content!! The sharp in fact documentary short film. Thanks!! Sincerely Yours Sir
My Love for Big Bombs, and even Bigger Booms is what Got me to Like this movie, aside from being a WW2 War Film on a Different Perspective, which what I love aside from the saturated Allied perspective. The Massive Guns, the Thunderous Bangs, that was want sold me into Loving this Film! Awesome Video on the Sinking of Blücher, in the Film Johnny! Knowledgeable and Fun to watch as Always! Keep up the Amazingly Great Work, my Friend!
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq No Probs Johnny, all in a Days Work! And Oh they most certainly did a Good Job alright! A Damn Good Job Indeed! in a Low Budget no less! simply shows that in some cases, that a Large Budget to make an Excellent Film! and there are a lot of Movies to prove that! Simply Amazing!
I knew of the sinking but not of the commanders involved, thank you, it's fascinating. History might have gone a very different path if the batteries hadn't been under experienced command. It was still a time when low level decision making wasn't the norm. So the gun battery had just the right man at the helm.
Oberst (Colonel) Eriksen was commander of the whole Oscarsborg fortress including gun batteries at the Main battery (3*28 cm Krupp), the Kopaas batteries at the east Drøbak shore and the torpedo battery. He stood out, taking the political risk kommanding to open fire, but what capitated the Bücher (“Blycher”), was two midship hits from the torpedo battery. The sights being “state of the art” where one had to guess the speed of the target! Kommandør (comander) Anderssens guesses proved adequate!
I have visited the torpedo batteri swveral times, the time when it was still a restricted area. It still is like it was in 1940, torpedoes and all. Fascinating.
I have the movie downloaded from TH-cam movies. Watched it 3 times and it is very good movie. If you play Axis & Allies War at Sea. Both Bulcher and Oscarborg Fortress are included in the game
Often overlooked campaign. As for the ‘Phoney War’ if you ask the British Merchant navy or the RN if there was a phoney war then they’d probably knock you on the head. Especially the NorthEast colliers (another overlooked campaign) who had to provide the SE with coal -80,000 tonnes a week - and were badly mauled by the Nazi planes, mines and E Boats and horribly let down by the RAF. Norway is a fascinating and overlooked campaign. It was a cluster fuck of Anglo French military planning and saw tremendous loss of naval vessels both Kreigemarine and RN as well as RNN vessels( the Battles of Narvik effectively ended operation sea lion as the destroyers needed were now at the bottom of Narvik fjord). Probably most importantly though, it demonstrated to the Kriegsmarine the moral superiority of the Royal Navy which plagued their action - particularly the surface fleet - for the whole war (well, up to ‘43 end when the naval war in Europe was effectively over). When HMS Glowwworm, blazing and sinking rammed the Hipper off the Norwegian cost (shortly after the Boucher sinking) it sent a very emphatic message to the KM. (that message being “we are The Royal Navy and we are mental!”)
I think it mainly just relates to the fact the Anglo-French alliance did virtually little to nothing whilst Germany pressed hard into Poland and then bided the time until Norway and Denmark too fell and France thereafter. Much of allied planning just seemed to fall apart at first contact I wouldn't say it wasn't that there was no war being fought in those 8 months, its just that very little initiative was shown in the face of German Aggression. Also I want to remind that this isn't necessarily malice contextualized strictly by post-WW1 thinking but rather the result of opening actions of both the of War of 1870 and August 1914 saw French advances into Germany hindered and the resulting immediate engagements of maneuver thereafter, one which proved disastrous, and the latter resulting in a severe loss of life to prevent utter and total destruction. And just like in 1870 and 1914, French offensives stalled in the Ruhr or approximate, and the German army's counter offensive (or offensive for most) was weightily decisive in the course of the conflict thereafter. The only difference here is that the Allied Command could not appropriately act in time with the exploitation that the tanks took through Sedan.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Yeah, isn’t it! I really like the fact that the VC citation was from the captain of the Hipper and the award was based on his testimony. There are some who claim the Glowworm was out of control at the time but frankly that’s cobblers. She may have not been under control immediately prior to collision but the fact remains that she was steered towards with the intention of ramming. Pretty bloody flukey to hit the enemy ship by accident when steering randomly. No. She was aimed at the Hipper. There is nothing a RN officer strives for more than ramming the enemy. He may have guns and torpedoes and depth charges but ‘sod them!’ If you can ram the enemy then crack on! Actually, there’s a great line in ‘Battle of the River Plate’ where captain Bell of HMS Beef Pasty says the immortal line “ If I get a chance I shall ram the begger. It’ll mean the end of us but the end of her too - and that’s all that matters!” Glorious! (Oh no - she was sunk by the Gniesenau and Scharnhorst off Norway.) ‘Battle of the River Plate’ would be a great film to cover, thinking about it. I can see you making a very decent job of that.
@@geordiedog1749 Battle of the Rive Plate was an idea in contention with this video so I think it will be on the list 100%. Though I got a British project I'm working on this week already :)
Dont sail your ship into range of shore batteries and even worse torpedoes , no amount of armour plate is going to compete with metres of earth , rock and reinforced concrete .
Not easy to avoid that. The Drøbak Sound is extremely narrow and difficult to navigate. It is also partly blocked by a very shallow underwater wall, 3-4 feet deep, to force shipping to pass in front of cannons and torpedo batteries. This wall was constructed as early as 1879 to prevent enemy naval forces to attack the capital Oslo. It proved to work well.
The Blücher sinking was as inevitable as it was unnecessary, being entirely the result of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's stupidity in ordering a capital ship his small navy could ill afford to lose into such narrow confines against fortified positions about which he lacked total military intelligence. Even the Germans aboard the accompanying Kriegsmarine warships imagined the Blücher had been destroyed by mines, as some indication of their ignorance concerning enemy torpedo tube emplacements. Raeder guessed the Norwegians could offer only insignificant resistance, when any competent commander would have presumed the opposite. The man should have been sacked, at least, but went on instead to lose the war at sea for Germany. Hitler finally fired him three years later, but by then, it was too late.
1. The Germsn didn't know about the Torpedo battery 2. The Germans assumed the fort was used only for training and deactivated. 3. They expected only the 15cm guns to be active 4. The assumed they could run the guns with the Norweigians hesitating and not getting many shots off. Those 15cm guns at that short a range did serious damage to the Blucher and Lutzow. So #4 was wishful thinking, and a bad plan. #1 and #2 were faulty intelligence, I don't think the Germs would have tried running the battery ha they known. The Germans didn't know their intelligence was faulty. I can image the captain of the Blucher thinking "This invasion is going great, we will soon be in Oslo, just have to pass these few 15cm guns on the right". Boom. Boom. Explosion. "Hey WTF is happening? Why is my ship on fire? Where did those shots come from?" "Keep on heading towards Oslo, fire on the 15cm guns. Put out those fires." Boom. Boom. Explosion. "WTF was that? Did we hit mines" "Oh oh, 2 torpedoes! I hope we can make it to Oslo".... glug , glug , glug
@@IntraFinessehe knows it was his fault, he shoulded have never ever put his ship Blucher and his crew and the landing troops in danger, he shoulded waited until he gets the right Intel before ordering the fleet to continue, that was bad decision he made taking big as slow Blucher up the fjord and knowing that the Norwegian were lying and waited, they were doomed right from the start, when that patrol boat spotted them.
This CA loss had implications later for Germany, as it surely would've been used in Rheinübung a year later, and might well have enabled the Bismarck to survive its first foray into the Atlantic shipping lanes.
You can still see where the shrapnel damaged the buildings, it was bombed for over a day when the luftwaffe arrived, not a man was lost. when i was there in 2008 or 09, you could still see the oil leaking out of Blücher on the water.
Some of the footage around 6:49 is from the allied bombardment of Bjerkvik (north of Narvik) prior to the French Foreign Legion's amphibious landing 13 May 1940. Contrary to allied intelligence the town was full of civilians, which lead to a major loss of civilian life. The Germans had already mostly withdrawn inland. The landing eventually led to Narvik being recaptured 28 May by Norwegian and French forces.
An interesting and informative post, prescient for today for the Scandinavian and Baltic nations..thanks as always, Johnny..peace and love from the wirral peninsula...E
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq excellent...Bomber Command had an undeserved barrage of criticism ,when to quote John Cleese in Fawlty towers quipped...well they started it...people don,t always realise that a lot of Bomber Command, s aircrew were from the Commonwealth and of course Ireland ,North and south, brave men all.....on a happy note Mrs C has been knocking out Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea...how has the Jubilee gone down in Canada..??..best wishes from Mrytle corner/Wirral..E
«Enten blir jeg henrettet eller dekorert, ild!» (Either i will be Courtmarshalled, or i will be decorated, Fire!) Colonel (Oberst) Birger Eriksen, Oscarsborg, 9. April 1940.
It must be the greatest irony that Colonel Eriksen was investigated for failing his duty to resist longer and decorated for heroism all at the same time after the war.
I've always found the Phoney War period of the Second World War to be the most interesting. It was a sign of uncertainty between the Nazi Government and the German general staff on how to conduct the western theater of operations. Hitler was worried about a repeat of the first world war. He knew the Wehrmacht wasn't ready for a full scale war against the combined forces of Britain and France because his military was still rearming. His generals on the other hand believed it was best to attack as quickly as possible because the new Blitzkrieg tactics worked very well in Poland. They also knew the British and French were just beginning to build up their militaries because of man power shortages and financial problems. The French in particular were having trouble getting men to reenlist for the army because of a shortage of 18 to 35 year old males in the country and the British were also trying to reestablish their military power while also dealing with their colonies. So basically the war was put on hold until both sides were confident with their military strength.
This is the spirit, I am proudly Norwegian, we will never let anyone let us down 🇳🇴 My late father was involved in an operation of sinking the Tirpitz from Norwegian fishing boats, sorry the torpedoes missed by 50 meters but he was awarded the medal of Honor from King Haakon VII for this operation 🇳🇴
Awesome talking about this unknown battle. I find it really funny the Germans did not anticipate heavy resistance from the fortress when they had no real intel on it or it’s weapons which included its secret torpedo battery cave and its heavy guns. And they were also unlucky when the Norwegian commander of the fortress who had no intel that the fleet was the initial German invasion force opened fire and famously said “I will either be decorated or I will be court martialled. Fire!” And they sunk the ship causing the rest of the fleet to retreat and preventing Norway from falling immediately allowing the government, king, cabinet, and gold reserves to escape to Britain were they would remain safe in exile until the German defeat in 1945. You should do another video on the Battle of Bunker Hill, the prelude to it, the British attacks, and aftermath, and why the battle is so iconic as a very futile victory for the British in the American Revolution. Also include the history of how the obelisk that now marks the battle site was built.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq thx Johnny your videos are awesome. You should really talk about the M4/M4A1 Carbine assault rifles on your channel as they are the standard issue rifle of the US military. Also do the M27 IAR the new rifle of the US Marines
Historically what happened here made me laugh so damn hard; the Blutcher had been commissioned like a month before, and yet she went down from gunfire FROM GUNS BOUGHT *FROM GERMANY* and was ultimately finished off by torpedoes purchased in like 1905, and fired by a man who had bee retired for a a decade by that point. The amount of coincidences and blunders needed for this to happen is almost enough to believe there is a god, and he hated the Germans.
I appreciate that but honestly there are so many sources, even German sources, which seem to disagree on the pronunciation. Funny, I live next to the Hamlet of Blucher in Canada and no one can agree on it's pronunciation here either lol. But I did give it a shot knowing I was most likely wrong however I tried it.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thanks for the feedback, no worries. For me (as a German), it sounds strange that there are disagreements on how to pronounce it. Anyway, keep up the good work!
Correction: It wasn’t Norway that mined the iron ore needed by the Germans, it was Sweden. But as winter and hence ice would close down the Swedish ore shipping port of Luleå, the iron would go by rail to the Norwegian port of Narvik - as is still done today. Occuping Norway would also give the German a flanking position and access to the high seas for their maritime warfare - bases for their u-boats.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq my son is currently up to 700 out of silliness numbers on some battleship stuff..as you can imagine not one for the maritime life...despite being a maritime metropolis..
No, the ships were identified as German at Filtvet and Obeerst Eriksen was informed at about 03:38. He knew they were German. Deutschlandlied was probably not heared during the battle, but later at about 06:20 as the ship sank.
In the 19th Century there was a saying about Russians, Scratch a Russian and find a Tatar. Here and at the ground battle at Midtskogen which slowed the German pursuit of the King, it is instead Scratch a Norwegian and find a Viking.
some more irony is that the one of the 28 cm Krupp canons got accidentally dropped in the water during shipping so they decided to name it Moses and the other canons therefore got similar Jewish names Aron and Josva.
The images we see of Colonel Birger Eriksen are taken from the Norwegian feature film "Kongens Nei". For those who want to see more of the Norwegian war hero, I can please you with the fact that they are making a new film which will probably be titled "Sure as hell, there will be sharp shooting!"
I read on the Wikipedia page for the battle that the German sailors started singing "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" after they were hit by the coastal battery. I find that fairly poignant, if I'm being honest.
@@eamonnclabby7067 Yep. At the point the ship is sinking and they are on the water, they no longer are German or Swedish or British "soldiers"; they are shipwrecked sailors and you are perfectly entitled to cheer on their defiance of the sea claiming them no matter your nationality or theirs.
There is a long discussion regarding Deutchlandlied. It is not likely that in the midle of a battle with heavy shells arriving every 60 second anyone starts singing. Who should that be? The Wehrmacht locked up under deck? The boiler stokers under the armoured deck? Magazine personell? Turbine personell? Cunners in their turrets? Trorpedo med atanding at high allert on their torpedo guns? Signal men in the Vormarsch (Crows nest in the main mast). Ship officers and Wehrmacht high brass on the bridge? What is more likely is reports that as the Blücher sank. Deutschlandlied shall have been sung by survivors, mainly at Askholmene skeries, shivering in wet cloths seeing their proud ship going under.
The "obsolete" part refered mainly to whether the weapons would actually work or not (old stuff, like gun optics and torpedo ignition systems, tends to fail with age); Turns out, _both_ the guns' optics and the torps' ignition systems wew _perfectly_ maintained, thank you very much.
I am a long time subscriber, I admire and enjoy your work and videos, this one equally. Accept a minor improvement request : In previous comments, you admit having used images from other german warships than the Blücher, in face of a lack of acutal footage of the Blücher. @ 04:06 for instance, this two frontal three-280mm-guns turrets belong to a Scharnhorst-Class ship, namely Scharnhorst or Gneisenau battleships. My request is : It would be more respectful to your audience, and more informative, less misleading to use a disclaimer at the beginning of all your videos, explaining that you show actual WWII footage, in order to illustrate your script, but that some footage may be only related to the historical event, but that in no way every footage should be claimed as historical genuine image of the exact subject you try to illustrate. I am sure you can understand a request to improve Historical Education. I do not try to make you change anything in your editing choices. I respect your work.
The film was shot on location. The three 28 cm guns are still there. As well as an even older 30,5cm gun. Worth mentioning is the fact that there were Also some 15-20 hits made by 15cm guns from the mainland. The torpedoroom, guns and the whole Island is now a museum and open to the public. The Norwegian army ceased activity on the Island in the early 2000s…According to some sources, the torpedo battery was active until the end of the cold war (with upgraded equipment). Also they fired blank charges through the real guns ( the first time they were fired since about 1950)
The hits made by the 15CM guns were important for damaging the fire fighting ability and an engine room.
At such short range they could easily penetrate a heavy cruisers armor.
As a Norwegian I appreciate the fact that you chose to highlight this important event in my countrys history. One of my favorite movies - several scenes where the goosebumpfactor is high!
Norway has lots of to be proud of past and present.
Interesting Fact:
When the Blucher sank, she had a few thousand galleons of oil which the majority of the oil was pumped out in the 90s due to environmental concerns. However, not all of the oil was removed and there is still 47 liters of oil that is unreachable.
47 liters....in perspective....that is maybe 6 jerrycans....ffs
Why is it unreachable?
@@yuurichito1439 probably steel collapsing and corroding over the years
not 47 liters. 47 fuel bunkers. Unknown number of liters per bunker, may even be empty.
Wow, 10 1/3 imp gallons! How much comes ashore every hour from the North Sea oil fields?
I can’t help but be moved by stories like this. Soldiers who choose to lash out against an enemy that they know they cannot defeat, rather than go down without a fight.
The episode ‘Hitler’s Killer Warships’ in the series ‘Drain the Oceans’ on National Geographic features the Blucher as one of four ships they feature in the episode.
But do they feature it?
@@chimerathrawn5875 Yes they do
«Either i will get Court Marshalled, or i will get Decorated.» «Fire!» The most Badass Words from a Norwegian Officer. Also, i Like that this is featchured! (Also, King Haakon IIIV Actually a Day before the Invasion, he Curled up in a Ball, and was hella Tired.
I was just watching the episode
thank you for reminding me of the name of that show. I was trying to find it for so long.
40 year old torpedoes made by a country that no longer existed at the time they were used. Mindboggling. But then I'm told that some of the .50 bmg ammo used in Desert Storm were made during WW2.
And German torpedoes from WW2 was in use by the Norwegian navy at least up to 1980. The Argentinian was sunk by ageing torpedoes.
No different than the shit-ton of soviet weapons kicking around. Whatever russia is today, its not the ussr.
The torpedoes used were driven by air pressure, which funny enough was more reliable than the more modern torpedoes at the time
@@ulflyng The issue was more on the magnetic exploders than the electric engines of the torpedoes, the British, German and US magnetic torpedoes had issues at this time and they solved them later on. The contact exploder that the Whiteheads had was more reliable, which was proven to be true when they hit the Blücher.
And an old, still working M2 browning was found on Okinawa, dated to 1942 I think
Had the opportunity to visit Tromsø, Norway- an unbelievably beautiful place- and stand next to the crater made by the tall-boy bombs the British used to sink the Tirpitz. 1200 men died just yards from shore, trapped in her hull, drowned by the rising tide. The craters from the bombs that missed her still evident today. Maybe the 1955 movie, “Above the Waves” might have the makings of an episode. Maybe …. Keep up the great work. It’s Wildly entertaining for us crossover history/movie geeks!
Nice one,sir ,617 Squadron ,Dambusters were the brave men doing the deed...
@@eamonnclabby7067 Dont forget 9 Squadron and its Lancasters that bombed the Tirpitz as well.
Blücher's sinking was an entierly preventable disaster for the Kreigsmarine, just one of many instances displaying Germany's incompetence at fighting the naval war. An interesting fact is that Blücher had only commissioned into the navy 3 days beforehand, and was still in the process of 'working up'.
Yeah sad that a Hipper class and all the crew "got lost" because of smth dumb like this
@@yuurichito1439 Norwegians and democracy lovers all over the world disagree with you.
Very good video, Johnny. I had the chance to visit Oskarsborg twice. Very impressive sight. The guns are still in place and show quite some nasty battle scars on the turrets and guns themselves. They also displayed a shell sitting on a lorry that was used to transport it from the magazine to the guns. It’s absolutely massive! No wonder they couldn’t reload fast enough.
The reason for that famous quote is that the commander tried in vain to reach central command and was left to act without orders. His notes resurfaced much later showing the timeline of that night.
He is also credited with bringing everyone underground before the Luftwaffe started bombing the place. Didn’t loose a single man that night.
He sounded like an excellent commander overall. Very jealous of your visit to Oscarsborg. Would love to check it out one day.
“Act without orders”. That is only partly true. Under the regulations his standing order was to block the passage to anyone trying to pass in anger. One can understand that he sought support from higher ranks, but his orders where there.
I still wonder if Denmark could have held out longer in the 9th...but the fact that Norway held out and kept fighting is pretty remarkable. keep doing these reviews/battles with movies
as someone from Denmark we only hold six hours against the Germans
Denmark has no natural barriers to speak of and very little ground to give up. To their credit, though, when the Germans started rounding up Jews, they were able to get virtually all of them to Sweden.
@@krystal20delight61 Thank you
@@djolley61 I know
@@krystal20delight61 a fair few Danes joined the Royal Marines/Commandos, and many Danish seamen played their part in the Battle of the Atlantic...Jan Molby ex Liverpool great Dane has a great Scouse accent..
Also in Norway is the sunken German destroyer Z2 Georg Thiele that beached on April 13th 1940. Today, the wreck is one of the most popular diving sites in Narvik.
Johnny scores again, sharing a great video featuring a little known battle in a movie I've never heard of.
ps- Nice footage of the Szent Istvan turning turtle. A little Italian torpedo boat sank her surprising everyone.
Oh do check it out. Norway has a number of great movies. Thanks for checking out the video as always M.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Mr. Johnson, I look forward to them, I get all smiley when I see the notification! You have a gift and I'm glad you share it.
Such a great movie and nice to see the Norwegian perspective.
Very good movie. The title, The King's Choice, refers to his decision to urge the government to continue the fight. Like many modern constitutional monarchies, the king had no real power, but he did command a lot of respect. The actor that played king Haakon bears an uncanny similarity.
So much respect his house still is in power
Thank you for this installment. I have been keenly interested in details of the torpedo station, and it's operation. I remember seeing a drawing of it's layout at one point, but details on it's operation are few and far between.
I love this event. I love how one leader made the right call at a pivotal moment.
Sure Norway ultimately lost, but he bought them enough time to organize.
Remember that the Norwegian merchant marine greatly contributed to the allied victory, carrying 40 % of the oil prioducts to UK during the first critical month of the war. Without that the RAF wouldn't have been able to resist the Luftwaffe.
During the 1000 ships strong Nortraship fleet continued to carry vital supplies for the Allies, with the loss of many lives and ships.
People have often wonder why Germany never invaded Sweden. One of the major factors was lack of warships because of loses while invading Norway. Between the Norwegians, as we see here, and the British Royal Navy, such as at Narvik, the German navy was depleted to half its then strength. So German was not in a fit state to in invade Sweden.
The Blucher has got to be one of the shortest wartime naval careers in WW2. She was commissioned 20th September 1939, just 20 days days after Germany invaded Poland and 17 day after the war started. And she was sunk on the 9th of April 1940. She must have still had the smell of fresh paint when she sank.
Bismarck: 9months. Also, sailed 19 May and blasted into flaming wreckage 27 May. No glory here either.
Give me just one reason WHY germany should have invaded sweden! and from denmark to sweden isn`t such a big distance.
@@billyponsonby Bismarck was more like 2 weeks of active service: most of those months were spent in shakedowns, IIRC.
@@michaelpielorz9283 Same reasons Germany invaded Norway, likely, plus a few more.
1 - To take control of the local industrial potential and infrastructure, and use it to bolster the German war effort.
2 - Propaganda reasons related to justifying their claim as rightful heir to the Viking warriors.
3 - To have more land for Germans to settle in, furthering their eugenics programs using their ideology of Lebensraum.
4 - To further secure supply lines between Scandinavia and mainland Europe.
5 - *(This one is speculation on my part, take it with a pinch of salt)* To aid in the upcoming Operation Barbarossa, by both cutting the USSR off from Allied support in the Baltic Sea and Arctic, and setting up a second major front for the advance by betraying the Finnish too, invading Russia from the north AND the east.
I don’t remember the name of the ship (too lazy to find it) but there was an American destroyer that was sunk about a month after being commissioned
Thank you!!! I have waited so long for one of the history youtube channels that I like to take up the battle of Drøbak. Thanks
Thanks man! Glad you liked it
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thx for the great videos :D
Love the history within your channel keep it up
Thanks so much 🙏
Fascinating story. Amazing that you found old movie footage.
The Battle of Drøbak Sound is one of the best WWII stories in my opinion.
And the movie depicted it excellently...
Can i point sth, not very important?
From 3:55 to 4:07, judging from the ship's design and the triple gun turret it's either Gneisenau or Scharnhorst.
Blucher had double gun turrets. However i haven't seen this footage so I'm glad you included them!!
Yes! Goodness I tried my best to find some Blucher footage but no luck so sometimes I'm just stuck with "General Kriegsmarine footage" and I kind of hope most people understand that.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Yes, of course, it's a common tactic...
Furthermore it's not like the Germans filmed every single launch
of their ships XD
It was more common to film the big boys (Scharnhorst, Bismarck, Graf Spee etc) and do those big ceremonies they did with the flowers, flags and stuff...
I'm not sure if i have ever seen footage of any of the Admiral Hipper class cruisers being launched generally....
After i wrote this i searched for AH class launch footage and there was not a single one so yeah....ahaha
There is a similar story in the Netherlands. Not (directly) with ships, but well, maybe it is worth to check out "the battle of Kornwerderzand" or "battle for the Afsluitdijk". What made this remarkable, was that, despite the Dutch surrendering in four days, at Kornwerderzand they managed to hold off the Germans. Some say it is the only place where the German Blitzkrieg was stopped at the continent. In all, it proved to be quite futile, though...
Outstanding presentation! Thank you.
Well thanks for leaving some kind feedback 🙏
I'm sure there's more to come. You have an excellent channel based on real world experience. Yeah.
I liked this style of video its a bit more detailed and focused than your average video do more like this
Thanks man! Wanted to switch things up. Will do a few more in the future.
Didn’t know about this one, thank you
Great telling of an interesting story that no one ever hears about. In most documentaries, Norway simply turns red on the map.
there's written thousands of books on various figts and battles during WW2 in norway. and domestic documentaries and films have been made in hundreds. keep looking )=
Norway fought militarily for two months, with allied help. Of all countries that wound up being occupied, Norway fought the longest.
@@einarbolstad8150 👍
love your vids dude, always learn something new
Thanks man really appreciate it 🙏
A little fact the heavy cruiser Lützow. The ship was turned into pocket battleship also know as the Deutschland class cruiser.
Idk but every country in europe has made like 1-3 really amazing movies on their countries history.
Thanks for the interesting videos Johnny.
Thanks for leaving some support 🙏
“Nice cruiser, dawg- YEET”
sorry this was the first thing I thought of
Most movies focus well known battles of ww2 but its really nice to see other movies focus on other ones like the king's choice.
Hi Mr.Johnson!! The video is brilliant, You really takes new level of quality content!! The sharp in fact documentary short film. Thanks!! Sincerely Yours Sir
Thanks man I really appreciate the feedback
My Love for Big Bombs, and even Bigger Booms is what Got me to Like this movie, aside from being a WW2 War Film on a Different Perspective, which what I love aside from the saturated Allied perspective.
The Massive Guns, the Thunderous Bangs, that was want sold me into Loving this Film!
Awesome Video on the Sinking of Blücher, in the Film Johnny! Knowledgeable and Fun to watch as Always!
Keep up the Amazingly Great Work, my Friend!
Thanks brother! They did a fantastic job on the scene relying on sound and darkness to set the atmosphere. Great scene on a low budget.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq No Probs Johnny, all in a Days Work! And Oh they most certainly did a Good Job alright! A Damn Good Job Indeed! in a Low Budget no less! simply shows that in some cases, that a Large Budget to make an Excellent Film! and there are a lot of Movies to prove that! Simply Amazing!
AMAZING video and story combined!!!!💯💥
I knew of the sinking but not of the commanders involved, thank you, it's fascinating.
History might have gone a very different path if the batteries hadn't been under experienced command. It was still a time when low level decision making wasn't the norm. So the gun battery had just the right man at the helm.
Oberst (Colonel) Eriksen was commander of the whole Oscarsborg fortress including gun batteries at the Main battery (3*28 cm Krupp), the Kopaas batteries at the east Drøbak shore and the torpedo battery. He stood out, taking the political risk kommanding to open fire, but what capitated the Bücher (“Blycher”), was two midship hits from the torpedo battery. The sights being “state of the art” where one had to guess the speed of the target! Kommandør (comander) Anderssens guesses proved adequate!
I have visited the torpedo batteri swveral times, the time when it was still a restricted area.
It still is like it was in 1940, torpedoes and all.
Fascinating.
thanks Johnny very well done.
Great vid
I love the King's Choice, just rewatched it a few days ago. Feels just like Nolan's Dunkirk, in the way to portray everything.
"Either I will be decorated, or I will be court-martialed. Fire!"
- Birger Kristian Eriksen
Damned intense battle scene. Something to be said for older, mature commanders leading the men.
Probably too much fire.
I have the movie downloaded from TH-cam movies.
Watched it 3 times and it is very good movie.
If you play Axis & Allies War at Sea. Both Bulcher and Oscarborg Fortress are included in the game
I am all for this expansion into thing besides firearms and vehicles. Keep up the quality work!
Thanks so much. I hope to do more like this in the future.
Aye Aye Captain...
I really enjoyed this film. It was free with ads on TH-cam. Might still be.
Great Video!
wow an historical lesson and a historical movie too in one video very interesting topic!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙏
Interesting story and well presented. Thanks.
Thanks for leaving some support 🙏
It's a great movie you can even tour the fort if you ever get the chance to go to norway I would highly recommend touring it.
Would love to one day
This is a criminally under-subbed history Channel
Thanks man I really appreciate the kind words
Just an awesome story and really like both film reference and historical impact.
Glad you enjoyed it 🙏
Often overlooked campaign.
As for the ‘Phoney War’ if you ask the British Merchant navy or the RN if there was a phoney war then they’d probably knock you on the head. Especially the NorthEast colliers (another overlooked campaign) who had to provide the SE with coal -80,000 tonnes a week - and were badly mauled by the Nazi planes, mines and E Boats and horribly let down by the RAF. Norway is a fascinating and overlooked campaign. It was a cluster fuck of Anglo French military planning and saw tremendous loss of naval vessels both Kreigemarine and RN as well as RNN vessels( the Battles of Narvik effectively ended operation sea lion as the destroyers needed were now at the bottom of Narvik fjord). Probably most importantly though, it demonstrated to the Kriegsmarine the moral superiority of the Royal Navy which plagued their action - particularly the surface fleet - for the whole war (well, up to ‘43 end when the naval war in Europe was effectively over).
When HMS Glowwworm, blazing and sinking rammed the Hipper off the Norwegian cost (shortly after the Boucher sinking) it sent a very emphatic message to the KM. (that message being “we are The Royal Navy and we are mental!”)
I think it mainly just relates to the fact the Anglo-French alliance did virtually little to nothing whilst Germany pressed hard into Poland and then bided the time until Norway and Denmark too fell and France thereafter. Much of allied planning just seemed to fall apart at first contact
I wouldn't say it wasn't that there was no war being fought in those 8 months, its just that very little initiative was shown in the face of German Aggression.
Also I want to remind that this isn't necessarily malice contextualized strictly by post-WW1 thinking but rather the result of opening actions of both the of War of 1870 and August 1914 saw French advances into Germany hindered and the resulting immediate engagements of maneuver thereafter, one which proved disastrous, and the latter resulting in a severe loss of life to prevent utter and total destruction.
And just like in 1870 and 1914, French offensives stalled in the Ruhr or approximate, and the German army's counter offensive (or offensive for most) was weightily decisive in the course of the conflict thereafter. The only difference here is that the Allied Command could not appropriately act in time with the exploitation that the tanks took through Sedan.
@@TchaikovskyFDR There was the mighty Saar Offensive!?
Love the story of the Glowworm. Would love to do a video on her at some point.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Yeah, isn’t it! I really like the fact that the VC citation was from the captain of the Hipper and the award was based on his testimony. There are some who claim the Glowworm was out of control at the time but frankly that’s cobblers. She may have not been under control immediately prior to collision but the fact remains that she was steered towards with the intention of ramming. Pretty bloody flukey to hit the enemy ship by accident when steering randomly. No. She was aimed at the Hipper. There is nothing a RN officer strives for more than ramming the enemy. He may have guns and torpedoes and depth charges but ‘sod them!’ If you can ram the enemy then crack on!
Actually, there’s a great line in ‘Battle of the River Plate’ where captain Bell of HMS Beef Pasty says the immortal line “ If I get a chance I shall ram the begger. It’ll mean the end of us but the end of her too - and that’s all that matters!” Glorious! (Oh no - she was sunk by the Gniesenau and Scharnhorst off Norway.)
‘Battle of the River Plate’ would be a great film to cover, thinking about it. I can see you making a very decent job of that.
@@geordiedog1749 Battle of the Rive Plate was an idea in contention with this video so I think it will be on the list 100%. Though I got a British project I'm working on this week already :)
The torpedoes that sank Blücher were Whitehead torpedoes designed in the 19th century and predated WW1
I love your videos and was wondering if you were ever thinking about making a makarov or PM in the movies video?
Dont sail your ship into range of shore batteries and even worse torpedoes , no amount of armour plate is going to compete with metres of earth , rock and reinforced concrete .
I think the torpedoes had been kept a secret
@@jefferynelson even better for the fort and worse for any ship
Not easy to avoid that. The Drøbak Sound is extremely narrow and difficult to navigate.
It is also partly blocked by a very shallow underwater wall, 3-4 feet deep, to force shipping to pass in front of cannons and torpedo batteries.
This wall was constructed as early as 1879 to prevent enemy naval forces to attack the capital Oslo.
It proved to work well.
Great stuff - cheers :)
The Blücher sinking was as inevitable as it was unnecessary, being entirely the result of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's stupidity in ordering a capital ship his small navy could ill afford to lose into such narrow confines against fortified positions about which he lacked total military intelligence. Even the Germans aboard the accompanying Kriegsmarine warships imagined the Blücher had been destroyed by mines, as some indication of their ignorance concerning enemy torpedo tube emplacements. Raeder guessed the Norwegians could offer only insignificant resistance, when any competent commander would have presumed the opposite. The man should have been sacked, at least, but went on instead to lose the war at sea for Germany. Hitler finally fired him three years later, but by then, it was too late.
1. The Germsn didn't know about the Torpedo battery
2. The Germans assumed the fort was used only for training and deactivated.
3. They expected only the 15cm guns to be active
4. The assumed they could run the guns with the Norweigians hesitating and not getting many shots off.
Those 15cm guns at that short a range did serious damage to the Blucher and Lutzow. So #4 was wishful thinking, and a bad plan.
#1 and #2 were faulty intelligence, I don't think the Germs would have tried running the battery ha they known.
The Germans didn't know their intelligence was faulty.
I can image the captain of the Blucher thinking "This invasion is going great, we will soon be in Oslo, just have to pass these few 15cm guns on the right".
Boom. Boom. Explosion.
"Hey WTF is happening? Why is my ship on fire? Where did those shots come from?"
"Keep on heading towards Oslo, fire on the 15cm guns. Put out those fires."
Boom. Boom. Explosion.
"WTF was that? Did we hit mines"
"Oh oh, 2 torpedoes! I hope we can make it to Oslo"....
glug , glug , glug
@@IntraFinessehe knows it was his fault, he shoulded have never ever put his ship Blucher and his crew and the landing troops in danger, he shoulded waited until he gets the right Intel before ordering the fleet to continue, that was bad decision he made taking big as slow Blucher up the fjord and knowing that the Norwegian were lying and waited, they were doomed right from the start, when that patrol boat spotted them.
Good movie and I highly recommend visiting oscarsborg fortress if your ever in Oslo
Would love to one day
There is always something badass about old/outdated weaponry taking on and taking out modern weaponry.
This CA loss had implications later for Germany, as it surely would've been used in Rheinübung a year later, and might well have enabled the Bismarck to survive its first foray into the Atlantic shipping lanes.
You can still see where the shrapnel damaged the buildings, it was bombed for over a day when the luftwaffe arrived, not a man was lost. when i was there in 2008 or 09, you could still see the oil leaking out of Blücher on the water.
We used to get hard parts made in the 50s 😂 good as heck !!!!
Awesome!!! Going to have to check this movie out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some of the footage around 6:49 is from the allied bombardment of Bjerkvik (north of Narvik) prior to the French Foreign Legion's amphibious landing 13 May 1940. Contrary to allied intelligence the town was full of civilians, which lead to a major loss of civilian life. The Germans had already mostly withdrawn inland. The landing eventually led to Narvik being recaptured 28 May by Norwegian and French forces.
Quite the feat by the Norwegians, well done!
An interesting and informative post, prescient for today for the Scandinavian and Baltic nations..thanks as always, Johnny..peace and love from the wirral peninsula...E
Thanks E! I still owe you a bomber I think.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq excellent...Bomber Command had an undeserved barrage of criticism ,when to quote John Cleese in Fawlty towers quipped...well they started it...people don,t always realise that a lot of Bomber Command, s aircrew were from the Commonwealth and of course Ireland ,North and south, brave men all.....on a happy note Mrs C has been knocking out Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea...how has the Jubilee gone down in Canada..??..best wishes from Mrytle corner/Wirral..E
Still much love for the Queen and commonwealth over here. At least at my door.
«Enten blir jeg henrettet eller dekorert, ild!» (Either i will be Courtmarshalled, or i will be decorated, Fire!) Colonel (Oberst) Birger Eriksen, Oscarsborg, 9. April 1940.
It must be the greatest irony that Colonel Eriksen was investigated for failing his duty to resist longer and decorated for heroism all at the same time after the war.
I've always found the Phoney War period of the Second World War to be the most interesting. It was a sign of uncertainty between the Nazi Government and the German general staff on how to conduct the western theater of operations. Hitler was worried about a repeat of the first world war. He knew the Wehrmacht wasn't ready for a full scale war against the combined forces of Britain and France because his military was still rearming. His generals on the other hand believed it was best to attack as quickly as possible because the new Blitzkrieg tactics worked very well in Poland. They also knew the British and French were just beginning to build up their militaries because of man power shortages and financial problems. The French in particular were having trouble getting men to reenlist for the army because of a shortage of 18 to 35 year old males in the country and the British were also trying to reestablish their military power while also dealing with their colonies. So basically the war was put on hold until both sides were confident with their military strength.
This is the spirit, I am proudly Norwegian, we will never let anyone let us down 🇳🇴
My late father was involved in an operation of sinking the Tirpitz from Norwegian fishing boats, sorry the torpedoes missed by 50 meters but he was awarded the medal of Honor from King Haakon VII for this operation 🇳🇴
First this a big boi battleship
It's no KING GEORGE V
Blücher is pretty far off from a battleship, she's a heavy cruiser
Yeah i didn’t know at the time it’s a Prinz Eugene class heavy cruiser with 203
@@jackwayne3333 Not a Prinz Eugen class heavry cruiser, its and admiral hipper class heavy cruiser
Awesome talking about this unknown battle. I find it really funny the Germans did not anticipate heavy resistance from the fortress when they had no real intel on it or it’s weapons which included its secret torpedo battery cave and its heavy guns. And they were also unlucky when the Norwegian commander of the fortress who had no intel that the fleet was the initial German invasion force opened fire and famously said “I will either be decorated or I will be court martialled. Fire!” And they sunk the ship causing the rest of the fleet to retreat and preventing Norway from falling immediately allowing the government, king, cabinet, and gold reserves to escape to Britain were they would remain safe in exile until the German defeat in 1945. You should do another video on the Battle of Bunker Hill, the prelude to it, the British attacks, and aftermath, and why the battle is so iconic as a very futile victory for the British in the American Revolution. Also include the history of how the obelisk that now marks the battle site was built.
Yah! Good suggestion. I'll try to include more battles in coming videos.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq thx Johnny your videos are awesome. You should really talk about the M4/M4A1 Carbine assault rifles on your channel as they are the standard issue rifle of the US military. Also do the M27 IAR the new rifle of the US Marines
Historically what happened here made me laugh so damn hard; the Blutcher had been commissioned like a month before, and yet she went down from gunfire FROM GUNS BOUGHT *FROM GERMANY* and was ultimately finished off by torpedoes purchased in like 1905, and fired by a man who had bee retired for a a decade by that point.
The amount of coincidences and blunders needed for this to happen is almost enough to believe there is a god, and he hated the Germans.
Great vid fab movie 👍
Very interesting. Ive never heard of this engagement.
But for many Norwegians this is the one battle they have ever heard of besides the actions involving Heavy water at Rjukan.
Interesting. FYI - The “ch” Blücher is pronounced more like the “sh” in shooting, not like a “k”.
I appreciate that but honestly there are so many sources, even German sources, which seem to disagree on the pronunciation. Funny, I live next to the Hamlet of Blucher in Canada and no one can agree on it's pronunciation here either lol. But I did give it a shot knowing I was most likely wrong however I tried it.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq Thanks for the feedback, no worries. For me (as a German), it sounds strange that there are disagreements on how to pronounce it. Anyway, keep up the good work!
@@FlyWithMe_666 Thanks man! I'll keep working on my German :)
Blücher is one of my favourite ships ever. Even though she lived a short life and served a terrible regime.
Very interesting
Correction: It wasn’t Norway that mined the iron ore needed by the Germans, it was Sweden. But as winter and hence ice would close down the Swedish ore shipping port of Luleå, the iron would go by rail to the Norwegian port of Narvik - as is still done today.
Occuping Norway would also give the German a flanking position and access to the high seas for their maritime warfare - bases for their u-boats.
This movie was worth seeing. The danish soldiers didn’t last long but they desperately fought the Germans.
This movie about the Norwegians?
@@piney4562 oh yeah maybe I saw it years ago I also saw a movie about danish soldiers during the invasion and likely got them mixed up
that would be the bicycle unit if i recall
@@joshuajoaquin5099 yeah it was
@@rbr528 about the invasion of Denmark? Sounds fascinating, I will have to see if I can find somewhere to watch it.
This battle will be blessed in Valhalla by the Valkyries and the Norse Gods especially Thor and Odin.
Absolutely
Battle of Jutland when Johnny?
That would be an enjoyable project!
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq my son is currently up to 700 out of silliness numbers on some battleship stuff..as you can imagine not one for the maritime life...despite being a maritime metropolis..
A little diatale, the Fort first identified the ship as German, when it past the Fort and the crew onboard kept chanting "Deutschland, deutschland"
No, the ships were identified as German at Filtvet and Obeerst Eriksen was informed at about 03:38. He knew they were German. Deutschlandlied was probably not heared during the battle, but later at about 06:20 as the ship sank.
In the 19th Century there was a saying about Russians, Scratch a Russian and find a Tatar. Here and at the ground battle at Midtskogen which slowed the German pursuit of the King, it is instead Scratch a Norwegian and find a Viking.
I read the title, said it out loud and my neighbors horse whined.
Ironically the guns used to fire at the Blucher were made by krupp
edit:Posted before watching again oof
For any anime fans, the attack on the fortress was also parodied in the anime, yojo senki
8:01 The sinking of azent István is very popular in these kind of videos. 😊
So the ship was sunk by guns made by Krupp that’s ironic.
Ja....
some more irony is that the one of the 28 cm Krupp canons got accidentally dropped in the water during shipping so they decided to name it Moses and the other canons therefore got similar Jewish names Aron and Josva.
The cannons were Krupp Model 1889, serial Nos. 1, 2 and 3.
Great video.
One minor part the R is silent, so it's pronounced "Bloo-Keh/Blook-Eh/Blu-Keh" however you wanna write it.
4:07 "She was the best in her class the world over" then show clip of Lutzo forward main battery
The images we see of Colonel Birger Eriksen are taken from the Norwegian feature film "Kongens Nei". For those who want to see more of the Norwegian war hero, I can please you with the fact that they are making a new film which will probably be titled "Sure as hell, there will be sharp shooting!"
7:56 - 8:02 is that real footage of the blucher?
Correction, the film was made in 2017 NOT 2016, check the date of the movie again.
İnanılmaz bir sahne kesinlikle böylesi Türk tarihinde sinema da örneği yok mesela
Overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.
I read on the Wikipedia page for the battle that the German sailors started singing "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" after they were hit by the coastal battery. I find that fairly poignant, if I'm being honest.
I believe that tid bit! I was going to include it but I heard some debate over it and I can only argue so much minutia in life.
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq poignantly I think of HMS Birkhenhead sinking off the wild Namibia shore...where women and children first was shouted ...
@@eamonnclabby7067 Yep. At the point the ship is sinking and they are on the water, they no longer are German or Swedish or British "soldiers"; they are shipwrecked sailors and you are perfectly entitled to cheer on their defiance of the sea claiming them no matter your nationality or theirs.
@@notfeedynotlazy good point well made...
There is a long discussion regarding Deutchlandlied. It is not likely that in the midle of a battle with heavy shells arriving every 60 second anyone starts singing. Who should that be? The Wehrmacht locked up under deck? The boiler stokers under the armoured deck? Magazine personell? Turbine personell? Cunners in their turrets? Trorpedo med atanding at high allert on their torpedo guns? Signal men in the Vormarsch (Crows nest in the main mast). Ship officers and Wehrmacht high brass on the bridge?
What is more likely is reports that as the Blücher sank. Deutschlandlied shall have been sung by survivors, mainly at Askholmene skeries, shivering in wet cloths seeing their proud ship going under.
Anything 11 inches in calibre and firing a 250kg HE shell is ever obsolete at 1km range , same with the torpedoes at 500m
Absolutely
@@JohnnyJohnsonEsq such a fan of clarity and brevity, particularly when it really does matter
The "obsolete" part refered mainly to whether the weapons would actually work or not (old stuff, like gun optics and torpedo ignition systems, tends to fail with age); Turns out, _both_ the guns' optics and the torps' ignition systems wew _perfectly_ maintained, thank you very much.
Because I can't resist I wonder if this ship was the inspiration for naming Frau Blucher; a character in a far different movie.
The Ü in German is pronounced more like a Y. Blycher not Bluecher.
I am a long time subscriber, I admire and enjoy your work and videos, this one equally. Accept a minor improvement request : In previous comments, you admit having used images from other german warships than the Blücher, in face of a lack of acutal footage of the Blücher. @ 04:06 for instance, this two frontal three-280mm-guns turrets belong to a Scharnhorst-Class ship, namely Scharnhorst or Gneisenau battleships. My request is : It would be more respectful to your audience, and more informative, less misleading to use a disclaimer at the beginning of all your videos, explaining that you show actual WWII footage, in order to illustrate your script, but that some footage may be only related to the historical event, but that in no way every footage should be claimed as historical genuine image of the exact subject you try to illustrate. I am sure you can understand a request to improve Historical Education. I do not try to make you change anything in your editing choices. I respect your work.
Yes you are right here. I will try to add notations to help in future videos.