Admiral Andrew Cunningham - Boers, Beatty and Bolsheviks (Part 1) 

Pinned post for Q&A :)

Moment of silence for the paper-pusher that was atomized by a wandering Admiral Fisher.

My late husband, Captain C.H.P. Shaw, RCN , was the son of the late Captain A.P. Shaw. RN, who served for many years as Cunningham's secretary. I have his book, inherited by my late husband, A Sailors Odyssey, in which A.P. Shaw is listed 8 times in the index. The inscription on the first page of the book reads - To Tim, his nickname, in memory of our long and happy association from Andrew Cunningham.

Atomised by a wandering Admiral Fisher.... What a glorious sentence.

Cunningham’s description of himself as “enlightened lazy” meaning work harder now to get it right the first time so you don’t have to go back and fix it later is exactly my own motto. And here I thought I invented the concept lol.

Drach, that is a totally engrossing account, told with great elan. Can't wait for pt.2 Mention of "Meatface" and Somerville reminds me of the reputation these 2 had, during the Mediterranean campaign, of sending very ribald and witty signals to each other, eg- " How was your slap in the belly with a wet fish?" "At my age, hits below the belt don't amount to much".

I like Cunningham's concept of "enlightened laziness", described at 3:20. Unfortunately, I'm usually not very good at implementing it in practice.

Prop to Admiral Raby for his toughness despite having a Victoria Cross in his chest quite literally

Our greatest admiral since Nelson. There's a pub named after him in Bracknell. You know you're a great man when the British name pubs after you in your own lifetime! The foraging Lieutenant Colquhoun's name is pronounced "Ca-hoon".

When in the middle of painting a hot Queensland house being told to wait til the next episode of one of my favourite admirals is a melting moment.

My Father served under ABC on Warspite start to finish. Great Man thanks.

I suspect the Boer War name Drach was struggling with is Colquhoun, which is usually pronounced car-hoon.

Another good one, Drach. IMO Arbuthnot deserves his own episode in this series. By many accounts something of a despot. Extreme physical fitness enthusiast, at a time when this was regarded as peculiar. Was once assaulted when ashore by disgruntled sailors, but put several of them in the hospital. A real fire eater, who unfortunately got his command annihilated at Jutland for little result.

Simply wonderful Drach - Cunningham was everything an Admiral should be and explains so much more clearly than what I have previously read about how he got there.... Can't wait for the next part!

My father Lt/Cdr T. N. Mayfield (dec.) serves under ABC in WW2 when on Ark Royal in Force H. He always spoke warmly of Cunningham who was well liked by all who served under him. Fascinating history, thank you. Tom Mayfield (ex boy tiff)

You tell a fascinating story with such flair. I especially like the way you describe the Admiral's early temperament with enough detail that the listener can follow how it benefited him over time (by this I don't mean privilege; rather, the way his basic personality allowed him to continue to seek out and be appointed to positions that increasingly showed his fitness for greater command. In genetics this is referred to as a gene-environment correlation. Too many biographies of great men assume that they were born that way and that the greatness simply followed). The Royal Navy did well to see the potential in this young sailor and to train and advance him so systematically.

Cunningham was truly a sailor’s sailor. All the skill, knowledge and drive of Fisher with the courage and dash of Beatty - with none of the ego and @sshole-ness of either.

Anyone else notice that the funniest shenanigans that occur in war are when future admirals are involved?

4:52 am in San Diego here. I actually went all the way back and researched the Boer wars. The British sure got a lot of medals fighting farmers. Admiral Beatty was brilliant with those dodgy ships. I like submarine(dad) novels as a kid I.e. torpedo running straight, hot,…I showed my dad a novel by this Commander Edward L. Beach. He scoffed. Lately I find a sub captain named ‘Beach’…well, damn funny. Hate to have him see this comment. Don’t know much about Bolsheviks. My favorite war was The war of the roses.”Take my roses eh?” That war continues to this day. Thanks for your informative fun, as usual. 😂Curtis(edited for content)BT3 BRYANT ADVANCE BOILER TECHNICIAN U.S.S. Gridley CG-21(533 foot long guided missile cruiser, flagship 7th fleet, Pacific.10-17-84.This is actually fascinating. Cunningham especially.

ALWAYS a good day when a new offering by Drach is found!

A couple of biographies mention that, as a midshipman, Cunningham was present at the funeral of Admiral of the Fleet Provo Wallis.

Cunningham is one of the greatest British naval commanders, perhaps only second to Nelson. He definitely deserves more recognition.

How good of story teller do you need to be to make a 45 minute video feel like a 15 minute snippet.

my goodness it’s videos like these that suggest Drach is a natural-born professor. Almost a shame he’s too good for even that, glad we can all share his knowledge on here

Admiral Cunningham. When your badassitude is so badass a total badass calls it badass in words so politely badass it makes the whole thing that much more badass. Good show sir. (For clarity, referring to the recommendation from the mentioned future tank fighting senior badass)

You have a definite knack for picking some of the most interesting personalities to feature on your Channel. Thank you.

I was hoping to find a biography of this man; thanks for creating it!

I thought I recognized that school. Other alumni included Sandy Woodward, commander of the taskforce at the falklands.

34:22 "A night terror." I LOVE THE DRACH-MAN!

Anyone else wish Cunningham got a ship named after him?

An absolutely lovley story of a fantastic cafeer of an legendary Admiral. 1000 thanks for this story Drachinifel (Dragnagel in Swedish I believe. Dont know if it still exists in the Swedish Navy but my old grandpa born in 1893 used it when he told US kids about his exoerience in the Swedish Navy on The small so called Pansarskepp Äran (Honour) during early 100hundreds)). This story brings all my memories of mygrandfather back. I can see him telling his stores with a smile when AI was a very young boy dreaming about a career in the Swedish Navy. ❤️❤️❤️😀👍.

really enjoyed that, looking forward to part two.

Finally, I've been waiting for this for so long, since your video on Admiral King in fact. Thanks a million!

Can't wait for part 2 of this absolute badass' story. A real fighting admiral.

Been waiting for this, thanks and happy New Year Drach.

6:08 - Interesting - The three decker in the rear was originally named HMS Prince of Wales, but when her sea-going career ended her engines (she was a screw First Rate of 120 guns) were removed (to be used in a new ironclad) and she was renamed HMS Brittania to replace a previous HMS Brittania (also a 120 gun First Rate) as the training ship at Dartmouth. But I can't find any information about the two decker hulk ahead of her, I assume the two were permanently connected by the gangway (or whatever you call that passageway between the two hulls).

That was a very enjoyable look at one of my favourite fighting admirals. Looking forward to the remaining parts, particularly his WW2 adventures.

I love these biographies that you do Drach. Very enjoyable.

I have been waiting for this one. Happy Drachmas

Fantastic looking forward to the next part

One of your best Drach. An insightful review of exciting times in the Royal Navy from when Britain was Great.

Thanks, very well put together and narrated!

Thank you, Drachinifel.

Thanks Drach A great video about a brave man who went above and beyond his duty.

Another brilliant upload, you sir are on a roll.

Brilliant as usual, thank you for your efforts to continue our education & review.

Another winner Drach. Good job. Interesting guy.

Boyo, this made a bad morning so very much better. Waiting on this one.

A fantastic engrossing story brilliantly told.

This is great. I have the utmost respect for admiral Cunningham, this is based on his WWII record. Loving the deep dive on him!

Love this stuff. Thanks again Drach

Wonderful - thank you Drach!

Outstanding account. I really enjoy: the quality of your research; the construct of your script and the manner of your presentation which engages, entertains and educates. Thank you.

Bravo very well done Drach

Drach, another exceptional, enlightening, educational video. My hat is of to u. Please come to Sydney sometime so your Australian fans can meet you :)

Thanks Drac. Another Great job...

Thank you for an excellent video. Cunningham, largely due to additional research prompted by your previous video's on the man, is my favourite Admiral

Eagerly awaiting part 2 👍

I’ve always enjoyed your videos. This one was is now one of my favorites. One thing I really am impressed by is how you’ve continued to improve as a storyteller. It’s great when what was always enjoyable only becomes more so over time. Your hard work is noticed and appreciated.

now *that's* up my alley

Excellent and Outstanding!!!

Fascinating, great video

Just one word - EXCELLENT

Can’t wait for the second part

Historical Footnote on the mysterious instrument mentioned around 20:00 - that did, I believe, evolve into the famous “Turbo-Encabulator” of 1950s fame, as well as later versions, including the “Retro-Encabulator”.

Ah yes, the most cunning ham of all.

Love it mate. Great to learn more about the men who made things happen. --- I know information is sparse on the Battle of the Yellow Sea (prior to Tsushima) and the Russian commanders leading up to and during, but a video to your standards on this event would be great also. Especially as this contributed so much to development of the dreadnought era.

Up to your usual high standards. Looking forward to the next installment of this biography.

This was thoroughly enjoyable.

These long form biographies are probably my favourite content of your's

Excellent video.

Thoroughly enjoyable

A very informative and excellent presentation which I thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you. Percy Scott got a mention in connection with guns/mountings and the Boer war. He wrote an excellent account of his naval career which is both informative and entertaning. One of the unsung innovators and whilst his work on Director firing is well known, less so perhaps is the Navies ambivalence to the extent that several Captains removed his fire control system. Strange given Scotts ships gunnery results. His ideas spanned a great deal more and might prove a worthy subject for a video.

A rollicking good yarn so far, Drach!

Hooray. I just got the autobiography for Christmas also x

Fabulous effort.

Thank you for your videos.

What a fascinating character

Fascinating stuff thanks

Great subject to cover - in case of interest, I think the training Brig HMS Martin's figurehead is the northern one of 2 mounted in the front of the wardroom HMS Nelson (the other being HMS Seaflower).

Just finished your 3 video on Admiral Cunningham, looking forward to the 4th.

Long waited ABC series! Thank you so much Drach! Don't sure if you still remember that one Chinese dude who asked you for a Cunningham biography at Tankfest 2022 :))) Yep that's me:)

I've been hoping for a long time now for a Drach treatment of ABC - and I know I wasn't alone. And now it turns out, we get it in a two parter!

ONE WICKED AWESOME DUDE!

Excellent

What an incredible fellow...

Good stuff. Kept me the whole 44 min.

I'm saving that quote about the unusual instrument for the future!

Very interesting.

Both of my grandfathers were prominent Royal Navy officers. One was known as ‘Prothero the Bad’. There are many stories about Reginald Charles Prothero. He was captain in command of the 'Doris' in 1898, mentioned in this video. It was he who realised the idea of dismounting some of her 4.7-inch guns to assist at Magersfontein, and at the relief of Ladysmith. It was during his battle leadership of the Naval Brigade that he was seriously injured. The British officers were still using their bright full uniforms and waving swords around, which made is easy for the Boer sharpshooters to pick out such prize targets. A little later, they started to be a little more intelligent, and used khaki uniforms. From 1902 until 1904, he commanded the new Formidable Class battleship ‘Implacable’, completed in 1901. She had 15,000 tons and HP, and was armed with four 12” guns, twelve 6”, and could reach a speed of 18 knots flat out. In 1903, he was knighted for his services in the Boer War, and retired as Rear Admiral. He then married a lady of half his years, had three children, and left them on an inadequate naval pension in sad poverty.

On my grandmother's side of the family they are related to the clan Cunningham and I was very surprised and very excited it was kind of like unintentional timing..

Being stabbed by Queen Victoria is almost as bad as being shot in they eye by Napoleon. (Poor Masséna)

very good. I ejoy learning about the early career of " ABC" !

Thanks!

Drach: Consider doing a program on the USN's paddle wheel carriers in 1942-1945. It should generate real interest. Names were Sable and Wolverine.

Brilliant pacing.

While I knew a lot about Cunningham and quite a few other important RN officers mentioned here, it was the first time hearing of Cunningham's adventures in the Baltic and this of Admiral Sir Walter Cowan. That man has quite a story to himself, serving from 1884 during the war against the Mahdi in Sudan, up to 1931 and then again for four more years from 41 to 45. From the rule of the Machine gun all the way to the Atom bomb, all as an active officer, not a desk jockey

Ahh excellent! I’m reading his autobiography at the moment! Get anything nice for Christmas Drac?

GREAT STUFF ON ABC! Pronunciation of weirdly spelled Scots names: Colquhoun is - K'hoon; Arbuthnot is - arbuthNOT; Wemyss is - WEEMS. There are plenty other conundrums: Kirkcudbright (a town) is Kirkoobri; Cockburnspath is COHbr'nspath

am a murican but love these biography pieces regardless of whether they brits or muricans. ty