The Ark Royal Sinking 

The one reason Ark Royal sank was the Damage control officer, had preveously had only been on Cruisers which had a totally different way to control listing due to hull dammage. Had he any aircraft carrier damage control experience, the way he tried to counteract the list would have been very differnt. This is explained in great detail by Drachinifel's youtube channel & Dr Alexander Clarke's channel, both are highly knowlageable obout naval history & if you have not seen them I would highly recommend them.

RACIST CHANNEL ,TYPICAL OF AMERICANS 😡

Sure

@@navalcomand1981Why Chris!?!? Don’t be an arse. Cheers 🇬🇧✌🏻

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Bro she or he?

@@robertschaeffer4010bro thinks every story is cap

😂 Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

Or were they just easy pray.

@@chrisardern4594 Prey*

@@negativeindustrial oops

I wonder they were English or French ships under an Egyptian ir Syrian flag.

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Like at 0:57?

My ex wifes Grandfather Royal Marine Cornish, was killed on HMS Courageous.. Rip Sir. ✝

Thank you to him for his service and sacrifice, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

Though horrifically tragic of course, I do enjoy hearing from the descendents of service members of WWII. I'm from the states, but I'm glad to see that the sacrifice of those brave Brits is still remembered in the UK. God bless y'all from across the pond.

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A fella lived about 200 yards down the road from my grandparents he’d been on the artic convoys. You could hear him scream at night. Man had been in some serious horrors

So glad your grandfather shared his oral history with you so that you can pass it down to other generations.

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@James Schulz Force H stuck together as a team and were very efficient at what they did. HMS Sheffield was also part of the team. They had a tough job along with all the ships operating in the Mediterranean. Being so close to land all the time meant they were under constant threat of air attack.

@@BikersDoItSittingDown Yeah I read the log and was able to read about what force H was doing every day of the war and I have to say Force H was incredible hunting down the Admiral Graf Spee, Hipper, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst and later the Bismarck. It was like reading a story book then when I got to the part where it said the Ark Royal sunk after all that it really hit me.

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It brings me great sadness to tell you that many ships from all countries in WW2 have been taken from their final resting place by the Chinese for scrap metal including HMS RENOWN and HMS PRINCE OF WALES. This is makes my blood boil with rage, all those men that gave their live for us to live in peace now, their graves have been taken by the greedy Chinese, will all knew they was a sneaky little rotten bunch but this is lower than low.

God bless him !

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I had a neighbor that survived the Barham He live until 1999

One of my uncles was an army medic based in Gibraltar and helped treat survivors of the Ark Royal.

@@jeffblacky Wow it is hard to imagine anyone surviving

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Shame she didn’t get to. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

She was a beautiful looking carrier.

If the Ark Royal had not been sunk, it would have participated in the land invasion of Japan after Germany was defeated. Luckily, the war ended before a land invasion was launched because the butcher bill for such an action would have been unmerciful.

M​@@sartainja

Glad to hear! Greatly appreciate you watching and have a fantastic week :)

The swordfish were instrumental in the Bismark's sinking.

'sAnk four sailing vessels'! 'We sank the carrier.' / 'We have sunk the carrier; 'I swam' / 'I have swum' Great video - excellent scripting and choice of images. Informative and enjoyable - thanks, well done, and best regards

​​@@notreallydavidut Ok

Could’ve been saved if different decisions had been made! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

Quite correct! A "design flaw" may have meant it couldn't be saved, but it sure as shite didn't sink it!

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Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Fantastic info as well! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

My Uncle, Jack Davies was also on HMS Illustrious in the Pacific during WW2. He was an aircraft artificer who serviced the planes. He told my Mum that one of the pilots, a New Zealander I think, saw his cross and asked him if he could borrow it. Uncle Jack said no because it was given to him by my Gan. He always regretted it because the pilot and two others never came back. They were captured by the Japanese and when I was looking up information on Illustrious for my Mum years later I discovered that they had been beheaded. Uncle Jack had passed away at just 48 years old in 1969 so fortunately he never knew what happened to those poor men. He was in sick bay with malaria when the guns started firing and all the men thought she was under attack but they were firing the guns to mark the end of the war in the Pacific. The bravery of all those who served in both World Wars and subsequent conflicts can never be underestimated or forgotten. 🇬🇧

Thank you for your reply. My dad died in 1993. He worked maintaining and repairing the aircraft. It is highly likely that my Dad and your uncle’s paths would have crossed. He had fond memories of the people he served with. His mates called him Jackie Pat. His full name was Jack Paterson. Still have his photo album and his diary. Seems unreal but an entry in his diary read…attacked by kamikaze no damage….He would be pleased that people like you remember and are able to share their personal memories.

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Wow! Thank you to him for his service as well, a true hero!

A minor miracle! Have a great rest of your week :)

Truly were top class! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

US carrier's wooden decks were a significant vulnerability though.

Makes one wonder why important ships like Arc Royal didn't have "skirts" that could be lowered into the water at night, protecting the sides.

@@RemusKingOfRome Ark Royal was not equipt with fitting for torpedo nets. Also torpedo nets can be used while a vessel was underway.

@@alanjm1234 Kind of. Each American carrier that was sunk took multiple torpedo hits to sink. Wheras the Yorktown took a bomb on the deck in the Battle of the Coral Sea and was ready to go at Midway. Not completely repaired, but ready for flight operations. American carriers that took multiple bomb hits were out of action for repairs, but they weren't destroyed.

I had the same reaction the first time I ever heard it! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

the word artificer is well enough known

Known as a “Tiffy” in my day.

@@derekheeps1244 Said William Shakespeare to Henry Morgan...

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Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)

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@@treeaddict When a British aircraft carrier was hit by kamikazes(They were kept close to Japan so they would get attacked before the USA fleet) Most were operational within a few hours. Some were hit twice. When an Essex class was hit by a kamikaze, it was out for days or months. The Essex had wooden decks whereas the Fleet carriers had armoured flight decks. USS Saratoga hit 21feb45 sent to Bremerton for repairs USS Enterprise hit 11Apr45 repaired at Ulithi hit again 14May45 Repaired at Puget Sound USS Intrepid (now in New York as a museum Hit 25Nov44 Repaired in San Francisco The list is larger which you can google HMS Formidable 4 May 1945 Struck by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" carrying one 250 kg bomb which created a 2 foot square hole and a 24 x 20 foot depression in the armored flight deck. The hole in the flight deck was temporarily patched with wood and concrete with thin steel plates tack welded on top. She was able to operate aircraft by the next morning. 9 May 1945 Struck by a kamikaze into the after deck park which killed one and wounded eight. Deck depressed 4.5 inches with a supporting beam distorted by 3 inches Able to launch and land aircraft 50 minutes later HMS Illustrious 6 April 45 A Yokosuka D4Y3 Suisei "Judy" kamikaze struck a glancing blow to the island after the plane crashed into the sea, its bomb exploded underwater close alongside. This inflicted severe structural damage, with the outer hull opened up and some of the frames cracked. The damage did not interrupt flight operations, but speed was limited to 19 knots. HMS Indefatigable 1Apr45 truck by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" carrying one 250 kg bomb on the starboard side of island at the junction with the flight deck Able to land Seafires about forty minutes after attack HMS Indomitable 4 May 1945 A Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" Kamikaze belly-landed next to the island but broke up and went over the side and inflicted no damage. HMS Victorious 1 April 1945 Attacked by a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" which struck its starboard wing against the port side of the flight deck, causing the plane to cartwheel into the sea where its 250 kg bomb exploded underwater about 80 feet from the ship's side. Tons of water, fuel and fragments of both plane and pilot were thrown on the deck, but the ship escaped damage. 9 May 1945 Struck by two kamikazes "Zeke" making a shallow dive which hit the flight deck at Frame 30 near the forward lift The second kamikaze hit a glancing blow against the port side aft, destroying four Corsairs and a 40 mm gun director it was able to fly off planes one hour later and could land planes twelve hours later Please do check my facts and let me know if you disagree with any of them It is little known that the British were hunting down kamikazes in the pacific so it does not surprise me that you are unaware of this. Another interesting fact is that the Queen's husband was on a destroyer here, defending the fleet carriers and picking up airman from the sea.

@@BikersDoItSittingDown Very well put!

Remember the 2 ark royal carriers were built at lairds yard on the wirral

@@BikersDoItSittingDown British carriers definitely didn’t shy away from any fights!

Appreciate the feedback, will make sure that isn’t used again! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)

Thanks for the nomenclature corrections. Between typical RU-vid blunders, and recent generations, this is one way to teach these things. You were not unkind, and you were correct. Now one thing I don't know, is what is the meaning of the name "Ark Royal"? (Especially the Ark part.) Yes we admit when we don't know something.

@@michaeldougfir9807 Protector of Royalty, since an ark is designed to keep something safe.

Just what I was going to say.

@willrose5055 Very interesting! In this they refer to the list as the ship "heeling" to starboard. I guess the difference would be British terminology vs US. Thank you for sharing!

Appreciate the feedback! Will fix for the future. Thank you for watching and have a great week :)

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Kinda a combination of different factors the us being extremely lucky to catch the Japanese with their pants down with planes and arms on the deck about to take off. As well as damage control training that was ludicrious to american and other western power's standards. The japanese i believe could not do damage control unless a superior officer told them to start it and not all the crew were trained in damage control, whereas in the us navy most everyone was given basic damage control/firefighting training (could be wrong was 80 years ago). Most of japan's carriers damage control was disabled in the initial attack on each ship rendering it useless at midway. Short of the ki-tan(i think it is called) or long lance torpedo most of japan's war tech was not particularly good in the long run. Japan made alot of stupid decisions in regards to how it fought the war against the us, in regards to new pilot training(keep the old veterans flying till they die), equipment having multiple types of one ammunition that is not standardized ect. Tl Dr. Japan did not it seems to plan out ahead for a long war, in tech, supply and personal training, the us seems as though it did the exact opposite overprepared for everything.

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respect

Thank you to him for his service and sacrifice, he is truly a hero who will always be remembered! Have a great rest of your week :)

@@HiddenHistoryYT Thank you

Unfortunately yes. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)

The youngest veteran at D Day landing this year, was 98 years young, So can't be many left.

They truly were the greatest generation. Not just because of what they did during the war, and they did accomplish amazing feats during the war. Even their wives and everyone else back home rose to the challenge and did amazing things. My grandmother had a Rosie Riveter certificate and my grandfather was injured in the aircraft carrier he served on, the Essex. But their accomplishments after the war may make them the Greatest Generation even more so. They built the world’s greatest economy ever, making America a superpower. Many, many of them were then able to send their children to college, typically the first people in their families to ever have gone to college, the baby boomers, who created more wealth than the nation had ever seen, wealth the following generations have had a difficult time maintaining. Making your children more successful than you is the mark of a great generation. In that regard they will likely always be the most successful generation in history, not only creating a suponer nation, but lifting their children to heights they never believed possible.

@@srcastic8764 thank you to both of them for their service to this country!

@@HiddenHistoryYT thank you. We are a military family. We’ve had every generation serve, including both my wife and I. I am named after my great uncle, my grandmother’s brother, who was a naval fighter pilot killed in WW2.

Greatly appreciate it! Will do and have a great week :)

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So damn typical of family not appreciating things. Really sad.

Wow! Very unfortunate. Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

Wow, that is incredible! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

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Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

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We've now got a carrier without crew or aircraft. And you think not having a genny is a problem?

@@fredbrandon1645. EXACTLY 🤷‍♂️🤦‍♂️

@@fredbrandon1645actually its also quite common: there are fairly modern warships lacking any backup generators: because it saves space and money. Personally I think its bloody stupid…….

With an enemy that will attack during a tea break, there is no end of unsportsmanlike things they will do. Can't be ready for everything when they don't play by the rules :)

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Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)

@Hidden History Thank you. He told me about how he and the crew was on shore leave in Gibraltar when news came from the Admiralty that HMS Hood had been sunk by the Bismarck. They were told to cast off immediately to intercept Bismarck off the coast of France as the Rodney, King George V, Dorsetshire, Norfolk and Suffolk were on their way to intercept and sink her. My Uncle's job was armourer and he fitted torpedoes to the Stringbags (Swordfish) in readiness. One of those torpedoes slammed into Bismarck's rudder, jamming it, which doomed her as all she could do was steam in circles and await her fate.

@@darranweston9425 absolutely incredible!

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Will correct in the future! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

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Guggenberger later participated in a POW escape attempt inside the United States and eventually returned to the postwar German Navy in 1956. He reached the rank of rear admiral and retired in 1972.

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Yes.

Yep! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

While they did, they also brought catapults, angled deck, the mirror landing system, and they were the first to purpose build/lay down an aircraft carrier, the HMS Hermes. The Royal Navy had some fantastic Inovations for aircraft carriers.

Great question, I’ll see what I can find on that. Initial google of it isn’t turning up too many results but this has got me interested now! Appreciate you watching as well and have a great rest of your week :)

I'm not sure if it was even possible to launch aircraft, even Swordfish once the ship began to take on a list. The design of the engineering spaces and main plant worked against her with the "Boiler Flat" being one large compartment (my take from this video) rather than being divided into several smaller compartments as was done in U.S. carriers. And as the narrator pointed out, the lack of any backup power supply such as diesel generators kept pumps and other equipment from being used once the boilers were extinguished by flooding. Not mentioned in the narration, shock damage from the torpedo hit may well have ruptured fuel lines as well as piping for fire fighting, overboard water discharge, bulkheads and so on to add to the progressive flooding problems.

it is routine for the captain and surviving officers to attend a court martial if a ship is lost.

@@HiddenHistoryYT Planes were launched by steaming at 20knotts into the wind. Launching with a listing deck, a slowing carrier not necessary pointing into the wind and without a flight crew to untie and hold the aircraft would surely only be possible in a drill without the panic brought about by a hole in the hull

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Yep! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

You are correct! Thanks for watching and have an awesome week :)

Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

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Turn me up Josh

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Id like to know the same . I think the RN captain did nothing wrong , and should have been commended for saving all but one of his crew ; I also think that Grand Admiral Doenitz , being a non-Nazi and an honourable German officer , probably would have commended the Captain of the U-Boat . I had a dear old friend , now departed , who was a Czechoslovakianconscript into the Kriegsmarine and ended up serving on an E boat in the med . A shell landed on deck without exploding , and without hesitation , Freddie threw it over the side , For that , he was personally awarded a medal by Admiral Doenitz , and commended for his bravery ; Freddie replied , in perfect german ( for he was a linguist before the war ) , that it wasn't bravery but self preservation as the thing could have exploded at any moment = the admiral laughed . What a great story !

Guggenberger not only survived the war but ended up being the deputy chief of NATO Northern Command

Rear-Admiral Loben Edward Harold Maund, CBE After the HMS ARK ROYAL Maund became Director of Combined Operations, Middle East Director of Combined Operations, India Rear-Admiral, Landing Ships and Craft

As someone else said they actually held a high ranking NATO position eventually. I’ll make sure to add details like those to future videos if people are interested! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

@@derekheeps1244 You have an interesting version of history... If admiral doenitz was a "non-nazi" why did hitler nominate doenitz as the last german WW2 leader? Let me suggest why.... Because doenitz was actually a nazi party member occupying significant positions in the party... and adolphus was peeved when he heard the nominal deputy leader fatty goering had tried contacting the allies for peace terms. So before adolphus shot himself, he ordered fatty to be arrested and executed, and doenitz to assume leadership of the party and country... which big Karl obediently did.

You are correct. British ships rarely used radios as it gives away their position. If a Swordfish ditched in the sea, it would radio back to the ship by morse to let the ship know but the ship would not reply. The ship did ping out a radio signal every minute so aircraft could use the time of the ping to home in on the ship.

Some I find are already colorized, other ones I use a colorizer for. For doing it myself I’d say it’s 50/50 on whether it looks good or terrible (ships at sea have a much higher rate of looking good). Greatly appreciate you watching and have a fantastic week :)

Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)

The armoured carriers yes, could take pretty nasty bombs pretty well too. Ark Royal wasn’t an armoured carrier though, she was designed for the pacific.

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@@snebbywebby2587 was she?

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Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero!

Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero!

I imagine it got cold! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

Thank you to him for his service, he is a hero! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

Thank you to him for his service!

Thank you for your service! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

@@HiddenHistoryYT And thou as well! Takk skal du ha!

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Can’t have one without the other ;)

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The Chinese have no reason to like or respect the Royal Navy or its sunken ships. The scrap metals are a valuable resource and should not be wasted. Nothing is going to bring the dead seamen back to life, and after all those decades there would be no human remains left anyway. You are being both racist and over sentimental.

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what a stupid comment

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I believe it’s because the people in those positions back then often got there because they were born into the upper class and not because they were actually the best for the job. But luckily they had a great naval tradition that the sailors continued to carry on! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

I think you are spot on. And yes, the Brit enlisted have shown their valor from Agincourt to the Falklands (and proud to have served with them in GWOT). BTW: Your Hidden History is well worth the watch. Cheers to future presentations!

That's not generally the case with the RN, who have the tradition and reputation for being extremely aggressive in the face of the enemy. Any study of RN WW2 operations in the Med shows that in spite of often having a lack of air cover the RN repeatedly pulling the Army's nether regions out of the fire at significant cost. And they took every opportunity that presented itself to attack the Italians. Spanked the Italians at Taranto and Matapan. Exhibit A, the bloke in charge... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Cunningham,_1st_Viscount_Cunningham_of_Hyndhope

@@rednaughtstudios Yes and it was a tradition in the old Royal Navy to rise up through the ranks, like Nelson. Most of the best Royal Navy commanders started from the bottom ranks, unlike other services. Nelsons naval career began on 1 January 1771, when he reported to the newly commissioned third-rate HMS Raisonnable as an ordinary seaman and coxswain.

@@rednaughtstudios Fully agree with your assessment of RN sailors. It's just situations like sending out the Prince of Wales and Repulse, w/o air cover and the Coventry and Sheffield being in a similar setting that is unsettling. What was the Admiralty thinking? In any case, respect for every KIA Brit throughout our nation's' time working together to keep the world safe from tyrants.

Theoretically if different decisions had been made the ship wouldn’t have sunk, but yes the ship doesn’t sink without the torpedo! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)

Had no backups. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

Skilled petty officer, ie in engine room.

“An Artificer is an appointment held by a member of an armed forces service who is skilled at working on electronic, electrical, electro-mechanical and/or mechanical devices.[1] The specific term "artificer" for this function is typical of the armed forces of countries that are or have been in the British Commonwealth and refers to a Senior Non-Commissioned Officer. Artificer is a job title and not a rank.”

@@HiddenHistoryYT I see. Thanks.

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U-81 obviously a real fighting boat.

Yep!