The story of a few good men's struggle, against their own commanders, their own fleet, their own ships and their own men. Want to support the channel? - / drachinifel Want to talk about ships? / discord Music - / ncmepicmusic
What is a transom stern? You mentioned in the HMS Lion(1938) guide that ships fitted with it would gain speed for a given amount of power, if so why weren't most large ships fitted with this feature? Can you please elaborate, this has intrigued me since that episode :/
Can you calculate longest range the 16 Inch 50 Caliber Mark 7 Guns would be able to penetrate the upper side armor belt of Yamato and Musashi? I’ve heard calculations between 19.5-20km do these seem plausible
Who doesn't know it? You want to make yourself a sandwich, you open the fridge and BAM theres like 10 - 15 japanese torpedo boats stuck in the butter. So you shoot several hundred rounds into the fridge just to see that it's actually an old banana
We owe the communists an apology. We always assumed the vast incompetence and corruption was their fault. It turns out it's just endemic to Russia in general.
@@benjaminstout941 No, they saw the like button, freaked out, screaming that it was a Japanese torpedo boat squadron, then proceeded to open fire, hitting the dislike button, before crashing into the Aurora
My head cannon is that the Kamchatka was full of revolutionaries, and that they were fucking up intentionally to accelerate the fall of the Russian Empire. Nothing could possibly change my mind.
"Given to furious fits of temper" - After watching whole video I'm not sure whether that's really description of his personality or simply natural reaction of any person trying to do his job.
Russians: So let me guess this right, you just decided to shoot up fishing Boats, BRITISH, fishing boats? Admiral: ... Da Russians: But you halted fire and helped rescue the survivors? Admiral: Net! We ran away! Russians: Where were you running to? Admiral: Suez Russians: The same Suez controlled by the British. Admiral: Da. Russians: Via British controlled Gibraltar? Admiral: Da Russians: So you were running away from the British by running to the British? What part of this plan did you think about?
We need this to be turned into a miniseries and directed in a style like "The Death of Stalin". Dry, dark humor with good cinematography and a very clever direction and acting. Edit: suck it, u/greyfawkes0
@@alexandermackie7621 All I’m saying is that it needs to be a 2 parter. The first part is about the journey, and the second part needs to be about the Battle of Tsushima and it’s aftermath.
I propose a diving expedition to the Russian flagship. The objective is to recover the admiral's case of glasses, and see how many of the 50 were left at the time of sinking.
@@warrenlehmkuhleii8472 and wouldn't you know it, there was a bunch of gear on the bridge missing too. we think he unbolted this stuff and threw it when he ran out of bincoulars
On-board the flagship at the battle of Tsushima.... Bridge officer “sir, our lookouts report they can’t make out the targets” Admiral “how can they not see the ships, the others have no trouble spotting them!” Bridge officer “yes sir, but they have the benefit of binoculars to scan the horizon with” Admiral “where are our binoculars!!” Bridge officer “leaving a breadcrumb trail all the way back to Russia on the sea floor!”
Admiral Beresford pitting 4 battleships against the entire 2nd pacific squadron and describing it as “chivalrous” is honestly one of the best diplomatic insults I’ve ever heard. He must have genuinely pitied Rozhezvensky, a LOT.
Im so glad that the voyage of the 2nd pacific squadron was this well documented, this is a masterpiece historical comedy. It even comes with a recurring joke, the kamchatka
I haven't seen the video of the battle itself, but it also continues in the same comic vein. Having previously mistaken pretty much every object they came across for a Japanese ship, as they approached the Tsashima strait they finally came across Japanese ships in the fog... and mistook them for Russians. The Russian hospital ship actually signalled the Japanese to look out for the other Russian ships in the area, which rather removed the element of surprise.
The composition of the fleet: For what reason did they bring an *ice breaker* for for this voyage? I could be wrong but I don't think there is that much ice at the equator.
@@larsrons7937 This one actually makes sense. Vladivostok, the possible destination of the fleet and the area around it is not ice free all year round. Depending on how long the campaign was going to last they would have been rightly effd if they couldn't get into the harbor becouse of not being able to make a path.
@@grumbeard To be honest you are absolute right, I had the same thought myself. But the chance for a joke was too obvious, a ball right at my foot, I just had to shoot it. 😄 And if not for Vladivostok itself it would have been useful further up north, based at Vladivostok.
I feel so sorry for Admiral Rozhestvensky. It shouldn't be called herding cats, it should be called holding the 2nd Pacific Squadron together. Especially considering how it all ended and him defending all his Captains even though they surely pissed him off to no end.
The Moscow State Circus does actually have a cat trainer. His dozen or so cats do all sorts of little stunts and tricks, but require constant bribery with food. The performance the cats put on was to my mind a little bit hit and miss -- so on average more successful than the 2nd Pacific Fleet!
@@timulbrich954 Kamchatka (as the Russian fleet trains it's guns on them): uh guys what are you doing (sounds of guns loading) why are you loading the guns (ships open fire with Stormtrooper accuracy) I THOUGHT WE WERE ON THE SAME SIDE
@@snakes3425 commence 20 minutes of furious shooting before the ships run out of whatever ammo they had left over after heroically forcing the british fishing trawlers to retreat. No ship is hit, but kamchatka suffers minor splinter damage
Emperor Meiji: “I must congratulate you admiral, your brilliant torpedo boat tactics have repeatedly thrown the Russian Navy into complete disarray!” Admiral Togo: “It’s not me, Your Majesty. I’m not the one doing this.”
@@vladraduandrei5227 It's a joke about the Russian sailors thinking random fishing boats are Japanese torpedo boats (despite being nowhere near Japan).
Emperor Meiji: "Ah, then it must be the Kage Bōto no Jutsu I instructed the Imperial Ninja Force to develop for me! They perfected it at last!" Multiple voices from the shadows: "That wasn't us either..."
@@welshlout3400 Emperor Meji: then who ? Admiral Togo: the Russians themselves, they thought that our torpedo boats were in the Baltic. Emperor Meiji: Your joking right... right ?
My grandfather was a WW2 Sailor. Started a cabin boy and retired a harbor pilot. I'm not going to say where or the name of the ship incase the former US Navy captain is looking at this trying to feel better by seeing the Kamchatka. His is s very short and sad tale indeed. So my grandfather boarded a WW2 destroyer to bring her in to port. This was in the late 60s/early 70s. He took command and that is where the captain got the idea he was smarter them THE GUY PAID TO PILOT SHIPS IN.... He questioned everything my grandfather said, voicing it in front of the men on the bridge. He kept it up for a good 20 minutes. The guy was by what I was told "an idiot". When approaching the pier the captain said they were going in at the wrong angle. My grandfather was very annoyed by now and told the guy that he knew the harbor, tides and reminded him that he was a pilot after all. The captain began to give orders countermanding my grandfather's orders. It went something like this: Grandfather: I'm commanding this ship. I know the harbor. Captain: No. G: Are you going to take the com? C: Yes. G: OK. All of you (to the men on the bridge) are witness. The captain has refused to let me comand and has taken control of this ship. C: (Series of orders that made no sense going against an ebb tide that was very swift) G: You're going to hit the pier. C: I am not. G: I assure you that you are. C: I'm in comand... G: (Braces himself against the bulkhead as did anyone not directly involved with this mess.) C: Oh.... And with that the destroyer hit the pier. Starboard side going about 100 feet against it; terrible metal tearing sound. This was followed by more orders that took her away from the pier to come around and take another try. G: Do you relinquish or keep comand? C: (gulp) ... relinquish. My grandfather said this idoit,"Shouldn't comand a floating dock". But still, STILL, not as crummy as the skipper of the Kamchatka. If you made it this far thanks for reading.
I love that story. But at some point I spit my coffee out all over my computer screen from laughing. Now I have to clean it. Thanks for sharing the story.
The good news is that Zinovi Roshestventsky seems to have been incorrupt, competent, and conscientious. The bad news? Why do you think he was so angry all the time?
sadly, not really overrun... not truly overrun sadly, if the Chameleons actually had any wish to run those ships they might have done a better job! they did not, and paid for it with their lives....
Thanks to his description here, I can only picture Admiral Rozhestvensky being played by Captain Archibald Haddock from the _Tintin_ comics, screaming random nouns at his subordinates through his megaphone in transports of fury. "Visigoths! Bashi-bazouks! Triangulators! Anacoluthons!"
Aurora before leaving the Baltic: “Oh boy! I can’t wait to sail to battle and fight for Tsar and Empire!” Aurora after returning to the Baltic: “the Empire cannot be saved and should be exterminated”
@@josephdedrick9337 meanwhile... SS.Kamchatka (in her new incarnation) fires on a non-existent Ukrainian cruiser in the Barents Sea (or was it in the Kara sea, anyway, somewhere near Nizhni-Muhzhdansk) damaging a helicopter platform in the process...
Can’t really blamed them. After all the hell they’ve been through with the empire in this expedition, probably no surprise that they would actually mutinied.
"...Admiral Togo, who had been watching the Russian fleet all along..." I just get this picture in my head like this was a movie. It starts with a man in Japanese naval uniform walking past the camera, then stopping, turning around and peering into the camera as if he's all of a sudden seen something interesting. He waves to someone out of frame, beckons them closer and points at the screen in a "you don't BELIEVE this..." kind of way. Then every time something goes wrong for the Russians we'd get another short clip of an increasing number of Japanese naval officers, absolutely glued to the screen in rapt attention, and occasionally a hand comes up from below the frame as one of them slowly eats popcorn...... (We HAVE to make this movie....)
The reactions of the IJn officers during the movie must be: "We get to fight more Russians? Banzai!" "We get to fight these Russians? Banzai, I guess?" "We had to fight *these* Russians? Poor bastards."
4 года назад
- Be on fishing boat in North Sea. - Fishing - Suddenly you hear a faint sound - You look to the horizon - Lots of battleships - They are getting closer - Sound grows louder - Recognize sound - It's Yakety Sax blasting at full volume - Ships starts firing - "Oh no, it's the Russian 2nd Pacific Squadron" - Tell my boatsmen not to worry - It will be over soon - 2 hours later - No physical harm to us despite multiple shots at us - "The hell was that about?" - "Huh? What?" - Has gone deaf from Yakety Sax - We later fish up a pair of crushed binoculars. Must be related
"No physical harm to us" -- The Russians did manage to sink one trawler and kill two fishermen, but they promptly scored an own goal by killing a priest and a Russian sailor, turning an away win into a draw.
Oh God, the mental image of this grand Russia admiral, commander of a whole fleet just standing on deck and SCREAMING at his ships because they are so shit, even though they are too far away to hear him is just hilarious
I really have to commend the crew of the Kamchatka in their tireless efforts to be even worse than the fleet with which they were sailing. A monumental task for sure.
16:51 In The Hunt For Red October novel there is an Alfa class submarine named for E.S. Politovsky. Of course, being named for a member of the Second Pacific Squadron, her luck is atrocious. On her maiden voyage she collides with a whale and is nearly lost. She later suffers a catastrophic reactor accident and sinks.
@@trekker105 Given the boat's incident record... 1st incident takes place during her sea trials : rams a whale, impact crushes ten square meters of the bow, destroys the sonar, jams a torpedo tube, almost drowns the torpedo compartment and damags almost all systems onboard. Politovsky only survives because of Ramius' skills. The repairs take one year. In the meantime, two additional Alfas have been commissioned. 2nd incident : High pressure turbine malfunctions and the ship must return to port just two days after careening. Two more undetailed minor incidents of various gravity take place in the meantime, giving Politovky a permanent reputation of cursed ship. 5th and final incident : Politovsky, after four days of full regime, has a reactor accident and makes an emergency surface. One sailor falls on a control panel, cutting the power onboard. With no control, she sinks. Only one man survives the disaster : a cook who is washed overboard before he can lock the escape trunk in the open position. The survivors slowly suffocate to death. The worst part is that there is a US sub, USS Pogy, which assists to the scene and immediately sounds the alarm, but the rescuers aren't fast enough. Oh, and the cook later escape burning to death when a clueless KGB agent is about to light a smoke in a hospital in an oxygen room. Clancy probably based Politovsky's backstory on the real life Alfa K-64 which suffered a catastrophic reactor accident and was deemed a total loss and/or the Hotel-class K-19 which was nicknamed "Hiroshima" by her crew and suffered numerous accidents and breakdowns.
@Jack the Gestapo that's actually what happened. Like Force Z in 1941, the Russians were literally caught by fog dropping off an hour before safety. Also, the Japanese weren't too good in the war, in fact had the original commander not had his head blown off I'd say the Japanese would've probably lost as mine warfare took its toll
I'm amazed the Russian Fleet had any ammo left when battle began and hadn't spent all of it on torpedo boats. The battle of Tsushima should be called "the Putting a Fleet out of its Misery of Tsuhima"
Rozhestvensky (to the fleet): How? How do you mistake fishing boats for Japanese torpedo boats!? Fleet: "We're sorry. It wont happen again." *Kamchatka arrives* Rozhestvensky: "And where in Mother Russia's bosom have you been?" Kamchatka: "Sorry for my lateness. Got lost. But you'll be pleased to hear that I fired 300 of my shells at some Japanese torpedo boats." Rozhestvensky: "You wasted 300 shells on Japanese torpedo boats?" Kamchatka: "Yes but I scared them off. Strange though, They flew Swedish, German, and French flags." Rozhestvensky: *left eye begins to twitch. Proceeds to walk to the nearest bathroom and shout incoherently.*
@@RamdomView That doesn't explain how torpedo boats were waiting for them in Western Europe. Other than these peasant sailors literally had no idea where Japan was and how long the trip was going to be.
@@andrewryan4417 To elaborate, the fleet received a report from a transport stating that "four torpedo-boats which only showed lights on the mizenmast-head, so that at a distance they might be taken for fishing boats." That combined with the facts that torpedo boats were hard to detect, that Britain was allied to Japan and that Britain built much of Japan's fleet.
@@RamdomView So... what, the assumption was that there would have been an entire flotilla of British-built Japanese-designed torpedo boats being hosted in British ports but operated by forward-deployed Japanese crew?
"The Kamchatka announced it was sinking, which lead to great rejoicing amongst the fleet" They were forced to eat Robin's minstrels. And there was much rejoicing
Meanwhile, in the modern day, Russia’s only aircraft carrier, the _Admiral Kuznetsov,_ sank a dry dock it was moored at, needs a tugboat escort in case it breaks down, and leaves a trail of smoke so long it can be seen from space. Some things never change!
It gets better: the reason for the tug boat and smoke? The Soviet Union, and later Russia, never bothered to build the port infrastructure to support the ship, meaning the ship's engines are always being run.
I once read that thw Russian naval doctrine dismisses carriers bc they're too large amd expensive to be useful and they're giant targets for way cheaper anti ship missiles, hence the Russian navy commissioned so few. Given the actual performance of the Russian military and its rotten core revealed in the recent months I'm quite sure that argument was nothing but another maskirovka.
China had a helicopter carrier catch fire while in dock. Apparently the walls had been insulated with flammable insulation instead of the expensive fireproof insulation so the contractor could pocket the savings. A welder ignited the insulation and the ship quickly burned out of control for three days.
I winced at the irony, grimaced at the satire, and laughed at the folly, the human condition at sea, in war. The Tsar having read a telegram, telling of the defeat of the second Pacific squadron, put it in his pocket, and continued his game of tennis..
The Kamchatka is it's own character. God knows what they did when they got lost in that second storm. and how many "Japanese" vessels (read: neutral vessels) they destroyed. They fired 300 rounds in that time alone.
Open the film with a text: what you are about to watch is the true story of the 2nd Pacific squadron. While some creative liberties have been taken we believe that this movie accurately captures the reality of the brave men on board these 45 ships.
Funny you should say that, as that's how Audie Murphy felt about his own autobiographical movie To Hell and Back. Of course, he felt that way because he thought the audience wouldn't believe he was that badass. The Czar's Baltic Fleet, on the other hand ...
Fun Fact: Admiral Togo actually visited Rozhestvensky after the Battle when Rozhestvensky was being treated at a Japanese hospital, and he offered the following words: “ Defeat is a common fate of a soldier. There is nothing to be ashamed of in it. The great point is whether we have performed our duty.” Togo probably didn’t realize his words would mean more to Rozhestvensky than he intended because he had no idea what the poor guy has been through...
@@GeraltofRivia22 TLDR, the reason Japan is so different during WW2 is because the underwent a minor coup d'etat where nationalist extremists took over all the big positions.
@@Japcsali: The Japanese army and navy practically hated each other during WWII. At one point, the navy refused to provide fire support to army troops.
You should pitch this as a movie, a two parter, the voyage there, then the battle, if you included Russian, British and Japanese actors, directors and producers, it could be bigger than Ben Hur, proving truth is a better story line than fiction, because no one would have believed this actually happened. The box of binoculars alone would be worth the admission to watch him throwing them in 3D.
I would argue that the modern navy is worse off because of the modern technology requirements in a ship and the side effects of 1990 with the corruption that ensued.
@@americankid7782 Despite every single shortcoming that the 2nd Pacific Squadron had, Rozhestvensky was STILL somehow able to drag the coal-powered fleet across the world. The modern Russian navy wouldn't be able to do the same, at least not without tugboats to be able to tow the warships.
The spirit of the 2nd Pacific Squadron lives on. Russians claim the flagship of their Black Sea fleet caught fire and sank on its own, because they think this story is less embarrassing than losing it to enemy action from a country that doesn't even posses any fleet.
It's a good thing they learned their lesson about ill-maintained hardware, poorly disciplined troops who don't want to be there, poor morale, incompetent leadership who got their position for toadying rather than competence, rampant corruption and incompetent diplomacy that seems determined to piss off every neutral party in the world.....right?
This is actually exaggerated (though not by much); Kamchatka DID use a live shell for a salute and fire it at the Aurora, but it was a very near miss rather than a hit.
I can certainly understand why his temperament was what it was if what he experienced on this voyage is any indication of what he faced day-to-day in the Tsar's navy.
Everyone is talking about Emu war, but China once declared war on Sparrows with around 1 000 000 dead and there is still some aftermath (e.g. very few bees, and insecticides everywhere)
The reason why a few of the sailors went insane: Gir was aboard their ship. And he sang the Doom Song. THE ENTIRE VOYAGE. Ok, fine. He occasionally spent a day singing Its A Small World continuously instead.
I have three comments: 1) It's like a Greek Tragedy, as only the Russians could do it. 2) Surely the "Battle of Dogger Bank" deserves its own video. 3) Damn those Japanese ninja torpedo boats, you never know where they'll pop up!
Im a sailor IRL , and when you said the commander would scream from the bridge wing and throw his bino made me laugh so hard.....can see some of my old captain right there
I've always felt for V.Adm Rozhestvensky on learning even the basics of this voyage many years ago; accomplishing an astonishing logistics victory even getting his squadron to the AO only for it to be unceremoniously sunk. On learning the details? He must have been not only convinced that God was punishing him for the sins of the entire Tzar's navy, but that he was likely looking forward to death if it meant getting away from this circus
20:00 memorializes this insane debacle "versus" the trawlers. The impact on diplomacy was obviously extremely negative. The Kamchatka nearly started several wars on its own lol.
This is my all time favorite Drach video. I genuinely don’t know how many times I’ve watched it and it still makes me laugh. And feel very bad for pre-revolution Russian sailors. But mostly laugh.
This was such a fun road trip with all of my friends. I do not appreciate you making fun of my spotting of torpedo boats though. They were actually there! I swear!
"the addition of a large venomous serpent to the particular ship in question probably increased the offensive power of the ship considerably" There are some wonderfully (and quite deservedly) snarky comments in this video, but this is probably my favorite.
@Brett Mitchell Veterans of what? I don't remember many naval battles in the Boer war, and it was 50 years since the Crimean war so none of the officers or sailors would have still been in service from then.
@Magni56 Beresford: I had to be sporting man! Fisher: No! We need every ship for the Germans! Beresford (muttering): A pair of torpedo boats could've handled them.
@@kamchatka_survivor1959 Then again, the Russians would've probably panicked and fired everything the minute the torpedo boats showed up. Granted they'd probably sink the Aurora instead but it would be hilariois
Wasn't it the 100 Anniversary of Trafalgar that year?so yeah,4 British battleships is more than enough.every man in the Royal Navy would have been willing to attack ina rowboat and board them if necessary.
I usually listen to your videos in car while driving somewhere ( phone via bluetooth to car stereo ) . For first time in my life i actually had to pull over , and watch the video at the resting place , coz i was laughthing so dam hard , i could not drive safely . I was laughthing so hard it hurts now , even half a hour later :) Thanks for making this day so bright :)
@@roylu6580 For me it was 8:35 where the battleship sank that made me giggle... then it was the "NINJA JAPANESE TORPEDO BOATS" that made me howl in laughter.. and then I got broken by Kamchatka.
Another legend say that most of the casualties from japanese side came from mass suicide, the japanese sailors being so humiliated that such a batch of buffoons have been sent to fight against them.
After the battle the Japanese hospital ships were inundated with wounded sailers; mostly bruised jaws from when they hit the floor upon seeing the operational...”capabilities” of the Russians.
Remember, it was this battle that emboldened the Japanese Navy to believe they could defeat the US Navy, Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy, and RNZ Navy all at once. They made a pretty good go of it for a while.
I still can't believe this is real. The first time I listened to this was over a year ago, a co-worker and I on a slow night were listening to it on my Chromebook and we just kept looking at each other incredulously, how could things go this wrong this many times?, it baffles me. Its like its straight out of Monty Python.
I have shown this video to a couple of friends on separate occasions, both of whom were in a sullen mood on those days. Their mood immediately brightened considerably at this hilarious tale of misfortune.
"The story of a few good men's struggle, against their own commanders, their own fleet, their own ships and their own men. And Kamchatka, Above all against Kamchatka"
“And this being a Russian fleet the phrase “Then Things Got Worse” “ I actually laughed out loud and am still chuckling about that line well played Sir well played indeed
William D Porter: We are the worst warship in history. Kamchatka: Hold my vodka. *Kamchatka drops the bottle while handing it to Porter* *Porter sinks anyway*
@@NashmanNash Neither William D. Porter nor Mogami were as bad as Kamchatka. They only had one significant fuckup (most of the Porter's mishaps were fabricated in 1997, with only the torpedo incident and her sinking being legitimate, and the latter wasn't a case of incompetence).
I don't believe there's an afterlife, but I hope there is, and that the poor admiral is happily in paradise. Whatever sins he may have committed, he atoned for them during this voyage.
