Admiral Andrew Cunningham - Cruisers, Cowan and Command (Part 2)

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@henriquekonradt541]

Pre Dreadnoughts had Tsushima, Dreadnoughts had Jutland, in your opinion, what would be the most era defining battleship on battleship engagement of the WW2 era?

[@rocksteadychampion]

What would be result of an engagement between larger ship of one era (say top predreadnought battleship) and smaller, but more advanced ship of later era (say treaty cruiser)?

[@brendonbewersdorf986]

I know the British the French and the Spanish build several large 100+ gunned ships of the line did any other countries build similar large ships?

[@bkjeong4302]

@@henriquekonradt541 Not a battleship vs. battleship engagement, but Force Z, because WWII was defined by battleships being proven to be strategically obsolete and no longer viable in their intended role of fighting other battleships outside of niche scenarios (and too expensive to be built just for the roles that they tended to be forced into in WWII), and Force Z was what really made that clear. You can’t really have a battleship vs. Battleship action that defines a generation of battleships that categorically failed to do their job of fighting each other.

[@bkjeong4302]

@@brendonbewersdorf986 The Americans did, with USS Pennsylvania.

[@peterdavy6110]

My old Headmaster used to have a story about Heligoland. His father was one of the first Royal Navy party that landed on Heligoland in 1919. When they landed, they were approached by a group of old men who announced they had all served in the Royal Navy when Heligoland was British. They hadn't had their pensions since August 1914 and what was the Lieutenant going to do about it!

[@rictusmetallicus]

Please elaborate, what did the Lieutenant do about it?

[@knightoflight8249]

Yeah, I hate cliffhangers!

[@scottyfox6376]

Im sure the Lieutenant was quite bemused if not somewhat perplexed as to mollifying this old grievance.

[@markmaher4548]

You can always trust Jack to have a drip

[@adamcarriere4465]

I hope the Lietenant at least passed out a tot of Rum to all :)

[@marcofried-gr8uj]

“The great wind measuring place in the sky” Next time I see a Windmeter, I will remember that there is a heaven for them, too. Made my world a better place Drach, thank you.

[@benwilson6145]

Anemometer

[@marcofried-gr8uj]

Argh, thanks!

[@TomFynn]

"What is the wind speed?" "About the speed our anemometer is moving towards the horizon."

[@Isolder74]

That’s why the record for the fastest measured wind speed has an asterisk next to it. That’s the wind speed the anemometer was reading when it was destroyed. It was probably faster.

[@khaelamensha3624]

This is why we do love Drach s videos 😁

[@barrydysert2974]

Warspite: my all-time favorite\favourite battleship name• Can we take a moment to appreciate Mrs Cunningham. How many times did that poor woman have to move house?!? There should be a Naval Wife distinguished service medal !:-)

[@barrettcarr1413]

That is the whole problem with servce life if ou are married, lack of married accommodation, lack of rental homes when transferred, change of schools for the children etc

[@georgebisacre9413]

Very good point! I was on the British Merchant Navy in 1960/70s and we would leave home, travel to join a ship and after your duty time return home The problem in my time was you often had very little contact with you family for say a 6 month voyage. You wrote lots of letters and if the ship came int the UK you found a pay phone and called home. You either accepted this or found another job. Money came into this It was a standing joke that every ship had Scots & Gordies on board as those were areas of high unemployment at that time

[@Kim-the-Dane-1952]

Children clamoring excitedly: "Please Uncle Drach. Please tell us more stories about the famous Admiral Cunningham"... Great video thanks.

[@scottyfox6376]

Drops dripping icecream cone on Uncle Drach's rug & begines to cry..😉🍦

[@martinmarheinecke7677]

An other reason why the Heligolanders where quite friendly towards the British troops and disliked the German authorities including police: With the declaration of state of war on July 31, 1914, the Heligolanders were ordered to leave the island within twelve hours. When they arrived in Hamburg, contrary to promises made by the German military, no accommodation had been organized, they where de facto homeles. On initiative of some Hamburg shipping companies they were initially accommodated in the "Auswanderstadt" ("emigration town", large emigration halls). The Heligolanders were only able to return in 1918. No wonder they were fed up with the German government and many preferred to belong to Denmark or the UK. (Edit note: Misspelling corrected.)

[@neilbuckley1613]

Maybe it would have been a good idea in the treaty of Verrtsailles to place Helgoland under Danish control.

[@Kim-the-Dane-1952]

@@neilbuckley1613 They could have done it the same way Southern Jutland/Northern Schleswig were returned to Denmark in 1920 with a vote.

[@assessor1276]

It is hard to imagine German authorities being stupid, rude, cruel and foolish….and failing to plan for the welfare of people in their charge.

[@martinmarheinecke7677]

@@assessor1276 Compared to other countries of the time, the German Empire was almost a welfare state, but on the other hand it was also very militaristic. The military enjoyed numerous privileges and possessed both legal and informal power - civilian authorities were quite helpless in the face of the often arbitrary and reckless decisions of the military. In addition, there was an enormous amount of "Prussian" authoritarism and upper class arrogance in the Imperial Germans army and navy officer corps. In the empire of Kaiser Wilhelm II it was said: "Man only begins with the reserve lieutenant." Civil interests were subordinate to those of the military. Without the helpfulness of the Hamburg shipowners and later ordinary citizens, who took in the evacuees or arranged apartments, the poor Heligolanders would have literally ended up on the streets. Incidentally, Helgoland was not evacuated during World War II. The Nazis were even more ruthless than the militarists of the German Empire, but they did not repeat the mistake of making enemies by taking action against the residents of a popular holiday island. Apart from that, the strategic importance of Heligoland as a naval base in World War II was significantly lower than in World War I.

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

An Admiral so great he could turn a game of golf into one of the Great British Navel Victories and that’s one hell of a game of golf … Plus his Eloquent Quotes … Thank You So Very much Drach

[@thehandoftheking3314]

Sinking a putt from 15,000 yards

[@mbryson2899]

I have had many Navel victories and have harvested much lint! 😜

[@Pete-z6e]

@@mbryson2899 ,😂

[@robg9236]

Take a drink every time Drachinifel uses he word 'whilst'. Make sure you start with a full bottle.

[@theblackbear211]

Great video. Sitting here in Bremerton, Washington, (USA) I would note that the Warspite is still well remembered here. Some of her dead are buried here, barely a mile from my house.

[@stephenchappell7512]

How come?

[@theblackbear211]

@@stephenchappell7512 When Warspite was damaged in the Mediterranean in May of 1941 - it was arranged for her to be repaired in the Naval Shipyard here in Bremerton, where she arrived in August of 1941, after passing through the Suez Canal, as well as the Indian, and Pacific Oceans. Apparently (sources are inconsistent) some of her dead were recovered from spaces that had remained flooded until she was in drydock. We have 3 graves designated as Warspite crew in the old cemetery on Naval Avenue. Warspite departed Bremerton in late December 1941. To the best of my knowledge, the last time any of Warspite's crew made an official visit to Bremerton was in the 1990's

[@stephenchappell7512]

@@theblackbear211 Yes that makes sense Incidentally there remain fragments of Warspite visible at low tide in Mount's Bay Cornwall where she foundered enroute to the scrap yard She was gradually scrapped where she lay in a process that took up to a decade

[@theblackbear211]

@@stephenchappell7512 A sad fate, she deserved better.

[@theblackbear211]

@@stephenchappell7512 If you are interested I think that I can still find some of the links to the local newspaper articles on her visit - which were problematical for the government- since the US was still officially a "Neutral Country" until December of '41.

[@Trek001]

I think the full message was TOTAL GERMANY I like to think somewhere some ship put "With ref orders 3/9/39, mission complete"

[@gybb1868]

My Grandfather served in WARSPITE as a young Lieutenant and became ABC’s ‘doggie’ or general assistant. RN tradition dictated that the Admiral would address him as ‘Boy!’. My Grandfather greatly admired ABC and went on to work for him on the Torch invasion plans.

[@Drachinifel]

You might find him mentioned when I get to Part 3 :D

[@thatsme9875]

@@Drachinifel Drach, we are all really looking forward to parst 3, 4, 5, ......

[@MyMongo100]

I sincerely hope your surname isn't Pike

[@maryholder3795]

​@@Drachinifel looking forward to any more on ABC😊

[@Kowalski089]

Listening to Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham’s story is inspirational to me, for it shows how a lifetime of effort, experience, and commitment is required before one can truly be called upon to make a difference.

[@douglasherron7534]

Can't beat a nice cup of tea when you've just heard that war has been declared!

[@jonjames7328]

And maybe a biscuit. Rich tea or digestive to go with WW2.

[@douglasherron7534]

@@jonjames7328 Has to be Rich Tea!

[@dmcarpenter2470]

Yakko Warner reference, that earns a "Hellooooo Nurse!", for Mrs Drach.

[@jayillingworth1301]

What a wonderful thought, ABC to wife…’We are at war with Germany ….’, Lady ABC to Adm ABC.. ‘ Yes dear, now let’s have a cup of tea’. All things in perspective lol.

[@Reepicheep-1]

Including Yakko Warner in a documentary is gold. I wish I could subscribe again.

[@stuartpeacock8257]

A tour de force of this phase of one of our greatest Admirals inter- war career. Incredible attention to detail and narration

[@joechang8696]

note that admiralty was indeed showing greater appreciation on the capabilities of aircraft with the cruiser conversion to AA. It is rarely pointed out that the capability aircraft is directly related to the engine horsepower, about 200 in WWI, 1000 in the early WWII, and 2000 late.

[@BishopStars]

Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp is an American twin-row, 18-cylinder, air-cooled radial aircraft engine with a displacement of 2,800 cu in (46 L). When the R-2800 was introduced in 1939, it was capable of producing 2,000 hp. They built 125,000 of these engines, which powered the late war fighters F6F Hellcat, P-47 Thunderbolt, and many other aircraft. Mass production of this quality on such a large scale meant the result of a war against the United States was a foregone conclusion in 1939.

[@Gentleman...Driver]

@@BishopStars That engine was pretty new when WW II started. So he isnt wrong. Many aircrafts at the start of WW II had less powerfull engines. But of course, rapid production of new engines and aircraft designs went on as soon as the war started. And sure, the industrial might of the US had won the war.

[@agesflow6815]

Thank you, Drachinifel.

[@dr.christopherjohnson5046]

Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?

[@phaasch]

I've been waiting for this ever since part 1, and it has proved to be every bit as compelling. It certainly does make one think just how Britain's naval strategy would have played out, had forward thinking major players like Fisher not died so prematurely. Fortunately, the strength in depth was there, but it's an engrossing consideration, nonetheless

[@ottomeineke9230]

Your series on various admirals is most welcome and very interesting and informative. Thank you Drach for all your hard work.

[@0xA9F]

despatching HMS Despatch with the despatches for the day.

[@sugarnads]

With despatch.

[@rcwagon]

Since senior officers have a sword, does that make Admiral Cunningham "The Heligolander"? There can be only one.

[@martinscannall8487]

"Domestic disturbances". You presumably mean the natives restless again. Your use of English is masterly. I particularly liked "Heligoland was swapped for Zanzibar." Tiny details, but my goodness your work is both meticulous and addictive. Thank you.

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

I'm liking this man. Seems like a good officer.

[@KianaWolf]

I've only recently come across your channel, but I really enjoy your content. Well spoken, informative videos that have enough levity to keep from being dry. So here's a comment for algorithm's sake, because more people should find you.

[@rogerclarke7407]

here are a couple of episodes that are quite humorous kzbin.info/www/bejne/b37HmpJ8nZ6Sd8k kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5KTkpuqrN-Hf5o

[@dr.christopherjohnson5046]

Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?

[@thunderK5]

The story of the hurricane was frightening and and I love the Animaniacs shout-out.

[@Claymore5]

Fabulous video - I wasn't terribly familiar with ABC's inter war service - I consider this now rectified! Can't wait for Part Three.

[@guyplachy9688]

As a former rating in the RAN Fleet Air Arm, Cunningham is a man I have vaguely admired from a position of minimal knowledge because of his apparent admiration of, & some perceived leniency towards, the ships of the RAN who served under him. This series of videos is raising my admiration considerably based on the broad intelligence & remarkable ability of the man in the uniform behind the legend.

[@duneydan7993]

"Listen up! When I joined the Royal Navy, we didn't have any fancy schmancy 18-inch guns! We had sticks! Two sticks and a rock for a whole crew! And we had to share the rock!" British officer silencing a complaining recruit by sharing his experience with the mediterranean fleet in 1935. Dated 1945

[@richardcleveland8549]

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . . . more than a LITTLE reminiscent of "The Four Yorkshiremen"!

[@SynchroScore]

@@richardcleveland8549 I think that line's from Sgt. Johnson in Halo.

[@caseygoddard]

I never realized how many talented British naval commanders passed away right before WW2...

[@melissasmith5109]

It takes three years to build a new ship it will take 300 years to build a new tradition

[@dr.christopherjohnson5046]

Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?

[@timgosling6189]

From MOD, 80 years later, I was never sure which ranked worst: Satan or the Treasury. Toujours c'est la même chose. Regarding Lt Cdr Kirk, it still amuses that both (later RAdm) Kirk and (HMS) Enterprise were present off the Normandy coast on 6 Jun 44.

[@RPMZ11]

...and Scotty was a Forward Observer ashore.

[@duwop544]

Your associated pictures have become quite brilliant. So good.

[@barrydysert2974]

16:04 "Yacko Warner" 😂😂😂 Oh Drack, that brings back such great memories !:-)

[@michaelphillips8238]

Yes, it does! Bonus points for the Animaniacs reference but an equal penalty for making me search for the song just so I can hear it again. 😂

[@chrismaverick9828]

Back when cartoons were educational. Helooooooooooooo nurse!

[@Reepicheep-1]

And enjoyable at the same time

[@RadioactiveSherbet]

16:00 An Animaniacs reference! Among many other qualities, it would seem Drach also has excellent taste in cartoons!

[@MsSteelphoenix]

Cunningham was definitely a great man, but also a good one, I think. I know Mrs Cunningham was only mentioned a few times, but I have the feeling that she was not only a formidable lady, but one that would be a great friend. Particularly loved her (and the other wives') tracking of the fleet in the Adriatic!

[@catherinejohnson9299]

admiral Cunningham is my Great Uncle

[@tonyduncan9852]

The classic British admiral story. An admirable admiral story. 😎

[@TomSedgman]

And Now! The Nations of the World, brought to you by Dracho Warner!

[@derekantill3721]

A very interesting video of British royal navy history between the wars.

[@josephpicogna6348]

Another wonderful program.

[@baileybrunson42]

A very enjoyable biography Drach.. I look forward to each of your videos.. I'm particularly looking forward to your visit to U.S.S. Alabama (BB-60).

[@paulknapp6765]

I've been listening to Drach since about the spring of 2020. His narration never ceases to soothe me. What is it about UK English that is so pleasing? (As noted by a PNW American brought up by Edward R. Murrow.)

[@20chocsaday]

It is not everyone who speaks clearly and smoothly with a measured intonation suitable for the topic of the moment.

[@stephengardiner9867]

I have a largish chunk of HMS Raleigh in front of me as I type this. It seems that quite a bit of her 7.5 inch shells survived the demolition and it was necessary, years later, to have Canadian Forces demolition teams and divers to find and de-fuse or safely detonate them. I recall visiting a rather posh restaurant not too far from the wreck site and they had the remains of a shell being used as a door stop. I recognized it as a 7.5" (bit of a military nut and knew it wasn't 6" or 8' and therefore almost certainly had to be 7.5" and British). I asked about its origin and discovered the sad tale of HMS Raleigh (I honestly had never heard about its grounding and loss...at the time of the accident, Newfoundland was a Crown Colony and not part of Canada). Strictly speaking, it was not Canadian history and probably an incident that the Royal Navy would prefer to forget. She was quite new when the grounding occurred.

[@edroosa2958]

Thanks for another great video. After a long day at work it was really nice to unwind and listen to this video.

[@dr.christopherjohnson5046]

Hello, I hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness, prosperity, and love all over the world, I would love us to be good friends in honesty and in trust if you don't mind. I'm Doctor Christopher Johnson from San Francisco, California, where are you from if I may ask?

[@nukkinfuts6550]

Another awesome "little" biography, superb work! Been following your channel for ages and love to put on a Drydock and listen to while f:ex painting Warhammer 40K. I also suffer from severe insomnia and i dont know how many partially sleepless nights (hundreds) you have a saved for me Drach, thank you!

[@The_Modeling_Underdog]

Outstanding video, Drach.

[@metaljewelgaming]

Up there with Fisher. What a man!

[@jacklucas5908]

Great to see another part of this!

[@stargazer5784]

A very well written and delivered documentary. Thx.

[@andrewfanner2245]

Well deserves his place in Trafalgar Square, even if he does have to share it with Beatty🙂

[@lanasmith4795]

I have to say that was quite an impressive speech

[@ronstewtsaw]

Gosh, but I enjoy your work, Drach. This is the first time I can remember being confused by the homophones crews and cruise.

[@johnallen7807]

Always a pleasure listening to an expert talk about his subject, thank you very much.

[@grahamdominy8309]

Very interesting, thank you so much.

[@TheEDFLegacy]

I'm glad to see part two! 😁

[@thcdreams654]

Really enjoying thia series. Thanks for all your hard work, its all top quality entertainment.

[@1dcbly]

A Yakko Warner reference. Much respect my friend.

[@andrewooddotcom]

Part 3 please :) Pretty please :)

[@mbryson2899]

Thank you for sharing your research and knowledge in such a riveting and accessible fashion, Uncle Drach. 👍

[@jeffreyjerde1291]

An absolutely riveting survey! Thank you!

[@tgmccoy1556]

This is a great sea story.

[@duneydan7993]

Surprise training drill are common in the armed forces but I wasn't expecting to hear about a Navy officer keeping his men sharp by sending them to the hills to practice Stone Age tribal warfare!

[@ph89787]

46:23. I do wonder if someone was to think of a commander, captain or admiral, they would immediately associate it with a particular ship Cunningham-Warspite Sommerville-Warspite, Hood and Renown Crutchley-Warspite Nelson (Admiral, not battleship)-Victory. Vian-Formidable Halsey-Enterprise, New Jersey or Missouri. Lee-Washington Spruance-Enterprise or Indianapolis Fletcher-Yorktown or Saratoga. Mitscher- Hornet (CV-8-still captain), Lexington (CV-16), Bunker Hill or Enterprise Lutjens-Bismarck. Bey-Scharnhorst. Cilax-Scharnhorst. Yamamoto-Nagato, Yamato or Musashi Nagumo, Akagi. Tamaguchi-Hiryu Ozawa-Taiho. Kurita-Yamato.

[@papajohnloki]

uh maybe Scharnhorst might be better assosciated with either Adm. Marschall (Op Juno) or Ciliax (Cerberus}

[@tomdolan9761]

Spruance would certainly be Indianapolis but his favorite battleship was New Mexico

[@Neneset]

Jellicoe - Iron Duke

[@merafirewing6591]

John Paul Jones-Bonhomme Richard and Serapis

[@15Bravo]

Legoland is one if my favorite maps on Battlefield 1 32v32 hardcore conquest. That coastal cannon is nasty.

[@jimpollard9392]

What an interesting life. What an excellent officer.

[@peterhughes7099]

Many thanks, I look forward to Part 3 🙂

[@djbiscuit1818]

It would be nice to have a link in the description and/or a card to part 1 :)

[@Drachinifel]

Done :)

[@malcolmtaylor518]

Interesting photos of the naval barracks at Chatham.

[@robertmatch6550]

A good Drach morning. Thanks for the new post.

[@TheFreaker86]

11:14 nice description 😂 another superb Drachism! 🥳

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

Anyone who can work a reference to Yakko Warner's "Countries of the World" into a documentary about a RN admiral is a man worthy of our admiration and reapect. Well played, Sir!

[@TimboMacDW]

Very much looking forward to part 3

[@SynchroScore]

I still think it's hilarious that Admiral Fisher, a man who was a active and observant Christian, considered His Majesty's Treasury to be a greater evil than Satan.

[@garynew9637]

Rodney and Nelson look fantastic

[@peterweiden6578]

Thanks!

[@Thumpalumpacus]

Fantastic vid, as usual, about one of my favorite admirals.

[@devimead750]

Another fantastic KZbin video, very informative and interestingly produced.

[@Splattle101]

Great narrative, Drach. It's very engaging even though it deals with the less 'exciting' interwar part of his biography.

[@mikegardner42]

Fantastic ... Thank you Reach

[@stevenfarrall3942]

Superb as ever

[@waterboy4056]

Just finished part one last night. Great timing. Thank you

[@MARKCARTLIDGE-sm3mz]

Excellent

[@GaldirEonai]

14:12 Is there any record of how wide his grin was when he got told he could have all the kaboom he wanted?

[@davidbrennan660]

Fascinating.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Can't wait about this crafty ham's legendary expliots in the 2nd World War

[@birlyballop4704]

We had a teacher named Cunningham. He got "Sly Bacon". But only by the girls.

[@waterloo32594]

9:42 I think I found my new favorite royal navy officer.

[@atatexan]

This is so interesting.

[@Jpdt19]

Wonderful stuff. Thanks

[@bluestorm3628]

Cunningham shipping his tea: “Well my dear, here we go again”

[@anselmdanker9519]

Thank you for covering ABC !

[@pdunderhill]

Curiously the Arch Bishop of Canterbury is also known as ABC!

[@DeCasoU1]

@@pdunderhill He is known as a few other things as well.

[@robertewing3114]

@@pdunderhill another ABC was a novelist, so ABC presented one of the books to friends as his own, The Killer Follows The Man hunt.

[@toomanyuserids]

Oh for gods sake the Treasury quote will be my life hereinafter

[@20chocsaday]

In the 1960's there was a chart showing the names of more admirals than ships.

[@Trainman2177WS]

productions values keep going up - I like the thumbnail for this vid, The little extra effort is noticeable. Video was generally neat too, didn't think there'd be so much to say about Cunningham's interwar career.

[@robinstevenson6690]

outstanding ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[@haskenvonbern5404]

That was quite a brutal roast of admiral Riccardi!

[@alanrogers7090]

When Alex said, "Cunningham was sent to Constantinople, which would keep that name for eight more years", it reminded me of something similar. Turkey changed Constantinople into Istanbul for cultural reasons. Lately, (late 2021), they changed their spelling of Turkey to become Turkiye, and the United Nations agreed.

[@Neithan02]

Dude, it has been turkiye in Turkish for over a century... It is just that English is so brainamputated and disrespectful, that they translate proper names.

[@sugarnads]

​@@Neithan02and it was constantinople for 1700 years. Whats yr point?

[@Neithan02]

@@sugarnads and it was Byzantium before that. You do get the point of rulership deciding names, right? Or do you wanna take the stance that new York should actually be called niuw Amsterdam? And did the ottoman empire really call it Constantinople? I think I made my points very clear but please if you require any clearing up, ask and I will answer.

[@20chocsaday]

Eventually they got fed up with the bird.

[@jonjames7328]

I love that film about the guy imprisoned there. Is Turkiye really just like that. How exciting.

[@charlesgstockmeister8128]

Well at least I beat vintage car history to a comment thanks for part 2

[@jayfelsberg1931]

Oh I know exactly what that sounds like; I have been a fan of The Who for as long as I remember!!!!!! 😄

[@RailfanDownunder]

Superb

[@jeffholloway3882]

Great video!!!