BISMARCK // Sabaton History // Historian Reacts to the story of Germany's Largest Battleship

Become a supporter through the brand new VTH Patreon for exclusive supporter rewards - / vth
If you want to see more of this, make sure to hit LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and leave a comment! And if you'd like to have more input into the future of the channel, consider joining my patron team. Thank you in advance!
Check out History Guy Gaming (my strategy gaming channel) - / @thehistoryguy
Updated link for Discord - / discord
Twitter - / thehistoryguy25
For business inquiries contact: [e-mail]
Special Thanks to Graham Brown who is an official sponsor of this channel.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

To further clarify something I stated in this video: for a brief time Bismarck was indeed, fully loaded, the largest battleship in active service. Yamato was at sea but not yet commissioned and King George V and Prince of Wales were slightly greater standard displacement but not when fully loaded.

[@jaydowns5744]

This is why your content is so great, fantastic added insight and you are happy to admit when you are (half) wrong, keep up the good work man!

[@HeyNobody_OG]

And answering your question it was actually the HMS Sheffield they mistook for Bismarck

[@Nemesismaker]

Bismarck's crew was also alot larger then needed to operate. Bismarck had taken price crews onboard to assist in convoy raiding.

[@eduardklima5698]

BTW not every Navy refes to ships as she. Russian/Soviet navy refers to ships named after men as he (Peter the Great, Armiral of seafleet Kuznetsov) or she if named after woman (Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya, Imperatritsa Marya). (That may also aply to other navies of Slavic language nations because of gramar).

[@Noname-ur4ct]

Well the Tirpitz was still a little bit bigger, stronger and heavier

[@gillianbravepie]

I said it once and I will say it every time again: the fastest way to make your ship sink, is by calling it "unsinkable".

[@ThePuma1707]

Soooo, what if i call it the sinkable?

[@gillianbravepie]

@@ThePuma1707 It will grow wings and become God™

[@ThePuma1707]

@@gillianbravepie Sounds about right

[@thegingergod3122]

That one line sinks them every time

[@gillianbravepie]

@@thegingergod3122 jup

[@RApollos107]

They built the Bismarck to take a beating. They just didn't expect the beating to come from damn near the entire Royal Navy.

[@grahambrown3519]

Thing is it was not “damn near the entire Royal Navy” and that was always Germany’s problem at sea. It was 3/4 Battleships when the Navy had around 15 and a Carrier when they had 7 or 8. The loss of Hood was devastating especially for national moral and the families of those involved (my father was in the Navy at the time and new men lost on her - and yes Royal Navy ships are female🙂) but it was a loss the Navy could absorb, losing the Bismark was not the same for the Kreigsmarine.

[@RApollos107]

@@HellBrYnger Basically what you're saying is for Bismarck, what could've gone wrong all went wrong at the same time.

[@paulrasmussen8953]

@@RApollos107 the torpedo hit destroyed one rubber and the other wrapped around a propeller.

[@zdrug3676]

@@RApollos107 Yes, he got hit in the weakest spots, he got attacked at the worst time, engine problems appeared at the worst time etc. Literally everything went wrong for Bismarck.

[@11mousa]

​@@RApollos107 That's pretty much the entire story of the Bismarck. Starting from being born as the by far superior specimen of a dying shipclass (a few years later, large battleships became obsolete due to carriers), to the delayed start because of Prinz Eugen, to the lucky hit which painted an already huge target red and slowed it down, to the unlucky decision to go to France, to a lucky 1 in a million shot (iirc, it is estimated that the possible area to hit was just a few m2), to the full engagement just at the right time (a bit later and they would have been in range of German fighters and Bombers threatening huge chunks of the British home fleet), the Bismarck was probably the most unlucky piece of technology ever built.

[@andsoiderparound9909]

They swordfish mistook HMS Sheffield as the Bismarck and failed to do damage mainly to their unreliable magnetic torpedoes they were using.

[@accountformusic7298]

16:18 Actually, when the fighters mistook one of their ships as the Bismarck, and attacked it, they discovered that the torpedoes they had were faulty! That's why the ship didn't take any damage. They returned to their ship and fixed the issue, which allowed them a successful attack on Bismark.

[@StevenFox80]

In German, ships are usually referred to as female when using their name. If you refer to a ship in general, it's considered neither masculine nor feminine, but neutral. So it's 'das Schiff', but 'die Bismarck'. e.g.: "Die Bismarck versenkt das Schiff." (The Bismarck sinks the ship.) but: "Die Bismarck versenkt die Hood." (The Bismarck sinks the Hood.)

[@BrandonSmith84]

Off topic I recently found an ancestor who fought in King Philip's War. He was killed in an ambush. My 11th Great Grandfather Michael Pierce On March 26, 1676 during King Philip's War, Captain Michael Pierce led approximately 60 Plymouth Colony troops and 20 Wampanoag Indians in pursuit of Narragansetts who had burned several Rhode Island towns and attacked Plymouth. Pierce's troops caught up with the Narragansett, Wampanoag, Nashaway, Nipmuck, and Podunk fighters, but were ambushed in what is now Central Falls, Rhode Island. Pierce's troops fought the Narragansetts for several hours but were surrounded by a larger force. The battle was one of the biggest defeats of colonial troops during King Philip's War, with nearly all killed, including Captain Pierce and the Wampanoags (exact numbers vary by account). The Narragansetts lost only a handful of warriors.

[@jacobezell5198]

Extra credits/extra history did a good four part series about the hunt for Bismarck. It's worth a watch if you have a free hour.

[@johngrace1312]

So fun fact: The HMS Rodney was confirmed to be the first and only battleship to land a torpedo strike on another capital ship during the Bismarck’s final hours

[@JDBlack3347]

Love your videos! Been binging all the Sabaton stuff as a start.

[@adnanehasbi4270]

Nice this is one of the most favorite military events of WW2, awesome reaction

[@motivation4u854]

I’m very new to your channel and I must say I absolutely love it. my name is Rodney and my grandfather was a commander in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Just prior to my birth my parents told my grandfather about what they were going to name me and he was delighted and told them that the HMS Rodney was one of the ships that took out the Bismarck.

[@cytorakdemon]

Should keep the naval theme going with Midway and Wolfpack and/or their respective history videos.

[@sharathmuralidharan4604]

The Swordfish torpedo bombers mistook HMS Sheffield on the first run. But this incident also showed some flaw with their torpedoes and then they changed it before the torpedo run on Bismarck

[@zarahmb1711]

I found something related to the "he or she" discussion. Burkhard Freiherr von Müllenheim-Rechberg, the highest-ranking officer who was rescued, reports in his memoir that on the orders of Captain Ernst Lindemann, the male article was always to be used ON board the Bismarck. So people on the vessel talked about "der Bismarck/ auf dem Bismarck", people outside of "die Bismarck". Burkard Baron von Mullenheim-Rechberg: "Battleship Bismarck: A Survivor's Story," New and Expanded Edition 2013.

[@Krzysztof.l.Polak.84]

Finally had chance to watch full video! Really well done and I enjoyed Your reactions too, especially in some moments You were more correct than Indy :) I really enjoy his way of presenting the stories and respect him as very good popularizer of history, but here he went sometimes too far in dramatization of the story ;) For example, Hood had more-less same main armament as Bismarck (8x 15`inch vs. 8x 38`cm, almost same caliber) and was weaker only in secondary armament, which would make a difference in really close combat. Also Hood was not do badly armoured as some may say, of course not to the most modern standards, but still, without lucky shot, would be very hard nut to crack. About the fear of Bismarck - Drachinifel addressed this issue somehow in one of his latest Drydocks - in fact Royal Navy would have enough ships to engage Bismarck in gun duel, even if it sailed with Scharnchorst and Gnisenau (maybe even Tirpitz), but not enough to catch it and force it to battle; only Hood, Repulse and Renown had enough speed, even KGV was too slow (28 knots), not mentioning Nelson or Rodney (23 knots, Rodney chasing Bismarck almost blew up its boilers, forcing 25 knots!) or old R class BB`s. Also, having so many duties on so many fronts, RN just simply couldn`t be certain, it could muster enough ships to counter such battlegroup. Moreover - at that moment, with main focus on Mediterranean area, they could count only on two carriers, freshly put into service HMS Victorious in Home Fleet and eventually experienced HMS Ark Royal from Force H in Gibraltar… damn small number and not in one place! Also its armour and protection - although heavy, was very old-modelled. It gave the ship incredible floatability, but also left many vital elements, especially of communication systems very ill or almost non-protected. It wasn`t mentioned literally in the video, but low effectiveness of Bismarck fire in his last battle was caused, apart of quick death of her gunnery officer, also by quick destruction of gunnery control system, causing its turrets to fire independently, usually with only local aiming systems… Still, she put hell of a fight, which was appreciated also by British. Also pity that Indy didn`t mention truly “soldierly” words of Bismarck commander during battle of Denmark Strait :)

[@TheArrowedKnee]

It's not only that the explosion probably instantly wiped out a significant portion of the crew of the Hood, but you need to remember this was near the Denmark strait. The water was extremely cold, and any crew that did survive the explosion itself, were extremely unlikely to survive the cold water for long

[@pf1740]

no one ever talks about the unsinkable Sam (or Orkar), the Bismarck cat. he survived 3 sinking ... now ... or was he very lucky or did he bring bad luck to those on board? a video about cats on warships would be nice. good video as always, thanks.

[@whitetiger5284]

No one talks about him because he wasn't real. There is no evidence of there being a cat on the Bismark. Unsinkable Sam is an urban legend with very little supporting evidence. Don't get me wrong, there are some fantastic stories of ships cats out there that are true. This isn't one of them.

[@pf1740]

@@whitetiger5284 yes, probably, I have read it, but let there be a "legend" even among the cats on board, many have been invented for men!

[@kodiak9869]

@@whitetiger5284 you dont know if Oscar was real or not, the fact is that Bismarck actually had a Tuxedo Cat onboard and the brits said they took a cat in. considering that Cats usually dont dwell in the Atlantic ocean and that it wasnt the Cossacks cat, id go with the route that they actually reeled in Bismarcks cat. seems the most plausible.

[@jesusdrulle2200]

in Germany we also call it "Die Bismarck" so yes: it's a she

[@Palatinarien]

Ja ,,Bismarck" ist auf jeden Fall grammatisch gesehen weiblich, was ich hasse, weil sie einen männlichen Namen (den vom Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck) hatte aber grammatisch weiblich ist. Deshalb würde ich Schiffen nur neutrale oder weibliche Namen geben.

[@Thraim.]

@@Palatinarien Aber der Name Bismarck IST neutral, da es ein Nachname ist. Ich bin mir nämlich ziemlich sicher dass Otto's Ehepartner weiblich war und trotzdem Bismarck hieß.

[@rrvv8327]

According to testimonies from German survivors of the battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck was "he" not "she". It doesn't matter how you people want to rename it now. Research

[@Palatinarien]

@@rrvv8327that were just the People onboard not how it actually is. And for non germans: a Battleship is Feminin and HAS to be a she.(DIE Bismarck)

[@Palatinarien]

@@Thraim. ich weiß man verbindet den Namen aber eher mit ihm

[@alexamerling79]

My favorite Sabaton song. I love the story of the Bismarck. Sank on its maiden voyage but is still a legend to this day.

[@jeffl0385]

One thing they didn't mention in the video is that the Bismarck did indeed lose the British ships just south of Greenland IIRC. The only reason they were able to relocate the Bismarck before he made it to France is because they didn't know they had shaken off the British and continued using their radio. If they had remained radio silent until they were within range of land based Luftwaffe support, they likely would have been fine.

[@dirk1251]

The Bismark islike a juggernaut in the heaviest armor imaginable. But the first hit is an arrow throu the 1cm eyeslit and an instantkill.

[@tbayspotting]

A youtuber put together an explanation of what happened to the hood. It’s amazing. Very scientific but great

[@Moxie_278]

Drachinifel kzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ2pmn-pqbuAjqs&ab_channel=Sabaton-Topickzbin.info/www/bejne/lZ2pmn-pqbuAjqs&ab_channel=Sabaton-Topic

[@EerieV23]

It is a great video

[@nicolivoldkif9096]

Drachinfel?

[@EerieV23]

@@nicolivoldkif9096 yes. Here is the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX2zlnZtgbekf7s

[@nicolivoldkif9096]

@@EerieV23 yeah, watched it and his follow on which covered what if it survived and a few clarifications on why he chose his preffered choice of method of destruction.

[@DABoi16]

It’s nice you do videos like this...it’s what makes us Historians and History Lovers make us more motivated to never forgetting what had come to the past. PS: this is why I love looking and reading the past. Because I am also like a Historian Person of my own.

[@AndyHoward]

It once wanted to be called "Loretta" Never assume a ship's gender :P

[@Krzysztof.l.Polak.84]

02:17 - sorry to be a bit picky 😉 but this statement may be correct for most navies, although not all, especially those with languages fron non roman or germanic families. For example in Polish Navy military vessel is officially referred as „he” (there are different words for military or civilinan ships, but both male). Unoficially though it may happen (pretty often in fact) that crews refer to their ship as „boat”, „old boat” etc. which usually is „she”, something like „our old boat”, with love and sympathy. You can also refer to the ships name, and than depending on gender of the name You may refer to it as he or she, but this is again unofficial. I know this is a bit aside from main subject 🙂 but thought it may be something interesting to note.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Appreciate you pointing that out! I should not assume that rule works for every language/nation

[@klaier6250]

@@VloggingThroughHistory In Russia every millitary ship refers as "he", interesting fact

[@RApollos107]

You should check out their song White Death, and the Sabaton History video about it. It's about arguably the deadliest sniper in all of military history, Simo Häyhä.

[@Chris09978]

Arguably, more so the deadliest sniper in the world, no man has topped him yet

[@JohnReedy07163]

The Bismarck is a He because of Otto Von Bismarck. Classically ships are She's when named after towns and general terms i.e surprise. Ships named after People are referred to by the gender of the person they are named for. One of my buddy's dads was a former Coast Guard Captain and he goes into it all the time.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

100% false. I’ve addressed this in multiple videos. Easy example: the Tirpitz (sister ship of Bismarck) was named after a male German Admiral but known as the “Lonely QUEEN of the north”. US Aircraft carriers are almost all named after men and are all called she.

[@JohnReedy07163]

@@VloggingThroughHistory wasn't trying to poke the bear and to be fair I haven't watched everything of yours yet. I'm just going off of the conversations I've had with people who are obsessed with Sea Navigation and Shipping Plus the Register of Shipping over in the UK now registers every ship as an "it". So I don't think it's as rigorous as it once was. Still love your videos and reactions. Keep up the good work, it's truly awesome to see channels like yours do well 🙂👍

[@pivottech8881]

It's like a game of salty fps Someone asks for a 1v1 (bismark v hood in this case) You clap them Then they get their friends to gang upon you and clap you instead.

[@pavelslama5543]

To clarify: Hood did not have more guns, and even their armor was fairly similar. Prince of Wales had more guns, but they were about an inch smaller. To be honest, you cannot really protect a rudder. You can only put in more rudders or put them further from each other. However, Bismarck´s problem was that due to his basically WW1 design, his propeller shafts were so close to each other that the ship couldnt be maneuvered by turning one screw in opposite direction (you need to have the screws further from each other to do that effectively). To further clarify - Bismarck´s gun were one of the biggest on german battleship, but some german battleships in WW1 had the same calibre guns some 20 years before Bismarck. And to even further clarify, hardly any part of Bismarck´s armor was made from Wotan steel (super hard alloy). Thats due to the fact that such steel (with chrome, nickel) was too expensive, too heavy and too difficult to face harden. Bismarck´s main armor (main deck and belt) was made from standard Krupp steel, which was still really good, but it wasnt anything magical. One more thing to clarify: The recoil problem with Bismarck´s gun was not due to the guns being too big (some ships had even bigger guns and none of those problems). The problem was that Bismarck was too wide and due to that too stable. You know, when ship fires a full broadside, it swings left and right before it corrects itself, thats pretty normal. But Bismarck due to being too wide didnt swing, but instead shook violently. And precise machinery really doesnt like being shaken. Germans knew this, but with the enormous displacement of the ship, the only alternative was to make its draft bigger, which they could not due to the maximum depth of the Kiel cannal.

[@Zaron_Gaming]

This beautiful beast of a lady is what got me into military history as a very young boy where I spent a lot of my childhood reading and watching videos about all of the pacific naval history and some of the atlantic. I recall having a book with illustrations of the fight with prince of wales and hood and how fasinated and in awe of the idea of one lucky shot being the kill blow to this long serving battleship hood. Last year I ended up running across the footage (13:16) taken from prince eugen of the fight and the smoke ploom that was once the hood rising into the sky. The bismarck was a truly fearsome beast that could have been a nightmare if the torpedo didn't get lodged in it's rudder and it got back to nazi air cover.

[@iamReddington]

Sabaton fan AND makes a Star Wars reference while watching said amazing band? Welp, subbed.

[@matthewyakush6548]

It wasnt inrushing water that jammed the rudder, an expedition by james cameron showed one of the rudders was blown clean off and the other was jammed into the center screw

[@SpicyFiur]

I watched a detailed video on how likely was the chance of the hood detonating. Logically - it was impossible to ammorack her - though as she was turning hard the waterline shrunk exposing the weak lower part of the ship. The shell hit the water - traveling through the weak amor and detonating. Nothing major yet - but there was fire. And nearby was the main ammunition. The expanding explosion created the beam of heat before completly exploding and breaking the ship in 2. A very interesting analysis. And would make sense. Conclusion: It was luck on the germans side. Tho - the win was still secure even without the ammo hit. Though they would have probably turned back - as they would've recieved major damage in that fight.

[@dingodelta]

I suggest if you haven't already watch "The greatest raid of all" with Jeremy Clarkson all about trying to stop the Turpitz from having a base in France, it's a well told story.

[@darrinslack1269]

One thing you might like to think on , the Bismarck was started in 1936 launched in 1939 ,Krupps were working on a heavy tank in 1922 in secret , so was germany rearming before the nazi`s came to power considering the time it takes to design a warship and build it , the shipyard must of had designs before hitler took power , just to add look at the ships designed and launched and the timeline

[@aegonthedragon7303]

16:04 they attacked the Sheffield by mistake, but none of the new magnet detonated torpedoes worked, so the ship was unharmed.

[@theroachden6195]

Ships and boats were always called "she" regardless of the ship/boat name.

[@karmenfriesen2681]

One of the surviving crew members was a cat named Unsinkable Sam, who survived 2 more sinkings before being retired from service

[@SylviusTheMad]

My favourite naval restriction arising from treaty is how the treaty of Ghent made the Great Lakes a demilitarized zone.

[@hmshood1757]

Hi 🤚 Greetings from the bottom of the Denmark Strait! :D

[@marcusfranconium3392]

Bismarck was the largest ship build at that time , over 40% of its total weight was armour. Yamato was not finished at the time bismarck was operational. Also its sister ship survived tallboy bombs the most powerfull and heavy bomb of that time. it was not seaworthy any more but it still posed a threat.

[@terruskaa]

"Bismarck; Germanys Largest Battleship" Tirpitz: Am i a joke to You?

[@Laurentus89]

There is some more interesting stuff to mention in this story. After the battle of Denmark Strait Bismarck and Prinz Eugen did maneuvers to split from each other as they knew they were shadowed by cruisers. During these maneuvers, the Royal Navy lost contact to the german ships for a long time (which the germans didn’t know). Their commanders already believed they had lost track of the germans so they managed to escape to France. But then out of nowhere Lütjens on Bismarck (who still thought he was shadowed) decided to send a terrible long and unnecessary radio message to Berlin, so the Britains could track down Bismarck again. In the final battle Bismarck almost immediately took a hit from Rodney straight into the artillery control center. The shell couldnt‘t penetrate the armor, but it is said that the shock wave killed everybody inside (including artillery officer Schneider). Examinations on the wreck showed that while receiving over 500 hits from all calibers only 4 managed to penetrate Bismarcks main belt armor. Appreciate your content, keep up the good work and stay healthy!

[@undertakernumberone1]

in defense of Lütjens: He thought he'd been tracked hte whole time. The message was dumb, but from what he knew, it'd do no harm to hiim because they still were on his arse.

[@leeneon854]

They blew guns superstructure of the ship, not a pretty site.

[@vladainozemtseva1049]

Only now I remembered a story of a cat named Unsinkable Sam: firstly the cat was on Bismark. When Bismarck sunk, it was taken by British sailors from "Cossack" battleship, but at that time he was called Oscar. When "Cossack" was sunk because of a German torpedo, and the cat stayed alive once again, it was rescued by British "Arc Royal" and re-named into Unsinkable Sam. Later, when "Arc Royal" sunk, and the cat was rescued once again, it was sent firstly to Gibraltar, and then to Belfast, where Unsinkable Sam died in 1955.

[@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684]

A good story to tell in a Plymouth pub on a night out between a bunch of drunken RN sailors.... but in reality a complete load of baloney.

[@kommandantbaker]

It's funny that you mention Star Wars, because the "Malevolence" arc of the clone wars TV show is directly based on the hunt for the Bismarck.

[@nucleargandhi101]

KZbinr- **Doesn't pronounce Sabaton correctly** **Into the comment section, the sabaton fans march**

[@RApollos107]

THEN THE SABATON FANS ARRIVED!

[@pivottech8881]

@@RApollos107 COMING DOWN FROM COMMENT SIDE

[@antoniocenteno1483]

Fans: Into formation the hunt has begun!

[@alexvonrom7942]

I suggest reacting to "attero dominatus" an amazing song by sabaton but unfortunatly not so known

[@maviba]

Well, in here in Germany all ships are usually female, even if they carry a male name. So "she" is totally fine and also correct.

[@rrvv8327]

According to testimonies from German survivors of the battle of the Denmark Strait, Bismarck was "he" not "she". It doesn't matter how you people want to rename it now. Research

[@maviba]

Well it's not 1936 any more but 2021.. And in 2021 ships are usually treated like being female here in Germany. ;-)

[@rrvv8327]

@@maviba Hey, be careful what you say in how you say it! Yes, today is 2021, but the Bismarck, was sunk by his crew in 1941, when this ship was called He. Are we clear?

[@maviba]

@@rrvv8327 Lol. whatever

[@rrvv8327]

@@maviba Anytime

[@thomashoffman8916]

I had put it in your other video as well, when they talk about writing the song they mention that the older sailor in the video was the last surviving sailor from the Bismark at over 90 years old. He ended up dieing later after the video was filmed.

[@thomashoffman8916]

Correction on this, it was not in this interview it was in a separate interview they did with the band. My mistake.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

And I believe the actor portraying him is actually the man's real life son.

[@thomashoffman8916]

@@VloggingThroughHistory that could be it as well, it was about 2 years ago that I saw the interview, I was trying to find a link to back up my source but it is hard to do while at work

[@tyrionlannister4920]

Raeder(points at Bismarck):"I want to play with that thing." Adolf:"nnnnNoo you can't have that thing..." Raeder picks up Bismarck Adolf:"nnnok... you can have that thing, but be carfull with it" Raeder waves arms in the air:"How about No?" British press:"gg" Adolf:"we need to talk.come quick. :*" Raeder... *surprised pikachu face

[@gillianbravepie]

Wasn't Raeder after Bissis sinking in some meeting like: "Ok, I'm going then." To which Adolf was like: "No, I'm sorry! Pls don't leave! T-T" ?

[@antoniocenteno1483]

Ah i see you like oversimplified too, man of culture

[@jannickandreasen7896]

I think the reason they said it was the largest battleship is maybe because it was the largest battleship of the time, but later on in the war something like the USA and Japan would make bigger battleships and also did you know "the hunt for bismarck" was also inspiration in star wars the clone wars where the seperatist had developed a superweapon in the ship malevolences and it just took out republic ship all he time

[@Haegemon]

Greatest mistake was overconfidence. To send a capital ship of that size all alone without an escort of Destroyers in addition to the Prinz Eugen, it was ruling out the unlucky possibility to be harmed by a British submarine.

[@tyrionlannister4920]

if i had a time machine, i would like to witness that follow up talk with Raeder :D

[@NebulusDerg]

Hey! You should watch DOGFIGHTS: HUNT THE BISMARCK I think you';d really like it. Plz see this... WOuld be an epic reaction. Can get to see just how destructive the HMS Hood explosion was

[@LoneWolf-kz5bo]

I would recommend the next song To Hell and back. It tells the story of the most decorated US soldier, Audie Murphy

[@jtc120880]

Like the ground for that killed the red baron. The golden bbs can mean life or death. In both sides Hood and Bismarck. As they say it's better to be lucky than good

[@honzabalak3462]

Well, Tirpitz was a great example of the battleship "psychological warfare". Bismarck's brother was feared by the allies but it was kept away from fighting.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Brother? Tirpitz was called the Lonely Queen of the North. She was a she.

[@Deilwynna]

im a bit disappoint that indy didnt mention u-556 when he talked about bismarcks history. only game/video i know of that does reference the relationship between u-556 and bismarck is azur lane, they had made an agreement where bismarck would save u-556 in case of danger and u-556 would defend bismarck. during the last moments of bismarcks life, u-556 was there, in the depths below bismarck, couldnt do anything as she had submerged due to ark royals planes and with rodney and sheffield above around bismarck, it would have been suicide to re-emerge.

[@SantiagousDominguezus]

Funny thing is there was an ocean liner that was called the S.S Bismarck that got handed over to Britain's White Star Line as a war reparation for the loss of the Britannic in WWI, the Bismarck would later be renamed the R.M.S Majestic

[@gampie13]

the 1st torpedo reaid hit their own ship, and they found a flaw with their payload trigger, something that the then fixed for the bismarck raid

[@erika_itsumi5141]

When he said, "Gnisanou" and"Prinz Eugen" he meant to say "Gnisanou" and "Sharhorst" Because that's why Bismarck met up with Prinz Eugen, because Sharhorst and Gnisanou where out of service.

[@ZeusStormbringer]

Are you using Filmora. I recognize the way those subtitles came up on the screen cause i use Filmora. If not then it's pretty close.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Yep!

[@TheRealGraylocke]

Admiral 'Raeder' should be pronounced Raider not Rader. And yes, the Bismarck's guns damaged her fire control/radar systems. Check out Drachinfel's channel for more information on what destroyed the Hood. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jKLRnGVjo9SYi7s Swordfish attacked HMS Sheffield, I believe, with magnetic fuses which failed. 'Sink the Bismarck' is one of my favorite WWII movies.

[@Pavel-Geleznov]

it't not just bad luck, it is worst luck ever happened, Bismark had two weaknesses, and both were hit

[@ТушканчикПолевой]

Bismarck collapsed on the sides of torpedoing from Dorsetshire, due to the explosion of the Kingstones by the Germans themselves, commander Ernst Lindemann ordered, because a lot of people were killed by cruisers and battleships, and the main battery turrets were also put out of action , if not for the blowing up of the engine room and the opening of the Kingston, then Bismarck would be afloat. When examining the Bismarck hull at the bottom of the Atlantic by James Cameron, it was found completely intact, without serious damage, the PTZ fulfilled its purpose.

[@kossakken]

There is a scene from the movie "The Kings Choise" called "The Sinking of Blücher" that I would love to see your reaction to.

[@DMW-iq2ie]

Ah yes, the Blücher. Officially commissioned for a grand total of four days before being absolutely decked by an old Norwegian fort with pre-WWI weapons made in Austria.

[@hakon5473]

KGV was not bigger. It was a treaty battleship. So it was 45 000t

[@Nmccarville]

you are correct they did almost attack a American cruiser I think that was helping with Radar for the British if I remember correctly the Amercan couldn't help in the fire fight but their was nothing saying they could report the bismarks position

[@Nmccarville]

my mistake it was a USA Navy cutter that almost got torped some how LOL

[@Nmccarville]

guess the brits where still sore about that tea party thing LOL

[@McTeerZor]

Try, "Canadians Change when they hear the word 'war'" by The Front. Good little video

[@otakugamer2033]

the funny thing is the Bismarck's aa was to good, also the British didn't sink it, it was the Germans as they scuttled it, the torpedoes did not sink it

[@nicolivoldkif9096]

Mhh... that's sort of semantics at that point. The ship was clearly a mission kill by the British long before whatever finally took it below the waves. It would be like trying to claim the enemy didn't kill your tank because you chucked incendiary grenades in the ammo bins after both tracks, guns, engine, and radio were knocked out.

[@HeyNobody_OG]

Tbh the fair point about Bismarck is you can call her a him, but Tirpitz is The Queen of the North making Tirpitz of course a she soo Tirpitz sister ship to Bismarck = Bismarck is a she or thats the way i like to explain it to my friends

[@Nmccarville]

Imagine what would have happened if Prince Eugen hadn't broken off an thus would have been able to tow Bismark to safety maybe as they still had the whole british fleet hunting it

[@bearzilla2462]

"The Hood has more guns than the Bismarck". No it didn't. Hood has 8 x 15" main guns like Bismarck, but they were of a slightly shorter caliber. Bismarck also had a more powerful secondary battery.

[@marioszlatanos6344]

React to Sabaton Ballad of Bull . It's a very nice and immotional song

[@hmshood1757]

15:55 They attacked the Sheffield 😅😉

[@spooky_lxix9042]

You need to react to sabaton last stand

[@notsureyou]

So why was the ship in the thumbnail not Bismarck?

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

That is Bismarck. I’m looking at that very photo in Encyclopedia Brittanica right now. www.britannica.com/topic/Bismarck-German-ship

[@meganoob12]

Similarly to English ships and boats are female in German too. So calling the Bismarck "she" is a-ok in my opinion. A native German speaker would use the feminin article "Die Bismarck" to describe her.

[@Nmccarville]

well the Hood hadn't fired a shot at a fair target as their forgetting Mers El Kever

[@magos_gladii3775]

The Titanic’s sister ship Olympic rammed a u-boat in WW1 and it survived the entire war

[@grahambrown3519]

Germany would have been far better putting the resources used in building their capital ships into U-boats. Numerous extra U-boats at the start of the conflict would have been far more dangerous. Yes maybe the 4 could have sortied together once, they would have potentially caused havoc but the chances of this are slim. It was the RAF that pretty much kept them penned with a lot of time and effort expended in trying to keep them repaired. Air power had surpassed surface naval power as was shown in the pacific, Britain was an unsinkable aircraft carrier that dominated most of where the German ships would have to sail with her own carriers able to cover the rest. The comparison with the High Seas fleet in WW1 is a fair one. People argue at length who won the Battle of Jutland and tactically this might be justified, strategically however there is no debate, couple of days later Jellicoe reported the Grand Fleet ready for sea, the High Seas fleet never again significantly ventured from port. In both World Wars the German surface fleets were really vanity projects.

[@buckduane1991]

The Swordfish mistook first the HMS Sheffield for the Bismarck within 20 minutes of takeoff, despite being smaller, having a different profile, different number of guns on the turret, and a “Union Jack bigger than the Queen’s own rear end” (as said by a Brit I know)... after this, apparently, they then found a US Coast Guard Cutter to harass... why in God’s name it was on the wrong end of the Atlantic, we don’t know... torpedoes actually struck both ships, but none went off because of the crap magnetic detonators that had a basic +110% bonus to failure rate. The irony of this is that it showed they would need their torpedoes set to contact detonation, and having hit the Sheffield and extremely lost US Coast Guard cutter, they were able to return to Ark Royal, rearm, and fly out again while able to see... had they reached Bismarck instead in the estimated 90-120 minutes, none of torpedoes would have worked, and by the time they got back to the Ark Royal it would have been too dark to fly for the next 10 hours... meaning the 1-in-a-million hit to the rudder would have never happened... The Beast would have escaped to the air cover of German bombers and fighters.

[@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684]

While the friendly fire attack did take place against HMS Sheffield, there was NO torpedo attack on the USCG Modoc. Its complete fabrication to unnecessarily increase the drama of an already dramtic sea chase. Also btw the USCG Modoc was spotted & crrectly identitfied by Eugene Esmonde the commander of 825 Sqd FAA and his Swordfish from HMS Victorious 0n the 25th May and NOT the Swordfish from Ark Royal on 26th May.

[@HeyNobody_OG]

Wait did he just say @13:00 that Hood had more Guns than Bismarck??? I didnt knew that 4x2(4 turrets 2 guns each) is more than 4x2 lol

[@kommandantbaker]

If you are looking at just the main battery than they are equal but when you account for secondary and AA batteries than the hood has more barrels at 72 (the Bismarck has 64) the disparity in firepower is even greater if you include Hood's torpedo tubes.

[@damianworek4444]

7:36, couldn't the British just hunt them down with carriers? I mean the aircraft carriers are the reason why battleships became obsolate in the first place? Correct me if I am wrong but Germany didn't have any carriers to counter that right?

[@TheKodiakalpha]

Nobody at that point understood what carrier aviation was going to do to the battleship. For that matter the proper aircraft and weapons really hadn't appeared yet. Further, in 1945 when carrier aircraft took out Yamato, it took 300-400 aircraft a couple of hours to take her down. The British could never have generated enough firepower by aircraft alone in 1940.

[@klaier6250]

Yep, but can you imagine Anti Aircraft power that 4 battleships have together? Another reason, British Navy was in war not only with German, but with Italian and later, even Japan fleet, aircraft carriers were busy on the others front, and Royal Fleet could not just throw all of the forces to dealing with Nazis, when rest of the enemies just destroying them on the other battle theaters P.S Sorry for my English, im from Crimea [ Most South part of Russia. ] And im only 17, so i dont know English so well :D

[@GodBear1991]

Wasn't tirpitz equally big?

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Yes Tirpitz was also Bismarck class

[@Noname-ur4ct]

Bigger

[@tyrannosaurusrhett]

It's interesting talking about the pronouns for the ship because we have to remember that German has feminine, masculine, and neutral genders, and while the ship might have informally been referred to as "der" or "die," it's official designation would have been "das Schlachtschiff Bismarck" because "Schiff" is neutral in gender. That would have largely carried over even when the name was in it's shortened version, so it would have in any official usage, at least, have been "das." Makes me wonder if this discussion about the pronoun might come down to English not really having a neutral term.

[@VloggingThroughHistory]

Interesting point.

[@Nabuhodonozor1000]

In polish language, a ship is always he, not she.

[@exodogs1464]

i thought they would call it a he because it symbolizes the fatherland of germany.

[@smiIingman]

It was also regarded as a HE by his crew because they viewed his power to be too mighty to be labeled as a She.

[@phantomtitan9792]

Vary interesting

[@cristiaolson7327]

I think the takeaway here is that if you say your boat is unsinkable, then the universe will take that as a dare.

[@undertakernumberone1]

how about Hearts of Iron by Sabaton?

[@terruskaa]

The Torpedos actually werent what was killing the bismarck The Bismarck was sunk by its own crew to not let technology fall in enemy hands

[@walterkronkitesleftshoe6684]

Strangely enough the oceanographer & marine scientist David Mearns who surveyed Bismarck's wreck in 2001 catalogued extensive damage to Bismarck's hull below the waterline, and concluded that Bismarck's crews actions accelerated her sinking by a matter of mere minutes. They actually scuttled a 51000 ton mountain of sinking, flaming scrap metal. All guns silenced, her superstructure devastated, her command staff obliterated, internally aflame from end to end, her stern and port gunwales already underwater and hundreds of her crew already in the water behind her.... All the scuttling did was to sink her a few minutes earlier than was already happening. Such a pity you weren't there personally to witness the HORRIFIC beating she took off the superior battleships of the Royal Navy. In the world of boxing the crew's scuttling efforts are what is known as "throwing in the towel", I.E the submission of a boxer when he has been punched senseless by a more powerful opponent.

[@shotguntod]

Can you react to sabaton Smoking Snakes next? It's a really important song to me and my nation, probably the only song that cover the battle of the FEB ( Forças Expedicionárias Brasileira [ Brazilian Expeditionary Forces] ) on WWII And if already did react to that, sorry for wasting your time

[@generalsaufenberg4931]

so what? even if all german battleships where in a group together, against the british fleet, the best that they could hope for, was a second battle of jutland.

[@hotrdchvy350]

Maybe they meant the largest german ship

[@chalkopirate]

Well the ship Bismarck was named after the politician von Bismarck Who was a he.

[@TheAviationGuyID]

And so was the king george the 5th. Your point?

[@chalkopirate]

@@TheAviationGuyID I guess you can name your ship watever you want and some germans called the bismarck a he

[@justsomeguyonyoutube3258]

In my language ships being "He" or "She" depends on their name.

[@dbernardstevens475]

It is sometimes said that battleships (and battlecruisers) can be considered as different balances of speed, defense, and firepower. Bismarck is kind of interesting because s/he was a rare ship focused on the first two. In fact all WW2 German capital ships had this trait; good speed, great armor, meh firepower (Scharnhorst and Gneisenau come to mind with only 11” guns). Bismarck only just matched WW1 designs in terms of firepower. Better to think of Bismarck as a fast battleship version of a Scharnhorst than as trying to actively outgun the competition. In fact when Bismarck was designed, there were no less than seven battleships that carried more powerful weapons (three US Colorado class, the two Nagatos, and the British Nelson and Rodney), with a dozen more even more powerful ships under construction. At best Bismarck only matched her intended direct competition, the French Richelieu class, and should never have been placed in a situation where it would face a numerically superior foe.

[@erika_itsumi5141]

Also, Hood didn't have "more" guns than Bismarck. They both had 8 15inch guns. But Bismarck had newer guns that could fire faster. And it was Bismarck's 5th salvo that destroyed Hood.

[@playeriancu8575]

Does no one remember the Iowa class battleship's?