Crossing the T - Naval Tactic

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#Documentary #history #naval

[@elbolainas4174]

Ironically, presenting your broadside to the enemy is the easiest way to get blown up in world of warships

[@garreTTU2023]

My first thought every time I hear about crossing the T. WoWs plays completely different than real world naval battles😂

[@johnpaulabocad6941]

Yes, you can get hit in the citadel. Also you can’t do damage to the enemy because they would be angled

[@kaixiang5390]

Torpedoes be like

[@tjanderson5892]

W/ Jack Sparrah and the Pearl for sure. Even tho cannons were mounted broad side youd really want to avoid showing it when possible. Modern naval vessels are designed to absorb severe shellings from opposing ships tho. Showing your broadside in this scenario gives yourself the advantage by being able to fire at a minimum rate of 2 to 1 and as high as 7 to 1. Ships following each other relying on bow canons simply wouldnt have enough fire power

[@daxie__3210]

​@@garreTTU2023 I feel like historical accuracy has been thrown out the window by wargaming a long time ago, I mean they now have fucking vtubers in world of warships now

[@fredhercmaricaubang1883]

Actually, this naval tactic dates back to the Age of Sail. Nelson was famous for breaking the T as he did at Trafalgar.

[@fredhercmaricaubang1883]

@M Abdur Rahman and Abdullah Luck & Skill!

[@averagearchergaming]

​@M Abdur Rahman and Abdullah Because he went straight at them.

[@averagearchergaming]

@M Abdur Rahman and Abdullah I was referencing Nelson himself, who is quoted as saying "Never mind the maneuvers... just go straight at them."

[@sapienecks]

I think its because of low accuracy and enormous loss of power over long range for age of sail so close quarter firing is most effective. Nelson most likely chose this tactic so he can utilize both sides of the warship in massive broadside, aiming for decisive victory rather than side by side slugging it out. These battleship in video are more accurate and have far larger shells as well as explosive (age of sail cannon with non explosive cannonballs are designed to maim and wound by showering the area with wood chips rather than damaging the ships to point of sinking) therefore the opposite happens.

[@leMiG31]

It is diffrent His tactic ie countering the crossing the t by charging into the gaps

[@AIM7_sparrow]

Late 19th? But Nelson crossed the T on Franco-spanish fleet at Trafalgar in 1805

[@boothroid71]

@@cynwraeth1943 Trafalgar was more famous example in my opinion

[@elliottmcnear8516]

@@boothroid71 not really. Trafalgar was more of a “bisection/penetration of the line” instead of crossing the T as the two British columns cut the Franco Spanish line in two midpoints, as opposed to cutting it off ahead

[@natedlc854]

Nelson didnt cross the T, the French and Spanish "crossed the T" and Nelson had his ships charge in anyways.

[@jamesfletcher9032]

​@@natedlc854Nelson didn't "charge in anyways" he did it sending in his most heavily armoured ships first to take the blows, then whilst up close, the rest of his fleet piles in, leaving them all in between the enemy battle line, blowing lengthwise holes through the enemy ships at blank point range whilst taking minimal return fire. It won him the battle.

[@tinusss6057]

Michiel de ruyter a dutch admiral from the 17 century was the first to use this tactic

[@konga382]

Thank you for this tip. I will be sure to use it in all my future naval battles.

[@rouleslite5312]

in wows? you will only get citadel blowing up

[@konga382]

@@rouleslite5312 no in real life

[@SRDPS2]

​​@@konga382tHe MisSiLe dId kNOw whErE iT Is aT aLl tImE

[@tankythemagnorite9855]

​@@SRDPS2because it knows where it is not

[@fastgrimjay]

​@@tankythemagnorite9855 By subtracting where it is from where it isnt...

[@teddyboragina6437]

Normally I hate shorts. I can't adjust the volume or jump back and forth within the video (at least on desktop) like I can with regular vids. However. this explains a concept, and thus, is useful!

[@AintNoFossil]

You should use an extension or script to get rid of shorts being played in vertical (mobile phone like) mode.

[@agrippa2012]

use J and L to jump back and forth on desktop

[@mokarokas-1727]

@@agrippa2012 - It doesn't work with shorts.

[@mokarokas-1727]

A bit cumbersome perhaps, but remove "shorts/" from the URL and replace it with "watch?v=". There's probably some addon/extension that does it for you automatically.

[@agrippa2012]

@@mokarokas-1727 It works for me just fine 🤷 ...but then again i have Enhancer for KZbin add-on installed so its possible that this may be the reason why it works on my browser.

[@anrcyt4676]

You forgot the battle of Surigao strait in the Philippines. The last battleship to battleship encounter between IJN and the US navy in October 1944.

[@worldtraveler930]

I second that motion!!! 🤠👍

[@nickspanlopis9342]

I concur was checking the comments for this precise comment and if I didn't see it I was going to leave it. So have my like instead.

[@SPQRTempus]

While you are correct, the narrator specifically stated that both fleets in Tsushima consisted solely of battleships so they are factually correct as both fleets in Surigao were mixed, with destroyers and cruisers as well.

[@bruh_7695]

What's the battleship?

[@inherited-shop]

@@SPQRTempusthe battleship only forces in that action may be true…BUT the title was “crossing the T” not famous classic battleship encounters. Even though Surigao strait battle included other classes of ships, the final blow, that was given was the “crossing the T” of the Japanese fleet, a position that those other class of ships setup!

[@carlosanguineti956]

It should remembered that Adm. Jellicoe crossed the T TWICE to Adm. Scheer in the Jutland Battle. It was only because of a secret german maneuver, "battle about turn to starboard" (Gefechtskehrtwendung nach Steuerbord) that German High Seas Fleet managed to safe itself.

[@chopperaxon6171]

Save? As in Run away?

[@carlosanguineti956]

@@chopperaxon6171 I mean, you can guess from my name I'm not English motherlanguage. Nevertheless I'm quite old, so put the things together and your brain can figure that I can make a mistake or press the wrong key on the keyboard. I am deeply sorry, please forgive me...

[@nebelnoob5086]

​@@chopperaxon6171 only a fool let's his soldier die in vain, you clown

[@joeyboudreaux8504]

​@Chopper Axon the full term is "make safe" which doesn't always mean saved. In this case though, Jutland was a tactical victory for the Germans in the sense that they sunk more Royal Navy vessels, but a strategic victory for the RN as they turned back the High Seas fleet and prevented the breakout. This maneuver was actually quite simple and it PREVENTED the crossing of the T on the High Seas fleet. A battle line is petty long, and takes time to swing around. The German Admiral realized he would be crossed on his current course. "Battle about turn to starboard" took the High Seas fleet from line ahead to line abreast steaming away from the Grand Fleet, allowing the High Seas fleet to fire all rear turrets while steaming away from the Grand Fleet battle line. This allowed the ships to "make safe" which is to steam to port.

[@carlosanguineti956]

@@joeyboudreaux8504 I should add that the german tactical victory had a really poor practical result, except for the media. (1) singe the capacity of the German shipyards to make the damaged ship recover it was poor, those damaged ships were unusable for long time. (2) since the size of the fleets the Grand Fleet could face the German High Seas fleet just the very next day, while this was not the same for the latter. (3) the British delusion is due the will of the media to have another "Trafalgar". Adm. Jellicoe was not able to give this to the public opinion mainly because of the amazingly poor and incomprensible set of information received by Adm. Beatty, already notoriuos being enigmatic on orders and information. If you add the fact that Adm. Beatty disliked Adm. Jellicoe you will have the complete figure. If someone read the detailed story of the Battle of Jutland he can fully understand what happened far better than in my poor lines.

[@noone4700]

Fucking love these shorts!!!

[@EEEEEEEE]

E‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎

[@Aegmog]

Learnt this on Napoleon Total War. Full broadsides for the win.

[@TWSummary]

Another thing was doing zig zags to move against the wind and fire shots when the broadside aligns with the chasing enemy.

[@trihermawan9553]

Battle of Trafalgar

[@chrissheppo]

​​@@TWSummaryol used to this on Sid Meier's Pirates! Wind was that shit i was going on 5 knots, had to zig zag just to get shots off

[@ccityplanner1217]

I cannot get past the naval levels of European War IV.

[@robertoaseremo4163]

Rear Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto was a Junior Lt during during the Battle Tsushima in 1905

[@ahseaton8353]

A few things: 1. The approaching force in your example are in what is usually called Line Ahead, not Line Astern. 2. When in Line Ahead formation, the ships are in a single line, not on parallel courses. 3. You show the force Crossing the T is shown as stationary. They would be moving and then crossing back again, as Togo did at Tsushima. 4. Tsushima wasn't the only battleship on battleship engagement. Jutland, Dogger Bank, etc in WWI and the Battle of Surigao Straight in WWII are others 5. Crossing the T actually predates Trafalgar to the Battle of the Nile. Although both The Nile and Trafalgar wasn't really Crossing the T. Nelson wasn't out in front of the French as shown in this video. His objective was to cut the line of the enemy ships, forcing the lead ships (van) to circle around to join the fight while his forces concentrated fire on the center and rear of the enemy. On a smaller scale, crossing In front of or behind an enemy ship was called Raking. By firing down the length of the enemy ship, one shot could kill multiple gun crews and damage multiple guns.

[@toothedacorn4724]

You actually under corrected, crossing the T is at least as old as the line of battle

[@sjonnieplayfull5859]

On point 4: he said it was with ONLY battleships. No idea if that was correct, but if so, it would make the claim valid: all engagements you named had other ships besides battleships

[@toothedacorn4724]

@@sjonnieplayfull5859 same with tsushima, tsushima had armoured cruisers in the battleline on both sides

[@sjonnieplayfull5859]

@@toothedacorn4724 like I said, I had no idea if it was correct. Now I know it's incorrect, thanks for informing me. Street Surigao was an absolute massacre, many Pearl Harbor survivors taking it out on the Japanese

[@ahseaton8353]

@@sjonnieplayfull5859 The Japanese Doctrine, like the never realized 8-8 plan, was to have 8 battleships and 8 armoured cruisers (or later battlecruisers) in their main battle line. They knew their main enemy, the US Pacific Fleet would most probably have more ships, which is why they always built their ships with bigger guns, armour, etc to make up for the numerical disadvantage. As for the Russian at Tsushima, a mix of a few battleships and a few more cruisers was all they had left in their "Second" Pacific Squadron. A similar dichotomy was found in the British versus German fleets during WWI. The Germans knew they would be outnumbered, so their battle cruisers traded smaller 11" guns for more armour, so they could serve (along with pre-dreadnaughts, but that's another story) in the main battle line . The British built and used their battlecruisers as scouting cruisers separate from the battleline (and as cruiser/commerce raider killers best seen in the WWI Battle of the Falklands). Unfortunately, the Brits traded less armour for speed and the same size, although fewer, guns as their sister battleships. Adm Jackie Fisher, the "father of the battlecruiser" wrongly believed "speed is armour". This led to the loss of three battlecruisers at Jutland and Hood vs the Bismark. During Jutland the German battlecruisers took terrible punishment (earning the Derflinger the nickname the Iron Dog) and only lost one (Lutzow) from flooding while almost getting home.

[@billharm6006]

Sir Francis Drake crossed the T at the battle of Cadiz (29 April - 1 May 1587). It was on the first day while dealing with the galleys defending the harbor. Because of the oars down the side of the galleys, their primary armament--both cannon and ram--was on the bow. Thus, going in front of a galley was considered "bad form." Drake's ships were sailing vessels with classic broadsides of cannons. Thus, the English could put a lot more shots on target.

[@michaeldriskell2038]

This tactic was no doubt being used BEFORE " the late 19th century " !

[@tgmccoy1556]

As I recall Nelson used it.

[@syncmonism]

@@tgmccoy1556 He probably did (or at least tried to), but he did not do it at the battle he is most famous for (Trafalgar). The Franco-Spanish fleet basically did it to him, but his crews were so much healthier and better trained that it didn't matter. It's not that crossing the T wasn't a good tactic. Some admirals probably wouldn't have been willing to take the risk of being so aggressive as to allow their T to get crossed, but Nelson calculated that it would be worth the initial losses, and that his crews were likely sufficiently better prepared that it would prove to be a lot more decisive than the initial disadvantage in firepower that the Franco-Spanish forces would have as his ships approached head-on.

[@aztkshorty9138]

@@syncmonism They lost because they crossed the T, the British ships went in between their ships and fired point blank and the Spanish couldn’t fire back, crossing the T back then wasn’t a good idea, it was far better to turn towards your enemy and attempt to have both lines of ships sail past each other. Crossing the T has worked often, but it’s easily countered by performing a reckless maneuver like what Nelson did. What Nelson did would not work with modern battleships that have rotating turrets which is crazy that the Russian admiral tried something so suicidal. It worked for Nelson because cannons were inaccurate and the copper plated hull of British ships could easy survive a dozen hits.

[@Aereto]

​@@aztkshorty9138 That is accurate when Nelson's Napoleonic Era do not have turreted artillery that would defeat sloped armor with more favorable attack angles while forming the T.

[@georgecowan7208]

It was used in the 1700s by the brits

[@sensha5470]

It's interesting how what was the most effective maneuver possible, getting into the T and thus having both broadsides able to fire, became a world class blunder almost overnight with the advent of ironclads and spinally-mounted turrets.

[@emagee7864]

Days of the big battleship navies. They became relics almost overnight when shipboard aviation became a lethal weapon. Even today, the ability to attack an adversary on the other side of the world in a matter of minutes is awesome power.

[@jackrubenfeld1735]

Oldendorf also crossed the T in Surigao Strait

[@kraigthorne3549]

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history.

[@txgunguy2766]

Some of Oldendorf's battle wagons were Pearl Harbor survivors and decimating the Japanese fleet at Surigao Strait would have been absolutely SWEET revenge.

[@andrewachterhof2062]

@@txgunguy2766all but one battle wagon was at Pearl in 41. The Mississippi was the only bb not at Pearl Harbor

[@xeLJoYo]

Actually first put into practise by Michiel de Ruyter, during the Anglo-Dutch wars

[@trplankowner3323]

Thank you, I was going to mention that. We wouldn't want to offend our Nederlander Cousins!

[@stephenkuchler951]

No crossing the t is with modern battleships. What Ruyter did was just form a battle line and use use ships like gun platforms. Not the same thing

[@xeLJoYo]

@@stephenkuchler951 You might want to read up on the actual battles fought by De Ruyter, such as the battle of Schooneveld. There he crossed the enemy lines multiple times, causing much chaos to a numerically superior enemy.

[@satriorama4118]

@@xeLJoYo Crossing the T with sailships is hella difficult cuz the wind can't be predicted. To perfectly execute T, one side must have sailed headwind while the other sailed tailwind. Only fools gonna sail headwinds in battle.

[@xeLJoYo]

@@satriorama4118 Not necessary at all. Many of such battles were fought with both sides going in the same direction. Both would be trying to fight with the wind going towards the enemy line, so they wouldn't be able to turn in on their own line. But achieving this position of dominance is much harder than it looks, thanks to the huge complexity of large naval formations without modern communications. As such there were plenty of occasions where opportunities to cross the enemy line came up. And De Ruyter is famed in particular for being able to create such opportunities when his enemies didn't expect it. As well as being able to greatly exploit the opportunities when they arrived, due to advanced signalling protocols he introduced.

[@satriorama4118]

But Japanese historian said that Admiral Tougou doesn't use T but ∞, a cantabrian battle formation used by horse archers in samurai era. With this formation, japanese ships able to firing with both side turrets while keep moving in front of Russian fleet.

[@chrissheppo]

its overpowered in total war

[@dolphin4771]

As a Japanese, I can say that Heihachiro Togo's great achievement was to complete the T-shape against the Baltic Fleet, even though this tactic was already known.

[@joshuapatrick682]

yes but how many pairs of binoculars did Rozhestvensky have left? IYKYK

[@JayM409]

On the voyage to the Pacific, the Russian fleet engaged in target practice. All ships missed the target but sunk the towing vessel.

[@cletusvandamme6262]

In light of the recent sinkings of the Moskva and other continuing and humiliating battlefield defeats, it would seem that Russia has learned NOTHING from history's lessons. Lucky for Putin, he has a large pool of "Cannon Fodder" to expend to stroke his unfailing ego.

[@Voron_Aggrav]

among other things, if you look up the definition of Cursed it'll reference that voyage... They also shot up Japanese Torpedo Boats in the Dogger Bank disguised as British Fishing Trawlers... if you believe the reports... Those they managed to hit and sink, And hit themselves in the confusion

[@antcommander1367]

''do you see torpedo boats?''

[@CatManOfTaste]

​@@Voron_Aggravnoooooo 😂

[@DrSabot-A]

One can only imagine how the Russian navy managed to keep up their reputation of being dogshit and incompetent for almost a century

[@freddywizowski8605]

I've watched multiple videos trying to understand exactly what crossing the T meant. And your made it so clear so fast. Thank you 😅

[@john-paulsilke893]

Three solutions against it. Stab the gap and broadside at point blank the bow and stern of the crossed ships, (very dangerous, low probability). Pull broad and be several shots behind and hopefully weather the initial attack. Or jib and tack alternating most of your port and then star board flanks and run your crew side to side to keep your guns loaded and firing and leave a skeleton crew in your stern to man rigging and fire buckets or mechanical in more modern ships. In any case it’s a very dangerous situation much like the infantry level L shaped ambush strategies. If you can break the ambush and stay relatively intact you have won the fight. IF!

[@elvisliu]

The T was never crossed in the Battle of Tsushima. Togo's fleet made a left U-turn trying to cross the T, but the Russian fleet also turned right so the two fleets largely went in parallel during the battle.

[@kksmith244]

The Nelson class Battleship was perfectly named. Straight at them!!!

[@cpwillig]

Eminent Dutch Navy Admiral Michiel de Ruyter invented 'Crossing the T', 17th century, on/about 1650. Nelson adopted, later English claimed originating, untrue. Michiel de Ruyter and Nelson considered the top admirals sailing Navy era.

[@deanmckellar619]

Meanwhile on the Kamchatka: *"Do you see any Torpedo Boats?"*

[@TheDemonboy999]

funny, today I was listening to a podcast that was discussing this exact battle and even advertised this exact channel on Spotify on Episode 3 of The Pacific war - week by week, wait a moment it is the same channel, weird that I found it by chance scrolling

[@littlesneez9002]

"We've got to go gun to gun, and I know this ship's Armour can take it! All ships! Full steam ahead!" - Captain Woodward of the Eminant Domain.

[@sycrellmana]

This is why i love Strategy and Tactics shorts

[@robertfoster347]

I suggest you read Kiagun. Togo found crossing the T an impractical tactic and modified into more of a scissor. Naval ships are maneuverable and can easily avoid it, such as the German fleet at Jutland.

[@reigoj8228]

In a game called Naval Action there was a time a light ship battle of sloops brigs and cutters 40 vs 40 between swedes and dutch took place. Dutch succesfully crossed the T and swedes broke formation to try and turn the fight around. Dutch gave chase correctly and trapped 5 of the swedes. Well last ship of swedish line kept heading to the T. Crushing 7 of dutch ships with the help of the trapped 5. After succesfully escaping, last ship of the line, bulky tank design, didn't have the speed to flee. The remaining 34 swedish ships formed two lines and crashed the front dutch ships, sacrificing their own leaders, to save the hero of the day.

[@joepatriot363]

I have to dispute one comment made. The battle discussed was NOT the "LAST" time battleships used the crossing the "T" maneuver' The British found out when they attacked the Bismarck and found that hit had gained that advantage, costing them the Hood, and damaging the Prince of Whales.

[@elwoogie1963]

Please review the action at Surigao Straight.

[@ternel]

K&G have a long running series on the pacific war. No doubt they will get to it in about a year and a half since they are in mid 1943 now

[@elwoogie1963]

@@ternel If it's a series of videos maintaining a strict chronological order then I'll give it a pass, but Surigao Straight to my knowledge was the last time a surface battle happened between battleships when one side "crossed the T".

[@elijahlingzhaozhong6398]

Admiral Togo didn't actually cross the T in the Battle of Tsushima. He used the Kuruma Gakari tactic, a tactic used by one of the famous Sengoku Period daimyos, Uesugi Kenshin.

[@davidk6269]

Next up: "Dotting the I" ; )

[@ВикторСухофруктов]

The quite interesting thing for me is that "crossing the T" is often being described as battle maneuver is science fiction/space opera -- Star Wars WEG D6 Roleplay System, for example (Imperial Star Destroyers in battle lines used this for devastating broadsides at rebel flagship in front of enemy line, if the rebel admiral was unskilled enough or the combat situation was conducive to this) and, of course, Honorverse, where space combat is similar to old naval one, but with logical reasons and explanations (and much technical information).

[@joslauwers7960]

Rating back to the late 17th century not 19th century

[@deisisase]

This only became popular because convoys and battle groups started to travel in lines. Before this ships traveled in a triangle formation, to prevent exsacly this. Today's task forces will travel in a square or circle formation, usually to protect an aircraft carrier in the middle.

[@lxst3778]

Not sure how this helps me at all but i loved every minute of it.

[@ccityplanner1217]

There are two possible relative starting positions for a naval confrontation between two lines astern: they could, as shown here, be sailing perpendicular to one another, & on courses to reach the point of intersection at different times, they could be sailing parallel but in opposite directions, coming to face each-other broadside-to-broadside, they could be sailing in the same direction but not quite parallel, approaching each-other at an acute angle, or they could be sailing perpendicular and on a collision course, both expecting to reach the intersection at the same time.

[@Andrewlang90]

Listening to Dan Carlin on the naval battles from WWI, I didn’t understand what he meant about crossing the T till I saw this. Thank you

[@AquaticCog]

Hitman 2 l Diplomat would have certainly appreciated the explanation.

[@kraigthorne3549]

It looks like Kings and Generals never heard of the Battle of Leyte Gulf

[@DoMw4r]

Admiral Oldendorf ambushed and crossed up an entire Japanese division in the battle for Leyte gulf. He sunk or disabled every single ship sent south to bombard the landings. It was also the last time in history battleships fired upon battleships in battle.

[@empirion502]

I have no friggin' clue about naval strategy but this comment section is entertaining as hell. Kudos, good sirs. I raise my glass to you.

[@georgeallen1237]

Horatio Nelson made this move quite popular in the 18th century, much earlier than this video implies it came about

[@kfire99]

Crossing the T goes back to the 18th century and sailing warships.

[@jqbogus]

Unmasking all turrets is only one part of the advantage given by crossing the T for a late 19th century/earlier 20th century warship. When aiming the big guns, bearing is a lot easier to determine than range. Crossing the T means that the T crosser has a lot more leeway in getting the range right, since his target is going to be 5-8 times as deep as it is wide, rather than the other way around. In the age of sail, firing from ahead or astern was more widely known as 'raking' the enemy. It was advantageous for two reasons : First because the cannonball would travel the entire length of the target ship, giving it a much better change of hitting something important, and second, because (especially when raking from the rear) the target ship wasn't as strongly built.

[@rogerahier4750]

The actual advantage is in accuracy. The range is the hardest thing to figure out and control. If you can fire all you guns in the right direction, you don't have to worry as much about the range since you have a longer target and they are stacked.

[@Yabuddy53]

Imagine having video footage of that battle. Must have been incredible but terrible to behold

[@jasonsaenz8959]

I'm kind of confused about your last statement. Isn't the last modern battle that cross the t be in the battle Leyte golf protecting the southern flank?

[@bigmaccification]

Surigao Straight was the last time it's been done with modern battleships

[@jasonsaenz8959]

@@bigmaccification yeah protecting the southern flank

[@ericjustice5742]

It was also used by Admiral Kinkaid against Admiral Inishimura in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during WWII.

[@dorbie]

Earlier than the Late 19th century. Look at Trafalgar in 1805. The Franco-Spanish crossed the T on the British but the British broke through their line, this was a planned strategy that paid off. By breaking through the T you sailed through the enemy lines and could broadside in both directions which proved even more devastating, and decisive.

[@ItsmehAlfa]

Dude, stop crossing my T!

[@KingsNebula]

The thing is, in the industrialization era ships armor became very thick, so going full bow in ment that the wouldn't pen the hull at such a sharp angle unless the engagement what at long distances, then it would be plunging fire. It also made ships harder to hit.

[@chrisreilly1290]

Wait... went would you keep going towards the T?

[@klade5031]

Depends on the situation. Nelson famously let his T get crossed, with a slight variation in his fleet sailing in parallel columns and kept charging. The logic was that a) his two columns would separate the enemy armada into three parts that cannot communicate with each other effectively once he cut through them and b) the ships opposing him had cannon-resistant sides but very weak sterns and bows which he could exploit

[@WhoThisMonkey]

One solution I could think of, strafe the ships, pull portside, then pull starboard and repeat this forming a s like pattern towards the enemy ships. Youll be maintaining speed, and have an unpredictable trajectory, making it hard to hit your ship. But it would also present opportunities for your cannons to fire back. Supress and maneuver. I also find it curious there were no designs for smoke barrels to be launched off the ship, to create soft cover.

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

I used to think that naval tactics of this era involved complex plans, maneuvers and tactics, but crossing the T is about 80% what there is to it. The rest is seizing the chance to cross the T.

[@idcgaming518]

Dont forget Nelson's strategy at trafalgar.

[@mariano7699]

I want to be on the last ship, Sir !!!

[@uncralph4354]

Crossing the "T" is what the Chinese ship did a couple weeks ago, the news thought it was no big deal.

[@ScienceChap]

Crossing the tee dates back far earlier than the late 19th Century. Nelson did it to several of his opponents as early as the battle of the Nile. Other fighting commanders did it before that.

[@CaramelleSorbet]

Those glass breaking sound is killing me

[@DarronGA]

This just makes Nelson's Trafalgar that much more impressive

[@Voron_Aggrav]

breaking the T actually would've been easier at Trafalgar although still Suicidal, Gun Ranges where quite short at Trafalgar in comparison to Tsushima, so he would've needed less time to close the gap than the Russians needed. Secondly the Russian Fleet already was Quite travel worn by the time the battle happened, as the Russians came from the Baltic, and some of their ships where cursed even before they hit the water, let alone their Colourful service life of constantly trying to sink or otherwise inconvenience her occupants, the Japanese Navy would've won any engagement with the 2nd Pacific Squadron, purely based on the fact that they were fighting on their home waters, and controlled the seas between the 2nd Pacific Squadron and their nearest repair facility, as they Desperately needed to get extensive works done in Vladivostok

[@ThatsMrAwesomesauce]

One: the tactic comes from the days of sailing ships as the full broadside of each ship "crossing the T" would be able to fire and the enemy ships would have only their chasers to fire. Two: the battle of tsushima was not fought with modern battleships. It was fought with pre-dreadnoughts as the battle occured in 1904 and HMS Dreadnought was commisioned in 1906.

[@eggsaladsamich7396]

Nice

[@howardhama2168]

Absolutely! Get the history right! They’re never going to sail that close together.

[@metalmagerin3]

He became the literal ghost of Tsushima

[@Kakirinkato-san]

Russo-Japanese war . Japanese naval warfare tactics were ahead of their time and genius during this period..

[@TheVoodooMaker]

Those were simple British naval tactics that were taught to the Japanese in the aftermath of the 2 countries signing treaties and alliances

[@christophercoleman6596]

"Crossing the T" goes back to the Napoleonic Wars, at the very least. Lord Nelson employed that formation at the Battle of Trafalgar.

[@cherrymolotov]

i love how in the short the ships shatter like glass

[@SpreadEagled]

This tactic was last used by Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf in the last battleship-to-battleship duel in naval history during the Battle of Surigao Strait on October 25, 1944. 💥

[@rohitdudhe6942]

One of most imp channel on youtube

[@jehb8945]

Another advantage is that your shots are falling along the length of a ship as opposed to having the narrow under 100 ft and beam of the enemy ship for your shells to land on

[@youngrhop]

Togo would pay his respect to Admiral Yi crediting Yi's formation for his victory. So 400 years off.

[@seanplace8192]

Crossing the T was a tactic long before the 19th century. But after the invention of the torpedo, it was a bit riskier. Exposing your broadside greatly increases your chances of getting hit. But then again, being able to fire all of your main and half of your second batteries on the enemy is probably worth it.

[@siroanderson8068]

The side of the ship is always faster then reloading

[@ChronicBongitis420]

Love the glass breaking sounds

[@ImNotCreativeEnoughToMakeUser]

A simple solution is using the dismounted cavalry tactic of deploying along a line at skirmisher interval

[@Frizzleman]

Crossing the T also limits gun accuracy as the profile of the ships your attacking is greatly reduced when they are charging you head on making bracket shots more likely and direct hits less so.

[@jacobc2850]

Hah I remember doing this in Pirates of the Caribbean online! We got a bunch of free to play tiny ships to take down an enemy War Galleon!

[@loumu7176]

Those ships exploding to the sound of a Minecraft trident

[@rogersheddy6414]

"Dating back to the late 19th century." Um, no, actually well before Nelson

[@1001CP]

Imagine the carnage of multiple hits on a ship. And you cant walk home.

[@richardbale3278]

This is the exact opposite of the classic crossing the T, when a ship would cross the stern of an enemy, allowing it to fire through the entire length of the enemy ship, causing enormous devastation, particularly to personnel

[@pyrofloki]

Nations spent so much money on ships that rarely fought each other. Only the aircraft allowed fleets to find and strike each other in a timely and effective manner

[@calvingreene90]

With Nelson and Dunkerque class battleships having your T crossed is an advantage to you.

[@keivans3693]

it's much older than "late 19th Century". It's from age of sales and one of the most common ways of winning large sea battles.

[@Two-Checks]

Yes. Going head on leaves you vulnerable as you have no sidewalls or protection from your impellers.

[@md4luckycharms]

Unless you're a LAC and have front and rear bucklers, admittedly you're shit out of luck for making G's but ya know, wall of battle things

[@SpadesNeil]

Captain Woodward was here.

[@mill2712]

It took a lot of comment searching to find this.

[@beafraidofinsectattack]

Also a great tactic in real-time strategy games, from starcraft 2 to age of empires 3, the concave shape brings out more dps

[@Voron_Aggrav]

in land based combat you'd be looking at the L shaped engagement, or usually ambush

[@elduquecaradura1468]

​@@Voron_AggravI prefer switch between staggered and L shaped formation against regular units, but against artillery cramped with good micro to dodge the artillery shots worth, while separated they take longer to react and makes them easy prey. Something similar happens to me in ageof empires 2

[@xtremetuberVII]

Oh, so that's what I was doing in Anno 1800. Thank you K&G.

[@aameshgori]

I'm i the only one that heard 'Battle line called a 'Lannister'"

[@sylvernale]

Finally a video showing something cool that doesn't use sigma grind music

[@locorocky1]

In my historical reenactment group, we call that "forming a kill pocket"

[@Necrotic99]

Crossing the T goes further back than that. Before that it was breaking the line, such as what Nelson did at Traffalgar. The point then was to use both broadsides.

[@dpt300]

(In this example) it Makes me wonder why they don’t just cut to the right if they cross your “T.” That way you can use all of your front and rear turrets to shoot at the last ships in their formation. It turns their “T” advantage into your “T” advantage doesn’t it?

[@Me.Winter]

The battle of tsushima was undoubtedly a decisive battle in history.

[@stefanosiclari]

Truly it was one of the naval battles ever fought

[@richardjohnson4365]

In the Battle of the Philippines Sea, the US Battle fleet used this against the Japanese fleet.

[@VersusARCH]

Surigao Strait not Philippine Sea.

[@ritzviews4113]

Which enemy is using both the front and back turrets and which one couldn't? Your short clip showed only one side moving ahead firing on and on but also getting destroyed one ship after another...