Anti-Sub Warfare in WW1 - From Hammers to Hunter-Killers

Today we look in brief at a sometimes overlooked aspect of the First World War, the anti-submarine effort and it's attendant development of tactics and technology.
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[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@declantheamazing]

Has Fred Dibnah made any particular contributions to military science?

[@TheMuncyWolverine]

Is there any way to a submerged submarine to kill another submerged submarine in this period? Or even detect the other?

[@Volunteer-per-order_OSullivan]

What would the naval aspects of operation unthinkable have been and what would the post war composition of the US, RN and Red fleets have been post war assuming crushing defeat for the west (completely pushed of the continent) and limited victory for the west (polish no soviet satellite states in Europe)

[@AdamMGTF]

@@TheMuncyWolverine that's answered in this video 😂

[@pnbrune]

You always hear a lot about the German U-boats. I know the Austro-Hungarian empire was mostly land-locked, but did the other central powers attempt to use u-boats? For that matter, what about the other European Axis powers in WW2? I know the Italians had frog men, but did they have any substantial or useful u-boats?

[@Maddog3060]

I swear, the hammer thing almost sounds like a Monty Python routine. "I say, seems there's a periscope over there." "Should we take action stations, sir?" "No no, let's not disturb the captain's tea. Just send out a boat with a petty officer and a pair of midshipmen to give it a good knock." "Aye aye, sir."

[@weldonwin]

"Lemon Curry?"

[@firefox3187]

Maddog3060 Blackadder goes to sea.

[@JB-ym4up]

What about pointed sticks?

[@rascalferret]

@@JB-ym4up Fresh fruit not good enough for you, eh? … when a maniac attacks you with a bunch of loganberries!

[@nathanbrown8680]

@@firefox3187 Definitely more Blackadder than Monty Python.

[@Sleep-is-overrated]

“Jellicoe’s crushing hand of god prototype”. Someone please put that on a shirt, with a divine Jellicoe holding a book of the Royal Navy in one hand, and presenting the “crushing hand of god” depth charge in the other. Then maybe at the bottom have a sinking sub on one side and a destroyer with its stern blown off on the other

[@christianoutlaw]

This could have led to a precursor of the destruction/damage of Japanese ships when their torpedoes were hit in the next war. Or a rather embarrassing incident from poor handling.

[@AnimeSunglasses]

Cartoon seaman desperately holding the rudder onto his ship...

[@corporaltommy4407]

Only the British would come up with the idea that to disable a sub is to sail up to it and smash the periscope with a hammer. Still, educational and entertaining as always.

[@GingerMan69420]

The US Coast Guard just sails up and then beats on the hatch lol

[@LionofCaliban]

To paraphrase from Murphy's Law of Combat. If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid. Difficult, sure. Stupid? I don't know.

[@weldonwin]

Well, the very first air-to-air armaments during World War 1 were revolvers and double barrel shotguns, so I guess its the same logic

[@corporaltommy4407]

@@weldonwin Don't forget the story of the guy using bricks in WW1 to take out planes.

[@b1laxson]

Ww2 anti tank tactics include a hand axe. See Military History Visualized for details. Summary is to axe the intakes to throw things inside.

[@fabianzimmermann5495]

Mines are always so happy when someone comes to hug them. They are so lonely.

[@zachsmith1676]

@Charles Yuditsky Mine: floating around Sub: enters the area Mine: sees the sub Also Mine: *Hello!* Sea: a plume of sea spray, submarine, and Mine debris can be seen

[@presidentmerkinmuffley6769]

But they sure can have a magnetic personality... Ill see my self out

[@dusktilldawny666]

My uncle was a merchant seaman in WW2. He lost his life to a mine in the Atlantic... come on...

[@fabianzimmermann5495]

@@dusktilldawny666 Sorry for your loss.

[@dusktilldawny666]

@@fabianzimmermann5495 Thanks

[@claypidgeon4807]

Britain: An initial rush of silly ideas followed by a wide variety of innovative technologies culminating in these added to a revived and suddenly-viable-again shipping system last favored in the time of Nelson. America: Genuinely tries to build so many Clemsons that the sea is too clogged for U-boats to surface for air.

[@edwardteach3000]

EH, YOU! What are you trying to do, kill me?! Because I nearly died choking on my pancakes because of this comment! If I hadn't managed to lubricate it with some maple syrup I would've been a goner for sure!

[@sawyerawr5783]

Every time I hear Drach mention the "Clemson Swarm" I get this image in my head that goes something like this: a High Seas Fleet dreadnaught is steaming across the North Sea: it sees a single Destroyer. "Oh, no real threat, I can deal with this!" Its crew thinks, as it makes for battle. Suddenly over the Horizon comes an endless stream of DDs, each one shouting "MINE! MINE! MINE!" like a Finding Nemo seagull. meanwhile the crew on the dreadnaught is just going "Oh my schnitzel not this...."

[@nukclear2741]

@@sawyerawr5783 ANCHORS AWAY intensifies.

[@matthewwilson5019]

@@sawyerawr5783 lol hahaha 😆 🤣 😂 thats so very funny now im also picturing that 😄

[@AnimeSunglasses]

DESTROYER PRINTER GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[@weldonwin]

24:05 Awww, the adorable Seamine is back

[@Tank50us]

"Yey! IwinIwinIwin!"

[@ukeyaoitrash2618]

Kawaii desu ne, Uw- *BOOOOM*

[@weldonwin]

@@ukeyaoitrash2618 On the one hand, she's adorable as a whole sack of kittens on the other, if I hug her, I explode and become a fine mist spread over the better part of a kilometer... Oh well *(KABOOM!!!)*

[@ukeyaoitrash2618]

@@weldonwin who are you, megumin's best friend? You seem to want to explode quite badly 😂

[@sawyerawr5783]

I laughed waaay too hard at this entire threat

[@parrot849]

A better idea than motoring around the water in a little boat, hammer in hand, looking to smash u-boat periscopes would have been to sneak up on the unsuspecting submarine and fasten a picture of a speeding destroyer (facing bow-on) that was appearing to be racing through the water toward the observing periscope. So every time the u-boat would rise up to take a peak at its surroundings, the captain and crew would freak-out, panic and crash dive. This would go on and on until the sub either ran out of air or was forced to surface and surrender. Pretty cleaver huh!!

[@Vespuchian]

Gary W I’m reminded of the plan to use “irritant” depth charges to help tracking. I think from the Second World War or early Cold War, the idea involved a hinged bit of metal, one end magnetic to stick to a sub, the other end flapping about in the water current making a terrible din you could track on hydrophone half an ocean away. If I remember correctly a bunch of them were test dropped from an airplane onto a USNavy sub and worked so well the sub was forced to surface before the crew went deaf. Sadly, they were tested right before subs started being coated in non-magnetic acoustic tiles so the whole idea was a wash.

[@parrot849]

Graham Baxter - - Graham, that’s totally hilarious! It’s even more of a hoot because it’s true. Do you know of any sources one could go to learn more about it? I’d love to hear the details and back story of that zany, and most likely over-budget, “government project.”

[@Vespuchian]

Gary W Had a look and there’s an article of War Is Boring (search for “floppy-magnets”) that will point you towards the source. I did get it wrong: it was a Canadian idea and tested on a British sub. Worked really well though, the damn things were nearly impossible to find and remove without a trip to the drydock but that also made them hell to train with. One of those clever ideas that could have been really important if it happened ten years earlier.

[@parrot849]

Graham Baxter - - Thanks Graham

[@louiswilkins9624]

@@Vespuchian I never heard of that. thanks for sharing

[@sreckocuvalo8110]

''Crushing hand of God (prototype)'' that must be on the shirt. asap.

[@maj.d.sasterhikes9884]

All time best name for a weapon. "Deploy the Crushing Hand of God!"

[@thomasmusso1147]

'Converts' and thereafter, 'Believers' ..

[@mrdarthbob4926]

I'd buy one

[@nightlightabcd]

Here, here for the HMS Crushing Hand of God!

[@dimitridoes7936]

@@thomasmusso1147 aaa

[@Mancboy2000]

Nobody: Mine: *OwO What’s This?*

[@weldonwin]

Mine: Its so cold and lonely down here... Oh, a thing. Hello there *(KABOOM!!!)*

[@merafirewing6591]

Creeper: Nani!?

[@kesselring7070]

It's weird how no one talks about ww1 anti submarine warfare. Thanks for bringing it up Drach.

[@chuckhainsworth4801]

Particularly since they were at the same stage of development as aircraft. But then, aircraft were flying in the sky, and there were many with romantic visions of getting the hell out of the trenches. The silent service started out as it is now, silent. One of the consequences is the anti-sub warfare became silent too. For example, I knew of ASDIC, Q-ships, dazzle camouflage, and convoys, but that is all traditional military histories speak of and they were presented as products of WWI or its lessons. Dazzle cam was one of those things that I happen to learn about because one day I was browsing through the library shelves (Winnipeg Public, old main branch) and found a copy of a book about "modern" naval cam painting from the mid 20s. Before anyone gets anxious about the book, that was 1974 or so.

[@Zapranoth-lf8nt]

The Germans came closer to defeating Britain in WWI this way, than they did in the more publicized WW2 campaign...before convoy, the British lost ships at a staggering pace, and only the Kaiser's on-again, off-again policy of unrestricted submarine warfare allowed the British to recover in between.

[@Kevin_Kennelly]

Drachisms of the Day: 4:00 "Some of the early ideas were.......shall we say....somewhat 'endearing' in their naivety." 5:48 "It was also considered to try fitting a destroyer with a trawling-net to ensnare a submarine as if it was a school of particularly heavily-armed tuna." 10:58 "He ended up living to a ripe old age of 90. So, in theory, being repeatedly torpedoed can be good for your health, apparently." 11:29 "Given that a large number of the UK's best inventions tend to come from old men wearing flat-caps whilst working in their sheds." (I almost stopped listening at this point, thinking that "There is no way he's gonna top that".) 17:44 "But. Oh well! Better late than never." 21:06 "Which would, of course, only increase in number over time as the 'Clemson-Swarm' began it's inexorable rise." 22:23 "A tactic that was only marginally better than running around blindfolded, in a dark room, with a knife and trying to stab people based on what you can hear." 24:12 "Yaaay. I win! I win! I win!" (I picture a 'Talking-Drachy-Dolly'....with a pull-string on the back, that says such things.)

[@T3hderk87]

It's actually a talking sea mine with a super happy face and pull string. That would be on my desk in one minute GMT.

[@claypidgeon4807]

11:29 is the best. The British Empire was built upon bizarre and ingenious things that emerged from the sheds of British proto-Florida-men in flat caps.

[@BradPittler]

4:23 - - "more honorable gun combat"?

[@AllCentaur]

11:16 Mercifully smaller than Jellico’s crushing hand of god” or somethung similar

[@Justdizzy]

loved the tuna statement :)

[@SolveEtCoagula93]

So, this is 4 years old and therefore almost every joke, compliment and occasional snide remark has already been made. However, late to the party though I most certainly am, I do believe that you, Drach (forgive the informality), should be snapped up by a sensible TV service (contradiction in terms?) and paid a fortune to present such fantastically entertaining videos. Your approach, off-beat comments, knowledge and informative value are second to none. I know of no other channel which will always lighten my day and present real, serious historical information so passionately and in such a captivating manner. Thank you so much for all your hard work - it brings so much pleasure to so many of us!

[@Warpwaffel]

5:56 As opposed to regular armed tuna.

[@jamesharding3459]

Lol

[@donjones4719]

And God help them if some swordfish showed up.

[@bazooka422]

What kind of tuna are you catching?

[@Warpwaffel]

@@bazooka422 The ones you don't want to meet at night in a dark alley.

[@blogsblogs2348]

My grand uncle RN drowned whilst serving on an admiralty trawler during ww1... glad there was some mention of these hundreds of vessels quickly taken into or built for naval service...

[@johnjephcote7636]

Kipling wrote a short poem for them: The Mine Sweepers - Unity, Claribel, Assyrian, Stormcock and Golden Gain.

[@MegaBoilermaker]

They were vessels built for professional seamen then manned by amateurs in uniform.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

Jan de Hartog en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_de_Hartog based on his own experiences wrote a number of novels about Tug Boats involved in war. Normally used as rescue boats at one point in one of the novels (iirc) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Captain_(novel) someone gets the bright idea to put depth charges on them ... which, even though they are not the Jellicoe Hand of God type - come close to blowing the stern off the tug. Here's a clip from _The Key_ - with William Holden and Sophia Loren (who is not in the clip) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXewhoOabNJoZpY .

[@blogsblogs2348]

@@MegaBoilermaker I'm from peterhead so although not professional navy men.. our chaps were used to the north sea

[@firefox5926]

11:21 you ever look at a depth charge and think... huh that looks suspiciously like a 44 gallon oil drum filled with explosive and a fuze where the filler cap should be?...

[@RailRoad188]

The two rows of shiny drums in this today were at least tge first time I could remember thinking that. Probably thought about it before and forgotten many times 😅

[@voiceofraisin3778]

4:47 Still a valid technique for detecting submarines, theres a few fishing boat skippers have ended up wondering why theyre suddenly going backwards after they've caught an SSBN www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/sep/07/mod-admits-british-submarine-dragged-fishing-trawler-through-irish-sea.

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

Thats and Japanese fishing boats with somewhat alarming regularity catch North Korean midget submarines.

[@Skreezilla]

old men with flat caps - the reason Britain won 2 world wars and so many motor races.

[@oceanhome2023]

We need these people NOW desperately to at least get some counter balance to the idiots in charge of the country

@@anthroderick5383He spoke the truth.

[@anthroderick5383]

@ Your answer is exactly what I deserved for arguing with semi- alphabetized third world children in the internet.

[@Legitpenguins99]

@Nasim Aghdam as much as we in America like to think we single handedly won the wars, thats not true. In WW1 we merely were the force that tipped the balance toward the allies against a much weakened central powers. In WW2 we played a much more significant part but its disrespectful to disregard the also huge contributions of the UK

[@theatagamer90]

@@Legitpenguins99 I'd caviat that by saying that was largely in Europe. We did a fair number in the Pacific on the Japanese just due to UKs distance from that theatee

[@b1laxson]

@ 11:17 "Jellico's crushing hand of god" ahhh good ole Admiral J

[@stevenpilling5318]

Give Jellicoe his due. He was the first man to think of the concept of depth charges. The smaller and more sound ones that followed were the inevitable evolution of his idea.

[@Shaun_Jones]

That thing would probably have told the admiralty back home whenever it was used.

[@sarjim4381]

While the evidence of dazzle or disruptive camouflage being effective against submarines is still controversial, what's not controversial is the effects of painting ships when it came to keeping convoys together and handling them in port. The same disruptive effects that made it hard for a sub to estimate range and heading did the same when escorts had to try to keep such ships on station in convoys. Many escorts had a hard time telling which ship was which and if it was on or off station. Books of dazzle painting schemes were issued to escorts and convoy commanders to help identify ships, and the use of semaphore signals was often needed to confirm a ship's speed and heading. Even so, there are reports of collisions between dazzle painted ships because of these issues. Since dazzle painting was expensive to apply and maintain, it was generally only applied to ships of 3,000 or more. German submarine commanders reported they didn't bother with non-dazzle painted ships, assuming they were too small and less valuable targets, so dazzle painting was a signal to a submarine of which ships to attack firsFt. The same problems were even worse while ships were in port, since the ships were packed in together under conditions of poor visibility made it hard for tugs to know what ship they were trying to maneuver and where they should go. This too led to confusion and some collisions. There have been humourous reports of sailors returning from a hard night of of drinking while on liberty. They'd climb onto the wrong ship because they all kind of looked alike through bleary eyes. Sometimes a tottering sailor would sneak past the officer of the deck and just crawl into an available bunk to sleep it off. The realization they were on the wrong ship didn't happen until morning muster. :-)

[@nicholasavasthi9879]

What will we do with a drunken sailor on the wrong ship?

[@RailRoad188]

So ineffective that it harmed your own side! Thanks for sharing that.

[@johnlaccohee-joslin4477]

The last photo of a Q ship is actually one of the ships my grandfather served on, the self same photo hung over their fire place at my grandparents home and he told us that this actually had torpedo tubes as well. As i havevsaid , he served on about three of these. He went through two world wars in the navy and finished the second world war as a C.P.O. many of the medals he had are now in the museum. He in fact had three ships sunk underneath him and one run aground after damage at Narvic.

[@captainseyepatch3879]

11:00 oddly enough.. My great uncle was sunk three times also. In his case however it was a Battleship, a light cruiser, then a heavy cruiser in the US navy is WW. USS Oklahoma. USS Helena. USS Indianapolis.

[@stevenpilling5318]

He survived Pearl Harbor, Savo Island and the sharks! Your great uncle must have been hell on wheels.

[@ivantrapic6209]

Sounds like Albert Trotter but US version :-P

[@kimleechristensen2679]

@@stevenpilling5318 Uhm..USS Helena wasn't sunk at Savo Island battle. I think it was Kula Gulf in 1943 But still... sunk is sunk 😉

His names wasn't Jonas was it? No offense, but never want to get on a ship with anyone in you family! lol

[@CT-1255]

@@kimleechristensen2679 yeah it was kula gulf

[@Raptorrat]

Drach: "try to fit a trawling net to a destroyer trying to ensnare a submarine like a heavily armed school of tuna. *nervous looking HNLMS Tonijn*

[@Shaun_Jones]

Please explain

[@Raptorrat]

@@Shaun_Jones A Dutch Submarine of the Potvis-class is called HNLMS Tonijn. a name that translates to Spermwhale-class and HNMLS Tuna. She was launched in 1966, and now serves as a museum exhibit in Den Helder.

[@Shaun_Jones]

Jos Vonk ok I get it now

[@baronvonjo1929]

Ah. Torpedoes. The bane of merchant ships. I was first interested in ocean liners then found this channel and love it. Submarines have a back of sinking some of my favorite ships. Titanic's sister ship Olympic rammed and sunk a sub, I believe being the only merchant ship ever to do so. And I heard a story of a ship called Justicia. Just launched during the first world war. She was torpedoed four times by a sub but survived and on her way back to port another sub fired 2 more which finally did her in.

[@myopiniongoodyouropinionbad]

Speaking of torpedoes, I once read the book Count Luckner the sea devil. Apparently he got a large Merchant steamer to stop by using his signal lamp to threaten to fire Torpedoes at it even though the sailing raider Seeadler wasn't even armed with torpedoes, the Potential Threat was scary enough

[@truckerallikatuk]

Last time I was this early, we still had a significant Royal Navy fleet...

[@wideyxyz2271]

lol them where the days......

[@RomanHistoryFan476AD]

in fairness the royal navy even today while small and lacking compared to the US,China navies, is still easily more powerful and larger than most others. it is also as said by Drachinifel one of the few navies able to self support itself while on patrol for long term commitment. 13 frigates, six destroyers and around 11 submarines, a carrier and one being built plus all the support ships. is still a large force in today's expensive ship navy's.

[@sarjim4381]

@UCdSarc1n55L1pgS__510qlA I agree. While it's fashionable to trash the RN as a shadow of its former self, it's still a powerful shadow. When Prince of Wales is completed, the RN will have two carrier task forces, something only the USN can match. How effective Chinese carrier task forces will be remains to be seen. The RFA has the training, ability, and experience to support all of the RN at sea. This is also something that can only be matched by the USN. I'd even posit that today's RN is the most effective since shortly after the end of WWII. [EDIT] I don't know why KZbin keeps trashing your name. This seems to be happening a lot lately but with no rhyme or reason.

[@brianreddeman951]

Or the Russians had working carriers. :)

[@LordInter]

to ne fair our few destroyers area of denial, range, if still very effective

[@pincopallino6765]

“Jellicoe’s crushing hand of god” I laughed way more than I should have.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Lawyers representing the arch-mage Bigby would like to have a word…

[@chrisp1259]

"Being repeatedly torpedoed can be good for your health" Gonna try this Drachism on the Lady later

[@jaspergood2091]

You've made this comment on a different video I believe

[@gmanbo]

Sir the lady doth protests

[@Napalmratte]

4:30 detecting subs with fishing experience? Count me in!!! ^^

[@DataWaveTaGo]

"Strange Intelligence - Memoirs of Navel Secret Service" by Hector C. Bywater and H. C. Ferraby published in 1931 (room 40). It is a fascinating book covering WWI signals intelligence, showing once again how England used it's technical resources to protect the "island nation". You can still get a copy of it from used book sources and I highly recommend it. Before WWII Otto Kretschmer had read the book.From this he knew to keep his radio signals as brief as possible.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

I was alerted to the existence of "Strange Intelligence - Memoirs of Navel Secret Service" while watching "U-Boat War - Episode 1 - Sea Wolves" - ITN/Discovery Channel MCMXCVII. At around 34 to 35 minutes into the episode Otto Kretschmer mentions the book and his great respect for British navel intelligence. Handwriting on the first page of my book indicates it was owned by someone in Edinburgh Scotland at one time. I'm of Scots & Welsh ancestry, with my father serving in the RCAF starting September 1939, making it to Croydon airfield by April 1940. His two brothers later served in the RCN, one a gunner on the destroyer HMCS Haida & HMCS SIOUX, the other a Petty Officer on the HMCS UGANDA. On June 2 1945 2/3 of the UGANDA''s crew voted not to re-volunteer. UGANDA was finally relieved by HMS Argonaut on 27 July, and UGANDA departed the Pacific Theatre. All three brothers survived the war, with my father remaining in the RCAF until retirement in 1971. navalandmilitarymuseum.org/archives/articles/controversies/the-uganda-episode Also see: HMCS Haida - Guide 027 (Special) Drachinifel kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXm1kmZol9WfrcU

[@grimgorkeisenpelz9392]

Really good topic. Very interesing! Inside the naval history, submarines are my favorite :) Additionally, I want to thank you for your work in general. Naval military history grew to be my main topic and if I would have the opportunity to do a second degree, this would be it. But as I do not have that opportunity, I just listen to your videos. So, thanks again.

[@anonomyspizza]

Midshipman-"Periscope port bow!" Captain-"Grab the hammer." Midshipman-"Have we been damaged sir?" Captain-"No were going to smash that periscope."

[@somethinglikethat2176]

*submarine submerges* Very wet Midshipman-"Now what?"

[@Robocopnik]

"Most major cargo movements in the Napoleonic Wars hand been under Convoy." He can move cargo, he can lead the Autobots, Convoy's the best.

[@T3hderk87]

Come on join our convoy, ain't she a beautiful sight!

[@IonoTheFanatics]

The mines... usually win.... it's just a matter of who is the loser that's going to end up getting blown up

[@mattblom3990]

You could say World War I sub defense was...MineCraft.

[@johngregory4801]

"These were mercifully smaller than Jellico's 'Crushing Hand of God' prototype..." Oh, my. I had to backtrack, listen to it again to make sure I'd heard correctly... And let the laughing slowly come to a stop, just to be able to concentrate on the next Drachism. Not yet. The earthquake you're feeling in England is from me. I've been Drach'd.

[@johngregory4801]

If dry wit could destroy every enemy and their weapons, the British would reign supreme over the planet.

[@norwegianwiking]

The British eccentric (in wartime, in peacetime they're just insane) with a shed is the greatest secret weapon Britain has ever had in wartime.

[@claypidgeon4807]

Yeah, the only more effective weapon would be if America managed to harness the power of the Florida Man.

[@vipertwenty249]

@@claypidgeon4807 There are limits old chap! let's settle for mere nuclear power, poor though it may be by comparison.

[@claypidgeon4807]

@Viper twenty2 Fair enough, the risk of ending up mass-cloning meth-blooded Cthulhu ferrets or something is... considerable to say the least.

[@hawkerhellfire9152]

I actually cheered when I seen Fred. Well done!

[@johnfisher9692]

Thanks Drach. As always a learning experience to stress my poor brain. You have to give credit to the crews of all merchant ships. Sailing into a warzone in a slow and unarmed ship took courage. Not enough credit is given to all those brave souls who risked death repeatedly. Without them there could be no victory.

[@blxtothis]

I never expected to see honours paid to Fred Dibnah in a Drachinifel piece!

[@turboconqueringmegaeagle9006]

Respect for the dibnah appearance.

[@cosmoflanker]

I originally thought the "hammers" in the title must be a joke but, this being the British we're talking about, I should have known better...

[@SlavicCelery]

I believe potatoes were used in WW2 at one point in time.

[@docvideo93]

'Crushing hand of God' reminds me of when the US Navy decided place depth chargers on sailing schooners because the Atlantic Fleet didn't release enough destroyers on anti-sub patrol in the first months of US involvement in World War II. There was saying among the crews of "Sighted Sub. Sank Self".

[@connorholt8481]

This is cool, ww1 anti submarine is just never talked about. Thank you.

[@DivePlane13]

"Getting torpedoed may be good for your health apparently" God that's so unbelievably BRITISH

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

I used to work with a man who had served as a marine engineer on the Atlantic convoys during WWII. Torpedoed and sunk twice, he lived to a ripe old age. R.I.P. Jack Parkinson, the finest man I've ever known.

[@DivePlane13]

@@Kevin-mx1vi hero

[@silentotto5099]

One response by the Kriegsmarine to the steadily improving anti-submarine doctrine on the part of the British in WWI was the development of the night surface attack tactic. In the very late part of the war, one can see an embryonic form of the doctrine employed by Dönitz in WWII beginning to develop.

[@stevenpilling5318]

Good video. I've noted that the first Battle of the Atlantic was barely mentioned in the histories of Naval warfare. It was a seriously deadly and pivotal campaign that deserves more recognition.

[@scottyfox6376]

If memory serves me correctly I do recall that some Q ships were "Cork" lined. This made them virtually unsinkable & having a much shallower draft. With such ships they were literally used to attract torpedo attacks & being such a shallow draft most torpedoes passed harmlessly underneath while giving away the position & direction of the attacking U Boat.

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

As to mines - one of the things the US Subs did to get into the Sea of Japan - was install sonar on top of the sub - which could locate mines for it to avoid. IIRC (which I may not) what they did - was sneak several subs in (like 6-8) - and only then began attacking ships. They had a field day. .

[@donbalduf572]

The story of anti-submarine warfare during World War I actually goes quite a bit further. You should look into the use of wooden subchasers, particularly in the Otranto Barrage, which was intended to keep the Austro-Hungarian navy bottled up in the Adriatic. See Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otranto_Barrage An excellent starting point would be ‘The Splinter Fleet,” a book written by a man who was the engineer on a U.S. subchaser. It’s available from Amazon. You want the one by Ray Millholland, not another book of the same title about World War II subchasers. I read the book many years ago, but I gave it away, sad to say. By the time the author became involved, the technology had advanced quite a bit from the efforts you describe, which were in blue water, rather different from the confined waters of the Otranto Strait. A newer technology on the subchasers was “SC tubes,” which were extended from somewhere in the ship’s hull into the sea, but only when the chaser was stationary. The operator was able to listen for the sound of a sub, then take a bearing. Two or more chasers working together could triangulate the bearings, which gave them a much better idea of where to heave their depth charges into the sea. Other things I recall: • The chasers had a flank speed of about 17 knots • A deck gun allowed the chasers to take on a surfaced sub, but crews were not eager for such combat because of the superior range and power of the Krupp rifles on the German subs. • The chasers were powered by three gasoline engines • Although reasonably effective, the chaser crews learned after the war that many of the “kills” they had claimed actually made it back to port safe and sound. Hope you find this interesting.

[@michaelblaszkiewicz7283]

Hey Drach, could you do a 5 min guide of USS Laffey (d.d. 724), it's a great story, and not often told.

[@Danyal_aka_Amagibestfox]

Michael Blaszkiewicz also now known as “Bunny of the North Star” by players of Azur Lane and the weeb community

[@michaelblaszkiewicz7283]

@@Danyal_aka_Amagibestfox I heard about that, is it the d.d. 724 or the benson class predecessor? Both ships had amazing stories.

[@michaelblaszkiewicz7283]

@@Danyal_aka_Amagibestfox i just saw game footage, not what I was expecting.

[@Danyal_aka_Amagibestfox]

Michael Blaszkiewicz yeap XD

[@michaelkaylor6770]

Speaking of spar torpedoes with eelgrass to submarine warfare, or an unlikely conclusion at the time, en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spar_torpedo. The CSS Hunley, a recreation is in Mobile, used it to desired affect.

[@AngloSaxonWheatFarmer]

The hammer thing is straight out of a cartoon and I love it

[@matthewmccormick2943]

You should do a review of the German surface raiders of both world wars

[@therenumerator9198]

"Rather severe" Classic British understatement, you have to love it.

[@JB-ym4up]

What about the sinking of u-28 which might have been sunk by a truck?

[@steweygrrr]

As someone who lives in Bolton, I am sad that I can't give you more than one like for the Fred Dibnah reference.

[@Solidboat123]

The Fighting Temeraire, channelling the spirit of her ancestor in trying to close with the enemy :)

[@terranceroff8113]

awesomely good stuff! Thank you sir.. Saw you ran into the Chieftain at Tankfest..score! Just what I figured you looked like. Professional good looking student type even if your not. Your famous with some of us and the rest be damned sir the rest be damned! (in modern speak, you rock! Keep do'n what your do'n!)

[@JustAPuffin]

Interesting point on U29 which was rammed by Dreadnought: it was captained by the same captain who sank the 3 cruisers of the 7th squadron mentioned earlier in the video. Weddigen was his name, I think....he died along with the rest of the crew from the ramming.

[@MakeMeThinkAgain]

Kind of surprising it took so long to come up with the Hedgehog. You'd think that something like a mortar would have been an obvious approach at this time.

[@daveybernard1056]

6:03, The bomb-on-a-pole didn't work out for the confederate submarine Hunley.

[@MadMonarchist]

You must do a video on HMS E-11!

[@zacharygerken4387]

I think her total kill count or tonnage count hasn't been beaten but I could be wrong.

[@Mishn0]

@21:08 Second row from the front, far right. DD 130. USS Jacob Jones. My father-in-law served aboard her in 1919 to 1920. She was named after another destroyer, DD 61, which was the first US ship sunk by a U-boat in WWI. She (DD 130) went on to be the second US ship sunk by a U-boat in WWII (after the Ruben James). Note that this picture was taken after the war as the Jacob Jones wasn't commissioned until 1919.

[@kaisersnider8593]

Aw you brought the mine back. Must protect the mine.

[@knutdergroe9757]

Ach mine, Mein mine, Nein mine !

[@weldonwin]

On the one hand, she's about as adorable as a whole sack of puppies, kittens and baby chicks, but on the other hand if I hug her, I'll explode and become a fine mist, spread over the better part of several square kilometers of ocean... Oh well... *(KABOOM!!!)*

[@ineednochannelyoutube5384]

I am suprised you did not mention the first succesful air attack on a submarine by an Austro Hungarian patrol Floatplane with 500lb bombs.

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

Some of these proposals are so unmistakably British, its hard to believe that they didn’t come out of an episode of Monty Python, In Thick Of It, or Top Gear.

[@mjney]

I would suggest the R class, the first hunter- killer ever built. Streamlined hull, faster under water than surfaced and withdrawn from service (if rumour is believed because the hull could not be manned). There was serious thought to bringing the design back after WW2!

[@markhonerbaum5789]

Always interesting and informative added sense of humor also a plus,the lonely mine is good.

[@josiahricafrente585]

Never would’ve expected to run into the Little Mine in this video...lel

[@sjTHEfirst]

I found out recently that my grandfather was a submariner in WWI, US Fleet. Thanks for the video.

[@arctictiger8690]

Petition for Drach to pin the Drachisms of the day Attempt #3

[@Drachinifel]

Unfortunately I can only pin one post, so it's either that or the Q&A post getting pinned.

[@arctictiger8690]

@@Drachinifel Ah, I see. Thank you for the response! I was wondering what the max number of posts you could pin was. Hahaha. Anyways, keep up the great videos!!!!!

[@vipertwenty249]

Good to see the pic of Fred Dibnah! One of our wonderful British backyard engineers and all round good egg. Anyone who hasn't come across him before is recommended to seek vidoes of him on utube - just type in his name. RIP Fred, sadly missed.

[@thomasmitchell7645]

Very good overview. How about doing one on the development of ASW in the interwar period? Just a thought.

[@akoponen]

At 9:22 you misspeak, saying "submarines" instead of "targets".

[@johnshepherd8687]

There are only two types of ships: Submarines and targets. Just ask any submariner of any nation.

[@jonathanball8237]

"Snare the submarine like a heavily armed Tuna...." 😂😂😂😂🤣😆

[@Lecog]

Ah yes, the Clemson swarm, Britain: Hey USA, how many destroyers can you lend us? USA: *yes*

[@TheAsh274]

(Sound of a slot machine jackpot and lots and LOTS of destroyers drop out of a chute and splash into the sea and instantly take off at full steam)

[@johnshepherd8687]

The British H-K submarine tactics from 1918 presage the modern era . Since the introduction of Soviet/Russian third and fourth generation submarines that is essentially what SSNs do. With detection ranges measured in a few kiloyards submarines can't cover a lot of area and operating at high speeds or using active sonar to search just turns you into a target. Since the Second World War aircraft are the most effective anti-submarine weapons system. The dipping sonar equipped helicopter is the most feared threat among submariners. Put two on sub and it is dead in short order assuming of course the torpedoes work but that is another story that is above this level of classification.

[@richardscales9560]

bonus points for Fred Dibnah

[@jack1701e]

Fred Dibnah! What a guy, watched him in my youth, great guy!

[@paststeve1]

Ripping redux regarding retaliatory riparian results. Thanks!

[@OtherWorldExplorers]

SUGGESTION FOR VIDEO: is there any way that you can cover the detritus that was left over from various wars that still floating about in the oceans.

[@bigblue6917]

Thanks for that. You have definitely filled a gap in my knowledge. As with aircraft submarines came along in leaps and bounds, as did anti-submarine warfare. You have to wonder how long all this would have taken during peace time.

[@nimrodquimbus912]

"being torpedoed can be good for your health"

[@user-ol5lw3md3h]

Especially if serving on the Barham

[@vespelian5769]

It's the same with atom bombs.

[@nimrodquimbus912]

Yeh, look at before and after photos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[@donaldhill3823]

You understandably laugh at the fishing nets, however subs were reported to have been dragged around by fishing trollers up to at least the 1950s & 1960s. More powerful power-plants especially on the nuclear powered subs turned the tables and started dragging and even sinking the fishing boats by pulling them under. To this day subs are very wary of fishing boats for the safety of both crews.

[@lpj1922]

I love Drachs videos - one question though? Who on earth are the odd balls that dislike his videos?! What’s to dislike?! 🙄 Keep up the great work mate.

[@anonymousgeorge4321]

Good one. Thanks

[@Niklas.K95]

KZbin Ad revenue: Being rammed by larger ships since 1914

[@SephirothRyu]

One must wonder: what if merchant submarines became a thing?

[@gmanbo]

There was that blockade runner sub from Germany second ww I believe.

[@kenoliver8913]

When the Alaska oilfields were being opened large tanker subs (to carry stuff under the ice) were seriously contemplated.

[@brandonreimer184]

Never expected to see a pic of fred dibnah on this channel although he did love steam power so it is kind of fitting

[@patrick383ironworker]

So awesome that You just dropped a Fred Dibnah reference!!

[@whiskeytangosierra6]

"Crushing Hand of God" depth charges. LOL Actual, again. Good one, Drach!

[@niclasjohansson4333]

A most interesting video, one of your best. (so far) When it comes to submarine/convoy warefare there is so much in common between WW1 and 2, yet the second conflict get all the attention......

[@Crimsonedge1]

5 min guide (more or less) Video: 25 mins long. Typically British. :D

[@mattdickson2]

Crushing hand of God prototype. I never knew I needed to hear something so much until it was said.

[@Andersson203]

Using the magnetic field created by large ferrous objects under water is a technology still in use for detecting submarines operating in and near bases and are often used together with command detonated mines. They're also used by aircraft (both rotary and fixed wing) in the sub hunting role today. So they're not just used for mundane tasks today.

[@rolandfelice6198]

Thanks 'D' for this video. It was really a fine summation of the evolution of submarine warfare.

[@Segalmed]

There were also attempts to train seagulls to spot periscopes by planting mock-ups filled with fish. That way the gulls were expected to swarm any real periscope thus drawing the attention of ASW forces. Ironically, the uboat sunk by HMS Dreadnought was commanded by the very same officer who had sunk the three obsolete armoured cruisers which started the uboat craze. Germany had experimented with guided torpedos even during WW1 but those could not have been employed by uboats because the system was based on the torpedos dragging a radio antenna behind, and subs at the time could not use their wireless while submerged. Same for torpedos carried by remote controlled gliders.

[@johnlaccohee-joslin4477]

The advent of Q ships was in fact quite a successful one. My grandfather served on three of them and his description of action was somewhat different from this video. He said that due to the unexpected nature of these ships it took some time for the real nature of these ships to become known, and not only on submarines, there were also surface ships totally unaware of what they were facing, and there were a number of corvet size ships sunk by Q ships.

[@rascalferret]

I asked about the deployment of the passive shipboard anti torpedo nets yesterday...I don't know ho owt oo write it as question. to learn about it through Drachisms

[@rogerhwerner6997]

Yes, Drach, I enjoyed the vid very much! Content, format, and humor are, as always, stellar. Perhaps humor is above average! For a future video: I'd love to hear your take on the Central Powers only North American mainland bombardment.... A tiny village on Cape Cod...by a submarine...and the near-comical US response will no doubt serve your understated humor quite nicely!

[@IMarcaI]

19 cases of u-boats lost to ramming... Teghetthoff would have been proud.