Falklands 1914: Von Spee's Last Stand

For unlimited access to the world's top documentaries and 25% off between 16 Nov and 3 Jan, check out curiositystream.thld.co/histo...
Support the channel on Patreon: / historigraph
Buy Historigraph Posters here! teespring.com/stores/historigraph
#BattleOfTheFalklandIslands #Historigraph #CuriosityStream
► Twitch: / historigraph
► Twitter: / historigraph
►Facebook: / historigraph
►Instagram: / historigraph
►Patreon: / historigraph

[@historigraph]

For unlimited access to the world's top documentaries and 25% off between 16 Nov and 3 Jan, check out curiositystream.thld.co/historigraphnov

[@Speedster___]

Will you consider a Surigao strait video?

[@Speedster___]

Or any recommendations

[@ibbi32]

Hows that drachinel collab going ?

[@arminiusschild5260]

I've always thought that Von Spee's only hope was to attack the British ships in the harbor. He knew he was out gunned and slower than the Brits. There was no way he could escape. If he just sent his entire force into the harbor maybe he could have destroyed or damaged enough to escape afterwards. Even if he didn't at least he was close to land and his crews could have been saved if sunk. What do you think? Could he have done such a maneuver and come out on top or at least better than what happened. It would have taken a little while for the British ships to get up steam. And I think that was his shrinking window of opportunity.

[@bigbozo4888]

@@Speedster___ Perhaps Battle Of Leyte Gulf?

[@merkavamayhem5846]

When the Royal Navy sends two battlecrusiers named Invincible and Inflexible commanded by someone called Sturdee, you're gonna have a bad day.

[@johnlavery3433]

To quote Vlad “Dracula/Alucard” Tepes. “You done Goofed”

[@mrthompson3848]

That had to be the British sending a message, right?

[@eaglestrike6408]

What a STURDY response!

[@timonsolus]

It wouldn’t have mattered who the British commander was. Even if he had ordered his captains to do whatever they wanted before the battle started, and then gone to read a book in his cabin, the end result would have been the same. The German cruisers were no match for one battle cruiser, let alone two.

[@thehandoftheking3314]

Sturdee should have commanded the Battlecruisers at Jutland

[@dwaynehicks6838]

Got to admire the respect both navies gave each other after the battle .

[@jeremyhare5380]

So say we all

[@bigrustle6851]

I concur. In a way it's heart breaking when you hear about these stories of how naval officers in all nations during peacetime often exchanged pleasantries with each other, only then to face off each other in the First World War.

[@James-ip8xs]

reminds me why we need to continue to treat war as a last resort

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

the sea is vast, deep and dangerous humans are still humans among the waves no matter where they come from, its always better to have someone than being alone in the cold dark blue

[@jacqueslefave4296]

@@xGoodOldSmurfehx I was thinking the same thing. Whatever the politics, they have an enemy in common greater than either one: the sea.

[@bredsheeran2897]

One heart warming thing that comes out of old naval battles: the enemy usually always stops to pick up the people floating in the water

[@nicholaswalsh4462]

I'm pretty sure that remains the case, though we haven't exactly had many opportunities to check. Or, well, it would be if fleets got close enough for that. It basically comes down to the simple fact that sailors, whatever flag they fight under, all face the same dangers and no sailor wants to drown. Drowning is, quite possibly, the most primal, terrifying fate a person can suffer. But in the modern day battle fleets engage each other from hundreds of miles away with aircraft and missiles.

[@Gingerbreadley]

It always amazes me how admirable naval commanders are. Not abandoning their slower ships, commanding from one of the least protected places on a ship going down with their ship etc etc

[@dynamo1796]

I've always felt that the Navy's tradition and honour (in nearly all navies around the world) stems from that the sea is such an inhospitable place for people and survival is rare for those left adrift, particularly in the South Atlantic. When you fight another ship, even winning can sometimes mean death if your vessel is too badly damaged, theres a real sense of permanent insecurity that you can't experience on land. Hell, your ship might just sink because of non-war related reasons, and you'd still likely drown or die of exposure. The sea is the ultimate enemy and it does not care who floats or sinks

[@xxxrrrxxxrrr]

They are called admirals for a reason.

[@Robert399]

It certainly sounds that way but a lot of these decisions seem to be throwing away the lives of their men with no possibility of achieving anything.

[@Gingerbreadley]

@@Robert399 that’s what being honerable kinda is tho. Putting ones self at risk fighting for a ship that is falling behind. Yes you might be dooming people on your ship but if you don’t go back everyone on those slower ships will fight alone and die alone because of your orders and because they had the bad luck of being on the wrong ship. The men on your ship wouldn’t want to see those other men abandoned because they know next time it might be them. They might be on the slow boat

[@Robert399]

@@Gingerbreadley But do you have a chance of saving the slower ship? If not, it's sunk cost fallacy. I don't know enough about the situation to judge these actual historical events but, hypothetically, if that were the case, I'd consider it a failure of the commander's duty to his men.

[@florianlipp5452]

Germany did get her revenge on HMS Invincible two years later: she was sunk during the battle of Jutland. In WWII, Germany had a pocket battle ship named after von Spee. She fulfilled quite a smilar role as her namesake: commerce raiding in the South Atlantic. And while von Spee accidentally stumbled on the British at the Falklands, while wrongly assuming them to be at the River Plate in 1914, the ship Graf Spee accidentally stumbled on the British forces at the River Plate and fought them there in 1939.

[@bigbozo4888]

Was that the KMS Admiral Graf Spee?

[@brickbastardly]

Unfortunately any ship named the invincible is bound to posthumously renamed the HMS not so invincible now are yea?

[@IshijimaKairo]

Let me guess, they thought the Brits were at the Falklands?

[@liankangchin8800]

it was true and a ship named prinz eugen so powerfel it was almost as powerful as the Bismarck link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Prinz_Eugen

[@dalereed3950]

When you think about it, the Graf Spee was a better ship than the Bismarck. Bismarck only sank the HMS Hood, an older ship with several flaws in her design and construction. Bismarck got a lucky hit and she just blew up, like the man said. The Spee was active for several months, she basically owned the South Atlantic sinking several ships. She also gave a better account of herself despite being outnumbered. Both commanders were equal to the task. I wonder if Langsdorf either brought the Graf Spee back to Germany, if he would have been given command of the Bismarck. Or just repatriated with his crew. After the Bismarck sank, Hitler ordered the Navy to stay tied up. They didn't venture out again until the ambush of PC-17.

[@yeoldeyoungin9745]

Not only did Von Spee die, but his only 2 sons as well in this battle. This left 1 daughter to carry on his line; I’m not sure what happened to her. Later a coin was struck in his honor showing him with his two young sons.

[@oteliogarcia1562]

I think she christened the namesake ship in the 1930s

[@NickPenlee]

A healthy respect existed between navies in those days. When HMS Hood was sunk the crew of the Bismarck didn't celebrate for too long; minutes. When Ted Briggs heard of Bismarck's demise then he too didn't show anything but sadness for her crew. Admirable.

[@davidmccann9811]

I'm sure I remember reading that the captain of the Graf Spee counted some of the Royal Navy officers as his close personal friends. He was literally killing men on his Christmas card list and vice versa.

[@Paludion]

I had no idea the british were almost caught flat-footed at the Falklands by Spee. When I heard the first time about Spee and his squadron, it was only about his victory in the Coronel Isles and then his destruction at Falklands, that's it ! Thank you for your videos !

[@CountScarlioni]

All credit to the crew of poor old Canopus for making sure that couldn't happen. They beached her at a superb point to provide defensive cover, and sent crews up to the hills along with wired communications to watch the seas (and in doing so spotted the Germans early). Seems she finally got her chance to defend the fleet, just not in the way that was intended!

[@pcka12]

@@CountScarlioni I had heard that Canopus was beached near Stanley and fired over the land, that doesn’t seem to be what happened according to this account. (One of my relatives was lost on Good Hope at Coronel).

[@CountScarlioni]

@@pcka12 ​ I'm not familiar with the geography of the Falklands (or how accurate this video's maps are) so can't really add anything useful. My understanding is the same as yours, that Canopus' opening shots were over a promontory and reliant on their spotting crews to give range and bearing (Probably why they had poor accuracy). Not that hitting Spee's squadron mattered at that point. The message the shots carried for the Germans was already pretty stark - attempt to run away, or wait to get splattered by a hidden foe with bigger guns. The crew of the Good Hope met their fate at Coronel with incredible heroism. I can only imagine the bravery it took to charge at the Germans the way they did. It must give the battle a lot of extra meaning knowing you had ancestors onboard.

[@pcka12]

@@CountScarlioni initially I only knew Harry Pierce Ancill because I saw his name on the Village war memorial with the qualification ‘HMS Good Hope’, his courage must have been of the quiet sort, because he was an engineer confined in the ‘bowels of the ship’ with virtually no chance of escape. I did know an aircrafts-man who was present at the Battle of the River Plate in the next war, he told me that all he knew of the Battle was “a lot of loud bangs” because he too was “below” throughout the action!

[@afrikacorpse]

@@pcka12 According to www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-01-HMS_Canopus.htm Canopus entered the harbour at the Falklands on 12 November 1914. That site has her log entries and her log for the next day (13th) records her moving to the "inner harbour" and records her position as Lat -51.69, Long -57.85, where she remains at the time of this battle. If you look this position up on www.latlong.net/ it shows her as being fully within the harbour. If you look at the video above at the 4:55 mark, she would actually be to the left of the bottom left red ship, i.e. roughly above the "LL's" in Sapper Hill. So I think you are correct, she did fire overland.

[@yuuboi661]

The exchange of messages between Sturdee and Pochhammer is quite saddening...

[@GM-fh5jp]

Yes, perhaps one of the last vestiges of an earlier, more civilized time.

[@historigraph]

Re-uploaded to fix an error with the animation in the first edition!

[@majormidget2704]

I guess if it's anything, I didn't notice it at all either.

[@ThePalaeontologist]

Wondered what happened.

[@historigraph]

@@ThePalaeontologist the video was out of sync with the audio by about 3 seconds

[@marleymae24]

@@historigraph Lmao I watched the whole thing anyway!! Awesome video!

[@ThePalaeontologist]

@@historigraph Ah, well, I watched it anyway and thought it was fine. Well, apart from when you spelt 'unfortunately' as 'unfourtunately', around 12:58 otherwise it's all good.

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

There is a reason when Bismark was sunk the admirals involved sayed that the germans put up a fight like in the days of the German Imperial Naivy.

[@MegaDuckmonster]

That's what she and her sistership were built for. Germany never stood a chance without Carriers, as they are the reason the Bismark and her Sister were destroyed 'easily'.

[@sander6438]

*bismarck*

[@sander6438]

@@MegaDuckmonster *bismarck*

[@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714]

@@sander6438 why in oblivion when you say 1 k would you write 2?

[@anantr99]

@@baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis9714 1. The other character (missed by you) is a 'C', not a 'K'. 2. Also, the name 'Bismarck' is not arbitrary. It is the name of the famous Prussian-German diplomat and chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and must thus be respected.

[@1977Yakko]

These men engaged in lethal combat with each other had more respect and honor than all too many rival politicians these days sadly.

[@benedictodunsky2790]

Tough times creates strong mens

[@concept5631]

@@benedictodunsky2790 True.

[@graftonlabrum5552]

Men fight wars, politicians start them

[@cheguevara7478]

@@graftonlabrum5552 wars are disaster, politicians are catastrophes

[@jimcrawford5039]

they were honourable gentlemen! Even into WW2 in some cases.

[@danielpothier9990]

The ending here may very well be the best part. The heartfelt exchange between commanders. Warriors and gentlemen. Tragic

[@MrDiggityaus]

Spare a thought for those sailors that when they turned around to face the fleet, they all knew they would not see home, almost certainly not even see tomorrow, and that their floating house of a couple of hundred meters were about to get pummelled by a concentration of heavy shells.

[@CountScarlioni]

I think most of them instinctively knew that the very moment Canopus opened up on them and realised they'd entered a lion's den. They certainly fought like men without anything left to lose. It didn't actually need to happen. All of Von Spee's commanders disagreed with raiding the Falklands, thinking it way too hot but he did it anyway, probably lured by quantities of high quality coal for the journey north. Had he played it cautious he may actually have still had a (small) chance of making it to safer territory. Although given Von Spee's mood after Coronel was one of total fatalism, I do wonder if he'd just stopped looking for a way to survive, and instead was just looking for a glorious death. He certainly got one.

[@dale6947]

The time honored German tradition of poking the Royal Navy a bit too much and getting destroyed because they were way to far out to sea with a small fleet

[@noobster4779]

Also the time honored tradition of the Royal navy compleatly underestimating those small german fleets way to far out to sea and getting a prestigious defeat before going into overkill for revenge.

[@mrthompson3848]

@@noobster4779 >implying that the Royal Navy underestimated Bismarck when everybody in the admiralty knew just how much of a threat she was.

[@ThePalaeontologist]

@@mrthompson3848 The only reason why HMS _Hood_ and HMS _Prince of Wales_ went against Bismarck and Prinz Eugen when they did, was because they happened to be the only ones close enough at the time to intercept them in good time in the Denmark Straits. Civilian contractors e.g. construction workers and engineers, were still on board HMS _Prince of Wales_ (brand new, literally not even entirely finished though just about deemed ready for battle) at the time. HMS _Hood_ meanwhile was in her prime in between 1918 and 1938. For those 20 years she was the biggest warship on the planet, and the symbolic 'Pride of the Royal Navy'. In reality, she had little business in 1941, being sent to fight Bismarck and should have been sent for refit instead to do the long overdue armour improvements, especially aft (and to modernise her optical targeting systems and fire control systems) She was supposed to go through a major overhaul in 1927, but this was shelved by the Admiralty for the sake of penny pinching and because she was sent on the Grand Tour of the British Empire for years longer in the 1920's, flying the flag in a major PR exercise, for the Empire, all over the world. That was neat and all but it could be argued that she may have survived Bismarck's 'lucky hit' aft where the fatal damage was done, had she been re-armoured and improved. She was still a grand old ship in 1940, and exquisitely beautiful. Footage of her in colour shows her to have been very aesthetically impressive, with nice clean lines and a sleek profile. However, HMS _Hood_ was essentially what we could liken to a Greyhound going up against a Rottweiler. It was just a bad idea really. Her 15 inch guns could bite hard, but her body wasn't as robust and muscular as Bismarck's heavier armoured layout. One might call HMS _Hood_ a 'Super Battlecruiser' going up against the then most modern and powerful Battleship in the world. She very well could have done tremendous damage to Bismarck, as her guns were more than capable of doing the job; HMS _Prince of Wales_ had 14 inch guns and still did significant damage to Bismarck where it counted. Obviously, later on, it was proven that the British could deal with Bismarck effectively enough. HMS _Nelson_ and HMS _Rodney_ were more than capable of doing serious damage to Bismarck, and HMS _King George V_ in all fairness. If HMS _Hood_ had been able to complete it's turn into Bismarck's firing arcs, and if that one in a million lucky shot by Bismarck didn't detonate her magazines, then it's more than likely that a much more equable fight would have played out. Bismarck would still have the advantage of course, and had successfully bracketed (zoned in her targeting with test salvos) on HMS _Hood_ so yes, Hood was always going to be taking some pretty nasty 15 inch hits. Many crew would have perished. But had she returned fire once in range, with all her 15 inch guns pointing at Bismarck after she levelled out and closed the range, then I think Bismarck would have been raked by some brutal hits herself. Of course we know Bismarck took hellish punishment later on, but it still makes one wonder how much damage HMS _Hood_ could dish out to Bismarck had she not have been destroyed as she made the correct turn. Her rudder was literally found turned in the correct position, proving that she and Vice-Admiral Holland was doing everything right when she was destroyed mid turn. There wasn't much more she could have done. She just got unlucky. If she was hit a second earlier or later she would probably have survived that hit. 3 of her 1415 crew and officers survived the sinking of HMS _Hood_ (RIP)

[@mrthompson3848]

@@ThePalaeontologist believe me buddy, I know about the Bismarck. It was the first thing ww2 related I ever studied. I don’t know if this was supposed to be a gotcha moment or whatever. My comment was in response to someone who claimed the Royal Navy has a tradition of underestimating German fleets then going “overkill” when they lose the first engagement. I didn’t think that was true, hence why I left the comment. There is no way in hell the RN underestimated Bismarck or any German ship that I know of, including the U-boats.

[@ThePalaeontologist]

@@mrthompson3848 No it wasn't. I was just agreeing with you, by adding some more context. I wasn't having a go. I agree that the RN didn't underestimate the Bismarck. Me explaining why HMS _Hood_ was ill-suited in some regards to contend with Bismarck at that time, was just me supporting what you'd said with the historical context behind it. The RN wasn't just hurling HMS _Hood_ in there with reckless abandon, as we know, she was just closest at the time. It was her misfortune to be vulnerable in her aft deck plating and she was lost in an extremely unlucky manner. Not to detract from accurate German gunnery, the shot that killed HMS _Hood_ was still extremely unlikely to directly hit where it did, at that exact moment. Germans were unimaginably lucky in that moment.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

*Mr. Von Spee, I want off this wild ride!* *THE RIDE NEVER ENDS* Here before the reupload lmao

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

I wonder if Von Spee knew that once he smashed Craddocks forces that he had just kicked up the hornets nest that hit him. Also this story is very similar to the story after the sinking of HMS Hood, the Royal Navy come down on enemy with far greater firepower then the battle the Royal Navy lost.

[@historigraph]

Von Spee definitely did- according to the accounts I read he was pretty fatalistic about his chances of ever successfully returning to Germany

[@joshthomas-moore2656]

@@historigraph Thank you.

[@qball1of1]

@@historigraph Was he short of coal to make a wide swing away from land to steam home? Oceans are obviously huge and his force wouldn't be easy to find away from land with the technology of the time. Am I missing something, or were they too short of supplies to take a longer but safer route home??

[@ijh867zter6]

When von Spee was presented with a bouquet of flowers after his victory at Coronel he is said to have replied: "These will do nicely for my grave."

[@Caratacus1]

Good call on using Massie and his Castles of Steel book. It's an amazing piece of work 👍

[@Hamchunk1968]

It's a great book.

[@Jethro50]

Very interesting video.My grandfather served on Inflexible in this battle. His Service Certificate records that he was awarded a prize bounty of£2 17s 4d and a further 8s 3d after Jutland!

[@thomasgray4188]

Von Spee: sinks two Cruisers beating a naval squadron. Royal navy: So, you have chosen... Death.

[@burnstick1380]

I think the bigger example is after HMS Hood sank when literally every available ship was sent after bismarck.

[@suryaprakash2126]

@@burnstick1380 HMS Hood was pride of the fleet. Of course they will send everyone.

[@bernardtimmer6723]

Yes, at Coronel von Spee sank 2 older armoured cruisers(Monmouth and Good Hope) aswell as damaging 1 light cruiser(Otranto). The light cruiser Glasgow joined Sturdee to fight at the Falklands.

[@johnfisher9692]

Good video I have heard many people go on and on about how outgunned Von Spee was at the Falklands but totally ignore the fact he outgunned Craddock by a far, far greater margin at Coronel. Not only in weight of broadside but the fact his ships were the best AC's in the HSF while Craddock's were re-activated obsolete ships which would have been scrapped if not for the outbreak of war, and the crews were untrained reservists. Only Glasgow was a proper fleet unit. Craddock and his people deserve just as much praise as Vol Spee's for their courage, yet get all too often ignored.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

When in Valparaiso harbour after the Coronel action, Spee was entertained by the German business community to dinner. At one point, a German businessman proposed the toast 'Damnation to the British Navy!' Spee refused the toast, remained in his seat, but when everyone else had resumed theirs, rose, raised his glass, and quietly said, 'I drink to the memory of a gallant and honourable foe.' As it says on the memorial to Cradock & his ships in York Minster, 'God forbid that I should do this thing, to flee away from them. If our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our honour.'

[@user-mi3tq5qd4u]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 the gretest Honors one can receive is the respect and admiration of his opponent

[@ThePalaeontologist]

Craddock avenged. Still doesn't exonerate Churchill's indifference to Craddock, though.

[@wordsisnukes]

Geoffrey Bennet tied off his explanation of Craddock's defeat by blaming communication lag and an inexperienced admiralty staff. As a former serviceman of distinction, Bennet would never speak ill of Churchill. His indifference sticks in my craw. The man was certainly an ass.

[@michaelmorgan9289]

This video & the Coronel video were excellent & concise descriptions of those 2 battles & the aftermath. Well done.

[@doofus02]

Canopus' positioning was quite sensible. Her presence effectively blocked any further aggressive action by Von Spee or Maerker against the Falklands and the unprepared fleet. Sturdee actually had his crews eat breakfast before beginning his pursuit thanks to this fact.

[@trisblackshaw1640]

Quite a sad story. I've never heard it in so much detail. Well done, sir.

[@jonsimpson9640]

Another fantastic video and a great insight into an often forgotten battle. The last part is extremely poignant - great work once again :)

[@miguelmontenegro3520]

Ze absolute madlad came back for us! - Leipzig crew, probably.

[@simon4781]

Von Spee is like that one friend, who waits for you as you tie your shoe while all the others move on.

[@joannen3470]

Very good video. Explains the battle quite clearly.

[@mpersad]

A really excellent summary of the battle and terrific graphics!

[@razorwire3056]

One of my favorite quotes is a toast that I think is appropriate here.... 'To a willing foe, and sea room.'

[@omnipotence8826]

High quality video as always. Keep up the good work.

[@thetankcommander3838]

Nicely done, Histiograph. I’m impressed.

[@wackypacky6917]

Can you do the battle of the java sea?

[@rainmakerroar4014]

Here we go again baby

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nicely done video

[@brandenburgquentinthe3rd532]

Thank you I asked for this this is so good!

[@scottdewey3544]

This, like the other video regarding the Battle of Colonel, is quite good. And I echo "Starbuck"s sentiments below: the respect and courtesy shown by the respective fleets is a nice throwback to an earlier time when people had some manners.

[@Lord_Lambert]

Fantastic as always.

[@Livelaughandlaughmore]

It’s 6:34am in Los Angeles Ca, love this channel

[@jyuyd8274]

When the Royal Navy sends two battlecrusiers named Invincible and Inflexible commanded by someone called Sturdee, you're gonna have a bad day.

[@Robescocia]

My grandfather Robert(Bobby) Ingram served on HMS Canopus.Admiral Maximilian Von Spey went down with his ship the Scharnhorst. He was 53. His Son, alt Otto Von Spey went down on the Nurnberg. He was 24.His other son Lt Heinrich Von Spey went down on the Gneisenau. He was just 21 years old. After the Battle of the Falklands my grandfather sailed to the Dardanelles and Gallipoli and eventually made it home safely to Scotland in 1919.

[@danielpascoe7152]

Love the detail in your videos. Also good work on the proper pronunciation of Tsingtao

[@5amH45lam]

Thank you for including those quotes at the end. They serve to highlight that the costly (human) decisions of war are made by men in rooms, far away from the action.

[@topherbec7578]

For a couple of sparsely populated windswept islands in the south Atlantic. The Falklands had their fair share of battles.

[@russwoodward8251]

Brilliant. Thank you!

[@j.f.fisher5318]

I appreciate your inclusion of the human aspects of this battle. Subbed. Cheers!

[@Jere-iy2yv]

I cant express how much I respect Von Spee, may he and the german and british sailors rest in peace.

[@witoldmatuszek8736]

What a story. Great job, as usual.

[@mycosys]

Was a fantastic video, you captured so much of the character and story from both sides. It didnt feel jingoistic nor vainglorious, just tragic.

[@salsheikh4508]

Great Episode

[@adammc7170]

German Navy: Victory at Coronel Royal Navy: I am about to end this man’s whole career....

[@LukesYuGiOhChannel]

Love the respect after the battle.

[@_TJ97]

Loving the content dude XD

[@waveranger4974]

Great video

[@wfp9378]

13:10 thank you for including this. Many don’t remember there were quite cordial relations between Germany and the English navies prior to WW1.

[@philipm06]

No such thing as the 'English navy', it the 'Royal Navy'.

[@xeraphyx7903]

@@philipm06I mean, it's technically true, since England is really the only part of the British Empire that wants to be there. Even in their home islands, Ireland and Scotland yearned for independence, and the Royal family is English anyways. So it's inherently the same thing.

[@jjhester6586]

@@xeraphyx7903 The English navy and Royal navy are not the same thing. There hasen't been an English navy for a long time.

[@xeraphyx7903]

@@jjhester6586 I'm sorry if there was a misunderstanding, I am fully aware that the official name was the "Royal Navy", but I was just jokingly justifying how the original commenter was calling it the "English Navy", it's a joke and is not meant to be taken seriously:)

[@MTG776]

Great video. Super interesting...

[@jude_the_apostle]

Its heartbreaking to think that after being rescued, the British and German sailors would have talked, maybe joked and realised they were exactly the same. Forced to kill each other.

[@Rockjan1169]

these videos are so interesting

[@stephenc.4319]

Craddock asked for better ships non-stop, and they just left him to die, and once he was dead, THEN they sent the backup he needed. What a timeless show of naval leadership.

[@ibbi32]

Hey historiograph could you please do a video on the sms emden and possibly even collab with drach like you mentioned before

[@untruelie2640]

Will you cover the last voyage of the "Dresden" in your next video as well? :)

[@ThePhoenix198]

Enjoyed the style and presentation of your content, but had to chuckle at use of modern-day maps of East Falkland showing a late 20th century layout of Port Stanley, including Port Stanley Airport. Pretty certain that wasn't there in 1914!

[@historigraph]

Yeah- it’s basically just google earth. Looking to move away from that in future vids

[@lawrencelewis2592]

A good production- do you have one on the SMS Emden? By the way, I have a nice model of Von Spee's Scharnhorst.

[@peregrinemccauley7819]

Great doco' .

[@Archangel-mz3yo]

Excellent video m8. Any new projects planned for the future?

[@willforlife_]

good stuff

[@trevortrevortsr2]

I very much approve of the way you closed this post with the exchanges between Sturdee & Pochhammer - so many posts report facts without compassion

[@toveychurchill6468]

Are some of the footage from the intro from WWII ? Just curious

[@gilbertosantos2806]

Seems like it, or at least interwar

[@toveychurchill6468]

@@gilbertosantos2806 i think so , those looks like flower class corvettes

[@baldbread3693]

its probably very hard to find footage

[@royalm8077]

It's very hard to find WWI naval vids

[@Tinderchaff]

Going by the pennant numbers (pendant number pre-1948) I can see, there is HMS Danae en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Danae_(D44), which was commissioned in July 1918. She did serve during the first world war but the footage is most likely World war 2 as she was decommissioned in October 1944. The ship following Danae is possibly HMS Kingston although I can't quite make out the prefix letter. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Kingston_(F64) Initially she was F64 but that changed to G64 early on in her career. Kingston was definitely a World War 2 vintage ship as she was commissioned just days after Britain's declaration on war on Germany in 1939.

[@AFGuidesHD]

As always war is a lot of luck, this could well have been a pearl harbour type situation of Spee sent the whole squad to attack Stanley.

[@jackcody459]

Such a nice and clear presentation as usual. Any chance we see Japan vs Russia in Battle of Tsushima?

[@talosisoursavior3061]

Gonna be honest, i didn't realize this wasn't about the Falklands war until 2 minutes in

[@HMH901]

I just remember that both von spee and the ship named after him both slip below the waves at around the same region, what a coincidence

[@johnforrester9120]

Brilliant

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

What happened to the previous video? And why did you get rid of it?

[@jimmiller5600]

mistake in the animation (note above)

[@hugmynutus]

Nobody: Royal Navy: Overkill is underrated

[@Minboelf]

Von Spee:Exists British:I am gonna wipe him off the picture!

[@PatMcDonald41]

Brilliant …

[@derrickstorm6976]

How long did you have to "raise steam" before you could leave harbour? On average

[@Hamchunk1968]

At least a couple-three hours, I think. I read after Sturdee ordered steam raised, he had time for breakfast.

[@motivatedoldfart]

great video. well done. good job. engagement

[@nicolasbravo833]

The Juan Fernandez battle please!

[@ojasmilimbu935]

It must really be sad for my bot spee when his ghost finds out they lost the war and starts to question why they even held out

[@mr.m1garand254]

What’s your source for these? Seems like rather exciting books to be read

[@adyanchoudhury2090]

interesting fact:von spee's sons heinrich and otto both died with him during the battle

[@shaftoe195]

"YOU DIDN'T SEE THE TRIPOD MASTS! BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT THERE!" (c) famous last words.

[@andrewstackpool4911]

Rarely was there any real hatred between the RN and the Germans in both wars, apart, perhaps from the U-boats in the latter days of WW2. Both sides were highly professional sailors obeying their superiors commands. It is interesting, too, that one of Spee's light cruisers was SMS Emden which created some havoc before being destroyed by HMAS SYDNEY. Her story deserves to be told. Oh, the opening scene destroyers are WW2 vessels.

[@domdegood5376]

One of the coastal guns shot at the German ships with a dud, the crew had put the training shell the day before as to cheat on the timing test the next day,

[@caladanian]

I don’t understand why Spee didn’t accept to surrender. The unnecessary loss of 950 men is unforgivable and not a question of honour (rather stubbornness) since the battle already was lost. Sad to hear the messages of respect for each other, with no chance to end the war themselves.

[@MasterofBlitz]

Remember the weather conditions in that region is freezing cold and no one in any navy will surrender a fighting ship to the enemy.

[@mathewkelly9968]

First battle of the Falklands ie the empire strikes back v1.0 , Argentina fails to learn the lesson so the Empire gets a last hoorah

[@WojciechWachniewski-st1zm]

Connected forever with Adm. Graf von Spee is the name SCHARNHORST - that of his last flagship. As far as I remember, the German armoured cruiser 'Scharnhorst' was built by Blohm und Voss at Hamburg? Occasion for mentioning the historic name is the coming 80th anniversary of the death of another (bigger, stronger and more successful) ship bearing the General von S. his name. To sink on Sunday just after Christmas is awful.♍

[@superheroherohero]

can you do one about the chase of the bismarck?

[@3vimages471]

Does anyone know what the angled pipes are on the side of both The Inflexible and The Invincible as shown at 1.34 of the video. I often see such pipes (if they are pipes) spaced along the sides of ships and have never known what they are?

[@thomaszinser8714]

Mountings for torpedo nets, they'd be extended outward when in port to protect from sudden torpedo attacks.

[@3vimages471]

@@thomaszinser8714 Cool ... thanks.

[@thomaszinser8714]

@@3vimages471 No problem! It's worth noting as well, of course, that the nets ended up obsolete with the development of improved torpedoes, which is why you don't really see them anywhere after WW1.

[@3vimages471]

@@thomaszinser8714 Yeah I noticed they were only on the old Dreadnought era ships.

[@bedouinknight9437]

War is horrible, i feel sorry for the death of so many young souls, so far from home in a cold lonely sea.

[@user-ft3jq5vi2l]

1914: Graf Admiral Spee (pesron) sinks in the south atlantic 1939: Grag Admiral Spee (heavy cruiser) sinks in the south atlantic Ah nice little coincidences

[@Speedster___]

At 1:50 why is Stodart too junior to have battlecruisers? If he can command a cruiser squadron? I don’t get that..

[@historigraph]

Stoddart was a Rear Admiral in command of a regional cruiser squadron. Battlecruisers were capital ships- much more powerful and valuable, so required a Vice Admiral at least to command them

[@damac5136]

Insane war.

[@sonnyd.6777]

When the Empire strikes back, they make sure your won't strike back!

[@Robert53area]

Well, I guess its fitting the ship taking his name would meet its fate, not far from his own last stand.

[@ianwhite6061]

Canopus was positioned at the East end of Stanley Harbour not Cape Pembroke and fired the first shots of the battle. The range was too great for the first salvo of forward guns. The after guns had practice rounds loaded for a practice shoot and to get rid of them fired at Gneisenau scoring the first hit of the battle.

[@pilgrimpaulo]

The sheer courage of a navy trained to do their job and defend their countries... to the victor the spoils, but to the all the respect and the sorrows of war

[@luisdestefano6056]

In everlasting honour and glory to Graf von Spee, a real hero!