HMS Tiger: How Not to Get Blown up at Jutland

Explore the compelling history of HMS Tiger, a formidable battlecruiser pivotal in World War I. This video delves into Tiger's design, construction, and performance, examining its powerful armament, speed, and technological advancements.
Discover the Battle of Dogger Bank (1915) and the Battle of Jutland, where HMS Tiger faced challenges and demonstrated resilience. Learn about Tiger's endurance, taking hits and the impact of design modifications on its performance.
Uncover the controversy surrounding Tiger's deployment, loss of battlecruisers, and the dramatic moments that defined its wartime legacy. Join us on a captivating journey through naval history with HMS Tiger, the last battlecruiser laid down before World War I.
If you're fascinated by naval warfare, warship history, and gripping tales from the high seas, this video is a must-watch. Like, subscribe, and share your thoughts on HMS Tiger's remarkable story in the comments below!
Video on Lion: • HMS Lion: Beatty's Fla...
Drach's video on British operations in the Baltic: • Baltic Naval War 1919 ...
Background 0:00
Entering Service: 4:20
Dogger Bank 6:05
Jutland 13:13
After Jutland 20:50
Sources/Other Reading:
www.amazon.com/Castles-Steel-...
www.amazon.com/British-Battle...
www.amazon.com/Jutland-1916-C...
www.amazon.com/Jutland-Unfini...
www.amazon.com/German-Battlec...
www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-w...
www.jutland1916.com/
Video Information:
Copyright fair use notice. All media used in this video is used for the purpose of education under the terms of fair use. All footage and images used belong to their copyright holders, when applicable.

[@ImportantHistory]

Thank you all so much for 10,000 subscribers!!!! I hope you enjoyed this video on Tiger, and let me know if you like the footage I used. I just got tired of using photos and wanted something interesting to break up the video.

[@chrisreidland]

Really good content Thanks!

[@RayyMusik]

Congrats for 10.3k subscriptions and thanks for another well-made video. 👍 HMS Tiger was such a good ship. I even prefer her to the Renowns. Pity that it suffered from a bad crew and an even worse admiral.

[@gianurwiler5098]

No Problem your making great Videos/documentarys😉 Keep going

[@charlesvaughan3517]

You earned it

[@mikepotter5718]

The real problem with British BCs was a commander who had been promoted beyond his abilities.

[@fabianzimmermann5495]

HMS Tiger is easily my favorite battlecruiser. She might not be able to hit anything, but she is tough. I think she took the most hits out of all British battlecruisers at Jutland and could have kept the fight going the next day. Also, she's such a pretty ship. So beautiful. The fact that she survived up to the London Naval Treaty and potentially could have survived even longer is always so fascinating to me. Tiger being present in WW2 is one of my favorite alternate history scenarios. Sure, she would have been the weakest capital ship of the Royal Navy and would have been quite vulnerable to subs and airplanes, but she would have been a fast capital ship the British were lacking in numbers at the beginning of the war. Maybe she finally would have been able to hit something and there were still plenty of ships she could have faced up against, like the Deutschland-class cruisers.

[@helicoptersauce]

id take tiger over a queen alizabeth however due to it having 13.5 inch guns it would have a unique calibre not in service by that time period [from what im aware]

[@helicoptersauce]

you can compare the tiger to the kongoes, and the kongoes were INCREDIBLE.

[@fabianzimmermann5495]

@@helicoptersauce I wouldn't take her over a Queen Elizabeth, but definitely over a Revenge-class. There is a reason these ships didn't do much other than convoy escort, which admittedly was very important, but the two times they were involved in battles, both times against the Italians, they were too slow to really engage the enemy. Yes, Tiger would be the only active ship with 13.5 inch guns, but I think the British would still have shells for those, after all, they made a lot of them in the Great War and Iron Duke was a training ship during the Second World War and had the same gun calibre. Plus, I've heard (but I'm not a hundred percent sure on this) that it would have been possible to swap Tigers 13.5 inch guns with 14 inch guns, as the turrets and ammunition handling equipment were large enough. So the Tiger could have received the 14 inch guns that the modern King George V-class had or at least similar 14 inch guns, which would have given her a stronger main battery.

[@helicoptersauce]

@@fabianzimmermann5495 if kongo was made to house 14inch tiger could too, however swapping out her guns would be quite an effort

[@fabianzimmermann5495]

@@helicoptersauce Yes, it would require a lengthy refit (as they would probably want to overhaul or replace the engines as well, considering her age) and I'm not sure if the British would be willing to give that to Tiger. On one hand, they did give the refits to the older ships first, but they might not consider an upgraded Tiger useful enough to go with such a refit and just refit the QEs and Renown instead as they historically did.

[@richardcutts196]

Tiger could have been 'demilitarized' the same way the Japanese 'demilitarized' one of the Kongos. Interesting note is that the 14" guns designed to fit on the 1936 King George V battleship were also compatible with the 13.5" mounts on Tiger and the Iron Duke class BB's. So If they had kept Tiger she could have been armed with them instead of the old 13.5" guns.

[@scipioafricanus4328]

Yes, I agree. she could have been kept as a training ship instead of Iron Duke (you don’t hear about Iron Duke’s WW2 service because she was bombed in Scapa Flow early in the war and had to be beached to avoid sinking.

[@paulstewart6293]

My grandfather was a turner at Babcock and Wilcox during the 30s until the late 50s. A very important company.

[@stanleyrogouski]

Her sister ship, the Kongo, was sold to the Japanese and upgraded to a modern fast battleship in the 1930s. It was one of the more useful capital ships in the Second World War.

[@kenduncan3221]

Not sister ship but close cousins.

[@morriganmhor5078]

I am one with Drachinifel that the major problem for British battlecruisers after the Falklands was not German cannons but Beatty.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

Mr D simply is unable to admit german ships were better than those of this glorifird RN. hewIll tell you Hood left doors open again.sometimes he simply lies.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

:

[@anthonyryan923]

Beatty, his decisions make you wonder which side he was on.

[@davidarmstrong645]

He was a complicated character to say the least. Personally brave and daring, he often let those traits get in the way of more sober tactical judgements.

[@jameshall1300]

​​@@davidarmstrong645 that's true of many commanders in the WWI era. The view of the military being modern, gallant knights bravely charging into battle was still very prevalent. Just look at Gallipoli, the Somme, and half the other early battles before some finally realized this wasn't the days of lancers and cavalry charges anymore, whether on horse or ship.

[@Austech]

My great grandfather was a stoker 1st class on HMS Tiger and was severely wounded in action at The Battle Of Jutland. I am still researching how he came to be on it as he was born in Australia. I wonder if he wanted to be there as it appears he was a bit of an Australian patriot.....a record from the RN shows what I already know from a later Australian police record - "tattoos of kangaroo's, Advance Australia flag and Australian coat of arms". After being seriously wounded on the 31st, he was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy and on to HMAS Australia for the duration of the war.

[@michaelinsc9724]

CONGRATULATIONS on 10k!!!

[@GM-fh5jp]

Another fine episode. Thanks for posting!

[@kevinc.3579]

Should have way more subscribers, as I’m sure you eventually will. Great, well articulated content 🍻

[@hauk65000]

Very nice production. Realistic about important area of naval history. Well done

[@gianurwiler5098]

Good quality content👌🏼

[@leeforeman3656]

Great video. The video footage was good, probably not easy to come by. Well done with 10 thousand plus subscribers.

[@jackdaniel7465]

Good looking ship!!

[@mattblom3990]

I once had a girlfriend that was legitimately into naval history and when I asked her about her favorite ship she immediately said HMS Tiger for her survivability, firepower, and beauty. Great ship.

[@jameshall1300]

That's a pretty rare girl. Military history is such a male thing usually ( yes, I know I'm stereotyping here, but we all know it's true the vast majority of the time ).

[@mattblom3990]

@jameshall1300 Yeah, she was pretty special. Unfortunately she dropped on me that her traveling the world for several years was a higher priority than a relationship after we were dating, and I could not follow her. Better to have loved and lost though. We'd fall asleep together listening to Drachinifel's Drydock videos and those are special memories.

[@phaasch]

Thanks for a really well researched and edited feature. The footage, while not in itself 100% relevant, is excellent in adding depth to the overall texture of the piece, and is well chosen, too, which is really appreciated. Is it just me, or were German gunners incredibly adroit at hitting the turrets of their opponents? They seem to have had an amazing success rate.

[@jameschenard1386]

Congratulations on 10k! That’s a couple interesting “what if’s” with Tiger- what if she had better gunnery and what if she had been retained/refit…? She was a good looking ship

[@wildancrazy159]

Good video! Surprised at how heavy she was but thickness of armor was pretty thin. Her actions are legendary and rightly so.

[@HeaanLasai]

Fascinating.

[@stirlingmoss4621]

Great work you do bringing alive the exploits of the RN's history, although not all illustrious, it was brave and commendable with the Officer Corps of those times as depicted in that seminal work "The Rules of the Game" by Gordon. Season's Greeting and a Happy & Successful New Year to you and your Channel. Long may it continue to instruct.

[@justin3415]

Great video thank you and very goid channel and i enjoy it. Yes Tiger was almost retained but the Royal navy opted not to keep it,but there was big push for it.

[@VoreAxalon]

Thats a great story there

[@chpet1655]

Lion and Queen Mary almost blew up at Dogger Bank too but Tigers design certainly got it right…a much tougher ship than the previous designs.

[@johnfisher9692]

It was Seydlitz that almost blew up at Dogger Bank, not the two ships you quote. So many people ignore just, after the battle it was the British BC's that were still at sea, still combat capable and looking to renew the fight while the Germans had run for home as fast as they could. With all the advantages they had of properly functioning AP shells, heavier armour and more stable propellant, they got their butts kicked by ships with AP shells that didn't work properly. The HSF certainly had more than their far share of luck.

[@5000mahmud]

​@@johnfisher9692 i think the most significant factor is propellant, cordite was notoriously volatile Give the British ships German propellant and I think there would have been fewer loses at jutland

[@bigsarge2085]

Happy New Year! (new subscriber).

[@ImportantHistory]

Thanks for subscribing! Hopefully you enjoy the content :)

[@AlteryxGaming]

Blücher seems to be an unlucky name for a German ship in the age of steam and steel. Both in this video and the Hipper class of WW2 served best as bait for enemy guns and torpedoes

[@CliveN-yr1gv]

Mate, I really enjoyed this one. All the footage was interesting. I wonder who TIGER's gunnery officer was. I have a feeling he trained his men not to stack, and to keep doors shut - hence not blowing up when the Q turret was hit. That they couldn't hit much makes me think the range finders were out of calibration. However, with 4 for the guns and one for anti-aircraft, I'm dubious. But there's something going on, I suspect! I was also interested to hear you state that a number of the ship's complement was made up of 'captured deserters' - good to know that they weren't all stuck against a post and shot by their comrades. Well, it's a while since you uploaded this, but keep up the excellent work! Thank you.

[@johnfisher9692]

Drachinifel did a great video about just how dangerous the mixture of the British propellant was, The chemists made a serious mistake in their formula. Another problem that was not understood at the time was the fact the because the BC's could not do live fire exercises in their base at Rosyth, the charges were taken out of their safety tubes and then put back in multiple times. This led to a dangerous buildup of cordite micro dust from the cordite coating the magazines and turrets. This is a possible cause of the loss of Queen Mary and Lion's Q turret. Sometimes war delivers painful lessons you only learn after the fact. Much like the Germans dangerously slack shell handling procedures were not realized until Seydlitz nearly blew up at Dogger Bank

[@scipioafricanus4328]

It a shame the Royal Navy didn’t keep Tiger as a training ship instead of Iron Duke, and kept the removed armour and weapons in storage. Then when the Japanese left the Washington treaty she could have rearmed the same way the Japanese did with Hiei. The Royal Navy was desperately short of fast capital ships and she would be effective against the rebuilt Italian battleships and Japanese Kongō class.

[@David-nb8tq]

my great uncle , was on this ship.

[@chpet1655]

Had no idea her crew was so I’ll prepared and of such poor quality Sad for the Bluchers men that her speed was so low

[@BobSmith-dk8nw]

Yes. Train the way you'll fight because you'll fight the way you train ... I'm sure that all those who were guilty of leaving flash doors open and stacking extra shells figured that if it was real - they'd stop doing that ... but apparently - they didn't. .

[@JohnnySmithWhite-wd4ey]

The Royal Navy always wished they'd kept Tiger. However the thin armor and 13.5 inch guns meant that a Kongo style rebuild would be expensive.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

A modernised Tiger would certainly have been more use to ABC in the Mediterranean than any 'R' class.

[@ronaldgray5707]

HMS Tiger was a pretty ship, but it was her sister that contribute a lot more to warship development. (IJN Kongo) As it served the basis Japanese naval warship development.

[@kenduncan3221]

She was a close cousin to the Kongos.

[@ronaldgray5707]

Same dad (ship designer), same armor layout, machinery, performance. Originally suppose to have 12 in guns as the British would not allow 13.5. However the Brits rejected the 14 in gun allowing Armstrong to convince the Japanese to upgrade. I go as far as half-sister (same dad, different mother). :-) Still, pretty ships. @@kenduncan3221

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

They were not females of animals propagating by sexual reproduction.

[@George_M_]

If she'd gotten Kongo's 14 inch guns she may have hit more, considering testing showed better ballistic performance over the 13.5.

[@steveclarke6257]

Ok overall good covering of the events, however I disagree with your analysis of the difference between German and British Battlecruisers. In many ways the thinking behind the ships designs were completely different. Germany sees their ships as "an auxillary to their battleline" capable as acting as a standing for a full Dreadnaught battleship if needed, because they dont have enough full Dreadnaughts to compete with the Grand Fleet, so they need the heavier armour and pay for that with fewer or smaller guns. The RN has a different role entirety for their Battle Cruisers /Battlecruisers; in that they are never envisaged as a stand-in for a Dreadnaught. The RN has enough full Dreadnaughts to overmatch the High Seas Fleet, so their role is different and they as such do not need as much protection. What they needed were vessels with Range, Speed and Firepower to dispatch commerce raiders across the globe (,see the battle of the Falklands for what happens to Germany's armoured cruisers vs 12" of the Invincible class). So they are designed as heavy scouting ships and trade protection. What Dogger Bank and Jutland show is....... What happens when you put a Rear-admiral in charge of these ships who fails to understand the role which Fisher had envisaged for these ships, when they are involved in a fleet engagement and believes that "rate of fire should override all safety protocols". I recomend you read the "Jutland Scandal" by both Vice Admiral John Harper and Admiral Reginald Bacon, they prity much destroy Beatty's command decisions and explain his failings and destroy the spin Beatty put on his testimony in the Admiralty review after the Battle of Jutland. Beatty should never have become 1st sea-lord in his later career, he should have been sent to the West Indies as the Governor of some small island in 1914, where his political talents would have been more useful- or have been sent to face von Spee off Coronel instead of Craddock and be lionised as the "lost hero". Beatty is a politician in uniform and is in the role because "he looks good to Churchill"; a self-publicist who believes in his own rhetoric and is promoted well above his capabilities. If you compared him against officers like Cradock or Sturdee you would find him wanting in his abilities to command ship(s) at sea; Beatty surrounded him self with officers who "look good in social situations or who had political/noble connections" (yes Seymour is directly related to the Duke of Norfolk)- not for their abilities to efficiently operate a ship or squadron of ships. Sorry about that I got off topic there, but i find the more I read about Beatty the more i find him an "expensive ornament". So back on the topic - RN and German ships had different design briefs....despite the classification being identical; and because of the view in the Washington treaty for the BC is similar to the German and Japanese PoV, that they are "capital ships" which can be used in the battle line with a full Dreadnaught, that the held view by many commentators like yourself is that RN' ships are deficient in armour. So think of the RN ships as "Battle-Cruisers" with a hyphen rather than "Battlecruisers" (one word). They are originally designated as "Dreadnaught Armoured Cruisers" by Fisher, which is a bit of a mouthful but describes their role as that of a "Cruiser" not a "Battleship". Their role should have been to lure the German ships into the Grand Fleet like a cruiser squadron would have done.....or in their case pull the German BC's into the path of the 4 QE class of 5BCS; which even with the shells with crap detonators would have poked enough 15" sized holes in the German BCs, that Hipper would have his Viking burial at sea.

[@ImportantHistory]

Some rather interesting points you bring up here. I am fully aware about Admiral Fisher's intentions with his "Dreadnought Armored Cruisers" and how they were not intended to fight in the battleline. However, the fact of the matter is that they did fight in the battleline against other capital ships and therefore Fishers intentions don't necessarily matter when you have a foxhunting man like Beatty who is going to go into the chase against ships his battlecruisers weren't really capable of fighting effectively. I think my favorite description of the difference between British and German battlecruiser construction comes from Gary Staff's German Battlecruisers of World War One, where he quotes Korvettenkapitän Vollerthun "In the type development of our großen Kreuzer since 07, inspired by the English Invincible class, we have increasingly pursued the qualities of a fast battleship with the intention of making the authorised number of large ships as far as possible also capable of fighting in the line. This approach with our großen Kreuzer since 07 has given them a different character to the English, and has brought their displacement to that of the battleships...(Going onto say and this is what is important) ‘The “English Battleship-Cruisers” stand against our “Cruiser-Battleships”.’ So, essentially what I am trying to say is that I don't entirely disagree with you. If these ships actually were used in their intended role to kill armored cruisers like at the Falklands they would have been fine. However, the fact of the matter is that they faced larger caliber guns of more than 8 inches and therefore did not have sufficient armor for that role. Also, I should mention that I do agree with your analysis of Beatty and I would never put it in a video to stay impartial, but looking back on some his decisions not only in command but in his personal life, he is a rather unique figure and something you don't see anymore these days!

[@sftommy01]

Japan's Kongo inspire the turret redistribution. Have to wonder if/how Tiger was somehow spared developing the bad ammunition handling practices of the rest of the BC fleet?

[@flash-dk1cc]

Not surprising . Considering it was built just up the coast from where Kongo was built

[@michaelpielorz9283]

there was NO unsafe ammunition handling. only the Churchill Fanboys are able to insult thousand brave sailors as suicidal idiots!

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

They were not designed to fight against heavier guns than 8 inch. They would have been fine if they weren’t ordered to mix it with the significantly different actual fast battleship German ships which should have been left for the Queen Elizabeths. Not all Beatty’s fault on the day, the established strategy was wrong.

[@bertmacdonald337]

Enjoyed that immensely, a far off time when we had many more ships than admirals! The Andrew of today is a joke in comparison.

[@brandysmith3977]

Good video. Please talk more slowly and enunciate better. Thank you.

[@ImportantHistory]

Thanks for the comment, just trying to improve as I go.

[@brandysmith3977]

Looked at your site and decided to subscribe.

[@JamesSavik]

If she looks a LOT like the Japanese Kongo, they are closely related.

[@mukkepedersen2346]

Not particularly you, but it seems to be a general trend of English speakers to pronounce it der-fling-er (meaning the thrower) with a stress on the second syllable. Why?? It is spelled with a double ff and there is nowhere in the German language you can start at syllable with a twin consonant, so obviously at least one of the f's must belong to the first syllable. The name derives from Dörfling (literally villager) and should therefore be pronounced derff-ling-er with a stress on the first syllable. Other than that, keep up the good work.

[@ImportantHistory]

I appreciate the well articulated comment! I'll try my best, but my midwestern mouth might struggle with that when I am recording.

[@nuke19491]

Excellent video; however, Moltke is pronounced ‘molt-kə’ not ‘molt-kay’

[@groton27]

How did NZ not take any damage ? She was the slowest of ships

[@ImportantHistory]

Through a combination of skilled handling and luck. Some say it might have something to do with the gifts she received from New Zealand when the ship visited her namesake. Which off the top of my head was a piece of traditional piece of Māori clothing and some sort of green necklace that the captain wore during battle.

[@leeneon854]

Stupid treatys, that nobody abided by, plus uk were Broke after WW1, tiger was looked at and in good condition, RN wanted to upgrade her, would been good asset going into WW2, trade R class class for tiger anyday, proven ship.

[@marcuswall3857]

Work on your delivery, slow down and above all sound interested. It sounds like you are reading a script that somebody else has written.

[@ImportantHistory]

It’s a process. I’m trying to improve, and it’s not exactly easy to change how I speak. I’ve slowed down considerably from when I started. I think another thing that people don’t take into consideration is audio equipment, and editing. Due to my equipment I have to change the sound to cut out background noise that impacts my tone. I’ll be purchasing new equipment here soon. I apologize for the long response, I’ve seen this comment a lot and obviously I try, it’s just not a change that happens over night.

[@blintzkreig1638]

Must we have children narrators?

[@ImportantHistory]

Yes. Because no one older is creative enough or has the technical skills to make videos on the subject.