HMVS Cerberus - Guide 232

[@Drachinifel]

Pinned Post for Q&A :)

[@Colt45hatchback]

Is the naval base named hmas cerberus because of this ship or is it a name with previous history?

[@scottmason2557]

You mention that Cerberus was built for the protection of Melbourne did any of the other states have similar vessels? Also how were the various state fleets combined to form the RAN? Were their any issues when the RAN was formed seeing how there are some rivalry between the states of New South Wales and Victoria?

[@Nipplator99999999999]

Know anything about the USNS Capable T-AGOS 16? I have 3 orange flavored life savers on my shop wall, but didn't get any high sea tales before my grandfather disowned me for joining the Army and also calling CV-1 Langley a boat... I really don't want to drown.

[@jorgem.alonso5409]

Who was Blas de Lezo? And how he was able to defeat an entire Navy? No naval historians want to tell this history

[@taswegian62]

Well done, I was going to suggest Cerberus as video. I've actually visited her a few times back in the 70s and 80s before the lower hull collapsed submerging the main deck forever.

[@Ciborium]

Drach: "And she was sold for scrap." Me: [expecting to hear "that's it for this video"] Drach: "But her story doesn't end here." Me: Wait, what?

[@robertf3479]

Drach does that every once in a while, and it's always interesting when he does.

[@RayyMusik]

Are there two versions? What I watched ended with the expected robo voice.

[@77thTrombone]

@@RayyMusik you must've fallen asleep. At 6:30 Drach says "… was sold for scrap," and then rolls into a statement about her being stripped & scuttled, _and then_ into another statement about her still being visible _along with_ a full color bird's eye view of the hull (see 6:46) If Drach inserted an extra 20 seconds of video, he did a great job of making it seemless.

[@HatandClogs2]

The name also lives on as the RAN training base, with the name HMAS Cerberus

[@1993Crag]

"And she was sold for scrap" Looks out the window and the tops of its turrets just poking out of the water and raises and eyebrow.

[@davidallen2058]

Raising the Cerberus is regularly called for during slow news periods but she still sits in Port Phillip Bay near the Blackrock pier.

[@helenlawson8426]

It's been falling apart over so many decades now and the only way i can see anything ever happening if someone very rich can buy it and push past all the red tape that although needed also often ends up condemning to destruction ships and building of historic importance. Easiest way is to build a museum around it so the water break is not lost but a restaurant & museum is gained. Other than that second best is to cut it into parts and bring those sections ashore so they can be preserved until such time the money can be found to put it back together in a museum building. What normally happens is those who have the rights over the vessel get stuck in a world of planning while the ship falls apart and is lost. The desire to have all the answers and all the pieces in place before doing anything in effect kills the the very thing they want to save.

[@LostBeaver]

Apparently there is going to be virtual tours sometime soon

[@molybdaen11]

After all this jears there should be not much left of the original ship. Would be faster and cheaper to build a replica.

[@davidallen2058]

@@molybdaen11 8 inches of armour takes a long time to rust.

[@johnladuke6475]

Raising her? Is the Australian navy doing worse than Canada's handful of angry canoes?

[@aussietaipan8700]

Thanks Drach, excellent video. As a Melbourne born and bred fella, as a young kid used to swim out to Cerberus with my mates and use the rear turret as a diving platform. I never knew the history of this boat so great work. This should be shown in local schools history lessons. She is a break water at Half Moon Bay off Black Rock Melbourne Victoria.

[@Deevo037]

Ha, you got me there, I'd never heard of HMVS before.

[@HamboThomp]

Her Majesty's Vietnamese Ship.

[@adriaandeleeuw8339]

@@HamboThomp Her Majesties VICTORIAN Ship, Victoria being an independent (well sort of) Colony on the Continent of Australia before 1901.

[@RedtailFox1]

There was also HMQS (His Majesty's Queensland Ship) that was applied to the vessels of the Queensland Maritime Defence Force which included a Submarine Mine tender (HMQS Miner) and a pair of 'Flat Iron' gunboats.

[@RedtailFox1]

@@adriaandeleeuw8339 and at that time it would still have been 'His Majesty's Victorian Ship' since there would have still been a king kicking around at that point in history

[@HamboThomp]

@@RedtailFox1 No, Queen Victoria was queen at this time.

[@lmorandini]

I walked on her deck a couple times, and I can attest the teak backing the turret armour is still there, more than 150 years after building. The turret armour has an additional internal iron layer (one inch or so), to prevent the teak layer from splintering I suppose. The hull is a collapsed shambles of beams and plates (one diver died trapped there a few years back), but she is still upright.

[@tominiowa2513]

Ryan Szimanski at Battleship New Jersey mentioned that since his ship is in fresh water, they have an easier time preserving metal parts than the other Iowas, but a harder time preserving the wooden deck.

[@sawyerawr5783]

I know its a hopeless dream...but I can't shake the love for the idea that, someday, HMVS Cerberus could rise above the waves once more. It'll never happen, but I a man can dream.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Holy hell, making a Monitor cross oceans. Absolute madlads

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

Actually the USN used to regularly send its monitors over to the Phillipines in the 1900s. I once saw a photograph of the USS Monterey transiting the Pacific in somewhat iinteresting sea conditions for a ship with zero freeboard.

[@datadavis]

Don't expect anime incel basement dwellers to know anything about anything🤣

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@notshapedforsportivetricks2912 it was another ship, the USS Monadnock: external-preview.redd.it/UGlo_ymoQfNwrZNzpV0qyv9Z7zwGAtgUHrifWGbuqwg.jpg?auto=webp&s=822a9c8f5e5bb0ccba52865edba5d2e01d24fef0

[@notshapedforsportivetricks2912]

@@bostonrailfan2427 Thanks very much for taking the trouble of finding that, but I'm afraid that its not the photo I'm thinking of. The one that I remember is a profile shot of a monitor with a single turret forward with most of her nose buried in a swell. Mind you, in either case, I'd be sleeping on deck in a life jacket. 😵

[@afx935]

The U.S. did send some of its double turreted CW monitors to Europe. They were built up with temporary bulwarks though to make the voyage.

[@doughart2720]

Thanks Drach. The Cerberus is quite close to my home so it's really great to see this. Thank you.

[@Colt45hatchback]

Where is she?

[@doughart2720]

@@Colt45hatchback Half Moon bay at Black Rock in Port Phillip bay in Victoria Australia.

[@jerichom11x]

Awesome to see Australia getting some more love. Even if technically this was before Australia was it's own country.

[@NGC-gu6dz]

Australia isn't even real, I read about it on the internet. How can it be it's own country since the earth is flat?

[@schaferhundschmidt1798]

It still isn't. You don't see Queen Elizabeth on our money in the US. 😏

[@montecarlo1651]

@@schaferhundschmidt1798 Ha ha, Australian's are just cheap, they borrow the head of state from the UK rather than having to pay for a real one themselves.

[@markfryer9880]

@@montecarlo1651 Oh don’t worry, we pay through the nose whenever any of them come Downunder on a Royal Tour.

[@montecarlo1651]

@@markfryer9880 True but mercifully rare that is.

[@mariuspontmercy2736]

Kudos to Drach for reviewing a ship I can see (or at least see what's left of it) in my home town

[@stephenrickstrew7237]

The mythical hound from hell is still guarding the underworld ... underwater world 🌎

[@richmcgee434]

I have this lovely mental image of Herakles marching up to Eurystheus dragging this ship behind him. "Hades said Persephone took his dog to the vet for a teeth cleaning (long process what with all the heads) but this ought to do as a substitute, right?"

[@si2foo]

it guarded the gate of hell melbourne's river.

[@kerberospresents2862]

That would make me a true sea-dog! Arg!

[@errinundra9798]

Cerberus, the hound, had three heads. Cerberus, the ship, was intended to guard the Rip - the narrow entrance to Port Phillip Bay - along with gun batteries on the western and eastern shores. Enemy ships - presumably Russians after the colony's precious goldfields wealth - would be pinned by fire from three directions, hence the name. It's also intriguing that Ned Kelly was imprisoned in 1872-3 in a hulk moored off Williamstown where Cerberus was stationed. I often wonder if the armoured turrets inspired his own armour.

[@RCAvhstape]

Guarding against Cthulu

[@darzb480]

Thank you Drach. As we drove past HMVS Cerberus last week my wife asked me about it. I may not have remembered the Sorrento to Queenscliff ferry captains spiel correctly... in the advent of a hostile fleet sailing thru the Port Philip heads Cerberus was to take up position in the man made reef " popes eye" in the middle of the gap to fill to arch of fire deficit from Fort Nepean guns on one side and Fort Queenscliffs guns on the other. You can also still see on google earth the remains of a submarine beached on the Queenscliff side.

[@herbertvonsauerkrautunterh2513]

I had a look at the wreck several times when I was a cook in the main galley at HMAS Cerberus the depot.. pretty cool. Would have been good if it was kept as a museum ship

[@frankholden237]

The ship in the background at 4:04 is HMVS Nelson ex HMS Nelson dating from 1814. She lasted in one form or another until 1920. Various artifacts from her can still be seen at Williamstown. Melbourne was at the time the richest city in the British Empire - the jewel in Queen Victoria's crown - and the perceived threat to the colony of Victoria at the time was from the Russians. This also led to the heavy fortification of the entrance to Port Phillip both ashore and on two artificial islands, the South Channel Fort and the uncompleted Popes Eye. Worth a story in their own right.

[@VhenRaTheRaptor]

Didn't those fortifications fire the first shots of the British Empire in both World Wars?

[@sentimentalbloke185]

@@VhenRaTheRaptor From Point Nepean & Quenscliff. The artificial islands (South Channel fort & Pope's Eye were never completed.

[@colinb1532]

Melbourne is ,of course, at the northern end of Port Phillip Bay, a large enclosed shallow bay. The Cerberus was designed not to go beyond the Portsea/ Queenscliff heads, which had forts protecting them. The conditions inside the bay would rarely, if ever, see waves large enough to trouble a vessel with even the minimal freeboard of the Cerberus. Victoria was the worlds leading producer of gold at the time, and had both the money and the incentive to invest in a bit of port protection. The opening shots of both World Wars were fired by the twin forts mere hours after the declaration of war, in both cases to prevent German freighters from fleeing the port. The name HMAS Cerberus lives on as the name of the RAN training base, located near Hastings, about an hours drive southeast of Melbourne, on Westernport Bay. Fort Queenscliff is still in use for administration purposes, as well as being open for tourists as a museum.

[@robertbennett270]

Prompted me to check it out on Google Earth...and there it is, clear as day. Fantastic...Thx Drach

[@kevinmccarthy8746]

Good morning from sunny Mexico. The show about the HMVS Cerberus was written absolutely beautiful. The last little eulogy was especially well written. Kevin.

[@stephenbeucler7645]

That is one of the best looking and layed-out ironclad-monitors I have ever seen. I like it!

[@benjaminmiller3548]

As a Victorian I'm suprised, seeing I have never heard of this ship yet knew that the colony of Victoria had a ship before federation.

[@changingform250]

A trip to Sandringham and Black Rock is in order. She makes a sorry sight though.

[@iansadler4309]

Look up HMVS Nelson, too! Cut down twice iirc but began as one of the most powerful First Rates ever built.

[@barryhamm3414]

There was also the HMQS Gayundah in the Queensland Navy en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMQS_Gayundah

[@trooperdgb9722]

@@barryhamm3414 And HMCS Protector from South Australia which was, for her time, the most heavily armed ship in the Southern Hemisphere. 1 x 8" BL , 5 x 6" BL, 4 x 3pdr Hotchkiss QF, and FIVE (!) x 10 barrelled Gatlings (presumably rifle calibre.) She saw service in China in 1900 , temporarily as "HMS PROTECTOR". (Under the command of CAPT W.R. Creswell who is considered the "father" of the RAN.

[@DanielBray]

Thanks Drach. Your Melbournian fans really appreciate this one.

[@nickhanlon9331]

She is also the namesake of the naval cadet base nearby. You see some lads wearing their H,M,A,S, Cerebus uniforms from time to time.

[@scottparker7752]

HMAS cerberus is the training base for the Australian Navy, with most service personal serving there... it has a museum, that houses part of the original ship www.navy.gov.au/heritage/museums/museum-hmas-cerberus

[@agentorange6085]

The ship itself was used as the Royal Australian Naval College for many years while it was anchored in the mouth of the Yarra River. It was renamed HMAS Platypus II when it was reassigned as a submarine tender in 1921.

[@guyplachy9688]

Being nit-picky I know, but it's "ratings" (adult entry, in my day), not "cadets" ... Although, I guess there could be RAN Cadets training there. Gunnery School, Catering School, Signals School, plus one or two others used to be there, too.

[@nickhanlon9331]

@@guyplachy9688 Thanks.

[@Taurencowpew]

In my windsurfing days, I'd go to half-moon bay and sail around Cerberus. Deck wasn't fully submerged at that point. Cool vid.

[@sniper.93c14]

Me and my mates would used to swim out to this ship odd black rock and the dive off the decks. It was bloody good fun and great memories, some close calls when we were in the higher deck. It’s great to hear the history of it

[@garethmoorhead8237]

I'd love to hear about HMVS Nelson, a ship of the line also purchased by Victoria around that time. Her guns are still visible in parks all around Victoria.

[@cullgale8491]

Overlook by the Cerberus boathouse - some of the best fish & Chips in Melbourne - if you can avoid the sea gulls

[@sunshadow7XK]

Mate you and me both know there's no such thing as avoiding the seagulls.

[@Duckless23]

The first time we went there they had run out of fish!

[@roadie3124]

I used to ride down Beach Road a couple of times a week when I lived in Melbourne. It was good to see the remains Cerberus just off Black Rock - like a throwback to the American Civil War. You don't normally see monitors these days.

[@FEStanley]

Thank you for featuring the Cerberus, the last surviving warship from my several times great grandfathers yard. I suspect a lot of the iron came from his mines and Ironworks too!

[@mathewkelly9968]

Yay thank you drac . Mega pleased

[@riverraven7359]

Even as a breakwater she still defends the harbour, an honourable retirement for a coastal defence ship I think.

[@TheNavalGuy]

I’m not gonna lie but this monitor looks pretty good, great video btw!

[@DrivermanO]

I was quite intrigued by your time line of design, construction and commissioning. The Suez Canal was started in 1859, completed 1869. So if she was designed in 1866, as you say to go through the Med, then the powers that be were betting on the completion of the canal before she sailed in 1870, otherwise it was round the Cape via Capetown, which with that freeboard would have been somewhat perilous! That was a close call! And displayed rather more foresight than their usual.

[@robertf3479]

I'd never heard of this ship prior to this video but Drach makes even the unknown or 'forgotten' interesting. Thank you sir.

[@deathwish3611]

As a Victorian this is amazing info I always wanted more Australian videos.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Is it true that the great Bill Lawry believes that only Victorians are real Australians?

[@mikepette4422]

hehe Antipodean Home...nicely done. Probably the last time you'll use that word in a video but by all means try again ;)

[@Deevo037]

Plenty of RAN ships to talk about.

[@richcbri]

Also applicable to RNZN ships as well.

[@CFarnwide]

@@richcbri Thanks for mentioning New Zealand. It’s been a while since I’ve read anything about their service. I think this rainy, drizzley day is a perfect excuse to do a little NZ research. 👍😎👍

[@afx935]

Had to look that one up.

[@77thTrombone]

Drach will use that word again. Guaranteed, 'cause he's Drach. (I had to look it up, too)

[@greg.kasarik]

Thanks heaps for this! As a Victorian who has swum around and interreacted with, the wreck of Cerberus, I was going to suggest such a video, but I am glad that you have beaten me to the punch. Many of us in Australia still hold out that she can be raised and saved, although as time goes on, it seems that her fate is increasingly likely to be to simply rust away, missed only once she is gone. :-(

[@-TheRealChris]

Yes!!!! Meany thanks, I have always hoped you would one day cover this historic local breakwater.

[@mrlittlesoldier74]

Worthy fact that I think should be mentioned is that when she was renamed to HMAS Platypus (ii) in 1921 the Flinders Naval Depot was given her name. And today HMAS Cerberus is where all the RANs Enlisted sailors go for their basic training.

[@gregbolitho9775]

nice 1 m8, was hopin to find out about a bit more bout Cerberus. I visited Cerberus in the 80s as a member of the 7th battalion Royal Victorian Regiment. we were marched along the dock an put on a boat for French Island for fun as our officers called it. The boat passed Cerberus now sunk an been lookin for something to tell me more about her an her history. so thanks m8.

[@michaelk19thcfan10]

I enjoy these videos about Victorian era ships. They tend to get ignored. One can see the rapid pace of technological changes over the last half of the 19th century.

[@cameronsimpson8152]

Hi Drach. It's great to see you putting this one together. Cerberus is still a Melbourne landmark, as is her original "bunker" Pope's Eye in Port Philip where she was supposed to fire from on the enemy as they entered Port Philip Heads. The story goes that many of the crew desserted during her passage out under Captain Panter.

[@Nick-rs5if]

I've actually been to John and Nils Ericsson's childhood home in Långban a couple years ago. I was born not too far from there myself. The place is beautiful! 😄

[@dropbear3434]

good to see the Flag ship of my States navy for a time been and seen it myself a few times and my father trained at the Cerberus base in the 60s

[@harryrcarmichael]

TY - helping fill in that awkward age between sail and modern ships.

[@stevelangstroth5833]

The turret, engine, guns, anchor and many other items from the USS Monitor have been raised and are being conserved in Virginia. They found two skeletons in the turret, but have not yet been able to identify them through DNA. The USS Monitor sank on 30 December, 1862 off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

[@montecarlo1651]

Thanks Drach, great to see the Cerberus get some love.

[@pjnpurcell]

We used to have an annual 'race' to Cerberus from Royal Brighton Yacht Club in the 70s. We set up bbqs on the main deck and explored the vessel. The cannons were still aboard, and we could walk (crouched) inside her . The boiler Room was flooded and open to the sea, beautiful to watch the fish and the light from the dim messes. My last memory of her was that she lay with about 1 foot of freeboard, which would have been her fighting depth/height.

[@patrickmajewski2137]

Thanks enjoyed this Drach. A grant was made some years ago to try to preserve, or even lift her. This money has now got into the hands of the local council whom want to fill her with concrete. The 'Save the Cerberus' group have pointed out that such a treatment will almost ensure she can never be lifted in the future(yep it is still possible) and despite being informed there is a proven cheaper and more effective way to do this using a special foam, they continue to pursue the concrete path. It seems that if does not kick a football there is no State Government support for preserving our maritime heritage - we are the only State without a formal Sate Maritime Museum.

[@danielbardan5697]

From my home port. Melbourne.

[@VonChoker]

thanks for covering this fascinating ship based in my home of Australia

[@abberant3112]

Let’s go! Me and my dad have been waiting on this for ages

[@chrisdebeyer1108]

Excellent Review as always.

[@Darryl_Frost]

Done a few courses at HMAS Cerberus back in the day.

[@vespelian5769]

The Victorian Navy, as opposed to the then ruler ruler of the seas. Nice work as usual Drach, I've been curious about this ship as some of my folks came from Tasmania, which is not far away from Melbourne in the scale of things.

[@stevbrkr]

My brother and I boarded her around 1992. At that point, her main deck was still well out of the water. She has since collapsed somewhat. A friend of mine has dived on her for many years and the lower portion of her hull has started to collapse and all the plating has fallen away. Very sad and a waste. Not far from Cerberus is the remains of a J Class submarine, J7, still visible but in very poor condition at Sandringham Yacht Club.

[@Geebax2]

Sandringham? Actually the sub is on the Eastern tip of Swan Island.

[@johnfisher9692]

We Aussies thank you Drach

[@yalelingoz6346]

I'd kind of wondered where HMAS Cerberus as a legacy name came from, it's so out of place with the other RAN names. And I'd idly wondered about the pre-federation New South Wales and Victorian navies but never remember to look into them. So double thanks for this video then Drach :D

[@mflashhist500]

Thanks Drach another interesting piece of history and once again your “tip of the cap” to Aussie naval history is very much appreciated by us “Antipodeans” ! :)

[@rodondo3929]

*Rubs hands* Oh boy the flagship of my favourite navy, will we hear of HMVS Nelson one day?

[@sophiepaterson7444]

Fascinating. I've never heard of this before. 👍

[@dillonrinehart8319]

If you go to brigade miniatures, under Great Britain, in there areonef listing. You can get a model of this vessel

[@mattblom3990]

Staying up until 4:45AM Vancouver time with the whiskey waiting for this :)

[@mikeupton5406]

Worked all night and came home to this. Bedtime history lesson.

[@geoffreyrichardson8738]

You didn't mention that two of the guns can still be seen at the RANs training establishment HMAS Cerberus, Westernport Victoria

[@johnv341]

The 10" Armstrong RML's were removed from the turrets to reduce the weight on the weakened hull, and I understand that they now rest on the seabed near the Cerberus.

[@geoffreyrichardson8738]

There were four ten inch Armstrong, two lie on the sea bed, the other two are at the RAN training depot, HMAS Cerberus as previously stated

[@johnv341]

@@geoffreyrichardson8738 Major Bill Billet, in Victoria's Guns, A Field Guide, 1995, states that 4 of Cerberus 10" guns are on the seabed (as previously stated), a damaged one is at HMAS Cerberus, and one is/was somewhere in the UK. I would be interested to know if that situation has subsequently changed.

[@geoffreyrichardson8738]

Sorry my bad there is only the one at Cerberus

[@johnv341]

@@geoffreyrichardson8738 As the one at HMAS Cerberus is the only one which we can view, I must take a trip there to see it. I have an interest in Armstrong RML's. Currently modelling an Armstrong 6.3" garrison RML, based on those at Warrnambool and Port Fairy. johnsmachines.com

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

Surprised that an ocean going wooden sailing ship wasn't built around it to be disassembled and possibly reassembled as a separate ship upon arrival in Australia.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

She was built up for the journey.

[@wadeenyart9676]

Just wanted to say I enjoy all of your content, thank you sir. I use clips from some of videos while teaching my united states class.

[@agesflow6815]

Thank you, Drachinifel.

[@EclecticTastes]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@jayartz8562]

Grew up seeing it from my house, swimming through it and doing bombs jumping down the funnel. Fantastic to see a vid on it. I believe one the big guns was only fired once and smashed a lot of residential house windows and they were never fired again

[@ed777tx-edward8]

Thank you for an interesting video. Informative and well done. As always awaiting your next post. Edward

[@gunner678]

Great video

[@edwinlamont4187]

I remember swimming out to her in the early 80's, the hull was above water then, not by much, we'd climb aboard and dive off. And Melbourne is pronounced Mal-bin, you pome's always stuff it up.

[@Colt45hatchback]

Where is she? The only cerberus i know of is the base

[@Kezardin]

@@Colt45hatchback Off half Moon Bay - the hulk is visible on Google.

[@edwinlamont4187]

@@Colt45hatchback Half Moon Bay, Black Rock.

[@owenshebbeare2999]

Lord Melbourne was English, so the8r traditional pronunciatuon can be somewhat excused, certainly over the tiresome American mispronunciation of our city's name.

[@pshehan1]

Have swum out to Cerberus from the beach at Half Moon bay. It is almost criminal that a vessel which is so historic in terms of warship development has been left to rust away.

[@thequietcraftsman]

Ooo I recognize that stereoscopic picture of monitors at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston

[@mattwoodard2535]

IIRC the tv show "Mysteries of the Abandon" did a segment on this ship. Even had people go aboard. sm

[@simongleaden2864]

The series is known as Abandoned Engineering on British TV. It is shown quite often on Freeview 26, "Yesterday".

[@na3044]

Yay, ironclad content!

[@kerberospresents2862]

A ship named Cerberus? Okay, must click. :D Would have clicked anyway because Drachinifel's content is always enlightening.

[@genefrederickson8976]

As always, a tasty bit of information about a unique warship, Bravo Zulu. In a related topic... When I was a teenage USN sea cadet I spent a number of weekends aboard a relatively unmodified US Naval Reserve Fletcher class destroyer, USS Marshall DD 676. I've always wondered about other reserve ships and their post-active duty service records. Could you relate some of the more interesting stories, like the time Fletcher banged into the pier at CFB Esquimalt, BC. Thanks again from a life long naval history enthusiast

[@snarkymatt585]

I was just talking to my Dad about HMVS Cerebus this afternoon and this pops up in my feed... Being that this video has only been released an hour or so (and I didn't have my phone on me during the aforementioned conversation) it's safe to say that this is not the result of my phone spying on me to feed the KZbin algorithm but instead a truly pleasant coincidence.

[@bcluett1697]

It would be interesting to know if any neighbouring powers took note of Cerberus and decided to avoid entanglements not having a direct answer to it. Sometimes the best warship is the the kind that "looks" threatening whether it's capable or not.

[@workingguy-OU812]

Now that's awesome!

[@Zlorthishen]

finally a warship story that isn't ended.

[@WalterReimer]

Nice comprehensive armor scheme.

[@cameo25000]

You are getting a lot of love in the comments section of the World War 2 channel. Indy made the comment, “The British better hope Admiral King has a short memory.” Some people are suggesting you feel Admiral King has anything but such a memory when it comes to the British.

[@BucksSuperStereoWorld]

Thanks Drach! That was really interesting.

[@davedrewett2196]

I first dived on the wreck in 1973

[@MrFangsea]

One ship I would love to have visited as a museum ship.

[@Achates72]

Anyone else notice at 5:40 how there appears to be a spotting nest mounted directly in the ships exhaust?

[@RiflemanMoore]

I was wondering when she might make an appearance!

[@lewisirwin5363]

Could you consider looking at the naval assets of the New Zealand Wars, particularly the river gunboats like _Pioneer?_

[@philip4846]

Its remains a great place to scuba dive.

[@oneispispike3205]

That was a very cool video!! I too had never heard HMVS before. My Grandfather serves on the battleship North Carolina, was wondering if You could do a video on her??

[@mycroft1905]

Poor old Cerberus. In the 1970s, used to be able to swim out and climb onto the deck, clamber over the breastwork and into the turrets. The teak was in great condition. Keen snorkellers (e.g. me) could take a breath, swim underwater through a hole in one side of the hull plating, explore the engine and boiler rooms, then swim out through a hole in the other side. But an armoured superstructure and guns weighing several thousand tons sitting on a hull weighing less than a thousand tons, together with decades of corrosion, saw her hull frames buckle in a mid 1990s storm and she began her long submergence. A gun was removed, placed alongside and wired to the hull as sacrificial anode, but this has only slowed the inevitable decline of structural integrity. Time marches relentlessly onward and most human follies must pass. If you are interested, a history of the colonial Victorian navy is still available secondhand; 'Deeds not Words' by Wilson P. Evans. The writing is terrible, but the information contained is priceless. Artefacts from naval vessels of this period are to be found preserved across Victoria, particularly the ordinance, such as a five-barrelled Norenfelt on pedestal mount in the Museums Victoria collection that fascinated me as a child (and still does).

[@Jinx7blue]

wow still there June 2021!

[@presidentxijinpingspoxdoct9756]

We used to jump off the Cerberus when we were children...... it was scuttled off a great little beach in Melbourne.

[@rblinson8136]

How about a piece on the USS Raleigh CL-7? Raleigh is the capital city of my home state North Carolina. :)

[@andrewmcalister3462]

Nice one Drach. I actually cycled past the Cerberus this morning. My understanding is that repeated surveys over the past 3 decades have concluded it is not feasible to raise. Doesn't stop politicians promising yet another study every election...

[@rosiehawtrey]

Might mention it to John Cadogan - feasible in this case just means "how much money!!?". They raised the Mary Rose..

[@SamhainBe]

Beautiful in her utility...would not like to have crewed aboard across blue water!

[@graemeaddicott3731]

After the loss of HMS Captain, a turret ship, in a storm off Cape Finisterre, finding a crew for Cerberus for the delivery voyage to Melbourne was very difficult. Bulwarks were added to her sides and she was rigged for sail also. This period of technological transition ... from HMS Warrior to HMS Devastatio is fascinating.

[@robdgaming]

This ship is on a segment of "Mysteries of the Abandoned" on Science Channel in the US. This show is a good rundown of the ship and its history, but repeatedly overstates that it was "at the cutting edge of technology" in its day, "one of the most formidable weapons ever built". If this coastal defense turret ship was among the most advanced warships when it entered service, I'm sure it was outclassed within a few years.

[@d0cOnline]

Coffee and Drach? Yes please.