KMS Gneisenau - Guide 282

The Gneisenau, a fast battleship of Kriegsmarine, is today's subject. (NOTE - KMS is used as a way to distinguish WW2 era German ships from WW1 era vessels, which often have the same name, the Germans did not use KMS at the time).
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[@Drachinifel]

Pinned post for Q&A :)

[@ramal5708]

Can you do a video about USN establishment of Fast Carrier Task Force in late 1943? The purpose, how they operate etc

[@michaelkovacic2608]

Can you do a detailed video about Gneisenau's intended rebuild? It was not only intended to mount 380mm guns, but this also necessitated the lengthening of the ship by approximately 10 meters and the structural strengthening of the barbettes. Gneisenau required a new bow due to the fire damage, and to keep the balance after the lengthening, a new stern was also necessary.

[@Drachinifel]

@@rictusmetallicus the channel is aimed at people at all levels of understanding. KMS/DKM is semi-widely used to distinguish WW2 era German ships, so I have it as an easy way for newer viewers to recognise its a WW2 era ship instead of a WW1 era vessel.

[@abberant3112]

Was wondering if you were thinking of covering any leander class light carriers, e.g the hmas perth?

[@scottmason2557]

@@abberant3112 he has done one on both HMS Leader and HMAS Sydney

[@snagletoothscott3729]

In terms of a distraction, it worked, they now had Hood, Nelson, Rodney and Dunkirk all closing on their position. However, this left them in a situation where Hood, Nelson, Rodney and Dunkirk were all closing on their position". Pretty much sums up the entire history of the German Navy. "Admiral, I got good news and bad news" "What's the good news?" "Our plan worked, the entire enemy fleet had changed course and is heading our way." "Fantastic. What's the bad news?" "The entire enemy fleet has changed course and is heading our way".

[@tcpratt1660]

The Scharnhorst would have been finished at any one of these distractive engagements, if only the RN had brought either the HNoMS Stord or the ORP Piorun, preferably both, along.

[@RCAvhstape]

Drachism of the Day

[@timonsolus]

That's 'Dunkerque', not 'Dunkirk'. (French ship, not Scottish). Merci beaucoup.

[@bishop6218]

"Fetch me my red shirt. And my brown pants !"

[@MonsieurPhilippe1]

@@bishop6218: Red shirt is dead shirt?

[@BHuang92]

Amazingly Gneisenau's 28 cm turret Caesar at Austrått Fort, Norway was still in operation until 1991 when it was converted into a museum. The guns were last fired in 1953!

[@KomradIosif]

Do they still perform regular maintenance on the turret or just don't let it rust?

[@Pow3llMorgan]

Two of her secondary twin 15 cm turrets are part of a military installation which was operational until 2000. It's also now a museum. I don't know that the guns themselves were in operation until the end, and rumor was that there was very little ammunition available in any case.

[@ramal5708]

What's the purpose of the gun turret at the Fort until 1991? Shooting fishing trawlers?

[@wingy252]

@@ramal5708 One never knows when those fishing trawlers may very well be Japanese torpedo boats in disguise.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

@@Pow3llMorgan Where are those turrets located? I knew of the Austratt turret, but I wasn't aware that some of Gneisenau's secondary turrets are also still in existence.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

Given that one of Gneisenau's main battery turrets is preserved, you can honestly say that more of a German battleship is still in existence than of a British one.

[@greycatturtle7132]

Ye

[@SelikBzdy]

Yikes

[@jawadad802]

I'm sure the queen salvaged some coasters and a matchbook from the vanguard...

[@InternetEntity]

*Mournful 'Rule Britania' rendition*

[@charliescott7764]

What about HMS Victory?

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

My Grandpa served on her as a machinist. Was send onboard a ship captured during Operation Berlin as part of the prize crew and bacame a PoW as that ship was recaptured shortly after by a Canadian destroyer. He spend 7 years as prisoner in Canada, had a good time there befor being discharged some time after the war. So i guess he got really lucky with his war time experience, had it gone differently i probably would not exist :D

[@mrains100]

Good to be alive!

[@The_cestelin_Holland]

The butterfly effect

[@colbeausabre8842]

I can think of worse places to sit out WW2 than Canada. French Canadian girls are SO sexy!

[@whyjnot420]

"had it gone differently i probably would not exist" I think this is a line many of us can relate to when talking about our parents or grandparents. (the more generations you consider the more likely this becomes, but also the further removed from the present it becomes, so I will leave it at that) For me it relates to my father being thrown out of a Huey during liftoff while in Vietnam. The pilot went back down and others on the helicopter grabbed my dad before taking off again. There are a few ways this could have gone very differently. And thinking of that, today is his birthday (he was literally born the day the Germans surrendered and I mean _the_ day, not the anniversary, though V-E day is celebrated on the 8th, the initial signing of Germanys act of military surrender was the 7th) and it is time to give him a call.

[@KGKraetzerMedia]

How was your grandfather a POW seven years was he returned after 1945?

[@koidakismanolis6349]

KMS Drydock ..... but certainly one of the most beautiful ship class ever built

[@dave_h_8742]

Us Sneaky British waited till repaired in drydock then bombed it 😀

[@bishop6218]

@@dave_h_8742 which is brilliant ! The naval equivalent of wounding an enemy soldier vs. killing him. I wonder how many U-Boats they could have built just with the resources necessary for all the repairs...

[@barfuss2007]

Scharnhorst AND Gneisenau sank HMS Glorious including two destroyers in 1940 with roundbout 1.500 deads.

[@korbell1089]

"forecast says swells of 3 ft." Cpt:"Just great, that means we are going to be in drydock for 6 weeks!"

[@ALRIGHTYTHEN.]

So, in essence she was a training ship for repair crews to practice on.

[@V-V1875-h]

Dry dock workers need a job

[@cosminetron]

@@V-V1875-h The Royal Navy is a capitalist myth invented by german drydock crews to repair more ships

[@V-V1875-h]

@@cosminetron yep

[@wolftamer5463]

A lot of German surface ships were.

[@lauraj349]

The shot of her at 3:40 is such a gorgeous one , really showing off how good looking this ship was.

[@juancarlonavarra8397]

Someone should put Gneisenau on a 'Suffering from Success' meme.

[@Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Scharnhorst: *Prepare for trouble* Gneisenau: *And make it double* -The Ugly Sisters' operational history

[@issacfoster1113]

Operational career also the same as Team R 👀

[@Paludion]

@@issacfoster1113 "Class Scharnhorst is back to dry dock again !" *disappears over the horizon*

[@gustaveliasson5395]

Ugly? The nerve!

[@BruceRKF]

The two were unlucky and well in over their head for sure, but how dare you call them ugly??? Two pretty ladies they were, and no discussion allowed! ;)

[@shoootme]

So who's Meowth?

[@ginaza9767]

'Charging through a storm with all guns blazing' I enjoyed that description of HMS Renown muchly.

[@weldonwin]

Immediately puts me in mind of the "CAPTAIN! LOOK!!!" Meme

[@Hastur_the_King_in_Yellow]

@@weldonwin My mind went to "I AM THE STORM THAT IS APPROOOACHING!"

[@nickcher7071]

@@weldonwin "OH SCHEIẞE"

[@weldonwin]

@@nickcher7071 *"KAPTAIN!!!* "Jah?" *"LUHK!!!"* *(Rule Britannia Blaring Across The Waves)*

[@pdlagasse]

Pronouncing the name differently each time is brilliant-and also a great way to keep anyone from complaining about incorrect pronunciation.

[@bjorganmorten]

Pronunciation is more or less very bad, could someone ask the narrator to open his mouth while talking?

[@whyjnot420]

3:40 This photo with the crepuscular rays and backlit silhouette might be the best photo of this ship I have ever seen.

[@muznick]

Interesting word, crepuscular. Can't recall ever seeing it before.

[@whyjnot420]

@@muznick Technically speaking they are only crepuscular rays when it happens during morning or evening twilight. "Crepuscular" literally means 'of or relating to twilight'. From the latin _crepusculum_ meaning 'twilight'. That said, I think sunbeam is too generic a term and I abhor the god/buddah ray term. And while not 100% technically correct, they are often enough called crepuscular that I use it. edit: Fun fact: cats are not actualy nocturnal, they are crepuscular. Their eyes are honed for hunting in the twilight. Which also explains why they sleep for 22-23 hours a day.

[@muznick]

@@whyjnot420 You lost me when you dropped cats into your reply. They stink up your house 24 hours per day.

[@whyjnot420]

@@muznick Who said anything about _domestic_ cats? Not me. :P On a more serious note that fact was really meant to give an additional example of the term crepuscular in use as well as give a common example of where to use it if you ever feel like being a smartass to someone :D. (next time someone tells you cats are nocturnal, you can slap them with this)

[@riverraven7359]

I think the crew of HMS Rodney were taking her escape personally by that point. A third encounter would not have been advisable.

[@bara922]

Especially given what Rodney did once she caught up to Bismarck.

[@riverraven7359]

@@bara922 exactly. Ok Bismarck couldn't maneuver and Rodney has a turning circle measured in colonies passed but I'm sure it would end the same.

[@bara922]

Rodney's crew seemed to abide by the doctrine of "unload absolutely everything" so it would be bad news for anyone on the receiving end. My favorite part of the Bismarck battle is that Rodney was the only British ship to report any damage and it was from firing so many times she damaged her own mainframe.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@riverraven7359 Well, Andrew Cunningham, who commanded one, said that the Nelsons were as manoeuvrable as the Queen Elizabeths. I suggest that his opinion carries more weight than yours.

[@michaelpielorz9283]

Remember Adm Tovey`s remarks when he saw Rodney shooting on the defensless Bismarck on close range.

[@MicartPL]

Personally had had a chance to use one of Gneisenau's smaller electric generators salvaged from it at laboratory in Gdańsk University of Technology just before laboratory was being renovated around 2015 :)

[@oriontaylor]

Did the generator survive the renovation?

[@martinfranke846]

You mean Danzig?

[@Italian_Military_Archives]

Great as usual! I admit that I have always found Gneisenau and Scharnhorst more interesting than Bismarck and Tirpitz

[@simonpitt8145]

Well they had more varied and successful careers, so that's possibly why.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

And yet, no one makes metal Rock Band songs about them.

[@mbryson2899]

@@WALTERBROADDUS Of course not. Fans would fight over proper pronunciations.

[@Jpdt19]

Agreed

[@luisnunes3863]

@@WALTERBROADDUS Valliant last stands have a strange allure.

[@bobkile9734]

Gneisenau’s firs half of her career: “Sir, the distraction worked! All the enemy ships are heading towards us!” “Excellent! Wait…CRAP!!!”

[@KillBones]

With the Atlantic bow, it's one the most beautifull battlewagons

[@DisSabot]

I played a drinking game where I would take a shot whenever Drach mentioned storm damage, repairs or drydock in this video. It didn’t go well.

[@dave_h_8742]

😂 hangover from Hell 😂

[@therealuncleowen2588]

Dead of alcohol poisoning?

[@mattwoodard2535]

I'm surprised you didn't get alcohol poisoning. sm

[@vespelian5769]

The Atlantic bow and funnel cap was so much of an aesthetic improvement, giving her near Italian chic.

[@mbr5742]

Part of the refit would have included a red paint job to make her go faster

[@deaks25]

It's quite a rare thing to see images of the original straight-stem bow on the ships. It shows the ship with a very different profile, especially compared to the Atlantic Bow V2.0.

[@corneliuscrewe677]

Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen it actually. Only ever read about it before.

[@geoffbarney5914]

Yeah, and it looked way uglier before the Atlantic bow tbh

[@deaks25]

@@corneliuscrewe677 I don’t think there are too many photos from that time, seemingly because they caught onto the problem quite quickly.

[@vipertwenty249]

I suppose it could be said she was lucky, in that the constant time being repaired and eventual use as a blockship probably saved most of her crew from the fate that befell the Scharnhorst.

[@deltavee2]

Ah yes, the famous RAF post-raid message "The Scharnhorst doesn't look so Gneisenau." after they bombed the bejaysus out of it.

[@vipertwenty249]

@@deltavee2 🤣

[@TTTT-oc4eb]

After Gneisenau was written off, her crew was redeployed to the U-boats, so in the end the total death toll was probably not that different from her sister.

[@vipertwenty249]

@@TTTT-oc4eb Thx for the info.👍

[@oriontaylor]

@@deltavee2 Oh that’s awful! 🤣 I really hope someone was actually making that joke in 1942.

[@gurk_the_magnificent9008]

“Making yet another visit to the Drydock inevitable” 😅

[@bigblue6917]

We've all heard of something being a bullet magnet, but, with the possible exception of Admiral Halsey, you don't usually get a storm magnet.

[@benwilson6145]

Its called the North Atlantic, poor ship design, the opposition did not suffer weather damage.

[@vincentmarchetti6388]

and also mine magnet

[@thehunter5475]

@@benwilson6145 *looks at the many many weather damage reports from the us, uk, french, ext. hell all navies.* North atlantic doesnt mess around.

[@hernerweisenberg7052]

@@thehunter5475 Was about to say something like that. Wasen't there an entire US carrier taskforce that took massive damage from a storm on the pacific? Storms can be dangerous, even today sometimes giant container ships and stuff like that are lost to storms.

[@HighlyImprobableName]

Container ships aren't really built to the same standards as capital ships are supposed to be.

[@actonman7291]

Saying that these ship were under so much pressure by the British its an understatement.

[@yanniskouretas8688]

Magnificently elegant ships ...

[@Lassisvulgaris]

Fun fact: Gneisenau's C turret was implemented in "Festung Norwegen" as "Marine Artillerie Batterie 4/507" at Ørlandet, ouside Trondheim. It was taken over by the Norwegian Coast Artillery, and remained is service until 1968, though maintained until 1977. It is now a museum, and remainig the only of it's kind. Well worth a visit.....

[@thecoolestcorgi4991]

The Sharnhorst and Gneisenau are like Jessie and James from team Rocket. The U boats are meowth

[@jasonirwin4631]

"Tean kriegsmarine is running back to port again"

[@2710cruiser]

For what its worth, the SG (Scharn-Gnei) twins are my favourite ships in all of the Kreigsmarine. There's elegance and beauty to those lines

[@DerKurfuerst]

A bit silly, but I always had a softspot for the Gneisenau. I like the shape of it but more so we share the same birthday

[@scottgiles7546]

So, do you get chased into port to get bombed on your birthday? (post 21 of course)

[@watchface6836]

@@scottgiles7546 I mean, how else should we celebrate birthdays

[@DerKurfuerst]

@@scottgiles7546 some of my birthdays were a blast and people got knocked out!

[@Wolfeson28]

This ship has enough drydock experience to apply for a position with Drach's channel! Also, 4:52 classic Jeff Goldblum moment.

[@skdKitsune]

The two most beautiful warships ever built in my humble opinion

[@barfuss2007]

my opinion too.

[@Pele55]

to summaries Gneisenau either was running from the enemy or beeing repaired in (dry) dock. Now i know why Scharnhorst is more famous.

[@ramal5708]

Just like Bismarck is more notorious than Tirpitz. Tirpitz sits in the port while Bismarck was credited with that famous naval engagement

[@silverhost9782]

In fairness, all 4 German capital ships spent most of their lives running away or sheltering in port (or dying straight away like Bismarck)

[@augustosolari7721]

I would have preferred serving at Gneisenau than at Scharnhorst.

[@michaelkovacic2608]

Gneisenau operated alongside Scharnhorst for her entire career.

[@augustosolari7721]

@@michaelkovacic2608 AND sank/captured More merchant ships.

[@toveychurchill6468]

KMS Gneisenau might have the distinct honour of spending more time in dry dock than any of us have

[@johnlee1297]

Drachinifel should have Gneisenau as the thumbnail for his Drydock episodes.

[@user-uf4qq7ij5r]

The description of the sinking of Glorious, Ardent, and Acasta; the most famous engagement of both Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, was so brief and unenthusiastic that I actually missed it the first time. I think I heard more about Renown and Hood than Gneisenau herself.

[@barfuss2007]

the first intelligent man here

[@thetigerii9506]

He's british, of course he is biased, what were you expecting? A british 'person' to be impartial when covering history of a german ship?

[@Squad23jta]

Well it at least kept the dockworkers union happy with all the work they got.

[@untruelie2640]

Let's settle this once and for all, ok? 😉 - The G is not silent, the G and the N are pronounced together as one syllable, and the G is a "hard" one, like in "good". Try to say the first syllable of "gynaecologist" and leave out the Y-vowel. You have to feel the G in your throat. - the "ei" is pronounced like the english i, like in "iron" or "island" - the S in "se" is a soft one, the E is short (like the first E in "elder") - the "au" is a diphtong, more or less pronounced like the sound you make when you hurt yourself ("Ow!" - in German it's just written as "Au!"), just a little bit shorter and "closed" at the end ("Gneisenau", not "Gneisenauuu") To summarize: "Gn-I-se-now" would be the approximate english phonetic transcription. The emphasis lies on the "ei" (i), the second syllable.

[@535phobos]

I wonder which German dialect Drach asked to lose the G

[@ColHoganGer90]

…or which uneducated bloke he asked to suggest a french sounding -au- at the end. Must have been someone who didn‘t even know who Gneisenau (the man) was.

[@IncomitatusExcelsior]

That first sound is difficult and physically uncomfortable for native English speakers.

[@redharlaw2782]

“It’s good gnews from Gary Gnu”!

[@535phobos]

@@ColHoganGer90 To be fair, Gneisenau isnt THAT famous.

[@brianknezevich9894]

I've been waiting years for this one, and I'm mainly into Napoleonic and earlier naval history.

[@mattblom3990]

Gniesenau somehow reminds me of my sister. Growing up together we were tight but she was the one who always got injured or sick while I somehow always made it out. Had Gniesenau been a bit more lucky we might have seen some more impressive naval action with her working with her sister.

[@colbeausabre8842]

Two ships at the bottom of the Arctic Sea!

[@TooLateForIeago]

Perversely for the Germans, G. was their luckiest capital ship by virtue of how much time she spent being repaired!

[@Ealsante]

Tirpitz didn't do too badly either. Mostly if you don't do anything, you don't do too badly.

[@stefans.8672]

Sorry, but the "lucky ship coin" was picked up by Prinz Eugen.

[@icetea1455]

@@Ealsante Tirpitz is a good example of a fleet in being

[@TTTT-oc4eb]

My guess is that the majority of her crew suffered a horrible death. After Gneisenau was written off, her crew was redeployed to the U-boats, so in the end the total death toll was probably not that different from her sister.

[@jameshennighan8193]

........and therefore not yet at the bottom of the ocean like all the others.

[@MyILoveMinecraft]

About that problem with Germans saying it differently : Germany has alot of different dialects. For example me as a North German can't understand shit when a Bavarian speaks full Bavarian. It's unironically easier for me to understand Dutch

[@catriona_drummond]

Can't be the explanation. "Gneisenau" sounds pretty much the same in all dialects. There is absolutely no controversy on how to pronounce that name.

[@Keckegenkai]

One of the most beautiful warships ever build

[@Ryufl]

A short summary of Gneisenau's naval history: Here comes the Gneisenau out of dry dock... and there goes the Gneisenau back into dry dock!

[@timmy3822]

And they mocked Renown and Repulse as Refit and Repair, Gneisenau takes the cake with her dry dock antics.

[@read.learn.think.3251]

The most beautiful capital ships ever built. Very good lookers.

[@asriellian3058]

Absolutely, part of the reason why she's one of my favorite ships in WoWs

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

There is more to a warship than looking pretty. The ability to give and receive punishment is more important. The Scharnhorsts could take punishment, but not give it out.

[@read.learn.think.3251]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 Yes, hopelessly under gunned for their size & likely apponents. But perhaps that's why they looked so good. The 11" tripples complemented their superstructures & Atlantic bows perfectly.

[@tomilaiho7498]

Great memories from 70's. My first Airfix modelkit that i finished totaly myself.

[@scottgiles7546]

OK boomer...

[@guyk2260]

With the straight prow from memory .

[@mbryson2899]

@@scottgiles7546 I built the Hasegawa 1/700 kit in the 70s and I'm Gen X. Still got no instant gratification, though.

[@redshirt5126]

"The two ships managing to successfully draw in the battlecrusier HMS Renown... however leaving them with the problem that they were facing off against the battlecrusier HMS Renown." Tasks failed successfully?

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

Better damage control than current Russian navy ships. The Admiral who ran the Second Pacific Squadron would weep if he saw the current Russian navy.

[@balin1600]

no, he would throw binoculars at everyone and everything in range.

[@robertw9651]

@@balin1600 How do we know the current admiral isn't doing that now anyway

[@GaldirEonai]

Rozhestvensky would be the absolute worst ghost to get haunted by.

[@robertsneddon731]

What the Russian Navy needs is a good repair ship sailing with the fleet in the Black Sea.

[@simonpitt8145]

@@robertsneddon731 If they had one of those it would most likely sink as well, after conducting a " special underwater conversion operation."

[@timonbergmann4602]

I would love to see you making a 5 min guide to the "Admiral Scheer" , Sistership to the famous pocket Battleship "Admiral Graf Spee". My Grandpa served on the Admiral Scheer and narrowly escaped when it was sunk during Air Attack in Kiel Harbour.

[@RedXlV]

It's interesting how Scheer is the least known of the panzerchiffe trio even though objectively she was the most successful.

[@Beavis-et8ox]

For me she was the most beautiful German warship.

[@RayyMusik]

I still can‘t believe that there hadn‘t been a Gneisenau guide up to now. Anyway: they may not have been the best capital ships in WW2, but for me the twins were the most beautiful. BTW: there is only one way to pronounce Gneisenau in German: Gneisenau. 😎

[@hajoos.8360]

There was a film of the Comradeship Gneisenau on KZbin, with interviews etcetec. But i cannot find it anymore.

[@AdmRose]

The nearest I can equate Gneisenau (31 knots) being run down by Rodney (23 knots) to is a half asleep cheetah being caught by a heavily caffeinated elephant.

[@colbeausabre8842]

My dad, who was a sailor in WW2, said there were three speeds for a ship in action 1) Full Speed 2) Flank Speed 3) JESUS CHRIST! speed

[@davidbirt8486]

Heavily caffeinated elephant, I like that, however Gneisenau was caught cold and unlike modern gas turbine powered ships needed time to work up to speed, the"Rod box" was already going flat out, hence the" squeaky bum time", and as Drak has pointed out, the Rodney could exceed 23 knots flat out, whatever the specs say.

[@agesflow6815]

Thank you, Drachinifel.

[@nasalprolapse]

Loving how you keep changing pronunciation throughout the video. Top job sir.

[@dany1441]

'Rodney at full speed...' If Gneisenau had had a pair of oars she would have escaped Rodney without problems. 😄

[@michaelanderson3696]

If I recall correctly, the captain had the engineer coax an extra 3 knots out of Rodney during the chase! Still, wasn't enough to match the 30 knots plus of the KMS ships.

[@jimmyandersson4599]

These videos are the best! I love them.😊👍👍👍

[@eatthisvr6]

they were beautiful and very active ships! surprised this hasnt been done already tbh

[@jokernabastard2828]

I love the music on this channel. Reminds me of when cable channels actually had good military documentaries.

[@jasonz7788]

Thanks for the great work Sir

[@peterwright5311]

"Hood, Nelson, Rodney AND Dunkerque closing on our position Sir!" "&$%£&#!!!"

[@92Psyco]

Scheiss

[@chrisvaughan9406]

Warspite was also diverted from convoy escort duties to pursue them.

[@headmonkeyboy]

After being sick as a dog with covid the last week or so, this video was such a treat!! Thanks Drach :)

[@mbryson2899]

A full and good recovery to you, sir. I had it right before it was announced as a real menace in the U.S., it was no fun.

[@Kevin-mx1vi]

Which kinda exposes the myth of German efficiency. They designed a ship to serve in the northern oceans and gave it a bow that couldn't cope with the northern oceans. Then they gave it another that couldn't. 😁

[@silverhost9782]

I'm amazed that the German efficiency meme is still going on after all this time tbh lol

[@emil-1609]

I mean considering the odds it faced ist posibilities where rather limited anyway, but they still did a good Job with what was possible. Sadly the entire "exposing German myths" trend has developed into a circlejerk that leads to so many people thinking that German Tech failed most of the time and was generally inferior, as well as tactics. A totally wrong picture of history, because of you ask one of these people why it took the allies over five years to win against an enemy supposedly so badly equipped and incompetent that they are literally unable to give any answer.

[@silverhost9782]

@@emil-1609 It took 5 years because the allies had half a decade less time to mobilise and spent the first year or two making bad decisions at the higher levels. It wasn't because German tech was 'superior' that's for sure. Besides, the two aren't even exclusive from one another. People clown on the Germans because they have so many people trying to argue that they were incredible, when they weren't. If the other way around happened more often, you might see people pointing out allied failures too

[@adrienroy9310]

Efficient, I don't see how, ever. The Germans were innovative, always pushing boundaries on technology. But they had a habit of over engineering and complicating designs (because they fancied themselves superior), which slowed them down, led to lower production numbers and service issues. Thank goodness they were out of time and resources.

[@adrienroy9310]

@Lurking Grue don't buy German cars unless you want expensive problems. Korean actually isn't that bad, it's Chinese stuff you want to avoid. Korean does pretty quality oem parts

[@NikonPhotoHawk]

Marvelous history!

[@Dawgside]

Funny!!! Just moved all my stuff from my appartment because of fire ... including a shell casing (supposedly) from stevnsfortet (fort Stevns, Denmark now a cold war museum) and specifically from one of the two twin 150mm cannon turrets from Gneisenau ... just discussed this issue today with an old military guy who helped me move my stuff and said I would look into it some more ... came home ... now this 😲 🙏 Good timing Sir!

[@coreydarr8464]

TY for the info!

[@olehejlskovandersen5978]

Beautiful ship...!

[@Gapsx1eGewehr]

Fanscinating video! Enjoyed it a lot, in fact. I always pronounced Gneisenau's name as NAY-sen-OW, it just sounded right to me, I suppose. NI-sen-OW makes more sense but I guess with such a cool name, she's known by both pronunciations! It's interesting how Gneisenau spent so much time in drydock and didn't do too much at sea. For such a cool looking ship, she went out in a rather lackluster manner. If you've not done a video about the Prinz Eugen, I think she'd be a great one to tackle next!

[@coolhand411luke6]

Inglorious ending for such a seasoned warrior.

[@kylermcreynolds3146]

Thank you for correctly identifying the sisters as battleships & not battlecruisers. Though remember Germany never used the designation “KMS” with their ships. The battleship was simply Gneisenau. Rodney was alerted to her location by a small 1,700 ton cargo vessel that actually fired upon the battleship.

[@grendelek]

To be exact, she was sunk in Gotehaffen, pre- and post war called Gdynia. Removing her wreck was a huge operation which ended in 1951.

[@AugmentedGravity]

Man you could almost do an entire drydock on all the times this bad boy was in dry dock

[@the_lost_navigator]

"This is Gary Gnu with no gnews is good gnews" (old child's show)... No favorite other than simply the location of the main mast on funnel made her look sharper in my mind. Respect to all men who go down to the sea in ships.

[@kemarisite]

Great Space Coaster. Nice! And showing my age.

[@colbeausabre8842]

" Mr president (Bush #1), we thought you said "No new taxes"" Bush "You misunderstood me, I said I wouldn't tax your gnu"

[@howardbursee307]

One of my favorite ships in WOWS Legends.

[@MisteriosGloriosos922]

Amazing!!!

[@mrains100]

Thank you.

[@DaveSCameron]

A corker of a show, wasn't aware of much of this information and thanks once again Sir. HMS Celendine next? 🙏

[@gmanbo]

Those storms really like this ship.

[@wiryantirta]

I love how the majority of Gneisenau's combat activities can be summed as the "I'M A GENIUS/OH NOOO" Gundam meme.

[@barfuss2007]

Scharnhorst AND Gneisenau sank HMS Glorious including two destroyers in 1940 with roundbout 1.500 deads.

[@isaaclao2380]

Just in time for me to watch while eating breakfast!

[@facubeitches1144]

German naval cadet: Sir, why are all the battles that we are studying named "Operation Die Valiantly But Futilely"? Staff officer: No reason. They're just chosen at random. Probably.

[@Loretta2004]

Sorry, there is no mistaking in the pronunciation of the name. The G is not silent like in "gnaw", the "ei" as in "Aye, sir" and the "au" is pronounced as the sound you make, when you say "ouch". So it is "Gnayzenou"...if you want to write it like that. No German would pronounce the name without the G and the long "o" (your second and fourth example) would apply, if it is an old Slavic name still written with "-ow" at the end, as you can find in some east German towns (Güstrow, Teterow, Malchow...). So your example No. 3 applies. Viele Grüße aus Deutschland :-)

[@Aelxi]

Scharnhorst sisters are some of the most luckiest surface combatants of the Kreigsmarine. With a lot of trolling of course.

[@lexmaximaguy8788]

My fav class of battleships...

[@supsup335]

Emtpy drydock slip. Gneisenau: breaths heavily.

[@nerdhub1300]

One of this ship’s chains is today a part of the monument in small city Szczecinek in Poland.

[@katrinapaton5283]

I have always felt that the battle against the Renown pretty much explains the difference between German and British outlooks when it comes to naval warfare. Sure, you COULD blame the weather but the fact an old WW1 battlecruiser with just six 15" ends up chasing two modern battlecruisers with eighteen 11" between them has always struck me as rediculous. While the ships weighed almost exactly the same and Renown was one knot faster the German ships were considerably more heavily armoured, a 13.8" belt to Renowns 6" belt, 2-4.1" deck armout to 1-2.5" on the Renown. What could they have achieved if it wasnt for the "Under no circumstances will you engage an enemy capital ship?" Could Bismark have sunk Prince of Wales too? Could Scharnhorst and Gneisenau have sunk Renown? While we will never know for sure I feel it would have been worth while for the Germans to have found out.

[@icetea1455]

Certainly and likely Bismarck can sink POW during the battle of Denmark strait one of her shells during that engagement struck POW in the boiler room but fortunately for Pow it's didn't explode if it had she would end up like hood and 2 British ships would have sunk that day.

[@TTTT-oc4eb]

It was a confused affair. Scharnhorst lost her radar early on and was out, Gneisenau lost one of her turrets early, so they were basically down two 6 guns. Poor seaboats as they were, their shooting also suffered from the heavy sea. Renown also was escorted by no less than 9 destroyers which also represented grave danger to the unescorted German ships, and in addition the Germans mistook the destroyers for heavier RN units and thought they actually were outnumbered.

[@icetea1455]

@@TTTT-oc4eb well they are outnumbered at that engagement but at the time they receive their atlantic bow it solved their problem

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are kind of hard to classify as battleships given how small their main armament was. 12" guns were standard for pre-dreadnought battleships, and before and during WWI, 14" became the standard up until the introduction of the Nelsons and their 16" guns. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau ironically as a result had to routinely face very similar situations to the infamous battle that led to the loss of their progenitors, the Battle of the Falklands where their armored cruiser predecessors were torn apart by faster and more heavily armed British battlecruisers. As an aside, I have always heard it pronounced, "Nye-sin-now".

[@colbeausabre8842]

GreyWolfLeaderTW They were sort of "Anti-Battlecruisers" as they were supposed to be armored against 15 inch shells (it was always intended the 11.1 inch triples would be replaced by 15 inch twins) to make them true, if lightly armed, battleships. I use the US Navy classification of Large Cruisers, lumping then in with the Alaskas, Dunkerques and Deuschtlands due to their gun caliber. As you point out, 11 to 13 guns were no longer capital ship armament (and 14 inch barely made it, as everyone else was using 15 or 16 inch and, of course, 18.1 inch in one example). In truth all the Large Cruisers were simply all big gun versions of the Armored Cruiser which employed guns a step below capital rank (British 9.2 inch, US 8 and 10 inch at a time when the world standard for battlewagons was 12 inch)

[@josynaemikohler6572]

The design work of them did not start as battleships. They were initially supposed to be D class Panzerschiffe. After Dunkerque was started, and some diplomatic shenanigans with the British concluded, they were revised to have 3x3 11" gun turrets and being of 26.000 tons. But still Panzerschiffe. It was only then during revising of the new Panzerschiff design, the armor, and armament of a battleship was considered. Where they then however concluded, that developing a 15" gun and turrets from nothing would take ages, while the 11" gun turrets were already available. So they just slapped those on for the time being, and hoped, that they could change it to 15" guns along with other modifications, like the lenghthened bow, could happen sometime between the prestigious comissioning of new large warships. And the start of a war. The Kriegsmarine was supposed to be ready for war in around the mid fourties. Since war however started in 1939, they didn't had a time window (And substituting ships available) to actually do the changes without decomissioning the ships and putting them out of service for a long time, which would have severly weakened the already thin stretched Kriegsmarine further.

[@TTTT-oc4eb]

I read somewhere the twins were overweight, which was the reason they were so low in the water, something the Atlantic bow could only partially compensate for. Bismarck and Tirpitz were much better in this regard.

[@ninaleogal9379]

When you get the chance, I would love to see a video on the USS Toucey DD 282. My Grandfather served on her in 1919.

[@gnolan4281]

She looked magnificent in the photos. Her life story and fate are an entirely different matter. One never knows. The Bismark was truly astonishing in her fine lines and overall presence yet she went all the way down on her maiden voyage.

[@adrianrutterford762]

Good Afternoon Everyone

[@fouraces9137]

Welcome back Drach :) Hope it was fun eating fast food and avoiding Karen's LOL but hope most of all you enjoyed the time here.

[@535phobos]

3:40 What a picture. My opinion still stands: Gneisenau was the most beatiful battleship ever built.

[@therealuncleowen2588]

Yes, that picture is peak warship porn.

[@colbeausabre8842]

Are you blind! IOWA'S

[@criggie]

Amazing how many Drydocks there were - almost as many as Drach! Given the cost of drydocking the modern museum ships, shows how much cash was thrown at repairs during war.

[@studentaviator3756]

Most blursed ship ever. Blessed with survival Cursed with constant damage

[@barfuss2007]

Scharnhorst AND Gneisenau sank HMS Glorious including two destroyers in 1940 with roundbout 1.500 deads.

[@RoyalBulawa]

Here's the Drach style I missed a bit in other recent videos 🤩

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Nice & Powerful Warship Didactics When its activities in WW2 was Momentary aircraft carriers & air forces bombarding even in oceans

[@flyingcircus808]

While watching excerpts from 'Storm over the Pacific' I realised that the Japanese had sunk 19 RN ships including a battleship, a battlecruiser and an aircraft carrier but could not find how many Japanese naval ships that the RN had sunk. 'Storm over the Pacific' -The story is an account of a young Japanese bombardier, Lt. Koji Kitami (Yosuke Natsuki) stationed aboard the Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu and his participation in two battles in the Pacific during World War II, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway.

[@nigelgarrett7970]

The US Navy became quite good at sinking Japanese ships, so there wasn't many left for the RN. There were three cruisers (Kuma, Haguro and Ashigara).

[@simonpitt8145]

@@nigelgarrett7970 The Takao was also sunk at Singapore by British midget submarines on the same day that the USS Indianapolis was sunk. I don't know anything about the Kuma though, that's a new one on me.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

British forces sank 70 ships totalling 138,346 tons. Australian 13, totalling 31,802 New Zealand 2, totalling 2,095 Dutch/Australian 2, totalling 8,303. Australian/Indian 1, of 525. Dutch/Indian, totalling 1, of 10,439. US/Australian, 11, totalling 44,622. US/Australian/Dutch 2, totalling 16362. US/British 5, totalling 8,602. US/New Zealand 1, of 2,212. US/British/Dutch 1, of 989. Of these, 46 were warships.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@simonpitt8145 Kuma was a light cruiser torpedoed by HMSm. Tally-Ho on 11 January, 1944.

[@iwitnessedit6713]

Drach, you sure made some gnoise with this one.

[@LeCharles07]

So the newish play in thumbnail feature of KZbin made the video start at the end of the intro but I went back because I like to jam out to the music and the big guns.