Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918

Since people keep asking - lets have a look at how a final battle between the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet could have gone.
Want to talk about ships? / discord
Want to support the channel? - / drachinifel

[@ajvanmarle]

I think the variant where Seymour messed up and the battle never happened is the more realistic one.

[@BoisegangGaming]

Honestly Flag Officer Seymour seems like he deserves an entire comedy based around his complete and utter incompetence.

[@JonatasAdoM]

If anythingc that would ironically have been the preferred outcome

[@jonathanstrong4812]

@@JonatasAdoM Seymour which who was a coward pure and simple

[@lafouche345]

@@BoisegangGamingiiuuuuuuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiviviviviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiviiivviiiiiii

[@victoriacyunczyk]

"Florida is being evacuated." That's a sentence I've heard a lot.

[@tobiaszczarnota7879]

#floridaman

[@skeletonwguitar4383]

#hurricanestate

[@benrobertson7855]

Yeh and nz is under the yellow flag , for another 2 years,! But wait now it doesn’t matter…. How’s COVID political …to let me ask what happened to our global position while we had our heads so far down in the sand??? Guessing we won’t being getting a visit from some of our new post biggest trade partners…..

[@JonatasAdoM]

"Florida is under water!"

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

In other news, the crew of an American battleship was removed after receiving irreparable damage from Imperial German forces.

[@sd501st5]

Flag Officer Seymour, you are hereby presented the Iron Cross 2nd class.

[@demos113]

The lad committed suicide four years to late.... make that six, i forgot Jutland. o___O

[@dunamoose3446]

Took me a sec to get xD

[@wingcommanderbob8268]

@@demos113 I don't think wishing an early suicide on him is fair. Being discharged for general incompetence, maybe.

[@YoungGarrett]

@@wingcommanderbob8268 No, he did commit suicide in real life in 1922.

[@wingcommanderbob8268]

@@YoungGarrett the person i replied to suggested him commiting suicide six years earlier... that is why i said "early" suicide...

[@bairdrew]

TFW the description gets to 1130hrs and you imagine the sight of the Grand Fleet steaming in all its fury, led by the Queen Elizabeth class battleships. *RULE BRITANNIA INTENSIFIES* 1350hrs HMS Warspite leads the whole fleet, despising all the hard knocks of war *RULE BRITANNIA INTENSIFIES FURTHER* In all seriousness, this is a pretty fair appraisal. The German sailors by 1918 knew there was no point in wasting their lives in an impossible assault, and the wargaming examplifies why.

[@Halinspark]

Rule Britannia, accompanied a metal rendition of Anchors Aweigh as Texas follows right behind, spitting fire from her funnel.

[@willrogers3793]

Halinspark I’d go more with “The Yellow Rose of Texas” being played by 50 banjos and a full marching band simultaneously.

[@AnvilAirsoftTV]

bairdrew my heart was fluttering away listening to the narrative. Could see the battle ensigns flapping.

[@Mikalent]

"The BB Texas, perturbed at being overtaken...." if there was ever a sentence of how a Texan captain would ever feel about having his BB, named after his home state, being overtaken by a British BB, the only one more likely would be that sentence, followed by "... the Texas opened fire on the British ship."

[@onewhosaysgoose4831]

18:40 Was listening to this in the background, but the captaining of the USS Texas forced me to tab back to like and comment. Only disappointed they didn't manage 22.55 knots by getting the oars out.

[@kainhall]

they burned the oars......

[@1TruNub]

@@thomasbernecky2078 Captain: tell the chief engineer to shovel faster I want more speed XO: but sir, well wreck our engines Captain: do I look like I care you think I'm going to be overtaken by the limeys

[@1TruNub]

@@kainhall I'm getting tired to the Caribbean curse of the Black Pearl vibes run out the sweeps

[@Bufoferrata]

Damn! That was some BRILLIANT play-by-play. I was listening to the audio without watching my PC screen. The "graphics" weren't really necessary because the narration was absolutely gripping. BRAVO Sir!

[@kylieadams5414]

I would very much enjoy more of this! I get it's not an easy video to make, but this was fantastic.

[@athopi]

You should read, "Sink The Bismark" an account by a British junior officer who served in the fleet. Covers the timeline of events and brings together what the different units were doing as Bismark and Prinz Eugene made their Atlantic foray. Even details like King George V leaving port with civilian workers still aboard because she was so new and unfinished. It's a great read!

[@Bufoferrata]

@@athopi : Thanks for the recommendation. I read it when I was ten. It's a great book. It really focuses on the human element. BTW, it was Prince of Wales that sortied with the civilian builders making adjustments to her turrets. Cheers!

[@tonyromano6220]

Bufoferrata yes they were fantastic oratory

[@Don18k]

@@Bufoferrata I was on HMS Belfast when she was doing trials in 1959, she had builders workmen on board, about 12- 15 men from what I recall

[@dougauzene8389]

30 Seconds ln: "BATTLE OF JUTLAND 2 - ELECTRIC BOOGALO" - FREAKIN' PRICELESS, My Friend, Especially ln That Voice!

[@johnwhite7219]

Loved it when Texas was being towed in . I live in Houston and she's right here. Been aboard her many times.

[@tibbits0018]

18:16 "over there" starts playing in the distance.

[@loganb7059]

Kasen Miller Admiral Hipper: *confused screeching*

[@gilbertosantos2806]

The US General on the South Carolina: *PREPARE YOUR AINIS FOR MY PAINIS*

[@looinrims]

*SEND THE WORD SEND THE WORD*

[@jackthorton10]

The Yanks are Coming!

[@kommandantgalileo]

The yanks are coming, With drums rum tumming everywhere.

[@casselsc]

Easily my favorite video you’ve ever produced. I love your description of the USS Texas entering the battle and the participation of the USS Arkansas, my grandfather’s ship from WWII.

[@datgood121]

Lord i never thought i would get so excited over a hypothetical battle. Even though im not American, when i hear you said that the german look out spotted ships with a strange mast. I cant help but get really excited. Well done m8, this video made my day.

[@Soundwave3591]

The Texas coming thundering out of the Smoke because it was impatient to get Into the fight is such an American move, I love it. Greetings from Boston!

[@loganb7059]

The fact that it destroys its engines in the process lives rent free in my head. I love returning to this video every now and again.

[@jordanpeterson5140]

I mean, it REALLY is the most Texas thing ever...both for the ship and her namesake state.

[@jeffreyskoritowski4114]

@@loganb7059 I usually rewatch this every other month.

[@krullachief669]

@@jordanpeterson5140 "Those fuckers started the fight without me. Well I'll show them!" is indeed a very Texas thing.

[@Illnorean]

*Bullwhip crack* “YEEEEEEHAW!” That’s roughly what I was picturing.

[@sirrliv]

A fascinating video. I know I'm a bit late getting to it, but I thoroughly enjoyed this What-If exercise answering a question I myself have asked in my head many times. A few points that particularly stood out to me: I'm surprised that Derfflinger was able to survive as long as it did with such a spectacular turret fire blazing forward. One would have thought it would have been a matter of seconds, minutes as most, before those flames reached her main magazine, but she kept going long enough to at least contribute a bit more before succumbing. One can only imagine the desperate action below decks of damage control crews with firehoses trying to keep the flames at bay long enough to flood the foreward magazine and save the ship from exploding as the British battlecruisers did at Jutland. Not gonna lie, my heart swelled with pride when the British battlefleet (or at least the American contingent) was being led by the overtaxed piston engines of my home state's flagship, the USS Texas. Historically, she was always the first into the fight and the last to leave during the Second World War, even flooding her own torpedo bulge to get a last few shots in at Normandy, even overstraining her engines similar to this in 1946 during Operation Magic Carpet to ensure that American servicemen from the Pacific would get home in time for Christmas. Some have pointed out that the spark-filled black smoke clouds may be inaccurate as the Texas was oil fired, but I can believe that detail as the engineers forcing the boilers' oil burners open beyond their normal limits to pour on every ounce of fuel, leading to some of it not burning properly and forming an impromptu smokescreen. And later in the battle I can also agree with the Americans accepting the temporary leadership of HMS Warspite, more than likely the only British dreadnought even they would respect. My biggest surprise was the crucial contribution of the K Class submarines. Long derided as next to useless, even by your own good self, I was shocked that they would be the element to turn the tide of this battle, and I must admit somewhat validated; had they been designed stronger with better maneuvering capabilities, the idea of a steam submarine in the First World War era is not as daft as it sounds, especially as the K's boilers were specially designed to be shut down and fired up quite rapidly. That said, historically their crush depth (if memory serves) was less than twice their own length, which they could reach quite easily through uncontrollable dives. As such, it also seems accurate that four of them were lost without a trace during the engagement. But at least they got their moment of glory that was denied them in real life, leaving them an undeserving historical laughing stock.

[@Drachinifel]

Derfflinger's fate was in some ways similar to Seydlitz at Dogger Bank, everything in the turret cooked off, but enough safety provisions allowed them to flood the magazine in time. Texas was originally coal powered, her oil fired boilers wouldn't be installed until the mid'20's so in this battle she's still powered by coal :) Thanks for the long feedback post!

[@GlorfindelofGondolin]

Woohoo! Come on Texas! Love that old girl. I got back from morning PT to be greeted by this. You had me laughing so hard when you said that Texas was blowing boilers to take the lead of the squadron. Lol, great video. Keep it up!

[@deetroittony]

Of course us Yanks are going to make sure we do everything to upstage the limeys. I almost died when I heard you say that the Texas was pulling away and leading the formation.

[@Drachinifel]

There's a bit of a story there, one of our group is from South Carolina so we immediately voted him commander of 6th Battle Squadron. (key posts got their own commanders). When word of the battlecruiser fight reached the Grand Fleet 'Beatty' ordered the fleet to proceed to assist with all speed. The commander of 5th BS took the chance to use his ships greater speed to tear off asap, whereas in theory 6th BS should have been leading as they were the westernmost squadron. Cue our American friend ordering his own ships to full speed, then upon being told he wasn't as fast, he asked "could we go faster if we dumped everything we can physically throw overboard that isn't a gun, and run the engines as hard as they will go without exploding in the next few hours?" We did some quick checking and figured he could get an extra knot or two, and so off the Texas charged with the engines almost jumping off their mounts. :p I won't recount some of the colourful language he came out with once he was told he was I'm range of the HSF.😁

[@deetroittony]

@@Drachinifel that is damn funny. the only thing I can think about is the old farmer with the compass on the Japanese submarine in the movie 1942 singing the Yanks are coming.

[@armchairwarlord]

"We have not yet begun to steam." - Admiral Rodman

[@RussBeatle63]

The Dracher may have used the USS Texas as a bit of comedy relief amongst the absolute carnage we listened to (20,000 + dead either side?) but breaking down in heat of battle is easily possible for Texas and New York circa 1918. 1972 book of WW1 battleships has this: "The recurrent problems with Turbine design came to a head when tenders came for the New York Class. After a drawn out wrangle the Bureau of ships took the unique step and went back to reciprocating machinery to show that the US Navy would not be blackmailed".....you really know your stuff Dracher! thanks!

[@nitehawk86]

When he said it was an "unusually large tower", I knew it was those goofy nuclear reactor cooling tower looking things that the Standard-Class battleships all had at the time. Somehow I just new it would be Texas leading the charge. :)

[@captaindusty4884]

HMS New Zealand living up to her lucky ship status

[@Drachinifel]

Direct quote from game #4 between 'von Reuter' and one of the 'signalman': "check targets at rear of line" "Visibility improved since time of last report. Indefatigable class, likely New Zealand, leading two larger vessels of unknown configuration, many shell splashes larger the 12" guns" "how many salvos fired and how many hits?" " -(Describes efforts on other rearward BC's)- Target New Zealand, 12 salvos fired, range established on salvo 4, hits registered, 0" "*$@* this, shoot at something that doesn't have divine protection" "Seydlitz will engage next target in line." :p

[@brianspendelow840]

A very well deserved reputation that many thought was Maori magic.

[@suflanker45]

I believe I read about how the captain of the New Zealand was presented with a traditional Maori "good luck charm" to be worn in battle which he wore at Jutland. I would say the Maori are strong with the force.

[@ahseaton8353]

The captain had a Maori warriors skirt and a jade tiki pendant as good luck charms. During Jutland with all the other battle cruisers blowing up, one officer double checked w the bridge crew to confirm the captain was wearing them and they survived without a scratch.

[@raptormaster666]

@@Drachinifel Us Kiwis are weird like that. Congrats for making me cry with laughter.

[@doccyclopz]

You forgot to mention the erecting of a 100' Statue of Lord Beatty, 1st Baron Texel, erected in Trafalgar Square (Rumour has it that his Lordship paid for the final 90' ) ;)

[@Zarastro54]

doccyclopz made from the melted down Krupp steel of the surrendered German battleships. ;)

[@moritamikamikara3879]

o god

[@ryanfrederick3376]

Viscount Texel

[@MaxwellAerialPhotography]

Wouldn’t that be a fucking sight.

[@alganhar1]

An enjoyable and plausible scenario, I like the fact you wargamed it out multiple times, True you likely enjoyed it, but wargaming is a valid method of testing out tactics and scenarios that was, and still is used by militaries around the world.

[@roboticus71]

Fantastic work. I'll be rewatching/listening a few more times. This battle scenario would be mind boggling made in big budget movie form.

[@leoamery]

For those interested, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a long short story about this battle that might have been called "The Death Voyage" collected in UNCOLLECTED STORIES published in 1982. The outcome was the same as Drach's splendid speculation, but the battle considerably different.

[@vespelian5274]

It's interesting to speculate what the psychological implications of a decisive Trafalgar type victory might have been for the British navy and people. The unsatisfactory victory of Jutland was a massive disappointed. 'The spell of Trafalgar had been broken' leaving the Royal Navy with a feeling it had failed in its task to destroy its enemy rather than to slowly and ingloriously strangle it: perhaps this has been evident ever since, even now. How might such a victory as the Texel have effected the future London and Washington treaties? Might Britain's attitude have been more robust perhaps? Might the unhealthy feeling of Britain being in perpetual decline since the Great War have been averted by such a 'clean' victory. Victory at such a late stage in the war could not have have averting Britain's decline as a first class power, as with the rapid reduction in Royal Navy's strength post WWI, Britain could no longer maintain its previous two power standard. With the new and powerful US fleet now astride Britain's far eastern imperial sea route and a newly powerful Japanese navy ensconced in its heartland the writing for British Imperial power was already on the wall.

[@bairdrew]

I don't think it would have made that much of a difference in terms of tonnage tbqh. At least so far as the heavy mob goes. The most reasonable change I forsee would be the scrapping of the R-class in the mid 1920s and their replacement with a tranche of 5 newer battleships that would serve as an intermediary class between the Nelson twins and the KGV class. There'd probably be more effort put in to destroyers and light cruisers tbqh, which the RN had decided were overall the more important ship types (and they were quite right in that). With a bit of luck, assuming the Flying Squadron did something of use in the hypothetical (I don't remember hearing them mentioned) the RN might put some more serious consideration in to it's carrier forces.

[@aker1993]

It will also reinforce to the US navy to have a battlecruiser after the battle and also accelerate the development of fast battleships and carries

[@Jaxck77]

Vespelian I suspect it would have made the Japanese much more likely to come to the table with the British, to reaffirm their alliance rather than abandon it to claim British possessions in SE Asia. It's unlikely Germany would've built any kind of surface fleet in WWII, especially no battleships, which would've made the Atlantic convoys much safer and the Battle of Britain even easier.

[@Knirin]

@@Jaxck77 I wouldn't bet money on no german battle ships helping the Atlantic convoys out. Both the Bismarck and the Tirpitz have combined a displacement of about 80 times the displacement of a single Type IXC U-boat submarine built at the end of the war. Yes that isn't a completely direct comparison but the steel from those two ships alone would have probably doubled the number of total Type IXC subs built. With double the number of subs available it is certainly possible that the war in the Atlantic could have turned out differently in the early part of the war.

[@themadhammer3305]

@@bairdrew also with how well the subs did during the battle, it might lead Britain to look further into developing that arm of the navy, also into developing better torpedo defences and submarine hunting gear earlier

[@pshehan1]

Pleased that HMAS Australia got a look in at this battle. It had missed Jutland because it was being repaired after a collision with sister ship of the Indefatigable class, HMS New Zealand. Note that is His Majesty's Australian Ship Australia, as it was the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy. HMS New Zealand was paid for by that Dominion but was gifted to the Royal Navy, intended for the China Station, but was released by the New Zealand government at the request of the Admiralty for service in British waters before the war. HMAS Australia was 'unlucky' in the sense that unlike New Zealand it saw little action. At the start of World War I, Australia was tasked with finding and destroying the German East Asia Squadron, which was prompted to withdraw from the Pacific by the battlecruiser's presence. The commander of the German squadron said that only the presence of Australia prevented him from shelling Australian ports in the early months of the war. So it did solid service for the country in the inglorious role of a deterrent Repeated diversions to support the capture of German colonies in New Guinea and Samoa, as well as an overcautious Admiralty, prevented the battlecruiser from engaging the German squadron before the latter's destruction. Australia was then assigned to North Sea operations, which consisted primarily of patrols and exercises, until the end of the war. Australia only ever fired in anger twice: at a German merchant vessel in January 1915, and at a suspected submarine contact in December 1917. It was sunk outside Sydney heads in 1924 in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty.

[@Cloudman572]

Thanks for the extra info- most interesting. I do like the way you phase statement of "unlucky", well done, it is too easy as wargamers to at times to forget that real life war is not pretty.

[@Septimus_ii]

So even though it never engaged a major enemy, it did sterling work defending Australia and the rest of the empire

[@DarkFire515]

Awesome video! Had to laugh at the description of HMS Agincourt's "turret farm" he he :)

[@Spaceman33393]

When you see the profile view the high seas Fleet and think, "looks a bit small for the page." When you see the Grand Fleet," that's why it's so big"

[@RadioactiveSherbet]

Great show, as always! I particularly enjoyed the blooper reel part where the battle starts and immediately goes sideways in spectacular fashion with a German battleship blowing up and getting rammed by 3 other ships. That bit was hilarious!

[@lok3kobold]

A lovely battle report of the what-if scenario. I am a bit surprised all the K-class submarines didn't have Torpedo duds, hydraulic failures and horrible friendly collision accidents as it would have been more in light of their historical performance

[@haroldhenderson2824]

When I need something to "lift my spirits", I play this video (starting around 18:00).

[@heneagedundas]

I love how New Zealand comes through unscathed again.

[@DaveSCameron]

Other than Crete and Gallipoli you're peerless 😂

[@gunny419]

I request a part 2 from the Grand fleet's point of View

[@jonsouth1545]

hell yeah

[@bairdrew]

*Hearts of Oak intensifies*

[@Voltstorm0207]

"Agincourt is down to only 3 turrets" With any other battleship that would still be most of its turrets.

[@chrisoddy8744]

In the case of later ships (1930s built/WW2 era) 3 turrets often constituted the *entire* main battery. Four turreted ships were either old (Warspite, Guilio Cesare, Kongo, etc) or unusual (Bismarck, Vanguard).

[@kommandantgalileo]

Agincourt is the only ship we can say that with "only".

[@ZeDoctorTod]

Had I known I was going to voice Admiral Scheer, I would've made it even better. I feel cheated.

[@johnd2058]

This is great! Thanks from the state of New York.

[@DaveSCameron]

He is one of finest channels without doubt 🇬🇧🙏🇺🇸📚

[@georgeking6356]

Actually breathtaking especially as each side attempts to do things that might have happened at Jutland with unexpected or absolutely expected outcomes. Thanks. More like history and than history.

[@stevemartiniussen6806]

Absolutely fantastic. I’d love to hear more of these on other battles like Leyte gulf, midway etc. Imagine if Yamato and Musashi had actually engaged. Great channel

[@warwatcher91]

You might be interested in this then: www.chuckhawks.com/task_force_34.htm

[@fezzpop8410]

I'm a simple American, I hear USS Texas I up vote! Lol

[@1TruNub]

Yes specially After she racked her boilers to out run the Queen Elizabeths

[@Dave_Sisson]

I have trouble believing that an American admiral of the time would take orders from a superior officer of any other nationality. On the Western Front US generals were infamous for their unwillingness to be directed by UK or French field marshals, so in this battle I can imagine the Americans are more likely to wander around doing their own thing rather than being integrated into a British squadron like the Australians were.

[@mikeholton9876]

@@1TruNub she's still floating, are any of the ships she was chasing that can say the same???? nope.

[@DangerTurtle91]

mike holton she's barely floating due to neglect but there are plans to give her a permanent dry land home sort of like mikasa in Japan

[@clivemilne7787]

I see "simple American"... I down vote.

[@jonsouth1545]

probably the most brutal naval battle ever

[@jimtalbott9535]

Suggestion: Do a "war game" type assessment like this, but for the Austro-Hungarian vs. Italian fleets at different times - 1916, 1917, etc. Sounds like fun!

[@Foxtrot_UniformCharlieKilo]

"5 minute guide to warships" *34:45* Love the vids btw

[@BrassSpyglass]

So Texel becomes the last time a fleet surrenders at sea instead of Tsushima. The Americans help lead the Van and show they aren't the weak link. Awesome

[@bairdrew]

Well if were being technical the 5th BS lead the van as they overtook the whole Grand Fleet to rush to the aid of the battlecruiser squadron. And by the end of the battle Warspite remained the vanguard of the whole fleet.

[@erichvonmanstein6876]

@@bairdrew did you not see he said help

[@Wolfeson28]

Definitely a great video, and I'd love to see more of these in the future (though obviously they take a lot more time and work than most of your others). I'd love to hear how people reacted in that one scenario where Seymour hoisted the wrong signal. The people playing the British commanders must've been *pissed.*

[@Drachinifel]

It was quite the sight to behold. Everyone on the British side was getting suspicious as they could hear the other two scenarios being run at the same time engaging, and they'd done nothing but sail. Then they got reports from Tyrwhitt that the Thames force was being engaged by the HSF, checked their position, and rage ensured.

[@RedXlV]

@@Drachinifel Rather than having Seymour shot and dumped overboard, I'd suggest keel-hauling him in that scenario.

[@jonathanstrong4812]

@@RedXlV He was a coward he was a good flag lieutenant in peacetime Helgoland Bight Dogger Bank and Jutland he was a coward and purblind idiot

[@daveawesomesauce772]

I would love to watch more of these tabletop theory based “battle reports”. Amazing work, thank you.

[@shadowfire246]

This is the 3rd time I've watched this now and it's still just as exciting as it was the first time.

[@hfshim]

USS Texas running like hell to keep up with the British-that would be a one hell of a scene, I tell you!

[@FLashman-cv5dn]

Fantastic stuff really enjoyed watching this very well researched and very plausible scenario with a sprinkling of wit and banter. Cheers Drachinifel

[@riggaden4248]

Excellent episode. I do like the extended hypothetical's with time lapsed diagrams and backed up by war gaming. Thanks Drachinifel, et al.

[@deetroittony]

Good morning from Detroit. That was a brilliant episode!!! Great job

[@f4fwildcat29]

Kalamazoo here!

[@deetroittony]

@@f4fwildcat29 hi kalamazoo. How are you doing today

[@f4fwildcat29]

@@deetroittony doing alright. Getting a fall break from college right in the middle of October which is weird, but gives me time to play more tabletop naval games! How's Detroit?

[@deetroittony]

@@f4fwildcat29 overcast and 40. I'm at work. You know I've never played table top naval games

[@shellshockedgerman3947]

Detroit doesn't exist.

[@alexbush2183]

Such a cool scenario , would definitely love to see more of these kinds of video

[@ronaldderooij1774]

the Netherlands were not occupied in WW1. Probably the warships of waring parties would be seized, but NL was not hostile to anybody at the time.

[@Wombat1916]

Ronald de Rooij My ears pricked up when we were told that part of the Dutch coast was under German control. My (Dutch) wife confirmed that The Netherlands were neutral and unoccupied.

[@Cloudman572]

You are totally correct and Drachinifel sorts this as below. To quote him in the comments section: "EDIT: Additionally, as a few have pointed out, the Dutch coast was NOT occupied in WW1, this came about from a transcription error in my notes as we had designated the Dutch coast 'hostile' for the purposes of denoting that ships that went ashore were not recoverable, but the shorthand used made me think for some reason that meant 'occupied' when recording. "

[@calvinstudzinski7091]

I find it odd that the U-boats had no effect, but the k-class subs had such consistent success. Were there any scenarios in which German U-boats damaged the Grand Fleet instead?

[@jedimasterdraco6950]

In fairness, the U-boats are making attempts at intercepting throughout the open expanse of the North Sea while the K-class sail with the Grand Fleet and know more or less exactly where they can intercept the High Seas Fleet.

[@andrewl5127]

That was fascinating. Thank you. Amazing to hear that the K Class Submarines were likely to be useful :-)

[@DaIssimo]

This was very well presented, nicely done!

[@RemoteViewr1]

I am not a naval forces interest person. However, you make it so detailed with clarity of narrative and analysis, I think you have drawn me in. Never regret watching your material. Best of all is your satisfying grasp of the subject matter. This piece had be absolutely fascinated. Thanks so very much for the military history. Love your dry sense of humor, especially references to we Americans cramming as much 2A expression on deck as possible, lol. Its in our d.n.a. again, great grasp of the material with understanding of the tech and human interactions with it.

[@tobiaszczarnota7879]

A bit earlier today, Me and my dad played a game about the battle. The game involved a pencil or pen and 2 pieces of paper. One paper is for the names of the ships. And the other the battle map. When a ship is lost, we draw out a cross and cross the ships name out. Back to the event. My dad was commanding the Germans, while I commanded the British. My dad lost 10 ships, while I lost 14. I also added 3 more American ships to the 6th Battle squadron, giving the British 38 battleships. And I also jumbled the Order of Battle up a bit. The events of the battle were thus: The battlecruiser action just happened and Hindenburg and Seydlitz retreated. The High Seas Fleet arrived, and the British battlecruisers retreated. So basically, the battle happened in the similar way to what you proposed, until the Grand Fleet arrived. The British began their encircling manoeuver, but the Germans responded by attempting the Nelson manoeuver. Nevertheless, the Prinzregent Luitpold went down to the british guns. But the Germans managed to sink Arkansas and Florida. Moments later, Nassau shares the same fate as Prinzregent Luitpold. The German Nelson tactic paid off at first, as Malaya, Wyoming, Utah and North Dakota all go down without much of a fight. The British split their forces, as Friedrich der Grosse also sinks. Thuringen explodes. The 3 remaining Kaisers still wreak havoc on the British battle line, sinking the Centurion and Thunderer, before taking out, Emperor of India, Benbow, Canada, Resolution and Royal Sovereign, all at the cost of the Kaiser and Konig Albert sinking, and Kaiserin straight up surrendering. Meanwhile, Barham and Valiant are taken out, but they sink the Konig, Bayern, Grosser Kurfurst and Kronprinz (Wilhelm), and also manage to severely damage Markgraf and Helgoland. Realising that their tactic failed miserably, the Germans ran away, as a melee between the screening forces develops and the British battlecruisers reappear. Eventually, all the ships of the High Seas Fleet retreated, and they would be forced to sail around the British Isles.

[@chrisdragon7956]

"it is the grand fleet" those words enough to make any proud britain weep with joy. this was an amazing war game i loved this video and finally the way jutland should have gone

[@jackr244]

Aka “The riders of Rohan had arrived.”

[@osarkthegoat7038]

17:37 the USS Texas gets an EPIC introduction.

[@T3hderk87]

So I figured out Drach's methodology with the 5 minute episodes. With this one in particular, to achieve the 5 minute time stamp, one must watch this in 7x speed, thus achieving the namesake and moniker.

[@MidKnight2142]

With my lack of proper WW1/WW2 naval history and playing WoWs, when you talked about the Grosser Kerfurst, I was HOLY...the Grand Fleet survived facing that thing?! I was wondering how that could happen, especially cause I thought it was just a paper ship lol.

[@slavohazucha5239]

Wrong Grosser Kurfürst :) The WoWs version is a paper WWII BB, this one was a real 1913 BB, König class.

[@MidKnight2142]

Lol ya I gathered as much from the context, it was just the first thing to come to mind, then thinking about it in that particular battle for kicks and giggles.

[@rob5944]

I've read that it was the British preoccupation with rate of fire since the days of sail that led to safety practices being ignored at Jutland, leading to the catastrophic losses as mentioned.

[@jerryslater3447]

This is a good story, but the graphics might be Much more useful, by highlighting and identifying individual ships as they are mentioned, along with their visual arcs.

[@purpleunicornmedia]

Excellent hypothetical thank you. Really appreciated the summary of outlier events at the end as well.

[@shadowfire246]

Love you you paid close attention the American BBs they never got their claim to fame during ww1. You had me at the edge of my seat the entire battle. Great video.

[@grathian]

Something I've noted in the accounts of most large period actions in the north sea is the environmental response to massive amounts of gunfire and hard steaming coal fired vessels operating in a restricted area for a significant period. (Not just the actual Jutland account). Visibility goes to hell after an hour or so. Difficult to wargame.

[@Simon-dc2gr]

I watched the same video over and over again, but him saying 'It is the Grand fleet' always give me a chilling sensation.

[@shanemize3775]

While I always enjoy your videos, I found this one especially entertaining. It would have been so much a better end to the High Seas Fleet than to what actually happened. This was exceptionally well done! Please keep the outstanding videos coming and God bless you, my friend!

[@craigpalmer9196]

well the USN gets newer BB's !

[@RedXlV]

With Arkansas and New York being unsalvageable as presented in this scenario, it's a safe bet that during the Washington Treaty negotiations, the US would've almost certainly insisted on being allowed to complete Washington and South Dakota to make up for them. (I wonder what names would've been assigned to BB-56 and BB-57 if those names were taken out of circulation.)

[@treeshakertucker5840]

@@RedXlV New York and Arkansas?

[@ahseaton8353]

Due to limited oil supplies, only the older coal fired 12" US battleships were sent to join the British Fleet

[@a.morphous66]

RedXlV I suppose they’d recycle the names of old pre-dreadnoughts, as they did with many other battleships. We might even see a new USS Maine.

[@seawolf4846]

@@RedXlV Don't forget the loss of Florida too

[@workingguy6666]

Electric Boogaloo mentioned in 2018, easily a year before the meme took over in America. Damn, Drach - so YOU'RE who started this!

[@TK-fk4po]

One of the most interesting what if’s - the kind of thing I’d always wanted to read about.

[@dreamer466569]

Awesome at its best. Thank you for wonderful videos.

[@chrisgurney2467]

Poor Lion, always a shell magnet XD

[@spirz4557]

Seydlitz : You get used to it.

[@mikenyc1501]

Very entertaining. Thank you for making this video

[@colindunnigan8621]

Yeah, that seems a likely outcome. As much as I think the HSF is cool, there were just too many Allied capital ships. I also totally sympathize with anybody striking their colors after the pounding those ships took.

[@RedXlV]

The only way a last ride of the HSF could've accomplished anything would be if they managed to avoid fighting the assembled Grand Fleet. Like in that one scenario where the Grand Fleet went in the wrong direction because of a signal error and the HSF mauled some cruisers before retreating home.

[@MozanaRN]

No mention of German reconnaissance capabilities via Zeppelin are taken into account in this scenario. Weather permitting, undoubtedly the Zeppelins would have been working with both U-boat forces and the German High Seas Fleet.

[@niccologentile867]

Thinking about what you said here, and how hopeless a last stand was, I think the german crews at scapa scuttling they're own ships, is a much better coup de grace than this suicide.

[@DeltaDemon1]

I love these 35 minute 5-minute guides

[@shingshongshamalama]

Just after midnight, Warspite sets a bad example and teaches the yanks how to bully cruisers.

[@sfs2040]

Not mentioned: the bugler on USS Texas blaring a calvary charge as the ship surges forward right after he finished playing the call to General Quarters.

[@richardscales9560]

Mutiny or massacre. Mutiny wins everytime for me

[@carolynhughes8364]

Unless you come from a culture of military honor.ie japan,England and elite military forces.

[@TheRogueLeader]

are we sure that the one K class that got turned around and shot at the aft end of the Grand Fleet was not French crewed??

[@DaveSCameron]

Mais non! 😂

[@Elangeni1]

Thank you for this terrific video! I really enjoyed it. Have you ever thought of wargaming Jutland if Jellicoe had turned towards Scheer instead of away in the face of the German torpedo attack?

[@Drachinifel]

Haven't tried that one before, might be worth a go.

[@panderson9924]

After I watched the main battle part of the video, I was speechless. Alot of my favorite BBs and BCs like the Derfflinger and Konig Albert amongst others on both sides were gone, just sheer amount of ships sunk and damage and the fact that none of the german capital ships escaped really makes me sad. It's just a brutal, worse than hell fight for both sides. There's no glory in war, just death and destruction.

[@akessel92train]

Its a good thing this battle didn’t take place

[@dayofmone]

If you want some pronounciation tips for German ship names, I'd gladly help out :)

[@DawgPro]

Binging your clips, interesting enough to keep me clicking... but this one is quite good ! Can only offer my thanks.

[@jackbharucha1475]

Someone should really make an alternate history comic about this.

[@zaphodtoasty9208]

of course. the k class was a major part of the battle regardless of its preference of sinking in Scottish lochs. great video btw,

[@connormclernon26]

18:21 WITNESS ME

[@kkhagerty6315]

Connor McLernon MEDIOCRE

[@adamweintraub6274]

Outstanding! Thank you for this.

[@SgtSoda]

I would really love more of these wargame reviews! I know this video is 3 years old at this point though 😅

[@absentmindedprof]

A video concerning the career of Admiral Tirpitz and his effect on the development of the High Seas Fleet would be very interesting. Tyvm!

[@the_vaportrail_1048]

If it was real, it would’ve been epic! Like you explained it

[@gunny419]

At this time this is my favorit alternate history video. full stop. (i would still like a part two from grand fleet point of view.)

[@ronalddamp2745]

Fascinating..and very plausible..well done sir..

[@MrDCPatterson]

Another absolutely wonderful episode!

[@kirkmarch4713]

I always knew the Navy was more concerned about social status and fashion sense versus the grunts in the mud or the Flyboys Dancing In The Clouds

[@Jack2Japan]

Q&A - Did you say what game/system you used for this war gaming? All manual or computer assisted?

[@stephencipolla2474]

Very cool. I enjoyed it, particularly as you informed us listeners as to the scenarios gamed and compiled in order to achieve the timeline, rather than pulling stuff out of an rear orifice. nicely descriptive, and narrated. nice work to all, Bravo Zulu.

[@ushaw9]

Brilliantly done, loved every minute, great to here HMS New Zealand lucky as ever. Captain of the Texas should be given a Knighthood so Texas could join the Empire!

[@jerredwayne8401]

Texas prefers to be it's own country but thank you! Lol

[@jamesd3472]

This was an exceptionally well narrated and thought out video. I've binge watched far too many today, and I have enjoyed all of them with differing reactions for differing topics, so thank you! One question is whether you could do a video on the British naval plans pre world war 2, as it's something I'd like to hear more about after watching your plan Z video. Probably the wrong video to post this on but here we are!

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Harwich is pronounced Ha-rich (the W is silent).

[@bairdrew]

I think you'll find it's pronounced "'ar-witch" in a proper accent :P

[@redram5150]

I love you for saying Electric Boogaloo