Maritime Myths | Pirate Special | MythBusters | Season 5 Episode 3 | Full Episode

Arggghhh me hearties - Jamie and Adam have plundered the seven seas in search of pirate parables and maritime myths and the result is this 2-hour spectacular. And with four stories of hi-jinks on the high seas the action is thick and fast.
Using science as a tool, Hollywood special effects experts attempt to debunk rumours, urban legends and popular myths that have captivated the minds of many individuals. #MythBusters #factorfiction
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[@graemebisset3324]

I love to see Jamie genuinely laughing at Adam’s jokes

[@wu2300086]

I think that's because Adam's "pirate voice" is very funny XD

[@OwlskiTV]

38:28 I love how her expression goes from excited/happy to immediately unsure and grossed out XD

[@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608]

Just that casual amazing juggling lol

[@chickenman297]

If you wake up in the middle of the night and need to get a drink from the fridge. Close one eye before you open the fridge and keep it closed. Once you have your drink, close the fridge and open your closed eye. You'll be able to see fine and easily make your way back to bed without tripping over

[@PBMS123]

I close one eye when hanging up the washing outside, in the noon sun, otherwise, once you go back inside, the house is so dark

[@AnNatie]

I just turn my lights on like a normal person lmao.

[@chickenman297]

@@AnNatie Lol. You might anger the other half that way XD

[@kevinmorrice]

when im half asleep i can only open my left eye, its not even on purpose, but its handy

[@FCorkboy]

Ya...I just know the layout of my house. I can walk around it with my eyes closed lol

[@vic137]

That knife test was so dangerous. So much could go wrong.

[@ArdinVincent]

RIGHT?! I was so worried he was going to end up slicing his arms open, or that the knife was going to flip back upon landing and get him in the face. I'm really surprised they went ahead with it.

[@SecretLars]

38:29 The way Kari's smile instantly went away is funny.

[@thomasrogers842]

38:28 Kari's face 🤣🤣🤣, just completely dropped smile the second Adam said stale urine, hahahahahaha

[@spookysugar]

😀 to 😶 real fast

[@puyu8621]

In case anyone is wondering this is NOT the episode that caused the cannonball accident. That one is episode s10e19 titled "cannonball chemistry".

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

What incident

[@puyu8621]

@@JoaoSoares-rs6ec they shot a cannon but the ball bounced over their backstop and hit someones house far away. no one was hurt but it did some damage.

[@rafaelsodre_eachday]

I WAS wondering! Thnx.

[@gwidao123]

"biggest danger is a body part hitting another body part" I'd be scared of Tori stabbing himself honestly haha

[@RenanDavidSoriaAhumada]

1:06:48 Put an eye patch to the 3rd one, that thing makes me recall jeeper creepers

[@hoegild1]

Fun fact.. The Vasa museum in Sweden tested a real naval gun (with a lot bigger caliber than this measly 6 pounder) to see what it would do to a ships hull. The result- a LOT of very very big very very lethal splinters. Jamies last works is bang on target. They need a bigger cannon.

[@stevo68]

How big is a real naval gun?

[@thrifikionor7603]

The different wasnt only the gun, a 24 pounder with an as historically accurate as possible load, but they also accurately replicated a hull section of the Vasa and a hit especially on the vertical supports created enormous deadly splinters that definetly could maim or kill you. Also they seem to ignore that large splinter smashing into the pigs at 1:32:50, that looks like it would cause some blunt trauma.

[@hannehanskov7560]

I agree, it has been done several times in Europe,i have seen at least 2 british versions ,they had the same result as vasa,but i get a feeling that in US they are not really used to seeing all these old ships and cannons, as we at least in northern europe are, in most old cities here there are old cannons on display by castles,harbours,old war memorials, they are just commond to see when you walked around...here in copenhagen the war museum has a row of old cannon barrel as both display and sort of decoration that lies outside in the length of the whole building, inside there are more,showing the development through time up til modern granate launchers, and there are a lot of time and versions between the cannons in pirates heydays in 16-1700 ,and untill the more modern versions from 1800-something,most of the old ones are shorter, uses bigger cannon balls and are considerable heavier than these later versions like those used in 1840,and they are not made to being moved over big distance,it took 4-6 men just to pull a ship cannon back ,load it and get in in place to be fired again. and i think they might have missed what splinters in this case is,it is not those little things,although they were great at causeing infected wounds,but splinters is whole and halv boardsize pieces that hit people with so much force their bones were crushed or they caused internal bleeding,. the pigs got hit in the heads by the board and even in the test inside it wasnt mentioned that halv of the board was blown of though it caused the kevlar vest to be shot out of place. i love mythbusters and i think they did a very goog job but comparing this little cannon to the old ship cannons is in some cases like comparing a beetle to a train,it is not in the same kind of force.

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

Much bigger.

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

​@@stevo6812 pounder, smaller ones, larger ones 32 pounders, this is ships from the age of sail gally could have 60 to a 100 pounders.

[@retrosquadchannel2.050]

It's great to see good old team again! Including Grant Imahara, rest in peace.

[@MrJimheeren]

Grant died?

[@retrosquadchannel2.050]

@@MrJimheeren sadly, but yes.

[@atariischaotic]

@@MrJimheeren yeah he died to a brain aneurysm in 2020

[@jds0582]

imagine your boss firing a half inch ball at a cast of your face 😂😂

[@MediaArchive2-z9f]

So poor Sloth would have fallen and crushed Chunk to death in The Goonies by doing the sail gag?. I still love the hey you guys scene and the actual film though.

[@laughingoutloud5742]

Thanks for uploading these episodes!! Keep them coming please 🙏😊❤️

[@Phvpark]

The eye patch one is so real that was used by the military during WW2 in the navy, German submariners had a special night glasses(Auer Uboat Glasses) for the watch crewman that had the night shift. Instead of blocking one eye and only having one with night vision, this glasses had a red film that dimmed the light a lot like sunglasses so the crew could walk inside the submarine with normal light and still have the night vision intact. Plus NAVY ships and submarines used red lights for this purpose too.

[@dr.depressed._6547]

having depth perception in a boarding fight is much more important than a bit of night vision, especially when lanterns exist. having the red light for night vision works in modern times because nobody is gonna be swinging a cutlass, and also because it affects both eyes. pirates typically only wore eyepatches when in public to cover an eye wound.

[@Manuelslayor]

Yea that whit the canon is not busted. We have the reports from the medics of that time there is no need to doubt. Such tests can not be scalled down. The beams would also be stressed from the weight the contortion and the twisting coming from the ships movment.

[@kallyc4143]

9:30 the eye doctor 😂

[@niallobrien-moran6596]

If the pirates said they used it for cleaning, it may have been to stock extra on the ship or explain a larger than expected consumption.

[@oletjugen8495]

The cannon ball is - about 4 inches in diameter? The splinter blast is about 4 feet in diameter. The likelyhood of being hit by the ball is 1/144 of being hit by a splinter. So even with only 1% likelyhood of a splinter hitting something vital, like an artery, the splinters are STILL more dangerous than the ball itself.

[@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608]

Except the ball hitting people, as long as there is a line of contact it will just go through and kill all of them. The splinters we saw was like, one in one person's leg maybe if they were right there. The odds of a splinter hitting you are low, the odds of it hitting something vital are less than the odds of just...being hit by the ball itself in actuality.

[@EternalMagikarp]

Rip grant, miss the bro

[@TheBenNZ]

❤😊

[@_CrescentMoon]

"Slave not included" I chuckled at that one XD

[@eyecontactleadsto]

1:11:19 haha each of their individual reactions here are so good

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

I'm laughing at Adam's pirate expressions.

[@jogreeen]

The velocity of the cannon balls reaching the ship opponent would be far slower than 400 miles an hour.

[@MichaelKnight821]

Adam sounds more like Macho Man Randy Savage , kills me every Time 🤣

[@KristopherGrey-t1c]

😂😂😂 i laughed my socks off so much during this fantastic MythBusters episode, wicked 😈

[@kim98677]

No way he cooked piss indoors 😭💀

[@MagiTailWelkin]

At 46:08 For a second you can see a green hull paddle wheeled tugboat. That's the Eppleton Hall. The last River Tyne/ Newcastle paddle wheel tugboat in the world. That was sailed from Newcastle, UK, across the Atlantic Ocean to San Fransisco.

[@MrAntipaganda]

On a calm day, no doubt. /s Man, whoever sailed that across the ocean had balls of steel.

[@luissera1296]

@@MrAntipaganda that’s geordies for you

[@Andy_Ross1962]

Drachinifel, the best maritime history channel on KZbin has addressed wood splinters in several videos and Q&As. A ball going through a ship will only take out what is directly in it's path, splinters cause more casualties. It's documented in RN after action reports and accounts from participants in battles. Ships of the Line had wooden sides over a foot thick, a hit produced much more splintering and a 32 pound ball would do much more damage, a 6 pounder is a toy in naval terms. Apparently Mahogany is the worst wood for splinters. Pirates hardly ever had gun battles,

[@INDAREVISH]

Whatever people say I just love how Adam can make Jaimie laugh

[@brucewright5061]

A 6-pound shot can hardly be called a typical shot for naval craft. An 18-pound shot would be considered to be a light shot. 24 pound or 30 pound would be a lot more typical.

[@MrMarinus18]

Actually a 6 pound shot was very common on ships at the time. Heavy cannons didn't really come until the 18th century. Usually you wanted to capture an enemy ship, not destroy it and this goes doubly so for pirates. Heavy cannons also require a well trained crew and a lot of resources to use which of course pirates don't have and during the 17th century most governments didn't have either. It's just that most 17th century ships haven't survived until the modern age. During the 18th century centralized kingdoms in Europe were a lot stronger and could afford to build and man large fleets with ship destroying cannons.

[@besserwizard]

The most commonly used naval artillery for pirates (and in the colonies as a whole) was 2pd to 6pd guns. Navy vessels mounted larger guns, especially during the 18th century (which doesn‘t really overlap with the age of piracy), but pirate ships usually went without firing a single shot at an enemies hull. They preferred to scare their enemies into submission.

[@pandy3848]

@@MrMarinus18 But they said the myth is that more pirates died from shrapnel than cannon shoots. So that means we are shooting at the pirates in this scneario instead of pirates shooting at others.And it would make sense for a military ship to have the heavy cannons. Plus they would have less qualms about sinking pirate ships.

[@MrMarinus18]

@@besserwizard Usually they did fire stuff at the enemy but very small cannons or even just musket fire. Just having a lot of stuff coming at you is very frightening.

[@MrMarinus18]

@@pandy3848 usually pirate ships were THEIR ships. Ships were just very expensive before the industrial revolution. Even in the 18th century most nations only had a handful of ships-of-the-line with heavy guns that could destroy other warships. The first to build up a large fleet of them were the British which they used to great effect during the Napoleonic wars. But the battles you see in the movies of massive fleets with big cannons tearing each other to pieces was not how naval warfare was. Ships with heavy guns like that weren't around until the 18th century and even then not many.

[@xdemon5015]

Looking at the shrapnel content, it reminds me of a history documentary I saw a few years ago where old ships were sometimes painted red inside where the cannons were operated. The reason for this was to help prevent morale dropping by mask the blood splatter that would get on the walls from crew getting injured by shrapnel and enemy cannon balls.

[@Hum0ng0us]

Doug Fairbanks Jr, used to shoot these sail sliding stunts at an angle so he could make the fall but land safely.

[@ambulocetusnatans]

I came here to say the same thing. You can see it clearly in the clip that it is at an angle. If they tried it that way, it would have had a better chance of working. But I suppose real sails on real ships aren't at an angle, so maybe that's why they did it that way, but I don't know.

[@MrAntipaganda]

@@ambulocetusnatans Sometimes sails are at an angle. Like the jib! They shoulda tried the angle.

[@ambulocetusnatans]

@@MrAntipaganda Thanks, it seems the Mythbusters didn't know that either, so I'm not *too* embarrassed by my ignorance on this subject.

[@ChristianSchmidt-k6i]

The canon Mynthe is happent in real life in Denmark. So plausible. Ther is a video with a reproduction of it if you look for Live Kanon-Test mod Fregatten Jylland skibsside hos Hærens Kampskole. 😊

[@themoonsevilsister1561]

cool thing is those splinters would be a great risk to the eyes, BUT the other myth tests suggested they might have an eyepatch on

[@KarldorisLambley]

i dont get the cannon thing. where is the 'myth'?. just read any action reports from Trafalgar, loads of evidence for lethality of splinters. Shrapnel refers specifically to a type of artillery shell designed by Henry Shrapnel, which contained small projectiles (often lead or steel balls) embedded in a casing. When the shell exploded, the casing would break apart, releasing the projectiles in a cone-shaped pattern intended to inflict casualties on enemy troops. While wooden splinters from ships damaged during the age of sail could certainly cause injuries akin to shrapnel wounds, it's not accurate to refer to them as shrapnel. Shrapnel has a specific historical and technical meaning related to the design of artillery shells, whereas wooden splinters from ships are a different phenomenon altogether.

[@rossmabon4472]

About the only real difference is there's a century of naval development between the Golden Age of Piracy and Trafalgar. But I do agree that there isn't really a myth here, it's a pretty well documented case of injuries from splinter shrapnel, only using the term for the sake of simplicity .

[@pauloalvesdesouza7911]

On the deadly shrapnel myth. The deaths were related mostly to infections from minor wounds, especially those from teak splinters because it contains toxic chemicals in its lignin.

[@ThomMorrison]

ships with cannons were never pine....they were made of layers of oak....more like plywood (crossing grains)....many of the shots that even bounced off the hull, still spauled splinters.

[@mytube001]

Some used pine, but oak was by far the most common. Some ships had both pine and oak together.

[@IsaacNewtongue]

0:47 what sort of gravity-defying rum is Jamie drinking??

[@deongrobler636]

Sails are generally filled with wind that create an angle, it shouldn't be a straight vertical fall

[@kattphive]

very few people will understand this, but to me Adam's pirate talk was more Orky than piraty

[@grahamnombit3024]

Mor daka

[@SyntheticFuture]

1:25 this intro gets me every single time :\

[@georgesos]

The sail trick to work it needs the sail to be at an angle,as it is when full with air. The way they test it is like a wall. And yes,it is doable,even without a knife/destroying the sail.

[@IamNasman]

The wood splinter shrapnel isn’t a myth, there’s Royal Navy documentation of it.

[@kylecharles4333]

Although Adam mentions it at one point I feel the cannonball myth is off in concept, the ball will always have a higher chance of outright killing someone but the way splinters would have killed more was through infection and the terrible medical treatments of the time, it's the heart of the myth but still fun to see shooting cannons and all the pirate fun they clearly had making this episode.

[@christianellegaard7120]

The really wild thing is that Douglas Fairbanks probably did it for real in the movie.

[@AngelH91]

My question of using dead pigs was always, the skin would be cold and harden up making it harder for splinters to penetrate. Compared to wam skin it would be softer and easier for splinters to go through. Thinking about how easily we get tiny wood splits in our hands, if it was like that pig skin it woulnd't happen would it?

[@abdullahbinabbas8965]

usually someone would be wearing clothing as well, so the difference made by slightly hardened skin would be negligible i would imagine.

[@Phvpark]

I dont think so, the main problem with this mith is the wood splinter have a very low mass so even with a less dense skin the splinter would not have enough energy transfer to even go through the pirate canvas clothes.

[@RealMerryMary]

Jamie’s a vampire, lol 😂why is there an Australian flag in the background of the myth intro set? Caught my eye as an Aussie, so LOVE it, but just wondering what it’s doing there/why they got it/if they were using it for something

[@sergeantschlumpf6368]

Yes. Lovely episode just like them all. 🤗.

[@kylecain4908]

i see one problem with the cannon ball test, the wood's density isn't anywhere near what it used to be, so being much "softer" would take away a large portian energy and also reduce the splinters as well. This is only in my mind i may not be correct

[@ronbird121]

when adam talks like a pirate, he more likely sounds like big smoke

[@Der-miese-Friese]

10:41 anybody know the musik or the instrument/synthesizer used for that background sound ?

[@theinternetlawyer7126]

The fact that they used the banjo music from the original tower defense game ”madness” is wild

[@bryanm498]

A lot of TV shows use videogame tracks. I remember of a episode of Cosmos with Neil Degrasse Tyson using Mass Effect "Galactic Map" ost and some old History documentaries using Comand & Conquer and Age of Empires sound effects.

[@Rift2123]

man watching these episodes as an adult has just shown me that too much of my humour was influenced by Adam Savage

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

pirates didn«t fire broadsides, what they did with the guns was to criple the ship by going to the rigging, the point was to force the target to give up. it wasn't as much the splinters but the infection. it wasn't the volume of the splinters but the sise of them.

[@Kiwi.Rascal]

13:21 - that computer is pretty awesome-looking

[@Druguaer12345]

I like the talking walrus

[@patrikhjorth3291]

If you were on board a sailing ship that took a broadside from another ship, you may have received lethal wounds from wood shrapnel. The most likely cause of death, however, was probably drowning when going down with the ship.

[@hanselgretel8563]

Kari!❤❤❤

[@rollingmetal949]

Big part of the lethality of the splinters came from infections. That means if it made you bleed it could kill you in the following week or so

[@kuunib7325]

Eyo me boi is a pure bred dutch man for your speak easy enjoyment!

[@stevenglockner]

Did the aim through the boards between the beams back in the day? I’m thinking of the beams would have more splintering and wouldn’t just be a clean hole like the boards would be.

[@hellboundrubber4448]

The first Cannons were from China in the 12th Cen. By the early 14th Cen Cannons were first used by Middle East Muslims against European Crusaders. Cannons first appeared in Europe by the end of the 14th Cen. As was the Trebuchet from China.

[@AhmetMurati]

I can confirm the closing of left eye due to injury nearby the eye and now I see better colors with my left eye while right eye much darker colors.

[@The_Malcontented]

@50:34 Morbo is pleased but sticky!

[@Lagbeard]

As much as the fire suit does keep heat out, it also by the same laws of physics keeps heat in. So it's going to get very warm inside it very fast when trying to exercise with it on as you can't cool down at all.

[@Wanton110]

What about Urine and Soap.. I'd have assumed they'd use both in tandem

[@pjschu3297]

🥳 my yt just got a bazillion times smarter again *rrrrrrrrrr* 🖖

[@msmyrk]

"The first would be blood. The second would be sweat. The third would be something found on the ship... which would be pitch" Oh phew. I thought he was going to say seamen.

[@ArtemCheberyak]

45:44 nice

[@motelghost477]

43:40 It is now.

[@bullie86]

48:52 HOU VAST!!😂

[@photobackflip]

Jacked Juggling with Adam Savage. Hold on to your balls America.

[@Nereosis16]

"Is it possible they don't just drink rug" - 22:16

[@TheDerpyDeed]

"Avast" coming from the dutch "Houd vast" sounds... weird I always knew it as "go", but I guess whoever taught me that didn't know?

[@keatonjones6115]

hmmmmm i wonder if using vacum in the same way as making a ping pong ball supersonic would work with cannon balls and to this scale - for those that havent seen it, its basically a long tube with rupture discs at the end, you pull a vacuum with the ball inside and puncture the end nearest the balls and the pressure from atmosphere rushes in pushing the balls foward, and yes a ping pong balls can travel at the speed of sound, i think they did a vid on it

[@dcliddell96]

Why don’t Jamie like Adam? (Check the intro of the myth me matey)

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

Actually the one from the wood splinter isn't a myth, there are many records from the time stating that several men had died not from shot our cannon ball, but from the splinters being projected.

[@KarldorisLambley]

i thought lockram was just lighter buckram. a fabric which has been stiffened, like the peak of a cap, or a medieval king's banner. why would a shirt be made from stiffened material?

[@p24hrsmith]

Isn't this the time the first cannon ball skipped the hill and out the range ended up going through someone's house getting them in lots of trouble

[@mytube001]

Nope. That came many years later.

[@adamloadsman2133]

Is the instant night vision worth the loss of depth perception if you need to fight?

[@marcel_kogs]

You couldn't do this today with the pigs 😅 some ppl would go crazy

[@spirit4416]

RIP Grant Imahara ❤

[@JoaoSoares-rs6ec]

Different woods were used for different parts of the ship, oak was used for the frame, keal, pine was more common for the packing, the hull itself.

[@mmbatrider2]

Black fabric is best sweat salts stain retainers

[@buninayrosedator4100]

well i thought it was a dejavu , had to look it up, this is the episode where tha cannon ball flew into a house nearby XD. good thing no one was hurt,

[@Validole]

Nope, different cannon, different myth

[@Validole]

Mind you, I believe it's the same gun range, I think, and they just shrugged it off, I guess not believing that it could travel that far. The incident where there was actual damage, was 4 years later.

[@AdamHolland-Adz]

I love Adam's enthusiasm all throughout this show, and the way he cracks jokes all the time, but the way he says "Ye olde" as if it was spelled with a y instead of thorn makes me cringe ^_^ Its not his fault though, its the fault of shortcut making type faces.

[@dreamboards1056]

Id like to see the cannon ball hit at the 6x6. So it moves through 11 inches of wood in total. It would transfer more energy and make bigger splinters.

[@marijnkouwenberg4864]

Twist the knife

[@Hum0ng0us]

RIP Grant. 😞

[@timmurdock3484]

Maybe it's the Canadian in me, but I can't believe has brought up the difference in the thickness of skin between the splintereless pigs vs what humans would be with cannonball toothpicks coming at you. BUSTED.

[@hifive7366]

I'd forgotten how annoying Adam's pirate impression was 😐

[@mcalla113]

Annoying. But i love it.

[@FrancisLame]

Watching in 2024

[@TommyPrins]

use a curved sword for the sails

[@evpover1897]

🎉🎉🎉nice

[@obiwanfisher537]

Oh no the part with the sweat and the piss makes it a really disgusting episode lol

[@daemonburns-waight2421]

55:19 200lb pirate?! What, ya think pirates eat a steak dinner every night? I'd say more like 120lbs honestly

[@I_am_Mister_Y]

Grant was a beautiful man, and this thumbnail made me sad.

[@matty_isthemotto]

That pitch looks like Doo doo