Royal Navy as viewed from HMS Nelson circa 1931

This film complied from the Beulah footage library was shot by a teacher at Kingsmead School, Seaford, Sussex.
For more vintage Royal Navy videos and stills visit
rn.eavb.co.uk/
The music used in this film was recorded at the National Brass Band Festival held each year in the Crystal Palace, London until it was destroyed by fire in 1936.
For more info visit
www.eavb.co.uk

[@Joe0161]

My grandad served aboard this ship during WWII in one of the forward guns

[@cheesesteak2795]

Joe Shorrocks amazing!!! :)

[@theREDdevilz22]

Being British back then must have been the best feeling in the world!

[@ThePaulv12]

Yeah get a prime minister to make Britain great again - oh hang on, it already is Great Britain but not for much longer so it seems.

[@lawrencelinehan4602]

It's still a good feeling - don't moan.

[@deriter64]

Actually the Rodney and the Nelson were the most powerful warships in the world when they went to sea. Unfortunately, Great Britain's adherence to the Washington Naval Treaty tinkered with their design so badly they were unwieldy monsters and too slow, But even so old Rodney's 16 inch broadside blew away Bismarck;s main armament in 15 minutes,

[@russg1801]

These were comparable to the USN's Colorado class in speed and firepower. IOW, they pre-dated "fast battleships."

[@TheTraveller20081]

@@russg1801 yes, but had the Washington Treaty not thrown a spanner in the works, Nelson and Rodney would have been part of the G3 and N3 class of battleships and battlecruisers. 18-inch guns, four screws, bigger engines and a more conventional layout. They would have been the original fast battleships if only the British weren't such sticklers for following the rules...

[@ThePaulv12]

They weren't very unwieldy at all (but it was thought they might be but it turned out they were fine) and Rodol exceeded hull speed by 1.5kts with worn out turbines. Seems the captain thought since they're rooted lets give'm jolly what ho!

[@ljd8520]

Get them all rebuilt, and let's have back Egypt and the Middle East while we are at it !

[@ToonandBBfan]

Amazing footage - Thanks for posting

[@BlueonGoldZ]

@HelmutVillam I believe Rodney/Nelson were built the way they were due to a treaty agreement limiting tonnage. They put the turrets all in one section so that more of the ship would have armor covering rather than spreading the turrets out with massive soft spots in the middel fo the ship. They designed it for consolidation. She had firepower and thick skin going for her.

[@drcurv]

Awesome video; thanks for uploading it. Having great fun trying to identify the various ship classes shown here :)

[@ConfusedAdmiral]

The Nelson-Class was so lucky that no U-Boat was following *behind* them...

[@transonicbuoy1]

Great, great post. Great for the rarity, great for the ship. Thanks.

[@chrisbell5920]

This footage is definitively from 1929. At 04:11 we see a blackboard and written upon it in chalk is the final result of the 1929 Schneider Trophy held at Leigh-on-Solent, won by Henry Waghorn, 2nd Tomasso dal Molin, 3rd D'Arcy Creig. It also names their aircraft, the engines used and the times. Seems pretty definitive to me.

[@A60stock]

Many thanks

[@trent8002003]

The Iron Duke was still around by 1931. Thought it had been reduced to a training ship.

[@elswick1542]

Its defiantly Iron Duke,fantastic video.

[@hujjesb]

hey love this my grandfather was on hms rodney

[@richardgrant5105]

Very well done, that teacher - a lot better than some "pro" footage !!

[@karlcolt]

My great uncle was Chef Stocker onboard this ship.

[@VGTerm]

Which March it is and the name please I like it a lot

[@higfny]

Very good point tamenga, I hadn't thought about docks. Though weight isn't everything and Vanguard was 51k tons full load, and I would assert that the brits had the knowhow to build ships like her 5 years earlier if the political will had been there. I would also assert that both Vanguard and the Lions were better ships than the Bismarcks - what do you think? Still, your point stands, thanks.

[@pramboy09]

@trent8002003 I thought it was by mid-late 30's that iron duke was converted to a training ship

[@ygums1221nt]

@slightlyfloored The best comment on that battle.

[@Peorhum]

A few of the old Iron Dukes still in service at this point. Likely the last major exercise with the Irons dukes.

[@db605]

Imho the most beautiful battleships of all time - the right blend agressive sleekness and purposeful steampunk...

[@sailingtech334]

My father was on this ship

[@cheesesteak2795]

sailingtech wow!!! What did he do on the ship?

[@sydlemon5285]

Mine was on Rodney in B turret during the Bismarck episode.

[@studentjohn35]

In one of the "at sea' shots you can see 2 Iron Duke class ships underway. So the film has to be pre-1930, anyway.

[@Peorhum]

They were removed from service in 31-32 I think so this was likely their last major exercise before being disposed or turned into a training ship.

[@corneliusvanDB]

@salvatorearcilesi kein problem, ich kann auch deutsch. ich hatte gesacht dass die rodney hat die bismarck gesunken

[@apieceofdirt4681]

Great video. Thanks for posting. I know this is off topic but I still don't understand why HMS Rodney wasn't used in the first engagement with Bismarck instead of Hood. Britain always seemed to use the Battlecruiser for something it wasn't designed for.

[@JohnyG29]

The ocean is a big place to cover, and you can't have all your ships in one place. Even so, Hood was accompanied by Prince of Wales and she did hit the Bismark twice before retiring after Hood sunk. Those two hits caused enough damage to make Bismark try to head back to base...a fateful decision for the Bismark...

[@Makeyourselfbig]

+apiece ofdirt Because the Rodney could only manage 23 knots top speed. She was incapable of keeping up with the new King Geroge class battleships of which the Prince of Wales was one. If the Bismark couldn't have sunk her she would have out run her. The Rodney and Nelson look intimidating with those big 16'' guns but they were already obsolete when the war started.

[@Dunwell99]

Another reason would be the fact Rodney and four other destroyers were on convoy protection duty heading to Canada and Rodney was due to go in for repairs in America due to a damaged boiler (don't quote me) As well as the fact hood was faster and capable of keeping pace with Prince of Wales.

[@yutakasaki6255]

The HMS Rodney is too slow top speed is 23.8 knots . Bismarkck top speed is 30.8 knots I think 。

[@gameon5210]

0:48 what is it???

[@cirvine11]

Hood is visible at 3:24.

[@higfny]

also, if you should compare bismarck to british battleships it should be KGV, Lion or Vanguard. Lion is probably the most appropriate, and also reflects best on the british; they could have built ships much more powerful and better protected than bismarck, and had the know-how (several features on Bismarck is quite anachronistic), but realised that small ships and carriers was the way to go.

[@higfny]

Rodney in 1931? Interesting, that may mean that Cunningham was the captain when this was shot

[@corneliusvanDB]

@salvatorearcilesi umm, i'm pretty sure the nelson SUNK the bismarck? the bismarck sunk the hood, but was ultimately sunk by the nelson (and another ship whose name i forget)

[@TheTraveller20081]

Nope, Rodney was there, not Nelson. The other battleship in at the kill was HMS KG5

[@salvatorearcilesi]

@corneliusvanDB ich versteh kein englisch aber ich denke das die Nelson ein schönes Schlachtschiff war genau so wie die Rodney aber sie hatten damals gegen die Bismarck null Chance selbst die yamato hätte keine Chance gegen die Bismarck.......the end

[@crabcrab1155]

What's that white smoke for?

[@mycroft1905]

Smokescreen.

[@corneliusvanDB]

@salvatorearcilesi sorry, the nelson's sister ship, rodney, sunk the bismarck. nelson had nothing to do with it.

[@Cool2BCeltic]

In 1931, the World's most powerful navy, tailored to the requirements of maintaining the security of an Empire that was showing signs of strain.

[@xiaohu318]

Cool2BCeltic world's most powerful navy in 1931 is US or Japan ，not Britain，as RN's aircraft carriers ，carrier-based aircrafts were lagging behind too much

[@ULTRA_2112]

+XIAO HU: We talk about 1931, not 1941. In 1931 the Royal Navy was the most powerful navy in the world. Japan had three aircaft carriers, Akagi, Kaga and Hosho. In 1931 japanese carrier-based aircraft were british design with british engines build under british license. The US Navy had CV-1 Langley, CV-2 Lexington and CV-3 Saratoga as aircraft carriers. The Royal Navy had HMS Argus, HMS Courageous, HMS Glorious, HMS Furious, HMS Eagle and HMS Hermes as aircraft carriers. In 1931 British Fairey, Hawker, Blackburn and Vickers carrier-based aircraft were second to none.

[@gerogyzurkov2259]

1931 was when the world was in the great depression also every nation was showing strains one or another not just Britain. USA and Japan somewhat had major economic issues. And Germany also.

[@Thorny5718]

XIAO HU The RN was still the most powerful and largest Navy up until 42/43. Do some research before you talk utter nonsense

[@salvatorearcilesi]

@corneliusvanDB .....hurra................

[@abes.4040]

I read that at some point the Royal Navy had 70 warships. I wonder where did they find so many people to men those ships. England is not a particular big country.

[@thomashaggis8601]

Abe S. The Royal Navy is British not English, and it had a lot more than 70 warships, crewed by personnel from all over the Commonwealth.

[@Thorny5718]

The Royal Navy is British mate, NOT English. Manned by Brits and commonwealth troops. England, Wales, Scotland, N.Ireland, dominions & commonwealth etc. By the way 65mil + live on the British isles....hence why we can’t fit anymore in!!!

[@TheTraveller20081]

70? We had hundreds!

[@Kohl423]

Clearly Hood was faster and a lot nearer to the Bismark than Rodney. Hood was but by this stage over rated. Not that she was not an impressive warship and you would not have wished to be on the receiving end of her guns, but Hood was a Battle Cruiser. Which meant sacrificing armour for speed. Her deck armour was weaker compared to other more modern Battleships of this period. Alas that proved fatal when facing the Bismark.

[@DaveFrags]

Kohl423 indeed :( she did try to get close to Bismarck as to negate plunging fire but it wasn't meant to be! I love military history but it always saddens me when you think of all the lives lost on both sides when a ship goes down !! Crazy numbers

[@salvatorearcilesi]

keine Chance gegen die Bismarck....absolut keine....

[@ULTRA_2112]

+Salvatore Arcilesi: Die HMS Rodney hat die Bismarck effektiv zerstört. Bismarck konnte im Gefecht gegen HMS Rodney und HMS King George V nicht einen Treffer erzielen.

[@oldigger7060]

Boring march music!

[@mycroft1905]

Wonderful, appropriate music.