The Battles of Coronel and the Falklands: Pure, Unadulterated Naval Warfare

Discover the dramatic naval battles of Coronel and the Falklands in World War I. Witness the clash of mighty fleets, heroic sacrifices, and ultimate victory in this gripping historical account!
→ Subscribe for new videos at least twice a week!
kzbin.info...
Love content? Check out Simon's other KZbin Channels:
Biographics: / @biographics
Geographics: / @geographicstravel
MegaProjects: / @megaprojects9649
SideProjects: / @sideprojects
Casual Criminalist: / @thecasualcriminalist
TopTenz: / toptenznet
Today I Found Out: / todayifoundout
Highlight History: / @highlighthistory
XPLRD: / @xplrd
Business Blaze: / @brainblaze6526
Simon's Social Media:
Twitter: / simonwhistler
Instagram: / simonwhistler

[@jacklucas5908]

If you want a more in depth look through each of these battles, Drachinifel has made videos on both of them. I think they're great!

[@PandasEatBamboo]

He's a true war historian. His videos are so good.

[@alexandruhagi]

Simon and Drach are better than 4 years of highschool history

[@aaronp3411]

Drach is the only KZbinr who gets more of my ear time than Mr. Whistler.

[@woodchild2093]

@@aaronp3411 pretty much the same here.

[@eric5372]

I heard about Drachinifel from watching The Mighty Jingles (specifically World of Warships videos). Definitely informative.

[@anumeon]

Ahh Sea lord Fisher. A man whos career in the Royal navy started when their main fleet was still comprised of vessels from the Napoleonic wars. The man sure went through a long and distinguished career.

[@Anakin_Sandy_High_Ground]

"Dreadnought Jack"

[@MrLoobu]

I didn't know Sea Lord was a title, but I want it.

[@anumeon]

@@MrLoobu Well, techically it is "first sea lord" And his deputy would be "second sea lord" But yes, it is one heck of a title to hold

[@Anakin_Sandy_High_Ground]

@@anumeon isnt the first sea lord's assistant the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (ACNS)

[@anumeon]

@@Anakin_Sandy_High_Ground Yes,, and Second sea lord (he holds both titles) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sea_Lord_and_Deputy_Chief_of_Naval_Staff

[@Korporaal1]

"The very model of a modern Navy admiral" I like what you did there...

[@matthewfield2208]

“With a five fleet ship now under his command…….” 3:43😂😂😂

[@houstonhamilton1751]

I recommend Robert K. Massie's "Castles of Steel." According to that book (which I am paraphrasing as I don't have it in front of me) in one of RAdm Cradocks last letters home before the battle he wrote 'I've always said I shall die chasing a fox or in battle. It seems now that I shall not hear the sound of hounds again.'

[@lonecustodian9615]

My great great grandfather was a royal marine serving aboard hms carnarvon during this battle . It is intriguing to see a piece of my family history well documented.

[@jetgnome]

My great grandfather was a sailor on Von Spee’s fleet. I do not know in which ship but he stayed in Chile for the rest of his life and started a family there. Sadly I have very little information on him except he was from Bremen/Bremerhaven.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

The Coronel Memorial Library at Royal Roads Military College, now Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, was named in honour of the four Canadian midshipman who perished in HMS Good Hope at the Battle of Coronel. In 1989 a memorial to those who perished in the battle was erected in the Plaza 21 de Mayo (21st May Square) at Coronel, Chile.

[@toospooky051]

I appreciate the Gilbert and Sullivan reference 2:39

[@multiyapples]

Rest in peace to those that passed away.

[@Auriel_Direnni]

Ironically, Von Spee could have bought his coal in Coronel, right after the battle. It's a port city that shipped nearby Lota's coal mines' production.

[@joshuaberger6670]

With the talk about Chile, you should do more videos on the wars that shaped South America, like the Paraguay war and the War of the Pacific and the ABC dreadnaught race

[@nickyfield137]

Nice little Gilbert and Sullivan reference !

[@paulroberts3639]

Of all of the fates of sailors and soldiers in WW1, interned in a Chile sounds pretty good.

[@Dank-gb6jn]

Requesting the Battle of Chickamauga.

[@jasperpendlebury4551]

Speaking of the emden; it would be cool to see a video about it's exploits in the asiatic

[@Abusemtex]

You know what they say: "The taste of their food and beauty of their women made the british the best sailors of the world."

[@Ulani101]

Don't forget the prize money.

[@kurtwinter4422]

Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves

[@Lord_Foxy13]

That into the Shadows episode seems to me MIA... Did Simon do that thing where he mentions a video that's not out yet again

[@carpetbagger652003]

Love your channel!!

[@dwaynehicks6838]

Somehow whenever the royal navy lost an engagement in the two world wars , they still always ended up winning in the end , quite the achievement.

[@SitInTheShayd]

The video about Wilhelm Canaris isn't out yet :( For those curious, he was the head of German military intelligence for WW2, and he was very deliberately bad at giving the Nazis accurate information while being very good at feeding the allied powers very useful intelligence

[@briancavanagh7048]

I may have missed it but how did Canaris return to Germany? His ship scuttled and crew interned in Chile. Did Canaris remain interned in Chile till wars end?

[@Auriel_Direnni]

@@briancavanagh7048 He escaped Chile's detention IIRC. It's not like he was in prison.

[@jackpugh4168]

Yes! Thank you! More like this please!

[@theawesomeman9821]

These naval battles remind me of the movie, Master and Command.

[@andrewp8284]

Master and Commander, one of my favorite movies! I do see some parallels.

[@thomasthibodeau8628]

Wow, I haven't even heard of this battle until tonight. Keep these kinda videos coming

[@felixfonalledas893]

Wow! I didn’t know that part of that war took place in the Falkland Islands. I thought that this video was going to mention the 1982 war between Argentina and United Kingdom.

[@Donk2015]

I’d really enjoy a video on the battle of Jutland. World War I naval battles are really interesting and Jutland was the biggest one.

[@chrisbentleywalkingandrambling]

Definitely some outstanding bravery on both sides. The German for do it and be damned and the British for the mess with us and you'll suffer. Such a tragic loss of life as was all the lives on both sides of the Wars.

[@VWdude278]

2:40 It appears Fact boy is a fan of The Pirates of Penzance.

[@Fre3domAction]

I knew nothing about this! Thanks💥💥

[@clemfandango6969]

Really interesting

[@anthonywatkins462]

"The past was the worst." -Simon

[@tailssonicteam1604]

Am I the only one who saw the picture of Christopher Craddock at 4:12 and thought that he looked like Simon Pegg?

[@petermiller7978]

Great work again Simon, you present both modern War Stories v well & these old WW1 events nicely as well, all this is v relevant to where we are now in Global Geo Politics. Competitive scramble for territory & resources. Human nature being what it is, as Victor Hanson Davis puts it! Cheers 🥂Pete Miller from Bristol UK

[@simonbeaird7436]

Now we need a video on 'the light cruiser who departed to cause trouble in the Indian Ocean'. SMS Emden, the 'Swan of the East'.

[@Nobody-jx6xc]

so cool

[@dinsdalemontypiranha4349]

Congratulations Simon! Your pronunciations of the German names were perfect!

[@backcountry164]

Except for von Spee. "Shpee"

[@dinsdalemontypiranha4349]

Isn't it pronounced "shpay?" Or did you mean that Simon pronounced it "shpee?"

[@kupaaiau]

Another episode featuring the infamous blue sweater. Always my favorites!

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Yes! Now do the war of the latter!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Boomkokogamez]

He already did on other channel...

[@geofftottenperthcoys9944]

Got a movie about this on a drive somewhere.

[@davidlea-smith4747]

I am sure the sixth ship, the Emden, won't cause any issues later on.

[@spikespa5208]

Uh huh.

[@andrewp8284]

No how could it possibly?

[@micahistory]

interesting video

[@gamedude412]

One small fact. The German east Asia squadron was the elite of the elite ship in gunnery excellence

[@steveclarke6257]

Simon, just to point out to the scriptwriter, It's not just a distance of 300 miles to get back to the HMS Canopus and Stanley harbour. They had to also get round Cape Horn at the end of South America. Secondly (and this is where it gets geeky) the terms "Heavy cruiser" is not correct for the time period. The larger cruisers the time were described as either "Armoured" (what would become the Heavy Cruisers) which had an armoured belt and some torpedo protection or as either a "1st class" or "2nd class" Protected Cruiser ( a classification which became obsolete during WWI) which had a some protection against torpedoes and some armour over the engineering spaces but no armoured belt, with the 1st class having "more" protection. But this limited armour was still greater than that which was installed on the "Light Cruiser" or "Scout Cruiser" which barely had splinter protection- and sometimes the classification came down to the type of steel armoured plate type, with the better ships having the new Krupp plate and the older vessels only having Harvey plate. Yes it's complex and I accept that your scriptwriter probably does not have all the data they need for this level of detail, so sticking either to Armoured or Protected is perfectly acceptable for the level of detail you were going into.

[@alganhar1]

But not Heavy Cruiser, that term did not really come about until the Naval Treaties after the war, and was really artificially defined by them.

[@jorgecruzseda7551]

The LAST battleship Battle in history was near Guadalcanal in WW2

[@spikespa5208]

Uhhh....no. Surigao Straight, October 1944.

[@benworsham1466]

Admiral Graf Spee was in a difficult situation.

[@zachaliles]

Doveton Sturdee has got to be the most British name I've ever heard.

[@duvetofreason16]

Battlecruisers doing what they were designed for

[@mrsir2254]

5 fleet ship 😅. Bloopers are great.

[@garrisonkunst3645]

Requesting the Barbary Wars, the events that made the American navy a force to be taken seriously

[@Jason-vc5gl]

A episode of the recapture of Falkland Islands in the 80s is needed, so many talking points e.g small number of marines defending on the first day, the raids by the SAS and SBS, some of the terrible decisions made by the Royal Navy which nearly caused defeat, the outstanding performance of the argentine airforce and Exocet missiles, the valiant defence by the harriers and not to forget the first and only torpedo kill by a nuclear submarine.

[@MaddogMD82]

Falklands was a fascinating battle. It was apparently the war that nade the UK realize that there was a need for a Pathfinder force. ...at least, I think it was Pathfinders

[@kon497]

Falklands UK 4eva 💕

[@Redgolf2]

Viva Las Marvin's!

[@Redgolf2]

Malvinas

[@michaelroloson2389]

Oh yes, the days when a Navy really mattered. When I served back during the Cold War I noticed how even then battleships were nothing more than just for show. Now today with such weapons like the MIRV,s it is only a matter of time when even the super-carrier will be hard put to matter for much.

[@donaldreger3895]

Strictly for a mobile airfield

[@michaelhowell2326]

Yeah, and the tank is obsolete.

[@JABN97]

ships can be sunk. whats new. Even in their top days, battleships could be sunk, by other battleships or destroyers or torpedo boats or mines or submarines or even god damn divers (frogmen). And yet people kept building battleships. Humans can be killed by almost anything on the modern battlefield, but no one is is proposing phasing out the infantry. navies are more important then you might think

[@maryrowe3981]

War is hell, on all battlefields.

[@mabonagrininogi3303]

Whenever i see a photo of Willhelm Canaris (16:30) i cant help but to think of Leslie Nielsen.... Anyone else or is it just me? 😅

[@sagebiddi]

It's totally just you lol

[@ironmanhowes8200]

Unfortunate to see the misclsssification of the ships as battle cruisers and light cruisers. There were no battle cruisers in the battle of coronel

[@davids5566]

Think I heard ‘Heavy Cruiser’ at one point too… 🤔

[@hanglee5586]

Wow Simon had not done one on the famous naval battle, the Battle of Jutland.

[@michaelhowell2326]

I'm pretty sure he has on another channel before this one existed.

[@faolan4844]

I think the point is that the massive Battle of Jutland came well after Coronel and the Falklands, thus they were not the last fleet actions of WWI. Yes, the last battleship against battleship action was the Battle of Surigao Strait (25 October 1944).

[@Dan19870]

I'm a little surprised that Jackie left the West Indies Squadron in that state. Since he became a Sea Lord Jackie had been recalling old ships, scrapping them and dispatching new ones to replace them.

[@bronsonstrange3827]

Close to first! Closer than I've ever been!

[@johndunkelburg9495]

There’s some thought that First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher left Adm Cradock out to dry because he was nominally a supporter of one of Fisher’s bitterest rivals. Once Cradock was dealt with, the Admralty was ready to detach the two battlecruisers under the command of one of Fisher’s ardent supporters, Adm Sturdee.

[@recoil53]

Unfortunately I find this entirely plausible.

[@alganhar1]

While Fisher was absolutely capable of wringing people out to dry who crossed him, he would not have purposefully sacrificed the crews of Admiral Cradock's ships just on a vendetta. Would he have hung Cradock out to dry given a chances? Absolutely, but not at the cost of hundreds of Royal Navy sailors. Despite his often acerbic nature Fisher was remarkably loyal to the enlisted personnel. So no, I do not believe that for a second.

[@brandonwilson2242]

what into the shadows video does he talk about wilhelm caranis?

[@patwawryk7717]

Wooooo

[@geordiedog1749]

Did you spot the Gilbert and Sullivan reference?

[@robbiecotton6827]

What’s the name of the video about Canaris?

[@micahistory]

Please visit Micahistory, it would mean a lot!

[@eaphantom9214]

A Falklands war before the Falklands war... wowza 😮 Never herd of this 1! 1914 ⬇️ 1982 Mind you, this won't be the 1st time!

[@imanenigma3348]

Good video. Would prefer if you slowed down your narration though.

[@paulmeredith2037]

Hi Simon can you please do a video Sir Nicholas George Winton MBE was named a British Hero of the Holocaust by the British Government. Winton was awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Fourth Class, by the Czech President Václav Havel in 1998. he was a British humanitarian who helped to rescue jewish children who were at risk from Nazi Germany just months before the start of World War II he saved 669 children all of them would’ve probably have been killed by the Nazis if he hadn’t got them out please do a video on this man thank you Paul.

[@DesertFox32k]

good idea, do a list of rising military powers, nations responsibly investing in i's military in proper accordance to it's economy. I heard a bunch about Poland refitting and tooling to achieve the 3rd spot in world tank production to at least be able to punch Russia in the face if they have to fist fight. Really enjoy all the content you and your team do!!!!

[@freebeerfordworkers]

0.53 Highly possible the Falkland Islands would be lost! With just five German ships cut off from their base and desperately trying to get home how the hell were they going to hold in the Islands? Von Spee knew what he was up against he could go north in the Pacific where the Imperial Japanese Navy was looking for him or around the Cape hoping the Royal Navy would miss him. When the German community in Chile presented him with a bouquet congratulating for his victory at Coronel he said, thank you they will do for my grave. 12.48 He ordered his sailors to have their breakfast not because he was unfazed but because his ships had to get up a decent head of steam if they had any chance of a pursuit. It was said that the responsibility for this disaster rested with the first Lord of the Admiralty an interfering politician by the name of Winston Churchill. When told the force proposed was totally inadequate, he added the ancient battleship Canopus saying they could shelter round her. Cradock's officers knew they were going to their deaths. As he says when you send ancient poorly manned ships against the cream of the enemy Navy there can only be one result. However Jackie Fisher blamed Sturdee as director of operations for letting Churchill browbeat him. Telling him, you're responsible for this bloody mess Sturdee and you're going down there to sort it out. They then did what should have been done in the first place sent two modern battlecruisers, a type Fisher had had built specifically to hunt roving enemy cruises.

[@XerrolAvengerII]

"a five fleet-ship" 3:42 dunno if you want to, or can do anything to edit that

[@Daveydoodoo]

Somewhat unfair portrayal of Craddock. He most certainly believed he had to engage the Germans due to instructions from Churchill. He was, in fact a very good naval officer and understood that he have very little chance of survival

[@davidcomtedeherstal]

The problem of both fleets was, they were mainly 2nd rate since the great battle was expected elsewhere.

[@youngmaddogg5230]

What’s the deal with this massive Franz Ferdinand context box under the video???

[@Necrotic99]

You should look up the failed invasion of cartagena by the British in 1740-41, three different attacks with the final being an attempt to invade.

[@pavelslama5543]

There was something really wrong with the British ships that day... The Monmouth was a joke of a heavy cruiser (armored cruiser), with a main weaponry of a light (protected) cruiser - like caliber, and a heavy cruiser - like speed, it had the worst of both worlds. And the other ship - Good Hope, really didnt bring anything better than a good hope, as it had just 2 barrels of main caliber guns, one single gun forward and one aft. Which is, lets say, suboptimal, as the average heavy cruiser at that time had a twin forward and twin aft, and the over-average German cruisers had twin forward, twin aft, plus two more on each side, located in casemates. So even if the smaller ships had equal numbers on both sides, the heavy ship fight was extremely one sided, especially due to the amount of main guns broadside, which was theoretically 2x6 guns for the Germans, and 2x1 guns for the British. Due to that, both of the British capital ships sucked ass in a different way, whereas the German ones were one of the best in their category. Luckily for the British, they could bring an entirely different category for the next battle...

[@alganhar1]

They were both old, obsolete ships, in fact all of Craddocks squadron were old ships, with maybe the exception of one of the Scout Cruisers, I would need to check my sources. Fisher had been undergoing a process of scrapping all the old vessels in the Royal Navy and replacing them with modern (for the time) replacements, but that process was not complete at the start of WWI. Which was why those old ships were still there. So the fact that Craddocks squadron was outgunned and out paced should be no surprise given the age of the ships. As for Heavy Cruiser, it was not a term used in those days. The Heavier armoured cruisers would be either Armoured Cruisers or Protected Cruisers. The Light Cruisers would be Light or Scout Cruisers. The term Heavy Cruiser was not used until the Naval Treaties in the inter war years. Additionally the definition of cruisers at that time had NOTHING to do with gun calibre of the main battery, but with their armour. Again, the definition of cruisers by gun calibre came later with the Naval Treaties.

[@bipedalame]

Las Malvinas

[@russianarkadiy]

Dude is so tripping on something while recording this video lol

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:25 - Chapter 1 - Prelude to battle 6:05 - Chapter 2 - The battle of coronel 9:50 - Chapter 3 - The battle of falkland islands 15:20 - Chapter 4 - Flight of the dresden - Chapter 5 - - Chapter 6 -

[@Ubique2927]

Where the hell did you get that Falkland island Flag from. Completely wrong. Even in 1914.

[@Ulani101]

The vindictive Royal Naval squadron ran it's opponents down like dogs on a highway. Von Spee understood his enemy, and knew that retribution was inevitable.

[@yoshiforpm]

You’re confusing armoured cruisers and battlecruisers. They’re not the same thing at all.

[@yoshiforpm]

Defence, Monmouth, and Good Hope were all armoured cruisers, ships that had an armoured belt in addition to deck armor, but didn’t have al all-big-gun main battery.

[@TheLoxxxton]

And now I can have a delightful city break to Berlin. What a terrible waste of human beings caused by the hubris of the elite😢

[@ar-cn5en]

shiiiit bussin famalam

[@glenhallick3953]

A marvelous video explaining the naval actions in the South Pacific and South Atlantic. The only flaw really was confusing the terms armoured cruiser and battlecruiser, two very different warships.

[@heavenst.murgatroyd3128]

He was the very model of a modern Naval Admiral? With information Vegetable, Mineral and Animal? He knew the King of England (and he found him quite deplorable) In fact he disliked Europeans, almost categorical!!!

[@michaelhowell2326]

What?

[@heavenst.murgatroyd3128]

@@michaelhowell2326 Don't worry, I'm guessing that very few people will actually get the joke that Simon made about "He was the very model of a modern naval admiral". 😂

[@thomasbaker6563]

​@@heavenst.murgatroyd3128g&s

[@Singe0255]

Ugly Sisters, let's go!!!

[@matthewconnors8503]

you confused battlecruisers with armored cruisers, calling the Monmouth and Good Hope battlecruisers.

[@sandervr10]

Ah the good old times ... When seeing who got the biggest was a popular past time for European rulers ... What can go wrong.. oh everything

[@Geoff31818]

Von spee was never going to occupy the falklands he wanted to raid it’s coal and try to reach Germany a feat he would never have been able to do

[@MFitz12]

Pronounced like Von Schpay

[@alanclague2333]

Monmouth and Good Hope where not battlecruisers. If they had been the german ships would have been slaughtered. Also the heavy cruiser classification didnt exist. Cruisers where defined as either armoured or protected cruisers.

[@bmyers7078]

German East Asiatic Squad of 5 ships (2:06) 1). Scharnhorst (2:20) 2). Gneisenau (2:21) 3). Emden (2:24) 4). Nurnburg (2:25) 5). ? 6). Leipzig (3:41) 7). Dresden (3:42)

[@n4rut089animereviewer]

Don't worry, if you couldn't say the Japanese ship names then I don't think people will think you could say the German ones.

[@Andrew-pr9xv]

I'm not German but I cringed heavily at those pronunciations. But that's what us Brits do. We mispronounce foreign words. Sometimes on purpose.

[@michaelhowell2326]

Falklands then, Falklands now, Falklands forever. Never las malvinas.

[@MrLoobu]

It's good we don't fight like this anymore. It's an all or nothing game with hundreds of lives tethered to each boat, an unnecessary loss for fewer bad decisions. Then again, that's the entire point of technological progress, which we will remember during the next World War.

[@davedixon2068]

These days the ships wont see each other just fire anti-ship missiles then be sunk by the missiles coming the other way

[@jakethomson2991]

Back during the 1980s Great Britain fought a war with Argentina over the Falkland Islands.

[@ryanfarmer4882]

Did it really? You do suprise me.

[@Anakin_Sandy_High_Ground]

NO WAY!!! REALLY!!!

[@michaelhowell2326]

It's my favorite non-American conflict. I got chewed out once as a kid in elementary school during Spanish bc I called them the Falklands. She lost her mind that I didn't call them Las Malvinas. I have never referred to them as such since.

[@Onora619]

First comment!

[@gugman9684]

When using the comments Newest first option it will show you were 4th and too slow for getting "First comment".

[@backcountry164]

I don't see a comment...

[@julioa4425]

First

[@gugman9684]

When using the comments Newest first option it will show you were 2nd and too slow for getting "First".

[@Pepsi_Addicted]

first

[@gugman9684]

Not fast enough as usual and you got 7th SMEG HEAD.

[@tristanrainey5080]

Pronounce the name properly.