Channel Dash by Battleship Scharnhorst & Gneisenau 1942 Animated

The Channel Dash of 1942, also known as Operation Cerberus, was a daring and successful naval operation by the German Navy during World War II. The operation involved the evacuation of three powerful German warships, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, from their base in Brest, France, to Germany.
The Channel Dash was a significant achievement for the Germans, as it allowed them to avoid being trapped in Brest by the British Royal Navy. The operation began on February 11, 1942, when the German ships slipped out of the harbor and made their way through the English Channel, with the support of Luftwaffe bombers and fighters.
Animation, Directed and Produced by: The Warline

[@derekweiland1857]

This channel has 600 subscribers? it should be in the millions range. What an incredibly well put together video.

[@TheWarline]

Thank you

[@tfs203]

No Kidding!

[@wardasz]

Probably cose there are other, older and vastly popular (and in some aspect better) videos about those topics. About Channel Dash specificly there are great videos by Operation Room and BuzBattles. Btw, this one look suspiciously symilar to Buz's one.

[@onlythewise1]

why illegals don't care about gringo

[@emretasdemir8028]

Yes, very high effort videos

[@kevin9392]

I was already very familiar with this operation so I actually came here to check the quality of the video and find out if it was worth subscribing. Let's just say I was so pleased with the quality, I watched it to the very end despite knowing the entire story already. Subscriber count: +1

[@DidMyGrandfatherMakeThis]

Seconded.

[@juhopuhakka2351]

Was there not somekind of duel between British and German coastal artillery?

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

The top commentor approves.

[@dwaynehicks6838]

Just been recommended by histograph channel , good video.

[@ChaosMongrel]

Same here! Found this channel that way too. Made sure to subscribe. Looking forward to future videos!

[@ronnelson7828]

The British submarine Sealy-un!?! It's Sea-Lion!

[@wahwahweewa]

Ya, and Boulogne isn't Bologna either!

[@NeedlessPedantics]

Tee-Pits...no it's pronounced Tur-puhts

[@AndrewGivens]

Wow, boys - calm down. - Here to add to these pronunciation critiques: quality video, presenting a very accessible explanation of this thrilling wartime episode. Good script and graphics.

[@Muesli711]

Frisian was another one

[@davefb]

AI innit.

[@viesturslevada8554]

Here to make a shoutout to Historigraph for showing Your channel. Much respect for You and Your work! Very enjoyable and a wonderful job done! Instant subscriber.

[@MALITH666]

I love this mission. It was so bold, mad and straight to the point. Plus succeeded.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Indeed. A successful strategic calamity for the Germans, effectively signalling the end of their surface fleet as a relevant factor in the war.

[@MALITH666]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 It was ending anyway. Germany was running out of fuel therefore Naval fleet was always on the clock. Plus US comiting to carriers fully broke/changed Naval warfare and rendered all these fleets useless.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@MALITH666 'Plus US comiting to carriers fully broke/changed Naval warfare and rendered all these fleets useless.' Really? Perhaps you might explain the importance of US carriers in the naval war against Germany?

[@MALITH666]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 They didnt have to. Its a case of 'even if Germany managed to have a surface fleet'. American partners, the British, succesfully did that with their fleet air arm. Which is the prelude for the this mission. 1940 aircrafts were far too great deterrent than the biggest battleship.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@MALITH666 Which German warships, or come to that Italian warships, were either sunk, or even crippled, by Fleet Air Arm aircraft?

[@TheInternetBanana]

I love the video but I spotted that your map may be more recent because of the coastline of the Netherlands. Keep up the good work!

[@tfs203]

This channel needs far more exposure + appreciation!

[@marksingleton7199]

I was reading a biography of Nelson in shop where Commander Fanning came in. Happy to see some one interested in Naval History he offered his copies of Nelsons letters for me to read. I was told after he left that he had been awarded the D.S.C. Commander Fanning returned with a huge book and I asked about his medal. He said that he had been a navigator whilst chasing the Prince Eugene and Gneisenau and that the government had dished out some medals and his name was pulled out of hat to recieve a medal. When you think of the responsibility of of these young men, I feel very humble.

[@marksingleton7199]

@freebeerfordworkers I understand. Yet he navigated a flotilla of ships and therefore had thousands of lives to look after. One of those very young men who took on huge responsibility. I respect them all.

[@kulturfreund6631]

Hi there, just to be precise: The name of the ship was >Prinz Eugen< .

[@luxin6235]

Came here from historiograph!

[@legallyblind393]

Your back! I’m so glad. I hope you do get more recognition.

[@TheWarline]

thank you for your support..

[@jonathonparker1532]

I love the history of battleships. Respect for all the captains regardless of nation or reasoning. Absolutely amazing marvels of war technology.

[@novacolonel5287]

Lovely narration and animation, and I honestly applaud your approach of butchering French, English and German city and ship names alike.

[@kulturfreund6631]

I actually think the pronunciation was quite good. Except maybe for the city of Wilhelmshaven, which sounded like "Wilhelmshown". I suppose this is an artificial computer generated voice. Maybe it's programmed or follows the name "Copenhagen" as a role model, which in Danish is written "København" and pronounced "Koebenhown". The V in Wilhelmshaven (literally: Williamsport /Williamshaven) is pronounced as F. Side note: The V in German and Dutch words and names of Germanic origin is pronounced as F . Examples: Vater (father), Vogel (bird), vier (four), vorbei (over, past), Volk (people, the people, folk), Hannover (Hanover), von Bismarck, van Beethoven, Amstelveen (Dutch town), Bremerhaven (coastal city, port of Bremen) ... Whereas the V in German words of Latin/Romance origin is pronounced as V. Like: Variation (variation), violett (violet), Vibration, Viktor/Viktoria (personal names), Vakanz (vacancy), Lavendel (lavender) etc.

[@moistmike4150]

Wow! That WW2 must've been terrifying for all those involved. I'm just glad no one got hurt.

[@melangellatc1718]

Nope, no casualties during the whole war!

[@davidasher8718]

This is terrific. The channel dash was always one of my favorite world war maneuvers

[@Docwilson91]

Found this channel by accident, but I’m glad I did. Great story telling and animation.

[@ethanchang6417]

So happy I found this channel by accident, keep up the good work! Can’t wait to watch more of your videos!

[@moistmike4150]

Kenneth Campbell and his 3 crewmen perished in the attack on Gneisenau, but he and his crew's bravery put Gneisenau out of action for many months in which it might have wreaked havoc on British convoys. God bless the brave men of the RAF and RNAF.

[@Dules-u5n]

every goddamn pilot/crew was a knucklehead within that airforce

[@Muesli711]

He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

[@parthin]

Prinz Eugen was a lucky ship that survived the war. It was destroyed in a post-war atomic bomb test.

[@mattg432]

Two nuclear bombs, and Prinz Eugen is still partially above water.

[@swervsplatt9672]

No, it wasn't, because nukes don't exist.

[@swervsplatt9672]

I don't care what you memorized from school, or what you watched on TV. Because that's all you have for proof.

[@noahj.1232]

Wonderful graphics and narration. Please continue making videos! You will get the recognition you deserve soon.

[@TheWarline]

Thank you

[@HoH]

This was really good, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[@TheWarline]

I'm glad you enjoyed it

[@mikepowell2776]

Excellent, detailed exposition with good, simple and clear graphics. Information is mainly accurate as well. My only criticism is that some of the translations are a little too direct and need to be corrected into English idiom. Good to hear a non-transAtlantic accent and a clear voice. I look forward to the next one.

[@Ansset0]

Info should not be mainly accurate. Either it is or not. In second case one should not spread it having a YT channel.

[@chrisst8922]

A couple of years later it would just have been another trip for 617 Squadron and their Tallboys.

[@ethical3429]

Incredible content. waiting impatiently for more.(thanks historygraph)

[@charlesfrancis6925]

What a good coordination and plan by the kriegmarine and the Luftwaffe, their dedication is commendable!

[@thomasthurman7840]

Poor Prinz Eugen... Survived the entire war only to die to a nuclear blast

[@peterjarvis9367]

The account is good, but does not mention that Bletchley Park had decrypted the co-ordinates of the swept channel past Terschelling, which enabled the RAF to drop mines into the swept channel and thus damage both battlecruisers. Scharnhorst took months to repair and my recollection is that Gneisenau was bombed while on a floating dock at Kiel so that she was never used again in anger. I defer to better information.

[@Itz_Shadow66]

This is the most underrated channel ever, good luck man, earned a sub :)

[@Tomtiedom12]

Historiograph brought me here. Excellent channel, you're looking at some serious growth in the near future. High quality video.

[@TheWarline]

Wow, thank you!

[@Memeo.]

Wow this channel deserves atleast 100k subs with content like this

[@TheWarline]

Wow, thanks!

[@chkoha6462]

Came here by recommendation.good video,hats off

[@FiveSkitsAtFreddys]

Amazing video, always so interesting to see the Ugly Sisters in action.

[@finnanutyo1153]

" Mom I want The Operations Room!" "We have The Operations Room at home" *THE OPERATIONS ROOM AT HOME :*

[@xsh4dowfallx]

I was gonna say BazBattles but that's fair too

[@Milo_Truck]

Bro this channel is so underrated 8.5k views only? It should be more.

[@hisdadjames4876]

Thanks for drawing our attention to this excellent account of the Channel dash👍

[@koppo9172]

What a great video. This chanell will blow up for sure

[@STRAYGAMING]

Very good video loved the detail and style

[@TheWarline]

Thanks so much!

[@spencerderosier6649]

Scharnhorst and her sister had battleship armor. Even thicker than the French dunkerque class. (Which were proclaimed battleships.) But their guns were vastly inferior to battleships by WWII. Some would say this makes them a propriety class. Others say that since they were meant to murder cruisers and run from battleships. This makes their roll that of battlecruisers. And therefore battlecrusiers they are..... In Truth, At the end of the day you can call them whenever you want.

[@michaeld.uchiha9084]

Germany just called them Battleships because germany never run the name battlecruiser. In Germany a battlecruiser like ship is named a Großkreuzer (Big Cruiser). It was planned to make a retrofit on the Scharnhorst class with 3×2 380mm guns. Never happend because the war started to early and not as planned 1949.

[@tomriley5790]

They were fast battleships, just with relatively small guns.

[@tomriley5790]

@@michaeld.uchiha9084 Germany had loads of battlecruisers, up until Jutland anyway...

[@535phobos]

@@tomriley5790 Well, they werent officially called Battlecruisers. For fiscal reasons. They were Big Cruisers (Große Kreuzer), just like the Armored Cruisers before. On the same note, officially Germany didnt have Battleships (Schlachtschiffe) until, well, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau came around. All before were Ships of the Line (Linienschiffe, Pre-Dread) or Big Ships of the Line (Großlinienschiffe, Dreadnoughts, so Nassau to Bayern) Inoffically the crew etc still called them Battleships /-cruisers, cause thats what they were.

[@hannesromhild8532]

Even thicker then the Dunkerque does not mean much. The Twins had a really strong Beltarmour with a decent Turtleback as backup. The Gund are also not too bad. They really performed quite well for the caliber. Penetration and range clearly make them capital ship guns. The mission profile for the Twins also was not cruiser killing but to oppose the Dunkerques. That makes them Battleships and they are classified as such.

[@javieralarcon1485]

6-5-24. 12.47.p.m. 22' Saludos internautas, uno mas que se suma a las fila.lei sobre la operacion cerbero, en los 70, en una obra de coleccion. " ASI FUE LA 2DA GM" y lo percibi con emocion y romantisismo, ahora que he visto este video, comprendo lo que la narracion describia, ((( si pudieras describir, las batallas y contrabatallas de rhize, diciembre, 41 a octubre, 42, graficarlo, ahhhh, tambien lo de las colinas de mamayek, ((( stalingrado: setiembre: 42, gracias.....saludos internautas, ...firmes y erguidos.

[@matthewbatchelor5084]

Great Video, best one I’ve seen on the channel dash

[@TheWarline]

Thank you

[@AndrewGivens]

Much as people like to talk about "blah blah, German strategic defeat" , "blah blah running away / retreating", while extolling the heroism of the British units which were sent piecemeal as part of the 'plans' for Fuller, I simply cannot fault the German operations in either planning or execution. 'Cerberus' is rightly viewed as a brilliant operation by the Germans.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Do you know who firdst called the Channel Dash a German Strategic Defeat? Some chap called Erich Raeder. I suggest that he was in a position to know.

[@looinrims]

“Both of these were battlecruisers” Oh boy you just caused a firestorm

[@Cobra-King3]

I rather call them Undergunned Battleships, but Also agree with the term Battlectuiser

[@alphamaccao5224]

Nah, they are battlecruisers in role and usage.

[@hannesromhild8532]

@@alphamaccao5224 Not at all. The intend was to counter the Dunkerque class. That makes them Battleships.

[@danieltraverso3940]

Your last 2 videos, phenomenal. You've found your mix. Keep up the good work.

[@TheWarline]

Thank you very much!

[@jamesmuller3807]

Could have sworn some fella named Galland played an active role in the dash.

[@robbabcock_]

Great video! I have no doubt this channel will take off like a rocket quickly!👍🙏😎

[@michaelreifenstein2114]

Heinz Knoke in his book, I flew for the Führer, described the operation from his position flying cover for part of the dash. The Germans were able to.maintain silence until swordfish appeared, them the typical Luftwaffe radio chaos ensued with everybody talking all over each other. He seemed to feel German pilots were a bit excitable when in combat.

[@casperborumandersen1458]

This video reminds me almost to mutch about the operation room video about the dash through the channel

[@hjones3056]

Very well animated

[@bencebenyo6788]

Nicely done Warline! Altough to be frank your map about the Dutch coastline is not just "more recent" as somebody has already pointed out but also incorrect regardless of the time it is set. Because the dijk which separates the Ijjselmeer from the North see was already built by the beginning of the war but the Markerwaarddijk which separates the Ijjselmeer and the Markermeer was not. But the point is the Markermeer is shown as a body of water on your map but the Ijjselmeer is not. This is a clear mistake whatever time the map is based on. I know it sounds harsh but to be honest I really loved your work and your video. It is great that you have put this together. I just wanted to help you with you later contents. Keep up the good work!

[@TheWarline]

Hi, thank you for your feedback.

[@TermiteUSA]

The coastline look level of details of all the countries were the same. The maps were adequate to show ship movements imo.

[@bencebenyo6788]

@@TermiteUSA Nobody said it wasnt decent enough for its purpose. But still a map is a map and it should be correct otherwise people get confused and with mistakes like this its harder to locate the exact location of the story.

Also came in by a recommendation. Maybe you'll get a lot of new subscribers now :)

[@lievenmoelants]

great graphics, and well told 😊

[@AllthingsWW2]

This is fantastic!

[@JavaIsAwesome]

ah dats why Prinz Eugene called the Lucky Ship through-out the end of war.

[@clawsewitz4316]

Why didn't they sail around the horn of Africa?

[@Barwasser]

wow this is some high-quality stuff!

[@tomriley5790]

Well conducted operation by the Germans and to be frank incompetence by the RAF and RN, most of the MTBs had petrol engines by the way and were prone to catching fire and exploding catstrophically. Even so it strategically to my mind feels like a failure - "We have well strategically positioned warships - I know genius idea we'll move them to somewhere where they're less of a threat! Victory!" That said Scharnhorst and Gneisenau don't seem to ever have managed to go to sea without breaking or flooding something. Incidentally Ark Royal is spelt Ark (not Arc)

[@williaml.]

Came from historigraph, great content indeed !

[@PaulP999]

Thanks for this, like others I had read a fair bit about it BUT your maps etc put the words in a better perspective - for example, I hadn't taken on board just how far along they were when first found nor how much luck played a part (HMS Sealion/recon Spits etc).

[@TheWarline]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@PaulP999]

@@TheWarlineI always wondered why the St Margarets Bay 14" guns didn't seem to play a part, at least one was in place by end of 1940 and the other somewhere around the Dash itself..?

[@TheWarline]

In 1940 two 14-inch cross-channel guns were installed near St. Margaret's at Cliffe. These guns were named 'Winnie' and 'Pooh'. The four shown in the video is an mistake.

[@PaulP999]

@@TheWarline You may not be mistaken, I have strong recollections 9.2" guns were on the coast, ex-navy ones which had no ship to go on (though I think Drac mentioned plans for a "super cruiser" with 9.2" guns..). I wouldn't bet proper money on it however (the 9.2" coastal guns, not the super cruiser). My favoured author said Pooh was installed in Feb '41 so could have been around for the Dash but later on two 15" were also mounted. They and the 14" guns had duels with German heavy coast guns it is claimed, along with some railway guns of similar calibre. Anyway, today I have enjoyed two of your videos and expect I will enjoy some others no doubt.

[@GearGuardianGaming]

Ok so a minor correction: Victorious renown and repulse didnt battle bismarck. That was suffolk, norfolk, rodney and i think sheffield or dorsetshire, along with king george V.l

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Victorious, or, at least, her aircraft, did. Repulse was with King George V (not VI) initially, but withdrew due to lack of fuel Renown stayed with Ark Royal, as the whereabouts of Prinz Eugen were unknown.

[@qzwxecrv0192837465]

Radio silence. Had the fighters been able to call back position, the Germans might possible have been stopped at the choke point. Well done Britain

[@NYCamper62]

There was also some electronic / radio deception conducted just prior to the dash.

[@jamesoliver6625]

To not include Rodney in the graphic regarding sinking Bismarck is criminal.

[@AndrewBuell]

Historigragh sent me. Excellent work

[@studentjohn35]

Operation Cerberus was just about the only time in the entire war that German ships proceeded at sea with proper air cover. Perhaps their freinds in japan talked some sense into them.

[@lostdrathen4254]

Now this is great content

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

Rest in Peace: *Kenneth Campbell, VC* and his three crew mates, *Sergeants J. P. Scott DFM RCAF (navigator), R. W. Hillman (wireless operator)* and *W. C. Mulliss (air gunner)* that died alongside Sir Campbell after their Beaufort was bought down by anti-air after their daring torpedo run. According to Wiki. The Germans buried Sir Campbell and his three crew members with full military honours. Sadly, while their heroic sacrifice didnt sink the Gneisenau, They still did enough damage to push her back to port

[@fitt4393]

Awesome animation and subscribed.

[@TheWarline]

Thanks for the sub!

[@randied603]

Listening to the operation being narrated got me anxious.

[@johnthompson4067]

I read someplace that, after the Gneiseau was badly damaged by bombing in Kiel in early 1942, it was planned to not only replace her bow but lengthen it. Would this have allowed her to carry eight 15 inch guns? I assume that she could not do so in her original design.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

No. Her nine eleven inch in three turrets were to have been replaced by six fifteen inch in three twin turrets.

[@normanwells2755]

0:12 Who were considered the Allies in March of 1941?

[@deejj9766]

Awesome vid looking forward to the next one

[@TheWarline]

Thank you

[@49metal]

Great production!

[@rocha7686]

Keep 'em comin!

[@crisespinoza1979]

Such a dash that made the British look very incompetent. "Fotune favors the bold". It certainly did so her

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

No. It made the Royal Air Force look incompetent.

[@johnnymartinjohansen]

What an interesting channel! Thanks for your efforts :)

[@kulturfreund6631]

The British Channel, you mean ?

[@princessofthecape2078]

Even if they despised the Nazis, the British had to at least appreciate the Nelson-like boldness associated with the Channel Run.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Except Nelson never fled.

[@anthonyiocca5683]

That German task force cruised the English Channel taunting the Brits to do something about it…

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

By which I assume you mean that the three German heavy ships fled back to Germany under a massive air umbrella, abandoned any future possibility of operating in the Atlantic, and thus played almost no part in the rest of the war, Admiral Raeder declared the Dash a major strategic reversal. He was correct.

[@anthonyiocca5683]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 A risky dash, torpedos and mines made it to risky…

[@dreadgod81]

Why is the closed captioning text so wildly different from the spoken audio? In some parts, it's literally describing details never covered by the narrator.

[@AirwolfGames]

Scharnhorst was sunk over a year later at North Cape, Prinz Eugen survived the war, was surrendered to the US who then sunk her at Bikini Atoll and Gniesenau was used as a block and sunk intentionally at the end of the war and was scrapped after Germany surrendered

[@powderb2009]

Prinz Eugen was not sunk at Bikini Atoll, she survived able and baker, due to a bilge pump failure she rolled over at Kwajalein Atoll where she rests with her rudder, port shaft and center screw visible.

[@clapxV2]

@@powderb2009 thank you for clear that out, Prinz Eugen would have survived if there were no radiation after the nuclear explosion. RIP Prinz Eugen 🕊

[@SeattlePioneer]

I don't see this as a German "victory" except for the fat that all three ships survived to limp into port. What I get from your video is that all three were frequently attacked and often damaged in Brest, and when they did leave they were pursued by motor torpedo boats, destroyers, torpedo bombers and fighters once they were discovered and damaged several times and left unable to move ---temporarily. The bottom line of this fleet movement seemed to be "Well, we survived. But we'll never do THAT again!"

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Well, some guy called Erich Raeder called it a major strategic reversal. I suggest that he was in a position to know.

[@donaldboyer8182]

I would not want to have to stand in front Churchill and tell the bad news. Nor would I want to be any of the major figures in this.

[@moiyamoyam5761]

Great details!! Kudos!

[@yashkalkar223]

Great content dude I landed here due too historiograph.

[@RoboticDragon]

I betcha Otto never misses an opportunity to tell people he is a celiac.

[@tejupagi5663]

Well told...

[@thomaslinton5765]

Channel Dash by BattleshipS Scharnhorst & Gneisenau

[@R.U.1.2.]

Well done and informative, thank-you.

[@chel3SEY]

Really excellent presentation.

[@Squeeonline]

The more I watch this video, the more I'm convinced it's read by a bot, who's reading a script with typos in. Clearly at one point the narrator says "petrol line", rather than "Patrol line" which left me very confused.

[@springerk2007]

Can’t wait for part 2!

[@rogerwilcoshirley2270]

Brilliant except for one very important qualifier - by this time the British had cracked almost all the German enciphered combat coms. Although still deliberately withheld it is almost certain the British knew every aspect of the German Navy directions to their ship commanders as well as essential navigational parameters that allowed them to close in as they did. There are some references out there that provide some limited descriptions of what Benchley Park had already done, the impact on specific seemingly amazingly successful operations (to include Kursk) remains highly classified or obfuscated. Admittedly however egalitarianism is a potentially lethal strategy in warfare, being oblivious and remaining so to systematic security breaches or technology compromises are extremely serious issues that must be prevented with utmost attention to potential indicators and ruthless prompt energy to immediately and verifiably correct such issues.

[@johnwalsh7256]

Great detail

[@TheWarline]

Thanks!

[@mjograus8800]

It is usually American commentators who say THE HMS. It is simply HMS otherwise you are saying The His Majesty's Ship.

[@tigerland4328]

Good video i enjoyed it 👍 however a few mistakes in the wording. its not "the HMS Hood" or "The bomber command" its just "HMS hood" and "bomber command". Also the official name of the navy of the UK is "the Royal navy" not "the British navy"

[@lukeyeates8595]

That was bluff by the Brits, you want those boats back in Germany, harry them to make them think they made it. Building false confidence. Super clever move.

[@MrMalvolio29]

I’ve always heard the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau referred to as “Pocket Battleships,” not as “battlecruisers.” In fact, when HMS Glorious was sunk by the Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, the message it sent out specifically identified the two capital ships attacking it as “PBs,” which was the abbreviation the Royal Navy used for German pocket battleships. I had always understood that, though lighter than a regular battleship, the pocket battleship still had more armour than the typical fast battlecruiser (such as the HMS Hood). Could you please clarify this terminological confusion? Doesn’t a pocket battleship also have a bit more firepower than a typical battlecruiser, which sacrifices armour and a few guns in the secondary battery usually in return for markedly increased speed? I guess I’m simply wondering *how* the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau survived *so* much battle damage from torpedoes, naval guns, aircraft bombs, and mines without sinking, whereas the most celebrated battlecruiser in the world, the HMS Hood, was sunk quickly by **ONE* direct hit from one of Bismarck’s naval guns…to be followed in short order to the bottom of the sea by the battlecruiser HMS Repulse, part of the foolishly small Force Z sent with nearly no air cover to “intimidate the Japanese” and defend Singapore. Instead, the kido butai had little difficulty locating the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the Repulse; launched their torpedo and dive bombers; and easily sunk both warships. This is my point: a pocket battleship *does* sacrifice *some* armour to *seem* to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty, but in fact these warships were still perfectly well defended enough to operate in formations with slower ships in relative safety, and, more importantly, to form part of a naval battle line, and be able to depend on its armour to offer it a good deal of protection as it exchanged shots with enemy warships. The same cannot be said of the standard battlecruiser, whose greatest assets were its speed and maneuverability.

[@fightingdreamer123]

"pocket battleship" referred to the much smaller KMS Deutschland and KMS Graf Spee, equipped with smaller guns (only 6, 11 inch guns) and lighter armor, as well as being much smaller to the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which were very much comparable to the HMS Hood in size. Pocket Battleships have far less firepower and armor than battlecruisers, and were only employed by the Germans during the interwar period to skirt treaty limitations on their ships. Think of battlecruisers as battleships with less armor and higher speeds. Pocket Battleships are smaller and weaker in every way--their like bite-sized candy.

[@MrMalvolio29]

@@fightingdreamer123 , this was not how the Royal Navy categorized the Scharnhorst or Gneisenau. When those ships were spotted, HMS Glorious Used the abbreviations P/Bs, in the message sent to the Admiralty. I appreciate your response, though. Thank you.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

@@MrMalvolio29 Glorious had more pressing matters concerning her than whether she was being attacked by Deutschlands or Scharnhorsts. The Scharnhorsts were definitely called battleships by the German navy.

[@RocketHarry865]

@@fightingdreamer123The Germans never used the term Pocket Battleship. They used Panzerschiffe which means armored ship. In terms of concept the Panzerschiffe were closer to the armoured cruisers of the pre-dreadnought era

[@dalek3086]

Deutschland was renamed Lutzow - before the Norwegian campaign. Renamed by Hitler as he did not want a warship called Deutschland to be sunk. In the German Navy, Deutschland / later Lutzow was classified as panzerschiff / armoured ship , this could be translated as armoured cruiser. Some newspapers of the time called the Deutschland a pocket battleship.

[@piccolo917]

15:50 While we Dutchies are indeed amazing when it comes to draining land, I don't remember our polders in the IJsselmeer looking like that. Or us having a town called Flushing. Quite a shame because this is an amazing video and has really well done animations.

[@bavo981]

I just googled it and apparently the british also refer to the town of Vlissingen as Flushing.

[@piccolo917]

@@bavo981 Some people also refer to the Netherlands as Holland. That does not mean those people are correct.

[@ThorSteinar444]

Can you come and drain my swamp?

[@davidshepherd8917]

@@piccolo917 no one was saying that lmao

[@TermiteUSA]

I think dutchy whining I've map accuracy has gotten older and more pointless by the day in these comments. If any coastal islands had really played an important role it would have figured more clearly in the story. Other country's coastlines were to the same scale.

[@johngordonmeade361]

Excellent.

[@bruh5361]

Great video, but you should work on your sense of direction. You confused East for West and vice versa several times in the video. Otherwise, it's fantastic!

[@TheWarline]

Thanks for the tips!

[@canerguener8664]

Great. Mostly unknown stuff ,even in Germany