Yamato Class: The Heaviest Battleships Ever Constructed

Not as heavy as yer mum though.
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[@GlenHunt]

Gotta love the Simon Scoffs: "Have a go at me in the comments!" and "Smash that dislike button!" Ladies and gentlemen, the imitable and indestructible Simon Whistler.

[@isaacwilson5284]

Thats why we come here :]

[@steeljawX]

Plus he's got so many channels and probably so many in the works, he's like a cockroach. Smash him all you want, but he'll be back with RAID SHADOW LEGENDS!!!!!

[@d.c.8828]

#CancelSimon

[@GlenHunt]

@@d.c.8828 #CancelAnyoneWhoWantsToCancelSimon

[@steeljawX]

@@d.c.8828 You can try all you want, but the Simon KZbin Extended Universe (SYTEU) has already taken root.

[@fiftycalM2HB]

What I find amazing - The Japanese were a medieval and closed off society until 1867. Less than 70 years later they’re building ships such as these - this indeed is a remarkable accomplishment.

[@kh884488]

You should check out the I-400. A submarine that was also an aircraft carrier. Amazing engineering with those ships.

[@ramal5708]

100 years later in 1967, from the destruction in WWII, the Japanese rebult their economy and infrastructure, also being open to the whole world

[@kh884488]

@@ramal5708 also, the Japanese completely revolutionized high speed rail.

[@tmo2798]

And soon afterwards their cars hit the American market and take it over just after THAT.

[@davidgeoghegan8506]

SSN 578 skate was not involved in the U model sinking

[@thehobbyguy7089]

There is a massive 1/10 scale model of the Yamato in the Yamato Museum in Japan.

[@justsomeguywithasurprisede4059]

Where?! I want to know, my family wants to visit Japan, in which i think is super fucking useless, i hate Japan, they keep fucking up their history. I have 2 reasons to visit Japan: 1. One of their aircraft museums 2. Visit their new aircraft carrier But then i saw this comment, i need to know what location for that 1/10 scale, please, i beg you

[@burningdesire8597]

@@justsomeguywithasurprisede4059 It's in Kure Maritime Museum (also nicknamed Yamato Museum), the same place where Yamato was built. You can read more info on wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamato_Museum

[@pinkywinky911]

I’ve been there! That thing is HUGE! 😃

[@christopherkleinbach5237]

80 foot long 😖.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@justsomeguywithasurprisede4059 What, you don't want to see the 20m tall Gundam?

[@alexius23]

When the ship received its Okinawa orders the Yamato Captain told the entire crew that this was a volunteer mission. No one left. The Captain then told the Sick Bay to remove anyone who could not return to duty. He then ordered off a group of Naval Cadets as they were only there to observe. Everyone knew what lay ahead...

[@L3GHO5T]

Naval-Kamikaze time!

[@bikkiikun]

While the Captain was likely an honourable man (unlike the cowards at the admiralty), the folks that went on that final voyage were not realy volunteers. Simply because... those who did not voluteer would end up dead either at the hands of "patriots" maybe even have their families murdered or be sent on another suicide mission.

[@alexius23]

@@bikkiikun some of the surviving crew of the Mushasi ended up serving in Fort Drum in Manila Bay. They retreated deeper into the fort. The Americans flooded fort with fuel & then set it ablaze....

[@bikkiikun]

@@alexius23 : A very sad and cruel fate indeed. But with exception of the A-Bombs, this is totally on the Japanese leadership and its gastly disregard for human life. Unfortunately this dehumanising mindset among upper echelons hasn't changed much since then. Things might have been different, if the Emperor (unlike his son, this coward never admitted any personal guilt or even any form of responsibility for that matter) had faced the consequences of his actions, like Tojo.

[@alexius23]

@@bikkiikun a gre with your analysis

[@colinstorzbach6105]

Simon says: "There just weren't that many images for us to use" what he meant: "We googled and all we could find were voluptuous anime girls"

[@fuckinantipope5511]

@Ron Lewenberg girls with something else that is 46cm 🌚

[@aaronbasham6554]

You say that like its a bad thing.

[@711jastin]

@@fuckinantipope5511 yeah but don't

[@carldimayuga6419]

we're not sorry.

[@cleveland2286]

too bad Yamato isn't actually in azur lane nor is Iowa guess ill just have to settle with Shinano and Akagi's floof

[@TheRevanchrist]

as one youtube historian said, "Yamato was a world class sword, forged during a time when everyone was using machine guns."

[@Aotearas]

Not quite. The analogy has some merit but it's by no means as extreme as that. More like she was the peak of archery at a time when firearms became sophisticated and widespread enough to supplant archers. By the time the Yamato was designed, battleships were the proven pinnacle of naval force projection and aircraft carriers just up and starting but with few navies actually investing into a significant carrier force (ironically, the IJN being one of the few ones to really pioneer the use of carrier aviation). Many navy brass monkeys were staunchly averse to the idea of aircraft carriers being able to turn battleship fleets obsolete (no one quite wanted to have another Dreadnought moment where you build the one new thing that inadvertedly upsets the entire base of power ... again) and early test runs during the early inter-war period were either not particularily indicative of how much damage an air assault could deal (didn't help that aviation technologies improved leaps and bounds in VERY short order at that time period) or were dismissed by brass for varying degrees of compelling (or not) reasons.

[@neonlight1214]

Not really. It had the best arnament and armor, excluding the AA which was horrific. When people think of a naval battle they think like its a 1v1 battleship or destroyer fight with guns at medium/longer ranges, but it is clearly not. Every time there is a major, important fight, destroyers, cruisers, reconnesaince planes, aircraft carriers and other vessels for repair and equipment and what not.. US always had destroyers, planes and these vessels for repair and equipment every time, these vessels can't fight but they are important to make the ships ready to fight ASAP, after they get damaged. If you didn't know, Musashi sunk because it was completely left alone. Same as Bismarck, they both fought alone against 20 ships + planes. Nothing can withstand this. Just a big failure of the generals. Battleships were already obsolete as a famous British naval commander once said. It is better to have 6 destroyers working together than 1 super battleship.

[@neonlight1214]

Furthermore the Yamato class battleships only have advantage and long ranges because of their low speed, the ship can be easily seen as it is a hekkin mountain. At those times there was no good technology to effectively shoot at ships at 20km away. You aren't even close to see that far away with your own eyes.

[@charliewhiskey8440]

It was more like bringing the best sword to an archery fight

[@Carewolf]

Even as a battleship it kinda off sucked. The two ships managed to kill as many and as big enemies as a small to medium destroyer. Outperformed by ships 10 times smaller.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:45 - Chapter 1 - Between the wars 4:20 - Chapter 2 - Confrontation across the ocean 6:20 - Chapter 3 - A new breed of battleships 7:35 - Chapter 4 - Construction 11:30 - Chapter 5 - The twins monsters 12:00 - Chapter 6 - Musashi 12:50 - Chapter 7 - Yamato 16:15 - Chapter 8 - The ghosts

[@BritBattler]

God bless you.

[@Darth-Claw-Killflex]

So pathetic.

[@markingraham4892]

Wikipedia had a edit war to hide Yamato sinking itself.

[@davidedens6353]

The importance was not why they didn't see action. Yamato was actually deployed at midway as the follow-up surface force. The Yamatos used huge amounts of fuel oil, fuel oil that had to be imported. The u.s. submarine interdiction of Japan's shipping lanes means that fuel oil for the Navy was in short supply after Midway. The Yamato simply used too much fuel the Navy could not afford to keep her at sea.

[@nicholasconder4703]

Mind you, many crewmen in the Japanese navy took to calling the ship, "Hotel Yamato", because it spent so much time in port with all the top brass on board.

[@arthas640]

It's kind of hilariously depressing how if Japan had focused on either land based resources OR pursued island and coastal resources they'd have been far more deadly. They never fully exploited manchuria, coastal china, or south pacific islands so they inefficiently imported resources until those supplies got cut off.

[@tomhenry897]

She was father back then that

[@capbuster1424]

@@nicholasconder4703 and also the fact that the facilities installed were world class in warship sense

[@profwaldone]

I love blaze simon comming through every once in a while

[@tim1894]

He’s the boi with the blaze

[@aaronpollitt8630]

Alegendly

[@averygibson3280]

Only true legends can see the blaze

[@brainblaze6526]

FEEL THE BLAZE

[@brainblaze6526]

ALLEGEDLY

[@Izanami-no-Mikoto]

Yamato: I am the greatest battleship that ever existed Wargaming: But you're the smallest T10 BB

[@mickaeldelatre3320]

24 paper designs ? *Wargaming heavy breathing intensifies*

[@TheAnoniemo]

Still feels mighty to play

[@AniruddhJoshi]

Because none of the other T10 battleships existed in reality, they were all on paper.

[@airplanenut89]

Yamato: I am the greatest battleship ever! Bismarck: I detonated the pride of the Royal Navy, and I have a Sabaton song.

[@bri-manhunter2654]

Montano class “hold my beer”

[@WasabiSniffer]

One thing of note, “Yamato” is also the ancient ancestral name of the Japanese “tribe” that eventually became the modern Japanese. So as you say, while powerful, Yamato was more symbolic than anything. Love the content btw

[@WadcaWymiaru]

Just old name for japan and historic province...

[@mihover6665]

@@WadcaWymiaru for you maybe, but not for the japanese

[@WadcaWymiaru]

@@mihover6665 You aren't japanese, and Noire in profile pick does not prove anything.

[@2712animefreak]

To add, Musashi and Shinano are also names of old provinces in Japan. Musashi was located where Tokyo Metropolis is now which is probably why it was chosen second. Shinano comprised the inland region to the west of today's Tokyo surrounding lake Suwa. This place holds one of the oldest Shinto shrines. Unrelated to that, I would say that, given that the Yamato state was the one that eventually expanded to the entire archipelago, Japan basically *is* Yamato. The word "Yamato" narrowed in meaning to the region of the original Yamato state, but remained idiomatically used to represent all of Japan.

[@RCAvhstape]

@@2712animefreak Isn't Mushashi also the name of a legendary warrior as well?

[@ultimagamer1163]

You did the yamato, now I would like to request her rival that she never met, battleship Iowa

[@kennymccormick9973]

Imagine if the Iowa class and the Yamato ever went head to head. I wonder which side wouldve emerged victorious?

[@scroogemcduck1128]

A video about the a10 warthog would be very welcome

[@gorathsghost6475]

Yes please!

[@IneptOrange]

Damn for a moment I thought you were referring to the one from Halo

[@DoctorAkikoFukuwara]

Yessss! 18mins of Simon going: Brrrrrrrrrttttt!!!!

[@intelgigabyte]

Brrrrrrrt!!!

[@rubiconnn]

Way too many A10 videos. Also not really a megaproject.

[@alanscottholmes8913]

I had a sinking feeling even before I watched this

[@brainblaze6526]

BA DA BUM BUM TSHSHSHSHSHHSHSHHSHSHSHSHSHS

[@philvanderlaan5942]

Yamato ,, sinking feeling? Get out of here even Simon's jokes are better

[@nunyobidniz]

Noice👍

[@williampaz2092]

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@olliefoxx7165]

Well it blew me away.

[@24934637]

The thing that really surprises me about the Yamato Class is the fact that it's quite aesthetically pleasing for a Japanese design of warship / any type of Japanese ship. Normally Japanese designed vessels are to my eye, quite unattractive compared to British, German, Italian, or American designed ships, but the Yamato Class really does look good.....Good and dangerous too!

[@travissmith5945]

It's the pagoda superstructure style that all Japanese ships went with which got more and more pleasing to the eye, the bigger the ship got

[@skrappyjon2019]

"What they had designed was truly titanic.." Heh, I see what you did there.

[@TrySomeFentanyl]

@Adithya Babu good job! Give yourself a pat on the back you smarty pants

[@The1976spirit]

"This is my Titanic, not your Titanic!" Lütjens replied to Lindemann who suggested to seek cover between icebergs. Crush big ones to smallar pieces with the Bismark´s secondary artillery, to irritate British radar was no point of discussion.

[@brobamathegreat7527]

Imperial Japan: built battleship to take on multiple battleships. America: use planes and submarines. Imperial Japan: Hey, that's cheating!!!

[@wholeNwon]

And how did they attack Pearl Harbor?

[@magnemoe1]

@@syaondri We almost got an fight between 4 Iowas and Yamato at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Halsey planned to split his forces, using an strong surface to block Leyte Gulf while using mostly his carrier against the Japanese carriers. But he kind of forgot and took the battleships with him so we got the heroic underdog fight at Leyte Gulf rather than an slaughterhouse like in the south. who was the last battleship engagement, yes the US battleships was older but had radar, the Japanese did not and it was night then the fight happened. Granted it would been an more even fight but he US also had air superiority, not enough planes to take on an battleship but they could easy call shots and gone after the Japanese escorts while the US destroyers could play.

[@philvanderlaan5942]

You forgot expect that you might need more aircrew than you started with and plan accordingly. Also Japanese Submarine: Attack hard to kill warships. Allied Submarine: Attack easy to kill Transports and Oilers. Japanese Admiral ' Use Yamato and Musashi? Are you out of your mind? You gonna pay for gas? '

[@philvanderlaan5942]

@@syaondri what if we had actually built a couple of Montana class?

[@AmericanThunder]

@@philvanderlaan5942 The Montanas would have been too slow to be as useful and versatile as the Iowa-class. And too wide to pass through the panama canal locks, too. Awesome ship, but not as useful as the Iowa. Basically a slower, heavier armored version of the Iowa with 1 extra turret. I would rather have seen the 5th and 6th Iowa-class finished, instead. BB65 Kentucky and BB66 Illinois.

[@brownbrudda3338]

I feel like business blaze Simon is slowly leaking in to other channels.... To be honest I ain't even mad

[@aaronpollitt8630]

This is the Simon we need

[@boomwave2]

It's true, his old videos were so serious. It's all the cocaine.

[@brainblaze6526]

@@boomwave2 COCAINE IS MY GOD AND I AM A SERVANT OF ITS WILL

[@bglenn2222]

@@brainblaze6526 You're an asolute legend! Allegedly...

[@emmiannon1266]

@@brainblaze6526 All other channels: "let me tell you the facts about this interesting topic" Business Blaze: "Cocaine, yeet"

[@textmachine09]

The battle of leyte gulf indeed was the greatest and largest naval battle in history. It involved around 370 ships, around 2000 planes, and over 200,000 personnel invloved. The combined size of the battlefield is estimated to have been around 70,000 square kilometers of open sea.

[@duekhaos4952]

Adding on to Simon's breakdown of construction. The Yamato's armor plates weren't welded together, they were too thick, and so they were riveted. This was fine with ship vs ship battles which the Yamato class was designed for because of the angle of the plates and velocity of shells fired from other battleships. Any shells would bounce off them like tank armor. But it was a disastrous flaw when put against aircraft with torpedoes. The armor plates were simply blown apart from one another without effectively deflecting the warheads.

[@metaknight115]

Meaning that rather the effective thickness of a 16.1 inch bet, she had the effective thickness of two 8 inch belts put together, which will lower the effective thickness

[@markingraham4892]

Wikipedia had a edit war to hide Yamato sinking itself.

[@charliepotter5785]

I actually own a book listing every known battleship that was published in 1942 and the yamato was not included because of all of the secrecy!

[@camw621]

Now THAT is f-ing interesting. All I've got is a nickel from 1945...

[@arachnonixon]

those wouldn't have been available to the public, the navy issued them out to ships so they could identify other ships at sea. very cool that you have one.

[@baduploadschedule1015]

Forgot about how Yamato was converted to a space battleship after being fitted with a wave motion gun

[@philvanderlaan5942]

Guess Simon just isn't into sci fi or anime

[@nunyobidniz]

Deep Cut 😎👍

[@DMS-pq8]

Beat me to it

[@bonky6801]

At every mention of the ship's name, my mind prefaced it with "Space". I couldn't make it stop.

[@DMS-pq8]

@@bonky6801 Just don't let the theme song in your head or you will never get it out

[@711jastin]

Fun fact: Yamato, because of her huge size, was given a very luxurious interior , including a very nicely renovated mess hall, air conditioned environment all around the indoor sections, bands playing during officers' dining time, beds for all on board personnel(the destroyer crews only get hammock), cuisine from all around the world, ice cream making machine, general store selling cigarettes and alcohol, high rank officers can have their own single room equipped with a shower and a personal meeting room. At that time, such luxury was not seen in any other part of Japan's military besides Musashi, which also was made the same way.

[@janslavik5284]

So it was basically a heavily weaponized ocean liner?

[@711jastin]

@@janslavik5284 you're not half wrong, this is the correct depiction of yamato back in the days.

[@TechNaOkami]

So thats why in kancolle they refer to her as a Hotel LOL

[@711jastin]

@@TechNaOkami yeass, Yamato neesan has the best ice cream, even mamiya san is jealous of

[@travissmith5945]

​@@TechNaOkamithey referred to her as such because she never saw action making her a safe duty station on the whole. At least up until ten go

[@gwallac67]

These videos on military megaprojects are all great. I really appreciate the attention Simon gives to the appalling human cost involved in warfare at this scale, and the utter disregard for human life that these killing machines' construction implies. It's a welcome change from this genre on youtube, which tends to be at best dispassionate, and at its worst sometimes takes unfettered glee in these weapons' capacity to extinguish human lives. Simon's videos have the right blend of awe, fascination, and horror that these monstrous contraptions call for.

[@hgc7000]

Great overview of these massive ships. However, you 100% skipped over the later outfitting of the Yamato with a Wave Motion Gun (Cannon), and its refitting to a space battleship.

[@RmNrIHRoZSBDQ1AK]

I was going to mention some gatcha games, but this is more cultured

[@vb1564]

indeed.

[@GoufCustom22085]

Well.... the reason he didn't cover it is that it hasn't been invented yet. As far as we know

[@isaacwilson5284]

I agree. A second Yamato video would be cool

[@PetrSojnek]

@@GoufCustom22085 "As far as we know" is the key sentence there :) Lots of stuff could have been hidden in that mushroom cloud! And since most of the crew went missing, who knows?

[@rwd76]

In the Japanese navy she was known as 'Hotel Yamato' because of she spent so much time in port.

[@arthurabogado5054]

Best Hotel.

[@kmeanxneth]

Yamato: i am not a hotel!

[@justsomeguywithasurprisede4059]

You doomed us all! The weebs are gonna see this comment! Edit: Never mind, the weebs are already everywhere, i have failed on defending this pure KZbin video...

[@3xfaster]

It was rather luxuriously outfitted with a hot springs like facilities and A/C!

[@vykjulius8135]

Actually that's not all. The whole Yamato is air-conditioned and they engage the best chefs from all over the country.

[@airplanenut89]

KMS Bismarck: Lol, I detonated your pride and we shall fight to the last shell. IJN Yamato: STAAAAAAHHP TORPEDOING ME!!!!!!!!

[@johnbockelie3899]

Bismarck, Tirpitz, Yamato , Mussashi, The bigger you are, the harder you fall.

[@airplanenut89]

@@johnbockelie3899 Meanwhile all 4 Iowa's: *Laughs as museums*.

[@johnbockelie3899]

@@airplanenut89 I'm glad we kept those Iowa class battle ships around. I saw the USS Missouri once when I was a kid when she was in Bremerton Naval ship yard. She's 887 ft long. So are the others. USS New Jersey BB 62 was launched on 12/7 / 1942. Missouri was launched in 1944. I don't know when the Iowa or Wisconsin were launched. I'm just glad they are still around.

[@nicholasconder4703]

There was one point during the final battle that one of the crew members was cheering on an American torpedo, hoping it would hit the ship (which it did). The torpedo hit helped to correct the ship's list and temporarily kept her from capsizing.

[@Tonatsi]

I find it hilarious that a Yamato was foundered by the most unreliable torpedo in the USN

[@ajaygangadharan6440]

Thank you Simon and crew for such an informative, interesting, entertaining and brilliant set of videos. Long may it continue!!! Perhaps a good project to have a look at would be the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) and CERN?

[@DarquosLeblack]

I'd love to see an episode on the Yamato's brother in arms, the German Bismarck

[@micfail2]

You should check out the channel called dracinifel (spelling?) He has a bunch of videos on the Bismarck class. I'm not sure it would be inappropriate choice for a mega projects video, Bismarck was not a particularly large class nor was it particularly impressive.

[@stathispapadopoulos7926]

@@micfail2 It was seriously impressive. It far exceeded European battleships of the time and the only reason he ( bismarck was referred to as a he) wasnt even bigger was because sea battles in the Atlantic and North sea were different to those in the Pacific and required different ship characteristics. In fact the british were so scared of it they had to sent a task force of 40 ships to make sure it is sunk and even then nearly failed to do it as a lucky torpedo hit aided their cause. There wasnt a single ship in the world that would take on bismarck willingly.

[@ericlanglois9194]

@@stathispapadopoulos7926 There was little about the Bismarck that was actually impressive... It's armor was pretty much it. It's weapons were inferior to those used by it's American contemporaries, it's radar suite was inferior to British ones, it's ammunition was nothing special, it's speed was comparable to other Fast Battleships, it's AA suite was lacking... the only thing it did was get a lucky shot against a Battlecruiser that was lightly armored by comparison, causing a magazine detonation. The British "Fear" stemmed not from Bismarck's accomplishments or actual power, but the fact that it was a Convoy Raider and the idea that a ship like that could be allowed to escape to the North Atlantic would be seriously problematic for the British supply lines, which were already quite troubled to begin with. They could handle U-boats, a Fast Battleship however would be a serious threat to shipping since most convoys were only escorted by Destroyers and Frigates by that point.

[@micfail2]

@@stathispapadopoulos7926 lol no. the British were afraid of the Bismarck when they did not really know anything about it. Late in the war long after Bismarck had been destroyed they managed to get their hands on the actual technical specifications, at that point they were not terribly concerned about bismarck's sister ship because they realized just how many design flaws the ships had. Not only was the armor incredibly ineffective due to the obsolete turtle back layout, on a ton for ton basis Bismarck was about 2/3 as dangerous when compared to most battleships. There were battleships designed in the twenties and built in the thirties that had less tonnage than Bismarck but far superior combat capability. the real threat from Bismarck and her sister ship was the fact that they were built in secret in violation of the naval treaties which means that the United kingdom had not built any ships specifically meant to counter them. They had plenty of battleships that could easily defeat Bismarck one-on-one, but most of them were not fast enough to be able to catch up to it unless they caught it by surprise. most of the ships they had that could easily overtake Bismarck were obsolete battlecruisers that were never intended to fight big gun naval ships, like Hood. The only ships to be designed and built by other countries around the same time without the limitations of the naval treaties were the Iowa class which had extremely similar displacement to Bismarck but nobody who knows what they are talking about would try to make a serious argument that Bismarck would have a prayer of going up against an Iowa class. King George V, or even an old ship like Rodney would be able to handle a Bismarck class without too much trouble, assuming Bismarck was not able to run away... Which is not hard to imagine considering the design flaw with the number and placement of propellers.

[@CRAIGKMSBISMARCKTIRPITZ533]

@@stathispapadopoulos7926. Thank You. I Hate Correcting People About That & They Argue With Me About It Or Should I Say About Them

[@robertf3479]

I stumbled across your channel a few months ago and your treatment of the Yamato class battleships convinced me to subscribe. Very well done and presented. It should be noted that even though the armor protecting the engineering spaces and turrets was incredibly heavy, Japan's metallurgy was not fully up to the task. The formulations used produced steel that was slightly more apt to crack under the stress and shock of a direct hit by a major caliber round or torpedo strike. A Yamato class turret face was found by the US at Kure naval base, the turret one of those that was earmarked for Shinano. A section of that more than 20 inch thick steel was brought to the Naval Research Lab outside of Washington D.C. and subjected to a laboratory live fire test using an inert 2,700 pound AP round fired from a MK7 16" rifle at close range, the same rifles mounted in the Iowa class ships. The shell penetrated the face hardened steel. Even without shell detonation, spalling and concussion would have killed or disabled most of the crew in the gunhouse.

[@metaknight115]

That shot was taken from 400 feet away. It was rated as immune to all naval shells ever made from all reasonable battle ranges

[@robertf3479]

@@metaknight115 "Under laboratory conditions." I would argue about the "Immune" thing though. The turret faces I can believe as well as Conning tower, especially from angled hits, though spauling and broken rivets would still cause casualties and internal damage in some cases. Both Yamato and Musashi's turret roofs proved vulnerable to some 1000 lb armor piercing bombs as well as the deck armor. Both ships suffered major magazine explosions from fires started by penetrating bomb hits.

[@metaknight115]

@@robertf3479 That is false. Yamato's deck and turret roofs held up VERY well against the 100 pond bombs, and most survivors agree that there were no fires that could reach the magazines. What most likely happened was that Yamato's powder charges and shells rolled out of their storage as the ship, a shell or powder charge blew up-, and the who thing was spit in two.

[@robertf3479]

@@metaknight115 In Yamato's case the evidence is the fact that the ship is nothing like intact on the sea floor, evidence of one of her 18.1 propellant magazines and perhaps one or more secondary magazines detonating. Photographic evidence of the blast as well, a major explosion complete with small "mushroom" cloud similar to Arizona's forward powder magazine explosion. And YES, internal fires were reported by survivors near shell and powder storage OUTSIDE of the regular magazines. Yamato was loaded with more than her designed storage could handle due to the nature of her "one way" mission.

[@jameshunter5485]

The concept of the Yamato class followed closely that of HMS Hood...Intimidate and impress potential enemies. For over two decades the Hood did just that. Unfortunately it’s bully stick value meant that it wasn’t updated with deck armor and suffered its horrendous fate, just as Yamato and Musashi did. All in all both the Hood and the Yamato class were not only awesome warships but some of the most beautiful ever built.

[@Scooby-Doo_Villain]

Common misconception about the Hood. It's deck armour was actually upgraded significantly due to findings after the Battle of Jutland being introduced to most of the UKs battlecruisers of the time. The often quoted "poor deck armour" excuse was rectified years before she sank and made the claim that the Bismark struck her ammunition nigh impossible given the angles involved. The leading theory currently is that safety doors in the gun batteries were left open in between shots and as such the powder was ignited by Hoods own guns which caused a catastrophic explosion. Eye witness accounts from both sides back this up considering that the first thing to happen to Hood was an enormous flare of flames akin to a massive blowtorch spewing out of the gun battery, hatches, and more before blasting through the deck itelf then followed by the explosion. In essence Hood killed herself due to the gunners not following established firing procedure. Combine that with the King George V dealing with unfinished components and a partially civilian crew and Bismark lucked out rather than being a deciding factor.

[@seancrandall1291]

You've got so many channels, I don't know which one this belongs on, but you mentioned Musashi sinking USS Johnston and USS Gambier Bay. This was during an engagement known as the Battle off Samar, which is itself a tremendous story, and would make a great video. Cdr. Ernest E. Evans of USS Johnston led a charge (against orders) of puny destroyers and destroyer escorts that attacked, head-on, the entire Japanese fleet. Commander Evans kept up a relentless fire even after his ship was dead in the water, and went down with her (earning a posthumous Medal of Honor). The 6 escort carriers of "Taffy 3" launched their small air wings, and they attacked with whatever loading they had at the time (everything from ground-attack bombs to literal pocket pistols). Aircraft then landed on the island and confiscated munitions at gunpoint (from the US Army) so they could get back in the fight. Between the destroyers and the small air wings, they inflicted so much damage on the fleet that the Japanese retreated, thinking they were facing Admiral Halsey's massive Third Fleet. I'm alive today because of those brave sailors and aviators. My grandfather was aboard USS Kalinin Bay, which certainly would have been sunk but for that furious resistance. There's a great book about the battle, "The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors," by James Hornfischer.

[@metaknight115]

A: Yamato sank gambier Bay and Johnston, not Musashi B: Kalinin Bay put up quite a fight. She took a battleship caliber shell from either the battleship Nagato or the battlecruiser Haruna, and around fourteen 8-inch shell hits from the heavy cruisers Harguo and Tone.

[@luisurdiales3091]

Omfg, ANOTHER channel hosted by Simon? At this point I'm convinced this dude is a cyborg who doesn't need sleep.

[@johnbockelie3899]

The Japanese.were known to make battle ship / aircraft carrier hybrids.

[@anguskeenan4932]

Have you considered doing a video on the avro Vulcan bomber, it was the UK’s Cold War nuclear capable bomber.

[@adamcarreras-neal4697]

1 of 3, and the last one to enter service, the others were the Valiant, first, Victor second and converted to tankers and finally the Vulcan

[@popuptoaster]

All the V bombers were pretty impressive in their own ways and would make a good combined video.

[@welshdragon99]

I'd love to see a video on the USS Yorktown, its repairs in Pearl Harbour after the Battle of the Coral Sea were a megaproject on their own...

[@deadfreightwest5956]

"Two double-decker London buses lined end to end" damned metric system!

[@KoteDarasuum]

yeah, why cant we all just measure in football fields smh

[@deadfreightwest5956]

@@KoteDarasuum - How many football fields is the 100m dash?

[@nicholasconder4703]

Wait, London double-decker buses. That's British Imperial measure!

[@bendgeddes]

It’s some kind of Brexit metric. 🧐

[@fslx]

My first (and honestly last) favorite Japanese animé series was "Star Blazers," in the 70s. The ship in that SF series was "the space cruiser Yamato." The bottom of the ship looked like the hull of the actual historical battleship. In fact, I think the spaceship was supposed to have been built on the recovered hull of the legendary WWII warship. In my own Naval service years later, I was on USS Reeves CG-24 homeported Yokosuka (ya-KOSE-ka is the correct pronunciation), also formerly the Yamato's homeport. The first time I went exploring in town, I came upon a memorial to IJN Yamato just north of the US naval base. It was spooky and humbling to be making a full-circle connection back to my childhood, from the fantastic to the very real.

[@kronos6948]

You should check out the remake of the first season of "Star Blazers". Look up Space Battleship Yamato 2199. The first few episodes are almost shot for shot of the original, and they used the original music with better animation. Hell, they even used the original sound effects.

[@imperial_crest6809]

@@kronos6948 Also there's the remake of season 2 called 2202 that has, in my opinion, the best portrayal of the White Comet (Gatlantis Empire) including themes of it (you have to watch several times to wrap your head around it). Also, a third season which is still confirmed called 2205 The New Voyage which in my own speculation will cover the new crew arc, Dark Nebula Arc and etc.

[@kronos6948]

@@imperial_crest6809 I recently finished 2202, and yeah, there was a lot of differences from the original Gatlantis Empire, and its themes. It definitely will require repeat viewing. And I'm looking forward to 2205, although my watching of the old shows only consist of seasons 1 and 2, and Final Yamato.

[@imperial_crest6809]

kronos6948 Well in the OG show there’s the two OG Dark Nebula Arcs, The Bolar Wars and Rebirth (takes place after Final Yamato).

[@RCAvhstape]

I watched Star Blazers religiously growing up. In some versions for American audiences they renamed the ship the "Argo" but it was really supposed to be the Yamato, dug up from a dried up sea bed, and secretly converted into a starship to fight the Gamelons. It wasn't until later I realized that the mighty battleship I cheered for as a kid was in fact once the mortal enemy of my country, but since they were now fighting to save Earth it was all good.

[@jacobclark5851]

We need a mega projects on the AK-47. It changed warfare from its invention to date. Many interesting facts about its invention and uses through history.

[@jacobhuff3748]

A Kalashnikov, if you're going that direction then you need to include the StG 44 & Ribeyrolles 1918 since the revolutionary part is the intermediate ammo rather than the gun.

[@DavidOfWhitehills]

And to be contrary, chopsticks have saved more lives than any other invention. Not a mega project, but a mega invention.

[@nunyobidniz]

@@DavidOfWhitehills wow, cool.

[@dimesonhiseyes9134]

I'm not so sure about "change" things. The AK-47 didn't really do anything new that wasn't already being done. It is true that it has been incredibly popular but assault weapons and single person served machine guns were already a thing by 1947. The 7.62x39 was not really that ground breaking it did signify a slight difference in doctrine though. NATO tended to like bigger more powerful rounds while the Soviets went with a slightly smaller little less powerful round. The difference is not very significant though. But with the adoption of the 7.62x51 over the 30-06 the difference was reduced even more. I like the AK-47 and it's variants they are a ton of fun to shoot but I'm just not so sure it's mega projects worthy in and if itself.

[@jacobhuff3748]

@@dimesonhiseyes9134 thanks for reminding me about the SKS and RPD.

[@stephenlane9168]

Great work Simon, love your videos. Appreciate the research, compelling writing and presentation by the whole great production team 👌

[@phprofYT]

If I recall correctly, the tonnage limits for the Washington Naval Treaty were based at least in part on the amount of area each nation had to cover. It was still the colonial era, ya know.

[@starwing0]

“Built to intimidate”. So these are basically imperial class star destroyers.

[@rblinson8136]

More like Super Star Destroyers

[@philvanderlaan5942]

@@rblinson8136 blow the shield generator and it will dive just like a dagger through the heart of all your grand plans? Like a super star destroyer, like that?

[@Khyrid]

@@philvanderlaan5942 Noice

[@Spaghetti775]

Focusing enough resources into one ship to starve the rest of your construction efforts, gearing your core doctrine around massive capital ship engagements when your enemy uses a diverse battle makeup, and practically defenceless against enemy fighters without auxiliary support air forces? These are star destroyers point for point

[@philvanderlaan5942]

@@Spaghetti775 another thing to consider is that the rivalry between the IJN and the IJA was so intense it's not much of a stretch to claim that the main enemy of the IJN Was the IJA then the USN and the RN

[@Frolkinator]

Giant Battleships are just cool af

[@serdarcam99]

yeah and easy to hit af too

[@titan133760]

They're awesome, but impractical. What use is a giant battleship when that same battleship is a giant target and can be sunk by a multitude of planes?

[@RCAvhstape]

@@titan133760 If your navy is properly balanced and supported by air, battleships still play a useful role, especially in an age where the guided missile hadn't been invented yet and guns were still the primary ship to ship weapon. Furthermore aircraft were less effective in bad weather or at night, while a battleship equipped with proper radar and fire control systems remained potent. Japan's problem was that they couldn't keep up and by the end of the war battleships were all they had left; thy had some carriers but no well-trained pilots left, and to make matters worse they were behind in electronics technology, so even their battleships and cruisers were not properly equipped.

[@connorbranscombe6819]

@@RCAvhstape No offence but thats just wrong, BBs in WW2 played little to no role in almost every naval engagement, the ONLY time they proved useful was shore bombardments to cover amphibious landings, and the vast majority of air action in the pacific was done by aircraft, and cruisers and destroyers, Battleships themselves rarely scored kills or even landed hits.

[@metaknight115]

@@connorbranscombe6819 Battleships were HEAVILY used in the Atlantic war to sink enemy ships. I could go on and on, but Warspite, the Scharnhorst twins, Bismarck, the King George Vs, Rodney, Hood, ect, should be some obvious examples. There were a few American battleships that took part in surface engagements. During the Casablanca, the USS Massachusetts sank the incomplete battleship Jean Bart in port (Massachusetts was armed with numerous faulty shells, so the battle was more even than you think) and sank two destroyers, a destroyer flotilla leader, and a light cruiser. During the Guadalcanal campaign, USS South Dakota sank a few destroyers, while USS Washington sank the battlecruiser Kirishima and a destroyer or two. During a raid on Truk naval base, the battleships Iowa and New Jersey went on some convoy hunting, where Iowa sank a training ship while New Jersey sank a trawler and damaged a destroyer. During the battle of Leyte gulf, the battleship West Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee, and California turned the battleship Yamashiro into dust and ash. Kongo and Hiei were both used in various convoy attacks and surface engagements. Heck, this video even mentioned how Yamato sank and escort carrier and a destroyer, while the battlecruiser Kongo sank a destroyer and a destroyer escort during the same battle. Battleships were outdated, but the idea that they all saw little to no combat against enemy vessels is a bit ridiculous.

[@missjayspeechley9213]

A rebuilt/refitted Yamato also featured in an anime I watched as a kid. In some countries it was called Star Blazers, others Space Battleship Yamato. The plot being, Earth is under attack, aliens have been hurtling radioactive meteors at Earth, boiling away the seas, and leaving the surface uninhabitable. As a last ditch attempt at survival, humanity secretly rebuilt the Yamato into a space Noah's Ark. But then another alien race offers propulsion/weapon tech, which of course goes into the Yamato.....

[@BoudewijnvanHouten]

Great storyteller you are, that's a gift. It's not so much the content of your video's but the way you present it. Really outstanding.

[@TheNinjaDC]

USS Johnston: “ Ah, yes. Finally a worthy foe!”

[@Otokichi786]

Drachinifel agrees: kzbin.info/www/bejne/anLHlKl6nqZmoqc

[@technovelo]

@@Otokichi786 - "Faced with an enemy whose largest gun turrets weigh more than the entire ship, Johnston decides that running is boring"

[@gamezob]

Our battle will be legendary!

[@sivalon1]

Gamezob For once, not hyperbole.

[@m1t2a1]

Great comment. kzbin.info/www/bejne/oKitpHSImrulfLc

[@kriscerosaurus]

6:56 You wanted a ba-dum-dum-tsss right there soooo badly; just look at that smirk. The Boy With the Blaze is gradually spilling over into adjacent channels, and I’m kinda here for it. Can’t wait for the space heater’s cameo on Geographics.

[@philvanderlaan5942]

Hashtag more drunk Simon #moredrunkSimon

[@stephenland9361]

That massive explosion at Yamato's end was certainly a powder magazine explosion. You can imagine the vast amount of propellant needed to fire those 18.1 inch guns. (The American 16 inch guns often used 660 lb. of powder per shot.) The Yamato would have sailed with a full load or even extra powder as it was supposed to end up as a stationary gun platform. An Iowa class Battleship at full load out carried almost 1,000 tons of propellant powder. I'm guessing but the Yamato likely carried considerably more. One of the forward powder magazines would likely contain one third of that supply. Nearly all of it was unused at Yamato's end. BOOM !!!!!!!!!

[@nathanfisher6925]

If reports are accurate, the magazines were getting dangerously hot due to onboard fires, but the listing had gotten severe enough to lift the magazine-flooding pumps' intakes up out of the water, so they had no way to flood the magazines. This happened on several Japanese warships, so I don't know why they didn't address the issue. Doesn't matter much though, as the magazine didn't detonate until after the ship had rolled over. The explosion blew out an enormous hole in the bottom of the ship (now above water and facing skyward). Normally that'd blow up out the deck, but the water pressure prevented it, leaving the hull to be the weakest escape route for the explosion. There are reports of aircraft circling nearby being knocked out of the sky by the concussion of the blast - I can just imagine a pilot with his camera out wanting to get one last shot of BOOOM!

[@nofrackingzone7479]

It’s been three years since I first saw this video and watching Simon furiously gesticulate fills me with glee! 😂

[@DEJessee719]

Do a video of operation paperclip. I know it wasn't about building but it was still huge!

[@Terri_MacKay]

I would love to see that video...it would be fascinating.

[@simonjackson7269]

The mighty HMS Hood...... and/or the Queen Elizabeth class Aircraft Carriers..

[@Termi-Motovlogs]

You on about the new QE Carriers? I live in Portsmouth and they..... they are sinking, no I am not joking, loads of issues with the Hull at the moment. Both of them have the same issues and there is no dry dock local that is big enough to fit them.

[@krisryan9181]

Hood was a dated ship that got owned. Next.

[@wholeNwon]

It's still not really known exactly why the Hood blew up.

[@6Shroomie9]

@@wholeNwon Lucky shot to a badly designed main ammo bunker I thought?

[@wholeNwon]

@@6Shroomie9 Read about it.

[@LJOBOYLE]

Hey there, my father-in-law was a dive bomber pilot during the battle of Lyte Gulf. He participated in putting the Mushashi on the Ocean floor (William Moore Lt jr.) and other ships.

[@manhunter433]

The other significant thing about the Yamato Class Battleships was the Imperial Chrysanthemum on their bows, the largest ones to be used. The belief of the Imperial Japanese Navy was that their ships belonged to the Emperor, and usually ships that portrayed the Navy's might had this distinct honor.

[@rewoppop]

How did the Japanese rebuild Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombings? Technically it's a Megaproject sort of.

[@micfail2]

Many Japanese cities suffered far more damage from fire bombings, almost every city the Japanese had at the time had to be rebuilt. That's part of the reason their cities are so modern today, all the old wooden paper buildings got blowed up, making plenty of room for high-tech skyscrapers and stuff

[@krisryan9181]

Yea not really. They had plenty of help post war from the allies. Places like Dubai have had bigger transformations in smaller amounts of time.

[@isaacwilson5284]

Holy shit; I've never though of this but this amazing. Let's do it Simon.

[@darwinfowler8877]

@@krisryan9181 having lived in the UAE throughout the 90s I agree!

[@connorbranscombe6819]

@@krisryan9181 Yeah the UAE also had the technology of the 90s and oil money, Japan had neither, Japans transformation is far more impressive imo.

[@mushtaffa366]

Loving your work keep them coming ..any chance you could do a bio on the Tirpitz and the bismarck one day ?

[@peterlockwood7821]

Many thanks for a wonderful take on the greatest battleships of all times. Have you done one on the first (HMS Dreadnought)?

[@maxherman3884]

Simon should talk about molybdenum at some point, it was a metal very important to the making of heat-resistant steal during both world wars, germans used it in artillery barrels, and at one point during ww1 through a sneaky series of middle men.

[@GodlessScummer]

Simon could you do one of these videos on the Harrier jump jet?

[@sennui09]

Finally Simon talks about my favorite battleship.

[@marksauck8481]

The movie, The Great War of Archimedes is a movie to watch and does a great job showing how Japan felt about battleships leading up before the start of the war in the Pacific. The opening of the movie is amazing and this is one you must see.

[@fatkid7236]

Please cover the construction of I-70, particularly the Glenwood canyon.

[@BA-gn3qb]

How about the Lancaster bomber? Carried the most bomb loads of WWII. Even sank another Megaproject, the Tirpitz.

[@nunyobidniz]

Absolutely! Or maybe a biographics on its designer, or the designer of the Grand Slam, Tallboy & bouncing bomb

[@Terri_MacKay]

I would love to see that. I live in Hamilton, Ontario, and we have one of the two operational Lancaster bombers in the world. It is kept at the Warplane Heritage Museum at the Hamilton International Airport. I have been inside it during our yearly airshow...it was a pretty amazing experience. The Lancaster bomber is definitely an important part of Canada's history, with over 400 being built here in Ontario.

[@dsugioaga]

From an engineering perspective massive war machines like this are always fascinating but from a military perspective their advantages almost never outweigh their disadvantages. It was a similar story with the German heavy tanks of the same time period - the production complexity, maintenance nightmares, reliability issues and operational limitations (high fuel consumption, limited range, excessive weight which quickly wore down tracks/suspensions and made many bridges and other terrain impassable) severely outweighed the positives (good armor and anti-tank armament), especially when used in offensive operations (during which the positives could be further undermined by the enemy by laying ambushes and choosing when and where to engage). With the Yamato and other contemporary battleships it was clear almost from the very beginning of their construction that aircraft carriers would be far more effective in almost every way.

[@richardmeyeroff7397]

the reasons you state is why the Americans never built the Montana Class Battleships but did build at the wars end the Midway class carriers. Thinking that one or 2 huge what ever would be successful against overwhelming odds is the idea of the foolish and desperate.

[@MarshFlyFightWin]

Do you think you could do a video on the Nevada-Class Battleships as both ships had interesting careers. One of which USS Nevada tried to escape Pearl Harbor, fought at D-Day , Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, and survived 2 atomic bombs. I would say that's a mega ship.

[@xxotick]

I’d love to see a video on the Avro Aarow. Great video as always Simon keep them coming 👌

[@YuunaAndCuddles]

Iowa class please. I think these were the longest operational battleships.

[@percyfones7497]

Yes they are, the last time they we're used was back in the 90's in operation: desert storm (i think that was the name), after that, all the iowa class Battleships (i believe) were turn into naval museums (which i really want to visit, one day i Will) P.S: sorry if i write something wrong, English isn't my native languaje

[@wildkarrde3370]

@@percyfones7497 your English is almost perfect. No need to worry.

[@BloodRaven1969]

I'll add a "I second the motion." for this request.

[@nyxknight7555]

Percy Fones they are totally worth visiting the museums

[@magnemoe1]

Iowa class lasted very long, a lot because people stopped building battleships. They was still useful but not cost effective as they was so expensive to operate and weapon range was pretty short compare to planes and missiles. So they was activated and deactivated multiple times last time in the 80's. In the end they was very worn out, would needed to replace the engines soon and an gun blew up.

[@drgravity6381]

A classic: the most famous WW2 German battleship Bismarck!

[@BlackEpyon]

Sabaton already covered that ;P

[@BlackEpyon]

@EmperorJuliusCaesar Swedish heavy metal band.

[@drgravity6381]

BlackEpyon yeah but they're not the boy with the blaze tho

[@deeznoots6241]

The most overrated Battleship ever built

[@BlackEpyon]

@@deeznoots6241 Yeah. Build giant bad-ass ship, and your enemies just see it as a giant big-ass target.

[@jacenkore]

I would love a video on the Trans Canada Highway! I'm Canadian and I don't think I ever learned much about it beyond "oh yeah we did that". Thanks, love the channel!

[@jonlitch52]

Love this bloke as a presenter, quick paced and very watchable documentaries :)

[@Strothy2]

okay moar boats, how about those huge ass Liquid gas tankers, those are thick af

[@blainetoms]

what about the boats that carry the tankers?

[@Chris_In_Texas]

@Strothy2 How about this? kzbin.info/www/bejne/ipbboox8lJJmfpI

[@Overworkedandunderpaid]

YEEEEEEEES!!!!

[@devildante9]

Speaking of, can get a Fleet Oiler video next time? Or just do Taihou, I want to know about armored carriers.

[@Train_Tok_Man]

Union Pacific Big Boys: The Biggest Steam locomotives ever built.

[@shannonlaurberg6465]

I see what you did there.

[@Train_Tok_Man]

Shannon Russell Those are real locomotives.

[@shannonlaurberg6465]

@@Train_Tok_Man Duh. I saw one just last year.

[@That_Guy5575]

Shannon Russell 4014?

[@paulpeterson5214]

If you haven't done so already how about covering the fleet trains that made the drive through the central pacific possible? How about something about the lowly life of (but absolutely needed) ships like minesweepers or fleet tugs. You know, the fleet auxiliaries. I truly enjoy your videos, thank you. Or how about covering MacArthur's 7th fleet.

[@Rybo-Senpai]

The Yamato was almost the second heaviest ship to sail the seas, she would have been Eclipsed slightly by a derivative of herself officially designated as Design A-150 and quite possibly named Shikishima (as Theorised by World of Warships developer Wargaming.net and currently implemented in Game as Tier X Steel ship meaning she is only available to those who regularly play certain game modes) which would have had heavier 20" Guns, in a 2x3 Arrangement, 2 Guns to 3 Turrets in a similar Arrangement. However as Paper only ships go, that is a ship that was drawn on Paper yet never laid down, there were proposals even larger and Heavier than Yamato and in Terms of Weight of Shot, that is weight in a Full Broadside with all Guns firing, would have been close to Both Yamato and Musahi combined known as the Tillman Battleships if I remember correctly. Edit: The Tillman Battleships would have had a Heavier Weight of Shot per individual Shell to be more specific, the maximum Proposed weight of Ship was in the region of 80 000 Tons, Tillman IV-2 was proposed to have 15 18" Guns in 5 Triple Turrets, Documents I have been able to locate suggested Shell weights for these ships at 1,500kg to 1,600kg where Yamato and Musashi shells weighed in at 1,460kg

[@linkizlinkizzon8427]

Plz do a video on SAAB JAS-39 Gripen! Swedens multirole aircraft. A true domestic viking aircraft! The biggest MEGA project in Swedish history! The Gripen is one of the first multi-roll aircraft that can be used for hunting, attack and reconnaissance missions and also switch between them during flight, hence the prefix JAS (Jakt, Attack, Spaning)

[@LiamE69]

Multi role aircraft have a history as long as military aviation. The first military aircraft were spotter planes, but it didn't take them long to give them bombs and guns.

[@irritated888]

The shock wave when she exploded downed 3 or 4 American aircraft as well.

[@robslade2571]

I thought that might happen.

[@adamperry9755]

Her most effective AA weapon

[@Liguehunters]

@@adamperry9755 nice ;)

[@JW-xj1yf]

unlucky timing for those airmen

[@ArdFromRiA]

Well, if you put 400 planes for several hours versus the single capital ship with dozen of destroyers... any would go down. Even the WW2 carrier pinnacle US Midway.

[@kevinmccarthy8746]

Great work Sir. Fun and funny. Nothing you could say would change my feeling of admiration for you and your country. Thank you. Kevin from sunny Mexico.

[@tfs203]

The Iowa Class actually weighed 61,000t when fully fueled and loaded. Still an entire Heavy Cruiser lighter.

[@wellhellothere2291]

Notification: yamato class Me: *s p e d*

[@SomeNot]

Yamato: s l o

[@WhitzWolf92]

@@SomeNot Also Yamato: G U N S

[@AbhisarRawat]

@@SomeNot yamato: B I G

[@metaknight115]

@@AbhisarRawat Yamato: A R M O R

[@StretchyBog6]

I still find it fascinating that the largest battleship was changed between 3 ships in as many years. HMS Hood from 1920-1938(45,000 tons), Bismarck in 1939(52,000 tons), and Yamato in 1940(72,000 tons).

[@rburns9730]

What fascinates me is how little any of these behemoths added to their nations cause. I mean the Hood was destroyed the first time it saw combat. The Bismarck was undone by a String Bag bi-plane. The Yamato's only real chance to do what it was built for was the Battle off Samar. She could have easily destroyed Taffy 3 and shelled the landings at Letye (on paper). But in reality she turned tail and ran from a far inferior force. Then when she finally decides to show some gumption she gets turned into a class A fish hotel.

[@jdreyes3745]

I know you said "Have a go at me in the comments", so here it is: "Leyte" doesn't have a silent "e"; it's pronounced "Ley-te", not "Leyt", just putting that out there. No dislike for you though; presentation was rather good.

[@IanCaine4728]

I was starting to wonder if all midewesterners mispronounced it! Simon had me doubting for a second.

[@junpinedajr.8699]

This westerners laughed at us when we mispronounced english words,so it's only fair we do the same when they make errors on pronouncing our Asian words.fyi ,most westerners could only speak their language,where as most filipinos are mostly trilingual.

[@junpinedajr.8699]

@Uncle Joe Good pm to you sir,you may be right on some of your views,pilipino racism is not the typical racism you know,it's more of regional racism,you see ,since we are an archipelago we tend to be bias on our own dialect,manners and character vis a viv other regions in the Phil.as for white people like you,we tend to be more lenient in accepting you as oppose to other race.but you overstated pinoy racism as plus 6,sorry but you are wrong on that.

[@junpinedajr.8699]

@Uncle Joe Good day to you Mr Brian,to be honest im glad and honored that you like the Phil despite it is status of being a third world nation.i wished you the best,godbless you sir.

[@hamonryechinaski180]

Any fule kno dat

[@BillyPiper1EyedSniper]

Hey Simon, you've probably been asked about doing a video about the HMS Warspite, I've seen your HMS Vanguard video and you mentioned the Warspite without mentioning her name, it's the Battleship with that longest hit from a moving BB to another and also the most battle honours, even more than Nelsons' HMS Victory.

[@areasevenpro]

You forgot the part where the Yamato was rebuilt into a space battleship after the Gamilas bombarded Earth with radioactive meteorites.

[@franks471]

@ekcookvids If I remember right... in japanese the title of Space Battleship Yamato was Uchuu Senkan Yamato. If Senkan means Batttleship, that explains why they lost the war - their battleships were 'senkan'. Say it aloud, you'll get it. :)

[@stephenwright8824]

*GAMELONS*

[@kronos6948]

@@stephenwright8824 That was the Americanized version for Star Blazers. In Space Battleship Yamato, they were called Garmillas. Another Americanized one was Desslok. His real name is Dessler.

[@Drejco515]

You should make a video about the Battle of Leyte Gulf (pronounced lay-tay), specifically the Battle off Samar segment, because its the greatest story in naval history. Not on this channel, but maybe Geographics or Today I found Out or even Business Blaze because there are no rules for that channel.

[@dongiovanni4331]

I would recommend the book Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfisher

[@stephenwright8824]

"The whole world wants to know, where is Task Force 37?" - Admiral Chester W Nimitz during that battle. (Lucky shit could radio as much from Honolulu.)

[@Drejco515]

@@stephenwright8824 The actual question was, "Where is task force 34? The world wonders." The last sentence was actually part of the decryption key and was not supposed to be passed on as part of the message, but the communications officer made a mistake.

[@peterkoester7358]

The USS Skate image you showed in the presentation was the nuclear-powered USS Skate SSN-578 commissioned in December 1957. The Skate you wanted to reference was actually SS-305. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Skate_(SS-305)

[@Prototheria]

Hey, because I've never heard of it and you mentioned it, would you mind doing a video some time about the Japanese bombing their own train? I'm not sure which channel of yours it would fit best on, but I know it'd go somewhere. Thanks for considering it! :)

[@deeznoots6241]

“Built to intimidate” that isn’t really true, especially as the Japanese kept the actual scale of the ships secret to the point that even by the end of the war the US navy still believed they were several thousand tons lighter and armed with 16 inch guns rather than the 18.1 inch guns they actually had. They were built to compete with the more numerous battleships of either the Royal navy or the US navy, the Japanese knew they could never match either navy in sheer number so instead they tried to build a Battleship that could by itself fight 2 battleships and win

[@jannegrey593]

Basically Quality over Quantity. Not to mention that US Intelligence gave it 45.000 tons of displacement, maybe 50k. It was until the 80's that documents were found that gave the idea of how big the ship was (68.000 t standard displacement). Japan didn't have the money, time and capacity to build incrementally better Battleships, like US and UK could - especially since Tosa's were cancelled due to Washington Naval Treaty. So they made leaps instead of incremental changes.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@jannegrey593 And it was one of the greatest leaps in technology in warship construction at that time. I wonder if Admiral "Ching" Lee would have had second thoughts about tangling with Yamato if the Americans had known her actual specs.

[@jaybee9269]

Since you invited us to pick at this video, Simon, y’all showed a picture of the nuclear USS Skate SSN-578, the lead ship of her class (and the first submarine to surface at the North Pole.) The correct boat is USS Skate SS-305, a Balao-class conventional submarine. Cheers!

[@iansclone]

My grandfather served on the USS Kalinin Bay in the battle of Leyte Gulf, I'd greatly appreciate a video on that battle or on Midway in general.

[@lukeadams8565]

hahaha size is all ways matters and i must say my good sir you are so fun to watch it makes my day to hear you're voice on these topics i just love it thank you for bringing joy to my day in these crazy ass times i just love all your shows you are just a very relatable guy but i love it keep up all the amazing content because shit man it must take a long time to make these and get them out that is just alot of work peace love and light bro

[@theofficialsikris]

Japan: Launches new Aircraft Carrier U.S: Sinks it after 10 days Japan: *distorted oof sound*

[@philvanderlaan5942]

Watch Drachinifel's Naval history Channel ' Operation Ten-go - the bigger they come the harder they fall ' and ' IJN Taiho - always train your crew.' Ps he has done Yamato as well.

[@technovelo]

@@philvanderlaan5942 Drach also did 'The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?' where he mentions that the Yamato alone outweighed all 13 ships of Taffy 3.

[@philvanderlaan5942]

@@technovelo yep and taffy 3 won Simply because the Japanese couldn't believe that destroyers and escort carriers would try to stand up to the might of the IJN. So they shot AP shells instead of HE that would have ripped up taffy 3 in one hit apiece.

[@stephencooper1012]

@@philvanderlaan5942 ijn literally anything after the us lost the uss wasp they went through and pushed hard on damage control and firefighting because it should have been able to have been saved, ijn did not train a good chunk of each crew in damage control or firefighting at all

[@RedXlV]

@@philvanderlaan5942 Admiral Kurita also ordered a retreat basically right at the moment he was on the verge of total victory. Decades later he claimed that he already knew the war was lost and wanted to retreat as soon as he could justifiably do so. More likely, though, his decision-making was more influenced by extreme fatigue and possibly PTSD, since just 2 days earlier he barely survived when his flagship (the cruiser Atago) was sunk by a submarine. And had just recovered from hemorrhagic fever prior to that.

[@craznorse6240]

Ahhh come on Simon, not even a small bonus mention of "Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199"?

[@Plissken72]

IMHO, the best anime ever.

[@pauld6967]

Or any version of Star Blazers for that matter & the ongoing popularity it still enjoys in Japan.

[@horizonbrave1533]

Lol yea seriously, my mind instantly goes to the bizarre whacky anime...

[@memeboy8207]

Space Battleship Yamato, also known as a-10 warthog requim

[@AquimMedia]

Best Anime (not an anime fan) made me love Sci-fi. Wave Motion Gun... Yeah I needed to suspend disbelief, but knowing the Yamato was destroyed. Ugghhhh can't get past it.

[@nathanfisher6925]

quick side-note concerning "flagship" - the Yamato was never intended to be the flagship. (Nagato was often used for this) The admiralty only decided to add the necessary command and communications facilities to the yamato class after the actual Yamato was too far constructed to make such changes. The Musashi wasn't as far along in construction though and DID get flagship facilities.

[@normanhumphrey9695]

Excellent video, great story and well presented. Thank you.

[@jamessutter6700]

"...truly TITANIC." Gotta love it when Simon brings the cheese!

[@wings8005]

It's my favourite warship. Visited the Yamato museum in Kure about an hour outside of Hiroshima back in 2015, where a 1 : 10 replica is the main attraction. It's a must-go if you are ever in the neighbourhood.

[@Luis-be9mi]

I’ve been there and that model pales in comparison to the massive movie set that they’ve built for the making of the Yamato Movie

[@sunislva1314]

Man oh man the Yamato class battleships were indeed beauties.

[@masterchief5417]

ikr and it makes me said how they ended but just imagine if they was able to make all 5 yamato class ships right away now that will be one hell of a sight to see

[@sbradley34]

I would like to see a video about Canada's Avro Arrow from the mid 1950's. Back then, the government of the time didn't want Canada to seem like a military threat and order that everything about the aircraft be distroyed.

[@nolanbrown84]

I love that a bit more of Business Blaze Simon is seeping into his other channels.

[@brainblaze6526]

legend

[@nolanbrown84]

Business Blaze cannot WAIT until ETA crashes through a wall like the Kool-Aid man in the middle of a Geographic! ETA: "Oh Yeah..."

[@nolanbrown84]

Business Blaze cannot WAIT until ETA crashes through a wall like the Kool-Aid man in the middle of a Geographic! ETA: "Oh Yeah..."

[@smugb]

I'm surprised you didn't mention Space Battleship Yamato... Or, am I confusing anime with real life again?

[@MrFlatage]

As during WWII the US Spaceforce will find out only years later. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5nal4aibtpneqM SBY was constructed out of sight on the bottom of the ocean. So who really knows what they are up to if you go look at what goes on in Japan right now? Or maybe they are confused with anime who knows.

[@geraldchacon8201]

Really enjoy all you videos. Thanks !

[@thebobs9343]

Best part of watching these vids is learning something I didn't know. I had heard if this ship but I didn't know there was a sister ship. And the life of these ships were a complete unknown, although I had read about the Yamato's sinking. Gave this a "like'.