The Sesame Street aliens have arrived on Earth in the age of steam and steel, and established a small colony. They have noticed the behaviour of the European Empires and have decided to establish a navy for self-defence. Lacking limbs however makes it hard to load guns easily. What is the earliest they could fit destroyer-grade or larger guns with autoloaders, giving their navy a decent punch?
why did the Japanese go for more streamlined organic looking superstructures compared to other navies (particularly notable on takao class and yamatos)
I did a project on German Auxiliary Cruisers back in college. Far and away one of the funniest photographs I found in a reference book was one of a German sailor on one of the raiders which was then pretending to be a Soviet ship prior to Operation Barbarossa when the USSR still counted as a neutral nation. To complete his guise as a “Russian sailor”, the German had replaced the Third Reich eagle and cockade pin with a presumably homemade red star and most hilariously had reversed his woven cap tally so the letters were backwards. The idea that he thought backwards German would pass for Cyrillic is slightly hilarious to me.
There are some very good photos in 'Under Ten Flags' written by the Captain of the Atlantis (with foreword provided by a Captain, one of his English captives!). Think there's one of some of the crew riding on the back of an elephant seal.
Must have good fun with it. Haha look at me Hans *does a silly march on the deck* hurr durr i'm a soviet sailor, long live the revolution cyka cyka vodka blyat glory to Lenin
“Hans, Kapitan says we’re supposed to be Russian now. What does the Russian alphabet look like?” “I dunno Fritz. I think the ‘N’ is backwards” “Perfect!” *Reverses cap tally.
I’ve never seen the picture but I’m laughing at the one in my head anyway LMAO I’ve often thought the same thing..just reverse the letters it’ll look Cyrillic haha
I know this is a joke but I do want to point out that Bismarck,and Scharnhorst weren’t designed as Commerce raiders they were put into that role however.
@@KentuckyAk101guy I believe at least the Bismarck-class was designed with commerce raiding as a secondary role. With that said, there's really nothing about the Bismarck-class that makes them better commerce raiders than any other fast battleship.
Round one: Thor vs. HMS Alcantara. Thor winds. Round two: Thor vs. HMS Carnarvon Castle. Thor wins. Round three: Thor vs. HMS Voltaire. Thor wins. Thor is feeling happy and pround. Gets on drydock and gets burned.
@@RCAvhstape its a matter of semantics. They can attack whoever they want and their own country isnt willing or able to prosecute them. They only countries that will try to punish them are the nations to whom the ship and crew belong. Essentially a modern day version of privateering.
10:47 ...carrying... cargos that don't react well to 20mm rounds... Anyone else hear this line in Sean Connery's voice from "The Hunt for Red October"?
"I was once a merchantman like you. But you see, these are exceptional times, some are hunted and sunk, others are hunters that do the sinking, I chose to be the hunter"
"Hi, I'm gonna be your supply ship and help you on your misson." *Proceeds to explode and destroy the ship she was supposed to be helping* That is a real Kamchatka move right there.
Interesting note on the Orion: in early 1941 Vice Admiral Paul Wenneker, the German naval attaché to Japan, purchased a Nakajima E8N floatplane from the Japanese. The plane was dispatched aboard the supply ship Münsterland, which was heading to resupply the Orion north of the the Marianas and then taken aboard Orion on 1 February 1941, as a replacement for her Arado Ar-196 seaplane, which wasn't operational anymore. Orion was the only German vessel to carry and operate a Japanese aircraft during World War 2. The plane was given RAF markings and was flown by Leutnant (Second lieutenant) Klaus von Winterfeldt but was lost on 26 May 1941 in a takeoff accident off Madagascar.
Wow, that's an incredible story! I wasn't aware that the Germans used any Japanese aircraft. What's most incredible is how it was used aboard a German raider marked in Raf or fleet air arm livery!
THESE are the stories no one tells but deserve to be told. There are a thousand sources on Jutland, on Midway, on Trafalgar, but these videos: The Pearl Harbor salvage efforts, the supply chains, the code breakers, these are all events involving skilled and devoted people that were extremely significant to their countries' war efforts. Drach, the level of research you do and then the way you can divulge often serious or tragic events while weaving in just the right amount of entertaining humor and edge of your seat suspense is why I became a patron. I always look forward to the breakdowns on the famous ships and battles but every time you surprise us with these unsung hero videos it makes me love your work that much more. Thank you and keep up the amazing work.
Many years ago I attended an 'Admiral's Lunch' while assigned to the 3rd CG district in NY. The speaker was a naval person who was on a ship taken by one of these raiders and he described his experiences while a prisoner. He said he was well treated under the circumstances and was paroled to a ship they intercepted, they destroyed the radios, took off most of the fuel and supplies and it was allowed to return to the nearest port with the released prisoners. This raider was very careful to protect the crews of ships they intercepted, the captain saying 'they were sailors, not submariners'.
@@Drachinifel This is quite heavy for a freighter at this time. Our Victory class were well under 10K tons. Since most were diesel they had fairly clean stacks but they could 'make smoke' and disguise themselves as a steamer, they also could change their deckhouse outline so the casual viewer on seeing the ship at different times might think it was a different ship.
@@henryostman5740 Yeah, at the same time one or two were in the 6-9k ton range, but given the requirement for (relatively) high speed and long range, the larger ships were probably going to be disproportionately represented. :)
@@Drachinifel generally the speed of a ship, given reasonable horsepower (not too much) is about the square root of it's length in feet. this was the age of the break bulk cargo vessel making loading and unloading slow at best, not the overnite turnarounds we see today in ships twenty times larger. I sailed on a converted Liberty class freighter (it was previously used as the Voice of America broadcast location in the Med), someone had converted it to diesel (thankfully). Given the turnaround time and general slow speed of ships (12 knts cruise was common) it was better to have a large fleet of smaller vessels so you could brag of frequent sailings on a route. These vessels look like a combine pass/cargo vessel that wasn't uncommon. They would need the big house to contain the large crew size anyhow. two other comments. The speaker talked about crew morale, they had a bar room on the ship and crew had a day off each week primarily devoted to getting drunk, hey they were Germans!🍺🍺🍺 Likewise at our 'admiral's lunch', generally the menu centered around a 'hydraulic sandwich' ?? Or several. Another comment made by the speaker was they complained about lack of water to brush teeth and shave, the captain replied 'you get two cup of coffee each morning?' yeah, 'well one is to drink and the other is for shaving, just like the crew'. this lunch was about 60 years ago so my memory isn't precise.
My grandfather was a sailor on board of "Coronel" (or how he called it "Togo"). Sadly, I never asked him too much about his time in the navy as I wasn´t really interested into those things back then. Great video like always!
I recommend the book "The Cruise of the German Raider Atlantis" by Joseph P Slavick (Naval Institute Press). It gives an excellent account of the Atlantis and her exploits. Her commander, Bernhard Rogge, was an outstanding and chivalrous officer who earned a Knight's Cross and was one of only nine naval officers to earn Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. After the war, an Allied tribunal acknowledged that all of his actions were lawful and appropriate under all international law. He was discharged from prison on 14 Sep 1945. He joined the newly formed Bundesmarine on 1 Jun 1957, serving until 31 Mar 1962. After retiring, he wrote a book called "Under Ten Flags" which was later made into a movie. Vizeadmiral Rogge died in Hamburg on 29 Jun 1982 at the age of 83.
Until his death I was a friend of Captain Woodcock of the TOTTENHAM, captured by ATLANTIS. He had nothing but praise for Rogge and particularly his adjutant, Ulrich Mohr. He was taken back to Germany on a captured ship and imprisoned in a Kriegsmarine administered camp where he stated that he was again treated fairly. He acted as postmaster in the camp and said that the only ones who got into trouble were those who went looking for it.
Atlantis is an example of truly great leadership. An interesting note at the end of the book he stated that he believed the allies had broken German code. Before being sunk Atlantis was directed to resupply U-boats. Every time they were set to make a rendezvous allied ships would attack and finally were successful. Bernhard Rogge wrote that book decades before enigma was declassified.
_So with the Führer on board, albeit not literally…._ just another reason why Drach's channel is fated to become a cult classic. _- logged from the deck of the_ Kamchatka _as the_ Thunderchild _steams lustily over the horizon._
"...To even trailing grappling hooks to rip away ships radio lines" - the only sky pirates, prepare to be boarded! Damn it drach another great video and crazy cool facts.
I would love to know more about that little Italian submarine you mentioned I bet that would be an interesting story to hear about also I wouldn't mind hearing something about the Italian aircraft carrier designs like the Aquila and the other Cruise liner that they were planning on it never converted to the aircraft carriers
Fun(??) fact: during operations in the Gulf of Aden, Perla's air conditioning unit was malfunctioning. The crew started feeling sick and a bit loopy, but it wasn't just the heat. They were being poisoned by a chloromethane leak from the AC unit, the effects of which include dizziness, nausea, convulsions, confusion and blurred vision or even hallucinations! And they were prevented by British ships from remaining surfaced for fresh air. Then she ran aground, and other Italian units had to fight off Allied ships closing in on her. That she made it back to port, let alone back to Italy, is bordering on miraculous.
My guess is that they would rather sing... This kinda stuff ruclips.net/video/NjahPMD9hKQ/видео.html All about piracy and arson.. in German "Long live the thundering sees Long live piracy"
@@Drachinifel "A few more weeks, the next battle is of course the big one!" Only if you count Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island as one battle. For me it would take some time to decide which one was bigger. Unless you go all "Battleships win. Battleships ALWAYS win".
WWII turns into a game of World of Warships with the Washington going all ahead flank and taking point on the formation. "Stand aside, we're coming through."
Glad you did a feature on this. I've always found the Hilfskreuzers to be one of the most fascinating episodes in 20th century naval history. Not least since you couldn't imagine it ever being successful again with modern technology and communications.
I suspect that at a certain point having more ships would have actually reduced their effectiveness. These generally were very good crews and captains. There may not have been much more talent left. sm
@@mattwoodard2535 If the germans had 6 or 7 of them out on the oceans at the beginning of the war (they missed the first 7 months of the war) + adding another 4-5 in 1940 would have been devastating for the allies.It's not a war winner, but they could sink well over 1 mil tonnes (1.2-1.4mil) hurting the British when they were at their most vulnerable.
The history of Kormoran is a fascinating one on it's own.....whenever I hear it one image comes to mind...." a wrecked small sailing boat with shred sails and a sole corpse tied on the helm".....the sole survivor of HMAS Sydney after months at sea
I remember reading, "Under Ten Flags", by Admiral Rogge, in elementary school in the 60's. I also remember the "Victory At Sea", episode, "Under The Southern Cross", which mentioned the hunt for, and subsequent destruction of, The Atlantis.
Against the Odds magazine 2018 annual game edition was just recently published late and has an Under 10 Flags two-player game that covers the missions of the Atlantis. It is a very interesting take on how it hunted for merchants and was hunted by Royal Navy cruisers.
Actually our English teacher had been taken POW by the Australians when serving as an Afrika Korps tank commander. He easily got our attention by giving a thrilling account of the Kormoran's last action as told to him by the crew's survivors.
@@Drachinifel Sadly he died of internal injuries sustained in a freak accident in 1968. I checked the Wikipedia "Kormoran" article, and it seems the survivors had been officially interrogated before they joined the Afrika-Korps prisoners. My English teacher's premature death prevented me from learning more details about his meeting with the survivors. I have a German book chronicling the story of the Kormoran. I am not sure if there is an English translation. I do remember him mentioning that a survivor in one of the lifeboats, after having gone without water for some time, startet hallucinating about being in a plush green meadow with cows, subsequently trying to disembark. Some survivors were "relegated" to the bilge section of their transport.
@@michaelwackers6475 Oh, did you read Kapitan Detmers's book? I was looking around and while originally published in German there is an English translation, as well as a Polish edition.
Superb as ever, Drach. Your story telling abilities along with your attention to accuracy make you one of the very best educators of any subject I've ever come across (and I'm old enough to remember the moon landings!)
There's an old (1965) movie, "Morituri," about a German blockade runner that's mighty entertaining, but I don't know how historical it is. I did learn from the movie that booze is good for toothaches, so it's very accurate in that respect.
One of your coolest vids IMO, there's something really appealing about these ships, modern(ish) privateers gambling with their lives with every engagement... What a life
These are lovely ships, I would love to know more about them. And about auxiliary cruisers and armed merchantmen in general, they're quite an interesting subject
There's a book "The German Raider Atlantis" about it's history in WW2 by it's Captain Bernhard Riggs and Wolfgang Frank. Other books include: False Flags: Disguised German Raiders of WW2 by Stephan Robinson Beware Raiders!: German Surface Raiders in the Second World War by Bernard Edwards Kriegsmarine Auxiliary Cruisers by Gordon Williamson German Raiders: A history of auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy 1895-1945 by Paul Schmalenbach For WW1 raiders storylines there is: The Wolf: How One German Raider Terrorized The Allies in the Most Epic Voyage of WW1 by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Johnson The Kaiser's Pirates: Hunting Germany's Raiding Cruisers in World War 1 by Nick Hewitt The GMT game company also produced a board game titled "The Kaiser's Pirates"
@@dongilleo9743 Good list, but you left out one of the books with the best research.... Theodor Detmers, Kapitan of the Hilfskreuzer Kormoran, wrote a book about his experiences as Kapitan of the Kormoran. Not a particularly long book, but, first hand info from the man himself.
@@marhawkman303 I think I saw that book for sale on ebay several years ago from a seller in England. I can't remember for sure, but it was written by the captain of the Kormoran. I bought it, and got a notice it was on it's way. Then, a couple of days later, I got a notice that it was unavailable. No idea why, or how that happened. That was the only listing for it I could find.
Ok, being early is not all its cracked up to be. I enjoy reading the comments after watching Drach's videos but you get here too early and there aren't any!
Well, a few of them wrote books about it. Kapitan Theodor Detmers, commander of the Kormoran is one of them! He started work on the book while in a PoW camp in Australia, and published it around 1959. Obviously the book includes the battle with HMAS Sydney, but that's one part of the book.
Yeah, given the fact that ww1 is the final nail in the coffin for iron hulled fully rigged ship (A.K.A windjammer) regular service, as everybody think that they're basically an anachronistic and obsolete, nobody would expect one of them to be a raider.
As a young merchant officer I worked with a chief engineer who had been captured by the Michael when it sunk the Texaco tanker “Connecticut” in the South Atlantic. He spoke well of his German captors but less well of the Japanese to whom the survivors were turned over.
A fascinating episode,filling some of the gaps in one’s knowledge of these troublesome ships. More than you would think and certainly worthy of more investigative work. The fate of HMAS Sydney still a raw subject to many
Drach. Can you please tell me how it is that you ever ever _ever_ thought you needed to use the robovoice on your videos? Hearing you is like having Saruman tell us tales of high adventure. It still boggles the brain you ever thought you needed it! :-)
@@Drachinifel better start recharging my wizards staff to be able to withstand such a powerful spell! Keep up the good work and know that your voice helps a lot of people in times such as these.
I've listened to many lectures on naval history, and Drach beats all of them by a long sea mile with his easy style and erudition. Keep up the good work, Drach, and splice the main brace.
@@Drachinifel And here's a line you absolutely must read: "I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, but you have elected the way of pain." - Saruman
Always enjoy the rum ration topics but this one really blew me away. I had never heard of these things before and as the story unfolded, I went from intrigue to awe to fear to disappointment of these vessels. The techniques used by these raiders show that in wartime, literally nothing can be trusted. Great vid.
I've long hoped someone would do a TV miniseries about the Atlantis or the Pinguin (or mash up both in one story). There's adventure there that rivals just about any actual warship of WW2.
I was first aware of this type of commerce raider from the (US TV) History Channel where they had a one-hour TV program about it that was aired many years ago. Oddly enough, it may have only been shown once or twice, as I don't recall the repeat broadcasts of it. What made it very memorable for me was the successes those ships had with sinking merchant vessels when compared to the German Battleships that were pressed into service in the role of commerce raiding.
May I suggest some looks at the convoy engagements with German raiders and warships? Some astounding feats were made, much like the HMAS Sydney and Kormoran battle that you have already covered.
As a little boy I was fascinated by the adventures of these gallant seamen by reading Luis de la Sierra's book "Corsarios Alemanes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial"
I've read the book "German Raiders of World War II" back when I was 12 or 13. It's probably my favorite arm of the German Navy in that war. It went into great detail about what it was like aboard these vessels and some of the shenanigans they got up to. It even went into describe the taking of a few ships. I highly recommend it.
And even a throwback to his episode on the Mark 14 Failure/Torpedo! Only eight needed this time to find working models when sinking the Michael! Good work Tarpon!
Drachi made a video about 2 Raiders meeting in port disguised as eachother and then agreed upon a duell. Does anyone know which video it was?? i either overlooked it or it was removed. EDIT: FOUND! Part of "Armed Merchant Cruisers & Raiders - Bearing Deadly Cargo"
the Kormoran was flying and using dutch flags and codes when it was sunk, and the sydney got close enough for it to use it's anti-aircraft guns and torpedoes to devastating effects well according to the surviving crew of the german ship
Not when it sunk. In the disguise operation *before* it was sunk. The crew was well trained enough to swap the flag to Kriegsmarine battle standard once it became obvious that they wouldn't be able to fool the Sydney much longer and then open fire.
@@grumpyoldman-21 What do you mean ? There are hundreds of witnesses of their fights and methods, from the hundreds of prisoners they took alone. For the specific fight against the Sydney I guess no one can say for sure but I don't know why they would have acted any differently here then they did in all their other fights.
99% of secrets and lies are in your face 24/7 obvious... but most dont see them.... orwell told us lots but people still claims he meant the soviets among other things....
The photos could be seen only after they had been developed and only by those that the person who took the photos showed them to. The biggest secret was where these ship were at certain points in time and where they heading and supposed to patrol.
I was literally reading about the Deuschland class last night thinking "but how did all this commerce raiding actually work, logistically" and bam I wake up to a Drach video on the topic!
An armed merchant raider might be the best example of when underwater torpedo tubes can be used to great effect. As two on each side might be used to surprise a warship that has forced her to heave to for questioning.
I know it’s not what you normally cover but I have a video suggestion that would be really cool to see. On the night of June 21st 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced in the Columbia river and took aim at the Oregon fort known as Fort Stevens, and the Washington forts known as Fort Canby and Fort Columbia. I-25 fired many shells at them, but the forts did not return fire. Although none of the forts received any damage, the Fort Stevens shelling (as it’s known) marked the only time that a military base in the contiguous United States was attacked by the Axis Powers during World War II. I think it would make an amazing video. Maybe in the video you could go in depth to the whole event and the forts too. Anyways, keep up the good work!
Although Ft. Stevens loaded its guns, crews were ordered not to fire as I-25 was near maximum range and it was unclear if I-25 knew exactly where fort was. Shells that did land were not that close to infrastructure, actually coming closer to a ship wreck over a mile down the coast.
Most overlooked and underestimated part of the navy complemented by volunteers turned out to be the most efficient and "mostly" even most humane of them all. It's indeed true what they say...Free man with no doctrine to tie up his approach for the upcoming conflict always fights better
History has seemed to skip over the German Raiders in context of the battle of the Atlantic, in fact it would almost seem as if commerce readers had little or no impact based upon the war. Thanks for highlighting the German Raiders very interesting.
They were good for war propaganda, showing suntanned sailors having fun in the Pacific Ocean instead of dirty soldiers ducking in the mud. Nevertheless Atlantis found secret papers on a boarded ship, prompting Japan to attack British Colonies such as Hong Kong and Singapore. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Automedon
I had heard of these recon planes being used to kill the radio aerials, but had assumed they were strafing with a 20 mm cannonq, not some wonky hook thing.
My late father's cousin was the Chief Engineer of the SS Arabistan sunk by the Michel whilst it was disguised as a Spanish cargo ship. There were two survivors, him and a 17 year old cadet, from a crew of 46. They were picked by the Michel from a smashed lifeboat the following morning. They were handed over to the Japanese, and the cadet didn't survive Japanese captivity.
Great video! There is a website dedicated to these which contains the translated ships logs but can't find it at the moment. The adventures of these and their escapades surviving on the high seas often "living of the land" of what they could capture is really an incredible read. Fully agree the Germans got a bang for the buck out of all proportion to their cost. Sure would like to hear more about that Italian submarine!
German Author Jochen Brenneke wrote a novel about each one of the raiders. They are just great. I csn recommend especially "Gespensterkreuzer HK33 Pinguin".
If you ever get the chance, read the book "The German Raider Atlantis" by Bernhard-Rogge and Wolfgang Frank published by Bantam books. Bernhard was the Captain of the Atlantis. Very insightful of day to day operations on the Q ships and operational strategies. Still have mine and no I won't sell it :-) One of the few books I still have from when I was a kid lol
The Michel could have had another interesting raider vs light cruiser duel, if fate had been different: On 29 August, Michel's lookouts had sighted what they identified as a Pensacola-class cruiser. Gumprich ordered a northern course to avoid the powerful enemy warship.[2] The log of the American light cruiser USS Trenton shows that she had a radar contact which lasted for 15 minutes on the previous day. Trenton was patrolling between 22°05′S 172°46′W and 20°16′S 174°56′W. Perhaps a Drydock question one day: guess who could have won between the two?
Probably a couple of reasons Raiders were not well know: First, the Allies had multiple thousands of cargo ships, so the loss of some 200 or so to raiders wasn't that big of a deal; annoying but sustainable. Second, there would have been a desire on the part of the British especially to keep news about German Raiders quiet. As the war went on, it became harder for England to find crews for merchant ships. Acknowledgement of German Surface Raiders would have made that even more difficult
Pinned post for Q&A :)
The Sesame Street aliens have arrived on Earth in the age of steam and steel, and established a small colony. They have noticed the behaviour of the European Empires and have decided to establish a navy for self-defence. Lacking limbs however makes it hard to load guns easily. What is the earliest they could fit destroyer-grade or larger guns with autoloaders, giving their navy a decent punch?
How effective was Tirpitz's AA during her service time, as it was constantly upgraded and they sure must have had plenty of opportunity to use it?
why did the Japanese go for more streamlined organic looking superstructures compared to other navies (particularly notable on takao class and yamatos)
Fun fact: There is a merchant ship around, a not-so-big container transport above all (hints: Bilge Pumps, missile-container Q/Arsenal ships )
Could we see a similar video as of the R.C.N; But with the R.A.N and R.N.Z.N. It would be amazing to see something like this.
We need to hear about this intrepid little Italian submarine.
Put it on the list.
The Little Sub That Could
I'm genuinely curious as well !
I'm going to check the wikipedia page, but that's not a decent substitute to Drach's videos.
That would be an excellent story
This is the story we need!
"We already named that one Thor and that one Orion, how about this one?"
"Pinguin"
It was called Pinguin because it was going to be based in the Antarctic chasing whaling fleets
the names where chosen by the capitans
The fact that pinguin was more effective than Orion and Thor adds to it so much, the dreaded kms pinguin scourge of the high seas 😂
kinda reminds me of the Danish Recurring Trio Class: The Dragon, The Whale and.. The Seahorse
On a vaguely related note of fantasy: one aircraft that never made it into naval acceptance trials was the _Fairey Unicorn_
I did a project on German Auxiliary Cruisers back in college.
Far and away one of the funniest photographs I found in a reference book was one of a German sailor on one of the raiders which was then pretending to be a Soviet ship prior to Operation Barbarossa when the USSR still counted as a neutral nation. To complete his guise as a “Russian sailor”, the German had replaced the Third Reich eagle and cockade pin with a presumably homemade red star and most hilariously had reversed his woven cap tally so the letters were backwards. The idea that he thought backwards German would pass for Cyrillic is slightly hilarious to me.
There are some very good photos in 'Under Ten Flags' written by the Captain of the Atlantis (with foreword provided by a Captain, one of his English captives!). Think there's one of some of the crew riding on the back of an elephant seal.
Must have good fun with it. Haha look at me Hans *does a silly march on the deck* hurr durr i'm a soviet sailor, long live the revolution cyka cyka vodka blyat glory to Lenin
“Hans, Kapitan says we’re supposed to be Russian now. What does the Russian alphabet look like?”
“I dunno Fritz. I think the ‘N’ is backwards”
“Perfect!” *Reverses cap tally.
@@milanstepanek4185 I was legitimately in pieces upon reading this.
I’ve never seen the picture but I’m laughing at the one in my head anyway LMAO
I’ve often thought the same thing..just reverse the letters it’ll look Cyrillic haha
"... and
whilst in a few rare cases a small torpedo boat would also be placed aboard"
Kamchatka shivers in its water grave
She was just ahead of the curve..... .
do you see torpedoboats?
@@clientcomun1958 There's one on our deck! Abandon ship, we've been boarded by a torpedo boat!
(throws binoculars)
Sorry, but I have a new favourite submarine.
That little Italian Sub is just impressive
“🎶🎵🎶Here’s a little story that must be told🎵🎶🎵...”
A _coastal_ sub... damn that deserves a movie!
@@jlvfr Das Boot? Nah dawg, Das Pasta.
@@aleyajane lol
What was it's name?
Remember guys, when on a ship, always wave at planes flying overhead. Or you will appear very suspicous indeed.
And make sure to wear your coconut bussoms
Classical reference
If they don't wave, they are VC. If they do wave, they are well trained VC. Get some!
The TV series, "The Wackiest Ship In The Army" (1965-1966) had the crew "Commence waving smiling" when Japanese aircraft flew overhead.
Smile and Wave boys, smile and Wave
@@Otokichi786
I was thinking about the movie
Bismarck: I am ze supreme hunter of ze seas! Fear me!
Raiders: haha noob.
I know this is a joke but I do want to point out that Bismarck,and Scharnhorst weren’t designed as Commerce raiders they were put into that role however.
@@KentuckyAk101guy true enough, not heir fault their masters were stupid/arrogant.
Bismarck did take down Hood, even if it was to her own detriment.
Bismarck had a French accent?
@@KentuckyAk101guy I believe at least the Bismarck-class was designed with commerce raiding as a secondary role.
With that said, there's really nothing about the Bismarck-class that makes them better commerce raiders than any other fast battleship.
Round one: Thor vs. HMS Alcantara. Thor winds. Round two: Thor vs. HMS Carnarvon Castle. Thor wins. Round three: Thor vs. HMS Voltaire. Thor wins. Thor is feeling happy and pround. Gets on drydock and gets burned.
Crew join a blockade runner to sail to France. All killed when ship gets sunk by U 43
She lived up to her namesake.
My father trained in HMS Voltaire after enlisting in the RCNVR, fortunately prior to her ill fated meeting with Thor.
Spoilers!
too much lightning and mead.
Always thought of these German raiders as the last privateers.
Let me tell you about a magical land named Somalia where they are the captain now!
@@chadcuckproducer1037 Those are just pirates. Privateers answer to a government and are granted rights if they were caught
@@tjoonatv2848 somalia doesn't have a government so since they are the captain now...
@@chadcuckproducer1037 Those aren't privateers since they don't carry a letter of marque from any recognized nation.
@@RCAvhstape its a matter of semantics. They can attack whoever they want and their own country isnt willing or able to prosecute them. They only countries that will try to punish them are the nations to whom the ship and crew belong. Essentially a modern day version of privateering.
10:47 ...carrying... cargos that don't react well to 20mm rounds...
Anyone else hear this line in Sean Connery's voice from "The Hunt for Red October"?
😆
I'll admit it, I did 😂😂
"Fire at the ship'sh cargo - it'sh full of thingsh that don't react well to exshploshive roundsh!"
"Yeah like me, I don't react well to 20mm shells,"
Why specify the film? There's no difference whether he's a Lithuanian submarine captain, Richard the Lionheart or James Bond.
Kormoran: I was a merchantman...doing shipping.
Royal Navy: Dunno man kinda sus...
I mean they shipped ships to the sea floor, very quickly too!
@@davidnoelfranks1124 hmas Sydney was lost due to the sydney's captains .....complacency
"I was once a merchantman like you. But you see, these are exceptional times, some are hunted and sunk, others are hunters that do the sinking, I chose to be the hunter"
@@davidnoelfranks1124 to be fair, they did tell Sydney that...
"Hi, I'm gonna be your supply ship and help you on your misson."
*Proceeds to explode and destroy the ship she was supposed to be helping*
That is a real Kamchatka move right there.
The mantle has been passed from one ship to another, for decades upon decades since man first set upon the sea. The title of: Complete fucking jackass
Sounds like a Among Us Imposter game to me
I just threw my binoculars at the screen
The phantom torpedo boats strike again
@@adamperry9755 Kamchatka: Did someone say they saw torpedo boats?!
Interesting note on the Orion: in early 1941 Vice Admiral Paul Wenneker, the German naval attaché to Japan, purchased a Nakajima E8N floatplane from the Japanese. The plane was dispatched aboard the supply ship Münsterland, which was heading to resupply the Orion north of the the Marianas and then taken aboard Orion on 1 February 1941, as a replacement for her Arado Ar-196 seaplane, which wasn't operational anymore. Orion was the only German vessel to carry and operate a Japanese aircraft during World War 2. The plane was given RAF markings and was flown by Leutnant (Second lieutenant) Klaus von Winterfeldt but was lost on 26 May 1941 in a takeoff accident off Madagascar.
How would you like to be a pilot with no plane on that ship?
Wow, that's an incredible story! I wasn't aware that the Germans used any Japanese aircraft. What's most incredible is how it was used aboard a German raider marked in Raf or fleet air arm livery!
THESE are the stories no one tells but deserve to be told. There are a thousand sources on Jutland, on Midway, on Trafalgar, but these videos: The Pearl Harbor salvage efforts, the supply chains, the code breakers, these are all events involving skilled and devoted people that were extremely significant to their countries' war efforts. Drach, the level of research you do and then the way you can divulge often serious or tragic events while weaving in just the right amount of entertaining humor and edge of your seat suspense is why I became a patron. I always look forward to the breakdowns on the famous ships and battles but every time you surprise us with these unsung hero videos it makes me love your work that much more. Thank you and keep up the amazing work.
reading Detmers's book about the Kormoran is amazing. It's a perspective of WW2 you won't see in movies...
"They also serve who only stand and wait ..."
I want to hear YOUR story, kpdubbs7117.
Many years ago I attended an 'Admiral's Lunch' while assigned to the 3rd CG district in NY. The speaker was a naval person who was on a ship taken by one of these raiders and he described his experiences while a prisoner. He said he was well treated under the circumstances and was paroled to a ship they intercepted, they destroyed the radios, took off most of the fuel and supplies and it was allowed to return to the nearest port with the released prisoners. This raider was very careful to protect the crews of ships they intercepted, the captain saying 'they were sailors, not submariners'.
I don't think these ship were anywhere close to 20K tons.
Atlantis and Pinguin were about 17.5k tons, Hansa, which never got to actually sail, was over 19k tons. GRT figures of course were lower :)
@@Drachinifel This is quite heavy for a freighter at this time. Our Victory class were well under 10K tons. Since most were diesel they had fairly clean stacks but they could 'make smoke' and disguise themselves as a steamer, they also could change their deckhouse outline so the casual viewer on seeing the ship at different times might think it was a different ship.
@@henryostman5740 Yeah, at the same time one or two were in the 6-9k ton range, but given the requirement for (relatively) high speed and long range, the larger ships were probably going to be disproportionately represented. :)
@@Drachinifel generally the speed of a ship, given reasonable horsepower (not too much) is about the square root of it's length in feet. this was the age of the break bulk cargo vessel making loading and unloading slow at best, not the overnite turnarounds we see today in ships twenty times larger. I sailed on a converted Liberty class freighter (it was previously used as the Voice of America broadcast location in the Med), someone had converted it to diesel (thankfully). Given the turnaround time and general slow speed of ships (12 knts cruise was common) it was better to have a large fleet of smaller vessels so you could brag of frequent sailings on a route. These vessels look like a combine pass/cargo vessel that wasn't uncommon. They would need the big house to contain the large crew size anyhow. two other comments. The speaker talked about crew morale, they had a bar room on the ship and crew had a day off each week primarily devoted to getting drunk, hey they were Germans!🍺🍺🍺 Likewise at our 'admiral's lunch', generally the menu centered around a 'hydraulic sandwich' ?? Or several. Another comment made by the speaker was they complained about lack of water to brush teeth and shave, the captain replied 'you get two cup of coffee each morning?' yeah, 'well one is to drink and the other is for shaving, just like the crew'. this lunch was about 60 years ago so my memory isn't precise.
My grandfather was a sailor on board of "Coronel" (or how he called it "Togo"). Sadly, I never asked him too much about his time in the navy as I wasn´t really interested into those things back then. Great video like always!
I have the exact same regret! My grandfather fought in wwii, but I never managed to record his well-preserved memories!
I recommend the book "The Cruise of the German Raider Atlantis" by Joseph P Slavick (Naval Institute Press). It gives an excellent account of the Atlantis and her exploits. Her commander, Bernhard Rogge, was an outstanding and chivalrous officer who earned a Knight's Cross and was one of only nine naval officers to earn Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross. After the war, an Allied tribunal acknowledged that all of his actions were lawful and appropriate under all international law. He was discharged from prison on 14 Sep 1945. He joined the newly formed Bundesmarine on 1 Jun 1957, serving until 31 Mar 1962. After retiring, he wrote a book called "Under Ten Flags" which was later made into a movie. Vizeadmiral Rogge died in Hamburg on 29 Jun 1982 at the age of 83.
Until his death I was a friend of Captain Woodcock of the TOTTENHAM, captured by ATLANTIS. He had nothing but praise for Rogge and particularly his adjutant, Ulrich Mohr. He was taken back to Germany on a captured ship and imprisoned in a Kriegsmarine administered camp where he stated that he was again treated fairly. He acted as postmaster in the camp and said that the only ones who got into trouble were those who went looking for it.
Atlantis is an example of truly great leadership. An interesting note at the end of the book he stated that he believed the allies had broken German code. Before being sunk Atlantis was directed to resupply U-boats. Every time they were set to make a rendezvous allied ships would attack and finally were successful. Bernhard Rogge wrote that book decades before enigma was declassified.
_So with the Führer on board, albeit not literally…._
just another reason why Drach's channel is fated to become a cult classic.
_- logged from the deck of the_ Kamchatka _as the_ Thunderchild _steams lustily over the horizon._
Do you see torpedo boats?
@@adenkyramud5005 I'm wearing my _Thunderchild_ t-shirt as I write this!
🤜🤛
"...To even trailing grappling hooks to rip away ships radio lines" - the only sky pirates, prepare to be boarded! Damn it drach another great video and crazy cool facts.
Oh the glory of a 37 minute 5-minute-guide. So beautiful.
Little Italian submarine: its not about size, its about how you use it
Are we still talking about submarine? 🍆😂🤣😂
And about the journey
@Shonono Yeetus That's what she said....
@@houseframer386 yes, submarines... long, hard, and full of sea-men.
Better ask a mermaid about that.
I would love to know more about that little Italian submarine you mentioned I bet that would be an interesting story to hear about also I wouldn't mind hearing something about the Italian aircraft carrier designs like the Aquila and the other Cruise liner that they were planning on it never converted to the aircraft carriers
Fun(??) fact: during operations in the Gulf of Aden, Perla's air conditioning unit was malfunctioning. The crew started feeling sick and a bit loopy, but it wasn't just the heat. They were being poisoned by a chloromethane leak from the AC unit, the effects of which include dizziness, nausea, convulsions, confusion and blurred vision or even hallucinations!
And they were prevented by British ships from remaining surfaced for fresh air. Then she ran aground, and other Italian units had to fight off Allied ships closing in on her. That she made it back to port, let alone back to Italy, is bordering on miraculous.
My Wednesday routine is at this point:
-Lunch at 12:30
-Take coffee and watch Drach talking of random stuff at 13
Did the same today, an excelent way to have lunch.
I can just imagine those German crews singing "Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum" as they chased allied ships around the worlds oceans.
How does one say ARRRR… in German? It would probably sound like Schwarzenegger lol.
My guess is that they would rather sing...
This kinda stuff
ruclips.net/video/NjahPMD9hKQ/видео.html
All about piracy and arson.. in German
"Long live the thundering sees
Long live piracy"
Or singing whatever the German equivalent of Alestorm is.
"Der mächtigste König im Luftrevier ist des Sturmes gewaltiger Aar..."
No rum. Schnapps. Is there a nautical version of _Jägermeister?_
I was hoping for Guadalcanal but still happy to get my rum.
A few more weeks, the next battle is of course the big one!
@JZ's Best Friend Iron Bottom Sound won.
Iron Bottom Sound won all the battles.
@JZ's Best Friend It could swallow a Kongo class like it had never been there.
Even one that had managed to get shot to bits by 8" guns..
@@Drachinifel "A few more weeks, the next battle is of course the big one!"
Only if you count Third and Fourth Battles of Savo Island as one battle. For me it would take some time to decide which one was bigger. Unless you go all "Battleships win. Battleships ALWAYS win".
WWII turns into a game of World of Warships with the Washington going all ahead flank and taking point on the formation. "Stand aside, we're coming through."
Glad you did a feature on this. I've always found the Hilfskreuzers to be one of the most fascinating episodes in 20th century naval history. Not least since you couldn't imagine it ever being successful again with modern technology and communications.
First, unlike the Kriegsmarine.
Edit: holy shit these merchant raiders were dreadfully efficient, good thing they didn't have more of them.
I suspect that at a certain point having more ships would have actually reduced their effectiveness. These generally were very good crews and captains. There may not have been much more talent left. sm
Oh no there’s a fly on my screen
@@mattwoodard2535 also volunteers, which might have helped.
@@mattwoodard2535 If the germans had 6 or 7 of them out on the oceans at the beginning of the war (they missed the first 7 months of the war) + adding another 4-5 in 1940 would have been devastating for the allies.It's not a war winner, but they could sink well over 1 mil tonnes (1.2-1.4mil) hurting the British when they were at their most vulnerable.
I'm guessing since capital ships were more promoted and more prestigious than other ships, they would've had a better bounty?
The history of Kormoran is a fascinating one on it's own.....whenever I hear it one image comes to mind...." a wrecked small sailing boat with shred sails and a sole corpse tied on the helm".....the sole survivor of HMAS Sydney after months at sea
The mercant raiders has become a favoritt of mine when it comes to naval warfare in bouth WWI and WWII
The Pearla (sp?) - that needs a video asap Drach - damn that sounds an epic voyage
Submarine "Perla": en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_submarine_Perla
One would think of this to be on Netflix soon enough...sounds way better than some Voyager soap space opera...
I remember reading, "Under Ten Flags", by Admiral Rogge, in elementary school in the 60's. I also remember the "Victory At Sea", episode, "Under The Southern Cross", which mentioned the hunt for, and subsequent destruction of, The Atlantis.
I've lent my copy of Under Ten Flags to drach. Well worth another read if you can find a copy.
Against the Odds magazine 2018 annual game edition was just recently published late and has an Under 10 Flags two-player game that covers the missions of the Atlantis. It is a very interesting take on how it hunted for merchants and was hunted by Royal Navy cruisers.
What a good, unbiased, professional and informed review. Very insightful and pleasant to watch indeed.
"With the Fuhrer on board, although not literally". Classic line.
Drach always has some gems in his commentary
He sure does, Martin. So entertaining.
Applogies if I reversed your name.
@@alanobrien3736 it's all good. Brett's my given name though
Sorry, Brett.
Very nice story telling. This branch of service is often overlooked but incredibly important to the outcome of any war.
Actually our English teacher had been taken POW by the Australians when serving as an Afrika Korps tank commander. He easily got our attention by giving a thrilling account of the Kormoran's last action as told to him by the crew's survivors.
I don't suppose he's still around and willing to be contacted?
@@Drachinifel Sadly he died of internal injuries sustained in a freak accident in 1968. I checked the Wikipedia "Kormoran" article, and it seems the survivors had been officially interrogated before they joined the Afrika-Korps prisoners. My English teacher's premature death prevented me from learning more details about his meeting with the survivors. I have a German book chronicling the story of the Kormoran. I am not sure if there is an English translation. I do remember him mentioning that a survivor in one of the lifeboats, after having gone without water for some time, startet hallucinating about being in a plush green meadow with cows, subsequently trying to disembark. Some survivors were "relegated" to the bilge section of their transport.
@@michaelwackers6475 Oh, did you read Kapitan Detmers's book? I was looking around and while originally published in German there is an English translation, as well as a Polish edition.
😊@@marhawkman303
Superb as ever, Drach. Your story telling abilities along with your attention to accuracy make you one of the very best educators of any subject I've ever come across (and I'm old enough to remember the moon landings!)
Lucky you!! The spitfire was still in service when I was born :>)
Some of these voyages would make fascinating movies.
One wonders, if any of the captured-turned-auxiliary raiders did well on their own.
There's an old (1965) movie, "Morituri," about a German blockade runner that's mighty entertaining, but I don't know how historical it is. I did learn from the movie that booze is good for toothaches, so it's very accurate in that respect.
@@raygiordano1045 and yes RUclips has it, thanks for the tip
@@raygiordano1045 Thank you. I have been searching for that movie for decades. Ran only once in german TV in the late 70s/early 80s
@@mbr5742 Your welcome. I had the same deal with the movie, "Saboteur" only it was a Mexican TV station that broadcast to the USA.
One of your coolest vids IMO, there's something really appealing about these ships, modern(ish) privateers gambling with their lives with every engagement... What a life
This video makes really makes me crave a Wednesday video on SMS Seeadler and the German sail-powered merchant raiders of WW1.
Orion and Komet are exclent ship names. We need more astronomicly inspiriert ship name's.
These are lovely ships, I would love to know more about them. And about auxiliary cruisers and armed merchantmen in general, they're quite an interesting subject
You may be interested in a paperback book the secret Raiders by David Woodward I doubt you can get it brand new but it should be pretty cheap on eBay
There's a book "The German Raider Atlantis" about it's history in WW2 by it's Captain Bernhard Riggs and Wolfgang Frank.
Other books include:
False Flags: Disguised German Raiders of WW2 by Stephan Robinson
Beware Raiders!: German Surface Raiders in the Second World War by Bernard Edwards
Kriegsmarine Auxiliary Cruisers by Gordon Williamson
German Raiders: A history of auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy 1895-1945 by Paul Schmalenbach
For WW1 raiders storylines there is:
The Wolf: How One German Raider Terrorized The Allies in the Most Epic Voyage of WW1 by Richard Guilliatt and Peter Johnson
The Kaiser's Pirates: Hunting Germany's Raiding Cruisers in World War 1 by Nick Hewitt
The GMT game company also produced a board game titled "The Kaiser's Pirates"
@@dongilleo9743 Good list, but you left out one of the books with the best research.... Theodor Detmers, Kapitan of the Hilfskreuzer Kormoran, wrote a book about his experiences as Kapitan of the Kormoran. Not a particularly long book, but, first hand info from the man himself.
@@marhawkman303 I think I saw that book for sale on ebay several years ago from a seller in England. I can't remember for sure, but it was written by the captain of the Kormoran. I bought it, and got a notice it was on it's way. Then, a couple of days later, I got a notice that it was unavailable. No idea why, or how that happened. That was the only listing for it I could find.
@@dongilleo9743 hmm try looking on Biblio? I found a few listings there. Just search by author name: Detmers.
Ok, being early is not all its cracked up to be. I enjoy reading the comments after watching Drach's videos but you get here too early and there aren't any!
Exactly!
That is early.
Trump. There the comments are ruined now.
So the Kriegsmarine had their own semi pirate branch? :D would love to hear some of those sailors stories, from both sides ^^
Well, a few of them wrote books about it. Kapitan Theodor Detmers, commander of the Kormoran is one of them! He started work on the book while in a PoW camp in Australia, and published it around 1959. Obviously the book includes the battle with HMAS Sydney, but that's one part of the book.
I knew nothing about armed German merchant raiders, other than they existed. For me, this was about as informative as possible. Tip O' The Hat.
Since we are talking about German commerce raiders, I wonder when Drachinifel will make a video on the SMS Seeadler. :-P
Who would ever suspect a fully rigged sailing ship of being a deadly commerce raider!
That would be a good one!
Yeah, given the fact that ww1 is the final nail in the coffin for iron hulled fully rigged ship (A.K.A windjammer) regular service, as everybody think that they're basically an anachronistic and obsolete, nobody would expect one of them to be a raider.
Oh, I've been waiting for this one! Have spent lockdown gathering almost everything written on the German Raiders. Excellent!
After seeing you on the Armchair Admirals I have become a huge Drach fan. Awesome work.
Thank you, Uncle Drach. Your way of getting the facts out in a compelling fashion is a gift to us all.
As a young merchant officer I worked with a chief engineer who had been captured by the Michael when it sunk the Texaco tanker “Connecticut” in the South Atlantic. He spoke well of his German captors but less well of the Japanese to whom the survivors were turned over.
Fascinating as usual. Thank you for telling these stories that are often given little more than a paragraph or two in a book.
A fascinating episode,filling some of the gaps in one’s knowledge of these troublesome ships. More than you would think and certainly worthy of more investigative work. The fate of HMAS Sydney still a raw subject to many
Drach. Can you please tell me how it is that you ever ever _ever_ thought you needed to use the robovoice on your videos?
Hearing you is like having Saruman tell us tales of high adventure.
It still boggles the brain you ever thought you needed it! :-)
Hmm, maybe I should do a dramatic reading of Saruman's line's from Lord of the Rings for April 1st then? :D
@@Drachinifel better start recharging my wizards staff to be able to withstand such a powerful spell!
Keep up the good work and know that your voice helps a lot of people in times such as these.
I've listened to many lectures on naval history, and Drach beats all of them by a long sea mile with his easy style and erudition. Keep up the good work, Drach, and splice the main brace.
@@Drachinifel Drach doing audio books confirmed?
@@Drachinifel And here's a line you absolutely must read: "I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, but you have elected the way of pain." - Saruman
Always enjoy the rum ration topics but this one really blew me away. I had never heard of these things before and as the story unfolded, I went from intrigue to awe to fear to disappointment of these vessels. The techniques used by these raiders show that in wartime, literally nothing can be trusted. Great vid.
This is a very fascinating topic. Sounded like a one way trip for most of those sailors.
On a scale from the Kamchatka to the USS Johnston, how dangerous would you say they were?
Ask the crew of HMAS Sydney.
Lest we Forget.🇦🇺
William D Porter
(Not because it is accurate, but because it is funny)
Some of them brought their own torpedo boats ...
Depends on whether they ran into the Kamchatka or a wide awake USS Johnson....
@@scottgiles7546 Gotta hand it to ya, that's a nice li'l "Johnson" pun right there!
I've long hoped someone would do a TV miniseries about the Atlantis or the Pinguin (or mash up both in one story). There's adventure there that rivals just about any actual warship of WW2.
I was first aware of this type of commerce raider from the (US TV) History Channel where they had a one-hour TV program about it that was aired many years ago. Oddly enough, it may have only been shown once or twice, as I don't recall the repeat broadcasts of it. What made it very memorable for me was the successes those ships had with sinking merchant vessels when compared to the German Battleships that were pressed into service in the role of commerce raiding.
Once again, Drachinifel provides us with an entertaining and informative documentary on a subject not easily made so engrossing. Well done ......
May I suggest some looks at the convoy engagements with German raiders and warships? Some astounding feats were made, much like the HMAS Sydney and Kormoran battle that you have already covered.
Thank you for the suggestion! I an Loving my new learning
1:43 and don't forget an Airship at one point too!
As a little boy I was fascinated by the adventures of these gallant seamen by reading Luis de la Sierra's book "Corsarios Alemanes de la Segunda Guerra Mundial"
Drach posts new video.
Me: Well that’s 37 minutes of my life I don’t have to figure out what to do with.
Or regret later.
Only listened once?
SLACKER!!
Lol
1.25 speed: Enjoy yourself with greater efficiency!
I've read the book "German Raiders of World War II" back when I was 12 or 13. It's probably my favorite arm of the German Navy in that war. It went into great detail about what it was like aboard these vessels and some of the shenanigans they got up to. It even went into describe the taking of a few ships. I highly recommend it.
And even a throwback to his episode on the Mark 14 Failure/Torpedo! Only eight needed this time to find working models when sinking the Michael! Good work Tarpon!
Would love to see a video on the Heavy Cruiser Admiral Scheer, the most successful of all the Kriegsmarine surface raiders.
Pinguin was more succesful. Funny 🙂
Drachi made a video about 2 Raiders meeting in port disguised as eachother and then agreed upon a duell. Does anyone know which video it was??
i either overlooked it or it was removed.
EDIT: FOUND! Part of "Armed Merchant Cruisers & Raiders - Bearing Deadly Cargo"
Is that the one with the converted liners in WW1?
@@paranoidrodent Yes it also features the encounter between Stier and the Liberty Ship
So, a year on, is it possible for us to get a study of the Regia Marina Perla? Captured off Beirut July 1942. What a story!
Wednesday to Wednesday, the flavors vary, but it is always a satisfying tot.
You are too right. We are really lucky, honestly
Would love to see an episode about the WW1 raiders. "See Adler" and "Wolf" for example.
Bismarck: "Who are you?"
Pilkscruizer: "I'm you, but better"
the Kormoran was flying and using dutch flags and codes when it was sunk,
and the sydney got close enough for it to use it's anti-aircraft guns and torpedoes to devastating effects
well according to the surviving crew of the german ship
Not when it sunk. In the disguise operation *before* it was sunk. The crew was well trained enough to swap the flag to Kriegsmarine battle standard once it became obvious that they wouldn't be able to fool the Sydney much longer and then open fire.
@@pendelbembel ok,
they pulled them just before firing,
or just after
@@grumpyoldman-21 Just before. Doing so after would be a war crime.
@@TheAtmosfear7 i know,
but there is only one side of the story
@@grumpyoldman-21 What do you mean ? There are hundreds of witnesses of their fights and methods, from the hundreds of prisoners they took alone. For the specific fight against the Sydney I guess no one can say for sure but I don't know why they would have acted any differently here then they did in all their other fights.
What a well-researched and well-structured review. Fascinating. Drach, we salute you. 👋🏻
Y'know, considering how "secret" they were supposed to be, that's a LOT of photos taken of these ships at sea...
99% of secrets and lies are in your face 24/7 obvious... but most dont see them.... orwell told us lots but people still claims he meant the soviets among other things....
@@insiainutorrt259 Man, you conspiracy theorists are fucking insane.
The photos could be seen only after they had been developed and only by those that the person who took the photos showed them to. The biggest secret was where these ship were at certain points in time and where they heading and supposed to patrol.
Pretty much all those photographs are of German origin, though.
Been waiting for this episode for two years, thank you for this!
I was literally reading about the Deuschland class last night thinking "but how did all this commerce raiding actually work, logistically" and bam I wake up to a Drach video on the topic!
An armed merchant raider might be the best example of when underwater torpedo tubes can be used to great effect. As two on each side might be used to surprise a warship that has forced her to heave to for questioning.
One of the best vids so far!!! Damn!! Keep it up please !! You rock Drachinfel!!
I know it’s not what you normally cover but I have a video suggestion that would be really cool to see.
On the night of June 21st 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced in the Columbia river and took aim at the Oregon fort known as Fort Stevens, and the Washington forts known as Fort Canby and Fort Columbia. I-25 fired many shells at them, but the forts did not return fire. Although none of the forts received any damage, the Fort Stevens shelling (as it’s known) marked the only time that a military base in the contiguous United States was attacked by the Axis Powers during World War II. I think it would make an amazing video. Maybe in the video you could go in depth to the whole event and the forts too. Anyways, keep up the good work!
Believe it or not around this time. On the west coast my dad was sitting and a tank on a sandbar just in case of such an eventuality.
This is a phenomenal video subject idea- I would be very happy with it and abticipate
@@JohnRodriguesPhotographer that’s really cool!
Although Ft. Stevens loaded its guns, crews were ordered not to fire as I-25 was near maximum range and it was unclear if I-25 knew exactly where fort was. Shells that did land were not that close to infrastructure, actually coming closer to a ship wreck over a mile down the coast.
@@dwm53w1k6 this is true
Most overlooked and underestimated part of the navy complemented by volunteers turned out to be the most efficient and "mostly" even most humane of them all.
It's indeed true what they say...Free man with no doctrine to tie up his approach for the upcoming conflict always fights better
History has seemed to skip over the German Raiders in context of the battle of the Atlantic, in fact it would almost seem as if commerce readers had little or no impact based upon the war. Thanks for highlighting the German Raiders very interesting.
They were good for war propaganda, showing suntanned sailors having fun in the Pacific Ocean instead of dirty soldiers ducking in the mud. Nevertheless Atlantis found secret papers on a boarded ship, prompting Japan to attack British Colonies such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Automedon
Great work, love this one and look forward to more on these ships and on that Italian submarine
The Glengarryy???
"Put that coffee down! Coffee is for sinkers only."
Love that scene.
A-B-C Always Be Cruising!
A movie reference?
@@alexroselle Well done!
I was trying to fit that in, but couldn't come up with a 'C'.
Cruising is the perfect fit.
Well done!
@@shebbs1 Yes.
He's been cinematic this week.
Check out the comments in the current Drydock (134).
Well done and very informative.
That was an excellent episode. I fully understand Monty Python and I appreciate your dry, British wit.
And someday you may grow to Black Adder level of wit. :)
Excellent as always! Thanks for being there.
The plane aspects were really cool, hadnt heard of that before
I had heard of these recon planes being used to kill the radio aerials, but had assumed they were strafing with a 20 mm cannonq, not some wonky hook thing.
Thorough, thoughtful, grim and darkly funny. Drach at his best
My late father's cousin was the Chief Engineer of the SS Arabistan sunk by the Michel whilst it was disguised as a Spanish cargo ship. There were two survivors, him and a 17 year old cadet, from a crew of 46. They were picked by the Michel from a smashed lifeboat the following morning. They were handed over to the Japanese, and the cadet didn't survive Japanese captivity.
all fascinating stories. Thanks Drach for the Rum Ration
Great video! There is a website dedicated to these which contains the translated ships logs but can't find it at the moment. The adventures of these and their escapades surviving on the high seas often "living of the land" of what they could capture is really an incredible read. Fully agree the Germans got a bang for the buck out of all proportion to their cost. Sure would like to hear more about that Italian submarine!
German Author Jochen Brenneke wrote a novel about each one of the raiders. They are just great. I csn recommend especially "Gespensterkreuzer HK33 Pinguin".
If you ever get the chance, read the book "The German Raider Atlantis" by Bernhard-Rogge and Wolfgang Frank published by Bantam books. Bernhard was the Captain of the Atlantis. Very insightful of day to day operations on the Q ships and operational strategies. Still have mine and no I won't sell it :-) One of the few books I still have from when I was a kid lol
Russian merchant vessels as late as th 60's were built wit reinforced derrick winch platforms with bolting sequences identical/for gun mounting.
The Michel could have had another interesting raider vs light cruiser duel, if fate had been different: On 29 August, Michel's lookouts had sighted what they identified as a Pensacola-class cruiser. Gumprich ordered a northern course to avoid the powerful enemy warship.[2] The log of the American light cruiser USS Trenton shows that she had a radar contact which lasted for 15 minutes on the previous day. Trenton was patrolling between 22°05′S 172°46′W and 20°16′S 174°56′W.
Perhaps a Drydock question one day: guess who could have won between the two?
Excellent summary of an important part of the Kriegsmarine surface force. I'm looking forward to your "Five Minute Guide" to each one.
So early that Chamberlain is still saying peace is on the horizon and Herman Goering can still easily fit in the cockpit of the ME-109.
The last time Goering fit in a cockpit was in WW1. After that he nearly exploded.
You in-depth presentation is very commendable.
Interesting as I never realised that Germany used so many 'Raiders' during the second world war.
THIS
i also didn't know that they were overall rather successful for being lightly armed and barely armored
Probably a couple of reasons Raiders were not well know:
First, the Allies had multiple thousands of cargo ships, so the loss of some 200 or so to raiders wasn't that big of a deal; annoying but sustainable.
Second, there would have been a desire on the part of the British especially to keep news about German Raiders quiet. As the war went on, it became harder for England to find crews for merchant ships. Acknowledgement of German Surface Raiders would have made that even more difficult
Excellent, more in depth reviews of these raiders please 👍👍👍👍