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@lawrencedewan9838

7 ай бұрын

They watch You, as well...

@MorrisHillmanProductions

7 ай бұрын

@23:40, that should be the Germans, not the British.

@TheBullethead

7 ай бұрын

It can reasonably be argued that THE most important ships of the Royal Navy in WW1 were the armed merchant cruisers (AMCs, being hastily armed liners and freighters) of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, based in Lerwick, Shetland. These ships actually imposed the blockade of Imperial Germany by stopping anything trying to enter the North Sea or even Norwegian ports with goods bound for Germany. And it was this blockade that ultimately won the war by literally starving Germany. So for practical purposes, the primary role of the Grand Fleet dreadnoughts was to keep the High Seas Fleet from getting out the north end of the North Sea and destroying the 10th Cruiser Squadron's "pretty horrible warships". I agree that an AMC was a pretty horrible warship when compared with real warships (although accommodations for the crew were no doubt orders of magnitude better), but when compared to her intended opponents, which were unarmed civvie merchants, an AMC was Godzilla. And an AMC could fight enemy AMCs (of which the Germans tried to send many out raiding commerce) on equal terms. So yeah, at face value, using passenger liners as makeshift cruisers seems stupid. And in fact, the biggest and fastest ones were so expensive on fuel and stoker manpower that they proved impractical and were used where they could really shine, as fast transport for massive numbers of troops. But the smaller liners were true war heroes, although largely unsung except by geeks on the subject.

"Sir, we're engaging the Carmania!" "But sailor, WE are the Carmania." (Leans over side to check name) "...Yes sir."

This crazy ass battle should be immortalized in a movie or a Band Of Brothers-esque mini-series that covers both the British and German perspectives.

@chrislondo2683

6 ай бұрын

That would be amazing. Using both practical and CG effects.

I'm in my mid 30s and have used KZread as entertainment since it's early days. I have grown out of most of KZread's content over the years and Big Old Boats is a huge exception. The combination of history, the editing, the presence of real life drama (instead of the alternative) just can't be beat. Thanks for keeping KZread alive for someone like me :)

The excellent (and just about only) book on this action is "The Ship That Hunted Itself" by Colin Simpson. Another classic case of truth being stranger than any fiction.

@BigOldBoats

7 ай бұрын

My main source for this video! Highly recommend if you can track down a copy.

@DrFruikenstein

7 ай бұрын

That was history well worth learning about, and just as entertaining, too. However, it made me think of the liners of the next war, and the jog to my memory that I need... I'm thinking that it was the Queen Elizabeth that left port for fitting out for passengers and ended up going for war conversion with some of the build equipment still attached to the hull. Am I correct with that? There's nothing like getting unexpected sea trials before ready, and still proving sea worthy with a bunch of junk hanging from the hull.

@kennethhanks6712

7 ай бұрын

@@DrFruikenstein More correctly the Queen Elizabeth did steam to the states before her final fitting out, and with some of the launching fittings still attached, but the primary reason was to get her out of harms way from the German Luftwaffe bombing attacks.

@LarryLaunsteinJr

6 ай бұрын

Simpson was the writer who wrote The Lusitania.

@doodledangernoodle2517

5 ай бұрын

I literally found this book at a used bookstore today lol

How about covering the MS Stockholm, the oldest ocean liner still afloat today with a colorful service career!

@bluerazor7049

7 ай бұрын

She's been in layup since 2020, I hope she doesn't get scrapped.

@jamesfracasse8178

7 ай бұрын

She hit and sunk Andrea Dora 1:37

@bluerazor7049

7 ай бұрын

@@jamesfracasse8178 I know, afterwards she had an interesting career. Working for East Germany and later a rebuild in 1992.

@scotwilliams4789

7 ай бұрын

@@bluerazor7049still laying in Rotterdam In the Waalhaven across my school she has been soled for scrap for more then half a year but she still is there

@Lewdcina

7 ай бұрын

@@bluerazor7049 working for EAST Germany? that is pretty interesting

Like that Spiderman meme of them all pointing at each other, only if it ended up like it did in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with full fledge combat.

Wow, Captain Barr was an impressive individual.

@BigOldBoats

7 ай бұрын

Agreed

It’s amazing that the Carmania survived the engagement. This is most likely because of the order to “Target her bridge and superstructure”. Had they targeted the water line, this battle might have ended differently. The wreck of the Carmenias bridge 33:28 is pretty amazing! To think that anyone survived it is mind boggling!

@asatru1986

6 ай бұрын

The order to “Target her bridge and superstructure” was a sensible one, because they depended on looting supplies like coal, ammo and such a sunk ship provides none of it. With the start of the War German ships found themselves stranded with no friendly harbours in range, many enemy ones and the neutral ones had a 48 hours limit you also could be trapped insinde till you have to leave also the way back home was blocked by the royal navy.

Great video! Reminds me of the story of my favorite German ocean liner, SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie, disguising herself as RMS Olympic at the outbreak of WWI. Would love a video about her.

You are one of the best storytellers on KZread. I love your stories on ships. The great lakes and shipwrecks are a passion of mine.

I had 0 interest in oceanliners prior and now I'm excited when u release a new video!!😂

@GKARWILLBUILDIT

6 ай бұрын

Literally opened a whole new avenue of interest

It would have been a crazy battle to have witnessed.

@MrGoesBoom

7 ай бұрын

Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself!

Eggs Armed with Sledgehammers.

Another amazing story, Ive never heard about b4. I just love, how u dig up these all but forgotten stories and make them come alive again for us all!

I see a Big Old Boat video, I click...and apparently sometimes im very early😅. Also, wow, what a faacimatingly morose story! Despite that, I always find your sensitivity, incredible editing skills, and great narration bring nuance to even the most difficult of topics!

@BigOldBoats

7 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Gosh, thanks for another great video. Some of those images just choked me up. War is fought by people on behalf of monsters, always wasting lives, resources, time, and opportunity.

@magesalmanac6424

6 ай бұрын

It seems that the brave men who fought in these wars are of far better character than the scumbags who sent them to fight, or who started the war to begin with.

It's so sad that the governments of the Allied and Axis powers during WWI thought that it was appropriate to use unarmored sleek passenger ships as armed auxiliary cruisers. The Cap Trafalgar was an absolutely beautiful ship, same with the Carmania, and it must've been a really sad sight to see those two firing guns at each other. Breaks my heart.

@SilverIchimaru

7 ай бұрын

I'm having trouble imagining passenger liners shooting at each other. Them as troop transports, I understand, but actual fighting ships is harder.

@commodorezero

6 ай бұрын

A few decades earlier the plan had made a lot more sense and that was when the idea originated.

'There's only one Carmania, punk!'

That intro music SLAPS! great vid as always.

Beautiful video. Your use of the stock footage, still images, sound effects, music choice, and effective editing all combine to create a grippingly impactful recreation of the battle. I particularly like the summary you drew from this bizarre engagement. Definitely one of the most surreal moments in naval history. Unrelated, but with the release of Hulu's "Death and Other Details," would you consider doing a special one-off video examining the design of the passenger liner the whodunnit takes place on? I'd be very interested to hear your personal take and perhaps your analysis of the influences/other ships the set design draws from. I think your other subscribers would be intrigued by your thoughts too.

This played out just like a movie. I am surprised that they haven't already made one out of this story.

Top-notch presentation!

The visuals and music synchranization was absolutely astounding in this video! The addition of war and conflict, and the musical gravitas really explored a different frontier of maritime affairs and I'm all here for it!

This is an incredible story. Ive never heard of two auxiliaries battling one another! This would make an amazing movie or mini series as anouther commenter mentioned!

It is true that the Admiralty did underwrite liners that met certain standards: speed, good compartmentalization, and pre-installed mounts for deck guns. So did other countries that Britain considered to be potential enemies. The Royal Navy was concerned that armed fast liners were going to threaten Britains trade routes as commerce raiders. Like The Cap Trafalgar did. Ocean liners had a few advantages for both the role of armed merchant cruiser and as armed raider. They had long legs, they were fast, and they had lots of room to store boarding parties, prize crews, and/or captured enemy merchant sailors. They also freed up actual cruisers to do more warlike work. The roles for AMCs like Carmania were to patrol, to enforce a naval blockade, to guard against enemy merchant raiders, and to capture enemy merchant vessels. The roles for armed raiders like Cap Trafalgar were to capture enemy merchant vessels and to tie down naval units that would need to chase them down. It is true that the ships did not stand up well in a fight. They were considered expendable. German converted fast liners operating as merchant raiders had some great successes, like the Kronprinz Wilhelm and Prinz Eitel Friedrich. Others were unsuccessful. The Carmania stopped the Cap Trafalgar from having a potentially successful raiding career by sinking her before she encountered a single British merchant. Far from being a pointless exercise, HMS Carmania did her job, and accomplished a strategic victory by successfully defending British trade routes. Royal Navy AMCs, including Carmania, paid a high price in World War One. Many were sunk, mostly by submarines. The Royal Navy must have thought the price was worth it, since they used Armed Merchant Cruisers again in World War Two. In two spectacularly one-sided battles, HMS Jervis Bay was sunk by the Admiral Scheer and HMS Rawalpindi was sunk by the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau.

Great video! I had never heard about this absurd naval battle.

A wonderful video, as always! ❤

Re sponsor: I'm old enough to recall PONG, first-ever videogame, in the '70s (I was about 18). The look of this game is mind-blowing in contrast - likely a few million times more ccomplex.

Glad I subscribed to Big Old Boats,last year.97.9k subs and growing! I look forward to more amazing vids and YT shorts here 👍

The ship my great grandparents immigrated to the USA aboard!

VERY well done. Thank you.

Queston: Is that a Nikon FM2 on your shelf ??? As always, an enjoyable watch. Lots of information along with the great narration. Your channel shows that "you can learn something new everyday." At 7:44 is that Big Ben without hour and minute hands? Thans for your time, work and posting.

I’ve always loved this story. Piece of history that is almost too much of a bizarre coincidence to believe. As always, your editing and story telling is top notch! Thanks for a great video on this

YAY! A new video to watch on this cold winters day!

@BigOldBoats

6 ай бұрын

Hope you enjoyed it!

@oceanlinerkid

6 ай бұрын

Honestly enjoy ALL of your videos. 😊

This was one of my favourite videos. Such a strange and suspenseful story!

Cool story, I like hearing about different/funky stories like this! As a Michigan girl, I especially love your Great Lakes videos, and of course the Edwardian liners, but this was really interesting!

Good story, thank you.

My great grandparents sailed from New York to Liverpool on Carmania. May 1919, though I'm not sure if this was her first post-war voyage. I do wonder if they were aware what this great liner did 5 years prior. P.S I adored this video, highly well told!

There's something very poignant about the German crew cheering to the Kaiser and then singing as their ship went down, even the men in the water....it brings home the humanity of the situation and the fact that these were just ordinary men serving their country and hoping to make it home at the end of war.

By the way love your channel have you ever heard of this other channel called history Travels that also covers ocean liner?

Finally someone talks about this pretty cool story!

Nice! I had been asking for this one forever!

"Gentlemen, we have met the enemy, and they have incredibly good taste."

i love your storytelling man, truly epic display of past maritime events. thank you so much for gifting us with these works, and God bless. would love some modern events too if possible :)

Footage from a night to remember

I freakin love boats, dude.

This video is actually genuinely underated and damm and a face reveal

A video on Cap Arcona would be a great follow up to this.

for sure a favorite story of mind during ww1

A perfect summary of war - well said!

HMS Carmania & SMS Cap Trafalgar meeting each other while disguised as Each other: 😐 😐

I thought this was the coolest thing ever when I first heard about this!

I saved your new show for supper time. What a great topic.❤

This is a very cool story. First time ive heard about it. Thanks

So, with War Thunder as the sponsor of this video, do we get to play the RMS Carmania or the SMS Cap Trafalgar in the game? 😁

@BigOldBoats

7 ай бұрын

I wish!

Great documentary 👍

The Royal Navy did NOT have sufficient warships to patrol all the important ocean areas during the First World War. No nation gets to fight the perfect war. Every mobilization plan is about making the best decisions as possible with the manpower and resources available. A nation muddling through with imperfect solutions in secondary areas is sometimes all that can be done. So luxury liners were pressed into service as auxiliary cruisers to be sent to far off corners of the British Empire. These armed merchant cruisers might have done better work as convoy escorts. However, this battle highlights the maxim that a nation doesn't make war on how it wishes to make war under perfect conditions. A nation makes war however it can make war with the time, resources and manpower that can be pressed into service. The present mobilization practices for a war will be almost identical or very similar in pattern and make up to the most recent smaller war experiences.

The Carmania was definitely more battle hardened than the Carmania. Luckily the Carmania won.

@warsor8096

6 ай бұрын

😂

That was strange indeed.

i think the Cap Arcona was built as the postwar replacement for the Cap Trafalgar and Cap Arcona suffered an even more horriffic fate

My dads uncle died in the battle with cap trafalgar Robert William Russell

During the introduction the first thing that came to mind was the Spider-Man pointing meme.

This was just too bizarre! I think I have to start drinking again.

Great video man heres a suggestion do the life of the christopher columbo class of ocean liners

Built for luxury....top shelf

I love this story.

Great video Bradley! You may want to partner with Babbel or another language learning ap so you can take a semester of German.

Beautifully told story!

Well that was sneaky

Germany We will be fine as long as we don’t encounter the Carmania. 🙂 England. That ship looks just like this ship?!?!?

I hope MS Stockholm/MV Astoria isn't/hasn't been scrapped 🚢🛳

Now imagine the British had gone as far as the Germans and concealed the RMS Carmania as the SMS Cap Trafalgar, including adding a fake funnel.

i hear about all these sunken ships and people killed and think, what a waste.

If its worth it, can u cover the SS Rotterdam (1908) my 2nd great grandmother immigrated to the US aboard it and Id love to know more than the pictures of first class which she almost certainly did not inhabit

Can you cover the sinking of the Britannic in WW1

You are correct. War, IS absurd!!! A very troglodytic way, of solving problems. Excellent documentary, about these two ships, of which I've heard very little of, and their confrontation. Was also, greatly detailed👍!!! I can tell that 'cause, even though this was lengthy, the documentary flew by😉!!!

Very Intersting

Please a video about SS City of Paris later SS Philadelphia!

Excellent content every time , it’s cool to see you show your face, I make content on Instagram and always find its better for us creators to show ourselves as long as comfortable!!!!!

Hello from New Hampshire

@michaelgallagher3640

6 ай бұрын

What up from Northboro Ma.🤟

@donfredette5189

6 ай бұрын

@@michaelgallagher3640 I need to get down that way for some JJ subs..I wish they had up here man

Love your voice bro 🧜

"Hahm-boorg sood-ameri-kahn-ish dahmpf-shif-fahrts ge-zel-shahft". My pronunciation is faultless, but my comprehension is a little spotty, so..."Hamburg South-American Linership-port Company", more or less. Don't be afraid to pronounce words, B.O.B. Just practice first. Sound 'em out to yourself one syllable at a time nice and slow, then repeat it a little quicker until you've got it. That's how my granny taught me to read when I was 2, and it hasn't let me down yet. Even if it's just for a few second, sound it out to yourself one piece at a time. Practice, nice and easy. What was it that these men died for, indeed. The war came so close to never happening. And I don't mean Gavrilo Prinćip's famous murder of the archduke - I mean the ambassadors and functionaries afterward. None of them wanted to declare war - half of them begged each other not to, and none wanted to be the man to break the stalemate of refusals. But the pressure of enténtes and alliances that needed to be upheld forced one hand too many, despite there being no wish from the emissaries of any side for a war to be made. And so began the War To End All Wars...Yet Ended None. And even now, a century later, we're still paying its price.

Those in the engine room would never get out should a calamity occur. Pretty deep in the bowels of the ship.

As someone so steeped in maritime history and nautical terminology, I’m surprised at the mispronunciation of ‘ensign’. The ship’s flag is pronounced exactly like the naval rank, “en-sinn”. With you, being someone who is in to ships as much as myself, I have to ask. Didn’t you ever watch any Star Trek? It was an excellent launching off point for a further delving into the nautical/naval world, and familiarization of much associated terminology. Yes, the stories and ships are in space setting, but Roddenberry, the show’s creator, was a Navy man during the Second World War, and he intentionally carried on the fine naval and sailor traditions. And those ships are crawling with Ensigns. Any young man with such a proclivity, and healthy fascination for everything nautical, such as yourself, really ought to give it a shot.

Oms he looks like sam Winchester

I have never heard of the eating before battle and fighting on a full stomach. Cool to learn. So eat before sea battle. Dont eat before swiming. Got got it. Wait does eating before battle keep sailors from jumping ship or give them extra insentive to not let the ship go down since they cant swim because they just ate?

Sounds like my brain.

Old tale what goes on?

Bizarre and absurd as right.

How does a 4 Stacker look like a 2 stacker? Huh….

As a German I have to say, it's a hilarious story. 😂⚓

Lux Liner Death Match. Isn't that cool?

As the two "identical" ships engaged each other, I can't help but imagine one of the German sailors saying, "Mein Gott: zees es FUCKED UP!!!"

@24:44 -- no one pronounces "ensign" as "in-sign". "Ensign" is pronounced as "en-sin" ANZAC, UK, Canada, USA. Much like "knight" vs "nite" -- this is one of those cases where the letters are liars re: pronunciation.

Him casually sponsoring a game more addictive than crack

@carlcaspersen9332

7 ай бұрын

To quote Agent K: it's worth it, if you're strong enough. from someone who has been addicted for 9 years and counting

Good job. Except. ENSIGN is pronounced In-Sin. Thank you, however, for pronouncing forecastle properly. Soo, many get that wrong

8:10 Regardless, we (Boere) won the first round and nearly the second, until the British cheated, lol

❤️❤️❤️🔥🔥🔥🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

I love your videos, but as to your sponsor... perhaps romanticizing war, or making it a game, is not particularly conducive to eliminating it. May all the people of this planet learn to live in peace. Thanks as always and regards,