Pinned post for Q&A :)

RIP Drach's great uncle

This is probably the first time I’ve seen a history enthusiast cover a topic they have personal connections to.

“Here you are Stalin, a battleship for you. I want her back without a scratch you hear?” *some time later* “You said nothing about rust comrade!”

My favorite in this class is Ramillies, nearly had to fight the Scharnhorst AND Gneisenau while escorting a convoy. She nearly had to sail to intercept Bismarck and Prinz Eugen alone. Fought with Warspite in the Indian Ocean and survived a torpedo strike whilst in harbor. Took part in D day and Dragoon before being put into retirement

Great respect for HMS Revenge 🇬🇧 Great respect for history...Great respect for good future 🇵🇱🤝🇬🇧 🕊️

Interesting additional fact about HMS Revenge: in October 1940 she thumped the invasion barges that the Germans had assembled in the port of Cherbourg. It would appear that the Germans weren't alone in sending capital ships "dashing" into the English Channel under the nose of enemy heavy shore batteries. Revenge got away with it, too, without so much as a scratch, and managed to drop 120 15" shells onto the harbour.

May God bless Drachs great uncle, one of those victims of the 2nd World War at sea. Half masts to him.

In the Soviet Navy she had the awesome name of "Archangel" (Arkhangelsk). These were some of the best looking, best aesthetically proportioned battleships, and the best named ones too.

Should we start referring to particularly knackered ships as having "a few soviet miles on her"?

“The Revenge-class reverted back to the older 21kt speed” That explains why she’s slow in Atlantic Fleet

I am quite fond of the R class, Ramillies saved a convoy from certain doom by seeing off the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau . Her presence forced the German Battlecruisers to turn away, they were under orders not to engage enemy Battleships. Had they engaged, the old Ramillies's 15 inch guns would have cost them dearly even if they did manage to sink her and destroy the convoy, they most likely would be too damaged to make it back to home waters. They would have been tracked down and destroyed by the Home fleet, as Bismarck was. Godspeed all sailors lost, may your Great Uncle rest in peace. Thank you.

I will say, this class of battleships had some pretty cool names. Royal Oak is quite the hearty name! My respects to your great-uncle, Drach

A special on naval superstitions would be fun and entertaining

I have massive respect for the Brits and the one thing they know how to do better then other navies is they know how to give ships badass names.

Parts of the revenge's gun steering mechanism were used to build the Lovell telescope at Jodrell bank in Cheshire U.K.

I was always fascinated by these ships. You never see much mention of them outside of Royal Oak's unfortunate end. All the attention goes to the KGVs or Nelsons or the QEs, but these seem like pretty decent workhorse vessels, even if they were kind of worn out by the end of their service lives.

Even if I never met your Great Uncle I would like to thank him for serving his country and helping in the fight against the Axis.

I've always viewed the R Class as the poor relation compared to the Queen Elizabeth and Renown classes, but it sounds like they were a very successful design, proven by how long they all served. Like the Queen Elizabeth's and Renowns, the R class are handsome ships, at least to my eyes. Excellent work Drach.

One of the rusted turrets should also be preserved as a testament to Soviet naval incompetence...

We all tend to forget about the individuals who are lost in war. Till they are someone we know, or someone we love knows. Wars are fought by people with souls, whom are loved. Wars are started by people whom thoughts of power and glory deprive them of a soul.

It's Saturday morning and we have *****TWO!!!!!**** Guides! My day is already complete!

According to Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century, the extra-large anti-torpedo bulges fitted to Resolution raised her metacentric height to a point where her roll was considered adverse to good fire control. She gained the moniker: "Rolling Reso".

I'm sorry to hear about you losing your great uncle on the Royal Oak. I remember reading about Gunther Prien and the Scapa Flow raid when i was just a small kid, maybe nine or so. I was shocked then, and am still still shocked now, that U-39 was able to sneak into what was the most heavily defended naval base in England, sink the Royal Oak, and sneak out again unscathed. Talk about a wake up call for the RN defenders.

I read it on the internet: On hearing of the cancellation of the Resistance, the commander of HM Dockyard, Devonport, is supposed to have said "Resitance is futile."

Thank you for your final comment in this video as a child I lived for a while in Lambeth and played in the park behind the London Imperial war museum I always wondered where the guns originally came from ;-))

Awesome as alwys Drach Although not regarded as 'glamorous' ships the R class gave invaluable service and were able to scare off German raiders while protecting valuable convoys.

Great video as usual! I am sorry about your great uncle, he served his ship really great. May he, and all the other Sailors of the Royal Oak Rest In Peace.

Ship Request: Ft. Drum, Manila Bay (the concrete battleship)

At least the Royal Sovereign only had it's turrets rusted solid, it could have had a large crane living on its deck as well.

Had the pleasure of seeing those guns in RL back in 2017. I knew they were there, and hadn't told my little (2 years younger) brother of them being there. His reaction, understandably, was all I had hoped for.

My own great-uncle died in the Meuse-Argonne campaign of WWI. How often we have similar experiences or losses in war time. Bless your uncle's memory.

When you forgot to Design a bridge and quickly do it before the teacher collects your homework.

Revenge, the only dreadnought to take part in the Battle of Britain !?! (If the BoB is defined as operations against the proposed German invasion in 1940). Revenge was the only capital ship based on the South coast. (Plymouth). On the 17th of September she was deployed to bombard the invasion fleet at Cherbourg (Operation Medium) Unbeknownst to the Admiralty, the Germans had scrapped Operation Sealion two days before.

"Revenge". Now that's a badass name for a battleship.

@Drachinifel I love the Revenge class battleships. My favorite class of British battleships.

Awesome video, as always. Ironic that a ship named Royal Sovereign was loaned to the Soviet Navy. Maybe that's why they didn't use her guns. 😃

I only watch your videos when it comes to this topic, no one makes these videos better than you. Top job!

You didn't mention the underlying problem the Rs had in relation to their later lack of modernisation. The lack of stability at increased draught.

I never knew what those guns in front of the Imperial War Museum were when I visited back in 2012.

My Grandfather served aboard HMS Revenge. Pretty awesome to see this video!! Thanks mate!!!

God stuff Drach. The R-class is one I knew little about until now.

I love how the RN named ships.

Drach explains why the R class hadn't been updated like the QEs - there was no plan to do so because they were to be replaced by the KGVs instead...if the war hadn't started, one would have been paid off as each KGV joined to keep the RN within the Washington Treaty limit of 15 capital ships.

I started watching your stuff a few years back, my great uncle went down with Repulse. Did you know that part of HMS Revenge and HMS Royal Sovereign live on at Jodrell Bank? I didn't until a couple of weeks ago!

I love the camo schemes these ships have. I would like to see them in color. Also my sympathies for your Great Uncle. I am very impressed that a historian has actual living connections to a ship, and a battle. Personally, I have no idea what my family did during the war.

Royal Sovereign and Ramilles I think still had some use after scrapped, their gun elevation mechanisms were used in the Lovell telescope, and, if I'm not mistaken, they're still there to this day. And I especially like Royal Sovereign over all other british ships, she's the ship that made me take interest into WW1~2 naval history.

Drach - the fact that your great-uncle went down with the Royal Oak (bless his memory) leads me to wonder. Has naval service been a family tradition? My father fought in WW2, but let’s just say he actively discouraged his boys from following in his footsteps...

Her battle ensign with shell holes is in St Just church cornwall.

I ❤ the Revenge class battleships.

The British really had a knack in naming their warships. I wonder if there was ever a capital ship named H.M.S. Annihalllation, Destruction or Devastation

This is by far the most complimentary review I've ever seen or read of the "Revenge" class. Some reviews talk about the ship's amour scheme making it next to impossible to do a proper rebuild. Makes one wonder just exactly why these ships were not given more attention, as the U.S. did try to keep their old battleships useful.

Not a bad looking battleship. Thankx for sharing.

That’s a wicked looking battleship.

Could you do HMS Devastation and HMVS Cerberus please?

Germany: Builds navy. UK: How cute.

My father served on HMS Royal Sovereign (amongst many others) in WW2, when it underwent a refit in Philadelphia.

That line drawn under the Anglo German race looks like it was a bit squiggly in places.

Stay a couple of miles from where the Royal Oak lays,know the story very well,sorry for the loss

My respectful appreciation to your Great-uncle - “in saving us, himself he could not save”. I know it’s a 5 minute guide, but it would have been useful to include mention the R Class’s greatest moment of danger - in 1942 in the Indian Ocean, when they faced Admiral Nagumo’s carrier fleet. In hindsight, the British plan to make a night air strike with 24 or so Swordfish on Nagumo’s fleet seems like poking an angry tiger with a kitchen knife. The fleets actually missed each other by accident. Had the Japanese aerial scouts found Somerville’s fleet, all of the R class (along with Warspite and Indomitable) could have rapidly suffered the same fate as the US BBs at Pearl Harbour, which would have been a terrible disaster with extremely heavy loss of life and little prospect of rescue for survivors. The ease and rapidity with which Hermes, Cornwall and Dorsetshire were sunk clearly points to the likely outcome. The R class ships (except the already lost Royal Oak) all still had their original 2-3” deck armour which would not have stopped a 500 lb bomb from a Japanese Val dive bomber, and of course Japanese air-launched torpedoes had already shown what they could do to even modern BBs. The R Class were very vulnerable to air attack and should never have been risked in this way, and Churchill was very lucky they were not all sunk, a catastrophe which probably would have brought down his Government. The decision to withdraw them to East Africa before they could be massacred was not taken a moment too soon. With hindsight, the undoubted bravery of their officers and men must have been mixed with considerable degree of ignorance about the risks they were running in tangling with the full 6 big Japanese carriers.

I have a friend whose father was a marine on the Royal Oak, and survived the torpedoing in Scapa Flow.

War Gaming/World Of Warships/World Of Warships Legends should add one of the Revenge classes to the games

Revenge and Royal Soverign apparently had other mementos saved. According to Wikipedia, they each contributed a turret ring to the 250 foot diameter Lovell Telescope.

God I wish I could afford an "I see torpedo boats" hoodie. Those are epic!

4:50 plus Royal Oak has her final remaining torpedo tubes and was THEN given four experimental torpedo tubes on her hull slightly forward of A-turret. Which you can see at 1:40, 2:00, 5:15, 5:30, and 5:45. Odds enough Royal Oak was the only one to receive the torpedo tubes after the original tubes were removed

At about 4:35-40 along the picture shows Barham a Queen Elizabeth class.

Your uncle was on the royal oak...... salutes...

I once was taken to iwm London when I was about 10 maybe a little younger, and talked to a guy about subs and now, I find out that those are the same type of gun from a ship that was sunk by a u-boat.

I always found it interesting that in the interwar period (as well as WW2) that Royal Oak’s forward/bridge design looks completely different from the other Revenges, who had a more curved style look.

One for the Q&A, what sort of records are there for fastest ship construction? I know the US was almost printing convoy ships for the Atlantic convoys with a normal 10 day construction cycle but had a few launched in only 6 or 7. What about combat focused ships? Age of sail in general? What about WW1 and 2?

RIP your great uncle. May he restin peace.

I remember reading about one of these in the med, the Germans were all excited on the airwaves believing they had damaged her, in reality she was desperately trying to catch up to the action and making vast amounts of smoke doing so. They were good ships, it was a little unfair for Churchill to call them "too old to fight and too slow to run away", they were still dangerous to any battleship.

How about a video on HMS Polyphemus, the only steam ram in the Royal Navy.

Press *"F"* to pay respect for this man's great uncle. *F*

RIP Drachs great uncle

Any chance you might do something on the Ship that was designed and ordered as the Loch Class Frigate HMS Loch Mochrum, but was actually laid down as a Bay Class Frigate HMS Pegwell Bay, however, after her launching, she was Towed to HM Dockyard Devonport for conversion and fitting out, and finally commissioned as the Survey Vessel HMS Cook A307

What was the standard stock of revenge on an R-class battleship? Was in larger compared to the Elisabeths? Lizzy was after all a very competent at revenge.

Should you ever do a remake of this video I think, if you have one, you should put a picture of your great uncle in there.

Very interesting video, Question, why did some of the navy’s ships have three anchors 👍.

Great video, but I have to ask... why is this the second Guide 119. The Florida also says 119.

Been to Scapa flow, seen HMS Royal Oak menorial as well as the RBL with her plaque and flag, not far from where HMS Vanguard exploded in 1917, supposedly one of the crew survived both by mere chance though U-47 didnt last long....

Great video,. But, at 4m38, is that not a picture of HMS Barham?

I like ships.

Very respectfully, the Renown and Repulse were not, "eventually totally redesigned," as battlecruisers. They were battlecruisers from the start, and were a distinct class from the R-class battleships. That's probably what you meant to say, but as it came out it sounds like you're saying that they were derived from the R-class. Really, only the names were reused since they were already approved.

Amazing channel for lovers of Warships. You are a historian?

fun fact the last ww1 survivor was on this boat

Always liked the look of the R's over the QE's, until the QE's refits. then I get conflicted lol

What effect did the flying-off platforms have on the turret gunnery operations? Seems it would be "limiting" as best.

Given the fact that they were Pre WW 1 Dreadnoughts it is supprising what atractive, gracefull and Modern looking Battleships they are.

What ship is in the foreground on the right side at 4:05? Am i seeing this correct, a single front turret, a turret amidships and then 2 turrets aft one being superimposed. That seems a strange turret configuration and i play Rule the Waves alot.

Never properly modernised, had some coal firing, had to be given anti torpedo bulges after the war, which didn't save the Royal Oak. Not sure what to think of them. They served the country well at Jutland.

Was it true the the Royal Sovereigns turrets while rusted into place?? Also were loaded and the shells were to rusted into place??

I could see these being coal ships in WOWS

7am gang

His great uncle? This makes it personal

Perhaps one of the craziest things that i thought of is hm(a)s royal oak on steroids first let's begin with size guns planes and 5 different camos The length has been been increased by half adding 1 more turret 2 plane catapults more aa plus removing some of the secondarily guns for 2 quintuple torpedo launchers 1 on both side Width has been increased by 20 meters allowing for more aa and shells in the main magazines plus to royal oak is 20 meters higher Propulsion From the og shp to 138.500 shp Guns Same as ones on valiant Camos/skins Because i added an a to hms meaning that it was transferd to the Australian navy it has 4 camos The striped red and white for ceremonial and similar events The blue for pacific The black hull for northern atlantic And the og one for southern Atlantic Range Double than og Armor From 5 inches on the deck to 8 belt and turret armor is 15 inches plus 18 inches for the magazines as turrets are exposed Aa Machine guns on the mast and around the deck plus a aa mount behind turret c(the additional one)from heavy on the top to machine guns on the bottom Planes Modified planes that were also on uss new mexico with sonar depth charges and may be even 6 machine guns Radar/s Addition of sonar and radars that are correct on 2nd or 3rd salvo Speed 25 knots to 30 knots Number of shells per magazine 250 to 300 Crew 1.150 Addition of 6 life boats on the rear(3 on both sides) a steel deck plus 30mm to 50mm superstructure and addition of ventilation Superstructure It stays the same Rading/service history After the refit was complete by 1932 hms royal oak was transferd to the Australian navy.Now this is where the ship proves that it wasn't a mistake.On June 6th 1933 hmas royal oak encountered kongo when all of an sudden shots came from congo 15 seconds after the encounter and the warning shots resulted into kongo having all of its turrets disabled plus being hit by 3 torpedoes after the accident the nickname was changed to the lucky oak anyways because this is gonna take a while here is just a list of ships sunk by royal oak 2 german battleships 15 Japanese merchants 2 ijn carriers 1 Italian battleship 6 german merchants 11 german submarines 6 german destroyers 2 german heavy cruisers 38 italian merchants 2 italian destroyers

o7 To our realatives that never came home from the sea

This is really a bigger topic than just a Q&A question, but you mentioning mopping-up Vichy French bases brought it to my mind. Do you have any sources on Bernard Peter de Neumann, the only man convicted of piracy during World War 2? His story is ridiculous, and while he has a Wikipedia page (which made me extremely interested in him), most of the source links on it are broken.

Pls.,feature military motor boats.

One of the best looking classes of British battle ships....not as handsome as an Iowa or a yamato but still very nice.