Pinned post for Q&A :)

"The Bismarck killer Rodney, and the apparently plot-shielded HMS Warspite." - Drachism of the day.

I really need to hear the full story of Warspite throwing 50 rounds at the Germans as fast as she could let fly. Sounds like another legendary story for the Grand Old Lady.

On the brigde of the norwegian destroyer "Svenner" that morning was a young Midshipman named Monrad Mosberg. He is still alive, now 104 years old, living in Tvedestrand in Norway.

As a native Texan, I never get tired of hearing about USS Texas taking out a sniper nest. So glad she’ll be getting the repairs she desperately needs

One of the Dutch gunboats Drach mentions, HrMs Soemba, only made D-day by the skin of her teeth, as she had worn out most of her guns during her time in the Mediterranean. In order to make the repair request stand out amongst the flurry of despatches send to the Emergency Repair Section of the navy, capt. Nicholl (RN) decided to send it in verse: "A report has come in from the Soemba That their salvoes go of like a Rhumba Two guns, they sound fine, But the third five point nine, He am bust and refuse to go Boomba." This evidently inspired the people in charge, as the entire discussion (a total of ten messages to and fro) that followed was conducted by way of limmerick, consisting of increasing pleas from Nicholls for repair and increasingly snide responses from command that they had no room, material, or inclination to waste any that the did have on such a minor ship. This continued until the Dutch liaison in the Admiralty had had enough and responded: "After so much backchat it is but right That Soemba should join in this fight Because she loves very much To be rude too, and in Dutch So no one can read it, serve you right Waarom wordt nog niet begonnen (Why has work not started) Met verwisselen der kanonnen? (On changing out the guns?) Rijmpjes maken helpt geen zier (Making rhymes is a bore) Want met pen, inkt en papier (because paper and ink) Werd geen oorlog ooit gewonnen" (Never won anyone a war) Soemba would serve until 1956, and remain a depot ship for the navy diving school until 1985, when she was scrapped.

I will never tire of hearing Drach refer to battleships "casually obliterating" something or other.

Amid the mass of steel, gun firing ships there was a group of US Coast Guard wooden 83 foot patrol boats (at least one flying the skull and cross bones) that managed to pull a large number of people out of the water. They might be worth a look at some point once the loud noise, smoke and destruction have been fully covered.

This video may be the new leader in one liners: USS Texas vs sniper nest - "...removed that particular feature from the landscape" "A rather one sided fight between some German tanks and HMS Rodney" Capt Kelsey - "50 rounds, 15", rapid fire!" Just to name a few.

My grandmother was aboard HMS Belfast on D Day ahead of being landed with a small group Royal navy nurses that would be landed on D + 3 she claimed to have been one of the first women landed in Normandy as part of the campaign.

I am reminded of the scene in “The Longest Day” when the German coastal artillery guy, Major Pluskatt, is talking to his General saying “There must six thousand ships out there!” and his general responds with “The Allies didn’t even have half that many” and later as the bombardment begins Pluskatt replies “You know those six thousand ships the Allies don’t have? Well, they have them!” Edit: Pluskatt did say 6000 ships

My favorite moment from Band of Brothers, and this is probably shared by many if you're reading this, is the end of the first episode where Lt. Winters helps each of his men into the C-47. Then as Michael Kamen'a brilliant score rises, these men who we've followed for an hour as they trained for this momentous event take off to jump into Normandy. Their group is carried by several dozen C-47s. The camera pulls back and we realize the sky is full of C-47s. And then the camera pans down and we realize the sea is full of ships heading for the Invasion beaches. I can't even type this without getting dust in my eyes. I think of the young German officer that Steven Ambrose quoted in his book about D-Day saying that he knew immediately this had to be the invasion because there were more ships visible on the horizon then the young man had realized existed in the entire world. Talk about being a part of something larger than yourself. All those men, all that effort assembled to free Europe from Nazi tyranny. The truth is, it was the greatest invasion ever assembled for the most noble cause. To all those who took part, thank you.

When I was at school, we went on a school trip to Normandy, and on the ferry ride over, all the boys (it was an all boys school) that were descendents of people involved in the Normandy landings, read accounts/letters from their ancestors on the topic. It was a very sobering experience.

"50 rounds, 15 inch, rapid fire" dude, you can't just cliffhanger us like that...

Have to say, "15" 50 rounds, rapid fire" has to be my 3rd most favorite naval command. The 2nd is, "England expects every man to do his duty." 1st is "Give me a fast ship for I intend to go in harm's way," as I am an 'American. The best must be, " All ashore for liberty call"-LOL

My Dad was there, on the destroyer HMS Montrose and they ended up colliding with a US ship. Drach was kind enough to post some of his recollections on his web site.

The amusing bit about Warspite, "50-rounds 15" rapid fire". Reminded me of USS Texas getting a call for fire support beyond their normal range, and then counter flooding its torpedo blisters to gain the needed elevation to see off a group of undoubtedly stunned (to say the least) German tanks.

Just been reading "Engage the enemy more closely" by Correlli Barnett who describes Neptune as a "never surpassed masterpiece of planning."

There has been an update on BB-35 Texas. It is being moved to drydock at the end of the month.

If you had told me five years ago that a British battleship would become the only warship I ranked with my nation's USS Enterprise in terms of kicking ass and surviving damage that would sink lesser ships I would have told you to see a psychiatrist... Then I learned about The Grand Lady, HMS Warspite. Even Hollywood couldn't write a script as filled with plot armor as what these two ships had.

Always love the USS Texas closing in to knife fighting range. I’m biased of course but it’s hard not to find the image a bunch of destroyers and the 10x heavier Texas moving in to assist. Between this and the other incidents, it’s like their consistent motto was “Let’s see what this rust bucket can do!”

Ever since i discovered drach, there has been so many weird moment in his videos that has gotten me teary-eyed even tho the narration is relatively professional without much dramatification... This time, its on hearing the free french navy participating the liberation of their homeland.

My uncle was in a "beach brigade" during the landings. As I understand it, the beach brigades cleared obstructions in the water for the landing craft, proceed ashore to provide communication with the naval forces, worked clearing bodies and providing medical assistance to wounded, worked to set up facilities (like mess halls, and, sadly, morgues). My uncle left the Normandy beaches only to be sent across the world to the Pacific theater to island hop doing the same work for the Marines. I would like to see an episode covering the beach brigade's activities during D-Day and the Pacific theater.

All that info comprehensively included into 33 minutes, 34 seconds of a video, and probably one of the best described series of events and participants of the historic operation. Incredibly impressive, Mr. Drachinifel. Most impressive.

Father of a friend was on destroyer USS Satterlee that day. He is mid nineties now but still going strong and will be proud that his ship got an honourable mention at 25.42. Thanks., Drach. 👏👏👏

Whenever I watch or read an account of Operations Neptune and Overlord, it raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The sheer organisational brilliance of the invasion and conduct of the Allied forces are hugely inspiring. I, like many others have commented below, would welcome more stories regarding Neptune and the conduct of the naval operations post 6 June 1944. Great video Drach, thank you.

My Grandfather was a stoker on a royal navy Minesweeper, sweeping the area before the main attack. He actually joined a year early and was the smallest stoker, but by the end of the war he was chief stoker and very stocky. A lot of the time he was doing the Arctic conveys, must have been scary knowing that if you were hit, you will most likely d ie being in the engine room. His father my great grandfather was a decorated war hero in WW1 winning a military medal for talking out a german machine nest. He was at the 1st battle of ypres, gallipoli, Somme, Aden, passchendale (where he won that medal), Africa and Italy. We have his service Bible with all the locations he went. At gallipoli alone he was injured 4 different times losing a figure and another his best friend being blown up next to him. After the war he became an alcoholic and broke his medal in two, it must have been very hard to send his two sons off to war and hard for them as well, to think about how they will return. My grandfathers brother a Sergeant in the royal artillery died in 1943 in Tunisia at Tabega Gap, he had met General Montgomery a week prior. We have the newspaper cuttings of the roll of honor which they would put a message in every year. One of the other people on that list had a message by their family reading "we laugh with others, we cry alone, how much we will miss them will never be known"

I always have to remind people, when this operation is featured, that at THE SAME TIME another huge US Navy fleet was on its way to invade the Marianas. And that wasn't just crossing the English Channel but a large portion of the Pacific. And they had to bring all their air support with them. And the Japanese still had a competitive fleet to contest the operation.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="150">2:30</a> The roster of command reads like an all star game. The invasion was inmense, and they still managed to pile on more experience than tonnage

Imagine the staff work involved in the plan for Operation Neptune - all done with pencil, paper, slide rule and typewriter. I imagine there were a lot of index cards used up, and a lot of squared paper too, with a great deal of this work done by women both civilian and in uniform. The effort involved in the co-ordination and sequencing of planned events, which would have been affected by weather, ship and troop availability, and changing intelligence information, would be exceeded only by the writing of orders packages for all of the ships involved. Not to mention having to deal with objections to what the combined Navies thought was right plan from the soldiers and airmen involved who had different ideas and priorities. And although planning for the invasion was started under General Leslie Hollis in 1942, the mass of detail was not fully addressed until 1944, so it was all done in a few months, and without either Excel or Powerpoint! And it worked! Phenomenal!

Every time I hear some detail about what a ship did as part of the D-Day invasion, it seems to involve firing off entire stocks of ammo in one go, ships wearing out gun barrels in record time or having to invent ways to stop guns overheating. The Western Allies didn't chuck millions of men into a meat grinder like the Eastern Front, but from the commitment of capital ships, the aggression of the Destroyers (although there were Tribals; the angriest class of ships ever built!) and the volume of naval shells you can tell they were not messing around. The Grand Old Lady does make plenty of use of her Plot Armour by wearing out her gun barrels, going home to have them replaced and coming straight back to resume bombardment duties. All while X-Turret is dead thanks to the Fritz X. The other story that shows there is no mucking around is USS Texas, but not her counter-sniper work but later in the campaign when she decided she wanted to hit some German artillery positions that were out of range so the crew partially flooded sections in order to give additional elevation to her guns, and then landed the shells. I would no be surprised if there were serious considerations given by captains of ships of all sizes to beaching their ships at various points to either put very large shells through bunker doors or to be able to hit things a long way in land.

Of all the Drachinifel videos, this one takes the cake! I gravitate toward WWII stories and I knew a lot about Overlord, but I am blown away at the accompanying details presented here. In addition, the deadpan matter-of-fact and unique manner of the Drachinifel presentation while narrating the greatest human endeavor ever attempted just tickles me!

imagine you are in a Trawler and HMS Warspite points it guns at you, RIP Trawler

Bertram Ramsay: "First you give me Operation Dynamo to take the solders off the beach and now you give me Operation Neptune to put the solders back on the beach. Would you people please make up your minds!" 🙄

When I was a lieutenant, my battalion was sent to Army Landing Force Amphibious Training (ALFAT) at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado. We officers participated in the same training as our men during the day, but had additional training geared to our rank in the evening. One particular nugget I found interesting was that US Navy doctrine assigned one destroyer in support of each Battalion Landing Team, a light cruiser to each Regimental Landing Team and either a heavy cruiser or battleship to each assault division. Additional ships would be in reserve to be assigned missions as needed.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1624">27:04</a> A great photo of USS Augusta serving much as she had in Nov 1942 during Operation Torch. She was one of the few US Navy ships to serve in the Atlantic Theater from the beginning of the war to its conclusion. Thanks for the brief on Neptune, Drach.

Rodney: Hey guys want to see a magic trick. (Obliterates tanks). Texas: That’s cool. But how about this. (Lists and continues firing).

Oi, Drach. If we could have June 7th anytime soon, that would be great. Sounds like an artillery beauty contest. Also, a 5 minute guidee to those two feisty dutch gunboats, please? Excellent video. Cheers.

Have you done a video on the evolution of allied landing craft in WWII? I think this is really fascinating, because, prior to WWII specialized landing craft were not really common and most navies relied on converted craft (like the Germans were going to for sea lion) or just the boats that ships generally carried. I think it’s a real important development in the history of amphibious operations and they played a huge role on D-Day.

It seems just a few more ships and the troops could have just walked over. :) great content love it!

Thank you for making this video! So many films about D-Day give the impression that the navy was barely involved (except of transports) and the men assaulting the beach had no fire support. Love your channel, it's a great joy listening to your videos. Blessings to you and yours.

This is the business! One of the best yet. Can't help but wonder if, come 1966, the juxtaposition of James T Kirk and USS Enterprise was a coincidence, or a nod to this day?

-One million liiiiiives- -USS Texas

Yet another great video. Thank you. My Dad was on HMS DACRES (K472) during this operation, and whose role it was to lead a convoy of assault ships, and after the first day, coastal patrols. TBH he never really went into any great detail of the war, but he did manage to take some photos, mainly of assault ships/landing craft, which we really cherish as a momentous day in world history. Keep up the great work.

The Neptune commander was the best pick for the job. The numbers in that war are mind-blowing.

Thanks Drach You're right, in the praise of operation Overlord too many forget the complex planning involved in getting those troops to the right area at the right time.

With the situation around D-Day, some of my favorite naval stories that I've heard have always been the gunfire support shenanigans that ships like war spite ended up getting into

DDs coming in clutch always makes me happy. I love the tough little bastards.

Thank you for this video. I shared it with my mother who's father served on board the USS Carmick DD-493. It is great to hear something about my Maternal-Grandfathers ship in WWII. He was a Store Keeper on board. Under the command of Cmdr. Beer.

Your pronunciation of Ouistreham is perfect, sir. Congratulations from an inhabitant of Caen.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one. Your dry delivery makes me laugh.

Knew it would be a good idea to not immediately watch this... Now I need it to get through a really bad panic attack. Once again, drach to the rescue xD seriously mate, thank you for always calming me down when fecal matter hits the rotary air moving device.

Putting that lot together into a coherent narrative - whilst keeping it to a reasonable length and making it seem 'effortless'. Thank you.

Outstanding rendition , thankyou

Spectacular presentation. Thank You!

I see that there’s a video talking about mines, and I haven’t seen it yet so I don’t know if this is covered in depth there, but can we get a video talking about minesweeping? How it was done, what were the various navies’s procedures, risks, technology involved, and so forth? I was always curious exactly what went into minesweeping

Great one. Thanks for your fine work!

My father was on a DE patrolling against U-boats and remembered seeing British patrol boats shooting at some German boats. His DE had 3in guns and was out of range plus under strict orders to maintain their station. But I wonder if the action between the MTBs and E-boats was the action my dad witnessed? For a DE sailor, the monotony of patrol was only occasionally broken by action and any sea that wasn't like a mill pond made the ships roll, yaw and pitch and made real men of the DEs!

On the anniversary, watching this outstanding content one more time, thanks Drach!

Excellent presentation! Thank you Drach.

Fantastic video as always Drach.

That was thoroughly enjoyed!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="940">15:40</a> Even as allies, trolling the French is a way of life for the Royal Navy. 🤣

Excellent and Outstanding Analysis!!!

Absolutely brilliant! Please do more on this!!

Drac- Great commentary!!! THX

Great post and great subject. Enjoyed. 👍👍💯

As always Drach, thanks for all that you do.

Nice work Drach thanks.

Bravo! Excellent presentation on the D-Day Naval action.

Drac: "Theres no way we can go into adequate detail in 30 minutes" Soon: Operation Neptune, Part 2 of a 28 part series!

Love it, thanks Cobba. Would really appreciate hearing about the logistical effort to make the fleet ready before they set off!

You are the dude! Thank you so much for your videos.

Outstanding content sir.

A point regarding shore batteries - generally, they weren't a lot of use in most situations - especially the ones around Calais. Those German guns covering the Straits of Dover were originally meant as one of the covering forces - along with the KM and plenty of mines - to secure invasion beaches in England waaay back in '40 for Sealion. Much good they did them! Post-War Admiralty records state "No British or Foreign merchant ship was sunk by enemy batteries throughout the war." A few lighters were hit and sunk, but not many, and in general those particular shore batteries were a waste of resources. Those set up in the Normandy area seem to have done a tad better, but so they should - the target array was pretty big, and many of them were slow movers or even static. In view of this, it seems likely that the USS CORRY was indeed the victim of a mine, rather than a shore battery - unless it was a lucky hit.

Amazing footage that I have never seen before. Well Done!

Fantastic video, drach. I thought i knew a lot about D-day but still learned quite a few things here...

Something tells me even if Texas somehow missed by far enough to not get the sniper, sniper is going to decide that's not a good place to stay and go elsewhere

Yay rum ration today is going to be a good day! I want to watch it now but I’m going to save it for later this evening when I can enjoy it in its entirety!

I thought I knew about operation Neptune, but this is well beyond what I remember. Well done!

Your video adds details to the movie Longest Day. Lovely video

Excellent content Drach! I do so enjoy shore bombardment and torpedo gun boats.

Thank you for covering the naval forces contribution on D Day. It is especially good to hear of the significant impact of naval gunfire on the defending German units.in the account from Terry Copp , he gave the impression that naval gunfire on Juno beach was not effective.

Drach does these narratives so well. more please.

This is by far my favorite type of content you put out. As much as I like the interview shows the best content is always drach solo content.

Great Wednesday video as always!

I'm 54 years old. Read my first book about World War 2 when I was 9. Have read literally hundreds of books about the war, and dozens about D-Day. EVERY time I read or hear about the scale of the naval operation, Neptune, it's still amazing. Thousands of boats and ships, each of which had a place to be and a mission to perform, all coordinated in a time without computers. Totally amazing they were able to pull it off.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="479">7:59</a> *"Bismarck killer HMS Rodney and the apparently plot shielded HMS Warspite"* **Signature Look of superiority**

Awsome episide. I hope for more indepth in the future

Kirk and "USS Enterprise", a seemingly inseperable unit !

Thank you, Drachinifel.

Can't wait for the next one!

Fun fact: Several of Nevada's main guns came from the Arizona.

What I find amazing is D-day happened on June 06, 1944 and 9 days later on the other side of the world world the US invaded Saipan.

Love the Channel Drac! My "WoW" victory stats have increased since listening to you Sir..... We absolutely need a run down of the last comment "50 rounds rapid fire" Yes please .... that comment absolutely made me smile today.... SKOL!😄🤘

They come by sea! sounds like a Victory at Sea title. Great coverage of critical role of USN destroyers in clearing Omaha which somehow failed to be mentioned in either Longest Day or Saving Private Ryan.

Very intersting to hear some more about the naval side

Thanks, Drach

Top quality as always.

No why another time? I still have 7hrs of work left. I need stories of 50rds, 15” rapids fire now lol. Great video as always.