Keep the recommendations coming

"Puts MP5 on couch" and now its a tax write off. I see you TFE. I see you.

I could not imagine being aboard the South Dakota and hearing “Stand aside, I’m coming through. This is Ching Lee” knowing full well shit is about to get the most real it ever has been and will ever be again. The resounding “awwww shit” from that bridge crew must’ve been absolutely deafening as they watched her steam past like Dad stepping in to the room, belt in hand.

Favourite quote: "Chin Lee downgraded [it] from a battleship to a coral reef in five minutes!" That made my Navy heart sing.

“Abstinence isn’t even 100% reliable because Jesus exists.” Holy mackerel that line is so good. I’m laughing my ass off at work and everyone is giving me funny looks.

Some attributes for a stellar military career: Bad eyesight, Bad at school, Bad with authority, Bad at following established rules, Bad news for the enemy, All in all a BAD A$$.

Kentucky: We got a rodent problem, we need to call Ching Lee. 1941 US: We got an axis powers problem, we really need to call Ching Lee.

27:27 “Stand aside I’m coming through this is Ching Lee” That was sent to American PT boats that were questioning the identity of Lee’s ships.

I saw this a few weeks ago and was intrigued by how snipers do this. It turns out that snipers, athletes, artists, and other highly successful people have what is called "the quiet eye." They have the ability to focus to the point that distractions don't even exist to them. That's pretty cool.

That mp5 is gonna be a hell of a tax write off! XD

"You won it; I'll wear it." That's some serious humility, right there. What a guy.

Not directly related to the video. But, I just saw your "I❤Communism" shirt on Bunker Branding only available in size Small, selling for $999.99. You're an absolute savage and a genius. God bless

"got to be slow in a hury" "you must be accurate before you can be fast" "slow is smooth. smooth is fast"

A couple important parts of the USS Washington story at Guadalcanal that weren't covered: 1) Ching Lee reported 20-ish hits from the 16-inchers, because he confirmed 20 direct impact hits with _his own eyes from three miles away in pitch black night._ He didn't add speculated hits either under the waterline, or that simply were missed. Yeah, his eyes were fine. 2) IJN Kirishima thought there was only *ONE* US Battleship, whose ass she was kicking. Ching Lee _stealthed_ a Battleship. When he opened up at about three miles out, it was a _stealth critical hit._

i still think one of the most impressive parts about this man is that despite being a Battleship commander his entire career, a man who has almost perfected their use as a weapons platform..... he was also one of the most vocal advocates for the aircraft carrier in the US Navy. All he cared about was winning the war and protecting his sailors, and if that meant making the battleship obsolete, so be it. You hear so many stories of careerists who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into a new way of warfare, but here's Lee only ever thinking about how to make the new stuff better because lives were on the line.

I am already a huge fan of admiral Lee, but your depiction of his life is the most entertaining I've ever heard. As a kid on a US destroyer escort, I was a radarman, and worked with a 5" 54 cal. main gun, and can identify with Adm. Lee.

I do not understand why we don't have more movies about some of these less known heroes. Amazing. Thank you for creating and educating!!

"You won it, I'll wear it." Is one of the most badass and endearing statements a leader could make. Goosebumps. Thank you for being such a great storyteller and for telling the stories of these unsung heroes!

Ching Lee shows up to competition: Wins rifle competition: Joins pistol competition: Blows up hand: Wins: Refuses to elaborate: Leaves:

The Mark 53 VT fuze is a work of engineering art. Prior to it's introduction 2,000 Timed Fuze rounds were needed to shoot down one aircraft. With the Mark 53 this came down to, at absolute worst, 500 rounds. Semiconductors didn't exist yet, the radar was powered by sub-miniature valves of the type used in hearing aids. The fuze needed to be able to survive acceleration of at least _ten thousand Gs_ and up to *_fifty thousand Gs_* As for powering the electronics, the centrifugal force from the spin imparted by the rifling shattered a glass ampoule of electrolyte that would be channeled into a wet cell. Absolute miracle of miniaturisation for 1943. Prototypes and schematics were handed to the radlab at Berkeley from the British as part of the Tizard mission, which also included how to create atomic weapons.

The Bureau of Ordinance: "You can't use this ammunition until it's 100% reliable" Also the Bureau of Ordinance: "The MK14 is 100% reliable!"

I've said it several times, and I will continue to say it. He might not be American, but Adrian Carton De Wiart deserves a video. This man was shot seven times, twice in the head, lost his left eye and left hand, and kept fighting. He tore his own fingers off when a doctor refused to amputate them. He told the future dictator of communist china, MAO ZEDONG TO HIS FACE, IN FRONT OF A FULL ROOM OF PEOPLE, THAT HE WAS A COWARD. Having interrupted Maos speech to do so. He fought in both world wars, and the boer war, and was known as "The unkillable soldier." When asked what he thought about the war, he said "Frankly, I had quite enjoyed the war." This man is an absolute badass

I was not expecting that bit with Mrs. Electrician

10:07 we need a shirt with his face on it that says "And Lee Don't Miss"

Cmon “The Fat Electrician”. Make more content ! Burned through all of your videos with my daughters in a little less than a week . We have them in homeschool now and it’s the first time they were stoked to learn history. I even take on your dialog when teaching them history now. They absolutely love it ! Truly, I wish you the best of success and happiness in 2024 and beyond! You truly have a gift with this format. Unlike the old WW2 history channel episodes that could keep you interested and put you to sleep in the same 2 hour documentary.

"Spots IJN Kirishima" USS Washington: *MAXIMUS DELETUS*

Admiral Lee was _insanely_ humble. He turned down an opportunity for a major battle later on. At least *SIX* Battleships going in at night in a target-rich environment. Admiral Lee declined because the sailors weren't good enough in night battles, and it was too much risk to his men. This meant that the Carriers got sent in instead, later on, and got all the glory at (IIRC) the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. Yes, that's right, a "Big Gun" Battleship Admiral was offered the chance to win massive glory and write his name in the history books... and he turned it down and allowed the rival faction, the Carrier Admirals, to get massive glory instead. Thirty years of political in-fighting in the Navy over whether Battleships or Carriers were better, and Ching Lee didn't care about _any of that stuff._ In his opinion, the carriers were the superior option that would risk less lives, and fame was worth _much_ less than that.

This is one of the best videos on the youtubes I have seen in ages. If you have an interest in Naval Gunslingers, look up a man named John "Jackie" Fisher. He was a British admiral in the WWI who had his dealings with bureaucracy and rival personalities in the Royal Navy. His contribution to great naval quotations was "Gunnery, gunnery, gunnery. All else is twaddle."

The real secret to putting 16" battleship rounds on steel is to SQUEEZE the trigger on the exhale and never pull it or flich pretty simple stuff. You're gonna want to brace yourself that thing kicks a little.

@28:29 "Just so we're on the same page, the Kiroshima's been reclassified twice: the Japanese upgraded it and reclassified it from a battlecruiser to a battleship and Ching Lee has now just downgraded it from a battleship to a fucking coral reef and he did it in five minutes." Finest poetry on KZfaq.

Lee: 1,000 yard bullseye Navy: Mmm, you no see too good 😂

I have to say I just discovered your channel. You are an excellent, fast history teacher. Should be shown to kids for history lessons. Putting the shine on many great men of war.

Fantastic tale of the Old Sharpshooter! I knew pretty much all of this already, but your telling of it was pretty much the most badass I've ever heard. Even better than Drachinifel!

Stubby. A dog literally given plot armor to participate in 17 battles, four offenses, catching a spy, locating downed troops, warning troops of artillery and gas attacks. All while trying to keep morale high…

This guy is my hero. He not only did things his way, but he actually stood up to the military bureaucratic establishment and demanded change and wouldn't take no for an answer. It's one thing to be like Jake McNasty and refuse to play by the rules and do badass things , but no this guy was on a totally different level of being badass by actually fighting for change and to do what actually works and not give a shit because he was going to do it regardless. So it's one thing to fight the system, but to actually force and create positive change is truly amazing.

I had a former boss give me similar advice and it's stuck with me. "First get it right, and the speed will come with time."

Thank you for making history “cool” to my son. He started watching your videos with me about 3 weeks ago and now asks to watch the newest videos when he is with me.

My uncle's father (just to prevent confusion, the man married my father's sister, hence me specifying his own father) was one of the Marines on the Washington when Lee commanded it. He described Lee as being the one Navy man that Marines truly love - that yes, every Marine cares for "Doc" and wants to protect him, but Lee was the only Navy man, especially an officer, that Marines had no qualms with taking combat orders from. As far as the man was concerned, Lee was a Marine who was stuck in the closest to the next-best thing to a Marine uniform.

You just know that the eye docs are totally in on it when some guy fails a test and the next day passes. The eye docs are the unsung heroes.

The other thing you have to admire about him is when he went the message, he just this is ching lee, not admiral lee, nor commander lee. And by that you, you can tell that's the way he always spoke.

Ching Lee is the walking embodiment of malicious compliance hahaha

Love the fact that Nicholas brought up not just a heroic war fighter, but someone who heroically fought the bureaucracy, as well.

Small little inaccuracy the South Dakota was not the sistership of Washington, Washington was part of a separate class of battleship with the other member of that class being the battleship North Carolina. The South Dakota's sisterships were the Massachusetts, Indiana, and Alabama.

love the depth and enthusiasm...fantastic detail!

Someone that I never being talked about is Tadeusz Pietrzykowski, a polish boxer that had to box in Auschwitz (among other concentration camps) to survive. Some of his craziest achievements are saving the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and beating a heavyweight boxer while being 4 weight classes below. Oh, he also tried to assasinate Auschwitz commander, Rudolf Hoss

That proximity fuse is something my dad talked about when I asked him one day to tell me everything that goes into calculating a single artillery shot (he was a tech sergeant in Vietnam from 1969-1970, and directed artillery). He told me they had to know if planes were in an area, so the shell wouldn't detonate prematurely. Another thing they needed to know was if the shell was going to pass over a body of water. If the shell was going over water, they had to put a special cap on the warhead, some sort of IR filter or something. The reason was because the water would bounce back and give a false positive, causing the proxy fuse to detonate prematurely. If everything went as planned, I think he said the shell would air burst at 100 feet off the ground, and the kill radius - as in the area where soft targets were pretty much guaranteed to be destroyed, was 60 yards. I still have a piece of shrapnel he brought back, and it's way bigger, heavier, and sharper than I thought. He said typically the shells they fired weighed about 200 pounds, and they could shoot them as far as 21 miles with an accuracy of 10 yards of deviation from the given coordinates. Normally, they only shot a few miles, and part of his job was figuring out which batteries were in optimal range. He said from the time the guy in the field gave him the last part of the coordinates, his unit would have warheads on forehead in under 30 seconds. Meaning in less than 30 seconds, the calculations were made (using old-school computers), the firing solution would be relayed to the necessary artillery batteries, guns would be loaded, and ordinance screaming in at mach Jesus speed. Anyway, people wonder why I never had a sports hero, and my answer is because I lived under the same roof as my hero. So that's what all went through my head when you mentioned proxy warheads.

A no nonsence leader. Reminds me of a family friend who came to my dads house, while I was shooting my brand new Ruger Mini 14. He told me, "Impressive ....Now try hitting something, like that rock"...I blasted away hitting nothing. He went and brought out an antient 1911, held it one handed, bent elbo, and hit the rock with one shot. I continued to miss. He said something I never forgot, 47 yrs later. "You are making a simple thing complicated".And showed me the basics. Years later, I would remember those words in my police acadamy. And was our "top gun" with a revolver, in a world of autos.. In speed, accuracy, and reloading It is a special teacher that can influence people like that. Lee was that type, and then some. ❤

12:37 I was taught by my senior aerospace instructor in high school that an effective leader does two things: equip their people to do their jobs; and letting their people do their jobs. Sounds like Lee knew what he was doing here.

Thank,you for telling the story of a man that didn’t let the bureaucrats get in his way. We were fortunate as a nation that he had leaders that recognized his talents and didn’t need him to be a kiss up, just needed him to do his job.

Literally every great military person cheats on the eye examination. “If you aren’t cheating you aren’t trying hard enough” I love this guy 😂

A correction and an addition: 1. South Dakota and Washington were not sister ships. South Dakota was the lead ship of its own, newer class of battleship. Washington was a North Carolina class battleship, the first class of fast battleships that the US Navy built. 2. Lee not only kited the remaining ships in that battle, but he also managed to dodge several torpedo salvos launched at the Washington by the Japanese forces. Dude did torpedobeats in real life.

Great video, thanks for bringing light to a rough and tough sailor that has impacted the navy for decades, and possibly generations to follow.

That was an outstanding video! I had never heard of Ching Lee and thus clearly had no idea about his contributions to our victory in WW2. Thanks so much for sharing this story!

“You won it, I’ll wear it” is the most badass leadership quote I’ve ever heard!

Lee got screwed by Halsey at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The commander of Taffy 3 asked for Lee by name, but Halsey was convinced he knew better. By the time Nimitz sent his "world wonders" message, it was too late. Considering the damage a few destroyers like the USS Johnson had done, Lee likely would have had a field day

This man just screams and lives main character energy. Gets shot at, they miss, shoots back and hits, and when the dust settles he just says "Yeah I think I got a few"

Great video! It's always fun watching all these videos that guys like Drach did years ago, but now more people are doing and adding to. This is what the internet was made for.

YES! Been waiting for this one! Ching Lee was a certified badass.

Outgunning an IJN fleet in battleship-to-battleship gun fight is like beating a samurai in a sword fight.

Massive respect for the oblivion art in the background, i already knew you were another man of culture, but you just proved it again

Thank you for this informing and amazing story. I have never heard of this amazing hero before. Well done! This man is worthy of a major historical film about his life.

Navy: We are arming these ships with 16" rifles. Lee: Did you say... Rifles?

quick note, which im sure TFE realized afterward, USS South Dakota wasnt Washington's sister ship, Washington only had one sister ship and that was North Carolina

Great story, I now have a reason to brag on about, and remember this great Gunslinger. Thank You! Willis Lee ... And Thank You! The Fat Electrician for a story of a man's life and a story so rich and memorable!

Great story with even better telling. Recommendation: Chuck Yeager breaks sound barrier with broken ribs. Don’t want to spoil the story. Also he smuggled fish with official military equipment across state lines.

"Stand aside. I'm coming through. This is Ching Lee." His message is like playing a video game and having the Pro on your team tell everyone: "I'll deal with the pre-teen tryhard on the enemy team. Everyone else stay out of our way and play the objective." And then you win with minimal casualties. Absolutely beautiful.

An impressive part of Washington's slug match with Kirishima was that her secondary guns weren't designed to hit things that far away, yet he trained his gunnery crews so well that they still managed to land so many hits despite the relatively great distance.

Wow! What a competent hero! Thank you for bringing him to the attention of history! You are doing better work than most historians Fat Electrician! And you're not even fat!

That Kentucky bulistics guy is the Mr. Rogers of the fire arm business for kids!! He's the best!

FRANTIC rubber stamp, that is awesome. If you don't have a shirt already being printed...

I have a learning disability; I have a hard time paying attention and comprehending but I can watch your videos all the way through without stopping and understand it. Nick, Your very well spoken and thank you for your videos.

Best military story teller I’ve ever heard. Enjoying it immensely

Your story telling skills are off the chart man and because good stories never get old. this is the 4th time Ive been completely enthralled with your descriptions of Badassery. Inspirational as well.

It's honestly amazing they got vacuum tubes to work for those proximity fuses. These guns created a force of 20k g's when firing, and standard tubes were FAR too fragile to handle that. It was a UK research project they passed on to us to see if we could figure it out and we were able to miniaturize the vacuum tube enough to have ~10x weight savings over a normal sized tube and it even had to use a special solder for the connections that was only made in the UK in order to handle the force from being fired. They also had multiple fail-safes within it that required the high rate of spin from the rifled barrels to activate like the ampule of acid that shattered and then evenly coated the battery to turn the battery inside on as well as the detonator being set in place requiring that same spin to properly align with the rest of the system. It even had a self-destruct mechanism to make sure it stayed out of enemy hands if it missed it's target and never detonated. Really great video about it here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hJaDmqZonb-qgJc.html

Never imagined you would do one on Admiral Lee! He's well known in naval history circles but I didn't figure he was famous enough to get the recognition, considering King, Nimitz, Halsey, Fisher etc get most of the attention for the Pacific campaign. But Lee had a massive impact on the Navy's success against the IJN, not least of which was because he insisted on extremely heavy short range anti-aircraft armament for all ships - which I'd argue changed the outcome of multiple battles!

The dopest part of the Mrs. Electrician cameo is that she’s rocking an Ice Cube t-shirt. My kind of Americans!

He was a great leader, a technician with anything that could shoot, a man who made it possible for the people under him to succeed. Hopefully we have this type of leader working through our naval ranks now.

Drachinifel has a video on the Washington vs Kirishima battle called "Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 2" and a bio video on Adm. Lee as well for anyone who is interested.

This one was absolutely terrific!!! Well Done Sir.

Man I was watchin you way back on the shorts an stuff when you made the full screen jump it was meant to be.. thank you for entertaining us… educating us on the stuff the education system doesn’t necessarily teach you.. happy 1 million subs keep it up❤️

The derivative of Lee's and Earp's quote is, "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

Every time I watch your vids I think "The last one was so good, this guy cannot compete." I get 7 mins in, wipe the tears from my eyes from the laughter, and realize how much I needed this in my life.

I love these videos. You are an exceptional teller of American military history. I typically watch your videos and then search out a book on the topic.

This is one of my favorites of your stories. However all of your stories have been my favorites. Thank you.

Recommendation (I don't think that you've done this one yet): I remember a story about Carlos Hathcock crawling onto an enemy base during the Vietnam War, narrowly avoiding getting bit in the face by a viper, ultimately getting the kill and getting away. Several other good CH stories but that one I always remember.

OUTSTANDING!!! Will be bingeing your page, Sir!! Military history nerd here!

he was actually given command of Bat Div 6 (USS Washington, USS South Dakota). As a reward for his actions off Guadalcanal, he was promoted to Commander, Battleship Forces Pacific

Perhaps The greatest sharpshooter ever, the greatest battleship commander ever, a great leader that commanded the respect and loyalty of his subordinates, and an outstanding example of just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you still can’t accomplish your wildest dreams He wasn’t taken from us too soon, god was just so excited to meet him he had to schedule his interview with him early

26:19 The Far Side cartoon did not go unnoticed. You have my respect as a man of culture.

Thank you so much for the content you make. The stories are fascinating and I love the humor you put in them. This man is a national hero and I have never heard this story before. Keep up the amazing job. You rock! 🎉🎉🎉

I especially enjoyed this one because my dad served on the Washington during that time. Gave me a greater appreciation of what he experienced. He served down below tending the boilers. The ship had a mascot Jack Russell terrier named Zero that wore a uniform.

28:17 To be fair, Lee had closed the range to just 5,000 yards, which is basically point-blank range.

I've watched a bunch of your videos and enjoyed them all. IMO, you are the best and informative storytellers out there.

EXCELLENT! I love your ability to tell a story in normal, common person language.

"Is that a real MP5?" *"Come find out."* Real John Wick energy tight there

"He has a bad habit of getting off task, and doing things he shouldn't be doing. Mainly, he was a prankster and a humungous smartass." This man is already my personal hero, and he hasn't even gone off to war yet.

As a South Dakotan, I'm always glad to hear anything about the USS SD.

Great episode. I’m an old Army guy so I’m not well versed in Naval history. Now I’ll have something to share with my brother who is a retired Navy MC

Hey, TFE. Thank you! I'm a disabled vet and pretty much stuck at home alone and your show is a highlight!!

Recommissioned into coral reefs is one of the most baller lines I've ever heard and I'm stealing it to motivate my Sailors when we talk warfighting. Thanks for that!