Secret German Far East Raider

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Secret German Far East Raider

Рет қаралды 115,680

2 жыл бұрын

The story of the commerce raider Michel, one of the most successful German warships of WW2 that, with Japanese help, ranged through the Indian and Pacific Oceans sinking lots of Allied merchant ships.
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Пікірлер: 410

@Mr_Welch 2 жыл бұрын

That's the ship that was responsible for the death of my uncle Arthur Ray Moss. He was Merchant Marine and it sank his ship. He survived they turned him over to the Japanese as a POW. He didn't live too long after that

@seattlesix9953 2 жыл бұрын

All Souls Day is when any prayers for their repose is especially efficacious. May the Father welcome Arthur Ray Moss.

@Sshooter444 2 жыл бұрын

Sad

@Brave_Sir_Robin 2 жыл бұрын

Dang

@MrLJT1 2 жыл бұрын

@George Washington Mark Zuckerberg is a communist? So he doesn't believe in private property, money, or the private ownership of the means of production? Seems like a bit of a stretch....

@letoubib21 2 жыл бұрын

@George Washington You wouldn't recognize a commie even if you saw one *. ..*

@mitchthibeau2785 2 жыл бұрын

Years of consuming documentaries about everything WWII and this is the first I've encountered about armed german freighter ships used like this. Just fantastic content.

@jerryjeromehawkins1712 2 жыл бұрын

I remember reading about these ships as a kid. It fascinated me to think a ship would set to sea looking like a sheep when in actuality it was a wolf... with very large teeth.

@vespelian5769 2 жыл бұрын

They are very well know. The Germans employed them in the First World War too.

@greglammers9905 2 жыл бұрын

I agree. Thanks dr Felton

@jerryjeromehawkins1712 2 жыл бұрын

@George Washington I like that list George but... no Candace?? 👍🏼 🇺🇸

@williampeterson333 2 жыл бұрын

Yeah you have to really look for it sometimes, but since ww1 merchant raiders have been used. And to be honest it in my opinion at least, it was a smart tactical move and deployed correctly as best as could be expected.

@royjudson4380 2 жыл бұрын

Its mind-boggling when you think how much Cargo is on our Ocean's floors.

@NINE93THREE Жыл бұрын

It's mind boggling to think what else might have been covered by the rising seas post ice age melt, as that's largely untapped. Mostly shipwreck archaeology, not ancient coastal buildings/settlements/civilizations

@austint7533 2 жыл бұрын

The shit going on in the ocean during Ww2 is absolutely insane. They were some brave mfers to even get on a boat during that time period

@jerryjeromehawkins1712 2 жыл бұрын

Many raiders went out of their way to completely camouflage their 88mm deck guns in large boxes with false, hinged walls and other armaments covered with tarps, looking like just another unarmed freighter. When an Allied ship came in close thinking it had an easy capture or kill? The false walls would be dropped and tarps ripped away... exposing fully manned deck guns ready to fire.

@ramal5708 2 жыл бұрын

@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 happened to HMAS Sidney, she was fooled for a moment then she was immediately raked by the German cruiser raider.

@jerryjeromehawkins1712 2 жыл бұрын

@@ramal5708 Hey Ramal... I'm going to check that out my friend. Man... any guy that even stuck a toe in the Atlantic during WW2 deserves a medal imo. 👍🏼 🥇

@ibeatyoutubecircumventingy6344 2 жыл бұрын

@@ramal5708 Sydney* out of respect to those Sailors who all died please good ser.

@letoubib21 2 жыл бұрын

@@jerryjeromehawkins1712 Ahem, which 88 mm deck guns do you mean?

@gazzgarage5412 2 жыл бұрын

Would like to see a video on the german raider Kormoran that sank the Australian Crusier HMAS Sydney

@feikotemme8736 2 жыл бұрын

😊👌 Me too 👍

@henriquekonradt541 2 жыл бұрын

@George Washington yes, thankfully.

@vermas4654 2 жыл бұрын

HMAS Sydney: just another patrol and checking out merchant ships... Kormoran: GUTEN TAG!

@orkhepaj 2 жыл бұрын

@Christopher Arnold commies should be hanged not tolerated

@orkhepaj 2 жыл бұрын

@Christopher Arnold i see you are not the smartest one , quite the opposite

@infantryattacks 2 жыл бұрын

The SS Tarpon lies on the bottom off the coast of North Carolina. I dove on her with my best buddy Tom Edwards several years ago. If I recall correctly, she is about 130-feet deep. She sank after being decommissioned following WWII while being towed to a scrap yard. I'm glad she did not end up as razor blades. Our dive was spectacular. Visibility was about 100 feet that day and the submarine had a plethora of pelagics hovering around her pressure hull. Sand Tigers, Barracuda, and schools of massive Tuna galore. I'll never forget that dive and will always honor the SS Tarpon and her brave crew who sank the Michael so long ago during the height of WWII.

@northerncaptain855 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Early in my career as a merchant ship deck officer, I worked with a Chief Engineer who’d been a young seaman captured when “Michel” captured and sunk the Texaco tanker “Connecticut”. He was among those turned over to the Japanese and spent the balance of the war at slave labor in the coal mines. However he spoke well of his earlier treatment by the Germans. It was a privilege to work and talk with many WW2 survivors of sinking.

@ashleysmith3106 2 жыл бұрын

Nowadays a single ship breaks up and sinks, and it's an "ecological disaster" ! What ecological effects must all these sinkings during WW2 had on the World's oceans ?

@jasper7257 2 жыл бұрын

Such problems didn't exist back then ;)

@tandemcompound2 2 жыл бұрын

@@jasper7257 the oceans were full of floating tar balls of leaked oil in 1948

@camg6400 2 жыл бұрын

Not good, I can assure you of that. The wrecks in Pearl Harbour are still a disaster today, slowly leaking.

@joelonzello4189 2 жыл бұрын

Notice how the fishing/tourism/ came back after WWI & WW II. Oceans came back didnt they ? All by themselves....imagine that

@suburban404 11 ай бұрын

@@joelonzello4189As long as you don't come across live explosives, oil, uranium. No problem otherwise.

@jonny-b4954 2 жыл бұрын

I read a book about these ships when I was younger. Can't remember the name. Always found the concept of being a merchant raider/pirate so fascinating. Especially in a modern age. So interesting to think out there all alone in the ocean, only to stumble upon prey, deal with them, capture them and imprisoner them within your hold and move onto the next one.

@seanmitchell8461 2 жыл бұрын

Start off your mornings right, with some Mark Felton and a nice cuppa.

@austint7533 2 жыл бұрын

@333azul coffee is what the “cuppa” means. Even tho it’s cringe af

@seanmitchell8461 2 жыл бұрын

@@austint7533 cuppa is tea where I’m from

@josephryan9230 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for a detailed account of yet another obscene topic of WW2. Decades ago, when I was in junior high school, I developed an interest in the German Navy and started reading about it. One of the books on this topic that really grabbed my attention was Raider 16," by Edwin Hoyt. The success of this vessel (the Atlantis) stood in stark contrast to the rest of the German surface fleet being sunk or bottled up in harbor by the Royal Navy. As your audio presentation shows, the Atlantis was not the only German surface raider to achieve success. One could certainly apply the SBS motto to these vessels: "Not by strength, by guile."

@kaltenstein7718 2 жыл бұрын

I would love if you would tell the Story of the "Wolf" from WW1. It is one of the most stunning stories of german naval history, with the crew litteraly walking across the desert to reach ottoman territory, when they had to abandon their ship in the indian ocean.

@zamlat8118 2 жыл бұрын

It was landing party from SMS Emden that had to travel from Yemen to Constantinople.

@Pimthrow 2 жыл бұрын

I want a TV series about the commerce raiders. Most exciting and adventurous part of WW2!

@avadelvisco3790 2 жыл бұрын

Dr. Felton: I would love to see a video by you about the battle between the German auxiliary cruiser Stier and the U.S. Liberty Ship Stephen Hopkins. Thank you.

@vitis65 2 жыл бұрын

Me too. I was hoping that would be mentioned on this one.

@kaijudirector5336 2 жыл бұрын

In a topic as obscure as this, Pinguin, Atlantis, and Kormoran are usually the most talked about. Good work!

@stephenrickstrew7237 2 жыл бұрын

TheCommerce Raiders were the best deal the KM ever got ….in terms of cost vrs tonnage sunken and aggravating the RN …..I am curious about Dr Feltons opinion , concerning the capture of the Singapore Report by The Atlantis …. And did it influence Japanese strategic thinking… Many Thanks for yet another Great Episode …..

@nickdanger3802 2 жыл бұрын

SS Automedon

@MrLJT1 2 жыл бұрын

@George Washington Please take your politics to a forum about politics.

@stephenrickstrew7237 2 жыл бұрын

@@MrLJT1 I blocked him ….

@talebdaas 2 жыл бұрын

the story of this warship can be a very successful war movie !

@antartis73 2 жыл бұрын

Just to point out something, the Arado 196 was a pontoon equipped fighter/bomber used used mostly on capital ships from 1938 where as the aircraft shown on the deck of the Commerce Raider is the Heinkel 114C-2 of which 4 unarmed examples were assigned to operations from commerce raiding ships (as recorded in Putnam publications book on German Aircraft of WW2). Later in the war the He-114 were replaced by Arado 196A-2.

@letoubib21 2 жыл бұрын

I guess that is the wrong photograph. Only Atlantis, Widder, and Pinguin had the He 114. Btw., why unarmed?

@antartis73 2 жыл бұрын

@@letoubib21 the source doesn’t specify why but I would have thought to maintain the clandestine identity of the origin ship?

@tinkeringinthailand8147 2 жыл бұрын

I just love Mark Felton Productions. Some of the best, and regular, WW1/2 historical content (along with diversity) on YT.

@15-Peter-20 2 жыл бұрын

Yes, this is indeed very fascinating.

@AustrianChaos 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting, entertaining and presented with the utmost professionalism as usual. I really appreciate these videos!

@TankerBricks 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mark for providing my Tuesday afternoon entertainment!

@robertschlesinger1342 2 жыл бұрын

Interesting, informative and worthwhile video on a little known topic from WW2 history.

@fancyultrafresh3264 2 жыл бұрын

Love how the Kreigsmarine basically had to function as privateers. Don't all good stories involve pirates?

@JRyan-lu5im 2 жыл бұрын

The US Confederates had a raider vessel that was an absolute terror to the mariners/whaling fleets nearby alaska. It was also the last Confederat ship to surrender.

@zobblewobble1770 2 жыл бұрын

Ah, a fellow History Guy fan I presume?

@fancyultrafresh3264 2 жыл бұрын

@@zobblewobble1770 oh definitely :)

@MrSGL21 2 жыл бұрын

@@JRyan-lu5im CSS Shenandoah

@cgi2002 2 жыл бұрын

They ran the risk of if captured, been executed as pirates, and not kept as POW's however. Even back then what they were doing was an illegal form of warfare.

@Dynastiesnotdynasties 2 жыл бұрын

If I could wake up to stories on German far East raiders every day…my life would be complete

@GunDrummer 2 жыл бұрын

It doesn’t matter what the subject is, I will always click on these

@davidcockayne3381 2 жыл бұрын

Yep. You know it’s always going to be quality stuff.

@user-ef4gf7rr9r 2 жыл бұрын

"Neutering Hitler's Hound," - War Stories By Mark Felton

@28ebdh3udnav 2 жыл бұрын

I read about this years ago and thank you for covering this. It's relatively unknown to a lot of people.

@MrNikodemus5 2 жыл бұрын

Being Norwegian, my heart skipped a beat every time you stated Norwegian vessel.

@williammiller8317 2 жыл бұрын

Keep them coming Mark, these episodes are absolutely fascinating! 🤔

@williamlloyd3769 2 жыл бұрын

What a story! What a movie this story would make.

@richwhitaker1506 2 жыл бұрын

As always, a well prepared and informative presentation. Thank you sir.

@RhodeIslandWildlife 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Dr Felton.

@manicmechanic448 2 жыл бұрын

"That's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen."

@modeltankswithspartan0866 2 жыл бұрын

Mark its never ending with your knowledge of the unknowns of history, absolutely phenomenal mate.

@steveroe6771 2 жыл бұрын

I can't remember the author, but a good read on this subject is "The German Raider Atlantis" published by Bantam War Books.

@hertzair1186 2 жыл бұрын

Have the book. There is also a 1960 movie about it, called “Under 10 Flags” starring Van Heflin. I think it’s here on KZfaq.

@TexasTeaHTX 2 жыл бұрын

The words SECRET and GERMAN always catch my eye when I think about the 2nd World War.

@Black-Sun_Kaiser 2 жыл бұрын

Same

@jerryjeromehawkins1712 2 жыл бұрын

Agree. Many other raiders went out of their way to completely camouflage their 88mm deck guns and other armaments. Luring the enemy in close, they'd drop the false walls hiding the guns... quickly making the enemy who was the hunter into the hunted.

@garymckee448 2 жыл бұрын

You got two thumbs up today because this showed up twice in my feed but you deserve more than than that 😉 Thanks Mark

@qr8440 2 жыл бұрын

I recall one KMS merchant raider would disguise itself as a Dutch ship. It ended up sinking HMAS Sydney off the Australian coast.

@qr8440 2 жыл бұрын

@Nathan Bernacki Aye, may the sailors lost from both ships rest in peace.

@feikotemme8736 2 жыл бұрын

@Nathan Bernacki😊👌 The Kormoran tried to disguise itself as the Straat Malakka,harbour of destination Batavia(Jakarta).

@itchy108 2 жыл бұрын

Great work Mark. The sinking of the RMS Niagara and her cargo of gold off New Zealand is another interesting story relating to German raiders in WW2.

@Joewylie3 2 жыл бұрын

Another lovely video. I think that a German raider named "Penguin" was assisted by the Soviets over the top to the Pacific. I've always found the murky videos about the Junkers Ju390 fascinating. Publisher "Greyfalcon" made a collection of these tales. (Pretty wacky but entertaining).

@letoubib21 2 жыл бұрын

That was *_Komet_* a.k.a. _HSK 7_ a.k.a _Schiff 47_ a.k.a. _Raider B_ *. . .*

@nanananan6501 2 жыл бұрын

Wartime international conventions are pretty odd sometimes. An army can’t storm into a purely civilian city and take them all prisoners, but a navy can sink merchant ships regardless of what they are carrying and seize the crew.

@michaelcapeless3268 2 жыл бұрын

Always something previously unknown and interesting as hell. Much Thanks, Mark.

@benwilson6145 2 жыл бұрын

Tanjung Priok is in Java , then the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia.

@danteardenz2670 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Dr .Felton as usual ! Von Ruchtashel was my great ' great uncle !!

@Johnny.f.face1 2 жыл бұрын

Good lord how have I never heard this story? Thank you so much.

@thomasweatherford5125 2 жыл бұрын

…and just like that Dr. Felton strikes again with a new and interesting story. Thanks for the wonderful content

@dante666jt 2 жыл бұрын

Aah the sun setting, a cup of cha and Dr. Mark Felton!

@bigsarge2085 2 жыл бұрын

Fascinating! Thanks

@SuperLenny1983 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Mark for your priceless documentaries. So much research and hard work put in to them!

@stevensrp2music985 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for all the insane stories from History. We must never forget our past or we will repeat it.

@MrDDiRusso 2 жыл бұрын

The only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.

@scottklocke891 2 жыл бұрын

David di Russo: sadly true.

@theprofiler8531 2 жыл бұрын

I always stop what I’m doing when a Felton video comes on.

@williameckman4237 2 жыл бұрын

I HAVE SEEN OTHER FILMS ABOUT THESE RAIDERS WHERE THEY WOULD LOOK LIKE FREIGHTER SHIPS UNTIL THEY DROPPED THEIR COVER AND SHOWED THEIR GUNS TO SINK SHIPS.

@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368 2 жыл бұрын

Anyone remember the movie _Murphy's War?_ Cool WW2 movie with Peter O'Toole.

@unbearableunbearable2740 2 жыл бұрын

And that Grumman Duck.

@flyingphobiahelp 2 жыл бұрын

Yes indeed. Great film

@TRHARTAmericanArtist 2 жыл бұрын

Wow, interesting. Thanks Dr. Felton!

@tokencivilian8507 2 жыл бұрын

A great episode, as always.

@robertstonebreaker8394 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting story Happy Holidays to you and your family Mr Felton please keep up the documentaries I very much like seeing and hearing the truth-full story’s that you focus on .

@dutchchessbetterthancheese1239 2 жыл бұрын

Own yes, I love these boat stories, keep them coming Mark

@hertzair1186 2 жыл бұрын

The thumbnail artwork is boxart from 1950’s Aurora model kit of the Atlantis raider.

@dkarukas 2 жыл бұрын

While watching this vid I was reminded of a movie I saw on TV years ago. After a couple minutes of searching I found it, "Under Ten Flags" staring Van Heflin, Charles Laughton and Mylène Demongeot. It's loosely based of the raider Atlantis commanded by Captain Bernhard Rogge.

@steveshoemaker6347 2 жыл бұрын

Mark you are number 1 in my old book...Thanks

@Leeroy6572 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome channel, lot stories I didn't know plus doesn't waffle on for ages, what more could u want

@mattmcdonald8239 2 жыл бұрын

Love the new content! As always, love the videos!!

@technation9 2 жыл бұрын

Been waiting for this for 2 years man

@brianmoore1820 2 жыл бұрын

The accounts of all such raiders makes super reading and I thank you for this account of the Michel.

@dasmadchenausdemechtennord3922 2 жыл бұрын

My father was an officer on the Hilfskreuzer “Orion“.

@User1-T7R 2 жыл бұрын

Huh, I never knew German ships operated that far

@stevenhandorf3145 2 жыл бұрын

As always, a riveting and amazing story.

@anitaharris9909 2 жыл бұрын

Great work as always!

@GermanShepherd1983 2 жыл бұрын

Another interesting raider was the German ship "Wolf" from WW1.

@hyder4664 2 жыл бұрын

Amazing video! Please can yo make a video about the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis? It has an interesting story.

@martinhogg5337 2 жыл бұрын

Extremely interesting as always!

@joeschenk8400 2 жыл бұрын

You made me remember the old Aurora model ship from the way past, the cover art used in the posting. That was a long time ago but I remember making the Atlantis, great story. Thanks

@ericwhitfield8475 2 жыл бұрын

Excellent video thank you

@Johnnycdrums 2 жыл бұрын

Although only obliquely related, there was a wicked good movie about WWII German shipping back in the early 60’s starring Yul Brynner .

@Gen.Rocker 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for a great series! Hey Dr. Felton and Co. what might you find on the family namesake German transport Vessel, the Widder? Get on that ,will you?

@nathandeal9703 2 жыл бұрын

Great story as always! But could you please do one about tank battles in the Middle East during WWI? Or the Us Marines at Bellau wood? Please and Thank You!

@ccmogs5757 2 жыл бұрын

"The Secret Raiders" by David Woodward - Great book 👌

@talebdaas 2 жыл бұрын

the story of this warship can be a very successful war movie !

@wolfsoldner9029 2 жыл бұрын

There was also a german raider which managed to sink an Australian light cruiser.

@elhombredeoro955 2 жыл бұрын

Kormoran

@kristoffermangila 2 жыл бұрын

As an afterword, the crew of USS Tarpon at first thought Michel was a Japanese merchantman, albeit one that gamely tried to take them down. The Tarpon crew learned of its true identity after the war.

@jimrutherford2773 2 жыл бұрын

Raiders often were worth their weight in gold. During the American Civil War, Confederate raiders did much damage to the Union sinking or capturing Northern merchant ships.

@mikefranklin1253 2 жыл бұрын

The CSA Alabama being the famous British built southern raider.

@mazambane286 2 жыл бұрын

@@mikefranklin1253 Even visiting Cape Town.

@bobuxman2493 2 жыл бұрын

I feel like im in mark felton's class right now. I am watching this at school

@Lt_Tragg 2 жыл бұрын

Gosh darn that was interesting, illustrative and intelligent. Dr. Felton has made me an addict of history. I went on to learn that Hellmuth von Ruckteschell remained in Kobe as German naval attache. After the war, he was tracked down in internment, brought back to Hamburg and convicted of war crimes (and wow the list was long). He died (bad heart) in ‘48 shortly before his scheduled release from prison.

@benkasminbullock 2 жыл бұрын

Wikipedia gives a list of four, all of them disputed. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellmuth_von_Ruckteschell#Charges It also says that the trial outcome was debated at the time.

@larrybomber83 2 жыл бұрын

I read the book on the German raiders. Very interesting reading. I believe their success was based on who was in command of the ship.

@johnjcoxiii9401 2 жыл бұрын

With the kind of success MICHEL had, sinking so many ships only days apart, she must have had an incredible network of spies ashore passing shipping information to the ship. That story, if correct, would make on heck of a report.

@DolFunDolhpinVtuber 2 жыл бұрын

They were worth worth it. Not much cost, lots of ships sunk.

@bigbadword 2 жыл бұрын

Norwegian ships: "BRO! Chill out already!"

@johnwhitley2898 2 жыл бұрын

👍! Wow, first I have heard of these! What a history with a lot of damage.

@D.N.. 2 жыл бұрын

As always...holds my interest to want to learn more !

@jacobsgranddaughter 2 жыл бұрын

Very interesting

@seattlesix9953 2 жыл бұрын

Current reports of aggression by the Chinese merchant fleet in the South China Seas has been concerning

@genes.3285 2 жыл бұрын

LOL

@seattlesix9953 2 жыл бұрын

@@genes.3285 Here you go Gene… kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d8tpha-nq76nmIU.html

@smalltowninnewmexico 2 жыл бұрын

....smae thing happened in WW1- German 'raiders' sank alot of shipping in Indian/Pacific 1914-18 very interesting

@thegodofhellfire 2 жыл бұрын

Another phenomenon video!

@johnpeter4184 2 жыл бұрын

Sure was easy pickens for several years. Later in the Pacific Theater the Australians modified Mitchell B25s with a 75mm recoiless in the nose to take out merchant shipping. Good hits at a mile.. Lethal hits at a half mile. Later to be built in the US as the B25G.

@feikotemme8736 2 жыл бұрын

I never knew that.Thanks for sharing🍻

@oldesertguy9616 2 жыл бұрын

I don't think they used a recoilless rifle. Those are like a bazooka in that there is a ton of backblast. Also the US was developing a 75mm for aircraft in the 30's.

@garypulliam3740 2 жыл бұрын

What leads you to believe it was a recoiless rifle? I think maybe you are confused or are jousting adding the term recoiless for dramatic affect. Recoiless rifles were difficult to use even in wide open spaces because of the backblast. I could imagine the damage it would do in the confines of an airplane.

@johnpeter4184 2 жыл бұрын

@@oldesertguy9616 It was a 75mm recoiless artillery cannon as used in WWI.. The guns and rounds were plentiful in Austalia at the time. Credit was not given to the guys Downunder. There are a few videos on YT. Cheers!!

@johnpeter4184 2 жыл бұрын

@@garypulliam3740 Called the M4 cannon.