Historical footage, often seen, but never in the right context

[abaris]

Here's one video that made it into numerous WWI and WWII documentaries, but never for what it really shows.



It's the sinking of the Austro Hungarian battleship Szent Istvan in 1918, filmed from it's sister Prinz Eugen. Looks dramatic, but only 88 perished out of a crew of more than a thousand.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Every tank was a Sherman, every fighter a P-51.

[Minimalist]

I think I asked you one time about the guns being trained out to the opposite side of the damage.  I believe you said it was an attempt to counter the flooding.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I think I asked you one time about the guns being trained out to the opposite side of the damage.  I believe you said it was an attempt to counter the flooding.

SOP.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Another one is the destruction of the HMS Barham. Any time a battleship is sunk, it just happens to be the Barham blowing up.

Casualties were of course much heavier aboard the British ship.



At 00:23, you can see 80' pieces of ship being flung hundreds of feet in the air.

[Dancefortwo]

The Hindenburg disaster.   

[Minimalist]

Any time a battleship is sunk, it just happens to be the Barham blowing up.

You have to admit that it isn't the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Any time a battleship is sunk, it just happens to be the Barham blowing up.

You have to admit that it isn't the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

I ain't wanting to build ships that blow up like that myself.

[Minimalist]

Admiral Beatty made a similar observation at Jutland:

There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today", after two of his ships exploded.

Decidedly bad form in the middle of a battle.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Admiral Beatty made a similar observation at Jutland:

There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today", after two of his ships exploded.

Decidedly bad form in the middle of a battle.

Classic English understatement.

[abaris]

I think I asked you one time about the guns being trained out to the opposite side of the damage.  I believe you said it was an attempt to counter the flooding.

Yeah, it was. The vessel kept floating for several hours. They already prepared a cable to tow it to port, but the cable snapped and in the end the damage was too extensive to keep it floating.

[abaris]

Another one is the destruction of the HMS Barham. Any time a battleship is sunk, it just happens to be the Barham blowing up.

Casualties were of course much heavier aboard the British ship.



At 00:23, you can see 80' pieces of ship being flung hundreds of feet in the air.

Yeah, that's abused just as often. They usually look for dramatic footage and nevermind the real context. I have seen it quite often but didn't know what it really shows.

[Vivian Darkbloom]

Looks dramatic, but only 88 perished out of a crew of more than a thousand.

What a very odd thing to say.

[abaris]

What a very odd thing to say.

If you look at the usual number of casualties in a naval battle of these days, very few lives were lost in comparison. In the second war, only three sailors survived the sinking of the Hood and a few days later, when british forces retaliated, only 123 survived the destruction of the Bismarck.


In the battle of Jutland ships simply exploded, killing nearly everyone. So yes, most of the crew surviving was pretty rare.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Any time a battleship is sunk, it just happens to be the Barham blowing up.

You have to admit that it isn't the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

I ain't wanting to build ships that blow up like that myself.

I used to work in the area that was the center of that explosion.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Looks dramatic, but only 88 perished out of a crew of more than a thousand.

What a very odd thing to say.

In terms of naval combat, 88 casualties is a light loss for a sinking of that magnitude. Similar sentiments are expressed about USS Lexington and HMS Ark Royal, for instance.

[Thumpalumpacus]

You have to admit that it isn't the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

I ain't wanting to build ships that blow up like that myself.

I used to work in the area that was the center of that explosion.  

You were stationed on the Barham?!

[Vivian Darkbloom]

What a very odd thing to say.

If you look at the usual number of casualties in a naval battle of these days, very few lives were lost in comparison. In the second war, only three sailors survived the sinking of the Hood and a few days later, when british forces retaliated, only 123 survived the destruction of the Bismarck.


In the battle of Jutland ships simply exploded, killing nearly everyone. So yes, most of the crew surviving was pretty rare.

Yeah, yeah. Perhaps it would have seemed plenty "dramatic" if you'd been aboard, regardless of the number of survivors.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I ain't wanting to build ships that blow up like that myself.

I used to work in the area that was the center of that explosion.  

You were stationed on the Barham?!

Now you know what I'm fascinated with WWII, I was there.

[Thumpalumpacus]

What a very odd thing to say.

If you look at the usual number of casualties in a naval battle of these days, very few lives were lost in comparison. In the second war, only three sailors survived the sinking of the Hood and a few days later, when british forces retaliated, only 123 survived the destruction of the Bismarck.


In the battle of Jutland ships simply exploded, killing nearly everyone. So yes, most of the crew surviving was pretty rare.

Yeah, yeah. Perhaps it would have seemed plenty "dramatic" if you'd been aboard, regardless of the number of survivors.

I think it's obvious he was referencing the use of that footage in the media because of its dramatic visual impact with light losses, rather than belittling the drama those sailors experienced.

[Dancefortwo]

I used to work in the area that was the center of that explosion.  

You were stationed on the Barham?!

Now you know what I'm fascinated with WWII, I was there.  

Were't you also at the Battle of Gettysburg?  

[Thumpalumpacus]

You were stationed on the Barham?!

Now you know what I'm fascinated with WWII, I was there.  

Were't you also at the Battle of Gettysburg?  

Not to mention Helm's Deep.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I was dwarfed by the giants of that bygone age.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I was dwarfed by the giants of that bygone age.

And you were still razorless, obviously.

[Minimalist]

Does anyone else remember Z Z Topp?