The Royal Canadian Navy - Sinking you, but politely
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- čas přidán 26. 01. 2021
- A brief history of the Royal Canadian Navy from it's origins to the end of WW2.
Sources:
archive.org/details/seaisatou...
www.canada.ca/en/navy/service...
Legion Magazine - Over The Side: The Courageous Boarding Of U-94
www.amazon.co.uk/No-Higher-Purpose-Operational-1939-1943/dp/1551250616
www.amazon.co.uk/Canadas-Navy-Century-General-Interest/dp/0802042813/
Free naval photos and more - www.drachinifel.co.uk
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Pinned post for Q&A :)
Idk if you touch on the subject or not. I haven't watch all the drydocks yet but a video on MTB or MGB and German E-boats fighting in the channel or Med. Or a video on the convoys being ran to Malta. By George! Those were some heroic stories.
@@warhawk4494 many of the convoy runs have been at least partly covered on histories of ships that were stationed there or went through in convoys.
So the long one. In XVII century you see ships carrying the old-school rig typical of galeons, with lateen sail on mizzen mast, and a little mast on bowsprit with extra square sail. On depictions from Napoleonic wars, all ships carry "modern" sqare rig, with gaff spanker, jibs in the front and I think also staysails between masts. When did the change occur? (Hoping for something more precise than obvious "somwhere in 18th century")? Also I don't recall seeing any depictons of mixed rig I.E. staysails and lateen spanker, or gaff spanker and bowsprit mast with extra square sail (also what was it called? I know that sqare sail carried under the bowsprit, which survived much longer was usally called the blinder, but no info about one on the little mast). So where change concurrent or are there some depictons of mixed rig? Finally, were older ships upgraded to more modern sailplan?
Why has the Royal Navy not had a modern ship called "HMS Henry VIII"? I heard once that he pretty much invented the Royal Navy so I would have thought he might have had a ship with his name on it especially seeing how his daughter has HMS Queen Elizabeth. Also other then the Battle of Lissa what would you consider the most hilarious naval battles in history?
@@scottmason2557 I would guess that his habit of beheading his wives (oh c'mon it was just two) may have something to do with it...
Drachism of the day: "They also wanted to get in on the action of making their national anthem the final boss music for many less developed nations."
"Drachinism"
Hey, you could make a religion out of this.
@@PopeOfTheBullpuptistChurch Ok so we're all in agreement that the Church of Drach needs to be a WoWs clan now right?
@@jaredw9171 KEKW. Yes totally. I would join it but unfortunately I don’t play on EU. But this could actually go somewhere...
@@PopeOfTheBullpuptistChurch Don't let that stop you, both EU and NA servers are also littered with Wooky clans, to cite the most obvious example. ;)
@@Depipro I saw a WOOK9 the other day. They've spread more quickly than Coronavirus.
Canada: Famously Polite.
HMCS Oakville: Run them down with your ship, pelt them with soda bottles, and then swim over and try to beat the survivors with a chain, while naked.
Was there a hockey match on that U boat or something?
There's the boarding party/hockey team crossover joke I was looking for!
No...a case of beer.
And having got over there they found it was Nat Light and decided to drink the bilges instead.
Considering Canadian tribal tradition, possibly to count coup, and demonstrate to the Germans that the boarding party possessed Big Medicine, ( eh? )
The innate aggressiveness when seeing people on ice caused several mis-understandings at figure skating events.
The action between Oakville and U-94 has the tone of "The actions of the various parties all seemed perfectly logical to them at the time."
Oakville
When you bunking your mate at 2am but gotta capture a U-boat at 3am
@@williamrossow1637hi 6sorry don't know the name of hand Liam Kelly 3200vic
@@williamkelly1538 l
Canadians are great. I'm from rural Kentucky in the states with accompanying accent. I married a girl from New Brunswick. No one in our neighborhood in Colorado understands us.
at least she isn't a Newfie b'y!
Lord help anyone who starts an argument with either of you.
Wonderful punchline.
Hello from New Brunswick! I'd ask the typical, "What's her faaather's name?", but this the internet.
@@langerbc At least? They're even more ferocious!
“Niobe, who had been allowed to deteriorate,”
Ah, the origins of a great Canadian Naval tradition.
HMCS and HMCS were ready to be broken up when the RN gave them to the RCN. RCN didn't let them deteriorate they came that way. 1st Gulf War RCN made up 5% of navel strength but carried out over 60% of interceptions.
Latter in WW2 RCN formed destroyer hunter killer groups of 3 or 4 ships. The concept was to hunt down German wolfpacks. I was successful but they were even more successful against German large fleet destoyers. During one engagement a German chose to beach his ship to save his men as it and it's squadron was being whipped up. The German destroyers were bigger, faster and had larger guns but not a single german wolfpack or destroyer squadron was successful against the RCN in the last half of the war.
Imagine you're in a German cargo vessel when a Canadian light cruiser opens up and sinks you
And on your lifeboat you hear two puffs of the light cruiser's horn
*_SOOOO_* *_RRYYYYYY_*
You mean sooorrrryyyy aaayyyyeee.
Ayee im really sorry mate
Canada should change the name of their navy to the Royal Canadian Fishery protection service. It would be more in line with their capabilities.
White people are funny
@@conveyor2 racist😂😜
The adventures of HMCS Oakville's boarding crew was a wild ride from start to finish holy hell
"Well, that escalated quickly."
Us Canucks have a way of being the most disorganized anamals you've ever drank beer with. Yet somehow, always get the job done. Occasionally without the correct atire....
@@rosswith who needs "attire" when you can fight naked?
@@Inquisitor6321 the Scots? No, not the Scots.
Reminds me of the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs in 1987 when Philadelphia Flyers's Dave Brown (who is Canadian) ran onto the ice in his underwear to join in a giant pre-game brawl with the Montreal Canadiens, where, of course, he was fighting with mostly other Canadian citizens. Hockey was so much fun to watch in the 80s.
As a Canadian, I'm amused that we're still considered polite. Imagine if the Germans had the puck....
Bobby Clarke
When WWII started, the UK told Canada that Germany had banned Hockey and Curling. Canadians signed up to fight immediately.
@@Thirdbase9 so THATS why Haida was so ticked all the time...
@@sawyerawr5783 There you go.
@@Thirdbase9 The British born German based Nazi radio propogandist, Lord Haw Haw, said "If the Allies were serious about winning the war, they tell the Canadians there was beer in Berlin".
As to the prior comment. We would take them into the corner and jersey them.
Royal Canadian navy sinks ships so politely that is almost offensive.
Like when you tell someone off and they reply with lol XD
The best offense is a polite one.
...with shouted invectives questioning the opponents ancestry back generations....
After torpedoing a ship their subs would signal 'Sorry!'
Radley Walter, Léo Major and the Falcon of Malta (George Beurling) were Canucks. George Beurling was retired from his bond raising tour for his gruesome depictions of his aerial kills. Léo Major freed a Dutch city from its garrison single handedly while not missing on killing everyone at the gestapo hq and doing the same honor for the ss while burning both buildings to the ground. We canucks have grown soft. WWII unleashed a horde of bored farm boys used to take a piss at minus 30 c and eager for adventure and they kicked ass, having known hardship as a natural way of life. I am sorry to say. :P
Two canadian ships enter the panama canal from opposite ends. When they meet in the middle they both gesture for each other to enter the middle lock and global trade grinds to a halt over the next six weeks.
Every merge lane in Canada, oh God, I lose my mind
@@CDSAfghan oh I get the pain 😂😂
As a Canadian I can verify this happens in doorways all the time. I call it "aggressive competitive courtesy",
Then the new Chinese owners of the canal demand Canada pay a billion dollar fee for using their new Chinese Canal, and Trudeau eagerly asks them if he can blow the whole CCP Politburo again?
Amusing but impossible
Canadians politely liberated the city my father was surviving in when he was a teenager and I will always be thankful to that generation for it.
Dutch?
Your country knew us better Than we knew ourselves. After the war they would not tell us anything, we had know idea what they had to do, God bless our Dutch family.
Few outsiders bother to tell this story or when they do, they get everything wrong. Will not surprise subscribers to this channel to learn that Drach does his homework and gets everything right.
Damn right , that what got me subscribe to his channel in the first place
@@MyHentaiGirl Ditto.
@@deltavee2 what does Ditto mean?
Which is why I'm excited for the Tribal class video. The Brits called us Bloodthirsty.
That and the accent is why we love him.
My uncle was a very young radio operator on HMCS New Glasgow when it sank U-1003 in 1945. According to him, they were coasting along north of Ireland on a foggy day when the lookouts reported hearing engine noises. They initially thought it was an aircraft, then realized it was a U-boat on snorkel. In quick succession, the following happened: general quarters was sounded; the cursing captain arrived on the bridge in his bathrobe; the captain ordered a sharp turn; the stern of the boat swung into the path of the U-boat; the two ships collided, destroying the U-boat's snorkel and damaging the New Glasgow. The New Glasgow made it back to port for repairs, and the U-boat spent a couple of days on the bottom trying to make repairs before being scuttled. It was the last U-boat sunk by the RCN. RIP Uncle Jack. You were a great story teller.
Just exactly how many U-boats *did* we sink by running them over?
@@deltavee2 Quite a few actually: U-boats tend to have very thin armor, so for the longest time the accepted way of dealing with them if you couldn't shoot it or depth charge it, was to ram it.
Ray: My Father was that Captain of HMCS New Glasgow L.Cdr Ross Hanbury RCNVR. Go to the website "For Posterity's Sake" and you will find photos and newspaper clippings of that event which I donated to this Canadian naval website. If you can add info about your uncle put it on the New Glasgow page--you may even see him in the ship's company photo!
If you don't see the problem with how we do with U-boats that weren't attacking us whatever I can see past this one because the impersonality of Warfare on the ocean
However it was quite terrible the way we treated axis spies in the war.....
Something hypocritical about executing a spot at the same time you execute a German for murdering your fellow American soldiers prisoners of War but still
@@deltavee2 and how many spies did we execute just because we did it doesn't make it right
Another absolutely hysterical RCN story from WWII is that of HMCS LOCKEPORT (J100), a Bangor-class minesweeper.
While en route for Baltimore for a refit in January of 1944, she encountered a fearsome nor'easter that knocked out all power and crippled her engines. With no propulsion or electrical power with which to call for help, the crew gathered all of the hammocks, blankets, tablecloths, rags, upholstery, and curtains they could find, and hand-sewed it all into a massive mainsail, which they then rigged from the ship's mast. Under this improvised sail power, they made it 200 miles before encountering a friendly tug who, after some improvised signalling involving a 3" starshell, a handful of Oerlikon tracers, and some hastily-painted dinner plates (as the semaphore signal flags had been washed overboard during the storm), agreed to help the stricken minesweeper reach harbour. They made a full repair and returned to service shortly thereafter.
Or at least that's how the lower-decker story is told today. The historical account is probably much less interesting.
Canadian here - history buff, navy fan; I so have to look this up now! I've never heard of this, but gotta research it. I hope it is true, because it sounds pretty Canadian; do what you have to with whatever you have around. Not an accident we worship duct tape...
interesting.
any sources?
Red Green would have been proud.
@@crankyguy135 what did you end up finding?
I've never understood where the Canadians picked up this stigma of being polite, gentle people always saying "sorry".
I've lived with them and served with them. They friggin love fighting and they ain't so polite when somebody pisses them off. I've had a coke bottle thrown at me by a Canadian...and it I still think he was trying to kill me with it.
After this story, I think I know where that unique skill came from.
Ever been outside a base in Canada? Unless you’re in Toronto or certain other parts we’re very friendly. Just don’t insult us.
@@westernstealth873 - whah...whah....cry...whah...baby needs his bottle..
@@westernstealth873
I guess when compared to Americans, Canadians are polite. But then again, anyone compared to Americans are polite.
@@Venezolano410 to be fair it is a pretty low bar and we’ve got a great example of such a bar in this thread
@@firefightergoggie ever notice that uninformed mouths just don't get it, never changes
Canadians in the tropics are a bit like Superman on earth: exposure to the energy of actual sunshine gives them super powers.
The story of the Oakville is just incredible.
There's a book on this btw. Ready ay ready.
Phenomenal book that he based this video on.
As I've heard it said: Canadians are the most polite people...until they go to war, then it's "I would like to Rage." 😁
I guess they must have crewed the whole ship with junior hockey players.
There’s a lot of wtf moments in that story.
Why is there no canadian movie about this?...
Earning her the dubious distinction of the first Royal Canadian ship to engage an enemy with Coke bottles in anger and coming out with the victory
My father was Hal Lawrence's editor. Hal would tell the story of boarding U-94 and the reaction of the German submariners. Given his appearance on their deck clothed in naught but a lanyard with a pistol on its running end, he supposed that they must have thought, "Mein Gott, he has come to bugger us all!" Knowing the story, I am always amused by the typical Canadian prudishness of the propaganda poster which has Hal in shorts.
On pronunciation of Canadian names: yes, the second "e" in "Nelles" is pronounced, and the "u" in Saguenay is silent, it is just there to make the "g" hard, as in "guess."
And here I thought that American pronunciation was bad. Good to know our brothers up north are just as cursed when it comes to pronunciation.
This image makes me think of that movie poster or Sean Connery in Zardoz. exec -c eyebleach
@@reaperking2121 enjoy being a child of many languages!
As long as he wasn't singing the Lumberjack song.
that Canuck must have some Celtic ancestry
Those of us from northern states in the Midwest US know full well that Canadians are some of the kindest and most helpful people on earth until they're not. Remember: beware the nice ones. When they stop being nice, its never pretty.
Edit: I feel like I should add that I understand this isn't always true. I live in Minnesota, the supposed US version of Canada. We also have the nice reputation. While not always true, if your car breaks down or heater breaks, the kindness of a neighbor could be all that keeps you from loosing limbs to frost bite or worse. Once you get 10 degrees below freezing in either C or F, risk rises fast. My guess is that this is what lead to the development of a non-confrontational and neighborly culture in very cold regions. A reputation as a kind person means more people might help, so it's an investment in your survival.
As a Canadian there is a lot of truth to this.
Canadian niceness is more myth than reality. I took my mother to Toronto in the mid 80s and while we were having lunch at tha old Eaton Center the server made some rude remarks about "the yanks" within earshot. I think she meant us to hear her. When she returned with the order my mother, who is normally very quiet, told her she was originally from Saskatchewan. The server did not get a tip.
John Shepherd Somehow, I'm not surprised given that your mother hails from a place most Canadians probably forget exists, nevermind Americans. I only know of Sasketchewan for two reasons: One: Because I actually paid attention in geography class, and two: because some idiot "family friendly" rapper who became a minor meme a while back lives in Regina.
@@jimmyseaver3647 Saskatchewan is the empty space between Manitoba and Alberta. My mom grew up on a farm near the rural municipality of Lipton.
@@johnshepherd8687 Oh Lord, i hope she didn't hurt the server's feelings. That is the least pardonable sin in Canada (and is becoming so here in the States, alas).
If you put that episode with the Oakville into a movie people would think it was way over the top.
You could literally make it a Jaws style of movie with the tension ramping slowly up as they become aware of the lurking U-Boat presence, culminating in the Oakville fight scene. Have the people who directed the the Das Boot TV series as the directors.
Fiction has to make sense. Reality doesn't.
Props to them. I Imagine after the 2nd floor scrape it was "all ahead FULL"
If you made a movie of it, you should make Leo Major (See you tube stories on him) have a younger brother who served in the RCN....
@@terrymcconville3659 unfortunately there are many stories from the wars quite strong enough to tell but as US audiences are the target; no one cares to make a movie about others. A perfect example is the movie Dunkirk the actual commander on the Mole was a Canadian but it was changed to an Englishman to " complete the sale"
Canadian Navy: *Sails up to enemy fleet* "Hello, could you please scuttle your fleet and go to your lifeboats. We will gladly accept you as prisoners of war."
Enemy fleet: *Visible confusion then scuttles the fleet* "Yes, thank you have a good day. Your terms are fair."
Kamchatka would have confused it for a Torpedo Boat
@@Trek001 I feel like the Kamchatka would have pulled one from Yuro's intro to his WoWs Atlanta video, "hey look, there's an enemy!" Only instead of the pew-pews in Yuro's scene, there would be the sound of the condiment gun from SpongeBob misfiring.
The Canadians are really serious about defending they fishing grounds it seams.
@@molybdaen11 the most routine stops would be American civilians, so we need to at least be prepared for automatic weapons.
Ah yes, the seven people in the entire USA who actually have the licenses for automatic weapons. That’s the REAL threat. Must be a particularly dangerous one when your “Fishery Protection Service” only has 6 ships full of syrup and sadness.
When the wind is just right, you sometimes hear a faint "soorey" being shouted across the sea between salvos.
The sole surviving Flower class corvette HMCS Sackville is a museum shop at Halifax NS
Do you know if the Sackville was able to sink the carrier Bag End before it was impounded?
I misread that as "HMCS Sackville is in a museum shop".
Believe it or not, Sackville sank her last ship on Sept 27, 2003
@@WolfdogKitok I was read once that she was Accidentaly Rammed the Schooner Larinda during the Hurricane Juan.
@@WolfdogKitok During Hurricane Juan she broke loose from her moorings and drifted to the dock opposite, where the waves repeatedly smashed her against the large sail boat that was docked there. I watched the whole thing go down.
On a sad side note, the sail boat was a total loss. The owner ended up taking his own life as it was his home and life's work.
As I have been learning more and more about history in the past years, one of my biggest takeaways are how hard the UK's colonies fought, particular note to Australia, India, New Zealand, and the Canadians.
Everyone fought hard.
Both World Wars were terrible. The first being an absolute meat grinder, and the second being all out war, often to the bitter end.
They proved to be extremely good friends.
@@rogerwilco2 you're right, I didn't intend for my statement to mean that people of other nations didn't fight hard.
As Americans these countries are our little brothers
The relationship was very close... as illustrated by the speech by John Curtin (Australian Prime Minister) on 3 Sept 1939 " Fellow Australians, it is my melancholy duty to inform you officially that, in consequence of the persistence of Germany in her invasion of Poland, Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war...."
I always love your delivery of the outlandish stories. Dry humor, deadpan delivery, and that extra bit of incredulous that helps to illustrate how insane war can be on the man-to-man level of the battles.
As a Canadian:
- Excellent video as always
- Halifax Explosion please!
- Tribals & The Haida(!!) please!
czcams.com/video/K9m9P8ccPVg/video.html
there's the link to Haida's video for you my friend
czcams.com/video/Fl7J3WUe31E/video.html
and the tribal class too
I, too, would like to see Drach's take on the Halifax Explosion.
I would very much like to see Drach do an entry on the actions taken by members of the Royal Canadian Navy in the aftermath of the Halifax Explosion. The 104th anniversary of that terrible day is this December, so with enough lead time, perhaps Drach would think about such an endevour.
We Canadians save all our aggressions for war and hockey.
And it turns out we're pretty good at both. We and the Aussies are the only two countries to have never lost a war.
@@deltavee2 Unless emus are involved.
@@MachineMan-mj4gj The Beaks, OH MY GOD THE BEAKS!!!!
@@MachineMan-mj4gj No emus in Canada. On the other hand, we have moose.
When we were building the Trans Canada Railroad back in the day a moose charged a locomotive...and knocked it off the tracks.
Maybe emus aren't such badasses after all.
RCN sailor that sank your ship with a torpedo: “Sorry”.
According to legend every torpedo and shell had the words “sorry not sorry) etched on them
Sawree
"Ship sinks"
*Eh?*
The Commander of my junior naval reserve battalion was Commander Atkinson, RCN. He had served in Second World War and was a fine officer. Being in Long Island we noticed he would occasionally revert to Royal Navy terminology or click his heels when saluting. We young Americans admired him greatly.
Was he a Canadian who emigrated to the U.S.A. after the war, or an American who had come north to join the RCN because he couldn't wait to get in the war? There were some of the latter in various British and Canadian services, and whether we agree with them or not, their willingness to do that for a cause they believed in is admirable.
@@thetooner8203 He.was a Canadian , and remained a Canadian. He moved to Long Island because he had a job in NYC. He later married a Long Island girl. He served on a destroyer in the North Atlantic. M
One of my great uncles signed up with the Canadian Army in world War One. I knew two Americans, good friends, who served with the RCAF during the second. I happened to see a picture of one of them in an RCAF uniform. I knew he had served in the USAAF and had seen pictures of him in that uniform. When I asked him if that was him, he answered: "Yeah, I joined in '39 to get an early crack at the nazis.' Larry was a tough old Jew from Boston. And a great pilot.
It is good to have two nations that share a border and values in common. Common enough to serve in each other's armed forces.
@@daleeasternbrat816 Yes, a good number of Americans came to Canada to get an early crack at the Nazis. Sometimes an American air force pilot would have two sets of wings on his chest, one American and the other saying RCAF under it, on opposite sides of his chest. That was after WW2 when it was allowed by the US air force. The famous detective writer Raymond Chandler came to Canada from California in WW1 to join a Vancouver Island regiment and saw action in France. He decided to join the Canadian army because the death benefits were better.
Did he have trouble saying lieutenant?
I still to this day even read it as leftennent.
Retired RCN Petty Officer, here. Two thumbs up. Fair Winds, Drachinifel.
As a former RCN reservist this was great. My uncle joined in WWII at 16 and served until 1968, including time in HMCS Haida.
We had a Canadian liaison officer on my (USN) carrier my first deployment in 1998. He was very polite, spoke at least three languages, and did not lose his composure after a large quantity of alcohol in Palma de Mallorca on liberty.
I was in the RCN from 1950 to 1965. Every June the American Atlantic fleet would visit Halifax on a goodwill tour. The only beer in the 50's was in quarts and about 6% alcohol. (Oland's and Moose Head) So the first night most of the US sailors visiting ashore would be shit-faced drunk by 9:00 PM. The next night not so much, cuz the word got around. We always thought American beer was more like panther piss and weak.
Very pleasant to see our RCN highlighted. I live just west of Hamilton, Ont which is now the home of the Tribal classic HMCS Haida, fantastic ship to tour. Thank you for this piece on our Navy
I wanna visit the Haida someday
As a young HAM Radio nerd, I helped (read: held tools and lights) restore the radio room and equipment.
I toured as a kid when it was berthed in Toronto. Long history of service.
Haida is a legend who deserves her own video.
One and the only Tribal that has been preserved. BZ to the RCN (and CAF at large)
As a Canadian whose BA involved a 30 page essay on the "Dreadnought Question," I am both amused and impressed at how you managed to take an event that nearly brought down the government and fundamentally shifted Canadian attitudes towards international participation and compress it down to about 10 sentences. :D
“Sinking you, but politely.” Love the dry humour.
"Canadian Destroyer" is a very impressive looking pro-wrestling move. Just wanted to put that out there.
I read _The Cruel Sea_ when I was 14 years old and can't see one of those Flower Class Corvettes with the mast in front of the bridge with out thinking about the _Compass Rose_ and all the men IRL who died serving on such vessels.
.
Snorkers, good oh.
the film should be seen as it certainly demonstrates just that
@@alpearson9158 The CZcams Search I did had numerous listings for
_The Cruel Sea - Full Movie_
But none of them had the full movie ...
This original trailer was the best I could find.
czcams.com/video/joUDAD3GB3g/video.html
If you watch the movie or read the book ... there is more to these scenes ... some of which is very ... very sad ...
The best thing about the trailer - is Jack Hawkins face as he talks about the war.
.
One has to ask - did the Asbestos burn, or was she self extinguishing?
Yeah she passed away from respiratory diseases years after she was retired
One wonders if there was still an HMCS Asbestos, if it would be renamed when the town was: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos,_Quebec
@@chanman819 Given she was named after Asbestos, Quebec, probably yes.
@@leodesalis5915
At least no death or case of lung cancer was ever related to someone inhaling her.
I hate that I have to give you a like for that one
RCN Sailor: SORRY FOR SINKING YOUR SHIP!!!
Enemy Sailor: IT'S FINE, HAVE A GOOD DAY!!
RCN Sailor: YOU TOO!!
The church was possibly a noticeable feature on the landscape and clearly visible from the sea (I bet it was painted white). It would have made a good position to get a positional fix from.
HMCS Asbestos is named after a town in Quebec, which just changed its name last year actually because obviously going to a place called Asbestos doesn't seem very appealing...
At least I visited and saw the mine before they renamed it..
Next up....we rename Uranium City !
Excellent recap video as always Drach but I thought I'd provide some info about HMCS Rainbow and her Captain, Walter Hose. Her overall state when she was dispatched to tangle with SMS Leipzig off the coast of San Francisco is rather indicative of the entire Navy of the period. HMCS Rainbow was in basically zero fighting shape when she was dispatched, her crew was made up of only 122 men which is less than half her original rated compliment and of those men, the majority of those were inexperienced and freshfaced naval reservists. Walter Hose was both the commanding officer of Rainbow and the ranking Canadian naval officer on the entire West Coast, meaning as he left, he also left the entire coast without a real ranking officer to command it. Hose was personally responsible for starting the naval reserve unit on that coast which outfitted Rainbow, he went against the direct orders of Rear Admiral Kingsmill in Ottawa (ranking Canadian fleet admiral) in establishing the reserve and saw to it that the reservists were allowed to train in the Esquimalt navy yard using navy equipment while he payed for all of this out of his own pockets alongside creatively accounted for the used and lost equipment. As Rainbow went to see, she was in a dismal state of affairs. Her 6" and 4.7" guns featured only solid training shot and old 1890's vintage gunpowder filled explosive shells which had an alarming dud rate, the entire stock of new Lyddite HE shells the RCN had acquired was kept in Halifax for Niobe on the entirely different coast of the nation and had to be shipped by rail. It turned out that the rail company shipped the HE shells and their nose fuzes separately so in the end, Rainbow was forced to sail into combat against Leipzig without any largely functional shells.
The old vessels top speed was only 15 knots compared to her 20 knot design speed, largely due to leaking steam lines and worn out machinery which caused frequent mechanical breakdowns. Her wireless set was also deficient and had a reduced range. With all of this taken into consideration, Ottawa still sent her down to face off against Leipzig. Rainbow luckily missed Leipzig by only a single day however, some people think Rainbow's likely disastrous engagement with Leipzig could have been Canada's "Remember the Maine" or Lusitania to rally the nation around the navy. As you explained it, the Canadian Navy had been severely neglected throughout the decades but such a thing could have potentially brought mass public and political support to the largely rejected navy. Walter Hose himself would go on to replace Admiral Kingsmill as the RCN's overall commanding officer for 13 years where he would singlehandedly save the entire Navy from ruin. The Airforce and Army attempted to have the Navy completely dissolved in the interwar period with the RCAF taking over their role however due to intense lobbying from Hose, such things would never happen. Hose also made the hard choice of selling off and putting Canada's cruiser and other vessels post WWI into reserve in order to save money, he would also close down the officer training school Canada had as well. Hose reinvested the little bits of funding he had into the various reserve units which would eventually be vital in the RCN's massive buildup in WWII and their survival through the interwar starvation years.
People make fun of Congress not funding the USN however, the USN has never had to face off against a dual attempt by the Airforce and Army to have it completely destroyed. Walter Hose is rightfully viewed as a hero within the circles who know him although the government and navy as a whole seems to have forgotten about him. He's been titled as 'The Father of the Royal Canadian Navy".
Thank you for that. I had no idea.
inter service rivalry was just as bad in the US at that time and probably in other countries
Didn't the US Army and Air Force try to have the Navy downsized after the Second World War, something about planes rendering ships obsolete, and didn't that one General get sacked in discrace after the Navy in a boss move absolutely crushed the Battle of Inchon.
Fast forward to 1960's. The RCAF had been complaining for years to rid the navy of it's Naval air branch and aircraft carrier(s) because they were not needed. It finally happened and was one of the reasons I never made the RCN a career. Remaining Naval Air personnel were integrated into the RCAF, but most elected to leave the RCN. The federal government, whether Liberal or Conservative, have never been supportive of our armed services in peace time.
Being a retired USA Coastie, it is always a pleasure to work with the Canadian Coast Guard!!!!
My dad joined the naval reserve in 1941 along with his best friend. His best friend was my uncle since he and dad had married sisters. In 1943 dad was activated and sent to Halifax from Victoria where after some training he was on a corvette escorting a convoy. Partway across the Atlantic the Asdic operator on dad's ship messaged the bridge he was picking up high speed propeller noise. The captain ordered engines shut down and the acoustic torpedo heading for them lost its lock and passed a 100 yds behind. Dad had been a base supply clerk at HMCS Dockyard in civvie street so he became a base supply clerk at HMCS Niobe, the base which resupplied Canadian convoy escorts and he was there for VE Day. He was then sent back to Canada to join the Pacific fleet but the war ended before he made it back to Esquimalt. My uncle stayed in the navy until his retirement.
I'm not surprised the Germans were reluctant to surrender to a pair of naked Canadians, they possibly feared an imminent breach of the Geneva convention.
If the Geneva Convention was upheld every single US president in their legislation would be in jail for war crimes
@@lurk7967yeah but we’re the winners all the time so it doesn’t matter
My father work at the Halifax Shipyard during the war and helped build the Tribal Class destroyers, he was very proud of that.
Nice Drachism: 29:33 "Lacking only the silver spray-paint to complete the image..."
WITNESS ME!!!
This went whoosh on me. What does it mean?
@@travelsofmunch1476 References the film Mad Max: Fury Road.
@@RCAvhstape Got it, thanks
Only the British would build open air bridges for duty in the artic circle.
Sure is brisk today eh?
Seems like it’s t-shirt temperatures again!
Famously they did try building armoured bridges, but officers would refuse to use them.
Bracing!
The exploits of HMCS Oakville are remembered on a plaque in a park where 16 Mile Creek enters Lake Ontario near where she stopped to pay her namesake town a visit on the way to war after being built in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay) on Lake Superior. Drach's version is more colourful!
One of my uncles served on the HMCS Skeena which was lost off Iceland. He never spoke of his experiences. Another uncle served on the "Maggie" and the "Bonnie" after the war. He took me on a tour of the Bonaventure.
One of the few, if only, hybrids of stand-up comedy and naval history.
Thank you for this video. My father enlisted in the RCNVR in October, 1939 and served through August, 1945. After training in HMS Voltaire, a British merchant cruiser, he went on to serve in two RCN corvettes, HMCS Matapedia (K-112) and HMCS Pictou (K-146), both assigned to the Atlantic convoy routes. Although Flower class corvettes, the RCN named their versions after Canadian towns.
"Sinking me softly with his torp
Sinking me softly with his torp
Saying he's sorry with his words
Sinking me softly... with his torp"
(To the tune of the Carpenters' "Killing Me Softly")
Giving a like and a comment (already subscribed) just for the frequent mention of my home of Halifax. To make relevant, my wife's grandfather served on RCN Tribals in WW2 and Korea. Thanks for the coverage.
As a current employee of the Royal Canadian navy I’m looking forward to this
Canadian ships have no AA.
They have Eh-Eh instead.
That is correct, and they fire harshly worded but still overall polite pamphlets which make the enemy pilots sad so they go home
You get a like just for spelling "eh" the Canadian way
they sound like eheheheheheheheh
HMCS Asbestos was named after a town in Quebec which had a mine which produced vital material desperately needed by the allied war effort.
My grandad was Canadian he was ti young to join over there so he run away to england joined up RN he served with mountbatten destroyer fleet in the Med and Burma. He picked up mountbatten after hms kelly was hit. Few days later grandad ship was hit hms Kipling. They go on from there to Burma
Cold, snowy ,morning cup of hot tea, and one of the
darndest ,sea stories I have ever heard.
Thanks Drach
HMCS Oakville's boarding crew is like a scene straight off JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Pfft you right
My thought was more, "The Destroyermen series." if you know...you know. also beware Dennis Silva.
@@sawyerawr5783 It would seem that the crews of destroyers are liable to be suicidally brave, and slightly insane.
Even just from this channel the exploits of taffy three, the austrian destroyer reversing into an italian port canal, to bombard said port, and now the succesful boarding of an attacking submarine by the canadians, i am convinced destroyers attract a special breed of sailor.
Or SNL's "Raging Queen".
It’s almost a Monty Python skit.
0:39 "The Canadian Navy Presents Great Attractions to Men and Boys".
That didn't age well.
Especially as they those men and boys were sailing around in HMCS Rainbow.
Always the Navy lol xD
@@Dave_Sisson in fairness one of the names in the USN rotation for destroyers was "USS Manlove." way to be blatant about it guys....
@@sawyerawr5783 Rum, buggery, and the lash.
@@MachineMan-mj4gj It's sodomy Sir! The same act, but a a slightly more refined word for the act of rogering the rusty sheriff's badge..
Fun fact: In canada, so many people were apologizing during court rules that sorry had to be made a word that wasn't taken as a confession due to some court cases in the past.
Is that true?
@@Shadow-sq2yj Essentially it's true. However the introduction of the legislation was more to counter a trend that litigants were contending that, since a person has apologized for whatever prompted the litigation, they had accepted responsibility and therefore they should be held liable. Most provinces enacted 'Apology Acts' to curtail this argument.
So even an American can understand, you can not be found guilty of a crime via confession for saying "I feel sorry for the family" or a similar type situation.
O Canada the place with no second or Fifth Amendment
Oh Canada the place that sell expression is limited if it's deemed reasonable in a just Society
Oh Canada where you have no right to a lawyer during police interrogation if you were suspected of a serious crime
That being said we live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world I will never forget looking at Lakes as blue as the sky in mountains as white as snow flying in a helicopter in BC that being said or government needs to burn
@@lurk7967 what aload of garbage
The HMCS Sackville, a Flower class corvette, is a museum ship in Halifax. It is strikingly small and it is hard to imagine that those brave men endured the North Atlantic weather and seas and fought the U-boats in such tiny and cramped vessels.
"We need numbers. Build 'em cheap and stack 'em high"
"How cheap?"
"Yes."
Can you do an episode on the Australian navy that whould be awesome
There will be a lot of salty ( excuse the pun) language in that script...... if you do the NZ’s fleet you will get the channel taken down.
So a dozen torpedo boats loaded with attack emus?
"That plastic kit"
But of course,giving revell no break anywhere anytime
Or Matchbox.
Airfix masterace
HMCS Oakville
“Drive me closer I want to hit them with my sword!”
Huge fan of the channel since the robot voice days. As an (east coast) Canadian I appreciate your efforts on this topic!
Thank you for the video on the RCN. Much appreciated chap. Loved the story of the Oakville and her brave 2 man boarding party making Jerry apologize for exiting the uboat before it sinks.
That story is going to stick with me for a long time.
Thank you so much. The Oakville crew shot I'd seen before, upper row, 3rd from the left may be the same pic of my dad
Living in Oakville, I knew of HMCS Oakville, but not her story, thank you!!
Drach, when you talked about the submarines early in the video. It reminded me of a joke.
Our biggest mall, The West Edmonton Mall had more submarines than our actual navy at the time in the 80s/90s.
They were on guided rails and you could see aquarium fish and other stuff. I moved to Edmonton well after they were removed and scrapped.
The Oberon class subs were in service until late 1990's and I visited Onondaga in the mid nineties at Charlottetown.
@@alpearson9158 from chtown, no subs here. We recently had 2/24 of canadas surface vessels conducting training exercises though
Love Canadian content, thanks so much!
Wonderful vid Drach! Thanks! I can confirm that RCN continues the proud tradition of the OAKVILLE in finding ridiculous ways to solve problems that always seem to work out somehow in the end and make for very good stories over a pint.
Really enjoyed this. Thanks!
Wonderful - the bit about the Oakville is just amazing.
Was waiting for a canadian episode. Woot woot! Cheers from Grande prairie!
And Ottawa!
And Cobalt (Ontario)
Always hilarious to look back at how often New York wanted to conquer Canada. On the other hand, having grown up in Oregon, I well remember the slogan "54-40 or fight!"
So you liked the band too?
Those Fenians were everywhere.
“As HMCS Oakville completed its transit *across the enemy sub*” might be the best phrase I’ve heard this week!
My husband served on HMCS Valleyfield A K329 frigate that was sunk May 7th, 1944 8 hours off the coast of Newfoundland. The only reason he survived is that he was on duty that night. He was a telegrapher. Thirty seven survived, one hundred thirty seven were lost. He never quite recovered from the trauma.
Best wishes to you both.🍁
The HMCS Sackville K181, a flower class corvette is a museum ship in
Halifax, I visited a lot when I was younger.
HMCS Haida a museum ship in Hamilton
My great uncle was lost as a radio operator on the Fraser, that went down off the coast of France in the early years. mostly due to inexperience as two ships collided.
I am also in love with the Gumboot Navy. British Columbia's coastal patrol force of armed fishing boats. One of these was an ex Us patrol boat, turned into a trawler, that engaged in Rum running during prohibition, became a trawler again before serving as a member of this reserve force.
I had a great uncle that served on the Fraser too. He survived the collision with the HMS Calcutta... He, and the rest of the survivors were assigned to the HMCS Margaree which later collided with a friendly Freighter.. unfortunately.. he did not survive that collision :( www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/2558135?Ronald%20Joseph%20Fleming
I love these 37 minute 5-minute guides.
I encourage every American to visit Canada.
Please keep in mind that you are a guest of a sovereign nation.
They are as justly proud of their nation as we are of ours.
We are fortunate to live 90 miles from Niagara Falls. We have visited Canada many times. Any negative experiences are forgotten with many many pleasent times well remebered.
A girl friend & I encountered a young French Canadian street vendor couple in Montreal. They spoke little English & us little French. With a few shared words, sorta sign language, we had a very nice conversation. The girl was an absolute doll.
Please, whenever you hear the Canadian anthem, stand at attention and sing as many words you can. "Glorious and Free"
Our neighbors, friends and staunch Ally.
Sweet, was running out of backlog to watch!
I’d recommend doing a video on Albert “ The Beard” Morrow, he commanded MTB726 65th flotilla, fellah literally looked like a pirate
Most of the Canadian MTB Captains looked like pirates. It was buccaneer times.
Thank you very much for this video, hello from Toronto!
GOD I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!! ❤️
Listening to someone talk about a subject that they are so knowledgeable of is fabulous!
Very impressive development of the Canadian Navy!
I retired from the RCN in 93 just after Desert Storm.
Marvelous. A salute & much respect to our Canadian neighbors & relatives!
Ready Aye Ready! My father was RCNVR durning ww2 and Iam so proud of him and all naval personnel that served and are currently serving! As you were, carry on!🇨🇦🥃
I’m trying to imagine the look on a U-94 crewman as he crawls out of his sinking sub only to see a man in nothing but underwear and a gas mask running at him with a pistol.
Miss probably afraid nervous anxious you sure got a lot of the Germans were just poor boys forced into war as well Journey introduce conscription during peacetime these men didn't have a choice
So Canada was like that younger sibling, that inherrits most of their stuff from older one
Yup
Canada still used to write home to the UK to verify their new laws were okay until the 1980s.
@@harbl99 Well, Queen Elisabeth is still official head of their country, so why did they stop?
@@Volnas97 We wrote up a Constitution around then and some parts of the old relationship were modified.
@@harbl99 That, actually, ended gradually: in 1931, the Statute of Westminster formally recognized Canada's independence from Britain, although Canada was still officially a 'Dominion of the British Empire'. The Governor-general of Canada could still, at least in theory, 'reserve' the laws of Canada for approbation by His Majesty the King (i.e. the British Government), but that power ended officially in 1947. Appeals from decisions of Canadian courts to the Privy Council in London ended in 1949, and the last remaining colonial tie to Britain, i.e. the British Parliament's authority to amend the Constitution of Canada, ended in 1982.
It's all fun and games until Canadians free you from your mortal coil... *nicely and politely*
Or wet, as the case requires
or in Haida's case, with copious amounts of 4.7in gunfire.
Extraordinary work, as always, Drach!
Many in the US don't learn about the German sub "Happy Times" along the eastern seaboard, and even less about the efforts of our neighbors to the north. Well done, sir. BZ!
Then you need to read up on your Rear Admiral King, who caused all the chaos in 1942 along the Eastern Seaboard through arrogance and stubbornness. H e disliked the Brits and wouldn't pay attention to British advice when the US declared war on Germany. Many lives lost because of him.
I apologise for being tardy, I was dealing with a Maple syrup spillage.
As long as none was wasted, okay.
I thought spilling syrup was considered treason in Canada
A very serious matter.
That's why he was late. He was prioritizing cleanup so he wouldn't get in too much trouble. Admirable.
@@streetracer2321 Not if properly absorbed, by pancakes, waffles, french toast, or other food.
Love it, great review of the history of the Canadian navy. Learned much, thanks. Keep it up, great channel.
When I was a lad I read Hal Lawrence"s book "A Bloody War." I wrote the author and he responded with a nice letter (Oddly I mostly remember the proper stationary it was written on.)
I went on to serve 30 years in the RCN. I have the honour now of being the Chief of the Ship of the last Flower Class corvette, HMCS Sackville.
This was an excellent video. Liking and sharing!
Good job Chief. Have a great retirement.