Rodney Shells Alderney (1944)
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- čas přidán 12. 04. 2014
- The HMS Rodney is seen shelling the German occupied channel island of Alderney in 1944 in this archive footage from World War II.
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(FILM ID:1099.4)
Title reads: "Rodney shells Alderney".
Off French coast, near Channel islands.
L/S of battleship HMS Rodney at sea. Various L/Ss of convoys of ships and barrage balloons crossing Channel. Various shots of below of British destroyer, we see gun crews getting ready (putting on flak jackets and anti-flash helmets etc.). L/S of HMS Rodney off Cherbourg Peninsular, France. Various good shots of gunners on destroyer loading one ton shells into guns. Various shots of shells being fired over peninsula to German occupied island of Alderney. Various C/Us of sailors and officers looking through binoculars and telescopes to see the damage they have done.
Note: cameraman filming gunners at work is Jock Gemmell. Narrator mentions him by name.
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when a 77 year old film has better quality then most on youtube.
Rodney is one of the coolest looking BBs to have been built.
Fact
My Dad was a Royal Naval gunner, he was my hero and I miss him.
I hear what you're saying knight Owl. My Granddad was a gun loader in A turret, HMS Barham . I would dearly love to have had a conversation with him .
knight Owl 🇬🇧
@@waynesimpson2074 : Respect mate!
Did he survive the war or was he inboard, during "That incident"
@@THE-BUNKEN-DRUM On duty,in A-turret when U331 got her. He survived, just... had to have his lungs pumped out of engine oil. He was dumped on the 'no-hope-near-death' pile at triage. I really can't argue with those medical assessment during battle, it must have been horrific. The ship's official casualty list has him as a survivor AND also KIA?? .When I view the footage of the blast I still can't believe he lived and therefore... I'm here. Savage, brutal times. RIP all those sailors.
@@waynesimpson2074 : Amen to that brother 0:)
What a Legend!
I cannot say this is true or not but I recall reading a statement once about both Nelson and Rodney concerning the fact that having all guns up front they couldn't fire backwards. This was pointed out to some upper wonder at the admiralty and he replied "We haven't ruled the waves for 200 years because we learned how to shoot backwards".
Both "Admirals" had their 16-inch turrets forward and several 6-inch turrets aft. It was a design compromise by the Admiralty, which wanted the heavier guns but had to work around international naval treaty limits. It was a matter of keeping the ships balanced. The next class of British battleships used lighter 14-inch guns that, I think, used higher speed shells. Those were the King George V class. I think Drachinifel has an explanation of Nelson and Rodney, and I'm repeating what I remember from him.
Its a result of the washington naval treaty of 1922
Known as Nelsol and Rodol because they looked like oil tankers. But they were powerful weapons all the same.
OK, maybe it's just me being silly but I don't see what a treaty has to do with the ship having three forward facing turrets as opposed to two forward facing and one rear facing. No one said anything about calibre, we are talking about the layout...
Rob Fraser weight limits due to treaties
My grandfather also served the whole war on the Rodney. Charles Smith thanks for your service grandad
My grandad too, Sydney (Sam) Back, joined up in 1937 at 16. Was on the rodney from 1939 - 1944. Found this as we are doing a WW2 project for school. This footage is amazing.
So he was there at the sinking of the Bismarck? The people back then were tough as nails. Especially since most people I encounter today can’t manage to start a lawnmower!
Great footage! Never seen until today, my 69th birthday. I was named after the Rodney. My Dad survived Dunkirk, one of the last to leave the beach, thanks to a Royal Navy ship, HMS Codrington. He was 10 decks down praying the Germans would not bomb him. He swore if he ever had a son, he would call him after a Navy ship. So that's why I am 'Rodders', after the Rodney (and not 'Codders' after the Codrington!). I did 25 years in the Navy myself but the Rodney was scrapped before I was born.
RodRollingstone good job for you he wasn't on the Queen Elizabeth then ehh😂
Interesting story!
RodRollingstone 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
@@birddog9708 well if so he did, may be the boy could be named "Eliz" or "Eli" then.
Codrington was sunk by aircraft about 2 months later off Dover
Incredible footage of Rodney firing those massive 16's. You can clear as day hear how loud they are.
Those sounds are so fake. The guns are obviously massively loud indeed, but specifically the gun sounds in this video are 100% fake.
Nikoolix
And you’re basing that on what?
@@greva2904 Newsreel type footage had no sound track hence the narration. The sounds were dubbed in for audiences. They were made to keep morale up.
Very important. Interestingly it was determined Germany would be defeated if the amount of meat in the German sausage went below 16%.
When it did, the war was won - so the point is morale is v-important LOL.
Portable sound recording in those days was with low quality magnetised wire media. Tape was introduced first in Germany and only became common post war. Cine film was nearly always silent.
As an alderney resident I love exploring the old forts, trenches, underground cave systems and German fortifications etc.
I've seen first hand the devastation those shell's did on the bunkers and its incredible that they were fired from such a range with precision back then
Liam have you encountered UXB?
Considering how big those shells are I’m surprised the island survived. Those things are monstrous.
@@waynesworldofsci-techThe largest caliber ever operated by the Royal Navy, in response to the Colorado class of American battleships and the Nagato class of Japanese battleships
@@J.Bart1
Calibre is a measure of barrel length by shell diameter. A 15”-42 gun barrel was 15” internal diameter, and 42 x 15” long.
Rodney and Nelson were impressive battlewagons for their day.
My dad was on the rodney I'm so proud, love these videos 1st time I seen them,
My great grandad spent some time on the Rodney in either the late 1920s or early 30s, he served on the Royal Oak for a bit but departed the July before she was torpedod, he then went on and spent most of ww2 serving on HMS Birmingham.
My Grandad was on HMS Rodney during WW2
Incredible ! 😳
Did he fight the Bismarck back then ?
Love this - its an historical bar of gold
Thanks mate
Very interesting watching and as a child i grew up on Alderney and as stated below, loved exploring the myriad of Bunkers and fortifications around the island. There's still plenty to see around the island and the museum is a great window into our past.
143 dislikes? Must be saddo lttle Bismark fangirls, Rodney more the KG5 pummelled Bismark into a floating oil drum and left smaller ships to finish her off.
JAG yep and then the Brits and allies sunk most of Nazi Uboats .
Actually, the Rodney's fire was so inaccurate that Admiral Tovey said he could have been more accurate throwing his binoculars at the Bismarck. He was scathing in the after action report about the Rodney's part in the action. The KGV's fire was considerably more accurate.
@@markkover8040 But KGVs tended to bounce off from distance and do little damage. HMS Rodney had to get closer in for accuracy and damage. And it did.
@@tonytye8963 I cannot agree with that: just look at the damage the few hits from the Prince of Wales did to the Bismarck. Also note the accurate and devastating fire of the Duke of York at the Battle of North Cape which resulted in the sinking of the Scharnhorst.
The British 14 inch gun that was mounted on the KGVs is rated as having one of the best balances between shell weight and muzzle velocity according to naval ordinance engineers. Its armor penetration capability was equal to that of many 15 inch designs of the time.
The 16 inch guns on the Nelsons were problematic from the start. Their light weight shells, which were supposed to IMPROVE accuracy, did anything but. The final fight against the Bismarck proved to the Royal Navy that the design was not a good one. This also led to further delay the development of the Lion class battleships, and their eventual cancellation. The Royal Navy even gave thought to adopting the U.S. Navy's 16 inch guns that were mounted on the North Carolinas and South Dakotas because of problems and delays developing a 16 inch gun and turrets for the Lion class.
@Jonah Whale And the evidence of this is? The evidence of Rodney's gunfire inaccuracy was reported and is in the logs of the Rodney and the King George V. Admiral Tovey's disgust with the Rodney's inaccuracy is well noted along with his yelling that he stood just as good a chance at hitting the Bismarck by throwing his binoculars at it.
After this battle, test firings were done at ranges and problems were identified with the type of lightweight armor piercing ammunition used by the Nelson and the Rodney. The gunfire control systems were mis-estimating elements regarding the shells also. These errors hadn't been discovered until the battle.
This is nice. This action helped prevent harassment of our American friends attacking Cherbourg.
Bismarck: I have no fear
But this fing
_IT SCARES ME_
''Smack at Gerry with throbbing engines''
I love the oil tanker class battleship.
Rodnol & and Nelsol
The Nelson and the Rodney were both incredible ships! They looked unusual because they did not have a rear turret. That was because of the Washington Naval Treaty of (I think) 1922, which limited the weight of battleships. Only those two were built that way, but they were bruisers!!! True Giants of a bygone age!!!
Fred Ferd yes in it's own way they were absolutely impressive battleships but they suffered immensely from keeping within the Washington Treaty such as slow speed and weak armour ,except the turrets, flimsy secondary turrets and every time it shooted created much damage, so much that had to go to the dockets for refitting....
Yes, they did have a rear turret but it was in the front.
@Russ Gallagher I'll say one thing about both of those ships - they were mean looking bruisers! The British knew a thing or two about battleships!!!
Russ Gallagher Nelson class could not fire the Americans 16 inch shells, the only thing the British and American shells had in common was that they were both 16 inches. Other than that everything else was different, from the way they are loaded to the weight, and how they are fired. The 16 inch shells of the USN and RN are incompatible with each other
@Russ Gallagher The 16"/45 BL Mark I used by Nelson and Rodney used significantly lighter shells than any of the American 16" guns, as I recall, and wouldn't have been compatible with their 16" shells or charges.
See the smiles on the dailors at the end😊
Good to see a snapshot of the loading procedure! Quite tricky to find photos of deep inside these big ships - been looking at original plans of the Warspite & trying to visualise what the detailed plans actually looked like in reality.
Do you know how a shell in the breech was detonated? Can't seem to find the answer anywhere.
@Just some yeti with internet access Lol, thank you.
@@michaelyates5976 There is a small propellant primer breech with electric or percussion ignition.
Look at the size of the shells, they're bloody huge!! I'd hate to be on the receiving end of one of them. 😟
A 16 Inch shell is a murderous thing... I would not want to be on the receiving end 🤔
THEN ALL HELL CAME DOWN!
I can’t believe that one of these monstrous shells hit a Panther tank dead center and completely obliterated it.
Boris gets everywhere 2.14
Yeah: he doesn't look that old, does he?
Wonderful
Ah give Jerry the good ol right hook boys. For King and Country!
That was exactly my uncle joes job on the Rodney, he lived untill he was 93, wanted to be a jockey but was told to get a proper job, married to my auntie Freda for his whole life too, his last mission was bringing home 500 Australian war brides home as ww2 finished in the Pacific!
SUPER!!!
HMS Rodney inflicted devastating damage to Bismarck
Yes she did. Bismarck was pummeled, a virtual sitting duck!
My grandfather commanded one of the secondary turrets on HMS Rodney when they sank the Bismarck. He said that the Rodney crew knew they were being sent in first in a fight to the death (including ramming Bismarck to take her down) while the other ships stayed back at long range including KG V. In the end he said they were so close only about a mile apart he could see his shells going straight through Bismarck which was really more holes than ship.
Visibility to good. There something you don’t hear every day in foggy old England.
What a complex technique! I doubt that there are specialists to do such things now!
The flash proof interlocked propellant handling between the magazines and the turret hoists is much more complicated.
GET THAT UP YA!!!
My favourite ww2 British ship.
What will Del Boy say when he finds out?
Just interested to know if anybody knows all the information at the bottom of the shell I can pick out GB and 1942 but all other info I don't know must mean something would be great if somebody could enlighten me please?
I don't know the meaning of all the numbers on the shell. Depending on the target it could be either high explosive (HP) or armor piercing (AP). AP would be used against other ships or hardened land targets such as concrete bunkers. HE would be used against soft land targets. The main difference between the two is that the AP fuse delays the detonation of the shell for a split second so that it can penetrate the armor before exploding while HE detonates on contact.
@@lawrencewestby9229 many thanks
Why they put those balaclavas when firing a cannon ?
1:30 The Gun breech of the Nelson class battleships look automatic?
The USN manhandled 1 ton shells!
Wonder if Chuck was any relation to Archie
i'm sure that didn't give them much time to regret their posting
Go on RODDERS
FUCKEN BANG!
Many years ago I worked with a man who had served on Rodney throughout the war. I remember him telling me that every time the main battery was fired, all the lights went out. Apparently they had to have men stationed to replace light bulbs after every salvo. Both Rodney and Nelson had this problem, which was never properly solved.
They also have problems with their Cannon which need to cool down for 5min(I think)
It's amazing how slow the loading process was on these ships.
30 seconds per shell in combat. This is shore bombardment. No rushing around
The Channel Islands were abandoned as indefensible in 1940. The Germans invested heavily in defending them.
Hommage est Respect a tous ces hommes qui ont defendu la liberté pour que l'on puissse vivre libre merci a vous merci
Golfing with Rodney
17 miles, 27km world of warships need to up their game.
В war of ships мой любимый))
WTH is Rodney Shells?
Informative _and_ condescending
My Grandfather served on her after he was transferred from the Hood before she was sunk Fred Windstanley was his name.
I bet that roosters getting on now.
Jesus is Lord, He loves british people. Repent and turn to Jesus, the King.
Comment not relevant to piece of film. Don't force religion on people. Undetstand
Shame there was little damage to the Alderney batteries.
There was considerable damage to quite a few of them, several were direct hits
One again, putin the epitome of what we fought against in 44 arises again this time from the east. at one time we knew this will come to pass.
If we had focused our wealth and attention on developing and engineering things to save humanity instead of destroying everything the world would be a much better place x
We didn't start the war. Its a nice ideology but it will never happen.
It did help make the world a better place , it sank Hitler's dreams .
So let Hitler roam free then? Wake up and smell the coffee. It’s called the real world.
If only the Germans had enough oil, it would have been German Pathe now.
;-)
Nine Nine my friend them sourkrauts where running home to the fatherland because they ran out of thier favourite bratwurst (sausages) can't fight the British on a empty stomach mean while the Royal Navy boys were running low on bulky beef and biscuits and Yorkshire pudding so the captain said. Look lads let's sort out this German tub and we can get home for ..some fish & chips and a nice cuppa of Yorkshire tea the captain paying . ...yep True story That