Last photo taken of HMS Hood
Posted on 03/07/2010 8:11:59 PM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
1. SLUYS FRANCE, 1340
The English defeat the French at the naval Battle of Sluys, June 24, 1340 The first naval battle of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). The French king, Philip VI, was preparing to invade England from Flanders, but his fleet was surprised at dawn at Sluys.
The English attacked from the east with the rising sun blinding the French crossbowmen, while illuminating their own ships perfectly for the English archers. Conservative estimates put the French losses at about 190 ships and 16-18,000 men, including both admirals.
Such was the scale of the victory that the English joked the fish were speaking French because of the number of bodies in the sea. It was one of the most crushing victories in naval history, and ensured that the rest of the war would be fought on land.
2. QUIBERON BAY FRANCE, 1759
Never was such a bold decision made as that of British admiral Sir Edward Hawke at Quiberon Bay to give chase in a rising gale as night fell. After several setbacks in the Seven Years' War (1756-63) the French had decided to risk all on an invasion of Britain.
Troops were gathered in Brittany and the French navy sent to escort them across the Channel. Hawke chased them into the rock-strewn Quiberon Bay.
There he destroyed or captured seven French ships; only two Royal Navy ships were wrecked.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Britian isn’t great any more. Give ‘em fifty years and the jihadis will be running the place.
lol. Are they all against the french?? /joking
For the 5 worst, the loss of the Prince of Wales and Repulse to the Japanese should rank higher than the loss of the Hood. The Bismark doesn’t belong on the ‘greatest’ list, either.
#11 2010: British subs sink the entire Argentine Navy in 12 hours!
Why did it take so long?
Yes I was wondering about that too.
The last sub is just getting to the area?? (my guess)
Concededly, Jutland was a STRATEGIC victory for Britain. BUT, the Germans not only sunk a hell of lot more British ships than they lost, they sailed circles around the Brits.
As to the BISMARCK entry, the German battleship BISMARCK and heavy cruiser PRINZ EUGEN not only engaged a 15” battle cruiser and a 14” battleship [PRINZ EUGEN scored the first hits on HOOD], but BISMARCK sunk HOOD in something like five salvos, and forced PRINCE OF WALES to withdraw under smoke after suffering heavy damage. When she was sunk three days later, after giving the British the slip [PRINZ EUGEN made it to France separately], BISMARCK was engaged by a 16” battleship, a 14” battleship, at least two cruisers, several destroyers, and aircraft from ARK ROYAL, which did not participate in the attack, because of all the shells flying around. All while BISMARCK, rudders jammed, was unable to maneuver.
As to the worst moments list, I'd add Prien’s raid on Scapa Flow, SCHARNHORST's sinking of the aircraft carrier GLORIOUS, the Channel Dash, and the Japanese sinking of PRINCE of WALES and REPULSE.
To the wins list, I'd ad the X-craft attack on TIRPITZ, and the sinking of SCHARNHORST off North Cape on 26 Dec 43.
On the loss column left out some, like: CONSTITUTION vs. GUERRIERE,et al, the battle of Lake Erie, BON HOMME RICHARD vs. SERAPIS.
Bismarck sure was a pretty ship, beautiful lines.
I’d add almost every major engagement led by Admiral Andrew Cunningham in the Mediterranean including Taranto. The attack on Mers el-Kebir, while clearly unfortunate, prevented the Germans and Italians from seizing the French Fleet. Despite this, the British were still outnumbered in the Mediterranean. Cunningham first crippled the Italians at Taranto and then destroyed the willingness of the Italian navy to fight at Matapan. He did this without air superiority. By April 1941, the Regia Marina ceded everything south of Sicily and West of Corsica to the British.
Candidates for the loss column might include Lake Champlain, in which American warships defeated a British flotilla off Plattsburgh, NY in 1814, blocking a British invasion of New York State, and the Dodacanese Islands in 1943, in which a counterattack by German land, air and naval units ousted the British from the Aegean Sea, sinking six destroyers and two submarines in the process.
Valcour Island might also merit the loss column. Although the British thoroughly defeated a ragtag American fleet in Lake Champlain in 1776, the delay caused by having to fight the battle forced the British to abandon plans to invade New York.
Sink The Bismarck
Way back in nineteen-forty-two or maybe forty-three,
I sailed with Captain Tuna, the chicken of the sea.
We didn’t sink the Bismarck, no matter what they say,
For when we saw the German ship, we sailed the other way.
We saw torpedos comin’ and we saw a periscope.
We were full of fightin’ spirit and our souls were full o’ hope.
The captain yelled, “Now hear this!”
He really flipped his lid.
We haven’t yet begun to fight,
What’s more we never did.
Oh, we didn’t sink the Bismarck and we didn’t fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin’ after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin’ it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.
Then they made me a frogman on the demolition team.
I sunk a battleship, a cruiser and a submarine.
I blew up ammunition dumps. I did my best to please.
I did it all before the Navy sent me overseas.
Tony, our Italian cook, was a-settin’ on the deck,
And we were peelin’ ‘taters. We must ‘a’ peeled a peck.
The captain yelled,”Hey, Tony! Is that a U-boat I see?”
Tony says, “It’s not-a my boat; it’s-a no belong to me.”
Oh, we didn’t sink the Bismarck and we didn’t fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin’ after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin’ it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.
And now the war is over and our story can be told
About our captain’s fightin’ and the young ones and the old.
We stayed in San Francisco, away from the battle scenes.
We spent our time on Treasure Island a-fightin’ the Marines.
Oh, we didn’t sink the Bismarck and we didn’t fight at all.
We spend our time in Norfolk and we really had a ball,
Chasin’ after women while our ship was overhauled,
A-livin’ it up on grapefruit juice and sickbay alcohol.
—Homer & Jethro, 1960
Dunkirk.
Operation Dynamo was a great success
Today the British get captured by the Iranians without firing a shot, and fail to kill pirates.
Adm. Nelson is doing backflips in his grave.
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