The 'Outdated' British Battleship That Avenged HMS Hood
100K views · Jun 22, 2026 · Education
Comments · 232
@Micm-v3o · 3 months ago
Rodney was cleverly designed, and the only battleship class which obeyed the treaty, unlike EVERY other country
16
@FreeThoughtCrime · 2 months ago
I actually think these were some of the best looking ships of the era. The superstructure set so far back made them look so sleek and badass.
15
@derekashwell7064 · 3 months ago
My father was a P. O. Stoker on the Rodney during the action. He was also on H M S Jamaica when they sank the Sharnhorst.
49
@deputyheadboy1 · 2 months ago
War is not about fair fights! it’s about bringing overwhelming force to the action.
25
@jonellison9832 · 3 months ago
Good design aesthetics... Function over form... Rodney was beautiful
71
@animalian01 · 2 months ago
I agree the Rodney and Nelson looked unusual but I wouldn't say they were ugly to my eyes they looked good.
14
@robintaylor2845 · 2 months ago
My Grandad was a range finder on Rodney during the encounter with Bismark. He told me that they got so close that Rodney blew her own railings off due to aiming so low. He didn't speak much about his service, he had night terrors all of his life from witnessing, through binoculars, German sailors jumping from Bismark into the burning sea.
15
@kevincraven4038 · 1 month ago
My late dad, who was just 19 years old at the time (b. 25/04/1922), was aboard HMS Rodney during the hunt and final battle against Bismarck...I spotted him in the Pathe Newsreel, together with his shipmates celebrating their victory at Greenock, and no doubt their safe return. Dad passed away in June 2004, aged 82.
3
@slappythelizard · 2 months ago
Bismarck: "You really going to die over one measly ship?" <br><br>Rodney: "Someone is"
6
@timbrewin9241 · 1 month ago
My great uncle was on HMS Rodney as an Engine Room Artificer Third Class during this action and won a Distinguished Service Medal because he volunteered to barricade the engine room against sea water entering from the inside, and to cross a waterlogged compartment to do this.
2
@Biketunerfy · 3 months ago
My Grandad was a in WW2 in the RN and was shipwrecked on HMS Dunedin after a U-boat torpedoed her 1,500 miles off the coast of Brazil. He got shrapnel wounds all down his leg and arm. He was in a life raft for 7 days and nights and could hear the sharks killing off and eating his shipmates at night with them screaming in agony powerless to help them. His left arm was hanging over the life raft when fell unconscious and barracuda had bitten chunks out of his arm. Thankfully the USS Nishmaha heard their distress call and found them. They rushed them to Trinidad where he woke up in a hospital.
30
@davidbruce7213 · 3 months ago
At the outset of WW2 Rodney and Nelson were the 2 most powerful battleships in the world, 9 x 16” guns (though there was a worry that a full broadside might capsize!). When the admiralty set the fleet steaming west to catch Bismarck, Rodney’s captain made an educated guess that Bismarck was sailing for Brest and sailed east in pursuit. This was how, with Bismarck wounded, Rodney was able to catch up and do exactly what she was built for, her shells smashed into Bismarck. Unfortunately those shells were as rubbish as those produced in WW1 (at Dogger Bank and Jutland british navy shells passed straight through their opponents without exploding), this happened with Bismarck too. Rodney literally blew holes through Bismarck from, what for capital ships, was point blank range. <br>The narrator mentions nicknames for Rodney and Nelson, you rarely hear that Hood was known as the fleets ‘largest submarine’ due to how low she sat in the water after her armour was beefed up.<br><br>Rodney or Nelson should have been kept for posterity as part of the British War museum displays.
59
Up next

The British Plane That SAWED U-Boats In Half
Ivan's History and 3 more · 136K views

How a “Tired” British Battleship Humiliated Mussolini’s Pride in 6 Minutes at Punta Stilo
WW2 Stories Archive · 157K views

Top 7 Deadliest Bristish Battleship of WW2 ( Ranked by Combat Record
British Battleship Archives · 5.8K views

Why the Bismarck Couldn't Answer the Old British Battleship Firing 16-Inch Shells Point-Blank
Forgotten Naval History and British Naval History · 239K views

The Secret British Modification That Turned Tiny Daimler Armoured Cars Into Panzer Killers
British Trick Files · 74K views

The 'Routine' British Cruiser That Killed Germany's Most Successful Commerce Raider
British Naval History · 70K views

The Two British Cruisers That Wiped Out An Entire Italian Convoy In One Night — Without A Scratch
British Naval History · 30K views

How One Engineer Turned an Old Battleship Into Britain’s Most Feared Weapon
World War Legacy and 5 more · 67K views

The 'Written-Off' British Battleship That Wrecked Three Italian Cruisers at Matapan
British Battleship Archives and Lost Fighter Tales · 38 views

Why One British Bluff Cost Germany The Mighty Graf Spee
British Bastion and British War Machine · 17K views

Every Warship Sent to Hunt the Bismarck (Only Seven Ever Fired a Gun at Her)
Bold History · 1.5K views

7 Things German Sailors Found Strange About the British Battleship HMS Warspite's Guns
WW2 Britain Untold · 1K views

The "Crude" Sponson Gun That Put A 75 mm Into The Desert A Full Year Early
The Blueprint Vault and WW2 Tactics · 40K views

Why Von Spee Couldn't Escape The Battlecruisers Waiting At The Falklands In 1914
Forgotten Naval History and British Naval History · 23K views

The 'Rebuilt' British Battlecruiser That Came Out Faster Than Anything Germany Had
British Naval History · 39K views

The Moment Japan Realized Midway Was a Trap — And the Radio Silence That Made It Too Late to Wa
Battle Tales · 61K views

USS Barb Fired 10 Torpedoes - Then Had 19 Miles to Escape
WW2 Flavin · 48K views

The Day Two Cruisers Fought 11 German Warships: Battle of Biscay, 1943 - Animated
House of History · 355K views

The 'Obsolete' British Cruiser That Chased the Tirpitz Out of the Arctic
British Warships · 612 views

They Called It a 'Mine' to Hide Its Secret — It Sank 37 U Boats Without Missing
Hidden H · 431K views

The "Broken" Battleship That Destroyed Bismarck | HMS Rodney
Admiralty Files · 4K views

Ziggy Sprague Was Supposed to Run at Samar. He Turned and Fought.
Naval High Command – WW2 and 2 more · 106K views

How the Mighty Scharnhorst Was Hunted Down and Sunk by the British
British Battleship Archives · 1.7K views

Japan Built a Carrier Too Big to Sink - Then One U.S. Submarine Found It
WW2 Flavin · 131K views

How One Sailor's Forbidden Depth Charge Modification Sank 7 U Boats — Navy Banned It For 2 Years
WWII Battlefront · 437K views

Why the Royal Navy Sent a 'Fragile' Battlecruiser Against Bismarck
British Warships · 351 views