Voices of HMS Warspite

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In the annals of Naval warfare, few ships carry the weight of the name “Warspite.” Launched 110 years ago this month, the Queen Elizabeth class super-dreadnought HMS Warspite was in commission for thirty years, and received more battle honors than any ship in the history of the Royal Navy.

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[TheHistoryGuyChannel]

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[kellyhovis]

Warspite and Enterprise are two ships that should have been saved.

[keitholding]

Given our maritime history, it seem beyond disappointing that (compared to, say, the USA) the UK has so few preserved warships. Of course, we have Victory, Warrior, Belfast, Caroline and number of others, but Warspite should have been preserved, not just for herself but as a representative of the whole era of dreadnaught battleships.

[dixiefallas]

Thanks for this. My Father served on Warspite all through the war. It came through the tannoy “ We have just hit a cruiser and it has opened up like a tin of sardines “ Dad heard it in the engine rooms. Cheers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

[raverdeath]

i told myself years ago that whenever i watch a video about HMS Warspite i would post the following poem penned by an ex officer from the ship -
"The subject" - A poem for the Grand Old Lady:

You say you have no subject
And your brushes all have dried;
But come to Marazion
At the ebbing of the tide.

And look you out to seaward,
Where my Lady battle scarred
Hugs the rock that is more welcome,
Than the shameful breakers yard.

Paint her there upon the sunset
In her glory and despair,
With the diadem of victory
Still in flower upon her hair.

Let her whisper as she settles
Of her blooding long ago,
In the mist than mingles Jutland
With the might of Scapa Flow.

Let her tell you, too, of Narvick
With its snowy hills, and then
Of Matapan, Salerno
And the shoals of Walcheren;

And finally of Malta,
When along the purple street
Came in trail the Roman Navy
To surrender at her feet.

Of all these honours conscious,
How could she bear to be
Delivered to the spoiler
Or severed from the sea?

So hasten then and paint her
In the last flush of her pride
On the rocks of Marazion,
At the ebbing of the tide.

Poem "The Subject" by Lieutenant-Commander R.A.B.Mitchell

[coling]

Warspite holds world record for longest range armor-piercing shot, a record unlikely to ever be beaten., the part of GC hit by Warspite with the shell hole is still preserved in Italy i think ... it was a tragedy that after the war, she was scrapped by the short-sighted Labour govt., despite public efforts to save her.

[timsimms]

Warspite should have been preserved, she more than earned it. She survived everything the enemy could throw at her in two world wars and in the end defied the scrappers by breaking her tow line, epic defiance from the Grand Old Lady of the RN.

[KeithJohnson.]

Speaking as a proud Brit, you’ve done our Warspite proud, thank you 🇬🇧⚓️

[wyattmann]

You say you have no subject
And your brushes all have dried;
But come to Marazion
At the ebbing of the tide.

And look you out to seaward,
Where my Lady battle scarred
Hugs the rock that is more welcome,
Than the shameful breakers yard.

Paint her there upon the sunset
In her glory and despair,
With the diadem of victory
Still in flower upon her hair.

Let her whisper as she settles
Of her blooding long ago,
In the mist that mingles Jutland
With the might of Scapa Flow.

Let her tell you, too, of Narvik
With its snowy hills, and then
Of Matapan, Salerno
And the shoals of Walcheren;

And finally of Malta,
When along the purple street
Came in trail the Roman Navy
To surrender at her feet.

Of all these honours conscious,
How could she bear to be
Delivered to the spoiler
Or severed from the sea?

So hasten then and paint her
In the last flush of her pride
On the rocks of Marazion,
At the ebbing of the tide.

[oldmanriver]

When I was younger, early 1960s, my neighbour was a Warspite veteran. He was posted to her in 1940 and discharged from her in 1946. He still had his seaman's cap and ship band.

[nemosis]

My dad served on Hms Warspite from early 41 till early 43 as a gunner on port side 6".

[JJ-ofir]

I have just watched this video on Mark from the States. I enjoyed listening to the voices of the crew of HMS Warspite. It always amazes me how casually brave and humous members of our military services, in this case our sailors, are when faced with overwhelming odds. Thank you for allowing us to hear them again today and for the excellent video you produced. Whether you talk about hats or warships your videos are ALWAYS a good watch. So much so I subscribed to your channel today. Cheers.

[joegordon]

In one of his volumes of his war memoirs by the late, great comedian, Spike Milligan, on landing for the Italian campaign he observed HMS Warspite in a bay, blasting her big guns far inland in support of the troops. Watching the explosions inland, a sailor next to him commented "that's not doing Jerry much good". Then observing how far the ship rocked on her axis from the blast of her mighty guns, the sailor added "it's not doing Warspite much good either!"

[drenk]

Your enthusiasm delivering the narrative captives me.

[pcpilot]

My grandfather worked his whole life in the shipyard in Bremerton Washington USA. Warspite was the first ship he ever worked on. She was state side for a refit. i believed early WW2 before the U.S. had entered the war.

[lindapeterson]

When the Warspite was in Bremerton for repairs after the battle of Crete during WW2. My English grandparents would invite some of the sailors to dinner. The announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor interrupted the evening as the crew had to report back to the ship. My grandma always felt “those boys” needed a good English meal. She had lost both her brothers in WW1 in the battle of the Somme.

[lyedavide]

I agree. She's been my favorite battleship since I read about her as a boy of 8 and built the airfix model of her.

[Huntress]

The Grand Old Lady refused to go quietly to the breakers.
Few ships in history were more deserving of preservation as a museum and unfortunately had that life taken from them.
Other ships so deserving are such as USS Enterprise CV-6, HMS Dreadnaught😂😂ll, USS Barb, the former SMS Goben, and others like them.
May their legends never die.

[garywilber]

THIS was one of the best episodes ever!!!! That’s saying something, because I love them ALL!!!!

[ditzydoo]

Of all the ships in any country that deserved to be an honored museum ship, it was HMS Warspite. For lack of pride by uncaring Politicians she none the less went out on her own terms.