Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "'Free' Navies of World War 2 - Small but Deadly (and a little crazy)" video.

  1. Piorun was part of Vian's flotilla of Cossack, Maori, Sikh, Zulu, & Piorun (originally a British N class destroyer, Nerissa) which had been escorting a troop convoy, WS8B, when diverted to search for Bismarck. The four Tribals all made (unsuccessful) torpedo attacks during the night. Piorun, however, after exchanging gunfire for a time, actually lost contact and was unable to use her own torpedoes.
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  2. Actually, they didn't. On 1 September, 1939, the Polish 18th Pomeranian Uhlans charged the German 76th Infantry Regiment at Krojanty. the claim that they charged against tanks was not correct.
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  3. He also wrote better English prose than most British writers!
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  4. Allied Ships operating with the Riyal Navy usually had their weapons replaced with British weapons. Some older ships were used for secondary roles, such as fleet tenders, depot ships, or training ships. Blaskawica & Grom, two of the three Polish destroyers to join the RN in 1939, were both British built, so parts were not a problem. The third, Burza, and those ships from the French navy which came under British command were more of a problem, being French built, but Burza continued to operate until 1944, when she became a depot ship for Polish manned submarines.
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  5. Nearest to furthest :- Resolution, Barham, Malaya, R class (too distant to identify) then Nelson/Rodney. There are neutrality markings on B turrets, which means the photo would have been taken during the Spanish Civil War, and it must have been during combined fleet exercises, as the R class I can't identify is in Home Fleet dark grey.
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  6. Says quite a bit for the builders, Swan Hunters of Tyne & Wear, too.
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  7. Unfortunately, Gensoul never explained why he chose not to pass on the full text of the British ultimatum. He lived until December, 1973, so he had plenty of time to seek to justify his actions. The real tragedy of Mers-el-Kebir is that, if Darlan had known of the French West Indies/US supervision option, he might well have accepted it.
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  8. G26 was Stord, formerly HMS Success.
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  9. Some of the ex-American 'four stacker' destroyers had Norwegian & Dutch crews.
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  10. No, Gotland. Tre Kronor was only launched in December, 1944.
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