272: War at Sea '41 Pt. 10 - On the Eve of Battle
History of the Second World War

272: War at Sea '41 Pt. 10 - On the Eve of Battle

B1IntermediateAugust 26, 202625 min
  • Documentary
  • History

As Hood and Prince of Wales raced toward Bismarck and Prinz Eugen, worsening weather, uncertain contact reports, and the limitations of Hood’s armor shaped Admiral Holland’s plan of attack. This episode follows the tense final hours before the Battle of the Denmark Strait, from preparations aboard all four ships to the identification error that sent the British guns toward the wrong target as the order to open fire was given. Credit Logo Image: ⁠https://www.flickr.com/photos/state_library_south_australia/3331881750/in/album-72157623232407924 Learn more a...

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takes place within don't map well to how most people experience history.

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0:41

One of the odd parts of discussing naval history is that the timescales that it generally takes place within don't map well to how most people experience history. Obviously, when reading history or listening to history like with this podcast, things Things moved pretty quickly, but for the people experiencing them, time was not measured in

1:03

minutes usually. It was hours, days, months. It could be years. Capital ships took a long time to build, many years, even under wartime priority.

1:15

The time that it would take for a battleship to be built, you know, could be three, four, five years. This meant that leaders of the Royal Navy knew that every month that the Bismarck was not available to the Germans, and then every month that it delayed action.

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