In December 1942, after a year of a raging Pacific war, endless Allied warships arrived for repairs off Sydney Harbor. Some came under steam, others under sail, tow, or even underwater, in the case of submarines.
But only one ship arrived backwards.
She was USS New Orleans, a 10,000-ton heavy cruiser and a key piece of the Pacific arsenal.
Following an intense naval battle, the crew was forced to make do with some rather unorthodox repairs to get the ship back to a safe harbor. This included a jury-rigged bow made of coconut logs, which helped her stay afloat.
Due to the damage and the temporary tropical bow, the only way to navigate was to sail roughly 1,800 miles in reverse to port.
Arriving in Sydney near Christmas time, the battered USS New Orleans prepared for the extensive repairs that would ready her to fight again.
After all, her crew knew all too well what it was to fight in the worst of circumstances.
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Another great video Dark with relevant clips keep it up
Admiral Carlton Wright's leadership got his crew and three other cruiser crews of his battle group, despite having superior intelligence, firepower, and numbers; literally shot to pieces. It was the second-worst defeat (but most embarrassing) in USN history. But our hero wasn't done yet. He went on to be in command of the Port Chicago munitions Disaster in California which served to organize the base of the ILWU trade union. His mismanagement resulted in a mutiny of active-duty black sailors at the peak of the war.
You folks have some odd definitions of a "Battleship (BB)".
A heavy cruiser is not a battleship. The are two entirely different classifications of warships.
Let me know when cruisers become battleships AND WHEN the creator of this slop STOPS USING pictures that don’t correspond to the topic.
I am curious as to why, on the two occasions that it appeared, the stars were blacked out on the American flag?
No stars, just stripes. VERY odd—unless it’s incomplete A.I.-generated video.
If a ship is damaged forard the damage control teams will try to strengthen an intact bulkhead. Relieving the strain on the bulkhead by going in reverse is SOP in most navies. Threre are examples from the Royal the United States, and German navies in both world wars.
So why a new captain?
It’s irritating when someone uses the word Battleship incorrectly. That ship is a heavy cruiser.
Title maybe: Crafty ingenious American sailors miraculous impossible escape
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You guys might not all like the title but #1 I would not grade it as Clickbait (I've seen many worse channels) and #2 he traces the ships' stories on this channel in a manner unlike others. I LOVE IT ❗
The backup alarm must have driven the crew out of their minds!
Just goes to show a lost cause is only lost when everyone gives up. The crew showed great courage and determination to save the ship and not let it sink or be sunk and all should have got a medal. I read American torpedoes became more powerful mid war on as used torpx explosive a more powerful explusive but Japanese torpedoes maintained a range and more importantly were more reliable. USA & UK had problems with torpedoes hitting but not detonating.
If all the story's I watched on Dark Seas the story of New Orleans I find to be the most amazing. Battered, beat, and broken she fought on thanks to her captain, who was dammed to let his ship be beaten by the Japanese. New Orleans fought on to the end thanks to a captain who refused to call it Quits.
Be cool in WWSHIPS up against Islands 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Inspiring story, but usual clickbait . . . .
Titles are ment to draw eyeballs
Almost unbelievable. She must have been refueled a couple of times atleast during that slow motion return.
The astern turbine fins are twice if not more than the size of the forward turbines.
They take twice the steam, twice the fuel. Losing that much of her bow,she must have lost fuel capacity also.
I've heard this story before, and no one has mentioned the refueling that had to take place. I would definitely like to hear more of this tail.
My grandfather, HF Goodwin, became the XO of the ship after its refit/repair of the bow.
I knew instantly which story he was going to portray, based on the thumbnail image. This is neither the strangest nor the most daring “maneuver” of WWII.
This guy is prone to some serious exaggeration with his video titles. Sometimes they’re not merely exaggerations, but actually straight up misleading; I.e. the title implies content that’s wholly different from the actual video.
This one is kiiiind of BS…but not like, 100% BS. It’s maybe 78% BS. If I had to put a number to it.
The back ground music is louder then the dialog.
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Many Americans seem to have the idea that Australia contributed little to the Pacific War. We laugh that off. However, you have highlighted a probably little-know fact. That is the shore-side support out of Garden Island Dockyard and Cockatoo Island in Sydney as well as similar base facilities in Fremantle, Darwin and Brisbane. Without them, the USN would have been severely impacted as the war continued. Remember, we also had our own ships to support; some 350 by war's end..
I wish people would stop complaining about the videos. Just how much footage for every piece of equipment do you think there is?