nickenchuggets

During World War II, the major warring countries had many different kinds of naval vessels that depended on each other for true effectiveness in battle. Aircraft carriers can project air power to faraway locations, but are slow, huge lumbering targets for enemy planes and submarines. Destroyers could hunt for submarines with their powerful radars and depth charges, but their main guns were pretty anemic when compared to things like battleships. Submarines could sink even the largest ships with a well aimed torpedo while staying hidden, but if they were detected early, their advantage was lost. One type of vessel that doesn't get discussed enough is the torpedo boat. Essentially a fast attack ship about 70 feet long, they were designed to carry torpedoes into sea conflicts and cripple enemy ships with fast hit and run attacks, using their speed and numbers to destroy even the biggest capital ships. Not having much armor or protection, they weren't made for direct combat and a single shell could mean the end of them. This film from 1944 goes over a group of torpedo boats operated by the Royal Canadian Navy during the war and how they seek out and destroy Schnellboots (fast attack boats) belonging to the German Kriegsmarine. The film starts by telling us that as a dominion of the UK, Canada benefits from being part of the most powerful navy on Earth and operates a wide variety of ships, but none are as dangerous to germany as the torpedo boats. Canadian sailors from all over the country (including Quebec, Toronto, and the open wilderness of Saskatchewan) enlist in order to crew the boats and take on much bigger german ships, fighting in places like the northern part of the Atlantic or the English Channel. Officers such as commanders or lieutenants inspect the ships every day and maintain order among the crew. Occasionally, they let them indulge in rum. Eventually, a mission is carried out: destroy german boats attacking a friendly convoy of ships. At nighttime, the torpedo boats move through and past the convoy, going at 22 knots toward the battle zone. After a steamer is attacked by a schnellboot, the canadian boats move in for the kill. After the german boat is sunk, the canadian crew hoist its swastika flag onboard as a symbol of victory. The film ends by saying that the bravery and determination of the torpedo boat crews reflects canada's wider strategy of achieving total dominance over Hitler's navy. This short was ok. Canada doesn't seem to get discussed a lot in ww2 unless you bring up specific battles and locations, such as the French town of Caen that was solely liberated by them shortly after Normandy. As the film points out, the german torpedo boats were a major threat in the channel due to their speed and powerful armament. Germany's navy during the war often has a bad reputation as their largest ship (Bismarck) was sunk on its very first mission after a torpedo damaged and jammed its rudder. Bismarck's sister ship, Tirpitz, spent most of the war traversing between different Norwegian fjords trying to kill convoys because it was simply too dangerous to roam the open ocean. Eventually, it was destroyed after a british bombing raid struck it with several bombs weighing up to 6 tons, causing massive damage. Outside of these two examples, the kriegsmarine's reputation was actually not bad, since their schnellboots were a serious threat to british ships. Overall, this film is mostly propaganda, but it was needed at the time to motivate people.