MN Hoche - Guide 419

How did you manage to keep a straight face while doing this video?

You can't fool me. That's not a battleship, it's a hotel.

The French have a "penchant" (French) for weird design in ships and cars.

Seeing designs like this make me wonder how much Absinthe the designers were drinking during the design process.

The hotel at the yacht club-- --

I think it was all about psychological warfare. Enemies should be forced to close their eyes, because they couldn‘t stand that conglomerate ugliness.

Mange tout Rodney, mange tout.

Mange tout Rodney, mange tout.

Why is there a medieval castle swimming in our general direction...?

I have to say that your channel is not only excellent maritime warfare source, but also an excellent source on learning English as a language to be loved 🙂🇨🇿❤🇬🇧

I wonder if anyone has found the wreck.....

When the Grand Hotel goes to war! Glorious ship, and so many amazing photgraphs too.

Fascinating, as Always!!!

The Jeune Ecole was an example of smart (or so they thought) people doing stupid things. Just like when the US air force decided that guns on fighter aircraft were obsolete since we had missiles.

Turns out that the missiles weren't as good as they would become, and guns WERE important on fighter aircraft. Nowadays, you could actually make an argument that missiles are the best armament for aircraft, but i would argue that missiles fired from other sources and provided targeting information by the aircraft makes even more sense.

You can carry a LOT more missiles either on ground or naval vessels than you ever could on an aircraft.

wow, what sad.

Still like the previous music so much better. I mute it now.

That thing looks like a floating Water Park! What a busy looking thing!

Its beautiful...

What a mess she looked.
☮

You are so good at what you do! These videos are amazing, plus the French ships that you do are always just such a pleasure because they are so absurd. I missed about half your narration on this because I was laughing at the pictures. Please keep finding stuff like this and bringing it to word for people to see.

Poor Drach... Either he's secretly a masochist, or whoever nominated this ship for Five-minute Guide is really mad at him... 🤣

What a beautiful mess.

If there was a prize for the most odd looking yet somewhat beautiful design for a warship the Marine National would win hands down

This era of warship design is interesting to say the least.

When Hotels Go To War

My absolute favourite French battleship of them all. I scratch-built her in 1/1500 because I simply had to have her on a table of battle at the local wargames club. A hideous beauty about her as built.
Her copious boat cranes came in somewhat useful when the packet steamer Marechal Canrobert decided to wander into her path during Mediterranean Squadron gunnery exercises of Marseilles in 1892:
The fleet was steaming in their then-favoured line abreast, with Hoche on the end of the line furthest seaward. Canrobert's captain tried to give his passengers a grand view of the formation, but lost track of his position in the gun-smoke, crossing in front of the Hoche. As Hoche appeared, Canrobert was immediately - and unavoidably - there off her starboard bow. Engines were thrown astern, but it was too late and Hoche rammed Canrobert; the mortally-wounded steamer was pushed along Hoche's side. With both ships lying stopped, Hoche's captain ordered all the boat cranes swung out and lashed the sinking steamer to her beam, giving time for all bar 7 of the people aboard to be taken off - Canrobert had been carrying 103. When the traces were cut, Canrobert lurched and plunged straight down to the bottom of the Gulf of Lions, where her wreck has been dived in recent years.
Hoche comes out of this disaster quite well.

HMS Defiant

Did the ship designer/builder develop an automotive offshoot and name it Citroën, per chance?

wow, what an ugly ship!

Is this what Studio Ghilbli used as the model for Howl's Moving Castle?

French design of the warship was amazing 🤩

French is as French does.

Looks like the ship I drew when I was still in elementary school

The thumbnail already hurt my eyes.

crikey what a bag of mashings !

imagine yourself serving on one of these ironclads. thinking to yourself "is this a cruiser? is this a battleship?, oh well, lets gets some wine.."

AAAAHHHHHH!!!! MY EYES!
That is one fuggly looking ship. Now, to actually watch the video.

Thank you.

Looks like another one of those floating hotels.

It's a shame they sunk her. Today it would make a very unique AirBnB!

As the saying goes: So ugly only a mother could love. Put it in the air with a basket underneath and you have the ultimate flying battleship. Take THAT Space Yamato!

Happy days. ;o)

It just amazes me that with the huge expenditures involved and a nation's very existance potentially on the line so many design disasters happen. Super vid - thank you and happy holidays

Would you consider doing a video on HMT Olympic?

In an effort to reduce top weight... we made the ship 2 decks taller. Genius.

Put some archers in the fighting tops and she’d be more than a match for the Mary Rose or the Peter Pomegranate.

Looks like a floating oil rig with guns on it.

Pinned post for Q&A :)