00:00July 1588. 130 Spanish warships sail toward England's shores under the command of King
00:07Philip II with 30,000 men and what was supposed to be enough firepower to blast Queen Elizabeth
00:14I off her throne forever. While they would eventually lose to the English, the Spanish
00:20Armada was the biggest naval fleet of the time and was considered the Invincible Armada.
00:26Now, sure, the English don't need saving, but just for the fun, let's change one thing.
00:32Lurking beneath the waves sits something that shouldn't exist for another 400 years,
00:37the USS Seawolf, a nuclear-powered attack submarine from the 90s armed with enough
00:42torpedoes to sink a fleet and technology to make Renaissance warfare look like a food fight.
00:48So what happens when the most advanced submarine ever built faces off against the pride of Spain's
00:53golden age navy? Let's find out. The USS Seawolf is 353 feet of pure democracy that costs more to
01:03build than Spain's entire Armada. Its teardrop hull slices through water at roughly 40 miles per hour
01:09underwater, faster than most Spanish ships could go with a hurricane in their sails. The USS Seawolf is
01:15packing 50 weapons in its torpedo room, including Mark 48 torpedoes that can literally break a ship
01:21in half from 20 miles away. Each torpedo carries 650 pounds of high explosive and travels at 55 knots,
01:30guided by onboard sonar and a silicon brain, two technologies the Spanish of 1588 could never
01:37comprehend. Also onboard is a nuclear reactor that produces 200 megawatts of power, enough to run a
01:44small city and never needs refueling. While Spanish ships depend on good weather and have to resupply
01:50every few weeks, the Seawolf can stay submerged for months, limited only by how much beef jerky the crew
01:56packed. Its sonar arrays can hear a shrimp sneeze from 50 miles away. And remember, we're in 1588 when
02:04long-range detection meant a guy with decent eyesight up in the crow's nest. This is basically cheating.
02:10The sub knows where every Spanish ship is before they even know there's an England to invade.
02:17Wrapped in anechoic tiles that absorb sound, the Seawolf is impossibly quiet. To the Spanish Armada,
02:24it's invisible. Across the ocean, Philip II has sent the Invincible Armada, 130 ships including massive
02:33galleons like the 1,000-ton San Martin bristling with bronze cannons. These floating fortresses carry
02:402,500 guns total, though most are tiny anti-personnel weapons that are rendered useless against the
02:46submarine. The Spanish fleet sails in a defensive crescent formation perfected over decades of warfare. The plan is
02:53to get close, grapple enemy ships, and unleash 19,000 soldiers trained in hand-to-hand combat who have just
03:00conquered half of Europe. Leading this wooden behemoth is the Duke of Medina Sidonia, a competent
03:06administrator who gets seasick and has never commanded a fleet before. Because apparently
03:12Spain thought invading England was a good time for on-the-job training. Supporting the Armada are
03:17the best sailors and soldiers of the Spanish Empire. These men conquered the Aztecs, dominated Italy,
03:24and control more of the planet than anyone else in 1588. They're tough, experienced, battle-hardened,
03:30and completely unprepared for what's coming. As dawn breaks on August 8th, the Spanish fleet
03:36approaches gravelines recovering from last night's English fireship attack. They're scattered, missing
03:42anchors, but still confident. Considering they outnumber this new English fleet 130 to 1, who can
03:49blame them? Forty miles away, the Seawolf's sonar tracks over a hundred wooden contacts as they crash
03:55through the waves, making more noise than a kindergarten class. The submarine goes toward
04:00them at 20 knots, silent as death. The torpedo room crew loads the first Mark 48 into tube one.
04:08At 0600, the Seawolf launches its first torpedo, a 3,400-pound smart weapon that streaks through the
04:14water at 55 knots, while its onboard computer analyzes the acoustic signature of its target,
04:19the flagship Sam Martin. The Spanish have no idea death is racing toward them at highway speeds.
04:26Hell, they don't even know what highway speeds are. Three minutes later, the torpedo detonates
04:30directly under Sam Martin's keel. The 1,000-ton galleon literally jumps out of the water,
04:35its spine shattered, and crashes back down to the water in two pieces. The Duke of Medina,
04:41Sidonia, and 400 men vanish into the channel in seconds. Before nearby ships can process what happened,
04:49three more torpedoes are already on their way. The Seawolf's crew works with practiced efficiency,
04:55and they have eight shots before needing to reload. Spanish captains see their flagship explode from
05:00below with no warning and no enemy in sight. Some scream about sea monsters, others fall to their
05:05knees in prayer. A few of the smarter ones just start sailing in the opposite direction.
05:10The sub systematically targets the largest and loudest of the fleet. Command ships and troop transports.
05:17Every three minutes, another torpedo launches, and every three minutes, another Spanish ship ceases
05:22to exist. It's tough to even call a battle. Within an hour, 15 major Spanish warships are gone,
05:29wiped off the face of the planet. Thousands of men who woke up expecting to conquer England are now
05:34asking their ancestors if they know what happened. The surviving Spanish try everything. They fire
05:39cannons randomly into the water, in other words, throwing rocks at a ghost. Some drop barrels of gunpowder
05:45overboard hoping to hit whatever demons lurk below. One desperate captain orders his men to stab the
05:51ocean with pikes. It goes about as well as you'd expect. The armada's famous crescent formation
05:58collapses faster than New Year's resolutions. Ships collide trying to flee. Captains order full sail
06:04north, south, anywhere but here. The most disciplined naval force in the world becomes a panicked mob.
06:10But even time-traveling death machines have limits. The Seawolf carries 50 weapons, not 130. After
06:16expending 30 torpedoes to sink the armada's core, it has to get selective. The crew targets ammunition
06:21ships, creating spectacular fireworks as powder magazines detonate. By noon, what started as an
06:27invasion becomes a rout. Spanish ships scatter to every point on the compass. Some make for the
06:33Netherlands, others for France. Most just want to go home and pretend this never happened. The submarine
06:38shadows the largest group fleeing north, occasionally launching a torpedo just to remind them the ocean
06:44hates them now. Spanish morale shatters. When sunset arrives, the Spanish armada as a fighting force no
06:51longer exists. 30 ships are confirmed sunk, another 20 are on their way, and the rest are running for
06:58their lives. The channel is littered with wreckage, barrels, and many very confused, or very dead,
07:04sailors. Spanish survivors who make it home tell wild tales of explosions from below,
07:10invisible demons, and England's pact with the devil himself. The Inquisition very possibly tries
07:16switching to Satanism to make a pact of their very own. Put simply, they won't ever know what
07:22hit them. Spain never attempts another major invasion of England, not because they can't build
07:27more ships, but because sailors literally refuse to enter English waters. The haunted channel becomes a
07:34permanent psychological barrier. King Philip II dies convinced God abandoned Spain, and the devil is
07:41in cahoots with Protestant England. The Pope issues several bulls condemning whatever infernal weapon the
07:47English used, which is awkward since the armada was destroyed before England heard they were on their
07:52way. England's naval reputation skyrockets without firing or shot, and the British Empire gets a 400-year
07:59head start on ruling the waves. The Sea Wolf, having deleted the Spanish Navy, likely with a few remaining
08:06torpedoes, could theoretically visit Spain and introduce the empire to democracy, but that's a
08:13different timeline. In our scenario, one submarine accomplished more in eight hours than the entire
08:1816th century. The Spanish Armada didn't just lose, it went extinct and left a trail of PTSD in its wake.
08:26If you're curious about what would happen if a modern tank fought at Gettysburg, check out the
08:31video on the screen now. And if you're curious what would happen if a Navy SEAL fought in the
08:35Coliseum, subscribe and hit the bell so you don't miss it. Thanks for watching.
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