What If a Modern Destroyer Fought in World War II? | Arleigh Burke vs Nazi Fleet - video Dailymotion

What If

What if a modern U.S. Navy destroyer appeared in the middle of World War II? In this episode of Two Brain Cells, the USS Arleigh Burke, armed with Tomahawk missiles, Aegis radar, and advanced sonar, faces the might of Hitler’s Kriegsmarine and Japan’s Imperial Navy. #WhatIfWar #WWII #USNavy #USSArleighBurke #NaziFleet #ImperialJapaneseNavy #AlternateHistory #ModernWarfare #NavalHistory #WarSimulation #MilitaryTechnology #DestroyerVsFleet #DefenseTech #HistoryChannel #TwoBrainCells

Transcript

00:00October 25th, 1944. The Philippine Sea churns in the wake of hundreds of warships.

00:07American carriers burn in the water. Destroyers charge into suicide runs. It's the Battle of

00:13Leyte Gulf, the largest naval battle in human history. But let's change one thing. Cutting

00:19through the Surigao Strait where USS Melvin should be is something no one understands.

00:25A 9,700 ton guided missile destroyer from 2023. The USS Arleigh Burke Flight 3 dropped into a

00:34battle it wasn't built for. So what happens when the most advanced destroyer on earth is unleashed

00:39during one of history's most brutal naval battles? Can it single-handedly stop the Imperial Japanese

00:45Navy's gambit? Or is it just one ship against more than 60? The Arleigh Burke Flight 3 isn't just any

00:53old destroyer. It's a 509-foot blade of steel and circuits representing 80 years of technological

01:00evolution compressed into one hole. It's powered by four gas turbines that generate 100,000 horsepower,

01:07enough to push that behemoth to speeds over 35 miles per hour. Impressive as that is,

01:12the main course is what's hidden in its 96 vertical launch cells. Picture missile silos buried in the

01:18deck. Each one loaded with everything from SM-6 and SM-2, long-range surface-to-air missiles,

01:24Tomahawk cruise missiles with 1,000-kilometer range, and ESSM quad-pack defensive missiles for

01:32close range. The ship's brain is an AN-SPY-6 radar, a 3D radar that tracks hundreds of targets

01:39simultaneously, calculating intercept points faster than you can blink and can see through darkness,

01:45storms, and smoke like they don't exist. Topping it all off is an electronic warfare system that can

01:51fry enemy electronics, torpedo tubes loaded with homing weapons, and a 5-inch gun that puts shells

01:58exactly where the computer says they'll hurt most. But Admiral Takeo Kurita's center force is no

02:04pushover. Leading his charge is Yamato and Musashi, the two largest battleships ever built. Each one

02:12displaces 72,000 tons and has 18.1-inch guns that fire shells each the weight of a small car. One good

02:21hit is expected to delete an enemy destroyer from existence. Supporting them are three more battleships,

02:27including Nagato with her 16-inch rifles, as well as 10 heavy cruisers that bristle with 8-inch guns

02:34and oxygen-powered long-lance torpedoes, the best ship killers of World War II. In front are 15

02:42destroyers that screen the giants, ready-to-launch torpedo spreads meant to crack any ship in their

02:47way in half. Opposing the Berk are veteran warships crewed by men who've been fighting across the Pacific

02:53for years. They've practiced night battles until they can reload in pitch darkness, their gunnery is

02:58accurate, their torpedoes lethal, and their resolve absolute. Combined with Admiral Nishimura's southern

03:05force and Ozawa's carrier group, the Japanese are throwing over 60 warships at Leyte Gulf. It's their

03:11last roll of the dice. They will succeed here or watch their empire crumble. 3 a.m. south of Samar,

03:18the Arleigh Burke's SPY-6 radar locks onto Kurita's center force, the main Japanese battle group,

03:24still 150 kilometers to the north. It shows up in incredible detail on screens that make the control

03:31room look like Times Square. Every ship is tracked, cataloged, and assigned a threat priority before

03:36they know what they're fighting. In 1944, the Japanese are effectively blind. Their first radar

03:42system, the Tachi 3, exists, but it still hasn't been installed on a destroyer, so the Japanese ships rely

03:49on lookouts with binoculars, and they have no idea they are being watched. The captain aboard the Burke

03:55doesn't hesitate as he commands, weapons free. The first Tomahawk missile erupts from its cell at 3.47

04:01a.m. before another, another, and another. Six cruise missiles streak north at 900 kilometers per

04:07hour, 50 feet above the waves. No lookout can spot them in the darkness. Aboard Yamato, Admiral

04:14Ugaki is reviewing battle plans when his flagship simply explodes. The Tomahawk punches through the

04:21superstructure and detonates inside the command bridge. The blast obliterates the nerve center

04:26of the fleet while secondary explosions ripple through the ship. Within seconds, the pride of

04:31the Imperial Navy is ablaze, four hours before the crew would have been ordered to their battle

04:36stations in the original timeline. It's enough to make hardened soldiers lose hope, but since we've

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05:52the channel. Now let's get back in on the Japanese fleet. Musashi takes two hits, one in her forward

05:58magazine and one in her engine rooms. The first turns her bow into a steel inferno. The second kills her

06:07propulsion, leaving the ship and its crew dead in the water, burning, and sinking. Their horizon

06:12is still pitch black, and the 2,500-man crew is out of commission before they realize the battle

06:18started. The Japanese fleet dissolves into chaos. Ships collide in the darkness, trying to avoid the

06:24darkness all around them. Radio channels flood with panicked reports of submarines, mines, or ghost

06:29bombers. Nobody can comprehend that one destroyer, 150 kilometers away, just decapitated their battle

06:36line. By dawn, when American escort carriers would have launched their planes off Samar,

06:42Corita's center force is already crippled, and the Arleigh Burke isn't done. The destroyer races north

06:48at 35 knots, when Japanese float planes finally spot it. A lone gray shape slicing through the morning

06:54seas, Corita's surviving ships move to engage what they think is a 1940s American cruiser. At 75 kilometers,

07:02the Burke opens up with a barrage of SM-6 missiles. The heavy cruiser Chokai disintegrates when a Mach 3.5

07:10missile hits her bridge. Suzuya is hit as well, and its ammunition magazines detonate in the blaze

07:16seconds later. Japanese 8-inch shells begin falling all around the destroyer as every ship realizes its

07:22only target, but hitting a target moving at 35 knots from 40 kilometers away? Let's just say it's

07:29difficult. Japanese gunnery, excellent by 1944 standards, becomes guesswork. The Burke's 5-inch

07:35guns begin to fire. Its radar-guided shells airburst over Japanese destroyers, shredding their bridge

07:41crews with tungsten rain. Without orders or coordination, the smaller ships scatter. Meanwhile,

07:48200 kilometers south, beyond the islands of Leyte, Admiral Nishimura's southern force pushes into

07:55Surigao Strait, aiming to flank the American fleet from below. Instead, they sail right into

08:00the lone destroyer's killing field and are immediately identified by its radar. The Burke launches a spread

08:06of eight tomahawks as the Japanese ships maneuver the narrow strait. The battleship Fuso splits in half

08:12when three missiles make contact, and Yamashiro burns from bow to stern. The destroyer, Michishio,

08:19simply vanishes in a ball of flames. The surviving Japanese destroyers launch desperate torpedo spreads,

08:26but the Burke's sonar tracks everyone while still simultaneously tracking the ships they came from.

08:32The Burke dances between torpedoes at 35 knots. But missiles are finite, and by now the destroyer's

08:38vertical launch cells are running low. As morning breaks, far to the north in the Philippine Sea,

08:44Admiral Ozawa's decoy carrier force comes into view on radar. Four more carriers with barely 100

08:50planes between them, just a shadow of their Pearl Harbor glory that launches everything they have.

08:55The Burke's remaining SM-2s and ESSMs strike skyward and create an umbrella of death. The last hope,

09:03Japanese AM-60s and Kate torpedo bombers begin to explode 50 kilometers out, then 30 kilometers out,

09:10then 10. The few that make it to attack range are met by the Phalanx CIWS, a swiveling Gatling gun that

09:18spits 4,500 rounds per minute designed for short-range missiles and enemy aircraft that have

09:24penetrated outer defenses. A brave Zero pilot, already trailing smoke, aims for the destroyer's

09:29bridge. The Phalanx tracks him automatically, and in the span of two heartbeats, a wall of 20-millimeter

09:36tungsten turns the pilot and his plane into falling scrap metal that splashes into the sea below.

09:41With air threats neutralized and missiles depleted, the Burke closes on the carriers with her gun.

09:46From 15 kilometers, radar-guided 5-inch shells fire in the direction of the Zuikaku, aimed at her

09:53aviation fuel bunkers, and the carrier that launched the Pearl Harbor attack bursts into flames.

09:58The Zuiho and Chitos follow. Their unarmored decks no match for modern ammunition.

10:05By noon on October 25th, the Battle of Leyte Gulf is over. The Imperial Japanese Navy has ceased to

10:11exist. Four battleships, including both Yamato-class giants, are gone. Four carriers burn on the seafloor,

10:19and dozens of cruisers and destroyers litter the Philippine waters. The Americans' only loss

10:24was some well-spent ammunition. If you're curious what would happen if a modern carrier fought at

10:30Pearl Harbor, check out the video on your screen now. Thanks for watching.

What If a Modern Destroyer Fought in World War II? | Arleigh Burke vs Nazi Fleet

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