- 1 day ago
For educational purposes
In the late 1800's the father of submarines, Mr John Holland hit upon the idea of powering a submarine with an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.
For over a hundred years, since the first semi-successful attempts during the American Civil War, submarine warfare had been fraught with difficulties and failure.
In 1901 the Holland I was launched as the first Royal Navy Submarine and submarines have been an integral part of the Navy ever since.
The Second World War showed the first widespread use of these under water vessels and their major advantages.
Today nuclear submarines roam the waters all over the world for exploration and to keep the peace.
Featuring rare archive footage, stunning 3-D computer graphics and rare film of the last surviving submarines, this is a privileged glimpse into the world of submarine warfare.
In the late 1800's the father of submarines, Mr John Holland hit upon the idea of powering a submarine with an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.
For over a hundred years, since the first semi-successful attempts during the American Civil War, submarine warfare had been fraught with difficulties and failure.
In 1901 the Holland I was launched as the first Royal Navy Submarine and submarines have been an integral part of the Navy ever since.
The Second World War showed the first widespread use of these under water vessels and their major advantages.
Today nuclear submarines roam the waters all over the world for exploration and to keep the peace.
Featuring rare archive footage, stunning 3-D computer graphics and rare film of the last surviving submarines, this is a privileged glimpse into the world of submarine warfare.
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LearningTranscript
00:02In 1982, during the Falklands War, the British nuclear submarine, HMS Conqueror, launched conventional high-explosive torpedoes at the elderly
00:11Argentine cruiser, General Belgrano.
00:19The orders had come from the Royal Navy's command headquarters in a nuclear shelter deep beneath a leafy London suburb,
00:268,000 miles away.
00:32Until the torpedoes tore apart the steel plates of the cruiser's hull, no one in the Belgrano knew of the
00:39submarine's existence.
00:40As the World War II cruiser listed to port, and a thousand men struggled to escape the inferno, HMS Conqueror
00:48slipped silently away.
00:50The Belgrano sank within 30 minutes. As its escorting destroyers dropped ineffective death charges, the Conqueror watched from the safety
00:59of 11 miles distance.
01:00It was an awesome and disturbing display of the capabilities and precision of a modern submarine.
01:08One submarine caused the Argentine Navy to flee from the Falklands War arena, never to return.
01:15It was a demonstration of controlled destruction, not so much from firepower, but from stealth.
01:27The
01:28The
01:28The
01:28The
01:32The
03:02The means of propulsion was a manually driven screw.
03:07The sole occupant observed progress from a porthole and steered by means of a rudder held under his arm.
03:12He had air enough for 30 minutes of frantic activity once the turtle was sealed.
03:18This bizarre craft had a vertical drill to bore into the hull of an enemy ship, by which means an
03:25explosive charge would then be secretly attached.
03:30In August 1776, during the American War of Independence, the British were blockading New York Harbor, and the 64-gun
03:39flagship of Admiral Earl Howe, HMS Eagle, was riding at anchor at the mouth of the river.
03:44She would go down in history as the first target of a submarine attack.
03:51As the intrepid Sergeant Lee of the Patriot Army, under cover of darkness, bobbed and drifted towards the eagle, the
03:58scene was set for the dramatic birth of submarine warfare.
04:02At first, all proceeded according to plan, and the turtle came undetected into position beneath the eagle's hull.
04:10Regrettably for Sergeant Lee, the timbers of the hull proved resistant to his efforts with the drill.
04:16His exertions were now causing him to run short of air, and he had no alternative but to retreat.
04:27It is undeniable that by the standards of the day, this first submarine attack was cowardly, underhand and ungallant.
04:35It was an attack which ought to have been condemned by all who had an understanding of the rules of
04:40naval engagement.
04:41That it very nearly succeeded should have signalled to all naval strategists that submarine warfare would have to be accepted
04:49as part of the theatre of naval war.
05:00It was the American Civil War that next saw submarine action.
05:06A wealthy engineer from Alabama, Horace Hunley, put up the money to build the first privately operated submarine, the 34
05:14-foot Pioneer.
05:16She was powered by three men driving a crank by hand.
05:23On October 5th, 1863, a 3,500-ton United States Navy ship found itself under attack from a steam-powered
05:32semi-submersible.
05:33The David, or Cigar boat, as she was known, had a 134-pound explosive charge at the end of a
05:40long spar attached to her bows.
05:42The explosion caused several leaks, but little serious damage to the hull of the Navy ship.
05:48It was not until February the 17th, 1864, that the first surface ship was sunk by a submarine.
05:55The victim was the USS Housatonic.
05:58She was attacked by the Confederate submarine, Hunley.
06:01This extraordinary craft was another of Horace Hunley's creations.
06:05She was powered by eight men who manually cranked the propeller shaft.
06:09That the Hunley ever reached the point of mounting an attack is remarkable in itself.
06:15In the course of development and testing, it had been sunk and recovered no less than five times,
06:20and 41 crew members had been drowned, including the designer Horace Hunley himself.
06:29It was clear that a weapon system must be found that would keep the submarine clear from the force of
06:34the explosion.
06:35In 1870, a Lancastrian engineer, Robert Whitehead, working for the Austrian Navy, presented the self-propelled torpedo.
06:47The means of propulsion was compressed air, and it had a complex but effective steering mechanism.
06:54It proved to be the prototype of every torpedo to follow.
06:58The submarine now had its teeth.
07:08Although submarines now had an effective means of attack,
07:12the problem of moving efficiently and safely beneath the surface still remained.
07:20A variety of propulsion systems were tried.
07:23Manpower, clockwork, compressed air, and, somewhat dangerously, steam.
07:28But the father of the modern submarine is John Holland.
07:33At the birth of the 20th century, the British Navy cautiously accepted delivery of a small submarine.
07:40Holland 1 was built under license by Vickers,
07:43and was the product of 25 years of painstaking research by the Irish-American John Holland.
07:49Holland had finally found a means of propulsion underwater,
07:52without creating conditions impossible for the crew.
07:58When on the surface, the Holland submarines were powered by a small petrol engine.
08:03When submerged, the submarine was powered by an electric motor.
08:07The batteries were recharged by the petrol engine when the submarine was on the surface.
08:12In time, the petrol engine gave way to diesel,
08:15but until the age of nuclear power, all submarines would follow this pattern.
08:21But still, the stigma of unfairness stuck to the submarine.
08:26Within naval circles, the glories of grand battle fleets were paramount.
08:31Submarine warfare was regarded as repugnant,
08:33and by the British Admiral, Sir Arthur Wilson, as underhand, unfair, and un-English.
08:39The lone voice of Admiral Sir John Jackie Fisher,
08:43the architect of the Royal Navy in the Dreadnought Age, observed,
08:46It is truly astounding to me how the very best amongst us
08:51fail absolutely to realise the vast, impending revolution in naval warfare
08:56that the submarine will accomplish.
09:09In 1914, the nations of Europe descended into the chaos of outright warfare.
09:14The submarine was rapidly assimilated into each nation's strategy for war.
09:20For German submarines, the war plan was simple.
09:23All-out attack on the vulnerable but vital Allied merchant fleets
09:27to starve Britain of the means to wage war.
09:33Throughout the First World War,
09:35a succession of submarines was produced from the German naval dockyards.
09:39Each one was an improvement on the last,
09:42with greater speed, longer range,
09:44greater submerged endurance,
09:46bigger and more accurate torpedoes,
09:48and stronger deck armament.
09:57The Germans had another vital asset,
10:00a great tradition in optics.
10:02German periscopes were optically far superior.
10:10One of the new submarines, the U-151,
10:13twice ran the blockade to the then-neutral United States.
10:22It surfaced in Chesapeake Bay
10:24and anchored off Baltimore with 700 tons of cargo.
10:28America was being introduced to the capabilities
10:30of a formidable new weapon in sea warfare,
10:33the U-Boat.
10:38Britain was ill-prepared for the U-Boat onslaught.
10:41The only effective tactic was to ram the submarines,
10:44which could take up to five minutes to dive.
10:47They were vulnerable on the surface.
10:49The Germans adopted ruthless tactics
10:51to tighten the grip on Britain.
10:54All British ships,
10:55whether warships, merchant ships
10:57or passenger ships, were to be sunk.
11:00With no German merchant fleet to tackle,
11:04the Allied strategy was different.
11:05The British submarine provided integrated support
11:08of the main forces
11:09and harassment of the German high-sea fleet.
11:21At the core of their submarine force
11:23was the exceptional Royal Naval Force E-Type.
11:29which, with her smaller predecessor, the C-Class,
11:32gave sterling service in the Atlantic and North Sea
11:35and the treacherous Turkish Sea of Mamara.
11:39Without the submarine assault on the Turkish supply lines,
11:42the tragic events at Gallipoli would have been far worse.
11:47Conditions on board the submarines were spartan
11:49and the harsh regime created a new breed of seamen
11:52able to endure the long periods of hardship
11:55and the nerve-wracking tensions of submarine warfare.
12:00This was the world of the sextant and the compass,
12:03of simple instruments dominated
12:04by the all-important depth gauge
12:06of living, eating and sleeping
12:08alongside the machinery of war.
12:11It was a world of improvisation,
12:13innovation and making do.
12:26The USA's late entry to the war at sea
12:29brought two immediate benefits.
12:31American submarines reinforced
12:33the hard-pressed Allied squadrons
12:35and her vast wealth ensured
12:37that Allied naval strength
12:38would finally break the U-boat menace.
12:41Most U-boat attacks
12:43were actually made on the surface
12:45and the American armed convoys
12:47ended the easy plundering of crowded sea lanes.
12:56When the submarines were submerged,
12:58the tools of anti-submarine warfare
13:00were still crude, primitive hydrophones
13:02which were designed to pick up the sounds
13:04of a submarine as it travelled beneath the waves
13:06and the early depth charge.
13:08The pattern had been set for a future war,
13:11armed convoy versus submarine.
13:19The British attempt to build a fleet submarine
13:22resulted in the disastrous K-series of 1917.
13:2617 of these steam-powered boats
13:28were built in 1917
13:30and no less than 8 of them
13:32were damaged in accidents.
13:33The 2,500 tonne K-series
13:36was 338 feet long
13:38but only 27 feet in the beam
13:41which made it dangerously unstable
13:43when submerged.
13:44The lengthy procedure
13:46for shutting down the boilers
13:47and retracting the funnels
13:48meant that the diving time
13:50left the craft hopelessly exposed.
13:53But an even greater white elephant
13:55was the 2,000 tonne M-class of 1918.
13:59Each was mounted
14:00with a single monster 12-inch gun.
14:02Only three were built
14:04and they saw no action.
14:08With the ending of hostilities in 1918
14:11the cost would have to be counted.
14:14The German Navy alone
14:15lost 178 submarines
14:17with 51 officers
14:19and 4,500 ratings.
14:22Yet the toll on the submarine forces
14:24when weighed against the carnage
14:25of the trench warfare
14:26in the land war
14:27put beyond doubt
14:29the strategic value of the submarine.
14:32Tonne for tonne
14:33it was the most destructive weapon
14:34of the war.
14:45After the First World War
14:47it was common for diplomats
14:48in public
14:49to profess abhorrence
14:50of the devil's device.
14:52In private
14:53every great naval power
14:54was busily engaged
14:56in building their submarine strength.
14:58Every power, that is
14:59except Germany.
15:00Her deadly U-boats
15:03lay either scuttled
15:04or surrendered
15:04for close examination
15:05by the victors.
15:11Submarine development
15:13in the interwar years
15:14was steady
15:15and unspectacular evolution.
15:17The eccentricity of designers
15:19led to some freakish vessels.
15:21An attempt was made
15:22to convert the unsuccessful M-class
15:24into a submersible aircraft carrier
15:27and as a fleet consort.
15:29These were the last experiments
15:31with steam.
15:44In 1936,
15:46the coronation of George VI
15:47was marked with a grand review
15:49by the Royal Navy,
15:50still the greatest maritime power
15:53in the world.
15:54Shadowing the ranks
15:55of the fleet warships
15:56was another force,
15:57a force integral
15:59to Britain's future naval strength,
16:01the silent service.
16:03The submarines were on show
16:05by a nation
16:05that not long before
16:06tried to outlaw them.
16:09With them
16:10and the O-class mine layers
16:11ran their smaller,
16:13more reliable sisters,
16:14the S-class submarine,
16:16built with an eye
16:17to restless Europe.
16:19The submarine's presence
16:21in the fleet strength
16:22was clear proof
16:23that the submarine
16:24was now universally accepted
16:26amongst the naval powers.
16:28In total,
16:2926 countries of the world
16:31possessed a submarine force
16:32of various sizes
16:33with a myriad of designs
16:35for a multitude of strategies.
16:38Storm clouds darkened over Europe.
16:41Germany had rearmed.
16:43It was not the Imperial Eagle
16:45which flew above the fatherland,
16:46but the Nazi swastika.
16:48Adolf Hitler now led
16:50the German people
16:51steadily towards his war
16:52of vengeance and conquest.
16:55In Hitler's grand design,
16:57a resurrected U-boat force
16:59was to play a deadly
17:00and vital role.
17:02A new generation
17:03of German submarines
17:04rolled from the slipways
17:05in recognition
17:06that the old enemy,
17:07Britain,
17:08must be faced.
17:13The British Navy
17:14was too strong
17:15to be confronted.
17:16Britain would have to be
17:17starved into submission.
17:19The weapon for the task,
17:21as in the last war,
17:22was to be the submarine.
17:30The newly appointed commander
17:32of the force
17:32was Captain Carl Donitz,
17:34a veteran submariner
17:36from the First War.
17:37Donitz was a brilliant organizer
17:39who was to revolutionize
17:41submarine warfare.
17:49Donitz had 57 U-boats,
17:51only a fraction of those
17:53Hitler had promised
17:54when in September 1939
17:55war erupted.
18:03The U-boats already at sea
18:05struck the first blows
18:06in the sea war
18:07that would rage
18:07for five years.
18:16A resigned naval chief,
18:19Admiral Eric Reeder,
18:20surveyed the odds
18:21and said prophetically
18:22to his commanders,
18:23gentlemen,
18:24we have no choice.
18:25Total engagement,
18:27die with dignity.
18:32With the advantage of surprise,
18:34Donitz's U-boats
18:35were able to launch
18:36a punishing offensive
18:37as the British merchant fleet
18:38hurried for shelter.
18:40Quality made up for quantity.
18:43Many veterans
18:43of the submarine force
18:45of the Imperial Navy
18:46provided the skills
18:47and discipline
18:48of Donitz's new force.
18:50The brunt of the hostilities
18:52would be borne
18:53by Germany's legendary
18:55Type 7 class.
18:57The Type 7s were an
18:58Iguet design
18:59and had evolved
19:00from UB 3 of 1918.
19:03They proved ideal
19:04for the task.
19:05With a low conning tower
19:07only 5.2 metres above
19:08the water line,
19:09they were hard to see
19:11from over a mile,
19:12even in daylight.
19:16At night and head on,
19:18they were practically invisible.
19:20They could dive
19:21in under half a minute.
19:23They could reach a depth
19:24of 100 metres without strain
19:25and 200 metres if pressed.
19:28Depth and endurance
19:29at high speed
19:30were twice as good
19:31as any of their contemporaries.
19:33The Type 7
19:34had a range of 4,300 miles
19:37at 12 knots on the surface
19:38and could travel 90 miles
19:40submerged at 4 knots.
19:54Progress was slow
19:55when submerged
19:56and the U-boat surfaced
19:57to attack slow quarry.
19:59In the early part of the war,
20:01the submarines could operate
20:02with little harassment
20:03from escort ships.
20:05The erratic torpedo
20:07remained the submarine's
20:09main armament,
20:09but deck guns were fitted
20:11to every German submarine.
20:13The submarine was in truth
20:15no more than a submersible
20:16torpedo boat
20:17with limited submerged endurance.
20:21It had to come up
20:22at regular intervals
20:23for air
20:24and to charge its batteries.
20:25This was to prove
20:27its Achilles' heel.
20:32The onset of the war
20:34for British submariners
20:35was neither glamorous
20:36nor dramatic.
20:38The Royal Navy
20:39had as many submarines
20:40as the Germans,
20:41but few were in home waters.
20:44The German U-boats
20:45were able to operate
20:46more freely
20:47and insolently laid mines
20:49in the Thames estuary itself.
21:02The Royal Navy's
21:04cautious policy
21:05was practical
21:06in the face of costly
21:07and hurried re-arming.
21:09It produced the excellent
21:11T-class patrol submarine.
21:13It was cheap
21:14but stable,
21:15efficient
21:16and powerfully armed.
21:17It would prove its worth
21:19in the years that followed.
21:30The Alliance is typical
21:32of the British submarines
21:33of the era.
21:34She is preserved
21:36at the submarine museum
21:37at Gosport.
21:38The basic design
21:39would have been familiar
21:41to Holland,
21:41but the diesel engines
21:43gave reliability and range
21:44which he could only
21:45have dreamed of.
21:55The dimensions of the Alliance
21:57made the interior
21:58just as cramped
21:59as an E-class
22:00of the First World War.
22:07The simplicity
22:08of the E-class control room
22:10had given way
22:11to a multiplicity
22:12of controls
22:12and instruments.
22:27The accommodation
22:28was spartan
22:29with the crew
22:30sleeping on suspended bunks.
22:46There was a crowded galley
22:47and eating area.
22:58The Alliance carried torpedoes
23:00with four forward-mounted torpedo tubes,
23:03two at the rear.
23:16From the outset,
23:18British and German tactics
23:19were diametrically opposed.
23:21While the U-boats pursued the enemy,
23:24the Royal Navy submarines
23:25stood on station.
23:27In thin grey lines
23:28on blockade,
23:29they waited
23:30for lone German warships,
23:32ships which had the power
23:34to strike back.
23:35It was never clear
23:36who was the hunter
23:37and who was the hunted.
23:41It was the German invasion
23:42of Norway
23:43which gave the Royal Navy submarines
23:45targets in the number
23:46they craved.
23:47Now they have the chance
23:49to take the war
23:50to the enemy.
23:59Between April the 9th
24:01and May the 1st, 1940,
24:03the S and T submarines,
24:05then under the overall command
24:07of ex-submarine ace
24:08Max Horton,
24:09destroyed 22 German ships.
24:11Both the battleships,
24:13Scharnhorst and Neisnau,
24:15were torpedoed.
24:16The British submarines
24:17had proved the equal
24:18of Dönitz's raiders.
24:24As the months passed,
24:26the task for the U-boats
24:28became progressively
24:29more difficult.
24:30There were more escorts,
24:31and the submarine detection devices
24:33became more sophisticated.
24:35The U-boat's main weapon
24:37was also its betrayer,
24:39the torpedo's wake.
24:41With the torpedoes loosed,
24:43there was no time
24:44to celebrate victory
24:45or to dwell on failure.
24:47In one moment,
24:48the hunter became the hunted,
24:50and the real trial
24:52for a submarine crew began.
24:54It was a battle of survival
24:56to outwit the enemy above
24:58in a tense and deadly game
24:59of hide-and-seek.
25:01The submarine would dive
25:03and stop engines,
25:04but its position
25:05would often be pinpointed
25:06by sonar.
25:12A pattern of depth charges
25:14laid in a spread
25:15could either destroy the U-boat
25:17or cause damage enough
25:19to force it to the surface
25:20to the waiting guns
25:22of the hunters.
25:26Often, a damaged U-boat
25:28would sink slowly
25:29into the ocean.
25:30For the helpless crew,
25:32there was the agony
25:33of waiting for the point
25:34where the massive pressure
25:35would cause the hull
25:37to implode.
25:45For all submariners,
25:47the war was a silent,
25:48nightmare world
25:49which tested their stoic resolve.
25:51The psychological strain
25:53was immense
25:54as they waited
25:55for the shockwaves
25:56of an exploding charge,
25:57not knowing
25:58if it would be
25:59a fatal blow.
26:11as the boat shook,
26:13the hull would spring leaks
26:14and equipment would be
26:15strewn the length
26:16of the submarine.
26:26But submariners learned
26:28that it was possible
26:29to survive an attack,
26:30that the depth charge
26:31was lethal only
26:33if it exploded
26:33within 30 feet,
26:35that by going deep
26:36they could avoid
26:37the dangers
26:38of an explosion
26:38under the hull,
26:40that the destroyer
26:41carried a limited number
26:42of charges
26:42and that the attack
26:44would eventually
26:45peter out.
26:46A less obvious
26:48but equally dangerous hazard
26:49was chlorine gas.
26:52It came from the deadly
26:53combination of seawater
26:55and leaked battery acid.
26:57It is difficult now
26:59to imagine conditions
27:00on a U-boat under attack.
27:02It was an atmosphere
27:03thick with the stench
27:04of rotting food,
27:05refuse, unwashed bodies,
27:07bilge and bile.
27:08Above all,
27:10there was a tangible
27:11odour of fear.
27:13To maintain the offensive
27:14against the mounting toll
27:16caused by Allied
27:17countermeasures,
27:18the submariners needed
27:19to be in peak
27:20fighting trim.
27:21As the U-boat sweeps
27:23grew wider
27:23and the journeys
27:24to safe havens
27:25on the shores
27:26of occupied France
27:27grew longer.
27:31So that they could
27:32remain constantly at sea,
27:33a system for maintenance
27:35and supply at sea
27:36was devised.
27:37It was not easy.
27:42Type 9 U-boats
27:43were converted
27:44into supply vessels
27:45called milk cows.
27:47They could refuel,
27:48rearm and even repair
27:50a submarine at sea.
27:51This bought valuable
27:53operating time.
27:54But in the Mid-Atlantic,
27:55even in calm weather
27:56and safe from the probing
27:58eyes of the enemy,
27:59it was a perilous operation.
28:12The U-boats soon faced
28:14a new menace
28:15which would become
28:16the greatest killer of all,
28:18the anti-submarine aircraft.
28:20Now armed with airborne radar,
28:22it appeared as if from nowhere,
28:24fast and lethal.
28:25The distant sound
28:27of aircraft engines,
28:28whether hostile or not,
28:30made surface running
28:31exhausting and dispiriting.
28:33It constantly disrupted
28:35vital surface chores.
28:37There was no time
28:38to seek to identify
28:39the aircraft.
28:41Wise submariners
28:42dived immediately
28:43upon the sound
28:44of an approaching aircraft.
28:58The Italians took the lead
29:00in midget submarine design
29:01with the two-man Maial,
29:03the Italian for pig.
29:10It was more correctly
29:12called a manned torpedo
29:13and proved highly successful
29:15in attacking Allied shipping
29:16in Malta, Alexandria
29:18and Gibraltar in 1941.
29:21By the time that the British
29:22had perfected their own
29:23manned torpedo in 1943,
29:26the war against the Italian fleet
29:28was all but over.
29:37For its size,
29:39the X-craft midget submarine
29:41developed by the British
29:42was arguably the most effective
29:44submarine of all time.
29:46It weighed all of 30 tons,
29:48was a mere 51 feet long
29:50and six feet in the beam.
29:51Its mission,
29:52to sink the 52,000 tonne
29:55German battleship Tirpitz,
29:57which threatened the North Sea
29:58convoys to Russia
29:59from her base in Norway.
30:02On September 11, 1943,
30:05six of the tiny craft
30:06were dispatched
30:07to attack the Tirpitz
30:08in Altafjord
30:10and for good measure
30:11the battle cruiser
30:12Scharnhorst
30:12and the heavy cruiser
30:14Lutzau as well.
30:16The X-craft had a surface speed
30:18of 6.5 knots
30:19from its 30 horsepower
30:21electric motor
30:22and carried a four-man crew.
30:24This surviving X-craft
30:26is at the submarine museum
30:28at Gosport.
30:29She carried two delayed
30:31action limpet mines
30:32attached to her sides.
30:34These were clamped
30:35to the hull of the enemy boat
30:37by a diver who left
30:38and returned to the X-craft
30:39by means of a wet
30:41and dry compartment.
30:44The X-6 was commanded
30:46by Lieutenant D. Cameron
30:48who was to receive the VC.
30:51Although it was soon detected,
30:53the X-6 was able to pass
30:55within 20 feet of the Tirpitz
30:56and released the mines
30:58so that they would settle
30:59under her hull.
31:01As they now came under fire
31:03and escape was impossible,
31:05the X-6 crew
31:06scuttled their craft
31:07and surrendered
31:08to the Tirpitz crew.
31:10As the minutes ticked by,
31:12they were in the unique position
31:14of standing on a battleship
31:16beneath which they had just placed
31:17four tons of high explosive.
31:20When the explosion came,
31:22the Tirpitz was severely damaged.
31:24None of the X-craft returned,
31:27but they had made their mark.
31:29The Tirpitz was out of action
31:31for six months.
31:34In December 1941,
31:37a vanguard of the Royal Navy's
31:39U-class training submarines
31:40of 1938,
31:41armed only as an afterthought,
31:44entered the Mediterranean Sea
31:46and proved the most effective
31:47sea raiders in the conflict.
31:50These were the nucleus
31:52of the tough, aggressive flotilla
31:54sailing from shell-tall Malta,
31:56which would bear the brunt
31:58of the submarine war.
31:59The price of their success
32:01was high.
32:03In the course of the savage struggle,
32:0521 U-class submarines
32:07failed to return to port.
32:09The Royal Navy
32:10also committed its largest submarines
32:12with highly trained crews.
32:21The attacks on the vital Axis convoys
32:24and the Italian Navy
32:26mounted with continuing ferocity.
32:29During the critical years,
32:31from January 1941
32:32to February 1943,
32:35more than 600 torpedoes
32:37were fired
32:38and 100 Axis vessels sunk.
32:42By 1943,
32:44the assault on Italian shipping
32:45had become a slaughter,
32:47but many destroyers
32:48and minesweepers
32:49were lost in the process.
32:58The luckier crews,
33:00like that of this S-class safari,
33:03returned to Britain to acclaim,
33:05flying the Jolly Roger
33:06to proclaim their kills.
33:08Some boats,
33:09like the Tally-Ho,
33:10would go on to triumph
33:11in the Pacific.
33:13Some would never leave
33:14the Mediterranean.
33:16The T-class Thunderbolt
33:17was one.
33:18She had been sunk
33:20during sea trials
33:21in June 1939
33:22and been recovered.
33:24One of the commanders
33:25said of the Thunderbolt,
33:26a submarine can only sink once.
33:29He was wrong.
33:32Thunderbolt was lost
33:33with all hands.
33:35The distinguished career
33:36of this one submarine
33:38endures as a memorial
33:39to the sacrifice
33:40made by all Allied crews
33:42who did not return.
33:44For the first time,
33:45the submarine
33:46had been the crucial component
33:48of a major strategic victory.
33:50The laurels were shared,
33:52but without the submarines,
33:53there would have been
33:54no laurels at all.
34:07in December 1941,
34:10the Japanese undeclared assault
34:12on the United States Naval Fleet
34:13in Pearl Harbor
34:14had opened
34:15the other great arena
34:16of submarine warfare
34:17in World War II
34:18in the Pacific Ocean.
34:23The hard-pressed German U-boat force
34:26gained a Japanese ally,
34:27but, in the U.S.,
34:29a new and powerful enemy.
34:32The reception
34:33by the Germans
34:34of I-130,
34:35an ocean-going Japanese submarine
34:37of World War II,
34:39marked a flourishing
34:40entente cordiale
34:41between the submarine forces
34:42of Japan
34:43and the Third Reich.
34:45Goebbels was determined
34:46to obtain maximum propaganda value
34:49from the occasion.
34:50The Japanese visitors
34:51were accorded
34:52a full state welcome,
34:54and amidst the feasting
34:55and festivities,
34:56Hitler promised his new ally,
34:58U-boats,
34:59to swell the Indian Ocean force.
35:02Sadly for Japan,
35:03few of the larger,
35:05ocean-going Type 9 boats
35:06survived the perilous
35:076,000-mile journey
35:09through the South Atlantic.
35:10It was a token gesture.
35:13Germany and Japan
35:14were destined
35:15to fight separate wars.
35:18The Japanese submarines
35:19were able to operate freely
35:21and to good effect
35:22in the Indian Ocean.
35:23They employed
35:24the classic guerrilla tactics
35:26of the surprise attack
35:27and fainting away.
35:29In the first months
35:30of operations alone,
35:32the Japanese squadron
35:33sank 20 Allied merchantmen.
35:35Yet the squadron
35:36remained a Cinderella force
35:38as more serious events
35:39unfolded in the Pacific.
35:48The efficient
35:49Japanese industrial machine
35:51poured out class after class
35:53of large attack submarines.
35:55They were the tools
35:56to police the ever-expanding
35:58Japanese maritime empire.
36:00But the inflexibility
36:02of Admiral Yamamoto
36:03and his naval high command
36:04did not prove equal
36:06to the courage of the crews.
36:09Rigid adherence
36:10to inflexible strategies
36:11was imposed.
36:13The submarines
36:13in the Pacific
36:14were tethered
36:15to the surface fleet.
36:17Too late,
36:18the Great Sea Battle
36:19of Midway
36:20from the 12th
36:20to the 15th of November 1942
36:22showed the folly
36:24of these tactics.
36:25The submarines
36:26were left wallowing
36:27in the wake
36:28of the charging surface warships
36:30and could offer no support at all.
36:33From this moment,
36:34the role of the Japanese submarine force
36:37declined slowly
36:38towards ultimate defeat.
36:40In stark contrast,
36:42America,
36:43the sleeping giant,
36:44was fully aroused
36:45as the US Navy
36:46exploited the opportunity
36:48of the Pacific War.
36:50It was in essence
36:51the Atlantic War reversed.
36:53Japan,
36:54like Britain,
36:55was an island nation
36:56dependent upon the sea
36:57for supply.
36:59America,
36:59like German-occupied Europe,
37:01could seek to starve
37:02the island enemy
37:03into submission.
37:05The whole Pacific
37:07was a war zone
37:08and every craft upon it
37:09a potential target.
37:11By late 1942,
37:13the United States
37:14had a massive
37:14submarine building program
37:16underway,
37:17with obsolete
37:18First World War
37:18and interwar boats
37:19giving way to fast,
37:21new submarines
37:22built to withstand
37:23long tests of endurance
37:25in the vast Pacific.
38:07Submariners were a breed apart.
38:10They needed mental
38:11and physical toughness
38:12to endure month after month
38:14in the twilight world
38:15of a submarine.
38:16They also had to have
38:18the skill,
38:19the reflexes
38:20and the cool nerve
38:21for the moment of attack
38:22and the ability
38:23to endure
38:24the mental torture
38:25of being hunted.
38:34Training was a byword
38:35in the submarine force.
38:37Submariners were taught
38:38every aspect of theory.
38:40They were taught
38:41the practice.
38:42They were taught
38:42to believe
38:43that they could survive
38:44and escape.
38:45Only 50% of all volunteers
38:47were successful
38:48in the grueling training course.
38:54It grew more intense
38:56with drill after drill,
38:57exercise upon exercise.
39:00They practiced dive
39:01after dive
39:02to reduce the precious seconds
39:04that could mean the difference
39:05between life and death.
39:07As one submarine commander put it,
39:09there is no margin of error
39:11in a submarine.
39:12You are either alive
39:13or dead.
39:17Like most things American,
39:19their submarines were larger
39:21and more space
39:22meant more supplies
39:23and more torpedoes.
39:25Air conditioning
39:25meant better living conditions
39:27as well as less trouble
39:28from damp electrics.
39:30Water purification
39:31and daily vitamins
39:33meant a healthier,
39:34more effective crew
39:35to withstand
39:35the long hauls at sea.
39:37complex electronics,
39:40night radar
39:40and a fine
39:41naval intelligence system
39:42gave the crews
39:43added tools
39:44to get the job done.
39:51For all this,
39:53the submarine
39:53was only as good
39:54as its weapons.
39:56For an incredible
39:5721 months,
39:58the US Navy struggled
40:00to perfect
40:00unreliable torpedoes.
40:02On one occasion,
40:04a submarine
40:05had three carriers
40:06in periscope view.
40:07Out of ten torpedoes
40:09loosed,
40:10only one
40:10found the target.
40:12A series of torpedo failures
40:14sapped the morale
40:15of the crews
40:16who risked life
40:17for weeks
40:18to press an attack,
40:19only to find themselves
40:20falsely blamed
40:21for poor results.
40:29by adopting
40:30the salvo technique,
40:32the chances of a hit
40:33were increased.
40:34The US submarine force
40:35became steadily
40:36more effective.
40:38The Americans
40:39developed and reinforced
40:40the techniques
40:41learned by the British forces
40:43in the European war.
40:57by 1944,
40:59Japanese naval forces
41:00were overwhelmed
41:01as the United States
41:02assault in the Pacific
41:03reached its peak.
41:05Japan's merchant fleet
41:06was all but destroyed.
41:08With few natural resources,
41:10her economy
41:11was in terminal decline.
41:12In 1944,
41:15the Japanese Imperial Navy
41:16lost one battleship,
41:19seven aircraft carriers,
41:20two heavy cruisers,
41:22seven light cruisers,
41:2330 destroyers,
41:24and seven submarines.
41:26Due to the hungry
41:28American submarines,
41:30the losses
41:30could not be sustained.
41:43by April 1945,
41:46only four Japanese
41:47attack submarines
41:48were operational.
41:49The ailing submarine fleet
41:51was forced into desperate
41:53last-ditch measures
41:54employing kamikaze tactics.
41:56The one-man suicide torpedoes
41:59were evidence
42:00of the fanatical Japanese
42:01courage and sacrifice.
42:03With these last futile gestures,
42:06four years of war
42:07came to a close.
42:09For the Japanese,
42:10it had been four years
42:12of tragic misuse
42:13of a skilled
42:13and committed force.
42:15Admiral Charles Lockwood's
42:17Asiatic force,
42:18along with the other
42:20submarine forces
42:20which served in the war,
42:22lost 52 of their
42:23336-strong fleet
42:25of submarines.
42:26They had nevertheless
42:27played a vital role
42:29in the defeat
42:30of the Japanese Empire.
42:38By mid-1943,
42:41Hitler,
42:42Dönitz,
42:42and munitions minister
42:44Albert Speer
42:44all realized
42:45the war was being lost.
42:47What Germany
42:49desperately needed
42:50was a new breed
42:51of submarine
42:52capable of outpacing
42:53the hunter-killers.
42:54They came tantalizingly close.
43:09But the new
43:10streamlined 21 and 23
43:12U-boat submarines
43:13would never reach the fleet.
43:15The Kriegsmarine
43:17would fight to the end
43:18with virtually the same
43:19types of submarine
43:20with which it had
43:21confidently began the war.
43:22It finally succumbed
43:24to an enemy
43:25superior in numbers
43:26and superior in technology.
43:41Of a total of
43:4339,000 submariners,
43:45Germany had lost
43:46almost all but 10,000.
44:15Nordic
44:39Within 15 years of the end of World War II, submarines of every nation would be rendered obsolete.
44:45By the 1950s, the advent of nuclear fusion had at last furnished the submarine with the power source which had
44:53been sought for so long.
44:55The submarine was now endowed with almost limitless submerged range.
45:07It could cruise the ocean depths completely undetected.
45:12The balance of power between the superpowers ensured continued tension throughout the Cold War years,
45:19and the nuclear submarines of the US Navy, of Russia, Britain and France, were constantly at sea.
45:26They patrolled in the depths of the ocean and under the polar ice caps.
45:32Their very presence posed a serious problem for the enemy – how to detect and combat the undetectable.
45:39The advanced technology which had created the weapon was harnessed to find the antidote with advanced sensor systems, anti-submarine
45:49aircraft and hunter-killer submarines.
45:55A newcomer to the world of anti-submarine warfare, the helicopter, was one answer to the invisible menace created by
46:02the submarine's almost limitless submerged endurance.
46:05By sinking sensitive sonic probes into the deep, the helicopter could detect a submarine much as ASDIC and radar had
46:14a generation before.
46:20In the war games of the post-war decades, the Soviet Union and United States, with her NATO partners, tested
46:27their submarines with their ballistic and cruise weapon systems against their own submarine killers.
46:34Though simulated, these computerized games of cat and mouse were a disturbingly realistic reminder of the way a war in
46:42the nuclear age would be fought.
46:44The tension of the Cold War is over, but new dangers now confront the world.
46:49The proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the acquisition of the means of delivery by lawless and despotic regimes, may one
46:57day soon require desperate action by the free world.
47:00One nuclear-powered submarine, armed with nuclear ballistic missiles, has the capacity to destroy nations.
47:09The age may return when the threat of such awesome destructive power is all that maintains a fragile peace.
47:32Police are goin' to the force of the labor to save their entire war.
47:46They can't attack the body to save their international ammunition.
47:46If they reach out the security of a human, they can't attack the Σ-Penny.
47:47They can attack the whole body to kill their ship to kill their ships.
47:47As the power is executed, all that can be destroyed.
47:49The time is an opportunity to attack their pilots.
47:49But, now we are there.
47:50The time is from today's perspective I have to ask you be the best- committed,
47:52I am the due to the sense of the world of the situation.
47:57We have to take action for years.
47:57The time is this for a long time.
48:00Amen.
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