Few realize that the Titanic had two nearly identical sister ships, the Olympic and the Britannic. The Olympic had a successful career as a liner until she was broken up in 1935, but the Britannic met with a fate nearly as unlucky as that of the Titanic.
Serving as a hospital ship in the Aegean, it was either torpedoed or the victim of a mine on November 21, 1916, and sank within an hour. Thirty out of its crew died. Robert Ballard will search for the wreck of the Britannic and explore the evidence surrounding its dramatic end.
Expedition: Bismarck is a 2002 documentary film produced for the Discovery Channel by Andrew Wight and James Cameron, directed by James Cameron and Gary Johnstone, and narrated by Lance Henriksen. The film follows an underwater expedition to the German battleship Bismarck and digitally reconstructs events that led up to the ship's sinking during World War II. In 2003 the film was honored with an Emmy award for Outstanding Sound Editing for Non-Fiction Programming.
The 'mighty' Hood was the pride of the British Navy for more than 20 years, revered around the world as the largest and most powerful warship afloat. But when it was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck off the coast of Greenland on 24 May 1941, its end was shockingly swift. Hood's shattered hull sank in minutes and only three of its crew survived. In the largest loss of life ever suffered in a British warship, 1415 were killed. For decades, no one has been able to discover why the Hood sank so quickly and two official Boards of Inquiry investigated but failed to explain the tragedy. In 2001, the wreck was discovered for the first time, but the investigation was largely inconclusive. Now two of the world's leading shipwreck detectives have returned to crack the puzzle of the Hood's end. The programme follows deep water search and recovery expert David Mearns and marine archaeologist Innes McCartney as they search the wreck with a state-of-the-art remotely operated vehicle.
On Jan. 30, 1945, history’s deadliest maritime disaster in peace or war occurred in the Baltic Sea. An estimated 10,000 people perished in the little-known incident that saw a Soviet submarine torpedo the German cruise ship Wilhelm Gustloff off Leba, Poland.
Titanic's Tragic Sister - History Documentary Relive the terrible fate of an historic ship and join one of the most thrilling deep-water expeditions of all.
Explore the wreck of the world's most famous ship by draining the water from this section of the Atlantic; an investigation of the debris field and sections of the wreck seek clues to the sinking as well as the future of the wreck site.
A team of divers set out to examine what they thought was a sunken supply ship. They find the hull of a World War II United States Navy Destroyer instead. They've also found a mystery because according to Navy records the USS Murphy never sank.
Yamato lies on the floor of the East China Sea, 200 miles north of Okinawa, blown apart by one of the most massive explosions ever to occur at sea. Altogether, more than 2,700 men went down with the ship or drowned after it sank, making the loss of the Yamato one of the greatest naval disasters of all time. Despite the destruction, the majesty of the ship is unmistakable, symbolized by a six-foot-wide chrysanthemum crest, icon of the Japanese imperial family, still gracing Yamato's prow like a figurehead.
The massive aircraft carrier rests in 212 feet of water in a north-south orientation on the sandy bottom. With an overall height of 151 feet, there is plenty of ship to view within recreational dive limits.
The 16,000 dwt car carrier Tricolor sank after she collided with a container vessel in the English Channel near France in 2003. SMIT Salvage led the consortium that successfully removed the wreck.
The island ot Europa, in the Mozambique Channel between Africa and Madagascar, is the foremost breeding ground of the mysterious sea turtle. The crew's cameras follow the turtles' mating rituals, the females' laboured journey up the beach to lay their eggs, and the fight for survival of the newly-hatched babies.
See on this documentary Scuba Divers Explore Shipwreck & Rush to Save Anchor.
The New Jersey shore is a popular destination for sunbathers, surfers and boaters; but what lies off the coast at the bottom of the ocean is what draws divers from all over the world. Waiting for the intrepid treasure seeker on the ocean floor is an abundance of shipwrecks teaming with fish, lobster, scallops...and hidden treasures.
Hidden deep beneath the sea lies the wreckage of mighty war machines, each with untold stories of battles, glory and demise. Join us on the hunt for these antiques of the deep, and unlock the mysteries and the history waiting on the ocean floor. Each episode of QUEST FOR SUNKEN WARSHIPS features authentic historical footage, CGI illustrations and archival materials of the battles being investigated, along with high-resolution underwater images and live-action, on-site explorations of the sunken wrecks by our team of courageous divers.
In February 1944, the World War II tides are turning as the U.S. makes steady inroads against the Japanese in the South Pacific. But hiding among the islands is Truk; a self-contained fortress with a deep lagoon, high islands and circling barrier reef.
Seven years ago, on his third trip to the Black Sea, Dr. Robert Ballard discovered a miraculously well-preserved Byzantine shipwreck, but his team could only take pictures. Now, Ballard returns with state-of-the-art technology and a revolutionary $1.5 million robot known as "Hercules" to excavate two shipwrecks for the first time ever, including one of the most pristine ancient vessels ever found. Ballard and his team have only two weeks, so they must work in perfect precision on their hunt for the Ghost Ships of the Black Sea.
In September 1999, a joint expedition between Nauticos Corp. and the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office searched for the Japanese aircraft carriers. Using advanced renavigation techniques in conjunction with the ship's log of the submarine USS Nautilus, the expedition located a large piece of wreckage, which was subsequently identified as having come from the upper hangar deck of carrier Kaga. The main wreck, however, has yet to be located.
Hidden deep beneath the sea lies the wreckage of mighty war machines, each with untold stories of battles, glory and demise. Join us on the hunt for these antiques of the deep, and unlock the mysteries and the history waiting on the ocean floor. Each episode of QUEST FOR SUNKEN WARSHIPS features authentic historical footage, CGI illustrations and archival materials of the battles being investigated, along with high-resolution underwater images and live-action, on-site explorations of the sunken wrecks by our team of courageous divers.
In 1942 German U-boats turned the waters off Cape Hatteras North Carolina into a sea of death. For six months the marauding U-boats patrolled the area unchallenged, sinking countless ships that littered the ocean and beaches with oil, cargo and bodies.
La Belle was one of Robert de La Salle's four ships when he explored the Gulf of Mexico with the ill-fated mission of starting a French colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1685. La Belle was wrecked in present-day Matagorda Bay the following year, dooming La Salle's Texas colony to failure. For over three centuries the wreckage of La Belle lay forgotten until it was discovered by a team of state archaeologists in 1995. The discovery of La Salle's flagship was regarded as one of the most important archaeological finds of the century, and a major excavation was launched by the state of Texas that, over a period of about a year, recovered the entire shipwreck and over a million artifacts.
In the Florida Keys, divers from around the country learn how to map shipwrecks and apply their skills on a mysterious 19th-century slave ship. When diving isn't possible, professional explorers use high-tech tools to scan objects buried beneath the seafloor.
The Great Lakes hold many secrets beneath their chilly surfaces. They also hold many shipwrecks and this wonderful exploration of those currently residing in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary gives life and breath to these mysterious tragedies.
The Mediterranean Sea is a world of impressive diversity where ocean sunfish and whales live side by side, and colourful corals provide a home for smaller creatures. But human beings have left their mark here for thousands of years: ancient shipwrecks and fighter planes from the Second World War litter the ocean floor, while until recently raw sewage was fed straight into the sea. The impact has been devastating – today the Mediterranean is an ecosystem on the edge. But there is a glimmer of hope as measures to protect the sea from pollution and excessive disturbance are being put into place.
Sandrine Ruiton from the University of Marseille specialises in research on artificial reefs to build up the lost marine biodiversity near cities like Marseille, one of the Mediterranean’s busiest ports. Until recently it was responsible for seriously polluting the surrounding Mediterranean Sea. Christian Petron himself has been instrumental in raising awareness of this ecosystem in dire straights. His own 30-year-old archive footage shows the extent of the pollution in graphic detail.
