All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S03E06.Hitlers.Wonder.Weapons.Bunker.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

Tom ward (narrates): Hidden
tunnels deep underground

that helped an American
city survive and prosper.

At the time,

it was the most expensive
construction project

in the whole of the us.

A sunken wreck with
an extraordinary past,

now reclaimed by the sea.

It's as if there's
something specific

about this area which
makes it lethal for shipping.

A concrete dome once
intended to conceal

and protect Hitler's
wonder weapons.

We have no idea how close
we came to losing the war,

and this is
testament to that fact.

And a mysterious building
with eerie echoes of the cold war.

Massive gaping
holes in the ceiling,

it looks as though
something terrible

may have happened here.

Once they were some of
the most advanced structures

and facilities on the planet,

at the cutting edge of
design and construction.

Today, they stand
abandoned, contaminated,

and sometimes deadly.

But who built them and how?

And why were they abandoned?

(Theme music)

Deep in a forest
in northern France,

there's a strange
concrete structure.

It's an extraordinary sight.

There's a vast concrete dome

nestling in the green farmlands.

I mean, this place is
total science fiction.

Look at it. There's
nothing else like it.

And this,

the shape of it
is just peculiar.

Did something plug into that?

It's just a strange
looking edifice, really.

What you see from outside is
there's some sort of entrance...

It looks like something
that you would see

maybe in a James Bond movie,
some, you know, villain's lair.

(Suspenseful music)

Hidden inside, a
dark, cavernous halls

carved out of the rock
that lead deep underground.

Miles of tunnels
stretching in every direction

disappear into the darkness.

The great steel structures

underground
supporting this facility,

so something of incredible value

was happening here.

But what was it?

Nobody else had
anything like this.

These guys were at least
20 years ahead of their time.

So, what is it and who built it?

And why does this
building now lie in ruins?

(Explosion)

The story is rooted in
Hitler's change of fortunes

during the second world war

when the Germans were suffering
crushing defeats on several fronts.

As the tide started to turn
against the Nazis in 1943,

Hitler turned to his
great new toy box

of wunderwaffe, wonder weapons.

They wanted to do
something spectacular,

something that
would knock the allies

kind of back on their heels.

They were desperate
for some kind of

dramatic knockout punch.

But allied bombers
were doing great damage

to Hitler's industrial
heartlands.

(Series of explosion)

So, he takes the decision

to move the most
important ones underground

where they're build in
subterranean factories.

This is one of those factories

which was built just
outside pas-de-calais

in northern France.

It had to be able to withstand
the intensive bombing.

This building

would have been a
source of national pride.

This is the complex that
was going to win them the war.

(Dramatic music)

Construction began
in September 1943,

1,300 workers
laboured day and night.

It was a massive undertaking...

As historian Laurent
Thierry explains.

The idea was to
start with the roof

to protect the underground
galleries from bombings

so that they could install a launch
preparation room deep down.

The galleries were
to accommodate

all the required
items for this site.

Garrison, power generation,
and air distribution.

It was like a mini
underground town,

the ultimate futuristic
weapon development centre.

It was where they would build
Hitler's new wonder weapon.

But what was it?

These were something that
had never been seen before.

They came supersonically
with no sound

and exploded in cities.

They took only five minutes
from launch to impact.

This was a whole
new kind of warfare.

This is la coupole

the German v-2
missile launch site.

Codenamed (speaking German).

It was built to produce

and fire long range
ballistic missiles

which could hit targets
more than 200 miles away.

The Germans called it
their vengeance weapon,

and it was going to be
Hitler's way of taking revenge

for the allied bombings
of German cities.

The v-2 was the world's very first
long range guided ballistic missile.

It would also become
the first man-made object

to travel into space.

La coupole was the
base for a weapon

that was Hitler's last
hope of winning the war.

So, this is a bomb
shelter for bombs.

This is 55,000
tonnes of concrete,

15 feet deep.

Just below me here

is where the rockets
were to be launched.

Much of the development
was top secret,

but what we do know

is that once the
missiles were assembled,

they were transported out
to a launch pad and fired.

The v-2 rocket was
basically designed

to instil terror in the
populations of anywhere it hit.

Flies high up, practically
to the edge of space

and then comes screaming back
down faster than the speed of sound,

no advance warning,

and it delivers this
massive explosive charge.

So why did German high command
decide to build the complex here?

La coupole was just 45km

from the coast of
northern France

and the perfect location
to attack its primary target,

London.

Hitler wanted the
la coupole facility

to be able to send V2 rockets

against London at a
rate of dozens a day.

This meant a site that could
store hundreds of rockets

and produce them
around the clock.

All of the missile components
were to be stored in a vast network

of underground tunnels

before going to the very heart
of the operation for assembly.

The construction zone is
built on a vertical hierarchy

so that at every level,
there would be specialists

adding additional
elements to the V2

as it went through the
construction process.

But the Germans hadn't
been completely successful

in keeping la coupole's
location a secret.

And in march 1944,

the first allied bombs rained
down on the concrete dome.

The complex had yet to
launch a single missile...

But it was already a target

for the allies' very
own super weapon.

It was an earthquake
bomb called tallboy.

Each tallboy bomb
weighed 6 tonnes.

It was specifically designed to
destroy massive hardened targets

against which conventional
bombs were useless.

There would be a total of
about 20 raids on the site

until July 1944.

The British would drop 3,000
tonnes of bombs onto the site

including 32 tallboy
bombs during 2 operations.

One bomb landed
right beside the dome

burying the entrances
to two of the tunnels.

All construction was stopped,
and the site was never completed.

La coupole was finally
abandoned at the end of July 1944.

Today, the site is a ruin.

Andrew: We have no idea how
close we came to losing the war

and this is
testament to that fact.

If the German's
had another year,

this would have been complete

and would have been
pumping out 50 missiles a day,

don't forget the UK
is 5 minutes away.

Fortunately for us, time
was not on their side.

45km from Germany's
capital Berlin

lies a building that
looks almost palatial.

Lynette: There are so
few places in Europe

that seem to still have the dust

lying on them in thick layers.

So, few places where you can see

untouched history.

It seems to be perfectly preserved
until you take a closer look.

Plaster is peeling from walls.

There's an overriding
air of neglect

that just permeates the place.

Mummified animals
stretch out on a carpet,

their final resting place.

Their faces are
a picture of death.

Everywhere there is a
sense of quiet despair.

There's a theatre,

the seats are turned
towards an empty stage.

And a swimming pool,
which last saw water long ago.

And that's not all,

in one of the rooms,

there's a painted mural
complete with Russian writing.

Andrew: There's a statue

of the former
communist leader Lenin,

standing defiantly in
front of the building.

But this is Germany,

what is the connection
with the Soviet union?

Nearby are several
smaller buildings

which are even more dilapidated.

The remaining window
panes are smeared with grime,

and vegetation is growing
through cracks in the floor,

and there's massive
gaping holes in the ceiling.

It looks as though
something terrible

may have happened here.

You have to ask yourself

what happened
to the kind of power

that can create so much impact,

so recently,

and to have disappeared
so completely.

Who lived in these buildings?

What were they used for?

And how were they connected
to a covert spying operation

by the CIA?

For the reasons,

we need to look
back to the hostility

that existed between
the east and the west

during the cold war.

After the second world war,

we, the allies, were determined
that we would never allow Germany

to threaten the world again.

And so, we divided Germany
up and we occupied it.

That decision was made at
the famous potsdam conference

which was held at the
home of crown prince Wilhelm

in potsdam during
the summer of 1945.

It began just nine weeks
after Germany's surrender.

This was where Winston
Churchill, Harry s Truman,

and Joseph Stalin met

to determine how beaten
Germany should be administered.

It was decided that west
Germany should be occupied

by the Americans, the
British, and the French,

and east Germany
by the Soviet union

which immediately began to
fortify its border with the west.

Andrew: Political and
ideological tensions

soon escalated between
the Soviet union and the west.

And east Germany
is on the fault line.

It was the iron curtain.

Because of its
strategic importance,

the Soviet union needed to
maintain a military presence here

in east Germany.

Firstly, to ensure there was
an effective fighting force

capable of taking on NATO

and secondly to ensure

that east Germany towed
the Moscow party line.

Powerful and highly
mobile communist forces

in Eastern Europe

number over half a million men.

Well-trained and well-equipped,

they pose a continuing
security threat

to all of Europe.

Three hundred and fifty thousand
of those troops were stationed here

in east Germany.

The western group of
forces as it became known

was the largest
army on foreign soil.

It was equipped with the latest

of the Soviet military equipment

because if things
got down and dirty

and it came to conflict,

these extremely
well-equipped troops

would be the ones
to confront NATO.

It's hard to imagine now,

but this was once red
army headquarters.

The command and control centre

for all operations in east
Germany and beyond.

But why build it
here at wunsdorf,

a small town, 40km form Berlin?

The town has been
associated with the military

since the late 19th century.

When the Nazis came to power,

wunsdorf was hq for the
German armed forces.

And once the war ended,
the red army moved in

as caretaker Jurgen
naumann explains.

Military properties of
the former wehrmacht

were still in superb condition.

Didn't have to build new,
you just had to move in,

make some modifications,

and I guess that's
why here near potsdam,

near Berlin, the high
command was stationed.

According to top
secret CIA reports,

it was where indoctrinated
German officers would come

on political assignments...

And high-ranking Soviet officers

discuss the probability
of war with the west.

But first of all,

the Soviet's had to
deal with problems

a little closer to home.

There was a strike by
construction workers

in east Berlin which turned
into a widespread revolt

against the government.

But the Soviets couldn't
allow their authority

to be undermined,

so they send in the tanks.

James: People with rocks
aren't very effective against tanks

and of course the east
German resistance is crushed.

Now they know they're
living in a totalitarian state.

The red army was in
Germany to control Germans

and confront the west.

When those Germans
got out of line,

the red army did not
hesitate to destroy them.

But in a military headquarters,

why are there so many
non-military facilities?

It wasn't just the armed
forces that lived there

but their families as well.

In the main building,

there were exhibitions,
memorial rooms,

and there were
small cinema rooms

where propaganda
films were shown.

A lot of history about
the second world war,

in particular about the
glorious Soviet army.

The red army officers
and their families

who served in Germany

were able to enjoy
a high standard of life

that was a lot like

what they would have had back
in the Soviet union but even better.

To the 75,000 men, women,
and children who lived here,

it was little Moscow.

On November 9, 1989,

the Berlin wall fell,

and Germany was
no longer willing

to allow an occupying
army on its soil.

The huge Soviet
infrastructure in east Germany

was enormously
expensive to maintain

and as the Soviet
state collapsed at home,

the Soviet presence in
Germany had to be pulled back.

It was only a matter of time

before the Russian troops
would be called back home.

And so, after a
final military parade

on June 25, 1994,

the red army left for good.

Today, the former red
army hq is up for sale,

but it still stands as a
monument to a fallen regime.

For so many years,

Germany was
about to be destroyed

by a great cataclysm,

and the scars of that on Germany

are still seen.

All over Germany, we see relics

of the enormous occupying powers

who invested so much
in Germany for so long.

30km off malin head

on the northern
most tip of Ireland

is a strange and
confusing sight.

60m beneath the surface of
the dark waters of the Atlantic

is a jumble of tangled metal.

Rob: Deep within the murky
depths shapes slowly emerge...

And you start to get a
sense of what's going on here.

There's a propeller,
there's a hull,

there's a mass of rusty metal.

This is the grave
of a sunken ship.

Dominic: Other shapes
make little sense on a boat.

There appear to be guns,

tracks, turrets.

As you look more closely,

it becomes clear
that these are tanks,

but there's no explanation

why tanks which should be
on land are on the seabed.

What's even more surprising is
that these aren't British models

but American sherman tanks.

Dozens of them,

it almost looks as though
they're ready to go into battle.

The whole seabed area around
there is actually a nautical graveyard.

There are ocean liners,
there are submarines.

It's as if there's
something specific

about this area which
makes it lethal for shipping.

What happened to this ship?

Why was it carrying
American tanks

and how did it end up at
the bottom of the ocean?

One of the most costly
campaigns of the second world war

holds the key to
the reasons why.

It was the battle
of the Atlantic.

Dominic: During world
war two, as an island,

Great Britain was
fundamentally dependant

on its allies for supplies.

The main supply line
came across the Atlantic

from the United
States and Canada.

In fact, it wasn't
just a supply line,

it was a lifeline.

The Atlantic passage is
the most important way

in which britain got its materials
to defend itself during the war.

Hitler knew that one
of the easiest ways

to hit the United Kingdom hard

was to cut off that all
important supply route.

So, Hitler made it a priority
to sink merchant shipping,

sailing across the Atlantic.

He knew that if he
could starve britain

and isolate her from her allies,

he would force
her out of the war.

But what connection did
that have to a sunken ship

laden with American
tanks lying on the seabed?

This is the wreck of
the 'ss empire heritage'.

She started life as a whaler,

but she had been damaged by a
mine and put out of service in 1941.

But that wasn't
the end of her story.

Dominic: The 'ss empire
heritage' was by no means

the cream of the merchant fleet.

But all boats were needed,

so it was patched up
and put into service

between liverpool and New York.

Each time the ship
made the crossing to

and from liverpool,

she had to pass malin head.

It was one of the most
dangerous parts of the crossing

according to Geoff Miller

who has often dived the wreck.

Yeah, malin head can be a
very treacherous stretch of water,

there's very strong tides,

and we're open to the full
force of the Atlantic ocean.

Next stop off malin
head is america,

which is thousands
of miles away,

so with all that rough energy
coming in from the ocean,

just waves, constant
seas, and storms.

The 'ss empire heritage'
was part of a massive convoy

of almost a hundred ships that
left New York in August 1944.

It was heading towards liverpool
with a heavy cargo of war supplies

including 16,000 tonnes of oil

and almost 2,000
tonnes of deck cargo

which included sherman tanks.

To counter the threat
of the German u boats,

the royal Navy came up
with a system of convoys,

and the idea was that up
to 30 or 70 merchant ships

would sail under protective
guard of royal Navy vessels.

It was almost three
months after d-day

and the allies were
well on their way

to winning the war.

The fighting after the landings
on the beaches in normandy

was fierce.

The villers-bocage
area with its fields

and hedgerows and sunken lanes

was almost tailor-made
for the German defenders

and casualties among the
allied infantry units were high.

But after three
months of bitter combat,

the Germans were eventually
forced into full retreat.

However, there was still
an urgent need for supplies.

Although beachheads had
been established in normandy,

what was now required
was intense effort

to push all the way through
France and down into Germany.

And to do that, a lot of
equipment was necessary.

James: The allies
cannot ship war materials,

troops, and supplies

effectively to major
continental ports.

It's months after d-day
that they have large,

capable ports operating
under allied control.

Until virtually the end of 1944,

britain is still the great
essential logistics base.

It took several days for
the 'ss empire heritage'

to reach the north
coast of Ireland.

She was on the home straight.

Although not complacent,
there was a definite feeling

that the battle in
the Atlantic was over.

In effect, it had calmed
down from 1943.

And with the success of d-day,

there was a sense that
shipping in the Atlantic

was freer than
formerly it had been.

She was just 30km from
malin head when disaster struck.

A German u boat
lurking beneath the waves

had the 'ss empire
heritage' in its sights.

The u boat was one of
Hitler's most deadly weapons...

And this particular one was fitted
with the very latest technology.

Rob: It had a snorkel

so it could stay
submerged for much longer.

It hardly needed to surface,
so it was very hard to spot.

It was also armed with
the very latest torpedoes,

acoustic torpedoes,

which could hone in on
the sound of a propeller.

Two of those torpedoes smashed
into the 'ss empire heritage'.

(Explosion)

Two torpedoes might
not sink a battleship

which is heavily armoured.

Merchant ships aren't
armoured, it's going to sink.

This is a case

where this particular
vessel got very, very unlucky.

The 'empire heritage' was
carrying 16,000 tonnes of petrol,

so when the torpedo struck that,

you can imagine the fireball
that would have caused,

and the sea would
have been in flames.

I mean, diving in the
oil filled with water,

just in flames,

must have been horrendous,
must have been a horrible death.

I think it was approximately
70,000 merchant seamen

lost their lives
in world war ii,

just an unimaginable horror.

When the 'ss empire
heritage' went down,

over a hundred of the
sailors onboard died.

And many of course were
very young, even in their teens.

This was a sinking with
a very real human cost.

The 'ss empire
heritage' and her cargo

lay deep beneath
the waves until 1995

when she was
rediscovered by divers.

It's a underwater monument

to the valour of tens of
thousands of merchant seamen

in world war ii

who made victory possible.

Victory would not
have been possible

without all of those ships
bringing in the supplies,

bringing in the men,
bringing the material to britain.

Bringing the
soldiers to britain,

and because of their sacrifice,

the allies win the war.

In Westchester county,

which lies 64km
from New York City,

is the most extraordinary sight.

Jim: You're walking along this
simple trail through the woods,

and there you see this
strange stone tower...

That's round, doesn't
have any doors or windows.

It's very mysterious.

I mean, who built it?
What's it doing here?

What's it connected to?

These brick monoliths
scarred by graffiti

dominate the landscape

as if they are guarding
a long-lost secret.

And that's not all.

There's a rectangular
stone structure

that seems completely out
of place in this urban setting.

If you went inside,
you'd see wheels,

you'd see levers, you'd even
see what looks like a bit of a gate

which is operated by pulleys.

But they're rusted
and they're corroded,

so you can tell by looking at it

that they haven't been
used in a long time.

Hidden beneath is
something more eerie...

It's a tunnel partially
filled with water

that seems to be unfinished.

You see that the tunnels

aren't brick-lined all
the way up around.

In many instances, they're
just almost like half-lined

and then as you look above,

you can see that
it's just the raw rock...

Almost like they'd left it
like it as it was excavating.

This tunnel stretches
into the darkness

and seems to go on forever.

But where does it go?

At the end of the
tunnel, there's a clue.

Water thunders down
this stepped slope,

and above it,

this imposing steel arch that
stretches right across a gorge.

But how are all these
things connected?

In the early 19th century,

New York City was
facing several problems.

Even back then, New York
was already the biggest city

in the United States

and its business
and economic hub.

The problem that you have with
new world cities like New York,

cities that spring up

and then rapidly develop
is that very quickly,

they use the local water
system around them,

the streams and the
rivers that are there.

We need water to live,

and if you can't supply
that, that's a major problem.

As the population of New
York increased rapidly,

the water supply became polluted
and diseases began to spread.

One was cholera,

and an epidemic
ravaged the city in 1832.

The disease struck fear
into the hearts of new yorkers.

It seemed to attack randomly
and at frightening speed.

Apparently healthy people
would leave their houses

in the morning,
contract the disease,

and be dead by nightfall.

More than half of those
infected did not survive.

These diseases were a
huge concern for people

even in very sophisticated,

rich urban areas like
London or New York.

Epidemics would spread and
they were absolutely terrifying.

And disease wasn't
the only problem,

3 years after the
cholera epidemic,

a great fire destroyed
almost 700 buildings

which lay at the very heart of
the city's commercial centre.

Buildings were made of wood,
they were very close together,

so if one house
caught on fire, boom,

half your city is up
in flames in minutes.

So, New York needed
water and lots of it.

The question was,

where would the vast
quantities it required come from?

And how would they
get it into the city?

The local authorities
decided to build an aqueduct.

And if they pulled it off,

it would be one of the
most spectacular feats

of engineering ever seen.

The plan was to
damn the croton river,

some 64km north of
Manhattan and build a channel

to bring that
water into the city.

It was one of the most
ambitious construction projects

ever attempted.

The old croton aqueduct
was a mega project.

And to get this channel of
water all the way into Manhattan

was really aggressive for
the technology of the day.

So, how would it work?

The aqueduct would
use the earth's gravity

to move the water from
the reservoir to the city

along a gradual
gradient or slope...

And the challenge for its builders
was to maintain this gradual slope

across a variety of terrain.

You've got to go over valleys,

you've got to go through hills,

through rock,

and all the way from
source to the delivery point,

you have to maintain or
very close to that gradient.

Not only that,

the aqueduct had
to be built in sections

along its entire route.

Each one, like this bridge,

was a major engineering
project in itself.

If these sections
didn't connect properly,

the water wouldn't be
able to reach the city.

Writer and broadcaster,

Jim meigs explains the
challenges its builders faced.

The aqueduct was
really built by hand,

by human and
animal muscle power.

Everything had to
be excavated by hand,

hauled away by animals,

and ultimately,

constructed to carry all this water
without any modern equipment.

But in some places, they
had to get through a hill

and that meant tunnelling
through solid rock,

and that's what we
see in this section here.

They came in with hand drills
that they would drive into the rock.

You can actually see the
tracks of the old drill bits

in a couple of spots here.

Then they would stuff those
holes with black powder,

blow them off and that
would fracture the rock.

This was incredibly
difficult, dangerous work.

There was the
threat of cave-ins,

they were operating with
explosive black powder,

there were all kinds of
things that could go wrong.

The engineers were also
worried about a build-up of toxic air

within the aqueduct

that might contaminate
the water supply.

So, they built ventilation
shafts into the tunnel.

There are 21 of
these still standing.

These serve a
number of purposes.

First of all,

they allow air to circulate
through the tunnels

so you don't get pressure build
up in key parts of the system.

They also allowed the
water to aerate in some way,

it keeps the water
fresh if you will,

but they also served
as access points,

so every third or
fourth ventilation shaft

was also used as an access
point into the tunnel system.

But construction was
beset by problems.

In early 1841, part
of the dam collapsed,

the valley was flooded,
and 3 people were killed.

Then its mainly Irish workforce
went on strike in protest

at their wages being cut.

Jim: You have to remember
when this project was being built,

everything was
done by hand labour.

They required an army of
labourers, many of them Irish,

who laboured in this absolutely,

you know, brutal
task for several years

to get this huge piece of
engineering completed.

When the aqueduct
crossed a valley,

the workers had to move

thousands of tons of
soil and rock in handcarts

in order to build an
embankment to protect it.

And at its base,

they built a culvert
as mavis Cain

from friends of old
croton, explains.

And it was built to
protect the aqueduct

from the thrust of water

from the many, many
streams and rivers

that there are in Westchester.

So, the culvert serves as
a way of keeping the water

from weakening the
stones of the aqueduct.

Wherever there is a stream
strong enough to cause damage,

there is a culvert.

The aqueduct
took 5 years to build

and cost the then
enormous sum of $13 million.

And at the time,

it was the most expensive
construction project

in the whole of the us.

So, would the various
sections join together

and allow the water to
flow those 64 long kilometres

to New York?

On June 22, 1842,

they were going to find out.

Jim: The aqueduct was an absolute
overnight immediate success.

Without the aqueduct,

they wouldn't have been able to
expand the city the way they did.

So, I'm standing right
in the main channel

of the aqueduct, this is
where the water flowed.

On a normal day, it
might be up to my knees

or maybe up to my waist.

And behind me, you
can see this big iron gate

that they would use
to close off the flow

if they ever needed to empty
the lower portions of the aqueduct.

If the aqueduct
was such a success,

why was it abandoned?

By the early 1880s,

some 40 years after
it was completed,

the aqueduct was no longer
able to meet the city's needs.

In a sense, the aqueduct
was a victim of its own success.

It was such a boon to the city

that it allowed New
York to continue growing

at this dramatic pace,

and the population of
the city was going up.

Pretty soon, they were
using up all the water

from the old croton aqueduct.

In 1885,

they began to build a new aqueduct
on top of the old dam and reservoir.

To save it from being
forgotten forever,

the old croton aqueduct
is now preserved.

A unique part of New York's
remarkable industrial heritage.

Dougal: You can see
some of the hidden gems

that are there,

the chimneys, the
air ventilation systems.

As nature overgrows

and as we don't follow
these paths very often,

then they'll become
more and more hidden.

(Instrumental music)

Now, they lie abandoned,

but once,

they were at the cutting
edge of engineering.

There are echoes from history
in these decaying structures.

They remind us of terror and war

but also of great innovation
and human endeavour.

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