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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,240 Narrator: A coastal defence 2 00:00:04,280 --> 00:00:07,400 now exposed by vanishing Atlantic sand dunes. 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:11,840 It might seem like the Americans were being paranoid, 4 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,920 I mean, who's going to attack the us on the Delaware coast, 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:16,160 the Jersey shore? 6 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,800 But, in fact, america was attacked. 7 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,320 The stranded remains of a town that once appeared to have it all. 8 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,000 They must have felt like they had found a garden of Eden, 9 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:32,080 an oasis in this dry zone. 10 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,840 But someone with more authority wanted it for themselves. 11 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:39,840 Ruins on a tranquil Japanese bay 12 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,000 with a deadly technology at their heart. 13 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,240 Were they doing something secret? Were they doing something dangerous? 14 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,440 There are stories here in these buildings. 15 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:54,160 And a network of abandoned structures that cover an entire country. 16 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,200 It looks as though this land has been carpet-bombed 17 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:00,960 with these mysterious-looking domes. 18 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,520 You find them in the roadside, in churchyards, 19 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:06,160 in people's gardens. 20 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,000 You have to wonder who or what 21 00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:10,720 were they protecting themselves from? 22 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:16,560 Decaying relics... 23 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:19,200 ..Ruins of lost worlds. 24 00:01:20,920 --> 00:01:22,560 Forged through years of toil, 25 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:25,600 now haunted by the past, 26 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,520 their secrets waiting to be revealed. 27 00:01:43,960 --> 00:01:45,200 Albania, 28 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,160 a country on the fringe of modern-day Europe, 29 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:49,920 a land covered 30 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,160 in peculiar mushroom-shaped structures. 31 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,720 There are these weird little constructions 32 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:03,160 and they're all over the place, 33 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,680 there's no pattern to it, there's no restriction to them. 34 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:13,920 It is a bizarre situation where you have every village 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,520 and every field almost is covered with these things. 36 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:21,840 They're carved into mountainsides 37 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:24,760 and spread along the coast looking out to sea. 38 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:29,280 They're everywhere, like, I mean, everywhere. 39 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,720 These tiny structures appear to be fortified. 40 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,680 The sheer volume and positioning of them 41 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:40,160 tells you that a huge force or population 42 00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:43,600 was expected to mobilise and defend this land. 43 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,800 Every now and again you come across a bigger structure, 44 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:51,240 one with more rooms, more defensive capability, 45 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:54,440 somehow there must be a system, 46 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,080 there must be a way that everything is linked. 47 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:01,280 Albania is riddled with these places. 48 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:06,200 But a post-apocalyptic landscape at the heart of this nation 49 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:09,960 suggests the worst-case scenario may have came to pass. 50 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,040 A vast complex covering an area 51 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,600 that goes as far as the eyes can see. 52 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,160 All that remains is just the ghost town. 53 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:23,480 This place wouldn't look out of sorts 54 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,920 in the dystopian world of 'mad Max' or 'blade runner'. 55 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:31,520 So what happened behind the heavy iron curtain 56 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:33,120 that once shrouded Albania? 57 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,400 Elton caushi, a local historian and tour guide 58 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:39,440 grew up here. 59 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,720 These structures made unusual playgrounds. 60 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:45,600 You could find them everywhere, 61 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,880 it was great to play outside actually. 62 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,240 But there was a serious side to them. 63 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:55,640 This is what we call mushroom bunkers. 64 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:59,160 Hundreds of thousands of these were build all around the country, 65 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,760 mainly focusing on the coastal areas 66 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:07,360 since d-day style of attack was expected to come this way. 67 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:11,360 Throughout the 1970s 68 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:14,200 the Albanian population was ready to mobilise 69 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:15,320 at a moment's notice 70 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,960 and use the mushroom bunkers to defend the nation 71 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:20,920 against the most terrifying attacks. 72 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,680 There was this constant genuine fear of the attack 73 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,560 and I do remember the trainings that they used to give us, 74 00:04:32,400 --> 00:04:37,200 the adults throwing chlorine all around the neighbourhood. 75 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,480 People closing off the lights in the home 76 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:45,160 and families being forced into some sort of 77 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:46,920 military action 78 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:50,360 and finding shelter in the neighbourhoods bunker 79 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:53,280 where we were supposed to survive 80 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,400 in the case of an eventual bacteriological attack. 81 00:04:58,000 --> 00:04:59,880 The Albanian fear of invasion 82 00:04:59,920 --> 00:05:02,200 dates back to the end of world war ii. 83 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:07,440 In 1945, much of Europe lay in ashes, 84 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:10,480 torn apart by six years of total war. 85 00:05:11,120 --> 00:05:14,160 Albania had suffered occupation by both fascist Italy 86 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:15,640 and Nazi Germany. 87 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:17,520 In many ways, 88 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,160 the crushing defeats and humiliation in world war ii 89 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,440 profoundly influenced the direction the country would take 90 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:25,720 in the post-war era. 91 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,120 Out of the fight for independence, 92 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:32,880 one man emerged as the country's dictator, 93 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:34,360 enver hoxha. 94 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,120 Despite being supported by British and American intelligence services 95 00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:40,360 during the war, 96 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:42,440 hoxha was a staunch communist 97 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,400 and quickly aligned himself with the Soviet union. 98 00:05:48,240 --> 00:05:52,720 Hoxha idealised Joseph Stalin, in fact, 99 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:56,720 the Albanian communists were the only communist groups 100 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:02,520 that openly supported Stalin after his fall from grace. 101 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:10,120 Hoxha's dogmatic attachment to Stalin 102 00:06:10,160 --> 00:06:13,520 meant that when the Soviet dictator died in 1953 103 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:17,880 he severed ties with his successor, the more pragmatic nikita khrushchev. 104 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,840 Khrushchev wanted to lighten the heavy effects 105 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:25,080 of the Stalin reign 106 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:28,280 and hoxha of Albania thought that 107 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:33,680 this was a betraying the true communist ideal. 108 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:39,000 Hoxha could now add the ussr to his long list of enemies. 109 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:43,520 In his increasing isolation, hoxha's fear of invasion mounted 110 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,240 and his paranoia pushed him 111 00:06:45,280 --> 00:06:47,520 to initiate his bunkerisation programme. 112 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:59,960 The bunkerisation of Albania was built on this siege mentality. 113 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,160 The idea that enemies are everywhere, 114 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,520 ready to strike at any time. 115 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:11,360 There could be as many as 700,000 bunkers in Albania, 116 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,200 one for every four people 117 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:15,560 and they weren't all mushrooms. 118 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:18,600 Hoxha reserved the biggest for himself 119 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,040 and it's found beneath the capital, Tirana. 120 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,720 Now we are in a completely different kind of bunker, 121 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,320 this monster going five floors under the ground. 122 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,920 Being equipped with 106 rooms 123 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:39,720 was supposed to protect hoxha and the communist leaders. 124 00:07:39,760 --> 00:07:44,520 And that included also the whole directors of the army. 125 00:07:45,960 --> 00:07:48,400 They needed to be secured here 126 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,520 against any nuclear, chemical 127 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:54,600 or bacteriological attack. 128 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,120 It was a monumental undertaking 129 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:01,520 and the tiny Albanian nation wasn't able to complete 130 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,520 hoxha's maniacal bunkerisation programme alone. 131 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:08,600 Every now and again 132 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,320 on some of the instruments deep in these bunkers, 133 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:13,600 you catch a glimpse of a clue 134 00:08:13,640 --> 00:08:16,520 that tells you who was behind all this. 135 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,360 Hoxha had got into bed with a dangerous ally. 136 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,000 Hoxha was a true ideologue and a true believer 137 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:29,400 and so he turned to a pure form of communism 138 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,320 which they saw in mao's China. 139 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:35,800 Relations with other eastern bloc nations 140 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:37,240 were increasingly strained... 141 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:42,760 ..And hoxha's alliance with China was not well received. 142 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,480 During the 1970s, Albania stepped up bunker production 143 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:52,040 to stave off the perceived threat of invasion. 144 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:56,120 Hoxha had convinced his nation 145 00:08:56,160 --> 00:08:59,480 that neighbours such as Italy, Greece or yugoslavia 146 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,320 as well as nuclear powers such as america 147 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:05,600 and the Soviet union were on the brink of attacking them. 148 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,080 Their only ally, China, poured industrial resources 149 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:13,360 into the small country. 150 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:15,880 At its core, was this, 151 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,080 the metallurgical factory complex at elbasan. 152 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,560 Framed by these beautiful mountains in the background 153 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:31,520 you have a man-made environmental disaster zone. 154 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,720 There's chimneys, there's factories, 155 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,840 there's buildings in all sorts of different states of repair. 156 00:09:38,880 --> 00:09:41,880 More than 500 of these giant buildings 157 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:43,120 were constructed. 158 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,520 Accompanied by all the infrastructure 159 00:09:45,560 --> 00:09:48,240 a complex of this scale would require. 160 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,000 Giant moulds allowed prefabricated bunker parts 161 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:55,880 to be fitted together like a Jigsaw. 162 00:09:58,160 --> 00:10:02,160 You can barely imagine the amount of noise and smoke 163 00:10:02,200 --> 00:10:04,040 that must have emanated from this place. 164 00:10:06,400 --> 00:10:09,360 The metal and concrete factories in the industrial zone 165 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,360 sped up the production of bunkers 166 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,520 which were rolled out across the nation. 167 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,400 But at the same time, the housing was neglected, 168 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,400 the rest of the infrastructure in the country was falling behind, 169 00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:25,840 all at the expense of the bunkerisation programme. 170 00:10:27,320 --> 00:10:31,680 Domestic issues were soon exacerbated by international development, 171 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:34,880 a pivotal moment in sino-American relations 172 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,120 threatened hoxha's rigid allegiance to communist doctrine. 173 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,160 First kissinger, then president Nixon 174 00:10:43,200 --> 00:10:47,040 were allowed to visit China, that was all too much for hoxha, 175 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:48,400 and to him, 176 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,680 a sign of China's new revisionist direction. 177 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:55,840 Chairman mao died in 1976 178 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,040 and thawing relations culminated with the Chinese 179 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:01,760 breaking off trade with Albania two years later. 180 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,600 First, it was the Soviets, then the Chinese, 181 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:09,960 he was falling out with the very powerhouses 182 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:11,720 that were bankrolling Albania. 183 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:14,880 He practically transformed Albania 184 00:11:14,920 --> 00:11:19,040 into what North Korea stands today to the world. 185 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:22,120 This was the most isolated country in Europe. 186 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,320 After hoxha's death in 1985, the regime clung on 187 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:30,760 but the people were getting wind of communist collapse 188 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:31,920 across Eastern Europe. 189 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,160 First, you had hunger strikes by students, 190 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,440 then the people Rose up and took to the streets, 191 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:40,120 they'd had enough. 192 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:46,600 Albania's marxist-leninist government fell in 1991. 193 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:49,720 Leaving behind this bizarre legacy: 194 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,880 Hundreds of thousands of bunkers left to decay. 195 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,480 Today, the many bunkers are being repurposed. 196 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,480 Albania is trying to build this future 197 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,240 and image as a tourism destination, 198 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:11,240 and is doing quite a good job. 199 00:12:12,040 --> 00:12:15,480 Eventually, they will host capitalist visitors 200 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:18,120 and there will be no better punishment 201 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:19,360 for the dictatorship. 202 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,480 And Albania is now looking outwards 203 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,080 as a candidate to join the European Union. 204 00:12:27,160 --> 00:12:29,880 Albania for sure is very enthusiastic 205 00:12:29,920 --> 00:12:31,920 about integrating the eu, 206 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:36,840 this is the big brother that we've probably been dreaming 207 00:12:36,880 --> 00:12:40,160 and it's for us like going back home somehow, 208 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,680 being a member of the big European family is, like, 209 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:48,440 really finding out the parents which we lost many centuries ago. 210 00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,200 On america's eastern seaboard in Delaware, 211 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:00,760 the drifting sand dunes reveal a collection 212 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,520 of threatening structures. 213 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,880 The east coast of the us is famous for beautiful beaches, 214 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:14,120 you have people picnicking, you have surf crashing, 215 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,040 you could just be out for a day on the beach. 216 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:22,080 Then in amongst the dunes and the scrub pines, 217 00:13:22,120 --> 00:13:26,080 you catch glimpses of something that looks completely out of place. 218 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:31,640 Closer inspection reveals a clear military purpose. 219 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:38,360 So you see remnants of bunkers and these concrete towers. 220 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:42,280 It's really in congress, because you're on this lovely beach 221 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:44,360 where, as far as most of us know, 222 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,000 there's never been any kind of a war. 223 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:50,400 In fact, war did come to these shores, 224 00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:52,920 one that would claim thousands of lives. 225 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:04,600 On the eastern shores of the United States in Delaware, 226 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:06,240 there are distinct signs 227 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:08,520 that heavy artillery was once deployed here. 228 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,800 This long dark corridor cuts through the centre 229 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:15,560 of this huge bunker 230 00:14:15,600 --> 00:14:19,040 and old rusty chains hang from rails. 231 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,400 This was clearly used for hoisting something 232 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:25,440 of significant weight. 233 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:31,840 Outside abandoned weaponry still lurks behind the dunes. 234 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:37,000 Like everything else at this site, these guns face out to sea. 235 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,440 But who were they afraid of? 236 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,880 Who were they expecting to invade the eastern seaboard? 237 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,800 It might seem like the Americans were being paranoid. 238 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:51,880 I mean, who's going to attack the us on the Delaware coast, 239 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:52,920 the Jersey shore? 240 00:14:54,080 --> 00:14:56,160 In fact, an invasion did come, 241 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,920 but would this facility be ready to meet the challenge? 242 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,400 The desolate relics date back to the late 1930s. 243 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,760 Few people know what went on here. 244 00:15:12,360 --> 00:15:13,920 For a long time, 245 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:17,680 their use and function was kept completely confidential. 246 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,800 Today historians are keen to preserve these military monuments, 247 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,040 and dr Gary wray is leading the charge. 248 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:33,320 When the military built this space, this place became super-secret 249 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:34,800 so you weren't allowed on the beach. 250 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:38,360 Military put the word out that nothing was to be talked about 251 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:40,160 so what you're looking at here 252 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:42,720 is america's first homeland security. 253 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:46,680 This is fort miles. 254 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:52,960 A military complex guarding the mouth of the Delaware river. 255 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:57,520 We don't usually think that Delaware is one of america's major rivers 256 00:15:57,560 --> 00:15:58,560 for shipping 257 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,880 but it does lead to a very important harbour 258 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:02,000 in Philadelphia. 259 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:07,240 A naval shipyard as well as arsenals and refineries 260 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,960 preparing high octane fuel for combat aircraft 261 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,960 were all located up-river. 262 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:16,360 This was a key defence place and on the east coast. 263 00:16:16,400 --> 00:16:20,080 This water behind me was just saturated with tankers. 264 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,040 So if a foreign power can get in and stop the traffic 265 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:25,640 in and out of Delaware bay 266 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:27,840 they've taken a great step toward victory. 267 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:32,000 The us military arrived at this 5,000-acre site 268 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:34,360 and installed the first large artillery pieces 269 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:35,680 in 1938. 270 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:37,720 Just over a year 271 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,040 before world war ii broke out in Europe. 272 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,560 Hitler fantasised about seeing New York City 273 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,360 engulfed in flames. 274 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:52,760 Hitler used to talk about his dreams 275 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,000 of seeing German long-range bombers attacking our coast. 276 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:00,000 One of his more over the top concepts 277 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:04,040 was that he might actually be able to do a land invasion of the us. 278 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:06,360 The threat was real, 279 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,640 we thought the Germans were coming over the horizon 280 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:09,920 and we were preparing for them. 281 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:13,800 The layout of the site 282 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,520 reflects how the us expected the Germans to attack, 283 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:20,360 with their powerful superfast battleships, 284 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,280 the observation towers were the first line of defence. 285 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,520 Tyler dreiblatt has been studying the site for years. 286 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:35,440 So this tower was here to spot for the big German battleships, 287 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:36,856 like the Bismarck and the tirpitz, 288 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:39,160 that's what we were worried about here at fort miles. 289 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,640 When construction began on these towers, 290 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,840 the us had yet to enter the war. 291 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:49,760 But they were sending cargo ships down the Delaware river 292 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,000 and out across the Atlantic to support their ally Great Britain. 293 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,360 After the fall of France in may, June 1940, 294 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:03,440 Great Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. 295 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:07,320 The battle of the Atlantic was an attempt by the Americans 296 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:08,640 to supply Great Britain 297 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,200 despite the presence of the German fleet. 298 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,360 This was a tonnage war 299 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,480 and if Hitler could cut britain off from her supplies 300 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:21,520 then victory would be within his grasp. 301 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,040 Heavy artillery that could fire miles out to sea 302 00:18:28,080 --> 00:18:29,320 protected the bay... 303 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,720 ..And the flow of traffic heading to britain. 304 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:40,160 About late '42, early '43 the fort was ready to rock and roll. 305 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,960 Made of 100,000 tonnes of concrete, 306 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,360 battery 519 hides the Jewel in the crown of this defence system. 307 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:54,160 This corridor cuts through the centre 308 00:18:54,200 --> 00:18:55,800 of this huge bunker. 309 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,360 Old rusty chains hang from rails, 310 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:05,320 this rail leads you to this monstrous gun. 311 00:19:07,840 --> 00:19:11,600 When you see this, the towers start to make sense. 312 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:17,360 These lookout towers were intended to help the artillerymen 313 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:19,200 find their targets better. 314 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:21,560 They would take a shot, see where it landed 315 00:19:21,600 --> 00:19:24,200 then the guys in the tower would say two degrees right, 316 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:25,480 two degrees left. 317 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,480 So this tower was one of 15 up and down the coast, 318 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,680 all working together to target those enemy battleships. 319 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:40,760 The fort's smaller guns also required bombproof housing, 320 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:44,000 this mighty structure is battery herring. 321 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:46,640 Herring was part of one of four batteries, 322 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:49,200 and you can still see the turntables 323 00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:51,440 where the six-inch guns would have sat. 324 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,880 You could fire a six-inch gun, it fired 100-pound shell, 325 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:00,200 armour-piercing shell about once every 15 seconds. 326 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:02,880 And so a blizzard of shells would start coming in 327 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:03,920 on enemy ship. 328 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,280 And with more artillery 329 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,200 and fortifications installed 12 miles away 330 00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:10,960 on the other side of the Delaware bay, 331 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,120 fort miles was complete. 332 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,680 Now the Americans believed they were ready to take whatever 333 00:20:17,720 --> 00:20:19,280 the Germans could throw at them. 334 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,240 A lot of military experts had their minds in the mentality 335 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,200 that wars are fought between giant battleships 336 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,720 bombarding things on land, 337 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,760 giant forts on land bombarding the battleships. 338 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:37,280 Those ships are going to appear over the horizon 339 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,200 to attack the east coast of the United States, 340 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,096 so this fort was built to defend against them, 341 00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:43,680 the Germans, unfortunately, outfoxed us. 342 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,640 The problem was Germany didn't arrive 343 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:47,760 with battleships. 344 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,960 The Germans arrived with something far more deadly 345 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,960 that would soon claim thousands of American lives. 346 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:00,920 Just when this defensive system was completed 347 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:03,840 it suddenly became obsolete. 348 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:06,680 December 1941, 349 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:10,000 Hitler declared war on the us 350 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,800 and dispatched five state of the art long-range u-boats 351 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:16,000 to attack america's Atlantic coast. 352 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:22,480 The stealth of Hitler's submarines had already caused devastation 353 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:23,880 in European waters. 354 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,520 The Americans don't really have good sort of submarine sense, 355 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:30,200 they're still thinking in terms of the fleet actions 356 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,320 and the open sea and they don't realise 357 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:35,440 that these German submarine wolf packs are creeping 358 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:36,960 right up to the American shore. 359 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,680 The lookout towers designed to help aim the big guns 360 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:45,280 turned out to be basically useless against submarines. 361 00:21:47,200 --> 00:21:49,200 The result was carnage. 362 00:21:57,320 --> 00:21:58,760 During world war ii, 363 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:01,920 fort miles had been built to protect Delaware bay 364 00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:03,680 against Nazi attack, 365 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,080 but they were not prepared 366 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:07,680 for Hitler's state of the art German u-boats. 367 00:22:08,320 --> 00:22:12,640 During a five-month period over 600 us ships 368 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,600 totalling 3 million tonnes were lost. 369 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,400 Over 5,000 American sailors lost their lives. 370 00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:25,280 18 of these ships sank in front of fort miles 371 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:27,240 at the entrance of the Delaware bay. 372 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:31,400 In the interest of morale, 373 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,880 us military chiefs may have wanted 374 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,120 to keep this humiliating defeat secret. 375 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,280 But the locals knew something was happening out there 376 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:43,000 because you could hear the explosions 377 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:44,720 and see the flames at night, 378 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,040 and then in the morning you would see the oil 379 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:48,960 and the flotsam that would come ashore. 380 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,400 It was a disaster of the first order. 381 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,520 The German u-boat war against us shipping 382 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:58,920 on our own coast was devastating. 383 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:01,840 The German admirals and submarine skippers 384 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:05,800 referred to these early months of the battle of the Atlantic 385 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:06,840 as the happy time. 386 00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:12,000 The Americans had to come up with a counter move fast, 387 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:15,720 the curiously long jetty at fort miles 388 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:17,320 was part of their response. 389 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,640 The decision was taken to deploy this enormous minefield 390 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:25,520 across the mouth of Delaware bay. 391 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:29,480 500 floating mines tethered to the sea bed 392 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,800 to stop any German submarines coming up the Delaware river. 393 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,280 The 6,000-pound mines were deployed in the deepest channel 394 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,240 of the Delaware bay where submarines could lurk. 395 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:48,600 The mine were for 1,700 feet long and it was out in deep water 396 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,280 and you had a minefield out in front. 397 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,520 It was a huge cable that went across 398 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,000 from the Delaware side to the New Jersey side 399 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:57,720 which blocked the mouth of the bay. 400 00:23:58,360 --> 00:24:00,680 The men in this tower also worked together 401 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:02,600 to spot ships moving into the bay 402 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,800 where they could make the decision to set off one mine, 15 mines 403 00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,720 or all 455 that crossed all the way across the Delaware. 404 00:24:11,920 --> 00:24:14,600 With the remotely detonated mines in place, 405 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,720 fort miles was finally able to protect war supplies 406 00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:19,200 coming out of Delaware bay. 407 00:24:21,920 --> 00:24:24,840 Until 14 14th of ay 1945, 408 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,920 when u-boat 858 surrendered at the pier 409 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:31,520 effectively marking the end of world war ii for this region. 410 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:36,760 After the war, 411 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,840 the German u-boats were replaced by Soviet submarines. 412 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:46,640 And when the cold war ended fort miles finally closed in 1991. 413 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,480 Today this dramatic facility is preserved as a museum. 414 00:24:55,640 --> 00:24:57,520 It serves as a stark reminder 415 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:00,720 of just how real the Nazi threat to america was. 416 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:10,320 In north-eastern Spain in the ancient province of aragon, 417 00:25:10,360 --> 00:25:11,880 a cluster of buildings 418 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:13,720 have been left high and dry. 419 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,520 This place used to be really civilised, 420 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,400 there are balconies, a local watering hole, 421 00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,160 a beautiful great church. 422 00:25:27,040 --> 00:25:29,640 You can see where people lived and where people worked, 423 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:31,600 where people worshipped, 424 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:33,680 the only thing you can't see is the people. 425 00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,840 The old stone buildings are completely crumbling, 426 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,160 the ceilings are really only being held up 427 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:40,760 by half-rotten tree branches. 428 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:46,480 At first, there's little indication as to why this place was abandoned. 429 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:53,400 What kind of evacuation gives people the time to pack up 430 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,440 all of their worldly goods and go down the road 431 00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,920 and in hopes of building a future somewhere else? 432 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:03,600 Something about this site that doesn't add up. 433 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,760 North-east Spain is a pretty dry area 434 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:12,200 but there was water here 435 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:14,760 so it must have been an attractive place to live 436 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:17,400 at some point. Why would anyone leave? 437 00:26:18,360 --> 00:26:22,080 The people who are settled here had found the garden of Eden, 438 00:26:22,120 --> 00:26:25,160 but someone with an even bigger stick wanted it. 439 00:26:26,360 --> 00:26:28,400 It's a David and Goliath story 440 00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:31,520 but this one doesn't have a happy ending. 441 00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,560 This is the ancient village of esco. 442 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,280 For hundreds of years, it was a stopping point 443 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,760 along the 1,000-mile pilgrimage route, 444 00:26:45,800 --> 00:26:47,600 the camino de Santiago. 445 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,040 Thousands, millions of christians would make the pilgrimage 446 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,200 along this route on foot. 447 00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:59,800 This place, esco village, was a very welcome rest stop 448 00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:00,880 on that pilgrimage. 449 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,680 Esco lies in a rugged mountainous region 450 00:27:06,520 --> 00:27:09,480 thanks to the pilgrims and the fruits of the land, 451 00:27:09,520 --> 00:27:11,960 it thrived well into the 20th century. 452 00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:18,480 Jose Luis clemente remembers that time well, 453 00:27:18,520 --> 00:27:20,320 this was his childhood home. 454 00:27:22,320 --> 00:27:25,400 Translation: "This is where I was born. 455 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:28,960 "I was happy here, I lived here for ten years. 456 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,920 "I remember it all very fondly. 457 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,440 "Years ago these ruins we see now 458 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:36,400 "they had a life of their own. 459 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,520 "There was a very strong community here. 460 00:27:43,120 --> 00:27:45,440 "At the beginning of the last century, 461 00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,200 "there was as many as 260 villagers here." 462 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:54,200 Land suitable for growing crops is scarce here, 463 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:56,520 limited to the narrow valley floor. 464 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,440 But the relics of irrigation channels, 465 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:01,800 terraces and orchards 466 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:05,000 show the esco farmers made the most of what they had. 467 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:08,520 Farming was clearly at the centre of village life. 468 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,480 Translation: "People lived off the land. 469 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,880 "In these groves, they grew vegetables, fruit, 470 00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:20,400 "all sorts of things." 471 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,200 The village of esco blossomed by virtue of its geography. 472 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:31,280 This is a very dry part of Spain 473 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:34,920 but this particular region is well watered 474 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:36,920 by runoff from the pyrenees mountains. 475 00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:40,040 So for hundreds of thousands of years, 476 00:28:40,080 --> 00:28:43,640 this valley is nicely wetted by its favourable geology. 477 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,536 Translation: "There was a water channel that brought water 478 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:49,680 "from the esco river 479 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:51,920 "and that irrigated all the orchards." 480 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,800 But when Jose was just ten years old something happened 481 00:28:57,840 --> 00:29:00,000 to change this ancient way of farming. 482 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:04,920 The very water that was the font of life 483 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:05,960 for this village 484 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,640 would ultimately strike its death knell. 485 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:14,560 The mid 20th century was the height of the fascist dictator 486 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:16,200 general Franco's reign. 487 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,360 He led Spain's drive to modernise. 488 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:23,280 In the 1950s 489 00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:25,040 Spain was beginning to rebuild itself 490 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:26,800 after a series of crises. 491 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,440 The civil war, world war ii 492 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,320 and the decision was made to modernise this part of Spain. 493 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,160 Spanish industry starts to develop 494 00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:41,400 and there is more and more need for water for farming, 495 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:44,200 for drinking water in cities, 496 00:29:44,240 --> 00:29:46,640 for powering industry 497 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:49,440 and that water's got to come from somewhere 498 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:53,360 and you can't wait for the rains to come 499 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,320 to run a modern industrial economy. 500 00:29:57,360 --> 00:29:59,520 Esco sits in the yesa valley, 501 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:02,640 an oasis in a notoriously dry region. 502 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:08,240 Here snowmelt and summer rains coursed downstream. 503 00:30:10,880 --> 00:30:13,600 It was a prime target for one of general Franco's 504 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,960 ambitious water infrastructure schemes. 505 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,000 The decision was made to put a reservoir in the valley 506 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,680 which they did by damming the river that runs right through here. 507 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:31,120 In 1960 general Franco opened his prized yesa dam. 508 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:36,400 Towering almost 250 feet high 509 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,600 it created one of the largest reservoirs 510 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:39,760 in the pyrenees, 511 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,480 and flooded 2,500 hectares of land, 512 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,880 including the precious fertile pastures of esco. 513 00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:55,040 But general Franco's iron grip on the people of Spain 514 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:56,920 meant speaking out was unthinkable. 515 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:02,160 Translation: "There were no protests or anything 516 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:05,840 "because they were a political crime and simply not permitted. 517 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,040 "Here the people were very straightforward, 518 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,760 "not cunning enough and they did what they were told." 519 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,320 Esco itself wasn't flooded 520 00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:22,680 so at first Jose's family and the other villagers thought 521 00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:23,800 they could survive. 522 00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:27,080 So the water starts to rise, 523 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,960 their farmable land starts to shrink, 524 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:32,840 their bread basket was becoming a bucket. 525 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,800 They tried to sustain themselves on the land they had left 526 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:38,680 but it simply wasn't enough to feed everyone. 527 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:42,640 Bit by bit the villagers saw 528 00:31:42,680 --> 00:31:47,480 that their livelihoods were going under the surface 529 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:48,600 of that lake. 530 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:52,320 Translation: "The reservoir flooded all the richest lands. 531 00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,000 "It wasn't enough for all the families to live on 532 00:31:56,040 --> 00:31:59,920 "so everyone of them chose to leave and live somewhere else." 533 00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,960 Water for these farmers was the stuff of life 534 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,360 and it was water that snuffed it out. 535 00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:20,760 Today Jose heads up the esco residents association 536 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,200 which campaigns to get their land back. 537 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,520 But their ultimate goal is to return home one day. 538 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,280 Translation: "It takes one drop to start a waterfall. 539 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,960 "So if I put down a stone and build a house 540 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:42,680 "others will start to follow and build more houses 541 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,120 "and the village will come back to life." 542 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,040 Spain has been a democracy a few years now, 543 00:32:52,080 --> 00:32:55,800 so now it might be possible for people to return 544 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:58,720 and make new lives in their old village. 545 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,080 In kawatana, in the far southwest of Japan, 546 00:33:10,120 --> 00:33:11,840 strange structures jut out 547 00:33:11,880 --> 00:33:13,200 into the bay. 548 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,680 When you see this area it looks very peaceful. 549 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:24,280 Wooded hills, lovely bays, 550 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:27,280 it looks like maybe someplace you'd go on a yoga retreat. 551 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,240 But as tranquil as this place might first appear, 552 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,480 in truth it conceals a violent past. 553 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,800 As you head up one of the hills you can see up to the peak, 554 00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:42,280 get the most amazing views out across the water. 555 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,880 And that I think is the clue as to what this place was for. 556 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:55,960 This is a very remote location. 557 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:59,800 You don't see major towns, it's not a major port, 558 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:02,160 you don't see a lot of other boats in the area. 559 00:34:04,280 --> 00:34:07,080 Whoever built these buildings had a reason 560 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:09,720 to be as far away from other people as possible. 561 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,080 Were they doing something secret? Were they doing something dangerous? 562 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:16,400 There are stories here in these buildings. 563 00:34:17,720 --> 00:34:19,600 While few clues remain, 564 00:34:19,640 --> 00:34:22,800 this site was, in fact, connected to the deadly attack 565 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:24,000 on Pearl harbour. 566 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:27,160 So what secret work took place here? 567 00:34:27,840 --> 00:34:30,640 And what role did it have on that fateful day? 568 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:38,040 The peak of activity dates back to world war ii. 569 00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:44,680 Translation: "74 years have passed since the war 570 00:34:44,720 --> 00:34:47,840 "but in kawatana there are many places like this 571 00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:49,320 "leftover from that time." 572 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:54,720 Murai tatsumi is a volunteer guide in the area 573 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:57,520 and first began exploring this site at a young age. 574 00:35:00,440 --> 00:35:03,320 Translation: "I happened to be born here and grew up around here. 575 00:35:04,600 --> 00:35:06,720 "So this was a good area to play in, 576 00:35:07,920 --> 00:35:10,240 "but it used to be like an overgrown forest here, 577 00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:11,360 "nobody really knew 578 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,400 "what those buildings originally were." 579 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:19,920 While the history of the site was neglected for years, 580 00:35:20,720 --> 00:35:24,000 from its earliest days at the end of world war I, 581 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,760 this location played a vital role 582 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:29,240 in improving Japan's naval capabilities. 583 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,320 I think today many people don't realise 584 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:35,960 just how powerful Japan was 585 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:38,320 in the first half of the 20th century. 586 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,920 It had taken over territory on the Chinese mainland, 587 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,160 it had taken over a number of formerly German island groups 588 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:46,400 in the pacific. 589 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:49,280 And they were needing bigger and bigger 590 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:54,160 more sophisticated naval facilities for this big ocean-going fleet 591 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:57,000 that was going to protect this growing Japanese empire. 592 00:35:58,360 --> 00:36:01,320 The unique features still visible today 593 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:04,240 betray the specific purpose of this facility. 594 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,200 The key thing about this area is the pier 595 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:10,440 and more importantly that section at the end, 596 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:11,680 the cut-out section. 597 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:14,560 This site is all about the water, 598 00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,600 but we're not looking at ships or vessels here, 599 00:36:17,640 --> 00:36:19,520 it's all about weapons. 600 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:25,320 This was the location Japan used to test new torpedo designs. 601 00:36:27,520 --> 00:36:30,840 This is the katashima torpedo test site: 602 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:34,920 Situated on the shore of omura bay, 603 00:36:34,960 --> 00:36:37,440 a large inland body of water, 604 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:41,000 the Japanese Navy had found a quiet and secure position 605 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:42,920 to advance their weapons programme. 606 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,160 But how would this site go on to play a devastating role 607 00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:52,200 in drawing the us into battle? 608 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:56,160 Translation: "Here are the marks 609 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:57,960 "from where the mine cart rails used to be. 610 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,520 "They'd put the torpedoes in the mine carts 611 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:02,600 "and then bring them here. 612 00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,560 "And then here, there was probably a crane. 613 00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:08,800 "They'd put the torpedo on the crane 614 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,800 "and lower it 3m to 5m under the water. 615 00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:16,360 "They'd aim it at a target 2km away and fire it from here." 616 00:37:18,160 --> 00:37:20,800 So the whole of the infrastructure here 617 00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:24,760 is aiming at one thing and that's testing torpedoes. 618 00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:26,640 You have to be able to track the thing 619 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:31,040 and that's where we've got the whole tower up on the hillside. 620 00:37:31,080 --> 00:37:33,600 We can see the observation platforms 621 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:37,160 where naval officers testing the torpedoes would watch them 622 00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:41,080 run across the water and, you know, note down observations about route, 623 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:43,160 speed, direction, velocity all that kind of stuff. 624 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:46,440 You've had spotters out on boats as well, 625 00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:47,760 a risky business 626 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,680 because those torpedoes didn't always go where they thought 627 00:37:50,720 --> 00:37:51,800 they were going to. 628 00:37:52,920 --> 00:37:55,720 Testing facility like this they were doing a dry run 629 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:57,960 with all of their various torpedo technologies, 630 00:37:58,000 --> 00:37:59,640 testing the various fuses, 631 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:01,880 testing how it would run at certain depths. 632 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:04,640 Testing whether it would explode on impact 633 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,160 or if the fuse would explode near the hull of the enemy ship. 634 00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:11,520 Throughout the 1930s 635 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:15,440 Japan used torpedoes in pursuit of its expansionist aims. 636 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:18,840 But to perfect their weapon of choice 637 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:21,600 the land-based facilities were just as vital. 638 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:26,336 Translation: "Here you can see a channel, 639 00:38:26,360 --> 00:38:27,880 "this must be the waterway. 640 00:38:28,640 --> 00:38:31,520 "There are water pools for industrial water next to it. 641 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:35,440 "Over here we think there were machines 642 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:36,640 "for processing." 643 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:41,200 Little evidence remains 644 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:43,640 to determine exactly how this place ran 645 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:46,280 and the full extent of the work carried out here. 646 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:50,520 But tatsumi is certain of this building's importance 647 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:51,560 to the project. 648 00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:55,600 Translation: "To fire torpedoes, 649 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:57,720 "you have to use air to burn the fuel. 650 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:02,240 "So in this room the compressed air was put into the torpedoes. 651 00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:07,040 "This was the most important part of the preparations." 652 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,240 After years spent perfecting their weapon, 653 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:18,880 on the horizon was Japan's greatest challenge yet, 654 00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:21,080 an attack on the us Navy. 655 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:24,040 To help prepare them 656 00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:27,600 a specific model of torpedo was tested numerous times here: 657 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:29,960 The type 91. 658 00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:35,880 This was a torpedo designed to be dropped from aeroplanes, 659 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:39,680 they specifically modified it to work in shallow water 660 00:39:39,720 --> 00:39:41,400 because they had a target in mind. 661 00:39:42,160 --> 00:39:44,280 They wanted to use it for the big attack 662 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:46,600 they were planning on Pearl harbour in Hawaii. 663 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,840 Following the successful attack in 1941, 664 00:39:55,880 --> 00:39:58,280 Japan continued with its torpedo campaign 665 00:39:58,320 --> 00:40:00,160 across the pacific theatre. 666 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:05,040 Japan's focus on developing torpedo technology 667 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,960 was very smart because at this time 668 00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,720 many naval experts were still thinking 669 00:40:10,760 --> 00:40:14,520 about battleships as the primary weapon of war. 670 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:17,760 And battleships, in fact, were almost obsolete by then. 671 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,360 Their strategy was to kind of draw the Americans 672 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,040 across the broad pacific 673 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,560 and whittle down the strength of the American fleet. 674 00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:30,960 By taking out their big battleships and aircraft carriers 675 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:32,280 with torpedoes. 676 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:37,560 The vast majority of ships sunk in the pacific during the war 677 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:39,360 were sunk by torpedoes, 678 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,200 whether fired from other ships, from submarines 679 00:40:42,240 --> 00:40:43,960 or dropped from aeroplanes. 680 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,000 With a renewed interest in this weapon, 681 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:51,760 the site here began to expand as investment flowed in, 682 00:40:52,920 --> 00:40:56,560 reclaiming land from the water to turn the island into a peninsula 683 00:40:56,600 --> 00:40:59,840 and expanding the facilities upwards and outwards. 684 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:04,560 Marooned in the water, lies the remains 685 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:06,720 of what was intended to be the next step. 686 00:41:11,280 --> 00:41:13,416 Translation: "Torpedoes were believed to be the best weapon 687 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:14,680 "in the world at the time. 688 00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:18,320 "Japan wasn't thinking about losing the war at all. 689 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:21,320 "So they need to mass-produce, 690 00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:23,600 "and they built a factory here 691 00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:26,480 "which was the largest one in the country." 692 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,640 The pace of engineering advancing during world war ii was phenomenal 693 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:35,360 and this extra building was for targeting torpedoes, 694 00:41:35,400 --> 00:41:39,320 it was for research into cutting-edge sonar technology. 695 00:41:43,000 --> 00:41:44,016 Translation: "This building 696 00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:46,280 "is called investigating receipt test site, 697 00:41:46,320 --> 00:41:48,600 "it was a testing facility for sonar. 698 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:53,280 "To help accurately determine the enemy warship's location 699 00:41:53,320 --> 00:41:54,480 "and distance. 700 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:03,880 "We don't have any records of tests here 701 00:42:04,840 --> 00:42:07,240 "because just after two years of building the site 702 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:08,480 "the war ended. 703 00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:12,200 "So we think this was all for nothing." 704 00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:17,440 On 9 August 1945 705 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:20,360 the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki 706 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:22,080 less than 20 miles away. 707 00:42:23,680 --> 00:42:26,120 Within days the Japanese surrendered, 708 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,320 and this entire site has lain deserted ever since. 709 00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,080 Translation: "Now we put emphasis on the war 710 00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:38,040 "as something we shouldn't repeat again. 711 00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:40,400 "And to keep the peace, 712 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:42,320 "we want people to come and see this place 713 00:42:42,360 --> 00:42:44,320 "and think about it carefully." 714 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:56,280 Abandoned, disintegrating, reclaimed by nature. 715 00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:59,360 Structures once at the cutting edge 716 00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:03,640 bearing witness to the forces, pioneers and villains 717 00:43:03,680 --> 00:43:05,720 that defined the world today. 718 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:11,240 Emblems of a shared past still standing in our present. 719 00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:14,280 Captioned by ai-media ai-media. TV 58853

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