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Would you like to inspect the original subtitles? These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:05,933 --> 00:00:11,004 ln 1914, German and British sailors believed their war was going to be... 2 00:00:11,033 --> 00:00:14,536 a great confrontation of huge battleships. 3 00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:24,504 But only once was there a full clash of fleets. 4 00:00:24,533 --> 00:00:27,002 The rest of the naval war was very different... 5 00:00:27,033 --> 00:00:29,168 from what had been expected. 6 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,336 lt was a war dominated by a new weapon-- 7 00:00:32,366 --> 00:00:34,134 the submarine. 8 00:00:34,166 --> 00:00:41,373 Submarines were terrible, really. They were small and so vulnerable. 9 00:00:42,666 --> 00:00:46,503 lt was a war of blockades and sinkings on a massive scale. 10 00:00:46,533 --> 00:00:51,471 lt brought disappointment and disaster before ultimate victory. 11 00:00:51,499 --> 00:00:55,403 Above all this sea war was about' innovation... 12 00:00:55,433 --> 00:00:58,135 and dazzling advances in technology... 13 00:00:58,166 --> 00:01:02,937 from the skies above to the deep oceans below. 14 00:01:05,533 --> 00:01:09,169 Now for the first time, it can be seen as it really happened-- 15 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:10,634 in color. 16 00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:52,539 Ever since the battle of Trafalgar, the British navy had dominated the seas. 17 00:01:52,566 --> 00:01:56,803 Pre-war displays like the Spithead review showed its might. 18 00:01:56,833 --> 00:01:59,402 l remember going to a review at Spithead... 19 00:01:59,433 --> 00:02:03,303 where Spithead was full of ships of all sizes... 20 00:02:03,333 --> 00:02:06,269 and it was a delight to be there... 21 00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:09,770 because as children we were all very excited about it. 22 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,736 Everywhere you went you would see Bluejackets. 23 00:02:12,766 --> 00:02:14,801 You would see sailors everywhere. 24 00:02:14,833 --> 00:02:19,871 So, we were a naval country in those days. 25 00:02:21,666 --> 00:02:24,835 Britain, a small island, depended on trade... 26 00:02:24,866 --> 00:02:27,635 and keeping its trade routes open and safe... 27 00:02:27,666 --> 00:02:31,269 required control of the sea. 28 00:02:31,299 --> 00:02:33,969 But in the decade Ieading up to World War l... 29 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,237 British naval supremacy had faced a new challenge. 30 00:02:41,566 --> 00:02:45,536 Ever since he'd become Emperor of Germany in 1888... 31 00:02:45,566 --> 00:02:48,235 Haiser Wilhelm Il had been determined... 32 00:02:48,266 --> 00:02:53,437 to build an overseas empire to rival other European nations. 33 00:02:54,666 --> 00:02:58,569 To acquire this empire, he needed to build a navy. 34 00:03:01,266 --> 00:03:02,900 The Haiser's ambitions... 35 00:03:02,933 --> 00:03:06,369 and Britain's determination to maintain its lead at sea... 36 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,070 led to a hugely expensive naval arms race. 37 00:03:11,933 --> 00:03:15,202 At its heart was a new type of battleship... 38 00:03:15,233 --> 00:03:16,701 pioneered by the British... 39 00:03:16,733 --> 00:03:20,269 and named after the first to be built in 1905-- 40 00:03:20,299 --> 00:03:22,435 the Dreadnought. 41 00:03:23,666 --> 00:03:28,837 lt was enormous and outgunned anything built before. 42 00:03:28,866 --> 00:03:29,733 The Dreadnought introduced... 43 00:03:29,766 --> 00:03:33,402 two fundamental changes in battleship technology. 44 00:03:33,433 --> 00:03:36,502 First, it replaced the main armament of four heavy guns... 45 00:03:36,533 --> 00:03:39,235 with an armament of eight or ten heavy guns. 46 00:03:39,266 --> 00:03:41,134 And secondly, it gradually introduced... 47 00:03:41,166 --> 00:03:44,402 high powered turbine engines, so it increased the speed of the fleet. 48 00:03:44,433 --> 00:03:48,003 Essentially, it's a quantum leap in the performance of the battleship... 49 00:03:48,033 --> 00:03:52,036 and for a period of eight years, you have a sustained building race... 50 00:03:52,066 --> 00:03:55,068 in which ever-bigger and more powerful battleships... 51 00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:58,236 are built in competition. 52 00:03:58,266 --> 00:04:01,435 Admiral Lord Fisher, inventor of the Dreadnought... 53 00:04:01,466 --> 00:04:06,070 claimed it made every other class of battleship irrelevant. 54 00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:09,570 The only issue is the number of Dreadnoughts. 55 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,502 No matter who tries to fight the Dreadnought... 56 00:04:12,533 --> 00:04:14,935 the Dreadnought gobbles them all up. 57 00:04:14,966 --> 00:04:17,268 lt's the armadillo and the ants. 58 00:04:17,299 --> 00:04:21,404 The armadillo puts out its tongue and licks up the ants. 59 00:04:24,566 --> 00:04:27,802 By the time war was declared in August, 1914... 60 00:04:27,833 --> 00:04:31,836 Germany had built 13 Dreadnoughts to Britain's 21. 61 00:04:33,999 --> 00:04:36,202 Ordinary sailors on both sides... 62 00:04:36,233 --> 00:04:41,237 now looked forward to putting their massive new weapons to the test. 63 00:04:41,266 --> 00:04:45,670 There's great enthusiasm, and recruits are flocking in daily. 64 00:04:45,700 --> 00:04:47,735 lf only the German fleet would come out. 65 00:04:47,766 --> 00:04:50,735 We would wipe them out in a few minutes. 66 00:04:50,766 --> 00:04:55,103 Fred Bunday was a 15-year-old cadet when war broke out. 67 00:04:55,133 --> 00:04:59,337 l just knew that the Haiser was somebody l didn't ought to know. 68 00:04:59,366 --> 00:05:04,204 lf l had the chance, l'd shoot him, if l had the chance, you know. 69 00:05:04,233 --> 00:05:08,904 As soon as he could, Fred Bunday joined up full time. 70 00:05:08,933 --> 00:05:11,702 l thought it was wonderful. 71 00:05:11,733 --> 00:05:14,035 ln a trench, for instance... 72 00:05:14,066 --> 00:05:17,536 l just have to run up top and get bullets in me... 73 00:05:17,566 --> 00:05:18,733 anything like that. 74 00:05:18,766 --> 00:05:20,167 l was joining the navy. 75 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,671 And well ships had always be'en my ideal. 76 00:05:27,066 --> 00:05:29,601 German sailors were just as excited. 77 00:05:29,633 --> 00:05:32,402 ln 1914, seaman Richard Stumpf... 78 00:05:32,433 --> 00:05:35,736 was waiting with the German high seas fleet. 79 00:05:35,766 --> 00:05:39,035 Our joy and excitement were boundless... 80 00:05:39,066 --> 00:05:41,067 and lasted late into the night. 81 00:05:41,099 --> 00:05:44,903 The thing we had yearned for and feared had come true. 82 00:05:44,933 --> 00:05:46,234 We had built our navy... 83 00:05:46,266 --> 00:05:50,203 so we could fight the false and treacherous English. 84 00:05:51,966 --> 00:05:55,002 But the sheer expense and prestige of the Dreadnoughts... 85 00:05:55,033 --> 00:05:57,268 began to have a curious result. 86 00:05:57,299 --> 00:06:00,002 No one could afford to lose one. 87 00:06:00,033 --> 00:06:02,068 Admiral John Jellicoe... 88 00:06:02,099 --> 00:06:05,236 Commander of the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow... 89 00:06:05,266 --> 00:06:09,370 was reluctant even to let his Dreadnoughts out of port. 90 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:11,802 Provided there is a chance of destroying... 91 00:06:11,833 --> 00:06:13,568 some of the enemy's heavy ships... 92 00:06:13,599 --> 00:06:16,235 it is right and proper to run risks of our own. 93 00:06:16,266 --> 00:06:18,801 But unless the chances are reasonably great... 94 00:06:18,833 --> 00:06:22,036 l do not think that such risks should be run. 95 00:06:23,766 --> 00:06:26,768 His main fear was that if he took... 96 00:06:26,799 --> 00:06:30,236 his very expensive battle fleet to sea... 97 00:06:30,266 --> 00:06:32,301 and he lost a battle... 98 00:06:32,333 --> 00:06:37,337 he effectively might, as he put it, Iose the war in an afternoon. 99 00:06:37,366 --> 00:06:40,168 So you would get two fleets in their fleet anchorages... 100 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:41,801 or at their headquarters and bases... 101 00:06:41,833 --> 00:06:44,101 which were mutually opposing each other... 102 00:06:44,133 --> 00:06:47,636 and, in a sense, stalemated each other by not even going to sea. 103 00:06:49,133 --> 00:06:50,767 The caution was so great... 104 00:06:50,799 --> 00:06:53,068 that it would be a full two years into the war... 105 00:06:53,099 --> 00:06:57,771 before the fleets of both sides engaged in a proper battle. 106 00:07:00,733 --> 00:07:03,469 As the Dreadnoughts stayed safely in their harbors... 107 00:07:03,500 --> 00:07:06,703 the rest of Britain's navy set out to starve Germany... 108 00:07:06,733 --> 00:07:10,903 by blockading it and stopping its trade with the outside world. 109 00:07:13,766 --> 00:07:16,602 The British, with their vastly bigger surface fleet... 110 00:07:16,633 --> 00:07:18,134 of cruisers and destroyers... 111 00:07:18,166 --> 00:07:21,068 quickly gained control of the North Sea. 112 00:07:21,099 --> 00:07:24,203 They were able to intercept almost all merchant shipping... 113 00:07:24,233 --> 00:07:27,669 from neutral nations headed for German ports. 114 00:07:27,700 --> 00:07:30,235 The neutral ships would go into a British port... 115 00:07:30,266 --> 00:07:33,936 and their cargo would simply be bought by the British for their own use. 116 00:07:33,966 --> 00:07:36,368 So the neutrals weren't particularly disappointed. 117 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:38,602 Their voyage was cut short, they got home sooner... 118 00:07:38,633 --> 00:07:40,167 and they were paid in full. 119 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,369 So essentially nobody was upset, apart from the Germans. 120 00:07:46,333 --> 00:07:48,401 German sailors could only watch... 121 00:07:48,433 --> 00:07:52,737 as naval superiority enabled Britain to stock up for war... 122 00:07:52,766 --> 00:07:56,603 while their own nation was made to suffer. 123 00:07:56,633 --> 00:08:00,370 When one saw the amount of shipping converging on Britain... 124 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:03,669 when one saw how busily the enemy was engaged... 125 00:08:03,700 --> 00:08:06,135 in importing from all quarters of the globe... 126 00:08:06,166 --> 00:08:09,536 the materials that reinforced his strength... 127 00:08:09,566 --> 00:08:11,734 in his fight against us... 128 00:08:11,766 --> 00:08:15,069 one saw the writing on the wall. 129 00:08:19,166 --> 00:08:22,903 One weapon would revolutionize the war at sea-- 130 00:08:22,933 --> 00:08:27,604 the submarine, or U-boat, as the Germans called it. 131 00:08:27,633 --> 00:08:32,904 When war began, the British navy had more submarines than Germany. 132 00:08:32,933 --> 00:08:36,636 Life on board was in stark contrast to the big battleships. 133 00:08:36,666 --> 00:08:41,704 To me, it was claustrophobia or whatever they call it. 134 00:08:41,733 --> 00:08:45,736 You know, l didn't like-- l liked to be where l could get out. 135 00:08:45,766 --> 00:08:47,300 l didn't like to be closed in. 136 00:08:47,333 --> 00:08:54,740 And submarines were terrible, really. They were small and so vulnerable. 137 00:08:54,766 --> 00:08:57,869 lt was all volunteers. 138 00:08:57,900 --> 00:09:01,036 Reason--to get a shilling a day extra. 139 00:09:01,066 --> 00:09:03,435 There wasn't many submarines... 140 00:09:03,466 --> 00:09:05,601 so they didn't want a lot of men to volunteer. 141 00:09:05,633 --> 00:09:08,435 But as it went further on and got more... 142 00:09:08,466 --> 00:09:10,801 then of course we had to go in them. 143 00:09:12,266 --> 00:09:14,134 l didn't want to go, but they had to go... 144 00:09:14,166 --> 00:09:17,135 but after we saw them after they were delighted. 145 00:09:17,366 --> 00:09:20,402 ln the submarine there, all is one, you see. 146 00:09:21,499 --> 00:09:23,335 You're a Lieutenant, and l'm a stoker. 147 00:09:23,366 --> 00:09:25,501 We'd both work together, because if you got hit... 148 00:09:25,533 --> 00:09:28,435 you've got to know what to do, you see, in a submarine. 149 00:09:31,466 --> 00:09:36,971 The British used their submarines for patrols in support of the surface fleet. 150 00:09:36,999 --> 00:09:41,104 The German U-boats would have a totally different purpose. 151 00:09:41,133 --> 00:09:44,369 They became the lone hunters, and they gave Germany... 152 00:09:44,399 --> 00:09:47,803 its one truly effective naval weapon of the war. 153 00:09:50,133 --> 00:09:52,835 Much of a U-boat's Ionely time in the ocean... 154 00:09:52,866 --> 00:09:57,303 was still spent on the surface, allowing moments of peace and calm. 155 00:09:58,633 --> 00:10:01,369 After an excellent supper on the fresh fish... 156 00:10:01,399 --> 00:10:03,368 given to us by our fisherman friends... 157 00:10:03,399 --> 00:10:06,136 we were glad to clamber up on the conning tower... 158 00:10:06,166 --> 00:10:09,736 to enjoy the northern evening air and a cigar. 159 00:10:09,766 --> 00:10:13,936 Gray and violet hues replaced the shining glow of sunset. 160 00:10:15,133 --> 00:10:19,036 Underneath the water, as the U-boat went in search of its prey... 161 00:10:19,066 --> 00:10:21,201 life became very different. 162 00:10:21,233 --> 00:10:25,036 The atmosphere below was really beyond description. 163 00:10:25,066 --> 00:10:27,935 An appalling burst of heat flung me backwards. 164 00:10:27,966 --> 00:10:32,103 The thermometer stood at nearly 45 degrees Celsius. 165 00:10:32,133 --> 00:10:36,270 The men were standing over the engines in the bare minimum of clothing... 166 00:10:36,300 --> 00:10:40,504 and their drawn, gaunt faces smeared with oil and filth... 167 00:10:40,533 --> 00:10:42,768 looked like skulls. 168 00:10:45,533 --> 00:10:47,334 ln September, 1914... 169 00:10:47,366 --> 00:10:51,236 this new underwater threat showed its murderous potential. 170 00:10:51,266 --> 00:10:56,471 Three aging British battleships, the Aboukir, Hogue, and Cressy... 171 00:10:56,499 --> 00:11:00,904 were sunk in a single day by one German U-boat. 172 00:11:02,100 --> 00:11:06,404 A British midshipman wrote home with the remarkable story of his survival. 173 00:11:06,433 --> 00:11:10,837 Dear Granny, l had a most thrilling experience. 174 00:11:10,866 --> 00:11:15,537 We were woken by a terrific crash, and the whole ship shook. 175 00:11:15,566 --> 00:11:21,538 The Aboukir went down suddenly, and we slid down her side into the water. 176 00:11:21,566 --> 00:11:25,303 l swam to the Hogue and was just going on board... 177 00:11:25,333 --> 00:11:29,570 when she was struck and sunk in three minutes. 178 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:33,470 l then swam on to the Cressy, where l had a cup of cocoa. 179 00:11:33,499 --> 00:11:36,703 But as l finished it, she was struck. 180 00:11:36,733 --> 00:11:38,301 l jumped off again. 181 00:11:38,333 --> 00:11:42,570 l was picked up, having been three hours in the water. 182 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:47,870 1,400 other sailors lost their lives. 183 00:11:49,966 --> 00:11:55,171 A U-boat was able to sneak up on its target without being seen. 184 00:11:55,200 --> 00:11:57,435 But when it came to merchant shipping... 185 00:11:57,466 --> 00:12:02,971 this unique quality of surprise presented a legal and diplomatic problem. 186 00:12:04,100 --> 00:12:07,336 Under international law, an attacking warship of any side... 187 00:12:07,366 --> 00:12:09,534 was first required to stop a merchant ship... 188 00:12:09,566 --> 00:12:13,002 board it, and inspect its cargo. 189 00:12:13,033 --> 00:12:16,403 lf the cargo was found to be assisting the enemy... 190 00:12:16,433 --> 00:12:18,535 the attacker was required to allow the merchant crew... 191 00:12:18,566 --> 00:12:20,100 to leave their ship safely. 192 00:12:20,133 --> 00:12:22,969 Only then could they blow it up. 193 00:12:26,999 --> 00:12:30,937 Of course, stopping vessels and going through this rigmarole... 194 00:12:30,966 --> 00:12:34,436 was inimical to the advantage... 195 00:12:34,466 --> 00:12:37,235 that the submarine had in attacking merchant shipping. 196 00:12:37,266 --> 00:12:39,968 lt was a sneaky weapon-- a damned un-English weapon... 197 00:12:39,999 --> 00:12:42,769 as it had been called by one British commentator. 198 00:12:45,499 --> 00:12:48,936 Frustrated U-boat commanders began to bend the rules... 199 00:12:48,966 --> 00:12:51,201 sinking merchant ships without warning... 200 00:12:51,233 --> 00:12:54,202 but claiming that their targets were carrying munitions... 201 00:12:54,233 --> 00:12:58,303 or even that it was the British doing the sinking, not them. 202 00:12:59,933 --> 00:13:02,902 German propaganda films tried to convince the world... 203 00:13:02,933 --> 00:13:08,805 that they were still sticking to the law-- even towing merchant crews to safety. 204 00:13:08,833 --> 00:13:13,804 ln early 1915, this farce came to an end. 205 00:13:13,833 --> 00:13:18,504 The Haiser and his commanders decided to let the U-boats loose. 206 00:13:20,999 --> 00:13:23,702 The war on the Western Front was now bogged down... 207 00:13:23,733 --> 00:13:25,601 in the stalemate of the trenches. 208 00:13:25,633 --> 00:13:30,004 The Germans were getting nowhere against the British and French on land. 209 00:13:30,033 --> 00:13:33,069 The only way forward was to cut Britain off... 210 00:13:33,099 --> 00:13:35,302 from the trade which kept it alive. 211 00:13:36,533 --> 00:13:42,171 On February 22, Germany declared unrestricted U-boat warfare. 212 00:13:45,833 --> 00:13:51,605 U-boats would fire on merchant shipping headed for allied ports without warning. 213 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:57,203 Unrestricted submarine warfare is a case of ''What else can we do?'' 214 00:13:57,233 --> 00:13:59,535 Let's try this. Maybe this will work. 215 00:13:59,566 --> 00:14:02,268 There's a sense of desperation. 216 00:14:02,300 --> 00:14:04,869 lt's also, l think, the German navy saying... 217 00:14:04,900 --> 00:14:07,035 ''We're not doing what we thought we were going to do. 218 00:14:07,066 --> 00:14:09,368 ''We're not fighting this great battle with Dreadnoughts... 219 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:11,101 ''but if we don't do something... 220 00:14:11,133 --> 00:14:13,602 ''all those soldiers on the Western Front will say... 221 00:14:13,633 --> 00:14:16,335 'why are we fighting and dying? The navy's doing nothing.''' 222 00:14:18,999 --> 00:14:23,437 For the U-boat crews, there was relief and celebration. 223 00:14:23,466 --> 00:14:26,235 At last it arrived. 224 00:14:26,266 --> 00:14:29,102 Unrestricted U-boat warfare began. 225 00:14:29,133 --> 00:14:33,904 We'd lost a burden we had carried since the day the war broke out. 226 00:14:37,766 --> 00:14:42,804 ln three months, the U-boats sank 115 ships. 227 00:14:42,833 --> 00:14:46,636 But then one U-boat went too far. 228 00:14:46,833 --> 00:14:51,037 On May 7, 1915, the Cunard liner the Lusitania... 229 00:14:51,599 --> 00:14:55,437 set sail for Britain from the United States. 230 00:14:55,466 --> 00:14:58,435 Alice Drury, nanny for an American family... 231 00:14:58,466 --> 00:15:03,437 was looking after the baby when the first German torpedo struck. 232 00:15:03,466 --> 00:15:06,535 l just picked up the shawl and the baby with it. 233 00:15:06,566 --> 00:15:09,302 Stuart was also in the cabin, and he was crying... 234 00:15:09,333 --> 00:15:12,502 ''l don't want to be drowned, l don't want to be drowned.'' 235 00:15:12,533 --> 00:15:15,002 And l crossed over to him and said... 236 00:15:15,033 --> 00:15:18,236 ''Hang on to me whatever happens.'' And he did. 237 00:15:18,366 --> 00:15:21,635 The other nurse called down to me, ''What shall l do?'' 238 00:15:21,666 --> 00:15:24,668 l said, ''You look after the baby.'' 239 00:15:25,933 --> 00:15:29,169 l never saw her or Bunny ever again. 240 00:15:31,933 --> 00:15:35,436 Over 1,200 people drowned in the Lusitania. 241 00:15:37,366 --> 00:15:41,803 lt gives the British a real advantage, which they exploit very effectively. 242 00:15:41,833 --> 00:15:45,536 British propaganda in this war is going to be one of the major weapons... 243 00:15:45,566 --> 00:15:48,635 and the principal target is the opinion of the United States. 244 00:15:48,666 --> 00:15:51,235 The Lusitania is a godsend to the British. 245 00:15:51,266 --> 00:15:54,002 lt's quite the most stupid thing the Germans could have done. 246 00:15:55,199 --> 00:15:57,969 The torpedoing and sinking of the Lusitania... 247 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:01,737 evinces a disregard of opinions of the world in general... 248 00:16:01,766 --> 00:16:03,734 and of this country in particular... 249 00:16:03,766 --> 00:16:05,901 only compatible with the assumption... 250 00:16:05,933 --> 00:16:10,170 that blood lust has toppled reason from its throne. 251 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:14,603 Much of the outrage fell on the Haiser himself. 252 00:16:14,633 --> 00:16:16,735 Now, that was wicked. 253 00:16:16,766 --> 00:16:22,705 lt should never have happened, because if he'd have been a good man... 254 00:16:22,733 --> 00:16:25,769 he'd have said, ''Well, it's full of all civilians. 255 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,302 ''What do l went with sinking that? 256 00:16:28,333 --> 00:16:31,002 Let the thing go where it wants to go.'' 257 00:16:31,033 --> 00:16:33,535 That would have been my sentiment. 258 00:16:33,566 --> 00:16:37,436 But it wasn't his. It was just to perform something... 259 00:16:37,466 --> 00:16:40,468 that would shock the English people. 260 00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:44,871 You know, we're not playing any games. This is real now. 261 00:16:46,599 --> 00:16:49,736 The outcry over the Lusitania persuaded Germany... 262 00:16:49,766 --> 00:16:53,569 to return to complying with international law. 263 00:16:53,599 --> 00:16:56,869 But the frustration soon built up again. 264 00:16:56,900 --> 00:17:01,537 ln November, 1915, the German Commander-in-Chief noted... 265 00:17:01,566 --> 00:17:05,636 A U-boat cannot spare the crews of steamers. 266 00:17:05,666 --> 00:17:07,868 The shipping world can be warned... 267 00:17:07,900 --> 00:17:11,236 that the lives of the steamer's crews will be endangered. 268 00:17:11,266 --> 00:17:12,400 This will be one good reason... 269 00:17:12,433 --> 00:17:15,135 why all shipping trade with England should cease... 270 00:17:15,166 --> 00:17:17,268 within a short space of time. 271 00:17:17,300 --> 00:17:19,201 The gravity of the situation... 272 00:17:19,233 --> 00:17:22,669 demands that we should free ourselves of scruples. 273 00:17:29,066 --> 00:17:34,504 ln February, 1916, unrestricted U-boat warfare returned. 274 00:17:34,533 --> 00:17:37,469 So did the disgust. 275 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:40,803 Submarines cannot be used against merchantmen... 276 00:17:40,833 --> 00:17:43,135 as the last few weeks have shown... 277 00:17:43,166 --> 00:17:48,237 without inevitable violation of many sacred principles of justice and humanity. 278 00:17:52,266 --> 00:17:56,436 Our commerce was subject to attack by an unseen enemy... 279 00:17:56,466 --> 00:17:59,969 to be sunk by a torpedo before any signal for help could be sent... 280 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,969 or any escape could be attempted. 281 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,769 Liners, tramps, fishing craft... 282 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:10,638 men, women, children, were all at the mercy of an unseen enemy. 283 00:18:12,566 --> 00:18:16,102 ln spring 1916, fearing that America would be provoked... 284 00:18:16,133 --> 00:18:17,534 into entering the war... 285 00:18:17,566 --> 00:18:21,603 Germany called off its second unrestricted U-boat campaign. 286 00:18:22,899 --> 00:18:26,970 During it, the U-boats had sunk 212 ships. 287 00:18:31,033 --> 00:18:33,835 While the British blockade and Germany's U-boats... 288 00:18:33,866 --> 00:18:36,802 dominated the war in the Atlantic and the North Sea... 289 00:18:36,833 --> 00:18:39,335 the British navy had also been engaged... 290 00:18:39,366 --> 00:18:45,839 in a very different and disastrous campaign 1,500 miles to the east. 291 00:18:49,300 --> 00:18:53,270 When war broke out, the man in charge of Britain's navy... 292 00:18:53,300 --> 00:18:56,136 was the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill. 293 00:18:57,866 --> 00:19:00,868 With the trench warfare on the Western Front getting nowhere... 294 00:19:00,899 --> 00:19:05,404 Churchill believed the navy provided another way to win the war. 295 00:19:06,833 --> 00:19:11,137 His plan was to attack Germany's ally, Turkey. 296 00:19:11,166 --> 00:19:12,901 Winston Churchill decides... 297 00:19:12,933 --> 00:19:16,303 that an attack on Turkey through the Dardanelle Straits... 298 00:19:16,333 --> 00:19:17,834 will knock Turkey out of the war... 299 00:19:17,866 --> 00:19:20,101 allow Britain to supply Russia with weapons... 300 00:19:20,133 --> 00:19:23,803 and will help to defeat Germany by knocking away her supports. 301 00:19:23,833 --> 00:19:26,435 So the object is a grand strategic maneuver... 302 00:19:26,466 --> 00:19:29,735 to win the war by attacking somewhere else. 303 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:35,203 ln February, 1915, British and French ships... 304 00:19:35,233 --> 00:19:39,637 began to bombard the Turkish forts which guarded the Dardanelles. 305 00:19:46,466 --> 00:19:52,238 But the old pre-Dreadnought battleships were in for a nasty surprise. 306 00:19:52,266 --> 00:19:56,303 The Turks had managed to lay a line of mines... 307 00:19:56,333 --> 00:19:58,001 just where the allied fleet... 308 00:19:58,033 --> 00:20:00,335 the French and British pre-Dreadnoughts would be maneuvering. 309 00:20:00,366 --> 00:20:04,269 the result was three pre-Dreadnoughts sunk... 310 00:20:04,300 --> 00:20:08,937 hundreds of lives lost, and a huge blow to British prestige. 311 00:20:10,166 --> 00:20:14,270 The allied sailors realized they were sitting ducks. 312 00:20:14,300 --> 00:20:16,268 We went into the jaws of death today... 313 00:20:16,300 --> 00:20:20,103 but owing to God's mercy, we returned without loss of life... 314 00:20:20,133 --> 00:20:23,436 although the majority of the sailors didn't think it was God's mercy. 315 00:20:23,466 --> 00:20:27,336 They put it down to having three bats on board the ship. 316 00:20:28,866 --> 00:20:32,002 Minesweepers tried to clear the minefield. 317 00:20:32,033 --> 00:20:37,037 They had limited success, but eventually the forts were silenced. 318 00:20:41,399 --> 00:20:44,169 Then on April 25... 319 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,269 British, French, Australian and New Zealand soldiers... 320 00:20:47,300 --> 00:20:51,303 known as Anzacs, Ianded on the Gallipoli peninsula. 321 00:20:52,766 --> 00:20:55,668 l felt a distinct feeling of fear and uncertainty... 322 00:20:55,700 --> 00:20:57,902 as l realized that very many of the soldiers... 323 00:20:57,933 --> 00:21:00,769 on board these ships were for certain death. 324 00:21:02,433 --> 00:21:03,634 l pictured in my mind... 325 00:21:03,666 --> 00:21:06,435 hundreds being shot down before they reached the shore... 326 00:21:06,466 --> 00:21:09,602 and then mown down long before they could leave the beaches... 327 00:21:09,633 --> 00:21:11,768 and reach the Turks' positions. 328 00:21:15,833 --> 00:21:19,803 The Turks were excellent defensive fighters, brilliantly led. 329 00:21:19,833 --> 00:21:23,336 Their--both the German and the Turkish officers were superb. 330 00:21:23,366 --> 00:21:27,303 And the British, the allied campaign... 331 00:21:27,333 --> 00:21:29,735 because the French were there in large numbers as well... 332 00:21:29,766 --> 00:21:31,167 the French, the British, and the Anzacs... 333 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:33,468 they didn't really have a chance. 334 00:21:35,233 --> 00:21:38,336 The land operation turned into a disaster. 335 00:21:38,366 --> 00:21:43,537 ln eight months, the allies suffered 250,OOO casualties. 336 00:21:43,566 --> 00:21:47,603 Of these, 110,OOO died. 337 00:21:49,966 --> 00:21:54,337 ln January, 1916, the troops were evacuated. 338 00:21:54,366 --> 00:21:57,836 Churchill was forced to leave the Admiralty. 339 00:21:59,333 --> 00:22:02,536 After the failure of the Gallipoli offensive... 340 00:22:02,566 --> 00:22:04,434 Britain and her allies will never again try... 341 00:22:04,466 --> 00:22:06,434 a major overseas offensive in this war. 342 00:22:06,466 --> 00:22:09,001 lt's the last big amphibious operation. 343 00:22:09,033 --> 00:22:12,136 lt means that the fighting will be confined to the European mainland... 344 00:22:12,166 --> 00:22:15,702 and all the initiatives will now be fought out on land. 345 00:22:18,099 --> 00:22:22,771 Unlike the army, it seemed the navy's war would be a quiet one. 346 00:22:22,799 --> 00:22:28,472 Watchfulness, blockade, and the peculiarities of life on board. 347 00:22:28,500 --> 00:22:31,936 You couldn't carry enough water to let everybody have a bath... 348 00:22:31,966 --> 00:22:33,233 so we didn't have a bath. 349 00:22:33,266 --> 00:22:35,601 We used to have a bowl to wash in... 350 00:22:35,633 --> 00:22:38,235 and then throw it over yourself like a bowl. 351 00:22:38,266 --> 00:22:41,435 But the officers had one, and the ensign commander... 352 00:22:41,466 --> 00:22:44,168 would paint a black mark so far... 353 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,570 so the young officers didn't go too much in the bathroom. 354 00:22:49,500 --> 00:22:52,836 There was the monotonous daily cycle of being on watch... 355 00:22:52,866 --> 00:22:55,435 resting, back on watch again. 356 00:22:55,466 --> 00:22:59,536 And the one traditional consolation. 357 00:22:59,566 --> 00:23:02,735 You had a bugler who would sound up-spirits... 358 00:23:02,766 --> 00:23:05,635 and then you'd go along and get your tot of rum then. 359 00:23:05,666 --> 00:23:09,436 Because we always had rum, right through the First World War... 360 00:23:09,466 --> 00:23:13,069 you know, and then you had your dinner. 361 00:23:14,266 --> 00:23:16,434 And that all had to be washed up. 362 00:23:16,466 --> 00:23:22,271 But it was a dirty, sticky arrangement in those days... 363 00:23:22,299 --> 00:23:29,507 and can l say that every ship in the First World War... 364 00:23:31,599 --> 00:23:33,835 yeah, even on the battleships... 365 00:23:33,866 --> 00:23:36,802 you still got cockroaches and all that kind of thing. 366 00:23:36,833 --> 00:23:40,369 So that you lived with the cockroaches. 367 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,403 You didn't-- well, as far as l was concerned... 368 00:23:44,433 --> 00:23:47,102 l used to think, well, now... 369 00:23:47,133 --> 00:23:50,436 their life was more filled than what our life was. 370 00:23:54,766 --> 00:24:00,438 ln 1916, the daily routine was rudely, if briefly, interrupted. 371 00:24:00,466 --> 00:24:04,436 Having called off the second unrestricted U-boat campaign... 372 00:24:04,466 --> 00:24:07,168 Germany needed a new naval tactic... 373 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,236 and appointed a new aggressive fleet commander... 374 00:24:10,266 --> 00:24:13,636 Admiral Reinhard von Scheer. 375 00:24:16,666 --> 00:24:20,770 The war on the Western Front was entering its bloodiest phase yet. 376 00:24:20,799 --> 00:24:23,802 Since February, German and French soldiers... 377 00:24:23,833 --> 00:24:26,635 had been fighting over the border town of Verdun... 378 00:24:26,666 --> 00:24:31,337 each side suffering 350,OOO casualties. 379 00:24:34,633 --> 00:24:37,902 German naval commanders knew they couldn't just sit back... 380 00:24:37,933 --> 00:24:40,001 and watch their soldiers being slaughtered. 381 00:24:40,033 --> 00:24:42,268 They had to do something. 382 00:24:44,500 --> 00:24:47,436 Admiral von Scheer came up with an ambush plan... 383 00:24:47,466 --> 00:24:50,101 to destroy part of the British grand fleet. 384 00:24:51,133 --> 00:24:54,402 lt is possible using mainly film of naval exercises... 385 00:24:54,433 --> 00:24:57,235 to reconstruct how events unfolded. 386 00:24:59,166 --> 00:25:02,869 Von Scheer's idea was to send out German battle cruisers... 387 00:25:02,900 --> 00:25:05,702 from their ports of Hiel and Wilhemshaven... 388 00:25:05,733 --> 00:25:07,701 to patrol off the coast of Norway... 389 00:25:07,733 --> 00:25:10,068 and tempt the British battle cruiser fleet... 390 00:25:10,099 --> 00:25:14,337 of Admiral Sir David Beam out from its base at Rosyth. 391 00:25:15,766 --> 00:25:18,502 Von Scheer would then send in German Dreadnoughts... 392 00:25:18,533 --> 00:25:21,502 to destroy them before the main body of the British fleet... 393 00:25:21,533 --> 00:25:26,237 under Sir John Jellicoe could arrive from Scapa Flow. 394 00:25:26,266 --> 00:25:29,502 But Jellicoe deduced from an intercepted radio signal... 395 00:25:29,533 --> 00:25:31,334 that the Germans were up to something... 396 00:25:31,366 --> 00:25:36,704 and decided to anticipate them by taking his grand fleet to sea. 397 00:25:36,733 --> 00:25:39,735 At Scapa Flow, sailors geared up for the battle... 398 00:25:39,766 --> 00:25:42,768 they'd been awaiting for two years. 399 00:25:42,799 --> 00:25:46,303 The C-in-C hoisted a momentous signal. 400 00:25:46,333 --> 00:25:49,703 Raise steam and report when ready to proceed. 401 00:25:49,733 --> 00:25:51,668 Everybody seemed to have a premonition... 402 00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:53,635 that the day had really arrived. 403 00:25:53,666 --> 00:25:57,336 There was an almost electric atmosphere of expectation... 404 00:25:57,366 --> 00:25:59,034 and suppressed excitement... 405 00:25:59,066 --> 00:26:02,702 as officers and men went about the work of preparing for sea. 406 00:26:05,266 --> 00:26:09,670 On the same night, Beam's fleet set sail from Rosyth. 407 00:26:09,700 --> 00:26:14,204 lmagine, darling, if you can, a fine, though starless night... 408 00:26:14,233 --> 00:26:17,402 and twelve great ships steaming out of the port. 409 00:26:17,433 --> 00:26:18,967 No lights visible... 410 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,404 and not a sound to be heard but the swish of the waves. 411 00:26:23,433 --> 00:26:26,602 Watching German U-boats did not realize... 412 00:26:26,633 --> 00:26:29,335 that the whole British fleet was now at sea. 413 00:26:29,366 --> 00:26:32,469 Von Scheer went ahead with his plan. 414 00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:35,502 On May 31, 1916... 415 00:26:35,533 --> 00:26:38,869 the main German fleet set sail. 416 00:26:38,900 --> 00:26:43,671 The sun rose magnificently, covered the sea with its golden rays... 417 00:26:43,700 --> 00:26:46,402 and soon showed us the picture of the whole high seas fleet... 418 00:26:46,433 --> 00:26:50,470 proceeding to meet the enemy, always a wonderful sight. 419 00:26:51,466 --> 00:26:56,337 The two fleets were heading towards one another across the North Sea. 420 00:26:56,366 --> 00:27:00,503 At midday, one of Beam's commanders spotted the Germans. 421 00:27:00,533 --> 00:27:03,903 Urgent. Two cruisers, probably hostile... 422 00:27:03,933 --> 00:27:06,302 bearing south, south east. 423 00:27:06,333 --> 00:27:09,035 The Germans then spotted the British. 424 00:27:09,066 --> 00:27:13,136 Suddenly, l saw some big ships, black monsters... 425 00:27:13,166 --> 00:27:17,470 six broad beamed giants steaming in two columns. 426 00:27:17,500 --> 00:27:22,638 The two fleets closed at a combined speed of fim miles an hour. 427 00:27:22,666 --> 00:27:26,469 The place was filled with dust and smoke and as hot as an oven. 428 00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:28,468 At last we were hammering the Hun... 429 00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:31,636 after two years of weary waiting and watching. 430 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:37,968 The battle of Jutland was under way. 431 00:27:49,766 --> 00:27:54,170 The first phase turned into a British disaster. 432 00:27:54,199 --> 00:27:57,503 Unfortunately for Beam, his ships don't shoot very well. 433 00:27:57,533 --> 00:27:59,801 They have disadvantages of light and weather... 434 00:27:59,833 --> 00:28:01,734 but they haven't done enough training. 435 00:28:01,766 --> 00:28:03,200 And the German battle cruisers... 436 00:28:03,233 --> 00:28:05,868 very quickly achieve fire power superiority... 437 00:28:05,899 --> 00:28:09,103 and two of his ships, the Queen Mary and Indefatigable.... 438 00:28:09,133 --> 00:28:11,768 blow up and sink with the loss of almost all their crew. 439 00:28:16,300 --> 00:28:17,768 A tremendous explosion occurred... 440 00:28:17,800 --> 00:28:20,335 which must have blown the bows to atoms. 441 00:28:20,366 --> 00:28:22,434 Then another explosion. 442 00:28:23,433 --> 00:28:27,003 l sank a considerable distance, and on reaching the surface... 443 00:28:27,033 --> 00:28:30,569 could see only wreckage and oil floating on the surface. 444 00:28:39,333 --> 00:28:42,002 l was standing beside Sir David Beam... 445 00:28:42,033 --> 00:28:44,735 and we turned round to see the unpleasant spectacle. 446 00:28:44,766 --> 00:28:46,667 He turned to me and said... 447 00:28:46,699 --> 00:28:50,703 ''There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.'' 448 00:28:50,733 --> 00:28:52,801 The problem was not the ships... 449 00:28:52,833 --> 00:28:55,735 but the way in which Beam and his squadron were using them. 450 00:28:55,766 --> 00:28:56,967 Speed was everything... 451 00:28:56,999 --> 00:29:00,069 so every safety precaution that was introduced... 452 00:29:00,100 --> 00:29:02,035 you know, doors that closed had to be opened... 453 00:29:02,066 --> 00:29:05,636 and passages were closed off, were broken. 454 00:29:05,666 --> 00:29:09,269 So that a hit on a gun turret would lead to an explosion... 455 00:29:09,300 --> 00:29:11,301 and flash traveling down into the magazine... 456 00:29:11,333 --> 00:29:15,070 where 120 tons of high explosive were waiting to go off. 457 00:29:15,100 --> 00:29:17,235 The consequences were simply devastating... 458 00:29:17,266 --> 00:29:18,567 and they just blew up. 459 00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:22,103 And that's exactly what happened to the Indefatigable and the Queen Mary. 460 00:29:24,733 --> 00:29:26,534 His ships badly hit... 461 00:29:26,566 --> 00:29:30,436 Beam headed north to try to find Jellicoe's grand fleet. 462 00:29:32,266 --> 00:29:34,401 Von Scheer went after him. 463 00:29:36,366 --> 00:29:38,201 Within hours, the Germans found themselves... 464 00:29:38,233 --> 00:29:41,736 facing the entire British grand fleet. 465 00:29:41,766 --> 00:29:46,303 That, l suggest to you was a tremendous moment in anybody's life. 466 00:29:46,333 --> 00:29:48,134 l remember thinking to myself... 467 00:29:48,166 --> 00:29:50,868 well, we've lost a lot, and we're going to lose more... 468 00:29:50,900 --> 00:29:55,137 but we don't mind losing this and that as long as the two fleets meet. 469 00:29:55,166 --> 00:29:57,301 The main battle of Jutland began. 470 00:29:57,333 --> 00:30:01,670 This time, the British navy proved its superiority. 471 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:33,139 The Germans lost one Dreadnought, four light cruisers, and five destroyers. 472 00:30:33,266 --> 00:30:38,204 But the British also lost another battle cruiser, the Invincible. 473 00:30:38,233 --> 00:30:42,637 Of over 1,OOO men on board, only six survived. 474 00:30:43,766 --> 00:30:46,635 The crew of a neighboring ship, the Indomitable... 475 00:30:46,666 --> 00:30:47,967 watched as it went down. 476 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:52,270 We young Indomitable officers had particularly poignant feelings... 477 00:30:52,299 --> 00:30:54,435 since the day before we sailed... 478 00:30:54,466 --> 00:30:57,368 the junior officers of Invincible had come aboard us... 479 00:30:57,400 --> 00:31:01,370 and a merry and riotous evening was had by all. 480 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,870 Now every one of those was asleep in the deep. 481 00:31:09,433 --> 00:31:13,837 ln fading light, accurate firing became ever more difficult... 482 00:31:13,866 --> 00:31:17,869 but both fleets continued to bombard each other. 483 00:31:17,900 --> 00:31:23,238 The light was perhaps even more weird and awe inspiring than the day. 484 00:31:23,266 --> 00:31:26,235 Every now and then, a tremendous explosion was heard... 485 00:31:26,266 --> 00:31:31,170 and great flames a hundred feet high shot up into the sky. 486 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:35,203 This sort of thing went on all night, till early dawn. 487 00:31:39,366 --> 00:31:45,205 ln the darkness, the German fleet ran for home and escaped unseen. 488 00:31:45,233 --> 00:31:47,535 By the morning of the first of June... 489 00:31:47,566 --> 00:31:52,103 the Germans were nearing the safety of Hiel and Wilhelmshaven. 490 00:31:53,333 --> 00:31:57,804 We went back to the harbor to receive hot coffee and food. 491 00:31:57,833 --> 00:32:01,069 Like many of my comrades, l did not want them. 492 00:32:01,099 --> 00:32:04,870 We lay down on the floor in a corner of the ship. 493 00:32:04,900 --> 00:32:08,637 We did not care where we were and went to sleep. 494 00:32:08,666 --> 00:32:11,568 We hadn't slept for 48 hours. 495 00:32:13,433 --> 00:32:17,203 Jutland is just about the most controversial naval battle of all time. 496 00:32:17,233 --> 00:32:19,234 Everybody says they won. 497 00:32:19,266 --> 00:32:20,767 The Haiser the next day said... 498 00:32:20,799 --> 00:32:24,570 ''The magic of Trafalgar is broken. We've beaten the British.'' 499 00:32:24,599 --> 00:32:27,636 Von Scheer, in his official report, said... 500 00:32:27,666 --> 00:32:30,568 ''We must never do this again. They'll wipe us out.'' 501 00:32:30,599 --> 00:32:31,968 And that was the truth. 502 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:33,868 The Germans knew they were lucky to get home... 503 00:32:33,900 --> 00:32:37,069 with almost all of their ships and almost all of their men. 504 00:32:40,900 --> 00:32:44,536 As in Germany, the British presented the battle of Jutland... 505 00:32:44,566 --> 00:32:47,735 as a great naval victory. 506 00:32:47,766 --> 00:32:50,368 But Jellicoe knew that his losses... 507 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,902 had been substantially greater than the Germans... 508 00:32:52,933 --> 00:32:56,569 both in terms of ships and lives. 509 00:32:56,599 --> 00:32:59,636 He did, however, still control the North Sea. 510 00:32:59,666 --> 00:33:04,370 For the German navy, it was back to square one. 511 00:33:07,466 --> 00:33:10,535 There was still stalemate on the Western Front. 512 00:33:10,566 --> 00:33:13,035 The British had launched their offensive at the Somme... 513 00:33:13,066 --> 00:33:16,102 suffering 600,OOO casualties... 514 00:33:16,133 --> 00:33:20,604 but the Somme had drained German blood, too. 515 00:33:20,633 --> 00:33:23,268 With its surface fleet bottled up in port... 516 00:33:23,299 --> 00:33:26,369 the only way the German navy could help... 517 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,370 was by returning to unrestricted U-boat warfare. 518 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:34,804 ln February, 1917, the fateful decision was made. 519 00:33:41,200 --> 00:33:44,937 ln the United States, the impact was dramatic. 520 00:33:44,966 --> 00:33:49,637 A few months before, Woodrow Wilson had been re-elected American President... 521 00:33:49,666 --> 00:33:52,201 telling his people that they could no longer... 522 00:33:52,233 --> 00:33:56,337 isolate themselves from the turmoil across the Atlantic. 523 00:33:57,866 --> 00:34:00,501 There is much more involved in this election... 524 00:34:00,533 --> 00:34:02,001 than domestic issues... 525 00:34:02,033 --> 00:34:06,637 and much more involved in the world situation than our people realize. 526 00:34:06,666 --> 00:34:08,934 Democracy hangs in the balance... 527 00:34:08,966 --> 00:34:13,270 and its fate not only here, but throughout the world. 528 00:34:15,366 --> 00:34:19,103 After the German declaration of unrestricted U-boat warfare... 529 00:34:19,133 --> 00:34:22,703 Wilson, emboldened by his electoral mandate... 530 00:34:22,733 --> 00:34:25,235 gave Germany a final warning. 531 00:34:28,766 --> 00:34:33,170 The Germans took no notice, and increased production of U-boats. 532 00:34:34,533 --> 00:34:37,168 They now had 110 at sea. 533 00:34:40,266 --> 00:34:42,635 lf we are not finally to be bled to death... 534 00:34:42,666 --> 00:34:46,369 full use must be made of the U-boat as a means of war... 535 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,270 so as to destroy England's vital nerve. 536 00:34:50,300 --> 00:34:53,803 During February and March 1917... 537 00:34:53,833 --> 00:34:58,470 U-boats succeeded in sinking no fewer than 500 ships. 538 00:35:09,566 --> 00:35:11,968 The number of neutral merchant ships... 539 00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:15,970 arriving in British and allied ports fell by three quarters. 540 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:34,338 Some U-boat skippers began to achieve staggering totals of ships sunk. 541 00:35:35,533 --> 00:35:38,702 As they returned to port after successful forays... 542 00:35:38,733 --> 00:35:44,138 they became national heroes-- rather like the aces of the air war. 543 00:35:46,933 --> 00:35:49,935 The Germans used the full range of propaganda tricks... 544 00:35:49,966 --> 00:35:54,470 to emphasize the heroic status of the U-boat captains and their crew. 545 00:35:54,500 --> 00:35:55,801 They start to fly flags. 546 00:35:55,833 --> 00:35:58,335 They showed emblems of the numbers of ships they'd sank. 547 00:35:58,366 --> 00:36:01,302 They created newsreels. 548 00:36:01,333 --> 00:36:03,968 They made them into celluloid heroes. 549 00:36:05,166 --> 00:36:07,401 That this small gray vessel... 550 00:36:07,433 --> 00:36:09,401 which just submerged beneath the waves... 551 00:36:09,433 --> 00:36:11,668 accomplished all these things... 552 00:36:11,700 --> 00:36:13,668 was it possible? 553 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:17,637 Was it conceivable that such a small and insignificant vessel... 554 00:36:17,666 --> 00:36:21,870 could disrupt the mission of an entire great and powerful fleet? 555 00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:25,869 How l envy the men in her crew. 556 00:36:28,366 --> 00:36:32,670 The U-boats' success Ied to food rationing in Britain. 557 00:36:34,933 --> 00:36:39,170 Even the troops on the Western Front were asked to tighten their belts. 558 00:36:41,066 --> 00:36:44,669 1917 was a low point for the allies... 559 00:36:45,933 --> 00:36:50,504 but America was edging ever closer to war. 560 00:36:50,533 --> 00:36:53,836 The present German submarine warfare against commerce... 561 00:36:53,866 --> 00:36:56,868 is a warfare against all mankind. 562 00:36:56,899 --> 00:36:59,902 lt is a war against all nations. 563 00:36:59,933 --> 00:37:03,903 The world must be made safe for democracy. 564 00:37:05,833 --> 00:37:10,871 On April 6, the United States finally declared war on Germany. 565 00:37:10,899 --> 00:37:15,638 The British welcomed their new allies with open arms. 566 00:37:16,833 --> 00:37:19,168 There was no foreign feeling about them... 567 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:20,701 not a sign of jealousy... 568 00:37:20,933 --> 00:37:24,202 no impatience from receiving orders from a foreign Admiral. 569 00:37:24,233 --> 00:37:26,435 They were single minded in their endeavors... 570 00:37:26,466 --> 00:37:29,068 to do their utmost for the common cause... 571 00:37:29,099 --> 00:37:34,071 and in consequence, they proved to be a most valuable asset to the allies. 572 00:37:36,633 --> 00:37:38,401 But even with the Americans on board... 573 00:37:38,433 --> 00:37:43,137 the allies still had to find some way of defeating the U-boats. 574 00:37:46,433 --> 00:37:50,136 As Germany's U-boats continued to maul allied shipping... 575 00:37:50,166 --> 00:37:55,604 one tactic was to pack merchant ships into convoys escorted by warships. 576 00:37:55,633 --> 00:37:58,302 But that was purely for defense. 577 00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:02,836 To attack U-boats, they first had to be found. 578 00:38:04,333 --> 00:38:07,269 Airships began to be used to spot U-boats... 579 00:38:07,300 --> 00:38:10,636 which still had to spend most of their time on the surface. 580 00:38:12,699 --> 00:38:15,702 The airships had a 1,500-mile range... 581 00:38:15,733 --> 00:38:18,969 and could fly for nearly fim hours at a time. 582 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:28,202 Flying boats and float planes were armed... 583 00:38:28,233 --> 00:38:31,903 with torpedoes, bombs, and machine guns-- 584 00:38:31,933 --> 00:38:35,936 all ways of attacking U-boats Iying on the surface. 585 00:38:36,166 --> 00:38:39,135 We were attacked by an airplane. 586 00:38:39,166 --> 00:38:42,736 He had slunk up unseen in the bright sunshine... 587 00:38:42,766 --> 00:38:44,868 and notified his arrival with a lot of bombs... 588 00:38:44,899 --> 00:38:47,636 which could easily have cost us our lives. 589 00:38:52,566 --> 00:38:57,637 To find U-boats beneath the sea, the allies used a new device-- 590 00:38:57,666 --> 00:38:59,601 the hydrophone. 591 00:38:59,633 --> 00:39:03,003 lt was a microphone placed underwater... 592 00:39:03,033 --> 00:39:06,836 to detect the sound of a U-boat's electric motors. 593 00:39:06,866 --> 00:39:11,370 lt was then possible to work out at what depth the submarine was lying. 594 00:39:14,366 --> 00:39:18,369 That brought into play another new weapon--the depth charge. 595 00:39:20,133 --> 00:39:24,437 Mines launched from ships and set to explode at a particular depth. 596 00:39:28,366 --> 00:39:31,402 A depth charge burst with a frigh_ul explosion. 597 00:39:31,433 --> 00:39:33,201 Our hopes grew fainter... 598 00:39:33,233 --> 00:39:36,235 as the risk of being crushed or blown up increased. 599 00:39:36,266 --> 00:39:40,036 We worked on and on, if only to distract our minds... 600 00:39:40,066 --> 00:39:42,668 from the imminent doom at the bottom of the sea. 601 00:39:48,399 --> 00:39:52,504 Another British idea was the Dover Barrage... 602 00:39:52,533 --> 00:39:53,934 a barrier of nets and mines... 603 00:39:53,966 --> 00:39:57,035 designed to stop U-boats coming through the Channel. 604 00:39:59,399 --> 00:40:03,570 Minefields began to spread right across the North Sea. 605 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:10,807 ln 1918, the allies laid 70,OOO mines to stop U-boats getting into the Atlantic. 606 00:40:13,133 --> 00:40:14,901 lt is a very unpleasant feeling... 607 00:40:14,933 --> 00:40:18,536 when the boat grazes against the mooring cable of a mine... 608 00:40:18,566 --> 00:40:22,503 and death bumps and crashes against the hull. 609 00:40:28,500 --> 00:40:31,903 Clearing mines was a nasty, dangerous job. 610 00:40:31,933 --> 00:40:35,870 Occasionally, U-boats managed to lay mines near British ports. 611 00:40:35,899 --> 00:40:39,837 Once recovered, they could be individually defused. 612 00:40:44,766 --> 00:40:46,901 Out at sea, the minesweeper... 613 00:40:46,933 --> 00:40:51,137 initially converted fishing trawlers, came into service. 614 00:40:51,266 --> 00:40:56,804 Ask any man who served at sea between 1914 and 1918... 615 00:40:56,833 --> 00:40:59,669 which was the most perilous, monotonous... 616 00:40:59,700 --> 00:41:03,170 and bitterly uncomfortable work of the war afloat. 617 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:09,673 The reply, nine times out of ten, will be the work of the minesweepers. 618 00:41:09,700 --> 00:41:13,603 Cables were used to cut mines from their mooring. 619 00:41:13,633 --> 00:41:16,569 They were then destroyed with rifle fire. 620 00:41:25,133 --> 00:41:28,536 One ingenious invention was the U-boat decoy... 621 00:41:28,566 --> 00:41:30,601 called the Q-ship. 622 00:41:31,933 --> 00:41:34,168 There was not a sign of life aboard. 623 00:41:36,333 --> 00:41:38,768 We rose to the surface. 624 00:41:38,800 --> 00:41:41,135 Suddenly, the ship came to life. 625 00:41:41,166 --> 00:41:45,703 Hidden portholes sprang open. The stern gun was manned. 626 00:41:45,733 --> 00:41:50,237 Other guns were unmasked and poured a devastating fire over us. 627 00:41:54,499 --> 00:41:58,737 Finally, the British tried closing the U-boat havens on the Belgian coast. 628 00:42:03,733 --> 00:42:06,068 Strange looking craft... 629 00:42:05,300 --> 00:42:08,569 little more than pla_orms for large 15-inch guns... 630 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:13,071 were sent to bombard German batteries protecting the U-boat harbors. 631 00:42:19,133 --> 00:42:22,936 ln April, 1918, the port of Zeebrugge was attacked. 632 00:42:26,233 --> 00:42:30,236 Three old ships were deliberately sunk across the entrance to the harbor... 633 00:42:30,266 --> 00:42:33,669 to try to block U-boats getting in or out. 634 00:42:38,300 --> 00:42:41,236 During the operation, the British Cruiser Vindictive... 635 00:42:41,266 --> 00:42:44,769 was badly damaged and lucky to get home. 636 00:42:50,566 --> 00:42:52,234 By early 1918... 637 00:42:52,266 --> 00:42:56,937 this combined technology had the U-boat threat under control. 638 00:42:58,233 --> 00:43:00,935 American troops could now be transported safely... 639 00:43:00,966 --> 00:43:02,767 across the Atlantic to Europe. 640 00:43:04,033 --> 00:43:08,036 The sheer weight of numbers was bound to tell. 641 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:13,703 But the British had also won the naval war of blockade... 642 00:43:13,733 --> 00:43:16,869 partly by their acceptance of rationing. 643 00:43:20,466 --> 00:43:24,269 Meat, butter, and margarine became luxuries... 644 00:43:24,300 --> 00:43:27,202 potatoes, the staple diet. 645 00:43:35,833 --> 00:43:38,535 Rationing was something Germany never introduced... 646 00:43:38,566 --> 00:43:43,370 and it meant that by the end, food and supplies were running out. 647 00:43:44,666 --> 00:43:46,634 Total war is all about... 648 00:43:46,666 --> 00:43:49,935 the most efficient use of all your national resources. 649 00:43:49,966 --> 00:43:51,500 ln the First World War... 650 00:43:51,533 --> 00:43:54,936 the Germans were seriously inefficient in their use of their resources. 651 00:43:54,966 --> 00:43:57,835 They mobilize all of their agricultural workers... 652 00:43:57,866 --> 00:44:00,034 out of the countryside, into the army... 653 00:44:00,066 --> 00:44:02,268 and then use them in battle. 654 00:44:02,300 --> 00:44:04,368 They didn't replace them. 655 00:44:04,399 --> 00:44:07,202 This meant agricultural productivity collapsed. 656 00:44:07,233 --> 00:44:09,668 They didn't mobilize female labor. 657 00:44:09,700 --> 00:44:11,835 They didn't mobilize to any large extent... 658 00:44:11,866 --> 00:44:14,635 any other available labor resource... 659 00:44:14,666 --> 00:44:16,901 so agricultural production collapses. 660 00:44:16,933 --> 00:44:19,769 This means they need to import food. 661 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,569 The British blockade means they can't import food... 662 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:26,537 so very steadily the Germans find their rations being cut... 663 00:44:26,566 --> 00:44:31,704 and from a diet rich in animal fats, they end up living on turnips. 664 00:44:37,266 --> 00:44:40,669 The naval war had begun with the Dreadnought race... 665 00:44:40,700 --> 00:44:44,770 and by its end, the array of American and British battleships... 666 00:44:44,800 --> 00:44:48,803 seemed to symbolize allied victory at sea. 667 00:44:51,566 --> 00:44:54,936 But this was not the real naval conflict. 668 00:44:57,333 --> 00:44:59,835 The all big-gun battleship was, in a sense... 669 00:44:59,866 --> 00:45:03,035 the lineal descendant of Nelson's day-- 670 00:45:03,066 --> 00:45:05,768 the idea of throwing a huge weight of metal... 671 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,302 over the greatest distance and destroying the enemy. 672 00:45:08,333 --> 00:45:12,270 And during the First World War, that notion of big fleets... 673 00:45:12,300 --> 00:45:15,036 big national fleets meeting and clashing... 674 00:45:15,066 --> 00:45:18,569 and deciding the outcome of a war... 675 00:45:18,600 --> 00:45:21,235 was really shown to be completely false. 676 00:45:21,266 --> 00:45:24,268 War had changed. All that glamor had gone. 677 00:45:24,300 --> 00:45:29,138 lt was now about logistics, survival, protection of trade... 678 00:45:29,166 --> 00:45:31,434 and defeating the enemy that way. 679 00:45:33,333 --> 00:45:37,670 There was a final irony for the Dreadnoughts. 680 00:45:37,700 --> 00:45:40,069 On the 10th of June, 1918... 681 00:45:40,100 --> 00:45:44,003 the Austrians put their star Dreadnought, the St. Istvan... 682 00:45:44,033 --> 00:45:46,502 out to sea in the Adriatic. 683 00:45:46,533 --> 00:45:51,504 lt was immediately hit by two Italian motor torpedo boats. 684 00:45:52,766 --> 00:45:56,603 lt took just three and a half hours to sink. 685 00:45:58,200 --> 00:46:02,003 Astonishingly, only 89 men died. 686 00:46:05,066 --> 00:46:10,104 But the demise of the battleship was there for all to see. 60188

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