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ln 1914, German and British sailors
believed their war was going to be...
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00:00:11,033 --> 00:00:14,536
a great confrontation of huge battleships.
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00:00:19,900 --> 00:00:24,504
But only once
was there a full clash of fleets.
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00:00:24,533 --> 00:00:27,002
The rest of the naval war
was very different...
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00:00:27,033 --> 00:00:29,168
from what had been expected.
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00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,336
lt was a war
dominated by a new weapon--
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00:00:32,366 --> 00:00:34,134
the submarine.
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00:00:34,166 --> 00:00:41,373
Submarines were terrible, really.
They were small and so vulnerable.
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00:00:42,666 --> 00:00:46,503
lt was a war of blockades
and sinkings on a massive scale.
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00:00:46,533 --> 00:00:51,471
lt brought disappointment and disaster
before ultimate victory.
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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...
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00:00:58,166 --> 00:01:02,937
from the skies above
to the deep oceans below.
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00:01:05,533 --> 00:01:09,169
Now for the first time, it can be
seen as it really happened--
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00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:10,634
in color.
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00:01:46,399 --> 00:01:52,539
Ever since the battle of Trafalgar,
the British navy had dominated the seas.
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00:01:52,566 --> 00:01:56,803
Pre-war displays like the Spithead review
showed its might.
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00:01:56,833 --> 00:01:59,402
l remember going to a review
at Spithead...
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00:01:59,433 --> 00:02:03,303
where Spithead
was full of ships of all sizes...
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00:02:03,333 --> 00:02:06,269
and it was a delight to be there...
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00:02:06,300 --> 00:02:09,770
because as children
we were all very excited about it.
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00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,736
Everywhere you went
you would see Bluejackets.
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00:02:12,766 --> 00:02:14,801
You would see sailors everywhere.
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00:02:14,833 --> 00:02:19,871
So, we were a naval country
in those days.
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00:02:21,666 --> 00:02:24,835
Britain, a small island,
depended on trade...
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00:02:24,866 --> 00:02:27,635
and keeping its trade routes
open and safe...
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00:02:27,666 --> 00:02:31,269
required control of the sea.
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00:02:31,299 --> 00:02:33,969
But in the decade
Ieading up to World War l...
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00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:38,237
British naval supremacy
had faced a new challenge.
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00:02:41,566 --> 00:02:45,536
Ever since he'd become
Emperor of Germany in 1888...
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00:02:45,566 --> 00:02:48,235
Haiser Wilhelm Il
had been determined...
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00:02:48,266 --> 00:02:53,437
to build an overseas empire
to rival other European nations.
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00:02:54,666 --> 00:02:58,569
To acquire this empire,
he needed to build a navy.
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00:03:01,266 --> 00:03:02,900
The Haiser's ambitions...
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00:03:02,933 --> 00:03:06,369
and Britain's determination
to maintain its lead at sea...
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00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,070
led to a hugely expensive
naval arms race.
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00:03:11,933 --> 00:03:15,202
At its heart
was a new type of battleship...
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00:03:15,233 --> 00:03:16,701
pioneered by the British...
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00:03:16,733 --> 00:03:20,269
and named after
the first to be built in 1905--
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00:03:20,299 --> 00:03:22,435
the Dreadnought.
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00:03:23,666 --> 00:03:28,837
lt was enormous
and outgunned anything built before.
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00:03:28,866 --> 00:03:29,733
The Dreadnought introduced...
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00:03:29,766 --> 00:03:33,402
two fundamental changes
in battleship technology.
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00:03:33,433 --> 00:03:36,502
First, it replaced the main armament
of four heavy guns...
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00:03:36,533 --> 00:03:39,235
with an armament
of eight or ten heavy guns.
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00:03:39,266 --> 00:03:41,134
And secondly,
it gradually introduced...
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00:03:41,166 --> 00:03:44,402
high powered turbine engines,
so it increased the speed of the fleet.
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00:03:44,433 --> 00:03:48,003
Essentially, it's a quantum leap
in the performance of the battleship...
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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...
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00:03:55,100 --> 00:03:58,236
are built in competition.
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00:03:58,266 --> 00:04:01,435
Admiral Lord Fisher,
inventor of the Dreadnought...
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00:04:01,466 --> 00:04:06,070
claimed it made every other
class of battleship irrelevant.
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00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:09,570
The only issue
is the number of Dreadnoughts.
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00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,502
No matter who tries to fight
the Dreadnought...
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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.
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00:04:17,299 --> 00:04:21,404
The armadillo puts out its tongue
and licks up the ants.
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00:04:24,566 --> 00:04:27,802
By the time war was declared
in August, 1914...
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00:04:27,833 --> 00:04:31,836
Germany had built 13 Dreadnoughts
to Britain's 21.
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00:04:33,999 --> 00:04:36,202
Ordinary sailors on both sides...
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00:04:36,233 --> 00:04:41,237
now looked forward to putting
their massive new weapons to the test.
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00:04:41,266 --> 00:04:45,670
There's great enthusiasm,
and recruits are flocking in daily.
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00:04:45,700 --> 00:04:47,735
lf only the German fleet would come out.
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00:04:47,766 --> 00:04:50,735
We would wipe them out
in a few minutes.
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00:04:50,766 --> 00:04:55,103
Fred Bunday was a 15-year-old cadet
when war broke out.
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00:04:55,133 --> 00:04:59,337
l just knew that the Haiser
was somebody l didn't ought to know.
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00:04:59,366 --> 00:05:04,204
lf l had the chance, l'd shoot him,
if l had the chance, you know.
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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.
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00:05:11,733 --> 00:05:14,035
ln a trench, for instance...
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00:05:14,066 --> 00:05:17,536
l just have to run up top
and get bullets in me...
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00:05:17,566 --> 00:05:18,733
anything like that.
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00:05:18,766 --> 00:05:20,167
l was joining the navy.
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00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:24,671
And well
ships had always be'en my ideal.
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00:05:27,066 --> 00:05:29,601
German sailors were just as excited.
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00:05:29,633 --> 00:05:32,402
ln 1914, seaman Richard Stumpf...
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00:05:32,433 --> 00:05:35,736
was waiting with
the German high seas fleet.
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00:05:35,766 --> 00:05:39,035
Our joy and excitement
were boundless...
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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.
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00:05:44,933 --> 00:05:46,234
We had built our navy...
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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...
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00:05:55,033 --> 00:05:57,268
began to have a curious result.
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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...
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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...
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00:06:32,333 --> 00:06:37,337
he effectively might, as he put it,
Iose the war in an afternoon.
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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...
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00:06:41,833 --> 00:06:44,101
which were mutually opposing
each other...
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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...
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00:06:50,799 --> 00:06:53,068
that it would be a full two years
into the war...
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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.
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00:07:13,766 --> 00:07:16,602
The British, with their vastly bigger
surface fleet...
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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...
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00:07:24,233 --> 00:07:27,669
from neutral nations
headed for German ports.
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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.
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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...
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00:07:52,766 --> 00:07:56,603
while their own nation was made to suffer.
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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.
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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...
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00:09:44,399 --> 00:09:47,803
its one truly effective
naval weapon of the war.
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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...
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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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