World's Greatest Warships

Myths die hard, and the history of the 20th century is no exception to this rule. Even today, we hold popular beliefs that we take for Evangelical truths. Thus, we believe that Hiroshima caused Japan to surrender, that the Marshall Plan saved Europe, that Adolf Hitler was a military genius, or that Mao Zedong was a necessary evil for China’s modernization. Of course, these judgements contain some truth; but, too broad-stroked to be accurate, they contradict the historical reality by denying its complexity. What if the truth was slightly different? Through an exploration of great national or international myths, this full archive documentary collection revisits the key moments of the 20th century with a new perspective in order to provide a new, smarter and more subtle interpretation, bringing elements to light that have been forgotten or sometimes overshadowed.

Experience firsthand "the war to end all wars." World War I was the first war in history to affect most of the globe, with battles fought on land, at sea and, for the first time, in the sky. This five-disc DVD set captures the experience almost a century after it happened, with rare footage, much of it never before released on DVD.

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In the aftermath of the Second World War, relations between the former allied eastern and western powers deteriorated fast. Suddenly, the small island nation found itself in the midst of the ensuing “cold-war”, which it used to its full benefit to catapult into the modern world. A founding member of the NATO alliance, Iceland provided an important base for forward operations in protection of NATO’s northern flank and Scandinavia and the approaches to North America by U.S. and allied forces.

The only major fleet engagement of World War I, the Battle of Jutland has been surrounded by controversy ever since. The British public felt Admiral Jellicoe had failed – a reaction rooted in a hundred years of the 'Nelson cult', a conviction that anything short of a Trafalgar-style annihilation was letting the side down. On the 31st of May 1916 – 251 British and German battleships set out to annihilate one another in the North Sea. In a vicious engagement that lasted over 12 hours – 25 ships were sunk and 8,600 lives were lost. The German Fleet had sunk more ships and suffered fewer casualties, but the British had forced them to disengage and run for port. This two-hour special tells the true story of the battle. An international team of marine divers and historians set out to explore the wrecks of the great Dreadnoughts that lie 100 miles from shore and up to 60 metres deep. The dives will at last reveal why the British navy failed to score a decisive victory.

One of the Royal Navy's most modern aircraft carriers when the Second World War began, HMS Ark Royal was eventually sunk by a German torpedo. Now her wreck has been found in the Mediterranean, and veterans are among the first to see it. With Dan Snow.

Terror of the World: The story of a deadly war that intertwines Germany, Poland, Japan, Italy and Spain, and the remorseless development of weapons and bombers.

For two weeks, the aircraft carrier strike group Carrier Strike Group 8 is conducting one of the toughest exercises in the US Navy. The tactical cooperation of several crews from three different nations is paramount in this training exercise. The 7,000 sailors on board are repeatedly subjected to gunfire and attacks. Fires are extinguished and evacuations are practiced.

Two-part documentary telling the story of the battle for control of the North Sea during the First World War.

Mike Brewer sets off on a journey of discovery to find out the story of one of the most remarkable aircraft in the British Armed Forces: a Chinook helicopter code named Bravo November. By doing so he examines the invaluable contribution that these helicopters have made to campaigns from the Falklands War onwards. And how Chinooks are now being upgraded to keep them at the cutting edge of British tactical weaponry.

The very first submarine, which legend claims lurked beneath New York Harbor during the American Revolutionary War. The small ships that rescued thousands from Dunkirk. The destroyer that forced the easing of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Over the centuries, conflicts have prompted advances to ship designs, making vessels stronger, faster, smarter, and capable of changing the course of wars. Join us as we examine the world's greatest Combat Ships, and reveal how they shaped world history and inspired men and women to acts of incredible courage.

Covers the 1941 Japanese military strike on a Hawaiian naval base in never before seen detail.

Hawaii, Pacific Ocean. A postcard decor. Clean. Azure. Yet in this heavenly place, one of the most memorable battles of WWII took place 80 years ago.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest and most advanced warship ever constructed in Britain. As she embarks on gruelling sea trials we see ship and crew pushed to breaking point.

This ten-part docuseries tells the comprehensive story of the First World War, featuring excerpts written by Winston Churchill, Karen Blixen, Georges Clémenceau, David Lloyd George, Siegfried Sassoon and Rudolf Hess.