CH5 - Sunken Warships: Secrets from the Deep - Series 2 (2024)

Naval battles from 20th century explored through archival footage, graphics, and interviews. Warships like cruisers, submarines, battleships, and their crews' fates revealed after being sunk by enemies during WWII conflicts across oceans.

Part 1: The General Belgrano: A Ship of Two Nations
The USS Phoenix, a Pearl Harbor survivor, became the Argentine General Belgrano, sunk by HMS Conqueror during the Falklands War, sparking lasting controversy.
Originally launched in the United States, the light cruiser USS Phoenix survived the attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941 and went on to play a vital but unsung role in World War Two. Following the conflict, she was sold to the Argentine government and was eventually renamed the General Belgrano. By 1982, the much-updated cruiser was part of an Argentine naval force tasked with defending the newly conquered Falkland Islands from the British. But she was torpedoed and sunk by Royal Navy submarine HMS Conqueror, a decision which caused outrage at the time and remains controversial to this very day.

Part 2: HMS Exeter: Always Faithful
HMS Exeter triumphed over the Graf Spee but was later sunk by the Japanese near Java. Rediscovered in 2007, its wreck mysteriously vanished by 2015.
In the Royal Navy, HMS Exeter has become synonymous with bravery and sacrifice. She provided a rare spark of good news in the dark days of 1939, when she won victory over the German pocket battleship Graf Spee in the South Atlantic. She then served in the Far East, but her luck did not last. Severely damaged by an enemy shell in battle, she attempted to escape the Japanese off the island of Java but was hunted down and sunk in shark-infested waters. Exeter was rediscovered in remarkably preserved condition in 2007, but by 2015 her wreck had mysteriously vanished…

Part 3: Bismarck: The Floating Fortress
The German battleship Bismarck, which sunk HMS Hood, was chased across the Atlantic and destroyed by the Royal Navy, leaving a dramatic legacy.
With her fearsome combination of size, speed, and immense firepower, the German warship Bismarck terrified British naval planners - and with good reason. In 1941, the new battleship destroyed the Royal Navy's most famous cruiser, HMS Hood. The British swore revenge. A dramatic pursuit followed as Bismarck raced across the Atlantic Ocean for the safety of Nazi-occupied France while British ships tried to intercept her. Bismarck was just a few hundred miles from the French coast when the Royal Navy finally caught up with her. Bismarck would be destroyed in a hail of shellfire, but her spectacular story would never be forgotten.

Part 4: HMS Barham: Catastrophe and Coverup
HMS Barham, a powerful WWI battleship, was sunk by a German U-boat in 1941. News of the sinking was suppressed, only revealed by a "psychic medium".
When she was launched in 1914, HMS Barham was one of the most powerful battleships afloat - and she would prove her worth to the Royal Navy over two world wars. Deployed across the globe, she saw action in Africa and played a key role at the Battle of Cape Matapan in the Mediterranean. But her distinguished career was finally brought to an end in 1941 by a torpedo from a German U-boat. News of her sinking was suppressed to protect the British public's morale. But that embargo was broken by a "psychic medium" who became the last woman in Britain tried for witchcraft.