1 00:00:19,586 --> 00:00:22,282 On February 14, 1939, 2 00:00:22,522 --> 00:00:25,548 the massive hull of au unfinished German warship 3 00:00:25,792 --> 00:00:27,589 slid into the water at Hamburg. 4 00:00:31,631 --> 00:00:32,757 For the Nazi party, 5 00:00:32,999 --> 00:00:36,799 it was a day to celebrate the country's resurgent military power... 6 00:00:37,170 --> 00:00:40,162 a moment to be savored by the Fuhrer himself. 7 00:00:50,850 --> 00:00:54,843 Two years later, the ship was finally ready for action. 8 00:00:59,125 --> 00:01:02,526 When she left port in the spring of 1941, 9 00:01:02,762 --> 00:01:05,094 She was widely regarded as the most elegant 10 00:01:05,331 --> 00:01:08,562 and the most dangerous battleship ever built. 11 00:01:11,237 --> 00:01:12,864 She would never return. 12 00:01:16,443 --> 00:01:18,138 Her name was the Bismarck, 13 00:01:18,578 --> 00:01:22,275 and she was about to become a legend. 14 00:02:04,591 --> 00:02:06,582 Summer, 1988. 15 00:02:07,127 --> 00:02:10,119 A converted trawler named Starella leaves Spain, 16 00:02:10,463 --> 00:02:11,953 bound for the North Atlantic... 17 00:02:12,298 --> 00:02:14,789 where the Bismarck sank nearly half a century ago. 18 00:02:17,370 --> 00:02:20,498 The story of what happened to the battleship during her brief moment 19 00:02:20,740 --> 00:02:23,834 on the world's stage has captured the imagination of almost 20 00:02:24,144 --> 00:02:26,840 everyone who's heard it including Bob Ballard, 21 00:02:27,213 --> 00:02:28,908 the man who found the Titanic. 22 00:02:29,449 --> 00:02:31,508 Now he's looking for the Bismarck. 23 00:02:32,285 --> 00:02:34,276 Come around... one, five, three. 24 00:02:35,088 --> 00:02:36,453 One, five, three. 25 00:02:41,261 --> 00:02:43,593 I knew the story of the Bismarck, as a child. 26 00:02:44,330 --> 00:02:46,195 It was an elegant ship, a warship. 27 00:02:46,432 --> 00:02:49,868 It was very much like the Titanic, in the sense it was on a maiden voyage. 28 00:02:50,103 --> 00:02:55,632 It had such a short life and a very exciting and violent life. 29 00:02:56,142 --> 00:03:01,170 I mean, it was alive for less than two weeks at sea. 30 00:03:01,581 --> 00:03:03,310 It's an exciting story. 31 00:03:03,583 --> 00:03:05,414 To find it gives you the opportunity to retell it to 32 00:03:05,785 --> 00:03:08,015 a new generation of people. 33 00:03:11,624 --> 00:03:14,957 Even before the search begins, Ballard is feeling the pressure. 34 00:03:15,528 --> 00:03:18,793 Well, if I don't find it, I'll be disappointed, obviously. 35 00:03:19,199 --> 00:03:21,030 So will a lot of other people. 36 00:03:21,968 --> 00:03:25,369 But, it was sort of interesting on this one. 37 00:03:25,605 --> 00:03:28,335 When I did the Titanic, on one believed I would find it. 38 00:03:28,942 --> 00:03:31,706 Now, on one believes I won't find the Bismarck. 39 00:03:31,945 --> 00:03:34,709 And I don't... I think I preferred when they didn't think I would find it. 40 00:03:36,416 --> 00:03:40,079 If the Bismarck is as elusive today as she was half a century ago, 41 00:03:40,553 --> 00:03:42,578 Ballard has his work cut out for him. 42 00:03:45,992 --> 00:03:47,653 Nineteen forty one. Monday, May 19th. 43 00:03:48,795 --> 00:03:52,526 The Bismarck leaves German waters on her first mission 44 00:03:52,765 --> 00:03:55,791 What her commanders hope will be a three-month reign of terror 45 00:03:56,035 --> 00:03:58,196 on British shipping in the North Atlantic. 46 00:04:03,309 --> 00:04:04,833 She is a monumental weapon 47 00:04:05,612 --> 00:04:09,708 a sixth of a-mile long, displacing 53,000 tons. 48 00:04:10,350 --> 00:04:13,786 Her 15-inch guns are aimed with the help of stereoscopic range finders 49 00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:18,855 and can hurl a one-ton shell 20 miles with ease. 50 00:04:20,193 --> 00:04:23,128 Her crew of over 2,000 men has been hand-picked 51 00:04:23,363 --> 00:04:26,264 for duty on a ship rumored to be unsinkable. 52 00:04:27,100 --> 00:04:31,628 Many are 18 or 19 years old, about to see combat for the first time. 53 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:38,539 The Bismarck is like a huge cat waiting to pounce on unsuspecting prey. 54 00:04:39,412 --> 00:04:43,280 But first she must prowl into enemy territory without being seen. 55 00:04:48,121 --> 00:04:50,885 Two days out of port the Starella approaches the Bismarck's 56 00:04:51,124 --> 00:04:55,083 last known position, 600 miles west of France. 57 00:04:56,362 --> 00:04:58,762 Because no one knows exactly where she sank, 58 00:04:59,065 --> 00:05:02,466 the search could cover nearly a hundred square miles. 59 00:05:02,802 --> 00:05:05,032 As far as the location of where the Bismarck was lost, 60 00:05:05,338 --> 00:05:07,568 we have four separate positions. 61 00:05:08,308 --> 00:05:09,502 One was by the Dorsetshire, 62 00:05:09,742 --> 00:05:12,302 which was the ship that dogged the Bismarck 63 00:05:12,545 --> 00:05:16,743 and then actually dealt the final blow when it torpedoed it from both sides. 64 00:05:17,183 --> 00:05:20,243 It gives its position over here in the eastern search area. 65 00:05:20,486 --> 00:05:23,216 Then there's the position of one of the destroyers 66 00:05:23,456 --> 00:05:25,788 which was over in the western area. 67 00:05:26,092 --> 00:05:28,925 A published report also puts it in the same area. 68 00:05:29,162 --> 00:05:32,757 Then we have a secret document that puts it even yet in a fourth area. 69 00:05:35,335 --> 00:05:38,668 Ballard is a pioneer in the use of sophisticated technology 70 00:05:38,971 --> 00:05:40,666 to explore the deep sea. 71 00:05:42,075 --> 00:05:44,270 Over. This is bridge... three, four, zero, now. 72 00:05:44,711 --> 00:05:47,009 All right. Let's put it in. Take over the control. 73 00:05:48,314 --> 00:05:52,045 Okay, bridge... one, eight, five, three 74 00:05:53,286 --> 00:05:56,221 These transponders will sink to the seabed and begin to emit 75 00:05:56,456 --> 00:05:58,390 powerful acoustic signals, 76 00:05:58,858 --> 00:06:01,554 allowing Ballard to pinpoint his position on the surface. 77 00:06:15,208 --> 00:06:18,268 Sonar provides his first glimpse of the terrain lying 78 00:06:18,511 --> 00:06:20,570 three miles beneath the ship. 79 00:06:21,314 --> 00:06:23,009 I should pick up bottom right here. 80 00:06:24,584 --> 00:06:26,313 Got a helluva long ways to go. 81 00:06:27,687 --> 00:06:31,088 Looks pretty gruesome... real gruesome. 82 00:06:32,658 --> 00:06:36,185 I don't know. The worst is looking like it's with us. 83 00:06:36,696 --> 00:06:41,599 It's horrible topography. Huge mountains. Solid rock. 84 00:06:43,603 --> 00:06:45,127 Hand to hand combat. 85 00:06:46,439 --> 00:06:49,306 Where we dropped the first transponder it was nice and flat, 86 00:06:50,610 --> 00:06:57,448 but the second transponder went in near a mountain and trying to get 87 00:06:57,750 --> 00:07:00,480 go the third we're in solid mountains, 88 00:07:01,721 --> 00:07:04,383 which is just, you know, horrible. 89 00:07:06,459 --> 00:07:09,155 Ballard is worried that the rugged topography 90 00:07:09,395 --> 00:07:11,829 below will make it dangerous to maneuver Argo, 91 00:07:12,165 --> 00:07:14,292 an underwater sled carrying video cameras, 92 00:07:14,534 --> 00:07:16,934 lights, and sonar equipment. 93 00:07:17,770 --> 00:07:20,830 Argo is designed to photograph the bottom while skimming 94 00:07:21,073 --> 00:07:25,373 just above the pitch dark seabed... at the end of miles of cable. 95 00:07:26,279 --> 00:07:27,906 Our biggest fear is losing the vehicle 96 00:07:28,147 --> 00:07:30,741 because that's the biggest fear you've got. 97 00:07:31,451 --> 00:07:35,979 Hanging up on a cliff and cutting your cable and then losing it. 98 00:07:36,522 --> 00:07:40,049 I've come close before. I don't want to do that again. 99 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:44,261 Ballard decides to avoid the mountains and focus his search 100 00:07:44,497 --> 00:07:46,658 on the flat mud plains to the west. 101 00:07:49,502 --> 00:07:52,232 For the men who operate Argo like Ballard's son, 102 00:07:52,472 --> 00:07:56,306 Todd the long watch is just beginning. 103 00:08:05,751 --> 00:08:08,151 Nineteen forty one. Tuesday, May 20th. 104 00:08:08,955 --> 00:08:12,254 The Bismarck steams north and west through Danish waters. 105 00:08:14,126 --> 00:08:16,822 With her is a heavy cruiser, the Prinz Eugen. 106 00:08:20,900 --> 00:08:24,063 For the men aboard the Bismarck, the times couldn't be better. 107 00:08:24,670 --> 00:08:27,332 The war is Europe is nearly two years old, 108 00:08:27,573 --> 00:08:31,134 and Germany still hasn't suffered a significant military defeat. 109 00:08:34,547 --> 00:08:36,674 Hitler's troops occupy most of Europe. 110 00:08:38,217 --> 00:08:41,846 The German Luftwaffe is carrying out bombing raids against Britain, 111 00:08:42,088 --> 00:08:44,579 which stands alone against the Nazi advance. 112 00:08:46,058 --> 00:08:50,893 Only England and her legendary sea power stand between Germany and victory. 113 00:08:52,498 --> 00:08:54,466 But even the Royal Navy has never done battle 114 00:08:54,700 --> 00:08:56,895 with a ship quite like the Bismarck. 115 00:08:58,070 --> 00:09:00,937 And the idea was that the Bismarck would break out into the Atlantic 116 00:09:01,173 --> 00:09:03,573 with the cruiser Prince Eugen. 117 00:09:04,410 --> 00:09:08,312 And she would spend a three-months cruise going up and down 118 00:09:08,548 --> 00:09:10,311 the Atlantic sinking all the ships bringing from America the food, 119 00:09:10,550 --> 00:09:13,280 the petrol, the ammunition, that was keeping us going, 120 00:09:13,519 --> 00:09:14,850 keeping the war going. 121 00:09:20,626 --> 00:09:24,118 Although the United States won't enter the war for another six months, 122 00:09:24,363 --> 00:09:26,923 supply convoys from America are already being 123 00:09:27,166 --> 00:09:29,066 hit hard by the German navy. 124 00:09:30,937 --> 00:09:33,531 If the Bismarck had cut out onto the Atlantic sea routes, 125 00:09:33,773 --> 00:09:36,537 she could have done an enormous amount of damage. 126 00:09:36,776 --> 00:09:38,038 I think that if she had done that, 127 00:09:38,277 --> 00:09:39,801 she could've altered the course of the war. 128 00:09:40,046 --> 00:09:42,674 So it was very, very critical. She had to be sunk. 129 00:09:44,617 --> 00:09:46,482 But first, she has to be found. 130 00:09:48,321 --> 00:09:51,484 As far as British intelligence knows, the Bismarck is still safely 131 00:09:51,724 --> 00:09:54,716 in German waters, finishing her sea trials. 132 00:09:55,328 --> 00:09:57,489 In fact, she is already making her escape 133 00:09:57,730 --> 00:10:00,164 from the confined waters of the Baltic. 134 00:10:02,668 --> 00:10:06,126 The German plan is simple, bold... and risky. 135 00:10:07,540 --> 00:10:10,976 First they hope to slip through the narrow waters off Sweden and Norway 136 00:10:11,210 --> 00:10:13,041 and break through to the North sea. 137 00:10:13,512 --> 00:10:16,572 If the Bismarck hasn't been detected, it should be no problem 138 00:10:16,816 --> 00:10:20,684 to sail into the Atlantic-perhaps through the Denmark Strait. 139 00:10:22,888 --> 00:10:24,583 But the Bismarck is detected. 140 00:10:25,391 --> 00:10:27,416 On a sunny Wednesday afternoon, 141 00:10:27,660 --> 00:10:30,288 a British Spitfire snaps this photograph, 142 00:10:30,529 --> 00:10:33,430 showing the Bismarck nestled in a Norwegian Fjord. 143 00:10:36,702 --> 00:10:40,001 The report that Bismarck is trying to break out is confirmed. 144 00:10:40,740 --> 00:10:44,267 Now all the Royal Navy has to do is catch her. 145 00:10:52,084 --> 00:10:54,814 Summer, 1988. Aboard the Starella, 146 00:10:55,054 --> 00:10:59,150 only two days have passed since the hunt for Bismarck began, 147 00:10:59,392 --> 00:11:02,361 and already Ballard believes he's picked up the scent. 148 00:11:05,631 --> 00:11:10,330 Argo is sending back images of a debris trail left by a sinking ship. 149 00:11:10,569 --> 00:11:12,867 That trail should lead Ballard to the wreck. 150 00:11:13,105 --> 00:11:13,935 Coming in. 151 00:11:19,712 --> 00:11:20,736 Come up, Todd... 152 00:11:21,347 --> 00:11:22,405 20 meters. 153 00:11:25,951 --> 00:11:29,887 Something was buried here. There's something right there. 154 00:11:31,190 --> 00:11:33,681 Going down, down... 155 00:11:33,926 --> 00:11:34,950 Keep going... 156 00:11:35,194 --> 00:11:36,024 Down... 157 00:11:36,395 --> 00:11:40,229 On the down swing, on the down. Now. Bang! 158 00:11:42,334 --> 00:11:44,325 The sinking should have been up in here. 159 00:11:45,871 --> 00:11:46,860 I mean that's the best guess. 160 00:11:47,106 --> 00:11:48,073 And that's where we're headed. 161 00:11:48,307 --> 00:11:49,774 So we're gonna head up there, 162 00:11:50,009 --> 00:11:55,504 but stay visual and try to stay in debris... sort of smell our way up. 163 00:11:57,583 --> 00:11:58,607 For the next three days, 164 00:11:58,851 --> 00:12:02,252 Ballard follows the meandering trail of wood and metal. 165 00:12:02,855 --> 00:12:06,086 On the fourth day, Argo finds something larger. 166 00:12:06,926 --> 00:12:08,291 Got a good object coming. 167 00:12:09,929 --> 00:12:11,760 Look at the brightness of that sucker. 168 00:12:12,264 --> 00:12:13,526 Wow, it's awesome. 169 00:12:13,766 --> 00:12:15,563 Whatever it is, it's a big thing. Hold on this altitude. 170 00:12:16,102 --> 00:12:18,468 Woah, what's this? Look at this! 171 00:12:19,171 --> 00:12:20,900 This is what we've come for. Look at that strike. 172 00:12:21,140 --> 00:12:22,505 There's some hull section right here. 173 00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:27,805 All right, down, down, to about seven meters. 174 00:12:33,686 --> 00:12:36,849 Yeah. Kuhboom. 175 00:12:38,390 --> 00:12:39,414 What Ballard has found 176 00:12:39,658 --> 00:12:42,821 is an impact crater where some large object appears to lie buried. 177 00:12:43,062 --> 00:12:45,758 But what kind of object? 178 00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:47,964 You can see the debris trail. 179 00:12:48,667 --> 00:12:51,033 Very light stuff getting bigger, bigger, 180 00:12:51,270 --> 00:12:53,295 bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger, splat. 181 00:12:53,639 --> 00:13:00,010 So I think it went down to the bottom and went right in. 182 00:13:04,216 --> 00:13:06,548 I'm pretty confident that it's the Bismarck. 183 00:13:06,786 --> 00:13:10,950 We have total coverage of the area and I think as we produce our data 184 00:13:11,190 --> 00:13:15,217 and process it our case will get stronger, not weaker. 185 00:13:19,331 --> 00:13:21,458 Believing that he has found the Bismarck, 186 00:13:21,700 --> 00:13:25,500 Ballard has Argo hoisted from the water and the Starella turns for home. 187 00:13:29,875 --> 00:13:32,605 What we gotta do now is to go home and take a closer look at the photographs 188 00:13:32,845 --> 00:13:36,144 and see if we can spot something that says: 189 00:13:36,415 --> 00:13:38,883 "Yes, this is the Bismarck," or "No, it's not". 190 00:13:42,688 --> 00:13:44,952 The photographs give Ballard the definitive answer 191 00:13:45,191 --> 00:13:46,556 he's been looking for 192 00:13:46,859 --> 00:13:48,554 but not the one he wanted. 193 00:13:51,230 --> 00:13:53,960 And then there was a teak rudder. 194 00:13:55,134 --> 00:13:59,195 I mean, a brand new, beautifully preserved teak rudder. 195 00:14:00,139 --> 00:14:03,506 Now, I know that Bismarck was hit in the rudder. 196 00:14:04,210 --> 00:14:05,472 Maybe that's teak rudder. 197 00:14:05,711 --> 00:14:07,178 But obviously it wasn't the Bismarck. 198 00:14:07,413 --> 00:14:10,905 And that image was sort of like a stake in your heart. 199 00:14:11,283 --> 00:14:14,480 I mean I just looked at that and there was no way 200 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,621 I could rationalize around that. 201 00:14:18,090 --> 00:14:20,024 It was clearly, belonged to a sailing ship. 202 00:14:20,593 --> 00:14:21,457 Instead of the Bismarck, 203 00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,628 Ballard has stumbled upon the wreck of a 19th century schooner. 204 00:14:26,532 --> 00:14:27,794 Round one to the Bismarck. 205 00:14:32,571 --> 00:14:33,538 Fifty years ago, 206 00:14:33,772 --> 00:14:37,173 the Bismarck was proving to be just as elusive to the Royal Navy. 207 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,077 On Friday, May 23rd, the battleship is spotted by a patrolling 208 00:14:44,316 --> 00:14:47,251 British cruiser as she prepares to pass through the narrow strait 209 00:14:47,486 --> 00:14:50,148 between Greenland and Iceland. 210 00:14:51,624 --> 00:14:53,023 Two hundred and fifty miles away, 211 00:14:53,259 --> 00:14:55,625 the British warships Prince of Wales and Hood are alerted. 212 00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:02,765 They begin steering a course to intercept Bismarck 213 00:15:03,002 --> 00:15:05,163 before she reaches open water. 214 00:15:07,473 --> 00:15:11,034 Leading the attack will be the largest ship in the British fleet. 215 00:15:11,844 --> 00:15:17,043 Now the hold was the epitome of everything that was marvelous 216 00:15:17,283 --> 00:15:18,875 about the Royal Navy before the war. 217 00:15:19,285 --> 00:15:21,048 She was a wonderful ship. 218 00:15:21,287 --> 00:15:25,018 She was built during the First World War & unfortunately, 219 00:15:25,257 --> 00:15:27,191 she had very poor armor, 220 00:15:27,626 --> 00:15:29,753 very lightly covered armor on her decks. 221 00:15:29,995 --> 00:15:33,829 And she shouldn't have been there unarmored as she was. 222 00:15:37,436 --> 00:15:40,166 Now the Hood was a name all of us knew and hated. 223 00:15:40,406 --> 00:15:43,569 Our commanders tried to scare us with the name when we were on maneuvers. 224 00:15:43,809 --> 00:15:45,834 In every exercise, they'd say: 225 00:15:46,145 --> 00:15:51,549 "Our ship is in a battle with the battleship Hood". 226 00:15:56,956 --> 00:16:00,949 Saturday morning, May 24th. The two titans spot each other. 227 00:16:01,627 --> 00:16:05,085 At a distance of about 14 miles, the Hood opens fire. 228 00:16:17,977 --> 00:16:20,172 Bismarck responds with a series of salvos. 229 00:16:27,753 --> 00:16:31,189 One of Bismarck's shells penetrates the Hood's thinly armored decks 230 00:16:31,423 --> 00:16:34,085 and ignites her aft powder magazines. 231 00:16:34,526 --> 00:16:37,825 The resulting firestorm rips the Hood in half. 232 00:16:38,330 --> 00:16:42,096 All I saw was a gigantic sheet of flame which shot around the 233 00:16:42,334 --> 00:16:43,801 front of the compass platform. 234 00:16:44,903 --> 00:16:47,201 And the ship started to list to starboard. 235 00:16:47,439 --> 00:16:50,897 We were all thrown off our feet. 236 00:16:52,277 --> 00:16:55,576 There was no order given to abandon ship. 237 00:16:55,881 --> 00:16:56,779 It wasn't necessary. 238 00:16:57,016 --> 00:16:58,540 And the news spread immediately. 239 00:16:58,784 --> 00:17:00,411 It was passed on to every body in the ship, However deep. 240 00:17:00,652 --> 00:17:02,483 Somewhere posted inside the ship. 241 00:17:02,721 --> 00:17:04,916 It was jubilation, but almost undescribable. 242 00:17:05,157 --> 00:17:09,355 And it was difficult to get the men really back to their stations 243 00:17:09,595 --> 00:17:12,155 because of all that elation... 244 00:17:13,065 --> 00:17:15,363 I managed to get on one of these ropes and I turned and looked 245 00:17:15,601 --> 00:17:17,501 round again and she'd gone. 246 00:17:17,736 --> 00:17:22,173 And there was a fire on the water where she'd been. 247 00:17:22,408 --> 00:17:24,740 And I'd say the water was about five inches thick with oil. 248 00:17:25,511 --> 00:17:26,876 And again, I panicked. 249 00:17:27,379 --> 00:17:30,177 I turned and swam away again as fast as I could. 250 00:17:30,416 --> 00:17:32,043 And when I looked round again the fire had gone out. 251 00:17:32,284 --> 00:17:34,479 And over on the other side were the other two. 252 00:17:36,288 --> 00:17:37,880 There was no one else that came up. 253 00:17:38,123 --> 00:17:38,987 Just the three of us. 254 00:17:40,225 --> 00:17:44,127 In less than ten minutes of battle, the Hood is gone. 255 00:17:44,930 --> 00:17:48,957 Only three men from a crew of 1,400 survive. 256 00:17:50,869 --> 00:17:52,234 When this news was received in England 257 00:17:52,471 --> 00:17:54,735 it was received with the greatest shock. 258 00:17:55,074 --> 00:17:58,635 It was as much of a shock to us in England as Pearl Harbor was to America. 259 00:17:59,044 --> 00:18:02,138 We couldn't believe that a ship which epitomized the Royal Navy 260 00:18:02,381 --> 00:18:04,042 in all our successes in the past could end, 261 00:18:04,283 --> 00:18:06,877 within a few minutes, could end her life. 262 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:08,814 And people said, well, what next? 263 00:18:09,054 --> 00:18:10,749 I mean if the Bismarck can sink the Hood in six minutes, 264 00:18:10,989 --> 00:18:11,785 what else can she do? 265 00:18:15,661 --> 00:18:19,563 Summer, 1989. A year after coming up empty-handed, 266 00:18:19,798 --> 00:18:24,531 Ballard prepares to renew his search aboard the Star Hercules. 267 00:18:27,239 --> 00:18:30,868 Well, we learned a lot last year, mostly where the Bismarck wasn't. 268 00:18:31,743 --> 00:18:33,540 We've got a better ship, a better winch system 269 00:18:33,779 --> 00:18:36,213 and we can finally take on the mountains. 270 00:18:36,715 --> 00:18:38,979 It was just too dangerous last year. 271 00:18:39,284 --> 00:18:42,014 I'm not too excited about going into the mountains even now, 272 00:18:42,254 --> 00:18:44,552 But I've run out of choices. 273 00:18:46,024 --> 00:18:48,618 This is the one of the reported positions here, 274 00:18:48,861 --> 00:18:50,852 Another one here, and then here. 275 00:18:51,096 --> 00:18:52,120 So the new search area for this year 276 00:18:52,364 --> 00:18:54,559 is roughly six miles east-west by five miles. 277 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:56,768 Now the transponders, Kathy, are where right now? 278 00:18:57,002 --> 00:18:58,765 We've got A here... 279 00:18:59,204 --> 00:19:00,569 A there. 280 00:19:00,806 --> 00:19:01,636 B out here... 281 00:19:01,874 --> 00:19:02,704 Yeah. 282 00:19:02,941 --> 00:19:03,498 And C up here. 283 00:19:03,742 --> 00:19:05,505 So running throughout this area is a tremendous wall 284 00:19:05,744 --> 00:19:08,304 that we have to worry about. 285 00:19:10,015 --> 00:19:12,779 In fact, this shows the wall and it's fairly dramatic. 286 00:19:13,018 --> 00:19:18,388 It rises a thousand feet from here all the way up to the top. 287 00:19:18,624 --> 00:19:22,651 So we have to worry about coming in and crashing into that wall. 288 00:19:24,763 --> 00:19:29,029 The winch we have is very powerful and it's capable of breaking the cable. 289 00:19:29,268 --> 00:19:32,032 If you get it up and you get it trapped think of it as a 290 00:19:32,271 --> 00:19:35,968 20-pund trout on a 5-pound test line. 291 00:19:36,241 --> 00:19:39,768 Do not try to reel it in because the trout will just break 292 00:19:40,012 --> 00:19:41,604 that five-pound test line 293 00:19:41,847 --> 00:19:43,712 and the winch will just break the cable. 294 00:19:43,949 --> 00:19:46,440 So pay it out give it line. 295 00:19:48,620 --> 00:19:53,922 It takes Argo over two hours to reach the ocean floor, three miles down. 296 00:19:56,562 --> 00:19:59,895 Its only connection to the surface ship is a length of cable, 297 00:20:00,132 --> 00:20:02,532 less than an inch thick. 298 00:20:05,571 --> 00:20:08,802 Once in position, Argo can search the bottom for days 299 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:13,076 But first it must drop through realms of unimaginable darkness 300 00:20:13,378 --> 00:20:15,312 under the full weight of the sea. 301 00:20:20,786 --> 00:20:24,620 Although the sled performs flawlessly, the first week ends without 302 00:20:24,856 --> 00:20:27,791 Ballard finding any trace of the Bismarck. 303 00:20:34,132 --> 00:20:38,125 Well, the good news is the area we were o terrified of last year 304 00:20:38,370 --> 00:20:40,031 to the east isn't so bad. 305 00:20:41,039 --> 00:20:43,701 The bad news is we haven't found it. 306 00:20:43,942 --> 00:20:48,641 We've covered over 40 miles now along the bottom 307 00:20:48,880 --> 00:20:51,212 in an area of 30 square miles 308 00:20:52,517 --> 00:20:58,717 and we haven't picked up any other than mud and rocks. 309 00:20:59,157 --> 00:21:02,092 I mean it's an interesting geologic feature, 310 00:21:02,327 --> 00:21:03,851 but that's not why I'm here. 311 00:21:10,769 --> 00:21:12,600 You guys are really milking this one, huh? 312 00:21:12,838 --> 00:21:14,305 Why don't you guys find this thing? 313 00:21:15,140 --> 00:21:15,834 Nothing yet. 314 00:21:16,074 --> 00:21:17,871 Todd? See anything? 315 00:21:18,110 --> 00:21:20,203 Naw. Nothing... 316 00:21:20,812 --> 00:21:23,474 You almost want to throw a trash over just to have something to look at. 317 00:21:25,017 --> 00:21:26,917 Anything that's more fruitful than this. 318 00:21:27,152 --> 00:21:27,880 This is boring. 319 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:29,917 A little mud watching. 320 00:21:30,455 --> 00:21:33,515 I don't think the world realizes that most of the planet is mud. 321 00:21:34,126 --> 00:21:36,924 And I think I've looked at more mud than anyone else. 322 00:21:38,697 --> 00:21:41,894 Yeah, I think that's the worst part of any search is just the boredom. 323 00:21:42,868 --> 00:21:46,269 And hours and hours and hours of mud. 324 00:21:47,606 --> 00:21:50,803 And that's what I'm worried about is fatigue setting in and people 325 00:21:51,043 --> 00:21:53,341 just going right by it and not seeing it. 326 00:22:02,788 --> 00:22:07,316 The watch is maintained day and night by shifts that change every four hours. 327 00:22:07,959 --> 00:22:10,723 So far, there's been nothing of interest to report. 328 00:22:11,830 --> 00:22:15,527 Ready for some mud crawling? Good. Well, we saw nothing? 329 00:22:16,001 --> 00:22:19,562 Right. You want to be 200 meters south... 330 00:22:19,938 --> 00:22:20,905 ...South of that position. 331 00:22:21,139 --> 00:22:22,163 Program 12? 332 00:22:22,407 --> 00:22:23,931 Program 12. 333 00:22:25,143 --> 00:22:25,768 I'll relieve you. 334 00:22:26,011 --> 00:22:28,104 I'm relieved. Thank you. Have fun. 335 00:22:38,657 --> 00:22:41,524 The area we're searching is quickly exceeding the size of the 336 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,785 area we searched for the Titanic. 337 00:22:44,896 --> 00:22:49,299 So they were really evidently very busy shooting at one another 338 00:22:49,534 --> 00:22:51,399 and not very busy at being navigators. 339 00:22:52,304 --> 00:22:54,772 Because the positions that have been issued so far, 340 00:22:55,340 --> 00:22:57,399 there's nothing there. 341 00:23:13,792 --> 00:23:16,920 Saturday, May 24th, 1941. 342 00:23:17,662 --> 00:23:21,359 One hour after sinking the Hood, the Bismarck's commanders decide to 343 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:26,094 return the ship to occupied France to repair damage suffered in the battle. 344 00:23:29,408 --> 00:23:32,309 But Bismarck is being shadowed by three British warships, 345 00:23:32,878 --> 00:23:35,972 while another battle group moves into position for an ambush. 346 00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:40,510 Aboard the Bismarck the officers decide the time 347 00:23:40,752 --> 00:23:43,016 is ripe to lose their pursuers. 348 00:23:46,258 --> 00:23:51,958 And then came this dramatic event in the middle of the night 349 00:23:52,297 --> 00:23:57,428 when the captain of the Bismarck put the wheel hard to starboard 350 00:23:57,669 --> 00:24:02,629 and did a tremendous loop right out to the west and right back, 351 00:24:02,874 --> 00:24:04,637 crossed his own track, 352 00:24:04,876 --> 00:24:06,901 crossed the track of the Prince of Whales and the cruisers 353 00:24:07,145 --> 00:24:09,170 that were following him and disappeared. 354 00:24:10,649 --> 00:24:13,777 Bismarck's maneuver takes the British completely by surprise. 355 00:24:14,619 --> 00:24:16,883 While they search a hundred miles to the north, 356 00:24:17,255 --> 00:24:20,315 the Bismarck sails closer and closer to safety. 357 00:24:22,994 --> 00:24:25,792 Thirty one hours pass as the distance between Bismarck 358 00:24:26,031 --> 00:24:28,932 and the ships frantically looking for her widens. 359 00:24:32,971 --> 00:24:34,962 Then, on Monday morning, 360 00:24:35,207 --> 00:24:37,641 there is a sudden change in the fortunes of war. 361 00:24:38,543 --> 00:24:40,135 A Catalina flying boat, 362 00:24:40,378 --> 00:24:42,744 cruising just below the low-hanging clouds, 363 00:24:43,081 --> 00:24:46,312 spots a dull black shape on the choppy seas. 364 00:24:47,052 --> 00:24:48,280 It is the Bismarck. 365 00:24:51,456 --> 00:24:54,118 She is less than a day's sail from the protection of 366 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,418 Luftwaffe bombers stationed in France. 367 00:24:59,464 --> 00:25:01,591 Most of the British ships are well to the northwest, 368 00:25:01,833 --> 00:25:05,462 while others lie south all too far away to catch up. 369 00:25:06,738 --> 00:25:09,935 Only one ship has a chance to slow the Bismarck down before 370 00:25:10,175 --> 00:25:14,134 she reaches port the aircraft carrier Ark Royal. 371 00:25:20,452 --> 00:25:22,750 But the Ark Royal is less than an ideal weapon 372 00:25:22,988 --> 00:25:24,888 to pit against the Bismarck. 373 00:25:25,490 --> 00:25:29,392 Her aging Swordfish torpedo planes have wings made of fabric, 374 00:25:29,628 --> 00:25:33,724 an attack speed of less than a hundred miles an hour, 375 00:25:33,965 --> 00:25:35,728 and carry only one torpedo apiece. 376 00:25:36,268 --> 00:25:39,863 Yet they are the only weapon the British have left. 377 00:25:40,505 --> 00:25:42,973 If the Swordfish can't slow the Bismarck down, 378 00:25:43,208 --> 00:25:45,142 she'll be in friendly waters by morning. 379 00:25:51,917 --> 00:25:53,179 With night closing in, 380 00:25:53,451 --> 00:25:56,682 the tiny Swordfish race across the darkening skies. 381 00:26:01,526 --> 00:26:05,462 At 8:53 PM they spot the Bismarck, and attack. 382 00:26:13,338 --> 00:26:15,533 They came in the evening, in the twilight. 383 00:26:18,643 --> 00:26:21,077 The sea was rough when we opened fire. 384 00:26:23,548 --> 00:26:26,346 We shot and shot, but what good did it do? 385 00:26:26,618 --> 00:26:29,314 We fired so much our gun barrels had to be cooled down. 386 00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:38,620 One of the Swordfish torpedoes hits Bismarck amidships, 387 00:26:38,863 --> 00:26:39,955 causing minor damage. 388 00:26:40,665 --> 00:26:44,761 But another strikes the battleship in the only place she is 389 00:26:45,003 --> 00:26:46,766 vulnerable her rudders. 390 00:26:48,073 --> 00:26:50,200 Bismarck's steering gear jams. 391 00:26:50,775 --> 00:26:54,040 Now she can only move in one direction northwest directly toward the 392 00:26:54,279 --> 00:26:57,737 onrushing British fleet. 393 00:26:58,183 --> 00:27:00,651 We couldn't understand it when we got a signal from 394 00:27:00,885 --> 00:27:02,910 the Ark Royal and the chef who was saying: 395 00:27:03,154 --> 00:27:04,985 "Course of Bismarck is due north", 396 00:27:05,223 --> 00:27:08,215 when up to that point it had been due south, or at least southeast. 397 00:27:08,460 --> 00:27:10,257 And we thought: "They made a mistake". 398 00:27:10,495 --> 00:27:13,123 It's very easy when you see a ship in the distance, 399 00:27:13,365 --> 00:27:15,390 in the haze awfully uncertain whether it's going from 400 00:27:15,634 --> 00:27:16,726 left to right or right to left. 401 00:27:16,968 --> 00:27:18,902 And we thought: "Oh, they made a mistake. 402 00:27:19,137 --> 00:27:21,697 Silly ol' thing. They should know better than that". 403 00:27:21,940 --> 00:27:23,965 And when it was repeated two or three times, 404 00:27:24,209 --> 00:27:26,939 we suddenly realize that the Bismarck had been delivered into our hands. 405 00:27:28,513 --> 00:27:30,174 Summer, 1989. 406 00:27:34,653 --> 00:27:37,213 The Star Hercules has been criss-crossing the seabed 407 00:27:37,455 --> 00:27:41,255 for over 200 hours without finding a trace of wreckage. 408 00:27:43,728 --> 00:27:46,959 On the ninth day of the hunt, that begins to change. 409 00:27:49,567 --> 00:27:53,264 This whole area is like someone really disrupted it 410 00:27:55,073 --> 00:27:57,803 We're just getting little snippets. 411 00:27:58,043 --> 00:28:00,944 There's some little stuff. 412 00:28:01,746 --> 00:28:05,238 Forward, Oops, look at that. Look at that right there. Forward. 413 00:28:05,483 --> 00:28:08,145 That's obviously man-made. 414 00:28:08,386 --> 00:28:09,944 No doubt about that. 415 00:28:10,689 --> 00:28:14,318 Light stuff. What did that one off to the right look like, on the? 416 00:28:14,959 --> 00:28:15,857 It wasn't... 417 00:28:16,094 --> 00:28:17,254 Yeah, but it could be an impact crater 418 00:28:17,495 --> 00:28:18,792 Could be. 419 00:28:19,631 --> 00:28:25,968 We came in on the debris about 17 hours ago 420 00:28:26,204 --> 00:28:30,106 and we found a big section of wreckage 421 00:28:30,341 --> 00:28:34,209 And we got burnt last year and we don't want to repeat that. 422 00:28:34,446 --> 00:28:35,743 We want a definitive, 423 00:28:35,980 --> 00:28:38,608 you know, Bismarck, okay? 424 00:28:38,850 --> 00:28:41,444 We're not getting that and it's frustrating. 425 00:28:42,721 --> 00:28:45,189 It takes hours and hours and hours. 426 00:28:45,423 --> 00:28:48,051 And I haven't slept for 17 hours and I'm getting tired. 427 00:28:49,094 --> 00:28:52,860 The trail of clues on the ocean floor is tantalizingly human... 428 00:28:53,431 --> 00:28:58,164 A boot... a lantern... torn from a sinking ship. 429 00:28:58,870 --> 00:29:00,201 But was it the Bismarck? 430 00:29:18,423 --> 00:29:18,855 G' morning. 431 00:29:19,090 --> 00:29:19,954 G' morning. 432 00:29:27,098 --> 00:29:29,328 Just junk... ready? Fire. 433 00:29:30,034 --> 00:29:32,025 Each hour brings new discoveries, 434 00:29:32,470 --> 00:29:35,564 and a renewed sense that they're closing in on the quarry. 435 00:29:35,907 --> 00:29:37,033 There's a circles. 436 00:29:40,945 --> 00:29:41,707 Go down. 437 00:29:52,590 --> 00:29:56,082 Yet nothing they have found can positively be linked to the Bismarck 438 00:29:56,594 --> 00:29:58,892 until just before midnight, 439 00:29:59,230 --> 00:30:02,961 when Argo passes over what appears to be part of a turret 440 00:30:03,201 --> 00:30:06,068 that once housed Bismarck's 15 inch guns. 441 00:30:06,704 --> 00:30:09,070 There, back up. No, no... reverse it. 442 00:30:09,307 --> 00:30:11,434 Back, back, back. Right there! 443 00:30:11,876 --> 00:30:13,366 All right. Now! 444 00:30:14,012 --> 00:30:18,779 That's it. You got it... No, they did not have those 445 00:30:19,017 --> 00:30:22,817 on 18th century sailing ships... it's decisive. 446 00:30:33,765 --> 00:30:37,531 Ballard knows he's getting closer. But he's not there yet. 447 00:30:37,936 --> 00:30:39,198 We haven't found the ship. 448 00:30:39,437 --> 00:30:40,529 I don't think it was buried. 449 00:30:40,772 --> 00:30:42,501 I don't think it slid down that hill. 450 00:30:42,740 --> 00:30:43,900 I don't think it's there. 451 00:30:44,142 --> 00:30:46,133 I think it's somewhere else, but nearby. 452 00:30:46,377 --> 00:30:47,810 Here's more debris coming up. 453 00:30:49,981 --> 00:30:53,382 And it's that debris the debris trail is going to lead us to the ship. 454 00:30:53,751 --> 00:30:55,719 We just have to pick up the scent again. 455 00:30:58,223 --> 00:31:01,659 Tuesday, May 27th, between midnight and dawn. 456 00:31:03,194 --> 00:31:06,823 Over a dozen British warships close on the crippled Bismarck, 457 00:31:07,265 --> 00:31:10,291 waiting for first light to deliver the final blow. 458 00:31:13,238 --> 00:31:17,140 They know their quarry is wounded, but no one can guess how badly. 459 00:31:21,946 --> 00:31:26,679 At about midnight, or shortly after, the conclusion had to be drawn: 460 00:31:26,918 --> 00:31:29,853 It was impossible to do useful repair. 461 00:31:30,088 --> 00:31:33,649 And was just giving up at next morning after we waited. 462 00:31:40,298 --> 00:31:41,890 We ate our meals at our guns. 463 00:31:42,467 --> 00:31:46,335 There was no more warm food just bread with something on it, 464 00:31:47,472 --> 00:31:49,406 And once we had boiled potatoes. 465 00:31:50,074 --> 00:31:52,099 And we stayed at our guns the whole time. 466 00:31:58,216 --> 00:32:01,515 And this was perhaps the most difficult, 467 00:32:01,753 --> 00:32:05,018 the most dreadful part of the entire operation, as far as I remember: 468 00:32:05,256 --> 00:32:07,986 The certainty you could not escape anymore. 469 00:32:08,226 --> 00:32:10,126 You couldn't do anything. 470 00:32:10,361 --> 00:32:14,821 And you could probably not do anything equal up to the battle 471 00:32:15,066 --> 00:32:18,729 that would be shaping up next morning. 472 00:32:18,970 --> 00:32:21,666 It was like sentence of death. 473 00:32:25,143 --> 00:32:26,974 Tuesday, May 27th. 474 00:32:27,211 --> 00:32:30,703 Two hors after sunrise, the Rodney and King George 475 00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:34,407 finally spot the Bismarck emerging from a rain squall. 476 00:32:34,852 --> 00:32:36,649 Battle stations are called. 477 00:32:36,888 --> 00:32:40,824 At 8:47 am the British warships open fire. 478 00:32:55,340 --> 00:32:57,331 The only thing that struck me when the battle started 479 00:32:57,575 --> 00:32:58,974 was all the color contrasts. 480 00:32:59,210 --> 00:33:01,110 The Bismarck was black. 481 00:33:01,346 --> 00:33:03,211 The British ships were grey. 482 00:33:03,448 --> 00:33:08,442 The seas were green with the wind creaming the tops, creamy tops. 483 00:33:09,487 --> 00:33:13,856 There was the brown of the cordite when the guns fired on both sides; 484 00:33:14,092 --> 00:33:16,617 there was the brown puffs of cordite smoke. 485 00:33:16,861 --> 00:33:18,886 Then there was the flash, the orange flash of the guns. 486 00:33:19,130 --> 00:33:22,463 And then these enormous shells splashes-high as houses, 487 00:33:22,700 --> 00:33:24,429 white as shrouds. 488 00:33:27,038 --> 00:33:30,804 And it was majestic. It was a majestic scene. 489 00:33:31,042 --> 00:33:33,101 It was an awesome scene. 490 00:33:33,411 --> 00:33:36,608 And I can see it today as clearly as I saw it then. 491 00:33:39,751 --> 00:33:43,551 For one full hour the relentless British salvos continue. 492 00:33:44,288 --> 00:33:48,088 She'd had a lot of damage on the forecastle forward the right side. 493 00:33:48,793 --> 00:33:55,198 And every time she plunged in the sea the plates on her port bow, 494 00:33:55,433 --> 00:33:58,925 extending over a large area, were red hot as she came out. 495 00:33:59,170 --> 00:34:02,731 And then when she went into the sea there was a cloud of steam. 496 00:34:02,940 --> 00:34:05,738 What I saw made me sick. 497 00:34:06,010 --> 00:34:09,468 There were mountains of dead people in pieces. 498 00:34:09,947 --> 00:34:13,906 There was one crazy man still at his gun still firing. 499 00:34:26,631 --> 00:34:28,155 Ammunition was exploding. 500 00:34:28,399 --> 00:34:30,765 The entire upper deck was on fire. 501 00:34:31,569 --> 00:34:37,007 It looked like a heap of rubble. The beauty of the ship was gone. 502 00:34:40,111 --> 00:34:44,207 Then eventually we saw men trickling down, 503 00:34:44,582 --> 00:34:46,914 running down the quarter deck and then jumping into the sea 504 00:34:47,151 --> 00:34:49,984 because it was all over. 505 00:34:50,321 --> 00:34:54,223 It was finished. It was a dreadful light, you know. 506 00:34:54,459 --> 00:34:55,687 No sailor likes to see another ship sunk even if it's an enemy. 507 00:34:56,627 --> 00:34:57,559 This piece of film, 508 00:34:57,995 --> 00:34:59,895 showing the Bismarck burning on the far horizon, 509 00:35:00,131 --> 00:35:05,034 is the last view of the battleship before she began to sink. 510 00:35:13,544 --> 00:35:16,980 I thought about what to do. I was no longer needed. 511 00:35:17,815 --> 00:35:19,749 What good is antiaircraft in a sea battle? 512 00:35:20,751 --> 00:35:22,946 And we were almost out of ammunition. 513 00:35:27,325 --> 00:35:29,657 So I left with some others and we drifted away from 514 00:35:29,894 --> 00:35:34,888 the Bismarck on a life boat. 515 00:35:39,003 --> 00:35:43,702 The admiral decided the only way to sink her was to torpedo. 516 00:35:44,308 --> 00:35:47,675 So we went in close and fired our torpedoes. 517 00:35:50,114 --> 00:35:52,981 And then we watched her sink. 518 00:36:02,927 --> 00:36:06,260 Thursday, June 8th, 1989. 519 00:36:07,198 --> 00:36:13,068 A rainy, overcast morning very much like Bismarck's last hours at sea. 520 00:36:14,739 --> 00:36:16,604 And once we've established that, we're gonna turn around, 521 00:36:16,841 --> 00:36:18,308 come back west of that line... 522 00:36:22,580 --> 00:36:24,980 Looks like we have a big target coming up on the port side, 523 00:36:25,216 --> 00:36:26,843 about 45 meters out. 524 00:36:28,653 --> 00:36:31,087 Closing on the target it's about 30 meters ahead. 525 00:36:31,522 --> 00:36:32,250 All right! 526 00:36:35,226 --> 00:36:36,158 Still closing. 527 00:36:36,627 --> 00:36:40,961 Staying strong... lot of debris port starboard. 528 00:36:49,607 --> 00:36:51,040 This is a strong one guys. 529 00:36:51,275 --> 00:36:52,640 This could be it. 530 00:36:52,877 --> 00:36:54,640 This is incredible. 531 00:36:55,012 --> 00:36:57,071 Gun decks right across the bridge. 532 00:37:05,323 --> 00:37:06,620 Look at that baby! 533 00:37:42,927 --> 00:37:46,260 Our ship was at the very spot that the Bismarck must have been. 534 00:37:46,530 --> 00:37:50,022 With all of the rounds coming, the total chaos, confusion, 535 00:37:50,268 --> 00:37:54,136 splashes, the impacting, rounds, explosions going off, 536 00:37:54,372 --> 00:37:58,900 A fire burning just the tremendous carnage that took place. 537 00:37:59,143 --> 00:38:02,442 And then to realize that the ship sank 538 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:05,672 and then there were all these people in the water around you. 539 00:38:05,916 --> 00:38:08,646 You can almost see them swimming in this churning sea 540 00:38:08,886 --> 00:38:11,150 full of oil and relate to that. 541 00:38:12,156 --> 00:38:13,817 How awful that would be. 542 00:38:25,369 --> 00:38:27,564 We swam for a little while, 543 00:38:27,838 --> 00:38:30,602 just to keep moving so we wouldn't freeze. 544 00:38:31,676 --> 00:38:34,236 The water was about 10 degrees Celsius. 545 00:38:36,013 --> 00:38:40,313 And it was so difficult to swim in the oil that had assembled on the 546 00:38:40,551 --> 00:38:42,781 surface of the ocean from the sanked ship. 547 00:38:43,020 --> 00:38:46,251 It penetrated our faces and ears. It was terrible. 548 00:38:46,590 --> 00:38:49,354 It made everything most difficult. 549 00:38:49,593 --> 00:38:54,189 We were ordered to go and rescue them in the ship I was in. 550 00:38:54,598 --> 00:38:57,590 So we came up slowly to them and tried to pull them up 551 00:38:57,835 --> 00:38:59,632 the ship's side on ropes. 552 00:39:03,174 --> 00:39:07,577 I remember a story that spread right away on the Dorsetshire. 553 00:39:07,845 --> 00:39:11,542 A British seaman saw a German sailor who had no arms trying to swim. 554 00:39:11,782 --> 00:39:15,149 So he climbed down into the sea 555 00:39:15,453 --> 00:39:17,785 and fastened a rope around the man's body. 556 00:39:18,222 --> 00:39:24,821 I reached one of the ropes to help them pull this survivor up 557 00:39:25,062 --> 00:39:28,930 and then we noticed that he had both his arms shot off 558 00:39:29,166 --> 00:39:31,430 and was holding the rope with his teeth. 559 00:39:32,136 --> 00:39:37,073 And he fell off just as we got him to the upper deck. 560 00:39:38,209 --> 00:39:42,202 And I went over the side to tie a bowline around him. 561 00:39:42,446 --> 00:39:43,845 So I did that. Then I lost him. 562 00:39:46,384 --> 00:39:50,047 For those of us on the Dorsetshire, the name Joe Brooks means something. 563 00:39:50,588 --> 00:39:53,284 Our government should give that man a medal for humaneness. 564 00:40:12,777 --> 00:40:15,337 In the days following the discovery of the Bismarck, 565 00:40:15,679 --> 00:40:18,944 Argo maneuvers slowly around the half-buried hull, 566 00:40:19,283 --> 00:40:21,808 trying to determine the extent of the damage. 567 00:40:30,694 --> 00:40:35,688 Well, I think any time you retell a story, 568 00:40:36,267 --> 00:40:40,203 particularly World War II people aren't from it. 569 00:40:40,638 --> 00:40:43,698 I mean, the futileness of it, the stupidity of it. 570 00:40:43,941 --> 00:40:46,239 The wastefulness of it. I think we need to be reminded of that. 571 00:40:46,477 --> 00:40:49,571 And I think one needs to be reminded of all that happened 572 00:40:49,814 --> 00:40:51,714 during World War II. 573 00:40:51,949 --> 00:40:53,917 I think it's very critical that people reflect back 574 00:40:54,151 --> 00:40:56,551 so we don't repeat these things. 575 00:41:02,860 --> 00:41:04,350 All right. 576 00:41:04,595 --> 00:41:06,324 All right, Martin, sequence through. 577 00:41:06,564 --> 00:41:08,259 Okay... stop. What's that? 578 00:41:08,499 --> 00:41:11,229 It's a swastika. Look at it. 579 00:41:11,502 --> 00:41:16,337 Is it a swastika? A cross. 580 00:41:17,775 --> 00:41:21,677 No, that's not a cross... It's a swastika. 581 00:41:22,847 --> 00:41:25,975 Part of it is covered up by the sediment and the 582 00:41:26,217 --> 00:41:28,481 other part is chopped off. 583 00:41:28,886 --> 00:41:30,513 All right, down look. 584 00:41:57,348 --> 00:41:58,872 Now the ship that Hitler called 585 00:41:59,116 --> 00:42:03,553 "this majestic giant of the sea" can only be glimpsed in fragments. 586 00:42:07,725 --> 00:42:12,662 A ghostly section of the bow with decks of polished teak. 587 00:42:21,906 --> 00:42:23,567 Bismarck's 15-inch guns, 588 00:42:24,108 --> 00:42:28,772 once held in place by their own weight fell free when she rolled underwater. 589 00:42:29,413 --> 00:42:31,472 Only empty holes remain. 590 00:42:35,519 --> 00:42:39,353 Across one of the four turret holes, a crane lies toppled. 591 00:42:45,896 --> 00:42:49,127 Much of the forward superstructure was destroyed. 592 00:42:49,533 --> 00:42:52,900 But the open bridge and conning tower still remain. 593 00:42:58,576 --> 00:43:02,672 A moment's glory... then 50 years of darkness. 594 00:43:11,055 --> 00:43:13,751 We've got it all. I mean, the whole ship is here. 595 00:43:14,191 --> 00:43:19,823 We're missing, it looks like, all the big turrets. 596 00:43:20,064 --> 00:43:23,227 But almost all the other armament is present on the ship. 597 00:43:23,867 --> 00:43:25,061 We're only missing the big guns... 598 00:43:25,302 --> 00:43:27,031 Although the four main turrets are gone, 599 00:43:27,271 --> 00:43:29,762 Bismarck's smaller guns remain in place, 600 00:43:30,007 --> 00:43:32,237 as if still menacing the sea. 601 00:43:36,714 --> 00:43:40,480 That's gone. I'm sure the stack's gone 602 00:43:46,290 --> 00:43:48,656 this gun is lost... 603 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:57,699 little anti-aircraft guns... zoom down. 604 00:43:59,603 --> 00:44:01,503 There's an anti-aircraft gun. See him? 605 00:44:03,607 --> 00:44:05,632 That guy's pointed... 606 00:44:07,244 --> 00:44:10,372 The fact that the ship is in one piece seems to confirm 607 00:44:10,614 --> 00:44:12,912 German reports that it was scuttled, 608 00:44:13,317 --> 00:44:15,478 though the issue is still being debated. 609 00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:20,718 I'm sure that it was a combination of scuttling and all the damage it took. 610 00:44:21,025 --> 00:44:25,018 I just find it difficult to understand why they're so concerned about it 611 00:44:25,262 --> 00:44:27,162 and I guess it boils down to pride: 612 00:44:28,966 --> 00:44:33,630 Germans wanting to be proud that the British couldn't sink it, 613 00:44:33,871 --> 00:44:36,897 and the British wanting to be proud that they could. 614 00:44:38,942 --> 00:44:43,470 I'm just shocked that there's hardly that much apparent damage other 615 00:44:43,714 --> 00:44:46,945 than the loss of those four turrets, the loss of some of the superstructure. 616 00:44:47,184 --> 00:44:49,345 I thought it was going to be an awful sight and it's strangely... 617 00:44:49,586 --> 00:44:53,078 sitting upright and proud. 618 00:45:00,064 --> 00:45:03,261 The Bismarck survivors have been in the water over an hour 619 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:06,833 when the British crusier Dorsetshire arrives to pull them from the sea. 620 00:45:08,338 --> 00:45:11,466 The rescue effort has hardly begun when the Dorsetshire's captain 621 00:45:11,709 --> 00:45:14,701 gets a report that a German U-boat has been spotted. 622 00:45:15,646 --> 00:45:18,206 In an action that remains controversial to this day, 623 00:45:19,016 --> 00:45:20,313 he orders a retreat. 624 00:45:24,288 --> 00:45:26,381 The question runs through my head all the time: 625 00:45:29,193 --> 00:45:32,390 Why did Captain Martin stop the rescuer while so many hundreds 626 00:45:32,629 --> 00:45:34,859 of men were still in the water? 627 00:45:35,466 --> 00:45:39,664 I can only interpret it as an act of revenge for what happened to the Hood, 628 00:45:40,337 --> 00:45:44,103 which sank with all her crew except for the three men who were rescued. 629 00:45:47,511 --> 00:45:51,106 Hardly had I been taken underneath on board the Dorsetshire that I felt, 630 00:45:51,348 --> 00:45:54,806 by the vibrations of the ship, that she had gone with utmost speed. 631 00:45:55,052 --> 00:45:57,987 And I had been one of the last to be rescued without ever having a notion 632 00:45:58,222 --> 00:46:02,215 of it so far. It was a terrible thing. 633 00:46:03,594 --> 00:46:06,427 The water around Dorsetshire's stern foamed and bubbled with the 634 00:46:06,663 --> 00:46:08,153 sudden exertion of the screws. 635 00:46:08,532 --> 00:46:11,228 Slowly, then faster, the ship moved ahead. 636 00:46:11,902 --> 00:46:13,961 Bismarck survivors who were almost on board 637 00:46:14,204 --> 00:46:16,172 were bundled over the guard rails onto the deck. 638 00:46:16,540 --> 00:46:21,204 Those halfway up the ropes found themselves trailing the stern, 639 00:46:21,445 --> 00:46:23,504 hung on as long as they could against the forward movement of the ship, 640 00:46:23,747 --> 00:46:25,544 dropped off one by one. 641 00:46:25,783 --> 00:46:28,217 Others in the water clawed frantically at the paintwork 642 00:46:28,452 --> 00:46:30,477 as the sides slipped by. 643 00:46:30,888 --> 00:46:34,221 In Dorsetshire they heard the thin cries of hundreds of Germans 644 00:46:34,458 --> 00:46:36,551 who had come within an inch of rescue, 645 00:46:36,860 --> 00:46:39,090 had believed that their long ordeal was at last over; 646 00:46:39,663 --> 00:46:42,257 cries that the British sailors no less than survivors already 647 00:46:42,499 --> 00:46:44,694 on board would always remember. 648 00:46:45,235 --> 00:46:47,430 From the water Bismarck's men watched appalled 649 00:46:47,671 --> 00:46:50,435 as the cruiser's grey side swept past them, 650 00:46:50,808 --> 00:46:53,971 believed then the tales they'd heard about the British not caring much 651 00:46:54,211 --> 00:46:56,509 about survivors were true after all, 652 00:46:57,014 --> 00:47:01,451 presently found themselves alone in the sunshine on the empty tossing sea. 653 00:47:02,553 --> 00:47:05,886 And during the day as they floated about the Atlantic 654 00:47:06,123 --> 00:47:08,284 with only lifebelts between them and eternity, 655 00:47:08,625 --> 00:47:11,822 the cold came to their testicles and hands and feet and heads. 656 00:47:12,496 --> 00:47:14,691 And one by one they lost consciousness 657 00:47:14,932 --> 00:47:17,298 And one by one they died. 658 00:47:29,046 --> 00:47:33,949 One of the German sailors rescued by the Dorsetshire died the following day, 659 00:47:34,651 --> 00:47:36,118 and is buried at sea. 660 00:47:39,590 --> 00:47:42,423 The chaplain was there with some British crew members 661 00:47:42,659 --> 00:47:44,957 and we stood across from them face to face, 662 00:47:45,596 --> 00:47:48,724 just staring at each other not sure what was happening. 663 00:48:02,045 --> 00:48:05,742 Then we heard a military signal, and then I realized 664 00:48:05,983 --> 00:48:07,974 it was a funeral for my friend. 665 00:48:17,261 --> 00:48:23,928 One of us borrowed h harmonica and played: "I once had a Camarade". 666 00:48:25,369 --> 00:48:28,770 The British had tears in their eyes, just like us. 667 00:48:29,506 --> 00:48:31,098 He had stood next to me, 668 00:48:32,209 --> 00:48:33,870 he had marched by my side. 669 00:49:05,409 --> 00:49:06,808 It is sometimes difficult 670 00:49:15,118 --> 00:49:17,552 to be reminded all the time. 671 00:49:21,425 --> 00:49:22,722 It's hard to explain. 672 00:49:32,135 --> 00:49:34,695 On one hand you're glad you survived, 673 00:49:38,642 --> 00:49:42,442 but then you are pulled back into the past again. 674 00:49:53,256 --> 00:49:59,217 It's inevitable that all great ships in the sea will be found some day. 675 00:49:59,896 --> 00:50:02,831 I think the key thing is how do we treat it. 676 00:50:04,201 --> 00:50:08,865 I mean, what's our reaction to it? Do we treat it respectfully? 677 00:50:09,106 --> 00:50:12,735 Do we not touch it, not disturb it? Do it with respect? 678 00:50:12,976 --> 00:50:14,910 To me the Bismarck's the war grave. 679 00:50:21,952 --> 00:50:23,977 The chase and sinking of the Bismarck was without doubt one of the 680 00:50:24,221 --> 00:50:26,189 great sea epics of all time. 681 00:50:27,090 --> 00:50:31,652 And it was because of the changing fortunes of either side. 682 00:50:32,195 --> 00:50:35,653 It was this great, vast, huge monster come out of its lair. 683 00:50:36,199 --> 00:50:39,635 And then in a flash it sinks the big British monster, disappears. 684 00:50:39,970 --> 00:50:41,699 We look for it, we can't find it. 685 00:50:41,938 --> 00:50:44,998 A little tiny airplane suddenly finds it, reports where it is. 686 00:50:45,242 --> 00:50:50,305 Another little, tiny airplane sends a torpedo which cripples it. 687 00:50:50,947 --> 00:50:54,940 And then the big British ships can come up and sink it. 688 00:50:55,352 --> 00:50:57,877 It's an extraordinary story. And it's full of heroism. 689 00:50:58,121 --> 00:51:05,926 And it's full of heroism. And it's full of pride on both sides. 690 00:51:06,329 --> 00:51:09,856 I mean, these were wonderful ships and the impersonality of it all. 691 00:51:10,100 --> 00:51:14,127 You see, we all fired at each other without seeing the enemy. 692 00:51:14,371 --> 00:51:15,303 We never saw the enemy at all. 693 00:51:15,539 --> 00:51:18,201 The only time I ever saw the enemy was when this little trickle of men 694 00:51:18,442 --> 00:51:21,969 ran down in the Bismarck's quarter deck and jumped into the sea. 695 00:51:22,612 --> 00:51:24,477 Apart from that I could've been firing or we could've been 696 00:51:24,714 --> 00:51:26,306 we weren't firing ourselves, 697 00:51:26,650 --> 00:51:29,813 but the British could've been firing at castles. 698 00:51:31,188 --> 00:51:32,985 A sea battle is a very impersonal thing. 699 00:51:34,357 --> 00:51:36,291 It won't happen again. 700 00:51:36,660 --> 00:51:37,786 No like that.