HMS Duncan has arrived at her destination: at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf … Duncan will come face to face with Iranian forces. ibid.
The helicopter can spot small Iranian vessels at range, giving Duncan vital time to react. ibid.
HMS Duncan is a billion pound warship on a brand new mission: this Royal Navy Destroyer is packed with the most advanced weaponry in the world. But 260 men and women also call it home … HMS Duncan has been off the coast of Iran for three weeks. Warship: Life at Sea s2e5
Their job is to guard British-flag tankers and to stop Iran capturing them. ibid.
After 190 days at sea HMS Duncan is about to enter the Mediterranean and begin the final leg of her journey home. ibid.
1Majestic, powerful and deadly: for over 400 years British ships ruled the waves. These magnificent vessels shaped the fortunes of our nation. Rob Bell, Great British Ships s1e1: HMS Victory: Nelson’s Great Warship, Channel 5 2018
HMS Victory: the ship that won the Battle of Trafalgar. Together with her famous commander Admiral Nelson, Victory confirmed Britain’s domination of the oceans for over a century. ibid.
21st October 1805: in the waters off the southern tip of Spain a battle raged that would come to be seen as Britain’s greatest ever naval encounter: Trafalgar. ibid.
The mystery of the Mary Rose: Henry VIII’s gun-laden battleship lost in an unexplained tragedy. Rediscovered by pioneering archaeologists, she is a Tudor time capsule and Britain’s most extraordinary shipwreck. Rob Bell, Great British Ship s1e2: The Mary Rose: Secrets from the Deep
The only 16th-century ship anywhere on Earth. ibid.
Henry’s own fleet of some eighty ships. They were outnumbered nearly three to one. ibid.
Her hull showed no damage from enemy firepower. ibid.
Ages ranged between 10 and 40. ibid.
The extraordinary story of HMS Belfast: the warship that helped bring down the Nazi empire … battling the world’s most dangerous oceans, she took the fight to the enemy. Rob Bell, Great British Ships s1e6: HMS Belfast: WW2’s Great Survivor
Built in 1938, HMS Belfast was designed to deliver the perfect balance of speed and firepower. She was a cruiser, small and faster than a battleship, with a sleak-line hull that could cut through the roughest of seas. Belfast was swift but she was also deadly. ibid.
The deadly power of these new magnetic mines posed a massive threat to the Royal Navy. ibid.
Of all the ships that had been born on the slipways here and launched into the Clyde, one of the greatest and most iconic was a warship – HMS Hood. For more than 20 years the largest warship in the Royal Navy. Clydebuilt: The Ships That Made the Commonwealth IV: HMS Hood
Hood was the most elegant warship ever conceived. But contained within her design were the seeds of her downfall. ibid.
The construction of Hood began with the laying of the keel, the great backbone of the ship … Hood would weigh in at over 42,000 tons. ibid.
Hood was not welded together but riveted. ibid.
Hood’s construction had been beset by problems and through no fault of the workers. ibid.
The U-boats that were floating bombs: a journey through the heart of the Nazi war machine. In this episode I’ll be going to the depths of the Wolf packs, Germany’s U-boat army, a force that threatened Britain’s survival like no other. Nazi War Machines: Secrets Uncovered III: U-boats
At the start of the Second World War, Britain ruled the waves: the Royal Navy was the largest and most powerful seaborne force in the world. ibid.
His notion of a navy was a grandiose fleet of massive battleships that could take on the Royal Navy on the high seas. After all, where’s the fun in launching U-boats when you could be smashing champagne bottles against giant battleships. ibid.
Away for weeks at a time: the smell of this place must have been absolutely horrendous: the sweat, oil, rotten food, a really physically incredibly tough environment on which to live and try to fight a war. Operating in wolf-packs, the U-boats targeted Britain’s lifeline: the merchant ships supplying goods and materials from the United States’ and Britain’s colonies from around the world. The wolf-packs were staggeringly successful. ibid.
Small mass-produced vessels: the midget submarine … these midget subs were soon to prove more dangerous to their crews than the enemy. ibid.
Some 60% of these were lost. ibid.
Something that could change the face of the war … This is U-boat 2540 … a type 21 … ibid.
The River Thames, January 1806: All of London has turned out to witness the most elaborate funeral procession in living memory. A broken body is being escorted home with the pomp and ceremony usually reserved for royalty. The man who three months ago gave his life in his hour of triumph at the Battle of Trafalgar is laid to rest with a state funeral at St Paul’s cathedral. And in this moment, Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson becomes a cult figure, representing for many victory and glory. Nelson: Britain’s Great Naval Hero, Channel 5 2020
‘The great thing about Nelson is that he was a rule breaker.’ ibid. Kate Williams
In the Nelson legend he is depicted as a military genius, of machismo and romance. ibid.
Appearance and class weren’t the only factors that made Nelson an unlikely hero to be. ibid.
‘He manages to capture two – two – Spanish ships’ [Sam Willis] … Despite disobeying orders, Nelson’s decisive action and his extreme bravery in security a British victory was rewarded back home. At a prestigious ceremony King George III made Nelson a Knight of the Bath, the first of many accolades that Nelson proudly displayed. 1797 age 38: promotion to Rear-Admiral. ibid.
Nelson’s self-belief was bolstered by the support of his men. Through more than 25 years at sea he had earned a reputation as a stand-out naval officer. ibid.
Nelson was one of about 100,000 personnel serving King & Country in the Royal Navy, the largest employer in late 18th-century Britain. ibid.
Nelson’s commitment to his pursuit of glory was total. ibid.
To really capture public attention the great self-publicist needed a nemesis, and for Nelson his was Napoleon Bonaparte. ibid.
His is one of the most famous deaths in history. ibid.
The Coronation Review of the Royal Navy showcased the most famous fleet in the world. Once defenders of an empire that had circled the globe they gathered here to honour one young woman. Eleven days earlier the 27-year old-Elizabeth II had been crowned Queen … For all the epic splendour, what the young Queen was really seeing that day was the end of an ear. New Elizabethans with Andrew Marr II, BBC 2020
1915: He is in charge of the largest naval force in the world … Churchill tries to convince his colleagues that Britain should take on Turkey. It is, he claims, the surest and shortest route to victory … Five weeks after the failed naval attacks an invasion force of 30,000 men heads for the Turkish coast … ‘blood and bandages all over the beach … whole regiments wiped out.’ Churchill II: The Long Grass, Channel 5 2021