Japan’s devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor plunged America into war. But it was Hitler who struck ever closer to home. U-boat Wolf-packs prowled the Atlantic and stalked America’s east coast sending ships and crews to the bottom. Hitler’s Secret Attack on America, National Geographic 2012
A forgotten battlefield ... The graveyard of the Atlantic. It’s a treacherous stretch of water. ibid.
Hitler ordered his Wolf-packs to blast American shipping. ibid.
Every U-boat received top secret orders decrypted on the infamous Enigma coding machine. ibid.
Much of the American navy was deployed in the Pacific. ibid.
Large merchant ships were sitting ducks ... German U-boats ruled the waves. ibid.
In America news of the losses on her own doorstep was oppressed. ibid.
Hundreds of ships. Millions of tons of cargo. And thousands of lives were lost. ibid.
Four hundreds miles south of Newfoundland a million-ton chunk of Greenland ice drifts into the north Atlantic shipping lanes. After a journey of more than 1,900 miles it is about to become the most notorious iceberg in history. The Titanic’s story is as iconic as the ship itself. She was the largest and most luxurious liner of her era, and supposedly unsinkable. But a giant iceberg is only part of Titanic’s story. 10 Mistakes that Sank the Titanic, Channel 5 2019
10 mistakes than sank Titanic: 1908: It’s been a warm wet season in Greenland … ibid.
‘On the inside she is opulent beyond belief. They wanted to create the most comfortable Atlantic crossing you could possibly imagine.’ ibid. Alex Churchill, historian and Titanic researcher
An incident that would trigger the first great mistake: The Delay: ‘This public perception that Titanic is not sinkable’ … Prioritising the repairs to Olympic halted Titanic’s construction and delayed her maiden voyage by three weeks. ibid.
More icebergs than usual on the shipping routes. ibid.
‘She was going too fast’ … This excessive speed is the second major mistake.’ ibid.
Smouldering in the deck below something that the company had expressly concealed from its passengers: ‘Titanic was in fact on fire when she left Southampton on her maiden voyage’ … Titanic’s firemen revealed that a fire had taken hold in the coal bunker in boiler room 5. ibid.
The fire would have made the steel walls of the bunker red hot. ibid.
The message never reached Captain Smith. ibid.
The binoculars in the crow’s nest were stored in the second officer’s cabin. But on this particular voyage, the lookouts couldn’t get at them. ibid.
They were staring into an optical illusion. ibid.
The collision was so glancing that hardly anyone realised what had happened. ibid.
Different temperatures affect the strength of steel … When its chilled in subzero water, the steel undergoes a fundamental change … Titanic’s rivets below the waterline would have become similarly brittle. ibid.
The slag in the [iron] rivets can make them even more liable to fracture. ibid.
Down below in the boiler rooms all hell was breaking loose. The iceberg has opened up a hole in Titanic’s hull. ibid.
Bulkheads too shorts … water spills over them flooding all the compartments … Titanic’s bows dip below the surface hoisting her stern high in the air. ibid.
Morse code: ‘CQD CQD This is the Titanic. Have hit a berg. We are sinking by the head’ … ibid.
There was another ship on the horizon … The Californian’s radio operator had already gone to bed having been told to get off the airwaves by Jack Phillips earlier that evening. ibid.
Titanic’s final mistake: Dodging the iceberg: ‘If the iceberg had struck the iceberg head on … that damage would not have been fatal.’ ibid. expert
One of the worst naval disasters of the Second World War … the 1,500 men who died when one of Britain’s most valuable warships was sunk. Secret History s5e2: The Tragedy of HMS Glorious, Channel 4 1997
Why was Glorious there at all? Why did the Admiralty fail to pass on the warning they had received about the German battle group? And why were 900 men left for days to die in the water? ibid.
The Navy’s own Inquiry told as story so embarrassing that its report was to be closed for 100 years. Now, under pressure from relatives, the files have been opened. ibid.
HMS Habakkuk: Aircraft carrier which is made entirely of ice … more than four times the size of the Titanic … He [Churchill] cancels development. The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd s1e4: Weird Weapons, History 2024
Cruises have never been more popular. Last year 1.7 million of us booked one and sailed off into the sunset. Nowadays there are cruises for everyone. Cruising with Jane McDonald s1e1: Caribbean, Channel 5 2018
I’m Jane McDonald and 18 years ago I was a singer on a ship that was filmed for a BBC series. ibid.
A mega-cruise in the Caribbean … The world’s and definitely my favourite cruise destination. ibid.
It’s got islands – 7,000 of them – some of the best beaches in the world, weather to die for and gorgeous people. ibid.
Almost every Mediterranean cruise starts in Miami. ibid.
4,300 other passengers aboard our floating resort hotel: The Divina, one of the biggest liners in the world … It’s so big you cannot even get it in the shot. ibid.
My 7-day, 3-island cruise: from Miami we sail overnight to our first stop, Nassau in the Bahamas … Then on to St Martin … Then on to Puerto Rico. ibid.
It’s got islands – 7,000 of them – some of the best beaches in the world, weather to die for and gorgeous people. ibid.
Almost every Mediterranean cruise starts in Miami. ibid.
4,300 other passengers aboard our floating resort hotel: The Divina, one of the biggest liners in the world … It’s so big you cannot even get it in the shot. ibid.
My 7-day, 3-island cruise: from Miami we sail overnight to our first stop, Nassau in the Bahamas … Then on to St Martin … Then on to Puerto Rico. ibid.
It’s like a floating city: there’s shopping malls, a 1,600-seater theatre, 4 swimming pools, 12 bars, 8 restaurants, a gym and spa, and 24-hour entertainment … [and] a staircase made of Swarovski crystal. ibid.
Yes, I’m doing a shark dive … For $89 I’ll be fulfilling a lifetime ambition. ibid.
A boutique cruise in the inner Hebrides … I’m going to take a trip around the Isle of Mull … The Glen Tarsan. Cruising with Jane McDonald s1e2: Treshnish Islands
This cruise is all about a nice slow pace of life. ibid.
It’s all over. I’m related to the puffin. ibid.
A river cruise up the Danube … Budapest, capital of Hungary: it’s cosmopolitan, cultured, and everywhere I look there’s stunning architecture. It all looks dead posh, a bit like Paris. Cruising with Jane McDonald s1e3: The Danube
The Maria Theresa is the flagship of the Uniworld fleet, an ultimate river-cruising luxury experience … There are oil paintings, sweeping staircases … This ship is very much like a floating Dorchester. ibid.
A cold-water cruise to Alaska … Alaska: It’s huge and it’s empty but it’s filled with spectacular scenery … Cruising season to Alaska is May to September. Cruising with Jane McDonald s1e4: Alaska
Nieuw Amsterdam: 1,500 cabins, state rooms, and suites for up to 2,100 passengers. ibid.
Some cool Scandi style in the Baltic aboard this: The Viking Sky … gorgeous … She’s got 900 passengers on board … We’re setting off to Copenhagen … Estonia … next into Russia and St Petersburg … Helsinki … Stockholm … Sheer and utter luxury. Cruising with Jane McDonald s2e1: The Baltic
We’re a thousand miles north-east of Wakefield. ibid.
Tallinn, capital of Estonia … 440,000 people lives in Tallinn. ibid.
St Petersburg metro: Mass transport for the masses but why shouldn’t stations be like palaces above ground. Here there are wide sweeping staircases, marble and grandeur everywhere. Here, look at this: there are more chandeliers than in Liberace’s living-room … Every day more than 2.5 million St Petersburgers use the metro, and all journeys cost less than 65p. ibid.
I’ve booked myself on two very different ships to give you an idea of just how individual every cruise can be. Cruising with Jane McDonald s2e2: West Mediterranean
I’m calling my Eurovision cruise: five countries in seven days. ibid.
MSC Meraviglia: More than 5,000 passengers … Stretching nearly a third of a kilometre, 19 decks tall and with 2,250 cabins, she really is a behemoth. ibid.
A trip around the western Mediterranean: the ship does a circuit every week: Sicily, Valetta, Barcelona, Marseilles, Genoa, Naples. ibid.