The real prize was the transatlantic telegraph. ibid.
The Mackay-Bennett was one of three idle ships in port, but crucially the only boat with a hull big enough to carry the estimated numbers of dead, and a crew tough enough and experienced enough to stomach the terrible task of recovering them. ibid.
They decided to claim the [unclaimed Titanic] child as their own. Pulling together their wages, they paid for the cost of the burial and a headstone. And on the morning of 4th May 1912 the Mackay-Bennett cable men carried the tiny coffin through the cemetery and to its final resting place. ibid.
1861: The United States of America is no longer united … This war was a golden opportunity for enterprising Glasgow shipyards. The Confederate south needed ships fast enough to outrun the north’s blockading patrols and bring supplies in. The Clyde shipyards provided just the solution: custom-built ocean-going paddle steamers. Clydebuilt: The Ships That Made the Commonwealth III: Robert E Lee
The most famous blockade runner of them all: she’s called the Robert E Lee … built in 1860 on the Clyde for shipping company J & G Burns. ibid.
Their speed, agility and the need for secrecy meant runners like the Giraffe [Robert E Lee] epitomised adventure, glamour and excitement. 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.
Mary Celeste, 5th December 1872: 800 miles off the Portuguese coast – it appears to be unmanned and steering wild. The only reply is an eerie creaking. No-one appears on deck. The ship is completely forsaken. What happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste is one of the enduring mysteries of the sea. In Search of s4e18 … The Ghost Ship, History 1980
On May 1st 1915 the Lusitania left New York for her week-long crossing to Liverpool, England … The journey ended in the tragic death of more than 1,000 Americans. Was the sinking of the Lusitania an unprovoked act of war? Why did the unsinkable ship go down so quickly? … Was the German Navy solely responsible? In Search of s5e23 … The Lusitania, 1981
At £8,000 a night for the most expensive suite it offers elite travellers the most exclusive holiday at sea … The Seven Seas Explorer is the world’s most expensive cruise ship: with its sumptuous suites and all inclusive holiday, it could cost you more than £60,000. The World’s Most Expensive Cruise Ship s1e1, Channel 5 2019
Its 550 staff are getting ready to welcome over 700 new guests. ibid.
An exclusive wine-tasting event showcasing the range of vintages on board. The World’s Most Expensive Cruise Ship s1e2
The 88 chefs are hard at work. ibid.
Overnight this ship doesn’t clean itself: it’s time for the night crew. ibid.
It’s embarkation day in Southampton for the world’s most expensive cruise ship. Expectant guests are boarding to set sail on a twelve-day cruise around the Baltic Sea, Scandinavia and Russia. But the British weather isn’t playing ball. For guests paying thousands of pounds for their stay, the miserable weather is not a good start. Cruise director John is doing his utmost to keep spirits high. And he’s going on a charm offensive. But with it raining on the top deck and the suites not ready, everyone is stuck inside. The pressure is on all the staff to keep the new guests happy. The World’s Most Expensive Cruise Ship s1e3
‘It’s the way people treat you.’ ibid. cruiser
They are able to choose from over 360 gourmet dinner options: anything from lobster to fillet steak and foie-gras dim sun. It’s all washed down with some of the 2,000 bottles of wine on board. ibid.
In the boutique Andre is after a big sale. ibid.
Its penultimate destination: St Petersburg in Russia. The World’s Most Expensive Cruise Ship s1e4
Another highlight in store: those who have spent over seventy-five nights on Regent’s ships are being treated to an exclusive caviar buffet: they’ll be able to tuck into thousands of pounds’ worth of caviar, and enjoy over three hundred decadent canapes. ibid.
If you spend around £1,500 a night, you can stay in a suite that comes with the luxury of its very own butler. There are twelve butlers on board the Explorer covering almost one hundred cabins between them and they are on call 24/7. ibid.
With guests paying up to £50,000 for a twelve-day holiday, the evening entertainment has to be fit for royalty. ibid.
Summer 1939: a golden age of exploration and archaeology is coming to an end. It was an era that saw adventurers set out to explore the remotest corners of the globe in search of clues to unlock our ancient past. And it was during that last summer of peace as the world stood on the precipice of a war that threatened to end civilisation itself, that three extraordinary treasures were discovered, treasures that would radically change our understanding of the origins and diversity of human culture. And bring us closer to our distant past. Janina Ramirez, Raiders of the Lost Past I, BBC 2019
The discovery of an incredible Anglo-Saxon ship burial in Suffolk, dating from the early seventh century A.D. The final resting place of a supremely wealthy warrior king. ibid.
The single greatest archaeological discovery ever made in England: the Sutton-Hoo hoard. ibid.
Ship burials are incredibly rare in Britain: there are only two others ever discovered at this time. ibid.
Oserberg ship, Norway, excavated 1904-1905. ibid.
Treasures of unimaginable quality emerged thick and fast. ibid.
These Saxons, Angles and came together and gave us the basis of the English language. ibid.
A pair of spectacular shoulder clasps. ibid.
The miraculous story of the hoard’s survival. ibid.
This was Page One of England’s history. ibid.
Norway: The discovery of the world’s oldest and best-preserved Viking ship built at the very beginning of the Viking era, it was buried as part of a royal funeral. Somehow the ship and its vast collection of burial treasures survived almost intact for a millennium before it was discovered intact in 1903. Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez s2e2: Vikings
In the mid-1300s the Bubonic Plague wiped out nearly two-thirds of Norway’s population including most of its social elite. ibid.
Warships are an ultimate symbol of a nation’s military might. Enormous vessels crewed by thousands, bristling with massive guns and powerful aircraft, they can deliver terrifying destruction and turn the tide of history. World’s Greatest Warships s1e1: Hitler’s Greatest Warships: Bismark & Tirpitz, Channel 5 2019
Bristling leviathans … These were the giant battleships of World War II. The temper for these ships in the 1940s was laid down decades earlier before World War I with the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought in 1906. ibid.
Bismark was one quarter of a kilometre long and 36 metres across her beam … She was crewed by over 2,000 men. Steam turbines drove three huge screws giving the Bismark a 30-knot top speed and a cruising range of over 16,000 kilometres. ibid.
‘Bismark is a much wider ship than the King George V.’ ibid. expert
Hood was Britain’s largest warship: she was fast but lightly armoured and a soft target for Bismark. ibid.
Tirpitz launched in 1941 was slightly bigger, faster than Bismark, she was Hitler’s last great battleship. ibid.
This is the USS Wisconsin, one of four Iowa class battleships launched in 1943, all still afloat as museums. ibid.
The mightiest battleship that would ever float – the Yamato. ibid.
Halfway through World War I over 200 warships clashed in the era’s defining naval battle: the Battle of Jutland. Over 25 ships and thousands of men sent to the bottom. The loss was a shock but there was also success. On both sides a new type of ship had dished out massive damage and taken many huge hits yet remained afloat able to return to base for repair. These were the war machines that sparked the arms race that changed the world. These were the dreadnoughts. World’s Greatest Warships s1e2: The Mighty Dreadnought
HMS Dreadnought: 10 x Vickers 12” guns in five turrets would deliver deadly and accurate fire over a huge range. The latest engines would give smoother more reliable power allowing her to outpace her rivals and dictate the battle. ibid.
No ship had ever combined size, speed, power and armour in such a fierce machine. ibid.
HMS Iron Duke 1912: Bigger, faster and smarter, the Super Dreadnoughts were built to rule the waves of the North Sea. ibid.
Launched in 1918 HMS Argus was a reconditioned commercial ship with a runway built on top of her hull and she was a real game-changer. World’s Greatest Warships s1e3: The Aircraft Carrier: Ark Royal & the Carrier Giants
USS Lexington: 33 knots, the Essex-class carriers dominated the world’s largest battlefield – the Pacific ocean. ibid.
Enterprise was a giant in every sense … She could accommodate 90 aircraft and house a crew of nearly 6,000. Enterprise was powered by eight nuclear reactors which gave her an unlimited range … a small city at sea. ibid.
Today something truly extraordinary is being built at a Scottish shipyard – the Queen Elizabeth class carriers. ibid.