[MISSILE ROARS]
Narrator: FOR CENTURIES, AN EXTRAORDINARY WAR HAS RAGED
ACROSS THE WORLD’S OCEANS, ABOVE AND BELOW THE WAVES.
Man: YOU COULD KILL HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WITH ONE BROADSIDE.
THESE WERE EXTREMELY POWERFUL WAR MACHINES.
Narrator: SHIPBUILDERS DESIGNED BIGGER AND FASTER VESSELS
TO OUTWIT AND CRUSH THEIR OPPONENTS.
Man: THAT NATION THAT HAS THE MOST POWERFUL BATTLESHIP FLEET
CAN DESTROY THE ENEMY’S BATTLESHIP FLEET
AND THEREFORE CONTROL THE SEAS,
AND IF YOU CONTROL THE SEAS, YOU CONTROL THE WORLD.
Narrator: THEY CARRIED TERRIFYING WEAPONS.
Man: THIS WAS GONNA BE THE FIRST TIME
THAT SOMEBODY HAD FIRED A TORPEDO IN ANGER
SINCE WORLD WAR II.
THEY NEEDED TO GET IT RIGHT.
Narrator: BUT SHIPS HAVE ALSO LIBERATED
AND RESCUED THOUSANDS.
Man: YOU COULD THINK OF GERDA III
AS BASICALLY A LIFEBOAT FOR PERSONS HUNTED BY THE NAZIS.
Narrator: AND INSPIRED MEN AND WOMEN
TO ACTS OF INCREDIBLE BRAVERY.
Man: I WILL TAKE YOU THERE NOW, TO YOUR CANNONS,
TO YOUR DEATH, WE WILL SINK BEFORE SURRENDER.
Narrator: THESE VESSELS AND THEIR CREWS
HAVE SHAPED WORLD HISTORY.
Man: AS THE COMMANDING OFFICER OF A MISSILE-CARRYING SUBMARINE,
I WAS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE
FOR HELPING TO PREVENT WORLD WAR III.
[MISSILE ROARS]
Narrator: THIS TIME, BATTLES AT SEA,
BUT NOT WITH WARSHIPS.
INSTEAD, WITH SOMETHING FAR SMALLER.
Man: I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING
IN THE HISTORY OF MIDGET SUBMARINES
THAT COULD FUNCTION AS WELL AS THIS DID.
Narrator: FROM FAR-OUT EXPERIMENTS
TO DAREDEVIL DINGHIES...
THESE ARE THE STORIES OF OUR SMALLEST SHIPS OF WAR.
Man: THIS IS NOT A SUICIDE WEAPON.
YOU WANT THEM TO GET HOME SO THEY CAN DO THEIR JOB AGAIN.
Narrator: FOR CENTURIES,
SMALL VESSELS HAVE MADE IMMENSE CONTRIBUTIONS
AND TRIUMPHED AGAINST THE ODDS.
Man: THE GERMAN WAS A DAMN GOOD SOLDIER.
IT WAS MEN AGAINST BOYS, REALLY.
♪
[EXPLOSION]
♪
Narrator: IN 1935, AN OLD WOODEN BOAT WAS RECOVERED
FROM A LAKE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK.
HER CANNONS WERE STILL INTACT.
IT WAS SOON CONFIRMED THAT
THIS WAS THE OLDEST AMERICAN COMBAT SHIP EVER FOUND--
THE GUNBOAT PHILADELPHIA.
♪
THE PHILADELPHIA FOUGHT AND SANK DURING THE WAR OF INDEPENDENCE.
OVER 200 YEARS OF U.S. NAVAL HISTORY
CAN BE TRACED RIGHT BACK TO THIS SMALL GUNBOAT.
BY 1776, THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR WAS INTO ITS SECOND YEAR.
THE PHILADELPHIA’S MISSION WAS TO DEFEND THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY,
THE AMERICAN COLONIES’ NORTHERN FRONTIER.
THE CONTINENTAL ARMY FEARED THE BRITISH
WOULD TRY TO LAUNCH AN ATTACK FROM CANADA.
FOR BOTH SIDES IN THE WAR,
RIVERS AND WATERWAYS WERE KEY TRANSPORTATION ARTERIES.
Craig Symonds: THERE WERE VERY FEW FRONTIER ROADS
IN THOSE DAYS,
SO USING THE WATER WAS THE MAIN WAY
NOT ONLY TO MOVE TROOPS,
BUT TO MOVE IN PARTICULAR THEIR SUPPLIES,
SO WHOEVER HAD COMMAND OF THE LAKE IN THAT CAMPAIGN
WAS GONNA BE DOMINANT, AND BOTH SIDES KNEW THIS.
Narrator: THE JOB OF DEFENDING LAKE CHAMPLAIN
FELL TO AMERICAN GENERAL BENEDICT ARNOLD.
BUT HE HAD LITTLE TIME AND FEW RESOURCES.
Symonds: THE AMERICANS HAD TO BUILD THEIR SHIPS
FROM THE STANDING TIMBER OF THE FORESTS,
AND THAT WAS THE CREATION THAT BENEDICT ARNOLD
WAS MOSTLY RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING TOGETHER.
Narrator: THE PHILADELPHIA WAS ONE OF THOSE GUNBOATS.
SHE BOASTED JUST ONE SAIL.
BUT SHE WAS ARMED WITH THREE CANNONS--
ONE FACING FORWARD, AND ONE EACH TO PORT AND STARBOARD.
BUNDLES OF WOOD WERE STRAPPED TO THE SIDES OF THE OAK HULL
TO PROTECT THE CREW FROM ENEMY FIRE.
THEY WOULD NEED ALL THE HELP THEY COULD GET.
Symonds: THE MEN WHO MADE UP THE CREWS FOR THESE
WERE NOT SAILORS.
THESE WERE VOLUNTEERS, THESE WERE SOLDIERS, MILITIAMEN,
MAYBE A FEW OF THEM HAD SAILED A BOAT BEFORE, MOST HAD NOT.
THIS WAS VERY MUCH AN AMATEUR HOUR FOR THE AMERICAN FLEET.
Narrator: EVEN BENEDICT ARNOLD ADMITTED
HIS MEN WERE "A WRETCHED MOTLEY CREW."
ON THE MORNING OF OCTOBER 11, 1776,
30 BRITISH VESSELS SWEPT DOWN FROM THE NORTH.
WAITING FOR THEM BY VALCOUR ISLAND
WAS ARNOLD’S FLEET OF JUST 15 VESSELS.
Symonds: THE BRITISH HAD EVERY ADVANTAGE.
THEY HAD SEVERAL HEAVY GUNS,
AND THEY ABSOLUTELY DOMINATED THE CONFRONTATION.
Narrator: THE PRIDE OF THE AMERICAN FLEET,
THE ROYAL SAVAGE, WAS RUN AGROUND
AND THEN SET ON FIRE BY THE BRITISH.
ARNOLD’S SMALL FLEET FOUGHT BRAVELY ALL DAY,
BUT THEY WERE OUTGUNNED.
AS DUSK APPROACHED, THE PHILADELPHIA WAS HIT SQUARELY
BY A 24-POUND SHOT.
SHE SANK SO QUICKLY
THAT WHEN SHE WAS RECOVERED 160 YEARS LATER,
ONE CANNON STILL HAD IRON SHOT IN ITS MUZZLE, READY TO FIRE.
SOUNDLY DEFEATED, THE FIVE REMAINING AMERICAN BOATS FLED.
Symonds: THE BRITISH CHASED THEM UP THE LAKE, SINKING SEVERAL,
AND THOSE THAT WERE NOT SUNK WERE RUN AGROUND AND SET AFIRE.
Narrator: BENEDICT ARNOLD AND HIS FELLOW SURVIVORS
EVENTUALLY FLED TO REBEL LINES FURTHER SOUTH.
BUT THE AMERICANS HAD BOUGHT THEMSELVES VALUABLE TIME.
THE BRITISH RETURNED NORTH, TO WAIT OUT THE WINTER IN CANADA.
THE PHILADELPHIA’S CAREER HAD LASTED ALL OF TWO MONTHS.
BUT HER LEGACY ENDURED MUCH LONGER.
ON DISPLAY AT THE SMITHSONIAN’S MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY,
SHE’S A TRIBUTE TO THOSE FIRST MAKESHIFT GUNBOATS
AND THEIR SCRAPPY CREWS.
IN 1862, DURING THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR,
THE PHILADELPHIA’S SUCCESSOR WAS INTRODUCED--
THE USS MONITOR.
Nick Hewitt: SHE IS FLAT-BOTTOMED,
TO ALLOW HER TO OPERATE CLOSE INSHORE.
SHE IS STEAM-POWERED,
AND SHE IS THE FIRST SHIP FITTED WITH A REVOLVING GUN TURRET.
AND HER TURRET GIVES HER THIS ENORMOUS ADVANTAGE
OF BEING ABLE TO FIRE HER GUNS IN ANY DIRECTION THAT SHE WANTS.
Narrator: THE MONITOR WAS UNLIKE ANYTHING EVER SEEN
IN MARITIME HISTORY.
JUST 180 FEET LONG,
AND WITH A DECK ONLY 18 INCHES ABOVE THE WATERLINE,
THE MONITOR WAS DESIGNED TO DODGE ENEMY GUNNERS.
AT THE BATTLE OF HAMPTON ROADS,
THE MONITOR ENGAGED IN A FOUR-HOUR GUN BATTLE
WITH THE CONFEDERATE WARSHIP THE VIRGINIA.
BOTH SIDES CLAIMED VICTORY,
BUT THE MONITOR’S REVOLUTIONARY DESIGN
ESTABLISHED AN ENTIRELY NEW CLASS OF SHIP.
3,000 MILES AWAY, THE BRITISH EMBRACED THE PROTOTYPE.
PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD IS HOME TO A FIRST WORLD WAR GUNBOAT.
IT’S A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF THE MONITOR’S INFLUENCE--
THE M-33.
♪
THE OUTBREAK OF WAR IN 1914 CALLED FOR NEW WARSHIPS.
AT THE TIME, WINSTON CHURCHILL WAS FIRST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY.
HE VIEWED MONITORS AS A VITAL PART OF THE BRITISH FLEET.
IT’S SAID THAT CHURCHILL HELPED DESIGN M-33,
SCRIBBLING THE PLANS ON THE BACK OF A CIGARETTE PACKET.
Hewitt: SHE’S A TINY SHIP,
BUT WHAT SHE’S CARRYING IS A PAIR OF SIX-INCH GUNS.
NOW, THESE ARE GUNS NORMALLY FOUND ON CRUISERS,
SO, TINY HULL, VERY BIG ARMAMENT,
ALMOST NO ARMOR AT ALL, AND VERY SLOW SPEED.
THESE ARE NOT SHIPS THAT ARE DESIGNED
TO FIGHT OTHER WARSHIPS.
THEY ONLY HAVE A SINGLE USE, WHICH IS TO GET INSHORE,
MANEUVER SLOWLY AROUND, RESPOND TO REQUESTS FROM ASHORE
TO PUT DOWN THIS VERY HEAVY GUNFIRE ON ENEMY SOLDIERS.
Narrator: BOTH GUNS COULD FIRE
EIGHT 100-POUND SHELLS PER MINUTE.
THE MUZZLE VELOCITY WAS NEARLY 2,000 MILES AN HOUR.
AND WITHIN WEEKS OF BEING COMPLETED,
M-33 HAD A CHANCE TO DEMONSTRATE HER CAPABILITIES.
BY APRIL 1915, THE WAR HAD SPREAD TO A NEW FRONT--
THE NARROW STRAIT IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
KNOWN AS THE DARDANELLES.
BRITAIN AND FRANCE HOPED TO UNDERMINE GERMANY
BY OVERWHELMING ITS ALLY, TURKEY.
THOUGH THE ULTIMATE GOAL WAS TO CAPTURE CONSTANTINOPLE,
THE INVASION WOULD LAUNCH ON THE GALLIPOLI PENINSULA.
Hewitt: SO, BECAUSE THIS IS AN AMPHIBIOUS LANDING--
THERE’S BRITISH AND ANZAC, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND,
TROOPS ARE PUT ASHORE--
THERE WAS A NEED FOR SHIPS TO PROVIDE SUPPORT
TO THE SOLDIERS ASHORE.
Actor as Frank Brent: THE OLDER BATTLESHIPS IN THE BAY
WERE LETTING GO AS HARD AS THEY COULD,
AND THE HARDER THEY FIRED, THE MORE CONFIDENT YOU FELT.
[GUNS FIRING]
SO ALTHOUGH IT WAS A PRECARIOUS POSITION
FOR A BLOKE TO FIND HIMSELF IN,
YOU SORT OF MADE UP YOUR MIND THAT, WELL, WE’RE HERE,
AND THE ONLY WAY THE ENEMY CAN GET US OFF
IS BY CARRYING US OFF, FEET FIRST.
Narrator: BUT THE ALLIES’ BATTLESHIPS
WERE VULNERABLE TO GERMAN U-BOATS.
Hewitt: SECONDLY, THE BATTLESHIP GUNS ARE NOT IDEAL
FOR PROVIDING SUPPORT FOR SOLDIERS ASHORE.
THEY ARE INTENDED TO SLING SHELLS
OVER QUITE A FLAT TRAJECTORY.
WHAT YOU NEED TO SUPPORT SOLDIERS IS PLUNGING FIRE,
SHELLS THAT GO UP AND THEN DROP DOWN AGAIN.
Narrator: CONFLICT IN THE DARDANELLES WAS IDEAL FOR M-33.
SHE NEEDED JUST SIX FEET OF WATER,
COMPARED TO A BATTLESHIP’S 30 FEET.
SHE COULD OPERATE CLOSE TO BEACHES.
HER GUNS COULD BE ELEVATED 16 DEGREES HIGHER
THAN THOSE ON A BATTLESHIP.
THE LONGER RANGE OF FIRE HELPED PROTECT
THE SOLDIERS ON THE BEACHES.
Brent: DESPITE THE FACT YOU COULDN’T SEE THE TURK,
HE WAS PELTING US WITH EVERYTHING HE’D GOT
FROM ALL SIDES.
Narrator: THE TURKS AT GALLIPOLI WERE UNYIELDING.
THE ALLIED TROOPS THAT MADE IT ASHORE
WERE FORCED TO RETREAT AFTER EIGHT MONTHS OF FIGHTING.
THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN IS NOW REGARDED AS A MILITARY FIASCO.
BUT THE ROLE PLAYED BY M-33
ESTABLISHED THE IMPORTANCE OF ARTILLERY SUPPORT
FOR TROOP LANDINGS.
Hewitt: M-33 IS THE SPARK THAT IGNITES
A WHOLE NEW PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY.
IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR,
COASTAL BOMBARDMENT AND AMPHIBIOUS WARFARE
BECOME STEADILY MORE AND MORE IMPORTANT.
AT GALLIPOLI, THEY’RE REALLY LEARNING HOW TO DO IT,
THEY’RE LEARNING THE IMPORTANCE OF SHIPS LIKE M-33.
AFTER THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN,
THEY KEEP MONITORS FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
Narrator: IN LATE SUMMER, THE RIVER THAMES PROVIDES
THE SETTING FOR A REMARKABLE REUNION.
A GROUP OF SECOND WORLD WAR VETERANS
FROM ALL OVER BRITAIN GATHERS HERE.
WHILE FLEEING THE GERMAN ARMY,
THEY WERE RESCUED BY A MOTLEY COLLECTION OF SMALL SHIPS.
TOGETHER, THEY TURNED ONE OF THE GREATEST DISASTERS
IN BRITISH HISTORY INTO AN UNEXPECTED TRIUMPH.
Man: IT’S BECAUSE OF YOU GENTLEMEN
THAT HAVE MADE THE EFFORT TO COME
AND GIVEN US OUR FREEDOM TODAY THAT WE ARE HERE.
SO IT’S YOUR DAY.
[EXPLOSIONS]
Narrator: ON MAY 10, 1940, GERMANY INVADED FRANCE.
HITLER’S ARMY PUMMELED THE FRENCH,
ALONG WITH THE NEARLY 400,000-STRONG
BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE.
Andrew Gordon: THE BRITISH AND THE FRENCH HAD BEEN
COMPLETELY OUTMANEUVERED BY THE GERMANS.
THE BEST THING TO DO WAS TO WITHDRAW TO THE COAST
AND TRY AND GET HOME.
SO THE BRITISH ARMY STARTED WITHDRAWING
INTO THIS POCKET AT DUNKIRK.
Tony Farncombe: WE WERE BOMBED BY THE DIVE BOMBERS ALL THE WAY.
AT TIMES IT GOT SO BAD WE HAD TO STOP THE VEHICLE, GET OUT,
AND LAY IN THE DITCHES TILL IT WAS ALL OVER.
Garth Wright: THE GERMAN WAS A DAMN GOOD SOLDIER,
THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT,
AND THAT WAS QUITE A WAR MACHINE THEY...
IT WAS MEN AGAINST BOYS, REALLY.
Narrator: BY THE LAST WEEK IN MAY,
338,000 BRITISH AND FRENCH TROOPS
WERE TRAPPED ON FRANCE’S NORTH COAST.
RESCUE BY THE ROYAL NAVY SEEMED TO BE THEIR ONLY HOPE.
BUT IN DUNKIRK, THE SMALL HARBOR WAS ALREADY DAMAGED AND DISABLED
AFTER GERMAN AIR ATTACKS.
[AIR RAID SIREN]
NEARBY, SANDBARS AND SHALLOW BEACHES
PREVENTED NAVAL VESSELS FROM GETTING CLOSE TO SHORE.
IN LONDON, IT WAS FEARED THAT MOST OF THE BRITISH TROOPS
WOULD NOT BE COMING HOME.
ONE MAN WAS GIVEN THE SEEMINGLY IMPOSSIBLE TASK
OF BRINGING THE TROOPS BACK--
ADMIRAL SIR BERTRAM RAMSAY.
Gordon: HE UNDERSTOOD THE SANDBANKS,
HE UNDERSTOOD THE COASTLINE, HE UNDERSTOOD THE MINEFIELDS.
THERE’S NOTHING BASICALLY HE DIDN’T KNOW
ABOUT THAT STRETCH OF THE NARROW SEAS.
Narrator: RAMSAY’S TASK, ORDERED BY THE ADMIRALTY,
WAS TO RESCUE 45,000 MEN.
HE WOULD HAVE TWO DAYS TO DO IT.
THE REMAINING 293,000 WERE TO BE LEFT TO FEND FOR THEMSELVES.
RAMSAY IGNORED THE ORDER.
HE PUT INTO ACTION A PLAN HE CALLED OPERATION DYNAMO.
AT THE HEART OF THE PLAN WOULD BE SMALL SHIPS...
LOTS OF THEM.
IN 1939, THE NAVY HAD MADE AN INVENTORY
OF ALL THE SMALL VESSELS IN THE COUNTRY.
RAMSAY KNEW HE HAD A CIVILIAN FLEET OF THOUSANDS
AT HIS DISPOSAL.
AN APPEAL WENT OUT ON THE BBC
FOR SMALL SHIPS TO ASSEMBLE ON THE SOUTH COAST.
Gordon: THEY COULD BE COCKLE BOATS,
12-FOOT COCKLE BOATS.
THEY COULD BE DUTCH SKOOTS, AS THEY WERE CALLED,
SHIPS’ LIFEBOATS FROM MERCHANT SHIPS
IN THE POOL OF LONDON,
FIRE TENDERS, PLEASURE BOATS,
THESE THINGS THAT GO UP AND DOWN THE THAMES
WITH "KISS ME QUICK" HATS, THAT KIND OF THING,
AND OF COURSE PRIVATE BOATS.
Narrator: INCLUDED IN THE FLOTILLA OF LITTLE SHIPS
WERE 19 LIFEBOATS FROM THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION.
ONE WAS THE THOMAS KIRKRIGHT FROM POOLE IN DORSET.
IN ORDER TO AVOID ENEMY FIRE,
THE CHANNEL CROSSING WAS SCHEDULED TO BE AT NIGHT,
AND WITHOUT LIGHTS.
THE ROYAL NAVY CREWED MOST OF THE LIFEBOATS.
BUT THE BOATS FROM RAMSGATE AND MARGATE
WERE LEFT IN THE HANDS OF VOLUNTEERS.
Hayley Whiting: IT WAS ABOUT 30 MILES FROM DOVER TO DUNKIRK,
AND THE NAVY HAD GIVEN RAMSGATE AND MARGATE
THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT THEY NEEDED
FOR THE SAFEST POSSIBLE CROSSING THAT THEY COULD HAVE.
SO THEY WERE AWARE OF WHERE ENEMY FIRE WAS CONCENTRATED.
THEY WERE ALSO AWARE OF THE AREAS WHERE THERE WERE MINES.
AND SO IT WAS RISKY, IT WAS DANGEROUS,
AND IT WAS QUITE A CHOPPY CROSSING AS WELL,
AND AGAIN WITHOUT NAVIGATION LIGHTS,
SO IT WAS QUITE A DANGEROUS JOURNEY ACROSS.
Narrator: MORE THAN 600 LITTLE SHIPS CROSSED THE CHANNEL.
THEY WERE ACCOMPANIED BY 39 ROYAL NAVY DESTROYERS.
ON THE BEACH, OFFICERS ORGANIZED THE THOUSANDS OF TROOPS
INTO LONG, ORDERLY LINES.
BY THIS TIME, THE GERMANS WERE WELL AWARE OF WHAT WAS GOING ON.
Farncombe: WHEN THE DIVE BOMBERS CAME DOWN,
THE QUEUE JUST SPREAD OUT BETWEEN THE BEACH,
THE SHOPS AND THE WATER’S EDGE,
SO YOU’RE A SMALLER TARGET.
AND WHEN THE BOMBING HAD GONE,
THE BODIES WERE FLOATING IN THE WATER.
WE WERE SO LUCKY THAT OUR PART OF THE QUEUE WEREN’T HIT.
James Baynes: I WAS ON THIS QUEUE
WAITING TO GET ONTO ONE OF THE LITTLE BOATS,
AND I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG I WAS ON IT FOR,
BUT IT MUST HAVE BEEN TWO OR THREE HOURS.
AND EVENTUALLY I GOT TO THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE,
AND WHEN I GOT TO THE FRONT OF THE QUEUE,
THERE WERE TWO OFFICERS,
ONE EACH SIDE OF THE QUEUE WITH REVOLVERS IN THEIR HANDS.
THEY SAID TO ME, "WHAT DIVISION ARE YOU?"
AND I SAID, "I’M THE 44th HOME COUNTIES DIVISION, SIR."
HE SAID, "WELL, BUGGER OFF OUT OF HERE,
BECAUSE YOU’RE IN THE WRONG QUEUE!"
Narrator: JAMES BAYNES EVENTUALLY MADE IT
BACK TO BRITAIN, ALONG WITH 338,000 OTHERS.
ADMIRAL RAMSAY’S OPERATION HAD SURPASSED ALL EXPECTATIONS.
HIS LITTLE SHIPS WERE THE KEY,
EITHER BY FERRYING MEN TO WAITING DESTROYERS
OR BY TAKING THEM DIRECTLY ACROSS THE CHANNEL.
IT’S BELIEVED THE 19 LIFEBOATS
ACCOUNTED FOR 3,500 MEN BETWEEN THEM.
BUT SUCCESS CAME AT A COST.
SIX DESTROYERS WERE SUNK,
AND OVER 100 LITTLE SHIPS NEVER CAME BACK.
Whiting: OF THE 19 LIFEBOATS THAT WENT OUT TO DUNKIRK,
MANY OF THEM WERE SEVERELY DAMAGED,
AND QUITE A FEW OF THEM CAME BACK RIDDLED WITH BULLET HOLES.
THERE WAS ONLY ONE LIFEBOAT THAT WAS LOST,
WHICH WAS THE VISCOUNTESS WAKEFIELD
FROM HYTHE LIFEBOAT STATION,
WHICH WAS COMPLETELY WRECKED DURING THE DUNKIRK EVACUATIONS.
THEY’VE NEVER, NEVER RETURNED.
Man: THESE FEW, THESE PRECIOUS FEW,
LET US NOW REMEMBER IN SILENCE.
Gordon: IT WAS THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME
TO GET HOME, BRITISH AND FRENCH, A THIRD OF A MILLION MEN,
WAS THE BEST POSSIBLE OUTCOME.
SO IN THAT SENSE, DUNKIRK WAS A VICTORY,
AND ALSO IT WAS IN A SENSE A WAR-CHANGING VICTORY,
BECAUSE THE BRITISH HAD PULLED IT OFF,
AND IT’S A SORT OF STRANGE LIGHTHEADEDNESS
TOOK HOLD IN BRITAIN
WHERE PEOPLE WERE SAYING, YOU KNOW,
"COME ON, ADOLF, HAVE A GO IF YOU THINK YOU’RE HARD ENOUGH."
♪
Man: EACH VETERAN TODAY WENT OUT TO DEFEND HARD-WON FREEDOMS
INTO A WORLD THAT, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER,
WANTED TO REMOVE THOSE FREEDOMS.
Gordon: HISTORIANS HAVE SORT OF COMPETED
TO TRY AND REVISE DOWNWARDS DUNKIRK,
BUT THE FACT IS THAT WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED
WOULD HAVE BEEN INFINITELY WORSE.
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A QUARTER OF A MILLION BRITS
IN PRISONER-OF-WAR CAMP, AND THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
Narrator: DUNKIRK PROVED WHAT VOLUNTEERS
AND VAST NUMBERS OF SMALL SHIPS COULD DO.
BUT ELSEWHERE IN THE WAR,
HIGHLY SPECIALIZED TINY COMBAT VESSELS
WOULD PLAY THEIR PART.
THEY DEMANDED SECRECY, EXPERTISE,
AND SOME REMARKABLE TECHNOLOGY.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR WAS A COMING OF AGE
FOR THE SUBMARINE.
LARGE VESSELS LIKE THE GERMAN U-BOATS
AND THE ALLIES’ DIESEL-ELECTRIC SUBS WERE IMPRESSIVE.
BUT THEY HAD THEIR LIMITATIONS.
SOMETIMES MISSIONS WERE SO SPECIFIC AND SO SECRETIVE,
THEY DEMANDED SOMETHING MUCH SMALLER.
THE JAPANESE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR IN DECEMBER 1941
SHOCKED THE WORLD AND THRUST THE UNITED STATES INTO THE WAR.
BUT THERE’S A PART OF THE PEARL HARBOR STORY
THAT IS VERY RARELY TOLD.
IT INVOLVED A FLEET OF MINI-SUBMARINES.
ONE OF THE VESSELS THAT TOOK PART WAS HA-19.
♪
MINI-SUBMARINES LIKE HA-19 WERE BUILT WITH ONE SPECIFIC AIM--
TO ATTACK WELL-DEFENDED ENEMY HARBORS.
THEY COULD DO WHAT FULL-SIZED SUBS COULDN’T.
Joe Cavanaugh: ALL OF OUR HARBORS,
INCLUDING PEARL HARBOR,
WERE PROTECTED FROM SUBMARINE ATTACK BY SUBMARINE NETS.
Narrator: THE CHALLENGE FOR JAPAN WAS TO FIND A WAY
TO OUTWIT THESE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DEFENSES.
IN THE LATE 1930s, THEY CAME UP WITH AN INGENIOUS SOLUTION.
Cavanaugh: THE GOAL WAS TO HAVE A SUBMARINE
THAT WOULD HAVE SUCH A SHALLOW DRAFT
THAT WHEN AN AMERICAN NAVAL SHIP CAME IN OR OUT OF THAT HARBOR,
THEY COULD SIMPLY SLIDE THROUGH THE NETS WHILE THEY WERE DOWN
FOR THE AMERICAN BATTLESHIP OR CRUISER
OR WHATEVER TO GO THROUGH.
Narrator: BY EARLY DECEMBER 1941,
THE JAPANESE HAD FIVE MINI-SUBS READY TO DEPLOY.
THEY WERE NICKNAMED "TARGETS" TO DISGUISE THEIR REAL PURPOSE.
EACH MINI-SUB WOULD BE HAULED INTO COMBAT
BY A FULL-SIZED PARENT SUB.
IT WOULD THEN BE RELEASED NEAR ITS OBJECTIVE.
ITS TWO MENACING TORPEDOES
COULD TERRORIZE ANY HARBOR IN THE WORLD.
Cavanaugh: I DON’T KNOW IN THE HISTORY OF MIDGET SUBMARINES
ANYBODY WHO PUT THAT PARTICULAR COMBINATION TOGETHER BEFORE
TO HAVE SUCH A POWERFUL SUBMARINE
OPERATED BY SUCH A MASSIVE BANK OF BATTERIES
THAT COULD FUNCTION AS WELL AS THIS DID.
Narrator: JAPAN PLANNED TO ATTACK THE U.S. PACIFIC FLEET
FROM BOTH THE AIR AND UNDERWATER.
ON NOVEMBER 26th, A FLEET OF AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
WITH OVER 300 PLANES SAILED FROM JAPAN.
THREE SUBMARINE GROUPS ALSO HEADED FOR HAWAII.
THE CENTRAL GROUP CONTAINED FIVE FULL-SIZED SUBS,
EACH WITH ITS OWN MINI-SUB.
THEIR MISSION-- TO ATTACK THE SHIPS AT ANCHOR
INSIDE PEARL HARBOR.
ON THE NIGHT OF DECEMBER 6th,
THE MOTHER SUBS TOOK THEIR FINAL POSITION.
ONE WAS MINI-SUB HA-19, CREWED BY 22-YEAR-OLD KAZUO SAKAMAKI
AND 23-YEAR-OLD KIYOSHI INAGAKI.
THEY WERE ABOUT TO CARRY OUT THE MINI-SUBS’ VERY FIRST MISSION.
JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, THE MINI-SUBS WERE RELEASED.
BUT ON BOARD HA-19, SOMETHING WAS WRONG.
THE GYROCOMPASS WAS BROKEN.
STEERING WAS IMPOSSIBLE.
Cavanaugh: WITHOUT A KEY COMPONENT
IN THE NAVIGATION SYSTEM,
SAKAMAKI HAD TO DEPEND ENTIRELY ON SIGHTINGS FROM THE PERISCOPE
TO SEE THE DIRECTION
TOWARDS THE LIGHTS OF PEARL HARBOR AS HE WENT.
THEY DRIFTED IN CIRCLES A BIT,
AND FINALLY, AS THEY GOT TO THE ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOR,
RAN AGROUND ON A CORAL REEF.
Narrator: WITH THE BATTERIES NOW DAMAGED,
SAKAMAKI AND INAGAKI WERE IN GRAVE DANGER.
Cavanaugh: AT 135 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT,
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A SAUNA UNDERWATER,
AND WHEN THE AIR WAS FOULED
BY THE LEAKAGE COMING FROM THE BATTERIES,
IT BECAME AN EXTRAORDINARILY NOXIOUS ENVIRONMENT AS WELL.
BOTH OF THE TWO MEN ON BOARD PASSED OUT FROM THE FUMES.
Narrator: BUT TWO OF THEIR COMRADES
WERE HAVING GREATER SUCCESS.
THEIR MINI-SUB HAD EVADED THE ANTI-SUBMARINE NETS
BY FOLLOWING A CARGO SHIP INTO PEARL HARBOR.
BUT JUST AFTER 6:30 A.M., THEIR TINY PERISCOPE WAS SPOTTED.
Cavanaugh: AND IT WAS MAKING 12 KNOTS BEHIND AN AMERICAN SHIP
ACTUALLY HEADING FOR THE BASE AT THE TIME.
THE USS WARD, A DESTROYER, WENT TO ATTACK,
AND WHEN THEY SAW IT, ITS NUMBER THREE GUN
DID ACTUALLY PUT A HOLE THROUGH THE SUBMARINE AND SANK IT.
Narrator: IT WAS THE FIRST AMERICAN SHOT
OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
DESPITE THE SIGHTING OF THE MINI-SUB,
NO ONE AT PEARL HARBOR REALIZED
THAT A FULL-SCALE JAPANESE ATTACK WAS UNDER WAY.
WHEN THE BOMBERS APPEARED IN THE SKIES JUST BEFORE 8:00 A.M.,
IT WAS A COMPLETE SURPRISE.
♪
AS THE U.S. PACIFIC FLEET BURNED,
THE CRIPPLED MINI-SUB HA-19 WAS SWEPT ONTO ROCKS CLOSE TO SHORE.
SAKAMAKI AND INAGAKI WERE IN BAD SHAPE.
Cavanaugh: INAGAKI, AS HE CAME OUT OF THE SUBMARINE,
ACCORDING TO SAKAMAKI’S TESTIMONY,
HE DROWNED AS SOON AS HE HIT THE WATER,
HE WAS TOO WEAK TO EVEN MAKE IT TO SHORE
HAVING BEEN BASICALLY IN A SAUNA FOR 24 HOURS.
SAKAMAKI CRAWLED TO THE SHORE AND COLLAPSED AND PASSED OUT
AND AWOKE IN THE MORNING WITH AN AMERICAN STANDING OVER HIM.
Narrator: SAKAMAKI WAS AMERICA’S FIRST PRISONER OF WORLD WAR II.
HE WAS DISTRAUGHT, WRITING LATER:
Cavanaugh: SAKAMAKI DID TRY SEVERAL TIMES
TO COMMIT HARA-KIRI
AND ACTUALLY REQUESTED THAT HIS LIFE BE TERMINATED
BECAUSE OF THE SHAME.
Narrator: BUT THE JAPANESE ACHIEVED
A MAJOR MILITARY SUCCESS AT PEARL HARBOR.
19 SHIPS WERE SUNK OR SERIOUSLY DAMAGED
AND NEARLY 2,500 AMERICANS KILLED.
THE JAPANESE LOST JUST 64 SERVICEMEN,
NINE OF THOSE COMING FROM MINI-SUBS.
IT’S BELIEVED JUST ONE OF THE FIVE SUBS
ACTUALLY GOT TO FIRE ITS TORPEDOES INSIDE PEARL HARBOR.
WHAT’S CERTAIN IS THAT ALL FIVE ENDED UP SUNK OR SCUTTLED.
KAZUO SAKAMAKI WAS THE ONLY SURVIVOR.
BUT HA-19’S JOURNEY WAS FAR FROM OVER.
IT WAS USED AS A PROPAGANDA TOOL
TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE WAR AGAINST JAPAN.
Cavanaugh: THE UNITED STATES ACTUALLY PUT THIS
ON THE BACK OF A TRUCK AND SHIPPED IT ALL OVER THE COUNTRY.
AND IT VISITED 42 STATES AND WAS SEEN
BY HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DURING THE WAR.
BUT YOU HAD TO MAKE A DONATION TO WAR BONDS
TO CLIMB UP ON THE PLATFORM AND LOOK IN.
AND MANY, MANY THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE DID SO.
THE SUBMARINE ENDED UP BEING A MUCH MORE EFFECTIVE TOOL
FOR THE UNITED STATES THAN IT WAS FOR THE JAPANESE.
Narrator: ALTHOUGH THE JAPANESE MINI-SUBS FAILED,
JUST A FEW DAYS LATER, ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD,
AN EVEN SMALLER CRAFT WAS HAVING BETTER LUCK.
A RARE EXAMPLE OF A MOST UNUSUAL COMBAT SHIP
CAN BE FOUND IN A MUSEUM STOREROOM
IN PORTSMOUTH, ENGLAND.
Hewitt: SO THIS IS AN ITALIAN SAN BARTOLOMEO TORPEDO.
BUT IT’S NOT JUST ANY TORPEDO; THIS IS A HUMAN TORPEDO.
THIS IS DESIGNED TO BE DRIVEN INTO ACTION
BY A PAIR OF FROGMEN.
IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO DRIVE.
ITS OPERATORS NICKNAMED IT THE MAIALE, OR THE PIG,
BASICALLY BECAUSE IT’S A PIG TO STEER.
Narrator: BY THE START OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR,
THE ITALIAN NAVY HAD BECOME HIGHLY SKILLED
AT UNDERWATER WARFARE.
LIKE THE JAPANESE MINI-SUBS,
THE MAIALE WAS CLAMPED TO THE DECK OF A PARENT SUBMARINE
AND DELIVERED TO ITS TARGET.
♪
Hewitt: THIS IS DEVELOPED TO BE OPERATED
BY TWO HIGHLY SKILLED OPERATORS.
YOU WANT THEM TO GET HOME SO THEY CAN DO THEIR JOB AGAIN.
SO THIS IS NOT A TORPEDO IN THE CONVENTIONAL SENSE OF THE WORD.
IT DOESN’T HAVE A WARHEAD ON THE END
THAT GOES OFF WHEN YOU JAM IT INTO THE SIDE OF A SHIP.
WHAT IT HAS IS TWO EXPLOSIVE CHARGES.
THEY WOULD GET AS CLOSE TO THE TARGET AS POSSIBLE,
IDEALLY UNDERNEATH IT.
THEY WOULD THEN DROP BOTH OF THOSE CHARGES
UNDERNEATH THE TARGET, THEY WOULD THEN TURN AROUND,
WITH THE REMAINDER OF THE SUBMARINE FROM HERE BACKWARDS,
AND THEY WOULD GO HOME.
Narrator: THE MAIALE WAS POWERED BY ELECTRIC BATTERIES.
ITS TWO-MAN CREW WORE RUBBER SUITS
AND BREATHED BOTTLED OXYGEN.
Hewitt: SO YOU’VE GOT TWO FROGMEN IN HERE,
ONE OF THEM IS ACTUALLY THE PILOT OF THE CRAFT,
SO HE SITS IN THE FRONT SEAT.
HE’S GOT DEPTH CONTROL,
HE’S GOT A LITTLE FAIRLY PRIMITIVE INSTRUMENT PANEL,
AND IT’S HIS JOB TO TAKE IT INTO ACTION.
HIS NUMBER TWO, THE GUY IN THE BACK SEAT,
HIS JOB REALLY IS TO HELP WITH THE DEPLOYMENT OF THE MINES.
DRIVE IT INTO ACTION, DROP THE MINES, GET OUT AGAIN.
SO THE JOB IS VERY SIMPLE IN CONCEPT,
BUT ACTUALLY EXTREMELY HARD TO DO.
Narrator: BUT THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT SIX ITALIAN FROGMEN
ACHIEVED IN THE WEEKS AFTER PEARL HARBOR.
ITALY, AS AN ALLY OF GERMANY, WAS FIGHTING THE BRITISH
FOR NAVAL SUPREMACY IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.
A SUCCESSFUL ATTACK ON THE BRITISH FLEET IN ALEXANDRIA
WOULD BE A SIGNIFICANT VICTORY.
ON DECEMBER 3rd, THE SUBMARINE SCIRE
LEFT THE ITALIAN PORT OF LA SPEZIA CARRYING THREE MAIALE.
A WEEK LATER, IT PICKED UP SIX FROGMEN
FROM THE ISLAND OF LEROS.
ON DECEMBER 18th, SCIRE ARRIVED OUTSIDE ALEXANDRIA HARBOR...
UNDETECTED.
JUST AFTER MIDNIGHT, THE MAIALE EVADED ANTI-SUBMARINE NETS
BY SLIPPING IN BEHIND THREE DESTROYERS.
THEY DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO DIVE BENEATH THE SURFACE
TO ACCESS THE HARBOR.
TWO HEADED FOR THE BATTLESHIPS VALIANT AND QUEEN ELIZABETH,
THE THIRD, FOR A TANKER NAMED THE SAGONA.
ALL SUCCESSFULLY PLACED THEIR CHARGES.
BUT THEN, THEIR LUCK RAN OUT.
Hewitt: THE OPERATORS TRY AND GET ASHORE, THEY’RE CAUGHT.
THE BRITISH ARE INTERROGATING THEM
WHILE THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON THE WARHEADS.
TWO OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY BEING INTERROGATED ON BOARD
ONE OF THE SHIPS THAT THEY’VE PLANTED CHARGES UNDERNEATH.
Narrator: THE BRITISH DELIBERATELY DETAINED
THE ITALIANS ON HMS VALIANT,
HOPING THEY’D CONFESS IF THEIR OWN LIVES WERE AT RISK.
BUT THE FROGMEN REFUSED TO TALK.
THEN, JUST AFTER 6:00 A.M.,
THE CHARGE UNDER VALIANT DETONATED,
CLOSELY FOLLOWED BY QUEEN ELIZABETH
AND THE TANKER SAGONA.
ALL THREE SHIPS SANK TO THE BOTTOM OF ALEXANDRIA HARBOR.
MIRACULOUSLY, ALL SIX OF THE ITALIAN FROGMEN
SURVIVED THE ATTACK.
Hewitt: NOW THE BRITISH ARE ABLE TO RECOVER THE SHIPS,
BECAUSE THEY’VE SUNK IN A HARBOR, BUT IT TAKES MONTHS.
THEY ARE OUT OF SERVICE FOR NEARLY A YEAR.
SO, VERY, VERY CHEAP, VERY SIMPLE TECHNOLOGY
HAS PUT DOWN A BATTLESHIP.
AND THAT’S WHAT THIS TECHNOLOGY IS ALL ABOUT.
THIS ALLOWS A SMALLER POWER TO PUNCH ABOVE ITS WEIGHT.
Narrator: FOR A FEW VITAL MONTHS,
THE ITALIANS BECAME THE DOMINANT FORCE
IN THE EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.
Hewitt: HUMAN TORPEDOES DON’T CHANGE THE DIRECTION
OF NAVAL WARFARE.
BUT THEY ARE A SIGNIFICANT MOMENT IN HISTORY,
AND THERE IS THAT LITTLE WINDOW IN THE MEDITERRANEAN IN 1941
WHEN THESE THINGS HAVE HAD AN ABSOLUTELY DRAMATIC EFFECT
ON MAJOR WORLD EVENTS.
Narrator: 1942.
THE SECOND WORLD WAR IS IN ITS THIRD YEAR,
AND THE ALLIES HAVE A MAJOR PROBLEM.
SPEEDY GERMAN CARGO SHIPS
CONTINUE TO BREAK THROUGH ALLIED BLOCKADES
TO REACH THE PORTS OF GERMANY AND OCCUPIED EUROPE.
EACH AND EVERY SHIP IS AIDING THE GERMAN WAR EFFORT.
Gordon: THERE WERE A COUPLE OF WAYS
THAT GERMAN SHIPS COULD GET IN.
ONE WAS TO GO RIGHT UP TO NORTHERN NORWAY
AND THEN CREEP DOWN THROUGH TERRITORIAL WATERS.
AND THE OTHER WAY WAS SIMPLY TO DART EASTWARDS
ACROSS THE BAY OF BISCAY
FROM THE MID-ATLANTIC INTO FRENCH PORTS.
Narrator: THE CARGO SHIPS HAD TO BE STOPPED.
BORDEAUX, THE MAJOR FRENCH PORT IN THE WEST,
WAS THE OBVIOUS TARGET.
BUT BOMBING THE PORT WASN’T AN OPTION.
THE CIVILIAN CASUALTIES WOULD BE TOO HIGH.
ANOTHER METHOD HAD TO BE FOUND.
THE TASK WAS GIVEN TO LORD LOUIS MOUNTBATTEN
AND THE TEAM AT COMBINED OPERATIONS HEADQUARTERS.
MOUNTBATTEN KNEW JUST THE MAN TO LEAD A STEALTH ATTACK
ON THE ENEMY HARBOR--
28-YEAR-OLD MAJOR HERBERT "BLONDIE" HASLER.
HASLER’S MISSION WAS CODE-NAMED OPERATION FRANKTON.
IT WOULD MAKE USE OF HIS INCREDIBLE SKILL WITH CANOES.
IN EARLY JULY, HASLER SELECTED 30 MARINES
AND BROUGHT THEM FOR TRAINING AT LUMPS FORT IN SOUTHSEA.
THE HUTS THEY USED STOOD IN WHAT IS NOW A ROSE GARDEN.
NONE OF THE MEN HAD ANY EXPERIENCE WITH CANOES.
HASLER DESCRIBED THEM AS...
THE MARINES’ TRAINING WAS GRUELING.
Quentin Rees: THE FIRST THING THAT HASLER NEEDED TO DO
WAS ENSURE THAT THEY HAD THE REQUIRED FITNESS LEVEL.
THIS HE DID BY BASICALLY MAKING THEM RUN DOWN THE BEACH,
HE USED TO MAKE THEM JUMP IN BARE FEET
ONTO THE SHINGLE STONES EIGHT FOOT BELOW,
AND THEN THEY WOULD RUN UP AND DOWN.
AND ONCE HE’D ATTAINED THE FITNESS LEVEL
THAT HE REQUIRED OF THEM,
HE THEN PUT THEM IN CANOES
AND HE SHOWED THEM HOW TO PADDLE,
ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE USE OF CANOES.
Narrator: AT FIRST THEY PRACTICED ON THE THAMES,
LEARNING HOW TO PADDLE WITHOUT MAKING A SOUND.
THEN THEY REHEARSED SLIPPING INTO PORTSMOUTH HARBOR
UNDETECTED.
Rees: THESE WERE BASIC ROYAL MARINES
WHO HAD NO SPECIALIZED SKILLS,
I.E., NAVIGATION OR SEAMANSHIP SKILLS AT ALL.
AT ALL TIMES HE MADE SURE THEY HAD
ONE REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT,
AND THAT WAS A RELIANT LIFE JACKET,
BECAUSE MOST OF THEM COULDN’T SWIM.
Narrator: THE CANOES THEMSELVES WERE VERY SIMPLE--
FLAT-BOTTOMED, CANVAS SIDES, EASILY COLLAPSIBLE.
OFFICIALLY THEY WERE COCKLE MARK IIs.
BUT THEY WERE NICKNAMED COCKLESHELLS.
♪
WITH WINTER APPROACHING, PLANS WERE FINALIZED.
THE MARINES WOULD BE TAKEN
CLOSE TO THE GIRONDE ESTUARY BY SUBMARINE.
THEY WOULD THEN PADDLE THEMSELVES 60 MILES UPSTREAM,
BEFORE PLANTING LIMPET MINES ON THE CARGO SHIPS
DOCKED IN BORDEAUX.
Gordon: IT WAS EXCEPTIONALLY DANGEROUS.
THE CHANCES OF SUCCESS WEREN’T THAT HIGH;
THE CHANCES OF GETTING HOME ALIVE WERE PRACTICALLY ZERO.
Rees: BEARING IN MIND THAT THEY ONLY STARTED THEIR TRAINING
AT THE END OF JULY,
AND THEY WERE GOING OUT ON A SUBMARINE
AT THE END OF NOVEMBER,
IT DIDN’T GIVE THEM AN AWFUL LOT OF TIME.
IN FACT, IN TRUTH, THEY WERE NOT TRAINED ENOUGH.
Narrator: DESPITE LORD MOUNTBATTEN’S RESERVATIONS,
MAJOR HASLER INSISTED THAT HE SHOULD TAKE PART IN THE MISSION.
ON DECEMBER 1, 1942,
THE MARINES BOARDED THE SUBMARINE HMS TUNA,
AND SET OFF FROM HOLY LOCH IN SCOTLAND.
THEY TRAVELED SOUTH,
ACROSS THE BAY OF BISCAY,
AND ON DECEMBER 7th,
SUCCESSFULLY SURFACED
12 MILES SOUTH OF THE GIRONDE.
Rees: THE METHOD OF DELIVERING
THE CANOES ON THE WATER
WAS BY A CRADLE WHICH WAS ATTACHED TO THE GUN TURRET.
SO THE MEN AND THE CANOE WERE SWUNG OUT AND PLACED ON THE SEA.
THEY HAD A MACHINE GUN, KNIFE, GRENADES,
AND A WHOLE HOST OF, WELL, ALL THEIR FOOD AND THEIR WATER
FOR THE TRIP ITSELF.
Gordon: THEIR REAL WEAPON WAS MAGNETIC MINES,
THAT IS MAGNETIC MINES THAT THEY WOULD PLACE
ONTO THE HULL OF A SHIP JUST BELOW THE WATERLINE.
Narrator: BUT THE MARINES WERE 60 MILES
AND AT LEAST FOUR DAYS’ PADDLING
FROM THE PORT WHERE THEY HOPED TO USE THE MINES.
Rees: THE FIVE CANOES PROCEEDED AS ONE UNIT TOWARDS THE COAST,
AND IT WAS VERY, VERY COLD, ICY CONDITIONS,
AND THEY HIT A TIDAL RACE.
THEY HADN’T BEEN TRAINED FOR A TIDAL RACE, ONLY ROUGH WATER.
AND UNFORTUNATELY DURING THE FIRST TIDAL RACE
A CANOE WAS CAPSIZED,
AND THAT PUT PAID TO NOT ONLY THE CANOE,
BUT THE TWO INDIVIDUALS INSIDE.
WHILST THEY WERE WEARING LIFE JACKETS,
UNFORTUNATELY HYPOTHERMIA CAUGHT THEM.
Narrator: THE REMAINING CANOES CONTINUED ON THEIR MISSION.
Rees: THEY HAD TO AVOID PEOPLE AT ALL COSTS.
PARTICULARLY THEY HAD TO AVOID THE GERMANS.
THAT WAS PROBABLY THE BIGGEST PROBLEM.
THEY HAD TO LIE UP IN THE COLD, IN THE DAMP WITH THEIR RATIONS,
WITHOUT WARMTH, TRY AND KEEP THEMSELVES TOGETHER,
VERY LITTLE SLEEP, LOTS OF PADDLING,
SOMETIMES AGAINST THE TIDE.
THE ODDS WERE ALWAYS AGAINST THEM.
Narrator: AFTER FIVE DAYS OF PADDLING
AND SIX MONTHS OF PLANNING,
THE PORT OF BORDEAUX WAS IN SIGHT.
BUT BY NOW, TWO MORE CANOES HAD BEEN LOST,
EITHER CAPTURED OR SUNK.
THE SURVIVING MARINES WERE ALBERT LAVER AND WILLIAM MILLS
IN ONE CANOE,
WILLIAM SPARKS AND THE OPERATION LEADER,
"BLONDIE" HASLER, IN THE OTHER.
FINALLY, THEY REACHED THEIR TARGET.
HASLER AND SPARKS TOOK THE WEST SIDE OF THE HARBOR,
LAVER AND MILLS, THE EAST.
BOTH BOATS SUCCESSFULLY ATTACHED THEIR LIMPET MINES
AND PADDLED SILENTLY AWAY.
[EXPLOSIONS]
FIVE SHIPS WERE DAMAGED BY THE EXPLOSIONS.
BUT OPERATION FRANKTON WAS A LIMITED SUCCESS.
BORDEAUX HARBOR WAS DISRUPTED FOR A WHILE,
BUT THE FIVE DAMAGED SHIPS WERE SOON REPAIRED
AND BACK IN ACTION.
HASLER AND HIS CREWMATE SPARKS WERE THE ONLY SURVIVORS
OF OPERATION FRANKTON.
THEY MADE IT HOME, HAVING BEEN ON THE RUN FOR FIVE MONTHS.
Rees: I THINK IT’S ALL ABOUT BRAVERY.
HASLER WAS BRAVE, BUT I THINK THE MEN MORE SO.
THEY DIDN’T HAVE HIS EXPERIENCE,
AND THEY FOLLOWED HIM,
AND UNFORTUNATELY THEY WERE CUT DOWN IN THEIR PRIME OF LIFE.
Narrator: THE MARINES ARE NOW KNOWN AS THE COCKLESHELL HEROES.
LORD MOUNTBATTEN DECLARED THE MISSION TO BE...
Gordon: WE SHOULD CERTAINLY REMEMBER THEM
AS EXTRAORDINARILY BRAVE, DEDICATED,
TESTING NEW TECHNIQUES AND MAKING HISTORY
IN THAT SENSE, SETTING A STANDARD.
Narrator: THE SMALLEST SHIPS OF WAR
HAVE CHANGED AND DEVELOPED WITH EACH PASSING ERA.
THEY’VE BEEN PROPELLED BY EXPERTISE, BRAVERY,
AND SHEER WILLPOWER.
AND THEY HAVE PROVED AN ABILITY
TO DEFY THE ELEMENTS AND THE ODDS.
IN FAILURE AND SUCCESS,
THE STORIES OF THE SMALLEST SHIPS
WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED.