Documentary - 160 mins
Audience - General
Classification - Exempt
Region - 0
Format - PAL
Language - English

Product weight 350g

DVD compatibility



 

DISC ONE - GREAT SEA BATTLES OF WORLD WAR TWO

The mid 1930s saw Germany rebuilding her fleets, defying the Versailles Treaty as Hitler planned to encircle Britain with his Kriegsmarine. Within hours of war’s declaration, a U-boat had claimed its first victim in an underwater reign of terror that struck merchantman and warship alike. By April 1940, Germany had sunk one million tons of Allied shipping.

The entrance of Mussolini’s Italy shifted the balance of power in the Mediterranean. However the course of Naval warfare was changed in 1941 when torpedo bombers from HMS Illustrious decimated the Italian fleet at anchor in Taranto.

The surprise attack on Pearl Harbour on 7th December 1941 dwarfed Taranto, with 19 warships and 190 aircraft lost and 22,500 dead. Sea power proved crucial in the Pacific. The Battle of the Coral Sea was decisive in denying Japan a gateway to Australia and was a naval first - opposing forces, launching air attacks 120 miles apart, were never in sight of each other. After the US strike on Midway, there was no doubting the tide had turned. The era of the battleship had long gone: the aircraft carrier was now the undisputed master of Naval warfare.

DISC TWO - THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY

A ferocious battle fought between the Japanese and United States Carrier Fleets, which proved to be one of the most decisive victories and a major turning point for America in the war in the Pacific. The Japanese lost four of their powerful carriers and from that point on, no longer able to risk a major fleet versus fleet action, went on the defensive. By the time they had recovered enough to rebuild their fleet, American power had mobilised into the unstoppable force that Japan had so feared.

DISC THREE - ATLANTIC CONVOYS

During World War Two, Britain was absolutely reliant on maritime trade for its survival. The protection of its merchant fleet, therefore became an issue of paramount importance. After June 1940 however, German U-Boats began to operate in the Atlantic and appalling losses were inflicted on Allied merchant shipping. Arctic convoys were twice suspended in 1942 as German aircraft and submarines wrought havoc on the waves. The trip to the Russian port of Murmansk soon became known as the “death trip” because so few ships returned.

Featuring powerful filmed memories of veterans from both sides of the conflict, this is an account of one of World War Two’s most pitiless theatres of operations, where men lived in constant fear of the unseen dangers of the deep. This DVD features 3-D graphics and animation to show the realities of a submarine attack and the mechanics of a ship’s defences, with in-depth analysis from Dr Tim Bean of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

From the Back Cover

Includes - Interactive Menus, Scene Selections, Stills Galleries

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