All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S01E04.Wild.West.Apocalypse.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
A deserted military site hidden

In the american southwest...

Green: the power, the size,

The complexity
Was absolutely phenomenal.

Narrator: ...A top-secret
Underground air base...

Les: you need to approach this
With utter caution,

Or you really could
Lose your life.

Narrator:
...And an industrial powerhouse
Where engineering meets design.

Gough: it was the new black.

Gough: it was the new black.

It was full of wonder,

And its potential was limitless.

Narrator: once, they were some
Of the most advanced structures

And facilities on the planet,

At the cutting edge
Of design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,

Contaminated, and
Sometimes deadly.

But who built them and how,

And why were they abandoned?

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

Hidden out
In the remote desert

Near alamogordo, new mexico
Is a huge,

Top-secret military facility.

It covers 3,200 square miles

Of rugged, uninhabited terrain.

At its center lies
A 75-feet-tall,

25-feet-wide steel structure

Weighing over 500 tons.

Inside of it stands
A 45-feet-high rocket

Once capable of going beyond
The earth's atmosphere.

The genesis of the space program

The genesis of the space program

Wasn't sort of
These ambitious goals

Of putting a man on the moon.

It was military.

It was sending missiles
Straight up into space,

Not caring about where they go,

But caring about how they come
Down and observing that

So you could understand
How you could use

That information
To attack your enemy.

that was the start
of the space program.

Narrator: but what role did this
Facility play in america's

First foray to the stars,

First foray to the stars,

And why was it abandoned?

In 1945, after the end
Of world war ii,

The united states faces
A serious problem.

Despite the defeat
Of nazi germany,

A new military threat
Appears on the horizon --

The soviet union.

They are developing
The most destructive weapons

Of all time, nuclear weapons,

And the united states
Urgently needs to defend

And the united states
Urgently needs to defend

Against this imminent threat.

There is a group of visionaries,

Really, at the end
Of world war ii

Who have learned this lesson
That technology

Is the key to future success.

It's the key to survival
In a nuclear world.

Getting behind in any area

Of missile or nuclear technology

May mean total defeat.

Narrator: to further its
Military technology,

The americans develop
This remote outpost

The americans develop
This remote outpost

In the deserts of new mexico,

The white sands testing range,

And american scientists
Have one key advantage.

They possess
All the top-secret

Nazi rocket technology

And are actively trying
To improve on it

With the latest
In military defense,

The v-2 rocket.

Court: comparing the v-2 to the
First american rocket design,

The v-2 was a tremendous
Advance in the technology.

What we had at the time,
The wac corporal,

Could put about
A 35-pound payload

Maybe 60, 70 miles
Into the atmosphere.

The v-2, we could
Push over 100 miles up

With a 2,000-pound payload.

Corum: it was very secret
At the time.

We were certainly not going
To let the russians know

We were certainly not going
To let the russians know

What we knew about rockets

And ballistic missiles.

Narrator: with the looming
Prospect of nuclear conflict

With the soviet union,

America needs to take the lead
In missile defense.

Using all the cutting-edge
Technology from the nazi

V-2 program,

A top team of scientists further

Develop the world's
Most powerful weapon --

The nuclear bomb.

The nuclear bomb.

They test it here

At the
White sands proving ground.

Court:
Scientists here at white sands

Were certainly aware
Of what was potentially

Happening in the soviet union,

But I think that it was
More a sense of pride

In doing these new things
Here at white sands

That no one had
Ever done before.

Narrator:
As part of a top-secret program

Called operation paper clip,

The rocket development
Team at white sands

Consists of dozens of former
Nazi scientists and engineers

Consists of dozens of former
Nazi scientists and engineers

Who had run germany's
V-2 rocket program,

Including the man known
As the father of the v-2,

Wernher von braun.

Von braun I don't think
Was really an ardent nazi.

I think that he created the v-2

Simply because he was a man
That invented rockets.

Wernher von braun was the head
Of the german rocket program.

Wernher von braun was the head
Of the german rocket program.

In other words,
"How do we develop missiles

To fire at other cities
Around the globe?"

So when he comes
Over to the u.S.,

And he's on their side,

He jump-starts their program
Like you wouldn't believe.

It would have taken
Them decades to get

Where they got so quickly
With his help.

Without his help,
They may never have caught up.

Green: america had everything
That they needed to create

A very successful
Rocket program.

They had the rockets
That they could learn from.

They had the rockets
That they could learn from.

Their engineers
Could rebuild them.

They could study them,
Analyze them,

And they had the
German rocket engineers

Who had the expertise already.

Narrator: but unlike the nazis,

The americans don't just want
Their rockets to rain

Down on their enemies.

They also want them
To travel up into space.

Because of the impetus to launch
Intercontinental rockets,

The v-2 program quickly becomes
A top-secret project,

The v-2 program quickly becomes
A top-secret project,

And the science
And technology development

Takes place at one spot
At the white sands base,

The revered launch complex 33.

Court: the design
Of launch complex 33

Was similar to launch stand 7,
Peenemunde, germany.

The stand-off distance
For firing the v-2s was similar.

The thickness of the blockhouse
Walls was similar.

The thickness of the blockhouse
Walls was similar.

White sands was a large
Military installation.

You had this mountain range
To the west here.

You could put instrumentation
All along that mountain range

And track the rockets
Really well.

Narrator:
But can the team advance
This new rocket technology

And manage
To break into space?

And why is the whole
White sands complex abandoned?

Narrator:
In the late 1940s and '50s,

The white sands testing range
Near alamogordo, new mexico

Kick-starts america's race
Into space.

Before nasa is established,

Scientists here attempt

To launch dozens
Of powerful rockets

From launch complex 33
Into the skies...

Reporter: rivaling the
atom bomb in importance,

the 46 feet of death and
destruction is set in place,

the 46 feet of death and
destruction is set in place,

and here she goes.

...All with one aim --
To successfully get

A man-made vehicle beyond

Our atmosphere

Into the blackness of space.

Scientists out here
Were doing science

For humanity's sake

Rather than just
Science for science.

From 1946 to 1952,

There were 67 v-2 launches here

At launch complex 33
In white sands.

At launch complex 33
In white sands.

Narrator: but the rocket
Technology is far from perfect.

To protect its personnel,
The u.S. Army constructs

A massive block house with walls

That are 27 feet thick

And composed
Of reinforced concrete.

This robust facility
Is designed to

Withstand the explosion

Of a rocket
A mere 100 yards away

And even the impact of one
Falling from 100 miles above.

The reason this building
Was built was

Because of the power
Of the v-2.

It carried roughly
19,000 pounds of fuels,

Which really were a high
Explosive charge.

We saw that on a couple
Of the v-2 failures

On the launch pad,

Where something set off
One of the tanks,

And another tank went off,

And there was
A tremendous exploration.

The 10-foot-thick
Reinforced walls

Were built specifically

To protect the people
Inside the building.

The people in this room
Were critical

The people in this room
Were critical

To the success
Of the v-2 launches.

You had your
Guidance experts,

Your control,
Your combustion experts.

You had really the brain trust
Of the v-2 program

Would be in this room
During the launches.

man: five, four, three, two,

one, zero, rocket away.

Narrator:
But this ambitious project

Gets off to a rocky start.

Gets off to a rocky start.

Launched in april, 1946,

The first rocket only rises

To an altitude of 3 1/2 miles

Before crashing
In a huge fireball.

Everything rides on
The next launch.

A few weeks later,

The rocket reaches
An astonishing altitude

Of 71 miles

Before coming down
35 miles away.

reporter: air force pictures
show the rocket in flight.

the huge projectile
drops the earth behind

the huge projectile
drops the earth behind

at the tremendous speed
of 4,000 feet per second,

and the camera photographs

the earth 65 miles
straight down.

This marks the first
Successful launch

Of a large rocket
On american soil

And accelerates
The united states

Into the space age.

As the tests at launch
Complex 33 become more

And more advanced, von braun

And his team must also upgrade
How the rockets launch,

And his team must also upgrade
How the rockets launch,

So they develop
A brand-new structure

Which sets up the rocket
Before firing --

The gantry crane.

The original v-2 flights,

The rocket would be brought
On on the milo wagon,

The original german
Transportation erector vehicle.

It would be erected
Onto a firing table,

And there were a couple
Small ladders

That were used to fuel it,

That were used to fuel it,

Get it ready,
Put the instrumentation

In the top.

The problem with that was,
By 1947,

A lot of the instrumentation
Was becoming more complex,

Took a lot more time to set up,

So it was felt that something
More substantial was needed,

So the gantry crane

Was brought in
From california in 1947.

It was on rails.
You could bring it in,

Drop the platforms,

Do whatever you needed
To do on the rocket,

And then once you were ready
To go, raise the platforms,

And then once you were ready
To go, raise the platforms,

Bring the gantry crane
Away and fire the rocket.

Narrator:
But what other innovations
Does launch complex 33 develop,

And how do they provide
A blueprint

For all future
Nasa space missions,

And why was this
Critical base abandoned?

Narrator: hidden out
In the remote desert

Near alamogordo, new mexico lies

A huge top-secret
Rocket launch facility.

This is the
White sands testing range.

Now abandoned, it pushed
Rocket technology forward,

And it's also the first launch
Complex on the planet

To launch actual creatures
Into the atmosphere --

To launch actual creatures
Into the atmosphere --

Living monkeys.

Gough: the testing of
The v-2 rockets

For radiation in space
Evolved over time.

It started with
Really simple things

Like maybe an ant or a firefly
Or a grain of corn

Just to see what the impact

Would be
With radiation in space,

But this soon led
To putting monkeys

In the actual capsule

And sending it up into space.

Animal right activists
Would have a field day,

Animal right activists
Would have a field day,

And rightfully so, today.

But back then nobody cared.
Nobody knew.

The problem was
The monkeys never survived

Because this was early days.

The parachute technology
To gracefully bring

The craft down
To earth never worked.

They died.

Narrator: by the early 1950s,

The pioneering efforts
Of von braun

And his team at white sands

Make incredible strides

Into space research

And lay the groundwork
For future progress.

And lay the groundwork
For future progress.

But for all their success,

The v-2 rockets
Reach their technical limits

And fail as
Intercontinental missiles.

However, the scientists
And engineers

At launch complex 33
Have great reason

To be proud of their efforts.

Court: there certainly was
A push after the v-2 program

Had ended to beat
The soviets into space,

But I think it was sort of
The newness of the whole thing.

But I think it was sort of
The newness of the whole thing.

They were doing
Something that no one

In this country really had done

With these large,
Liquid-fueled rockets.

We did science for the sake
Of mankind out here,

And I think that really drove

What a lot of the scientists
Were pushing for.

Narrator:
Eventually, the u.S. Military
Leaves launch complex 33.

Today, it stands abandoned.

I would like to have witnessed

Those early v-2 launches

From the white sands base.

For me, that was a time
Of great unknowns

For me, that was a time
Of great unknowns

And huge excitement.

We wanted to be able
To look at the stars

And the planets unhindered
By the earth's atmosphere.

Those early rocket launches
Are somewhat overshadowed

By the phenomenal
Success of programs

Like the apollo mission,

But those early projects
Were incredibly important.

Narrator: and in 1958,

The u.S. Government folds
The technology developed here

Into the national aeronautics
And space administration --

Into the national aeronautics
And space administration --

Nasa -- with wernher von braun

As its key rocket scientist.

The v-2 rocket may have
Failed as a weapon of war,

But as the first vehicle
To reach space,

This rocket represents
An extraordinary breakthrough.

Court:
Cape canaveral is often seen
As the home of space flight,

But what happened here
At white sands missile range

Made everything that happened
At cape canaveral possible.

Made everything that happened
At cape canaveral possible.

The monkey shots
Were used by von braun

To push politicians
And business leaders

To support this organization

That could be developed

To potentially send
A man into space

And to the moon and beyond.

None of that would have
Happened had those v-2 shots

Not sort of proofed

The technology here
At white sands.

Narrator:
Six thousand miles away,

In a remote corner of the
Eastern european country

In a remote corner of the
Eastern european country

Of croatia,

Is a top-secret underground
Military facility

Built to be practically
Undetectable to satellites.

With five 7,000-feet-long
Concrete runways,

This abandoned base covers

22 square miles
On a flat plateau,

But the most important part
Of it lies hidden underground,

Inside a mountain,

Protected by four 100-ton doors.

Protected by four 100-ton doors.

Today, this abandoned site
Remains extremely dangerous.

This sign is saying that
There are mines in the area.

It's extremely dangerous
To leave the concrete.

You need to stay on the
Hard surface at all times

Because even if you have
A map of the minefield,

It's useless now.

Narrator: in 1948, croatia
Is part of yugoslavia.

As cold war
Tensions escalate,

As cold war
Tensions escalate,

Communist yugoslavia
Finds itself

In an uncomfortable position

With both the soviet union
And the west.

Between these two
Giant super powers,

The government begins
Building an airbase

That's designed to be
The cornerstone

Of the country's air defenses --

The zeljava underground
Air base.

It's one of those sites
That must have looked

Really good on paper.

"Let's create a hidden air
Base inside of a mountain.

Nobody will see it."

Nobody will see it."

David: it was not actually
That unusual.

There were other
Places in europe,

Notably switzerland and even

Italy that had similar
Types of projects.

Having said that,
During the cold war,

The russians
And the united states,

On the whole, were using
Hardened aircraft shelters

That would not only protect
Their planes, they thought,

But would also protect
Their tactical nuclear weapons.

Narrator: the base is designed

To accommodate
Three fighter squadrons,

To accommodate
Three fighter squadrons,

Nearly 40 mig fighter jets
In total,

Many of which are armed
With nuclear missiles.

Les: during the cold war,
The main purpose of this airport

And this air base
Was to repel the initial attack

From the soviets
Or from the western side.

That's why it was built
In this remote location.

It was protected by this
Mountain from the south side,

And by the large plateau

That has good visibility
From the north side.

The aircraft were stored
Behind those pressure doors.

They were all lined up
One behind the other.

When a particular aircraft
Was going to go fly,

They towed this aircraft
Onto the beginning of the runway

And took off from there.

This shape was purposely built
To accommodate a mig-21 aircraft

Because it had a single
Vertical stabilizer,

Because it had a single
Vertical stabilizer,

So it could just pass
Underneath this concrete shield.

Narrator:
But the real problems begin

When the engineers start
Tunneling into the mountain.

When they were building
The tunnels at zeljava,

To their surprise,
They came across natural caverns

And caves in the rock.

It wasn't a solid mountain as,
I think, they expected it to be.

So they were presented
With a challenge.

How do you continue
Your tunnel through air?

How do you continue
Your tunnel through air?

And they had to then rethink
The design at those points,

Suspend the tunnel in the air

Through caverns
And natural caves,

Rather than building it
Through the rock.

Agrawal:
So, engineers were kind
Of learning as they went along,

And I think that's why
They used reinforced

Concrete to strengthen
The mountain up

To create these huge spaces

That they needed in order
To put all their planes in.

Narrator: the construction
Project at zeljava is huge.

Hangars for 40 aircraft

Hangars for 40 aircraft

Are carved out of the solid rock

As well as command
And control facilities,

Generators,

Bomb and fuel stores,

And living space
For 1,000 people.

Engineers also install
Special features

To limit the effects
Of a nuclear attack.

This whole entrance
Is a blast chamber

That is curving
90 degrees onto the side.

In case of a nuclear blast,

The blast gets dissipated
Inside this chamber

The blast gets dissipated
Inside this chamber

Before it enters
The main tunnel.

On the roof, you can see
Those concrete diaphragms

That were designed
To deflect the blast.

The real door is located on
The end of this curving tunnel.

It's a massive, 100-ton,

Reinforced concrete,
Movable door.

Bell: protecting your air force
Underground

Keeps it away from any attack

Or blast that's going
To affect them directly,

But, by burying
It all underground,

But, by burying
It all underground,

Yes, you've got
The protection of a great,

Big mountain on top of you,

But should there be
An enormous blast around

Any of the apertures
That allow you to get access

In and out,

It's almost like the tunnels
Are propagating and channeling

That blast towards
The very thing

You're trying to protect.

Narrator: will the
Zeljava underground base

Protect its nation
From military attack,

And why was it abandoned?

Narrator: yugoslavian
Engineers claimed that,

In the event
Of a nuclear attack,

The now abandoned
Zeljava air base in croatia

Can remain sealed off
From the world for a month

And still keep operating
Its five runways.

The whole base is designed
To withstand the impact

Of a 20-kiloton
Nuclear weapon --

The similar destructive power

The similar destructive power

As the bomb which destroyed
The city of nagasaki.

David: would these tunnels,

With the sliding
Concrete defenses,

Have actually prevented
A nuclear explosion

From forcing this massive

Explosion
Back into the mountain?

We'll never know,

But what we do know
Is that it was

Designed to be protected

Against the sort
Of nuclear weapon

That was used at hiroshima,

And, of course,
They became much,

Much more powerful.

You have to think
About the whole logistics

Of the operation.

A thousand people could live
In this mountain for a month,

But if you've got to come out,

What if everything has been
Nuked and you survive?

Great, so what?

Who are you going
To launch a plane against?

There's no one to attack.

It's all gone.

Narrator:
All this doesn't come cheap.

The construction of zeljava
Costs the modern-day equivalent

Of $50 billion u.S. Dollars,

Making it one of the most
Expensive construction projects

Making it one of the most
Expensive construction projects

Ever in post-war europe.

But despite the vast commitment
Of time and money

That make zeljava the largest

Underground air base
In yugoslavia,

And one of the largest
In europe,

There is a significant problem.

The concept of burying
Your air force

Underground to protect it
From any incoming attack

Seems like a pretty good idea,

But, at zeljava,
This took 20 years

But, at zeljava,
This took 20 years

For them to build effectively

What's just 3 kilometers worth
Of tunnel into the mountainside.

Narrator: the zeljava base
Is completed in 1968,

And it operates
For over 20 years

During peacetime

Until yugoslavia

Abruptly breaks apart in 1991.

Then, the base endures
An altogether unexpected attack.

Les: when bosnian forces
Were about to take over

This whole area,

This whole area,

The serbs detonated huge
Sums of explosives

Buried inside runways
And inside of tunnels.

The base was completely
Destroyed after serving

Only about 1 year
Of actual combat.

David: when you consider
The enormous cost and the fact

That it's only actually used
In an operational sense

Against the yugoslav people

During the civil wars

Of the early 1990s,

I think you come
To the conclusion

That this is
A huge white elephant

That this is
A huge white elephant

Among military projects.

Narrator: with its air base
And tunnels wrecked

And its runways destroyed,
Zeljava is abandoned.

Today, only the most
Adventurous risk

Entering this dangerous

But once
Impressive air base.

Zeljava can be regarded
As a cold war, paranoia era.

It was shrouded
In so much secrecy

All those decades ago.

It could not be considered
A tourist destination

It could not be considered
A tourist destination

Because you need
Much preparation.

You need to approach this
With utter caution,

Or you really could
Lose your life.

Narrator: just 300 miles
Northeast of croatia

In budapest, hungary,

Is a series of massive
Abandoned warehouses.

Inside are what remains
Of 19 boilers

Feeding eight turbines

Supplying 30 kilovolts
Of electricity

Through 80-ton transformers

And a grand art-deco-style
Control room

In the shape of an oval,

Rusting away in obscurity.

Archer: the generation of power
Itself is so simple.

You take turbine
That just spins

You take turbine
That just spins

Around a magnet inside a coil.

That's essentially all it is,

But then you have to put
All these sort of regulations

And extra things in there
To make it usable,

And that's being
The transformers,

The systems to make sure
The turbines are going around

At constant speed the whole time
So you don't get interruptions.

All this sort of stuff
Had to be worked out,

And you're talking about
Very old technology.

This was even
Before vacuum tubes.

They had to think
Of a lot of things

And be ingenious

With creating these things
To make the ac useful.

With creating these things
To make the ac useful.

Narrator:
But what engineering problems

Did this now-crumbling
Plant face,

And why was it abandoned?

In 1912, budapest is one
Of the capitals

Of the austro-hungarian empire,

But to power the country's
Global ambitions,

Authorities need to generate
Electricity for 880,000 people.

For this tremendous task,

Engineers construct

The groundbreaking
Kelenfold power station.

The groundbreaking
Kelenfold power station.

Today, we take
Electricity for granted.

But at the turn
Of the 19th century,

It was the new black.

It was full of wonder,

And its potential was limitless.

Narrator: at the time,
This power plant rivals

Every other plant
In the world for efficiency

And high output.

More than anything,

The designers here
Want to produce not

Just a power plant

But a grandiose temple
To electricity.

But a grandiose temple
To electricity.

However, for the engineers,

Executing this vision involves
A risky, monumental transition.

Archer: people would have
Their own coal,

And they'd be self-supporting.

You know, they'd create power
That they needed, you know,

And that power would only just
Be thermal energy, right?

Just heat, that's all
You're going to get.

To then go pooling the coal
Together at the power station

And then creating
This electricity

Which can then be distributed

Out through a network,
Through a grid,

Out through a network,
Through a grid,

Which then you can tap
Into and harness part

Of that energy yourself,

You know, that's very different.

You got to see this
As a projection

Of the future to everybody.

There can be elements
Of design going into that.

You're trying
To get people onboard.

You're trying
To show your nation

And people around
That you're forward-thinking.

You're entering
A new era.

Narrator:
But the engineering challenge

Is harnessing 38 bars
Of steam pressure

Is harnessing 38 bars
Of steam pressure

To drive
Its eight giant turbines

In order to produce electricity

To sustain 880,000 people.

To do that, workers
Must shovel mountains of coal

And channel over
220 million liters

Of water from the danube
River each day

Into the vast furnace hall.

If you want to ask about
The sort of efficiency

Of this method
Of creating electricity,

The best thing I can say
Is that's how we do it still.

The best thing I can say
Is that's how we do it still.

It is coal and water
Creating steam

And turning magnets
Inside coils.

Fundamentally, it's exactly
The same from a science

And physics point of view.

So that tells you
We haven't come up

With a better way
Of generating energy.

Even nuclear, we still
Heat water, turbines.

It's exactly the same.

Narrator: will kelenfold be able

To pioneer this mass production
Of energy?

To pioneer this mass production
Of energy?

For 2 grueling years,
Architects,

Engineers, and workers labor

Constantly to construct
This massive plant.

But with the outbreak
Of world war I in 1914,

What causes
The kelenfold power plant

To become abandoned?

Narrator: the kelenfold power
Plant in budapest, hungary

Is one of
The early 20th century's

True engineering marvels.

As part of this
Ambitious vision,

Both to pioneer
Electrical power for the city

And also be a show piece for
The austro-hungarian empire,

Engineers and architects
Employ the art-deco style,

Engineers and architects
Employ the art-deco style,

And they develop this
Stunning control room

At the crossroads
Of engineering and design.

By implementing curved walls

And a dramatic glass ceiling,

The architects transform

An otherwise
Utilitarian power plant

Into a glittering
Industrial masterpiece,

And, after 2 years
Of construction,

Their ambitious plan
Comes to fruition in 1914.

Their ambitious plan
Comes to fruition in 1914.

This new power plant
Soon becomes

A national treasure in hungary,

And both its layout
And design style

Are copied all over europe.

Archer: I think it's great
That they tried

To kind of pour design,
Art deco, make it stunning,

And it still looks amazing.

I don't know how practical it
Was in there,

With sound issues and all
Manner of things like that,

But I don't see why, you know,

You can't have design
And function go hand in hand.

You can't have design
And function go hand in hand.

Why not?

Narrator: but just 2 months
After kelenfold goes online,

World war I breaks out.

For years, budapest endures
The horrors of war,

But the kelenfold power plant

Miraculously escapes
Serious damage.

However, 20 years later,

Hungary joins the axis powers,

Hungary joins the axis powers,

And, during world war ii,

The plant becomes a prime target

For allied bombing raids.

To protect people
From aerial attacks, architects,

Engineers, and the planners
Implement a risky plan

And build dozens of one and
Two-man concrete bomb shelters

All over the plant,

Even in the ornate control room.

I really wonder
About air raid shelters

I really wonder
About air raid shelters

In the middle of a factory.

Certainly deep underground

Is the only one
That makes sense,

But the idea of putting
Individual shelter

Right in the middle
Of the target

Seems to be rather strange,

And it goes completely against

All of the studies
Done in the 1920s

And '30s by german engineers

Who were looking
At possible future war

And designing factories

With the idea
Of minimizing damage

And easing the repair

And easing the repair

And the fire-fighting systems

If you were hit
By an airstrike.

Man:
Fortunately, this control room
Didn't need any protection

Because it had only one bomb,
But on the outside.

Narrator: after the war,
Kelenfold continues

To power hungary's
Growing energy supply.

But due to more modern
Energy production technology

Coming online,

The plant is
Decommissioned in 2005

The plant is
Decommissioned in 2005

After an impressive
91 years in operation.

Today, even after years
Of decay and neglect,

The glories of kelenfold's
Unique art-deco control room

Are still admired
Around the world.

Archer: you need to have
That sort of symbol

Of what was the big step
At that time.

We should try
And keep these things

Where possible
And keep them

So that they will stand
The testament of time

And kind of remind us
Of how far we've come.

And kind of remind us
Of how far we've come.

Narrator: just over 1,000 miles
Northwest of budapest

Are the orkney islands
Off the coast of scotland.

In the freezing waters
Of scapa flow,

As far down as 196 feet
Below sea level,

Lies a mysterious
Maritime graveyard.

Covering miles of seabed
Are seven hulking warships

Ranging from 8,000-ton cruisers

To 26,000-ton battleships

Corroding away
Out of sight.

Turton: it's there to explore
And discover.

The battleships,
Which are so big you

Can have the privilege
Of being places

That nobody's been
For 100 years.

Narrator: but why are these
Sunken boats here,

And why were they abandoned?

And why were they abandoned?

In 1914, the german empire

Is at war with allied britain,

And incredible advances
In engineering

All combine into creating

One singular military vessel.

Around the turn of
The 20th century,

It was the battleship

That was the culmination
Of success and progress

In so many areas
Of engineering.

In propulsion, steam turbines

Were being used
On these great, big ships.

Advancements in communication
And optics, firepower,

Advancements in communication
And optics, firepower,

The size of guns you could have,
All came together

In these amazing war machines

That almost became
Status symbols for any navy.

If you didn't have one,
Who were you?

Narrator: for this reason,

The imperial german navy
Produces the high seas fleet.

For the duration
Of the first world war,

The german navy uses
The high seas fleet

To attack the northeast
Coast of england.

But after 4 years
Of naval combat,

But after 4 years
Of naval combat,

The first world war
Ends in november, 1918

With the allies victorious.

This leaves the germans
With 72 boats

Stuck in captive english waters.

Scapa flow is surrounded

By the southern isles of orkney,

Creating this huge
Natural harbor,

Which becomes the best place,

Strategically, to house
The bulk of our navy.

Now, the german navy,
In the first world war,

I imagine, didn't really
Want scapa flow

I imagine, didn't really
Want scapa flow

To be so important to them,

But it ends up being
Where the bulk of their navy --

It's their final
Resting place.

Narrator:
But with the war now over,

Who sinks the german
High seas fleet,

And why were these
Ships abandoned?

Narrator:
With the allied victory
At the end of world war I,

Great britain is holding
72 german ships hostage

In the icy waters of scapa flow.

But on june 21, 1919,
As the allies try to negotiate

The terms of the peace treaty
With germany,

The german high
Seas fleet commander,

Ludwig von reuter,

Takes matters
Into his own hands.

Takes matters
Into his own hands.

Turton: admiral von reuter
Wasn't being kept informed,

Really, up to date
With the peace negotiations.

He fully expects that the
Germans' fleet will be seized

And that they will be divvied up
Among the allied forces,

Which I believe
Was the intention.

These fighting ships
Have been disarmed.

He has no way of fighting back,

So his only remaining act of war

Is to sink them
So nobody can have them.

Narrator:
This was one of the largest

And most complicated mass
Scuttlings in history,

And most complicated mass
Scuttlings in history,

But how did von reuter
Execute this bold maneuver?

James: all vessels have

What we refer more commonly to
As a sea chest.

It's located in the engine room,

And it's where the vessel
Takes water in

For running the engine
Room's systems, ballasting,

And the pipes are huge.
They're this sort of diameter.

You couldn't put
Your arms around them.

If you wanted
To scuttle a vessel,

You would open
These sea chest valves.

Just let the water flood in

Just let the water flood in

Throughout the ship
Would achieve

The negative buoyancy
That you needed to sink it.

David: the scuttling of
The high seas fleet in 1919,

I mean, an extraordinary event

Involving a massive number

Of warships,

Has been relatively forgotten

Because, at least

From the british perspective,

We're a little bit
Embarrassed about it

Because we didn't
Manage to prevent it.

Narrator: in all, 52 ships sink
And the rest are beached.

But even at the bottom
Of the sea,

But even at the bottom
Of the sea,

These ships remain valuable,

Worth $50 million
In today's currency.

And one man is determined not
To leave 400,000 tons of metal

And machinery to rot
On the sea bed.

In 1920,
Engineer earnest cox attempts

An impossible salvage job.

They wouldn't have had
The same huge lifting capacity

That we have these days.

They would've had
To look at air.

They would've had
To look at air.

If you can regain the watertight
Integrity of the vessel

And introduce air into it,

It is possible to refloat it.

You would have to have
A reasonably intact vessel.

Narrator: using air,
Cox's innovative technique

Employs salvage components

From smaller ships

To lift their larger
Sister ships to the surface.

An example of ernest cox's
Ingenuity

Was how he used boilers
From some of the ships

Was how he used boilers
From some of the ships

That had already been salvaged

To create
These enormous airlocks

That went from sea surface
Where their salvaged ships

Were and to create
These giant tubes

By welding them all together

To create an airlock right down
To the bottom of the sea

Where the scuttled ship
Was sitting.

That's not a solution
That had been done before.

There was no design blueprint
To say how to do that.

Engineering is all
About problem solving,

And none more tricky
Or challenging

Than the one presented
To ernest cox.

Than the one presented
To ernest cox.

Narrator: today, seven of the
Mighty german high seas fleet

Still remain at the bottom

Of scapa flow

Alongside countless
Other shipwrecks

In these notoriously treacherous

And icy waters,

Accessible only to those
Willing to dive in.