All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S03E01.Doomsday.at.Dragons.Teeth.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]1

Narrator: mysterious remains
Of rusting ships

Stranded in an arid desert...

It was ecological suicide.

Narrator: ...A ghostly set
Of concrete teeth

High in the italian peaks...

A very stark and strange
Sight to have

In this largely beautiful
Mountain landscape.

Narrator: ...And an
Eerie collection of buildings

Hidden in a remote forest.

Hidden in a remote forest.

It's like
A village of the damned.

You can tell that
Something happened here.

*

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?

And why were they abandoned?

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

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

*

In the southwest
Of the former soviet union

Is the country of uzbekistan.

And not far from
The small town of moynaq

And not far from
The small town of moynaq

Is an astonishing sight.

For mile after mile,

All you can see is a dry
And dusty desert landscape.

There, in the middle
Of this sandy expanse,

There are ships of every size,

From the small
To the substantial.

But where is the water?

Jerram: it's a very odd thing,
Seeing a boat in a desert.

Jerram: it's a very odd thing,
Seeing a boat in a desert.

You think of water instantly.

A boat is an indicative
Sign of water,

But then you look around,
And there's none available.

Bell: it's like
An armada of rusting hulks

In the middle of the desert

Without a shoreline
Anywhere in sight.

It is an intensely
Post-apocalyptic image.

You don't have to be an expert

To tell that something
Has gone extremely wrong here.

Narrator: the town of moynaq
Is virtually deserted.

But what has gone on here?

The only clue is
This symbol of a fish,

Which adorns the town's sign.

Bell: there are signs
That fishing

Was absolutely once
Very important here.

But what makes this
So extraordinary

Is that there's no water
To be seen.

In fact, it's miles
From the nearest sea.

Narrator: so, what happened?

Where has the sea gone?

And why was moynaq abandoned?

*

The answer to this puzzle
Lies 2,600 miles away,

In the heart of
Russia's capital -- moscow.

In the 1950s, uzbekistan was
Part of the soviet union,

An empire 2 1/2 times
The size of the usa,

An empire 2 1/2 times
The size of the usa,

Which stretched from the
Baltic sea to the pacific ocean.

The soviet union ran
On a command economy.

All the decisions
Were made at the top.

And they would decide, "Comrade,
You will grow the wheat,

And you will grow the cotton,

And you will make
The iron and steel."

The individual districts, and
Certainly individual workers,

Had very little say
In the matter.

And the technocrats in charge
Thought they had

And the technocrats in charge
Thought they had

All the information they needed
To make all the decisions.

Narrator:
Each soviet state had to provide
Goods and raw materials

To the central government,

Who would in turn
Provide food and other products.

Everything was controlled
By moscow.

Meigs: there was no room
For experimentation.

There was no room
For anybody to deviate

From the central authority.

So once the order came down
From on high,

So once the order came down
From on high,

Everybody got in line
And conformed.

Narrator:
The soviet leadership's eyes

Fell on a new target
For exploitation --

Moynaq.

It's almost impossible
To imagine now,

When you look at the desert
That surrounds it,

But 60 years ago,
Moynaq was on the edge

Of the world's fourth-largest
Inland stretch of water --

Of the world's fourth-largest
Inland stretch of water --

The aral sea.

40,000 of its residents

Were either fishermen or worked
At its fish-processing plant,

The largest in the soviet union.

Almas tovashiv was one of them.

[ speaking native language ]

Interpreter:
More than 200 vessels were
Engaged in the fishing industry.

More than 100 vessels
Were transporting fish

More than 100 vessels
Were transporting fish

To the fish-canning factory,
Where 1,200 people worked

And annually produced
Up to 12 million cans of fish.

Jerram: the fishing industry was
Able to thrive in the aral sea

Because it was fairly shallow
All around,

So it was actually
Quite easy to fish.

And by its nature, it didn't
Actually freeze in the winter,

So you could do fishing
Almost all year 'round.

Narrator: overall, 1/6 of
Russia's annual fishing quota

Narrator: overall, 1/6 of
Russia's annual fishing quota

Was caught from the aral sea,

And a substantial industry
Thrived on its shores.

Interpreter: at that time,

80% to 90% of the
Fish production in uzbekistan

Was provided by the aral sea.

There were 34 species of fish,

20 of which were
Of commercial importance.

Then there was one moynaq
Fishing canning factory,

12 fishing collective farms,
And six fishing flotillas.

12 fishing collective farms,
And six fishing flotillas.

The whole population
Was engaged in fishing.

*

Narrator: but by 1990,
All fishing had stopped.

The sea had become a desert.

The answer as to why
This happened is even stranger.

It's all because of something
Called white gold --

It's all because of something
Called white gold --

Or, as we know it, cotton.

Bell: cotton's been grown
In the aral basin for centuries,

But this really ramped up
Under the leadership of stalin

When he announced to the world
That the soviet union

Would be the leading
Producer of this crop.

Narrator:
But how could cotton production
Have such a devastating impact

On a fishing community
Like moynaq?

On a fishing community
Like moynaq?

And how did the aral sea
Virtually disappear?

*

Narrator: 60 years ago,
Moynaq was on the edge

Of the world's fourth-largest
Inland stretch of water --

The aral sea.

But by 1990,
All fishing had stopped.

Most of the sea
Had become a desert.

And it's all because of cotton.

Meigs:
It only rains about 4 inches a
Year in that part of uzbekistan.

That's about the same as
The mojave desert in the u.S.

Or even the same
As some parts of the sahara,

So they needed to irrigate.

They needed to get water
From somewhere else.

Where did they get it?

From the two rivers
That fed the aral sea.

They dammed them up.
They made reservoirs.

They made this huge complex
Of irrigation canals,

Thousands of miles
Of irrigation canals.

It was a typical vast,
Ambitious soviet project.

It was a typical vast,
Ambitious soviet project.

Narrator: but the crops needed
More than water to flourish.

They used 20 times the normal
Amount of chemical fertilizers.

Meigs: cotton, especially
The way the soviets grew it,

Took a lot of fertilizer,
A lot of pesticides.

They sprayed this stuff on
With abandon.

It flowed out,
It polluted the groundwater,

So what little water
Did flow into the aral sea

Was heavily polluted
With toxins.

Was heavily polluted
With toxins.

Narrator: but the soviet idea to
Concentrate cotton production

At the expense of the aral sea
Worked.

Meigs: uzbekistan became
The dominant supplier of cotton,

The dominant grower of cotton
In the soviet union,

And remains
A major grower of cotton.

Narrator: but there was a huge
Environmental cost to pay.

Jerram:
If you've got 4/5 of your water
Source coming from elsewhere

And being brought in
To maintain and sustain the sea,

If you shut that lifeblood off,

Things are going to change
Very dramatically.

Meigs:
It was ecological suicide,

Because once they took all
The water out of those rivers,

There wasn't enough water
To feed the aral sea.

In this hot environment,
It's sunny most of the time.

There's a lot of evaporation.

Without water continuing
To flow into it,

Without water continuing
To flow into it,

The aral sea began to evaporate.

[ speaking native language ]

Interpreter: people understood
That there was less water.

It was not enough,

Even for watering gardens
And use on the farms.

Narrator:
Moynaq's fishermen depended on
The lake for their livelihood,

So they followed
Its shrinking shores.

But they soon realized there
Was an even bigger problem.

But they soon realized there
Was an even bigger problem.

The fish were dying off.

Jerram: not only is the
Shoreline moving away

Because you're decreasing
The volume of the water,

But you're increasing
The salinity.

And it went from about
10 grams per liter

To over 100 grams per liter --
A massive jump,

10 times more salt in the water,
And the fish can't handle that,

And the fish
Essentially get poisoned.

It was turning from a thriving,
Rich freshwater ecosystem

It was turning from a thriving,
Rich freshwater ecosystem

Into a dead sea.

Narrator:
By the late 1980s, the last
Native aral fish had vanished,

Drowned by
The shrinking toxic sea.

In just 34 years,
The sea level dropped by 55 feet

And the shoreline receded
By almost 100 miles.

And the shoreline receded
By almost 100 miles.

Jerram:
The speed at which this actually
Happened is quite remarkable.

And it's really quite shocking
To see this jewel,

One of the fourth-largest
Inland seas in the world,

Suddenly just diminishing
To a few sort of isolated lakes

And really just
A big, dry desert.

Bell: 1/3 of the seabed
Was exposed,

Spreading 100 million tons
Of dust and salt.

Add to that the residue
From the pesticides

Add to that the residue
From the pesticides

At the bottom of the sea,

And you've got
A highly toxic combination.

*

Narrator:
Today the trawlers lie rusting
On the edge of moynaq's harbor,

A ghost fleet in a town where
The sea is a distant memory.

The few remaining people
Still living here

The few remaining people
Still living here

Are plagued by health problems.

The aral sea has now become
The desert of aral.

Jerram: when you see
Such a dramatic change,

It shows us how delicate
The environment can be

And how much we need to be aware

That we don't flip the switch
The wrong way

And send those environments

Catastrophically
Into the wrong direction.

*

*

Narrator: nearly 7,000 feet up
In the italian alps

Is the most extraordinary sight.

*

Punching through tons of snow

Are rows of menacing
Conical structures.

They're these strange
Pyramid-like structures

That almost look like
A modern art installation.

That almost look like
A modern art installation.

Seeing hundreds
Of these concrete teeth

Jutting up out of the ground
In the alpine landscape,

It is almost hard to grasp
What that is.

Narrator:
This bizarre set of teeth
Are made of concrete and iron

And range in size
Up to 3 feet tall.

They stretch out over
The remote mountaintops

In a series of long clusters.

In a series of long clusters.

But why were they built
At such a remote location?

And what could be
Their strange purpose?

Bell: what's really odd is
Where these things are --

Right near the top
Of a mountain.

They just don't belong there.

Dickrell:
It looks very medieval.

It's almost exactly out
Of "Game of thrones,"

A very stark and strange
Sight to have

In this largely beautiful
Mountain landscape.

Narrator: a clue as to what
These rows of conical spikes are

Narrator: a clue as to what
These rows of conical spikes are

Can be found
In the valley below.

*

A labyrinth of secret tunnels

That stretch deep
Into the mountain itself

Lurk behind a hidden entrance

Built into the side
Of the valley,

Disguised as a rock.

When you look at it,
It seems incredibly solid,

When you look at it,
It seems incredibly solid,

And it blends almost seamlessly
Into the background.

Someone went to an incredible
Effort to build that here.

Narrator: who built this
Bizarre alpine engineering?

And what was its purpose?

*

The answer lies in
The uneasy peace that existed

The answer lies in
The uneasy peace that existed

Across western europe
In the 1930s.

Shaken by the carnage
Of world war I,

The major european powers
Started to fortify their borders

With elaborate defenses.

Corum: all through europe, you
See these border defense lines.

And this is
A reasonable precaution

By most european countries
That had genuine threats.

Narrator:
Since 1931, italian dictator
Benito mussolini's engineers

Had been constructing
An ambitious solution

To this problem --

A line of defenses
That aimed to protect italy

Over a 1,000-mile front
Through the italian alps,

From ventimiglia
On the west coast

To fiume on the east.

It was known as the
Vallo alpino, or alpine wall.

It was known as the
Vallo alpino, or alpine wall.

But why were these secretive
Defenses built high in the alps?

And why, after so much effort,
Were they abandoned?

*

Narrator:
High in the italian alps

Lurks part of a formidable
Mountain fortification

Known as the vallo alpino,
Or the alpine wall.

Rows of concrete-and-iron teeth
Crown the ridges,

And the valleys below are lined
With gun emplacements

And bunkers for soldiers.

Not started until 1938,
This section of the alpine wall

Faced not a hostile enemy,
But mussolini's closest ally --

Adolf hitler's
Newly annexed austria.

Corum: mussolini was rather
Distrustful of hitler

Because he knew that hitler had
Expansionist ideas in germany

And certainly
Had eyes on austria.

Now, this meant problems
For the italians

Now, this meant problems
For the italians

Because they had annexed
This one region, south tyrol,

Of austria after 1918.

Mussolini, understanding hitler,

Knew that hitler would likely
Want to demand this territory

And could attack italy
And take the tyrol.

Narrator: since world war I,
Fast-moving tanks had become

One of the most dominant weapons
On the battlefield.

One of the most dominant weapons
On the battlefield.

And germany were the masters
At this type of warfare.

How could the italian
Alpine defenses

Halt hitler's mechanized army
In their tracks?

Dickrell:
So, the dragon's teeth,
Or the dente de drago,

Were wooden poles that were
Pounded into the ground

And then cast cement
Around them,

Capped off with
An iron pyramid or cone.

This creates a barrier for which

This creates a barrier for which

Armored vehicles and troops
Cannot pass through

And effectively funneling
A large armored force

Into effectively kill zones.

*

Narrator: the italians designed
An elaborate network

Of interconnected
Bunkers and guns

To stop any german advance,

And the strategy was called
Defense in depth.

And the strategy was called
Defense in depth.

But would it work?

Bell: so, the idea of having
Multiple layers of defense

Is that you'll slow down
The momentum of an attack,

Making it much easier to repel.

Corum:
It's a series of strongpoints.

It will stop and delay
Any enemy advance.

This gives the defender time
To move up reserves

For a counterattack.

Narrator: hidden in the side
Of the mountain

Narrator: hidden in the side
Of the mountain

Is the heavily
Camouflaged entrance

To the italians'
Secret alpine fortress --

A fortified door
To bunker number 20.

The door opens up to reveal
A network of passages

That link secret rooms
And machine gun posts.

Local guide ludwig schopf
Knows just how dangerous it was.

Local guide ludwig schopf
Knows just how dangerous it was.

Schopf: so, we stay here
In the machine gun room

Of the bunker number 20.

And here, inside,
Were three soldiers.

The room is outside of the rock.

Here is beginning the rock,
And here outside of the...

And the soldiers know that they
Were the first people to die.

Narrator: the bunker
Was so well-camouflaged

To give the italian soldiers
The best possible chance

Of eliminating the enemy

Before they even
Had a chance to attack.

Corum: they would cover
The face of the bunker

With a rock slurry material.

You could not tell that
This is not part of a cliff face

Until you're actually there,

And then
The guns open up on you.

Narrator: but how secure
Were the bunkers themselves?

Narrator: but how secure
Were the bunkers themselves?

Bell: the bunkers were
Built using a vast amount
Of concrete,

Up to 13 feet deep in places.

Jerram: what they did was
They actually built concrete

In and amongst the rock units
To try and utilize the fact

That you've got these strong
Rocks either side of the pass

And act as a natural defense

And then build 'round
That natural defense

With some man-made
Fortifications.

Narrator:
But why did mussolini think
That hitler would attack here?

On the austrian side
Of the border

There was just a mule track,

Which wouldn't have supported
The weight of a tank.

Dickrell:
But the italians were worried

The germans would construct
A road into that region,

Allowing
Armored vehicles, tanks,

And a large number of troops
To pass into the area.

Corum:
Yes, it's quite possible

The germans could
Send troops up here,

The germans could
Send troops up here,

Because that is, in fact,

How they broke through
Mountain defense lines.

Narrator: but were these
Fortifications ever used?

Dickrell:
With the fall of mussolini
And the advance of the germans,

The vallo alpino
Defensive structures

Were never actually used.

The italians just surrendered,

And effectively, the germans
Walked into northern italy.

Corum:
The vallo alpino was actually,

For the most part,
Very lightly guarded,

For the most part,
Very lightly guarded,

And this would have been
Essentially border troops.

These are not
Your frontline troops,

So it provided
No real defense at all.

Dickrell: the defending soldiers
Just gave up.

And even though there were
These very elaborate

Defensive structures
That were constructed,

In essence, they were never used
And were useless.

Narrator:
Ironically, the germans
Incorporated the vallo alpino

Into their own defenses
Against the allies,

Into their own defenses
Against the allies,

Who were sweeping through italy.

But in the end, these
Extensive alpine fortifications

Were never used.

Today, the rusting spikes
Of the dragon's teeth

Still dominate the landscape.

They demonstrate how far
Mussolini was prepared to go

To defend his country.

Dickrell: so, when you see
These defensive structures now,

It's an interesting historical
Throwback to a different time.

For now, they're too expensive
To remove,

So we just sort of accept them
As historical reminders,

As well as just
Strange structures

Stuck in the middle of the alps.

*

Narrator:
31 miles southwest of berlin

Lies a vast complex
Of abandoned buildings

Lies a vast complex
Of abandoned buildings

Hidden away in a forest.

*

Bell: it's like
A village of the damned.

You can tell that
Something happened here.

Dickrell: due to its decrepit
And dilapidated nature,

It's a very unique
And creepy environment.

In one building,
There's a bathtub

Sitting by itself
In the middle of a room.

Sitting by itself
In the middle of a room.

It's really mysterious.
What's going on here?

Bell:
You can tell the amount of care

That was taken
When it was built.

With its pillars and terraces
And elaborate entrances,

It's almost palatial.

Narrator: there are around 60
Separate buildings on the site.

Narrator: there are around 60
Separate buildings on the site.

And the whole complex
Sprawls across a mile.

But what dark secrets
Does this facility hold?

And how come one of the world's
Most evil men ended up here?

The answer lies

In the spectacular
Industrial revolution

Germany experienced towards
The end of the 19th century.

The german population
Doubled between 1871 and 1910,

The german population
Doubled between 1871 and 1910,

And its capital, berlin,
Grew by 300% in just 30 years.

Meigs: factories were booming.

Labor was pouring in from
Impoverished rural areas

Into the big cities.

People were crammed
Into crowded tenements,

Unhealthy living situations.

And along with all those people
Came a lot of diseases.

*

*

Narrator:
But what disease ravaged germany

In the late 19th
And early 20th century?

And what role did
This abandoned estate play?

*

Narrator: over 120 years ago,

One disease in particular
Threatened germany --

A disease that was responsible

For killing one in seven
Of all human beings --

Tuberculosis.

Meigs: it's a disease that's
Passed by coughing or sneezing.

Germs get in the air,
And in crowded conditions,

Germs get in the air,
And in crowded conditions,

It passes from person to person
Very easily.

[ krause speaking german ]

Interpreter: hygiene back then
Wasn't like today, of course.

If there was a toothbrush at all
In a working-class household,

It was used by the whole family.

So many people infected their
Children with tuberculosis

Without even knowing it.

Narrator:
For over a century, it was
The biggest cause of death

Narrator:
For over a century, it was
The biggest cause of death

Across the whole of europe
And the united states.

At the time, there was no cure,

And 80% of the infected
Would eventually die.

Meigs:
T.B. Was not really treatable

In the sense that
There was a cure for it.

What people tried to do was
Create a healthier environment

For people with tuberculosis,
And the idea was

"It's a lung disease.
It has something to do with air.

"It's a lung disease.
It has something to do with air.

Let's get them out of the city,

Out to where there's
Fresh air, dry air."

It was very common
For rich people

To be able to get sent off
To one of these hospitals

In some lovely
Mountainous setting,

But many of the victims of
Tuberculosis weren't affluent.

They couldn't afford that.

Narrator: so a new kind
Of facility was needed.

Narrator: so a new kind
Of facility was needed.

Beelitz heilstatten
Was the answer.

Its aim was to provide
Cutting-edge care

In a healthy setting --

Not for the very rich,
But the very poor.

Bell:
An insurance company was behind
The building of this sanatorium.

They wanted to create this model
Clinic for workers in berlin

Who had limited access
To treatment otherwise.

Who had limited access
To treatment otherwise.

*

Narrator: but would it work?

Would a patient coming
From the squalor of berlin

Actually be helped
In a sanatorium like this?

Meigs: for people who lived
In very crowded conditions --

They were, many of them,
Factory workers.

They didn't have a lot of money.

They might not have had
A lot of people at home

Who could take care of them
In their sick condition.

So to be able to go
To this lovely retreat,

So to be able to go
To this lovely retreat,

Even as their prognosis
For getting better

Wasn't that great,

It must have seemed like
A kind of blessing.

Narrator:
Building begins in 1898,

And the initial construction
Phase takes four years.

The intricate ornamental facades
And the light, spacious rooms

Were a stark contrast
To the conditions

The workers were used to
Back in the cities.

The workers were used to
Back in the cities.

Meigs: what's really kind of
Lovely is that they designed it

To feel like a resort,
Like a beautiful country town.

I think the respect they showed

To these sick people --
Who were not affluent,

Who weren't
Paying their own way --

Was really something admirable.

Narrator: but with the threat
Of world war I looming,

There was a dark secret that lay
At the heart of this generosity.

There was a dark secret that lay
At the heart of this generosity.

[ krause speaking german ]

Interpreter: the kaiser was
Simply afraid of the inability

Of some of his people
To serve in the military.

Also, the economy would
Have lost its cheap laborers.

That was the real reason

Behind the construction
Of the sanatorium.

Narrator:
Eventually, there would be beds
For 1,200 patients,

Which made it one of the largest
Sanatoriums in the world.

And it would go on to house

One of the world's biggest
Killers of the 20th century.

One of the world's biggest
Killers of the 20th century.

*

So, who was beelitz's
Most infamous patient?

And why was this
Cutting-edge facility abandoned?

*

Narrator:
In 1914, world war I started,

And the hospital found itself
In the front line.

Beelitz heilstatten
Was requisitioned

As a field hospital
For the red cross.

The number of beds increased
To over 1,500.

The number of beds increased
To over 1,500.

One of its patients was
A young corporal

By the name of adolf hitler.

Hitler was a patient there
For two months

Towards the end of 1916,

When he was hit by a grenade
In his left leg

And was sent to beelitz
For treatment.

Narrator:
After the war, there was
A resurgence of tuberculosis,

And in 1920,

Beelitz heilstatten reverted
To a sanatorium.

Beelitz heilstatten reverted
To a sanatorium.

For more than 20 years,

It continued
To treat the disease.

But an end to tuberculosis
Was just 'round the corner.

Meigs:
Tuberculosis remained a serious
Problem in the developed world

Until shortly after
World war ii,

When the antibiotic streptomycin
Was discovered

And turned out to be
Pretty effective

At treating the disease.

At treating the disease.

Narrator:
By the mid-1950s, tuberculosis
Became a curable disease,

And the need for the hospital
Slowly declined with the cure.

But that wasn't quite
The end of this hospital.

After the war,

The russians took over
The eastern sector of berlin,

And beelitz heilstatten served
As a soviet military hospital

For the next 50 years.

For the next 50 years.

[ krause speaking german ]

Interpreter: the soviets
Operated beelitz sanatorium

As the largest
Military hospital

Outside of
Their country's borders.

In 1991, the soviet troops
Slowly started their withdrawal.

And in 1994,
The grounds were empty again.

*

Narrator:
Today, this once-vital hospital
Is a ghostly shell...

Narrator:
Today, this once-vital hospital
Is a ghostly shell...

...The disease it was built to
Beat now a footnote in history.

Or is it?

With the rise of drug-resistant
Strains of tuberculosis

Emerging in the 1980s,

Beelitz heilstatten reminds us
That the battle

Against this potentially
Fatal disease continues.

Dickrell:
The size of the epidemic
Of tuberculosis

In the early 20th century
Was large.

Its impact was felt
Wide through europe.

Sites like beelitz
Help us remember that.

And with the onset and increase
Of modern tuberculosis,

Perhaps it's a really
Good reminder

Of the seriousness
Of the disease.

*

Narrator: on the far eastern tip
Of canada,

Narrator: on the far eastern tip
Of canada,

Just visible
Above the waterline,

Lies a rusting hulk
Of corroding metal.

*

Bell: it's almost like
This monster of the deep.

But why is this leviathan being
Gradually reclaimed by the sea?

Narrator:
It lies in a forgotten cove off
The coast of newfoundland.

Narrator:
It lies in a forgotten cove off
The coast of newfoundland.

Bell: this partially
Submerged structure

Has such mystery around it.

And that is compounded
By where it sits,

In this completely
Idyllic setting.

This weird sort of assemblage
Of junk, of rusty steel.

One chunk of it
You can recognize

As some kind of modern trawler
Or something parked alongside,

But what it's next to
Is like an exploded factory.

But what it's next to
Is like an exploded factory.

It just doesn't belong there.

Narrator: only some of
Its structure is still visible.

The rest
Is completely submerged.

Caldwell-evans:
It's so devastated.
It's so destroyed.

It's hard to believe
There's any other reason

For that level of destruction

Other than
Some major cataclysmic event.

Narrator: these are
The remains of hms calypso,

Once one of the most
Technologically advanced ships

Once one of the most
Technologically advanced ships

In the british fleet --

Now abandoned,
Rotting in the water.

So, how did such a
Valuable vessel meet its end?

And why was she abandoned
So far from home?

*

Narrator:
Lying in a forgotten cove
Off the coast of newfoundland

Is the puzzling wreck
Of hms calypso.

But how did the ship sink?

And why did it end up
In this canadian backwater?

The reason
For calypso's destruction

Lies in the role
It was designed to fulfill.

Lies in the role
It was designed to fulfill.

In the 1870s, britain was
A dominant global force,

Thanks partly to its navy.

The royal navy exists to ensure

That whatever difficulties
There are in the world,

Nobody stops trade between
Britain and her colonies.

*

Narrator:
Designed to fight competing
European powers and pirates

Narrator:
Designed to fight competing
European powers and pirates

In the far corners of the globe,

Calypso's design was a quirky
Combination of sail and steam.

Nusbacher:
She has a steam engine,

But calypso can also go
Under sail power.

That means that calypso
Can go on a long patrol

And just use the wind
To get where she needs to go.

Keeping: this helped
The vessel ply the waters

That were
In vast, distant colonies,

That were
In vast, distant colonies,

Where they may not
Have access to any resources.

What we see here
Is design features

That actually make the vessel
More reliable

And allow it
To carry out its duties.

Narrator:
Endurance and toughness was
At the heart of the calypso,

And her strength was reinforced

By her strange
Hull construction.

Caldwell-evans:
Her hull is actually composite.

Caldwell-evans:
Her hull is actually composite.

In effect, it's a steel hull --
Steel plates over an iron frame,

All very modern.

But then you've got
This weird addition of wood.

You can see the timber still
Sticking out of the water today.

Now, why would you bother
Putting wood over steel?

Bell: steel on its own
Won't protect the ship

From what's called biofouling,

Which is the buildup
Of barnacles and algae,

Which can damage the hull
And the propulsion system.

Narrator: so the solution was
To coat the hull with copper.

Caldwell-evans:
But you can't put
Copper plates on a steel hull

Because you get
Carbonic corrosion.

You'll actually corrode
The hull itself

Because of the reaction
Between these two metals.

The only thing to do is to have
Your steel hull,

Put wood over the top of that,

And then copper sheets in the
Same old way over the top again.

Narrator: in june 1883,
She is launched to great fanfare

Narrator: in june 1883,
She is launched to great fanfare

From the chatham dockyards
In england.

Built for strength
And endurance,

She is one of the last
Steam-and-sail ships

Ever constructed.

Caldwell-evans:
This wasn't an old-fashioned,
Weakly armed warship.

For her size, for her speed,
She could pack quite a punch.

Narrator: so, how did
Such a strong ship meet its end?

Did the pirates
Or an enemy navy

Manage to overwhelm
Her impressive defenses?

Calypso's design
Was actually her undoing.

As soon as the royal navy
Builds a ship,

The french navy or the german
Navy builds a comparable ship

And makes that royal navy vessel
Obsolete.

In the 1870s, the kind of ship
That we see in the calypso

Is briefly very powerful,

Briefly useful
Against enemy vessels,

Briefly useful
Against enemy vessels,

And within 10 years is obsolete.

Narrator: in 1902,

She was sent across the atlantic
To become a training ship

For the newfoundland
Royal navy reserve.

60 years later, the decision
Was made to scrap her.

Keeping:
In 1968, it was finally decided

That the vessel
Should be abandoned.

That the vessel
Should be abandoned.

It was towed to a small cove
Outside of embree, newfoundland,

And it was burned
To the waterline.

*

Narrator:
Today hms calypso lies abandoned
Off the coast of canada.

When I see a ship
Like the calypso,

I see a monument
To so many people

Working so hard together
To make something great.

Working so hard together
To make something great.

*