All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S13E02.The.Island.of.No.Return.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-RAWR_track3_[eng]

In Japan, a clandestine base
converted into a deadly

training camp for a wartime
mission of no return.

The weapons
created here

would be turned against
American sailors.

Hundreds would
lose their lives.

An Italian town whose people
were given lethal advice

by government officials.

They told the locals
to stay inside.

This is what signed,
tragically,

their own death warrants.

And a floating fortress
in New Jersey

that became a sanctuary
and a savior.

This marvel of engineering

played its part in some of
America's biggest battles.

In southern Japan are
the remains of a facility

that defined a desperate moment
in the nation's history.

We're in Ozu Island,
a really thin strip of land

just a few miles long.

This seems like a normal
little harbor.

But along the cliff face,

there is a tunnel entrance.

When you come out
the other side,

there is only the pier
and then the open sea.

There's not a lot to tell us
what this place is for.

And it makes you wonder
how is this tunnel connected

to the other structures
we see around here.

This site was devised
to inflict mortal wounds

on Japan's rivals.

But as their empire crumbled,

it was given a horrifying
new mission.

Their own culture would lead
the Japanese armed forces

into a different way of engaging
with their enemies.

These people are indoctrinated
to sacrifice their lives

for their country.

This was the last shred
of their homeland

that these men
would ever see.

There were things
you couldn't say,

things you would
see or hear.

It made you realize
that we were at war.

Kenichi Tanaka
was born on Ozu Island.

He remembers when his peaceful
home became a hive

of mysterious activity.

The Navy had their eyes on it.

It was the perfect place to
test their top secret weapons.

The Japanese had good reason

to keep
this site concealed.

In the late 1930s,
when it was first operational,

Japan was hell-bent
on expanding its empire.

At this point,
Japan, having defeated Russia

in the Russo-Japanese War,
sees itself as kind of

the overlord of East Asia.

They want the United States
out of Asia.

And as tension ramps up,
Japan needs a much sharper

naval weapon to counter
what they see as inevitable

American pressure on them
in the Pacific.

So the Japanese
Navy starts to design

what becomes
the Type 93 torpedo.

The Type 93 has got a top
secret tank of oxygen inside

that is going to make it
ever so slightly faster,

ever so slightly
more powerful

than any other
torpedo around.

The Navy now needed
somewhere away from prying eyes

to trial run their deadly
new technology.

In 1937, construction began
on Ozu Island.

They test them here

because of the size
of the Sado Sea,

and the fact that it is remote
and there's not gonna be

any collateral damage.

After a year of development,

the Japanese Navy perfected
their secret weapon

with the data
they gathered here.

It was now the most advanced
naval torpedo in the world.

The effective range of the
Type 93 torpedo is 13 miles.

And the best American torpedoes
in this period,

their effective range
is eight miles.

So this gives the Japanese
an immediate edge.

Although the American military

had no idea this new weapon
even existed,

they would soon find out.

In December 1941,
Japan launched a surprise

attack on Pearl Harbor.

And the Type 93 torpedo

would prove devastating
against the Allies

in the Second World War.

During the Battle
of the Java Sea alone,

the devastating weapon
destroyed

multiple Allied ships.

But by mid-1942, it became
clear Japan had seriously

underestimated the strength
of the American military.

Over the next year,

the U.S. Navy Marine Corps
start to conduct

the island-hopping campaign.

As island after island is taken
away from the Japanese empire,

the Americans are getting
closer and closer

to Japan itself.

So they start
casting around for new ideas.

How does this
outgunned, outnumbered,

out-industrialized power
go toe to toe

with the United States.
They have to find

new diabolical weapons.

This site
is going to be developed into

something terrifying,
something desperate.

The Japanese Navy
would be inspired by a bloody

confrontation 1,500 miles south
of Ozu Island.

At the Battle of
Saipan in 1944,

the Japanese garrison launches
a suicide charge

at the American invaders,

and 4,000 Japanese soldiers
just run at the American lines,

and almost all of them
are killed.

This Banzai charge at Saipan,
you know, heralds

a new kind
of Japanese warfare.

The Japanese Naval Air Service
starts to use the so-called

"kamikaze" aircraft attack.

And the Japanese Navy is going
to find its own way

to conduct suicide attack.

In September 1944,
this facility was given

a menacing
new purpose,

to turn men into human
torpedo pilots.

These horrifying new weapons
were called "Kaiten."

They take these
Type 93 torpedoes, and they say,

"Why don't we put like
a suicide pilot

"on each of these
torpedoes?

"We'll make a little cabin with
30 minutes of oxygen inside,

"and the guy will steer it
into the side

of an American destroyer."

When adding the
cabin, the Navy also increased

the length of the torpedo
to allow for three times more

explosives than
the original Type 93.

A Kaiten was big enough not
just to sink a destroyer.

The Kaiten had enough payload

to sink a battleship,
to sink an aircraft carrier.

Incredibly, when
the Japanese Navy advertised

for people to pilot these
suicide submarines,

and they were
seeking 200 such people,

more than 2,000
17- to 28-year-olds applied.

By November 1944,
just two months after
training began,

the first Kaiten pilots
were ready to attack.

Before they left this base,
their sacrifice was honored

by the island's residents.

We went to see
them off once with our teacher.

I saluted them.

As a child, I think
I admired them.

I thought
they were courageous.

On November 6th,
eight Kaiten and their pilots

were loaded
onto submarines.

Two weeks later, they had
U.S. ships in their sights.

There's a huge explosion.

The fireball is so big
that it looks as though

a lot of ships have gone up.

including an American
aircraft carrier.

2
In late 1944,
the Japanese developed a deadly

new weapon of war at this
base, the "Kaiten."

A human-piloted
suicide torpedo.

At dawn on November 20,
they launched

their first attack against
the U.S. Navy.

Five Kaiten are deployed from
two Japanese submarines

against the U.S.S. Mississiniwa,
which is a fuel supply ship.

There's a huge explosion,

and 63 U.S. sailors
are killed in the attack.

The fireball was so big

that the Japanese assumed
that all these Kaiten

had hit targets
and they'd blown up this entire

assembled fleet
in this anchorage.

But in fact,
they sank one ship.

But because
the Japanese believed

the mission had been more
successful than it really was,

it gave them a sense
of false confidence.

So they poured
more resources into the program

thinking that this would be
a secret weapon.

They were wrong.

And for the rest of the war,

they only sank like
a couple of ships.

It promised incredible results
but delivered very little.

Far more Japanese sailors died
than Americans were killed

by this program.

Regardless
of the Kaiten's success rate,

the Japanese even made plans
to deploy them

against an American invasion
of the mainland.

But it never came to that,
as Japan finally surrendered

after the atomic bombing
of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This terrifying and inhumane
weapon of war

was consigned to a dark period
of Japanese history.

Every year since 1962,

the relatives of Kaiten pilots
and the people of Ozu Island

have gathered
to remember

the young men who left here
never to return.

Those suicide crew

who died in the war
for their country,

we must give our respects.

And for that reason,
the souls of those 106 people

are enshrined here.

In central Italy
stand the ghostly remains

of a catastrophe
that left a trail

of broken dreams
in its wake.

This is a beautiful
part of the world.

The landscape is rugged,
the mountains are snow-capped.

Nestled in the middle
is what looks like a town

typical
of this region.

Yet the cobblestone streets
are eerily quiet,

and it creates this very
unsettling feeling.

These buildings look
as if they've been caught

in a moment of time.

People left this place
in a hurry.

Why?

The only reason
you would do that is because

you're running for your life.

All hell broke loose.
You just couldn't move.

You could only hold on
for dear life.

The warning signs
were all around,

yet the authorities chose
to ignore them.

They told the locals
to stay inside.

That turned out to be
a terrible and tragic mistake.

No one said leave.
Quite the opposite.

They'll carry their sins
in their conscience.

This disaster
devastated the entire region

and claimed
hundreds of lives.

But the question that haunts
everyone is,

could this tragedy
have been avoided?

Coming back here
makes me feel sad.

What hits me the most
is the silence.

You could hear radios or TVs,
children playing,

riding their bikes.

Giovanna Colagrande grew up
in this sleepy rural town.

It was a tight-knit community.

Forged through family
and friendship.

Mimmo
and Clementina lived here.

I would pass by their house,
and often Mimmo was playing

the piano, and I would sit
outside to listen.

The earliest history
of this town dates back to about

the 12th century,
so it really has stood here

for hundreds of years.

There were generations
that had grown up here,

living side by side
with each other.

This is the town of Fossa.

High on the hill is the most
important building

for those
that lived here.

It's called the
"Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta"

and it was built
in the 18th century.

Every Sunday, it would be
packed to the rafters.

On Sundays,
we used to dress with more care.

We were going to church
to praise the Lord.

We would wear our best.

You couldn't show up
in a tracksuit.

We would look good, elegant.

I came here every Sunday,
but now I rarely go.

A storm was coming
that would test the faith

of the town's residents.

On December the 14th
2008, this region was struck

by a series of tremors called
a seismic swarm.

Just over a month
later, in January 2009,

the tremors began to intensify
in both severity and frequency.

At the beginning,
we kind of underestimated them.

They were low-intensity.
We didn't pay too much mind.

It was the growing frequency
that started to worry everyone.

A lot of people developed
panic attacks.

It was good reason
to be concerned.

After all, Italy is the most
geologically active area

in all of Europe.

If the big one came,

the town's residents
wanted to be ready.

But predicting
earthquakes is not considered

scientifically possible.

Yet Giampaolo Giuliani,
a local amateur seismologist,

claimed he knew
how to do it.

He installed radon detectors
in the basements of buildings

in the nearby city of L'Aquila
and elsewhere in the region.

Giuliani believed
that the release of this gas

signaled
a looming tremor.

When the seismic
swarm occurred, he noticed

increased radon levels
in his detectors and predicted

that a major quake would strike
into town 30 miles from here.

On March 30, 2009,
the earthquake did happen,

but it was much smaller
than Giuliani anticipated.

As a result,

the authorities put
an injunction on Giuliani

for causing unnecessary
panic and alarm.

He was even forced to take down
his warnings from the internet.

But the day after,
there was an earthquake,

4.2 on the Richter scale.

The residents in the region
were now terrified,

especially because
they had been told

that there was no basis
to Giuliani's claims.

The Italian government convened
a special committee

of six scientists
and a government official,

Bernardo de Bernardinis,
to assess the risks.

So after the meeting,
the government official relayed

the scientists' discussions
to the public.

We were told
that the frequent earthquakes

was just the release of energy,
but that wasn't true.

2
In April 2009,
the residents of Fossa

and the nearby
city of L'Aquila

were advised by officials
that a series

of low-level earthquakes
were not a cause for concern.

About a week later,
in the middle of the night,

a 6.3 magnitude tremor struck
the Abruzzo region.

And this was the deadliest
the country

had seen
in 30 years.

Fossa was directly
in the firing line.

People were sleeping
when the quake hit,

and the ground began to shake
violently.

We could not get out of bed.

It was terrifying.

Like being in the hands
of a dragon.

Cracks opened up
in buildings.

Huge boulders sheared
off the sides of mountains

and came crashing down
on the town.

My house is quite modern,

and was built
accordingly.

But my relatives
and my husband's relatives

lived here
in the old town.

So we drove
as far in as we could.

And we found hell.

In one building,
a boulder struck a house

and bunk beds
that children once slept in

are left exposed.

It was
sheer chance

they weren't
sleeping there that night.

They would have been killed.

But four people did die--
a three-year-old girl,

a 76-year-old lady,
and a couple who died together.

They say they were hugging
each other.

In the nearby city of L'Aquila,

the situation
was even worse.

Entire buildings
were reduced to rubble,

and 70,000 people
were forced to flee.

309 people were killed and more
than 1,600 were injured.

The dust didn't even
have time to settle

before the backlash began.

Mounting anger led
to the region's capital

of L'Aquila bringing
a prosecution case against

the scientists who said there
was no reason for alarm.

The prosecution
didn't blame them

for not predicting
the earthquake,

but rather for the failure
of accurate communication.

The fact that they told
people to stay in their homes

was a key part of the trial.

If you say
to people, "Don't worry,"

they won't worry.

One of the scientists said,
"Have a glass of Montepulciano

and go to bed."

A year later,
the seven defendants were

convicted and sentenced
to six years imprisonment.

The result triggered
an international outcry

as researchers around the world
felt science itself

was being put on trial.

Many in
the scientific community warned

it would discourage
scientists from sharing

their expertise for fear
that they might

face lawsuits
in the aftermath.

5,000 scientists
signed an open letter calling,

demanding that these defendants
be released.

And In 2014, the Court
of Appeal overturned

these convictions,
but the families of those

that lost their lives were
outraged at this.

I'm a believer,
so if our justice failed,

there'll be divine justice.

Let's hope their dreams
are tormented.

Sorry if I'm blunt.

Now,
well over a decade later,

a reconstruction
is happening in Fossa,

but it's a slow process.

After the event,
people have changed.

A lot of them would like
to come back,

but many are still afraid.

We need
to carry on and try

and rebuild this place
and repopulate it.

In Camden,
New Jersey, lie remains

of an American juggernaut
that symbolizes

an era plagued
by global conflict.

We are on the Delaware River,

and on it you can see

this huge mass of metal
just glinting in the sunlight.

You don't have
to be a naval expert to realize

that you are looking
at a battleship

and a big one
at that.

So the ship had
served in World War II in Korea

and earned
13 battle stars

and the affectionate nickname
the "Big J."

It was an avenging
angel to American servicemen

in conflict
time and time again.

In Vietnam,
this vessel achieved

something
extraordinary.

We fired all nine
16-inch guns.

And then we had the plane come
back and tell us,

"Congratulations,
you're the first battleship

to sink an island."

But any ship
with a service record that long

is bound to eventually run
a ground of controversy.

And that's what happened with
this one's last deployment

to the Middle East.

2
In New Jersey,
floating on the Delaware River,

is an icon
of American strength.

In 1968, Steve Sheehan began
serving aboard this vessel.

At the time,
he was an electrician's mate.

Taking the first steps

on board since
I've been discharged

made me feel
like I was finally home.

This now-peaceful ship was
built at a time

when the United States
was on the brink of war.

The American
government sees the writing

on the wall,
and in July 1939,

two months before the German
invasion of Poland,

they commission an entirely
new class of battleships.

When this vessel was launched,
it was the biggest

and most powerful battleship
in the entire U.S. Navy.

This is
the U.S.S. New Jersey.

One of four Iowa-class
battleships built to strike

fear into the heart of America's
rivals during World War II.

Able to hold
a crew up to 2,700,

the New Jersey
was a floating fortress.

It had nine 16-inch guns
and a secondary armament

of 20-millimeter
and 40-millimeter anti-aircraft

batteries to protect the
battleship from aerial attack.

In 1944, the vessel
arrived in the Pacific,

ready for war.

It served with distinction,
playing a key role

in the battle for Leyte,

the largest sea campaign
of all time.

But despite its critical role
in the American victory,

its days were numbered.

By 1957, the U.S.S. New Jersey

had reached the end
of its useful life.

The era of big battleships
was really coming to a close.

Naval technology
is changing,

and the battleship
is being supplanted

by the aircraft carrier, because
the aircraft carrier

can engage targets at
much longer range.

When the Vietnam War begins,
the Americans

begin this air campaign called
Rolling Thunder,

where they send planes
over North Vietnam

to take out critical
infrastructure.

But these repeated
sorties are ending up

putting American pilots
in immense jeopardy.

Around 1,000
U.S. aircraft were shot

out of the skies,
with the same number of pilots

being wounded,
killed, or captured.

As increasing
numbers of downed

U.S. airmen were paraded on
TV screens around the world,

pressure mounted to find a new
way to attack the enemy.

The U.S. Navy
had a secret weapon,

and it was one that would save
American lives.

On August 1, 1967,
the U.S.S. New Jersey

gets the call.

It was like,
"This is my opportunity

to go onboard a ship."

And when I came up here
and looked at the battleship,

I went, "My god,
that thing is big."

Then we went
to the Panama Canal,

and then
we were off to...

Vietnam.

On September
29, 1968, the U.S.S. New Jersey

arrives off
the Vietnamese coast.

And the next day,
it opens fire.

The New Jersey would
maraud up and down the coast,

demolishing bunker complexes,
fortified positions,

troop concentrations,
and sinking enemy ships

in the process.

The ship would also provide
ad hoc artillery support

to U.S. troops on the ground
near the coast.

In one three-day battle,

it's estimated
that the New Jersey

saved 100
American lives

for each day
it was deployed there.

It sounded like
a railroad train.

There's a projectile went
through the air, just vroom,

vroom, vroom, vroom,
before it hit.

So they knew
that the battleship

was coming
to their aid.

With this unrivaled firepower,
the U.S.S. New Jersey is able

to pull off the unthinkable
in the South China Sea.

The ship was called on to
bombard some coastal artillery

on an island.

The captain said,

"All hands,
get to your battle stations".

"It's gonna be
a nine-gun salvo."

When the U.S.S. New Jersey
fired up, it ended up sinking

part of this island.

This is reported
with great enthusiasm

back in the States,
with newspaper headlines saying

that the New Jersey
has sunk an island.

But to the troops
fighting on the ground,

Big J,
as it became known,

was much more
than a battleship.

It was a sanctuary,
providing a safe place

for exhausted soldiers to rest
and relax away from combat.

The poor guys
hadn't had showers in weeks.

They got a good night's sleep,

warm bed, hot dinner,
good breakfast.

When going by where
they were bunked,

we had to walk softly because
we knew they were still asleep

and we wanted them
to be asleep.

For the beleaguered troops,

an even bigger surprise
lay in store.

At 10 a.m.
on Christmas morning, 1968,

a helicopter
touched down

on the deck
of the U.S.S. New Jersey.

So this
is approximately where I stood

when Bob Hope was on
the top of the turret

with all of his
gorgeous women.

And the deck was filled
with Marines, Army, and Navy.

When those girls came out,
the place went wild.

Bob Hope was a lifelong
performer, and comedian.

He first began entertaining
troops in 1943

during World War II.

It was always
something that the troops

yearned for-- it was
a break from the monotony.

He stayed around
afterwards and thanked everybody

for their service.
He was very generous.

He was a wonderful guy.

But less than
four months later,

Big J. was called back
to the United States.

Among the ship's crew,
it was rumored

the North Vietnamese refused
to engage in peace talks

while the battleship
patrolled their coast.

Four years after the Jersey
returned home,

America's involvement
in the Vietnam War

finally ended when
they withdrew from Saigon.

Sadly, the next time
the New Jersey

was called into action,
it ended with tragedy.

2
By the early 1980s,
the battleship U.S.S. New Jersey

had been defending America
for 40 years,

and its service
was not over yet.

In 1983, Lebanon
was in the midst

of a messy and brutal
civil war.

The New Jersey
was dispatched

as part of a
peacekeeping force.

Its massive guns were soon
called on to retaliate

when U.S. naval reconnaissance
planes were fired on

by enemy combatants.

But there was a problem.

The ship's powder had been
mixed incorrectly,

so these huge guns
were wildly inaccurate,

and they were missing
their targets by big margins.

Civilians were likely killed
as a result of that,

and so America's reputation
in the region took a hit.

These were the last
shells ever fired in combat

aboard the U.S.S. New Jersey.

After leaving Lebanon in 1984,
Big J. continued to serve

in the Pacific and
the Persian Gulf until 1991,

when it was
officially retired.

It was a ship of such
significance, it was even

featured in Tom Clancy's
classic Cold War thriller,

"The Hunt
for Red October".

In 2001,
the U.S.S. New Jersey

was turned
into a museum.

Steve Sheehan now shares
with the public

the story of America's
most decorated battleship.

They should know about
the people that have fought

for their freedom and the ships
they were aboard.

On England's south
coast is an aging complex,

designed to defend
the nation's borders.

Overlooking the port,
a vast structure is etched

into the hillside.

It seems to dominate the town
and the coastline.

It's a real jumble
of architecture

from different eras.

There are cannonades,
defensive ditches.

This is clearly some sort
of military stronghold.

Once intended to keep
Britain's enemies out,

it turned into a site
that trapped people within.

There's barbed wire
and shiny metal fences,

a sports pitch and a foreboding
castle-like structure.

There's no mistaking.
This place is a prison.

So what kind of criminals
were kept here?

Yet looks can be deceiving,

and not all is as it seems.

Despite its appearance,
this building was not planned

to be a prison.

But the people who pass
through here tell

a very different story.

For centuries,
the coastal town of Dover

has been the gateway
to Britain.

Its proximity
to mainland Europe,

only 21 miles
from France,

across the narrowest
part of the English Channel,

often made it a target
that needed to be defended.

Let's just say
the British and French

have had their disagreements
over the years.

In 1803, the rise
of a new dictator named

Napoleon Bonaparte spurred
a frenzy of construction.

He posed the biggest threat
to the island nation

in over a century.

During
the Napoleonic Wars,

the fort held barracks
for 200 men and was intended

to house 12 24-pounder guns
in large casemates.

It was called
the "Dover Citadel",

and it formed part of the
biggest defense network

ever built on
England's south coast.

If Napoleon dared
to cross the Channel,

Britain was going
to be ready.

Defensive ditches,
ramparts and barracks

were built
in anticipation.

But the feared invasion
never came,

and when the war ended,
it was put on hold.

But over the next 150 years,

the Dover Citadel
continued to be upgraded

to combat Britain's foreign
adversaries

The fort
would remain garrisoned

through both world wars
until 1944,

when the threat of Nazi invasion
had passed.

For the next
50 years, parts of this site

were converted for use
as a prison for young offenders.

In the year 2002, it would be
transformed once more.

This impregnable structure,
went from defending against

enemy forces to a new kind
of front line for Britain.

2
On England's
south coast is the ruin of

a Napoleonic-era
fortress.

It was transformed after
a wave of instability

swept across the world
in the 1990s.

Global conflicts in places like
the Balkans, Somalia, Sri Lanka

and the Middle East triggered
large-scale

population movements.

The UK government was
struggling to deal with

the growing numbers
of refugees.

In the late 1970s,
individual asylum applications

to the U.K. were around
300 a year.

In 1999, there were more
than 70,000.

They resorted to housing
some asylum seekers

in criminal prisons.

But that was only
a short-term solution.

This is the Dover Immigration
Removal Centre,

the British government's answer
to a growing refugee crisis.

The nationalities of those
detained tallies closely with

countries that have been torn
apart by war in recent years.

Iraq, Syria,
for example.

The facility housed
over 300 asylum seekers.

Your freedoms
are very restricted.

At night, the doors
to your cell are locked.

and you're held there until
the following morning.

Jack Smith
is visiting for the first time

since he was detained
here in 2015.

Jack's path to this
place began in the aftermath

of the September 11th attack
on the World Trade Center.

Following the U.S.-led invasion
of Afghanistan,

Jack's father served
in the newly formed Afghan army,

fighting against the Taliban
alongside American soldiers.

But in 2006,
the Taliban launched a major

offensive, marking the most
significant escalation

of the war since the regime
was overthrown.

Jack's father was killed during
this violent period.

As the Taliban
regained territory,

the country became
more dangerous

for those opposed
to their radical beliefs.

Imagine what it must have
been like.

It must have been
absolute hell for them.

Tens of thousands
were forced to flee.

Jack was one of them.

In 2007, he arrived
in the U.K. illegally

and applied for asylum.

Jack spent the next eight years
in a legal limbo,

waiting for his asylum
application to be processed.

But in 2015,
when Jack was 22 years old,

he was detained in this building
after failing

to report regularly enough
to the authorities.

At any time, you could be
presented with the news

that you were gonna be
deported within the next two

weeks back to the country you'd
suffered so much to escape.

Jack discovered
he faced the same fate

after being held here
for around two months.

The country
he fled in 2007

had become even more
dangerous

following the emergence

of the Islamic State
terrorist organization.

For some,
the fear of being sent back

to the country that
they'd escaped from was so bad,

they decided to take
their own lives.

But Jack didn't lose hope

and fought the decision
to return him to Afghanistan.

He managed to find a lawyer
who helped secure his release

and get him permission
to stay in the U.K.

Around six months
after Jack was freed,

the Dover Immigration Removal
Center was decommissioned.

In 2015, it was
announced the detention center

would be shut down,

with the government
citing its lack of modernity,

security, and proximity
to airports.

In 2022,
Jack was granted refugee status

and could now start his new life
in the United Kingdom.

He has high hopes
for what the future holds.