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These are the user uploaded subtitles that are being translated: 1 00:00:02,937 --> 00:00:06,372 Narrator: A merciless complex designed for suffering... 2 00:00:06,374 --> 00:00:07,773 There's dormitories. 3 00:00:07,775 --> 00:00:09,908 There's what look to be classrooms. 4 00:00:09,910 --> 00:00:11,543 There's workshops. 5 00:00:11,545 --> 00:00:13,445 It's a big mystery. 6 00:00:13,447 --> 00:00:16,148 Streets of a sunken pirate city 7 00:00:16,150 --> 00:00:17,916 drenched in infamy... 8 00:00:17,918 --> 00:00:20,319 The harbor walls are crumbling into the sea 9 00:00:20,321 --> 00:00:24,723 and the whole area has been left to collapse. 10 00:00:24,725 --> 00:00:27,526 And a shadowy subterranean complex 11 00:00:27,528 --> 00:00:29,595 critical to defeating Hitler. 12 00:00:29,597 --> 00:00:30,829 Looking at these doors, 13 00:00:30,831 --> 00:00:33,198 never in your wildest dreams 14 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:35,334 could you imagine what lies beyond. 15 00:00:35,336 --> 00:00:38,470 ♪ 16 00:00:38,472 --> 00:00:40,806 Decaying relics, 17 00:00:40,808 --> 00:00:44,043 ruins of lost worlds, 18 00:00:44,045 --> 00:00:46,779 forged through years of toil, 19 00:00:46,781 --> 00:00:49,515 now haunted by the past, 20 00:00:49,517 --> 00:00:52,584 their secrets waiting to be revealed. 21 00:00:52,586 --> 00:00:55,587 Captions by vitac... www.Vitac.Com 22 00:00:55,589 --> 00:00:58,557 captions paid for by discovery communications 23 00:00:58,559 --> 00:01:06,559 ♪ 24 00:01:07,568 --> 00:01:09,068 ♪ 25 00:01:09,070 --> 00:01:11,270 Off the coast of Croatia, 26 00:01:11,272 --> 00:01:13,972 in the middle of the adriatic sea, 27 00:01:13,974 --> 00:01:17,309 is an island few holiday makers dare to visit. 28 00:01:17,311 --> 00:01:23,615 ♪ 29 00:01:23,617 --> 00:01:26,285 Auerbach: It's a moonscape, barren. 30 00:01:26,287 --> 00:01:30,089 There are mountains of rock piled up here, there. 31 00:01:30,091 --> 00:01:31,790 It's a palette of gray and white. 32 00:01:31,792 --> 00:01:34,426 ♪ 33 00:01:34,428 --> 00:01:40,165 Nusbacher: This is an island that is not the least bit welcoming. 34 00:01:40,167 --> 00:01:41,867 It is stark. 35 00:01:41,869 --> 00:01:43,702 It is burned 36 00:01:43,704 --> 00:01:45,170 and it's dead. 37 00:01:45,172 --> 00:01:48,040 ♪ 38 00:01:48,042 --> 00:01:52,678 Stretching up the hillside is a series of stepped ruins, 39 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,348 really just the outlines of walls. 40 00:01:56,350 --> 00:01:58,450 If you look a little more closely, 41 00:01:58,452 --> 00:02:03,021 you start noticing some sinister elements. 42 00:02:03,023 --> 00:02:06,425 As you see this place surrounded by fencing, 43 00:02:06,427 --> 00:02:09,628 machine gun posts, and barbed wire 44 00:02:09,630 --> 00:02:12,097 and the mystery kind of thickens. 45 00:02:12,099 --> 00:02:15,567 Narrator: A place built for a brutal purpose. 46 00:02:15,569 --> 00:02:21,440 Nusbacher: This is an island dedicated to breaking the human spirit. 47 00:02:21,442 --> 00:02:24,910 This is a place designed to dehumanize. 48 00:02:24,912 --> 00:02:27,613 ♪ 49 00:02:27,615 --> 00:02:31,583 Narrator: What was this incongruous settlement used for? 50 00:02:31,585 --> 00:02:34,586 Who lived here, and were are they being protected 51 00:02:34,588 --> 00:02:36,355 or held against their will? 52 00:02:36,357 --> 00:02:44,357 ♪ 53 00:02:44,965 --> 00:02:47,599 This sterile rocky outcrop 54 00:02:47,601 --> 00:02:51,136 is goli otok. 55 00:02:51,138 --> 00:02:53,405 Local historian darko bavoljak 56 00:02:53,407 --> 00:02:56,375 has spent years scouring this desolate site. 57 00:02:56,377 --> 00:03:01,013 ♪ 58 00:03:01,015 --> 00:03:02,581 Interpreter: This is an island 59 00:03:02,583 --> 00:03:07,019 where paranoia and violence reached their height. 60 00:03:07,021 --> 00:03:10,989 Narrator: The more you explore this site, the more baffling it becomes. 61 00:03:10,991 --> 00:03:14,526 ♪ 62 00:03:14,528 --> 00:03:18,430 Wawro: As you get closer, there's, you know, sleeping quarters. 63 00:03:18,432 --> 00:03:21,700 There's an auditorium. 64 00:03:21,702 --> 00:03:23,669 It's hard to know what this place is. 65 00:03:23,671 --> 00:03:25,938 Nusbacher: There is no readily apparent reason 66 00:03:25,940 --> 00:03:31,009 why you would build this semi-industrial facility 67 00:03:31,011 --> 00:03:35,047 on an island in the middle of the sea. 68 00:03:35,049 --> 00:03:37,216 ♪ 69 00:03:37,218 --> 00:03:41,553 Narrator: Goli otok's isolation is key to unlocking its past. 70 00:03:41,555 --> 00:03:43,055 ♪ 71 00:03:43,057 --> 00:03:47,092 Because it's off the coast, anything can happen out there. 72 00:03:47,094 --> 00:03:50,996 The fate of the people there will never be known. 73 00:03:50,998 --> 00:03:53,131 Nusbacher: Look at the bunkers. 74 00:03:53,133 --> 00:03:57,269 This is a place that is designed to be patrolled, 75 00:03:57,271 --> 00:04:00,472 designed to be defended. 76 00:04:00,474 --> 00:04:02,708 But it's not, in any way, clear 77 00:04:02,710 --> 00:04:04,776 what was worth guarding and patrolling here. 78 00:04:04,778 --> 00:04:06,545 ♪ 79 00:04:06,547 --> 00:04:10,415 Narrator: In fact, this site was a brutal prison. 80 00:04:10,417 --> 00:04:13,085 It's known as Croatia's Alcatraz. 81 00:04:13,087 --> 00:04:16,822 ♪ 82 00:04:19,026 --> 00:04:20,959 Interpreter: The first prisoners arrived on this island 83 00:04:20,961 --> 00:04:24,596 on July 9, 1949. 84 00:04:24,598 --> 00:04:25,864 After that, 85 00:04:25,866 --> 00:04:28,967 around 12,000 convicts passed through this place 86 00:04:28,969 --> 00:04:31,203 and they built everything that you can see here. 87 00:04:34,975 --> 00:04:36,475 ♪ 88 00:04:36,477 --> 00:04:39,244 Narrator: But why did someone go to such lengths 89 00:04:39,246 --> 00:04:42,014 to build a prison on this barren rock, 90 00:04:42,016 --> 00:04:44,916 far out to sea and way out of sight? 91 00:04:44,918 --> 00:04:47,853 ♪ 92 00:04:47,855 --> 00:04:49,855 After the second world war, 93 00:04:49,857 --> 00:04:52,591 this site was part of communist yugoslavia, 94 00:04:52,593 --> 00:04:54,993 which was still aligned with Moscow, 95 00:04:54,995 --> 00:04:56,895 but in 1949, 96 00:04:56,897 --> 00:05:00,699 the infamous yugoslavian dictator marshal josip tito 97 00:05:00,701 --> 00:05:05,671 broke away from the Soviet union and its leader Joseph Stalin. 98 00:05:05,673 --> 00:05:10,208 But not all yugoslavians agreed with tito's vision. 99 00:05:10,210 --> 00:05:13,578 They wanted to stay with Soviet-style communism, 100 00:05:13,580 --> 00:05:15,614 and the ruthless dictator 101 00:05:15,616 --> 00:05:20,052 had a harsh way of dealing with dissenters. 102 00:05:20,054 --> 00:05:21,386 Tito wants to be able 103 00:05:21,388 --> 00:05:24,823 to take people he thinks are loyal to Stalin 104 00:05:24,825 --> 00:05:26,525 and make them disappear. 105 00:05:26,527 --> 00:05:28,260 ♪ 106 00:05:28,262 --> 00:05:31,229 Narrator: In his cold-blooded pursuit of power, 107 00:05:31,231 --> 00:05:34,966 tito had turned on his own people. 108 00:05:34,968 --> 00:05:37,703 He rounded up thousands of political prisoners 109 00:05:37,705 --> 00:05:42,441 and sent them here, to the prison on goli otok. 110 00:05:42,443 --> 00:05:45,944 This is tito's gulag. 111 00:05:45,946 --> 00:05:49,414 The buildings are a stark reminder 112 00:05:49,416 --> 00:05:51,950 of the immense paranoia of a regime 113 00:05:51,952 --> 00:05:54,186 that didn't trust its own people. 114 00:05:54,188 --> 00:05:58,924 They would spend years living under the harshest conditions, 115 00:05:58,926 --> 00:06:01,560 huddling on this limestone island, 116 00:06:01,562 --> 00:06:06,298 protected by a few blocks, being worked nearly to death. 117 00:06:06,300 --> 00:06:10,369 Narrator: The inmates' punishing workload included quarrying, 118 00:06:10,371 --> 00:06:12,938 excavating a network of tunnels, 119 00:06:12,940 --> 00:06:14,906 and building the very fortifications 120 00:06:14,908 --> 00:06:16,408 that kept them imprisoned. 121 00:06:16,410 --> 00:06:18,410 ♪ 122 00:06:20,013 --> 00:06:22,514 Interpreter: There are more than 100 bunkers on this island. 123 00:06:22,516 --> 00:06:25,183 Many were used to stop prisoners escaping. 124 00:06:27,921 --> 00:06:30,555 Narrator: Those unfortunate enough to end up here 125 00:06:30,557 --> 00:06:34,559 were subjected to tito's relentless reeducation machine, 126 00:06:34,561 --> 00:06:38,497 a machine that would turn darker than anyone could imagine. 127 00:06:38,499 --> 00:06:40,265 ♪ 128 00:06:40,267 --> 00:06:43,201 Here is a place that was built, built up, 129 00:06:43,203 --> 00:06:46,805 made almost brutally magnificent 130 00:06:46,807 --> 00:06:51,410 in its ability to cause people misery and pain, 131 00:06:51,412 --> 00:06:55,614 so that they would be compliant. 132 00:06:55,616 --> 00:06:57,883 Narrator: Yugoslavia's secret police 133 00:06:57,885 --> 00:07:01,219 kept a close watch for the slightest indiscretion. 134 00:07:01,221 --> 00:07:04,823 The fear of being snatched and sent to goli otok 135 00:07:04,825 --> 00:07:08,560 became part of Yugoslav society. 136 00:07:08,562 --> 00:07:11,630 Auerbach: The psychological trauma is immense. 137 00:07:11,632 --> 00:07:14,433 Imagine being literally disappeared, 138 00:07:14,435 --> 00:07:16,201 bearing seized for crimes 139 00:07:16,203 --> 00:07:18,503 you don't even know you're being accused of, 140 00:07:18,505 --> 00:07:20,872 so quickly and so secretly, that even your friends 141 00:07:20,874 --> 00:07:23,041 and family don't know where you've gone. 142 00:07:23,043 --> 00:07:24,576 ♪ 143 00:07:24,578 --> 00:07:27,946 Sometimes people executed their personal grudges 144 00:07:27,948 --> 00:07:29,281 by informing upon people 145 00:07:29,283 --> 00:07:31,583 that had not really committed any political crimes! 146 00:07:31,585 --> 00:07:33,485 They just want to see them sent to goli otok. 147 00:07:33,487 --> 00:07:37,222 ♪ 148 00:07:37,224 --> 00:07:40,025 Narrator: Did any of these enemies of the state survive 149 00:07:40,027 --> 00:07:41,660 to tell the tale 150 00:07:41,662 --> 00:07:45,363 or did yugoslavia's disappeared vanish forever? 151 00:07:52,773 --> 00:07:56,608 ♪ 152 00:07:56,610 --> 00:07:59,978 Narrator: Off the coast of Croatia is goli otok, 153 00:07:59,980 --> 00:08:02,914 marshal tito's brutal prison, 154 00:08:02,916 --> 00:08:08,587 which started reeducating political dissenters in 1949. 155 00:08:08,589 --> 00:08:12,857 But something more perverse than that was at play. 156 00:08:12,859 --> 00:08:14,926 A small number of senior officials 157 00:08:14,928 --> 00:08:17,496 would have overseen this gulag, 158 00:08:17,498 --> 00:08:21,166 but they were not responsible for keeping order. 159 00:08:21,168 --> 00:08:23,835 The prison discipline was actually carried out, 160 00:08:23,837 --> 00:08:25,971 in large part, by the inmates themselves. 161 00:08:25,973 --> 00:08:28,406 ♪ 162 00:08:28,408 --> 00:08:30,308 So newcomers arrived. 163 00:08:30,310 --> 00:08:35,313 The older inmates were forced to whip them as they passed by. 164 00:08:35,315 --> 00:08:38,049 Narrator: Those who survived rose through the ranks 165 00:08:38,051 --> 00:08:40,886 to mete out their own form of terror, 166 00:08:40,888 --> 00:08:43,221 as barracks supervisors. 167 00:08:43,223 --> 00:08:47,626 Interpreter: The barrack supervisor was the master of life and death. 168 00:08:47,628 --> 00:08:50,629 He could order any prisoner to viciously beat another. 169 00:08:52,566 --> 00:08:57,235 These brutal conditions created a kind of prison hierarchy 170 00:08:57,237 --> 00:09:01,139 where prisoners were encouraged to humiliate each other, 171 00:09:01,141 --> 00:09:05,577 to inform on one another, to beat one another. 172 00:09:05,579 --> 00:09:07,879 Nusbacher: Everybody was an informer. 173 00:09:07,881 --> 00:09:10,682 Everybody was an abuser. 174 00:09:10,684 --> 00:09:13,118 Everybody was violent. 175 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,620 And nobody felt safe. 176 00:09:15,622 --> 00:09:21,192 ♪ 177 00:09:21,194 --> 00:09:23,194 About 600 died on the island, 178 00:09:23,196 --> 00:09:26,064 which means, you know, thousands returned to the mainland 179 00:09:26,066 --> 00:09:28,867 after being broken and reeducated, 180 00:09:28,869 --> 00:09:31,870 but those who came back, they didn't dare say a word. 181 00:09:31,872 --> 00:09:35,073 ♪ 182 00:09:35,075 --> 00:09:36,841 Auerbach: What were they afraid of? 183 00:09:36,843 --> 00:09:38,176 What if someone informed on them again 184 00:09:38,178 --> 00:09:40,111 and they were returned to goli otok? 185 00:09:40,113 --> 00:09:42,113 ♪ 186 00:09:42,115 --> 00:09:45,317 Narrator: This fear rippled through Yugoslav society 187 00:09:45,319 --> 00:09:47,519 until 1989, 188 00:09:47,521 --> 00:09:49,287 when the collapse of the Berlin wall 189 00:09:49,289 --> 00:09:52,591 marked the beginning of the end for communism 190 00:09:52,593 --> 00:09:55,160 and tito's gulag closed down. 191 00:09:55,162 --> 00:10:00,865 ♪ 192 00:10:00,867 --> 00:10:04,569 Today, the crumbling buildings of goli otok 193 00:10:04,571 --> 00:10:08,907 are a haunting reminder of tito's totalitarian regime. 194 00:10:08,909 --> 00:10:11,676 ♪ 195 00:10:11,678 --> 00:10:15,780 All of us in the west, we allowed ourselves to think 196 00:10:15,782 --> 00:10:19,651 that, unlike the other communist dictatorships, 197 00:10:19,653 --> 00:10:23,321 tito's dictatorship was not founded 198 00:10:23,323 --> 00:10:27,492 on brutality and prison camps. 199 00:10:27,494 --> 00:10:29,027 Of course, we were wrong. 200 00:10:29,029 --> 00:10:36,901 ♪ 201 00:10:36,903 --> 00:10:39,871 Narrator: In the swampy wetlands of Louisiana, 202 00:10:39,873 --> 00:10:42,540 in a region with a fractured past, 203 00:10:42,542 --> 00:10:46,611 lies a sprawling site with a shameful story to tell. 204 00:10:49,383 --> 00:10:53,752 ♪ 205 00:10:53,754 --> 00:10:57,088 Wawro: It seems entirely otherworldly 206 00:10:57,090 --> 00:10:59,057 because you've got the bayou. 207 00:10:59,059 --> 00:11:01,226 You've got the strange wildlife, 208 00:11:01,228 --> 00:11:03,328 you've got snakes crawling through the grass. 209 00:11:03,330 --> 00:11:05,163 You've got crocodiles. 210 00:11:05,165 --> 00:11:06,998 ♪ 211 00:11:07,000 --> 00:11:09,467 It's pretty forbidding. 212 00:11:09,469 --> 00:11:10,702 In this landscape, 213 00:11:10,704 --> 00:11:14,305 not only do you have the remains of buildings, 214 00:11:14,307 --> 00:11:18,043 like brick foundations barely exposed, 215 00:11:18,045 --> 00:11:20,345 you also have existing structures, 216 00:11:20,347 --> 00:11:24,282 very, very simple wooden structures, simple cabins. 217 00:11:24,284 --> 00:11:26,885 Narrator: These buildings and the abandoned machinery 218 00:11:26,887 --> 00:11:30,488 that lies submerged in the steaming swamps around them, 219 00:11:30,490 --> 00:11:33,458 hold the clues to what this site once was. 220 00:11:36,196 --> 00:11:37,429 In the distance, you can see 221 00:11:37,431 --> 00:11:41,533 some kind of a crane or industrial facility 222 00:11:41,535 --> 00:11:43,468 and some other heavy equipment 223 00:11:43,470 --> 00:11:46,304 laying around in state of disrepair. 224 00:11:46,306 --> 00:11:49,541 ♪ 225 00:11:49,543 --> 00:11:53,211 So, it looks like we're coming upon 226 00:11:53,213 --> 00:11:56,581 a basic agricultural establishment, 227 00:11:56,583 --> 00:11:58,116 but for what, exactly? 228 00:11:58,118 --> 00:12:00,085 ♪ 229 00:12:00,087 --> 00:12:03,254 There is a sense of foreboding 230 00:12:03,256 --> 00:12:06,291 that something might've happened here, 231 00:12:06,293 --> 00:12:08,259 that you can't quite figure out what. 232 00:12:08,261 --> 00:12:09,828 ♪ 233 00:12:09,830 --> 00:12:13,465 Narrator: Who were the workers forced to call this place home 234 00:12:13,467 --> 00:12:15,700 and how were their lives entwined 235 00:12:15,702 --> 00:12:18,203 with the history of a divided America? 236 00:12:22,209 --> 00:12:27,879 ♪ 237 00:12:27,881 --> 00:12:30,014 This site is a puzzle. 238 00:12:30,016 --> 00:12:33,051 Is it industrial? 239 00:12:33,053 --> 00:12:37,021 A small train and other assorted pieces of machinery 240 00:12:37,023 --> 00:12:39,457 rust away in the Southern humidity, 241 00:12:39,459 --> 00:12:42,994 but the cluster of shacks and a deserted school 242 00:12:42,996 --> 00:12:44,629 hint at a community. 243 00:12:44,631 --> 00:12:46,431 But where has everyone gone? 244 00:12:46,433 --> 00:12:48,566 ♪ 245 00:12:48,568 --> 00:12:50,602 Paul Leslie is a local historian 246 00:12:50,604 --> 00:12:53,571 who has spent years studying the history of the site. 247 00:12:53,573 --> 00:12:56,341 ♪ 248 00:12:56,343 --> 00:12:59,310 Leslie: I came here around 1977 249 00:12:59,312 --> 00:13:02,347 and so, I pretty much discovered it then. 250 00:13:02,349 --> 00:13:04,282 And I was just completely stung 251 00:13:04,284 --> 00:13:08,553 by the presence of so many buildings. 252 00:13:08,555 --> 00:13:12,157 It was like a time capsule. 253 00:13:12,159 --> 00:13:14,159 Narrator: The story of this site begins 254 00:13:14,161 --> 00:13:17,228 with a product the whole world craved... 255 00:13:17,230 --> 00:13:18,329 Sugar. 256 00:13:18,331 --> 00:13:20,598 ♪ 257 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:24,202 What we're seeing here is a sugar plantation, 258 00:13:24,204 --> 00:13:27,205 a kind of agriculture that was very common 259 00:13:27,207 --> 00:13:30,441 in the U.S. in the 19th century and before. 260 00:13:30,443 --> 00:13:34,179 Sugar was really an integral part of the Louisiana economy 261 00:13:34,181 --> 00:13:36,948 because it was the ultimate cash crop. 262 00:13:36,950 --> 00:13:38,683 ♪ 263 00:13:38,685 --> 00:13:41,719 Narrator: This isn't just any sugar plantation. 264 00:13:41,721 --> 00:13:43,721 It's Laurel valley, 265 00:13:43,723 --> 00:13:47,258 once one of the largest plantations in north America. 266 00:13:47,260 --> 00:13:49,828 ♪ 267 00:13:49,830 --> 00:13:51,162 In the 1830s, 268 00:13:51,164 --> 00:13:53,698 a family by the name of Tucker arrived 269 00:13:53,700 --> 00:13:55,166 and took over this land 270 00:13:55,168 --> 00:13:58,369 and began building up the plantation. 271 00:13:58,371 --> 00:14:01,472 Narrator: But their ambition came at a cost. 272 00:14:01,474 --> 00:14:04,642 ♪ 273 00:14:04,644 --> 00:14:10,448 Mitchell: The Tucker family arrive with a couple of dozen slaves. 274 00:14:10,450 --> 00:14:12,083 Within 20 years, 275 00:14:12,085 --> 00:14:15,119 they have almost 170 slaves. 276 00:14:15,121 --> 00:14:19,958 It's a phenomenally large slave holding family. 277 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:23,061 The process of making sugar was a really brutal one 278 00:14:23,063 --> 00:14:28,266 and it was incredibly difficult for the laborers involved. 279 00:14:28,268 --> 00:14:31,603 Narrator: At the heart of the tuckers' operation was the mill. 280 00:14:31,605 --> 00:14:33,238 ♪ 281 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:35,106 Wawro: This is the old sugar mill. 282 00:14:35,108 --> 00:14:37,175 It's built in the 1840s, 283 00:14:37,177 --> 00:14:41,479 built with bricks that were made on the plantation by the slaves 284 00:14:41,481 --> 00:14:43,047 and then assembled painstakingly, 285 00:14:43,049 --> 00:14:47,418 something like 366,000 slave-made bricks. 286 00:14:47,420 --> 00:14:48,987 ♪ 287 00:14:48,989 --> 00:14:52,557 The mill was operatin' 24 hours a day. 288 00:14:52,559 --> 00:14:56,694 It never shut down, unless the equipment broke. 289 00:14:56,696 --> 00:14:59,397 Narrator: The work was brutal. 290 00:14:59,399 --> 00:15:02,233 The day here at Laurel valley was one that started 291 00:15:02,235 --> 00:15:06,738 at around 7:30 and ended close to 8:00. 292 00:15:06,740 --> 00:15:08,339 It wasn't an uncommon thing 293 00:15:08,341 --> 00:15:12,477 to have people plowin' in the fields at night. 294 00:15:12,479 --> 00:15:15,680 As far as the working conditions, they were hard. 295 00:15:15,682 --> 00:15:20,752 The average life expectancy was around 25 years of age. 296 00:15:20,754 --> 00:15:23,721 Meigs: This is slave labor in some very difficult conditions 297 00:15:23,723 --> 00:15:24,989 down here in the swamps, 298 00:15:24,991 --> 00:15:28,626 with mosquitoes and malaria and the blazing sun. 299 00:15:28,628 --> 00:15:30,461 So there was no easy place to be a slave, 300 00:15:30,463 --> 00:15:32,864 but this was probably one of the worst places. 301 00:15:32,866 --> 00:15:36,134 ♪ 302 00:15:36,136 --> 00:15:40,238 Workers started at very young age, 303 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:43,641 about 8, 9, 10. 304 00:15:43,643 --> 00:15:47,845 Narrator: Life as a slave was so harsh that, for some, 305 00:15:47,847 --> 00:15:52,216 bringing a child into this world was too much. 306 00:15:52,218 --> 00:15:55,553 You have infamous stories of mothers deciding 307 00:15:55,555 --> 00:15:57,822 to commit infanticide, 308 00:15:57,824 --> 00:15:59,824 rather than subject a child to slavery. 309 00:15:59,826 --> 00:16:02,360 ♪ 310 00:16:02,362 --> 00:16:05,530 Narrator: The deserted structures at Laurel valley hint 311 00:16:05,532 --> 00:16:09,000 at the cruelty of day-to-day life. 312 00:16:09,002 --> 00:16:10,802 Meigs: Imagine living in these swamps, 313 00:16:10,804 --> 00:16:12,971 in one of these primitive houses. 314 00:16:12,973 --> 00:16:17,375 No screens on the windows to keep out the mosquitoes. 315 00:16:17,377 --> 00:16:21,579 There were probably, you know, five people to a room, 316 00:16:21,581 --> 00:16:24,582 very, very primitive and difficult conditions. 317 00:16:24,584 --> 00:16:28,486 ♪ 318 00:16:28,488 --> 00:16:30,421 Narrator: But a violent series of events 319 00:16:30,423 --> 00:16:34,492 would soon change the fortunes of America, the tuckers, 320 00:16:34,494 --> 00:16:37,161 and the people they had enslaved. 321 00:16:37,163 --> 00:16:38,863 ♪ 322 00:16:43,669 --> 00:16:47,605 ♪ 323 00:16:47,607 --> 00:16:50,475 Narrator: Deep in the swamp lands of Louisiana, 324 00:16:50,477 --> 00:16:54,512 a deserted 19th-century sugar plantation stands 325 00:16:54,514 --> 00:16:58,149 as a testimony to human greed. 326 00:16:58,151 --> 00:16:59,517 The southerners, 327 00:16:59,519 --> 00:17:03,454 they saw slavery as the bedrock of their economy 328 00:17:03,456 --> 00:17:07,058 and, you know, it's sort of an economic nonsense, in a way, 329 00:17:07,060 --> 00:17:09,227 because it's been proven over and over 330 00:17:09,229 --> 00:17:13,898 that slavery was an inefficient way to run anything. 331 00:17:13,900 --> 00:17:19,404 And, yet, slavery had become so entwined with Southern culture. 332 00:17:19,406 --> 00:17:23,574 Narrator: Few families felt stronger about this than the tuckers. 333 00:17:23,576 --> 00:17:24,609 Once the civil war 334 00:17:24,611 --> 00:17:25,676 broke out, 335 00:17:25,678 --> 00:17:29,380 Caleb Tucker left Laurel valley in 1863 336 00:17:29,382 --> 00:17:33,251 and went to join the confederate army. 337 00:17:33,253 --> 00:17:35,219 For a man like Caleb Tucker, 338 00:17:35,221 --> 00:17:37,822 who has considerable slave holdings, 339 00:17:37,824 --> 00:17:41,793 the notion of emancipating his enslaved labor force 340 00:17:41,795 --> 00:17:45,863 is akin to bankrupting himself. 341 00:17:45,865 --> 00:17:47,799 Narrator: When the union won the war, 342 00:17:47,801 --> 00:17:49,934 Tucker's choice to fight against them 343 00:17:49,936 --> 00:17:53,805 had a catastrophic impact on his plantation. 344 00:17:53,807 --> 00:18:00,178 The local union authorities exacted real retribution on him. 345 00:18:00,180 --> 00:18:02,346 We know for a fact that union authorities, 346 00:18:02,348 --> 00:18:03,948 you know, plundered the plantation. 347 00:18:03,950 --> 00:18:05,883 So as a result, the plantation, 348 00:18:05,885 --> 00:18:08,119 in the latter stages of the civil war, 349 00:18:08,121 --> 00:18:09,654 really falls upon hard times. 350 00:18:09,656 --> 00:18:14,358 ♪ 351 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:15,760 Narrator: At the end of the war, 352 00:18:15,762 --> 00:18:17,862 the tuckers sold their plantation 353 00:18:17,864 --> 00:18:21,432 and the Laurel valley slaves were finally free, 354 00:18:21,434 --> 00:18:25,169 but hope of a better life soon vanished. 355 00:18:25,171 --> 00:18:27,238 Racial bigotry and low wages 356 00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:30,608 meant their working conditions hardly improved. 357 00:18:30,610 --> 00:18:32,043 In 1887, 358 00:18:32,045 --> 00:18:34,679 the workers organized a mass strike, 359 00:18:34,681 --> 00:18:38,916 but an all-white militia was sent in to respond. 360 00:18:38,918 --> 00:18:41,786 Mitchell: They not only try to kill strikers, 361 00:18:41,788 --> 00:18:45,223 they also end up massacring black civilians, 362 00:18:45,225 --> 00:18:47,425 black people who are in the town. 363 00:18:47,427 --> 00:18:50,294 And so historians don't have a very strong sense 364 00:18:50,296 --> 00:18:53,164 of exactly how many blacks were killed, 365 00:18:53,166 --> 00:18:55,266 but it was dozens, it was scores, 366 00:18:55,268 --> 00:18:57,502 of people being murdered, being slaughtered. 367 00:18:57,504 --> 00:18:59,871 ♪ 368 00:18:59,873 --> 00:19:01,939 Narrator: The strikers had little choice 369 00:19:01,941 --> 00:19:05,176 but to return to work in the same sugar fields 370 00:19:05,178 --> 00:19:07,945 and the plantation grew again. 371 00:19:07,947 --> 00:19:15,052 A boom between 1890 and 1924 meant more building at the site. 372 00:19:15,054 --> 00:19:16,621 Meigs: They had huge cranes 373 00:19:16,623 --> 00:19:19,090 for loading the cane and loading the product. 374 00:19:19,092 --> 00:19:21,492 They had miles of railroad tracks. 375 00:19:21,494 --> 00:19:24,462 They had to move around a lot of material 376 00:19:24,464 --> 00:19:27,865 and they were willing to invest a lot 377 00:19:27,867 --> 00:19:29,800 in the infrastructure to make that happen. 378 00:19:29,802 --> 00:19:32,136 ♪ 379 00:19:32,138 --> 00:19:35,239 Narrator: But the great depression of the 1930s 380 00:19:35,241 --> 00:19:36,741 brought economic disaster 381 00:19:36,743 --> 00:19:40,545 to the sugar industry and Southern Louisiana. 382 00:19:40,547 --> 00:19:43,281 Eventually, the workers' cabins emptied 383 00:19:43,283 --> 00:19:45,349 and the sugar mill closed for good. 384 00:19:45,351 --> 00:19:49,754 ♪ 385 00:19:49,756 --> 00:19:53,424 Today, Laurel valley still stands. 386 00:19:53,426 --> 00:19:56,227 The fields are used to grow sugar cane, 387 00:19:56,229 --> 00:19:59,931 but the basic houses now lie empty. 388 00:19:59,933 --> 00:20:02,733 Meigs: This particular site is a window 389 00:20:02,735 --> 00:20:07,138 into a part of our history, part of world history, 390 00:20:07,140 --> 00:20:08,673 and, as tragic as it is, 391 00:20:08,675 --> 00:20:11,142 it's also really important to recognize it. 392 00:20:11,144 --> 00:20:12,577 It's a story that needs to be told. 393 00:20:12,579 --> 00:20:20,579 ♪ 394 00:20:20,820 --> 00:20:24,255 Narrator: Perched on a remote coast in the Scottish highlands 395 00:20:24,257 --> 00:20:25,790 is a collection of structures 396 00:20:25,792 --> 00:20:28,292 that keep silent vigil over the sea. 397 00:20:28,294 --> 00:20:33,631 ♪ 398 00:20:35,068 --> 00:20:38,603 Up on the cliffs, you're swept away by the natural beauty. 399 00:20:38,605 --> 00:20:40,571 ♪ 400 00:20:40,573 --> 00:20:41,906 But if you look down at your feet, 401 00:20:41,908 --> 00:20:45,476 you'll find concrete foundations. 402 00:20:45,478 --> 00:20:50,781 Man's been here and he's created things and then taken them away. 403 00:20:50,783 --> 00:20:55,386 Narrator: But this is not the only enigma in these faraway foothills. 404 00:20:55,388 --> 00:20:57,788 Concealed in dense grassland 405 00:20:57,790 --> 00:21:02,627 is an inauspicious portal to a momentous past. 406 00:21:02,629 --> 00:21:04,095 If you don't know what you're looking for, 407 00:21:04,097 --> 00:21:08,132 you are never going to find it in this landscape. 408 00:21:08,134 --> 00:21:12,470 You can just about make out big steel doors 409 00:21:12,472 --> 00:21:17,875 that appear to lead right into the mountainside. 410 00:21:17,877 --> 00:21:20,578 Never in your wildest dreams 411 00:21:20,580 --> 00:21:23,314 could you imagine what lies beyond. 412 00:21:24,617 --> 00:21:26,050 Narrator: Whatever it is, 413 00:21:26,052 --> 00:21:29,654 it's too clandestine to appear on local maps. 414 00:21:29,656 --> 00:21:31,889 It's what you don't see 415 00:21:31,891 --> 00:21:36,427 that's even more impressive about this complex. 416 00:21:36,429 --> 00:21:41,699 Secrecy was very, very key to the entire operation. 417 00:21:41,701 --> 00:21:45,136 Narrator: But what is there is monumental. 418 00:21:45,138 --> 00:21:47,038 It's when you make a noise 419 00:21:47,040 --> 00:21:51,008 that you realize the scale of this place. 420 00:21:53,279 --> 00:21:57,848 Narrator: Why go out of your way to hide this enormous facility 421 00:21:57,850 --> 00:22:01,085 and what is its connection to the clifftop ruins? 422 00:22:01,087 --> 00:22:05,222 ♪ 423 00:22:05,224 --> 00:22:07,992 The link between the gateway in the woods 424 00:22:07,994 --> 00:22:11,962 and the clifftop structures starts two miles away, 425 00:22:11,964 --> 00:22:17,101 with huge metal drums in the town of invergordon. 426 00:22:17,103 --> 00:22:20,805 You're looking at a kind of industrial complex 427 00:22:20,807 --> 00:22:25,676 and it's a very, very important site. 428 00:22:25,678 --> 00:22:30,915 You suddenly realize there are these massive, round structures 429 00:22:30,917 --> 00:22:33,451 heading off as far as the eye can see. 430 00:22:33,453 --> 00:22:34,919 ♪ 431 00:22:34,921 --> 00:22:38,723 Rows and rows of these rusting circular domes 432 00:22:38,725 --> 00:22:42,159 stretch out into the distance. 433 00:22:42,161 --> 00:22:45,229 Narrator: Military archaeologist Alan kilpatrick 434 00:22:45,231 --> 00:22:48,799 has studied this area for decades. 435 00:22:48,801 --> 00:22:51,469 Kilpatrick: The site is very impressive. 436 00:22:51,471 --> 00:22:54,138 Its engineering and its quality of its engineering 437 00:22:54,140 --> 00:22:56,941 is absolutely first-rate. 438 00:22:56,943 --> 00:23:00,144 Narrator: These enormous metal structures date back 439 00:23:00,146 --> 00:23:02,780 to the early 20th century. 440 00:23:02,782 --> 00:23:05,649 Built, initially, in 1913, 441 00:23:05,651 --> 00:23:07,084 the fact that they're still here today, 442 00:23:07,086 --> 00:23:10,554 having had no maintenance for over 25 years 443 00:23:10,556 --> 00:23:12,490 or thereabouts, 444 00:23:12,492 --> 00:23:14,425 they're still stunning, in amazing condition. 445 00:23:14,427 --> 00:23:18,162 ♪ 446 00:23:18,164 --> 00:23:21,866 Inside these circular domes, it's almost pitch black 447 00:23:21,868 --> 00:23:26,270 and covered in this almost powdery white substance. 448 00:23:26,272 --> 00:23:28,205 It's quite spooky. 449 00:23:28,207 --> 00:23:31,041 Narrator: The white powder is organic material 450 00:23:31,043 --> 00:23:36,080 that betrays the fact that these tanks have lain empty for years, 451 00:23:36,082 --> 00:23:38,082 but these were once filled 452 00:23:38,084 --> 00:23:41,285 with the 20th century's black gold... 453 00:23:41,287 --> 00:23:42,386 Oil. 454 00:23:42,388 --> 00:23:43,721 ♪ 455 00:23:43,723 --> 00:23:46,490 The largest of these enormous steel tanks 456 00:23:46,492 --> 00:23:52,163 is almost 120 feet high and 45 feet across. 457 00:23:52,165 --> 00:23:53,597 The whole tank farm 458 00:23:53,599 --> 00:23:58,469 could hold hundreds of thousands of tons of oil. 459 00:23:58,471 --> 00:24:01,672 Kilpatrick: You had 44 oil tanks constructed. 460 00:24:01,674 --> 00:24:03,541 Each one of these tanks contained 461 00:24:03,543 --> 00:24:05,643 5,000 tons of fuel oil. 462 00:24:05,645 --> 00:24:09,980 ♪ 463 00:24:09,982 --> 00:24:12,516 Narrator: So, what happened to all this oil 464 00:24:12,518 --> 00:24:15,286 and what connects it to the coastal ruins 465 00:24:15,288 --> 00:24:17,822 and the dark secret in the mountainside? 466 00:24:17,824 --> 00:24:19,356 ♪ 467 00:24:24,430 --> 00:24:28,065 ♪ 468 00:24:28,067 --> 00:24:30,000 In the east of Scotland 469 00:24:30,002 --> 00:24:33,070 lies a 100-year-old tank farm that was once 470 00:24:33,072 --> 00:24:37,308 the biggest fuel depot in the country. 471 00:24:37,310 --> 00:24:38,709 In the first world war, 472 00:24:38,711 --> 00:24:41,378 it was a key royal Navy facility. 473 00:24:41,380 --> 00:24:44,915 ♪ 474 00:24:44,917 --> 00:24:48,219 When you consider the importance 475 00:24:48,221 --> 00:24:51,856 of fuel to the Navy, 476 00:24:51,858 --> 00:24:57,828 it's as important as ammunition or guns. 477 00:24:57,830 --> 00:24:59,597 No fuel, no fleet. 478 00:24:59,599 --> 00:25:01,198 ♪ 479 00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:04,401 Narrator: Invergordon sits on the cromarty firth, 480 00:25:04,403 --> 00:25:08,439 a deep inland waterway that leads out to the north sea. 481 00:25:08,441 --> 00:25:10,508 ♪ 482 00:25:10,510 --> 00:25:13,878 Barratt: Invergordon was really, really important strategically. 483 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:16,947 That ships could slip in under the cover of darkness, 484 00:25:16,949 --> 00:25:19,016 fuel up, and then disappear off. 485 00:25:19,018 --> 00:25:21,285 ♪ 486 00:25:21,287 --> 00:25:22,887 Narrator: Thanks to invergordon, 487 00:25:22,889 --> 00:25:25,890 the royal Navy maintained unmatched power 488 00:25:25,892 --> 00:25:30,227 and ensured victory over Germany in the first world war. 489 00:25:30,229 --> 00:25:33,430 But the clifftop structures east of invergordon suggest 490 00:25:33,432 --> 00:25:35,165 that the safety of the fuel depot 491 00:25:35,167 --> 00:25:37,735 would soon be under threat. 492 00:25:37,737 --> 00:25:39,236 These are the remains 493 00:25:39,238 --> 00:25:41,405 of the north sutor coast battery. 494 00:25:41,407 --> 00:25:43,307 Constructed in 1913, 495 00:25:43,309 --> 00:25:46,110 it had been upgraded to guard against the new threat 496 00:25:46,112 --> 00:25:47,778 to the Navy's precious oil 497 00:25:47,780 --> 00:25:49,747 by the start of the second world war. 498 00:25:49,749 --> 00:25:52,416 ♪ 499 00:25:52,418 --> 00:25:54,118 All this effort was to try and protect it 500 00:25:54,120 --> 00:25:56,654 from aerial attack because aerial attack was 501 00:25:56,656 --> 00:25:59,323 the major threat to the royal Navy. 502 00:25:59,325 --> 00:26:03,561 Narrator: And, when Germany occupied Norway in 1941, 503 00:26:03,563 --> 00:26:05,229 they gained a coastline 504 00:26:05,231 --> 00:26:07,498 within striking distance of Scotland. 505 00:26:07,500 --> 00:26:09,033 ♪ 506 00:26:09,035 --> 00:26:11,268 In February 1941, 507 00:26:11,270 --> 00:26:15,272 a junkers 88 came tearing in over invergordon. 508 00:26:15,274 --> 00:26:17,441 It carried out a solo attack, 509 00:26:17,443 --> 00:26:20,311 dropping two 500-pound bombs. 510 00:26:20,313 --> 00:26:22,947 ♪ 511 00:26:22,949 --> 00:26:25,449 It collapsed tank 13, 512 00:26:25,451 --> 00:26:27,785 spilling oil down the adjacent railway line 513 00:26:27,787 --> 00:26:29,887 and down into the firth itself. 514 00:26:29,889 --> 00:26:31,655 ♪ 515 00:26:31,657 --> 00:26:34,858 Tank 13 was never rebuilt, so, now, 516 00:26:34,860 --> 00:26:38,629 it is a gap in the tank farm. 517 00:26:38,631 --> 00:26:41,165 Narrator: The British had foreseen this danger 518 00:26:41,167 --> 00:26:44,501 and, for the last four years, had been building a solution 519 00:26:44,503 --> 00:26:47,738 for storing even more fuel nearby. 520 00:26:47,740 --> 00:26:49,940 But there's no sign of the site. 521 00:26:49,942 --> 00:26:53,210 If you didn't know where to locate this entrance, 522 00:26:53,212 --> 00:26:55,279 you wouldn't know this place even existed. 523 00:26:55,281 --> 00:26:57,247 ♪ 524 00:26:57,249 --> 00:26:59,516 There is a door in the mountainside 525 00:26:59,518 --> 00:27:02,286 made out of incredibly thick steel 526 00:27:02,288 --> 00:27:06,991 and very firmly bolted to the concrete. 527 00:27:06,993 --> 00:27:10,661 Behind this unassuming portal into this hillside 528 00:27:10,663 --> 00:27:13,297 lies one of the finest examples of civil engineering. 529 00:27:13,299 --> 00:27:16,934 ♪ 530 00:27:16,936 --> 00:27:19,403 This is one of two tunnels 531 00:27:19,405 --> 00:27:22,339 that lead into this remote highland hillside 532 00:27:22,341 --> 00:27:25,376 500 feet above invergordon. 533 00:27:25,378 --> 00:27:28,012 Narrator: It's only by venturing deeper 534 00:27:28,014 --> 00:27:30,848 that the true nature of the complex is revealed. 535 00:27:30,850 --> 00:27:32,750 ♪ 536 00:27:32,752 --> 00:27:38,088 The access tunnel here is over 220 meters long. 537 00:27:38,090 --> 00:27:40,858 ♪ 538 00:27:40,860 --> 00:27:42,660 Narrator: A few meters later, 539 00:27:42,662 --> 00:27:46,263 and the tunnel seems to end entirely. 540 00:27:46,265 --> 00:27:48,499 Once you get to the end of that corridor, 541 00:27:48,501 --> 00:27:51,301 you realize there is another way forward, 542 00:27:51,303 --> 00:27:56,040 but it's through a much, much smaller pipeline. 543 00:27:56,042 --> 00:27:59,276 The staff would have to lie flat on this wheeled board, 544 00:27:59,278 --> 00:28:03,347 that they'd then be pushed through the pipes. 545 00:28:03,349 --> 00:28:07,951 Narrator: They would emerge into a monstrous void. 546 00:28:07,953 --> 00:28:12,022 The space which is ahead of me 547 00:28:12,024 --> 00:28:14,992 is vast. 548 00:28:14,994 --> 00:28:17,661 It is the size... 549 00:28:17,663 --> 00:28:22,132 In fact, actually bigger, than a medieval cathedral. 550 00:28:22,134 --> 00:28:23,901 The sheer size of this, 551 00:28:23,903 --> 00:28:31,903 780 feet long by 30 feet wide by 52 feet high. 552 00:28:33,646 --> 00:28:36,914 It really is an impressive piece of engineering. 553 00:28:36,916 --> 00:28:40,718 ♪ 554 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,487 Narrator: This is just one of six tanks 555 00:28:43,489 --> 00:28:47,558 that make up the inchindown underground fuel depot. 556 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,627 The first was completed in 1941 557 00:28:50,629 --> 00:28:55,099 and each one could hold 5.6 million gallons of fuel. 558 00:28:55,101 --> 00:28:56,633 ♪ 559 00:28:56,635 --> 00:28:59,169 At more than 400 feet below ground, 560 00:28:59,171 --> 00:29:02,973 no German bomb could reach the Navy's vital reserve. 561 00:29:02,975 --> 00:29:04,708 ♪ 562 00:29:04,710 --> 00:29:08,612 A system of pumps and piping carried it down to invergordon. 563 00:29:08,614 --> 00:29:10,714 ♪ 564 00:29:10,716 --> 00:29:14,184 The fuel flowed down four miles of pipes, 565 00:29:14,186 --> 00:29:18,088 from the tanks down to the naval base. 566 00:29:18,090 --> 00:29:22,392 Kilpatrick: 600 men were involved. 567 00:29:22,394 --> 00:29:24,361 Massive amount of tunneling. 568 00:29:24,363 --> 00:29:28,532 A quarter of a million cubic meters of sandstone 569 00:29:28,534 --> 00:29:30,634 removed from this facility. 570 00:29:30,636 --> 00:29:35,672 ♪ 571 00:29:35,674 --> 00:29:38,075 Narrator: This impressive feat of engineering 572 00:29:38,077 --> 00:29:40,310 would soon play a critical role 573 00:29:40,312 --> 00:29:43,814 in the largest seaborne invasion in history. 574 00:29:43,816 --> 00:29:46,183 ♪ 575 00:29:51,056 --> 00:29:54,691 ♪ 576 00:29:54,693 --> 00:29:57,594 Narrator: Towards the end of the second world war, 577 00:29:57,596 --> 00:30:01,899 unbeknown to the Germans, a vast system of oil tanks 578 00:30:01,901 --> 00:30:05,903 lay in wait below a Scottish hillside. 579 00:30:05,905 --> 00:30:09,973 Corum: In world war two, this one facility 580 00:30:09,975 --> 00:30:15,412 can support the fleet for considerable time. 581 00:30:15,414 --> 00:30:20,684 And, without bases like this, you have no royal Navy. 582 00:30:20,686 --> 00:30:22,419 In 1944, 583 00:30:22,421 --> 00:30:24,454 many of the vessels heading south 584 00:30:24,456 --> 00:30:28,325 towards the beaches of normandy for the d-day landings 585 00:30:28,327 --> 00:30:30,961 refueled here at invergordon. 586 00:30:30,963 --> 00:30:35,766 It was a crucial part of the naval infrastructure. 587 00:30:35,768 --> 00:30:39,736 Narrator: It was critical to allied victory in the second world war. 588 00:30:39,738 --> 00:30:42,906 ♪ 589 00:30:42,908 --> 00:30:44,308 After the war, 590 00:30:44,310 --> 00:30:47,845 the world-class engineering of the inchindown oil tanks 591 00:30:47,847 --> 00:30:52,349 meant they continued to play an important strategic role. 592 00:30:52,351 --> 00:30:57,554 This facility was, all through the cold war, 593 00:30:57,556 --> 00:31:02,125 a very, very important, and very secure, site 594 00:31:02,127 --> 00:31:05,829 for your fuel storage, for logistics, for the Navy. 595 00:31:05,831 --> 00:31:09,566 There were plans to upgrade the site for use by NATO, 596 00:31:09,568 --> 00:31:12,269 but, these plans were later abandoned 597 00:31:12,271 --> 00:31:17,174 and, in 2002, the site was officially closed. 598 00:31:17,176 --> 00:31:20,744 That is an incredible journey and an amazing life span 599 00:31:20,746 --> 00:31:23,847 for something that was first constructed in 1941. 600 00:31:23,849 --> 00:31:28,285 ♪ 601 00:31:28,287 --> 00:31:32,956 Narrator: The outstanding engineering of the vast inchindown oil tanks 602 00:31:32,958 --> 00:31:35,626 continues to break records to this day, 603 00:31:35,628 --> 00:31:37,327 including what's thought to be 604 00:31:37,329 --> 00:31:41,031 the longest-lasting reverberation. 605 00:31:41,033 --> 00:31:46,236 It measured about 117 seconds of reverberance 606 00:31:46,238 --> 00:31:49,139 before the sound finally tailed to nothing. 607 00:31:54,813 --> 00:31:58,148 ♪ 608 00:31:58,150 --> 00:31:59,917 Narrator: In the south of Jamaica, 609 00:31:59,919 --> 00:32:02,452 at the mouth of the Kingston harbor, 610 00:32:02,454 --> 00:32:06,390 a windswept Caribbean village hides a hell-raising past. 611 00:32:06,392 --> 00:32:10,861 ♪ 612 00:32:10,863 --> 00:32:14,665 Selwood: It's a thin peninsula, stretching out into the sea. 613 00:32:14,667 --> 00:32:17,668 You can see, from the way the wind whips the trees, 614 00:32:17,670 --> 00:32:19,503 that this is an exposed area. 615 00:32:19,505 --> 00:32:21,538 ♪ 616 00:32:21,540 --> 00:32:25,175 Gough: A long building stretches along the coastline. 617 00:32:25,177 --> 00:32:27,644 The plaster's peeling off the walls 618 00:32:27,646 --> 00:32:29,746 and it's been battered by the elements. 619 00:32:29,748 --> 00:32:31,581 ♪ 620 00:32:31,583 --> 00:32:36,320 Narrator: Scattered clues point to a military purpose. 621 00:32:36,322 --> 00:32:38,322 Jerram: You've got imposing walls 622 00:32:38,324 --> 00:32:41,158 and there's a tower with some arches. 623 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:42,559 There's a huge courtyard 624 00:32:42,561 --> 00:32:45,896 with strange wooden shapes in the floor. 625 00:32:45,898 --> 00:32:48,365 Turn a corner and there's a line of cannons 626 00:32:48,367 --> 00:32:50,968 in various states of disrepair, 627 00:32:50,970 --> 00:32:54,771 some rusting, some looking as though they're ready to fire. 628 00:32:54,773 --> 00:32:57,107 ♪ 629 00:32:57,109 --> 00:32:59,409 Narrator: Further exploration reveals 630 00:32:59,411 --> 00:33:02,679 something went seriously awry here. 631 00:33:02,681 --> 00:33:04,147 You can see that the whole building 632 00:33:04,149 --> 00:33:09,319 has been upended on one side, but remains perfectly intact. 633 00:33:09,321 --> 00:33:13,790 What force could've moved the entire structure? 634 00:33:13,792 --> 00:33:16,226 The way the harbor walls are crumbling into the sea 635 00:33:16,228 --> 00:33:17,794 and the whole place being so quiet, 636 00:33:17,796 --> 00:33:21,064 there's a real sense that something happened here 637 00:33:21,066 --> 00:33:22,666 that we're not getting the full picture, 638 00:33:22,668 --> 00:33:25,936 that there's something under the water. 639 00:33:25,938 --> 00:33:29,206 Narrator: How did the sunken relics of manmade structures 640 00:33:29,208 --> 00:33:31,875 end up beneath the waves? 641 00:33:31,877 --> 00:33:34,711 What was this mysterious settlement? 642 00:33:34,713 --> 00:33:40,484 ♪ 643 00:33:40,486 --> 00:33:45,322 An incongruous red brick fort overshadows the sleepy harbor, 644 00:33:45,324 --> 00:33:49,493 suggesting the focus here has not always been on fishing. 645 00:33:49,495 --> 00:33:53,063 This is a military space, but what period it is from 646 00:33:53,065 --> 00:33:57,901 and what they're protecting is not immediately apparent. 647 00:33:57,903 --> 00:34:00,037 Narrator: What was so worth defending 648 00:34:00,039 --> 00:34:02,839 on this far-flung Jamaican coast? 649 00:34:02,841 --> 00:34:04,307 ♪ 650 00:34:04,309 --> 00:34:06,543 This point is right in the middle 651 00:34:06,545 --> 00:34:08,545 of the Caribbean's busiest trading routes 652 00:34:08,547 --> 00:34:11,515 of the 17th century. 653 00:34:11,517 --> 00:34:12,616 This meant money, 654 00:34:12,618 --> 00:34:14,651 and money always needs defending. 655 00:34:16,422 --> 00:34:18,955 Narrator: This is port royal. 656 00:34:18,957 --> 00:34:20,624 400 years ago, 657 00:34:20,626 --> 00:34:25,395 this forgotten backwater was the Jewel of the Caribbean. 658 00:34:25,397 --> 00:34:27,931 Local archaeologist dorick gray 659 00:34:27,933 --> 00:34:30,934 knows how the English pried it out of Spanish hands. 660 00:34:30,936 --> 00:34:34,304 ♪ 661 00:34:59,198 --> 00:35:01,932 The fort rapidly expanded. 662 00:35:01,934 --> 00:35:05,202 And so did the town, and port royal soon became one 663 00:35:05,204 --> 00:35:09,439 of the most important cities in the world. 664 00:35:09,441 --> 00:35:13,276 When it was built, this town was bigger than Boston 665 00:35:13,278 --> 00:35:16,079 and had more money than all of London. 666 00:35:16,081 --> 00:35:18,248 ♪ 667 00:35:18,250 --> 00:35:21,118 Narrator: But a financial prize so far from home 668 00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,654 wasn't easy for the English to protect. 669 00:35:24,656 --> 00:35:27,624 Selwood: They then did something incredibly risky and unusual. 670 00:35:27,626 --> 00:35:30,760 They sent an open invitation to the most lawless 671 00:35:30,762 --> 00:35:33,230 and ruthless criminals on the planet 672 00:35:33,232 --> 00:35:34,831 to come and make it their home... 673 00:35:34,833 --> 00:35:36,199 Pirates. 674 00:35:36,201 --> 00:35:38,768 ♪ 675 00:35:38,770 --> 00:35:41,404 Narrator: The second half of the 17th century 676 00:35:41,406 --> 00:35:44,207 was the golden age of piracy, 677 00:35:44,209 --> 00:35:48,111 with as many as 5,000 pirates at large. 678 00:35:48,113 --> 00:35:51,214 Port royal soon became their capital. 679 00:35:51,216 --> 00:35:54,284 Could the abandoned structures that litter port royal 680 00:35:54,286 --> 00:35:56,419 have been home to these buccaneers? 681 00:36:05,964 --> 00:36:07,831 Selwood: It seems like a crazy idea, 682 00:36:07,833 --> 00:36:10,667 but it was a "better the devil you know" move. 683 00:36:10,669 --> 00:36:13,370 By getting these libertarians on their side, 684 00:36:13,372 --> 00:36:16,439 the British were asking them to attack the Spanish ships, 685 00:36:16,441 --> 00:36:18,909 thereby protecting their own trade 686 00:36:18,911 --> 00:36:20,710 and diminishing their enemies. 687 00:36:22,214 --> 00:36:25,248 Narrator: Port royal thrived under pirate rule 688 00:36:25,250 --> 00:36:29,886 and grew into an outlaw town of 8,000 inhabitants. 689 00:36:29,888 --> 00:36:31,721 ♪ 690 00:36:31,723 --> 00:36:34,057 The Caribbean was like the wild west 691 00:36:34,059 --> 00:36:36,026 of the 17th century 692 00:36:36,028 --> 00:36:38,695 and port royal was like dodge city. 693 00:36:38,697 --> 00:36:40,397 ♪ 694 00:36:40,399 --> 00:36:42,999 Selwood: It was said that one in four buildings in port royal 695 00:36:43,001 --> 00:36:44,868 was a bar or a brothel. 696 00:36:44,870 --> 00:36:47,938 This city was known around the world as the wicked city. 697 00:36:47,940 --> 00:36:52,042 ♪ 698 00:36:52,044 --> 00:36:56,079 Narrator: Clues to the city's fate lie beneath the waves. 699 00:36:56,081 --> 00:36:59,015 There was something far more menacing on the horizon, 700 00:36:59,017 --> 00:37:01,718 that neither the British, nor their pirate army, 701 00:37:01,720 --> 00:37:03,286 could defend against. 702 00:37:08,327 --> 00:37:13,263 ♪ 703 00:37:13,265 --> 00:37:17,033 Narrator: Ruins scattered around the Jamaican harbor of port royal 704 00:37:17,035 --> 00:37:21,438 indicate that a legendary pirate city once stood here. 705 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:23,673 The remains of abandoned streets 706 00:37:23,675 --> 00:37:27,244 have been found in the murky waters around the site 707 00:37:27,246 --> 00:37:29,879 and holes in a century-old wall 708 00:37:29,881 --> 00:37:32,549 show where most of the city disappeared. 709 00:37:32,551 --> 00:37:34,551 ♪ 710 00:37:49,868 --> 00:37:52,202 ♪ 711 00:37:52,204 --> 00:37:55,538 Why did port royal vanish beneath the waves? 712 00:37:55,540 --> 00:37:57,540 ♪ 713 00:37:57,542 --> 00:38:00,243 A curious building tilting precariously 714 00:38:00,245 --> 00:38:03,046 into Jamaica's soft, Sandy rock 715 00:38:03,048 --> 00:38:05,982 points at port royal's violent geology. 716 00:38:05,984 --> 00:38:07,817 ♪ 717 00:38:18,864 --> 00:38:22,132 ♪ 718 00:38:22,134 --> 00:38:27,337 Narrator: The Caribbean archipelago is a geologically active area. 719 00:38:27,339 --> 00:38:30,206 Jerram: Jamaica sits exactly where the Caribbean plate 720 00:38:30,208 --> 00:38:32,409 and the gonave microplate meet. 721 00:38:32,411 --> 00:38:34,010 They meet side-by-side 722 00:38:34,012 --> 00:38:35,712 in what's called a transform fault 723 00:38:35,714 --> 00:38:37,180 and this fault rubs 724 00:38:37,182 --> 00:38:39,215 against each other as things move 725 00:38:39,217 --> 00:38:41,985 and that can cause violent juddering and earthquakes, 726 00:38:41,987 --> 00:38:44,854 but also, some of those earthquakes can be quite shallow 727 00:38:44,856 --> 00:38:47,590 and cause violent changes on the earth's surface. 728 00:38:47,592 --> 00:38:48,958 ♪ 729 00:38:58,837 --> 00:39:00,403 ♪ 730 00:39:00,405 --> 00:39:02,639 These heavy buildings suddenly found themselves 731 00:39:02,641 --> 00:39:05,475 not on solid sort of Sandy substrate, 732 00:39:05,477 --> 00:39:08,011 but on a liquid Sandy substrate. 733 00:39:08,013 --> 00:39:10,580 What was solid land all of a sudden becomes liquid 734 00:39:10,582 --> 00:39:12,148 and things sink into it. 735 00:39:12,150 --> 00:39:14,050 And, as the earthquake stopped, 736 00:39:14,052 --> 00:39:17,354 then the sand then essentially resolidified itself, 737 00:39:17,356 --> 00:39:19,622 trapping the buildings within it, and even people. 738 00:39:21,159 --> 00:39:24,961 Narrator: 2,000 people died almost instantly. 739 00:39:24,963 --> 00:39:29,666 Another 3,000 would die later, from disease. 740 00:39:29,668 --> 00:39:31,668 But that was just the beginning. 741 00:39:31,670 --> 00:39:34,304 ♪ 742 00:39:34,306 --> 00:39:37,907 The earthquake, being coastal, also created a Tsunami 743 00:39:37,909 --> 00:39:40,477 and it's reported that the sea moved 744 00:39:40,479 --> 00:39:42,212 about a mile away from the land 745 00:39:42,214 --> 00:39:44,814 before then coming crashing in with violent waves 746 00:39:44,816 --> 00:39:47,951 that attacked the city from the seaward side. 747 00:39:47,953 --> 00:39:50,754 ♪ 748 00:39:50,756 --> 00:39:52,922 Gough: The city can no longer function. 749 00:39:52,924 --> 00:39:54,524 It was over. 750 00:39:54,526 --> 00:39:59,129 Many believed this was retribution, 751 00:39:59,131 --> 00:40:01,498 all of the debauchery and sin 752 00:40:01,500 --> 00:40:05,735 wiped off the earth by god's wrath. 753 00:40:05,737 --> 00:40:10,273 Narrator: More than 1,000 acres of port royal was destroyed. 754 00:40:10,275 --> 00:40:14,344 The pirate capital never returned to its riotous heyday, 755 00:40:14,346 --> 00:40:18,648 but its strategic location saw it reborn a century later. 756 00:40:18,650 --> 00:40:21,518 Gough: One of britain's most celebrated naval officers 757 00:40:21,520 --> 00:40:23,653 was called into service here. 758 00:40:23,655 --> 00:40:27,490 In 1779, Horatio Nelson was put in charge 759 00:40:27,492 --> 00:40:32,629 of 500 men at fort Charles. 760 00:40:32,631 --> 00:40:34,798 Narrator: Admiral Nelson did all he could 761 00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:38,535 to prevent port royal disappearing back into the sea. 762 00:40:38,537 --> 00:40:42,105 This naval hospital was ingeniously designed, 763 00:40:42,107 --> 00:40:45,074 with large parts of the building premade in britain 764 00:40:45,076 --> 00:40:46,943 and then shipped out to Jamaica. 765 00:40:46,945 --> 00:40:50,380 ♪ 766 00:41:11,169 --> 00:41:15,405 It also survived another earthquake, in 1907. 767 00:41:19,077 --> 00:41:20,376 This earthquake was really 768 00:41:20,378 --> 00:41:22,345 the sort of final nail in the coffin 769 00:41:22,347 --> 00:41:24,814 and, after this, most people fled the town. 770 00:41:24,816 --> 00:41:30,720 ♪ 771 00:41:30,722 --> 00:41:33,156 Mother nature has finally claimed 772 00:41:33,158 --> 00:41:35,325 the once-infamous pirate city, 773 00:41:35,327 --> 00:41:37,560 consigning its nefarious secrets 774 00:41:37,562 --> 00:41:40,263 to the depths of Davy Jones' locker. 775 00:41:40,265 --> 00:41:42,365 ♪ 776 00:41:42,367 --> 00:41:46,236 Marine excavation takes time and Patience 777 00:41:46,238 --> 00:41:49,138 and, although there's been a few digs over the years, 778 00:41:49,140 --> 00:41:53,810 there's huge swathes of the city that have yet to be explored, 779 00:41:53,812 --> 00:41:57,847 so who knows what treasures still lie hidden beneath? 780 00:41:57,849 --> 00:41:59,449 ♪ 781 00:42:00,552 --> 00:42:04,220 ♪ 58623

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