All language subtitles for Drain.the.Oceans.S02E05.1080p.WEB.h264-TBS_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: The war that
defines a nation...

Hinges on a campaign
waged at sea...

CAPTAIN: Fire!

NARRATOR: That transforms
naval warfare forever.

JAMES: The American
Civil War was not only
the bloodiest conflict,

it was in many ways the
first modern conflict.

NARRATOR: Secret weapons...

Shocking surprises and
stories of raw courage,

all lost beneath the waves.

CREW: I think we might
have a shipwreck...

JAMES: We're on it.

NARRATOR: Imagine if we
could empty the oceans...

letting the water drain away

to reveal the secrets
of the sea floor.

Now we can.

Using accurate data...

And astonishing technology
to bring light once again

to a lost world.

How does this metal monster
create a naval revolution?

ANNA: It had to have
been terrifying.

Imagine the horror.

NARRATOR: What does a
mangled wreck reveal

about a top-secret arms race?

MICHAEL: There are secrets
still left to be discovered.

This was a legend.

NARRATOR: And what terrifying
new weapon destroys one of the

most powerful
warships ever built.

[explosion].

[theme music plays].

NARRATOR: For four bloody
years a nation tears itself

apart in search
of its destiny.

ANNA: It was truly
Americans against Americans.

NARRATOR: Between 1861
and 1865, the Union
and the Confederacy

are locked in combat across
a 2,700 mile border.

But historians now understand
that battles on land...

Tell only part of the story.

CRAIG: The war at sea
dramatically affected the

trajectory of the war.

NARRATOR: The naval conflict
takes place on rivers, lakes

and all along the
American coast.

Incredibly, over 2000
civil war wrecks survive.

And one of the most
significant lies here

in the waters of Virginia.

As the Atlantic
Ocean drains away,

a broken battleship
begins to emerge.

The result of a battle
that sends shockwaves
around the world.

Maritime archaeologist
James Delgado and historian

Anna Gibson Holloway are
in Hampton Roads...

searching for a body.

JAMES: The fact that we
are right at the spot.

ANNA: It's an amazing scene.

JAMES: Yes, this
is a battlefield.

NARRATOR: They're in a stretch
of water, that in March 1862

is the most
dangerous in America.

To the west lies the
Confederate capital, Richmond.

To the north, the Union
Capital, Washington DC.

JAMES: It's a critical point
and so it is no surprise that

this is going to be the
setting for the first great

naval encounter of the
American Civil War.

NARRATOR: The Confederates
hold most of Virginia.

But on the north side of
Hampton Roads a lone Union

fortress is home to a
squadron of warships.

One of them is the
USS Cumberland.

Sleek, fast and
armed to the teeth.

When launched, 20 years
earlier, she was the most

powerful ship in the US Navy.

But on the evening of March
8th astonishing reports

reach the Union base.

Eyewitnesses describe a
strange vessel bearing
down on the Cumberland.

In minutes...

[cannon fire].

She disappears.

So, what sank her, and how?

ANNA: They're going to be
going right um, down the

Elizabeth River into the
heart of Hampton Roads.

JAMES: So, they're
coming in right here
and this where they hit.

ANNA: It was such
a scramble...

NARRATOR: James and Anna's
research is part of a

comprehensive survey of the
underwater landscape here.

But it's not easy.

JAMES: This is very dark
water, you've got a river

coming down to meet
the sea, its silty.

You really can't see your
hand in front of your face.

NARRATOR: The team's multi
beam sonar fires sound waves

to the sea floor...

Mapping the shape and size
of anything on the sea bed
in perfect 3-D detail.

Data from the scans
begins to appear...

A ghostly outline.

ANNA: Just amazing...

So, what are we seeing here?

JAMES: Well we're right
over the wreck now.

What we see are the timbers
and the more or less intact

hull of the Cumberland.

ANNA: So, we're looking
at a war grave here.

JAMES: Oh, very much so.

NARRATOR: To discover what
happened here, we can combine

data from the scans with
powerful graphical software

and uncover one of the
first naval casualties
of the Civil War.

An incredible scene emerges.

corroded ironwork...

Then the twisted remains
of a large wooden hull.

ANNA: You can still
see the outline, the
form of Cumberland.

JAMES: Articulated wooden
timbers, the sides of the ship.

You have this sense of this
ship sitting down there,

shrouded in mud.

NARRATOR: It's a
haunting scene.

But does it contain clues?

There's cannon shot
half buried in the mud,

normal for a battle of this era

But this isn't normal at all.

Debris spread over 350 feet.

Something much more
destructive than cannonballs

hits the Cumberland.

Using contemporary
accounts and evidence
from the drained wreck,

we can bring an extraordinary
moment back to life.

As the Cumberland lies
at anchor she is suddenly

challenged by a ship
unlike any other.

A ship with no sails,
but driven by steam...

A ship covered not
in wood, but metal.

The first ever American
Ironclad: the CSS Virginia.

The Confederate ship
bristles with weaponry.

Six heavy cannon and
four large rifled guns.

It's no surprise that
witnesses imagined it;

a horrid creature
of a nightmare.

[gunshots].

CRAIG: They manned the
guns and began firing.

Shots would bounce
off her side.

ANNA: Imagine the horror.

The Virginia comes extremely
close to Cumberland, so close

in fact that the men on board
the Cumberland recall that

they could hear the
taunts and the laughter
inside the Virginia.

[laughter].

NARRATOR: Near immune to
the Cumberland's broadside,

Virginia drives straight
at her wooden enemy.

Deploying a tactic more
familiar to the Roman empire

than the 19th century.

A huge metal ram.

Her sheer power and
momentum do the rest...

The impact is devastating and
sends 121 men to their deaths.

Virginia immediately turns
her guns onto another Union

warship and smashes
it to pieces too.

CRAIG: It was the most decisive
defeat of the Union Navy

until Pearl Harbor so
this was an absolute shock.

JAMES: What happens here at
that moment is that that type

of ship is rendered obsolete.

The age of the wooden wall is
over, all hail the age of iron.

NARRATOR: But the Confederates
aren't the only ones working

on a secret weapon.

The Union Navy has one too.

This, the USS Monitor.

A different kind of Ironclad.

The day after the
death of Cumberland,
the two metal warships

will meet in one of the
Civil War's defining moments.

As the waters off North
Carolina begin to drain away,

the wreck of one of
these iron monsters

begins to emerge
from the depths.

NARRATOR: Cape Hatteras.

Here off North Carolina lies
a legend of the Civil War,

the USS Monitor.

The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration,

or NOAA, leads an effort
here to discover the secrets

of this revolutionary warship.

The story of the Monitor
has long been clouded by
wartime propaganda.

The team hopes the wreck
can provide the truth.

Underwater filming only shows
a fraction of what's spread

across the sea floor.

But using decades of carefully
gathered data, we can now

drain the Atlantic Ocean
away to uncover the last

resting place of America's
second Ironclad.

Emerging into view,

all that remains of a
ground-breaking warship.

Like a drowned alien being,

The Monitor lies upside down,
her hull in pieces,

clearly made of metal,
just like the CSS Virginia

with a thick belt of armor.

JAMES: The distinctive
form of the iron armor
belt is still there,

the tip of the bow
is sharply defined.

Right there is the grave of
the iconic warship of the

American Civil War.

NARRATOR: The Monitor's
greatest challenge comes in

Hampton Roads, when she
confronts the CSS Virginia,

just a day after
the Confederate ship
destroys the Cumberland.

To find out how Monitor
fought that day,

maritime archaeologists
carefully bring key parts
of her to the surface.

Their most important target?

The first gun turret
ever used in combat.

JAMES: The recovery of the
turret was an incredible

undertaking and in that,
what was discovered was
a time capsule.

NARRATOR: It is analyzed
at the Baton Conservation
Laboratory, in Virginia.

WILL: That way.

If you consider the story
of Monitor like a puzzle.

It's easy to get the outside
edges of the puzzle because

you can use historical
record, but understanding
the exact story,

that's where the
archaeology and
conservation comes in.

NARRATOR: They discover that
the turret is 21 feet across,

9 feet high and wrapped
in 8 inches of armor.

Thicker than on any other ship
afloat, including its rival,

the CSS Virginia.

Researchers scan the
turret using lasers

looking for battle damage...

And find evidence
of Confederate fire,

but also proof that Monitor's
armor keeps it out.

Inside the turret;
two gun mounts.

Armed with these new findings
from the laboratory we can

return to the drained
landscape below the Atlantic.

And use computer graphics to
lift the wreck of the Monitor

from the sea bed...

turn her right side up
and replace her turret.

Now this ingenious technology
can be seen operating as its

designers intended.

The turret sits on a brass ring

allowing it to
rotate 360 degrees.

At a time when guns
are typically fixed...

this instant maneuverability
gives the Union sailors a
huge advantage.

As does the second gun.

When one fires...

The other moves back inside
the turret to be reloaded.

WILL: So, they would just
switch between the guns.

NARRATOR: So how does the
Monitor compare with the

all-conquering Virginia?

At first sight, the
favorite seems to be
the Confederate ship.

She's over 100 feet longer
than the Monitor with 10 huge

guns compared to
the Monitor's two...

and four-inch thick steel
armor, although her fearsome

ram was lost when she
sank the Cumberland.

In contrast, the
Monitor appears puny.

But she's faster and has even
thicker armour on her turret.

And, although she only
carries two guns,

they are superbly maneuverable.

March 9th, 1862.

A day after sinking
the Cumberland,

the Virginia still threatens
the Union fleet.

So, the Monitor is
unleashed to challenge her.

In command is
Lieutenant John Worden.

ANNA: There was fear.

The men on the Monitor
recall an overwhelming
feeling of silence.

WILL: It's like the astronauts
going into space, it's the

first time they did it, so
sure there's fear but at the

same time, you're
on the cutting edge.

CAPTAIN: Fire.

NARRATOR: John Worden's
turret guns follow his
enemy's every move...

[gunshots].

Firing shot after shot.

But Virginia's
armor does its job.

Monitor's shots
bounce into the water.

For four hours, the
Ironclads duke it out...

Each failing to land
a decisive blow.

Until a lucky shot from
Virginia manages to injure

the Monitor's commander.

ANNA: The pilot house
is struck by one of
the Virginia's guns.

SAILOR: Sir!

ANNA: Immediately John Worden
is temporarily blinded.

There is sudden chaos on board
Monitor because he falls back

and says I am blind I'm blind.

NARRATOR: Monitor withdraws
for a damage report.

When she returns, she finds
the battlefield empty.

Virginia, also damaged,
has returned to her base.

ANNA: Neither could figure out
how to kill the other vessel.

It was likely a draw.

NARRATOR: But by stopping
Virginia's killing spree,

Monitor becomes the most
celebrated warship in the

Northern states.

JAMES: It is the ship
that has saved the Union.

It becomes an icon.

It is a symbol of
national pride.

NARRATOR: The battle of the
two metal monsters fascinates

the world but they
never fight again.

Two months later,
Union troops close in
on Virginia's home-port.

To keep her out of enemy
hands, her own crew

sends her to the bottom.

The fate of the
Monitor is more tragic.

Nine months after
fighting Virginia,

she's off Cape Hatteras,
North Carolina,

under tow by
another Union ship.

It's a notoriously rough
patch of sea known as

'the graveyard of the Atlantic'

Out of nowhere, a storm hits.

ANNA: Monitor sailed
right into this maelstrom.

NARRATOR: The waves badly
damage her structure.

Water rushes into the hull.

The sheer weight of Monitor's
armor does the rest.

WILL: It is kind of ironic
that there's a potential that

what was meant to keep the
Monitor crew safe could have

been its ultimate undoing.

ANNA: The distress signal was
a red signal lantern, and it

would appear and disappear
and then appear again and

disappear and this, this went
on for a while until finally

it appeared and
was seen no more.

NARRATOR: Despite frantic
rescue attempts, the Monitor

takes 16 men down with her.

Nearly a century and a half
later, Navy divers recover the

remains of two sailors
from inside the turret.

They are buried with
full military honors at
Arlington National Cemetery.

JAMES: For a brief moment, the
entire country stood united,

long after the passions of that
war, to honor these two men,

who had come back to us
from the depths and from

the turret of the Monitor.

NARRATOR: The epic battle of
the Ironclads points the way

to the future.

The Union Navy builds
64 new Monitor-class ships

during the next two years
and on the Confederate side,

the idea of metal warships

is taken a decisive and
deadly step further.

As the waters of Charleston
harbor begin to empty, the

shattered remains of
another lost Union
warship come into view.

The result of a terrifying
new Confederate weapon.

NARRATOR: Maritime
archaeologist Michael
Scafuri is investigating

one of the Civil War's
greatest mysteries

outside Charleston
Harbor, South Carolina.

MICHAEL: People were
fascinated by the story and

wanted to find out more.

To really understand what
happened we needed to

investigate from an
archaeological point of view.

There are secrets still
left to be discovered.

NARRATOR: In February
1864, Charleston is a
Confederate stronghold.

CRAIG: South Carolina was
perceived as the heart and

soul of the rebellion and
Charleston itself was the

black heart of that rebellion.

NARRATOR: It's being blockaded
by a squadron of 20 Union

warships, including
six Ironclads...

Part of a plan to squeeze
the south economically.

One of them is the
USS Housatonic.

Made of wood but powered
by steam, she is one of the

Union's most
heavily armed ships.

On February 17th, at
8:40 pm, the Bay is calm.

Suddenly there is
a huge explosion...

[explosion].

The Housatonic is gone.

The only clue: eyewitness
reports of a dark shape

moving in the water.

Michael Scafuri knows where
the Housatonic lies,

now he wants to understand
what happened to it.

But in these turbulent seas,
visibility is nearly zero and

underwater photography
very difficult.

So powerful sonar
probes the seabed.

Using this and other data,
it's possible to see what no

diver ever could and
drain away the Atlantic

to uncover an iconic wreck.

First, two iron
water tanks emerge...

next broken timbers,
half-hidden in the sediment

but then, blowing away the silt
uncovers the seabed of 1864.

And here she is...

the remains of the
USS Housatonic.

Whatever fate she
suffered has been erased
by the ravages of time.

Even fully revealed there
are almost no clues.

But what if we could
return to the moment
just before she sinks?

By combining historical
salvage records, and
survey data we can.

Rebuilding the Housatonic
exactly as she was.

A towering fighting warship
in perfect condition...

Except for this!

A hole in the hull deep
below the water line.

This is still the age of the
cannon ball and they usually

shatter masts and punch
holes above the waterline.

So, what caused
this fatal wound?

For over a century,
archaeologists scour

the area around the wreck site.

And eventually, about 1,000
feet from the wreck...

they find this.

The team recovers the
remains and when they get
them ashore they realize.

They've found the
Confederate's first

operational submarine...

the HL Hunley.

And it is what took
the Housatonic down.

In the Warren Lasch Conservatio
Center in Charleston,

Michael Scafuri and his
team pour over every inch.

MICHAEL: The techniques you
use to investigate a site,

are very much like a crime
scene investigation.

You record everything and then
you try and use that evidence

to figure out what
happened here.

It was a product of the
American Civil War and spurred

on by the needs of that war
to develop new technologies.

NARRATOR: First question,
how did it move?

The archaeologists find
no sign of an engine.

But they do find this...

JOHANNA: This is a wrought
iron crank and that's how they

moved the submarine.

they hand-crank it.

the hand crank moved a
flywheel, the flywheel moved a

series of mechanisms, and
then that moves the propeller.

NARRATOR: Next, how did the
crew breathe underwater?

There's no evidence of any
way to refresh the air...

Which means that eight men
crammed into this metal tube

must rely solely on
the air already inside.

The team calculates that
there's enough oxygen
for just two hours.

Severely limiting their
range of operations.

Finally, the most
important question of all?

Just how did this hand-cranked
short-range submarine manage

to ambush and destroy
such a powerful enemy?

NARRATOR: The Confederacy's
ground-breaking submarine,

the HL Hunley.

Inside, there's no sign
of a weapons system.

But outside, it's
a different story.

JOHANNA: We have clues all
over the submarine that tell

us what happened.

This is the spar, it was
attached to the bow of the

submarine, the lower
part of the submarine.

NARRATOR: The 16-feet long
spar presents a puzzle.

Michael Scafuri thinks it
isn't a weapon itself...

but the delivery mechanism
for a weapon and that weapon

is an underwater bomb.

In the Civil War, they call
such weapons by a very
modern name, torpedo.

JAMES: In the 21st century
we think of a torpedo as

something that fires out of
the submarine, when originally

invented in the early 19th
century the torpedo was an

underwater explosive charge.

NARRATOR: If this is how the
Hunley attacked, then she

would need to get within
touching distance of her prey.

But how exactly?

For years, historians
believe the rebel submariners

physically attach the bomb,
with a barbed spike then

detonate it from
a safe distance.

But other evidence found near
the wreck site suggests that

this isn't what happened.

A copper sleeve, which looks
like it was created to hold

the explosive in place.

MICHAEL: The copper sleeve was
peeled back from the force of

the explosion, clearly showing
us that the torpedo was in

fact on the end of the
spar when it went off.

NARRATOR: Based on the
evidence from the drained

wreck and work in the
laboratory it's now possible

to piece together
what likely happened.

The Confederates are desperate
to smash the Union's naval

blockade of Charleston.

CRAIG: The Confederacy,
because they knew they were

inferior in the conventional
weapons of war, had to turn to

new, creative devices.

JAMES: You try to out-smart
the enemy, you try to
out-innovate the enemy.

NARRATOR: The Housatonic
lies at anchor.

Suddenly, the crew
spot a ghostly shape.

MICHAEL: They weren't entirely
sure what it was at first.

It looked like a log on the
water, maybe a porpoise.

NARRATOR: In fact the
hand-cranked submarine

is headed straight for
the Union warship.

MICHAEL: Something like this
had never been seen by the

crew before they would
have been terrified.

NARRATOR: Historians don't
know if the Hunley's crew tries

to attach their
bomb and escape...

But they do know that
with the Hunley just
16 feet from its prey.

[explosion].

The torpedo does its fatal
work and the Housatonic

sinks in minutes.

A new age of naval
warfare has begun.

JAMES: Hunley proves to be
the first submarine ever to

sink an enemy
warship in combat.

NARRATOR: But there's
a final mystery here.

The Hunley never
returns to its base.

No-one has ever been sure why.

MICHAEL: With the discovery of
the H L Hunley a great mystery

had been solved.

However, the real work begins
with discovery, we could then

begin to investigate from an
archaeological point of view.

NARRATOR: The most
obvious explanation...

The Hunley is destroyed
by her own bomb.

[explosion].

Ken Nahshon is a
US Navy engineer;

his job is to test
underwater explosives.

KEN: It's been a historical
mystery for well over

100 years and really
people have always wondered

what happened to it.

NARRATOR: How big is the blast
and what damage could it have

done to the Hunley?

KEN: We constructed a full-scale
replica of Hunley's torpedo,

filled the torpedo with
black powder that matches

the black powder used
at the time and then
set off the explosion.

[explosion].

NARRATOR: Packed with
135 pounds of gunpowder...

the torpedo is seriously
powerful, but the
results are unexpected.

KEN: Once the explosion
goes off, it generates a

high-pressure wave
emanating from the explosion,

as well as a bubble.

That bubble expands and
contracts what would happen

is a high velocity jet would
occur, where basically the

bottom of the bubble comes in
on itself and forms this high

velocity water column that
would have punched a hole

right through Housatonic,
while leaving Hunley

completely unaffected.

KEN: The most surprising
conclusion we had was the

submarine heaved
quite substantially...

However, it was not substantial
enough to cause injury.

NARRATOR: And there
is other evidence that

Hunley survives the explosion..

The bodies of all eight
crewmen found by archaeologists

inside the wreck in an excellen
state of preservation.

Before they are removed for
burial, they are scanned,

photographed and analyzed.

MICHAEL: We have their
remains and we didn't find
any injury to the crew.

NARRATOR: So, if the explosion
didn't kill them, what did?

Could the pressure wave
have cracked the hull
causing flooding?

The evidence suggests not.

MICHAEL: There was no
sign of panic on board.

No-one is out of position,

nobody tried to climb
over their neighbor

and you would expect that
in a drowning scenario.

NARRATOR: Michael Scafuri
believes that there could

be another explanation.

MICHAEL: There's a strong case
to be made for them simply

staying on the bottom too
long, miscalculated how much

air they had and uh
simply went to sleep,

not to wake up again.

NARRATOR: Today, the
investigation continues.

JOHANNA: How they were able
to hand crank a submarine

four miles attack a big ship.

The fact that they thought
they could do it and they

did it, that's, that's a
most remarkable thing.

NARRATOR: In Charleston's
Magnolia Cemetery,

a poignant memorial to
a pioneering crew.

MICHAEL: The fate of the
Hunley crew was a mystery

for 136 years, so it was
appropriate for them to

eventually be given
a proper burial after

136 years of being lost at sea.

This is an archaeologic
project but this is also the

story of a number of people...

8 crew in Hunley and five
on Housatonic who lost their

lives and it's important that
we get their stories straight.

NARRATOR: The world's
first successful
fighting submarine...

[explosion].

Is at the forefront of
a Civil War arms race.

Draining the oceans
around Mobile, Alabama,

reveals astonishing evidence

that the race isn't over yet.

NARRATOR: By 1864, two years
after the game-changing

development of the Monitor...

This is the face
of naval warfare.

The USS Tecumseh.

A bigger, better Ironclad.

Designed to be
impregnable to enemy fire,

it's 50 feet longer
than the Monitor,

has thicker armor and
two massive 15-inch guns.

Tecumseh is one of 4 Ironclads
in a fleet of 18 Union warships

Their target is
Mobile Bay, Alabama.

One of the last Confederate
ports in the south.

If the Union can capture it,
the war could be over soon.

As the fleet enters the
bay, there's an explosion...

[explosion].

And the mighty
Tecumseh is hit.

Almost all her crew are lost.

The only Union Ironclad
ever sunk in battle.

Maritime archaeologist James
Delgado is in Mobile Bay,

studying the wreck of
Tecumseh and trying to
work out what sank her.

JAMES: There are still amazing
secrets beneath the waters of

Mobile Bay that most
people don't see...

sunken vessels
lost in the battle.

NARRATOR: The team prepares
to use side scan sonar and a

magnetometer to
probe the seafloor.

ANNA: Ready?

JAMES: Okay, so we're
in, what altitude are
we flying the head at?

CREW: We're about 15
feet off the bottom.

JAMES: Okay and speed's
running at about?

CREW: At about 4 knots.
JAMES: Yeah, good.

CREW: Returns looking smooth.

JAMES: Whoa, whoa, whoa okay,
what are we coming up on here?

CREW: Does that
look like something?

There we go, I think we
might have a shipwreck.

JAMES: We're on it.

NARRATOR: The scanner
detects a large iron object.

It's in the right place.

James is convinced
it's Tecumseh!

JAMES: But there's a lot of
mud here, looks like given

stuff coming on it, I
think this thing's buried.

NARRATOR: The mud
and silt of 130 years

obscures much of the wreck.

Only emptying Mobile Bay
of water can reveal

what's really down there.

And using the expedition data
we can do just that to try and

solve one of the final
mysteries of the
American Civil War.

As the water drains away...

a tantalizing sight emerges...

a section of an iron hull
buried in the seabed...

And based on the survey data,

we can drain away
the mud as well.

Underneath...

An incredible sight.

A massive iron monster,
223 feet long

lying upside down.

Its spine slowly corroding away

Once one of the world's
most powerful vessels,

the pride of the Union fleet...

now seen in the clear light
of day for the first time

in over 150 years.

A closer look reveals a clue.

Under the waterline, a
large dent in the hull,

8 feet long and 5 feet wide

and more evidence...

Metal seams split apart,
broken with explosive force.

So, could it be the victim of
another Confederate submarine?

Union spies reported rebel
subs under construction,

but there are no records of
them being active here.

What else might
have caused it?

Lying all across the bay...

piles of junk,
hundreds of yards long.

Shipwrecks, bricks,
and wood pilings.

JAMES: If you were to drain
Mobile Bay you would see still

to this day, a number of
obstructions, that were placed

there by the Confederates
to keep the Union Navy out.

NARRATOR: None of these
could cause the severe damage

discovered on the Tecumseh.

But that's not all that the
Confederates place here.

They also deploy these...

a terrifying new weapon;
known today as a sea-mine,

but back then, also
called a torpedo.

A torpedo unlike the
one carried by the
Hunley submarine.

Instead held just under the
surface by a weight and chain:

primed to detonate on contact.

[click and explosion].

This underwater killer is
one of the Confederate's

most successful
maritime weapons,

sinking or damaging
43 Union ships.

And in Mobile Bay, there
are up to 180 torpedoes...

laid row after row, in a
dense, checkerboard pattern.

JAMES: By August of 1864
the Confederates had built,

not only an obstacle course but
a gauntlet, through which the

Union Navy was going to have
to fight its way through.

NARRATOR: With information
from the drained landscape,

and the latest
historical research,

it's clear what happens here.

Commanding the Union fleet
is Admiral David Farragut

on the steam and
sail-powered USS Hartford.

Farragut knows he faces
underwater torpedoes,

but he doesn't know
where they are.

He sends in the
Ironclads first...

Carefully, in single file.

Leading the line,
the Tecumseh.

She fires the first shot
at the rebel-held fort.

Then, as the fleet
enters the Bay...

[explosion].

CRAIG: Gigantic explosion,
the bow wheeled up,

then down into the bay,

the ship plunged downward,
it's stern rising in the air,

the bronze propeller
still spinning.

ANNA: Within the space
of about 30 seconds,

the Tecumseh went
bow down and sank.

JAMES: It's a shocking moment,
but for Farragut history is

made when he reportedly says,

"Damn the torpedoes
full speed ahead",

the order was
given to keep going.

ANNA: They report hearing the
fuses of torpedoes clicking as

they're moving through
but none of them go off.

NARRATOR: The Union fleet
breaks through and despite
losing the Tecumseh,

Farragut's boldness is rewarded

Mobile Bay falls.

For the rebels, it's the
beginning of the end.

CRAIG: The size of the
Confederacy was quite
literally shrinking.

NARRATOR: Nine months later,
peace returns to America.

Draining the secrets of the
American Civil War reveals the

courage of those on both
sides, who risked everything

for their cause.

And a technological
revolution that transforms

the Navies of the world.

Captioned by Cotter
Captioning Services.