Syrian Chemical Attacks Force British Destroyer To Prepare For War | Warship: Life At Sea | Spark

paper was light gold in medieval times [Music] oh no tobacco sugar [Music] that everything we thought we knew about the world might turn out to be completely wrong [Music] this is the story of the most advanced warship of its kind in the world at the most dramatic time in its short history make sure that we are ready for anything hms duncan is a royal navy type 45 destroyer worth over a billion pounds bristling with technology this ship can track a cricket ball size contact and three times the speed of sound at about 100 150 miles that's backed up by weaponry so my sea viper missile system is the best air defense system in the world but this state-of-the-art ship is also home to 280 men and women do you understand the charges against you today yes sir earning cats mate that's what we're doing herding cats our cameras have been given unprecedented access to duncan's dramatic seven month mission as they come face to face with russian forces there is a challenge from russia at the moment that's aircraft passing the stern port look out and the crew find themselves on the front line as missiles rain down on syria it's pretty scary to think that we are literally at the center of everything that's happening we're just waiting now to see what happens and see if anybody fires us previously coming in having a little seat over there there was a surprise test for the crew we've got the drug testing team on board [Music] directly and duncan's mission intensified in the black sea as russian jets swarmed around the ship you are the only asset that has seen the raid of that magnitude in the last 25 years secure the anchors the royal navy's hms duncan is now back in the northern mediterranean fresh from her standoff with russia in the black sea captain elena stack is watching the weapons team as they prepare for a special drill we are laying a killer tomato target so the lads can shoot at it the man in charge is 36 year old petty officer gareth howarth known to all as trigg five hours for this do the pac throw them over the side chew out as you can work out feel how it's not morning persons i joined because i haven't got any qualifications and the way things were going because i was a bit of a bit of a bad lad when i was a kid sometimes found myself on the wrong side of the law and i thought i have to have to do something about this so i joined the neighbor not looked back since but launching the target is proving more difficult than expected for trigg got a brief yesterday the uh the wind was okay i've got the right on pit the best bits about my job is when i planned something and i've executed it and the lads feel like they've achieved something i've achieved them and then i'll go back and do all the paperwork are you ready let's move outside yeah [Music] there you go target deployed chamber clear one of the youngest members of trigg's team is 20 year old danny oldfield he's on his second tour and to earn his spurs he must hit the killer tomato i don't want to get my hopes up i'm gonna definitely try obviously but um yeah i think i think i can hit it yeah i think we're gonna do yeah yeah happy happy p2 with ammus provided load roger load p2 taking a tomato using rapid oh there's a little bit further out in your range there yeah right here in that line in the sea as well yeah yeah 2-0 engage just come up a little bit [Music] oh i stopped bad well done happy birthday take your ammunition box with you that's good shooting mate cool i wouldn't say it was my best shooting but it was it was all right yeah i enjoyed it um at least i had it so you had the captain over your shoulder watching you oh really oh god you should have told me that before and would have made me more nervous about filled yes permission to carry on first online as my best gunner on board um it is marvel excellent well done for your efforts this afternoon that killer tomato took a good shoeing thank you mom well done if you feel carry on [Music] if you didn't hit the target he was pretty close to it yeah you're not willing to commit no absolutely not he told us he hit it well he would say that wouldn't he [Music] course set one seven zero in order to unstable cmo danny isn't the only sailor learning the ropes ship is in cbr and dc three condition yankee i have 23 year old will de lemaire is an officer in training and today he's learning how to run the bridge take the ship in hand steer one seven zero take your plans to 170. i've always really wanted to join the navy from quite a young age my dad was in the navy for 25 years he said you'll love being at sea and so far i'm really enjoying my time on ward will's gearing up for a gruelling interview called a fleet board if he passes he'll say goodbye to duncan and continue his training back home i'm feeling quite nervous it's quite a tough and arduous board so quite a lot of work has gone into it it's very important the moment because it's basically allowing me to progress onto the next stage of my training if i wasn't to pass this in theory i could get thrown out of the navy hms duncan is a quarter of the way into her tour russia's attempted the murder of two people on the streets of salisbury disturbing news is reaching the ship from the back minister says the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter is a threat to democracies across the continent a chemical weapon has been used on the streets of britain in an attempt to murder a former russian spy and his daughter uk intelligence is blaming the russians russia staged a brazen and reckless attack against the united kingdom we do see this as part of a pattern of russian aggression tensions are escalating duncan's currently heading to montenegro nato's newest member but it once had close ties to russia [Music] right good afternoon duncan the situation has changed after the nerve agent attack in salisbury executive officer richard wallace is duncan's second in command he has a warning for the crew uk russian relations are at their lowest point since the cold war that means we need to be extra vigilant in all of our forthcoming poor visits some elements which are sympathetic to the russian cause may look to target us whilst ashore it caught me off guard a little bit i mean you kind of think this home is a bit of a safe place where you don't think these kind of things happen it just makes you think of it more i suppose what's going on kind of in the outside world you get this thrown in your face saying this is what's happening back home with a shot as the crew step off the ship in montenegro they have no idea what to expect after three days of time off in port hms duncan's crew are suddenly ordered to return to the ship for their own safety bunkmates anton and liam are two of the first to return montenegro authorities have been made aware of their group that will be in the area this evening therefore our ship's company are to return on board by eighteen hundred what did it make you think when you got that text shit's got ruger it was quite unnerving actually because i've never had a rapid recall text before you know because of potential threats we've had some information that there may be a group coming to the area that may wish to cause trouble and we've just obviously taken the precaution to make sure that no one's put in harm's way they're sure this evening in all honesty you just didn't feel safe at all it just felt a bit dodgy duncan is heading back to sea 18 military personnel have been sent to salisbury investigating [Music] with a military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by russia russia is denying any involvement in the salisbury attack nato commodore mike utley is the man in charge of duncan's mission he's keeping a close eye on developments was i surprised by salisbury as an individual case no russian activity had already increased that that challenge was already alive and kicking if you like linking salisbury to hms duncan might seem a bit of a leak but we need to be out there ensuring uk interests are looked after [Music] 28 year old stuart anton matthews joined the navy just a year ago this is actually my first ship just came on the train when everything that i've done on this ship is my first time doing it how are we doing sir um all right i'm all right living the dream serving the queen if you can't tell by the accent i'm up i'm from a caribbean boy from a smaller island named simonson where the sun is always shining the people always friendly as you can tell i'm always friendly and smiling i guess that's just who i am some would have to keep the ship going and somebody have to build a morale it is quite easy to forget day to day that you're on a warship because you've already made friends with everybody you feel like a little family on board see what i'm talking about he already had three breakfast this morning [Laughter] at times i get really lonely being far away from people that you love so i go in my little toilet cubicle or my bed space and take my time out and come back again thank you come on you know team won't make the gym work [Music] [Laughter] it's time for will's fleet board the culmination of four months training on duncan i'll go ahead and sit down yeah you knock okay and then come in okay don't wait to be taken coming you're just not pause too okay yep [Music] he's being quizzed by the ship's most senior officers in the course of your duty as the officer of the day talk through the type of rounds that you'll conduct during the course of that duty could be doing gallery rounds so still behind the counter at meal times i have something called the fleet logistics inspection what is the purpose of this inspection it basically checks everything within the department it's quite a scrutinous inspection just to make sure the ship the ship's captain also gets to question will looking at people that have inspired you or motivated you in terms of leadership who would you pick out i tend to think about to my dad quite a lot as well because he was a logistics officer for 25 years and throughout my life he said you need to be doing this you need to be doing that [Music] and i sort of always think what he would do in certain situations the next three hours of examination will determine whether will stays in the navy [Music] duncan's biggest weapons must always be ready but after salisbury it's even more important trig and his weapons team have moved to the ops room the nerve center of the ship latest r3 they're testing the 4.5 inch gun in a naval firing range it's the biggest on board able to hit targets 17 miles away we can keep the enemy's head down for quite a while because we could just sit here and just fire around in sporadically in the enemy don't know when it's coming young gunner danny is manning the laser targeting system you can't make any mistakes because it's quite dangerous obviously gunnery got a lot of pressure sometimes when people import people watching the gun is ready to engaged [Music] this is this probably one the better parts of the job i do enjoy it don't get to do very often which also makes it a bit more exciting when we do get to do it pretty good uh pretty good foot fighter pilot is it quite a safe place to be honest absolutely safest place in the world it's time for will to discover his fate captain elena stack will deliver the news so this is the culmination of your boards today [Music] to put you out of your misery the conclusion of the board since you have passed and not just passed but you have passed with distinction so well done congratulations thank you very much very very happy to get it done get out of the way go on to the next stage and i get to go home as well go see the dog go see the family you see friends so yeah really happy to have passed are you looking forward to building your dad yeah yeah he'll be very happy he failed his first fleet board so get one up on him yeah exactly more disturbing news is reaching the ship there's been another chemical attack this time it's from somewhere much closer to the ship's current position syria up to 75 people including young children were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack this massacre was a significant escalation by that very terrible regime the syrian government are accused of using chemical weapons against their own people sparking international outrage but russia is siding with syria russia says claims that syrian government forces were responsible are a major provocation behind the scenes politicians thrash out the west's varied options you're quite isolated on the ship from the outside world and to see that things are escalating in the outside world that could affect what we're doing and it's quite interesting to see so how do you feel about the fact you might be getting off in a few days um [Music] i'd like to stay a lot if something were to happen but if i need to go i need to go duncan is the closest british ship to syria the tension on board is growing as the crew wait to see how the west will react suddenly they accelerate to maximum speed are we limited yeah that's that is it's probably five and a half years i've just been told to increase speed and head in this direction everyone lives near where the gas turbines are um suddenly you hear it come on and there's only reasons why that would come on we're going alongside in the next half an hour we're flying in the next half hour or we're doing something different i've heard we've got to go to singapore to do an engine change and then we've got to do we've got to do the sea trials after that in brazil we don't know what's going to happen so we'll just we get told we do i've also heard that phil is out of orange fanta so we've got to get alongside to fill it up honestly only a handful of officers know what's really going on including navigator ryan greg known as navs how fast do we agree to be two what's that sweet contour maximum um is that a new one no not gonna say anymore something's going on yes not gonna say anymore so something's happening but you can't tell me what's happening yeah i can't say anything [Music] many of you will be aware that the ship may best be towards the southeast as a number of potential options are being considered no decision has been made but we anticipate further direction over the next 24 hours [Music] heading south east puts captain stack and her ship on course for syria anyone who's been reading the news over the weekend can see what's going on in the area of operations where we're going to and so we just need to make that that shift in in thinking about it what i expect all of you to do as my leaders is to make sure that you're as well versed with what is going on because if we are called upon to do supporting strike missions whatever it is then we are absolutely ready to go in the good ship duncan we're going to be in these to med in in a very volatile situation what do we need to be thinking about as a ship's company to be ready for and that could be anywhere from non-combatant evacuation operation to warfare uh support every day that we see we need to be ready to react now more than ever will deliver wants to stay and be part of the action i've made my intentions that and my wishes to stay i haven't been told everything yet i've been told to pack and be ready in case i need to leave i really really want to stay there's people in the military who've gone through 20 25 years of being in the military without seeing anything and then within a year of joining my opportunity comes and the fact that i might this might be the only opportunity if i have to walk off that ship now i'll be pretty gutted will's time on board hangs in the balance but nobody on the ship knows what lies around the corner [Music] this is a brutal regime that is attacking its own people we are very clear that it must be held to account we're making a decision as to what we do militarily and we'll uh we'll be letting you know pretty soon with talk of a military response to the syrian attacks duncan and her crew are on their way to the region but she's running low on supplies and needs to make an urgent stop in crete if i give you a bearing of a bounce turn just trying to understand that jetty nato commodore mike utley is waiting for details of their mission navies are reactive plans have been looked at alternatives have been looked at in reaction to events in the eastern mediterranean politicians decide how these ships will be tossed we wait for that process to happen duncan needs to get back to sea quickly to resume their journey towards syria so the crew only have a five-hour window to get food and fuel on board a task that would normally take all day we need you to go and get the keys to forklift and be transferring pallets as soon as they start coming over logistics officer ellen laird is fighting against the clock at the moment we currently have 29 days worth of food on board it's quite fortuitous that we're alongside fort rosalie and she has got stores and food on board that we can tap into the stuff that we're going to take on today will take us up to about 40 days of food which allows the captain that flexibility to know that we can stay at sea and food is not going to be that limiting factor so we've got a flat bed lorry we've got a forklift truck so let's let's just make it a team effort again and who knows honestly we don't know what our mission is or where we're going what we're doing so um [Music] the pallets are filled with everything from frozen sausages to chocolate desserts yeah so that's good we'll just get it going but there's a problem ellen can't start loading them because the refueling pipe is blocking her way how many pallets are about 13 to 14. you need to get started doing that you put the touch on your face and a purge put your hand on them nobody knows what will happen when the ship reaches syria to prepare the crew are undergoing gas masks checks what this is is advanced respiratory testing systems puts particles into the system makes it smaller than any nerve or chemical or biological agent that we could be facing just say if we go somewhere like syria where they're known to be using it at the minute and just to make sure none of the nasties get through the size of the restoration we know it works it's a particularly important procedure for the steward anton matthews who doubles up as a first aider it's funny how something as simple as this can protect you from chemicals and stuff and especially my job of me saving people life just need to work because i have my whole life to live for [Music] when there's a chemical attack my job is going outside to collect that person to treat them if someone get hurt it's about like your family member got hurt so i wish i don't have to do my job for real second exercise just stuck throw your heads run around nice and slow okay slower than that then this time every every 10 seconds just have a jump okay so we know that you've got the correct fit on the mask so far so good last one just juggling on the spot nice and gentle all right okay stop there yeah that's a good pass okay just have to start getting through all these people out better see if things are in it exactly three hours before they need to leave ellen is thinking on her feet to deconflict with the fueling we've uh we've brought the food onto the flight deck and the whole ship's company are involved now so that we can get it on and uh still make my timeline so adapt and overcome i guess so it's all hands in get as many saws on as we can and get back to see as soon as possible yeah okay we'll get that done so we'll figure out how close [Music] so there's a hose obviously so because obviously it has a highly flammable rate then we'll pipe it as an immediacy so how long until we start refilling it uh we'll have to set the hose out get the crane to move it from the after filling point to the 401 so the cranes will eject you now okay right thanks [Music] the fuel spill will delay their departure by at least another hour hi it's um desperate to be involved in any potential action will deliver has appealed against an order to go home a decision has now been made i'm leaving the [ __ ] yeah it um ship's got into suda early i've been told to get off and to go home i'm really upset to be leaving um looking forward to going home but i'd rather be staying help out the [ __ ] help out the team sorry yeah they're booting me on cheers thanks i'm sure you have a good rest of the trip thanks for everything okay okay thank you thank you good luck see ya bye rory bye sir goodbye friend hi johnny so you're 13 going i'm not talking i'd have liked to in the first place yeah it's been wicked learned a lot about myself being an officer everything that i've wanted to do when i joined so yeah really really good time [Music] after six hours the resupply is complete they now have enough food and fuel for over a month and duncan can resume her mission i think there's an element of excitement to this and the anticipation is something that we thrive on we're reacting to something that's happening that's real world that people are watching on the news back home that could be potentially us having an impact on that news when you're doing it for real that dynamism as a as the real reason why we do the job that we do i think as duncan speeds towards syria a strike force from britain america and france is beginning to assemble ready to fire on syria's chemical weapons but politicians will decide if that will happen assad and his regime hasn't stopped their use of chemical weapons we can't let atrocities like we all witnessed to happen it will be met and it will be met forcefully theresa may could herself and her cabinet and she can order military strikes donald trump tweeted that the missiles are coming be ready effectively um that's certainly not something that's normal that's a bit of an escalation then we've got russia saying back that any missiles that get fired into syria a will shoot them down but also we'll fire back if whoever fires them implying you shoot from a ship we'll shoot back at you russia's threat to defend their syrian ally raises the stakes you have to be careful what you wish for but the concept of you know the amount of training that we've done to get to the various positions that we have on board um the concept of using that training for real there is a there is an excitement to that but obviously never wish a war or anything like that in terms of the politicians and the military options as the commanding officer of a type 45 at ce i am just ready to react to that decision uh when it is made with duncan's syrian mission unclear she's heading into the unknown [Music] good evening duncan you are no doubt all aware of the heightened tensions in the eastern mediterranean in light of the recent chemical attack in syria ben dorinson is addressing the ship with the most important message he's ever delivered as such the commodore has directed that the task group increased since threading this posture tonight in order to be in the best possible state and ready for any eventuality therefore and we do action stations [Music] state of preparedness so the ocean is ready for any eventuality that is hostilities receipt of any sort of damage this is serious together the british american and french strike force has assembled near to duncan meanwhile syria's ally russia is responding with its own fleet of warships the battle lines are being drawn so there's a hype of activity at the moment so the guys are now running around the different weapon systems will be manned uh with a certain amount of ammunition keys the lh pistol anybody else need keys the lasers will be set free and we've got a team up top that are loading all the systems ready for any eventualities that was an absolute shock to be honest and i think honestly a lot of people that you speak to have no idea what's going to happen nervous because when you go to action for real in the back of your mind you're always thinking oh there's something going on here just as long as everyone doesn't [ __ ] panic logistics officer ellen is battening down the hatches everything is stowed away um so if we were to take battle damage we're not going to increase the damage by having things flying around compartments we also disperse our manpower so if the worst were to happen and we took a hit we don't all sit in the same place and get taken out as a wanner in the most morbid sense while the crew wait to see what happens next steward anton is preparing for action i'm just monstering the first aid post making sure everything is there just in case anything goes wrong how are you feeling okay there's no words to describe that right now what is not cool and i don't want anyone to get hurt but if it hurt i'll be there nathan i'm prepared for it i think so far all positions early warning radar associating admiral essen the russians are making their presence known the admiral essen is one of russia's newest and most heavily armed warships it's making a beeline for the strike force and duncan there's definitely a threat out there at the moment we've got a russian out here to the east probably 60 miles away so we're well within the envelope for him to attack us if he wanted to do so [Music] ors climate one minute standby environmental sit rep in one minute in the ops room duncan's orders have arrived assessor due to uh mounting tensions within the eastern med a build-up of russian activity as well as allied forces intentions are to be prepared to defend the task force if necessary their mission is to protect the allied strike force from any russian or syrian attack this is what duncan was designed for but it's the first time the crew have done it for real martin watson's the ewo the executive warrant officer there's a lot going on at the moment and it's getting very real too close for comfort he's trying to keep the ship's crew focused but so much is classified he can't tell them everything that's going on just been up on a little bit of a an intel report there's not loads i can tell you there may be activity you're sure so we're bringing ourselves into a different kind of alertness so just make sure you're you're prepped for it all right due to regulations there is a need to call in everyone's personal and work mobile phones we've got to uh collecting our mobile phone so that'll be all internet access any kind of communications with the outside world because what we don't want is any false information leak of any kind of sensitive information we like trying to prize toys out of a child's hand i expect so we'll see how do you feel about losing your mobile phone so three people on the whole ship that can send an email out from the ship captain the commodore and the executive officers only any of the wrong messages getting off the ship is going to endanger life potentially [Music] as the russian threat looms large the strikeforce await further orders [Music] duncan's captain elena stack is receiving top secret intelligence about what will happen next we need to be in the right posture to defend the task group you can understand that there are lots of reports that i cannot share with the ship's company you also all know me well enough that the things i can't share i will share but we're all warriors and we understand that sometimes the operational security side of things means that i cannot tell you the full picture of what's going on so i expect you to trust me so that we still are ready to do whatever we might need to do if the allied strike force launched their missiles all eyes will be on the russian warships should they fire back the uk could find itself at war with russia [Music] hms duncan has spent the night in the eastern mediterranean at maximum alert poised to defend an allied strike force from russian or syrian attack but so far there have been no hostilities navs has been on the bridge for most of the night so i actually know what day it is it's friday oh it's friday the 13th there we go i'll spot a luck we've still got russians within 100 miles but what can probably only describe as converging of allied ships in the eastern men to get my sleep last night i got two hours two got a bit more but he was up at four in the morning the day before so he had almost three in a row a day some people almost haven't been to bed a long life a lot of people commanding remains defend the task ben dorington called the ship to action stations 14 hours ago he's leaving his post for the first time all right so i've just come off uh watch now and hand it over to uh my opposite number now i've got to write daily orders uh that was definitely one of the more interesting uh shifts yes uh don't often come across quite so many uh different uh different ships especially from uh uh russian nation and yeah very very interesting how much sleep do you get uh we'll probably get five hours if we if you're quick and you don't spend too long on the film admiral essen observed under helm to starboard in the ops room ben's shift relief james smith is keeping tabs on the closest and most heavily armed russian warship the admiral essence now [Music] early warning radar associating admiral essen people copy so we've got the uh at the admiral lesson here we've been tracking east while she's been sort of holding in position with the uss donald cook the donald cook is an american warship it's locked in a game of cat and mouse with the russians admiral essen so the essen went past us the donald cook took the opportunity to come back the other way and then the [Music] it's definitely there five and a half miles right there so if it was clear skies it would be big and there the donald cook is carrying tomahawk missiles the weapon most likely to be fired on syria the russian warship is ready to bounce if they do because the donald cook's got tomahawk yeah i think you're going to care about my dog we don't well she could come and take a part of it she won't it's like the opening scene from pirates caribbean except we're the good guys are we the indefatigable you can be the child because you're small many of the crew have never faced a conflict before so my friends i'm up for range logistics officer ellen is trying to keep them well informed please thank you very much how you all doing good yeah not too bad anyone had more than three hours sleep not yet i just thought we'd take the opportunity to just give you a bit of an update as to what's going on we're now steaming east for those who haven't been up in the ops room and know where we're off to we're going to sit off in a box almost equal distance between preet and cyprus and the reason we're doing that is because we've been asked to add to the anti-air defense picture captains fully appreciate your efforts last night and your patience and your forbearance thank you well done keep going the same vein last and best and all that thank you so am i just giving mine in general clean then yeah 20 year old danny this is the first time he's been at action stations for real last night it was a bit out of the blue wasn't expecting it i rang my mum i think it was yesterday day before um when we were at anchor and uh just told her that probably wasn't gonna speak to her for a little while so she doesn't worry too much i suppose um but i couldn't say why or anything but i think she she's been watching the news so i think it's fairly obvious [Music] [Music] uh right so we'll talk about what's happened over the watch ben's grabbed his five hours sleep and is back on shift we have gone from there to there we've interacted with the admiral essen the essen is absolutely locked on the donald cook over the night that's it nothing significant to report how you've lost track of what time of day it is already yeah it's not overnight yet is it not okay right [Applause] last night the guns of the allied strike force stayed silent but tonight there'll be no holding back this evening i have authorized british armed forces to conduct coordinated and targeted strikes to degrade the syrian regime's chemical weapons capability there is no alternative to the use of force my thoughts are with our brave british servicemen and women who are carrying out their duty with the greatest professionalism next time the missiles rain down on syria the strike package is now underway liam fletcher finds himself in serious trouble today i find that my punishment it's bad times do you understand the charges against you today yes and hms duncan finally heads home after their remarkable seven months at sea i can actually see my head from here [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Spark

Views: 180,631

Keywords: Spark, Science, Technology, Engineering, Learning, How To, documentary, factual, full documentary, Science documentary, hms duncan modern warship, hms duncan russian jets, hms duncan warship life at sea, hms duncan season 1, warship life at sea, warship life at sea season 1, type 45 destroyer, type 45 destroyer firing, royal navy warship, sea viper missile, sea viper firing, crimean war 2014, crimean war documentary, syrian chemical attacks 2018, syrian chemical warfare, us navy

Id: cRxTF7VtMb0

Length: 45min 12sec (2712 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 25 2021