The Most Powerful American Warships Of Military History | War Machines | Timeline

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unending quest to rule the waves [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the key to ruling the waves was firepower capital ships boasted the most devastating weaponry and none were more formidable than the battleship dominating the ocean battleships became a symbol of naval supremacy [Music] throughout the last months of 1990 coalition forces assembled in the persian gulf responding to saddam hussein's invasion of kuwait when iraq failed to withdraw operation desert storm launched after air forces began their bombardment 27 tomahawk cruise missiles were launched at inland iraqi targets these strikes would come from battleships built half a century earlier the iowa class work began on the iowa class before the outbreak of the second world war their construction taking five years capable of 60 kilometers per hour they were the world's fastest battleships but they did not sacrifice firepower for speed their 16-inch guns were the most powerful ever mounted on a us warship with armor-piercing shells able to penetrate almost 10 meters of reinforced concrete the iowa class had the greatest anti-aircraft firepower of any ship in world war ii wielding 130 anti-aircraft guns and cannons while operating in the pacific theater they protected allied aircraft carriers against waves of japanese planes as america island hopped their way toward japan the battleships provided artillery support for attacking amphibious troops despite their destructive power the iowa class battleship's final mission in world war ii would be one of peace led by the iowa the missouri and duke of york the great fleet steam their victory course to tokyo bay itself on september the 2nd 1945 representatives from japan and allied nations met on the decks of the uss missouri to sign the japanese instrument of surrender the iowa class battleships would continue to serve in a variety of roles during the korean and vietnam complex in the 1980s they were pulled from retirement due to rising cold war tension and as trouble brewed in the persian gulf they were deployed once again after a 70-year career these mighty battleships have earned their retirement now museums they stand as monuments to the role of the battleship in war and peace september 3rd 1939 after declaring war on germany the british royal navy embarked on a campaign to start the nazi war effort the krig's marine quickly retaliated launching their own counter-blockade for more than five years the atlantic ocean was engulfed in war german u-boats and warships mercilessly hunted allied merchants and naval defenses with britain's fate to be decided upon the waves germany unveiled its most powerful ships of the war the bismarck class commissioned in 1940 the lead ship was named after otto von bismarck the man credited with germany's unification 35 000 tons of german steel is ready to be launched in the presence of the fiora himself in view of the bismarck's awesome power the commander asked the ship be referred to as he instead of the traditional she it was the largest battleship in europe powerful and extremely well protected he had eight 15-inch guns arranged in twin turrets and his armour made up 40 of his weight as the bismarck slipped into the north atlantic on a mission to hunt enemy merchants the hms hood was sent to intercept symbol of naval supremacy the hood was considered the only ship in the world powerful enough to take on the bismarck bismarck will do 30 knots so becoming one of the fastest capital ships afloat only hms hood among british battleships is equally fast a battle cruiser the hood carried less armor than the bismarck favoring speed and agility [Music] at the battle of denmark strait the two giants of the sea closed in on one another the hood opened fire along with royal navy battleship prince of wales the bismarck returned fire striking the hood's aft ammunition magazines the hood immediately exploded [Music] of the 1419 crew only three survived the hudzama had been sacrificed for speed and she was no match for the might of the premier nazi battleship in the dockyards of portsmouth 1912 construction began on a new breed of capital ship faster stronger and more advanced than anything before named for one of the most revered british monarchs of all time they would lead the royal navy to victory in both wars the queen elizabeth class battleships the queen elizabeth class super dreadnoughts were the first capital ships to be fueled by oil rather than coal they're four steam turbine engines propelling them to an unprecedented 44 kilometers per hour [Music] the five ships were the most powerful british warships of the great war armed with eight 15-inch naval guns the most successful heavy guns ever deployed by the royal navy their shells weighed almost 880 kilograms during the 1930s the queen elizabeth class were upgraded with anti-aircraft weapons arming them for another war that would come all too soon old battleship into new hms war spite is ready at last to sail the seas again after extensive reconstruction the work of modernizing her has been in progress since 1934 at a cost of some two and a half million pounds in 1940 during the battle of calabria the queen elizabeth class hms war spite would make history while defending allied cruisers under fire from italian warships she made one of the longest range hits from the moving ship in history with her guns at maximum elevation warspite managed to strike an attack in battleship from 24 kilometers warspite became the most honored vessel of the second world war and the most decorated ship in the history of the royal navy by the 1960s the age of the battleship had come to a close missiles superseded the range and destructive power of the naval gun and new classes of ships brandishing this immense power began to emerge built in the late 1980s they are amongst the us navy's fiercest weapons the ali burke guided missile destroyer these multi-mission destroyers can be stocked with up to 90 missiles including subsonic tomahawks long-range cruise missiles that can obliterate targets up to 2500 kilometers away the heavy armor of the battleship has been replaced with other defensive innovations four aegis radar flat panels form a virtual protective shield around the arleigh burke providing 360 degree coverage and allowing it to track and guide weapons to destroy threats to the fleet built for modern warfare they are the first large u.s navy ships to feature stealth designs such as angled surfaces reducing their radar cross-section and making them harder to detect by enemy missiles with sophisticated detection systems and deadly armament the ali burke class of guarded missile destroyers will dominate the seas for decades to come despite a warship's speed or power there is nothing more fearsome than a threat from below the waves primitive at first each generation of submersible warship has outclassed the one before with armament and fuel driving innovation the submarine has come to define power at sea lurking beneath the sea undetectable to enemy forces these silent predators can remain submerged for three months at a time diving 300 meters below the surface patrolling the world's oceans since 1976 they are the backbone of the u.s navy's submarine force the los angeles class submarine driven by a nuclear reactor providing 35 000 horsepower the los angeles classes top speed is highly classified bolstered by a growing fleet of modern virginia-class fast attack submersibles these killing machines are designed to seek and destroy enemies above and below the water line each carries a stock of tomahawk missiles that can be fired from anywhere in the world's oceans these covert predators have the potential to wield more explosive power than the oceans have ever seen while modern submarines operate in secrecy drawing little attention to their awesome capabilities their predecessors were once the most feared killing machines in the world [Music] in 1917 whilst battle ground to a deadlock on the western front a new predator was prowling the mediterranean declaring unrestricted warfare at sea the german empire had unleashed the untersi boot the most deadly of the 274 strong fleet was u-35 [Music] u-35's longest serving captain lothar bonano was the most successful submarine ace in history sinking 195 ships his record has never been beaten this was one of his victims a british freighter which he finished off with several runs from his 22-pounder gun vandala perrier was renowned for his scrupulous adherence to prize law he preferred to attack ships from the surface employing his torpedoes as a last resort allowing enemy crews to board lifeboats he provided directions to the nearest port before sending their ships to the ocean floor not all u-boat captains were as ethical resulting in tragic civilian casualties as the war progressed allied forces began developing countermeasures that would continue to be refined in the second world war sky patrols kept constant lookout for surfaced vessels revealing their positions to armed aircraft allied merchants began operating in armed convoys with lead vessels deploying smoke screens to obscure the rest of the fleet the diesel and electric motors that powered the submarines were loud and underwater microphones were developed to detect u-boats in hiding upon discovering an enemy the allies unleashed another new weapon the depth charge the explosion created hydraulic shocks that either sunk u-boats or forced them to surface where they would be at the mercy of allied ships or aircraft by early 1918 the allies had suppressed the u-boat threat but the campaign lost 5 000 ships and countless men to the ocean surviving through it all the indestructible u35 with stealth and surprise key tools in the submarine's arsenal the need to resurface for air and fuel was an achilles heel the diesel and electric engines of early submarines only allowed for limited dive time but an explosive energy source would usher in a new age of underwater weaponry in the form of a revolutionary machine the uss nautilus although nuclear technology was feared around the world there were those that saw it as the fuel of the future the challenge facing the u.s navy was developing a reactor small enough to fit into the hull of the vessel and safe enough to protect crew from nuclear contamination built over the course of 18 months by the electric boat company the uss nautilus launched in 1954 [Music] an undersea giant built to circle the globe without refueling the ss nautilus launches a new era in the history of subsurface vessels [Music] carrying a fuel supply that would last two years and allow the nautilus to travel over one hundred thousand kilometers she ventured to depths and locations beyond the limits of previous submarines the massive amount of heat rendered by the uranium in the reactor was used to generate steam powering the craft's turbines and accelerating the nautilus to unprecedented speeds remaining submerged for as long as she had food for her crew the anti-submarine tactics of both world wars were rendered obsolete on the 3rd of august 1958 the nautilus completed operation sunshine a submerged transit of the north pole it all went without a hitch nautilus passed safely on her route right under the pole a tremendous achievement and a moment of relief i should think for all on board when she surfaced the historic journey was more than just a publicity start it proved the viability of nuclear power at sea laying the foundation for the next stage of the submarine's evolution since gaining power in 1933 adolf hitler had secretly begun constructing a new fleet of u-boats when britain declared war on germany in 1939 he had already amassed 46 submarines the most common among them the type 7 within the first eight hours of the war the u-boats claimed their first target sinking the passenger ship ss athenia killing 128 civilian passengers and crew the biggest war news of these early days has been the criminal sinking of the athenian these survivors are victims of hitler's first crime by submarine [Music] once again u-boats had a stranglehold on allied shipping lines wolf packs of up to 20 u-boats would ambush merchant convoys sinking 2779 ships in five years winston churchill wrote the only thing that ever really frightened me during the war was the u-boat peril undoubtedly one of the most formidable assets of the axis powers in the present phase of the war is the u-boat the submarines are wearing pennants that boast of allied shipping sent to the bottom armed with as many as 22 torpedoes u-boats were able to strike multiple times before returning to base to rearm guided by a gyroscope and propelled by steam the torpedoes could rise or dive through the water to pre-calculated depths initially explosives were triggered upon contact with an enemy ship while later in the war magnetic ignition was introduced detonating under the influence of a vessel's hull with their attacks against the allies taking them a long way from home the nazis commissioned a fleet of refueling submersibles that the allies dubbed milk cows carrying fuel tanks rather than firepower the 10 milk cows could hold up to 600 tons of diesel fuel to refuel both the milk cow and the u-boat needed to surface dangerously exposed the process lasted five hours [Music] the allies knew that sinking the milk cows would end u-boat operations in the atlantic and began mercilessly targeting them as the war came to an end all 10 of the milk cows would be lying at the bottom of the ocean along with two-thirds of the u-boat fleet four out of every five german submariners would meet their demise earning the u-boat its final moniker the iron coffin throughout the cold war the fear of nuclear annihilation gripped both sides of the iron curtain to ensure their ability to retaliate in the event of a soviet nuclear strike the u.s navy designed a range of submarines capable of launching a counter-attack from anywhere on earth the george washington class submarine launched in 1959 the uss george washington was the first of 41 ballistic missile submarines designed as a deterrent against the soviet nuclear threat so powerful was the george washington's armament president kennedy would describe it as one of the most important systems ever created packed with 16 polaris missiles each 40 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on hiroshima they could strike a soviet target 2 000 kilometers away concealed and always on the move submarines were the ideal method of delivering long-range strikes however with rocket engines needing air to burn launching a missile required a submarine to surface its position uncovered a submarine would once again be vulnerable to attack but the george washington class had a secret weapon a revolutionary new deployment system that would allow the polaris to launch from the ocean depths the polaris could be fitted with an h-bomb warhead and it's reported that one submarine's batteries could fire the equivalent of all the high explosive detonated in world war ii as the waterproof seal on the launch tube exploded compressed air would project the missile through 40 meters of water at over 80 kilometers per hour breaking the surface the rockets would ignite once they came into contact with the air on july 20th 1960 the uss george washington made history successfully launching the first polaris missile while submerged the first missile after a startling off-angle emergence corrects itself and soars downrange 1100 miles to its target with remarkable accuracy the george washington completed 55 patrols her warheads trained on targets across the vast soviet union [Music] of the five ships in her class she was the last to retire after 25 years as a lethal deterrent of the deep in the first half of the 20th century the changing face of naval warfare highlighted the vulnerability of the lumbering battleship a new breed of hybrid ships would emerge sacrificing armor to gain speed whilst maintaining the heavy hitting firepower of the battleship the battle cruisers after world war one with the treaty of versailles limiting the weight of german warships the rush marine created a new class of cruisers that appeared to conform to the restrictions lighter than the traditional battleship yet more heavily armed than any cruiser that had come before the deutschland class built during the interwar period each deutschland class cruiser officially displaced no more than 10 000 tonnes on paper yet fully stocked and crude the cruisers violated the treaty armed with six 11 inch guns their enormous firepower in relation to their small size earned them the british nickname pocket battleship as the second world war commenced nazi germany unleashed their pocket battleships into the atlantic where their combined speed and firepower made them formidable hunters in 1939 the admiral graf spay the third of the deutschland class cruisers had been successfully raiding merchant ships in the south atlantic when she was spotted by a group of three british cruisers the royal navy pounced but the admiral graf spay managed to fight off all three attackers within the hour damaged she limped to montevideo to evacuate the wounded and receive repairs the british admiralty seized upon the opportunity deliberately laying down false communications for the admiral graf spay to intercept the graft space captain was fooled into believing that a large british naval force was on route to attack the crippled cruiser instead of surrendering his ship to the enemy captain hans langsdorff scuttled the admiral graf's bay on december the 18th 1939 throughout the cold war air-based attacks emerged as the greatest threat to warships anti-aircraft capabilities became essential to fleet survival second only to the aircraft carrier in strength and size cruisers became the bodyguards of the ocean protecting fleets against threats from the air an integral member of an aircraft carrier battle group the ticonderoga class of guided missile cruisers can eliminate incoming enemy threats and make deadly offensive strikes on land sea and air targets enemy aircraft and projectiles are all tracked by the ticonderoga's aegis phased array radar which can guide 122 missiles to intercept threats whilst the aegis combat system is undoubtedly effective its technological complexity has led to some tragic disasters in 1988 ticonderoga cruiser uss vincennes strayed into iranian waters whilst engaging hostile gunboats in the ensuing confusion the vincennes fight on what the captain believed to be an incoming enemy fighter it was later revealed that no fighter was on course toward the ship but a passenger flight with 290 people on board all on the flight perished some sources laid blame on an over-eager captain whilst others on the complex aegis combat system which interpreted the flight's transponder code as military rather than civilian the ticonderoga class has taken on board the innovations of past battle cruisers with a top speed of 60 kilometers per hour and kepler protecting vital areas it's not weighed down by its armor [Music] the electronic warfare systems and extensive combat history give these modern cruisers the technology and experience to serve well into the 21st century where battleships were once the most feared weapons on the ocean the late 19th century saw a dramatic shift in naval warfare as smaller swifter threats emerged from humble beginnings as torpedo boat killers the destroyer has evolved into one of the most dependable and formidable weapons in a navy's arsenal [Music] in world war ii as the battle of the atlantic raged allied convoys became increasingly susceptible to german submarines in 1942 alone the allies lost 1 64 supply ships nazi wolf packs marauding the sea lanes said desperately needed supplies threatening not only britain's ability to fight but the nation's very existence desperate to protect the fleet against the submersible torpedo boats the royal navy began retooling large numbers of world war one and interwar era destroyers initially ill-equipped to battle the german u-votes and luftwaffe the british destroyers played catch-up with german technology they were quickly updated with larger anti-aircraft guns torpedo tubes and mine lane capabilities down below some hundreds of mines wait to be launched from clapham junction the naval nickname for this deck the british navy laid over 20 000 mines sinking over 1050 axis surface vessels and submarines as the war progressed the royal navy implemented the war emergency program building flotillas of new utility destroyers the new designs transform the destroyer from defensive protector to u-boat hutterkiller sonar and radar enable destroyers to detect and respond to inbound attacks with mortars added to the anti-sub-arsenal the destroyers helped the allies to suppress the u-boat threat in the atlantic and their increased strength saw them become formidable weapon systems by war's end in 1942 51 allied destroyers were lost to enemy attacks but within three short years that number would fall to just two in the late 19th century a british engineer created an explosive new weapon that could [ __ ] or sink a main battleship the advent of the torpedo revolutionized naval warfare the large ironclad battleships of the era were now vulnerable to smaller swift torpedo boats fitted with multiple launchers for the self-propelled whitehead torpedo powered by a compressed air engine and driven by a propeller the whitehead torpedo could travel over 700 meters at nearly 30 kilometers per hour built in their hundreds and powered by new combustion engines attack torpedo boats were faster and more agile than their enormous battleship prey to counteract this threat a new class of warship was needed to shield the fleet maneuverable long enduring and capable of repelling the short-range attackers the destroyer was born by the outbreak of world war 1 the torpedo had been adopted by the submarine battleships and merchant convoys now had an enemy that could strike from beneath the ocean's surface to counter the submersible menace a new breed of destroyer would begin to emerge during the final years of world war one the american force tax a nickname allotted to a handful of classes spotting four iconic smokestacks the american destroyers were powered by steam turbine engines the four stacks could travel at twice the speed of a u-boat laying covering smoke screens to obscure the larger and slower ships in their fleet from the submarine's periscope when confronted with german u-boats they could chase them down and attack with their deck guns or unleash depth charges and torpedoes conceived to protect against fast threats above the water the destroyer had evolved to fought threats from the deep the success of the initial force tax saw large numbers built after war's end many serving in world war ii in 1964 in the waters of the gulf of tonkin the destroyer would once again be pitted against the torpedo boat the ensuing confrontation would launch the united states into a bloody war with tensions between the u.s and north vietnam at boiling point u.s naval destroyers conducted intelligence gathering operations just outside the borders of vietnamese territorial waters on august 2nd an allen m sumner class destroyer the uss maddox radioed that she was under attack by three north vietnamese torpedo boats nearby aircraft carrier uss ticonderoga launched four fighters to aid the maddox while she pummeled the vietnamese boats with over 280 shells undeterred by the attack the maddox reinforced by another destroyer maintained patrols to test the resolve of the north vietnamese two days later both ships claimed another attack within half an hour of hearing of the second attack u.s president lyndon johnson decided on retaliatory airstrikes ramping up open warfare against north vietnam warplanes from the ticonderoga avenged the unwarranted red assault as a warning to the communists that unprovoked attacks will bring props response the incident sparked u.s involvement in a war that lasted more than a decade and claimed the lives of over 3 million people despite leading the us into armed conflict the destroyer's stories eventually unraveled with no evidence of the second skirmish occurring incorrect sonar and radar readings due to freak weather effects were blamed for the false reports and findings were kept from the public until declassified reports revealed the truth in 2005 the largest class of destroyers built by any nation during world war ii in the thick of action during the battle for the pacific they became heroes of the us naval fleet the fletcher-class destroyers with the u.s navy's pacific fleet lying in ruins after the pearl harbor attacks the war effort went into full swing producing 175 fletcher class destroyers between 1942 and 1944 with the japanese airstrikes firmly in minds of the designers and engineers the fletcher class were the first destroyers built with air and surface radar to warn of incoming attacks once thought of solely as defence for capital ships fletcher class destroyers were ideal at coveting the vast distances required to battle in the pacific theater whenever the call for a fast ship went out the fletcher class were thrown into close combat their five single five-inch guns could blast down enemy aircraft with 24 kilogram projectiles or cover troops during beach invasions in october 1944 during the battle of leyte golf the japanese imperial navy made a desperate attempt to wipe out the united states pacific fleet and defeat an american invasion of the philippines 280 warships half of which were destroyers and their escorts took part in the largest naval battle in history as the japanese unleashed kamikaze bombers for the first time the fletchers formed protective barriers around battleships and aircraft carriers as their crews fought through a hail of bullets bombs and suicide aircraft the battle was a decisive defeat for the japanese the empire had gambled almost their entire navy and lost the destruction ended their ability to conduct large-scale naval operations for the rest of the war in august 1945 fleet admiral william halsey selected three of the most decorated fletcher class destroyers the taylor nicholas and o'bannon to escort the uss missouri into tokyo bay for the japanese surrender honoring the role these indefatigable warships played in the pacific allied victory [Music] as soon as man could fly air machines played a role in warfare at sea with destructive capability defined by the number of aircraft per deck rather than the power of the guns the role of the capital ship fell to the carrier [Music] operated by the united states navy this mighty warship was one of the most powerful killing machines devised a floating air base that could launch air attack and defense missions from any ocean across the globe the only ship in her class and the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier the uss enterprise at 342 metres long the enterprise is the longest naval vessel ever built with more steel going into her construction than the empire state building with eight reactors providing 280 000 horsepower she was the largest nuclear power facility in the world when she entered service in 1962 where diesel-powered aircraft carriers had to be refueled approximately every three days the big e could sail for three years launching aircraft during the vietnam war the enterprise became the first nuclear-powered ship to engage in combat setting a record of 165 strike sorties in a single day after more than half a century of service she retired in 2013 the longest-serving aircraft carrier in history the enterprise and her crew have lived up to their motto we are legend since the inception of flight aircraft were pivotal tools in naval combat but with fuel reserves limiting the reach of planes warships were needed to carry them into conflict zones in august 1917 a royal navy pilot was the first to land his aircraft on the deck of a moving ship although he died in a later attempt his daring stunt proved the viability of a floating airbase across the atlantic us military mines were busy converting a cargo ship into a carrier mounting a flight deck on top of her superstructure the uss langley's deck was still too short for pilots to achieve takeoff speeds and so a gunpowder-powered catapult was developed to launch aircraft the langley also pioneered a resting gear when coming into land a hook on the plane's tail was used to snare cables strung across the ship's deck with sandbags either side aircraft was slowed before reaching the end of the deck in 1925 the us navy implemented the pioneering technology in their first true aircraft carriers the lexington and saratoga both ships served into the second world war and lexington would be sunk in the first carrier battle in history the saratoga would survive the conflict but her end would come from the same power as enterprises reactors during the first nuclear tests since the bombing of nagasaki she was sunk to the depths of the bikini atoll the japanese attacks on pearl harbor pulled the us navy into the global conflict as the ocean between america and japan was transformed into a battleground the aircraft carrier would provide the platform for us retaliation in a plan conceived by lieutenant colonel james doodle the uss hornet was tasked with launching the first air raid on the japanese home islands the lethal sting in the hornet's tail was the 16 b-25 bombers loaded onto her flight deck to make the b-25s light enough to take off from the carrier's short runway they had been stripped of all their weapons carrying five crew and four bombs each fuel stores were minimized to further reduce weight jimmy doolittle and his airmen fearing the troll boats might have sent a radio warning to japan decided to start on their exploit sooner than they'd planned with a furious gale churning the sea the raid was launched 300 kilometers prematurely the hornet turned into the heavy winds providing the bombers with as much lift as possible while flight controllers waited until the waves raised the ship's deck the b-25s reached their strategic targets but the increased range and reduced fuel meant that all crew were forced to either bail out or crash land their aircraft after the doolittle raid the hornet continued to launch strikes in the pacific on october 1942 the hornet came under heavy attack by japanese forces overwhelmed by aerial bombardment she sank off the santa cruz islands the american aircraft carrier hornet commissioned only seven weeks before pearl harbor played during her short life a most powerful and gallant part in the pacific struggle uss hornet was in service for a year and six days when she became the last major us aircraft carrier suck by enemy fire the birth of the jet age would bring about new opportunities and challenges for the aircraft carrier faster heavier and more powerful than propellercraft the jet would require a ship to match launched in december 1954 the forestall class was the first to fully support jet aircraft angling the ship's flight deck was a simple design concept but one that provided enormous benefits achieving a longer runway it also allowed for concurrent launch and recovery operations the landing area is specially angled to help homing pilots for takeoff steam catapults are used highly efficient and by the way a british invention with more pilots lost to crash landings than enemy fire the angled flight deck removed the need for a crash barrier at the end of the runway aircraft that missed the arrestor wires could safely abort the landing and fly around for a second attempt employing an arrangement of mirrors and lights the forestall class utilized an optical landing system to guide a pilot's angle of descent even with the ship pitching in the roughest seas a torch would be shown into a gyroscopically controlled concave mirror producing a ball of light for the pilot coming into land this ball would move up and down the mirror in relation to their current glide path when achieving a correct landing trajectory the ball would line up with a strip of lights either side of the mirror the pinnacle of naval technology at the dawn of the jet age the uss forestall was retired after 37 years superseded by nuclear-powered behemoths during some of the fiercest fighting of world war ii a new legend of the ocean would emerge she was a u-boat hunter battleship destroyer and a prize example of british ingenuity the hms arc royal 800 feet long the ark rail is the most up-to-date carrier in the world she's the first of the new floating aerodromes for the feet era launched in 1937 the ark royal was the world's first true aircraft carrier and the blueprint for those to come ships had previously placed the island superstructure containing the command center and air traffic control in the middle of the ship for stability limiting the length of the flight deck an ingenious design the ark royals island was offset to her starboard side while an extended hull kept her balanced this allowed the ark royal a 240 meter long flight deck for her fleet of 60 fighters and bombers the ark royal would go on to become a national hero during one of the greatest sea battles of world war ii the pride of the german fleet the bismarck had sunk hms hood during the battle of denmark strait and the ark royal crew were determined to avenge their fallen comrades [Music] locating the german battleship the ark royal launched 15 fairy swordfish bombers to attack a torpedo from a swordfish struck the port side of the bismarck rendering her inoperable unable to escape the approaching destroyers the bismarck was sunk 14 hours later over 2200 crew only 114 survived the attack the unsinkable nazi battleship bismarck sunk by the torpedoes and guns of our fleet is not only revenge for the loss of the hood but it's a resounding victory in itself one of the largest and most sophisticated warships ever built she owes her success to a century of innovation the uss nimitz the leading ship in her class with nine additional super carriers serving as home base to a host of lethal weapon systems a floating city of over 5500 people her dual nuclear reactors could keep her at sea for a quarter of a century the nimitz's air wing includes an array of 90 helicopters and combat jets more powerful than the air force of most nations the super carrier features a 4.5 acre flight deck described as the most dangerous workplace on earth she can launch a fighter every 20 seconds rocketing them into the air via poor steam catapults to protect against enemy attacks the nimitz is encased with top secret armor while her tactical team can deploy an array of missiles and two phallics closing weapon systems that can destroy anything that penetrates her defenses the embodiment of power at sea a century's worth of development and innovation have culminated in the ultimate killing machine [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Timeline - World History Documentaries

Views: 111,064

Keywords: History, Full Documentary, Documentaries, Full length Documentaries, Documentary, TV Shows - Topic, Documentary Movies - Topic, 2017 documentary, BBC documentary, Channel 4 documentary, history documentary, documentary history, us navy, aircraft carrier, us military, top 10, united states navy, top 5, most powerful, world war 2, most powerful battleships ever made

Id: qq3wxXecdkA

Length: 50min 13sec (3013 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 20 2021