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Deep Wreck Mysteries

PROGRAMME DETAILS

Deep Wreck Mysteries

One hour series
  • #
  • #
  • Series Title

    Deep Wreck Mysteries
  • Director

    Wayne Abbott
  • Production Company

    Nordic United
  • Duration

    50 minutes
  • Definition

    HD
  • Delivery

    Immediately
  • YOP

    2008

As the troopship SS Leopoldville steams towards France from England on Christmas Eve, 1944 with Allied soldiers on board, a torpedo rips into her side. After a fatal delay, the ship sinks within sight of the port of Cherbourg, leaving men to jump into the bitter winter seas. Nearly 800 soldiers do not live to see Christmas Day. Now, an international team of divers brave some of the English Channel’s most treacherous and dangerous waters in an attempt to reach the wreck. They aim to uncover clues to help answer the question: why did so many young men have to die?

The Leopoldville is a Belgian liner taking 2,235 American reinforcements to repel a massive German attack - the Battle of the Bulge. But just off the coast of France, a German torpedo strikes the crowded troop carrier amidships, killing nearly 400 young soldiers instantly. The others make their way to the upper decks of the Leopoldville. They stand patiently waiting to be rescued.

In a daring rescue attempt, her escort, HMS Brilliant, manoeuvres alongside the larger liner. In rough seas, soldiers on the Leopoldville line up to jump down onto the smaller vessel. But the destroyer can only take a few hundred and has to head for the shore. There is a no further rescue attempt. Some 1,200 soldiers are still left on board. Two and a half hours after the torpedo hit, the Leopoldville slips beneath the waves.

Today divers braving some of the English Channel’s most treacherous and dangerous waters, 56 metres down, see evidence of the chaotic last moments of the ship, but can they find any evidence as to why the men were apparently abandoned and what, if anything, could have been done to save them? In particular they involve Belgian divers, keen to also tell another side of the story.

Fairly or unfairly, American survivors are very critical of the Leopoldville’s crew, who they say left them to their fate. Although the official reports apportion blame to a breakdown in communications none of this information is made available to the stricken relatives, and the incident is covered up. When the facts are eventually made public, survivors and members of the families of those who died have to live with a haunting conclusion. The bitter fact is that the botched rescue killed as many men as the initial torpedo.

Deep Wreck Mysteries (5 x 50 minutes)

Deep Wreck Mysteries
  • 1294072770107461
  • Deep Wreck Mysteries One hour series
  • Main category:History

    Britain and Ireland, island nations, have the richest of maritime histories. Thousands of vessels lie wrecked off their shores. Many sank in time of World War and are yet to be discovered. Deep below the surface of the sea, they remain silent witnesses to conflict and carnage. At over fifty metres in depth, they’ve been too difficult to find; too deep to dive; too dangerous to film.

    Among those hidden victims are some of the largest and most impressive ships ever to plummet to the bottom – giant battleships, massive cargo carriers, and towering ocean liners. The latest advances in survey and dive technology finally locate and bring these deep-sea wrecks vividly to the screen, exposing a world of deadly intrigue and cover-up.

    Filmed by an elite underwater camera-team operating at extreme depths; illustrated by state-of-the-art computer graphics; backed up by analysis from top wreck scientists and historians; illuminated by rare eyewitness testimony from survivors. Now, for the first time, in a series of four one-hour films, this fascinating series of investigations sheds dazzling new light on an eerie twilight world to reveal the truth behind these drowned casualties of war.

Collision Course
  • 1294072837502406
  • Collision Course One hour series
  • Main category:History

    Britain and Ireland, island nations, have the richest of maritime histories. Thousands of vessels lie wrecked off their shores. Many sank in time of World War and are yet to be discovered. Deep below the surface of the sea, they remain silent witnesses to conflict and carnage. At over fifty metres in depth, they’ve been too difficult to find; too deep to dive; too dangerous to film. Among those hidden victims are some of the largest and most impressive ships ever to plummet to the bottom – giant battleships, massive cargo carriers, and towering ocean liners. The latest advances in survey and dive technology finally locate and bring these deep-sea wrecks vividly to the screen, exposing a world of deadly intrigue and cover-up. Filmed by an elite underwater camera-team operating at extreme depths; illustrated by state-of-the-art computer graphics; backed up by analysis from top wreck scientists and historians; illuminated by rare eyewitness testimony from survivors. Now, for the first time, in a series of four one-hour films, this fascinating series of investigations sheds dazzling new light on an eerie twilight world to reveal the truth behind these drowned casualties of war.

Death of a Battleship
  • 1294072872537702
  • Death of a Battleship One hour series
  • Main category:History

    Britain and Ireland, island nations, have the richest of maritime histories. Thousands of vessels lie wrecked off their shores. Many sank in time of World War and are yet to be discovered. Deep below the surface of the sea, they remain silent witnesses to conflict and carnage. At over fifty metres in depth, they’ve been too difficult to find; too deep to dive; too dangerous to film. Among those hidden victims are some of the largest and most impressive ships ever to plummet to the bottom – giant battleships, massive cargo carriers, and towering ocean liners. The latest advances in survey and dive technology finally locate and bring these deep-sea wrecks vividly to the screen, exposing a world of deadly intrigue and cover-up. Filmed by an elite underwater camera-team operating at extreme depths; illustrated by state-of-the-art computer graphics; backed up by analysis from top wreck scientists and historians; illuminated by rare eyewitness testimony from survivors. Now, for the first time, in a series of four one-hour films, this fascinating series of investigations sheds dazzling new light on an eerie twilight world to reveal the truth behind these drowned casualties of war.

Search for the Bone Wreck
  • 1294072911002415
  • Search for the Bone Wreck One hour series
  • Main category:History

    Britain and Ireland, island nations, have the richest of maritime histories. Thousands of vessels lie wrecked off their shores. Many sank in time of World War and are yet to be discovered. Deep below the surface of the sea, they remain silent witnesses to conflict and carnage. At over fifty metres in depth, they’ve been too difficult to find; too deep to dive; too dangerous to film. Among those hidden victims are some of the largest and most impressive ships ever to plummet to the bottom – giant battleships, massive cargo carriers, and towering ocean liners. The latest advances in survey and dive technology finally locate and bring these deep-sea wrecks vividly to the screen, exposing a world of deadly intrigue and cover-up. Filmed by an elite underwater camera-team operating at extreme depths; illustrated by state-of-the-art computer graphics; backed up by analysis from top wreck scientists and historians; illuminated by rare eyewitness testimony from survivors. Now, for the first time, in a series of four one-hour films, this fascinating series of investigations sheds dazzling new light on an eerie twilight world to reveal the truth behind these drowned casualties of war.

Stealth Sub
  • 1294072941134078
  • Stealth Sub One hour series
  • Main category:History

    Britain and Ireland, island nations, have the richest of maritime histories. Thousands of vessels lie wrecked off their shores. Many sank in time of World War and are yet to be discovered. Deep below the surface of the sea, they remain silent witnesses to conflict and carnage. At over fifty metres in depth, they’ve been too difficult to find; too deep to dive; too dangerous to film. Among those hidden victims are some of the largest and most impressive ships ever to plummet to the bottom – giant battleships, massive cargo carriers, and towering ocean liners. The latest advances in survey and dive technology finally locate and bring these deep-sea wrecks vividly to the screen, exposing a world of deadly intrigue and cover-up. Filmed by an elite underwater camera-team operating at extreme depths; illustrated by state-of-the-art computer graphics; backed up by analysis from top wreck scientists and historians; illuminated by rare eyewitness testimony from survivors. Now, for the first time, in a series of four one-hour films, this fascinating series of investigations sheds dazzling new light on an eerie twilight world to reveal the truth behind these drowned casualties of war.