Battles of the Deep

During WWI, the Atlantic Ocean became a killing field as German submarines took on the might of the dominant British Navy. The stealthy silent killers were able to sink 5,200 ships by war's end, and nearly brought Britain to its knees.

Join Hunter Ellis and Kara Cooney as they research the mystery of the H.L. Hunley, a 40-foot submarine with a primitive torpedo launched by the Confederate Army that destroyed a mighty Union warship but never made it home.

With just under 11 minutes of fighting, why was the battle between Britain's HMS Shannon and the USS Chesapeake at Boston Harbor so ferocious and bloody?

Based on Steven Trent Smith's book. In 1944, a plane goes down in the Philippines carrying a copy of Japan's strategy to win the war in the Pacific. The papers fall into the hands of pro-American guerrilla forces.

The USS Midway served the United States for a staggering 47 years. One of the first aircraft carriers used in Vietnam, the Midway was a stabilizing force in the first Gulf War and has been a museum ship since 1992.

Deep into World War II, the largest and fastest battleship cruising European waters is the German Tirpitz. Winston Churchill obsessed efforts to sink her are unsuccessful -- until he employs the massive 12,000-pound Tallboy bomb.

This special recreates the horror of the slave trade and the heroic effort of the USS Constellation in 1859 to stop slave smugglers off the coast of Africa.

Explore the history of the Russian navy's defeats and victories, from its birth in the late 17th century through the 1960s, when its naval innovations nearly tipped the balance of power during the Cold War.

One of the Navy's most storied ships, the USS Intrepid played major roles in World War II, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Vietnam War, and the Space Race.

There's little room for errors at sea. Relive the most extraordinary Naval ambitions of antiquity, from Nero's collapsible death yacht to Greek chemical bomb fire ships.

Using the latest scientific techniques, our team of modelmakers, underwater detectives, and elite naval commandos investigate lethal weaponry of the past to solve the greatest mysteries of the ancient world's naval technology.

The Civil War's most advanced warship rests on the ocean floor 16 miles off the coast of North Carolina. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration works with the Navy to try to recover its engine.

In its third century of service, the U.S. Coast Guard's reputation as the worldwide emblem of rescue at sea overshadows the unbelievable scope of its feats as America's fifth armed service.

The Continental Navy is literally born fighting, its few ramshackle ships thrown against the juggernaut of the Royal Navy, and that scrappy spirit perseveres through the start of the 20th century.

By the time America enters WWI, the Navy boasts a powerful line of battleships - that arrive too late to fight. Examine how the Navy builds itself back up and battles the Axis from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Victories at the Battle of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf crush the Japanese fleet, pushing it back toward the homeland. Then, following WWII, politicians cut back the Navy.

When a U.S. marine or sailor is wounded in combat, his odds of getting to a doctor are close to nothing. But his chances of staying alive are superb due to the Navy Hospital Corpsmen.

A manual called "The Fighting Instructions" transforms naval battles from uncontrollable melees into linear chess games on water.

On May 23rd, 1939, America's newest submarine met disaster on a crash dive test during its sea trials. The surviving crew knew their only hope of rescue lay with the greatest submariner who ever lived.

Take a look at the role played by intelligence-collection ships in all the major conflicts in the 20th century, from equipment transport to participation in international disputes.

Join former Navy fighter pilot and series host Hunter Ellis as he explores the technology that led from the submarine to handheld sonar devices that help tourists catch that "big" fish.

The modern aircraft possesses a more powerful tactical air force than most nations. Experience a privileged tour of the sea's mightiest craft.

After WWII, the Empire and the Royal Navy decline as a world force. But the 1982 Falklands War revives the Navy, and today, its nuclear subs and jump-jet carriers attest to its centuries-old history and tradition.

Picking up where the Dreadnoughts left off, these massive vessels carried the largest, most powerful guns ever to be put on a warship, serving with distinction throughout World War II and beyond.

Although they first took to the sea over one hundred years ago, Destroyers played a key role in the Allied victory of World War II and have participated in every major naval conflict of the 20th century.