Time Team Special: Lost Submarines of World War I | Classic Special (Full Episode) 2013

FULL EPISODE | CLASSIC TIME TEAM SPECIAL
In our latest Classic Special from the archives, Tony and Phil head beneath the waves to investigate 'the Lost Submarines of World War I'. We trace the development of submarines, from wacky experimental contraptions, to ruthlessly efficient weapons that have permanently changed the nature of naval warfare.
Original broadcast date: 7th July 2013
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[@Pesmog]

I never saw this the first time around in 2013, so was delighted to see it this evening. 👍

[@jimplummer4879]

Same here !

[@areyouavinalaughisheavinal5328]

2013 you say? Thanks, I was wondering when this is from.

[@greendragonreprised6885]

Tony and Phil, putting the band back together.

[@humphrey4976]

Mick Tribute act

[@bertjesklotepino]

now i understand what you mean. But i think this all was recorded way before Mick passed, right? @@humphrey4976

[@ssrc30]

So happy to see Tony and Phil back on the team. I've seen every episode ever made and it just wasn't the same without the 2 of them.

[@harapaki3412]

Baldrick you mean

[@joezephyr]

I still miss Mick

[@phantomkate6]

Back? They hadn't left yet when this was first aired.

[@seanpaula8924]

What a pleasure to see Sir Tony and of course Mr Harding.

[@jameshollins5659]

How have I just learnt that Time Team has a KZbin channel 😅!! Amazing

[@richardh8082]

@jameshollins5659 I know, right! :)

[@dzzope]

They even have new digs.. can't beat Tony presenting though.

[@nickychimes4719]

Share, subscribe, like, comment #timeteam #history #simplythebest #archeology

[@juliesiefke1173]

They have TWO! Time Team Official and Time Team Classic. The new digs are on Time Team Official.

[@mikereilly7629]

Twas a fortuitous discovery, indeed. This is a very good, long lived show. Much to my pleasure.. American history documentaries always tend towards aliens or goofy ass speculation and sensationalism

[@highcountrydelatite]

I dived as an Aussie veteran navy diver and anzac descendant on AE2 last year Australia in 70S And 80s had a class of boat called oberon. 2 of them in since declassified docs, where what was called sneaky boats..including the OTAMA they did things no other boat could do at the time to the russians including going up their baffles into Cam Ranh bay without detection.. special medal just for those boats

[@paulhoffman6371]

Thanks for making CSS Hunley one of your examples of early sub-warfare; it was lost with all hands after making the first successful attack on a surface ship. The sub and its crew were recovered and the men received a full Confederate States burial.

[@gl15col]

What an awful way to go, they were still seated at their stations. I'm glad they finally got to rest with other members of the Hunley team.

[@jtorola]

@@gl15colshouldn’t have been traitors

[@larryzigler6812]

@@jtorola True

[@larryzigler6812]

Am sure Trump would have honored them

[@pcka12]

​@@gl15colit is believed that they were rendered unconscious by the shock wave from their spar torpedo & never knew anything about the sinking (like being depth charged by themselves).

[@zippy5131]

Drachinifel has recently done a video on the history of countering the U-boat menace. Well worth watching.

[@Charners]

The Jonny Walker series is fantastic so far!

[@davidrenton]

@@Charners many Drachinifel fans here i see, good

[@dtrain1634]

Yes it is :) good video

[@tonk84]

Would like to think if this episode was done now they'd get Drach on as an expert

[@zippy5131]

@@tonk84 Now I'd pay to see that.

[@kurtking7770]

After visiting the Fremantle Maritime Museum and taking the colins class submarine tour , I learnt how amazing these machines were capable to function . Just amazing and an honour to board one . Thank you time team for showing the very first Subs . Great lesson

[@highcountrydelatite]

ive been on them whilst operational.been out thru the tubes and dived the AE2 and gallipoli wrecks last year...2nd time on the wrecks

[@troywallace322]

Sure you weren't on HMAS Ovens. Oberon class.

[@highcountrydelatite]

@@troywallace322 Otama was main sneaky.

[@highcountrydelatite]

@@troywallace322 Otama main one. I was a clearance diver. Team 3. Z special unit descendant. There are declassified papers about cam rahn Bay and otama. In baffles of a soviet. Hawke had no idea till navy told him. He increased funding. Hawke was also next door neighbour of my grandfather in Sandringham. I knew them well as a kid

[@highcountrydelatite]

@@troywallace322 clearance divers we went on sneakys. But I had unique career like no other diver. Not withstanding I'm still youngest ever to pass the course. Was under 18. I dived AE2 last year. And the other Gallipoli wrecks for 3rd time. 1st 34 years ago with navy at 75th

[@burtlangoustine1]

If you discover a Frog on board one of these Submarines... That's the Toad Array

[@TazerOnlineMedia]

I've been watching time team for years and years. Possibly since the start of the show. I went to college to study archaeology and loved it. Somewhere along the line life got in the way and I never became an archaeologist. But instead got behind the camera. Working for woodcut media making history documentaries. Now I'm a videographer and editor. Would love to know how I could get involved if possible. Possibly working on episodes.

[@gmtegirl]

This was an awesome episode. Should be part of school curriculum to understand the history, history of engineering and world war history of our world.

[@cyclingnerddelux698]

Huh, what?

[@AKSnowbat907]

It is. There's just to much history to cover in the reduced time we give our students.

[@gmtegirl]

@@cyclingnerddelux698 Information like this should be included in school curricula. Important to teach history like this which is so well presented.

[@richardbruce8111]

BOLLOCKS It is interesting stuff like this makes learning relevant & FUN!!!.. More teachers need to study how to interact with students IT was sorted way back 30+ years back! its called "Accelerated Learning!" Shows you HOW to use your brain & how to sort out REALITY

[@Chris-the-Saxon]

Instead the kids have Dance and Relationships (LGBT indoctrination) .

[@timparker2985]

The sinking of three British Cruisers deserves a bit of detail. Action was on 22 September 1914. U-9 commanded by Kapitänleutnant Otto Weddigen sank HMS Aboukir, HMS Cressy, and HMS Hogue with the loss of 1,459 sailors. Site is about 40 Miles west of Den Helder in the Netherlands.

[@ianwhitehouse5818]

My Great Uncle went down with Aboukir, my father-in-law was torpedoed twice in WWII, my mother served in a Y Station intercepting U-boat Morse for decryption, via Enigma, at Bletchley Park. I was a submariner for 22 years - commanding a diesel boat and nuclear boat.

[@mcceight7885]

In the mid-1980's I worked on a project to ressurect several of the battery cells recovered from the Holland 1. After cannibalisation of the more damaged cells for replacement parts, repairs, cleaning and flushing, I managed to get a couple of them worked-up to around 25% of their original capacity of around 800 Ah, after 70 odd years underwater. I believe that thease were eventually returned to the museum.

[@PtolemyJones]

Submariners are an amazing breed, special people. I couldn't do it.

[@mikebennett3812]

I and many of my mates did!

[@PtolemyJones]

@@mikebennett3812 I've met a few, always impressed.

[@kevinc4632]

Served in Submarines 89-94 , Plank Owner USS SCRANTON SSN- 756. Fast attack boat, the best years of my youth. Thank You

[@bobbybigboyyes]

Just the same as a nice girl that does not 'Kiss and Tell' AKA 'The Silent Service' 🤪

[@Odanti]

I really enjoyed this Time Team video. Great history explained by Sir Tony and Phil Harding. How did I miss this one? ❤️🙏❤️

[@thetruthwillout3347]

Really enjoyed this...Very interesting. My Great Uncle was killed on K17 at the Battle of May Island January 1918. The sub was accidentally rammed by HMS Fearless and was lost with all hands. RIP.

[@TheKARMMARK]

Watched this last night. Just outstanding. Life is good again with new Time Team episodes hosted by Tony and and Phil.

[@palletcabin-YR_Author]

We really like these classics.

[@plunder1956]

It's curious to think that Conan Doyle published his 42nd Surlock Holmes story the Bruce-Partington Plans, in December 1908! SIX years before WW1 started. Even then the Submarine was being described as a game changer. By the American Civil war it was clear this technology was important.

[@cptnkaos5994]

Amazing to watch, thank you Phil and Tony

[@alayneperrott9693]

Fascinating video. So great to see Phil and Tony together again!

[@CullenRick]

Still amusing to see Tony, a CND stalwart, on one of our nuclear boats.

[@humphrey4976]

Astute only had nuclear propulsion and is not nuclear armed.

[@CullenRick]

@@humphrey4976 CND also opposed nuclear power stations (presumably that would also include mobile ones).

[@pontiuspilot5887]

CND - Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

[@tarlcabbot2551]

This is truly amazing! More like this, please!!!

[@GrasshopperKelly]

I remember getting into trouble in primary school, age 5 or 6 (Mum remembers it better than me). Because I didn't follow instructions during art. We were to paint flowers into a printed vase. I instead painted a load of brown, covered parts of the vase (missing parts) and added cracks. Apparently I came out of school balling my eyes out. Mum wanted to know what was wrong. The teacher (Who I still like 20 years on) thought "Time team" was some made up children's noncense (uncultuired) and I simply couldn't follow instructions to put in the flower, that had decomposed long ago xD So glad I found the YT channel. It was quite literally my childhood (along with How It's Made).

[@chrishankey3396]

Thanks for this. Amazing footage and story telling once again.

[@dreyfusslugado]

Some amazing history. What a great episode!

[@oldtugs]

Not much secret about BUTEC. Years ago I piloted Pisces manned submersibles operated by Vickers Oceanics out of Kyle of Lochalsh to recover aircraft and submarine launched torpedoes that failed to surface after test firing. We located them by homing in on their acoustic pingers and used a specialized torpedo claw to return them to the surface. The test range was a marvel in itself with the ability to track torpedoes during their runs. Some of the air drop failures were spectacular and few pieces were recoverable. There is at least one torpedo stuck in an underwater cliffside on the east side of Raasay which we tried for weeks to locate until the pinger battery finally died.

[@michaeldenesyk3195]

​​Another legacy from the Holland, The Whitehead torpedo, helped to sink the German Cruiser Blucher in 1940. It was launched by a shore-based torpedo launcher and shore-based old Krupp shore batteries

[@larryzigler6812]

What's the other legacy ?

[@michaeldenesyk3195]

@@larryzigler6812 Submarines

[@larryzigler6812]

@@michaeldenesyk3195 Leonardo invented the submarine but would not share the details due to its evil nature

[@denisecaringer4726]

This just popped up on KZbin, and it's great. I didn't know to even look for this! Excellent.

[@michaelparker6907]

Brilliant episode. Thank-you.

[@wazwulf2698]

loved this thank you so much

[@aKalishnacough]

Lovely documentary. Cheers lads.

[@joezephyr]

I have been to Munich and seen the U1. One of the best things I have ever seen! And the museum as a whole is fantastic!

[@cynthiaalver]

Enjoyed the video very much. Thank you!

[@johnwatson3948]

Did not know they did this and nice to see the team again! As a teenager in 1976 got a tour of the sub USS Greenling SSN 614 when on vacation in Barbados - great to learn more of the history here.

[@Davlavi]

Love the classics.

[@richcrozier1108]

Incredible content, so glad I saw this now…wish I hadn’t missed it the first time round!

[@RalphBrooker-gn9iv]

Amazed they got on HMS Ambush. I’m not an expert. I just that it was all hush-hush. Also showing crew’s faces surprised me. I did grow up in Gosport home to to HMS Dolphin.

[@deanmc178]

fantastic stuff of our history from the war , rip to the loved and lost during this terrible time

[@sarahwatts7152]

Fascinating! I'm more sure than ever that I don't need to experience life in a submarine, but the science is really cool

[@manicmatt7773]

Thank you.

[@colinthomas5462]

Excellent! I really enjoyed this interesting episode, thanks Time Team. Keep up the great work.

[@austendallaston3537]

Very educational, thank you. Keep them coming please 👍

[@victoriaeads6126]

I know Phil wanted to make that dive, but he is far too precious to risk that way.

[@marklelohe3754]

Excellent video and history lesson. Thanks chaps.

[@lizzy66125]

awesome episode not seen before.thank you time team.❤

[@sarahlee6641]

Thanks!

[@W4iteFlame]

Interesting. Many new details of that ancient conflict

[@user-eq4rv5hm6b]

I never saw this first time in 2013 so I'm glad I've found it thanks 😊

[@bradyelich2745]

John Holland had contracted for 10 H subs to be built in Canada. The first 5 were delivered to Britain in 1915. These Canadian built subs were the first to cross the Atlantic.

[@greatboniwanker]

I know channels with millions of subs that don't have 100 members. Well done Time Team fans!

[@aaronleverton4221]

The wreck is too deep for Phil at 35m give or take. Makes you realise how dangerous the "depths" are when only a few metres make something "too deep". Until oxygen is required nobody says some hill is "too high" to ascend. I guess I explained that with "Until oxygen is required..." As a kid Jacque Cousteau made the underwater world look so easy and he was pioneering it!

[@areyouavinalaughisheavinal5328]

The differen e between deep sea and high altitude I a bit more than needing oxygen. With high altitude you do need just oxygen, but deeper sea work requires very special gas mixtures.

[@aaronleverton4221]

@@areyouavinalaughisheavinal5328 Yeah, "deep sea"...

[@areyouavinalaughisheavinal5328]

​@aaronleverton4221 tri-mix gas is used at only 100 metres, so it doesn't even have to be "deep sea". 35 was too deep for phil mostly because of experience and certification issues.

[@tarnishedknight730]

aaronleverton4221, Just to give you an idea of just one of the problems of being under water... I took an empty, 2 liter coke bottle, put the cap on at the surface and took it down to 45 feet. It was completely flat! It looked like it had been run over by a car. One back on the surface, it had expanded to its normal shape. Next, I took the bottle down to 45 feet. I filled it with air that I exhaled 8 ti the upsidedown bottle. I capped it and brought it back to the surface. The bottle was rock hard and I couldn't get the cap off. One of the other divers poked it with a bolt from a spear gun and it exploded. No one got hurt or even cut, but it startled everyone around. And that's only 45 feet (13.7 meters).

[@aaronleverton4221]

@@tarnishedknight730 Yes, I was never taught in high school physics (or by any submarine movie) that the weight of the ocean can crush things.

[@SchmuzzyHead]

Glad you are on KZbin , about time .

[@roymcnicholas4825]

Nice on baldrick very intresting viewing ..thanx

[@robynw6307]

Thank you for showing an episode that I hadn't yet seen. There's a few of them, but not many.

[@54mgtf22]

Long time Time Team fan, loving your KZbin channel. 👍

[@oldtimers6460]

Nicely done.

[@harrypenn611]

Fantastic

[@fraeris1]

Ready as always 😀

[@anthonycooper5877]

Great veiwing

[@aarondrennan5650]

Britain has the best submarine command course in the world. Even us Americans attend it as a finishing school. It’s called Perisher.

[@thorivaldic]

Good one!

[@GravesRWFiA]

the british had the first class of operational sub, the Holland class numbered 1-6. they hold the record of having NO fatalities in training, or their limited combat patrols, the hunnley lost 3 crews. the turtle, the first one you showed survived but got lost in the currents in the 1777

[@netzdame]

What a nice coincidence, Max Miller over at Tasting History just had an episode about the food on German submarines.

[@killeresk]

First time i see this episode, very interesting. Time Team is awesome.

[@gertsy2000]

Classic Time Team.

[@alannahayter8491]

OMG TONY AND PHIL!!! OH MY HEART IS SO HAPPY!

[@eireman51]

The history of J P Holland should have been included. This Irish man and the motivation behind his invention of the submarine should have been covered.After all the submarine makes are Holland 1,2 ,3,4,5. J P Holland also owned the ship yard that built these submarines. Its always telling when the phrase " British " is used to describe Irish inventors,sports people etc.

[@eric-wb7gj]

TY 🙏

[@gtd-sq2pj]

Very good.

[@emusaurus]

Submarines make me uncomfortable, yet I am fascinated by them

[@user-uk1uu9vt8z]

I thought it was Neil Young for a minute there 😂. Great episode . So interesting

[@soviet1918]

Cornelis Drebbel (born 1572, Alkmaar, Netherlands-died November 7, 1633, London, England) was a Dutch inventor who built the first navigable submarine. though not a sub id like to get into cos there's no guarantee youd see daylight again lol

[@dcamatrix]

so cool

[@bunnylove273]

hey time team and crew great vid

[@seanlander9321]

During WWI Australia had submarines. After the war it couldn’t afford them as Britain demanded that Australia be singled out as the only country that was required to repay war loans in full. Consequently Australia returned its submarine fleet to Britain in the 30’s, where they rusted. Now we have AUKUS, the first military treaty between Britain and Australia.

[@shemanicmaid]

😮

[@highcountrydelatite]

I dived on AE2 last year Have also dived on them whilst operational.including thru the tubes

[@highcountrydelatite]

AUKUS is a tripartite agreement..

[@billygoatgruff3536]

Well that's a load of bull. The UK sold Australia more submarines after the war in the 1927 and then Australia got rid of those submarines in 1931 because the O-class were unreliable and considered too expensive to maintain during the great depression. Where did you get your "fact" about war loans from? Also; AUKUS is not the first military treaty between Australia and Britain, The Five Power Defence Agreement was signed in 1971. It includes, Malaysia-Singapore-New Zealand-UK-Australia.

[@highcountrydelatite]

What rubbish Australia uk had no loans between them. And lend lease Australia was bot required to be paid back as Australia gave in blood to usa

[@bullettube9863]

Please note that the first sub to serve with the Royal Navy was an American built Holland type. The Brits were impressed with it and began to design and build their own, even naming them as HS-1 HS-2 etc. The Holland had all the attributes of a modern sub but the British wanted a sub with longer range and able to operate in the North Atlantic. Holland's sub had diving planes which enabled faster dives, plus multiple ballast and trim tanks for stability. The Brits came up with some good ideas and one bad idea: the steam powered sub that was impractical and a nightmare to operate!

[@alansivkoff282]

Perhaps you might look into Australian submarines AE1 & AE2, both lost in WW!.

[@MrsMcKittenz]

Thank you, I served on the USS Archerfish SSN 678, a fast attack.

[@harapaki3412]

and i was commander of the uss indianapolis// What a dreamer

[@MrsMcKittenz]

@@harapaki3412 I don’t really care what think. I can back up my statement.

[@Psychlist1972]

I take it the "User is not Station In Control" error message at 3:44 means they did that just for video and it was all being controlled from elsewhere.

[@user-dx5kg1nu6k]

I was leaving the Clyde in a yacht a couple of years ago. The light was fading as we headed to the east of Bute. Then out of the murk, appeared two fast ribs crewed by the Royal Navy. We were informed that a submarine, presumably nuclear powered and armed was approaching us from our stern. A couple of RIBS were clearing the way for it. So, the captain of the sub requested that we move over to starboard to allow their passage. So we moved to starboard. But then not long after, a RIB came alongside and told us that the captain had changed his mind and wanted us to move over to port. We laughed and did as requested. In the murk, we watched as Barrow's finest glided past us at about 20 knots! Bill

[@maddiethomas5892]

I can't wait!

[@ms2668]

Interesting episode, especially as my great uncle was lost aboard the HMS Hawke which was torpedoed by the U9 on 15 Oct 1914 off the coast of Aberdeen.

[@SDE1994]

a german ww1 u boat UB98 which was scrapped at Porthmadoc harbour in 1922, some of the hull plates were used in Moelwyn tunnel on the Ffestiniog railway

[@Cheesingabout]

long time time team fan

[@lukesmith739]

Didn't know Phil was so about the underwater life. Interesting.

[@davidrenton]

he actually dives in the Timeteam episode about the Grace Dieu from 2005, it's on YT "In Search of Henry V's Flagship, Grace Dieu (Bursledon) | Series 12 Episode 6 | Time Team )"

[@theworldaccordingtokirsch]

Very educating docu. Now I will watch "Hunt for Red October" again. Submarines give me the creeps because I am claustrophic.

[@trevorthrale797]

Detecting a surface contact at 3000 nautical miles is a massive exaggeration!! Still I love time team.

[@bobbybigboyyes]

My brother worked on the design and testing of torpedoes for the Royal Navy when he was employed at Marconi Space and Defence in Warren Lane, Stanmore, Middx. They tested the torpedoes at a Loch in Scotland.

[@joonahautala8196]

Considering the small size of the Holland sub and that it isn't a gravesite. You'd think it'd make a valuable target to recover and bring back to surface.

[@steverobbins4274]

The three cruisers mentioned has a record attached. The person sunk the most times in one engagement. He was a 16 year old sailor who was on the first ship that was sunk. He was pulled from the water by the second ship intime for that to be sunk. He was pulled out of the water again onto the thrid ship to be sunk. he was finally rescued but small boat

[@stefbrown9059]

Please do a WW2 version. My grandfather was assigned to HMS Sickle after sinking 14 enemy vessals she was sank in June 1944 somewhere in the Aegean sea, the sub and its crew have never been found. Luckily my grandfather was ashore, although in hospital during its last voyage.

[@RHCole]

Gonna be good!

[@4362mont]

So we use "sneaky" for an enrmy, but stealthy for ourselves, whoever we may be?

[@bobbybigboyyes]

Submariners are a very special breed, just like a girl that does not 'Kiss and Tell' AKA 'The Silent Service' 🤪 A Time Cream Special!

[@MikeWood]

If this was July 2013, HMS Ambush was only commissioned that March. So I suspect this was a media tour which Time Team took part on. Nice bit of access. A little different than Bear Grylles getting Benedict Cummerbatch on another Astute class off Syke in 2023. Cool video. :)

[@MadBrit26]

They need to bring the show back.

[@user-jn1ew8rs8r]

surprised the navy allowed this close up

[@Retroscoop]

3:04: didn't know about these tiles, are they for noise reduction ?