Victory At Sea - Design For War - Episode 1

Victory At Sea - Design For War

[@cagyirish37]

Watched this series in '52-'53. I was freshman/sophomore in high school. 5 years later I joined my Navy and kept with her for 20 more years. These shows were imprinted in my brain. It was a tough low paying task, too many family separations which put such a burden on my wife and kids but they all understood. To this day. So proud to be a Navy Veteran.

[@cagyirish37]

I sincerely thank you for your comment, Rich

[@jakejr4]

@@byuphil As a fellow Naval Veteran Thankyou for your service, I was not married in the Navy but I seen a lot of families torn apart

[@TheIkeClanton]

thanks brother, Army National Guard 1968-1974

[@pmichael73]

Thank you for your service.

[@malcolmdale]

I was 13 when I watched this series on our little black and white TV in 1952/3. Never dreamt I would be watching it again 70 years later.

[@sksksksl]

My father loved this show. I remember listening to the soundtrack in the early 1960's. He'd play it often. He was too young for WWII but served in Vietnam flying C-130 gunships. I miss him.

[@tomgreenough3235]

This should be mandatory in all high schools.

[@amr.q]

I was born in 2000. I grew up watching this as when I was younger I liked war movies / games so much that my parents bought me these on dvd. I still remember the name ( victory at sea ) by heart. Good times.

[@reidrr41]

ABOUT 9 OR 10 YRS OLD, MY FATHER [ WW 11 NAVY VET ] AND I WOULD WATCH THIS EVERY WK. HAD TO WATCH IT WHEN IT AIRED...VCR NOT EVEN ENVISIONED LOVED THIS

[@dirtydave2691]

The sacrifice's by heroes so we can watch this as free people. This needs to be remembered and respected every day.

[@DrLoverLover]

Yes thank you Sovjet for saving Europe

[@arrow-lo7jf]

Can't believe this is on youtube, the same story watched it in the early 70s and loved it ever since.Thank you to all the brave sailors from the USA, Canada and Great Britain.And to all that brave the sea.

[@allenjones3130]

Leonard Graves' narration, Dick Rodgers' musical score and stock footage combine to make a superb viewing experience.

[@l8tbraker]

This series should be required watching for every American citizen, no matter their age.

[@MaggieLawlor]

Was only 5 when the show aired, but was so mesmerized by the incredible theme and rolling sea images of the opening credits, I was allowed to delay bedtime for a few moments. Rushed off to bed as soon as the credits ended, thanks to the channel I can know see the episodes of this legendary series.

[@WilmerCook]

I was 5yrs old to! The MUSIC reminds me of my childhood.

[@Forestparkdns]

@@WilmerCook Are you all 49ers too??? You sound like me. My Dad who would normally rush off me to bed, would allow me to watch the whole thing!!! He was in North Africa, Italy, and Switzerland during WW2!

[@amandabradley1848]

We got this programme in England when I was a child in the 50's. Epic.

[@bigpapa3075]

This was my childhood. My grandmother had all of these on casset and i would watch them after school each day.

[@eaking346811]

What a wonderful account of our nations heroic effort in WWII. I remember watching this series with my dad>

[@stanleycates1972]

I was a 5 year old Navy kid at Pearl Harbor. After the war living in Peary Place Navy Housing near the Corpus Christi Navy base they used to show us these films on an out door screen. Very happy to have found them again at 83 living in Pearland Tx This should have been the war to end all wars.

[@pijim96]

No such thing as "war to end all wars" generations come and go yet do not learn from the past is why.

[@billhuber2964]

This is one of my favorite documentarys . my wife and son gave this 26 episodes DVD to me as a father's day present. They know what I like ! HOOYAH !!!!

[@richardepoulinjr]

Watched these with my old man a World War II and Korean War veteran sailor!

[@193322009]

One of the best TV series . . . ever!

[@mikerubin22]

fascinating; should be required watching for all students thank you for sharing

[@ProperLogicalDebate]

Won't happen now.

[@kyllepoiencot4361]

My parents met as tour guides on the USS Kidd ship museum in Baton Rouge. My mom went on to work there for 25 years and I spent many a weekend there. Kidd is a Fletcher Class Destroyer and had fought in WW2 where she was hit by a kamikaze but was repaired soon afterward. My dad had this tv show on DVD at the house and played it so much along with a lot of other WW2 movies. If it wasn't for WW2, I guess I wouldn't have been born!

[@kmcfar]

I was born in Jan 1948 I still remember watching this show ....Couldn't have been more than 3 or 4 years old......I sat mesmerized by this show....still watch it on U-Tube. To bad our young leftest coming up have failed to heed history's past.... and surly doomed to repeat it!

[@Iceland874]

This is has been my favorite TV series throughout my life. I watched the reruns when I was a little girl in the 1960s. Lulls me to sleep- the narration and great soundtrack.

[@ericjackson9256]

victory at sea the greatest doc on ww2 the bbc doc o ww1 from the1960's the best on ww1 richard rogers's theme hauntingly simple yet perfect thank you for posting V for victory!

[@NVRAMboi]

This upload has been here for 12 years now. Thank you to the uploader for sharing the entire series with us.

[@davidhumphreys1422]

This is my fourth time through this series and it still brings chills. I always look to sea with wonder.

[@TheAir2142]

This brings back such great memories of me and my grandfather. On hot summer evenings as a kid we would sit on the porch, him with his bourbon and me with a coke. Usually I would pull the radio or small tv out and we would listen to old radio plays from the 40s and 50s, watch old tv show recordings like Bonanza, or my favorite watch this series.

[@vernsmart1835]

I watched this as a Child with My Father. He never said much about it, until I was a Young adult. Then Dad started to tell some of the things He saw and did.

[@jonathanhill4892]

Great to see this series. I remember watching it back in the 60s when it was aired on British Television. Good for the composer is that what I remember most clearly was the introductory music with the shot of rolling waves.

[@rogerpetronzio8337]

Best series on WWII at sea. Watched first as a child and love it more as an adult. Should be mandatory in all our schools. Shows me a lot about the country we used to be and should be again.

[@jjhpor]

There's a lot about this country today that is better than then and some that is worse. The worst thing about America today is the unwillingness of so many to accept those with other opinions and to foment hatred. 75 years ago there was much of the same but towards more defenseless groups so it was easier to hide.

[@hwh1946]

a little different perspective; i watched this on TV ingrate school, became a musician and ended up studying with a musician in the NBC symphony, ended up playing the music for the series, playing show Rodgers wrote and saw the monuments in DC.My brother in law wrote book on the war in the Pacific. Great historical documents.

[@soapbxprod]

WOW! Love to you and yours, Harry.

[@carlpage4952]

Amazing original footage from Allied and Axis forces.. Best soundtrack ever for a documentary!

[@robertgraybeard3750]

"original music score by Richard Rogers" who, with Oscar Hammerstein, created the great Broadway show South Pacific.

[@DataWaveTaGo]

Two of my uncles served in the RCN, one on a cruiser (he would never talk about it) and the youngest, a 16 year old who lied to get in the service, (many did) was AA gunner on a destroyer. They rammed one U-Boat and damaged the destroyers' hull so much it was touch & go to get back to port. On the hellish Murmansk run he witnessed all manner of brutality by Russians on other Russians in port. Crewmen were washed overboard to their death (no stopping), and others froze to death at their station on 8 hour gunnery shift going to & from Murmansk. Even worse happened that I won't mention but the youngest said they would follow their captain to Hell if they had to (and really they did, doing things he can barely speak of). My father was in the RCAF so he escaped this much. He told his youngest brother (the AA gunner) that he could get him transferred to a safe airbase in England as ground crew because volunteers could re-volunteer after a campaign, but the kid stuck to fighting the U-Boats. The kid slept with a loaded gun under the mattress for years after the war because, as he told his mother "I saw a lot of my friends go stark raving mad on that ship and a lot of them are walking the streets of our town today!" I saw him in 2012 and he took me to his bedroom, lifted the mattress and handed me a loaded Walther PP (Taken from a "neutralized" German officer by one of his army pals at Juno Beach on D Day.) He said he keeps the Walther under his mattress to this day "Just in case someone breaks in and tries something stupid ...". He's 90 this year.

[@gazza2933]

I remember this marvellous theme music as a schoolboy, during the 1960s. There was a British version presented by an ex Royal Navy officer and BBC presenter, Ludovic Kennedy. Great series. Thank you. 🇺🇸 🇬🇧

[@waynecraddock2084]

The year was 1974 my first exposing to this series I was in high school . I was an NJROTC CADET . This series was shown to us . THIS series was shown as a history lesson .it also taught us the importance of sea power and also for those of us that choose to serve the importance of duty to our country . I proud to serve and will serve again .

[@SugoiEnglish1]

Watched this in late 60's. Dad was infantry in WW2. But would watch with younger and older brothers. Also, in the 70's, The World at War.

[@vietvet16432]

I watched this series as a child,and every chance I got since. I have been lucky enough to go to some of the areas where this history was made. it shows you how great a country can be when people[WORK] together rather than how we do now....

[@DataWaveTaGo]

Yes, in WWII everybody was essentially working for the government to win a war. Now it's all conspiracy theories and hate.

[@kidjackson8019]

One of my earliest memories was watching this series in the 1960s. Exceptional series!

[@leomarkaable1]

I watched this series when I was a grade schooler - a member of the "duck and cover generation". The impact of the daring of the sailors and marines and the terrors of that dreadful conflict has never left me. My uncle was a Annapolis grad in service in WW2 in ASW. He sent me literature on the Navy. My sense of the greatness of that generation and the gratitude we had for their sacrifices is indescribable.

[@dattakafkaodell6698]

per imdb 26 episodes (1952 and 53) remember this series fondly, loved the soundtrack. first class production all the way.

[@hnnjo5]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS SEARIES

[@NYGoodbye]

This was on the Tv at my Grandparents house on the regular, all the men sat around watching glued to the tv

[@jeffelmore5614]

Thank for this! I remember my mother buying this at Ross when I was 10, wanted to be a history major ever since!

[@lonestar76670]

watched this while stationed in Memphis. i didn't appreciate them as much then as do now.great series.

[@raymondwilliams7638]

Always love watching the amazing footage of Victory at Sea!

[@rorlowski77]

I watched this as a kid. Probably why I joined the NAVY. Thank you.

[@BETTERWORLDSGT]

Good one! I remember seeing this in TV in the early 70s

[@samieshoestring6332]

have read the comments and agree. My father and his brothers were all fighting in WW2. they rarely talked about their efforts. only when they got much older did they talk about this.

[@scottleft3672]

I just love the intro....the sun reflecting off the waves from 10 o-clock...the island or sand spit in the distane...then... "AND-A-NOW"....lol. magical.

[@sheilabloom6735]

Once upon NBC had programs like this it’s own symphony and opera programs. Richard Rodgers composed the remarkable score.

[@TheIsreal0312]

My dad would in the Navy during WW 2, so really loved this show growing up

[@t0mt0m2000]

My stepfather's family was born in Russia. They escaped to Germany, where they had to flee again as some Nazis tried to drown one of the brothers in a public pool. They went to France,they had to flee from Germany when Hword came to power. Thjey went to France from which they had to flee once again when Hword occupied France. Then, they went to Great Britain. My stepfather was operating a ship at the time of Dunkirk. The authorities got on the radio and ordered all boats, civilian or military, to go to Dunkirk to help the evacuation of Allied armed forces. My stepfather went. Then, my stepfather emigrated from Great Britain to the United States. The Allies lost their entire supply of rubber when the Japaneses conquered Southeast Asia, from which all the rubber came at the time. Of course, Japan refused to sell rubber to the Allied governments. So the government assembled a group of Chemical Engineers to translate Intelligence information on rubber (the Nazis knew how to make artificial rubber but the Allies did not) into an industrial process, which the panel of Chemical Engineers did. My Stepfather was on the panel of Chemical Engineers and I am very proud of him for that.

[@moniks2849]

Few realize that american chemists tweaked the cracking process for gasoline, with the addition of ethyl allowed 100 octane gasoline that pared with the newest fighters and bombers allowed allied planes to fly higher, and 100 mph faster than axis planes. It was all over in the air war after that. We cranked out liberty ships faster than the axis could sink them. The record build from keel to launch was at the kaiser yard. 6 days 20 hours.

[@donnabanning3747]

I used to watch this on TV back in the '70's when I was a kid. I own the complete DVD set, too.

[@granskare]

Don't forget the Welsh, the Scots, and those of Northern Ireland who also built the ships.

[@matthewtorres21]

My grandfather used to watch this show with his dad who served in pearl harbor on the USS Tennessee when the Japan attacked.

[@aceturbo640]

Watched this series on the old film reels and loved it ever since i saw it for the first time! And the soundtrack is one of the finest for this documentary.

[@kennethhirlinger3014]

Greatest war documentary ever!

[@nelsonwagner7617]

I love this series...the music rips me up..Richard Rogers

[@kaptainkaos1202]

My nana(grandmother) was a short, small lady when she was young. She was trained as a welder to work in the shipyards or New England. She worked at Bath Ironworks in Maine. She told me she got placed in small areas around the keel to weld where the big men couldn’t fit. My nana was my savior who helped me grow up into the person I am today. Without her I wouldn’t have be here. Love you nana and hope to hug you again someday.

[@MemphisApplegate]

26 years in the Navy. This series makes me want to "ship over."

[@stevek8829]

Memphis Applegate 99% here don't know what you mean. Old post I know.

[@davesmith6624]

This is an awesome Series,it ranks right up there with The World At War.

[@SugoiEnglish1]

Victory at Sea, The World at War, The War Ken Burns and I'd add WW 2 in HD!

[@DrLoverLover]

yes great propaganda

[@erpollock]

As a 9 year old, I scoured the Central Enoch Pratt Free Library's LP shelves in Baltimore for musicals by Richard Rodgers (and Oscar Hammerstein). All that was left of their sparse collection was inevitably Victory at Sea. I had no interest in war so skipped Victory at Sea. I never realized that the composer of the musicals I loved to listen to and to sing throughout my childhood also composed this naval symphony. And there was also a documentary to accompany the music! Oh, it's the other way around. The music accompanies the documentary. What a discovery at a late date.

[@mitchnorton9095]

I loved these when I was a kid. Thanx.

[@frydemwingz]

Watched this during Gunners Mate A-school on the reg at the base theater....in 2005.

[@oldsalt7534]

I watched this series when I was 7&8 years old with my folks on our old B&W TV

[@johnpinke784]

Watched this series in 1956 with my dad (RCAF injured overseas - ended pro hockey career) I can still see the British Destroyer plowing through the survivors...(the Convoy Rules would not allow him to stop) the clip was also in the "Cruel Sea".

[@NgaiOlaudah]

i believe that that is Laurence Lord Olivier doing the voice over for the series! I was a child when I first saw this great series! an excellent companion to the Churchill war diaries! THANK YOU for posting...

[@Shutter29]

Great series. Actually the narration was done by Leonard Graves, After Victory at Sea he acted in a number of movies through the 50s and early 60s.

[@NgaiOlaudah]

Shutter29 THANK YOU, for the correction, sir!!

[@Shutter29]

You are most welcome.

[@RogerHayn]

Olivier narrated The World at War, another impressive series about WW II

[@granskare]

when I was a kid, we watched tv every tuesday, nbc, for victory at sea...great series so you should ignore the trolls here. Some scenes are used from other events - Sherman tanks being off loaded. this was made in 1952 so commercial events are here. now we have 14 commercials per program..that brought me away from tv and to the internet. thanks :)

[@l8tbraker]

I was 10 when the first episode was presented. Will never forget.

[@420glass]

Thanks for putting up this great Playlist of Victory at Sea

[@carltrinkle5296]

Good recorded history. Never forget. Thanks.

[@carolwood850]

I'm old enough to remember this on TV. (It was the first album I bought when my dad bought me a 'stereo'.) A War with no blood. Now I know otherwise. However It MUST be considered great for it's time, and I STILL love it.

[@l8tbraker]

Just pulled this series up: first impression. What a great soundtrack!

[@DrLoverLover]

probably on the same amphetamines as the us soldiers

[@jonathanstrong4812]

Indeed it's very good Mr Rodgers was a expert bar-none and Mr Leonard Graves was equally good in the show as well

[@williamedwards1528]

Like so many here, watched this as a young man. Excellent production, editing, and narration by Leonard Graves.

[@culturethevibe2125]

i used to watch this show everyday in middle school.

[@jony663]

This is a series NBC could show today and get good ratings, warts and all

[@deetjay1]

Leonard Graves made the series...All those guys like my uncles won the war...

[@ernielara1010]

great historical series..fully documented..thank you very much..

[@razorshark9320]

I grew up watching this history series. Love it because it uses real footage of World War 2 and War movies.

[@graemesemple9784]

I remember watching this with my dad.

[@adrianjackson2696]

Excellent with great narration and music.

[@kennethhirlinger5500]

Best war documentary ever and there has been a slew of them! In five years our Navy emerged from near obscurity to becoming the most powerful in the world! Despite Obama's efforts to send the navy back to obscurity, it remains number one! I was proud and happy to serve in the navy for 20 years, but most of all to serve my country, which I love more than life itself!

[@tomguyone]

Got a good laugh from your post..."Despite Obama's..." blah, blah, blah...so Kenny...tell me, what other nation on the face of the earth has as much firepower, as much technology on the land, in the air, on the seas, as the US military? Apparently you have swallowed the right wing GOPer fascist narrative hook, line, and sinker.

[@moniks2849]

@@tomguyone obunbler and hitlory both hated our military

[@tomguyone]

@@moniks2849 Really? And you base your idiotic comment on ....Faux Nooze? Limpballs? other right wingnuts? Grow a brain bitch!

[@wileyrenfroe9363]

I bought this set of DVD's at Sam's Club all 26 episodes

[@randymiller3075]

I first saw this with my dad in 1961 when I was 6years old.

[@geraldstringer3005]

I love this series

[@alcyone9361]

One one of the bases I was stationed at when I was in the Navy, I was required to watch the entire 26 show series. Had seen them all before in the late 50s on TV.

[@MikeDesilva-dm3ec]

I watched victory at sea late Sunday nights channel 38 ( Boston ) during the 70's

[@MikeDesilva-dm3ec]

Same here. I never missed an episode

[@redheelerdog]

Thanks for posting these! Keep up the good work.

[@PeterDad60]

Here's to you Father! Love Peter.

[@johngreen3543]

Fabulous musical score.

[@TheMeJustMe75]

I loved watching this as a little kid, it was one of the few shows that my father and I would watch together. You couldn't make a show like this any more because someone would want to put a political agenda slant on it. This show was just the facts and nothing more.

[@albertmarsh1796]

I remember watching this when i was younger I'm now 83yrs now

[@browntree1948]

Watching this program, followed by "The Silent Service" and "The Big Picture" became a Sunday ritual for us when I was eight. My uncle was a naval transport pilot in the Pacific and among his many flights was one to ferry Admiral John "Slew" McCain from Guam to Hawaii following a "nervous breakdown" as commander of Task Force 38 in mid-July, 1945. He was actually suffering from undiagnosed heart disease and the stress of the command, and had requested home leave. He died of a heart attack at home in California 4 days after witnessing the signing of the Japanese surrender on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri. It is interesting to note that the original films of this series, including several minutes of the opening of this Episode 1 contained passages from the Holy Bible which were edited out by the miscreants who re-recorded it for DVD in an effort to "sanitize" it from any trace of religion. How sad, since that was what sustained many members of our fighting forces in the chaos of combat!

[@KiwiKaosAgent]

Thanks Navy for your service.

[@alanpalm7154]

An excellent series!

[@alan.chrisman5243]

Great series- Geronimo -101st Airborne- we helped a 'wee bit'

[@randymiller3075]

MY BELOVED LATE UNCLE WAS IN THE INFANTRY UNDER PATTON,BRADLEY AND CLARK!

[@SugoiEnglish1]

My father served in Third Army 90th div 358th Inf Co F Normandy to Czech...

[@jamesanonymous2343]

the musical "accompaniment" is totally nuts.

[@toastnjam7384]

The narration really shows that this was made in a different era.

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Robert Russell Bennett composed the bulk of the music, according the harpist on the recording, Lucile Lawrence.

[@leeshackelford7517]

At 7 years of age, I found the magazine set on WWII, editted by Sir Basil Liddel Hart....at 9, I found this series During the following 45 years, both were viewed many times