The Great Ships

Season 2

1997 · 15 episodes · 11h 15m in all

Episodes

1. 1

   1. The Destroyers

   2 Oct 1997 · 45 min

   Knifing through the waves, destroyers are amongst the fastest and most deadly warships ever built. Mounting a powerful arsenal of offensive and defensive weapons, they can serve equally well as escorts for other vessels or as formidable attack ships in their own right. From their humble beginnings as stripped-down vessels designed exclusively to destroy torpedo boats, through the WWII models battling the U-boat 'wolf packs' in the North Atlantic to the most modern versions each now more powerful than a whole squadron of WWI dreadnoughts.

2. 2

   2. The Freighters

   9 Oct 1997 · 45 min

3. 3

   3. The Delta Queen

   16 Oct 1997 · 45 min

4. 4

   4. The Frigates

   23 Oct 1997 · 45 min

5. 5

   5. The Ironclads

   6 Nov 1997 · 45 min

   With their menacing dark silhouettes belching fire and smoke, the Ironclad warships of the mid 19th century burst onto the naval scene like hulking metal monsters. Combining iron plating, steam propulsion and the biggest and most powerful guns afloat, the Ironclads represented a radical advance over all previous warships. Although pioneered by the French and British with ships like HMS Warrior, today they are best remembered for the part they played in the American Civil War.

6. 6

   6. The Pirate Ships

   13 Nov 1997 · 45 min

   A history brief of piracy through eighteen centuries, with emphasis on ship building and maneuvering in the eighteenth century.

7. 7

   7. The Riverboats

   20 Nov 1997 · 45 min

8. 8

   8. The Trawlers

   4 Dec 1997 · 45 min

9. 9

   9. The Battleships

   11 Dec 1997 · 45 min

10. 10

    10. The Schooners

    18 Dec 1997 · 45 min

11. 11

    11. The Power Racers

    8 Jan 1998 · 45 min

12. 12

    12. The Tankers

    15 Jan 1998 · 45 min

13. 13

    13. The Amphibious Assault Ships

    22 Jan 1998 · 45 min

14. 14

    14. High Tech, High Seas Navigation

    29 Jan 1998 · 45 min

15. 15

    15. High Tech, High Seas Design and Construction

    5 Feb 1998 · 45 min