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NARRATOR: The beaches
and cliffs of Normandy.

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In June 1944, the most
important place on the planet.

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DR DELGADO: It's the greatest
battlefield in human history.

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Full of incredible stories.

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NARRATOR: But some of D-Day's
greatest stories remain untold,

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because vital evidence is
hidden beneath the waves.

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Imagine if we could
empty the oceans.

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Letting the water
drain away to reveal the
secrets of the sea floor.

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Now we can.

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Using accurate data.

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And astonishing technology.

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To bring light once
again to a lost world.

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What shocking weapon
blew a key British
warship into fragments?

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Can this shattered landing
craft explain why Omaha was the
bloodiest beach of them all?

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HENDLEY: Unloading had to be
stopped, because the living
couldn't climb over the dead.

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NARRATOR: And why did the
power of the sea mean life
or death on Utah beach?

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DR DELGADO: The seas were
still churned up and as the
man next to you goes down,

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it's the luck of the draw.

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NARRATOR: After more than a
year of meticulous planning,

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7,000 ships and a quarter
of a million men are ready.

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The Allied invasion of
Nazi occupied Europe
is about to begin.

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NICHOLAS: The scale of
D-Day is absolutely epic.

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It's the most extraordinary
thing that's ever been
undertaken in history.

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NARRATOR: For years,
archaeologists have studied
the battle on land.

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But now, they're
looking somewhere else.

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Marine archaeologists
working with the French
underwater unit, DRASSM,

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are scanning 50 miles of coast
using the latest 3D technology

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ANDY: This is the largest
continuous underwater mapping

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projects ever done
for this particular area.

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NARRATOR: They've
already discovered
300 military relics.

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Many unknown to historians.

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ARCHAEOLOGIST:
That is really odd.

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It's really hard to tell
what we're looking at.

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NARRATOR: Scanned in forensic
detail, this deep-sea treasure
trove is transforming

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our understanding
of the invasion.

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NICHOLAS: It's all
still there in a way that
actually it isn't on land.

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And we found some
tremendously exciting things.

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NARRATOR: Now for the first
time, we can use this data to
unlock the secrets of D-Day.

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By draining away the murky
waters of the Normandy coast,

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to reveal exactly
what happened here.

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As the seas begin to empty,
they uncover just some
of the hundreds of wrecks.

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Each with a story to tell.

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Target number one,
an allied destroyer.

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Sunk before the
landings even begin.

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Her fate is one of D-Day's
greatest mysteries.

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1,200 allied warships
approach the Normandy coast.

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At 5:23 in the morning,
they open fire.

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Catching the enemy
unprepared and off-guard.

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PROF GROVE: One can
imagine the feelings of
many of the Germans.

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It must have been sheer terror
to have seen this huge fleet.

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NARRATOR: Fire rains down on
the five beaches the allies
have marked for invasion,

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Utah, Omaha, Gold,
Juno, and Sword.

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A Norwegian destroyer
called the Svenner is
on the eastern flank.

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A crew of 219
are preparing to join the
bombardment of the beaches.

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When suddenly

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a massive explosion
and she's gone.

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How is this Svenner
destroyed while surrounded

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by over a thousand
heavily armed warships?

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Data from the survey contains
tantalizing details.

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Combining them with
the latest computer
visualization techniques

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means we can empty the
Normandy coast, and go
looking for clues.

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As the water begins
to drain away.

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A sight lost for 75 years.

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Hundreds of tonnes of
twisted and ruined metal.

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Shocking evidence
of a huge explosion.

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The bow and stern
are in one piece.

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But the midsection
is shattered.

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What could have
caused so much damage?

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It can't be a shell.

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The Svenner is beyond the
range of German artillery.

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And it can't be a bomb.

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The allies completely dominate
the air throughout D-Day.

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But returning to the scan data,
the survey team has a theory.

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SAUVAGE: You can see that the
ship was violently broken into,

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because two parts have sunk
in two different orientations.

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So that really is the impact
of a torpedo explosion.

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NARRATOR: If it was a torpedo,
does that mean a hidden u-boat

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managed to penetrate
Allied defenses?

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To find the answer,
the team must dig deeper

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into the secret history
of D-Day itself.

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Historian Nick Hewitt
visits Suffolk House,

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headquarters of D-Day
commander, Dwight Eisenhower.

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NICHOLAS: This room
was the nerve centre
of a huge operation.

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It was planned all over the UK,
all over the world, actually,

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and it was two years
in the making,

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and this map is the very
map used by Eisenhower
and his senior commanders

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to make it all happen.

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The key elements that could
be controlled were when it
was going to happen

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and precisely where it
was going to happen.

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NARRATOR: But the only way
this plan could work is if the
Germans never learn of it.

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To divert attention the
Allies leak fake plans.

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PROF GROVE: We had to
keep the Germans
guessing, which we did,

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by an enormously
successful deception plan,

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which meant the Germans
didn't know, were we going
to land in Norway perhaps?

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Were we going to land
just across the channel?

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That was a vital part
of the operation.

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NARRATOR: Hitler's
defense against invasion
is the Atlantic wall.

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A vast network of bunkers,
pillboxes and artillery
positions lining the coast

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from Spain to Norway.

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He believes the allies will
attack somewhere along the
coast of the English Channel.

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And orders Field Marshall
Erwin Rommel to stop them.

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Influenced by the
Allied deception plan,

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Rommel believes his enemy
will need a deep-water port.

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So concentrates his forces and
heavy artillery at Calais,
Cherbourg, and Le Havre.

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So when the invasion fleet
targets the beaches of Normandy
along the bay of the Seine,

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the most powerful
German defenses are
in the wrong place.

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And there is not a
single U-boat nearby.

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So if the Svenner was blown
apart by a torpedo, it can't
have come from a U-boat.

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The survey team dig deeper
and uncover another suspect.

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NICHOLAS: By June 1944,
the German navy is almost
finished as a fighting force,

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but they do have the number
of small warships, operated
by actually incredibly

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well-trained and
courageous crews.

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NARRATOR: Small warships
like these, torpedo boats.

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They pack a real punch.

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With six torpedo tubes and
two anti-aircraft guns,

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maneuverable and sleek

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they can reach a top
speed of 35 knots.

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Perfect for a hit and run.

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And there's a flotilla
of them in Le Havre.

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Just 20 miles away
from the D-Day fleet.

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Now, using all their research,
and details from the drained
wreck of the warship,

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the team can reconstruct
exactly what happened to
the Svenner.

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Just before dawn, the
fifth torpedo boat flotilla
is ordered to attack.

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A force of just four
boats will challenge a
thousand Allied warships.

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Out of the blue, the T-boats
approach the invasion fleet.

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The Allies have laid
a dense smoke screen.

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The T-boat crews use
it to their advantage.

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They get close enough
to fire 18 torpedoes.

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Each packed with 600 pounds
of explosive, enough to
cripple the biggest warship.

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But now, the smokescreen
helps the Allies.

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The T-boats are firing blind.

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17 torpedoes miss their mark.

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Leaving just one that runs
straight into the Svenner.

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186 crewmen swim to safety,
but 33 go down with the ship.

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The haunting remains of
the vessel stand as
brutal testimony

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to the deadly power of
a German T-1 torpedo.

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But the Nazis are
so unprepared,

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that this is their
only success at sea
throughout D-day.

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PROF GROVE: The fact that the
Germans are able to inflict
only this single loss

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demonstrates that the
defenses that had
been planned

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for the landings were
very, very successful.

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It was now up to the army
alone and the army would
have a difficult job.

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NARRATOR: The battle for the
beaches is about to begin.

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All of them packed
with defenses.

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Pillboxes, barbed wire,
machine gun posts.

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As the waters along the
Normandy coastline
continue to recede,

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they reveal strange
objects on the sea floor.

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What can they tell us of
Allied plans to confront the
terrifying challenge ahead?

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The naval guns fall silent.

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More than 100,000 highly
trained troops are ready
to storm fortress Europe.

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23,000 Americans approach the
most Western of the beaches.

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Codename Utah.

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But their plan
immediately unravels.

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Strong currents push them
more than a mile from their
designated landing zone.

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And yet, for many, this
turns into a stroke of luck.

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Led by Brigadier General
Theodore Roosevelt, son
of the former President,

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they land in an area
between two German strong
points, an enemy blind spot.

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DR DELGADO: When they
come ashore, they realize
they're in the wrong spot,

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but it turns out to
be the right spot, because
there's less Germans there.

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And so Theodore Roosevelt
Jr in command, simply stops,

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plants his flag and says,
the war starts here.

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NARRATOR: Roosevelt's
men outflank the
German positions.

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And soon control
the beach head.

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But a mile and half off shore,
the survey team discovers
something surprising.

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Strange shapes
on the sea bed.

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It looks like some
Allied units never
reached Utah beach .

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ANDY: Looks like three
different vehicles of
some sort,

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like potentially an
upside-down tank here.

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And then this vehicle's a bit
more difficult to determine

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what it is and so we'll try
to take a close look at that.

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NARRATOR: Divers
go to investigate

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and find the wrecks
heavily encrusted.

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They spot what could
be tank tracks.

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And a gun barrel.

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But visibility is too
poor to identify them.

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There is one way
to see clearly.

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Combine visual clues with
the teams 3D scan data and
drain millions of gallons

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of sea water away.

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As the waves recede, they
gradually reveal a cluster
of military vehicles.

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But the puzzle only deepens.

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They have gun barrels, and
a turret set to one side.

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They've got tracks,
heavy armor.

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They look like tanks.

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But this isn't a tank gun.

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It's more like the cannon
of field artillery.

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00:17:44,933 --> 00:17:47,400
So what are they?

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The team examines specialized
Allied weapons designed

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for the unique challenge
of this terrain.

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And focus on close
support artillery.

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In World War Two, artillery
is normally pulled by men,
vehicles or horses,

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but in sand and water,
this won't work.

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So, to support the
infantry on the beaches
the Allies deploy these.

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M7 Priest Guns.

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Artillery that
transports itself.

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105mm Howizer mounted on the
chassis of an M4 Sherman tank.

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A tank fires in a flat
trajectory, so the target
must be in its line of sight,

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but a howitzer fires
in an arc to lob shells
up and over obstacles.

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Perfect for enemy
positions high above
the Normandy beaches.

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More research reveals that the
Americans have 30 Priest guns
ready to land on Utah beach,

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carried on amphibious
landing craft.

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Accounts from the day suggest
only 27 make it to shore.

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Archaeologist, James
Delgado, thinks that these
could be the missing three,

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but they're nowhere near
their landing craft, which
means whatever happened

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was so violent, it threw
the Priest guns clear.

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What Nazi weapon was
powerful enough to do that?

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He has a theory.

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DR DELGADO: This entire
50 mile long section of the
coastline had been fortified.

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00:20:04,167 --> 00:20:08,900
Rommel had anticipated
scattering some 50
million mines,

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00:20:08,933 --> 00:20:14,367
he was only able to deploy 20
million mines, but just the
same, if you consider that,

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it just boggles the mind.

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NARRATOR: The night before
D-Day, around 300 Allied
minesweepers

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carefully clear channels
to each of the five
landing zones.

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00:20:28,867 --> 00:20:33,533
The invading fleet should have
a clear run to the beaches.

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00:20:33,567 --> 00:20:36,233
So what happened to
the three Priest guns?

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00:20:40,900 --> 00:20:43,433
The survey team
spots something else.

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Plotting the precise
co-ordinates of the guns,
places them well off course.

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Their landing craft
has strayed out of
the clear channels

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00:20:59,933 --> 00:21:03,233
and drifted into an
uncleared minefield.

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00:21:06,867 --> 00:21:11,367
The same shifting
currents that so helped
Roosevelt's infantry,

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push it into deadly waters.

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00:21:18,333 --> 00:21:20,800
The huge power of
Rommel's sea mines

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00:21:26,767 --> 00:21:29,200
explains why the priest
guns were thrown

223
00:21:29,233 --> 00:21:31,233
far from their landing craft.

224
00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:41,167
The bodies of the seven men
crew may still be inside
each of these vehicles.

225
00:21:41,200 --> 00:21:46,300
A haunting reminder of
the human cost of D-Day.

226
00:21:53,467 --> 00:21:58,100
At Utah, this is one of
the few Allied set-backs.

227
00:21:58,133 --> 00:22:02,733
Roosevelt's men take the beach
head with just 200 casualties,

228
00:22:02,767 --> 00:22:07,100
but 15 miles along the coast
other young American soldiers

229
00:22:07,133 --> 00:22:13,733
are struggling in the
terrifying bloodbath
of Omaha beach.

230
00:22:13,767 --> 00:22:18,367
Ten times more men
die here than at Utah.

231
00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:19,933
But why?

232
00:22:23,600 --> 00:22:30,433
The survey team think they've
found a clue amid a twisted
mass of metal on the sea floor.

233
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:36,300
As the once
blood-stained waters of
Omaha beach drain away,

234
00:22:36,333 --> 00:22:39,767
can this astonishing new
discovery shed light

235
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,133
on D-Day's deadliest
battlefield?

236
00:22:50,633 --> 00:22:57,500
After two hours of fighting
on Omaha beach the Allied
plan is falling apart.

237
00:22:59,933 --> 00:23:03,933
Troops are pinned
to the shore.

238
00:23:03,967 --> 00:23:08,967
2,000 dead and injured
soldiers litter these sands.

239
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:16,167
It's the bloodiest
engagement of D-Day, but why?

240
00:23:24,467 --> 00:23:29,600
The survey team is eight
miles off shore, looking
for clues on the seabed.

241
00:23:32,667 --> 00:23:37,867
When their scanner picks
up an unusual outline.

242
00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:40,233
CHRISTOPHER: We do have a
definite flat bottom boat

243
00:23:40,267 --> 00:23:43,633
with a substantial amount
of damage in one corner

244
00:23:43,667 --> 00:23:46,467
and the front is
missing entirely.

245
00:23:49,533 --> 00:23:52,733
NARRATOR: Divers
take a closer look.

246
00:23:54,267 --> 00:24:00,100
Visibility is poor,
just six or seven feet

247
00:24:00,133 --> 00:24:05,733
But, it's immediately clear
that whatever it is, it's
taken a hell of a beating.

248
00:24:06,933 --> 00:24:10,467
There are bullet
holes everywhere
and that's not all.

249
00:24:35,033 --> 00:24:40,900
NARRATOR: Mangled beyond
recognition, the team
has no idea what it is.

250
00:24:42,867 --> 00:24:46,867
But the multi-beam scanner
has captured every detail.

251
00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:53,267
Using that data, we can
drain away the waters
of Omaha beach,

252
00:24:53,300 --> 00:24:56,467
to reveal a twisted
mass of metal.

253
00:25:01,967 --> 00:25:08,800
It's lying upside down, making
it even harder to identify.

254
00:25:08,833 --> 00:25:14,300
But, by using the scan
data, we can raise and
rotate the wreck,

255
00:25:14,333 --> 00:25:19,867
exposing the very topside for
the first time in 75 years.

256
00:25:21,767 --> 00:25:25,800
Now, the team think
they know what it is.

257
00:25:27,967 --> 00:25:33,600
An LCI, landing craft
infantry, one of the
workhorses of D-Day.

258
00:25:44,667 --> 00:25:47,900
They compare their data
with U.S. navy records

259
00:25:47,933 --> 00:25:50,167
and make a huge
breakthrough.

260
00:25:51,900 --> 00:25:58,067
They believe it is LCI 85.

261
00:25:58,100 --> 00:26:04,500
Can it help us understand
just why Omaha beach
was D-Day's bloodiest?

262
00:26:10,167 --> 00:26:13,667
It's clearly been at
the heart of the battle.

263
00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:18,167
Its bow is blown clean off.

264
00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:23,900
It's covered in bullet
holes and shrapnel damage
from exploding shells.

265
00:26:25,867 --> 00:26:32,333
Ragged and twisted
metal here suggests a
devastating explosion.

266
00:26:32,367 --> 00:26:37,233
The damage on LCI 85 reveals
the power of German weapons

267
00:26:37,267 --> 00:26:40,767
unleashed upon the Americans
as they tried to land.

268
00:26:45,067 --> 00:26:48,300
And there is other
evidence too.

269
00:26:48,333 --> 00:26:54,400
The team unearth first
hand accounts from men who
served on LCI85 that day,

270
00:26:55,367 --> 00:27:02,300
including commanding
officer Coit Hendley and
Lieutenant Arthur Farrar

271
00:27:02,333 --> 00:27:07,533
Now it's possible to
convey what happened
in terrifying detail.

272
00:27:14,100 --> 00:27:16,567
Allied troops have been
landing for two hours.

273
00:27:20,833 --> 00:27:26,400
But Omaha with its high
cliffs is the most heavily
defended of all the beaches,

274
00:27:26,433 --> 00:27:30,133
and the Americans are pinned
down under heavy fire.

275
00:27:31,933 --> 00:27:38,067
LCI 85 approaches the
beach with much needed
reinforcements.

276
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:44,000
Lieutenant Farrar must
get the 188 troops on
board quickly to shore.

277
00:27:46,633 --> 00:27:49,033
His problems
start immediately

278
00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:52,967
ARTHUR: The path 50 yards wide
was supposed to be cleared

279
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,567
through the underwater
obstacles.

280
00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:59,700
We found it near to 10
yards wide and only
partially cleared.

281
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,000
NARRATOR: Blocked by an
uncleared mine field,

282
00:28:05,033 --> 00:28:11,167
LCI 85 is pounded by
shell after shell,
fired from the cliffs.

283
00:28:16,767 --> 00:28:22,433
Under a hail of bullets,
the commanding officer
tries another route.

284
00:28:22,467 --> 00:28:25,833
ARTHUR: We then tried ramming
through the obstacles about

285
00:28:25,867 --> 00:28:28,000
200 yards to the right
of our assigned place.

286
00:28:31,367 --> 00:28:36,200
NARRATOR: But, as the LCI
grounds, it immediately
hits a mine.

287
00:28:41,233 --> 00:28:45,300
It starts to sink, but
is close enough to
shore for 50 men

288
00:28:45,333 --> 00:28:47,533
to scramble
towards the beach.

289
00:28:49,133 --> 00:28:54,867
Then another direct hit
from a German shell smashes
the landing ramps to pieces.

290
00:29:00,433 --> 00:29:03,800
HENDLEY: We could
hear the scream of men
through the voice tube,

291
00:29:03,833 --> 00:29:05,400
unloading had to be stopped,

292
00:29:05,433 --> 00:29:09,200
because the living could
not climb over the dead.

293
00:29:09,233 --> 00:29:14,300
The deck was so slick with
blood and cluttered with
bits of flesh and dead,

294
00:29:14,333 --> 00:29:19,367
and mutilated men that it was
difficult to move from one
part of the ship to another.

295
00:29:21,300 --> 00:29:25,000
NARRATOR: And we don't
only have the words of
eye witnesses.

296
00:29:25,033 --> 00:29:30,533
Extraordinarily, the team
discover color footage too.

297
00:29:30,567 --> 00:29:36,933
The courage and carnage on
board LCI 85 is captured
by a combat camera team

298
00:29:36,967 --> 00:29:38,733
at the height of the battle.

299
00:29:40,267 --> 00:29:46,167
Here, filming the bodies
of the dead, and the
injured awaiting rescue.

300
00:29:48,133 --> 00:29:52,300
Shot in the leg, Lieutenant
Farrar is one of the wounded.

301
00:29:52,333 --> 00:29:58,167
He watches as his remaining
troops board another landing
craft and attempt once more

302
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,800
to reach their comrades
on the beach.

303
00:30:02,667 --> 00:30:09,533
Astonishingly, 93
of them make it.

304
00:30:09,567 --> 00:30:13,200
But LCI 85 is now
barely afloat.

305
00:30:17,567 --> 00:30:22,433
Her crew take the decision
to scuttle her, by setting
off an explosive charge.

306
00:30:35,933 --> 00:30:42,533
The drained wreck of LCI
85 is testimony to the
horror of Omaha beach.

307
00:30:43,633 --> 00:30:49,833
The Allied bombardment has
failed to take out any of
over 40 enemy strong points,

308
00:30:49,867 --> 00:30:56,167
leaving men who try to land
here facing shell fire.

309
00:30:56,200 --> 00:31:00,167
Machine guns.

310
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:02,533
And unswept mines.

311
00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:12,033
Finally, for those who
do reach the beach, a
new kind of hell awaits.

312
00:31:16,733 --> 00:31:20,400
DR DELGADO: In this
beach, men are being mowed
down with erupting fire,

313
00:31:20,433 --> 00:31:24,567
with shrapnel flying everywhere.

314
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:29,067
And men are hunkered down and
they're waiting, as engineers
try to advance to clear mines

315
00:31:29,100 --> 00:31:33,167
and to take out pillboxes,
and it takes some time.

316
00:31:33,200 --> 00:31:35,733
And as that happens,
the casualties mount,

317
00:31:35,767 --> 00:31:39,367
making this the bloodiest
beach on D-Day.

318
00:31:43,700 --> 00:31:49,533
NARRATOR: Securing Omaha costs
over 2,400 American lives.

319
00:31:49,567 --> 00:31:52,567
It's the last of the
five beaches to fall.

320
00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,000
But the Allies cannot rest.

321
00:31:58,033 --> 00:32:01,467
The must now prepare for the
inevitable counter attack.

322
00:32:02,567 --> 00:32:08,367
And that means landing
thousands of tons of
supplies every day.

323
00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:11,767
With no ports, it's
a huge challenge.

324
00:32:16,467 --> 00:32:21,800
The survey team is to the east
of Omaha, near to Juno beach.

325
00:32:21,833 --> 00:32:27,500
They detect a new wreck, it's
huge and it's in pieces.

326
00:32:27,533 --> 00:32:32,900
What can this shattered
warship reveal about a
desperate Nazi attempt

327
00:32:32,933 --> 00:32:36,133
to stop the Allies in
their tracks?

328
00:32:45,233 --> 00:32:49,567
D-Day plus two.

329
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:56,600
Over 4,000 Allied troops have
died to claim the five beaches,
but 130,000 are now on shore.

330
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:03,467
Another 700,000 are ready
to land, along with vast
quantities of vehicles,

331
00:33:03,500 --> 00:33:08,633
fuel, ammunition and food.

332
00:33:08,667 --> 00:33:12,567
The battle to resupply
the bridgehead has begun.

333
00:33:20,667 --> 00:33:25,900
These vital operations are
coordinated from specially
adapted warships.

334
00:33:29,900 --> 00:33:34,400
For Juno beach, that
ship is HMS Lawford.

335
00:33:38,433 --> 00:33:41,400
Equipped with powerful
anti-aircraft guns,

336
00:33:41,433 --> 00:33:45,467
and state of the art
submarine hunting technology,

337
00:33:45,500 --> 00:33:49,033
she's one of the most
up-to-date ships in
the Royal Navy.

338
00:33:50,233 --> 00:33:52,667
PROF GROVE: Considerable
modifications made
to the superstructure,

339
00:33:52,700 --> 00:33:56,733
she was given a large
number of radars and
communications equipment,

340
00:33:56,767 --> 00:33:59,167
and she was converted into a
very significant command ship.

341
00:34:03,467 --> 00:34:09,433
NARRATOR: In the quiet of
the morning, HMS Lawford
is already hard at work.

342
00:34:09,467 --> 00:34:14,800
The Allies have secured
the coast, the enemy
is nowhere in sight.

343
00:34:14,833 --> 00:34:17,700
When suddenly, there's
a huge explosion.

344
00:34:24,933 --> 00:34:29,333
And a short time later,
HMS Lawford is gone.

345
00:34:31,067 --> 00:34:33,000
The Allies are dumb-struck.

346
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:50,967
The mystery of the Lawford
makes her a priority
for the survey team.

347
00:34:51,967 --> 00:34:56,800
When she's located, in
70 feet of water,

348
00:34:56,833 --> 00:35:00,667
divers go in,

349
00:35:00,700 --> 00:35:02,300
looking for clues.

350
00:35:04,567 --> 00:35:07,033
James Delgado runs the
dive from the bridge.

351
00:35:13,467 --> 00:35:15,433
DR DELGADO: Dan, Dan, this
is topside. Do you read us?

352
00:35:22,333 --> 00:35:24,033
DR DELGADO: And you're
able to look inside?

353
00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:32,733
NARRATOR: The divers
inch their way through
the Lawford's stern.

354
00:35:44,233 --> 00:35:48,033
NARRATOR: Exploring evidence
untouched for 75 years.

355
00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:06,900
NARRATOR: They discover
an unusual clue.

356
00:36:06,933 --> 00:36:13,533
A set of tubes, or narrow
gun barrels, their purpose
is another mystery.

357
00:36:14,933 --> 00:36:17,500
It's time to look
more closely.

358
00:36:17,533 --> 00:36:22,500
Combining the dive team's
findings with the latest
multi-beam scan data,

359
00:36:22,533 --> 00:36:26,500
we can start to remove the
waters off Juno beach.

360
00:36:34,900 --> 00:36:38,600
As the bay of the
Seine slowly empties.

361
00:36:41,700 --> 00:36:44,500
It reveals a
shocking crime scene.

362
00:36:50,267 --> 00:36:53,600
The Lawford is
in three pieces.

363
00:36:53,633 --> 00:36:59,867
The bow and the stern
are over 300 feet apart.

364
00:36:59,900 --> 00:37:05,167
A sea mine is unlikely
to cause this type of
shattering damage.

365
00:37:06,867 --> 00:37:08,933
So what could have?

366
00:37:11,067 --> 00:37:17,933
At the bow, the set of
tubes found by the divers is
revealed to be a hedgehog.

367
00:37:18,933 --> 00:37:24,267
A weapon system that can
fire 24 mortars at a time,
over attacking U-boats.

368
00:37:37,300 --> 00:37:42,700
But the hedgehog is not
loaded, it could be that the
mortars were fired too late

369
00:37:42,733 --> 00:37:45,267
to avert a sneak
torpedo attack.

370
00:37:46,867 --> 00:37:50,000
Or that is was never
loaded in the first place.

371
00:37:51,333 --> 00:37:54,267
But a torpedo seems unlikely.

372
00:37:56,767 --> 00:38:01,867
The Allies had blocked
all U-boats from
the area since D-Day.

373
00:38:03,200 --> 00:38:07,567
And the damage on the
wreck suggests something
more powerful than even

374
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:10,000
the biggest German torpedo

375
00:38:11,500 --> 00:38:16,433
It's the kind of
damage expected from
a thousand pound bomb.

376
00:38:16,467 --> 00:38:19,667
A deadly payload delivered
by the Luftwaffe.

377
00:38:26,367 --> 00:38:33,233
And yet, the Allies still
have complete air cover.

378
00:38:33,267 --> 00:38:36,733
Back at the stern,
there's another clue.

379
00:38:36,767 --> 00:38:43,167
The boxes the dive team thought
were batteries are actually
full of unused ammunition.

380
00:38:44,167 --> 00:38:48,133
The Lawford hasn't
even fired her guns.

381
00:38:48,167 --> 00:38:51,967
So whatever got her
was a total surprise.

382
00:38:52,967 --> 00:38:58,267
And was not spotted
by the ship's advanced
early warning systems.

383
00:39:02,767 --> 00:39:07,700
The team believe that
leaves only one suspect.

384
00:39:07,733 --> 00:39:11,700
A hi-tech Nazi
wonder weapon.

385
00:39:11,733 --> 00:39:18,400
Developed in secret by
German scientists for
the past four years.

386
00:39:18,433 --> 00:39:23,200
A Henschel Hs 293
glide bomb.

387
00:39:23,233 --> 00:39:25,767
NICHOLAS: It's what
in modern parlance is
called a stand-off bomb.

388
00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:30,600
They basically enable German
pilots to launch their weapon
out of range of anti-aircraft

389
00:39:30,633 --> 00:39:33,400
gun fire, away from
marauding fighters,

390
00:39:33,433 --> 00:39:36,067
and they can launch these
bombs and guide them

391
00:39:36,100 --> 00:39:38,433
into place through radio
control.

392
00:39:41,800 --> 00:39:47,033
NARRATOR: Operated by
remote control, the
HS293 guided missile

393
00:39:47,067 --> 00:39:49,533
is almost impossible to stop.

394
00:39:50,700 --> 00:39:55,400
And accurate enough to home in
on its target's weakest spot.

395
00:40:04,200 --> 00:40:06,267
(explosion)

396
00:40:25,300 --> 00:40:31,333
Aimed directly at the engine
room, the 1,100 pound bomb

397
00:40:32,333 --> 00:40:37,467
causes a massive
internal explosion.

398
00:40:37,500 --> 00:40:40,533
Killing 37 men instantly.

399
00:40:41,867 --> 00:40:45,300
HMS Lawford never
stood a chance.

400
00:40:52,067 --> 00:40:57,167
With the mystery solved,
it's clear that even
in the days after D-Day,

401
00:40:57,200 --> 00:41:01,767
the fight for the Normandy
coast is far from over.

402
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:07,100
And even the most
powerful Allied warships
remain at risk.

403
00:41:09,100 --> 00:41:11,033
Like this one.

404
00:41:11,067 --> 00:41:16,100
One of the titans of the
Allied invasion force,
close to Omaha beach.

405
00:41:18,200 --> 00:41:22,200
What sent this giant to
the bottom of the sea?

406
00:41:34,767 --> 00:41:41,133
The Normandy coast is
under Allied control.

407
00:41:41,167 --> 00:41:46,200
But driving Hitler's
armies out of Europe will
require millions of men

408
00:41:46,233 --> 00:41:49,000
and vast amounts
of supplies.

409
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:57,567
Delivered by these, LSTs
or Landing Ship Tanks,

410
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:00,167
the Goliaths of the
invasion force,

411
00:42:00,200 --> 00:42:04,167
each capable of carrying more
than 60 military vehicles.

412
00:42:08,033 --> 00:42:14,800
75 years later, the survey
team is searching for evidence
of that supply operation.

413
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:21,767
Six miles off Omaha,
their scanner picks up
the large wreck of an LST.

414
00:42:25,900 --> 00:42:32,400
Cross-referencing its
location with navy records
gives it a number, 496.

415
00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:37,233
Now, they want to find
out what happened to it.

416
00:42:46,033 --> 00:42:51,300
Using the team's
precise 3D data, we can
drain away the water.

417
00:42:53,833 --> 00:42:58,100
To reveal the smashed remains
of a D-Day heavyweight.

418
00:43:01,700 --> 00:43:05,300
It's an astonishing scene.

419
00:43:05,333 --> 00:43:06,600
Packed with clues.

420
00:43:11,133 --> 00:43:12,733
The bow is obliterated.

421
00:43:16,867 --> 00:43:22,933
Scattered all around,
the tanks and trucks it was
carrying towards Omaha beach.

422
00:43:30,167 --> 00:43:33,900
The whole sight is
a catastrophic mass
of twisted metal.

423
00:43:37,433 --> 00:43:40,000
The ship is lying
upside down.

424
00:43:40,033 --> 00:43:43,167
A 40 foot hole ripped
through the hull.

425
00:43:44,700 --> 00:43:50,333
Likely too large for a
torpedo and too low
for a glide bomb.

426
00:43:55,933 --> 00:43:58,800
Piecing together the
evidence at the wreck site,

427
00:43:58,833 --> 00:44:01,700
Nick Hewitt thinks he
knows what happened,

428
00:44:01,733 --> 00:44:08,633
an encounter with an
ingenious, but deadly weapon,
called an oyster mine.

429
00:44:08,667 --> 00:44:12,267
NICHOLAS: So this is a sea
mine that responds to changes

430
00:44:12,300 --> 00:44:16,033
in water pressure caused by
passing ship and that is

431
00:44:16,067 --> 00:44:19,100
a weapon for which there is
absolutely no antidote.

432
00:44:22,467 --> 00:44:26,033
NARRATOR: In a nighttime
stealth attack, fast
German vessels

433
00:44:26,067 --> 00:44:31,867
called E-boats drop
oyster mines in Allied
shipping lanes.

434
00:44:31,900 --> 00:44:38,367
Each one is packed
with around 1,500
pounds of explosive.

435
00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:45,333
They are set to detonate,
only when ships heavier than
minesweepers pass overhead,

436
00:44:45,367 --> 00:44:48,000
making them near
impossible to detect.

437
00:44:53,633 --> 00:45:00,633
LST 496, carrying over 60
tanks and trucks is heading
straight into danger.

438
00:45:03,567 --> 00:45:08,667
As it approaches Omaha
beach, the downward pressure
of the hull triggers a mine.

439
00:45:11,833 --> 00:45:16,467
A huge explosion blows a hole
in midships on the port side.

440
00:45:19,000 --> 00:45:25,800
The power of the blast
is so great, it detonates
a second oyster mine.

441
00:45:26,833 --> 00:45:31,233
This time, the explosion
rips right through her hull.

442
00:45:32,567 --> 00:45:34,567
In just 40 minutes,

443
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:41,600
LST496 sinks to the sea
floor, taking her war
fighting cargo with her.

444
00:45:44,700 --> 00:45:50,600
And more American soldiers
and sailors join the list
of those who sacrificed

445
00:45:50,633 --> 00:45:54,300
their lives to
liberate Europe.

446
00:46:01,533 --> 00:46:04,800
DR DELGADO: Here
in the American cemetery
overlooking Omaha beach,

447
00:46:04,833 --> 00:46:09,100
in the midst of these graves
of more than 9,000 men,

448
00:46:09,133 --> 00:46:13,700
75 years on, if the
question were to be asked,

449
00:46:13,733 --> 00:46:16,067
was this sacrifice worth it?

450
00:46:16,100 --> 00:46:19,333
The answer would still
be a resounding yes.

451
00:46:19,367 --> 00:46:23,767
Because of what they did,
the new world arose,

452
00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:28,033
embodying the ideals for which
these men fought and died.

453
00:46:28,067 --> 00:46:33,133
(music)

454
00:47:04,100 --> 00:47:04,900
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