Abandoned Engineering (2016–…): Season 3, Episode 3 - Hitler's Wonder Weapon Bunker - full transcript

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The twisted remains

of a war-torn
mountainside complex.

It's such a
strange-looking site.

It kind of starts, but just
disappears into the forest.

A secretive military structure
marooned in freezing waters.

It's a place with
lots of mystery.

There really aren't
many clues left.

The stranded rusting carcass
of a vessel deserted long ago.

There is that slightly

spooky element to it.

You do feel there's a
story here somehow.



And a crumbling bridge in
america's southern-most state.

It doesn't seem to go anywhere.

There's nothing on it.

Where did this come
from? What was it for?

Once, they were some of
the most advanced structures

and facilities on the planet,

at the cutting edge of
design and construction.

Today, they stand abandoned,

contaminated and
sometimes deadly.

But who built them and how

and why were they abandoned?

In southeastern Europe,

in the hills around Sarajevo

a major city in
former yugoslavia



is a strange, abandoned complex.

Weaving its way down
the side of a mountain

is a network of
snow-covered concrete walls,

Bridges and channels.

It's such a
strange-looking site.

It curves around with
these oblong structures

coming out of the high wall

and it kind of starts, but
just disappears into the forest.

It looks like something
from 'mad Max'.

The setting for a
futuristic game of death.

A concrete channel sits hidden
in the forest high above the city.

It's covered in graffiti

and it's stained with
algae and decay.

It is a strange place indeed.

It's not the only
deserted structure here.

On different slopes around the
city are other devastated buildings.

And together, they tell of a
story of violence and death.

But what were they all built for

and what sinister event

left them severely
damaged and abandoned?

Some of the answers
are linked to the battle

that ripped Sarajevo apart

during the terrible
war in the Balkans.

The siege of Sarajevo,

the capital of Bosnia
and Herzegovina,

became a bloody
emblem of the conflict.

It began in April 1992

when 13,000 Bosnian serb
troops surrounded the city

and it lasted almost four years,

far longer than the infamous
sieges of stalingrad and Leningrad

during world war ii.

The events that unfolded here

cast a dark and tragic shadow

and made men such
as Stanislav galic

and dragomir milosevic
notorious throughout the world.

So, was the complex billed as part
of an elaborate military structure?

At first sight,

it has all the
hallmarks of a damaged

and war-torn defensive line.

Its location is
strategically important,

because typically, those
who hold the high ground

in a military conflict
have an advantage.

In this case, that was very true

in terms of artillery
positionings and snipers

being able to
terrorise the city.

You've got snipers
shooting anybody.

We're not just
shooting soldiers,

we're shooting civilians,
we're shooting children.

They're shooting

people who just are
caught in the crossfire.

It is a ghastly place.

In fact, they weren't
originally built for war.

They were all involved

in one of the cities
proudest moments.

These are the remains of the
1984 winter olympic venues.

The winter Olympics
were extremely important

for Sarajevo.

For a start,

it's the first time
that a socialist state

has hosted the winter Olympics.

But for yugoslavia,

it was a chance to put
the best foot forward

on a world stage.

This gives Sarajevo
a chance to be seen.

So, they really think,

with that much focus coming
onto them from abroad,

this is going to do wonders

for the yugoslavian
tourist industry.

But as previous
hosts had found out,

the cost of putting on the games
often got completely out of control.

The decaying structures
here tell a story of despair,

rather than celebration.

So, was Sarajevo really able to
make a success of the games?

You're going to need
to look after the athletes.

You're going to
look after everybody

who's going to come
to see the games.

So, what they've already got,

they're going to
need to reinvigorate.

Sarajevo had to invest
a large amount of money

in both the venues themselves
as well as the infrastructure

to handle all of the crowds.

So, it was quite
a daunting task.

One of the key sites was
this curving concrete channel.

And its position on this mountain
offers a clue as to what it was.

A huge bobsleigh and luge track.

Slavko malec is a former manager
of one of the olympic venues.

This is one of the
steepest tracks in the world,

where crews were able to
achieve super high speeds

and had to possess a lot
of skill to avoid flipping over.

But despite all those elements,

the speed, the
steepness and the rest,

it was still considered
one of the safest tracks.

Today, its crumbling
remains peppered with holes

tell only of a deadlier use.

But was the track and the
other sites on this mountain

an olympic success story?

On 8 February 1984,

the world tuned in to find out.

The Olympics weren't just
successful in a technical

and organisational sense,

it was also a financial success.

The equivalent of
a 20 million surplus

speaks for itself.

I do not remember any olympic
games that were so successful,

especially nowadays.

It was the first winter Olympics
to actually make money

since the early 1930s.

So, for the people of
yugoslavia, it was a great success.

After the winter Olympics,

the facilities
continued to be in use.

The luge track, for instance,

was used in many
world cup competitions,

while the ski resort
went on to become

one of the most
popular in the country.

But the sites today show
that the olympic dream

was eventually shattered.

So, what happened?

I never believed that there
could be a war in Sarajevo.

Not for one moment did
I believe it could happen.

Life in Sarajevo was such

that you could not
foresee war coming here.

Just eight years later, in 1992,

the Yugoslav federation
was breaking apart

and civil war engulfed Sarajevo.

For more than three years,

fighting between Bosnia's
Muslim, serb and croat populations,

tore the region apart.

The Bosnian Serbs
held the city to ransom

and the siege lasted 44 months.

The longest siege of a
capital city in modern history.

The scars of war
can still be seen

in the pockmarked
concrete of the buildings.

And the mountainside that
housed the bobsleigh track

had a deadly role to play.

The bobsleigh
track was, in effect,

the frontline between
the two sides.

And unfortunately, the track
was damaged by both mortars

and used as an
artillery position.

All of the nearby
facilities were destroyed.

Because of its elevated
position overlooking the city,

this slope and others
surrounding Sarajevo

became key offensive locations

from where Bosnian serb
artillery constantly pounded the city.

In the peak of the
siege, 300 shells a day

rained down on Sarajevo.

The Bosnian serb commander says,

"shell them to the
edge of madness."

And he's good to his word.

Memories of the city's
bright past disappeared

as stories of horrific
scenes began to emerge.

It's at the medal podium

where perhaps some of the
most tragic events happen.

Soldiers, when they've
captured people from the town,

they take them to the medal
podium and there, they are executed.

It's even said that
the olympic hotel

was used as a prison.

So many thousands of
people died during the siege

that they ran out of
space to Bury them.

In the end, they had to
use the olympic arena

as a mass cemetery.

The ordeal finally
came to an end

on 29 February 1996.

But by then,

the lives of 11,541 sarajevan's

had already been lost.

Today, while some areas
have been patched up,

the abandoned structures
across this mountain

still display the visible
reminders of a very dark period

in the city's history.

When you look at what's
left from those winter games,

we have to look at that

as a memorial to the
spirit and accomplishment

of the yugoslavian people.

Not to the horrific
events that came later.

160km southwest of Miami

lies a vast abandoned structure.

Straddling the waters
of the Florida keys,

this bridge stretches
out for almost 1.5km.

It looks almost like a metal
superstructure on its side.

It's an amazing ribbon
of steel and concrete.

There's a big gap in the
middle of the structure...

And a smaller gap
towards the southern end.

It doesn't seem to go anywhere

there is nothing on it.

So, where did this come
from? What was it for?

A rusting pipe that runs
the length of the lower level

seems lost amongst
the intricate metalwork.

While perched precariously above

is a series of badly
cracked concrete slabs.

Could the structure's location
hold the key to its current state?

The Florida keys sit right in
the middle of hurricane alley.

Southern Florida is
target number one.

So, what was the purpose
of this colossal bridge?

Why was it built here

and why was it left to
disintegrate in the sea?

The story is closely linked
to a site over 1,600km away

in Central America.

At the turn of the 20th century,

one of the most ambitious
engineering projects in history

was taking place

the construction of
the Panama canal.

A lot of ships have
come from the pacific,

into the Atlantic,
into the Caribbean,

without having to go

many thousands of
miles around the horn,

the southern tip
of South America.

It was going to
revolutionise transport.

It was an 82km stretch
of artificial waterway

that connected the pacific
and the Atlantic oceans

and it was designed to
make maritime trade easier

and speedier.

Work actually began in 1881,

but construction was a slow,
complex and hazardous business.

It wasn't until the usa

took control of
the project in 1904

that real progress was made

and the canal opened in 1914.

The shortcut suddenly
put key west on the map.

As the most southerly
point in the usa,

it was perfectly placed to
become the gateway to america

for the shipping industry.

But the state of
Florida wasn't prepared.

Key west was a
pretty thriving port city.

It was one of the largest
towns in all of Florida.

What's interesting
is the rest of Florida

wasn't very developed this time.

It was largely
uninhabited scrubland

and swamps.

The grand resorts and
cities and Disney world,

none of that was
there at that time.

The main problem
was that key west

had no transport
link to the mainland.

And the state wasn't about
to construct a new one.

So, who built this and why?

Park ranger Elaine
Mason has the answer.

A man named Henry Morrison
flagler decided to build this bridge.

He had already started building
the railroads on the east coast

and he had gotten to Miami

and then, he decided he was
going to build the railroad to key west.

He was the man to do it.

These remains spanned

the most treacherous
section of water

the railroad had to cross.

This is the bahia Honda bridge.

This was one of the biggest

single engineering
challenges of the entire project

because of the sheer
depth of the water.

So, really challenging
place to build.

This was one of the great
engineering innovations of that era.

And look at it now. It's
still there after 100 years.

But this bridge was
just one of many.

The whole route
was planned to stretch

more than 200km from key west,

all the way to the mainland.

This was just an incredibly
audacious undertaking,

because when you
look at that map, you see

there's almost as much
water between the islands,

as there is land on the islands.

Just imagine trying
to build Bridges

over around 40 different
stretches of water.

In 1905,

work began on what was
called the overseas railroad.

To be in with a
chance of success,

it had to be completed before
the Panama canal opened.

And if they couldn't cross the
water around bahia Honda quay,

then the whole
project would fail.

The bahia Honda bridge
was the biggest challenge

the workmen faced.

It's almost a mile long.

It's the deepest
channel in the quay.

It's 30 feet deep.

The currents are very fast.

And you'll get four
changes of tides a day.

But the unpredictable
tropical weather

would soon play its part.

One of the challenges in the
quays, of course, is hurricanes.

Today, we know a week in advance

when a hurricane is coming.

Back then, these things
came out of nowhere.

They didn't have

that kind of
weather forecasting.

So, they couldn't anticipate
them, they couldn't prepare for them

and many, hundreds of
lives were lost in the quays.

During construction,

three major hurricanes
struck the Bridges,

killing more than 100 workers

and putting the entire
project in jeopardy.

After three years of hard toil,

the bahia Honda bridge
successfully stretched

the 1,540m to the next quay.

But would the rest of
the overseas railroad

be finished in time?

It was very difficult,
building the Bridges.

A lot of it was
unknown territory.

There were mosquitos, bugs,

the heat was intense.

They had to bring everything,
all fresh water, all the food,

plus all of the materials.

Finally, in 1912,

the bahia Honda bridge

and the overseas
railroad were ready for use.

It had beaten the construction of
the Panama canal by two years.

Everybody in the world who
was interested in engineering

knew about the Panama canal.

It was by far the
most impressive

work of engineering
on the planet.

But a lot of people thought that
this railroad was a close second.

So, had it worked?

Did this become
the route into the us?

Sadly, the dream of the trade

from the Panama
canal never materialised.

The ships bypassed
key west altogether,

went straight to the major
ports on the east coast

or into Texas or
New Orleans areas.

Unfortunately, it never
really made any money.

But it had the tourists going
back and forth to key west.

Then, in 1935, the
labour day hurricane hit.

Between 250 and 300 men

working on a new
road bridge network

were lost to the storm,

which also killed more than
100 natives of the quays.

As well as the
devastating loss of life,

the hurricane caused
damage estimated at $3 million

to the overseas railroad.

And the company
couldn't afford the repairs.

They sold the entire thing,

lock, stock and
barrel, to the state,

who was already
building a highway.

They converted
all the old Bridges

and people started
driving their automobiles.

In the 1970s,

a larger, four-Lane highway
was built right beside it.

Two sections were removed
from the bahia Honda bridge

to allow boat traffic through.

And, finally, it was
abandoned for good.

Today, the two sections
of the bahia Honda bridge

are the most obvious signs

of this extraordinary
engineering project.

But a few small remains
can still be found.

A few weeks ago, I was
walking on the beach

and I found this railway spike.

It's over 100 years old.

You can still see the marks of
the hammer on the top of here.

And it really does
make you think, though.

All the brutally hard
work and the hot sun.

Pounding these railroad
spikes into the ground.

There's a whole
story in this itself.

In central Europe,

on the north coast of Poland,

is a mysterious
structure lost at sea.

Just over 300m from the shore,

this crumbling concrete building
dominates the coastal waters.

With its high observation
tower and isolated position,

it looks like a
maximum-security prison.

That, or a James
Bond villain's lair.

A tower is a bit odd.

Then you think, "well, was
this some kind of lighthouse

or some kind of marine
research centre?"

It's really a skeleton of what

was once probably a much larger
and much more imposing structure.

But what remains above the
water is only part of the story.

There's a sunken walkway nearby.

One wonders whether that was

in any way part of
this construction.

It's a place with
lots of mystery,

lots of questions
you can ask yourself.

So, what was this
complex used for

and why was it finally
cut off from the land

and abandoned out at sea?

The answers are to be
found in the Nazi's effort

to advance their weapons
programme during the second world war.

When it comes to world war ii,

one of the most significant
weapons systems deployed

was the torpedo.

Normally, we think about
the torpedo fired by a u-boat

as being a real potential
war winner for Nazi Germany.

Torpedos might damage a
battleship. They won't sink it.

But merchant ships,
which are unarmoured,

are easy prey for torpedoes.

Operating with deadly force
in the battle of the Atlantic,

groups of u-boats
called wolf packs

terrorised the allies'
merchant fleets.

The convoys across the Atlantic
were vital to the British war effort

and the fight against
the u-boat peril

was part of the longest
continuous campaign of world war ii.

In all, 3,500 allied
merchant ships

and 175 war ships were lost

and more than 72,000
allied seamen were killed.

The man most associated
with the wolf pack tactic

is admiral Karl donitz,

who from 1942,

marshalled his type vii
u-boats to devastating effect.

But u-boat torpedoes had
not always been reliable.

U-boats, at the
beginning of the war,

are finding that 30%
of their torpedoes

are simply not exploding
when they're supposed to.

German torpedoes suffered
from their proximately detonators.

These were affected by the
magnetic core of the earth,

which mean the torpedo just went
off well before it should have done.

So, you need a lot of critical,
detailed research early on.

And when the war
breaks out in 1939,

Germany has not done
that critical research.

The Germans knew they
had to quickly improve

their torpedo technology.

This site was built to
help solve the problem.

During the war,

it was called
torpedowaffenplatz hexengrund,

meaning torpedo weapons
place of the witch's ground.

Local diver mariusz
szymanski knows the site well.

The first time I dived

near the torpedo testing
station was in 2001.

It's always been
shrouded in mystery.

You can say that

it's a very difficult
area for diving

because there are many dangerous
items left behind in the water.

There are various parts of torpedoes
and other dangerous objects there.

Today, this structure is
known as torpedownia,

but what remains is just a
small part of the vast complex.

Onshore, the Nazis
constructed an airfield,

manufacturing facilities,

a railway yard and more.

Around 2,500 people worked
across the coastal sites,

which were dedicated
to torpedo development.

You had diver embarkation areas,
you had harbours for small vessels,

you had research
facilities, workshops,

even living quarters for
the staff who worked there.

Torpedownia was connected
to it all by a long pier

used to bring in
the new torpedoes.

All leading to this unique,

u-shaped building,

which is there to actually
launch the torpedoes

that are being
assembled and tested.

So, torpedownia is a
crucial final element.

The Nazis were relying
heavily on this site

to give them the advantage
in the fight for the oceans.

But why build such a
sophisticated research site here,

hundreds of miles from
the battle of the Atlantic?

The torpedo testing
station was built in 1940

and put into operation in 1942.

This location was chosen
as it was a remote place.

It could not be reached
by the allied air force.

The goal was to protect

this research and
development centre,

which was of great importance

as far as creating torpedo
prototypes was concerned.

But these torpedoes were
not destined for u-boats.

Torpedownia was, in
fact, run by the luftwaffe,

the German airforce.

These weapons would soon be
strapped to the underside of an aircraft.

A number of countries

already possessed
effective aerial torpedoes.

Most notably Japan,

who had demonstrated
their destructive power

on the us fleet at Pearl harbor.

Germany, however,
lagged far behind.

In the early years of the war,

Germany misses
a major opportunity

to attack British warships

particularly in the
campaign around Norway

and cripple the British fleet.

They simply don't have
a viable airdrop torpedo

that can do the job.

Nazi high command

ordered the luftwaffe
to get up to speed.

And this site became
the heart of the operation.

But developing aerial torpedoes

presented a whole
new set of challenges.

Because torpedoes
are so delicate,

it's difficult enough to
fire them from a submarine

or fire them from
a surface vessel.

Dropping them from an air
is a whole different project.

You need some kind of
apparatus to make it fly effectively

as it goes from
one medium, the air,

into the second
medium, the water,

and not start doing
all kind of crazy things.

On the surface,
there's little to suggest

the Nazis ever developed
effective torpedoes here.

But the secrets of the facility
have begun to be offered up

by the waters below.

I hold, in my hands,
a very rare object.

It's an emersion device

which was mounted on the
warhead at the front of the torpedo.

It's a prototype,

probably the only one in
the world that has survived.

But it's not only this outer
casing that has survived.

Even some of the more
complicated components

have remained in
astonishingly good condition.

And here's the gyroscope.

It still works. Have a look.

You could say it
was like the computer

that controlled the
torpedo trajectory.

It was all up to the
gyroscope, really.

It was the most important
device in the torpedo.

From here, the new
torpedo prototypes

would undergo vital tests...

While the engineers tracked
their progress from the watchtower.

The torpedo on a ramp

was pulled down to a
submerged torpedo launcher.

It was then launched along a channel
that ran seven miles across the bay.

When they were at
the end of their rung,

they were caught
in torpedo nets.

Divers were then deployed from
small boats down to the bottom,

recovered the torpedoes,

and any adjustments
that were being needed

and were being observed from
the observation tower were made

and the torpedoes
were tested again.

Further testing saw aircraft
dropping torpedoes into the bay.

But ultimately,

the Nazis never managed to
catch up with the other nations.

In the field, initial successes

quickly turned into
mounting losses

as the allies learned to defend
against low-flying torpedo aircraft.

If they'd been able to employ

these airdrop torpedoes
earlier in the war,

it could have had a
big effect on the war

in the mediterranean,
for example.

But it didn't.

Torpedownia is a
great might-have-been

when it comes to
world war ii structures.

Yes, it did its job. It
worked very effectively.

But really, it was
too late to do the job

it was supposed to
be doing much earlier.

Torpedownia was
just too little, too late.

They were never going to get

their torpedo technology
perfected in time.

The Germans had hoped

that torpedownia would be
a game changer in the war,

but they were always
one step behind.

And soon enough,

with the Soviets closing in,

the site was abandoned.

Today, the front wall of the
building has disappeared,

having fallen in to
the sea years ago.

And what remains seems
to be about to collapse.

But it's still a visible
monument to Nazi failure.

When you see torpedownia
today, it reminds you that

even the greatest empires
are heavily dependent

on technological advancement.

If you don't move fast
enough, technology will fail you.

And that's exactly what
happened to the Germans

and their torpedo development.

In the south Atlantic ocean,

in the waters of
the Falkland Islands,

is a bizarre site.

A deserted sailing ship
stranded on a sand bank.

Here's this rusting carcass

just stuck out there in the bay.

Where did it come from?

Usually, when we
think of a shipwreck,

we think of a ship
that's pretty broken up.

But this one
looks pretty intact.

What's it made of? How
come it hasn't fallen apart?

It's very hard to see
what's wrong with it.

There's a bit of damage,
but not that much.

It almost looks as
though you could stick

some sails on that thing

and sail it out of
the harbour today.

Still almost upright,

she seems to have
defied both time

and the elements to
remain anchored to this spot.

There is that slightly

spooky element to it.

You do feel there's a
story here somehow.

There's something behind
this relic of a bygone age

just sitting, waiting
for its crew to return.

It makes you wonder,

what happened that
left it in this sorry state?

Was it attacked in war

or did pirates take it

and just leave it
there to be abandoned

or did the crew actually
mutiny and leave on their own?

So, how did it all go
wrong for this ship?

And of all the
places in the world,

why is she stranded here,
in such a remote location?

The beginnings of her story
can be found far across the seas

in the second half
of the 19th century,

when one mighty power
ruled the waves, britain.

This was the time of
the industrial revolution.

Only a few decades earlier,

britain's economy had been
based on the textile industry.

But now, it was known as
the workshop of the world,

a mighty industrial powerhouse

driven by the new
factories in the big cities.

Two things were crucial

to keep britain's
industrial wheels turning.

One was her all-powerful Navy,

which was the
greatest in the world.

The second was her empire.

The British empire,
the largest empire

the world has ever known,
was an empire built on trade.

There was simply no
way britain could survive

once the industrial
revolution had taken over.

And once britain really
stopped being able to feed itself,

it was heavily reliant on trade,

bringing food and
raw materials in

and exporting its goods

so they could be
sold around the world.

To keep the British
empire running,

greater numbers of cheaper
ships were desperately needed

and this was one
of those vital crafts,

the lady Elizabeth.

She made her
maiden voyage in 1879.

But in the age of steam power,

why did she have three masts?

It all came down to cost.

A sailing ship

doesn't need to
burn expensive coal.

The wind is free

and as long as you're
not in too much of a hurry,

the sailing ship will get your
cargo to its destination eventually.

Though it looks very old,

it's actually a much more
modern vessel than you'd realise,

and that's because
of what it's made from.

The iron plates along
the side rather than timber.

Iron essentially offers more
bang for your buck than wood.

So there's more space for cargo,

which means that
each of your journeys

is going to be more profitable.

So, what disaster

caused such a reliable
and profitable ship

to be abandoned
so far from home?

Life at sea back then
was no ocean cruise,

as the lady Elizabeth
soon discovered in 1884

on a treacherous journey
from London to Sydney.

They hit real hurricane-force
winds going around the horn,

and which caused a lot
of damage to the ship.

The crew had to fight for hours

to survive this storm
and this heavy weather.

All of a sudden, these guys
have to climb up these lines,

high up the mast of the ship
that's swaying back and forth.

At one moment, you're out
over one side of the boat,

the next moment, you're
out over the other side.

It was not uncommon for
sailors to fall out of the rig

and not even hit the boat.

They would just fall
right into the water

and, of course, there was no way
to turn around and pick them up.

The lady Elizabeth survived,

but the narrow escape
terrified her crew.

And the moment they reached
port, a number of them jumped ship.

The grim mood
aboard wasn't helped

when two seamen contracted
highly contagious malaria

and then mysteriously
went missing.

All is well until one of
the men goes missing.

And word goes around
the ship really quickly that,

"hey, he's gone."

And, you know, that
creates some concern.

Of course it does.

But it got worse that evening
when the other man went missing.

Now there's a state of panic.

Now they go and they
cheek the lifeboats.

They're all there. Well,
how about the sea?

It's not rough.
It's really still.

Nobody really knows what
happened to the two men

and to this day, it
remains a mystery.

But if the ship could withstand
unexplained disappearances

and the worst weather mother
nature could throw at her,

then what happened in the
falklands that finally cut her time short?

The end came for the lady
Liz in 1913, her final voyage.

She was doing
a fairly long haul.

All the way from Vancouver
to Africa, carrying timber.

But again, she
hit heavy weather.

There was a lot of
damage to the ship itself.

And actually, four men
were washed overboard

in this appalling
weather she met

going round the southern tip
of South America, cape horn.

It was so bad, in fact,

there was so much
damage to the ship itself,

the captain decided
he had no choice

but to run for the
nearest safe harbour.

The remaining sailors
fought for their lives

as they battled
through the storm.

But disaster was
about to strike.

As she neared the port,

the lady Elizabeth
smashed into a rock.

The ship was
headed to a small port

in the Falkland Islands,

which are really in the middle
of nowhere in the south Atlantic.

And on their way towards
the port, they hit a rock.

They knocked a pretty good
size hole in the bottom of the boat.

It started to flood.

She had been fatally
holed below the water line.

Lady Elizabeth crawled into
harbour with water pouring in.

And that was the end of
her days on the open seas.

She was patched up, sold

and moored in the harbour

to become a floating
warehouse for timber.

But if she couldn't be sailed,

how did she make
it across from there

to her final resting place?

On 17 February 1936,

a heavy storm hit the falklands.

Lady Elizabeth was
moored in port Stanley,

but her moorings broke loose.

She drifted round
to whalebone cove,

where she beached on the sands

and that's where
she's been ever since,

slowly rusting away.

What's so interesting
and kind of spooky

about the lady Elizabeth

is it looks so intact.

That's that iron hull.

Usually when a boat's
been wrecked for,

you know, the better
part of a century,

it's really broken down to
some pretty scattered pieces.

The masts are still sticking up

for the most part

and it looks pretty
intact and dramatic,

like it just sailed in maybe
just, you know, not long ago.

Today, the lady
Elizabeth's rusting remains

are a haunting memorial
to both the sailors

who lost their lives in
the service of the ship

and the perils of life
on the open oceans.

If the lady Elizabeth
has a moral,

it's that the life of ships
and the life on the sea

is difficult, dangerous

and often does not
come to a happy end.

There have been
plans over the years

to convert lady Liz

into a floating museum

as testament to all the work
she did around the globe

for so many years.

Sadly, that's never
come to fruition.

Sheer lack of funding.

Now, they lie abandoned,

but once,

they were at the cutting
edge of engineering.

There are echoes from history
in these decaying structures.

They remind us
of terror and war,

but also of great innovation

and human endeavour.