Combat Ships

The longship is an iconic symbol of the Viking Age and one of history’s most effective war machines. We visit the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo to reveal the role this vessel played in helping the Nordic warriors dominate Europe for over 200 years. We also examine the craftsmanship and ingenious design that went into building a longship, with overlapping panels to give it strength while allowing the frame to be lighter, and its shallow draft shape that made it perfect for storming beaches.

Over the past century, combat ships have been operating in secret, unseen by the enemy. Today, the military uses groundbreaking, radar-reflecting technology to evade detection, but well before then, the U.S. Navy has employed stealth tactics to pull off crucial operations that helped win wars. Join us as we take a look at World War II operations involving the small and fast PT boat and the legendary submarine HMS Seraph. Then see how the 1985 prototype Sea Shadow paved the way for the stealth ships of today.

Throughout the ages, combat ships were built to be fast and deadly, combining clever design, raw firepower and human heroism to carve out glory in battle. But some vessels, let down by bad design or bad luck, would go on to become bywords for failure: from the 16th-century Swedish warship that sank on its maiden voyage, to the Royal Navy’s HMS Hood–a WWI cruiser with so little armor, she was easily dispatched by Germany’s legendary Bismarck. It’s a sobering account of the greatest tragedies in naval history.

They are the Navy’s most feared hunters and fiercest defenders of their fleet, able to take the fight to subs, aircraft, and rival surface ships. Join us as we examine the world’s greatest destroyers and cruisers, and highlight some of the heroic crews, weapons, and battles fought from the 19th century to the modern day. From HMS Gannet’s role in keeping order in the British Empire to the heroic efforts of USS Laffey and HMS Belfast in the Okinawa and D-Day invasions, we show how these combat ships evolved to become the backbones of navies.

Naval battles aren’t always the dogfights of popular imagination. Sometimes, the real fight relied on secrets and subterfuge. Some, such as the capture of German U-505 in 1944, would result in a treasure trove of intel for the Allies. Others, such as the Lusitania’s secret gun-running operation, would end in tragedy. But there were also more elaborate secret operations, such as the highly classified 1974 mission to retrieve K-129, one of the USSR’s most advanced nuclear subs. Join us on a thrilling look at the shadowy history of naval deception.

In the 16th century, the Spanish Armada were the reigning maritime superpower, with mighty galleons at their disposal. The English, on the other hand, were the upstarts, opportunistic pirates with inferior ships. Led by buccaneering figures such as Francis Drake and John Hawkins, English ships' technology began to catch up, leading to the revolutionary “race-built galleons.” In 1588, both sides would meet in battle for the right to be declared rulers of the waves.

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the greatest sea conflict in history, involving the world’s largest ships, hundreds of aircraft, and three days of white-knuckled combat. It also marked the beginning of the end of the Imperial Navy’s grip on the Pacific. Witness the battle from start to finish, from the brilliant offensive and defensive tactics to the David-and-Goliath confrontations, and from the first kamikaze attack to the last hurrah of the battleship, which afterwards would bow to the superiority of air carriers as the dominant weapon of war.

Amphibious vessels: specialized landing craft built to go where no other combat ship can reach and able to deliver tanks, jeeps, soldiers, and supplies to the front lines. We detail some of the greatest ships in the history of amphibious warfare, from the LCT, which dropped the huge Allied fighting force onto the beaches of Normandy in 1944, to the Swift boats that patrolled Vietnam's shores. We also chart the evolution of combat hovercraft, and how the PACVs of the '60s grew to become a mainstay for the U.S. Navy's Assault Craft Units.