RR
Roland R. Smith
Self - Narrator
TV SERIES
Episodes of the Royal Navy
DocumentaryWar & Politics
Episodes of the Royal Navy is naval historian Roland R. Smith's multi-year effort to create a vivid portrait of Britain's naval force during World War II. Compiled from diverse archive sources and produced with sequences kept as long as possible, it presents archive footage in the context it was originally filmed, with complimentary dialogue and sound kept to a minimum.
Top cast
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Episodes
11 Episodes
011. Part One: Battleships at War 1941/42
Focuses on the King George V Class battleships during early WWII, including: · HMS Howe from fitting out and commissioning to leaving the Clyde for the first time · HMS Anson leaving Rosyth and arriving at Scapa Flow · The hunt and destruction of the Bismarck by the Home Fleet · The historic Atlantic voyage of HMS Prince of Wales' and sweep through the lanes of a large convoy, including her arrival at Singapore and a vivid portrayal of her subsequent loss with HMS Repulse. · A penetrating look at life on HMS King George V · Spectactular coverage of the Home Fleet, which includes HMS Duke of York during an Arctic patrol early in 1942
022. Part Two: Britannia Goes to War
Follows the Royal Navy from Spithead Reviews to the Home and Mediterranean fleets exercising of Gibraltar, from Chatham Barracks to the wartime submarine base at Dundee. Includes: · Footage of the Battle of the River Plate including Achillies, Exeter, and Ajax · Sea-boat drilling on HMS Achates · HMS Cossack arriving in Leith with released Altmark prisoners · Footage of Nelson, Rodney, Barham, Warspite, King George V, Kelly, and more
033. Part Three: 'Close-Up' for Actions Stations!
Looks at the shore establishments Ganges, Collingwood, and Excellent, including climbing the mast, Colours, and Divisions as well as: · The expansion of minesweeping forces · The perils of the East Coast convoys, seen under attack as filmed from a destroyer escort · A profile of Hunt class destroyers at sea, with rare below-the-decks scenes · HMS Barham during Operation Menace, being heavily engaged and towing a badly-damaged HMS Resolution, and her catastrophic demise · HMS Kent during her last China commission · The Australian 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' with HMAS Perth · The bombardment of Bardia and Italian air-attack
044. Part Four: Colour Camera at Sea
Comprised of rare colour film taken privately in wartime by two officers from the decks of Nelson, Kent, and the ill-fated destroyers Ivanhoe and Laforey. This episode spans from home waters to the Far East, Narvik to the Atlantic and Mediterranean convoy battles, and includes: · The loss of Ark Royal and Eagle · The 1st Battle Squadron and 3rd Flotilla off Malta in 1939 · Various ships in the Norwegian fjords including HMS Cossack approaching the German tanker Altmark · The submarine Grampus and cruiser Birmingham on the China Station · The carriers Illustrious and Indomitable off Madagascar during Operation Ironclad · Mediterranean convoy scenes of Furious, Argus, Renown, Rodney, Edinburgh, Kenya and more · A South Atlantic crossing-the-line ceremony onboard Nelson in company with Revenge and the troop liners Andes, Orontes, Strathallen, Aquitania, Empress of Canada, Stirling Castle and more
055. Part Five: Tragedy and Triumph
Following a controversial decision to detach herself from the fleet operating off Norway in June 1940 and sail intependently to Scapa Flow, HMS Glorious was caught and sunk, along with her attendant destroyers Ardent and Acasta, by the German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. 3 and-a-half years later, Scharnhorst would be fought in the last engagement between heavy units of the German and British navies: the Battle of the North Cape.
066. Part Six: Perilous Waters
Covers the Battle of the Atlantic, giving us many views of Flower Class corvettes, frigates, destroyers, etc., along with many scenes showing the work of the Royal Canadian Navy and the Merchant Navy, including: · The 2nd Escort group's Starling, Magpie, Wild Goose, and Wren, hunting their U-boat adversaries, along with their return to Gladstone Dock in Liverpool and the internment of survivors from U-264 · The burial at sea of Captain Frederic John Walker, CB, DSO & Three Bars onboard HMS Hesperus, following his sudden death in July 1944 · A feature on the takeover of the former US Navy's 'Four-Stacker' destroyers · Rare views of the RCN's operations from Halifax · Further scenes of merchant ships in convoy and their attendant escorts in heavy weather
077. Part Seven: The Hazards of Russian Convoys
Covers the Russian Convoys, giving as accurate an account as possible of the life on these convoys, and in particular some of the enemy action they saw, including harrowing views of the air attack on PQ18 filmed from HMS Scylla.
088. Part Eight: The Great Armada 'Operation Torch'
Focuses on the armada of more than 350 merchantmen and 170 warships assembled for Operation Torch - the Allied assault on French North Africa in November 1942 - and the Royal Navy's Task Force H including: · Nelson, Rodney, and Renown, the carriers Formidable, Victorious, Furious, Biter, and other light escort carriers · Scenes of the Fleet Air Arm operating Albacores, Seafires, and Martlets with American roundels · The merchant ships Mooltan, Cathy, Strathnaver, Viceroy of India, and various Union Castle boats all sailing together · HMS Sheffield, as she joined the convoys independently at a later stage · Submarines from the 8th Flotilla, and their depot ship HMS Maidstone · King George VI's inspection of HMS Howe at Algiers
099. Part Nine: D-Day Reflections of 'Operation Neptune'
No episode synopsis is available.
1010. Part Ten: The British Pacific and East India Fleets (1st Phase)
No episode synopsis is available.
1111. Part Eleven: The British Pacific and East India Fleets (2nd Phase)
Continues the story of the East Indies & British Pacific fleets. March 1945 saw the BPF having to sustain almost daily air strikes throughout more than 30 days ongoing sea duty, and the horrors of kamikazi attacks. With all the fleet carriers now being assigned to that force, the EIF was left operating solely with escort carriers. While their area of operations eventually came to be regarded as a backwater, this episode shows that some EIF personnel did on occasions come face-to-face with their enemy.