Maritime disasters

Ships, harbours and cold water. Evacuations at sea and what happened when they failed.

Documentaries

EP 02 · Gotenhafen · 1945

The Wilhelm Gustloff

On 30 January 1945 a former cruise liner left Gotenhafen with refugees, wounded soldiers and navy trainees aboard. That night three torpedoes hit her. The episode follows a ten-year-old boy, a mother of three, a navy doctor and a sailor's family through the sinking and the months after, and asks why no one can say how many died.

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EP 03 · Halifax · 1917

The Halifax Explosion

On 6 December 1917 the burning munitions ship Mont-Blanc exploded in Halifax Harbour, killing roughly 2,000 people. This episode follows the doctors, children and families of Halifax and Dartmouth through the blast, the flying glass, the snowstorm that followed, and the weeks of care that came after.

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In the Knowledge Base