HMS Ark Royal, Series 1
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Description
This series follows the Royal Navy’s famous flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal on her final mission. Ark Royal named in honour of the galleon that led England to defeat the Spanish Armada is now facing her own death sentence. Though no-one yet knows it, this will be her last international deployment. For many of the one thousand-crew this is their first time away from home. The hopes and excitement seem a world away from the budget cuts to come. It turns out to be a dramatic mission with Ark at the helm of an international task force of ships, code-named Auriga across the Atlantic Ocean, in one of the largest ever peacetime naval deployments. This is the first time a documentary team has filmed aboard HMS Ark Royal on an international deployment since the epic TV series in 1976 Sailor, one of the first observational documentary series to be made, which was shot aboard the previous Ark Royal.
| Name | Description | Time | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VideoEpisode 1 | As HMS Ark Royal, the flagship aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy prepares to leave Portsmouth on the next tide, her crew is schooled in Procedure ‘Alpha’ to make sure her exit is faultless. She’s about to embark on a five month mission to lead an international task force across the Atlantic in the largest-ever peacetime naval deployment for a decade. Once at sea her aircraft arrive. Three types of helicopters, The Lynx, Sea King and Merlin as well as the Naval Strike Wing of Harrier jets land aboard her flight deck. Just as the jets start their night landing training, the volcanic eruption in Iceland causes havoc across Europe and all flying is suspended. At one point Ark Royal is the only operational airstrip ‘in the UK’. There is a direct order from the then Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, and Operation Cunningham is launched to rescue stranded Britons from European ports. Ark is diverted from the deployment code-named Auriga and her crew has just one day to convert an aircraft carrier into a liner for 2000 passengers. | 44:15 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 2 | VideoEpisode 2 | Just days into her international deployment, code-named Auriga, the Prime Minister ordered HMS Ark Royal to rescue stranded British passengers who caught up in the chaos caused by the Icelandic volcanic eruption. Two thousand people are expected in Ark’s hangar which has been converted into a ferry for Operation Cunningham - the name of the rescue mission. Supplies of food, children’s life jackets and nappies are delivered and the entire crew is trained to manage the baggage handling and care of the tourists. Just as they are all prepared, the order comes through that Ark is stood down and will not be needed for the rescue. But she’s in trouble herself – a leak in her hull is discovered – and repairs are undertaken while she’s at sea. Then a second leak is found - seawater has contaminated the fuel. The Captain has no alternative but to return to Portsmouth for repairs. The only place she can be fixed is in dry dock where she’s mounted on blocks and all the water is drained out. It takes nearly two weeks for the engineers to resolve the problem but she finally resumes her role as the Flagship as she gets underway across the Atlantic following the fastest and most dangerous crossing known as The Great Circle Route which is the one taken by The Titanic. Along the way she practises with her guns and helicopters and has to avoid iceberg hazards. | 44:04 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 3 | VideoEpisode 3 | HMS Ark Royal is steaming towards Naval Station, Norfolk in Virginia in the United States, the largest naval base on earth. En route she needs to refuel and the only way to do it in the middle of the Atlantic is by hooking up for a RAS – replenishment at sea – with a naval tanker almost as big as she is. The USS Wally Schirra – named after the American astronaut - is an all-purpose naval supply vessel. She can carry just under a million gallons of diesel and the USS Wall Schirra fills up the Ark as they travel alongside each at twelve knots. HMS Ark Royal reaches Norfolk Naval Station and is greeted by the top brass of the US Navy. The weather is unseasonably bad and the arrival of the US Navy’s Harriers jets is delayed but the Merlin and Lynx helicopters can land. There is a fire drill and a winching exercise and the once the US Harriers arrive, they go straight to work trying to beat the Brits ‘splash target’ record. | 44:07 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 4 | VideoEpisode 4 | HMS Ark Royal, the British Navy’s flagship has been at sea for four weeks. She’s leading the biggest international deployment in recent years in the North Atlantic and now she’s heading to Mayport in Florida. Two hundred US Marine Corps and their twelve Harrier jets are embarked and with them is Ralph Wood, a young Royal Navy pilot who trained to fly Harriers with the US Navy. He has never done a real life take off from a carrier before so he’s thrilled that his first time will be from HMS Ark Royal’s ski slope on her flight deck. Ralph has do a marathon of seven continuous take offs and landings to qualify - and the runway’s moving too of course - travelling at 28 knots. The Big Guns are out for target practice with The USS Barry towing a huge inflatable at a distance of 3 kilometres and the best performance is achieved by the only female gunner. As they reach Mayport a young navigator gets his first chance to pilot the ship towards the mouth of the port. He’s been tasked to take her up to the edge of the basin where the water becomes shallower making it difficult for large ships to manoeuvre up to the jetty. At this point he should hand control back to the captain for the hardest part of berthing alongside but the captain’s got a surprise for him. The crew has some recreation and relaxation in the Florida sunshine but for some shore leave’s been cancelled. They have to practice for a royal visitor, HM The Queen. As they leave Mayport in Florida to travel to Nova Scotia in Canada, HMS Ark Royal is on high alert. She’s being attacked and her response is put to the test. | 44:12 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 5 | VideoEpisode 5 | HMS Ark Royal is two and a half months into her international deployment codenamed Auriga. She is heading to Halifax in Nova Scotia for some important appointments - starting with a visit from the new Prime Minister, David Cameron. It is the first time he has ever been aboard a Royal Navy warship. Along the way The Ark is joined by the Harriers of the RAF’s 1 Squadron, who are about to start two months of intensive training onboard – and the first thing they do is drop a one thousand pound live ordnance. HMS Liverpool, a type 42 Destroyer, is one of the ships making up the Carrier Strike Group that Ark Royal is leading. She prepares for a missile attack in an exercise with the US Navy and then encounters a simulated flood. Her engine shuts down so Ark Royal must come to her aid which involves linking the ships with a tow rope. It’s a hazardous and complex procedure involving the entire crew of Liverpool. As Ark Royal approaches the port of Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada the weather takes a turn for the worse and she receives a Mayday call from a fishing vessel in distress. Like all Royal Navy vessels she must prioritise the real-life emergency ahead of any other scheduled exercises or arrangements. The fog closes in and there’s no room for error in what Captain Clink admits is the worst fog he has ever had to navigate alongside in. | 44:14 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 6 | VideoEpisode 6 | HMS Ark Royal, the flagship of the Royal Navy is halfway through an international deployment codenamed Auriga. She’s been alongside in Halifax but before she leaves Nova Scotia for good, the ship’s company has one final appointment to keep. The International Fleet Review is the most important element of the Royal Canadian Navy’s centenary celebrations and HM The Queen is taking the salute. With the Royal visit complete, it is time for HMS Ark Royal to head back out to sea. A Merlin crew undertakes a complex grappling exercise for the first time - a test of their search and rescue skills - and a young Sub Lieutenant on the Bridge goes head-to-head with a Harrier jump jet – to defend Ark Royal against attack and put her defence capabilities to the test. Then there is a 5am wake up call that no-one is expecting. There is a serious flood onboard – and a chance for the ship’s company to put their training into action. The attack party must stop the flow of water and pump out the affected areas before the ship is endangered. | 44:12 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 7 | VideoEpisode 7 | HMS Ark Royal takes to the world stage for one last time. She’s leading a flotilla of military might into large-scale war games with the US Navy. The American military have set side three-hundred-and-eighty square kilometres of land, with a twenty kilometre beach, as the warzone. Ark Royal’s mission is to project air power and oversee the landing of Royal Marines into the area. But as soon as the operation gets underway, one of Ark Royal’s engines threatens to explode and has to be shut down. As this is happening rescue teams on the flagship are put on alert. A landing craft, carrying forty-five marines, has started to sink in rough seas. The harriers have been dispatched to take care of some hostile jets. They're hunting down American F18s that are threatening the Task Group. In Flight Control aboard The Ark they hear that one of the jets has suffered a major electrical problem and has been forced to make an emergency landing at the US airbase, Oceania. And on The Ark’s flight deck the pressure is ratcheted up further when a Sea King helicopter from HMS Ocean approaches the flagship to make a real emergency landing. | 44:18 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| 8 | VideoEpisode 8 | HMS Ark Royal’s final international deployment is drawing to a close. But the ship’s company cannot relax until she is safely alongside in Portsmouth. While operational, Ark Royal must be ready to respond to any possible world event and is just five days’ sail away from any trouble spot, anywhere across the globe. Keeping everyone on their toes is the ship’s Executive Officer (XO), Commander Rob Bellfield. He heads up a full-scale battle damage exercise in which The Ark is attacked by a number of missiles. There are several simulated fires throughout the ship and most of her company is involved in saving her. But Ark Royal is still in warm waters so when the heat on board starts to rise for real, it takes its toll on some crew members wearing their heavy firefighting gear. As the ship nears home the Battle Damage Control Officer who is nicknamed ‘Whiskey’ Walker, tests her defence systems against a nuclear or biological attack. It’s a simple but highly effective system using air pressure and sea water to keep the ships crew safe. After nearly five months since she departed on the Auriga deployment, HMS Ark Royal is welcomed back home into Portsmouth where she is met by hundreds of the crew’s family members. Captain John Clink reflects on what has been achieved during the deployment and then leaves his ship for the very last time. | 44:14 | £1.89 | View In iTunes |
| Total: 8 Episodes |
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Customer Reviews
great show
were is episode 9
Where is 90 min episode
Where is the final 90 min episode, I a sea cadet and ma unit is affiliated to her this shows the best w.o (warrant officer) whisky walker in action was great to see so many areas of the ship I saw
Great Series
Been waiting for EP. 9 for nearly a week now tho.
- SD Version
- Genre: Non-Fiction
- Released: 22 February 2011
- © 2010 Discovery Communications Inc.
