- 5 hours ago
Warship Life on the Frontline S01E01
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00:011-6-0! Fire control radar! 1-6-0!
00:00:06HMS, Prince of Wales...
00:00:09...is Britain's largest and most advanced warship.
00:00:16I'm JJ Chalmers, former Royal Marines Commando.
00:00:20How impressive is that? Amazing!
00:00:24And in October 2025, I was given unprecedented access.
00:00:30If you can keep up. To join her on deployment.
00:00:33It's dangerous. There's no two ways about it.
00:00:36Alongside a group of other warships...
00:00:38We are going inside the weapon engagement zone.
00:00:40..at a time of increased international tension.
00:00:48I'll be living alongside 1,600 people...
00:00:51This is all right. Making myself at home already.
00:00:54..who call this massive warship their home.
00:00:57Come up, D. Where's the, uh, tomorrow's?
00:01:01Never gets old.
00:01:02Never, ever, ever get old.
00:01:04As I join them on the most dangerous mission of their lives...
00:01:08We're going to be a pretty dangerous place.
00:01:10You will see a fear factor.
00:01:12Prepare for action! Prepare for action! Prepare for action!
00:01:15Prepare for action!
00:01:16Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace!
00:01:37Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace!
00:01:56Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace!
00:01:57Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace!
00:01:57Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace! Brace
00:02:07Look at her! Wow! It's fully kettied up.
00:02:13Home to cutting-edge jets, multiple different types of helicopters,
00:02:17an arsenal of advanced weaponry, and over 1,600 sailors.
00:02:25This is a Delta Alpha fireball feature drive.
00:02:28I'm joining the crew for what I've been told
00:02:31will be the most dangerous leg of their mission so far.
00:02:35But first, I've got to get on board.
00:02:38JJ. Hello, sir.
00:02:40Welcome to the Hitchell's Prince of Wales.
00:02:41Wow. That is impressive when you get up close.
00:02:44Yeah. Oh, Dickie Davidson, by the way. I'm your point, Guy.
00:02:47Is that right? Yeah. You've got to take care of me.
00:02:49I will look after you. I promise.
00:02:50What do we need to do, though? We need to get your sign.
00:02:55Like the rest of the crew, Lieutenant Dickie Davidson
00:02:57has already been away from home for the last five months.
00:03:01Down here we go. Into the belly.
00:03:04Yeah, five's ever going down, too.
00:03:06Giving him plenty of time to get to know
00:03:08the ship's maze of corridors and compartments.
00:03:13Temperature change straight away, which is perfect.
00:03:15Yeah, that's nice.
00:03:16Yeah.
00:03:17So what we'll do now, I'll just show you through the ship,
00:03:19I'll show you where you're sleeping.
00:03:20I mean, that's the main thing.
00:03:21Nice.
00:03:21Man, it all kind of looks the same.
00:03:23You know where you're going.
00:03:27Hopefully you don't need this, but this is our sick bear.
00:03:29Pretty much a hospital.
00:03:31But make sure I stay out of there.
00:03:32Yeah, you're going to be staying out there.
00:03:33I hope you stay out there anyway.
00:03:35It's a lot more paperwork.
00:03:37Yeah, to the right there, we've got the ship's control centre.
00:03:39So that is the brains of this place.
00:03:42And then down here, your accommodation.
00:03:44Right.
00:03:47Now, space on HMS Prince of Wales is at a premium.
00:03:56Some of the crew share sleeping accommodation with seven other people.
00:04:00So, to be sharing with just one is considered a luxury.
00:04:06What was it coming?
00:04:07Aw, look at that.
00:04:09This is all right.
00:04:11It's not bad, is it?
00:04:12Yeah.
00:04:13I mean, you can already tell this is someone's home.
00:04:15It's got to be.
00:04:16The amount of time you spend away from home on these things,
00:04:18you know, you need to be as close to home as possible
00:04:20and all the stuff you can get on the walls.
00:04:22Well-travelled man.
00:04:23He is.
00:04:24I'll tell you what, Gigi, I'll give you some time.
00:04:26I'll meet you in about 10, 15 minutes or so.
00:04:27Mega.
00:04:28All right.
00:04:28See you next time.
00:04:28Thanks a lot, Dickie.
00:04:30Right.
00:04:31I think I'm just going to be living out of this grip.
00:04:35But the son let me borrow his pillow.
00:04:38Just a little bit of home comfort.
00:04:40Look at that.
00:04:42Making myself at home already.
00:04:44All right.
00:04:45Time to go to work.
00:04:53Project cover bearing 155, range 1.6 miles per mile.
00:04:58The crew have spent the last few days in port,
00:05:01taking on much-needed supplies.
00:05:04Now, though, it's almost time to set sail.
00:05:07I'll sit and wait.
00:05:08I'm keen to chat to the man in charge
00:05:10about where we're heading and what dangers lie ahead.
00:05:14Hey, JJ.
00:05:16Ah, sir.
00:05:17Good to see you.
00:05:18Great to see you.
00:05:18Yeah, welcome on board.
00:05:21Commodore James Blackmore
00:05:23has been leading HMS Prince of Wales
00:05:26and a fleet of ships known as the UK Carrier Strike Group
00:05:30ever since they set sail over five months ago.
00:05:35My position is as commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group
00:05:39that commands the ships, the aircraft,
00:05:42a 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier
00:05:44brimming with fifth-generation fighters,
00:05:46you know, protected by a ring of frigates, destroyers
00:05:50and an outer layer of helicopters and jets.
00:05:52And that's not to be taken lightly.
00:05:54You know, this is not something we're playing around with.
00:05:57HMS Prince of Wales and the Carrier Strike Group
00:06:00have been as far away as Australia,
00:06:03consolidating ties with Britain's allies.
00:06:05Now, they're about to begin their long journey back home.
00:06:09To get there, they'll have to travel through the Red Sea,
00:06:13one of the most dangerous regions in the world.
00:06:17But before that, they'll first head north
00:06:20towards the mouth of the Gulf.
00:06:23There, within plain sight of Iran,
00:06:26British jets will demonstrate their military might
00:06:29in a huge show of force
00:06:30and send a clear message of deterrence to the Tehran regime.
00:06:36You know, let's make no bones about it.
00:06:38It's a conflict zone.
00:06:39I expect people to watch, observe.
00:06:41That's often why we do these.
00:06:43It should say to any malign actors
00:06:45that I have an incredible Carrier Strike Group.
00:06:47We're not afraid to use the capability, if ordered to do so,
00:06:51to deliver those effects should I be caught upon.
00:06:58In 2025, Iran made headline news around the world.
00:07:03Breaking news from the Middle East
00:07:05as Iran launches retaliatory strikes against Israel.
00:07:09Fighting a 12-day war with Israel.
00:07:11The conflict between Israel and Iran
00:07:14is now in its seventh day
00:07:16with both sides continuing missile strikes.
00:07:19Tehran has been accused of trying to develop nuclear weapons.
00:07:23The Trump administration has bombed Iran
00:07:26with strikes President Trump claims
00:07:28have obliterated the country's nuclear enrichment facilities.
00:07:31And sponsoring terror groups across the Middle East.
00:07:35Iran does have a network of allies across the region.
00:07:38It has a name for it.
00:07:39The Axis of Resistance.
00:07:45In the next few days,
00:07:47the Commodore will oversee a showcase
00:07:49of Britain's maritime military might
00:07:51right on Iran's doorstep.
00:07:54Part of my role now is to prepare this Carrier Strike Group
00:07:56to be ready for operations.
00:07:58You'll see the jets launch,
00:08:00you'll see helicopters launch,
00:08:01watching for missiles and uncrewed air systems
00:08:04or UAVs or drones coming from the coastline.
00:08:08You'll see some of the weapons being fired.
00:08:12You will see a fear factor.
00:08:14What you're saying is we're headed for danger
00:08:17and you need to make sure you're ready for that.
00:08:19Absolutely.
00:08:19Yeah, we are.
00:08:20You've got to prepare for the worst.
00:08:26Sorry, good to go now.
00:08:35With the final preparations complete...
00:08:39That looks like the last of the lines getting cast off.
00:08:43...HMS Prince of Wales sets sail
00:08:46and charts a course towards the Arabian Gulf.
00:08:52Perfect. Leads ahead.
00:08:53Far zero.
00:08:54Far zero.
00:08:56We are going straight to work on this.
00:08:59Yeah.
00:08:59I wasn't prepared for that, actually.
00:09:01Yeah, I mean, there's no...
00:09:03no wasting time on our next bit of this operation.
00:09:05We're going to a pretty dangerous place.
00:09:13You have a navigator?
00:09:14Right, sir.
00:09:15Indicate visually we are steady on course and speed.
00:09:17Right, sir.
00:09:26Look at that.
00:09:27Power's just ramped up a wee bit.
00:09:29No, that's us.
00:09:30Full steam ahead.
00:09:31No turning back now.
00:09:37In less than 36 hours, HMS Prince of Wales and the fleet
00:09:42will arrive off the coast of Iran.
00:10:07HMS Prince of Wales is heading towards the coast of Iran.
00:10:14Nothing to affect big swing.
00:10:15Load correct.
00:10:16Paddles.
00:10:19On the flight deck, jets and helicopters are being prepped for action.
00:10:26Dolphin, one zero.
00:10:27One ahead.
00:10:27Wind ship's heads two zero.
00:10:29Expect five spots.
00:10:34One more time on the flight deck.
00:10:34Let's be honest, you know, a lot of people will be thinking about the opening scenes of
00:10:37Top Gun, giving it all that.
00:10:39Yeah, that's it.
00:10:40That's pretty much it.
00:10:43Flight director Cami is responsible for ensuring it's safe for all of these
00:10:48aircraft to fly but before they can move an inch there's one vital job to do
00:10:53first before we aviate we need to make sure that they've sanitized the deck
00:10:58yeah so we do it's called the Ford Ford that's what foreign foreign object
00:11:04debris right this check for foreign object debris is to prevent any rubbish
00:11:10on the deck from being sucked into aircraft engines so I basically need to
00:11:16just walk and look down yeah every inch of this 280 meter long deck must be
00:11:24scoured by Cami and his team I mean this is all the hands on deck there's all feet
00:11:31on deck yeah anyone who's coming up to work on the flight deck at any point today
00:11:35he'll come up and do the FOD pods right mate you made me ask you got a awesome
00:11:48bit of kit like me yes I was born my mate chin not gonna lie like I didn't know
00:11:52that you could join a disability there's nothing that anyone in the ship that can
00:11:57do job-wise I can't do man I'm not gonna lie got it with the deck clean preparations for
00:12:18the mission can now begin well I've been told to climb up to the very top of the tower find
00:12:27the
00:12:27man in charge but maneuver the ship air commander Ian Chudley is responsible for all the aircraft
00:12:36on board he's making sure everything's ready for the show of force so we have an air trafficker just
00:12:50like you would normally find at your normal airport yeah okay but this is where we coordinate everything
00:12:55we're coming to you spot what hell two spots at the moment we've got about 13 helicopters and 18 jets
00:13:01so
00:13:02right now we're doing that that's sort of the final checks yes
00:13:09with a green approach runway departures and I'll see you know you see the news at the moment so we
00:13:15have to be prepared for every eventuality and what you're seeing now is proof of that and this is how
00:13:22ready we are this is the top end of maritime aviation and capability
00:13:35as preparations ramp up Ian keeps a close eye on the Iranians if their forces make a move against
00:13:41HMS Prince of Wales his aircraft will be the first to react here we go it's going to get quite
00:13:48loud
00:13:48here he comes here he comes this is the first time I've ever witnessed a jet landing on an aircraft
00:13:57carrier you feel like you could reach out touch that that's a thousand degrees thousand degrees
00:14:08yeah yeah and 60 seconds later I can recover another aircraft to that exact same spot there's another
00:14:16one coming dolphin one zero one ahead wind ship's heads two zero expect to fight
00:14:44I'm going to stop and watch it as the preparations continue stop five
00:14:50I would five.
00:14:52Let this ship stay at one centimeter.
00:14:54I'm keen to explore more of the ship.
00:14:57You all right?
00:14:59Yeah, I'm good.
00:15:02Big chunk of your life climbing up and down ladders, is it?
00:15:05Constant.
00:15:10We're nine decks down.
00:15:12Wow.
00:15:13And we go up to zero, nine deck up, and that's a lot of ladders.
00:15:16Wow.
00:15:17Wait, sorry, is that 18 floors?
00:15:1918 floors.
00:15:19I mean, you're going really high towards the top of us.
00:15:22Yeah.
00:15:22Or zero, nine deck.
00:15:23But the first two, three weeks, your leg's not used to us.
00:15:26Because there's ladders everywhere in the ship.
00:15:28Wow, all right, so it's that kind of vertical, city thing.
00:15:31Yeah.
00:15:35Everyone's getting ready for food at the moment.
00:15:37Four meals a day sometimes.
00:15:38All right, so this is time for food.
00:15:40It's definitely time for food.
00:15:41Oh, yeah, you can smell it.
00:15:44That's all right.
00:15:45It is good food.
00:15:46OK, good.
00:15:47The kitchens on HMS Prince of Wales churn out 4,800 plates of food each day, making
00:15:55them busier than most professional restaurants.
00:15:59We've got everything we need on here, from medics to our own food, to our own gyms.
00:16:04We've got five gyms, by the way.
00:16:05Oh, mega.
00:16:06Yeah, it's pretty good.
00:16:07We've got our own Wi-Fi throughout the ship.
00:16:09We've got our own little mini shop, the Nuffy.
00:16:10Nice.
00:16:12Definitely show me that.
00:16:13Yeah.
00:16:15The onboard shop opens twice a day, in case the crew run out of day-to-day essentials.
00:16:23Everything you need.
00:16:25Caffeine, first of all, and then sweeties, biscuits, all the good stuff.
00:16:33What else we got?
00:16:35Ooh.
00:16:36It's like being in an airport, duty-free.
00:16:45Shampoo and conditioner.
00:16:46Obviously, it just shows you how long, you know, everyone is out of the sea.
00:16:52Guys, cash rolling?
00:16:54Yeah.
00:16:55Tell me, how long have you been on board for?
00:16:57Two and a half years.
00:16:58Two and a half years.
00:17:00Two and a half years I've been on board.
00:17:01Right, how do you end up on this ship?
00:17:04How does that come about?
00:17:05I was unhappy with the job I was in.
00:17:08Right.
00:17:08My sister was already on food over there.
00:17:10Hello.
00:17:12No way.
00:17:14Yes.
00:17:14That's amazing.
00:17:16So, you got her on board?
00:17:18Yes.
00:17:19So, like, is this like working at a corner shop, or is it not?
00:17:23No?
00:17:23No, definitely not.
00:17:24I've done retail for over 30-odd years.
00:17:26Really?
00:17:27So, really, this is nothing.
00:17:30Working in a shop is totally different.
00:17:33Nothing plays a big part in the ship, so it does.
00:17:39I've only been exploring for 15 minutes, but inside,
00:17:43this ship feels like a maze of small rooms,
00:17:46full of people quietly but intensely working.
00:17:51Hello, Gigi.
00:17:52Nice to meet you.
00:17:53Sean.
00:17:54Sean.
00:17:54This is the stores area.
00:17:56I'd love to see, like, the scale of this place.
00:18:00Deep in the bowels of the ship,
00:18:02I've stumbled upon the main storeroom,
00:18:04crammed full of supplies and spare parts.
00:18:08Currently, on HMS Prince of Wales, we have got roughly 15 storerooms.
00:18:1315?
00:18:1315, right.
00:18:1415, right.
00:18:14We have literally got a storeroom just dedicated for bog roll.
00:18:18I think we've got estimated about 87,000 toilet rolls.
00:18:23So there's a fair bit, yeah.
00:18:24Well, that's a decent allocation per person.
00:18:27Yeah, I'm hoping that will obviously last for the trip.
00:18:29So, yeah, only time will tell, I suppose.
00:18:37If it comes to, obviously, the biggest stuff,
00:18:39an example could be if a valve had just suddenly just gone,
00:18:42then we got one here readily available.
00:18:45Any idea how much they cost?
00:18:47They are very expensive.
00:18:49I want to say they're probably on the mark of 50,000.
00:18:53What the heck?
00:18:54We've estimated roughly over 1.8 billion worth of stores on board.
00:18:59Wow, so then we say that this ship was 3.2 billion,
00:19:02you've got 1.8 billion's worth of kit on it,
00:19:04not to mention all the jets, all the people.
00:19:06God, it adds up.
00:19:09Down here, amongst all these supplies...
00:19:12Tango 1 Zulu, this is one Oscar...
00:19:18It's easy to forget we're now just 24 hours away from the Gulf,
00:19:22where HMS Prince of Wales will begin military drills
00:19:25in sight of Iran.
00:19:30How long have you been in the Navy?
00:19:3121 years.
00:19:33Jen, you're not old enough.
00:19:34No, I know, that's what your mum says.
00:19:37Yeah, I joined the...
00:19:40Airbrush, airbrush, airbrush, airbrush.
00:19:42Airbrush, airbrush, airbrush warning red.
00:19:43It was.
00:19:44Sorry, what was that?
00:19:45Airbrush is taken.
00:19:59Have you eaten people?
00:20:01Below decks, the crew are making the ship battle-ready.
00:20:05Are they all right?
00:20:33Are they all right?
00:20:35Airbrush, airbrush, airbrush warning red.
00:20:36The crew of HMS Prince of Wales have been put on high alert.
00:20:40Sorry, where are you heading?
00:20:42I'm heading to Fort Delta in my section base,
00:20:45where I take control of the front end of the ship, Zone 1.
00:20:521,600 men and women are locking the ship down.
00:20:58I've got my little zone now, and then I'll close up on comms.
00:21:04Zone 1, section base 1, testing comms.
00:21:05With information scarce, all I can do is stick with my escort, Lieutenant Dickey.
00:21:14Right, that tannoy, what was that all about?
00:21:17All them zones need to be closed down to ensure that if anything was to happen,
00:21:20we can isolate each zone and fight any battle internally from that zone itself.
00:21:24Right, so we're in Zone 1 right now?
00:21:26We're in Zone 1 right now, far down to the ship.
00:21:30Dickey needs to make sure the front section of HMS Prince of Wales
00:21:34is completely secure.
00:21:36Can you just check the doors?
00:21:39Hundreds of hatches and doors...
00:21:43..must be bolted shut.
00:21:47Oh, we're getting on with closing down.
00:21:51One, two, just make sure you can get a cut off the personnel,
00:21:53so we'll close down the section as quick as you can.
00:21:55Can you go and check, um, 1-2 and 1-1?
00:21:58Just gonna have a look at them, see how they're getting on.
00:22:06DCO, section base 1, that's Zone 1, fully mustered and accounted for.
00:22:11Dickey's compartments are finally secure.
00:22:14I'm reporting in, fully closed up.
00:22:21Now fully prepared to operate close to Iran in just a few hours' time,
00:22:25the crew are ready for anything.
00:22:27I don't think the enemy are gonna tell us when they're gonna try and hit us.
00:22:30Um, so...
00:22:31And it'd be great if they would, because then it'd be easy.
00:22:34We've gotta react to whatever comes.
00:22:35Yeah.
00:22:38Knowing the crew are primed for whatever move the enemy might make
00:22:42feels reassuring.
00:22:44But it's also a sobering realisation of the risk I'm taking just being here.
00:22:50That was pretty much everyone arriving at the start line.
00:22:54I think we'll close up in 25 minutes there, which is pretty quick.
00:22:57Hopefully we never come back to this, but if we do, we do.
00:23:05I'm nervous and on edge now.
00:23:07Like, what's that?
00:23:08It's just a napkin pub.
00:23:09Okay.
00:23:10It's meant to make that noise.
00:23:11Yeah, it's meant to make that noise.
00:23:12It's just all involved.
00:23:16Nerve-shaking.
00:23:17It's time to head to my bunk and get some well-needed rest.
00:23:29The ship did so much today, and I had the absolute pleasure and privilege of being able to witness it.
00:23:37Everybody is focused on their individual job role.
00:23:39Each department, each person, whatever it is, getting sort of ready for action stations.
00:23:44And ultimately, they need to be ready for the worst to happen.
00:23:47So we saw a bit of that today as well.
00:23:50It's also amazing just how quickly things can go from sort of benign.
00:23:54You can be in a shop, you can be at the coffee shop, having some scram, whatever it is.
00:23:59And all of a sudden, you know, you've got to be ready to fight a fire, fight an enemy,
00:24:05you know, ramp things up to the highest level.
00:24:11Definitely going to sleep tonight.
00:24:13And I get a sense that this is how I'm going to feel at the end of every day.
00:24:18All right, heads to Z.
00:24:21Speaker 1, 1, 7, 2, 9.
00:24:38Speaker 1, 7, 1, 8, 9, 9, 10 knots.
00:24:48WEEK
00:24:48making headline news around the world as the conflict between Israel and Iran
00:24:53continues into a fourth day there are now warnings about the impact on key
00:24:58shipping routes tensions have simmered in these waters for years they're a nation
00:25:04of terror and we won't put up with it the Iranian regime and its military
00:25:14are about to witness the full firepower of HMS Prince of Wales
00:25:24below deck state-of-the-art bombs are being prepared please come in ones that will soon
00:25:33be dropped in full view of the Iranians it's happening hey dude how are you for
00:25:40good JJ nice to meet you bombs bombs pleasure to meet you bombs bombs yeah is that what your mom
00:25:45called you now I wish I wish it's kind of comes with the job lieutenant Bongaseni Niathi is in
00:25:52charge of building and loading all the bombs being dropped from the jets hence his nickname
00:25:58welcome to the weapon prep area or the bomb shop as we call it so the teams are just getting
00:26:04prepared
00:26:04to build their live weapons I'm surprised that this delicate operation of building a bomb would
00:26:11happen at sea so I have one burning question how dangerous is this is dangerous there's no two ways
00:26:19about it dealing with heavy weapons dealing with munitions is an unsavory job but we work incredibly
00:26:25hard to make it as safe as possible right so they're racking something up at the moment correct so what
00:26:31to do now is lift those bombs off of the trolley and onto the bench itself making sure that that
00:26:36munition is as safe as possible to be delivered right so these guys are putting together a smart bomb
00:26:42correct yeah essentially what makes a smart bomb a smart bomb is the ability to configure it in air
00:26:48essentially you want to minimize collateral damage and you want a particular target and that one target
00:26:55the smart guided bomb allows you to do that essentially this technology is cutting edge it's
00:27:02Formula One team in a Formula One team but its assembly depends on some very steady human hands just a
00:27:10little sway there every so often the ship reminds you that you are actually on the ocean these weapons
00:27:19will soon be attached to jets and dropped on targets just outside the Gulf
00:27:32with the carrier now in position the action is about to begin first a wave of jets and helicopters will
00:27:42fly a huge defensive formation then a second wave of jets will take to the sky
00:27:49eyes loaded with massive lethal bombs to be dropped in full view of the Tehran regime
00:28:06here he is Joe hi JJ nice to meet you nice to meet you look at you you're getting suit
00:28:14and booted yeah
00:28:15it's about to go flying lieutenant commander Joe is one of the f-35 pilots flying today's mission
00:28:22this is the helmet it's worth about three hundred thousand pounds so it's not cheap but it's a lot of
00:28:29technology packed into one little things so it projects onto my visor all my flight information and
00:28:35no matter where I look in the cockpit it's presenting all that information to me all the time so
00:28:43for the next hour Joe will be in charge of a 100 million pound aircraft one of the most advanced
00:28:51in the world
00:28:58how capable are these things oh they're phenomenally capable if I was going to war I'd want to be one
00:29:03of these
00:29:06with everything now in place the military show of force is about to begin
00:29:22what I'm about to witness is highly dangerous so flight deck safety officer Cammy is joining me
00:29:29this red line indicates that you're in a safe area
00:29:36you're in a safe area look at that
00:30:02what a sight wow can you like that it's ridiculous
00:30:09in the blink of an eye Joe is airborne it's quite amazing to know who's sat in the seats of
00:30:16the air
00:30:16frames that are going out now you're starting to think about what's actually happening out there
00:30:21rather than just on here there's no time to pause to collect my thoughts more jets are taking off
00:30:36I was arrested at that
00:30:38me
00:30:50fully armed Merlin helicopters are also getting airborne
00:31:01joining the F-35s over the Arabian Sea
00:31:17on
00:31:18new heading turning to a P-0
00:31:23converging
00:31:26on the ship a second wave of jets are now being prepared one's that will drop live weapons to explode
00:31:38the ship
00:31:38in full view of Iran I'm not allowed on the flight deck when live munitions are
00:31:52being moved around two spots like a fair green deck they require farm vehicles so
00:32:00I'm heading back to fly co as the bombs are loaded these guys here that what
00:32:07they're heading for the f-35 they're heading for the f-35 we're loading everywhere across the deck
00:32:12that all happens concurrently so there'll be takeoffs going on landings going on whilst
00:32:17we're still weapon loading what we always try and do is suddenly there's a problem
00:32:37a helicopter is in trouble and the pilot needs to land immediately
00:32:54an explosive on the helicopter has malfunctioned and it could detonate at any moment putting the
00:33:03helicopter and everyone on the flight deck at risk this one feels fairly legit
00:33:11it's now a race to get the aircraft safely back on deck
00:33:34HMS Prince of Wales is in the north of the Arabian Sea in the middle of a demonstration of military
00:33:43might within range of Iran
00:33:50one of the ship's helicopters has radioed with an emergency right this is in
00:34:00one of its live explosives appears to have jammed and it must land urgently on a deck filled with bombs
00:34:13if it detonates unexpectedly it could set off a huge explosion
00:34:30what could go wrong here worst case is that there could be a hammer flare in the pod and that
00:34:36could
00:34:37inadvertently go off which could shoot across the deck
00:34:47several f-35 jets are currently in the air
00:34:56but on HMS Prince of Wales all eyes are now on the Merlin helicopter as it lands
00:35:21with the Merlin back on the deck one brave engineer must now manually check for the source
00:35:27of the fault
00:35:32is this our man buy that man a drink later if the explosive goes off now the engineer's life is
00:35:40at risk
00:35:43here he comes
00:35:51here he goes
00:35:53here he goes
00:36:07bloody hell the ball's on this guy come on
00:36:24the engineer has just radioed
00:36:29hopefully there's a counter call
00:36:34the Merlin is safe
00:36:36great
00:36:38they've all been accounted for
00:36:40they've all been released so
00:36:41there's probably an issue with the actual control system as opposed to being a hung dad
00:36:47the issue appears to have been a computer glitch on the helicopter
00:36:51and the danger is over
00:36:54okay another day in flight care
00:36:57just like that
00:36:57I'm going to finish my lunch now
00:36:58yeah yeah you definitely do that
00:37:11you can't help but in your head just be thinking
00:37:15you know we could be minutes away from disaster here and of all the times for that to happen
00:37:19the midway through arming an f-35 over there with two absolutely huge pieces of munitions
00:37:25you know it's the sequence of events that could have occurred there is unimaginable
00:37:33without pause for breath
00:37:34the decision is made to launch the final wave of f-35 jets armed with huge bombs this will be
00:37:45the culmination of the military demonstration
00:37:48clear runway, clear departure, tower launching, fixing
00:37:51pull that one, two, roger, that was
00:38:13so what's getting dropped today?
00:38:15so the munitions that are getting dropped today pave way for a smart guided bomb
00:38:19and these weapons are incredibly impressive
00:38:23climbing by level 400
00:38:25you can drop them at 50, 60, 70,000 feet in the air
00:38:29and you can drop them in a square footage that is
00:38:33I can't disclose the actual size but it's incredibly small
00:38:36which means the munitions themselves are incredibly precise
00:38:44target lock
00:38:46the uk is about to send a strong message to the iranians
00:38:55permission to fire
00:38:57oh here we go
00:39:00there he is
00:39:01as it launches weapons in full view of the regime
00:39:05the mission granted fire when ready
00:39:14there you go
00:39:15wow
00:39:18hold up one two
00:39:19splash
00:39:20splash out of bang
00:39:23you see it first and then you hear it
00:39:29this awesome display of firepower
00:39:33is a stark reminder of just what hms prince of wales and her jets are capable of
00:39:40suppose when you really boil it down this entire ship is to be able to launch jets
00:39:46correct but ultimately drop munitions deliver an effect
00:39:49i mean that that's an impressive show of force right yeah but in an ideal world you
00:39:55you don't want to see that used in vain the last thing i want is for my job to come
00:40:00to fruition
00:40:00but unfortunately we don't live in a world like that the world we live in now is completely
00:40:05unstable and having a capability like this makes again everyone think twice
00:40:13yeah wow
00:40:183.2 billion pounds worth of ship 1600 on its crew capable of getting anywhere in the world and
00:40:26delivering on target
00:40:30order one two three drive
00:40:34with the bombs dropped the exercise comes to an end
00:40:38why pal
00:40:39and i'm keen to catch up with pilot joe for a debrief
00:40:45there's a lot of people in this place but ultimately the reason they're here is to sort of
00:40:50get jets in the air and get an effect on target right yes yeah four jets came and dropped live
00:40:56weapons which was pretty cool so that's what an aircraft carrier is for so there's 1600 people
00:41:01on board the ship and every single one of them they are contributing to putting jets in the air
00:41:07and bombs on target that's that's what we do yeah it's like it like an f1 team you know lewis
00:41:12something doesn't drive his far around the track without the hundreds of people behind him at
00:41:15ferrari letting him do it without everybody doing their job we can't do our job and then we don't
00:41:21do the uk's defense job
00:41:30with iran left in little doubt about the firepower of the royal navy i've been told to get some rest
00:41:36ahead of the next phase of the ship's deployment oh need to get better
00:41:41and getting up onto this top bunk
00:41:46there we are another day done right that day felt like a week you know i feel like this after
00:41:54a couple
00:41:55of days it is remarkable to think um everybody must be thinking months and months into this with
00:42:03several months to go definitely gonna sleep tonight all right heads to sets
00:42:12the water
00:42:22all right let's see if the showers are any good after a good night's sleep
00:42:30some water pressure i've been told to report early to the ship's lower decks
00:42:36i can't watch this better where i've been assigned to breakfast duty in the ship's galley
00:43:02a team of fourteen chefs are cooking sixteen hundred breakfasts for the hungry crew
00:43:11we've got all our sausage and bacon ready to go in chef jesse lee short has been on shift since
00:43:174am
00:43:25i've been told to turn to make myself useful all right well come join us we're just about to start
00:43:31breakfast
00:43:32let's give you the chef whites so that's some here nice nice
00:43:41off to work morning pal morning
00:43:45so what i'll do i'll give you one of these you can grab the next tray just below
00:43:49and then the grim panda it will be hot so put it on with that baker
00:43:55all right this is a precious cargo
00:44:03all right so how much food we talking about here how many bacon how many sausages what's the crack
00:44:09so with bacon we're probably looking about two thousand rashes if that's what everyone that's
00:44:14eating they're hungry people
00:44:19no matter where hms prince of wales is or what danger the crew faces meal times need to run like
00:44:26clockwork
00:44:29so we've got 15 minutes and then um people should start coming through
00:44:34i'd probably get onto some of the eggs yeah so we will have to smash out a whole tray maybe
00:44:41two trays
00:44:42into one of these so i think my personal record i've used two brat pans and had to smash out
00:44:50one
00:44:50of those whole boxes about 360 eggs within half an hour half an hour it's quite a fast-paced job
00:44:58and a um i would say hard but it's in fun as well you get to have a lot of
00:45:03fun in the place
00:45:06when hms prince of wales deploys it will typically carry 66 000 sausages 28 800 rashers of bacon 64 800
00:45:17eggs and 12 000 tins of beans and that's just to cover breakfast so you joined to be a chef
00:45:25here yes
00:45:25my great-granddad was a chef in the navy i joined uh following his footsteps i've wanted to since i
00:45:31was
00:45:3110. so he he traveled the world did all yeah he did a lot but sadly there wasn't much because
00:45:38i was
00:45:3810 i never really asked about it enough your grandfather's not with us no no right wow what
00:45:43what do you reckon you'd think about this though like you've actually cracked it he would be very
00:45:47proud yeah he finally getting in here and actually making it and sort of keeping the family alive with the
00:45:54navy
00:45:58as the crew settle down for their meal
00:46:03i'm curious about where hms prince of wales is now heading
00:46:10prince of wales is now officially indicating i'm ready for your approach
00:46:14the ship has begun to travel west and is now just a week away from one of the most dangerous
00:46:20stretches
00:46:21of water in the world indicate visually we are steady on course on its journey back to the mediterranean
00:46:30hms prince of wales will have to pass through the bab el-mendeb straight at the bottom of the red
00:46:36sea
00:46:37home to a prolific terror group
00:46:43the houthis are islamic terrorists backed by iran
00:46:49already the houthis had aimed missiles at israel since october the 7th now using an array of weapons
00:46:54including missiles and drones they were taking aim at the red sea when the recent conflict in gaza began
00:47:00in 2023 the houthis began attacking ships in the red sea these are pictures of its forces actually
00:47:10seizing a ship in november the iranian-backed group which controls most of northern yemen
00:47:15has been targeting ships in the area for months the houthis are targeting any ship belonging to israel
00:47:22or their western allies several vessels have been sunk and dozens of hostages taken
00:47:29houthi attacks in the red sea have now turned deadly britain has already sent warships to defend against
00:47:36houthi attacks royal navy warship hms diamond is in the red sea armed and ready for danger
00:47:47but fears are that when the royal navy's flagship hms prince of wales arrives in the area it could provoke
00:47:54the terror group into opening fire assess inside cdcm range opportunistic attacks on the task group are
00:48:05highly lifed as they travel towards the houthis the crew in the operations room must constantly scour
00:48:14the radar screens for any signs of hostile activity in the middle east
00:48:24something's just been picked up on the radar
00:48:31a missile appears to have been fired somewhere to the north
00:48:34prepare for action prepare for action effort warning red on action working dress on anti-flash throughout the ship
00:48:43the crew needs to find out where it's heading time on top three minutes
00:48:48positions on anti-flash even numbers first
00:48:56so
00:49:07one six zero fire control radar one six zero deep inside hms prince of wales the ox room has intelligence
00:49:15that a missile has been fired in the middle east we've got one missile detected
00:49:26right now it's moving at some pace let me tell you
00:49:32it appears to be traveling away from the ship commander tom leonard is in charge of the team
00:49:37who must keep the crew safe from this kind of attack
00:49:44don't wish to disturb but what's going on here so at the moment what we've got now is they protected
00:49:51something up to the northeast so the idea is to keep things as far away from prince of wales as
00:49:57possible
00:50:00the ops room has established the missile isn't a danger to hms prince of wales
00:50:04or any of the other warships she's sailing with but it's a timely reminder of the unsafe region
00:50:10we're approaching all threat warnings now yellow relax anti-flash even numbers first
00:50:20how aware are you of the fact that you've got thousands of people depending on this
00:50:25small room massively um and i will naturally be worried about every single person on this ship
00:50:30however i know that they are highly trained individuals that can turn their hand to pretty
00:50:34much anything things change at the drop of a hat wednesday it can be perfectly benign environment
00:50:39by thursday evening everything's gone to pop i'm not gonna lie from a certain angle this
00:50:45place looks like a movie set when you look at what they're doing is war and it's on an unbelievable
00:50:51scale
00:51:01with so much at stake commodore james blackmore must ensure his crew are ready for anything that lies
00:51:09ahead
00:51:12it's been a treacherous difficult challenging environment but you're heading into a particularly
00:51:17difficult one in the coming week it's quite a threat to be honest we're going to transit through
00:51:22the babel mended strait and the red sea uh it's probably one of the most contested regions of
00:51:26the world right now we are going inside the weapon engagement zone of a hostile actor we know the houthis
00:51:33are capable in what they have in terms of weapon systems they have ballistic missiles they have
00:51:38cruise missiles they have drones airborne and on the surface as well and they've shown that they are
00:51:44prepared to use them against both warships and civilian ships what happens if one of those gets
00:51:50through what if a cruise missile hits us just below the speed of sound into the side of a ship
00:51:54you know people are going to get injured potentially killed i'd be lying if it didn't prey on my mind
00:52:15but the ship on its way to houthi territory for now the crew grab any downtime they can
00:52:22we've got five gyms in total yeah it's pretty cool in here like everyone on board lieutenant
00:52:28dickie davidson is preoccupied with the houthi threat
00:52:34how is everybody feeling about what comes next you know we're all switched on at the moment and
00:52:38it's you know everyone's focused and obviously with that comes stress i think it's the right
00:52:42amount of stress that we've got the orange to prepare us for the red sea yeah yeah we'll be ready
00:52:47when we go through there but do you get nervous when you think of you know to the high threat
00:52:51area
00:52:51i'm apprehensive about going through there you never know what's going to happen you know it's
00:52:54it's unstable but from your time in iraq and places like that it's the training just kicks in
00:53:01an incident happens time just slows down i've never been so concentrated in my whole life
00:53:07i mean potentially there's people's lives in your hands but it's it's our job in the day
00:53:13yeah that you you wouldn't join the military thinking you'd go to war but you train for it
00:53:19if you were to go to war and hopefully this never happens because it's not good it's not good yeah
00:53:24it's not good is it there's a genuine tension on board and it reminds me of how i felt in
00:53:31my own time
00:53:35in service we're gonna go for uh eight ship launch so 2732 coming out first so 27 down to the
00:53:41350 20.
00:53:44hms prince of wales is sailing alongside seven other warships belonging to different nations
00:53:51in the red sea these ships will circle the royal navy flagship forming a ring of steel to protect
00:53:58from houthi missiles or drone attack but the terror group also frequently uses small boats filled with
00:54:09explosives to smash into their maritime targets
00:54:20the houthis recently unveiled a remote-controlled drone speedboat capable of carrying 1500 kilograms
00:54:27of explosives
00:54:33a threat like this requires specific preparation
00:54:43right climbed right up into the forward tower because this is the bridge
00:54:52he sat in the big chair it must be important
00:54:54lieutenant commander alex posniak is the navigator on board hms prince of wales
00:54:59and the person in charge of charting the course through the red sea
00:55:05hello boss jj how you doing nice to meet you alex what's going on the day so this morning we're
00:55:11basically practicing a last ditch effort to save the ship if a contact's managed to make it through
00:55:16so you don't have a huge amount of reaction time it could be someone uh that wishes us harm either
00:55:22uh they might have ak-47s and rpgs in the boat with them or it could be in a worst
00:55:27case situation
00:55:28filled with explosives uh that they're going to try and ram into the side of us
00:55:39right team your reactions are paramount now as soon as you hear that quick drop by you've got the
00:55:44authority to phone that upper deck the next thing you're going to do is load and stand to on that
00:55:48weapon system leading any lethal reaction is petty officer michael collins
00:55:55i heard a bit of that what's what's the crack now so the crack is eight aimers are going to
00:56:00stand
00:56:00to on their weapon systems and wait for command orders from the bridge which will be directed by
00:56:05myself we're heading into the high threat areas so this is our last opportunity now to proper test
00:56:10the weapon aimers all right how are you going this is the team's last chance to rehearse and make
00:56:20sure they have what it takes to repel a houthi speedboat attack
00:56:27that's for only three two start two sir there's waiting for all the weapon aimers start two
00:56:31minutes a large inflatable boy known on board as the killer tomato will serve as the target
00:56:47trying to spoil that's the first challenge yeah it's the first challenge to try and spot that and
00:56:51then from there we've got about two minutes to get onto the weapon system
00:56:56the speed boats cover a mile in less than 90 seconds
00:57:02so gunners need to be quick and precise to protect hms prince of wales
00:57:07all right all positions once the killer tomato is in act engage
00:57:19weapons free take killer tomato now bearing red four five
00:57:28so
00:57:36i feel nervous for them because they are being tested to figure out whether they're at the
00:57:42correct level to do this in a genuine situation and that could be days away
00:57:49it's going to be done with the red sea only a few days away nobody knows what the next leg
00:57:58of this journey holds
00:58:04but if my time in the marines taught me anything you have to be prepared for the worst
00:58:33and the dangers of a terror group known as the
00:58:38as the Houthis and the crew need to be ready for anything
00:58:55Dickie said 1200 Mike you're not one two three all around us preparations are
00:59:06underway to defend the ship but a decision has just been made by the ship senior
00:59:14officers and it affects us JJ hi I'm afraid that's it for you guys that's we
00:59:21gonna have to get off afraid that's the end of the chapter for you clearly the
00:59:25story for what we're gonna do is gonna continue on and we'll get on we're just
00:59:28about to come alongside so wait that's the end oh yeah and we're gonna have to
00:59:32leave you behind sorry
00:59:38it's been decided that the risk posed by the Houthis has been deemed too severe
00:59:43for us to stay canal all right well listen we spent a whole week getting ready
00:59:52for that Mike they're not walking around
01:00:01we're to be taken ashore in Oman and the ship will continue on without us
01:00:07for the life they gutted that I have to go at this stage I do understand why like they're heading
01:00:12into a high threat area it's not just about the danger that can be posed to me and you know
01:00:19the camera
01:00:20crew like ultimately this is about the ship's ability to focus on the task that's at hand
01:00:25now everybody everybody's hoping that nothing happens but no one no one knows for certain what lays
01:00:32ahead and so you know ultimate focus the ultimate preparation that we've seen is what
01:00:38was required and I'm not going to take it personally
01:00:46before leaving I'm keen to hear from the Commodore about what will happen after our departure
01:00:56what lays ahead the Red Sea bevel mended straight that's what we've just trained for you hope that
01:01:02it will be a straightforward sail through but I need to be ready for the most violent outcome at a
01:01:09moment's notice I need this strike group ready to react and that's within minutes I mean no doubt in
01:01:16my mind if I'm asked to use this and employ in a combat situation I will use it without hesitation
01:01:22I
01:01:22trust the team I trust the equipment we are going to deliberately take it inside the weapon engagement
01:01:27zone of hostile actors some might argue go a different way it's really important though that
01:01:33we don't allow somebody to deny us the ability to sail through at a time and place of our choosing
01:01:39it's
01:01:39an international straight recognized in international law 90% of our trade to the UK comes by the sea
01:01:45286 billion dollars of trade between the Indo-Pacific and Europe we have a duty to keep those sea lines
01:01:51of
01:01:51communication open because it benefits us back home well it's been an honor thank you for the
01:01:57opportunity not at all and honestly I wish you all the very best and the the next leg thank you
01:02:02was that they say fair winds that's it following seas amazing brilliant thanks very much cheers
01:02:14it's been an incredible journey on HMS Prince of Wales
01:02:23wow that is ridiculous I've witnessed the sheer might and power that this aircraft carrier can deliver
01:02:32there he is
01:02:35there you go wow
01:02:39flash out of bang
01:02:42I've seen the crew react in the face of a potentially fatal emergency
01:02:49bloody hell the balls on this guy
01:02:53and watched in all as they prepare to face very real dangers
01:03:10these men and women boast incredible skill and dedication
01:03:15how dangerous is this is dangerous there's no two ways of body ready to tackle any challenge put in front
01:03:23of them
01:03:24this is why we train hard so we can fight easy
01:03:36for me it's an experience I'll never forget thank you no thank you honestly pal it's been an absolute privilege
01:03:43and a pleasure
01:03:44take care of yourself safe home yeah see you in Blighty get off
01:03:49safe journeys
01:03:50cheers
01:03:53as I leave I can't help but think that in less than 48 hours this ship could find itself under
01:04:02Houthi attack
01:04:06right that's it for me the next leg of the journey has been deemed a little too dangerous for me
01:04:11to be on board
01:04:12so I'm heading home as you can see they're getting resupplied and ready for the next leg
01:04:18they don't really know what lies ahead but I can guarantee you from what I have seen
01:04:22the Prince of Wales and its crew are ready for anything that could be thrown at them
01:04:26there it is
01:05:04And join the crews aboard HMS Duncan and Northumberland
01:05:08in Warship Life at Sea, streamed now on 5.
01:05:11New on Friday at 8, Rob Bell's new series continues
01:05:14Building the Impossible, like a lighthouse
01:05:17in the unforgiving waters off Shetland.
01:05:19Next tonight, an unforgiving shift in A&E After Dark.
01:05:24Stay with us.
Comments