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Warship Life in the Royal Navy S02E04
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00:06Hello and welcome to His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport, here in Plymouth.
00:11For hundreds of years, this place has been a home to the Royal Navy,
00:15and around half the nation's fleet is based here.
00:20This is a remarkable place.
00:22Thousands of service men and women pass through here every week.
00:26There are billions of pounds worth of warships and weapons and enough food to feed a Navy.
00:33And then there's the staff and crew who live in and around the base.
00:41We're here at a time of serious international tension,
00:45when the Royal Navy has never been busier.
00:47And they've given us access across the fleet.
00:55You feel it reverberating through your whole body.
01:00You feel that you can reach out and touch that.
01:02That is wild.
01:04Just off our bow is a Russian submarine.
01:09Throughout these special programmes, we're lifting the lid...
01:12Whoa!
01:13What are you doing?
01:14...on what life is really like in Britain's Navy today.
01:18I'm sure you tied that tie correctly before being dragged through a hedge.
01:21You sound like my mum.
01:22Get out of this now.
01:23Fair move.
01:24Come on.
01:24These boys are fit.
01:26This is a different league within a different league.
01:29I do feel very safe hands.
01:31Thank you very much.
01:35This is warship.
01:37Life in the Royal Navy.
01:40Coming up...
01:41This is tough.
01:42JJ's on Dartmoor to take on an elite Royal Marines challenge.
01:47And it's brutal.
01:49Oh, crap.
01:50Come on, Hans.
01:52Don't let me down.
01:54Ah, a horn in there!
01:56Is that the terminology?
01:58It is!
01:58Dwayne Fields goes back in time.
02:01Mind your head.
02:02To discover what life would have been like on board one of the first ships to circumnavigate
02:07the globe, the Golden Hind.
02:10A lot of salty seawater gets onto this deck.
02:13It would eventually mix with animal poo.
02:15So if you ever did find yourself sleeping on here, don't sleep with your mouth open.
02:19I haven't seen a single soul on board.
02:22And I join the crew of HMS Iron Duke tracking a suspicious vessel in British waters.
02:29It could be drugs.
02:30It could be trafficking of some kind.
02:32OK.
02:45Welcome to His Majesty's Naval Base Devonport here in Plymouth.
02:49And to an extraordinary behind-the-scenes insight into life in the Royal Navy.
02:54Yes, we are on the bridge of HMS St Albans, which can do anything from hunting for submarines
02:59all the way to shooting drones out of the sky.
03:03Now, I was lucky enough to serve as a Royal Marine.
03:06And it's fair to say that training was brutal and only the toughest of the tough made it.
03:11It's certainly not for the faint-hearted.
03:14But more than 20 years on, I wanted to see if I still have what it takes.
03:24The Royal Marines' commandos are highly trained specialists.
03:29One of the most fearsome fighting forces in the world.
03:34But wars don't always happen on nice, flat, open pieces of land.
03:40Sometimes troops have to be prepared to operate in some of the most extreme environments in the world.
03:47From the coldest waters to the most hostile terrain, Marines are trained to fight where few others can operate.
03:57Under the harshest and most unforgiving conditions.
04:02There's a saying in the military, train hard, fight easy.
04:06And nothing quite sums that up like what I've come to do today.
04:11This place is the site of Royal Marines training.
04:15Designed to prepare troops for combat in some of the toughest places on Earth.
04:20It's one of the most challenging and dangerous tests for a Royal Marine.
04:25And I should know, because I completed it back in 2006.
04:30I felt braces.
04:32And today, I'm going to find out if I'm still up to it.
04:36As the saying goes, once a Royal Marine, always a Royal Marine.
04:42It's about 20 years since I was here.
04:44OK.
04:45This place hasn't changed much, to be fair.
04:47No, no.
04:47Has this changed much?
04:48No, this is all the same. Same techniques, same drill.
04:53Course leader Major Bassett will be putting me to the test.
04:57How important is it for the lads to learn these skills?
05:00This is pivotal to what we do in commando forces.
05:04A lot of the coastline and the areas we'll come across will have cliff faces.
05:07You know, and Royal Marines is all about doing hard things and hard places.
05:11And this is key to that.
05:14This course allows Royal Marines to deal with the extreme challenges they might face
05:19when invading an enemy coastline.
05:23Huge vertical cliffs...
05:26..and freezing water are just two of the tests that lay ahead of me today.
05:30If I'm not up to standard, I don't have to go in the water?
05:33No, you'll be getting in the water.
05:34All right, cheers.
05:35OK, get me on it.
05:36Right, let's go.
05:38My challenge is made all the more difficult
05:41because of the injuries I received when I was a serving Royal Marine
05:45in Afghanistan 15 years ago.
05:48I was wounded by an IED blast whilst my unit was on patrol.
05:53The incident would forever change my life
05:55and sadly also mark the end of my time in the Royal Marines.
06:02So, most of my injuries did occur to my upper body and to my hands.
06:07So that is going to be...
06:08It's going to be an issue.
06:10As much as I keep myself fit and I've done a lot of work to strengthen myself,
06:13it's not just a physical test.
06:15This is a sort of technical challenge and ultimately a mental challenge.
06:22First, I have to climb a near 10-metre rope ladder, dangling off the top of the cliff.
06:28If I don't manage this, I won't progress to the next stage of the course.
06:33Are you comfortable?
06:33Not too tight?
06:34Yeah.
06:35Unlike a traditional ladder, it'll take a huge amount of upper body strength
06:39to haul myself up and scale the sheer cliff face.
06:43Happy to climb?
06:44Roger.
06:45OK, make your way over.
06:46But, in spite of my injuries...
06:49OK, so when you're ready...
06:50..I haven't come all this way to fail.
06:54OK, that's you now, safe to climb.
06:56Oh, there's no turning back there.
06:58..the ladder lays almost flat against the rocks.
07:01Is it good?
07:02It's just one rung at a time.
07:04..and swings freely as I begin to climb.
07:08That's it, that's good, JJ.
07:10This is tough.
07:13Just imagine doing this with a day sack now, with your webbing and your weapon.
07:19Whoa.
07:21Slow and steady on this one.
07:23Each step is painful as my hands scrape against the rocks.
07:28Oh, crap.
07:30And requires a very special technique.
07:32Hands and feet.
07:35I'm using my feet to move the ladder away from the rock face,
07:39creating space to hook my hand behind each rung.
07:42Come on, hands.
07:47Near the top, everything suddenly gets even harder.
07:51The ladder gets tighter against the cliff,
07:53and it's difficult to get a good hold,
07:55which is an extra challenge with my injured hands.
07:58Get my hand in there.
08:00Come on, hands.
08:02Don't let me down.
08:03Yeah, this is the most difficult transition now,
08:05as you press the top.
08:07Come on.
08:10Another couple of rungs,
08:11and you should be able to reach right over the top.
08:14That's it.
08:14Yes.
08:15Come on, lads.
08:17Oh.
08:18Cheers, Pat.
08:19Oh, that's it.
08:20Get off it, JJ.
08:23Oh.
08:25Oh.
08:26That was tough.
08:27That was tough.
08:28That last section,
08:29when you're tight up against the wall.
08:31Mate, that is hard.
08:32My hands were fighting me on that one.
08:36There's no time to relax.
08:38The challenges aren't over yet.
08:43You happy?
08:45Roger.
08:47Next, I've got to complete a controlled abseil
08:50back down the cliff.
08:53Oh, not the best to start.
08:57Feet nice and wide apart.
08:58That's it.
08:59Good.
09:00Good, good.
09:01Good, good.
09:03Yeah, you got it.
09:04You got it.
09:04Really?
09:05Yeah.
09:06I made it back down in one piece,
09:08but it wasn't the smoothest or the quickest.
09:10Good for me.
09:12Might have had a slip, but I controlled it.
09:14But I'm not sure if I've done enough
09:17to make it onto the next phase of the course.
09:20Am I ready to step things up, do you reckon?
09:22Based on what you've just done on these challenges,
09:25I think you're ready for the high area.
09:33I've proved I can still handle myself on the small cliff,
09:36but next, I have to conquer this near 20-metre monster.
09:42This one looks tricky.
09:44Not only is it bigger than what I did before,
09:46it's got this really sort of awkward overhang in it.
09:50But I'm up for this.
10:00I do not know how you got up that rock face with that ladder.
10:03It looked agony.
10:05Yeah, they're pretty brutal.
10:06I was very impressed.
10:08Here's what's coming up next.
10:12There is a vessel of interest within sight of the ship.
10:17Kate witnesses a drama unfold aboard a British warship.
10:21So that's about 15 minutes now
10:23and I haven't seen a single soul on board.
10:25As it tracks a suspicious vessel in the English Channel.
10:30If you're in UK waters and you're up to no good,
10:32you should expect the Royal Navy to be looking at you.
10:53Did you know that when sailors are at sea they earn extra money?
10:57It's known as sea pay and it adds up,
11:00especially when they're on a long deployment.
11:03Unfortunately, I don't think the same applies to TV presenters
11:06as Kate found out on board HMS Iron Duke
11:09in what turned out to be a very dramatic trip.
11:18Royal Navy warships patrol the waters around the UK
11:21each day of the year on a constant mission to keep Britain safe.
11:27Last year, the Royal Navy intercepted multiple Russian vessels in UK waters.
11:34Altering 134.
11:36Looks pretty good up there.
11:39Iron Duke is a Type 23 frigate.
11:42In service for over 30 years,
11:45she's one of the most reliable and dependable warships in the fleet.
11:49M3, just good eyes out.
11:50Make sure we're not closing her too soon.
11:52Her current orders are to scour the horizon for potential threats
11:56and pounce on them before they can cause any harm to the UK.
12:02So I've descended right into the bowels of the ship
12:06and that's where there is the ops room.
12:10It's essentially the beating heart of the ship.
12:13I think where everything is decided and pitted and planned.
12:23Principal Warfare Officer Tom Adlam and his team
12:26use Iron Duke's radar and sensors
12:28to keep a constant lookout for threats.
12:31Ops, operations, what are the operations?
12:36So there could be a whole range of things.
12:38Yeah.
12:38From maritime security,
12:40where we will continue to do policing
12:41whilst we're out at sea,
12:43to shadow operations.
12:45Great, Roger.
12:46Come on to you to watch.
12:48Roger, watch.
12:49All the sort of the radars
12:51and the things on the top of the ship,
12:54do they feed down into here?
12:56They absolutely do.
12:57The whole process of this compartment
12:59is to take all of that information
13:01to build it into a picture,
13:04a recognized maritime picture as we'd call it,
13:06that enables us to have that broader awareness
13:09to our immediate environment,
13:11potentially, and much further away,
13:12so that we have the ability
13:13to conduct the operation
13:14that's required of us at any given time.
13:17Sir, we have a possibly vessel there in three, two, five.
13:20I've only got seven minutes of your block.
13:22The ops room has just spotted something suspicious.
13:26Right, 10, 13.6 metres.
13:28Can you get hold of Northwood?
13:30Get hold of the mark.
13:31Yes, sir.
13:32Captain David Armstrong must decide what to do next.
13:39There is a vessel of interest within sight of the ship.
13:47Everyone is looking at what, to me,
13:50looks like a very ordinary fishing boat
13:51through their binoculars,
13:53and we are moving quite quickly towards it.
13:58The ship is behaving suspiciously
14:01and fears are growing that it might be up to no good.
14:04They've picked up the buoy.
14:06Can you just...
14:07I can't see it on the deck,
14:07but it's no longer in the water, sir.
14:09OK.
14:12For a trawler to recover,
14:13a red buoy is slightly unusual behaviour,
14:16so let's make sure we've got that in the narrative.
14:18The fact that they're trawling
14:19and they're stopped in the water is also unusual.
14:22Yes, sir.
14:24It could be drugs.
14:25It could be trafficking of some kind.
14:27OK.
14:27But it is interesting to see what our presence can do
14:31in terms of how the behaviour changes.
14:34So that's about 15 minutes now
14:36and I haven't seen a single soul on board.
14:40David is looking for clues
14:41which could help to establish
14:43if anything illegal is taking place.
14:46For a start, a hard-working fishing boat
14:48does not look as pristine as that one does.
14:51OK, that's interesting.
14:52Iron Duke's cameras and sensors are now all trained on the ship.
14:57It's currently stopped in the water.
14:58Yeah.
14:59It has recovered a buoy,
15:00which is slightly irregular for a vessel involved in trawling.
15:05And what I find really interesting
15:06is that there is absolutely no-one visible on the ship,
15:09no-one on the bridge, no-one on the upper deck.
15:11When they've got their nets out, that's unusual.
15:16They presumably know that you can take imagery from here.
15:20Yeah, I think so.
15:20So do you think the fact that they're hiding
15:23or appear to be hiding
15:26backs up your suspicion
15:28that this is not just a straightforward fishing boat?
15:31Yeah, and that's the point.
15:32There's something unusual about the vessel.
15:34So our job is to get closer and interrogate that
15:36and see if we can gather any evidence.
15:40Call them on Channel 16,
15:42see if we can get two ACOMs with them
15:43and just ask them,
15:44we notice they're stopped in the water,
15:45do they have an issue and do they require any assistance?
15:48What's up?
15:49The captain wants to see if they'll respond on the radio.
15:53So we see that you were first stopped in the water
15:56and do you require any assistance?
15:59No, we are no victim.
16:05So what was established through that radio contact?
16:09So that would suggest that there is someone on the bridge
16:11although we can't see them, which is slightly odd.
16:14The response is far from conclusive
16:16but without more evidence, Iron Duke's hands are tied.
16:20They're claiming they're fishing,
16:22which could absolutely be the case.
16:23Yeah.
16:24But we've let them know
16:24that we're going to be operating in their vicinity
16:26which I guess applies a certain amount of pressure.
16:29Yeah.
16:30But if you're in UK waters and you're up to no good,
16:32you should expect the Royal Navy to be looking at you.
16:35Tom, just ask them, you know,
16:37tell them we're operating in the area
16:38if they need our assistance, you know, safe watch.
16:41Awesome.
16:43Another day in the Royal Navy
16:44conducting maritime security operations.
16:49HMS Iron Duke will report back their findings
16:52to Navy intelligence
16:54and the fishing vessel will be added to a watch list
16:57until more information is forthcoming.
17:02This is a role that I had no idea the Navy was part of.
17:06Kind of keeping an eye on ships that may or may not be dodgy.
17:11And the captain was very clear to point out
17:14that that ship may not have any secrets at all.
17:16It may be innocently just fishing
17:18and they're having a break
17:19and they might be having their lunch.
17:21But there are enough signs to go,
17:24you know what, we're just going to make sure
17:25that they know we're here
17:27and that they understand that we're watching them.
17:31It's quite daunting.
17:39As HMS Iron Duke continues on her patrol,
17:43I've arranged to meet the captain
17:44away from his usual post on the bridge.
17:49Here we go.
17:50Now, of all the things
17:51that I imagined a warship might have,
17:55an ice bath is not one of them.
17:57Yeah.
17:57It's basically a little bit of a mental health tool.
17:59It takes your mind off everything that's going on board.
18:01All you think about for a couple of minutes
18:02is how cold you are,
18:04which is surprisingly good for you.
18:06Is that ice...
18:07Is that ice actually floating in there?
18:09Yeah, this...
18:09The team very kindly have put a mega ice cube in it
18:12just to make sure that it's cold enough.
18:15But I just, you know,
18:16tend to spend a couple of minutes in it.
18:17Okay.
18:18Yeah.
18:18So, are you going to demonstrate how this is done?
18:21Sure.
18:23Given the relentless pace of life on board,
18:26this is the perfect way to unwind.
18:30Right overhead and everything.
18:37So relaxing.
18:42It doesn't matter how stressed you are,
18:44how much is going on,
18:45and when you're in here,
18:47it's just two minutes of thinking about nothing really,
18:51about the cold.
18:53Yeah.
18:53It's just surprisingly, surprisingly relaxing.
18:56Does it really genuinely kind of clear your head as well
18:57when you've got a lot on?
19:00Yeah, it does, yeah.
19:01For you, kind of mentally,
19:04is it always a challenge?
19:06Is it always something that
19:09kind of overtakes your brain, if that makes sense?
19:11Yeah, from the moment you open your eyes,
19:14you're thinking about the ship,
19:15you know, what we're doing now,
19:17what we're doing next,
19:18you know, to the moment you go to sleep in the evening.
19:21So there isn't a lot of time to think about other things.
19:24The chance to take an ice bath
19:26on the bridge wing of a Royal Navy frigate
19:28is too good to turn down,
19:31so I'm diving in.
19:34Oh, this is lovely.
19:46I can't quite believe I'm doing this.
19:49When I first came on board a Royal Navy warship,
19:53this was one of the last things I expected to be doing.
19:56But what a way to spend an evening.
20:04That is amazing.
20:05I'm not going to lie,
20:06I'm pretty jealous that you got that level of access
20:08to a warship when it's on operations.
20:11I know.
20:11It was an incredible experience,
20:13but here's what else is still to come.
20:18What's the temperature like?
20:20It's like Magaluf.
20:22The final part of JJ's brutal test
20:25with the Royal Marines.
20:30You need quite a bit of muscle,
20:32so that's me out of it.
20:34And Dwayne Fields gets to grips
20:36with one of Britain's most famous historical ships.
20:39He's home!
20:42He's home!
21:01Welcome back.
21:02Now, I've stepped off of our host ship
21:04and back onto dry land here
21:06in His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport.
21:08Now, this part of the base
21:10is home to thousands of Marines and sailors
21:13and is known as HMS Drake.
21:15It's named after a very famous person.
21:17He was the first Englishman
21:19to circumnavigate the globe
21:20and he did it on a very iconic ship
21:22as Dwayne Fields has been finding out.
21:28The Golden Hind is perhaps
21:30one of the most famous ships
21:32in British history.
21:33Its legendary voyages
21:34are taught in schools across the land.
21:38This ship, moored right here on the Thames
21:41in the centre of London,
21:42is a full-scale reconstruction
21:44of the original Golden Hind.
21:45Many of you might remember
21:48from your history lessons
21:49that this is the first British made ship
21:51to circumnavigate the globe.
21:54Led by the famous Captain Sir Francis Drake,
21:58the voyage of global discovery
21:59actually began as something entirely different.
22:03Alongside four other ships,
22:05Drake's Golden Hind set sail
22:07from British shores in 1577
22:09on the orders of Queen Elizabeth I.
22:14Hannah.
22:14Hi.
22:15Oh, so good to meet you.
22:16Thank you so much for coming.
22:17No problem.
22:18Let me show you a book.
22:18This is amazing.
22:20Tudor historian, Hannah Cusworth,
22:22curator at the National Maritime Museum,
22:25has invited me on board the Golden Hind
22:27to reveal the details of Drake's famous voyage.
22:31Welcome.
22:32This really doesn't favor the taller people among us.
22:37So, Hannah, when Drake set off,
22:39was that his plan to circumnavigate the globe?
22:41I think we can pretty safely say no.
22:44A really main part was to make money
22:46and Queen Elizabeth
22:47and a number of other financial backers
22:50provisioned Drake to cross over the Atlantic
22:53and start raiding the various different Spanish colonies
22:56and territories in South America.
22:58So, Drake's made it all the way up to California.
23:01Why does he end up going across the Pacific?
23:03There are so many Spanish reports of Drake's activity
23:06that the Spanish have really got their eyes
23:09on trying to capture him.
23:10It would have been really dangerous for him
23:12to go back round that way.
23:13So, he was a wanted man at this point?
23:14He was very much a wanted man at this point.
23:17To get away from the Spanish, Drake headed west,
23:21crossing the Pacific, navigating through Indonesia
23:23and around Africa, eventually making it home
23:26after a staggering two years and nine months at sea.
23:30This is a pretty treacherous journey.
23:33You've obviously got the weather.
23:34You've also got all of the different provisioning.
23:37You're trying to keep a crew alive on a pretty small boat
23:40which would have been a monumental feat.
23:46Wow.
23:47What a vessel.
23:49To find out what it would have been like
23:51during that famous voyage,
23:52I've popped up to the main deck
23:54to meet Tudor expert Patrick Strain
23:56who's even come dressed for the park.
24:00Ah, a winner!
24:01Is that the terminology?
24:03It is.
24:03How's it going?
24:04Not too bad, thank you very much.
24:05You look amazing.
24:06Where are we going to start?
24:07Well, I think we're going to start at the bottom
24:09which is actually the toilets, which are at the top.
24:13That's the toilet?
24:14Yep.
24:15You'll have to find yourself an empty slat of woods,
24:17drop anchor into the ocean,
24:18there'll be a piece of rope in the ocean there.
24:21The seers would pull it up, give themselves a wipe
24:23and then put it back where they found it.
24:26This is your version of toilet paper.
24:28Do you know what this is called?
24:29It is a word that is still in the English dictionary today.
24:32And what's that?
24:33Torag.
24:34So that's where the word torag comes from.
24:36Poohy piece of rope.
24:37Ah!
24:37That's my fun factor.
24:39That's my take away from this.
24:42Thankfully, we're leaving the loo behind.
24:44Mind your step.
24:45More importantly, I'd say, mind your head.
24:49Oh, my goodness.
24:50And heading into the ship's bows.
24:53Not that conditions below deck were much better
24:55for the sailors who lived and worked in this space.
24:59What was life on board like?
25:01You've got 80 men on board this ship.
25:03You'd be sleeping on this cold, hard floor.
25:06Also, it's where the livestock is capped.
25:09So the smell in here, I can imagine it's not pleasant.
25:12It's very, very smelly.
25:13Also, as well, this part of the ship isn't watertight.
25:15A lot of salty seawater gets onto this deck.
25:18It would eventually mix with animal poo,
25:20make a salty poo soup.
25:22So if you ever did find yourself sleeping on here,
25:24don't sleep with your mouth open.
25:28Unsurprisingly, the unsanitary conditions
25:31cause outbreaks of killer diseases
25:33like dysentery among the crew.
25:36Working conditions were slightly better on the upper decks.
25:40Is there a single part of this ship
25:42where you can stand up on the inside?
25:45But the jobs weren't any less grueling.
25:48The other thing I haven't been able to help but notice,
25:50this thing, what's this?
25:52Ah, this is the capstan.
25:55And it's how they'd raise the anchor on board this ship.
25:58I mean, you need quite a bit of muscle.
25:59So that's me out of it.
26:01What we need is one of these sticks here.
26:04So what the sailors would do is hold it
26:07underneath their arms
26:09and then they'd push it all the way around,
26:12which we'll do now.
26:14They go heave and hoe.
26:17Heave, hoe, heave, hoe.
26:21Doing this for two hours.
26:23Two hours was to bring up the anchor.
26:25Yeah, yeah.
26:25You'd probably stop there.
26:27Listen, if I have to do this anymore,
26:29I'm going to commit a mutiny myself.
26:34For the sailors who survived the hard labour and disease,
26:37the rewards were spectacular.
26:39They received a cut of the estimated 500 million pounds
26:42in today's money that the Golden Hind had plundered.
26:46And for Drake, fame followed fortune.
26:49Upon his return, Queen Elizabeth was so delighted with Drake
26:53that she personally knighted him aboard the Golden Hind
26:57the following year.
26:59But there's a darker side to Drake's heroic exploits.
27:02Before the knighthood and before the trip around the world,
27:06Drake was a slaver.
27:09Just a short sail east from the Golden Hind
27:11is the old Royal Naval College at Greenwich,
27:14which houses details about Drake's involvement in the slave trade.
27:19This is Francis Drake here in the centre.
27:22I do recognise Drake.
27:24Who are these other two?
27:25His cousin, John Hawkins.
27:28And then we have Cavendish here.
27:30Wasn't Hawkins a slaver?
27:33Hawkins was involved in several slaving voyages,
27:37the capture of enslaved people.
27:39Sometimes actually him and Drake,
27:42raided on the West African coast,
27:44took enslaved people and then tried to sell them
27:47to Spanish colonies across the other side of the Atlantic
27:50and the Caribbean and South America.
27:52Wow.
27:53People have often said that kind of laid the basis
27:55of England's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
27:59So I think Drake showed that England wasn't afraid
28:01to achieve this maritime power through violence,
28:05plundering Spanish ships and these raids,
28:07or through the trading of enslaved people.
28:13There's no doubt that Drake's time as an explorer,
28:16becoming the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe,
28:20were great achievements.
28:21But his time as a slaver does cast a long shadow over his legacy.
28:28Whatever conclusions you draw about the man,
28:31his actions have cemented his place in British maritime history.
28:44I wonder what Drake would make of this,
28:47the bridge of HMS St Albans.
28:50Now this is the place where the captain will issue orders
28:53to the crew when the ship is at sea.
28:56It takes about 15 to 20 years to rise through the ranks
29:00to command your own warship.
29:02But it's something that officer recruits are prepared for
29:06from the moment they start their training.
29:08Similarly, in the Royal Marines,
29:10the hard work doesn't end when they finish their basic training.
29:15Arguably, it just gets harder.
29:21Royal Marines vertical assault training.
29:24Come on, gents, let's push, push.
29:26Keep working.
29:28A brutal test of physical and mental strength,
29:31teaching skills vital to fighting and surviving in war.
29:35That is a big climb.
29:37I first completed this course 20 years ago,
29:41before my injuries in Afghanistan.
29:43And now I've been challenged to give this brutal,
29:47near 20-metre-high military climb another go.
29:51It's twice as high as the climb I made earlier,
29:54and that was hard enough.
29:56This will be your most difficult challenge, I think, today.
30:02And this is two sections of ladders together
30:06that's going to see you up to the top.
30:10Major Bassett is in charge of training Marines
30:12in the art of assaulting a cliff face during battle.
30:17If the wind's up, again, it will start to push you around.
30:20So keeping yourself stable is really important.
30:22To make this climb even harder,
30:24I'll be carrying items similar to those used in war.
30:30Got to get to the top of this.
30:32But ultimately, as a Royal Marine,
30:34this is just what you have to do to get to the fight.
30:36So, I've got my webbing belt and I've got a rifle on as well,
30:41just to make it easier for me.
30:49That's it, don't rush it.
30:54That's it, good. Stand up.
30:57It's worse when you've got the equipment on,
30:59so you're probably feeling that a bit more now.
31:01Yeah.
31:03The vertical route includes several overhangs,
31:06which I'll have to navigate with extra care.
31:10I said slowly keep making your way up.
31:14Come on, Hans.
31:16Falling isn't the only risk here.
31:18It's getting caught in the ladder as I fall,
31:21which could cause a serious injury.
31:23Come on.
31:26And the overhangs are forcing me to fight for every hold.
31:31Go with your legs.
31:32That's it. It's good.
31:35Come on.
31:40Come on, Hans.
31:43Yeah.
31:44That's it. Good effort, JJ.
31:56That's it, JJ. Good.
31:57On the ledge. Good.
32:01Come on.
32:05That was tricky with these old things.
32:07But here I am, at the top.
32:10Beautiful view.
32:11Ready to fight.
32:15Luckily, the only fight ahead of me today
32:17is against gravity,
32:18because now I have to abseil back down,
32:21carrying all the heavy kit.
32:24Oh, Lord.
32:26Right, bring me on, ready.
32:29What are you doing?
32:32I just hope I have enough strength left in my arms
32:35to control my descent,
32:36or I could fail the test.
32:38Or worse, crash on the rocks below.
32:45Oh.
32:47Thanks for that, Bill.
32:48Go to your left.
32:50That was fast.
32:52I think I was just about in control of it.
32:54I was just trying to, like, really throw my arm underneath me,
32:57but it's tricky with this kit on.
32:59You have to be able to operate with all of that kind of equipment.
33:03But you did well.
33:04All right. Job done.
33:05Well, yeah.
33:05I mean, the thing is, you look like you need to cool off, really.
33:08The sun's out.
33:09It would be a shame to waste it.
33:10So, I think the last challenge would be the water.
33:13Of course.
33:17All right, closing out of the day with the water crossing drill.
33:20Got to get across here on this line,
33:22and then I'll come back over on the second line.
33:25Ultimately, Royal Marines have to do this
33:27in just about every climate they come up against.
33:29You know, even Afghanistan.
33:30Think of it as a desert country.
33:31The place was covered in irrigation ditches.
33:33We found ourselves in the water quite a lot.
33:38In combat situations,
33:40Royal Marines are often required
33:42to cross treacherous bodies of water
33:44in order to get to the front line of a battle,
33:46or potentially even escape from one.
33:50Just push it out and start swimming.
33:55What's the temperature like?
33:58It's like Magaloo.
33:59That's what it say.
34:04I'm using my backpack to help me float
34:07and also keep my weapon dry.
34:10If it goes in the water,
34:11then I fail at the final hurdle.
34:15That's it, good.
34:17That's it, keep it going.
34:19Got to try and keep that weapon dry.
34:23Oh, your legs are tiring now.
34:27Just about.
34:30Stand up.
34:31The longer I'm in the water,
34:33the harder and colder it gets.
34:35Back again.
34:39My arms and legs are feeling really heavy,
34:42especially after all that climbing on the rope ladders.
34:45But that's exactly why they put this last.
34:49Oh.
34:51This is hard work.
34:56I feel like I'm swimming through Trico.
34:59Looks good.
35:00You're nearly in now.
35:03Nearly there.
35:06Oh.
35:09Well.
35:12That's refreshing.
35:20Whoa.
35:22Whoa, man.
35:24Needed well.
35:26Cheers.
35:32Honestly, after 20 years to come back,
35:34you get to do that again.
35:35It's pretty special.
35:36Yeah, it's a pleasure to have you here.
35:37I mean, you've worked really hard today.
35:39The ladder's a particularly difficult challenge,
35:41but you did really well.
35:42So, I'd just like to say thank you.
35:45Oh, mate.
35:46That's a challenge coin.
35:48It's got our mountain leaders crest on one side,
35:50and then the global laurel on the other.
35:53Look at that.
35:54Listen.
35:55You get a few of these in your time,
35:57but one as special as that.
35:59Only a few legends have got these.
36:02Apparently I'm one of them.
36:05Come on, let's go.
36:10What a day.
36:11That was as mentally, technically,
36:14and physically tough as I remember it.
36:17And it's not just about doing it once.
36:18Raw Marines use these skills and drills
36:20throughout their careers in environments
36:23all across the world.
36:25The Raw Marines mountain leaders, simply put,
36:27they're an elite within an elite.
36:35Brr, I'm shivering on your behalf.
36:37That did look quite chilly.
36:38Yeah, I am no fan of cold water,
36:40and that was cold.
36:41But it's meant to be,
36:42because they're just trying to make it
36:43as tough as possible,
36:44so that they are prepared for anything
36:46that the battlefield could throw at them.
36:48And I hope you guys are prepared
36:49for what's coming up next.
36:55I'm getting wet again.
36:57I'm getting wet again.
37:00But this time is to save a sinking ship.
37:03They are in the military.
37:05They are in the military.
37:10They are in the military.
37:26And then we'll get back.
37:27And then we'll get into the military.
37:32And we'll get back to him.
37:33here will have trained for years and years to get to this stage in their career. They
37:38learn how to fire a weapon and to march like other military recruits, but they also have
37:43to prepare for the very real dangers of life at sea.
37:54HMS Rally in Cornwall is where the Royal Navy trains all their raw recruits.
38:02Thousands of new starters, some as young as 16 years old, flock here each year to take
38:08on basic training. And that includes preparing them for whatever the sea may throw at them.
38:22On a warship, the risk of a flood is very real and potentially life-threatening.
38:31All recruits who pass through basic training here must complete a sea survival course that
38:36prepares them for that dreaded event. Petty Officer Daniel Fraser is in charge of getting
38:44these recruits ready for a life at sea.
38:47Agro-Prot, get it in line with your body! Get it in line with your body!
38:52Sorry mate! Hello, I'm JJ. Hi, you alright? This doesn't look good. What is this all about?
38:58OK, so this is where we teach some of the new recruits coming through, just the very basics
39:03of damage control in a flooded environment. So ultimately, stop the flood water from coming
39:08in and save the ship. So forbid, if it happened for real, these are the guys that are going
39:12to be having to deal with it in real time. If a warship develops a hole in its hull, the
39:18only way to save the ship, and save lives, is to stem or stop the flow.
39:24OK, so JJ, if you're up for it, what we'd like you to do is jump in on some of
39:28the instructions,
39:28we'll teach you on how to do some of these builds, then we'll fill it back up with water
39:32and get you stuck in so you can have a go. Is it warm? Yeah, it's warm enough.
39:38Time for me to go back to school. Right, afternoon team, welcome to Chaos Unit.
39:45I'm jumping in with the latest batch of recruits who are learning the ropes.
39:49So you come into the compartment, you find water coming in through a split in the deck.
39:53So primary leak stopping is going to be carried out by using softwood wedges.
39:55Because they're softwood, once they get wet, they expand.
39:58For centuries, the Royal Navy has used wooden wedges to plug holes and damage warships.
40:04It's an ancient but fundamental part of emergency hull repair.
40:08More hands here.
40:10That way?
40:11All you want to do is just get as many of those in as you can.
40:16And then you can go in the sides then and put in even more.
40:20It might look quite basic, but this method can stop up to 95% of incoming floodwater.
40:30If you give that a good shake, does it feel fairly solid?
40:33It does.
40:34It's not going anywhere.
40:35For the young recruits I'm training alongside, this is a sobering reminder of what their new job might entail.
40:43It does cross your mind when you're doing the training, you do think this could happen for real.
40:47But I feel like the training that we're getting, it ingrains into that muscle memory.
40:51So I hope, in reality, God forbid it ever did happen.
40:54I feel like the crews would be pretty well trained, well versed in this.
40:57It could be quite daunting though, I feel like.
40:59Because on the rig here, they stop the water if it gets out of hand.
41:02Whereas if it was happening on ship, obviously there's no stopping the water there.
41:08Practice time is over and I'm about to be thrown in at the deep end.
41:12Right here it goes.
41:13Working together with the recruits, we need to act as fast as possible to stem the tide of the flood.
41:19In a real situation, these skills are life and death.
41:31Our first job is to try and stop rushing flood water entering through a hole in the floor.
41:37He needs a little bit more speed.
41:40It's a new environment for him, so he's doing all right, he's doing OK.
41:48I'm struggling to hold my breath in the cold water and I can't get enough pressure on the wooden blocks.
42:00Finally, they're in place.
42:01But the water is still coming in.
42:04Where's the rest of the equipment that you need for this tank split?
42:13As a team, we now need to get a bracing beam to hold the repair in place.
42:26Working together, we've completed our task and the exercise is now over.
42:31That's it!
42:33Well done, teams! Good effort!
42:37It's really disorientating.
42:39You know, trying to hear what the message is, that water is really loud when you're up against it.
42:44That would be a very different scenario if your life depended on it, you know?
42:49Like, not just your life, but the life of the entire ship.
42:52That would be utterly terrifying.
42:55With the training finished, it's time for my assessment.
42:59This is actually a really good effort, especially considering that you haven't done this before.
43:02Yeah.
43:03What we look at at the end of the day is, the build that you've constructed, would it work?
43:07Would it stop the water from coming in?
43:09And I have every confidence that what you would have done there would have done the job in spades.
43:12I would go again.
43:14Get you on again if you want. Give us 20 minutes, we'll get it filled back up.
43:17Do you know what? I'll leave you guys to it, because I've got wet feet, so I'm going to go
43:21dry out.
43:24Oh, that looked pretty extreme.
43:26Yeah, it was quite the physical reminder of what all recruits in the armed forces have to go through
43:31in order to be able to be prepared to put their lives on the line for us.
43:36Well, it was a good effort. Well done.
43:38Sadly, that's all we've got time for on today's programme, but here's what's coming up on the next one.
43:44That is quite the responsibility.
43:47Next time.
43:49Oh, do you know what? He's nailed that!
43:51I reveal how on earth a warship at sea goes about refuelling.
43:56Starting pumping.
43:57Roger.
44:02I learn how to escape from a submarine lying on the seabed...
44:06Nice big jump!
44:09...in one of the scariest things I've ever done.
44:12It was panicking, GC.
44:15Good to see you, dude.
44:18And over 20 years since fighting began, I revisit the battlefields of Afghanistan
44:23with the marines, who served alongside me.
44:26What the hell's happened? And then it was like, oh, you've been blown up.
44:32Don't even think about missing it. See you then. Bye-bye.
44:35Bye.
44:39And you can see that next Wednesday at eight.
44:42After a nine-year-old boy is knocked from his bike, can police find the suspected drink driver responsible?
44:47Traffic cops his new Friday at eight.
44:50Coming up, rounding off his epic voyage in one of the most incredible and ancient cities on earth,
44:54Egypt with Dan Snow reaches Cairo. Brand new next.
44:58Mr.
45:00Ladies and Gentlemen.
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