1 00:00:03,382 --> 00:00:04,142 EXPLORER: Look at that. 2 00:00:04,176 --> 00:00:06,247 JOHN: Oh my word. Good Grief. 3 00:00:06,282 --> 00:00:07,559 That is amazing. 4 00:00:07,593 --> 00:00:09,802 How long is that one? 5 00:00:09,837 --> 00:00:13,979 NARRATOR: Beneath the waters of a Virginia river, a team of explorers is discovering a 6 00:00:14,014 --> 00:00:19,674 hidden battlefield from the war that created the United States. 7 00:00:20,296 --> 00:00:23,851 JOHN: All of a sudden these objects are forming on the screen that we've 8 00:00:23,885 --> 00:00:25,439 never seen before. 9 00:00:25,473 --> 00:00:26,681 This is incredible. 10 00:00:26,716 --> 00:00:28,649 EXPLORER: Cannons right there. 11 00:00:28,683 --> 00:00:31,755 NARRATOR: Right under the nose of modern America. 12 00:00:31,790 --> 00:00:36,588 240 year old war ships litter the riverbank. 13 00:00:36,967 --> 00:00:39,867 JOHN: We had ten wrecks here. Just found an 11th. 14 00:00:39,901 --> 00:00:41,662 What d'you find? 15 00:00:41,696 --> 00:00:46,080 We're working on ships that are the tangible evidence of the event that 16 00:00:46,115 --> 00:00:49,497 led to American Independence. 17 00:00:50,015 --> 00:00:53,812 NARRATOR: These wrecks help us to understand the revolutionary war in a 18 00:00:53,846 --> 00:00:57,333 completely new way. 19 00:00:57,367 --> 00:01:01,061 JAMES: The naval aspect of the America Revolution is absolutely crucial. 20 00:01:01,095 --> 00:01:03,960 It won the war. 21 00:01:10,104 --> 00:01:14,695 NARRATOR: The 13 colonies in America rise up against the British king. 22 00:01:15,420 --> 00:01:17,249 [cannon fire]. 23 00:01:17,284 --> 00:01:19,148 But their cause looks hopeless. 24 00:01:19,182 --> 00:01:21,495 SOLDIER: Fire. 25 00:01:23,359 --> 00:01:26,155 NARRATOR: The patriots are a land-based militia and 26 00:01:26,189 --> 00:01:29,227 at a time when sea power counts, 27 00:01:29,261 --> 00:01:32,920 it's Britain's royal navy that rules the waves. 28 00:01:33,610 --> 00:01:35,336 JAMES: The British had command of the seas. 29 00:01:35,371 --> 00:01:38,546 As long as they had such extraordinary naval superiority, 30 00:01:38,581 --> 00:01:41,929 the Americans were never gonna be able to beat them. 31 00:01:42,619 --> 00:01:46,451 NARRATOR: So how do the merchants, farmers, and fishermen of the American 32 00:01:46,485 --> 00:01:52,698 colonies take on the 18th century's greatest maritime super power? 33 00:01:53,492 --> 00:01:55,529 [cannon fire]. 34 00:01:55,563 --> 00:01:58,359 SAM: Something inexplicable happens, 35 00:01:58,394 --> 00:02:02,363 a collection of colonies managed to fight and win 36 00:02:02,398 --> 00:02:05,021 a war against the most powerful country in the world. 37 00:02:05,055 --> 00:02:08,128 [cannon fire]. 38 00:02:09,301 --> 00:02:14,479 NARRATOR: The struggle for America's waters begins here in Lake Champlain, Vermont. 39 00:02:17,137 --> 00:02:21,520 Can a single barely armed boat explain how the rebels attempt to 40 00:02:21,555 --> 00:02:25,455 prevail against impossible odds? 41 00:02:28,562 --> 00:02:30,978 In the fall of 1776, 42 00:02:31,012 --> 00:02:35,258 15 patriot warships set sail from this stronghold, 43 00:02:35,293 --> 00:02:37,191 Fort Ticonderoga, 44 00:02:37,226 --> 00:02:40,160 on the southern tip of the lake. 45 00:02:40,194 --> 00:02:45,441 ARTHUR: We're on hallowed ground for American history and the fleet on 46 00:02:45,475 --> 00:02:49,686 Lake Champlain should be considered the first American Fleet. 47 00:02:51,757 --> 00:02:55,899 NARRATOR: The fleet is led by a man who will one day betray the revolution, 48 00:02:55,934 --> 00:02:58,626 Benedict Arnold. 49 00:02:59,938 --> 00:03:04,218 His mission: defend these waters against powerful British forces 50 00:03:04,253 --> 00:03:06,116 gathering in the north. 51 00:03:06,151 --> 00:03:09,223 ARTHUR: Benedict Arnold while he was here in the 52 00:03:09,258 --> 00:03:12,468 Champlain valley did heroic things. 53 00:03:13,123 --> 00:03:19,820 Lake Champlain is so significant because it's 120 miles long, north and south. 54 00:03:19,854 --> 00:03:24,583 Think interstate highway at a time when you can invade on it. 55 00:03:26,585 --> 00:03:31,452 Whoever controlled the lake was gonna have the advantage in the war moving forward. 56 00:03:33,282 --> 00:03:35,249 NARRATOR: At this critical point, 57 00:03:35,284 --> 00:03:37,251 the hopes of the revolution depend on 58 00:03:37,286 --> 00:03:41,082 America's first fighting fleet. 59 00:03:42,083 --> 00:03:46,847 But within two months of launching Arnold's navy is in tatters. 60 00:03:48,435 --> 00:03:51,610 ARTHUR: Of the 15 vessels in the American fleet only 61 00:03:51,645 --> 00:03:55,787 four made it back to Fort Ticonderoga. 62 00:03:57,340 --> 00:03:59,756 NARRATOR: What happened. 63 00:03:59,791 --> 00:04:04,002 The fate of most of Arnold's fleet is shrouded in mystery. 64 00:04:06,832 --> 00:04:13,218 Now two centuries later archaeologist Art Cohn is hoping to unlock secrets 65 00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:17,118 hidden beneath the waters of Lake Champlain. 66 00:04:19,328 --> 00:04:23,297 ARTHUR: Where history happens stuff gets left behind. 67 00:04:24,194 --> 00:04:27,957 If there was a vessel that could connect us to that story, 68 00:04:27,991 --> 00:04:31,132 that would be the holy grail of it all. 69 00:04:31,961 --> 00:04:35,930 Are there physical remains that we can see, touch, study, 70 00:04:35,965 --> 00:04:40,452 and enlighten us about what actually happened here. 71 00:04:43,075 --> 00:04:47,563 NARRATOR: Art and his team traced the fleet's route north from Fort Ticonderoga 72 00:04:47,597 --> 00:04:49,737 looking for remnants. 73 00:04:52,568 --> 00:04:56,503 Sonar sweeps the bottom hundreds of feet below. 74 00:04:58,090 --> 00:05:01,646 Clearing the lake sector by sector. 75 00:05:03,544 --> 00:05:07,237 At last they detect something promising. 76 00:05:08,135 --> 00:05:09,792 ARTHUR: Oh yeah. 77 00:05:09,826 --> 00:05:12,070 MAN: Looks like we got something between 15 and 20 meters in size. 78 00:05:12,104 --> 00:05:14,244 ARTHUR: Yeah that's excellent, excellent. 79 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:16,833 MAN: Alright clear two meters. 80 00:05:20,665 --> 00:05:26,740 NARRATOR: They deploy a remotely operated vehicle and guide it over 200 feet 81 00:05:26,774 --> 00:05:29,846 down to the target. 82 00:05:36,888 --> 00:05:40,581 ARTHUR: It's amazing. 83 00:05:45,793 --> 00:05:48,865 Look how intact that is. 84 00:05:48,900 --> 00:05:53,249 That could be really important for trying to identify which boat this is. 85 00:05:54,457 --> 00:05:58,944 NARRATOR: If this wreck really is a sunken warship from the patriot navy, 86 00:05:58,979 --> 00:06:03,535 it could finally take Art inside the story of their defeat on the lake. 87 00:06:04,950 --> 00:06:07,505 But is it? 88 00:06:08,126 --> 00:06:11,371 Combining Art's scan data and underwater footage, 89 00:06:13,027 --> 00:06:18,205 we can make the waters of Lake Champlain disappear. 90 00:06:24,867 --> 00:06:28,802 The mast of a ship that hasn't seen sunlight for centuries 91 00:06:28,836 --> 00:06:32,633 breaks the surface, 92 00:06:35,015 --> 00:06:38,881 and draining water reveals 93 00:06:38,915 --> 00:06:44,438 a giant rusted cannon pointing forward at the bow, 94 00:06:44,473 --> 00:06:46,578 resting inside a grizzled 95 00:06:46,613 --> 00:06:51,721 54 foot vessel sitting upright on the lake bed. 96 00:06:52,998 --> 00:06:54,552 ARTHUR: It's not broken, 97 00:06:54,586 --> 00:06:59,419 it's not a fragment, it's a completely intact specimen 98 00:06:59,453 --> 00:07:02,767 transported to the present. 99 00:07:02,801 --> 00:07:07,047 NARRATOR: But with only one cannon this simple boat doesn't look like 100 00:07:07,081 --> 00:07:09,877 a weapon of war. 101 00:07:12,397 --> 00:07:14,848 However, as Art studies it, 102 00:07:14,882 --> 00:07:19,749 he spots a row of fixtures sticking up from the rim of the hull. 103 00:07:20,578 --> 00:07:23,581 They're evidence that this ship was once bristling with an 104 00:07:23,615 --> 00:07:27,723 array of ingenious weaponry. 105 00:07:27,757 --> 00:07:32,037 ARTHUR: Eight hand forged iron brackets indicating 106 00:07:32,072 --> 00:07:35,213 exactly the position of all the swivel guns 107 00:07:35,247 --> 00:07:37,698 that had been mounted there. 108 00:07:38,527 --> 00:07:41,771 They are devastating in close range anti-boarding, 109 00:07:41,806 --> 00:07:43,566 easy to aim, 110 00:07:43,601 --> 00:07:47,846 easy to load and fire and so they would have been indispensable. 111 00:07:50,539 --> 00:07:53,507 NARRATOR: Art also finds anchor points on the side, 112 00:07:53,542 --> 00:07:56,441 for supporting two more heavy cannon. 113 00:07:58,892 --> 00:08:02,792 He's convinced it's a warship from the revolution. 114 00:08:04,035 --> 00:08:07,279 But is it one of Benedict Arnold's? 115 00:08:07,314 --> 00:08:12,457 The surviving cannon and the anchor points for other weapons are key clues pointing 116 00:08:12,492 --> 00:08:17,013 Art towards a type of fighting ship known to be in Arnold's fleet. 117 00:08:19,084 --> 00:08:22,709 ARTHUR: The cannon feature that's a signature, that's, 118 00:08:22,743 --> 00:08:26,540 that's a document that tells us this boat is what 119 00:08:26,575 --> 00:08:29,992 we expected it to be or hoped it would be. 120 00:08:32,166 --> 00:08:34,444 NARRATOR: Art has uncovered an oar and 121 00:08:34,479 --> 00:08:38,690 sail powered patriot gunboat called a gundalow. 122 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:43,937 ARTHUR: There's no question the gunboat came from Benedict Arnold's fleet. 123 00:08:45,525 --> 00:08:50,426 NARRATOR: A veteran from a forgotten battle for the future of the United States. 124 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:04,336 Combining details from the wreck with research in revolutionary archives, 125 00:09:04,371 --> 00:09:08,030 Art searches for more clues. 126 00:09:11,205 --> 00:09:16,072 He spots an unusual box roughly fastened to the inside of the hull. 127 00:09:17,729 --> 00:09:21,699 He's never seen anything like it on a gun boat before. 128 00:09:21,733 --> 00:09:24,943 ARTHUR: As I really trained my attention on it, 129 00:09:24,978 --> 00:09:29,465 there was ammunition in the box and I had like 130 00:09:29,499 --> 00:09:34,746 a little explosion go off in my brain saying, "Eureka this is an ammo box". 131 00:09:34,781 --> 00:09:38,267 This is really cool. 132 00:09:39,095 --> 00:09:43,583 NARRATOR: And there's another unfamiliar feature. 133 00:09:45,101 --> 00:09:50,866 On one side of the ship a large notch, Art can't make sense of it. 134 00:09:52,005 --> 00:09:55,077 ARTHUR: And I gotta tell ya cutting down the side of the boat makes you more vulnerable 135 00:09:55,111 --> 00:09:59,668 to you know waves and water but that's what they chose to do. 136 00:10:01,773 --> 00:10:07,192 NARRATOR: As Art tries to work out what's going on, he recognizes something big, 137 00:10:07,227 --> 00:10:10,817 the shape of the hull. 138 00:10:10,851 --> 00:10:15,511 It's a type of ship design used by colonial farmers to carry hay. 139 00:10:17,375 --> 00:10:21,897 ARTHUR: This clearly was a vessel used to travel the rivers and shallow marshes 140 00:10:21,931 --> 00:10:26,004 cutting hay that it could bring back to the farm. 141 00:10:28,110 --> 00:10:31,734 NARRATOR: All of these odd features start to make sense. 142 00:10:32,666 --> 00:10:37,464 ARTHUR: The British navy had years of development of discipline, 143 00:10:37,498 --> 00:10:43,746 and protocol and that couldn't be a greater contrast to what we were looking at. 144 00:10:44,989 --> 00:10:47,612 NARRATOR: The patriot crew is freelancing, 145 00:10:47,647 --> 00:10:50,788 the ammo box is an invention and they cut a 146 00:10:50,822 --> 00:10:55,137 notch because the hull is too tall for their cannon. 147 00:10:55,931 --> 00:11:00,245 ARTHUR: They literally robbed or borrowed as much material as they could find, 148 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:02,040 hey we've got this cannon, 149 00:11:02,075 --> 00:11:04,940 we've gotta make it work, it doesn't fit in this spot, 150 00:11:04,974 --> 00:11:07,321 do we raise it? 151 00:11:07,356 --> 00:11:10,083 Or do we we cut down the side of the boat. 152 00:11:10,117 --> 00:11:14,777 There wasn't a blueprint, and they were kind of making it up as they went. 153 00:11:18,436 --> 00:11:22,129 NARRATOR: The patriots are going into battle with amateur sailors armed 154 00:11:22,164 --> 00:11:27,031 with scavenged weaponry in a modified hay barge. 155 00:11:32,036 --> 00:11:37,420 Given this information, Art digs into the balance of forces on the lake, 156 00:11:38,732 --> 00:11:42,149 he uncovers that the British deploy a powerful fleet of 157 00:11:42,184 --> 00:11:46,913 more than 30 boats onto the water of Lake Champlain. 158 00:11:49,709 --> 00:11:54,679 On the 11th of October this dominant force attacks Arnold's makeshift fleet of 159 00:11:54,714 --> 00:11:58,821 just 15 near Valcour Island. 160 00:12:00,685 --> 00:12:05,517 Art can now see that the patriots face a hopeless mismatch. 161 00:12:06,311 --> 00:12:10,419 [cannon fire]. 162 00:12:10,453 --> 00:12:15,079 ARTHUR: This battle was fought for hours and hours and hours where the 163 00:12:15,113 --> 00:12:18,807 cannoning never stopped they said. 164 00:12:20,325 --> 00:12:24,191 Serving aboard the Valcour Island fleet would have been the worst duty 165 00:12:24,226 --> 00:12:27,401 you could've possibly had. 166 00:12:28,471 --> 00:12:34,823 NARRATOR: With 11 patriot ships and 60 men lost the US navy's first ever battle 167 00:12:34,857 --> 00:12:37,895 ends in defeat. 168 00:12:37,929 --> 00:12:41,657 But the fate of Art's discovered gundalow remains a mystery. 169 00:12:43,763 --> 00:12:48,284 It lies more than two dozen miles south of the battle. 170 00:12:49,907 --> 00:12:54,704 Sitting perfectly upright with no sign of fatal battle damage 171 00:12:54,739 --> 00:12:58,743 and with most of its weapons cleanly removed 172 00:12:59,261 --> 00:13:02,989 so what happened to this mysterious gunboat? 173 00:13:07,925 --> 00:13:13,206 NARRATOR: Down on the shores of Lake Champlain Art Cohn is trying to reconstruct the 174 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,141 final hours of Arnold's sunken gunboat. 175 00:13:18,798 --> 00:13:23,492 A two-year project to rebuild the adapted hay barge is helping him 176 00:13:23,526 --> 00:13:26,736 understand what happened to it. 177 00:13:26,771 --> 00:13:31,845 ARTHUR: Welcome aboard as close a replica as you're ever going to see. 178 00:13:32,535 --> 00:13:34,848 This boat is a warship, it's a battle ship, 179 00:13:34,883 --> 00:13:39,611 it is uh, carrying heavy guns, that was its purpose. 180 00:13:39,646 --> 00:13:42,545 Its purpose was to go to war. 181 00:13:43,926 --> 00:13:48,689 NARRATOR: Art focuses on why the wreck of the gundalow is missing it's weapons. 182 00:13:50,415 --> 00:13:54,695 ARTHUR: Just the firing of the guns and the recoil and the energy that 183 00:13:54,730 --> 00:13:59,873 that produced would have shaken these planks just recently built and 184 00:13:59,908 --> 00:14:04,257 shaken the caulking out of them so they would be leaking and the more they fired, 185 00:14:04,291 --> 00:14:06,086 the more they leaked. 186 00:14:07,122 --> 00:14:11,367 NARRATOR: Somehow the improvised warship survives the battle 187 00:14:11,402 --> 00:14:15,061 but is doomed nonetheless. 188 00:14:16,441 --> 00:14:20,721 ARTHUR: We believe that they jettisoned the heavy guns so that they could lighten the 189 00:14:20,756 --> 00:14:23,655 boat to keep it from sinking but it was leaking 190 00:14:23,690 --> 00:14:26,693 so bad they knew it had to be abandoned 191 00:14:26,727 --> 00:14:31,525 and let go and it sank perfectly straight down to the bottom until it 192 00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:37,911 landed upright with its bow cannon still in place searching for the enemy 193 00:14:37,946 --> 00:14:40,672 and its mast still up. 194 00:14:45,125 --> 00:14:49,716 NARRATOR: One of the few patriot vessels still afloat after the battle. 195 00:14:49,750 --> 00:14:53,720 The gunboat finally goes down. 196 00:14:56,447 --> 00:15:01,279 But there's still more to discover and Art is helped by an original 197 00:15:01,314 --> 00:15:05,525 naval inventory from 1776. 198 00:15:06,112 --> 00:15:09,460 ARTHUR: It begins with a return of the fleet belonging to the 199 00:15:09,494 --> 00:15:13,360 United States of America on Lake Champlain 200 00:15:13,395 --> 00:15:17,054 under the command of Brigadier General Arnold 201 00:15:17,088 --> 00:15:21,334 dated October 22nd 1776. 202 00:15:22,404 --> 00:15:27,374 The odds of it being a document that listed 203 00:15:27,409 --> 00:15:30,101 every boat, listed every rig, 204 00:15:30,136 --> 00:15:35,865 and then in a final column the fate of the vessel. 205 00:15:37,315 --> 00:15:40,525 NARRATOR: One ship on the list matches his wreck. 206 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:44,253 ARTHUR: This boat that we found on the bottom of Lake Champlain, 207 00:15:44,288 --> 00:15:47,636 this boat is the gunboat Spitfire. 208 00:15:48,809 --> 00:15:54,850 NARRATOR: Lost for over 240 years Art has found the Spitfire. 209 00:15:56,714 --> 00:16:01,926 Part of Benedict Arnold's brave but doomed defense of Lake Champlain. 210 00:16:05,447 --> 00:16:09,796 However, the sacrifice on the lake is not in vain. 211 00:16:10,624 --> 00:16:14,145 The battle buys the rebels some valuable time. 212 00:16:14,180 --> 00:16:19,219 Time for a ragtag militia to grow into a formidable army. 213 00:16:19,254 --> 00:16:22,153 [cannon fire]. 214 00:16:22,188 --> 00:16:27,020 ARTHUR: Never had there been a fleet large or small that had lived to greater 215 00:16:27,055 --> 00:16:33,337 purpose or died more gloriously than the little fleet on Lake Champlain. 216 00:16:34,407 --> 00:16:36,478 NARRATOR: And over the next two years the 217 00:16:36,512 --> 00:16:40,033 colonists fight the red coats to a standstill. 218 00:16:40,068 --> 00:16:44,520 Each side winning battles from the north east to the deep south. 219 00:16:47,799 --> 00:16:52,735 But on the water the patriots still have little to challenge the Royal Navy. 220 00:16:57,602 --> 00:17:01,261 Lake Ontario, upstate New York. 221 00:17:02,331 --> 00:17:07,716 Can a spectacular wreck on the lake bottom explain how one key American victory was 222 00:17:07,750 --> 00:17:11,892 achieved without a single shot being fired. 223 00:17:14,792 --> 00:17:16,552 As the war develops, 224 00:17:16,587 --> 00:17:20,142 the British use their naval superiority to keep tight control of 225 00:17:20,177 --> 00:17:22,317 the great lakes, 226 00:17:22,351 --> 00:17:27,046 launching the largest warship ever seen on these waters. 227 00:17:32,016 --> 00:17:36,365 80 feet long with ports for 22 heavy cannon. 228 00:17:39,748 --> 00:17:43,096 His Majesty's ship Ontario is so powerful, 229 00:17:43,131 --> 00:17:47,273 patriot forces abandon the region completely. 230 00:17:50,759 --> 00:17:54,003 SAM: The British would have certainly hoped that that ship would have been there to 231 00:17:54,038 --> 00:17:59,008 police the lake, to fly the flag of British royal power for years. 232 00:18:00,217 --> 00:18:03,944 NARRATOR: On October 31st 1780, Halloween, 233 00:18:03,979 --> 00:18:09,433 HMS Ontario sets sail with a detachment of 60 troops. 234 00:18:10,089 --> 00:18:13,782 Heading for the town of Oswego in New York, 235 00:18:13,816 --> 00:18:17,096 but she never arrives. 236 00:18:18,718 --> 00:18:23,895 SAM: How did a ship built by competent British shipwrights go from being 237 00:18:23,930 --> 00:18:28,417 afloat in the middle of a lake to disappearing. 238 00:18:29,315 --> 00:18:34,389 JIM: They find on the shore the hat of the captain, they find the binnacle, 239 00:18:34,423 --> 00:18:38,496 blankets and the compass and that's it. 240 00:18:39,946 --> 00:18:45,400 NARRATOR: Shipwreck hunter Jim Kennard wants finally to work out what happened 241 00:18:46,125 --> 00:18:51,406 and asks deep dive expert Dan Scoville to join the search. 242 00:18:52,579 --> 00:18:56,411 DAN: The lake hides all kinds a secrets and just being able to go look for 243 00:18:56,445 --> 00:19:00,277 one of these secrets and to discover what happened with it, 244 00:19:00,311 --> 00:19:02,831 that's super exciting to me. 245 00:19:03,763 --> 00:19:09,803 NARRATOR: Dan and Jim scour for three years over 200 square miles of the lake 246 00:19:09,838 --> 00:19:14,946 retracing the Ontario's intended route to Oswego 247 00:19:14,981 --> 00:19:19,192 but they find nothing but barren silt and rocks. 248 00:19:21,332 --> 00:19:26,682 Eventually the only place left to look is one of the deepest parts of the lake. 249 00:19:30,203 --> 00:19:34,794 Dan sends his ROV down into the inky black abyss. 250 00:19:37,555 --> 00:19:42,905 Over 500 feet down they find a single wooden longboat 251 00:19:44,942 --> 00:19:49,360 and then in the darkness beyond... 252 00:19:51,604 --> 00:19:56,505 DAN: There was a great big hull right there and I came up the rear of the hull and 253 00:19:56,540 --> 00:20:00,475 that's when I saw the windows across the stern of the ship. 254 00:20:00,509 --> 00:20:05,514 They're still in place after 200 years on the bottom. 255 00:20:06,791 --> 00:20:09,967 There's really no other ships out there that are gonna look quite like that. 256 00:20:10,001 --> 00:20:13,833 This was HMS Ontario. 257 00:20:13,867 --> 00:20:15,938 JIM: And then all of a sudden, 258 00:20:15,973 --> 00:20:19,356 there it is, and all of that grief that you've been going 259 00:20:19,390 --> 00:20:23,014 through it all changes. 260 00:20:25,258 --> 00:20:29,849 NARRATOR: HMS Ontario discovered at last. 261 00:20:29,883 --> 00:20:34,992 One of the best preserved 18th century warships ever found. 262 00:20:37,512 --> 00:20:41,688 So who or what sank her? 263 00:20:45,313 --> 00:20:51,008 The only way to find out is to drain away the deep lake waters 264 00:20:56,462 --> 00:21:00,259 and reveal this revolutionary war masterpiece. 265 00:21:02,019 --> 00:21:05,574 Two masts still stand tall. 266 00:21:08,957 --> 00:21:14,687 A row of arched windows the officer's quarters perfectly intact. 267 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:23,799 The entire vessel comes into view lying on her side, 268 00:21:24,317 --> 00:21:27,355 with no obvious damage 269 00:21:31,048 --> 00:21:35,501 even the ship's bell is still in place, 270 00:21:35,535 --> 00:21:39,436 the deck and cannon both untouched. 271 00:21:40,057 --> 00:21:45,925 For Jim and Dan the wreck of HMS Ontario is almost too perfect. 272 00:21:47,202 --> 00:21:48,790 DAN: You do wonder what happened. 273 00:21:48,824 --> 00:21:50,792 Why isn't there a big hole, where's the hole? 274 00:21:50,826 --> 00:21:57,039 JIM: This ship everything is there, it's solid it is really solid. 275 00:21:57,074 --> 00:21:59,904 So what really happened? 276 00:22:04,115 --> 00:22:09,431 NARRATOR: On the great lakes Jim Kennard inspects the wreck of HMS Ontario. 277 00:22:12,054 --> 00:22:15,161 There's no clear damage. 278 00:22:15,195 --> 00:22:18,716 She's nearly immaculate. 279 00:22:19,924 --> 00:22:25,033 On closer inspection though not everything is so perfect. 280 00:22:27,484 --> 00:22:33,317 At the stern two huge cannons have broken loose and are jammed up against the tiller. 281 00:22:34,870 --> 00:22:36,596 JIM: That's very unusual. 282 00:22:36,631 --> 00:22:40,393 Those two cannons together weighed about 2000 pounds, 283 00:22:40,428 --> 00:22:44,293 so what caused those cannons to be there. 284 00:22:45,743 --> 00:22:48,677 NARRATOR: Something violent happened here. 285 00:22:48,712 --> 00:22:53,233 But there is absolutely no evidence of battle damage. 286 00:22:55,581 --> 00:23:00,137 Jim decides to check accounts of Halloween night 1780, 287 00:23:00,171 --> 00:23:03,243 looking for something unusual. 288 00:23:04,175 --> 00:23:06,971 He pulls together old diaries, 289 00:23:07,006 --> 00:23:12,080 newspaper articles and ship's logs from all over the American colonies. 290 00:23:13,599 --> 00:23:19,328 But it's an analysis by an expert meteorologist that catches his eye. 291 00:23:21,469 --> 00:23:27,578 Two and a half centuries ago Lake Ontario is hit by a weather bomb. 292 00:23:29,166 --> 00:23:31,927 JIM: Something happened very quickly, 293 00:23:31,962 --> 00:23:35,034 a back door cold front that was from the north east 294 00:23:35,068 --> 00:23:37,623 to the south west. 295 00:23:37,657 --> 00:23:42,800 It causes the temperature to drop 30 degrees in an hour or two with 296 00:23:42,835 --> 00:23:46,666 gale force winds of 30 or 40 miles an hour. 297 00:23:48,737 --> 00:23:53,362 NARRATOR: Important evidence but hardly a smoking gun. 298 00:23:56,193 --> 00:24:00,266 Even a storm this intense shouldn't have the power to bring down a warship 299 00:24:00,300 --> 00:24:03,511 built for the open seas. 300 00:24:03,545 --> 00:24:07,376 Jim goes back to inspect the wreck. 301 00:24:07,411 --> 00:24:12,140 In the rigging he spots a small but significant clue, 302 00:24:12,174 --> 00:24:15,557 the pole supporting the smaller forward sails 303 00:24:15,592 --> 00:24:21,425 are stowed but the ones for the main central mast are not. 304 00:24:23,945 --> 00:24:27,949 This likely means that the Ontario's huge main sail is 305 00:24:27,983 --> 00:24:31,987 still up when the storm suddenly hits. 306 00:24:35,508 --> 00:24:39,236 The British crew unused to American conditions are caught 307 00:24:39,270 --> 00:24:42,964 off-guard and unprepared. 308 00:24:46,243 --> 00:24:49,660 JIM: The crew was in the process of getting the sails down but it doesn't 309 00:24:49,695 --> 00:24:56,149 look like they had time to finish that job and in turn everything went wrong. 310 00:24:57,737 --> 00:25:01,223 NARRATOR: For the British sailors their vast billowing sail triggers 311 00:25:01,258 --> 00:25:04,675 a disastrous sequence of events. 312 00:25:04,710 --> 00:25:09,162 First it catches a blast of wind buffeting Ontario right over. 313 00:25:12,614 --> 00:25:17,930 And the loose cannon on the top deck are dramatic evidence of what happens next. 314 00:25:18,724 --> 00:25:23,936 JIM: That ship ended up blown over on its side now the cannon are hanging just 315 00:25:23,970 --> 00:25:28,250 hanging by the ropes and those ropes break. 316 00:25:31,875 --> 00:25:37,466 NARRATOR: The loose cannons slam the tiller hard over. 317 00:25:41,885 --> 00:25:47,615 JIM: Pushing that ship down into the water and down into the water goes it's sails. 318 00:25:48,512 --> 00:25:52,171 NARRATOR: When the huge sails touch water they act like a parachute and 319 00:25:52,205 --> 00:25:55,761 drag the Ontario under. 320 00:25:55,795 --> 00:26:00,593 JIM: Now that ship's not coming back up again and it slips between the waves and 321 00:26:00,628 --> 00:26:06,875 sinks and as it sits on the bottom today it's still on its side. 322 00:26:09,464 --> 00:26:14,814 NARRATOR: The mystery of HMS Ontario is finally solved. 323 00:26:17,127 --> 00:26:21,580 The Royal Navy has come up against an unexpected enemy, 324 00:26:21,614 --> 00:26:25,273 the unpredictable weather of a continental land mass. 325 00:26:28,587 --> 00:26:31,900 And that's not Britain's only problem. 326 00:26:31,935 --> 00:26:35,594 After five years of combat American Resistance and 327 00:26:35,628 --> 00:26:40,391 stretched supply lines are pushing her war machine to the limit. 328 00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:45,845 But the Royal Navy keeps her in the fight landing and 329 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,228 extracting troops along the eastern seaboard at will... 330 00:26:52,403 --> 00:26:55,648 and then here on Virginia's York River 331 00:26:55,683 --> 00:26:59,065 something extraordinary happens. 332 00:27:00,757 --> 00:27:06,590 A sudden decisive change in the balance of naval power leaving behind 333 00:27:06,625 --> 00:27:11,837 an astonishing fleet of ravaged British shipwrecks. 334 00:27:15,461 --> 00:27:20,708 Maritime archaeologist John Broadwater has come to Yorktown the site of the last 335 00:27:20,742 --> 00:27:24,539 major land battle of the American Revolution, 336 00:27:24,573 --> 00:27:29,648 a battle that hinges on control of the York River. 337 00:27:31,201 --> 00:27:34,342 JOHN: The American Revolution was right here in Yorktown. 338 00:27:34,376 --> 00:27:39,105 In many ways the siege of Yorktown can be thought of as much a 339 00:27:39,140 --> 00:27:42,246 maritime battle as it was a land battle. 340 00:27:44,835 --> 00:27:46,941 NARRATOR: In the summer of 1781, 341 00:27:46,975 --> 00:27:50,669 Britain's General Cornwallis occupies Yorktown with 342 00:27:50,703 --> 00:27:54,431 8000 redcoats and a fleet of ships. 343 00:27:55,812 --> 00:27:58,573 JOHN: There are troop ships, there are horse carriers, 344 00:27:58,607 --> 00:28:00,748 there are food carriers. 345 00:28:00,782 --> 00:28:04,648 The entire British army has just moved here by sea. 346 00:28:06,581 --> 00:28:09,722 NARRATOR: The rebel colonists led by George Washington see 347 00:28:09,757 --> 00:28:13,450 an opportunity for a decisive battle. 348 00:28:13,484 --> 00:28:18,075 They advance from New York to surround and besiege the British at Yorktown. 349 00:28:20,975 --> 00:28:26,601 But over a dozen Royal Navy ships including Cornwallis's largest 350 00:28:26,635 --> 00:28:31,502 the 44 gun HMS Charon dominates the York river 351 00:28:34,195 --> 00:28:38,958 and there is no patriot navy to challenge the British fleet. 352 00:28:40,511 --> 00:28:42,444 MAN: Cast off. 353 00:28:42,479 --> 00:28:46,000 NARRATOR: But now John Broadwater and his team are uncovering a twist in 354 00:28:46,034 --> 00:28:50,832 the tail of the American Revolution right here under the York river, 355 00:28:51,488 --> 00:28:55,009 an unprecedented massacre of the Royal Navy. 356 00:28:55,043 --> 00:28:58,495 JOHN: There was a terrible disaster here for the British and we have the 357 00:28:58,529 --> 00:29:01,084 evidence out here to prove that. 358 00:29:02,810 --> 00:29:03,776 EXPLORER: Look at that. 359 00:29:03,811 --> 00:29:04,881 EXPLORER 2: Oh my word. 360 00:29:04,915 --> 00:29:06,779 EXPLORER 3: Good grief that is amazing, 361 00:29:06,814 --> 00:29:09,057 how long is that one? 362 00:29:09,748 --> 00:29:14,856 NARRATOR: So far John and his team have detected 11 wrecks under these waters 363 00:29:16,237 --> 00:29:20,862 and they believe they're all from General Cornwallis's fleet of ships. 364 00:29:22,381 --> 00:29:26,419 JOHN: This is literally a graveyard of British ships on both sides of the river, 365 00:29:26,454 --> 00:29:30,113 it's an incredible and unique resource found nowhere else. 366 00:29:31,148 --> 00:29:32,460 NARRATOR: So how could a fleet from 367 00:29:32,494 --> 00:29:36,395 Britain's imperious navy be brought to its knees. 368 00:29:39,916 --> 00:29:44,575 Only a careful inspection of the scattered remains can reveal the answer. 369 00:29:47,233 --> 00:29:51,651 Three wrecks have been picked up on sonar in the northern sector of the river. 370 00:29:53,861 --> 00:29:56,829 John dives on the largest target in the group. 371 00:30:05,596 --> 00:30:07,806 EXPLORER 2: John topside comms check. 372 00:30:37,663 --> 00:30:42,219 NARRATOR: Copper is an unusual find on an 18th century wooden ship. 373 00:30:44,912 --> 00:30:48,950 What do the surprising ruins of the royal navy warship 374 00:30:48,985 --> 00:30:53,437 reveal about the turning point of the battle for Yorktown. 375 00:30:59,547 --> 00:31:02,032 NARRATOR: John Broadwater's team on the York river has 376 00:31:02,067 --> 00:31:07,348 discovered copper in the remains of a revolutionary era British warship. 377 00:31:08,590 --> 00:31:11,076 It's a curious find. 378 00:31:13,906 --> 00:31:18,290 To unravel the mystery of this strange sunken vessel 379 00:31:18,324 --> 00:31:22,535 it's now possible to combine all of the available evidence and 380 00:31:22,570 --> 00:31:27,333 drain the York river and reveal the remains 381 00:31:27,368 --> 00:31:32,442 of a two-century old veteran of Cornwallis's doomed fleet. 382 00:31:41,554 --> 00:31:47,388 The outline of a 140 foot beast embedded in the silt. 383 00:31:52,634 --> 00:31:57,363 Much of the old wooden vessel is missing but the riverbed is hiding more 384 00:31:57,398 --> 00:32:00,815 of the wreck's remains. 385 00:32:02,610 --> 00:32:06,579 Draining the silt reveals the underside of the hull exposing the 386 00:32:06,614 --> 00:32:09,720 remains of copper sheeting. 387 00:32:13,103 --> 00:32:15,209 JOHN: That's awesome. 388 00:32:15,243 --> 00:32:19,938 NARRATOR: The wreck has a fast and hydrodynamic copper bottom. 389 00:32:21,042 --> 00:32:25,529 John knows it's rare and cutting edge at the time of the revolution. 390 00:32:27,014 --> 00:32:31,121 JOHN: Copper sheeting was a technological advance that put Britain so far ahead of the 391 00:32:31,156 --> 00:32:35,022 other navies, that's really significant. 392 00:32:36,195 --> 00:32:39,233 NARRATOR: When John looks into General Cornwallis's fleet, 393 00:32:39,267 --> 00:32:42,167 there is only one ship as big as his wreck 394 00:32:42,201 --> 00:32:45,273 fitted with a copper bottom. 395 00:32:46,619 --> 00:32:52,453 It's a major clue that points to the mighty 44 gun HMS Charon, 396 00:32:52,487 --> 00:32:56,526 the primary vessel controlling the York river, for Cornwallis. 397 00:32:57,527 --> 00:33:01,427 JOHN: This clearly had to be Charon, positive ID. 398 00:33:02,842 --> 00:33:05,914 NARRATOR: It's an incredible find, but also puzzling. 399 00:33:07,019 --> 00:33:11,610 The Americans have nothing that can match such a powerful warship 400 00:33:11,644 --> 00:33:15,752 so why does so little of her remain? 401 00:33:16,718 --> 00:33:19,480 JOHN: HMS Charon was very important to Cornwallis, 402 00:33:19,514 --> 00:33:22,862 she was as the largest ship that he had at his disposal, 403 00:33:22,897 --> 00:33:28,109 very powerful and formidable and put him in charge of the sea around him. 404 00:33:30,698 --> 00:33:33,390 NARRATOR: John hopes there could be clues to the ship's fate in 405 00:33:33,425 --> 00:33:36,462 artifacts recovered from the wreck. 406 00:33:37,153 --> 00:33:38,982 WORKER: Here's one piece. 407 00:33:39,017 --> 00:33:40,673 JOHN: Oh yeah. 408 00:33:40,708 --> 00:33:44,470 These are nice examples of Charon's copper sheeting. 409 00:33:44,850 --> 00:33:48,405 You can see this piece is still attached to the wooden hull. 410 00:33:49,061 --> 00:33:53,790 NARRATOR: Then John spots a piece of copper that looks highly unusual. 411 00:33:54,687 --> 00:33:57,932 JOHN: It's gotta be melted copper that used to be piece of nice sheathing 412 00:33:57,966 --> 00:34:00,279 melted into a glob. 413 00:34:00,314 --> 00:34:02,005 Look at all the little holes and bubbles, 414 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:05,319 it must have just started to boil almost. 415 00:34:05,767 --> 00:34:07,321 To get copper to melt, 416 00:34:07,355 --> 00:34:09,978 well it's over a 1000 degrees centigrade, 417 00:34:10,013 --> 00:34:13,085 it's almost 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. 418 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:17,848 NARRATOR: Melted copper can mean only one thing. 419 00:34:19,126 --> 00:34:23,302 A fierce fire on board HMS Charon. 420 00:34:24,062 --> 00:34:28,652 Cornwallis's prized ship goes down in an inferno. 421 00:34:29,688 --> 00:34:32,449 JOHN: This must have just been a horribly intense fire, 422 00:34:32,484 --> 00:34:35,073 the frustration that the British must have felt 423 00:34:35,107 --> 00:34:38,904 at losing their largest warship to a tragedy like this. 424 00:34:40,492 --> 00:34:44,772 NARRATOR: But what can possibly have caused this kind of blaze out on the river? 425 00:34:49,915 --> 00:34:54,471 Harvard historian Maya Jasanoff has taken up the investigation 426 00:34:56,059 --> 00:35:01,306 and she thinks it's highly unlikely that the patriot militia had the fire power 427 00:35:01,340 --> 00:35:06,104 to take General Cornwallis's flagship down in a blaze of flames. 428 00:35:07,277 --> 00:35:11,281 MAYA: The best way to think about these 18th century ships of the line is 429 00:35:11,316 --> 00:35:13,525 to think about them as tanks. 430 00:35:13,559 --> 00:35:17,011 They are built to last and withstand a lot. 431 00:35:17,045 --> 00:35:21,015 I think the American shot trying to pick at the Charon wasn't 432 00:35:21,049 --> 00:35:23,983 going to be very effective. 433 00:35:24,536 --> 00:35:29,886 NARRATOR: To take on the HMS Charon, Maya thinks the patriots must have had help. 434 00:35:31,301 --> 00:35:35,063 A powerful ally, now joining the fight against the British. 435 00:35:36,237 --> 00:35:38,377 France. 436 00:35:39,999 --> 00:35:42,692 On August 30th 1781 437 00:35:42,726 --> 00:35:45,591 the French navy blockades the York river. 438 00:35:47,352 --> 00:35:51,666 General Cornwallis and his ships are now trapped at Yorktown. 439 00:35:52,909 --> 00:35:58,156 MAYA: Yorktown is the moment that brought France into the war on the American side. 440 00:35:58,846 --> 00:36:02,021 My enemy's enemy is my friend kind of alliance. 441 00:36:04,334 --> 00:36:07,441 NARRATOR: What did the French have that could possibly have destroyed 442 00:36:07,475 --> 00:36:10,961 the key British ship HMS Charon? 443 00:36:13,274 --> 00:36:17,244 When Maya looks into it she discovers the French send ground forces 444 00:36:17,278 --> 00:36:22,352 to join the siege placing artillery on the banks of the river. 445 00:36:24,354 --> 00:36:28,220 MAYA: The French have very up to date technology to help the 446 00:36:28,255 --> 00:36:31,223 American-French war effort. 447 00:36:31,258 --> 00:36:34,053 NARRATOR: And when she analyses their gunnery, 448 00:36:34,088 --> 00:36:36,677 she discovers they have a very special weapon 449 00:36:36,711 --> 00:36:39,093 in their arsenal. 450 00:36:40,681 --> 00:36:46,342 Portable furnaces that can heat cannonballs until they're red hot. 451 00:36:47,826 --> 00:36:51,347 MAYA: The French have this kind of artillery, it was called Greek fire. 452 00:36:53,072 --> 00:36:57,560 NARRATOR: But could simply heating some cannonballs really be enough to destroy 453 00:36:57,594 --> 00:37:00,666 a top of the line warship? 454 00:37:02,427 --> 00:37:06,500 Maya visits a forge to test the French technology. 455 00:37:06,534 --> 00:37:10,435 MAYA: A red hot cannonball let's see what that does to a piece of wood. 456 00:37:13,265 --> 00:37:16,337 It's obviously gonna burn and it started burning immediately, 457 00:37:16,372 --> 00:37:18,926 but it's taking it a while. 458 00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,894 Let's try it out on some sail and see what happens. 459 00:37:28,453 --> 00:37:30,938 It does work. 460 00:37:30,972 --> 00:37:34,459 Wow, that's also spreading incredibly fast. 461 00:37:34,493 --> 00:37:38,014 When it hit sail it really ignited. 462 00:37:38,048 --> 00:37:42,018 NARRATOR: Maya is now convinced that if French hot shot hit the sails 463 00:37:42,052 --> 00:37:47,368 of HMS Charon, it would have sparked an instant inferno. 464 00:37:48,196 --> 00:37:50,509 MAYA: Timbers would have been burning, the spars would have been burning, 465 00:37:50,544 --> 00:37:53,995 the rigging would have been burning, by the time it would have sunk it 466 00:37:54,030 --> 00:37:56,515 would have been in terrible shape. 467 00:37:56,550 --> 00:38:01,624 It totally makes sense why the Karen would have ended up at the bottom of the water. 468 00:38:02,590 --> 00:38:06,560 NARRATOR: The results of the hot shot demo are impressive but Maya digs 469 00:38:06,594 --> 00:38:10,633 for further evidence that might confirm her theory. 470 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:14,361 She finds a passage in an old diary. 471 00:38:14,395 --> 00:38:18,123 MAYA: So this a first person account of what happened on the night 472 00:38:18,157 --> 00:38:21,471 that the HMS Charon went down by an eye witness. 473 00:38:22,161 --> 00:38:25,682 "A red hot shell from the French battery set fire to the Charon, 474 00:38:25,717 --> 00:38:29,686 a British 44 gun ship enwrapped in a torrent of fire, 475 00:38:29,721 --> 00:38:33,552 which spreading with vivid brightness among the combustible rigging". 476 00:38:33,587 --> 00:38:36,521 It's really an extraordinarily vivid description 477 00:38:36,555 --> 00:38:40,663 of the effectiveness of this French hot shot. 478 00:38:40,697 --> 00:38:46,600 NARRATOR: It's now certain the melted copper sheathing on HMS Charon is evidence of an 479 00:38:46,634 --> 00:38:50,880 unexpected assault by French hot shot artillery. 480 00:38:53,779 --> 00:38:59,544 Could this revelation explain the graveyard of British wrecks John Broadwater has 481 00:38:59,578 --> 00:39:02,616 discovered in the York river. 482 00:39:04,756 --> 00:39:08,000 The team dives the sunken group near the Charon. 483 00:39:12,695 --> 00:39:14,041 JOHN: Diver up. 484 00:39:14,075 --> 00:39:16,595 What'd you find? 485 00:39:18,079 --> 00:39:19,978 Look at that. What we got here? 486 00:39:20,012 --> 00:39:21,220 DIVER: You got it? 487 00:39:21,255 --> 00:39:23,706 JOHN: Yeah, looks like a piece of charred wood. 488 00:39:23,740 --> 00:39:25,949 Another good clue. 489 00:39:26,674 --> 00:39:30,402 NARRATOR: Could this be evidence of another victim of French fire? 490 00:39:30,437 --> 00:39:32,370 JOHN: This is close to the Charon, 491 00:39:32,404 --> 00:39:34,855 it's only a few 100 yards away from the Charon it's 492 00:39:34,889 --> 00:39:36,960 got evidence of burning. 493 00:39:36,995 --> 00:39:40,481 NARRATOR: Hot shot clearly scythes into Cornwallis's trapped fleet. 494 00:39:41,793 --> 00:39:45,590 JOHN: This grouping of shipwrecks at Yorktown would not be there had 495 00:39:45,624 --> 00:39:48,351 it not been for the the French. 496 00:39:48,386 --> 00:39:50,215 With every wreck we investigate, 497 00:39:50,249 --> 00:39:53,080 we add one more piece to the puzzle of how they 498 00:39:53,114 --> 00:39:55,945 relate to American Independence. 499 00:39:56,946 --> 00:39:59,776 NARRATOR: But the war's not over yet. 500 00:40:00,812 --> 00:40:03,953 What does this wreck free from any battle damage, 501 00:40:03,987 --> 00:40:05,955 reveal about Britain's last 502 00:40:05,989 --> 00:40:09,959 desperate plans to win the battle of Yorktown. 503 00:40:17,449 --> 00:40:21,004 NARRATOR: In the York River, Virginia, 504 00:40:21,039 --> 00:40:24,801 British ships have been scattered and sunk. 505 00:40:26,113 --> 00:40:30,462 But these are not the only ships downed in the battle. 506 00:40:31,912 --> 00:40:36,330 Just outside General Cornwallis's position at Yorktown 507 00:40:36,364 --> 00:40:39,989 by the southern bank of the river, 508 00:40:40,023 --> 00:40:44,856 a row of sunken vessels sits in an eerily straight line 509 00:40:46,961 --> 00:40:49,757 and assessing his underwater footage 510 00:40:49,792 --> 00:40:53,727 maritime archaeologist John Broadwater is struck by the 511 00:40:53,761 --> 00:40:57,075 excellent condition of one of the wrecks. 512 00:40:57,731 --> 00:41:01,286 JOHN: It was so well preserved it immediately caught our attention. 513 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:03,461 That's very unusual. 514 00:41:03,495 --> 00:41:07,637 Parts of decks, bulk heading, so many features. 515 00:41:10,364 --> 00:41:15,058 NARRATOR: Why is this pristine ship at the heart of a dense cluster of wrecks? 516 00:41:21,548 --> 00:41:26,863 By stitching the murky underwater footage together we can now reveal this 517 00:41:26,898 --> 00:41:30,488 wreck as never before. 518 00:41:34,008 --> 00:41:37,840 The stumps of two masts break the surface. 519 00:41:40,118 --> 00:41:45,054 A wooden vessel 74 feet long, with a deep hull. 520 00:41:50,473 --> 00:41:54,132 What was this ship? 521 00:41:54,166 --> 00:41:59,586 Inside the hold engraved on the cask two mysterious letters. 522 00:42:02,450 --> 00:42:04,452 John digs back through the logs of the 523 00:42:04,487 --> 00:42:06,696 British fleet at Yorktown. 524 00:42:09,285 --> 00:42:14,532 He discovers the engravings are the letters J-Y and they tally with a 525 00:42:14,566 --> 00:42:17,535 ship captain's name. 526 00:42:17,569 --> 00:42:22,332 JOHN: And this was Joseph Young Husband and his ship was called The Betsy. 527 00:42:23,955 --> 00:42:26,889 NARRATOR: It's an incredible discovery. 528 00:42:26,923 --> 00:42:31,445 The Betsy is a valuable military supply ship. 529 00:42:32,515 --> 00:42:36,070 But why has she sunk with barely a scratch? 530 00:42:38,797 --> 00:42:43,802 On the drained wreck John finds something strange in the bottom of her hull. 531 00:42:45,390 --> 00:42:49,325 JOHN: All of a sudden there's this rectangular opening that looks like it's 532 00:42:49,359 --> 00:42:51,430 actually been chiseled out, 533 00:42:51,465 --> 00:42:55,296 just this one little block, it's really strange. 534 00:42:56,366 --> 00:42:58,886 There's only one thing this could be. 535 00:42:58,921 --> 00:43:02,441 This is definitely what sank The Betsy. 536 00:43:02,476 --> 00:43:06,791 NARRATOR: The purposely cut opening is a scuttle hole that allowed water 537 00:43:06,825 --> 00:43:09,034 to flood the hull. 538 00:43:10,208 --> 00:43:15,731 But why would General Cornwallis deliberately sink his own valuable supply ship? 539 00:43:20,321 --> 00:43:24,809 John uncovers an 18th century painting of the siege of Yorktown that 540 00:43:24,843 --> 00:43:28,571 he believes holds vital clues. 541 00:43:29,814 --> 00:43:33,507 JOHN: Washington and his generals by Charles Wilson Peel. 542 00:43:33,541 --> 00:43:37,511 You can see the generals lined up here but look how much larger the painting 543 00:43:37,545 --> 00:43:40,169 is an how much more it takes in, 544 00:43:40,203 --> 00:43:43,275 and some of the detail is, is, much more interesting. 545 00:43:43,310 --> 00:43:47,383 Over here we have the edge of the York river and Yorktown shoreline and 546 00:43:47,417 --> 00:43:51,042 if we look closely what do we see? 547 00:43:51,076 --> 00:43:55,391 We see masts and yards of sunken ships. 548 00:43:56,495 --> 00:43:59,844 NARRATOR: Comparing the setting of the painting with a map of the York river 549 00:43:59,878 --> 00:44:03,710 reveals a stunning correlation. 550 00:44:05,746 --> 00:44:10,095 JOHN: This is a whole row of ships right along the beach just as we found 551 00:44:10,130 --> 00:44:14,997 in our archaeological evidence and very likely one of these is The Betsy. 552 00:44:17,896 --> 00:44:22,211 NARRATOR: But it's seeing her masts jutting out of the water with the other ships 553 00:44:22,245 --> 00:44:26,767 that is a real revelation for John. 554 00:44:30,564 --> 00:44:33,809 JOHN: The ship's masts and the yards clearly present 555 00:44:33,843 --> 00:44:37,847 a solid barrier that would prevent these French ships 556 00:44:37,882 --> 00:44:41,851 out in the distance from launching troops and small boats and making 557 00:44:41,886 --> 00:44:46,442 attack on the shoreward side of Cornwallis's position. 558 00:44:47,408 --> 00:44:50,653 That really brings out why it was there, 559 00:44:50,688 --> 00:44:54,036 how effective the sinking line was against 560 00:44:54,070 --> 00:44:57,349 the French amphibious assault. 561 00:44:58,696 --> 00:45:02,492 NARRATOR: The glorious fighting ships of the Royal Navy reduced 562 00:45:02,527 --> 00:45:07,877 to the role of a sunken barricade like so much scrap. 563 00:45:10,259 --> 00:45:14,504 JOHN: Now the hole that we found in Betsy, that hole makes perfect sense. 564 00:45:15,333 --> 00:45:18,923 Scuttle the ship blockade the French, protect your position. 565 00:45:22,029 --> 00:45:24,687 NARRATOR: The wreck of Betsy provides the final chapter 566 00:45:24,722 --> 00:45:27,690 for the graveyard of British wrecks, 567 00:45:27,725 --> 00:45:32,074 the Royal Navy once so dominant in these waters, 568 00:45:32,108 --> 00:45:35,767 is now simply cannon fodder 569 00:45:35,802 --> 00:45:39,737 in General Cornwallis's desperate last stand. 570 00:45:41,117 --> 00:45:44,949 JOHN: It's a whole evolving picture of increasing desperation, 571 00:45:44,983 --> 00:45:49,229 increasing loss of resources until the final end. 572 00:45:51,645 --> 00:45:56,167 NARRATOR: After two weeks under siege and with no way to escape by sea, 573 00:45:56,201 --> 00:46:00,412 Cornwallis runs desperately low on food and ammunition. 574 00:46:01,862 --> 00:46:06,142 On October 19th 1781, he surrenders. 575 00:46:07,799 --> 00:46:12,286 JAMES: Everything finally works for Washington just the way he hopes it will. 576 00:46:12,321 --> 00:46:13,701 British troops come out, 577 00:46:13,736 --> 00:46:16,049 they play, "The World turned Upside Down" 578 00:46:16,083 --> 00:46:19,155 because that's exactly what it was for them. 579 00:46:19,604 --> 00:46:23,953 NARRATOR: Yorktown proves to be a decisive victory for the patriots. 580 00:46:25,955 --> 00:46:31,650 Two years later in 1783 the signing of a peace treaty ends the war. 581 00:46:32,824 --> 00:46:36,207 America has won her independence, 582 00:46:36,966 --> 00:46:40,073 and the United States is born. 583 00:46:42,109 --> 00:46:45,388 A nation forged by the sacrifice of the ships and 584 00:46:45,423 --> 00:46:49,668 men revealed in the incredible evidence 585 00:46:49,703 --> 00:46:52,740 deep beneath her now peaceful waters. 586 00:46:52,775 --> 00:46:53,983 Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.