Home Waters to High Seas
The story of the top-heavy Mary Rose, the wrecking of the Spanish Armada and the real-life sea disasters that inspired The Tempest and Robinson Crusoe.
Shipwrecks are the nightmare we have forgotten - the price Britain paid for ruling the waves from an island surrounded by treacherous rocks. The result is a coastline that is home to the world's highest concentration of sunken ships. But shipwrecks also changed the course of British history, helped shape our national character and drove innovations in seafaring technology, as well as gripping our imagination.
In this three-part series, maritime historian Dr Sam Willis looks at how and why the shipwreck came to loom so large. He begins with the embarrassing story of the top-heavy Mary Rose, the freak wrecking of the Spanish Armada and the terrifying real-life disasters at sea that inspired two of the greatest of all castaway tales - Shakespeare's The Tempest and Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.
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Clips
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The great storm of 1703
Duration: 00:51
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A treasure trove from the Spanish Armada
Duration: 01:57
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How to measure your speed in knots
Duration: 02:07
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Sam Willis |
Producer | Francis Welch |
Director | Francis Welch |
Broadcasts
- Mon 2 Dec 2013 21:00
- Tue 3 Dec 2013 03:00
- Thu 5 Dec 2013 23:00
- Sat 7 Dec 2013 20:00
- Sun 8 Dec 2013 02:50
- Sat 15 Mar 2014 20:00
- Sun 16 Mar 2014 02:00
- Thu 20 Mar 2014 01:15
- Mon 4 Aug 2014 21:00
- Tue 5 Aug 2014 02:50
- Fri 8 Aug 2014 00:15
- Sat 23 Jan 2016 20:00
- Tue 26 Jan 2016 22:00
- Wed 27 Jan 2016 03:00
- Thu 20 Jul 2017 20:00
- Fri 21 Jul 2017 02:35
- Sat 6 Jan 2018 19:00
- Sun 7 Jan 2018 03:00
- Mon 29 Apr 2019 20:00
- Tue 30 Apr 2019 03:00
- Thu 12 Mar 2020 20:00
- Fri 13 Mar 2020 02:30
- Tue 4 Jan 2022 22:00
- Thu 6 Jan 2022 02:30
- Thu 13 Jul 2023 20:00
- Fri 14 Jul 2023 02:10
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