Drain the Oceans

Maritime archaeologists and historians go in search of the crucial component in the Atlantic Slave Trade: the slave ship. An armored, floating fortress operating for over four centuries, capturing and transporting over 12 million Africans, who were sold and forced to work in brutal conditions in the New World. By draining we reveal the cruel technology on-board, gain an insight into the horrific conditions, and ID the schooner Clotilda, a wreck in the Mobile River of Alabama that could be the last ever slave ship to bring Africans to American soil.

Using the latest sonar technology, a hi-tech expedition maps Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to reveal the world's only nuclear battlefield. Telling the story of USA's atomic experiments and the warships they destroyed - including a submarine and a mighty aircraft carrier.

There may be as many as one hundred thousand vessels lying on the floor of the Baltic sea, but perhaps the most spectacular of those is the battleship the Mars, which vanished over 450 years ago on just the second day of her career at sea. Shrouded in legend, this ship proves that she more than lives up to the many myths that surround her.

Historic texts tell of a mighty Ancient Egyptian city in the Nile delta. Celebrated as a trade hub and visited by Greek gods, Heracleion mysteriously disappears from history in the 2nd century BC. After 2000 years existing only in legend, we drain away the waters of the Mediterranean to reveal this metropolis in all its former glory.

In the summer of 1940, Adolf Hitlers Nazis conquered France; just 20 miles of sea separated his army and his next target, Great Britain. Now we can uncover the wrecks of planes and ships that reveal the truth of how Britain stood firm against the Nazi raiders and defeated Hitler in the battle of Britain.

Of all the seas in all the world, the Caribbean is the most famous for pirates. Uncovering long lost shipwrecks reveals the true story of their exploits and tells us how the Caribbean's unique position at the crossroads of empire turned it into the ultimate pirate sea.

In lakes and rivers of the modern United States, teams of explorers are discovering forgotten shipwrecks from the American Revolution. By combing their data with cutting-edge computer-graphics the water is drained away to reveal them to light of the day after 240 years at the bottom.

The American Civil War stretched far beyond the battlefield, into American rivers, along coastlines, and out into the world's oceans. Scientific data combines with computer graphics to drain the waters and investigate a conflict that re-wrote the rules of warfare forever.

A hi-tech underwater scan reveals tragic WW2 ship sunk at sea. The wreckage from one of Hitler's U-boats continues to leave a poisonous Nazi legacy behind. Japan turns to desperate measures as Kamikaze pilot's attack the US Navy. The American military, determined to win the Pacific War, rush the latest bomber into battle.

Draining Lake Michigan uncovers Chicago's secret history. The latest sonar technology exposes a catastrophe that kills 300, solves a tragic Christmas mystery, uncovers a game-changing naval training programme from World War 2 and reveals an engineering marvel that stops the fastest growing city in the world from choking to death.