Combat Ships

Larry Chambers makes a risky decision during the Vietnam War. Ernest Evans faces a formidable Japanese fleet during WWII, and enslaved steamship pilot, Robert Smalls, stages a daring escape.

Recounting some of maritime warfare's explosions, from world wars and Vietnam to the nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.

Stories of historic Black struggle for equality in maritime combat; an enslaved powder boy who served during the French and Indian War; a Civil War gunner; the first African American to command a vessel with a fully integrated crew: Hugh Mulzac.

American troops' determination to secure a vital airfield and preserve communication lines with Australia leads to a chaotic and deadly night battle in the Pacific theater of World War II.

Anti-war sentiment and racial unrest during the Vietnam War spark rebellions at sea, mutineers overthrow Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty, and a U.S. slave ship revolt ends in triumph.

The Navy captures an armed group of Somali pirates, a Coast Guard crew raids a drug-smuggling submarine, and Norwegian civilians in fishing boats outwit the Germans during World War II.

A look at how technological advances over the centuries have led to bigger and faster combat ships and transformed maritime warfare.

Examining some of maritime history's most effective and deceptive lightning strikes.