Fire at Sea, History Channel
Surrounded by water, ships are nonetheless exceptionally vulnerable to fires. And when flames break out onboard, death is rarely far behind.
TIME MACHINE ventures from the waters of the Aegean during the time of the ancient Greeks--when triremes would launch flaming balls of naphtha at their adversaries--to modern Miami, where the cruise ship Ecstasy caught fire in 1998. Passengers and crewmen from vessels like the Ecstacy, and the Morro Castle relate their harrowing experiences, while naval firefighters explain how they battle fires at sea.
Dramatic footage captures incidents like the explosion and sinking of a massive oil rig off the coast of Brazil and Senator John McCain's brush with death aboard the USS Forrestal during the Vietnam War, an event which prompted the U.S. Navy to re-examine its policies for preventing and fighting shipboard fires.
This is a comprehensive and compelling look at one of the deadliest events that can happen at sea.
100 minutes, closed-captioned, DVD only, DF1675 / $29.95
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