History, examined beyond the frame.

Bismarck entered the Atlantic in May 1941 to attack Britain’s supply routes. Nine days later, after sinking HMS Hood, suffering serious damage and losing her steering to a Swordfish torpedo, Germany’s most famous…

On 30 January 1945, a Soviet submarine sank Wilhelm Gustloff with thousands aboard. The disaster’s scale is clear; its exact death toll is not.

Yamato’s immense guns could not secure the sea or sky around it. Its final mission explains the difference between a powerful ship and a viable operation.

In May 1945, an RAF attack struck ships carrying concentration-camp prisoners in Lübeck Bay. The Cap Arcona disaster connects the closing days of the war with the fate of Neuengamme’s prisoners.

SS John Burke was carrying ammunition to the Philippines when a kamikaze struck in December 1944. Naval records place the filmed explosion within the dangerous supply operations around Mindoro.

Converted from a Yamato-class battleship hull, Shinano sailed before her systems were ready. USS Archerfish’s attack and failures in damage control explain why the carrier sank on her first voyage.

HMS Barham was torpedoed in the Mediterranean on 25 November 1941. Film and survivor testimony record the battleship’s rapid loss while preserving different views of the men and events behind the image.