From awesome aircraft carriers, to migrant rescue missions, plus sea patrols to track drug smugglers, the Royal Navy’s varied roles around the globe feature in a special week of programmes on Forces TV
At 8.30pm (UK) from Monday 17th to Wednesday 19th, there’s a brand new series from Forces TV entitled Carrier Strike Force. With a new generation of Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers just over the horizon, the series charts the changing face of these giants of the sea and projectors of Britain’s military might, starting in 1960 on board HMS Hermes.
Spanning 55 years at sea it’s a chance for an up-close-and-personal look at how the flight decks, and the aircraft, have changed alongside the vessels and their crews.
On Monday evening from 9pm (UK) Forces TV’s Rebecca Ricks presents a programme called Search and Rescue Swansong. As the privatisation of military search and rescue begins, she joins the crews of 771 Naval Air Squadron in the skies above the Cornish coast in their final summer of duty.
The popular series by filmmaker Chris Terrill Royal Navy: Caribbean Patrol will be re-run from Monday to Friday at 10pm (UK). It follows the dramatic high and lows as HMS Manchester carried out her final seven-month tour in the Caribbean tracking the world’s most ruthless drug smugglers.
The Titanic, the Bismarck and the TS Canberra are the subject of the three-part series, Ships That Changed The World, from Tuesday to Thursday at 9pm (UK). Archive material, CG visual effects and reenactment footage combine to tell the stories of three famous ships.
And at 9pm (UK) on Friday, Will Inglis presents The Big vs The Bold, an exclusive 30-minute programme that compares the new HMS Queen Elizabeth with the Nimitz Class aircraft carriers.
Forces TV’s unique access to both ships contrasts the tried and tested systems on the USS Theodore Roosevelt with those taking shape on the Royal Navy’s next generation carrier as it nears completion. A must-watch for the British Forces as the new ship threatens to change the way the UK projects power overseas.
This is followed by HMS Bulwark – Migrant SOS at 9.30pm (UK), presented by Rebecca Ricks, who joins the crew of the Royal Navy’s flagship in the Mediterranean as they carry out Operation Weald search and rescue duties as part of the UK’s response to the migrant crisis.
Watch Forces TV on Sky Channel 264, Virgin 277 and Freesat 652, and on BFBS Channel 09. See online content atwww.forces.tv