Episode 5 Channel Patrol

It's the busiest waterway in the world.

Come on, skipper! Get a move on. That way.

A gateway to our nation.

Over 90% of the world's trade travels by sea.

It's not just TVs and refrigerators, it's everything around us.

Protected by a multi-agency task force,

it's a unique stretch of water.

This is warship Tyne. Warship Tyne. Channel 12.

MUFFLED SPEECH

It's very difficult to police the Channel.

To board every vessel is an impossible task.

It's a place where swimmers

and Sunday sailors fight for space with cruise liners...

..and cargo ships.

It's like trying to get across the M25 during rush hour.

For some, the English Channel is their place of work.

If my mum came out here and saw what I was doing up here,

she'd tell me to get off straightaway.

For others, it's a playground.

Whoo-hoo!

But for those who venture onto its unpredictable waters...

We're just going to assess the moving of the casualty now.

All controlled over lifeboat.

..it can mean life or death.

Just drag him onto the boat.

I hope my babies get to see this and see what Daddy does for a living.

Today on Channel Patrol...

OVER RADIO:

..the crew of a Navy destroyer is put to the test.

Make sure you're happy what the threat is,

make sure you know what you'll report. Next thing inbound FBAs.

Don't forget your brace drills. SHARP BANG

THEY TALK OVER RADIO

Harbour patrol have their hands full

when hundreds of luxury yachts descend on Southampton.

These people just don't treat the waterways the way they should.

And a couple of rookie sailors are learning

the ropes in a world-famous sailing regatta.

Grind, grind, grind, boys. Grind, boys. That's it.

That's it.

As an island nation,

the waters around the UK are vital to its defence.

The Channel has long offered a safe harbour

for the Navy's fleet of 90 ships and submarines,

and it also fulfils another key role.

12,500 square miles of sea and airspace off the coast

of Plymouth are a training ground for the Navy's ships.

Here their skills can be honed and thoroughly examined before

they are sent off to face real-life combat situations around the world.

-OVER RADIO:

-Send starboard lever at stern four.

One of the reasons why the English Channel is such a great place

for the Royal Navy to train -

not only have we got Portsmouth and Plymouth down here,

the old bases Portland and also places like Falmouth.

But the total range, the navigational obstacles and the various challenges

that it presents, as well as all the other users that we share it with,

so we've got a great area here to train with.

Before a ship can be passed as battle ready, its crew has to go

through rigorous mock war scenarios facing enemy attack...

..and dealing with damage to the ship and multiple casualties.

They are continually challenged

and assessed by a team from Flag Officer Sea Training, or FOST,

and will be judged on how well they cope.

If they're not up to the grade, the whole ship will fail the test.

The standards are high and they have to be high.

Obviously we're in the business where,

if you don't win, then the enemy wins

and you end up being in a box.

So you have to fight to win, and we're training these guys

and girls to actually fight to win.

Today, the crew of the HMS Duncan are being put to the test.

One of six £1 billion destroyers in the fleet,

the Duncan is designed to shield other ships from air attack

using Sea Viper missiles

which can knock targets out of the sky up to 70km away.

This ship is a Type 45 destroyer.

I think this one is less than five years old.

It's got a lot of hi-tech equipment,

so there's a lot of expertise that the ship has,

and we are here to try

and bring out the best in the equipment they've got.

We are designed to protect other ships from air attack,

so we've got a really, really accurate radar

that can track things at enormous speed.

It's a particularly sophisticated radar

and it can track a tennis ball moving at Mach 3

from several hundred miles away.

We are literally standing on the most sophisticated ship

in the Royal Navy, if not the world.

The HMS Duncan might be equipped

with the latest warfare technology...

THEY SPEAK INSTRUCTIONS

..but it won't count for anything if the crew can't use it

effectively in combat.

The destroyer and her 190 crew are due to be deployed overseas

within the next few months,

but if they don't pass today's test, they won't be going anywhere.

Ready, fix.

Fixing as briefed.

..to Tregantle Fort to Portwrinkle hotel and Whitsand.

Lieutenant Will Yoxall

is one of the bridge team responsible for navigating the ship,

a particularly tricky job under combat conditions.

Today, the ship is going to be doing something called a DCX12,

which is Damage Control exercise 1.2.

And what we are going to be doing is we're going to be

suffering several hits to the ship, not real hits but simulated,

and they will allow us to get the ship back working

again as soon as possible after it has taken that damage.

Lieutenant Tom Lindsey is leader of the bridge team.

Port 15.

Throughout the exercise,

every decision he makes will be scrutinised.

Everything that we're training for here is for the real thing,

for the actual action scenarios that we might end up in

on deployed operations at any point,

so we have to be ready for all of the threats that are out there.

Those on external circuits, keep one ear on

and your other ear listening out for the quarter's brief.

Pay lots of attention. It's going to be a busy, exciting serial, OK?

Let's make sure we take the information in

and hit this on the front foot.

The beating heart of the ship is the operations room.

As the tactical sensor, they'll be feeding information to the bridge

gathered from sonar and radar throughout the test.

We want to smash this today and I know we can.

Stick to your SOPs throughout, rectify those pickers

that we go through and, above all, keep talking to those people

around you so that information can come up to the command desk.

While the crew wait nervously, the FOST team is behind closed doors

planning what attack to spring on the Duncan.

So, the task force today is facing threat with the following simulation.

FBA's fighter bomber aircraft will be simulated by Hawks

with anti-ship missiles being simulated.

So the serial will commence with a probe and fighter bomber attack

at 14:20.

This will initiate Zulu 1. The details, please.

In today's exercise, the HMS Duncan has to escort an oil tanker

safely through the waters while under fire from enemy aircraft,

a role fulfilled today by Hawk fighter jets

from the Navy's air station at Culdrose.

There will also be four casualties - one T1, two T2 and one T3.

There aren't going to be real bullets or missiles fired

but FOST will be able to shut down bits of the ship to simulate

real battle damage.

We're going to have two fires,

both of the fires in Charlie and Delta sections.

There will also be a contaminated flood.

How long do we expect before we get propulsion and steering back?

Realistically, we're looking about the first 20 minutes

would be a sort of worst-case scenario for them recovering.

Realistically, they're likely to get the steering back

before they get the propulsion back.

FOST navigation assessor David Lockett

will be constantly evaluating how the bridge team copes

with these challenges.

It's not an easy game we're playing here.

We're trying to get them to a standard

that's the envy of all the other navies in the world,

so we're not being meek and mild and nice and easy about this,

this is not a walk in the park.

As the exercise starts, Tom and his team are on high alert.

You've got, um...from manoeuvring the ship from...

It's given you speeds to just regain sector and we'll turn.

Less than 190, sir.

OK, well, let's request quarter speed to aggressively patrol our sector.

Let's do so.

They're prepared for chemical attack by wearing specialist

anti-flash suits.

We are protecting a civilian boat, so that if missiles are fired,

we are able to intercept those missiles before it actually gets in

and hits the high-value unit, the tanker, in this case.

The ship as a whole needs to pass this test,

but each individual will also be assessed on

how they react under pressure.

This whole exercise is serious cos obviously it trains the ship

to be the fighting unit that it needs to be

but it also, on an individual basis,

it's important for the individuals

to prove that they can do their jobs.

Implications of not passing are that either people maybe get fired

from the ship or the ship has to spend more time retraining.

We're attempting to masquerade.

Time on top is minute 2-0, that's in 12 minutes time.

We don't know their direction of attack yet.

We have a number of individuals on the bridge here

that are under training and, as with all careers,

some thrive, some don't necessarily thrive

and some find that the actual environment is not really for them.

OVER RADIO:

Word comes through from the ops room that enemy aircraft may be

approaching.

Being jammed by an ECM aircraft at the moment.

There's two Soviet-origin fighters in to attack the ship.

Will must keep in constant contact with the ops room

as the situation unfolds.

In truth, we'd use the missiles to shoot them down.

In case the missile system doesn't work,

we're manoeuvring the ship more for fighter bomber aircraft,

but we'll be manoeuvring aggressively at quite high speeds

in order to make ourselves a hard target for incoming aircraft.

Tom and Will must reposition the ship head-on

to the fighter bomb attack, or FBA.

But with years of experience in battleship navigation,

Lieutenant Commander David Lockett

knows it's hard to always make the right call.

Check quarters.

-Bridge, port.

-Move starboard.

Starboard ten.

Midships, steer 230.

And he's not convinced that Tom

and Will have chosen the best defensive position.

Would you not think you'd be better off served

by being slightly further north than...

Or easterly as well. I think southeasterly is going to...

Taking on board the lieutenant commander's advice,

Tom orders Will to give instructions to position the ship further round.

..north to maintain to the east side...

-Check quarters.

-..because otherwise it would just be a bit too far south

as you say, sir.

Starboard 15. FBA will just miss you, go straight north of you.

The enemy aircraft are approaching rapidly but,

travelling at up to 670mph,

it will be difficult to spot them until they are upon the Duncan.

FBA now. Five minutes.

Make sure you're happy what the threat is.

Make sure you know what you'll report. Next thing inbound FBAs.

Don't forget your brace drills.

Clubs, it's going to be you calling it, OK?

2-6-0, 40 miles.

Tim, bow.

Main body, turn starboard to a new course at 175.

Tom gives the order to turn the ship to starboard

in a defensive manoeuvre.

End of command, head off.

With so much information flying round the bridge,

the team must keep a cool head and prepare for the attack.

We're keeping the pressure on them so that they can appreciate

what they're going to have to do and, when it comes to the real event,

they've had that experience

and it's almost like muscle...muscle training for athletes.

Once they've done it often enough, it becomes instinctive.

OK, that's...relative bearing.

So that's 3-1-0-0 at the moment and then green 1-2-0.

OK. Lookouts, make sure you cover what we're telling you.

The radar reports show the threat is imminent

but visual confirmation is also required.

2-9-0, 4.5 miles.

OK. Green 8-0, good lookout.

Look, inbound to this unit. Elevation at 2-0.

Two miles. Time on top - 30 seconds.

TALKING OVER RADIO

They've been attacked on the port side.

As it's flown over we've simulated actual battle damage.

The missile has been hit but bits of the missile have come inbound

and that's actually caused some damage

that they have had to recover from.

That's resulted in further issues for them to deal with.

Powers coming off the levers. Levers still work.

For the bridge team, the simulated hit from the missile debris

has meant they've lost control of the ship's steering.

-Starboard five.

-THEY TALK OVER RADIO

Change to port emergency lever.

Tom and his team must quickly determine the damage to the

ship's navigational capabilities and decide how best to deal with them.

Firing the teleflat now.

I've lost engines.

So their speed has been reduced from a maximum of 28 knots

down to about 12 at the moment, and so it's all a matter of trying to

recover from that so that they can actually fight aggressively

and then really just drive the ship to achieve its mission.

That's their priority at the moment

and they're some way away from achieving that.

With vital systems down, how the HMS Duncan's crew reacts

will mean the difference between the ship passing

or failing the exercise.

The pressure is really on. The worst-case scenario

with our assessment is we are found what's called "below standard"

and nobody likes to be told they're below standard,

so everybody from the captain down to the most junior ratings

on board are absolutely working really, really hard.

While for some, the Channel is the setting for a game

with serious consequences,

for others, it's a place of some straightforward fun.

Over 3 million of us in the UK take part in leisure activities

on the water, and the Channel has long been

a popular destination for amateur sailors on inflatables,

motor boats, and yachts.

And, on the south coast,

Southampton is a Mecca for seafarers of all kinds.

Today, it is playing host to one of the largest on-water boat shows

in Europe.

The 45-year-old event attracts

over 100,000 wannabe boat owners a year

and companies vie for business by offering test drives

on the water to thousands of people.

INDISTINCT SPEECH

But with the port also being one of the busiest for shipping freighters,

ferries, and cruise liners to dock and unload,

it's the job of Southampton Harbour Patrol

to keep the pleasure boaters in line

and out of the way of these mammoth ships.

Throughout the day, there'll be yachts sailing from the marina

on trials for possible buyers of the yachts,

small craft, motorboats, whatever.

I'm here basically to stop people speeding

where they shouldn't be speeding,

and keeping the peace, really.

It stops pilots on large vessels getting annoyed to be honest,

small boats getting in the way which can be a bit of a hazard.

We're just doing a quick run around the boat show,

making sure there's no speeding.

It does cause an awful lot of wash

and it does affect the yachts and the motorboats tied up alongside.

With the value of the boats displayed

stretching into millions of pounds,

Chic has to make sure the six-knot speed limit is obeyed.

Any wash that does hit the yacht it's going to damage the yacht.

Don't think my wages could afford to...

to pay for a little bit of damage to one of these yachts.

And it's often the uninitiated sailors

that cause the most problems.

Down here you can just turn up, buy a powerful boat and off you go.

No licence required.

Unlike most of Europe, under current UK law,

boating for pleasure around the coast or out to sea

is open to all and doesn't require a licence,

despite the potential dangers.

Again, that is one of the things that we have to put up with.

Wherever you are on the river,

there's people who just don't treat the waterways the way they should.

And it's not just the boats on sale that Chic has to protect.

-RADIO:

-Lights, bridge, come in.

A luxury yacht on its way to an overseas client is being

loaded onto a large container ship.

The UK marine industry brings in over £1 billion

a year in international trade.

What happens here is we've got a speed restriction now on this berth

because we have got swimmers in the water.

To get the yacht safely onto the cargo vessel, a specialist

diver must first position giant strops underneath it by hand.

It's vital that Chic

keeps the busy boat show traffic out of the way while he's working.

Looks like it's got its American owners on board.

Outbound for America those things.

The swimmer has just finished in the water now.

That's it. Just being lifted now as we speak.

TALKING OVER RADIO

There is a possibility that the strops could slip,

the yacht could tip forward, tip back.

Not very often we do have an accident with yachts.

They will experience these lags and hopefully nothing will go wrong.

With the vessel and divers safely out of the water...

..Chic is onto his next job.

We have a large container vessel leaving this morning,

so I'm going to have to patrol that out

and make sure that it's given safe passage through the boat show.

The CMA CGM Alexander Von Humboldt

is one of the largest container ships

we've had into the port.

Once the tugs are all secure,

the cranes are lifted, the booms are up,

the pilot will her get under way.

The cargo ship is so vast it takes three tug boats

working together, pushing and pulling to slowly manoeuvre

the boat into deeper waters

so the freighter's pilot can take over controlling the ship.

My main concern is obviously the yachts

that have been bought and sold.

I just want to keep them out the way basically, keep them out the way

of middle of the fairway.

We've got a siren. We'll give them plenty of notice

and they will move out of the way more often than not.

We'd have an occasion where somebody will

break down in front of one of these big ships

and then we have to rush in,

get a rope on her and tow them out the way.

It has happened in the past and it will happen again.

The freighter's bow

is so tall that the pilot has poor visibility of any small craft

that sail in its path,

so, to avoid collisions, Harbour Patrol

operate a 1,000-metre exclusion zone in front of big ships like this.

And, with an extra 10,000 visitors taking to the water

during the boat show,

Chic needs to keep his eyes peeled for anyone breaching it.

We do have a few yachts down there at the moment on trials that

could possibly create a problem for us.

SIREN BLARES

There's one out the way.

Yeah, we're all clear ahead now.

We've got a ferry coming in but he'll keep well out of the way.

The tugs have been let go from the container ship

and then she'll start to pick up speed now.

We'll pull away and go back up towards the boat show

and off the container ship will go down the river.

That's the end of the shift now. Everything is done.

Everybody's happy.

A good day at the office. Thank you very much.

On a daily basis, the Channel's 350-mile stretch

is teeming with commercial vessels

from cruise liners and tankers

to ferries, fishermen, and charter boats.

Starboard side at 2K2.

All of these many craft need highly-skilled men and women

to operate and maintain them.

I've always known I wanted to going to sea. Right from an early age

I started going to sea with my father.

And can you just nip up that stern line?

Just looks like there's a little bit of slack in that, please, mate.

You know, there is opportunities on the Channel.

Great opportunities for both girls and boys

who progress right from a young age.

The British Merchant Navy was once the largest in the world

but has declined in recent years,

with the number of Merchant Navy officers predicted to fall

by as much as 50% within the decade.

When I joined at 16, they said there was about 750,000 Merchant

seaman - British Merchant seaman.

Today, 37 years later, we're down to about 20,000.

And, for a sea-going nation, it's sad.

Attracting new recruits is vital but, for many,

the world of boats and sailing is a million miles away

from their everyday lives.

Youth charity the UKSA is aiming to change that.

The organisation runs programmes for young people to gain experience

and transform their lives through sailing.

We are training

young people to work within the yachting industry.

And we provide

knowledge, qualifications, and experiences that enable them

to do that.

Right then, our weather forecast for the day.

It says southwesterly three or four.

We can all look out the window and appreciate...

Sailing in English Channel -

the tides, the weather,

the amount of pilotage you can do into harbours -

all requires the skills of navigation and boat handling

that you can... You know, you can practice everything in one location.

If you learn how to sail there,

you can sail pretty much anywhere in the world.

Novice sailors Phil and Amy were given the chance to sail with

UKSA by the job centre.

-Hi, guys.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-Are you sailing with us today?

-We are indeed.

And today, what they have learnt so far is being put to the test.

They are going to be taking part in a sailing race,

but this is no ordinary race.

They are going to be competing in Cowes Week -

the world's most renowned sailing regatta.

Not only that, but they have been entered into the biggest

and fastest yacht class - the Formula One of sailing.

My experience on a yacht is not that much

and now I'm going to go and race.

My involvement with being out at sea was just going to the beach,

having a little dip in the water.

I'm just going to get on and wing it.

But...

That is kind of what makes it exciting.

Today, for me, is a bit scary.

Excited, don't get me wrong, but everything has just been,

-like, pushed up a level.

-I don't know what I'm doing.

But I know that by the time I get off, I will know what I'm doing.

Before they set sail, Charles Matthews, the yacht's

first mate, gives an all-important safety briefing.

This area here is called the cockpit.

It's like a safe zone.

We are below the boom.

Back here we've got wheels, OK? Obviously, we steer the boat.

It's really easy, you steer to where you want to go.

My main aim is safety.

And if I can get them learning some stuff and working hard

and maybe having an understanding of what it is like to sail

a boat like this, I think

I will have completed my task there.

-Good luck!

-Good luck!

Being on the biggest yacht here in, you know, the fastest class,

having to maintain it with safety,

there is definitely a bit of nerves going there.

Amy and Phil are competing against four other boats.

Yeah, we'll win. Yeah. Yeah!

Before the starting pistol is fired,

Charles gives his nervous novices a pep talk.

This is a bit of a machine and it is good fun when it gets going.

All right?

This is no different to any other boat, any other sailing boat,

it is just bigger.

Things are little bit more powerful.

The boat might heel over a little bit more.

The aim for today is to make this boat go as fast

as we can get it with our crew.

Is there anything you want us to be doing today, specifically?

You can have my back. We'll run around, do everything together. OK?

And I'm going to try and get you down on the back with Sam,

-so you can get to drive this bus.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah. That sounds good.

All right, cool. Do you have a driver's license?

-No.

-You can't drive it, then. No, I'm joking. So, it will be good.

A horn is sounded to signal the race start is imminent.

OK, so that's five minutes, guys, we need to start...moving around.

Out, and then push it down and in.

It is time to winch up the sails to get to the start position.

Down and in, that's it. OK, go on.

That's it, that's what we want, more of them.

That's it, almost there, bud.

One more, one more.

OK, hurry, mate!

A little bit more muscle work that I thought.

Five, four, three, two, one.

HORN BLOWS

So, we have officially started racing in Cowes Week.

Whoo! Yay!

Yeah, nice.

The boat is off to a strong start.

Grind, grind, grind! Grind!

OK, lovely.

Grind. Grind, grind, grind.

Both Phil and Amy, who have been long-term unemployed,

were given the opportunity to sail through their local job centre.

'When you apply for jobs

'and nobody ever gets back to you, it really knocks your confidence.

'I was at a point where I was just like, "That's it, I'm done.

'"I'm obviously not worth anything. Nobody wants me to work for them."'

I felt like I was nothing.

Grind, grind, grind, grind.

OK, while they are grinding, get closer to the winch

and wrap it round, while they are grinding.

'And then when somebody says to you, "Just sail this yacht,"'

it is sort of like, "You're going to put me in charge of this?"

And they're like, "Yeah. You know, do it. You'll be fine."

'You'd think it's just for posh people or people with lots of money.

'Being from a council estate,

'I didn't ever think I'd have an opportunity to go on a yacht.'

This was a completely different opportunity.

You're on a yacht and everyone has to work as a team,

no matter what. This is actually extremely important, teamwork,

because you are on the water, which is quite deadly,

you've got this whole vessel in front of you,

and if you do any wrong moves, you know, it will be down to you.

Let go, let go, let go.

Unwrap it, that's it. Move, move. Grind, grind, boys. Grind, boys.

That's it.

The 35-mile course involves sailing west, down the Solent,

round a series of buoys and back again.

It is not necessarily where you finish on the finish line,

it is more about your time as you get round.

So it is getting around the right track as quickly as possible.

That's the name of the game.

30 minutes into the race and the other four boats make gains on them.

OK, start grinding, please. Start pulling.

Hold... Slow it down, slow it down.

This needs to be gentle. Now grind a little bit.

Technique is now everything.

Just a bit of a game of chess, basically,

when to tack, when to move, when to go.

Hold on. Can we ease some...ease some of this out more?

No, not ready to tack. Let's go four times around there.

Nick, let's get forward, please, and help me out here,

-otherwise I'm on my own, aren't I?

-That's fine.

OK. Wait for it.

OK. Hold.

The crew was sailing up wind, so much change direction back and forth

across the wind to make progress,

a sailing technique known as tacking.

Tacking is where somebody is watching the wind, basically.

They have a look, they realise the sail needs to be in the opposite

direction, so it all goes a bit mad.

Out of the way, out of the way! That's it.

Go, go, go! Go on, get it in!

Whatever you're doing, you have to be ready.

Whichever side you tack to, you get the most out of people as you

possibly can to get on that side.

Cos it brings more weight to that side of the boat.

You have to be up and running across to the other side to keep the

weight right, which is really danger because the boom is very heavy.

And if it hits you in the head or you get caught in a sail,

you're probably going to go overboard.

It's all hands on deck as their competition veer back

and forth in close proximity.

We're ready, let's go, let's go, let's go.

Select your winches. You've got leeward, I've got windward.

Yeah, ready. We are ready to move, guys.

OK, over to the side, please.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go!

Big time, big time, but time! Lovely, lovely tack.

Go, go, go, go, go, go!

Lovely, lovely tack. Well done, guys. Up on high side, then.

Working together on a yacht is probably one of the most

difficult things because you have to battle with the elements,

especially on a big yacht like this.

It teaches you to be a team.

And you're going to need that for the rest of your life,

no matter what you do.

The crew now needs to manoeuvre around a buoy which will

see the wind change direction against their sails.

Once they are heading in the same direction as the wind,

they will need to release the spinnaker sail.

We are just getting ready for another sail to go up.

So we're going to do it now.

And when we are on the mark, we can get our sail up quick as we can.

The quicker we get that up,

the faster we are going to be going downwind.

Yeah.

OK, green rope, guys. This green rope, I'm just going to pull through.

I don't want to hurt you.

Give it a big tug.

There we go. Hold. Let it go.

Simon, whoa, not yet.

Hold her on the windward sheet if you're going to release this one.

OK.

The wind is so strong in the sail, Phil is struggling to hold on to it.

I felt like I was going over because my left leg

had slipped a little bit.

Because the first sail was literally pulling me so much.

OK, tacks made. All right, hoist.

Go, go, go, go, go!

Chuck this out of the bag. Open that bag up.

That's it.

It's almost there, it's almost there, get it out. Go on.

We need this up now! Go on, you're almost there.

The crew have released the spinnaker quickly and are making good progress

downwind, widening the gap between them and the competition.

There is some red sails and a clump of trees...

The skipper decides it is time for Amy to get behind the wheel,

despite her lack of a driving license.

-You want me to aim for that?

-Yeah.

-That house exactly?

-That's it.

All right, so I need to be a bit over this way, don't I?

That's it, lovely.

As the team approaches the final buoy,

they're closing the gap on one of their rival boats.

OK, it's going down here, guys.

As they round the marker, they need to drop the spinnaker

as quickly as possible, as they change direction against the wind.

Anyone who is anyone is going to grab and push this sail down here,

all right? Here on the helm. Right? Pop that tack. Go, go, go!

Right, pull, pull, pull!

Pull, pull, pull, pull!

Get that down!

A massive team effort drops the spinnaker fast...

Well done, well done.

Well done, fantastic, good drop.

..pushing them ahead of their rivals.

We're in front, we're doing well.

We've...we've done better than I expected today,

so much better.

It's amazing.

As they head back into Cowes...

Lower, guys, last tack. Let's grind this in, get us sailing.

Swap around, swap around, the other way. Go, go, go, go, go, go.

..and sail across the finish line,

they come in first, ahead of their rival four boats.

THEY CHEER

Well done, everybody, well done.

It's an exhilarating end to their first-ever Cowes Week race.

I've never worked so hard in my life.

Coming in first, it's quite a good feeling, considering,

you know, it is our first time, you know, racing with yachts.

And it gives you that moment of,

"Oh, I can be in charge of something and I can do this."

This is where I fall in the water. This is it.

It doesn't really matter about their skill set,

what matters is that they're keen.

Us, as sailors, try and give people the bug, we like to say.

Whether or not Phil and Amy go on to a maritime career,

these experiences will serve them well in later life.

It has been such an amazing experience.

Just being out on the sea is unreal.

It is so much fun.

I can't think of a better way to spend your time.

Over the centuries, the Channel has been the site of many a battle,

from the Spanish Armada to the evacuation of Dunkirk,

but today, a very different battle is being waged.

The crew of HMS Duncan, one of six hi-tech Navy destroyers,

is off the coast of Plymouth, being put to the test

in a high-stakes combat training exercise.

OK, let's make sure we take information in

and hit this on the front foot.

They have been under heavy air fire in a simulated attack,

while Navy assessors closely scrutinise how they cope.

Unit, elevation...

The whole ship needs to make

the grade before the Duncan will be sent out on active duty.

Fire on deck!

They have successfully destroyed an incoming missile,

but have suffered some damage.

Bits of the missile have come in bound,

and that's actually caused some damage

that they've had to recover from.

And they are dealing with multiple problems - the machineries

that they're losing and the steering that they're losing.

But just as the bridge team is trying to recover control,

the ops room detect a second imminent attack.

12 minutes, so let's get ready. We are intersecting.

The incoming enemy jet has simulated firing a missile,

which has been destroyed by the Duncan's Phalanx Gatling gun.

But the debris has hit the ship.

When the actual ship tries to defend itself,

they may actually be successful in hitting the missile,

but if they hit it at close range, the missile breaks up

and still bits of that could come down and damage the ship

as it breaks up.

Unfortunately, it had another hit.

And now they're continuing to try and recover from that.

They have lost engines so their speed has been

reduced from a matter of 28 knots down to about 12 at the moment.

We're looking at real-world safety on top of what the exercise

provides them.

As part of exercise, the FOST assessors have decided

the missile damage has caused fire below decks.

We're about to get on breathing apparatus.

We might still be able to communicate with the bridge.

There are also several casualties who need evacuating.

-Right, let's...

-Keep going.

You always keep the pressure on because in a real war situation,

the pressure would be there.

So we are keeping that pressure on them

so they can appreciate what they're going to have to do.

And when it comes to the real event, they have had that experience.

The simulated fires need to be brought under control.

YELLING ORDERS

That is no different to what they would be if they were fighting a war.

So we have got to train to fight in those sort of environments,

and that's what we're doing with them here.

The enemy are now at band and they have given up on their attacks,

which means the ship can actually relax its posture.

So it has gone from air threat warning red

to air threat warning yellow,

which means that the team can now re-evaluate the situation,

the state of the ship. They've relaxed the anti-flash,

so they can actually sort of take a breath.

Now they are trying to establish the machinery back into bridge control.

They're checking the state of the steering gear.

And generally, just doing a bit of house husbandry to make

sure that the ship is able to get on with its mission.

Some of the battle damage made it really hard to fly through,

keep doing what we were doing. When we lose communications

to all the various outstations, it makes the jobs of all the teams

up here trying to actually float the ship pretty difficult.

But all the team kept working pretty hard

and everyone was quite enthusiastic and kept fighting through, so

hopefully that'll stand us in good stead when we see our assessment.

They've reached their final destination

and the exercise is over.

Now all they can do is wait.

It was pretty intense.

We're assessed as a whole ship's company.

You know, we fight as a team,

we work as a team and we are assessed the same way.

So we might have done our part OK on the bridge, but it is also down

to the damage control teams, dealing with the fires,

floods, and repairs below.

Fingers crossed because we don't want to spend any more time here.

It's like having to repeat a year at school

if we had to stay here another week.

But the ship is a good ship, we deserve today to have a win.

Hopefully, today we'll find out that we've passed.

You fought through all the time. You managed to keep composed.

So well done for that.

As a team, you worked really well there today. Be aggressive.

There can be more aggression there.

I have the confidence, having really set the standard

and shown your command, that you can actually provide

for a ship that can fight and win.

Any questions for me?

No, just thanks again, sir. And thanks, everyone, for their efforts.

Keep concentrating and give it your best. Well done.

Tom and the bridge team have made the grade,

and it is good news for the rest of the ship.

Well done. Good effort from the team today.

Everything they did was spot on and you contributed.

A satisfactory result today, in today's exercise.

-Brilliant, thanks very much.

-Pass that on to the team.

Will do, sir. Thanks very much. Well done, team.

Pat yourselves on the back.

Really good day today.

Everyone worked exceptionally hard and I am really pleased to say

that the ship got a satisfactory result, so we passed the exercise.

We achieved the standard, we made the grade satisfactory

and the team has done really well. So chuffed for that. Very pleased.

The HMS Duncan has proved she is battle ready

and is due to be deployed outside of the UK in the next few months.

It is serious business time.

It means she can go off and she can either be

in a couple of weeks on the front line in any conflict

or she can be helping out in any sort of disaster relief event

that could occur.

The options for these ships are enormous.

We could be finding ourselves at either end of the spectrum -

either fighting a war or saving lives.

But for now, the HMS Duncan's crew can rest easy

in the safety of the Channel's waters.