Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Speed, strength, stealth and power – the submarine is a mean machine. It goes where man cannot. The ocean is its domain. How does a submarine withstand the huge forces of sea pressure? Dramatic tests show how a submarine’s hull can be crushed like a cigarette packet. An intriguing insight into the Cold War game of cat and mouse when a submarine’s main defence was avoiding detection. Sound, the need to stay quiet, plays a key role in trying to make a submarine indestructible. We hear from the sonar operators who would go on ‘sneakies’, creeping up on their Russian opponents and listening into their every move.
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Building the Ultimate is a fast-paced and fascinating series, combining CGI, archive and actuality footage to show how modern technology has shaped the objects we use, fight with, live and travel in. Find out how and why our 21st century weapons, buildings, superstructures and vehicles have evolved in the face of often impossible odds, looking in detail at their different components to demonstrate human ingenuity and our endless quest to build the indestructible.
This film was first broadcast: 2003
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Discover the best science, technology, and engineering shows. Explore amazing experiments, groundbreaking inventions, and the secrets behind incredible builds. Ignite your curiosity!
Content distributed by ITV Studios.
#science #technology #engineering
Speed, strength, stealth and power – the submarine is a mean machine. It goes where man cannot. The ocean is its domain. How does a submarine withstand the huge forces of sea pressure? Dramatic tests show how a submarine’s hull can be crushed like a cigarette packet. An intriguing insight into the Cold War game of cat and mouse when a submarine’s main defence was avoiding detection. Sound, the need to stay quiet, plays a key role in trying to make a submarine indestructible. We hear from the sonar operators who would go on ‘sneakies’, creeping up on their Russian opponents and listening into their every move.
Subscribe to Blueprint: bit.ly/blueprintitvs
Building the Ultimate is a fast-paced and fascinating series, combining CGI, archive and actuality footage to show how modern technology has shaped the objects we use, fight with, live and travel in. Find out how and why our 21st century weapons, buildings, superstructures and vehicles have evolved in the face of often impossible odds, looking in detail at their different components to demonstrate human ingenuity and our endless quest to build the indestructible.
This film was first broadcast: 2003
Watch More Documentaries
True Lives - bit.ly/3A8xRMJ
Our History - bit.ly/3rUpdhL
Our World - bit.ly/3ftuckM
Our Stories - bit.ly/3ynfFyk
Taste - bit.ly/3OZoDcV
Up Close - bit.ly/3zMSJ1H
Crime Up Close - bit.ly/CrimeUpClose
Discover the best science, technology, and engineering shows. Explore amazing experiments, groundbreaking inventions, and the secrets behind incredible builds. Ignite your curiosity!
Content distributed by ITV Studios.
#science #technology #engineering
