reviews the project's mission to bring up a barrel from the lake bottom
and test its contents.
notes that at the time of the ferry's sinking, Allied forces believed
that the barrel's supposed contents—heavy water—were key to German
attempts to build a nuclear bomb.
relates that since World War II, secret documents have come to light
casting doubt on whether the sabotage was necessary.
shows scientists using a remotely operated vehicle to locate the
ferry.
summarizes the history of the Norsk factory that created heavy water as a
by-product of its ammonia fertilizer production.
conveys how physicists began to understand the importance of heavy water
in the creation of a nuclear bomb.
relates how the Allies teamed up with members of the Norwegian Resistance
to destroy the Norsk factory.
presents the three attempts to sabotage the factory.
reports how Allied forces decided to sink the Hydro ferry that
they believed contained a half-ton shipment of heavy water.
recounts how the ferry was sabotaged on February 20, 1944, a sinking that
resulted in the deaths of 14 Norwegian civilians and four German guards.
reviews documents found after World War II that called into question
whether the downed ferry was actually carrying heavy water.
details the raising of a barrel from the lake depths and the subsequent
testing of its contents.
revisits the mission with one of the men involved in the sabotage and
some survivors of the sinking.
NOVA
follows a team of underwater archeologists to the bottom Lake Tinn in Norway to
locate and determine the historically significant contents of a ferry sabotaged
in World War II.
