Although I haven't seen this video—it wasn't included with the National Geographic Expedition Week press kit—according what they did send, Bob Ballard, surely the most popular underwater archaeologist ever, visits the waters off the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey, in search of World War I shipwrecks. Gallipoli was the site of a horrific naval battle in 1915, with total casualties on both sides amounting to nearly half a million in the space of a few months. Ballard is, according to the press kit, looking for warships on the sea floor which might provide new details on the Battle at Gallipoli.
What I have learned is that HMAS (His Majesty's Australian Ship, that would refer to George V of England) AE2 shown in the photo above is a submarine, discovered in 1998 by a Turkish diver. Archaeological work on AE2 has been conducted by an Australian team headed by Dr. Mark Spencer. The submarine was caught on the surface by the Turkish Ottoman ship Sultan Hissar, and scuttled during the Battle of Çanakkale, on April 30, 1915. It is one of the few E-class submarines ever located, and is said to be quite intact and undisturbed. So, I would guess that the program is generally about underwater investigations into all the warships sunk in 1915, and perhaps features HMAS AE2.
Sources and Further Information
Smith, Tim. Report of Operation Silent Anzac: Maritime Archaeological Assessment of HMAS AE2. Free download
- Deep Secrets: The Ballard Gallipoli Expedition, from Nat Geo
- The AE2 Submarine - Australia's 'Gallipoli' Submarine , Mark Spencer's webpage
- Battle at Gallipoli,EyeWitness to History.com
- World War I In-Depth: Battle for Gallipoli, the BBC
- Gallipoli and the Anzacs
