I was in the navy and sunk many, many times. Fortunately, we also surfaced the same number of times as I was a submariner

The bridge view was terrifying considering how many people have actually experienced that while fighting to maintain control of doomed ships up until the last moment.

I was one of the last people aboard this ship. We moved it from where it was moored to Halkett Bay. In preparation to be a dive site there were massive holes cut in the side and through the decks so that divers have safe access. This helped the ship sink very quickly and evenly. If it didn’t have all those holes and still had its bulkheads and doors intact it wouldn’t have gone down so quickly…they don’t sink this fast in battle normally!!

I nearly drowned 3 times in my life, twice being pulled unconscious from the water, and the sound of the water filling the boat and covering the camera reminded me why I would have never been brave enough to serve on a ship. I did attempt to join the air force in my youth, but my terrible eyesight kept me out, but I never miss the opportunity to thank those who did serve and who are serving today! May God bless and protect you guys and gals!

Hats off to the brave cameramen who kept turning those cranks right to the very end.

As a former US Navy sailor, this demonstrates the fear that I always knew was possible, but thankfully never experienced.

"Hey Bob! We aren't supposed to set off fireworks... HOLY!" Also 3:11 Haha smoke ring

These sinking ship videos from an inside perspective are the stuff of nightmares.

That was actually quite horrific, especially when you consider the poor souls that have experienced that for real. What a way to go.

Emotional to watch. My father was engineering officer on the Annapolis. I can remember vividly the fancy wardroom dinners we attended. I remember the annoying junior officers playing Caribbean records full loud just prior to dinner. I can remember the swish of cockroaches when one opened a lower cupboard in the galley late at night. I remember dad's small room and office. He often read technical manuals late into the night. I remember family day outside Halifax Harbour. The three inch fifties booming forward, the anti submarine mortars firing live ammo about two miles distant, huge plumes of water as they exploded at depth. This ship was very often at Roosevelt Roads in Puetro Rico during our cold Canadian winters. The engine room Edit: inspection pulled at me. I remember watching dad navigating about tiny inspection crawlspaces nearest the gearbox. Was a good ship & crew.

I like the honks from the onlooking boats, signaling their good byes to the great ship.

It's worth pointing out that no ship will sink like this when it's in service. The goal here was to have a clean and quick sinking, all the bulkheads were left wide open, meaning all watertight compartments were no longer watertight, all the hatches on deck were wide open, and of course the charges blew some nice holes through the hull. Even in a catastrophic situation, a ship like this would take a lot to sink, and even if it did, it would not go down anywhere near this fast (I mean it took hours for the Titanic to sink and that was with ship building tech from over a century ago).

The Annapolis now lies on the bottom, perfectly upright. Bottom depths at low tide range from 105 ft at the bow to 98 ft at the stern. At low tide the depth to the top of the stacks is 35 ft, to the top of the bow is 60 ft, the flight depth is at 68 ft and the stern depth is at 77 ft.

After being underway a couple days a new fireman asked “How far are we from land?” The crusty chief replied “ about a mile…..straight down”

This was great! No bad music, crappy narration or egotistical bows. Thank you!

It's crazy how fast the inside fills up, like if you're In there, no way you could fight that current behind that.

For all the geniuses complaining about the smoke: "smokeless powder" is a propellant, and isn't used for cutting charges. To cut steel you need high explosives.

Absolutely remarkable how quickly it was able to be sunk and how little it listed - that's got to be quite satisfying for all the people who worked to prepare it.

The way the air pressure blows out when it’s underwater was CRAZY violent.. wasn’t expecting that

I was very very lucky to be part of the crew that helped clean up this vessel before reefing it. Lovely ship, but an even better reef I hear.

This was a fascinating video to watch, but also somewhat traumatic. I feel like I just drowned 19 times! It was hard enough to watch on a computer screen, sitting in a comfy chair on dry land. I can't imagine what it would be like to go down with your ship, knowing that the rising water was moments away. Glad to see that this ship will be put to good use for research and dive training.

notice how when the capstan fill with water the air bubbles are radically moving each way, then side to side, its the current, there is a point at which you see the bubbles sit still, this is what's know as the evacuation point, so if you are in the vessel you want to hold on to something very solid, make a mental note of that opening from where you are in every single way possible cuz its going to get very dark and cold, then as so as you feel the water "slack" it will stop pushing you around that when you break for that opening, then its smooth sailing and a lot of air bubbles rushing you top side.. many try to escape either too early, or too late, its the same for a car it you are plunged into water, you either escape before the car sinks, OR, wait until it fills and it slcks off, then bust a window and go, OR, pre break a window before she sinks, its a situational call really, do you have others unconscious and buckled up you have to free and help escape? then do not punch windows open close them all, start getting everyone ready for the escape, then ocne pressure is equal open a door, pushing out the unconscious last then bring them up with you, if there are several then try to hang onto them as you push each out out then bring em all up with you, hopefully the calls don't get any tougher than that as in who should I save, of course at that point the rule is, women and children first, then the healthiest of the first, to daisy chain people together you can tie shoe sting together, clothing whatever or have them hold hands with the unconscious int eh middle of the hand to hand daisy chain.. your best chance is to NOT panic and never consider panicking never sit still as in this is it, and let the adrenaline do its job, you will feel teh clarity and strength of the adrenaline and be able to work and perform as never before, make use of it and systematically make your way top side.. first thing to asses is rate of water you are taking on, newer cars are water tight they can float for years, if not serious damage is done to the vehicle, so just float until help arrives, if its a fast sink then you have to move fast get em out fast, if you start going down inside then wait for equalization open a door and escape.. good to carry those window breaker you push against the glass and they break the glass, even under water, its a power punch, they work well, you can break your glass and quickly had it off around teh vehicle so everyone can break open their escape as the car fills, take that last LONG breath and break for the surface... I hope no one ever has to experience anything like this but if so stay calm and let the adrenaline work then get to work systematically..

My grandfather was a Merchant Mariner during the war. His transport ship took a torpedo from a u-boat crossing the Atlantic. He told me once that the scariest part of it was how the ship “groaned like it was alive as it sunk beneath the water”.

I like that the first clip is a blast blacking out the camera and then the word "bow", like we have to show respect to the explosion

i used to think you could swim out the ship, but now i realise how turbulent the water is and how it would be so hard to swim or keep track of where you are

I worked around ships and shipyards all my life. It’s a sad and haunting thing to watch one go down

This is incredible and terrifying at the same time. I couldn't imagine being in a ship/submarine as its sinking. The sheer terror you'd feel. I feel so terrible for those who've experienced it and didnt make it out alive. The thoughts of pure helplessness in those last moments must've been the absolute worst.

It staggers me at how fast the water rushes in, its overwhelming. Just to think of those sailors on ships that sunk for real, the fear, the panic. leaves me speechless

For those worried about how fast your ships can sink, keep in mind 2 things 1 these charges where at the exact critical points and all of them for sinking quick, ur enemies will rarely get that shot and more over get enough of em to sink this quick 2. The real danger of boats big and small is the waves, all it takes is one wave bigger then the set at the wrong moment and the ship is under with no chance of coming back up. Rip Edmond Fitzgerald. Sail safe, and mind the weather. It comes quick and hard and it doesn't care for your life. Rip to all sailers foreign and domestic, the sea may be your home and grave. But we won't forget yall to this day For those wondering how the fiztgerald sank, altho speculated she broke in half on the surface. It was actually found that the break was cause from how hard/fast she hit bottom. She was literally eaten by a head on wave in mear seconds. I can only imagine the fear in her crews hearts. This is also why almost all of the crew was still found aboard. And below decks, never even had a chance to know she was going down till she was already fully under. Nothing could be done. Respect those lakes, they can get worse then the worlds oceans Side note *edit) due to the specific environment of the great lakes. The cold and water keep the crew from ever being "broken down" in ither words, they are preserved indefinitely

VERY interesting to watch! Not a complaint, but it would be great to have seen an “overall” view from start to finish from an attending vessel.

Sinking of the HMCS Annapolis as an artificial reef. The HMCS Annapolis is being sunk in Halkett Bay on Gambier Island by the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia. It will serve as a recreational dive site, and provide a habitat for fish and other marine life.

My dad served on HMCS Annapolis, HMCS St Laurent and HMCS Preserver. Later I served on HMCS Ottawa and HMCS Assiniboine. Rest in peace, dad.

Doesn’t get much more level than that! Well engineered scuttle.

In case anyone was wondering. The Annapolis sits upright at a depth of 32 meters. The top of the ship is at a depth of 10.5 meters.

Those interior shots are frightening. That goes way faster than I imagined. And then... Sudden darkness and no air.

Some of those sounds are absolutely incredible - I've never heard anything like it before. Thank you for sharing.

I appreciate that the very first angle involved the camera getting blown up almost immediately

My late father was a ship's Engineer on Merchant Ship up 1942, he had 7 ships sunk under him and decided that the RCN was safer than the Merchant Navy and spent the rest of war on HMCS Prince Rupert, a River class Frigate in the Bay of Biscay. At least he was safer in the RCN.

Didn't realise how close to the shore she'd been scuttled. The interior shots, especially the Hanger Deck, make you appreciate how fast the Herald of Free Enterprise car ferry filled up and sank when they left the bow doors open - horrifying.

That’s actually very cool,and very eerie at the same time seeing the water pour into the ship…great work and thank you.

7:01 This is the best view of the charges going off. You can almost imagine what it was like being torpedoed when you hear stories from sailors saying, "There was what sounded like an explosion and the whole ship lurched!"

RIP to all the cameramen.

I can't even imagine what it would be like going down as quick as some ships do. Especially the ones that work in ice cold water. I've never seen anything like this before so thank you very much for posting it. It leaves little for me to ponder on when I hear of how a ship just vanished with 6, 7, 8 souls on board while I'm watching programs like Deadliest Catch. They often vanish without any warning and with no trace of anything. A lot of them don't even have enough time to set off the EPIRB. One would have just enough time to die. Very frightening but very educational as well. Thanks again!!

I served on the HMCS Saguenay same river class.she too became a reef. When they did this to her I cried alitte. Thank you for service old girl.

All the interior shots are pure nightmare fuel.

Everytime I went on a float, I tried to stay topside as much as I could. If the ship was going down, the sailors sure to heck weren't going to wonder if us Jarheads could get out. When you heard the tales from WWI and WWII, that the vessel went down in a minute, this shows you that the survivors weren't exaggerating.

Every camera recording a room getting filled up with water is absolutely terrifying, I can’t even imagine how it is so sink and being trapped in a boat…

I sailed on the dirty 230, on one deployment the Annapolis was part of the battle fleet for a Nato exercise , I had many friends who served on the Annapolis, good memories from back then!! Thanks for the vid!!

Makes you realize, even bigger vessels go down hard. Condolences to any sailor lost at sea, very quick and violent events here. Thank you for sharing!

A lot of comments on the “smoke” blocking the view. To me, it just makes the sinking more realistic. Just imagine being on a ship in Pearl Harbor, all of the shaking, the noise, the smoke, and the water flooding into the ship. Men trapped in the lower decks, can’t see for the smoke, can’t fight the water pouring in, the fear, the hero’s doing what they can do. R. I. P. To all of the crews of all of the ships. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽❤️❤️❤️

This is eerie for me. I served on that ship for 5 years.

All my life I have thought of all those poor guys who went down with their ship in war time and I wondered what it would be like. This video brings almost the full horror of it to me.

I served on a ship that looked very much like this one, and that was sunk a few years ago. Quite freaky to see it going down.

Fascinating video. I'm glad you took the time and effort to place the gopros. Smoke is given with explosives and I'm sure you guys were more disappointed than any of us. Better to have tried than to have not. It was interesting to see the water displace the air in the ship and push the smoke out of any opening on the deck. My favorite shots were the Hanger, the Flight Deck, and the Capstan. I like how the Capstan fills and partially empties when ship shifts. Good work on the scuttling, everyone should be very proud. Hats off to the guy that got really enthusiastic and yelled when the stern started going under. Now I'm going to go look up the Annapolis because she has an interesting flight deck and I want to know how that worked.

I watched this on the toilet and it was wild. The rush of anxiety I got when the ship went under with the bow camera view was insane. Felt like I was about to get flushed down my own toilet. 10/10 would poop and watch again.

Holy cow, that's absolutely terrifying how quickly it sinks once it really starts to go under.

The video made me realize how fast the water flooded the ship. It would be terrible experience to be on a sinking ship.

Well she did plenty more than her share according to history, and now besides providing something helpful to nature, I'm sure that would be a really fun and interesting recreational dive to make. Good job to all involved. But as a former USN sailor, I hate good ships don't last forever and hate seeing her go down, but it makes me feel good she is given an honorable eternal assignment. Great work on the video and again God bless all involved.

Loved the bow cam. After underwater it showed how rapidly the ship headed to the bottom. Almost sounded like a locomotive chugging. Awesome footage all the way around.

WOW! What intense camera footage. Each time I was holding my breath.

Having been an officer on minesweepers and a minelayer for a couple of years, this has given me some second thoughts...

Neat how they sank it so straight and it didn’t drift or tip! Great job! I always get a little sad when a ship sinks, tho.

This just straight up terrifying. I've always been uneasy on boats, but this shit makes me wanna wear a life vest in a parking lot.

My dad was in the navy he would of enjoyed watching this as he was in WW2.. today he would be 95 years old he passed at 87.. he told me some but never wanted to talk about what he seen or what went on.. he alqays would changed the subject i just turned 40 and always wondered what the hell he went thru and what he ever saw.. he will tell me one day..i know he will.. 🇺🇲💙😇💙🇺🇸

As a commercial offshore fishermen in New Bedford Massachusetts I know about 12 fisherman that have had a boat go down under them. I don't think any of them were inside at the time of the sinking, but either way it's still a traumatic experience when your only stable platform leave you swimming

This was fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. Congratulations to all involved. God bless

Two points: 1. It is amazing the amount of smoke a GoPro can record! 2. Once a ship realizes it cannot float anymore, it becomes a piece of fast sinking steel.

I spent almost a year on the USCGC Spencer, a 327' weather cutter out of Staten Island NY, 1962 - 63. My first three, 40 to 45-day, weather patrols were in the North Atlantic, that winter. We survived storms out there that normal ships avoided, let alone staying in one place like we did for so many days. I often wondered what it was like to have been aboard her during WWII when she was protecting convoys in those very same waters. This video is what nightmares are made of...

Well I see the problem… someone left the windows open in the Engine Room… Thank you for your service Annapolis My the fish find you a suitable habitat

I watched the video of the scuttling from the outside (v=cuZ1XyQGF6k), and it is remarkable how calm and undramatic it looks from that angle. Meanwhile most of the interior shots are violent and terrible. Watching the capstan footage in particular makes me think of what that would be like, being deep in the bowels of a ship at wartime. Suddenly you hear a loud boom, and you freeze (and soil your underoos), but apparently nothing serious happened. You think to yourself "Phew, musta been just a glancing blow, good thing we're so well armored", and you slowly return to your duties. Suddenly you hear the rush of water approaching at a merciless speed, and before you can even think of how to escape you're being pummeled by an immensely powerful torrent of freezing cold ocean water that pulls you to your certain doom.

I saw a docomentry on the Titanic the other week. It was a suprise to see after all these years , that the swimming pool was still full.

Fascinating! The average Joe would have little to no chance of escaping from inboard on a ship sinking that fast! First-class video, thank you.

That was compelling and horrifying at the same time.

I now have a new understanding of the phrase "windless completely calm day". That smoke was just not going anywhere.

I didn’t think I’d watch the whole thing. But I sat here and did. Fascinating and eerie

That is a very scary set of videos. OK nobody was on board but I can't help imagining being on a ship and seeing this.

Being honest. I felt mildly panicked each time the water rushed in. Cause I know there is no escape at that point unless your lucky.

It's terrifying how fast it bricks once the bow drops...

The clips where the shaped charges blew the cameras up were hysterical!

That was 19× more than I needed to know as far as being torpedoed and sunk goes. BRAVO ZULU!

in all those flooding situations I imagine myself on that ship.... I would not been able to escaped..

This would be cool, if the explosives they used didn't leave a ton of smoke, alot of these angles (including the ones that are of interest to me; interior) you can't see anything.

A reality check for me that if a ship is sinking, you aren't going to be able to remotely swim against the current of water rushing into those compartments! Terrifying and fascinating, thanks for the video :-)

What an eerie feeling. Made me realize the horror of being on the Titanic.

9:19 internal confined footage from this point. Terrifying watching how quick it fills up the whole room and nowhere to run 14:49 double flood…

Pretty amazing how violent and fast the water takes over. The spewing blurs the visual,. not a complaint just a statement of how incredible the forces at work are here.

excellent, thank you for sharing. how did u extract the footage. were they streaming and u recorded the streams real time or did actual divers retrieve all of the cameras afterwards?

Seeing this makes me wonder if it's the aeration that's the real danger for people in a ship sinking rather than a suction force. When there is so much air mixed into water you simply cannot swim, no one can. You sink like a stone in super aerated water.

Amazing video. Thank you so very much for making it.

There something deadly stunning atraction in this video. Generaly, you have allmost two minutes to leave the ship and ten-twenty misunes in cold water to reach the shore

Nope, F that…The burma aft shot is terrifying. You have about 12 seconds from initial water to being flooded above the doors.

Did they have to dive and retrieve the cameras, or were they live-fed to an external storage?

Dang, the Annapolis was in our NATO battle group way back when. STANAVFORLANT 1984. I was a radio operator on FGS Hamburg. Will have to dive her next time I am up in BC.

I couldn't imagine how terrifying this would be in real life, just watching it is scary

It's really creepy watching something that can't be undone

Thats actually pretty terrifying think about being on a ship in the middle of the ocean and it starts to sink

yeah seeing those rooms fill up with water and get dark so fast is absolutely terrifying.

I’d have thought there would be some footage at the end from one of the spectator boats, or maybe a drone, to put it all in perspective.

I am terrified of watching this it's crazy.

Extraordinary! Glass like water on a sunny day, and a perfectly even sinking: the growing roar of the flooding is absolutely terrifying.... so quick... that churning water. And this is WITHOUT waves, bad weather, a growing list, people falling over each other, yelling screaming, blood, jammed hatches, lights failing, burning oil, cooking off munitions, choking black smoke etc. It's all absolutely horrifying.