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All Seasons

Season 1

  • SPECIAL 0x6 Drain the Great Lakes

    • December 1, 2011
    • National Geographic

    CGI drains the Great Lakes, the world's largest system of free fresh water, to reveal hidden secrets of the continent's history and geological past.

  • SPECIAL 0x8 Drain Alcatraz

    • December 19, 2017
    • National Geographic

    Drain Alcatraz uses cutting edge visual effects to 'drain' the waters around the notorious island of Alcatraz. With the waters drained away the secrets of Alcatraz are revealed, including exactly why the island's infamous prison was so inescapable. With no water in the way, San Francisco Bay is revealed to be a fascinating and chaotic place. Fault line scars left by epic earthquakes give scientists an idea as to when and where the next 'big one' will strike and, with the whole area drained, what will happen when it does. But what will remain of Alcatraz when the dust settles?

  • S01E01 Nazi Secrets

    • May 28, 2018
    • National Geographic

    The hidden secrets of the Nazis are revealed when the oceans covering them are drained using CGI animation.

  • S01E02 Gulf of Mexico

    • June 4, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Draining the Gulf of Mexico brings deadly secrets back to the surface. Stories of piracy, war, slavery and a dinosaur-killing asteroid are revealed.

  • S01E03 Lost Worlds of the Mediterranean

    • June 11, 2018
    • National Geographic

    The secrets of lost ancient civilizations come to light when the Mediterranean is drained.

  • S01E04 Sunken Treasures

    • June 18, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Treasure hunting has captured our imaginations for centuries. Draining the oceans reveals the richest wrecks ever found.

  • S01E05 Legends of Atlantis

    • June 25, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Exciting evidence emerges of civilizations lost under the waves. But are these ancient cities the long sought-after Atlantis or accidents of geology?

  • S01E06 Deadly Pacific

    • July 2, 2018
    • National Geographic

    The Ring of Fire is an area in the Pacific Ocean where volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis form; the ocean is drained to reveal the geological forces behind natural disasters and to uncover threats along the coast of Seattle, Tokyo and New Zealand.

  • S01E07 Egypt's Lost Wonders

    • July 9, 2018
    • National Geographic

    The Nile was central to ancient Egypt. Draining its water reveals a lost wonder and the origins of the Egyptians’ obsession with the afterlife.

  • S01E08 Mysteries of the China Seas

    • July 16, 2018
    • National Geographic

    The China seas are the most fiercely contested and mysterious waters on the planet. We expose the remains of the biggest battleship ever put on the water.

  • S01E09 Ultimate Battleships

    • July 23, 2018
    • National Geographic

    The hidden secrets of WWI's powerful weapons are revealed by draining the North Sea.

  • S01E10 Malaysia Airlines 370

    • July 30, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Where is Malaysian Airlines flight MH370? CGI reconstruction reveals the challenges of locating an aircraft that goes missing in the deep ocean.

Season 2

  • S02E01 Secrets of D-Day

    • June 3, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Sonar technology heads beneath Normandy's waves for a powerful look at the hundred plus ships wrecked during the largest amphibious invasion ever.

  • S02E02 Secrets of New York City

    • June 10, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Submerged shipwrecks and subterranean secrets reveal the story of New York City’s rise.

  • S02E03 Killer U-Boats

    • June 17, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Shedding light on German U-Boats, the world’s first stealth weapons.

  • S02E04 Buried Secrets of the Gold Rush

    • July 1, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Winners took all in the race to get rich in the California and Klondike gold rushes; unearthing the ships involved reveals the risks taken to go west.

  • S02E05 Secrets of the Civil War

    • July 22, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Maritime archaeologists and historians search for the lost wrecks of the American Civil War.

  • S02E06 Lost Nukes of the Cold War

    • July 29, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Using computer-generated imagery, the Cold War's lost nuclear weapons are revealed on ocean floors, along with evidence of secret nuclear confrontations

  • S02E07 Secrets of the Spanish Armada

    • August 5, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Spain's attempted conquest of England fails when its Armada is defeated; by draining the ocean, it is revealed that the English stole shipbuilding technology to build their own empire.

  • S02E08 Pacific War Megawrecks

    • August 12, 2019
    • National Geographic

    A high-tech expedition searches for the iconic lost wrecks of the Battle of the Pacific.

  • S02E09 Thai Cave Rescue

    • September 2, 2019
    • National Geographic

    A new 3D survey of the Thai cave in Tham Luang reveals how 12 boys were rescued after being trapped.

  • S02E10 London's Secret History

    • September 9, 2019
    • National Geographic

    London's secret history is revealed.

  • S02E11 Secrets of Loch Ness

    • September 16, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Emptying the lake to finally reveal the monster's identity.

  • S02E12 Hitler's Killer Warships

    • September 23, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Shedding new light on Hitler's reign of terror and ultimate demise.

  • S02E13 Lost Giants

    • September 30, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Maritime archaeologists and historians go in search of the biggest wrecks ever sunk beneath the seas; new scientific data combines with cutting-edge computer graphics to drain the oceans to investigate the world's most awe-inspiring wrecks.

  • S02E14 Pacific Shockwave

    • October 7, 2019
    • National Geographic

    How Japan dominated the Pacific during World War II, crushing the Allies.

  • S02E15 Rise of the Roman Empire

    • October 14, 2019
    • National Geographic

    The story of how Rome dominated the world for 500 years by conquering the sea.

Season 3

  • S03E01 America's Last Slave Ship

    • February 9, 2020
    • National Geographic

    Maritime archaeologists and historians go in search of the crucial component in the Atlantic Slave Trade: the slave ship. An armoured, floating fortress operating for over four centuries, capturing and transporting over 12 million Africans, who were sold and forced to work in brutal conditions in the New World. By draining we reveal the cruel technology on-board, gain an insight into the horrific conditions and ID a wreck in Alabama that could be the last ever slave ship to bring Africans to American soil.

  • S03E02 The Atomic Ghost Fleet

    • May 5, 2020
    • National Geographic

    A high-tech survey reveals the dark secrets of U.S. nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.

  • S03E03 The Viking Seas

    • May 5, 2020
    • National Geographic

    After vanishing in the Baltic over 450 years ago, a formidable battleship reveals secrets.

  • S03E04 Egypt's Sunken City

    • May 12, 2020
    • National Geographic

    A legendary ancient Egyptian city, lost beneath the waves for 2,000 years, finally gives up its secrets.

  • S03E05 The Battle of Britain

    • May 19, 2020
    • National Geographic

    In summer 1940, Great Britain stood alone against the Nazis. Now we uncover the wrecks that reveal the truth behind the Battle of Britain.

  • S03E06 Pirate Ships of the Caribbean

    • May 26, 2020
    • National Geographic

    Uncovering the long-lost shipwrecks of legendary captains reveals why the Caribbean — more than all other seas — became famous for pirates.

  • S03E07 The American Revolution

    • June 2, 2020
    • National Geographic

    Forgotten wrecks from the American Revolution are discovered. Cutting-edge computer graphics shed new light on the struggle for independence.

  • S03E08 Raiders of the Civil War

    • June 9, 2020
    • National Geographic

    Draining American rivers, seas and oceans reveals military tactics from the American Civil War that rewrote the rules of warfare forever.

  • S03E09 The Last Wrecks of WWII

    • June 16, 2020
    • National Geographic

    Hitler’s latest weapons sink during a top-secret U-boat mission. An American aviation breakthrough brings victory to the Allies in the Pacific.

  • S03E10 Chicago

    • June 23, 2020
    • National Geographic

    Underwater exploration reveals astonishing secrets: terrifying disasters, war-winning heroics and an engineering marvel that saves the city.

Season 4

  • S04E01 The Wild West

    • August 2, 2021
    • National Geographic

    Uncovered clues from a famous Montana battleground, a 19th-century steamboat and a frontier ghost town reveal surprising truths about the Wild West.

  • S04E02 The Battle for the Black Swan

    • August 2, 2021
    • National Geographic

    Archaeologists and treasure hunters battle it out over half a billion dollars worth of gold and silver. Who will win the Battle for the Black Swan?

  • S04E03 Arctic War

    • August 2, 2021
    • National Geographic

    From a long lost US base beneath the Arctic ice cap, to a sunken Soviet submarine, the Cold War's toxic legacy is both fascinating and terrifying.

  • S04E04 Hollywood

    • August 9, 2021
    • National Geographic

    From a buried film set to a WW1 Navy ship and old fishing barge, we discover the role these ruins played in Hollywood movie-making history.

  • S04E05 The First Americans

    • August 9, 2021
    • National Geographic

    Clues from a 13,000-year-old skeleton and a submerged coastline reveal surprising insights about the first humans to arrive in the Americas.

  • S04E06 Venice's Lost Empire

    • August 9, 2021
    • National Geographic

    A 14th-century galley entombed in mud, a 16th-century hoard of luxury cargo, and a gruesome discovery reveal the rise and fall of the Venetian Empire.

  • S04E07 The Mississippi River

    • August 16, 2021
    • National Geographic

    From a steamboat in a cornfield to the true story behind Hurricane Katrina's floods, new discoveries reveal how the Mississippi river shaped America.

  • S04E08 Hurricane Apocalypse

    • August 16, 2021
    • National Geographic

    Remnants of colonization attempts, a revolutionary refugee ship and submerged subway cars reveal hurricanes' impacts on America's past and its future.

  • S04E09 The Great Barrier Reef

    • August 23, 2021
    • National Geographic

    The mysterious sinking of Australia’s “Titanic”, a warship on a dangerous mission, and a ROV expedition searching for clues at the bottom of the reef.

  • S04E10 Sea of Secrets

    • August 23, 2021
    • National Geographic

    The Black Sea is a place of myth and legend and ships have sailed on its waters for millennia. Three wrecks unlock secrets of this mysterious sea.

  • SPECIAL 0x20 Deep Sea Mysteries

    • November 16, 2022

    Explore a world never seen before - a world hidden under miles of water, the landscape of the ocean bed. Combining the latest scientific data with state of the art CGI computer hardware we reveal some of the world's sunken mysteries. The Titanic, a WWII sunken battleship and the mysterious Flight 19 lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Using already aired episodes of Drain the Ocean we will be able to highlight each of these sunken treasures and tell their stories.

Season 5

  • S05E01 The Secrets of Pompeii's Dead

    • November 15, 2022
    • National Geographic

    New discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum reveal the identities and final moments of those trapped during Mount Vesuvius' eruption 2000 years ago.

  • S05E02 The Amber Room

    • November 22, 2022
    • National Geographic

    The discovery of a wreck in the Baltic Sea leads to a treasure hunt, but what they find is even more precious: the story of Germany's Dunkirk.

  • S05E03 Pearl Harbor

    • November 29, 2022
    • National Geographic

    Draining Hawaii reveals Japan's secret weapons, from mini subs to fighter planes, with the wreck of USS Arizona serving as a reminder of the forces unleashed.

  • S05E04 The Alamo

    • December 6, 2022
    • National Geographic

    Archaeologists are researching the events surrounding the Battle of the Alamo, one of the most famous sieges in American history. Shipwrecks filled with weapons have now been found in the Gulf of Mexico.

  • S05E05 Ancient Maya Resurrection

    • December 13, 2022
    • National Geographic

    Maya Collapse: New discoveries made at a lost city and a tale of human sacrifice offer a new insight into the rise and fall of the ancient Maya.

  • S05E06 Narcos

    • December 20, 2022
    • National Geographic

    Narcos: With real-time access to a US border security team, discover the extraordinary story of how Mexican cartels have smuggled cocaine into the US over the last 40 years.

Season 6

  • S06E01 Alaska

    • March 5, 2023
    • National Geographic

    Draining Alaskas extreme north reveals the graveyard of a tragic fleet.

  • S06E02 Rise of the Mob

    • March 12, 2023
    • National Geographic

    Lost wrecks reveal how the Mob gained power and wealth in 1920s America.

  • S06E03 Secrets of the Dinosaurs

    • March 19, 2023
    • National Geographic

    From Patagonia to Canada, paleontologists uncover the Real Jurassic Americas.

  • S06E04 The Myth of the Pacific Pirate Ship

    • March 26, 2023
    • National Geographic

    Fragments of porcelain and blocks of beeswax lead to a 250-year-old shipwreck and a forgotten trade route of vast cargo ships in the Pacific.

  • S06E05 Invasion USA

    • April 2, 2023
    • National Geographic

    A shipwreck is thought to be a lost flagship from the War of 1812, and an artist uncovers her ancestor’s link to the burning of the White House.

  • S06E06 $20 Million Time Bomb

    • April 9, 2023
    • National Geographic

    The true story of one of the darkest crimes on the high seas; the sinking of the MV Lucona and its crew, all to claim a massive insurance pay out.

Additional Specials

  • SPECIAL 0x1 Villains of the Underworld

    • May 29, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Cutting edge technology will reveal the secrets of the sea floor and expose the shaky ground on which we all live.

  • SPECIAL 0x2 Drain the Bermuda Triangle

    • December 7, 2014
    • National Geographic

    A simulation shows what might happen if the section of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Bermuda Triangle were drained,

  • SPECIAL 0x3 Drain the Titanic

    • April 12, 2015
    • National Geographic

    Advanced new underwater mapping combined with the latest computer graphics techniques, are today enabling us to virtually ‘drain’ the Titanic.

  • SPECIAL 0x4 Drain The Ocean: WWII

    • September 19, 2016
    • National Geographic

    New undersea surveys and 3-D imaging reveal secrets of World War II shipwrecks.

  • SPECIAL 0x5 Drain the Ocean

    • August 9, 2009
    • National Geographic

    What if we could pull the plug and drain the planet's water? Follow NGC on a virtual scientific expedition to the deep.

  • SPECIAL 0x7 Ghost Ships of the Atlantic

    • July 31, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Explore a world never seen before - a world hidden under miles of water, the landscape of the Atlantic sea bed.

  • Movies

    SPECIAL 0x9 Drain the Sunken Pirate City

    • July 9, 2017
    • National Geographic

    Hidden beneath the waters of Jamaica’s Kingston Harbor lie the ruins of the biggest pirate city of all time, Port Royal. With its reputation for extravagance, liquor and ladies it became known as the “wickedest city on earth”.

  • SPECIAL 0x10 Sunken Cities

    • October 15, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Unlocking the secrets of the world's sunken lost cities through science.

  • SPECIAL 0x11 Treasures of the Deep

    • October 22, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Using the latest technology to reveal lost treasures on the high seas.

  • SPECIAL 0x12 Sunken War Ships

    • October 29, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Sunken ships decisively influence WWI, and the impacts even changed the course of WWII.

  • SPECIAL 0x13 Stormy Seas

    • November 5, 2018
    • National Geographic

    Mother nature’s fury has been the cause of countless wrecks for centuries. What can science reveal about these wrecks lost beneath the waves?

  • SPECIAL 0x14 Sabotage on the High Seas

    • January 22, 2019
    • National Geographic

    In maritime warfare, saboteurs are a silent and unseen enemy. Direct attacks, advanced weaponry and the element of surprise have sent many ships to their final resting place, on the seafloor.

  • SPECIAL 0x15 Americas Sunken Shores

    • January 22, 2019
    • National Geographic

    War, weather, and human error have led to some of the worst maritime disasters in US history. But imagine if we could empty the oceans, letting the water drain away to reveal these secrets of America’s sea floor.

  • SPECIAL 0x16 Deep Water Disasters

    • January 29, 2019
    • National Geographic

    The sea floor is the world's biggest tsunami machine, and its dangers have long remained hidden.

  • SPECIAL 0x17 Undersea Empires

    • February 5, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Beneath the waters of the world, lies undersea empires and relics of their bloody wars. Through the use of cutting edge technology we will uncover lost empires… for the first time.

  • SPECIAL 0x18 Without A Trace

    • February 12, 2019
    • National Geographic

    December 1945, a squadron of US Navy planes vanishes off Florida’s coast and March, 2014 a Boeing 777 with 239 people on board is lost without a trace. Will the lessons learned from air disasters help solve the mysteries behind lost flights?

  • SPECIAL 0x19 Secret Missions

    • October 21, 2019
    • National Geographic

    Stories of clandestine missions conducted beneath the waves have remained hidden from prying eyes for decades, until now.