Beginning with the H.M.S. Bounty and the Battle of Trafalgar, this program shows how ships were turned into more and more powerful and brutal killing machines. It illustrates the change from the 19th-century naval objective—national prestige—to the modern goal of mobility; it also covers the establishment and growth of the Naval War College in Newport, RI, analyzes the difference between theory and operation, shows the first major fleet action since Trafalgar, the Battle of Tsushima and the Russian defeat by the Japanese navy, and the World War I Battle of Jutland. Covering the great battles of the Pacific in World War II, the program shows the rise of the aircraft carrier and questions its political as well as its strategic future. (28 minutes)