For those fortunate to see the recent BBC programme presented by Dan Snow, that investigated the differences in Naval ship performance between the British and German vessels, there were some excellent footage of the Boldrewood Innovation Campus and was mentioned in a University press release.

Dr Jon Downes and Prof Philip Wilson worked closely with the production company since the start of the year and are particularly grateful for the unacknowledged support of FSI/Ship Science Alumni Dr Pat Couser of Bentley Systems in the modelling of the sinking of HMS Queen Mary using the Maxsurf software suite (https://www.bentley.com/en/products/brands/maxsurf) as shown in the film, and also the fine work of Allan Thompson in the construction of the physical model of HMS Queen Mary. This model part funded by the Faculty of Engineering and Environment will be used as part of the Ship Science teaching programme.

For those who watched the programme that seemed to confirm the long held view that it wasn’t the engineering of the British ships that was at fault, once the model took on sufficient damage to sink she went to the bottom so fast and so steeply that the one shot underwater video opportunity missed the descent and subsequent impressive impact!