Drawing on rarely seen footage from the Imperial War Museums' collection, Royal Navy historian Roland R Smith creates a powerful film portrait of the Royal Navy in the early years of the Second World War, reviewing the fleet and recounting some of the earliest actions.

The collection includes:

ROYAL NAVY AT WAR IN COLOUR

Rare archive footage shot by serving officers from HMS Nelson, HMS Kent, HMS Ivanhoe and HMS Laforey.

BRITISH CONVOYS

A vivid insight into two very different types of British convoys during the Second World War.

BRITISH PACIFIC AND EAST INDIES FLEETS

Disparagingly referred to as the 'forgotten fleets', this is the ultimate film record of these two fleets, their fighting ships and men.

OPERATION TORCH AND NEPTUNE

Two of the largest, most spectacular and successful operations conducted by the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

KING GEORGE V CLASS BATTLESHIPS 1941-1942

One of the last class of battleships to be commissioned by the Royal Navy, it played a major role in the Second World War.

BRITANNIA GOES TO WAR

A look at how the Royal Navy responded to war through training of new recruits, new tactics to protect convoys in the Channel and mine sweeping of the waters.

WAR IN THE FROZEN NORTH

The story of the carrier HMS Glorious from 1935 to her sinking during the ill-fated Norwegian Campaign of 1940.