villages, monuments and the related to thery battle fought 100 years ago on the western front. >> the weather was horrible, rainy and chile. the americas launched an attack headed north in the direction of where we are standing. unbeknownst to them, the germans who had occupied this whole selling it had begin a withdrawal and they were starting to move the troops, but they did not move them quick enough. thehe end of the day on 12th, the americans reached not only the main objectives for that day, but many of the objectives for the following day. by midmorning of september 13, the whole salient had been liberated. artifactsmerican sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3. up next, we are on board the

one of onlyrleck two surviving destroyers that invites visitors on board the ship. andill take you on a sure show you how they launch for peto's at enemy ships. come and brings their families and first step on the ship, it is like the view of the ship, the smell of the ship and brings back memories. most of them say this is where i became a man. it was 31 miles to the west in texas. it was launched 12th of may in 1945. it was when world war ii was winding down. it was the last destroy a completed while the war was still going on. we believe they built about 39 destroyers during the war here in the shipyard. eighth of may, 1945 and the ship was launched and

on thened by the wife 12th of may, 1945. at 15 commissioned september, 1945 after the japanese surrender in tokyo bay. in the water and getting shakedowns while the pacific war was going on. it has greater fuel capacity. war, it didorean shore bombardment. it started with the train buster club in late -- loading up supply chains. stars.rned for battle >> the destroyers are smaller ships that would defend the larger ships and they would travel in a fleet around the aircraft carriers and the battleships. to defendir jobs is

and keepaft carriers the enemy away from those larger thes, which were delivering other weapons systems. over the years, destroyers did a lot of different things. sometimes about the past. there was spacecrafts flashing down in the ocean and a fleet would be in the area to pick up the astronauts. normally a destroyer would come and pick up the space capsule. it was part of the jammeh recovery mission in the early -- jammeh recovery mission. . it was sent to vietnam to fire on the gumline. this is the area where we have

mount. mount, the 52 gun this is a five inch, 38 done mount which is a five and stash ount, and delivers projectile that weighs 56 pounds. weaponsre multipurpose week as they could shoot up at the air at airplanes. they could shoot down in the water at ships and they could shoot a distance of over 10 miles so they could set off the weapons week as they couldcoast of kored shoot targets on land. it was also top gun in vietnam and shop more what them a five inch guns than any other navy ship. this is the 52 gun mount. you had four men in the middle, to loading each gun. you had the ammo, appear, that gunpowder,. gunpowder comet

up here. then you have the bullet. they would move around and load it and turned backwards. they would load it up in here. once the emil is loaded they would shove the emil in the barrel and it is ready to fire. -- ammo ine barrel the barrel and it is ready to fire. that is a very specially trained -- that are trying to set a record. i think it is more like 10-12 rounds a minute. we are on the deck. this is an anti-submarine rocket or it this is a rocket launcher. eight sales, eight compartments holding rockets. it would launch rockets, they carry torpedoes off of 1000 to could drops and

those weapons in the oceans and destroy enemy submarines. now we will proceed back through the magazine, which is where they store the rockets in the torpedoes. first we have big racks for the back your we have some .ain's -- submarines these are the homing torpedoes home in on the sound of a submarine and chase after it. you had room for 12, maybe 15 if they stack on the top. another one here and three more on top. hopefully you only needed one. these were carried by the helicopter. for is the remote control the helicopter. a man operating that remote control that would get that helicopter in the air.

when it returned to the ship he would land it. now we will proceed out to the helicopter deck. here is one of our drone helicopters. this is a weapon system that was designed by -- of new york. to -- two could carry torpedoes. detecticopter would submarines and it would be dropped off. this is a 1952 drone. electronics were still big and to lift 430ulky pound torpedoes you had to have a strong helicopter system. enginee a 300 horsepower to lift over 800 pounds of payload or the helicopter itself was somewhere in that 900 something pounds.

i believe they would be pretty affect the because they could deliver the tour peto close to where the enemy submarine was out. it would chase after and destroy submarines. the last area i want to show you is cic, combat information center. this is where you have the radar , radar manned station, radar manned unit. have enemy targets. this information is being parted on the big board back in the corner. everything appears they would make the decision that these are and would decide certain enemy targets. the asre in this room is rock control system and computer for aiming the rockets and

firing the rockets. collect a weapon, get it ready and then when they are ready to fire they would go to then they would go to fire in the rocket would be fired. it would be two men stationed here. probably a third one that has a telephone talker that is relaying information by way of sound powered telephone. probably an officer or to instruct the man and overseeing the action of the men. you also have sonar back here, which is detecting the enemy submarine. that would be the information used to aim the rockets. the battle situation, this is where you are controlling the battle. the officers and men are actually controlling some of the major weapon systems. not only the

rocket launcher and the torpedoes, but they also are instructing the men and the gun mounts from firing the guns. this is where you are controlling the weapon system and the battle but you are in. i hope visitors coming get an appreciation for the ship history and the men who served aboard her and ships like her and share this with their children. it is really important that we preserve the history, this naval history a we can honor the sacrifice of those who went before us. travelcities tour staff to lake charles, louisiana to learn about its rich history. learn more about lake charles and other stops on our tour at

c-span.org/cities for. you are watching american history tv all weekend, every weekend on c-span3. american history tv is in prime time next week on c-span3. starting monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, a discussion on the role of wax teachers in the south who fought against segregation. with amory university professor vanessa. theday, a symposium on concept of liberty, explaining how the ideas of freedom, law and liberty have changed throughout history. , womenay on oral history in congress continues with lynn andngresswoman nancy. thursday, a look at the role of espionage in u.s. conflicts over the past century and a half. on friday, on real america, the world war ii film series about the outbreak of world war ii to --rl harbor and the rise of

in germany, italy and japan. watch american history tv next week in primetime on c-span3. 100 years ago on september 12, 1918, the american launched its force first independent operation of world war i. on american artifacts, we traveled to northeastern france to learn about the battle. here is a preview. >> i am sick -- standing in the village. in isason it is named because she was a wealthy socialite from massachusetts who took to heart this village that was destroyed by the german. she was a graduate and was the class president. her family owned a textile company with the name of

skinner. .he had a passion for france she came over here before the war, during the war, and then came back in 1919. that is when she discovered this village and it was destroyed. she decided that she needed to help out. she raise money, give some of her own money, including close to the citizens who had to move accurate after the war. she helped rebuild the village, including the school that i am standing in front of right now. she set up a washbasin in town so citizens could clean their close. walking into the courtyard you get a magnificent view of the home. me is then front of monument. we are west of the monument. but the monument was placed by

the american monument commission to commemorate the activities of the americans who liberated this village, and many others like it beginning on september 12, 1918. as the americans headed in this direction, they liberated villages one by one. eventually, the 26 division of new englanders reached where the germans have left but were still fighting in and around the village. left in ruins, including the school i am standing in that she would spend her own money to read and rebuild after the war. >> you can watch the entire tour

of the area and learn about the world war i battle this sunday at 6:00 p.m. end 10:00 p.m. eastern on american artifacts. america," "the inheritance." it was produced by the amalgamated clothing workers of america . ryan,ed by actor robert the documents advances from ellis island to the civil rights movement. s itsroup got it start in the 1920's and in 1964 merged. this is just under one hour.