New show: The Flood

In 2003, the HMAS Tashano, a Royal Australian Navy Collins-class submarine, nearly sank to the ocean floor after a catastrophic flood in its lower motor room—just 20 seconds from being crushed by deep-sea pressure. The incident, which the Navy initially buried, is now revealed in full through firsthand accounts from crew members, former commanders, and a journalist who had just spent 48 hours aboard the vessel. The episode unfolds like a thriller: a hydraulic burst triggers a flood, the crew is thrown into chaos, and Commander Peter Scott faces the unthinkable—leading a doomed crew to a watery grave. Yet, the submarine survives, not through luck, but through extraordinary calm, engineering precision, and the instinct to fight. This near-disaster, haunted by the memory of the Russian Kursk disaster, reshaped submarine safety protocols and exposed the hidden psychological toll on submariners and their families. The story is not just about survival—it’s about the invisible cost of secrecy, the weight of command, and the unbreakable bond among those who live under the sea. The Flood is a meticulously crafted audio investigation that blends immersive storytelling with archival depth, turning a near-tragedy into a profound meditation on courage, human error, and institutional silence. It reveals how one moment of failure—caused by a poorly sealed hatch—could have ended in national grief, and how the crew’s response, driven by training and brotherhood, averted catastrophe.