THE SILENT SERVICE

[Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] submarines during world war ii were accustomed to being attacked by almost any kind of aircraft or surface vessel it was unusual however for submarines to engage each other in combat in this chapter the silence service we take you aboard one of our submarines engaged in a u-boat hunt the story is dedicated to the uss flounder and the uss basugo the two united states submarines which sank german u-boats in the pacific during world war ii halfway through 1944 the uss sea nettle was on station in the formosa straits message from calm subpac captain urgent to all sudden you read it yet no sir fred just finished decoding it german u-boat somewhere an area of south china sea headed for japan carrying cargo of utmost repeat utmost important sink at all costs sink at all costs hmm i wonder what he's carrying i imagine com subpac knows what he's doing take a look at the chart howie come on up take the con [Music] doesn't seem like much chance of us getting a crack at them there's a lot of ocean there's a whole mess of boats in it well maybe we'll be lucky of course we've only got three torpedoes left if we miss him with those we're down to throwing rocks at him well he probably won't get up this far anyway yeah probably not not with every boat in the area looking for him you know he shouldn't be that hard to pinpoint how come well he's had a pretty long haul he probably refueled at sea off the east coast of africa he'd be about due for another refueling now singapore be the place to do it well you can bet calm sub-packs thought of that and probably got a couple of guys waiting for him i wonder where he is you know if i were that nazi skipper i'd never touched singapore i'd figure they were expecting me there no sir i'd come around sumatra up through sunday straight and make my run from there [Music] you're quite sure of your calculations kroger yes circumstance the stars are very clear tonight good what is our fuel situation low her capitan but we will have no trouble if the mexico submarine is where it should be the fires navy does not make mistakes krogen i did not mean to infer her capitan objection clear the bridge time [Music] [Music] periscope depth there capita very well up terrorist government bearing mach 090 range mark 2400 yards [Music] could have been one less of them why not her capitan he could never have gotten a message off in time that's why i am in command our getting to japan is a lot more important than one american submarine [Music] the german skipper knew his business every possibly vasey tactic to elude the american submarine searching for him was used he stopped and submerged to confuse their calculations of his speed of advance he also made changes in his course but although he dodged about the south china sea he always turned back towards his objective japan still patrolled her area more late than ever as repeated messages from comp subpac stressed the urgency of finding the u-boat whatever that joker is carrying he sure got calm subpac excited yeah well either they missed him at singapore he never put in for refueling maybe he's planning a rendezvous to refuel at sea well your first guest was right what's your guess this time okay i'm a nazi skipper i'm carrying a cargo that's so important every sub in the south china sea is looking for me right right okay i've got to assume for my own safety that you know roughly where i am very roughly maybe at least you know i'm headed for japan so i can't afford to fool around out here in the middle of the ocean and by this time no matter how careful i've been i'd have to be at least there well that's pinpointing it pretty good but it's still only a guess that's what you asked for wasn't it later contact during one five zero range thirty thousand yards jimmy pull the plug look at the brakes [Music] see nettle close to target while the tracking party calculated its course and speed this is the biggest convoy we've latched onto all the troll [Music] bearing mark zero zero five range mark two thousand yards downstream [Music] we can't gamble sam we've only got three torpedoes left gamble captain we got a set up here you're only guessing about the u-boat that's the gamble maybe the more i think about it the better i like my guess besides with the fuss calm sub packs kicking up i imagine that u-boat's worth more in a couple of freighters captain that u-boat isn't going to get up this far you guarantee that sam [Music] the nazi captain was helpful but he was also shot with incredible luck in the same area on the prowl for american ships was a japanese submarine and 2500 feet above flew an american bomb on anti-submarine patrol [Music] she spotted a submarine diving and came in racing for the kill [Music] [Music] what's up i'm not gonna like it plain down south got a submarine 10 degrees 14 minutes north 115 degrees east i knew that nazi wouldn't get this far the same didn't say it was a german they got oh come on captain he's right where you figured he'd be maybe well anyhow we'll find someplace to put those fish i sure hope so it'll be the first time we ever came home with torpedoes aboard at the scene of the sinking the american patrol plane examined the wreckage as was a custom to make positive identification captain what is it sam it's farewell to the glamorous scenic south china sea you get our message off to the forest commander yes sir very well notify all hands we're on our way home come right to new course two three five the u-boat captain has reached the last leg of his journey but his evasive tactics had forced him to use more fuel that he had anticipated well very low her capitan but the military porch is on station good very good let's refuel finish this mission and get back to what we should be doing fighting not running sea nettle was on her way home but her crew never relaxed their alertness she still had three top heaters they wanted to put to use you got that crystal ball signed up captain what's that mean that submarine they sank it wasn't the u-boat [Applause] where is he now how should i know oh i'm not that good sam anyhow it's not our problem anymore bridge radar contact bearing two three zero range 25 000 yards what couldn't be clear the bridge clean the bridge [Music] [Music] there he is the u-boat no we'll get rid of our fish it's a japanese sub take a look sam [Music] said torpedo depth 10 feet that's 10 feet standby bearing mark three two five range play that take another look sam [Music] i don't get it what's he blinking for how much faith do you have my crystal ball you made me a believer captain that nazi skipper has come a long way if he hasn't refueled yet he's due that sub out there might just be his milk cow you don't buy it captain i don't argue with that crystal ball anymore but we're getting pretty low on fuel ourselves well we won't be going out of our way just hang around a little bit see what happens she is there [Music] down periscope prepare to suffer all surfacing stations man he can't be done hey though [Music] keep it on sound contact zero five one dive dive into it [Music] sound contact bearing two three one [Music] silent running [Music] sorry captain it's gone but what'd it sound like hard to say captain might have been screwed but it didn't get much of a shot at it all right stay with it johnson i hear nothing further captain what was it i cannot tell her capitan sound conditions are not too good it could be nothing her capitan a school of fish maybe even the milk car herself she's on that bearing give me a course for hong kong but a cup of tea the fuel i don't think i did not ask you to think across to hong kong please all through the night sea nettle kept her vigil hoping she had the proper bait she had but her fish had refused it the nazi skipper had slipped quietly away to safer waters his luck was still holy good morning captain anything nothing thanks well we tried why don't we sink her and head for home you know i may be getting stubborn in my old age i got a kind of a funny hunch about this thing that guy's a real sharpie this sounds like it's getting to be a personal thing with you maybe but according to calm subpac he's still the most important boat in these waters are you convinced he's here well look if we were right about singapore about his not refueling until now and all the rest of it well then he just can't go any farther until he fills his tanks all right but where's he gonna fill him outside of that sub up there [Applause] hong kong where else can he go well captain even if you're right what about our fuel problem we can't chase them all over the ocean let's not just talk about it let's figure out exactly how far we can chase him what about our friend upstairs well we just have to gamble but if we can make it we're going to take a quick look at hong kong the remaining fuel supply was carefully checked sea nettle could just about make it [Music] outside hong kong harbor captain kennedy settled down to waste sea nettle waited all that day all that night and most of the following day [Music] [Applause] we just about had it on fuel captain yeah you're right sam i guess the crystal ball just isn't working anymore now we're surfacing head for the barn as soon as it's dark sorry captain i can't win them all screws bearing 0-9-0 up scope [Applause] [Music] downscope nothing out there turn on your loudspeaker pairing 092 clothing that's him all right doesn't have to be captain could be japanese no we've been too right up to now it's got to be him take us down to 200 feet to try and stay on his tail come right to new course zero four zero four zero four zero kill all fans in the ventilation system [Music] on paris go submarine let us turn it could be japanese her copy team they would have told us [Music] all i had emergency screws speeding up opening fast he's making a run for it don't lose him now johnson for hours the chase went on the u-boat skipper maneuvering brilliantly drawing on his many years of undersea experience but captain kennedy was constantly one jump ahead of him anticipating his every move [Music] he's good we must be better dead slow ahead silent running stand by all tubes rig for silent running running [Music] now began a silent war of nerves while there was no longer the hunter and the hunted now both were hunters one wrong move would end the hunt and neither could take the chance of making it the nazi skipper couldn't surface for fear of being blown out of the water but neither could sea nettle for the same reason not even long enough to radio for help it was a standoff but the u-boat skipper had one advantage he didn't know about sea nettle desperately needed a battery charge [Music] we're just gonna have to sweat it out as long as we can sam well it may not be much longer captain [Music] the nazi captain got the first break as soon as he commenced echo ranging he got a solid contact on sea nettle i hear it this is what we have been waiting for quickly and efficiently his crew prepared the u-boat for firing [Music] torpedo i take a deep emergency all ahead flank [Music] level off all ahead one-third [Music] captain we have enough battery to do that again this is the captain i think you deserve to know what we're gonna do we may be the last boat to get a crack at this nazi sub but we can't get him if we stay down here if we surface we may give him first crack at us but we've got no choice it's either bait him or run and we're not about to run so we're gonna head right for him to give him a smaller target as possible and then we're gonna surface if he takes the bait i intend to fire our last three torpedoes and follow right down the track if they miss him they're gonna try to ram him good luck battle stations stand by the surface [Music] [Applause] [Music] his first mistake [Music] up to periscope that's quiet [Music] tubes one two four ready to fire target red five speed three knots range fifteen hundred meters torpedo speed 30 knots running there three meters lined up [Music] you go all ahead flank [Music] [Applause] mark june [Music] torpedoes passing down both sides [Music] racing down the track of our own top heaters sea nettle and her crew were completely prepared to make the final sacrifice [Music] all ahead standard set is a course for home sam it will be a pleasure captain i'll be back in a moment simon lake and john p holland were the fathers of our present-day submarine but if they were alive today they would undoubtedly have trouble recognizing their brain child with atomic power and the latest in sound gear the submarine is steadily loosening the ties that bind her to the surface and is becoming more and more a creature of the deep our respect and admiration to those who man our marvelous submarines of today and perhaps just a touch of envy for those who will do so in the future while the submarines of tomorrow will undoubtedly be as different from ours as ours are from those first conceived by holland and lake the threat of nuclear explosions above and the harnessing of nuclear power for propulsion submerged have promoted the submarine to an ever-growing position of importance in the navies of the world it is highly possible that in years to come a prerequisite for warships will be an ability to submerge please join us again for another thrilling story of the silent service [Music] the world [Music] underneath [Music] blue underneath [Music] you