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Navy Log is an American television drama anthology series created by Samuel Gallu that presented stories from the history of the United States Navy.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00This action report on the Don Frost really has me puzzled.
00:13It's funny. Here's a captain that wants to recommend somebody for a citation.
00:19Only he can't find out who to recommend.
00:21Strangest thing I've ever run across.
00:24I think I'll sit in on this investigation myself.
00:30Hear, O Father, come to say,
00:40whose arms I'll find the restless way.
00:51Time, September, 1943.
00:55Place, the waters off New Guinea.
00:57Duty, to attack, invade, and hold.
01:09While the main battle is going on,
01:12a lone destroyer picket stands ready if enemy plane action should come.
01:16And come it does.
01:18Hard and heavy.
01:20But not enough to destroy this little ship.
01:22Why?
01:23Because a young seaman refused to die for a few seconds.
01:31Commence firing.
01:33Commence firing.
01:34Commence firing.
01:35Commence firing.
01:35Bandit off the starboard bow.
01:56Right full runner.
01:58Commence firing.
01:59Come on, sir.
01:59Come on, sir.
02:00Come on, sir.
02:01Come on, sir.
02:01Come on, sir.
02:02Come on, sir.
02:02Come on, sir.
02:03Come on, sir.
02:03Come on, sir.
02:04Come on, sir.
02:04Come on, sir.
02:05Come on, sir.
02:05Come on, sir.
02:06Come on, sir.
02:06Come on, sir.
02:07Come on, sir.
02:07Come on, sir.
02:08Come on, sir.
02:08Come on, sir.
02:09Come on, sir.
02:09Come on, sir.
02:10Come on, sir.
02:11Come on, sir.
02:11Come on, sir.
02:12Come on, sir.
02:13Come on, sir.
02:14Come on, sir.
02:15Come on, sir.
02:16Come on, sir.
02:17Come on, sir.
02:18.
02:32Bridge, torpedo approaching bow.
02:34Hey, Bridge, acknowledge.
02:38Bridge, do you read me?
02:39Do you read me?
02:40Do you read me?
02:42In this kind of operation, men die.
03:12Many men in many ways.
03:15This was Seaman First Class Donald P. Frost.
03:24We know nothing can bring back your son.
03:28But this nation is grateful for a hero who, although mortally wounded,
03:33saved his ship from certain destruction and died at his station doing it.
03:37And in memory of this extraordinary heroism and valor,
03:42we ask you to accept this on behalf of your son,
03:46the highest award the United States can give, the Medal of Honor.
03:50Your son, Mr. and Mrs. Frost, died in a noble cause.
03:57And his name will never be forgotten.
04:00Soon a new ship will be launched on the ways,
04:03and we want you to know it will be named the Dawn Frost.
04:06Launchings are the same for all ships.
04:15Naming them is different.
04:17Destroyer and destroyer escorts are named for naval heroes.
04:20This is the USS Don Frost.
04:31Time, August 1945.
04:34Place off the west coast of Luzon.
04:36Duty, patrol.
04:38Come in.
04:51You want to see me, Captain?
04:52Sit down, Tom.
04:57You seen this watch, quarter, and station, Bill?
05:00Yes, sir.
05:01Is this the finished product?
05:02Well, Captain, I'll admit it's a little brief.
05:04On the general side.
05:06That's right.
05:06And that's just what I don't want on this ship, Tom.
05:10I don't like paperwork any more than the next man.
05:13But I do want a detailed watch, quarter, and station, Bill.
05:16I want every man to know where he's supposed to be
05:19and what he's supposed to be doing at a particular time
05:21in a particular place.
05:23I agree with you, Captain.
05:24It's most important that he know his duties, Tom,
05:27and has this bill to refer to.
05:29And if a man leaves the wrong valve open
05:31or hasn't made it secure
05:33or misses a watch,
05:35I want to know about it.
05:38We'll be going into action soon.
05:40And the safety of this ship
05:42may be dependent upon something
05:43just as simple as that.
05:45Yes, sir.
05:46A crew is a funny thing, Tom.
05:48When you're on a routine cruise,
05:50you never know.
05:52But when you go into battle,
05:53it's quick and sudden.
05:55All of a sudden,
05:56the men are separated from the boys.
05:58Come in.
06:18Message from the flag.
06:19Is it bad?
06:23Worse than that.
06:24The Japanese just sank the Indianapolis.
06:27The Indianapolis?
06:29How?
06:31Torpedoed by a sub.
06:33How do you like that?
06:35The Indianapolis.
06:36A heavy cruiser.
06:38Boy, would I like to take a crack
06:40at the sub that did that.
06:42You may.
06:44What do you mean?
06:45We got orders to rendezvous
06:47with a hunter-killer group
06:48up on Convoy Alley
06:49between Lady and Okinawa.
06:50We've been spotted
06:51to run picket station
06:52ahead of the main force.
06:54Okay, Tom.
06:56Better break out your charts.
06:58Yes, sir.
07:04Bridge,
07:05this is the captain.
07:06Tell the officer of the deck
07:09to pass the word
07:10that we have just received
07:11orders to rendezvous.
07:14Objective,
07:14to hunt subs and to kill.
07:16Ships of this kind
07:17were made for this reason.
07:19This is why they were born.
07:22When you're on picket station,
07:23you're scouting up front.
07:25This means you can get it first.
07:28And the important thing
07:29is to watch,
07:30to see the enemy
07:31before he sees you.
07:32It gets all hands,
07:36this waiting,
07:37and there aren't
07:38any exceptions.
07:39But the coffee pot
07:41is always boiling.
07:44Oh, that's quiet so far.
07:46Quiet as a mouse.
07:48Yes, sir.
07:49Indianapolis went down here.
07:52Yes, sir.
07:53And we're in
07:54kamikaze country.
07:57Subcontact,
07:57dead ahead.
08:01Captain, look.
08:02You can see him.
08:03He's cutting the wire
08:03with his periscope.
08:04Down general quarters.
08:05She's seen us, Captain.
08:20She's starting to dive.
08:21She's too low
08:21to nail by gunfire.
08:23Hold her steady.
08:24We're going to ramp.
08:25He's just got under us.
08:46Left full rudder.
08:47Left full rudder.
08:51Set depth charges
08:52on shallow depth.
08:53Set depth charges
08:53on shallow depth.
09:07Repito track rope's turn, sir.
09:09Right.
09:10Full rudder.
09:23Fire depth charges.
09:25Fire depth charges.
09:50Captain, look.
09:51Well, Tom,
09:58scratch one sub.
10:00Sonar contact, sir.
10:02What's the bearing?
10:03Bearing 330.
10:05Left full rudder.
10:06Left full rudder.
10:08Left full rudder.
10:08Left full rudder.
10:25Take off port bow, sir.
10:26Left full rudder.
10:38Fire depth charges.
10:39Fire depth charges.
10:41Left full rudder.
10:44Left full rudder.
11:09Well, we must have stirred up a whole mess of them.
11:11Get me a rough berry.
11:15Bandit off the port bow.
11:17Bandit off the port bow.
11:31Coming in.
11:33Out!
12:01Bridge, torpedo off the starboard bow!
12:03Bridge, torpedo off starboard bow.
12:09Bridge, torpedo approaching bow.
12:11Hey, bridge, acknowledge.
12:33I didn't hear you acknowledge.
12:35I guess you heard me okay.
12:37We sure missed that fish nicely thanks to your smart turn.
12:39I make that torpedo miss 11.05.
12:4211.05 and not a second over.
12:45Bridge, do you read me?
12:47Do you read me?
12:55This is the way it is in the Navy.
12:57You write an action report and it finds its way to the squadron commander.
13:01This is where recommendations are made for citation,
13:05and names are named.
13:07Commander, have you seen this action report on the Don Frost?
13:11No, sir, I haven't.
13:13Take a look.
13:15Particularly at that last paragraph.
13:19That make sense to you?
13:23Funny, here's a skipper who wants to recommend somebody for citation,
13:26only he can't find out who to recommend.
13:29Have you ever seen anything like that before?
13:33No, sir, I haven't.
13:35You know, the more I read this, the stranger it sounds.
13:39If someone committed an act of heroism aboard the Don Frost,
13:41I'd like to see that he's duly rewarded.
13:45Tell you what.
13:46What if we conduct an investigation?
13:48Strictly inform what you understand.
13:50We can hold it right here in my office.
13:52What?
13:53Ask the captain of the Don Frost and his exec to be here at 0900.
14:05Johnson, I find your report interesting.
14:07Most interesting, personally.
14:09Yes, sir.
14:10First, I want to congratulate you on the action.
14:13I'm recommending your ship for a unit citation.
14:15Thank you, sir.
14:16I'll relay that to all hands.
14:19Now, the reason for this informal meeting.
14:23It's called curiosity more than anything else.
14:26I don't quite understand the way you ended your report.
14:29I don't think anyone can understand it, sir.
14:32All I know is I'll never forget it.
14:35Well, I suppose you tell us the story, Commander.
14:37The way it happened?
14:39The events leading up to it.
14:41Well, sir, as you know, we sustained a bomb hit on the bridge.
14:45I was knocked to the deck.
14:47Go ahead.
14:48I think I remember the watch shouting over a warning of that last torpedo.
14:52I then felt the ship swerve.
14:55And I guess I blacked out.
14:57But shortly thereafter, I must have come to.
15:08Get a corpsman up here on the double.
15:10Give me a hand.
15:12Sixth bay party, enter the bridge on the double.
15:14Take over the helm till I get a replacement.
15:19Bridge, torpedo on the port beam, sir.
15:21Left, full runner.
15:34As you know by the report, sir,
15:36the third Japanese sub came to the surface.
15:38And after that, we destroyed her by gunfire.
15:51The next thing I did was to account for all hands and damage done.
15:55I began to get a general picture of what happened.
15:59All except for one thing.
16:01Well, Tom, it looks like history has just repeated itself.
16:05What do you mean?
16:07Why Murphy here?
16:08Spinning us out of the way of that torpedo before he got it.
16:11Yeah.
16:13That's what I thought at first.
16:16What do you mean?
16:18It wasn't Murphy who pulled us out of it, Captain.
16:20Had to be. He was at the wheel.
16:22Yeah, that's the funny part of it.
16:23You know, I'd like to say it was a hero, but he wasn't.
16:25I mean, not in the way you think.
16:28You're talking riddles, Tom.
16:29Maybe I am.
16:30But the fact is, Murphy was dead before that torpedo was ever fired.
16:34How do you read that?
16:36Take a good look.
16:38This poor kid must have been killed instantly when that bomb hit.
16:44And we got hit at 11.04.
16:47Tom, what are you driving at?
16:49All right, look, Captain, I'll show you.
16:51Now, here's the log.
16:53The time that last torpedo was sighted reads 11.05.
16:58Who logged it?
16:59The quartermaster on watch.
17:01But as I remember, he was also out like a light.
17:04Now, you admit that, sir.
17:06But he said he remembered vaguely hearing something on the phones
17:09about the torpedo missing us at 11.05.
17:12He might have been hearing things.
17:14That's exactly what I thought, sir.
17:16But he wasn't.
17:17How do you know that?
17:18Well, sir, he told me that he checked with the stern lookout,
17:22and he found out that he was the one who passed the word
17:24about the torpedo in 11.05 time.
17:27In fact, some of the boys stationed near the lookout station
17:30actually heard him pass the word to the bridge.
17:33And what you're saying is that the watch sighted that torpedo
17:37a minute after Murphy was dead.
17:39That Murphy never saw or even knew about it.
17:43That's right, sir.
17:44Well, somebody grabbed that wheel and spun it.
17:47It wasn't Murphy.
17:49It had to be somebody.
17:50Somebody on the bridge here.
17:52Uh-huh.
17:54And I know I wasn't the hero.
17:56And I wasn't.
17:58You're positive it wasn't any of the other men?
18:01Yes, sir. I checked all hands.
18:05I wonder if it was still Murphy.
18:08Well...
18:10How do you figure, sir?
18:12All right. He was dead.
18:16But he had his weight on the wheel.
18:18Maybe that's what spun it.
18:20Well, that's a good try, Captain, but it just doesn't add up.
18:23How do you mean?
18:25We found Murphy dead with his head leaning over this way.
18:28But the wheel was turned right full rudder.
18:31In other words, it couldn't have done that
18:33unless somebody had grabbed it.
18:35Somebody?
18:37But who?
18:38Carry on here, Tom.
18:40I'm going to see two of the injured boys who are on the bridge with us.
18:48Aloy.
18:50This is the captain.
18:53Yes, sir.
18:55I just want to get something straight.
18:58Yes, sir.
18:59Do you remember anybody grabbing the wheel after we got that torpedo warning from the watch?
19:06No, sir.
19:08For sure.
19:11I'm sure, sir.
19:12Huh?
19:22How do you feel, Williams?
19:24I'll be all right, Captain.
19:26Sure you will. Sure you will.
19:28We had us a little fun there for a while, didn't we?
19:30Yes, Bill. Sure did.
19:32Williams, from your position on the starboard side of the bridge...
19:34What do you remember after that bomb exploded?
19:38Not much, sir.
19:40But I'm so glad that Bill Murphy was at the helm and spun us around in time.
19:44If it wasn't for him, we would have got it sure.
19:47That's right, Captain.
19:49Yes.
19:51I guess that's right.
20:01Tom, I tell you, that wheel didn't turn by itself.
20:05Somebody must have grabbed it.
20:07Somebody!
20:08Sure, but who?
20:10Well, maybe it was Malloy.
20:12You know how it is.
20:13A man's badly hit, sometimes he doesn't remember.
20:15Sometimes he does things by instinct.
20:17The way Malloy was hit?
20:19Captain, he couldn't have moved three feet.
20:22Well...
20:23Williams, then.
20:24I doubt it.
20:26Williams wasn't that much odd. He's remembered.
20:29Yes.
20:31The same token.
20:32Maybe it could have been you or I.
20:34I know I never got close to that wheel.
20:36Neither did I.
20:40Look, Tom.
20:41We've run an inquiry on everyone who was on the bridge at the time.
20:45Of course, I couldn't talk to Murphy.
20:47Murphy's dead.
20:48But we know it couldn't be Murphy.
20:51That's right.
20:52We know that for sure already.
20:54Wait a minute.
20:55Wait a minute.
20:56What is it?
20:58We forgot somebody, Tom.
21:00Somebody who was on the bridge.
21:02Yeah? Who?
21:04Pedro.
21:06Mess boy.
21:08Remember?
21:09He brought the coffee up when we got it.
21:10Hello, Pedro.
21:11Oh.
21:12Captain, sir.
21:13Pedro.
21:14I didn't know you were such a modest man.
21:15Modest?
21:16I do not know what this means, Captain.
21:17Pedro.
21:18You were near the bridge when that bomb went off, weren't you?
21:19Yes, sir.
21:20We had all my coffee.
21:21Well, I'm putting you in for a citation.
21:22Citation?
21:23But what for, sir?
21:24Oh, nothing much.
21:26Just for saving the entire ship from a torpedo hit, that's all.
21:27Just for running back and grabbing that wheel when you did and steering us clear.
21:28Will?
21:41I did not take wheel, Captain.
21:42No, no, sir.
21:43I'm doing that.
21:44You're not doing it.
21:45I'm doing it.
21:46I'm doing it.
21:47Well, I'll do it.
21:48I'm doing it.
21:49I'm doing it.
21:50I'm doing it.
21:51I'll do it.
21:52I'll do it.
21:53Okay, sir.
21:54I did not take will, Captain.
21:56Now, look, Pedro, you can tell the truth.
22:00You don't have to worry about breaking any regulations here.
22:03I'm not down here on any disciplinary matter.
22:06I just want to congratulate you upon your quick thinking.
22:10But the truth is, Captain, I never touched a whale.
22:14Right after the bomb hit, I came down here to the galley to make more coffee.
22:19You're sure?
22:20Yes, sir. I am sure.
22:24Yes, sir.
22:26It has ever occurred to you, Commander, that that wheel might have spun through some sudden
22:56action of the sea or wind? Yes, sir, it did occur to me, of course. Maybe that's the way it was.
23:04But I keep asking myself, why, if it were the wind or some wave or current, why at just that split
23:12second, why just the moment before that torpedo was about to hit us? I don't know. My only answer
23:22is in that report. And it is my opinion upon due and exhausted investigation that no human
23:30hand was responsible for saving my ship. It can only be my conclusion that if it were not
23:36an act of wind or wave, then some act of providence directed my ship to safety.
23:44The war is over. Scores of ships of the United States Navy move over vast seas. Yet, who
23:57can say that the men who sailed them and died do not ride with them still? Who can say in
24:04the quiet of the night that they do not stand at watch on the ships they loved and knew? Ask
24:10the men of the Navy. There are those who will tell you it's true.
24:40That the men of the Navy. Well.
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