- 4 months ago
On the hunt for a Japanese convoy, the crew of the USS Gato discovers that an unexploded enemy depth charge has landed on its deck.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00I'm Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykes, retired.
00:29The story we are about to bring you concerns one of those freak happenings that any fiction writer would consider beyond the pale of credibility.
00:38But this weird chapter of the silent service actually occurred.
00:42So let's get on with the story. We call it the Five Ring Circus.
00:47It was late in 1943. The USS Gato was at Brisbane in eastern Australia.
01:02Morning, Captain. Morning, Ray.
01:04Yes, sir. Didn't know you went for a horticulture, Captain.
01:07This was presented to me by a friend. What could I do?
01:11Give the wardroom a nice homey touch.
01:14Captain?
01:16Hey, pardon, sir.
01:20Well?
01:21You gonna throw that shamrock overboard?
01:23Shamrock?
01:26Bad luck to get rid of them, sir.
01:28Sure. You're telling that to a man named Foley?
01:31And you're in charge. Guard it with your life.
01:34Every time we surface, bring it up for air.
01:37Yes, sir. I'll take real good care of it.
01:39Now, don't go getting the idea I'm superstitious.
01:44No, sir. Still, there's no sense asking for trouble.
01:47But we're starting out on a war patrol.
01:53In December 1943, the USS Gato took up a patrol station on the Rabao-Palau route
02:01in search of enemy convoys with a high priority on oil tankers.
02:06This was the Gato's Seventh War Patrol.
02:09She was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Robert J. Foley of Washington, D.C.,
02:14an excellent officer noted for his unorthodox tactics and a wry sense of humor.
02:20The executive officer, Lieutenant McGiven, hailing from Kenosha, Wisconsin,
02:25was studying Japanese, an avocation that was to prove invaluable before the end of this patrol.
02:31In addition to Lieutenant Ray Swanbeck of Sandusky, Ohio, and the other officers,
02:36the crew included the quartermaster, Milus, of San Diego, California, better known as Ski.
02:43These were the key members of the crew who struggled to save the Gato during the action that became known as the Five Ring Circus.
02:51Convoy! Five ships, two escorts, one tanker with four goal posts.
02:59Must be at least a 10,000-tonner.
03:01Clear the bridge! Clear the bridge!
03:03Dive! Dive!
03:07Dive!
03:15Pack secure!
03:37Sixty feet.
03:39Sixty feet.
03:40Up scope.
03:52Here they come. Fat, dumb and happy.
03:59Make ready all torpedo tubes.
04:01Make ready all torpedo tubes.
04:07Range.
04:09Mark.
04:10Seventeen hundred yards.
04:11All torpedo tubes ready.
04:13Now the tanker's zigging.
04:15Shift targets.
04:29Let's take them as they come.
04:31Fire.
04:37Head center.
04:39Middle of the target.
04:41Here come the escorts.
04:43Down score.
04:45Enter down.
04:47Turn on your speaker.
04:49Dead center, middle of the target.
04:54Here come the escorts.
04:59Down score.
05:00Hang it down!
05:13Turn on your speaker!
05:16Rigged for depth, George attack!
05:19The main induction valve is off its seat.
05:21Tell them to shove it down.
05:23The main induction valve is off its seat.
05:25Tell them to shove it down.
05:26You're right.
05:46The main induction valve is off its seat.
05:48Tell them to shove it back on or they'll get their feet wet.
05:51He's pinging directly on us.
05:53Right full runner. All ahead, full.
05:55Right full runner. All ahead, full.
05:57All ahead, full.
06:05He's starting another run.
06:06We're in for a good pounding.
06:08Passing.
06:09Passing right overhead.
06:26He's pulling away.
06:27Both of them are.
06:29They never lost contact.
06:30I wonder what's going on up there.
06:33Take her up to periscope depth.
06:4160 feet.
06:42Up scope.
06:43Down scope.
07:00It's a float plane.
07:01That's why they pulled off.
07:02That plane will keep us down until the convoy is out of range.
07:05I want that tanker.
07:07We could take a crack at her with a deck gun.
07:09No, but you can't fight a plane with a sub.
07:11We could try anyway.
07:13Stations for gun action.
07:15Stations for gun action.
07:17Stations for gun action.
07:18Stations for gun action.
07:20Surface.
07:24Captain Foley's decision to surface and fight a running battle with a plane was unorthodox.
07:29And later caused many old submarines to shake their heads silently.
07:34But Captain Foley knew if he didn't surface, he had no chance of overhauling the target.
07:40And he wanted that tanker.
07:48All I had is full.
08:18Let him have it.
08:21Let him have it.
08:44Let him have it.
08:48A few holes and wings and fuselage convinced this pilot that the Gato was too rough to handle.
09:02What the devil are you doing with that?
09:05It's your order, sir.
09:06Bring the shamrock off the air whenever we surface.
09:13Get it below.
09:14Yes, sir.
09:15That was good coffee ball.
09:16Thank you, Captain.
09:18I never thought I'd see a submarine take on a plane.
09:21On purpose.
09:22You gotta know when to take chances.
09:23The old man's got a flair for it.
09:24That's kind of joltin'.
09:25Ah, it's like those Texas football teams.
09:26The other guys never know what's coming next.
09:27You gotta know when to take chances.
09:28The old man's got a flair for it.
09:29That's kind of joltin'.
09:30Ah, it's like those Texas football teams.
09:31The other guys never know what's coming next.
09:32When they figure it out.
09:33It's too late.
09:34Yeah, but I've seen him do a lot of fumbling, too.
09:37It's a load on you holding him back.
09:38I try.
09:39The skipper will get that tanker if he has to chase it right into Tokyo Bay.
09:41No matter what.
09:42Mr. McGibbon, the captain would like to see on the bridge.
09:43All right, ten days.
09:44All right, ten days.
09:45I'm over, ten days.
09:46I'm over, ten days.
09:47I'm over, ten days.
09:48I'm over, ten days.
09:49That's kind of joltin'.
09:50Ah, it's like those Texas football teams.
09:51The other guys never know what's coming next.
09:52When they figure it out, it's too late.
09:53Yeah, but I've seen him do a lot of fumbling, too.
09:54It's a load on you holding him back.
09:55I try.
09:56The skipper will get that tanker if he has to chase it right into Tokyo Bay.
09:59No matter what.
10:00Mr. McGibbon, the captain would like to see on the bridge.
10:02I'll be on the bridge.
10:12All right, ten degrees, runner.
10:17Sighted the condor yet, Captain?
10:18No, not yet.
10:19Take a look, Mac.
10:22What do you make of it?
10:23Looks like a man.
10:25Seems to be in bad shape.
10:26Well, we'd better get him aboard.
10:28Rescue party.
10:32The End
10:37The End
10:42The End
10:47The End
10:51The End
10:54The End
10:55The End
10:56Here's your chance to practice.
11:25Back us up when you're Japanese.
11:40What's he say?
11:41I think he's a Japanese soldier, Captain.
11:43The best I can make out, he thinks he's been adrift two weeks.
11:46We all have to go.
11:50I don't know how to do it.
11:53Talks too fast, I can only get a few words.
11:55Take him below, see what you can do for him.
12:00What's that?
12:01Look like a dead seagull.
12:03No, sir, just part of one.
12:11Well, that's all he had on him.
12:14Japanese invasion money.
12:16His pay book.
12:17Mr. McGivern, if you get a chance, ask him who the girl is.
12:20It's his wife or his girlfriend.
12:22It might be his sister.
12:23Well, what do you care?
12:24If he chased that tanker to Tokyo, he's gonna look her up.
12:26That's right.
12:28What have you done for him?
12:29Well, I gave him a shower, put some goop on those salt water saws,
12:32and Wallace feed him now.
12:34Battle station.
12:38The Gato again made contact with the convoy on the morning of December the 20th, 1943.
12:44Captain Foley immediately started an end run and submerged on the estimated track of the target.
12:53Every effort was made to reach a position for a close shot at the tank.
12:57And at 4 p.m. she commenced firing with about two.
13:06All hits.
13:13Down scope.
13:15All ahead and full.
13:16All ahead and full.
13:18Right on top of us.
13:19Rig for depth charge.
13:21Emergency, 200 feet.
13:40We got a leak in the forward trim line.
13:41I bet.
13:42It'll fill a bucket in a half an hour.
13:44So empty the bucket every 30 minutes.
13:49Dig her down to 300 feet.
14:04What's that?
14:05Sounds like the after gun mount carried away.
14:07No, it's on the bridge deck.
14:09It's still rolling around up there.
14:11Must be something cylindrical.
14:13Yeah, like a loose oil drum.
14:15Mack?
14:16Yes, sir.
14:17What would a loose oil drum be doing on deck?
14:20Can't be.
14:22You don't think it's an unexploded depth charge?
14:24If it is, we'll set it off if we go any deeper.
14:27Level off! Don't let it go any deeper!
14:30We don't know it's that.
14:32We don't know it isn't.
14:34No, it's up to the level of depth charge.
14:36The depth charge is like that last one and things could get real interesting.
14:40Mack, you wouldn't recommend deep submergence, would you?
14:44Oh, no. Not if that thing is a depth charge.
14:52It'll blow us right in half.
15:02None of the men aboard the gateau could be sure that the thing on their deck was a depth charge that had failed to explode.
15:09Captain Foley had to assume that it was.
15:11In that event, they could not go deeper without taking a chance of reaching a depth at which it had been set to explode.
15:19At its present level, the gateau is taking a dangerously severe pounding.
15:24What are we gonna do with that thing?
15:26I don't know. That's what the old man gets paid for.
15:35We gotta come up with an answer fast. Any ideas?
15:38I don't know. We can't sit here. They really gotta spot it. Follow every turn we make.
15:43There's any standard technique for this problem. I never heard of it.
15:47Of course, we're only guessing. We can't be sure it's a depth charge.
15:51Seems to me there are only two ways of finding out. Go deeper and pray, or go up and have a look at it.
15:57I'd rather see it than hear it.
15:58And they're sitting up there waiting for us.
16:02Oh, well.
16:04Captain, soundgears picked up a heavy rain squall.
16:07Where?
16:08Bearing. Zero three zero.
16:10Right. Ten degrees rudder.
16:11Right. Ten degrees rudder.
16:13Prepare to surface.
16:18What the brake?
16:19Cut the brake.
16:39Sector reports.
16:49Captain!
16:51Captain!
16:55Captain!
17:00Captain!
17:01Captain, it's there. The biggest one you ever saw.
17:03Well, it won't go off unless it rolls over the side.
17:05These guys land a lucky shot. We've got to get rid of that thing. Any bright ideas?
17:19I don't know. I just don't know.
17:22Go back and take a look at it.
17:23I don't want to haul it back to Australia.
17:25All right, sir.
17:26Mark, you think you can read the markings on it?
17:28I'm not so good at those Japanese characters.
17:30How about that character you fished out of the water? Get him up here, quick.
17:33All right, sir.
17:34Reload all forward torpedo tubes.
17:36That tanker's still around here somewhere.
17:43This was the Five Ring Circus of the USS Gato.
17:47Under cover of the range wall, they were attempting to outrun two fast escort vessels.
17:53Captain Foley was continuing to search for the tanker, a prize he was determined to have.
17:58In the forward torpedo compartment, the crew was working frantically to reload the torpedo tubes.
18:04Lieutenant McGiven was trying to get an accurate translation of the Japanese nameplate data.
18:10This information was needed for intelligence, and for the value it might have in trying to dispose of the death charge.
18:17And in the center ring of the circus, Lieutenant Swanbeck wrestled with the key problems.
18:22What to do with their deadly cargo.
18:24And atop everything, they were under fire.
18:31What's the matter down there? Give us all the speed you've got.
18:34Oh, John.
18:35What's to do with the engine?
18:36What's it saying?
18:37600 pounds, set to go up at 250 feet.
18:38But, that's all we have to give it a ride.
18:39A little over 200 feet.
18:40What's he say?
18:42600 pounds, set to go up at 250 feet.
18:46That's where we asked if we gave it a ride.
18:48A little over 200 feet.
18:52600 pounds.
18:54What's the skipper say?
18:56He said figure out how to get rid of it.
18:58That's all?
19:00Just get rid of it.
19:02Safely, he meant.
19:04And he said to be quick about it.
19:06So figure out something, anything.
19:08Is that how you disarm those things?
19:10Well, I've never been this close to one before.
19:12The machinist made my nose.
19:14Never mind.
19:16I don't want anybody fooling around that thing with a pipe wrench.
19:20Come on, Steve, think.
19:22I'm thinking.
19:24Look, we can't keep it, and we can't get rid of it.
19:26Maybe we'll just have to run away from it.
19:28Give it an abandoned ship.
19:30Well, what else can we do? As soon as this squall plays,
19:32that takes a little blaster.
19:34Captain Foley won't go for it.
19:36We just had it.
19:38The skipper will never take you the life wrench.
19:42Open the forward torpedo room hatch.
20:06Okay, we'll take it easy.
20:08Pull it.
20:10One more.
20:12Okay.
20:14Hold it.
20:16Hold it easy.
20:18Pull it.
20:20Pull it.
20:22One more.
20:24Okay.
20:26Hold it.
20:28Hold it.
20:30Hold it.
20:32Hold it.
20:42Hold it.
20:44Hold it.
20:46Let it go.
20:48Hold it.
20:50Hold it.
20:52Let it go.
20:54How are you doing?
21:24I don't want to smoke around until the war's over!
21:28Now she'll stay up to her place! Come on!
21:34Captain?
21:37What the devil?
21:39It's just there in the good luck camera, officer.
21:41Sorry, Captain. You got the wrong one.
21:54Uh-huh. It rides real pretty.
21:58Yeah, if we're real lucky, it'll sink right under that test score center.
22:02I got a time for it. That baby's gonna float right back into their laps.
22:06You just watch.
22:07Why not? It could happen.
22:09Oh, you need some shore duty.
22:12I tell you, it's gonna lift that sub chaser right out of the water!
22:17Will it be the blindest might of luck?
22:20Okay, so we're lucky.
22:21But when that thing goes off, duck!
22:23Because the air is gonna be full of honorable ancestors!
22:27Ha! Grab the deck!
22:34Sorry to pull you away from your grandstand seats,
22:36but we're gonna be out of this squall a minute.
22:38Well, don't worry about that sub chaser, Captain.
22:40It's just about two minutes. She's gonna get a hot foot!
22:43Nice work, anyway.
22:45Nobody's got anything!
22:50We've got her!
22:51I swear, we've got her!
22:54Personally, I don't see a thing.
22:57I go along with Ski.
22:58I think we've got her.
23:01Well, a thing.
23:03A thing.
23:15Mr. Seeker?
23:16There's no visibility back there.
23:20You don't see her, do you, Captain?
23:22No sign of her at all.
23:23I'll go along with you there, Captain.
23:25Yes, sir.
23:26A mighty good luck charm.
23:29All right.
23:30Now let's go get that tanker.
23:34The records of the Kato do not list the escort vessel as sunk.
23:38It would have been the rarest kind of Irish luck.
23:41But in the minds of Ski and other members of the crew, no doubt exists.
23:47They had faith.
23:49The records do list, however, the sinking of a 10,000-ton Jap tanker.
23:54She went down quite a few miles this side of Tokyo Bay.
24:03I'll be back in a moment with our special guest.
24:12You have just seen the story of the Kato's 7th War Patrol.
24:15Now I want to introduce a commanding officer, Captain Robert J. Foley.
24:20Nice to see you again, Bob.
24:22For a while there, I wasn't sure I was going to make it.
24:25What were you worried about? You knew the end of the story.
24:28Yes, but when it really happened, there were so many things going on, I didn't have time to be scared.
24:33Are you all right now?
24:35Well, I could use a cup of coffee.
24:37I'm sorry Wall isn't here.
24:38I wish my whole crew could be here.
24:41Bob, I'd like to ask you one question before you go.
24:44All right, shoot.
24:46Do you think you actually sank that escort vessel with our own death charge?
24:50Well, you saw the picture, Tommy.
24:53How do you feel about good luck, Shamrock?
24:56Be with us again when we bring you another true and exciting submarine story.
25:01Take her down, there's often light
25:07Through the deep blue underneath the ocean
25:11We'll control the ocean's wide
25:15Come down, down, underneath the sea
25:19Take the force for past the worst
25:23In the future we get to be
25:26In the future we get to be
25:28That we'll stay
25:30As long as best
25:32A star covering the underneath the sea
25:36So wait for now
25:38And take her down
25:41Go down, down, underneath the ocean
25:45Fearless men will find renown
25:48In the deep blue underneath the sea
25:52In the deep blue underneath the sea
25:54In the deep blue underneath the sea
25:56In the deep blue underneath the sea
25:58In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:00In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:02In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:04In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:06In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:08In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:10In the deep blue underneath the sea
26:12In the deep blue underneath the sea
Be the first to comment