- 5 months ago
Bowfin (SS-287) On the second war patrol of the USS Bowfish, a young lieutenant seriously questions his own ability to become a capable, courageous submarine officer. But, when the chips are down during surface action against enemy ships, he comes through, reinforcing a belief in himself and winning the respect of his shipmates.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Oh-ho-ho! Oh-ho-ho! Oh-ho-ho!
00:12Take her down and hop in wide
00:16Through the deep blue underneath the ocean
00:20We'll control the ocean's wide
00:24From down, down underneath the sea
00:30I'm Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, retired
00:34In all the previous action stories of the submarine service
00:37It has been interesting to tell
00:39When a man stands out as a beacon for all to admire
00:43This is the story of such a man
00:45A submariner who, before World War II
00:48Had never so much as been in a rowboat
00:55In mid-October of 1943
00:58The USS Bowfin lay alongside her dock in Fremantle, West Australia
01:03Having just completed her first war patrol
01:05She was being carefully refitted
01:07You gonna sweat it out that much? You oughta go down there, Tully
01:14Show them how it oughta be done
01:16Swanson, Marty Swanson
01:19Hey, boy, where'd you come from?
01:21It's where I'm going that's the important thing
01:23How you been, Lou?
01:24Long, long time
01:25Oh, you can say that again
01:27Hey, you remember when we were...
01:29Wait a minute
01:30What do you mean it's where you're going?
01:33Don't tell me
01:34I got papers that say so
01:36Real clear, transferred to the Bowfin
01:38Just like yours
01:39How'd you know?
01:40How'd you know?
01:41You know me, Lou
01:42I usually find out what I want to know, one way or another
01:45Boy, I can't get over it together again
01:48Lady, are we gonna make a first-class fighting pipe out of you?
01:52Well, that won't be hard to do, from what I hear
01:55You did pretty good for a first patrol
01:57Backed 23,000 tons
01:58Always room for improvement
02:01You sure haven't changed any
02:03What does that mean?
02:05Well, you're not the easiest going chief in the world, you know
02:08Come on, Marty
02:09Just because I like a real tight boat?
02:10Sure, Lou, sure, I know
02:12But you can be a pretty hard-nosed guy sometimes
02:15Look, it can be a real nice patrol
02:17Just let the captain run the boat, huh?
02:22Come on, I'll buy you a drink
02:23Something nice and cooling
02:28On 1 November, final preparations for shoving off were being made aboard the Bowfin
02:34Lieutenant Commander Walter T. Griffith of Mansfield, Louisiana, had just assumed command
02:40His executive officer was Lieutenant William Thompson of Dublin, Georgia
02:44It was Thompson's second patrol aboard the Bowfin
02:48Also in their second patrol aboard were Lieutenants John R. Bertrand of White Deer, Texas
02:53And Howard Clark of New London, Connecticut
02:55Hey, boy, I better hurry up and finish it
02:57Or it'll be a long time getting mailed
02:59I'm trying not to say the same thing over and over again
03:01That's the tough part
03:04I'm just stopped to figure out how many of those you've written, Johnny
03:08Say, you counting on publishing them after the war?
03:10Making a raft of money on them?
03:13Come on, Howard, tell old Alway the truth now
03:16Well, look, Howard, you know I'd never do a thing like that
03:20Johnny, for Pete's sake, I was only kidding, come on
03:24Where's your sense of humor?
03:26I'm sorry, I guess it kind of disappeared for a while
03:30I know the other guys laugh at me because I write so many letters
03:32It'd be kind of strange if you didn't
03:35The fella goes to sea two days after he gets married
03:39Well, it figures he's gonna spend a lot of time writing
03:42Mr. Clark?
03:43Swanson, wonderful to see you aboard
03:46Thank you, sir
03:47Lieutenant Bergen, Chief Swanson
03:49Hi
03:50I'm about as good a chief as I ever turned out
03:52Thank you, sir
03:53Would the captain like to see you up on the bridge, Mr. Clark?
03:55Right now
03:58Pretty country fair seaman
04:00Coolest man in a rough spot you ever saw
04:04Hey, I'd better get topside, you'd better finish that
04:06Yeah
04:07Howie?
04:08Look, I'm sorry I'm so touchy
04:10Don't even know what you're talking about
04:13Give her my love
04:25Leaving Exmouth Gulf on 4 November, bound for the South China Sea
04:29Bofin followed a course charted along the usual route
04:32Through Lombok and Macassar Strait, Sibitu Passage and Balabac Strait
04:36The patrol, however, was to be far from usual
04:39In any respect
04:44That's got it, make sure she's good and snorting now
04:49You better have them store those rags, Chief
04:51Right after we finish the job, Mr. Bertrand
04:54Well, somebody might slip
04:57You always clean up after the job, Mr. Bertrand
05:00Battle stations, gun action
05:02Battle stations, gun action
05:03Battle stations, gun action
05:05Battle stations, gun action
05:11Sgeb이라고
05:20About five of them
05:22Five of them.
05:29I bet the gun crew's happy.
05:33You don't sound too impressed.
05:36I'm just hoping for fatter pickings, I guess.
05:39We'll take them as they come. It all adds up.
05:47Commence fire!
05:48Commence fire!
05:51Intelligence had learned that these innocent-looking craft in this area
05:54were being used to haul strategic material.
05:57They were fair game.
06:00The well-trained gun crews at the bowfin were quick to pay dividends,
06:04averaging less than four minutes per target.
06:07Four of the junks were sent plunging to the bottom.
06:10The fifth tried desperately to make her escape.
06:13Captain Griffith wasn't about to cooperate.
06:19Come to new course, two, three, zero.
06:23All ahead, full.
06:24Come to new course, two, three, zero.
06:26All ahead, full.
06:31Can't outrun us. Looks like we've got a clean sweep.
06:34That can be a mistake, counting your chickens.
06:39Captain, did you notice something?
06:40Plane off the port beam, Captain.
06:41The bridge.
06:42The bridge.
06:43The bridge.
06:45The bridge.
06:46The bridge.
07:06The bridge is coming.
07:07I told you it was a mistake conning your chickens.
07:37He'll probably be buzzing around for a long while.
07:44Take her on down to 200 feet.
07:46Take her down to 200 feet, aye, aye.
07:52You start asking me something up there, Bill.
07:55Not those targets, Captain.
07:57I never saw wooden vessels get on so fast.
08:00I can't guarantee it, but I can give you an idea why.
08:03You notice how low they ride in the water.
08:06All that and their route can add up only one way.
08:10Construction materials.
08:12And our friends are going to have a rough time using them.
08:16You feel better about the slim pickings now?
08:25You ever hear anything like it in your life, Swanson?
08:28Pick up the rags before the job is finished.
08:31Boy, these 90-day wonders, I tell you.
08:34Lou, how many more days are you going to harp on it?
08:36The guy made a mistake. He's young.
08:38He's an officer. He ought to know.
08:40How much did you know after one patrol?
08:42He'll learn.
08:43You and I always did disagree about how to break in young officers.
08:47I'm just saying that looking down your nose at a sensitive kid isn't going to help anything.
08:50I'm telling you there's only one way with any of them.
08:52You've got to hard-nose them.
08:53You start babying, they ain't never going to learn port from Starbucks.
08:55Oh, Lou, let's knock it off.
08:56It's something we'll never agree on.
08:58You just make too big a thing out of it.
08:59Am I?
09:00You ever stop to think of this?
09:02Let one young officer make a bad enough mistake and a whole sub full of guys to do the paying.
09:07The hard way.
09:09Captain Griffith and the Bowfin were only warming up.
09:13On 11 November, as Bowfin ended Sybatu Passage in bright moonlight.
09:19What do you got, Bill?
09:20Tanker, Captain. Pretty good size.
09:25As she'll do.
09:28Changing course.
09:32No wonder they look that big. It's two tankers.
09:35Look even better on the scoreboard.
09:37It's not that easy.
09:38If we close in this kind of light, one of them will get away.
09:44If we clear the passage to wait for them, they might go in Towie Towie Bay.
09:48We'd lose both.
09:51Come to course 0-3-0.
09:53All ahead, full.
09:54Come to course 0-3-0.
09:56All ahead, full.
09:58We beat them to the entrance of Towie Towie.
10:01Maybe you can still put them both in that scoreboard.
10:08When the tankers steamed past Towie Towie, Bowfin was waiting.
10:13No large guns.
10:21Trailing vessels twice the size of the lead.
10:27Down scope.
10:29Captain?
10:30We're sticking with gun action.
10:31Probably carrying gasoline.
10:32We set them a fire.
10:33We save ourselves some torpedoes.
10:36Battle stations, gun action.
10:39Battle stations, gun action.
10:40Battle stations, gun action.
10:41Battle stations, gun action.
10:44Don't throw to fish.
10:45Guns keep getting the flag.
10:47Different, same salary.
10:52Stand by to surface.
10:53Stand by to surface.
10:54Battle surfacing 2,000 yards on the quarter of the largest target.
11:02The Bowfin's gun crews went quickly to work.
11:11Commence firing.
11:12You sure guessed right about their cargo.
11:34Seize fire!
11:37The shore of batterers will see that soon enough.
11:41We better get out of here.
11:43With the shooting over, the enemy seemed changed.
11:45They were now just tragically helpless human beings.
11:47The sight affected Bertrand profoundly.
12:06Hey, you finished censoring it?
12:08Nothing to censor.
12:11Nothing to talk about, though.
12:13Rick Howie, I'm tired.
12:14I want to just tell...
12:15Listen, Johnny. Just listen.
12:18And it's the one thing I can never quite get out of my mind.
12:20Am I really good officer material?
12:24Sure, darling, I am one, but do I deserve it?
12:27Howie, give it to me.
12:29And I can't even answer it honestly, because of the others.
12:33Because they're so different.
12:34They can laugh, joke, throw anything off.
12:37They realize what has to be done and do it, but not me.
12:40I'm still full of self-doubt.
12:42I still can't watch a man die without dying a little myself.
12:47I keep thinking I'm just a school teacher who somehow got his stripes.
12:54You've known it a long time. Don't look so surprised.
12:57Only surprised that a bright guy could be so blind.
13:00Johnny, they don't make many mistakes when they give out those stripes.
13:07Believe me, they didn't make one with you.
13:10Well, you ask Tully that stupid mistake I made with him. You ask him.
13:13You're making a bigger one right now.
13:15Howie, look.
13:16Johnny, you said it all right here. Everybody's different.
13:19And they have a right to be.
13:21So you're a quiet guy. A gentle guy. Fine.
13:25But don't go reading things into it that aren't there.
13:29Well, thanks. Thanks a lot.
13:31For what?
13:33You're a submarine officer and a good one.
13:35You don't have to convince anybody.
13:39Only myself.
13:43More than one member of the Bowfin's crew was later to refer to it as the Banana Patrol.
13:48While the targets seemed to come in bunches.
13:51A bad 36 hours later, Bowfin moved slowly through a dense, shifting fog.
13:55Radar contact, bearing 030.
14:01Two of them, Captain.
14:04We might just as well be in our blankets.
14:18Another contact, same bearing.
14:26Left full rudder.
14:29Port back, emergency. Starboard ahead, full.
14:32Left full rudder. Port back, emergency. Starboard ahead, full.
14:56Suddenly, the truth was plain.
14:58In the tricky shifting fog, Bowfin had wandered into the midst of a five-tanker Japanese convoy.
15:04The attack would be difficult enough, but the limited visibility and an improperly tuned radar containing a blind spot complicated the chore beyond belief.
15:14Griffith was a skillful, well-trained commanding officer, however.
15:17After an hour and a half of tracking, he was well aware of the disposition of his targets and directed his approach on the leading vessel in the starboard column.
15:35All torpedo tubes ready.
15:37Final bearing and shoot.
15:41Bearing...
15:44Mark.
15:45One, one, zero.
15:46Snap.
15:47Shoot.
15:54Fire two.
16:01Fire three.
16:14Three fish.
16:16Three hits.
16:18And the climbing flames easily identified the cargo.
16:21Oil.
16:23The second vessel in line wasn't that easy, for the burning tanker had veered broadside perilously close to the bowfin.
16:30It took more time than he liked, but Captain Griffith did some fast maneuvering, got into position, and used three more torpedoes.
16:37What?
16:38That's a good game of shooting, Captain.
16:40We paid for getting that second one, though.
16:54Gave the others a chance to get away.
16:55a chance to get away.
17:03Still comes out one way to me, Captain.
17:05They did all the pay.
17:21Do something for you, Mr. Clark?
17:23I think so.
17:24Calls for listening, mostly.
17:25Just listening.
17:33Come on, Marty.
17:34Who's making too big a thing of it now?
17:36I just don't think you're doing a very good job
17:38of hiding your feelings about Bertrand, Lou,
17:39and I think it's wrong.
17:43Funny.
17:44I always figured you for a smart fellow.
17:47Now, wait a minute.
17:48Well, you sure don't need a medical degree to know one thing.
17:51No man can be any different in his background.
17:53Not even you.
17:56Lou, Bertrand was anything but tailor-made for Navy.
17:58He was a farmer, a teacher.
18:01He'd never been on water in his life, not so much as on a rowboat.
18:03You know what?
18:04To this day, he's never been able to lick seasickness, and yet he's never missed one minute's duty because of it.
18:10Now, to me, he adds up to a lot of guy, plenty of guy.
18:13I think you're way out of line.
18:15What do you mean, not even you?
18:17About no guy being different in his background?
18:20Well, it works the same for you as it does anybody else.
18:23You don't know what you're talking about.
18:26I'm talking about Lou Tully, the best chief I know.
18:29But a guy whose kid brother was killed just before he was about to become an officer.
18:34And that's why Tully is a hard nose, because he wants every other officer to make it up to him.
18:39You know it's wrong, Lou.
18:45All the way around.
18:47By the time the bowfin had arrived at a position off Cape Varela,
18:51three more vessels had tasted her torpedoes.
18:54A 5,000-ton freighter, an escort vessel, and a cargo-laden coastal steamer.
19:06How's your scoreboard now?
19:08Fat, Captain, and probably get lots fatter.
19:10Got a radio message from the billfishers, another convoy in the area.
19:13Five ships again and big.
19:15They can't hurt my feelings that way.
19:17Two and a half hours of skillful tracking, and Captain Griffith had overtaken the convoy.
19:22The vessels were fully as big as he had expected.
19:25Driving in on a surface attack, Griffith used four torpedoes and four minutes to sink the largest of the vessels.
19:33Only two well-aimed fish were needed to put the second vessel under.
19:45The third vessel had gotten within 500 yards, however, and poured a stream of gunfire at the submarine.
19:52It's a lot closer than I wanted.
19:53Take cover!
19:54Quick!
19:55Take cover!
19:56Quick!
19:57Take cover!
19:58Quick!
19:59Quick!
20:00Quick!
20:01Quick!
20:02Quick!
20:03Quick!
20:04Quick!
20:05Quick!
20:06Quick!
20:07Quick!
20:08Quick!
20:09Quick!
20:10Quick!
20:11Quick!
20:12Quick!
20:13Quick!
20:14Quick!
20:15Quick!
20:16Quick!
20:17Quick!
20:18Quick!
20:19Quick!
20:20Quick!
20:21Quick!
20:22Quick!
20:23Quick!
20:24Quick!
20:25Quick!
20:26Quick!
20:27Quick!
20:28Quick!
20:29Quick!
20:30I'll take him with a stern tube set up.
20:38On the new course, zero nine zero.
20:40Barry!
20:44Barry!
20:48What's the Barry?
20:56Let me have that Barry!
21:00Barry!
21:06Barry!
21:07Two seven zero!
21:09Barry, two seven zero.
21:13Fire seven!
21:27Fire eight!
21:30Fire eight!
21:33Fire eight!
21:36Fire eight!
21:37Fire eight!
21:38Fire eight!
21:39Fire eight!
21:40Fire eight!
21:41Fire eight!
21:42Fire eight!
21:43Fire eight!
21:44Fire eight!
21:45Fire eight!
21:46Fire eight!
21:47Fire eight!
21:48Fire eight!
21:49Hey, boy, I said to yours fast enough. How come you take your sweet time with mine? I'm sorry.
21:56I tell you son, any more days like yesterday and we'll break every record in the world.
22:00Three out of that son boy, and those last two were dead ducks for sure if we hadn't had premature than our last two fish.
22:05I tell you. What's this?
22:09A letter.
22:10Now this and and honey skipper says he's recommending Johnny Bertrand for the Silver Star.
22:15Says he's as gutty a man as he's ever known.
22:19Well, I should think he'd look a lot happier than that, buddy boy.
22:24Well, he's wrong. I better tell him just how old.
22:31And, sir, I was just plain scared. As scared as a man's ever been.
22:36So you figure you don't deserve the recommendation?
22:40No, sir.
22:41No, sir.
22:42A man who's gonna teach ought to know a lot more about people.
22:46What do you mean by that, sir?
22:48You run into a man who said he's never scared.
22:51Either talking to a fool or a liar.
22:54No.
22:56Bandages and wounds don't make heroes.
22:58The man that knows what he's facing, and yet faces it.
23:02That's hero enough for me.
23:04Well, that's... that's generosity, Captain.
23:06It's all so practical.
23:09You know there were shells dropping all around back there?
23:12Yet you went back on that TBT and you gave us barons.
23:16And without them, we never could have nailed that ship.
23:18Why don't you go back there and write a letter, son?
23:28I hear you're a pretty good hand at it.
23:32Yes, sir.
23:34I think I'll enjoy writing this one, sir.
23:36I'll be back in a moment with our special guest.
23:55And now I'd like you to meet real Admiral Walter T. Griffith, retired.
23:58The real skipper of the submarine boat fin.
24:02Walt, it certainly didn't take you long to turn a scholarly farmer into a real fighting man.
24:07Well, John Bertrand was a brave man long before I ever met him.
24:11I don't know whether heroism is born of an occasion or occasions give birth to heroes.
24:16But whatever the case, John Bertrand's courage was certainly adequate.
24:20What has he done since the war?
24:22He's gone back to his first love, the field of education.
24:24He's now the president of the Berry Schools and College at Mount Berry, Georgia.
24:29I understand your submarine was awarded the presidential unit citation for that patrol.
24:34Well, we did give them a run for their money.
24:36To that I think the audience will heartily agree.
24:39Congratulations to you and the ship's company of the bow fin on the splendid results of your gallant second patrol.
24:45Thank you, Tommy.
24:48Please join us again for another true and exciting chapter of the silent service.
24:54The End
24:55The End
24:56The End
24:57The End
24:58The End
24:59The End
25:00The End
25:01The End
25:02The End
25:03The End
25:04The End
25:05Through the Deep Blue
25:06Through the Deep Blue
25:07Underneath the Ocean
25:09We'll control the oceans wide
25:14From down, down, underneath the sea
25:17The End
25:18The End
25:19The End
25:20The End
25:21The End
25:22The End
25:23The End
25:24The End
25:25The End
25:26The End
25:27The End
25:28The End
25:29The End
25:30The End
25:31The End
25:32The End
25:33The End
25:34The End
25:35The End
25:36The End
25:37The End
25:38The End
25:39The End
25:40The End
25:41The End
25:42The End
25:43The End
25:44The End
25:45The End
25:46The End
25:47The End
25:48The End
25:50The End
25:51The End
25:52The End
25:54THE END
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