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00:00Si vivÃas antes de nuestra época, ¿quién serÃas?
00:04¿Qué si pudieras elegir de mil estrellas de hoy, cuando el pasado era hoy y el nuevo?
00:11¿Tú eres tu respiración? ¿Quién serÃas? ¿Cómo vivÃas? ¿Quién serÃas?
00:19Viviendo cada generación antes de nosotros, recordando por generaciones a la próxima.
00:25El History Channel, donde el pasado viene vivo.
00:30El force known as the Silent Service was particularly lethal during the Second World War.
00:36American submarines prowling the Pacific sank more than half of the enemy ships that were sunk.
00:42Our program looks at the men who commanded the American subs, including some who never returned.
00:47The submarine force attracted a certain kind of officer, younger, more ambitious, far less willing to play it safe.
01:0088-year-old Eric Barr lives in San Antonio, Texas.
01:13Today he's making the drive to the Gulf Coast, Galveston, where certain memories come alive for him.
01:19Barr was one of a special breed, skipper of an American submarine in World War II.
01:32Five, zero, four, zero.
01:34Together with fellow officer George Folter, Barr has come to Galveston to visit the USS Cavalla,
01:48sister ship to their own boat, the USS Bluegill.
01:52The two were built only months apart in 1943 at Connecticut's Electric Boat Company.
02:00Barr was the first and only wartime captain of the Bluegill.
02:04He compiled an impressive record, sinking 46,000 tons of Japanese shipping on six war patrols.
02:15He is one of the few remaining World War II submarine captains.
02:20Remarkable individuals who engaged in some of the war's most dangerous exploits.
02:26I went out there to sink ships. That was my target.
02:29I'd lost too many shipmates, too many classmates, too many friends.
02:32And I went out there to fight.
02:36In fact, in my acceptance speech at a party after the commissioning ceremony,
02:41I said, we're going to get this ship nose bloody. And we did.
02:47The Bluegill's first victim was the Japanese light cruiser Yubari,
02:52sunk by Captain Barr on his first patrol in 1944.
02:57The slogan on the sub's battle flag showed little mercy for the enemy.
03:01And yet Barr claims his aggressiveness was not born of rancor, but of duty.
03:09Bloodlust? No, I don't think I had bloodlust.
03:12We were out to sink ships. We were out to bring the Japan to their knees if we could, and we did.
03:19Largely on the strength of their individual initiative.
03:21U.S. submarine captains were responsible for 55% of all enemy ships sunk in the Pacific.
03:30Their efforts strangled Japan's ability to wage war,
03:34and the sub-campaign was instrumental in America's final victory.
03:38Late in the war, a sub's triumphant return from a successful patrol was a common sight.
03:53But in the depressing months after Pearl Harbor, such scenes were rare.
03:57When the time came to fight, peacetime skippers who were in command at the start of the war were largely unprepared for battle.
04:06The officers were all engineers by background, and they knew their boats and its characteristics beautifully.
04:15But it's like taking the design section of GM and saying, you're going to run the Indianapolis Speedway race.
04:21Somebody will make it, but most won't.
04:24It's not a good fit to have that technical skill into a combat position.
04:28Prior to the war, the American submarine service was seen largely as a scouting force.
04:36When the opportunities arose, the subs would submerge to avoid detection and attack.
04:43They hid their periscopes and tracked their targets by listening with sonar.
04:53The sounds they heard are preserved today on a set of old training records,
04:57which have only recently been unclassified, more than 60 years after they were created.
05:05All your attacks had to be done on sonar.
05:08So we trained assiduously before the war on sonar attacks,
05:13even though the people that did it realized that it was largely phony.
05:18Phony because accuracy with sonar was always a problem.
05:22Using it for an underwater approach was almost like shooting blind.
05:29What happened when the war came was that we had to learn our business all over again.
05:33Trying to do a sonar approach on a passing ship was no good.
05:42So they started putting up the periscope,
05:44and they realized right away that the periscope is not that easy to see,
05:48especially with a merchant ship.
05:49So the daring submarine skippers who recognized this problem began making periscope attacks,
05:57something that was verboten before the war because it was considered too risky.
06:04The submarine captains were directly responsible for this shift in battle tactics.
06:09Sonar remained a tool in their arsenal,
06:11but these skippers demanded to see what they were shooting at.
06:17On February 5th, 1943,
06:20Admiral Charles Lockwood became commander of submarine forces in the Pacific,
06:25a position known as ComSubPAC.
06:29At the submarine base in Pearl Harbor,
06:32Rear Admiral Albert Konetsny,
06:35ComSubPAC in the year 2000,
06:37remembers his famous predecessor.
06:39More than anything else, this was a visionary.
06:42This was a man who knew how to change the war.
06:48He was a man who said,
06:50no, we can no longer be a scouting force.
06:51We need to go and take the war to the enemy.
06:55Known as Uncle Charlie by his men,
06:58Lockwood cultivated the younger, daring officers in the submarine force.
07:03Older, more cautious men were assigned elsewhere.
07:05Just two days after Lockwood took his new command,
07:10a skipper he greatly admired got into serious trouble.
07:14He was Howard Gilmore,
07:16in command of the USS Growler,
07:18patrolling in the Pacific near the Japanese base on Truck Island.
07:23Gilmore, like other skippers of the new breed,
07:27had begun using the hazardous tactic of the night surface attack.
07:30As Growler prepared to torpedo a Japanese freighter,
07:35the enemy ship suddenly turned to ram.
07:37At close range to the target,
07:39Gilmore tried to turn the Growler away,
07:42but her nose plowed into the side of the Japanese vessel.
07:45And then the ship opened fire with its guns.
07:51They were ready and raked the bridge of the Growler.
07:55And Gilmore, evidently wounded,
07:58is reputed to have said,
08:01clear the bridge, take her down.
08:03Take her down.
08:04And so they did.
08:08He didn't make it down below.
08:10They shut the hatch,
08:11leaving him and a couple of other people up on deck.
08:14And, of course, when they finally got back up,
08:16there were no bodies left even to be found.
08:19For his bravery,
08:20Howard Gilmore was awarded the Medal of Honor,
08:23the first to a submariner in World War II.
08:27His words, take her down,
08:28would become immortal in submarine history.
08:30I think that Gilmore was a testimony
08:37to the ultimate submariner.
08:42Everything for the ship,
08:43whatever it takes.
08:45Submerge,
08:47get down,
08:48get safe.
08:49The real submarine.
08:49In the year leading up to Gilmore's loss,
08:56America's undersea campaign
08:57had been a disappointment.
08:59But with Admiral Lockwood in place
09:01and his new captains on board,
09:04the submarine force
09:05would become feared by the Japanese
09:07throughout the Pacific.
09:08There were many heroes
09:17among the submarine captains
09:18of World War II.
09:20But one man stands out
09:21as the first superstar.
09:24His name was Dudley Morton.
09:26And he burst onto the scene
09:28at the beginning of 1943.
09:29I think Morton could fairly be characterized
09:35as the best of the first breed.
09:391942 was a flop year
09:40for the submarine force.
09:42They were looking for a hero.
09:44He provided it in January 1943.
09:47Nicknamed Mush Morton,
09:49he took command of the USS Wahoo
09:51as it prepared to embark
09:53on its third war patrol.
09:56Morton had more than the skill
09:58and drive needed for success
09:59against the enemy.
10:01Here was a captain with charisma.
10:05He had charm.
10:07He was the kind of man
10:08that everybody remarked
10:09when he entered a room.
10:10The room seemed to glow.
10:11A different person was there.
10:15But Morton was a warrior
10:17with deadly effective skill.
10:19His strategy was to seek out the enemy
10:21at every opportunity.
10:23Earlier in the war,
10:25more cautious skippers
10:26waited for targets to come to them.
10:28Morton's tactic was new
10:30and dangerous.
10:35Once underway,
10:37Morton tried to do something else
10:38that was different.
10:39While virtually all captains
10:41manned the periscopes themselves,
10:43Morton decided to give that job
10:45to his sharp-eyed executive officer,
10:47Richard O'Kane.
10:48You're going to be my co-approach officer,
10:53not my assistant.
10:54You'll make all the periscope observations.
10:56I'll con the Wahoo to the best attack position
10:58and then you'll fire the torpedoes.
11:01That way I'll never get scared.
11:03Lieutenant Commander Dudley Morton,
11:05Captain USS Wahoo.
11:06To prepare for his periscope work,
11:12O'Kane had his crew make him a lazy Susan
11:14with a ship model.
11:16He would sight the model
11:17as it was turned in different directions.
11:22O'Kane's aim was to sharpen his skill
11:24in making the very important
11:25angle-on-the-bow observation.
11:28By looking at an enemy ship on the surface,
11:31he had to determine
11:31at what angle it was traveling.
11:34This not only gave him the ship's course,
11:36but it was important
11:37in estimating its size and distance.
11:41O'Kane became so good
11:42that he was usually accurate
11:44within one or two degrees.
11:49In mid-January 1943,
11:52the Wahoo was ordered
11:53to set course for New Guinea
11:54and conduct reconnaissance
11:56on a little-known harbor
11:58called Waywak.
11:59To most men,
12:04reconnaissance of an enemy harbor
12:06meant keeping a safe distance
12:08and watching the traffic
12:10coming in and out.
12:12To Morton, however,
12:13the orders meant something
12:14very different.
12:17It certainly,
12:19to the feelings of most of us,
12:24did not involve going nine miles
12:26into the harbor,
12:27which we actually did.
12:29The aggressive move
12:30was vintage Mush Morton.
12:33Inside the harbor,
12:34the Wahoo found
12:35a Japanese destroyer at anchor,
12:37an irresistible target.
12:40By the time they got set up
12:41to attack,
12:42it was in motion.
12:44Now, other men
12:45would have let it go by,
12:47but Morton was so aggressive,
12:51some would say reckless,
12:53that he decided to attack,
12:54and it was like a shotgun duel
12:56at five paces.
12:57One of them had to win.
12:59If he did not sink the destroyer,
13:01he would surely be sunk himself.
13:05Unable to calculate
13:06the destroyer's course,
13:07Wahoo fired three torpedoes.
13:11Each one missed.
13:14The destroyer,
13:15seeing the wakes in the water,
13:17turned toward the submarine.
13:19Now, most submarine commanders
13:20sort of pulled down the periscope
13:22and tried to evade.
13:25Morton's instructions
13:25to a cane were,
13:27leave that periscope up,
13:28I'll give that son of a bitch
13:29a point of aim, all right?
13:32Now, the destroyer
13:33bore down on the Wahoo,
13:35and at precisely the right moment,
13:37the sub fired
13:38a down-the-throat shot,
13:40using the last three torpedoes
13:43from its forward tubes.
13:44First two missed
13:48with a very narrow target,
13:50just the beam of the ship.
13:55The last one
13:56did, in fact, hit,
13:59and thank goodness it did,
14:02because without that hit,
14:03that would have been
14:05the end of the game.
14:07A camera through
14:08the sub's periscope
14:09captured these images
14:11of the destroyer
14:12floundering in the enemy harbor.
14:14It was just
14:17the first target
14:18to feel the sting
14:19of Mush Morton
14:20and the Wahoo.
14:29Two days later,
14:31Executive Officer
14:31Dick O'Kane
14:32observed a Japanese convoy
14:34in his periscope.
14:35With four ships in sight,
14:38earlier skippers
14:38might have attacked one
14:40and then retreated,
14:42but Mush Morton
14:43and his crew
14:43pursued them.
14:44and hit them all.
14:51Returning to Pearl Harbor
14:52on February 7, 1943,
14:55Morton and the Wahoo crew
14:56were given heroes' welcomes.
14:59Atop the periscope shears,
15:00the sub displayed a broom,
15:02an emblem proclaiming
15:03its clean sweep
15:04of an entire convoy.
15:06Together with the destroyer
15:09at Waywack,
15:10Morton had five ships
15:12to his credit,
15:13a record for any single patrol
15:15at that point in the war.
15:16The charismatic captain
15:18suddenly courted reporters.
15:20The secrecy of the silent service
15:22was temporarily put on hold.
15:25With his strategy
15:27of relentless pursuit,
15:28Morton set new records
15:30on succeeding patrols.
15:31Until in August of 1943,
15:34he rounded the northern tip
15:36of Hokkaido
15:36to enter the home waters
15:38of Japan.
15:41He went in through
15:42Laparu Strait
15:43into the sea of Japan
15:44and every torpedo he fired
15:47was a failure.
15:49He did everything right.
15:52He recorded everything
15:53and it was all zero.
15:57Design defects
15:58in American torpedoes
15:59had been a persistent problem.
16:01Morton returned
16:02to Pearl Harbor
16:03demanding that Admiral Lockwood
16:05return him to the sea of Japan
16:06with new torpedoes.
16:10He approached Lockwood
16:11in a fury
16:13and Lockwood debated
16:15whether or not
16:16he really should go out
16:17but in the end
16:18said,
16:19I can't let this man not go.
16:22Back in the sea of Japan,
16:25Wahoo sank four enemy ships
16:26before heading home.
16:28Again,
16:29through the narrow
16:29Laparu Strait.
16:31But on shore
16:32and in the air,
16:34the Japanese were watching.
16:37We are told
16:37that shore batteries fired,
16:39believing they had
16:40sighted a sub.
16:41Wahoo dove,
16:43now apparently trapped
16:45in the narrow strait.
16:46It is thought
16:47to have struck a mine.
16:49These rare photos
16:50taken by Japanese planes
16:52on the day Wahoo was lost
16:53show slight
16:54but telltale signs
16:56of leaking oil.
16:59A little too much,
17:01perhaps a water glass full,
17:03reached the surface
17:04which makes
17:05a rather large oil slick,
17:07perhaps 30 meters across,
17:09and it was seen
17:10by Japanese aircraft
17:11which began the attack.
17:14In November 1943,
17:16Wahoo was reported
17:17overdue,
17:19presumed lost.
17:21Japanese records
17:22show she had been sunk
17:23on October 11th.
17:25It just didn't seem possible
17:28that Morton
17:29and his fighting crew
17:30could be lost.
17:31I'd have never believed
17:32the Japs could be smart
17:33enough to get him.
17:35Admiral Charles Lockwood,
17:37Commander Submarines,
17:38Pacific Fleet.
17:41Richard O'Kane,
17:42the executive officer
17:44who was Morton's soulmate
17:45on Wahoo's early patrols,
17:47was not with his skipper
17:48on the fatal voyage.
17:50O'Kane had left Wahoo
17:52to command his own boat,
17:53but the spirit
17:54of Mush Morton
17:55would be with him
17:56as he sought to strike
17:58even greater blows
17:59for America's
18:00Pacific victory.
18:05When the USS Wahoo
18:06was lost
18:07in the Sea of Japan,
18:09its former executive officer,
18:11Richard O'Kane,
18:12was at the Navy Yard
18:13in Mare Island, California,
18:15overseeing construction
18:16of the new USS tank
18:18on which he
18:20would be the captain.
18:22O'Kane,
18:25every bit as aggressive
18:26as his friend
18:27Mush Morton,
18:28took the loss personally.
18:31I've no doubt
18:32that the revenge motive
18:34was strong in O'Kane.
18:36However, I knew O'Kane,
18:38and I knew that he was
18:39the kind of a guy
18:40that didn't need
18:41any additional motives.
18:44He was a hard-boiled,
18:45hard-driving skipper himself.
18:47Like Mush Morton,
18:50O'Kane believed
18:51a sub needed to be
18:52on the surface
18:53to effectively hunt
18:54the enemy.
18:55Many other skippers
18:56came up only at night
18:57to avoid being sighted
18:59by air.
19:00But O'Kane
19:01was a surface runner
19:02in broad daylight.
19:05O'Kane reasoned
19:06that the Japanese
19:07had no airborne radar,
19:10couldn't really detect
19:11a submarine
19:12at any distance,
19:13had to see it visually.
19:14Therefore,
19:16he could see the plane
19:17long before
19:18the plane could see him.
19:21And so,
19:22instead of the usual
19:23two or four lookouts,
19:25the Tang on the surface
19:26was crowded
19:27with seven or eight,
19:29scanning the sky constantly
19:30for any sign
19:31of an enemy plane.
19:34O'Kane's assessment
19:35of the Japanese capability
19:36in this case
19:38was absolutely correct.
19:39He literally intended
19:40not to dive,
19:42and rarely did.
19:44When you were submerged
19:46and saw an enemy ship
19:49for the first time,
19:51you didn't have enough
19:52speed to get around
19:52in front of him
19:53and fire torpedoes.
19:55So you had that old problem,
19:58as we called it,
19:59TGB,
20:00target got by.
20:02But if you were on the surface
20:03and had the periscope clear up,
20:05you were looking from
20:0640 feet above the water,
20:09and you could see
20:10an enemy ship
20:1020 miles away
20:12with ease.
20:13And he couldn't see you.
20:16And you'd do what's called
20:17make an end around,
20:19get in front of him,
20:20submerge,
20:20and let him come
20:21right on by
20:22and bang,
20:23shoot him.
20:25Underwater,
20:26a sub could go
20:27no faster than
20:28eight knots,
20:29but on the surface,
20:30up to 20 knots
20:31was possible,
20:33a critical factor
20:34in the classic
20:35submarine
20:36end around maneuver.
20:39Merchant ships
20:40would be sighted
20:41miles in the distance,
20:42traveling at a typical
20:4310 to 12 knots.
20:46The sub,
20:46unseen in its low profile,
20:48could speed forward,
20:50moving well ahead
20:50of the target
20:51in a chase
20:52that often lasted hours.
20:55Submerging then,
20:56it had the time
20:57to close
20:57to a firing distance,
20:59ideally,
21:00just a thousand yards
21:01from where the enemy
21:02would pass.
21:04When the target
21:04crossed the critical point,
21:06the sub was in position
21:07and the torpedoes
21:08were fired.
21:11In February of 1944,
21:14Dick O'Kane
21:15and the Tang
21:16brought these tactics
21:17to Pacific waters
21:18a thousand miles east
21:20of the Philippines.
21:21The rookie skipper
21:22was embarking
21:23on a record-breaking patrol.
21:26He had a way
21:27of covering the area,
21:29that is,
21:30of figuring out
21:31what routes
21:32Japanese ships
21:33might be taking
21:34through this area
21:35and getting himself,
21:37getting the submarine
21:38to the proper place
21:40where we'd see it
21:41and end up
21:43with sinking six ships.
21:46That was,
21:47I think,
21:47what he expected to do.
21:49It was the biggest
21:51tally for any skipper's
21:52first patrol
21:53in the entire war,
21:55evidence
21:56of the urgency
21:57O'Kane felt
21:58about fighting
21:59the Japanese.
22:01In discussions
22:02with him,
22:04I became aware
22:05of what a great
22:06family man he was,
22:08what a great
22:09personal responsibility
22:11he felt
22:12for trying to get
22:12the war over
22:13with as soon as possible.
22:15Dick O'Kane
22:16told me
22:17that he didn't
22:18want to go home
22:20on leave
22:21during the war.
22:23When he went home,
22:24he wanted to be able
22:25to stay home.
22:28In April 1943,
22:30new orders came.
22:32Proceed to Truck Island,
22:34where an airstrike
22:35against the Japanese
22:35was planned.
22:37A Tang's role?
22:39Lifeguard duty
22:40to pick up
22:41Navy flyers
22:41shot down
22:42in the water.
22:44Captain O'Kane
22:45went after
22:47these aviators
22:48with the greatest
22:50enthusiasm,
22:51just exactly
22:52like he did
22:52for going
22:53for Japanese ships.
22:55There were
22:5513 carriers,
22:58I believe,
22:59sending their planes in.
23:00The sky was dark
23:02with U.S. aircraft.
23:05The Tang
23:06soon became
23:06crowded
23:07with Navy flyers,
23:08hitching rides home
23:09after ditching
23:10their planes
23:11in the Pacific.
23:13Not only
23:14was the submarine
23:15picking up
23:16downed aviators,
23:18but a Kingfisher,
23:19a float plane,
23:20was in fact
23:21trying to do
23:22the same.
23:23Hopping over reefs,
23:25the float plane
23:25could go
23:26where the sub
23:26could not.
23:28It ended up
23:29with seven Navy pilots
23:30riding on its wings.
23:33Damaged itself
23:33and unable
23:35to take off
23:35with such a load,
23:36the plane taxied
23:37out to the Tang,
23:39which took aboard
23:39nine men
23:40in one stop.
23:42All seven
23:42rescued pilots
23:43as well as
23:45the two-man
23:45Kingfisher crew.
23:47I said to the captain,
23:48we can't just leave
23:50that airplane
23:51sit there.
23:51He said,
23:52no, we better
23:53take care of it.
23:54So I went back
23:55personally
23:55and manned
23:57the machine gun.
23:58I never had fired
23:59a thing before,
23:59but it was great fun
24:00firing it
24:01and shooting it
24:02at an airplane
24:03and seeing it sink.
24:06That was one
24:07of my real thrills
24:08of the submarine force.
24:12For Rokane
24:13and his crew,
24:14it was another record.
24:15Twenty-two aviators
24:17were rescued
24:17in the course
24:18of a single patrol.
24:20The Tang
24:20and the other subs
24:21on lifeguard duty
24:22left none
24:23of the flyers behind.
24:26As far as I know,
24:28and I've inquired,
24:30every lad
24:32that came down alive
24:33was rescued.
24:36There were no
24:37prisoners taken.
24:38There's a photograph
24:39I've seen
24:40showing Rokane
24:41with a big broad
24:42grin on his face
24:43and these 22 Airedales
24:44grouped around it
24:45with gratitude
24:46in every one
24:47of their faces
24:48to him.
24:50And the most
24:51that any submarine
24:52ever brought back
24:53was the Tang.
24:54So for this,
24:55he was well known.
24:56He'd saved life
24:56instead of sacrificing life.
24:59Once again,
25:01the secrecy
25:01of the silent service
25:02was set aside.
25:04And when the Tang
25:05returned to Pearl Harbor,
25:07Admiral Lockwood
25:07was there
25:08to greet its crew
25:09as photographers
25:10snapped pictures
25:11for the newspapers.
25:14The same pictures
25:17appeared again
25:17seven months later.
25:19But the headlines
25:20were suddenly
25:21very different.
25:22The Tang
25:23was overdue.
25:24Dick O'Kane
25:25and his crew
25:26were presumed lost.
25:28At the time,
25:29few knew
25:30the story
25:30was far from over.
25:36For the silent service,
25:381944 was the year
25:40of the USS Tang
25:41and her skipper,
25:42Richard O'Kane.
25:44In five war patrols,
25:46the aggressive captain
25:47sank 24 major ships,
25:49the highest count
25:50in the war.
25:55Tang was only
25:56making war patrols
25:59from February
26:01of 1944
26:02to October 24th,
26:05the date on which
26:06they were lost
26:07in the same year.
26:08Now that's quite a bit
26:10less than a year
26:11and do the math
26:12on that proposition.
26:15O'Kane and the Tang
26:16just stand out.
26:19But the success
26:19of the Tang
26:20came to a sudden end
26:21and its loss
26:23is one of the most
26:24dramatic stories
26:25to be told
26:26of submarines
26:27and their captains
26:28in World War II.
26:29It began
26:33during the patrol
26:34in the Formosa Strait
26:35between the island
26:36of Taiwan
26:37and the Chinese mainland.
26:39The very last
26:40of Tang's 24 torpedoes
26:41was fired
26:42against an enemy ship.
26:43But the torpedo
26:44malfunctioned,
26:46turned around,
26:47and then headed
26:48directly back
26:49toward the sub itself.
26:52The captain
26:53did everything
26:54he could
26:54to avoid
26:55being hit
26:56by the torpedo.
26:56The best description
26:59I could say is
27:00this is a guy
27:00driving an 18-wheeler
27:02trying to avoid
27:02a motorcycle
27:03that wants to hit him.
27:05Don't have
27:06the maneuverability.
27:07Don't have
27:07the speed.
27:10The torpedo hit.
27:11The detonation
27:12was devastating.
27:13Our ship sank
27:14by the stern
27:14in seconds.
27:15The seas rolled in
27:16washing us
27:17from the bridge.
27:19My heart went out
27:19to those below
27:20and those topside
27:21who must now
27:22face the sea.
27:24Lieutenant Commander
27:24Richard O'Kane,
27:25Captain USS Tang.
27:29While O'Kane
27:30was adrift
27:30in the ocean,
27:32water poured
27:32into the hatch
27:33leading from the bridge
27:34to the conning tower
27:35below.
27:37Officer Larry Savadkin
27:38was trapped inside.
27:41In total darkness,
27:43Savadkin felt his way
27:44to a bubble of air
27:45in a periscope recess.
27:47From there,
27:48he groped
27:49for the hatch
27:49to the bridge
27:50leading him
27:51to the outside.
27:52After a 60-foot
27:55swim to the surface,
27:56he stayed afloat
27:57by making a life jacket
27:59out of his trousers.
28:01You took him off,
28:03you tied an overhand knot
28:04in each leg,
28:08pulled him up
28:09over your head
28:09and back down
28:10into the water
28:11and trapped air in them
28:12and lay in the crotch
28:14with the two legs
28:16coming out
28:16from under your armpits
28:17and you were
28:18in a life jacket.
28:19They're water wings,
28:21really.
28:23And I credit that
28:25with saving my life.
28:28Once the tank
28:29settled to the bottom,
28:31about 40 men
28:32were stranded
28:32in the forward part
28:33of the boat.
28:34Fumes from a battery fire
28:36spread smoke
28:36through the already
28:37stale air.
28:39An escape hatch
28:40in the torpedo room
28:41offered their only hope.
28:45They broke out
28:46the Momsen lungs,
28:48breathing devices
28:49designed to enable
28:50the men
28:50to escape
28:51from stricken vessels.
28:55In training,
28:56all submariners
28:57learned to swim
28:58from depths
28:59up to 100 feet.
29:04But here in the Pacific,
29:06survivors inside the Tang
29:07were 180 feet
29:09from the surface.
29:11Many were injured.
29:13Most were exhausted.
29:15All were scared.
29:16A group of men
29:18did make it out
29:19and did survive.
29:21But many did suffer
29:22lung embolisms
29:23on the way up
29:24and did not survive.
29:26And most chose
29:27not to make the attempt.
29:30A total of 16 Tang
29:31crewmen
29:32struggled on the surface.
29:34But six of them
29:35failed to survive
29:36the long night.
29:38A Japanese boat
29:38picked up the rest
29:39on the following morning.
29:41When they were done,
29:43they had picked up
29:44a total of 10 men,
29:46one of whom
29:46was so gravely injured,
29:48they immediately
29:49threw him back
29:50into the sea
29:50so that nine survived
29:52for the prison camps.
29:55Murray Frazee,
29:56one-time executive officer
29:58on the Tang,
29:59had transferred off the boat
30:00before the fatal patrol.
30:02If I'd been
30:05in the conning tower,
30:06I'm sure that I would have
30:07been almost instantly
30:08killed,
30:10drowned.
30:11I'm not sure
30:13how I would have reacted
30:15under the circumstances.
30:16I probably wouldn't have
30:17thought of getting out.
30:18I don't know.
30:20But I'm glad
30:21I wasn't there.
30:25In California,
30:27the skipper's wife,
30:28Ernestine O'Kane,
30:30received word
30:30of the disaster.
30:32When you get that telegram,
30:34it's just the saddest thing
30:36you could get.
30:38The neighbor took the children
30:40for the rest of the day.
30:44And you just try
30:46to get on your feet
30:47and decide
30:47what you want to do next.
30:50I decided to drive home
30:52to my folks.
30:57Ernestine O'Kane
30:57had little reason
30:58to believe her husband
30:59was alive.
31:01But enemy messages
31:02intercepted by Navy intelligence
31:04revealed he had survived
31:06and was in Japanese hands.
31:09Murray Frazee knew
31:10but could tell no one
31:12for fear of revealing
31:14the super-secret work
31:15of the Ultra Coldbreakers.
31:17I accepted that
31:21and shut my mouth
31:22and wanted to get the news
31:25to Ernestine O'Kane.
31:26There was a chance
31:27that he was alive
31:28because I knew he was alive.
31:30But I couldn't do it.
31:33The Tang survivors
31:34now faced the ordeal
31:35of Japan's prison camps.
31:38Capturing a submarine captain
31:40was a special pleasure
31:42for the Japanese.
31:42I don't know if he bore
31:45to his death
31:46the scars on his neck
31:48where they ground out
31:50their cigarette butts.
31:52But that seemed to be
31:53something they
31:54delighted in doing.
31:57Eleven months later,
31:58O'Kane and the survivors
32:00were in Omori,
32:01a POW camp
32:02near Yokohama
32:03and not far from Tokyo.
32:06By the time the war
32:07came to its sudden end,
32:09they had become
32:09very different men.
32:11When the hang went down,
32:14I weighed about
32:15155 pounds.
32:18When I was released
32:19from prison camp,
32:23I weighed about
32:2590 pounds.
32:29A blurred photo
32:30in the U.S. National Archives
32:32shows an American POW
32:34being lifted
32:35onto an evacuation ship.
32:38Though the photographer
32:39did not identify his subject,
32:41this shot could well document
32:42Richard O'Kane's escape
32:44from death.
32:46He required weeks
32:47in the hospital
32:48before he could go home.
32:50One of his visitors
32:50was fellow skipper
32:52Edward Beach.
32:55I was shocked
32:56at his appearance.
32:57He was down
32:58to 85 pounds.
33:00And he told me
33:00he'd been ill.
33:02And I've no doubt
33:02he would have died
33:03in a few more days
33:04had we not pulled him
33:05out of there.
33:05In October 1945,
33:09Ernestine O'Kane
33:10was finally reunited
33:12with her husband
33:12at a train station
33:14in New Hampshire.
33:16We waited
33:17and watched
33:17and there came
33:19a gentleman
33:20that looked familiar
33:20and I raced up
33:23to him
33:23and kissed him.
33:25He looked about 55.
33:26He was not yet
33:2734 years old.
33:28In March of 1946,
33:34President Harry Truman
33:35presented Richard O'Kane
33:36with the Congressional
33:37Medal of Honor.
33:40I'm not sure
33:41what he said
33:41to the President,
33:42but I have an idea.
33:44He probably
33:45also thanked him
33:46for dropping
33:47the atomic bomb
33:48because if they hadn't,
33:50he wouldn't have lived.
33:54Richard O'Kane
33:55and Mush Morton
33:56demonstrated
33:57the kind of leadership
33:58needed aboard
33:59American submarines.
34:01In the final stages
34:02of the war,
34:03their colleagues
34:04on other boats
34:05would continue
34:06to aggressively
34:06fight the enemy,
34:08putting a stranglehold
34:09on the shipping
34:10of Japan.
34:17With their daring
34:18and innovative tactics,
34:20Mush Morton
34:20and Richard O'Kane
34:21had set a fresh example
34:22for the submarine force.
34:25One of their
34:25like-minded colleagues
34:26would become known
34:28known as
34:28the Destroyer Killer.
34:30His name
34:31was Sam Dealey.
34:34In December 1943,
34:36Dealey smiled proudly
34:38at the commissioning party
34:39for his new submarine,
34:40the USS Harder.
34:43After six months
34:43of shakedown
34:44and training,
34:45he was ready
34:46to face the Japanese,
34:47backed by a crew
34:48with confidence
34:49in its skipper.
34:50He had a way about him
34:54that the minute
34:55you started talking
34:56to him,
34:57you trusted him
34:58and you believed in him.
34:59And he always
35:00let us know
35:01what was going on.
35:02It was every battle
35:03we went into,
35:04every approach we made,
35:05we had a speaking system
35:06throughout the whole ship
35:07and we heard everything
35:09Captain Dealey said.
35:10In the Harder's first
35:14six months in battle,
35:16Dealey sank
35:16nine major vessels,
35:18sending 30,000 tons
35:19of Japanese shipping
35:20to the bottom
35:21of the ocean.
35:24In February 1944,
35:26he was ordered
35:27to the Wolei Atoll
35:29in the Caroline Islands,
35:31a thousand miles east
35:32of the Philippines.
35:34U.S. planes
35:35were attacking
35:35a Japanese base.
35:36A young Navy flyer
35:38was in trouble.
35:42We made full speed
35:44on four engines.
35:45The pilot was finally sighted
35:46on the northwest tip
35:48of the second island
35:48to the west of Wolei.
35:50Commander Sam Daley,
35:52USS Harder Patrol Report,
35:531944.
35:57Ensign Galvin,
35:58anxiously watching approach
35:59of the USS Harder.
36:02The photo's caption
36:03was later written
36:04by the sub's crew.
36:05Photos of the rescue
36:07were taken by
36:08American planes
36:09flying protection overhead.
36:12The picture in the skies
36:13looked like a gigantic
36:14Cleveland air show,
36:16moved in until
36:17the forward torpedo room
36:18reported bottom
36:19scraping forward.
36:22To rescue Ensign John Galvin,
36:25Dealey partially submerged
36:26and intentionally
36:27beached his submarine.
36:30The thing about a submarine,
36:31which not many people
36:32fully understand,
36:33is that you can
36:35run on the ground
36:36without any problem.
36:40Dealey had put his sub
36:41on the beach
36:41to stay as close as possible
36:43to the flyer.
36:44Although a life raft
36:45was dropped to him
36:46by plane,
36:47Galvin was too exhausted
36:49to row it out
36:49to the boat.
36:51As the photos explain,
36:53Harder kept its screws
36:54turning to remain stable
36:55as swimmers went in
36:57to bring the aviator
36:58back from shore.
36:59Once the flyer was aboard,
37:03Dealey re-floated the sub,
37:05raising it off the sand.
37:07Giving the all-back-full command,
37:10he slipped the Harder
37:11off the beach
37:11and headed out to sea.
37:14It was an easy thing to do,
37:16but it looked very,
37:16very dramatic.
37:18And of course,
37:18Sam Dealey was using
37:19his submarine
37:20in one of the ways
37:21that the submarine
37:22can do very, very well.
37:23The rescued aviator,
37:26Ensign John R. Galvin,
37:28though physically exhausted,
37:30showed a character
37:31that refused to admit defeat.
37:34It is a privilege
37:34to serve with men
37:36such as these.
37:39Returning to the air,
37:41Galvin shot down
37:42seven Japanese planes
37:43during the war.
37:45He and the Harder's crew
37:46never forgot each other.
37:49Dear John,
37:51you have another home
37:52on the Harder
37:53any time
37:54when you get tired
37:55of flying around
37:55with those wild aviators.
37:58Consider yourself
37:59only on temporary
38:00detached duty
38:01from this command.
38:03Best regards
38:04to a fine submariner,
38:06Sam Dealey.
38:08Dealey wrote his letter
38:10to Galvin
38:10after the Harder's
38:11fifth patrol,
38:13a record setter
38:14which earned
38:15the skipper his nickname,
38:17Dealey,
38:17the Destroyer Killer.
38:19The place was Tawi Tawi
38:21in the Sulu Archipelago
38:23just off the northeast corner
38:24of Borneo.
38:26The Japanese
38:27suspected a submarine blockade
38:29in the area.
38:31And so they sent out
38:32a group of destroyers
38:34to find the submarine
38:35or submarines
38:36and attack them.
38:39And Dealey saw them coming
38:41and I think the first day
38:42he sank three of them.
38:46You saw a Jap ship
38:47and your job was to sink
38:48and get rid of it.
38:49And we just happened
38:50to be in a position
38:50where we were
38:51shooting destroyers.
38:53But I don't think
38:54we went out
38:54looking for any of them
38:55but if they were in the way
38:56the old man
38:56didn't back down.
38:58And I think
38:59the first couple of years
38:59of the war
39:00they used to say
39:01stay away from them.
39:03And Captain Dealey didn't.
39:04The Japanese reaction
39:05was there must be
39:06a whole fleet
39:06of submarines out there.
39:08So they sent out
39:09a few more destroyers.
39:11Dealey sank
39:12two more of them.
39:14The total of five destroyers
39:16was a new patrol record
39:17for the sub force.
39:19The boat's slogan
39:20was well honored.
39:22Hit them.
39:23Harder.
39:27Coincidental in timing
39:29to events
39:29half a world away
39:30the Harder's heroic action
39:32started on D-Day
39:34June 6th, 1944
39:36as the Allied invasion
39:38of Europe began.
39:45Ten weeks later
39:46the Harder
39:47together with the
39:48sub-USS Hake
39:49lay in wait
39:50for Japanese ships
39:51outside Dassault Bay
39:53on the Philippine coast
39:5560 miles north of Manila.
39:59Harder engine man
40:00Michael Galetka
40:01was on temporary leave.
40:04He heard the story
40:04of his boat's confrontation
40:05with the enemy
40:06later.
40:09The Japanese destroyer
40:10came up behind her
40:11and dropped
40:12I think something like
40:1315 depth charges
40:14and they were pretty big ones
40:15the 600 pounders
40:16as they claim
40:16and that's all it took.
40:19The attacking ship
40:20was oddly familiar.
40:23It was the former
40:23American destroyer
40:25USS Stewart.
40:27Captured in port
40:28on the island of Java
40:29it had been converted
40:31to Japanese use
40:32and as patrol boat
40:34number 102
40:34it sank
40:36the USS Harder.
40:37The Congressional Medal of Honor
40:52was awarded posthumously
40:54to Commander Sam Dealey.
40:56for conspicuous gallantry
40:59and intrepidity
41:00at the risk of his life
41:01above and beyond
41:03the call of duty.
41:07Unlike Sam Dealey
41:08Dick O'Kane
41:10and Mush Morton
41:11not all of America's
41:12skilled submarine skippers
41:14were destined to lose
41:15their boats
41:16to the enemy.
41:17George Street
41:18captain of the USS
41:20Tirante
41:20brought his sub back
41:22at the end of the war
41:23and was then enlisted
41:24to make this short film
41:26reenacting his
41:27wartime exploits.
41:31Looked like a
41:32two or three thousand ton
41:33freighter
41:33taking on coal
41:34by conveyor.
41:36At street side
41:37was executive officer
41:38Edward L. Beach
41:40later
41:41a captain of nuclear
41:42submarines
41:43and now
41:44a noted naval historian.
41:45The Congressional Medal
41:54of Honor
41:54was awarded to street
41:55for Tirante's
41:56daring raid
41:57inside an enemy harbor
41:58but as Beach explains
42:00it actually belongs
42:02to the crew
42:03as a whole.
42:05There's a cohesiveness
42:06in submarines
42:07that you'll not find
42:09anywhere else
42:10that I know of
42:11and George Street
42:12himself
42:13always said
42:14and he made a point
42:15of this all the time
42:16I am not wearing
42:17this medal for me
42:18I'm wearing it for you
42:19because you earned it
42:20and I am the medal
42:21carrier
42:22but you earned it
42:23and it's ours
42:25not mine.
42:28While the Tirante
42:29was sold for scrap
42:30at the end of her days
42:31another wartime survivor
42:33met a different end.
42:35The USS Bluegill
42:36now rests permanently
42:38on the floor
42:39of the Pacific Ocean
42:40where she was
42:41intentionally sunk
42:42in 1971
42:43to help the Navy
42:45trained salvage specialists.
42:50She was built
42:51for 69 men
42:52I've forgotten
42:54how many officers
42:55ate I think.
42:58Survival
42:58is a key memory
42:59for her skipper
43:00Eric Barr
43:01as he and his
43:03one-time shipmate
43:04George Fulte
43:05visit Bluegill's
43:06sister ship
43:06the USS Cavalla.
43:09Fulte recalls
43:10their experience
43:11as far more
43:12than just
43:13a war story.
43:15I'll say
43:16it's probably
43:16the greatest experience
43:17of my life
43:18I don't want
43:19to do it over again
43:20but I always
43:22look back at that
43:23with fond recollection
43:25and I'm proud
43:27of that.
43:29He shares
43:29the memories
43:30with his captain
43:31and friend
43:32Eric Barr.
43:34For Fulte
43:34the skipper
43:35of the boat
43:36was not only
43:36a skilled warrior
43:37he achieved
43:39what he did
43:39with an added
43:40accomplishment.
43:42Well I'm here.
43:45He brought me back
43:46he brought us
43:47all back
43:48we sank
43:49a lot of ships
43:50I think
43:51it was superb.
43:53I'm very proud
43:57of that.
43:59Any man
43:59sailed with me
44:00came back alive.
44:02Call it luck
44:03but
44:03you'll have
44:05to be the judge.
44:08History
44:09will be the judge
44:10of World War II
44:11submarine captains.
44:13They were
44:13aggressive men
44:14attacking a ruthless
44:15enemy
44:16proud of the work
44:17they did
44:18with the hope
44:19that such skills
44:21would never
44:21be needed again.
44:23In addition
44:27to his medal
44:28of honor
44:29Commander Samuel
44:29Dealey
44:30received perhaps
44:31the ultimate
44:31tribute
44:32for a naval
44:32officer
44:33a ship
44:33named
44:34in his honor.
44:35The USS
44:36Dealey
44:36was commissioned
44:37as a destroyer
44:38escort
44:38even though
44:39Sam Dealey
44:40was known
44:40as the
44:41destroyer killer.
44:42Commander Dealey
44:43received still
44:44another honor
44:44in 1994
44:45on the 50th
44:46anniversary
44:47of his death
44:47when his hometown
44:48of Dallas
44:49declared
44:50Sam Dealey Day
44:51and unveiled
44:52a plaque
44:52dedicated
44:53to his
44:54wartime heroics.
44:55and
45:00teenage
45:18was
45:19in
45:20a
45:21Gracias por ver el video.
45:51Gracias por ver el video.