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Battle Beneath the Waves (1946) – Classic Naval War Documentary takes viewers deep into the dangerous world of submarine warfare during World War II. This fascinating documentary explores the strategies, technology, and courageous missions carried out beneath the ocean's surface. Featuring authentic wartime footage and historical insights, the film highlights the vital role submarines played in naval combat and the challenges faced by the sailors who served aboard them. A must-watch for military history enthusiasts and fans of classic war documentaries.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00The
00:41Here is your ship, the USS Guadalcanal, fresh out of the Kaiser Yards.
00:47Equipped from stem to stern with the products of American ingenuity.
00:51Turned out by your hands.
00:53Electronic devices, radar, submarine detectors, wildcats and avengers, guns and shells.
01:02The thousand and one items that in the hands of American boys make a fighting American ship.
01:09All under the command of Captain Dan Gallery, USN, a pioneer of naval aviation.
01:15On May 15th, 1944, a task group of the Atlantic fleet heads out to sea with orders to operate
01:24against submarines to the west of the Cape Verde Islands.
01:27The group comprises the USS Guadalcanal and her five destroyer escorts.
01:31The Pillsbury, the Shadow Lane, the Pope, the Flaherty and the Jenks.
01:47At the departure conference, Captain Gallery and the destroyer skippers decide upon a daring plan of action.
01:54If, during this cruise, they can bring a sub to bay, they will not attempt to sink her as soon
02:00as she surfaces.
02:02Instead, they will spray her with small stuff, put crews over the side in small boats, and attempt to board
02:08and capture her.
02:10Daring, did we say? Fantastic is the word for boarding a wounded U-boat on the high seas.
02:16But the prize would be priceless.
02:19Naval intelligence could use a completely equipped enemy vessel.
02:23So during the voyage, prize crews were trained and rehearsed for this bold hope.
02:29Here's the hand-picked boarding party of the Guadalcanal.
02:33Well, let's meet some of them.
02:37Chief Photographer's Mate Clifford Wurla.
02:39His job will be to get inside the sub, take pictures of all installations in case she cannot be kept
02:45afloat.
02:47Chief Pharmacist Raymond Jackson, Fredericksburg, Virginia.
02:51He served ten years in the Navy.
02:54Lieutenant J.G. Milo Keck, a veteran sea dog with 25 years naval experience.
03:00Ensign Fred Middaw, an electrician's mate, First Class William Stein.
03:04Stein, a crack electrician, will assist Ensign Middaw in the job of checking the batteries and all operating motors of
03:11the enemy vessel.
03:13Ensign James Griffin, and machinist's mate, Second Class Walter Waller.
03:18Ensign Griffin will check the sub's diesel engines.
03:22Waller is to be engineer of the party's whale boat.
03:25In command of the boarding and salvage party is Commander Earl Tocino, engineering officer of the Guadalcanal.
03:33Over on the USS Pillsbury, a similar party is being trained by Lieutenant Albert David.
03:42On June 4th, 1944, the task group is searching for a sub reported 150 miles off the coast of French
03:50West Africa.
03:51When suddenly, at 11.10...
03:53Frenchie to Blue Jay, I have a possible sound contact.
03:58Nothing startling for the moment.
04:00Possible sound contacts are made every day, but a flattop has no business near them.
04:05With her high freeboard and her thin skin, she is a sitting duck for any sub which surfaces within torpedo
04:12range.
04:13So the Guadalcanal swings away, while the two nearest destroyers break off to assist the Chatelaine, which has made the
04:21sound contact.
04:22And the Guadalcanal's patrol of two Wildcat fighters is ordered to the scene.
04:28Then Commander Knox of the Chatelaine announces...
04:32Contact evaluated as sub.
04:34I'm making attack.
04:38Almost simultaneously, both fighter planes sight the long, dark shape of the submarine running 60 feet below the surface.
04:46And sing out...
04:47Sighted sub!
04:51At this point, the sub reverses course, temporarily shaking off the destroyer.
04:56But the Wildcats can see the sub and reveal its position by firing their guns in the water at the
05:03spot where the sub is disappearing.
05:05This is a remarkable example of aircraft actually directing the attack of a surface vessel on a U-boat.
05:13At 11.21, the destroyer makes a depth charge attack.
05:22All ships are at battle stations, and all eyes are glued on the Chatelaine.
05:27The guns of the task group are loaded with anti-personnel rather than armor-piercing ammunition.
05:33At 11.22 and a half, the wounded U-boat surfaces right in the middle of the task group.
05:39Commence firing!
05:41The planes open up first.
05:48Now the blow really began.
05:51Throw it on, lad.
05:53Take off!
05:53này!
06:12Do it!
06:13Stand up!
06:25These firing away all boarding parties, the Nazis are scrambling overboard.
06:30There are the Nazis in the water in their rubber rafts.
06:45But there may be more on board ready for business.
06:48Away all boarding parties.
07:07The sub's rudder is jammed, and she is running in a tight circle to the right.
07:11But the planes are all set to open up if she makes a false move.
07:16This is it.
07:17For the first time since 1815, the United States Navy boards a foreign enemy man-of-war on the high
07:25seas.
07:31The first boarding party has swarmed aboard.
07:34Only one dead Nazi on deck.
07:36There may be live ones below.
07:38But our lads tumble down the hatch and find to their amazement that the U-505 is all theirs.
07:46All theirs, that is.
07:48If she doesn't sink or blow up.
07:50Here comes the Pillsbury making knots.
07:53And there's a second whale boat with a boarding party from the Guadalcanal.
07:57The Nazis have done a hurried, frantic job of scuttling.
08:01A solid eight-inch stream of water is pouring through an open streamer.
08:05But Lieutenant David and his boys find the cover, slap it back in place, and secure it just in time.
08:12A few minutes more and it would have been too late.
08:14The in-rush of water is checked.
08:17Each man has a different job to do.
08:19Has rehearsed it for months.
08:21And now that the chips are down, they come through.
08:24The ship is thoroughly searched.
08:26But she's still running wild, and the Pillsbury and more boarders are chasing her.
08:33Finally, the Pillsbury orders, stop subs' engines.
08:37But when the prize crew complies, the subs sink so alarmingly that they throw the switches to full speed ahead.
08:44And the chase begins all over again.
08:50Meanwhile, the Chatelaine is busy rescuing some very wet members of the master race.
08:57Amazingly, all but one are saved and brought on board the Chatelaine.
09:18Dry clothing and cigarettes are passed around.
09:21The tradition of the sea is honorably and punctiliously respected.
09:27These men are the cream of the German Navy.
09:30They just can't believe that their ship has been captured.
09:34And by members of a decadent democracy.
09:39At last, the Pillsbury comes alongside and passes a line to the boarding party.
09:44A neat bit of seamanship.
09:46But watch out, that sub is still as dangerous as a wounded shark.
09:52She swings into the Pillsbury, and her bow flippers rip a long, underwater gash in the DE's thin plates.
09:59Flooding two main compartments clear up to the waterline.
10:14The destroyer has to cut loose and back clear.
10:17The Pillsbury radios, sub says she has to be told to stay afloat.
10:22But we don't think a destroyer can do it.
10:24So the Guadalcanal heads over and says on the TVF,
10:29Destroyers stand clear.
10:31I am going to take them in tow myself.
10:34Now we'll see whether this aviator skipper can handle the ship.
10:39It's a ticklish job hooking a flat top to a sinking sub on the high seas.
10:43And in the middle of the Atlantic U-boat lanes.
10:47Look how far down she is.
10:49They've closed the hatch to keep the swells from pouring down on the boys working inside.
10:58If she goes down now, they all go down with her.
11:01Let's get that line out.
11:03There it goes, the messenger line with the big tow line at the end of it.
11:07This is a job to test the mettle of veteran seamen.
11:10And four out of five of those boys on the sub's folks who are green.
11:15But there is no fumbling.
11:38In the middle of the next five, they are on the road.
11:40Go to the next five, let's take them out.
11:49Let's step up.
12:03The tow line is made fast, and the anxious skipper heaves a sigh of relief as the sub
12:09makes way and rises in the water.
12:11She is safe again, for the time being, and under a new flag.
12:24The task group forms up, and on orders from the Navy Department, heads for Bermuda, a grueling
12:292,500-mile haul with a riddled waterlogged U-boat in tow.
12:36Normal flight operations are resumed and carried on day and night, despite the greatly reduced
12:41speed of the Guadalcanal.
12:44At times, there are only 15 knots of wind across the flight deck, and it's axiomatic that a
12:49flyer has to have 25 knots to land on a baby flattop.
12:53But these pilots land anyway, and without an accident.
13:06The prisoners are transferred from the overcrowded destroyer to the carrier.
13:13The one in the stretcher is Oberleutnant Derzigerer Lange, captain of the U-505.
13:20The first man out of the conning tower.
13:22He was instantly blown overboard by a shell.
13:32During the voyage, they're brought on deck for exercises, and a thorough salt shower.
13:59On the 7th of June, the fleet tug of Naki joins up, and the tow is transferred from the Guadalcanal.
14:07Now comes the most anxious moment of the cruise.
14:11As she loses way, Junior, as the crew have christened the sub, sinks lower and lower in the water.
14:17The salvage party works desperately to take all movable weights out of the U-boat.
14:22Then, as the transfer is completed, and the Obnocki gets underway, the clutches on the sub's engines are released, and
14:32her propellers recharge her batteries.
14:36With power aboard, her pumps work once more, and her tanks are blown out.
14:41Now she rides again at full surface trim.
14:47On June 19th, the U-505 was towed into Bermuda, and there remained, as a prize of war, one less
14:56wolf to hunt with the pack.
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17:34submarines which cut off the supply from that source entirely.
17:51Our records show that about 36% of the major vessels,
18:00that the vessels bloodied on the three years,
18:06while just through the United States submarines.
18:15Actually, Admiral Nagano is pretty accurate in his estimates.
18:19The latest reports, and we've checked and double-checked them,
18:22show that one battleship, nine carriers and 15 cruisers
18:25of the Imperial Japanese Navy were sunk by Allied submarines.
18:28He might have added, though, that 42 destroyers and 28 submarines
18:34were sunk in the same way.
18:36Not a bad few years at work.
18:38By the way, I noticed the Admiral didn't give any figures on their Merchant Marines.
18:43Well, that's understandable.
18:44It must be quite a painful subject to him.
18:47There just isn't any more Japanese Merchant Marines.
18:50Our submarines accounted for 63% of that important branch.
18:55Mr. Nomura probably could have told you that the 104 of his vitally needed tankers were victims of submarines.
19:04Their Merchant Marine was destroyed on the high seas, in the ports of the Japanese Empire,
19:09and even in the shallow waters off the China coast,
19:13where the submarines had to operate as PT boats since there was insufficient water for diving.
19:18Admiral, do you think in these articles we're writing we could explain why, during the war,
19:23there was so little publicity given our subs and the shellacking they were handing the Japs?
19:28I wish you would.
19:29It was just something that couldn't be helped.
19:32At the beginning of the war, the civilians visited the front and then broke into print
19:37and they got back about how American submarines didn't fear Japanese destroyers.
19:41They boasted that the nip-depth charges weren't big enough to hurt us
19:46and weren't set deep enough to reach us.
19:48You can imagine how joyful the Japs would see that news.
19:52They radically changed their tactics and they lost, I should say,
19:56about 10 submarines with all on board before we can improve our construction sufficiently
20:01to slow the Japs down.
20:03Is that when you became the silent service?
20:06Right then and there.
20:07We buttoned up our lips and set it with torpedoes.
20:10Besides, there was too much work to do to permit talking about it.
20:15Just visualize the spot we were in, December 7th, 1941.
20:20There wasn't time to be bitter.
20:22It was up to us, the small ships.
20:25The big ones are out of the picture.
20:32Yesterday, December 7th, 1941,
20:39a date which will live in infamy.
20:44The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked
20:51by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
20:58Yes, it was up to the submarines.
21:00At that time, we had exactly 51 submarines in the Pacific,
21:04and that included 12 of the old S-class.
21:06Small and slow, but they gave a good account of themselves.
21:10On December 15th, eight days after Pearl Harbor, American subs drew their first blood.
21:16The swordfish was cruising off Hainan Island in the South China Sea.
21:20On the radio, they could hear the voice of a Japanese woman speaking faultless English.
21:24Later, she would become famous as Tokyo Rose.
21:29We know very well that American submarines have headed west from Pearl Harbor.
21:34However, if American submariners are wise, you will turn back.
21:39Certain death awaits you over here.
21:42And now I'll play for you unfortunate Americans, a popular recording.
21:52One week after Pearl Harbor, the Yatsututsan Maru, 8,663 tons, became the first victim of an American subs.
22:01A dubious honor.
22:12It wasn't long before she had plenty of company at the bottom of the ocean.
22:16On the 1st of January, the 5,384-ton Tainan Maru was sunk right off the very coast of Japan.
22:35But those early days were tough.
22:38Just look at the vast amount of territory the Japs overran in no time at all.
22:42Naturally, they wanted to consolidate.
22:45Keep all that loot from the conquered territories pouring into Japan.
22:48Fuel, oil, rubber, coal, iron, rice.
22:51It was our job to see that most of that loot didn't get there.
22:55And for 18 months, our subs were the only ships that penetrated enemy-controlled sea lanes.
23:01It was rugged, but it paid off.
23:05Let the Japs tell you about it.
23:08American submarines in 1942 sank 134 Japanese merchant ships, totaling 580,000 or 390 tons and 140,000 tons of
23:21middle war.
23:22And that was only beginning.
23:30Yes, only the beginning.
23:33Even newly commissioned subs got big scores.
23:35For instance, the trigger.
23:37Her story starts in Mayer Island.
23:41That's the way she looked at me the first time I ever saw her.
23:45I was reporter's mess attendant.
23:47Got to be officer's cook first class time I was transferred.
23:51She didn't look like nothing much to me right then.
23:53Just a lot of pipe and steel.
23:56No life, no spirit.
23:59But I felt it was better when I saw the galley.
24:02Small, but clean.
24:04The latest in devices.
24:06A man sure could get a mess of cooking done in there.
24:09But all in all, I sure felt let down.
24:12I said to myself, man, what possessed you to volunteer for the subservice anyhow?
24:16Next time you'll keep your big mouth shut.
24:19I began to feel a little better though about the trigger when we got underway.
24:23There was just something about it.
24:26Well, by the time we reached Pearl, the trigger and me was friends.
24:30She'd sure won me over.
24:33How'd you do it?
24:34Well, I tell you, ship it.
24:38Well, it's like our exec says.
24:40He says,
24:42I don't find it any easier than the steward to put into words what I feel about the trigger.
24:47I think it's that all ships have sold.
24:49And all sailors know it.
24:52But it takes a while to learn to commune with it.
24:55It took me quite some time.
24:58But when it happened,
25:01it was our first patrol and our first kill.
25:05Off the eastern coast of Kaiushu.
25:07A good-sized freighter.
25:09Clear the freight!
25:11Take her down before we're spotted.
25:14That baby might mount enough guns to blast us.
25:16The kingdom come.
25:18Take her down.
25:24That's your turn.
25:39Now, let's take a look to see if she spotted us.
25:45Everything looks normal from here.
25:47If it isn't a trap.
25:49She might be a queue ship carrying depth charges and sound gear.
25:54We can't hit her until we close the range.
25:57To close the range, we've got to watch out that she doesn't see or hear us.
26:02Or the killer will become the corpse.
26:05The minutes seem like hours until we get into position.
26:09Easy.
26:10Easy.
26:12Then...
26:13Estimated range, 1,500 yards.
26:15Track 90 port.
26:16Tower angle five left.
26:17Stand by.
26:18It's coming on.
26:19Coming on.
26:20Fire one!
26:26Then...
26:26Eight seconds.
26:27Fire two!
26:47Trigger had come of age.
26:49But she was soon to face her first ordeal.
26:54Death charging.
27:17Destroyer left the scene confident he had suckered.
27:21For several nights later, we heard Tokyo Rose on our radio.
27:26I regret to inform all American submarines that one of their number has recently fallen victim
27:33to a destroyer of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
27:38You will hear an appropriate recording.
28:04Them!
28:26They show up!
28:27Go, go, go, go!
28:33I'm not sure!
28:33The
28:47Down the periscope.
28:50Up the periscope.
28:52Down the periscope.
29:02Down the periscope.
29:03Look, ma'am, this is a jackpot.
29:05We've got the biggest aircraft carrier I've ever seen up here.
29:07Plus two destroyers.
29:08We're going to shoot our whole one at the carrier.
29:21Up the periscope.
29:27Bearing, mark, 329.
29:30Range, mark.
29:316-1-0.
29:33Down periscope.
29:34Angle on the bow.
29:35Starboard 15.
29:36Right 4 rudder.
29:37Right 4 rudder.
29:38All ahead 2 thirds.
29:39All ahead 2 thirds.
29:40New course 2-4-0.
29:42New course 2-4-0.
29:43What's the distance to the track?
29:441-7-0.
29:46Control, 6-3 feet.
29:47Control, 6-3 feet.
29:48Forward torpedo room.
29:49Make ready all tubes.
29:50Forward torpedo room.
29:51Make ready all tubes.
29:52Set depth 12 feet.
29:53Set depth 12 feet.
29:55Rig for silent running.
29:56Rig for silent running.
29:57Rig for depth charge.
29:58Rig for depth charge.
29:59Steady on 250.
30:05All ahead 1 third.
30:06All ahead 1 third.
30:07How much time have I got?
30:08None, sir.
30:08Torpedo run 1100.
30:10Rating to my 1600.
30:12Gyro 005 increasing.
30:14Shoot anytime.
30:15Standby forward.
30:16Standby forward.
30:17Up the periscope.
30:17Check bearing and shoot.
30:23Bearing.
30:24Mark.
30:253-4-5.
30:25Down periscope.
30:27Set.
30:27Fire.
30:28Fire one.
30:30One fired third.
30:33Fire.
30:34Fire two.
30:35Two fired.
30:37Fire.
30:37Fire three.
30:40Three fired.
30:42Set.
30:42Fire.
30:43Fire four.
30:44Fire.
30:46Fire.
30:54Fire.
30:59Fire.
31:04Fire.
31:04Fire.
31:05Fire five.
31:07Fire six.
31:09Fire seven,
31:14Fire eight.
31:14got away. Carrier just managed to crawl back to Tokyo Bay, badly crippled. The
31:21trigger was lost in March 45 off the Ryukyus. At that time, she was one of the
31:26highest ranking subs in tonnage and total number of ships sunk. The trigger
31:30will never be forgotten, nor will the work of all our other submarines.
31:38In 1943, 284 Japanese ships totaled 1,341,968 tons. Plus, about 100,000 tons of
31:50warships were sunk by American submarines. Naturally, they got some of our subs, too.
31:56But our losses weren't excessive when you consider what was accomplished. In fact,
32:01they were quite small compared to the losses of the Jap and German submarine
32:05services. But we felt deeply each individual loss. For instance, take the case of the
32:12Sculpin. On 19 November 1943, we sighted a fast convoy and made an attack.
32:39Their screen detected us and immediately subjected us to depth charging.
32:54Things were getting tough when we heard a rainfall. We headed forward and shook the Japs. At least, we thought
33:03we did.
33:05But the moment we regained Periscope depth, we found that Jap destroyer sitting right on our lap.
33:14We tried to duck, but he has heard as well as seen it.
33:19You okay?
33:25I think...
33:25We went.
33:28That is what we saw.
33:32You okay?
33:34You okay?
33:34Hey, us.
33:35Run, let us.
33:51After five hours, the batteries were almost flat and the men completely exhausted.
33:58We had a tough decision to make.
34:02The first concern of our skipper, Commander Conaway, was for the life of his men.
34:07We had on board the Wolfpack Commander, Captain Cromwell,
34:10who had heard that the Japs used a special brand of torture to extract information from their captives.
34:17Suddenly, a decision was reached.
34:19We battled service and used our deck gun to fight it out with the destroyer.
34:47Commander Conaway and the next two in command, Lieutenant Allen and Lieutenant DeVries, were killed almost instantly.
34:53I succeeded to command.
35:00The situation was hopeless.
35:02I gave the order to scuttle ships.
35:10Captain Cromwell chose to go down with the boat because he knew too much.
35:16Ensign Max Fiedler also went down with the Sculpin.
35:20First of all, it means a whole wird.
35:23I win one hour for a mile.
35:25Sign or Buddhism?
35:36Step up.
35:38Kooly, invention
35:39wasn't nahy! After
35:44has booed. All right.
35:48I take that
35:49take it deeply into a tribute to the Advisory Office family. No way no
35:56The End
36:20But now for a change.
36:22It was a very pleasant phase to our activity.
36:26Patrols were tough on bodies and nerves,
36:28so we arranged a program of relaxation and rehabilitation
36:31between runs that were the envy of every branch of service.
36:34With the approval and backing of Fleet Admiral Nimitz,
36:37our Commander-in-Chief,
36:38we took over the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu,
36:41lock, stock, and barrel,
36:43and we said to the submarine men,
36:44it's all yours.
36:46Other operating forces also had quarters at the Royal.
36:49It held about 150 officers and 1,000 men,
36:52but the majority were always submarine men
36:55and aviators from the carrier booths.
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41:06We've got them on radar, but the Lookouts haven't spotted them yet
41:11Say, this lifeguard stuff is new to me but it has its exciting moments
41:22Rather, am I glad I'm not on that plane
41:28Well, here's a couple that were lucky enough to jump
41:30We're going over to pick them up
41:33And then survey the wreckage to see if there are others we can rescue
41:36Maybe we'll find some still alive
41:39This job of dragging tires and half-drowned parts aboard a sub looks easy
41:44But it takes careful handling and a certain amount of risk on the part of our own boys
41:50Climbing up the side of a slippery outer hull and super-stretcher in a choppy sea
41:55Isn't easy, even for one of our own men
41:58So it gets a bit complicated when these zoomies drop in on it
42:04Say, these guys look like they're badly shot up
42:09Doc is up here now and first aid is being given to those who need it right away
42:13There isn't time for treating for shock and exposure on deck
42:17Because we're in enemy waters and subject to attack at any moment
42:21So Skipper says to get them below as soon as possible
42:25Here we are now, down in the Chief's Quarter
42:28Doc has made this compartment into a first-class operating room
42:34Looks like we're going to have more company in a few minutes
42:46You know, this picking up of fliers is getting to be quite a habit with us
42:51Of course, most of the guys here in the sub would rather be firing fish or the jet guns
42:56But it's a great feeling to be able to rescue a small bunch of fellas like these
43:00And it's a relief to have somebody new to swap yarns with after being out here for so long
43:11Sometimes the kid you and I used to know back home isn't so lucky
43:16We're doing all we can
43:18No sign yet, but we're not giving up
43:24Well, we tried
43:25But he didn't make it
43:28But we'll make it up to him
43:30We'll save as many of his buddies as we can
43:37Yes, many of that boy's buddies were saved
43:40At one time, we had 22 submarines on station whose primary duty was lifeguarding
43:45All in all, we rescued more than 500 Army, Navy, and Marine aviators
43:50The submarines were proud of that work and eager for the assignment
43:54But in the last months of the war, it didn't supply enough action to satisfy them
43:58So, as you'll see, they figured out some special assignments for themselves
44:02And very interesting, too
44:07During the summer of 45, Ceranti was in the same fix as all the other subs
44:11No targets really worth wasting the taxpayers' torpedoes on
44:15Oh, we managed to amuse ourselves
44:18Shot up a few picket boats
44:20And other small craft
44:22Knocked off a sea truck
44:25Raised some mild hell in a general way
44:28We played pirate and boarded some junks
44:31Scared the crews half out of their yellow skins
44:33And gave the deep six to a lot of dried peas bound for Japan
44:46We took a few prisoners
44:59Exploded some mines
45:01But there was nothing to write home about
45:02Even if we could have written home
45:05Then one morning, we sighted a ship in the distance
45:09It looked like it was tied to a dock alongside a colliery
45:12We kept it under observation for about an hour
45:23Looked like a 2,000 or 3,000 ton freighter
45:25Taking on coal by conveyor
45:34We held a war council
45:41It'd be risky
45:42Entering a harbor full of rocks and shoals
45:45Should we try it?
45:46Well, we didn't come out here to sit on our duffs
45:51We changed course
45:52We changed course
45:54Then the skipper, as he always did, spoke to the crew
45:58Brothers, I think you might like to know what we're up to
46:01There's a 2,000 or 3,000 ton freighter in the harbor
46:03Tired to a colliery dock
46:04Taking on coal
46:06That's a bigger ship we've seen so far
46:08And targets are too scarce these days to let any pass
46:11On the good side of the ledger
46:12I can mention these two items
46:13One, there seems to be a lot of patrol craft in this spot
46:16And two, I don't think there are any mines
46:19Because there's an awful lot of small craft around
46:21Now, on the bad side of the ledger
46:24The harbor's full of rocks and shoals
46:25Navigation's gonna be tough
46:27We'll make a submerged attack
46:28But then we'll have to service and half load it out
46:30If we're caught in here, submerged
46:32It'll be just too bad
46:34However, we have the best navigator in the business
46:37So what are we waiting for?
46:38Let's go
46:39Battle stage is submerged
46:41We got into position
46:42Went through the preliminaries
46:48Let me tell you, right here and now
46:50When the real thing comes up
46:52It's like nothing you ever went through in your life
46:56When that scope goes up in this harbor
46:58You're playing for keeps
47:00Your blood pressure tells you that
47:08The sweat on your hands
47:09And the butterfly on your chest
47:11Keep reminding you
47:12That when you get within a thousand yards of your target
47:14You're going to let go with everything you've got
47:17Then get
47:18If you can
47:27The exact slug confirms it
47:29We're dead on
47:31And coming closer
47:33Closer
47:41Dozens of small craft criss-crossing overhead
47:44If one of them cites our scope while the skipper's taking cuts to keep us off the rocks
47:48You can make like the song and kiss the boys goodbye
47:52Now
47:54Coming on a thousand yards
47:57Twenty to go
47:59Ten
47:59Five
48:02Five
48:05Fire one
48:23Look at them scramble
48:26Nuts
48:28She's lifting the port and down by the bar but still afloat
48:31Hey, wait a minute
48:32They manned their deck gun there on the right
48:35Looks like they think a plane got them
48:37But we can't surface while that gun's still in business
48:40All right then, let her have another fish
48:42Just ahead of the stack
48:44Polish off ship and gun crew both with one blow
48:51Fire two
48:54Swing left again
48:58Swing left again
48:59Sonar reports fish ran true but suddenly stopped
49:02No explosion
49:03Must have buried itself in a mud bank or a torpedo net
49:06But there's not time to speculate
49:08The nip gun crew spotted our periscope
49:10They're taking pot shots at us
49:13Better slip them another fish and quick
49:15Steady on two eight zero
49:17Torpedo run seven five oh
49:20Death set two feet
49:22Gyro angle zero three eight
49:27Fire three
49:39Bullseye
49:48And now as Shakespeare said
49:49Let's not stand upon the order of our going
49:52But let's go
50:12They've got a nerve shooting at us
50:14What kind of hospitality do they call that?
50:17All right, now let's show some speed
50:20Wait a minute
50:22We must have surfaced too fast
50:24The bow plane should have folded up like a fighter plane's wings
50:28Stuck out like that
50:28They'll drag our speed down
50:30Until the Japs can catch us with a rowboat
50:33And that's not all that can catch us
50:35Come up, come up
50:38There
50:40Steady as you go, sweethearts
50:44Now we can highball for deep water
50:47But the Jap fire is getting closer
50:50I'm beginning to sweat again
50:59I'm beginning to sweat again
50:59Well, here we are getting the decoration
51:02So I guess we made it all right
51:04But believe me, it was close
51:06That was months ago, but I'm just about now
51:08Start sweating
51:10The power and light company is going to seem awfully beautiful
51:13In a few weeks when they hand me that ruptured duck
51:15But brother, how I'm going to miss this boat
51:18And the boys
51:22Yes, we rewarded our men in the submarine
51:25Tried to honor them for the heroic things they had done
51:28But nothing we can do, nothing we can say
51:31That they can properly express our gratitude to these men of the silent service
51:37And of the men who did not come back
51:40The men who went down with their ships
51:42What can we say?
51:44How can we repay them?
51:47Shall we not echo their prayer?
51:50May God grant that there be no next war
51:54But they know and we know that if there is
51:56And whether it be fought with weapons we now know
51:59Or with weapons at whose nature we can only guess
52:01You will find submarines in the thick of the combat
52:04Fighting with skill, determination and matchless daring
52:08Doing their utmost for all of us
52:10And for our United States of America
52:26To be out of the war
52:28Where in Frank Dino
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