THE SILENT SERVICE "The Seashark Story" 1957
This is the 34th episode of the U.S. war series, "The Silent Service". The series was about the exploits of the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet. Each episode is a stand-alone tale of the actions of a particular submarine. Most of the stories are about actions against the Japanese Navy and merchant fleet in the Pacific. There is also the odd tale from the Korean conflict. The series ran for 78 episodes during 1957 and 1958. The stories were all based on actual events. Some pretty good attention to detail here with the U.S Navy allowing filming on several WW 2 era Gato class subs.
Each episode started and ended with retired Real Admiral Thomas M. Dykers giving a breakdown of the action. Dykers became a writer, producer and technical adviser after leaving the service. He worked on films such as, TORPEDO ALLEY, FLAT TOP, THE FROGMEN, HELL AND HIGH WATER and SUBMARINE COMMAND.
This episode is about the U.S.S. "Seashark". The trick here is that there was no such submarine. The episode is just used to tell the story of how a crew will bond in combat. A US Navy photographer is sent to sea to get film of a crew on a mission. The photographer, Grant Richards, has never been on a submarine before. He is amazed just how small the ships are.
It does not take long and the submarine is in combat. A Japanese "Rufe" float plane attacks and drops several depth charges. Richards just about loses his nerve over the attack. He is kept calm by several of the other sailors.
The submarine is soon in combat again with the "Seashark" sinking a couple of Japanese cargo ships. Photographer Richards gets some excellent footage of the sinking vessels. Richards now feels like part of the crew.
This could be the slowest and least entertaining episode so far. Oh well, every series is allowed a stinker now and then.
This is the 34th episode of the U.S. war series, "The Silent Service". The series was about the exploits of the U.S. Navy's submarine fleet. Each episode is a stand-alone tale of the actions of a particular submarine. Most of the stories are about actions against the Japanese Navy and merchant fleet in the Pacific. There is also the odd tale from the Korean conflict. The series ran for 78 episodes during 1957 and 1958. The stories were all based on actual events. Some pretty good attention to detail here with the U.S Navy allowing filming on several WW 2 era Gato class subs.
Each episode started and ended with retired Real Admiral Thomas M. Dykers giving a breakdown of the action. Dykers became a writer, producer and technical adviser after leaving the service. He worked on films such as, TORPEDO ALLEY, FLAT TOP, THE FROGMEN, HELL AND HIGH WATER and SUBMARINE COMMAND.
This episode is about the U.S.S. "Seashark". The trick here is that there was no such submarine. The episode is just used to tell the story of how a crew will bond in combat. A US Navy photographer is sent to sea to get film of a crew on a mission. The photographer, Grant Richards, has never been on a submarine before. He is amazed just how small the ships are.
It does not take long and the submarine is in combat. A Japanese "Rufe" float plane attacks and drops several depth charges. Richards just about loses his nerve over the attack. He is kept calm by several of the other sailors.
The submarine is soon in combat again with the "Seashark" sinking a couple of Japanese cargo ships. Photographer Richards gets some excellent footage of the sinking vessels. Richards now feels like part of the crew.
This could be the slowest and least entertaining episode so far. Oh well, every series is allowed a stinker now and then.