THE SILENT SERVICE "The Archerfish Spits Straight" 1958
This is the 40th 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 USS "Archerfish". The "Archerfish" entered service in 1943 and started her first patrol in December of that year. The "Archerfish" completed four patrols without any success against the Japanese.
On November 11th 1944 the submarine set out on her fifth patrol after being assigned patrol duty off Tokyo Bay. Her job was to look for any B-29 bombers which might need to ditch. On November 28th she sighted a large ship she took as a large tanker. The target was being escorted by four Japanese escort vessels.
The "Archerfish" worked its way into the best possible attack position before launching 6 torpedoes. The target was hit by 4 of these torpedoes and sank in about 45 minutes. The "tanker' was actually the Japanese aircraft carrier, "Shinano". The 72,000 ton "Shinano" was the largest carrier launched in WW2. She was to be the third of the massive "Yamato" class battleships. She was converted on the slip to a carrier after the Japanese carrier losses at the Battle of Midway. The "Shinano" was the largest ship ever sank by a submarine.
The "Archerfish" only scored one more time, sending a Japanese submarine to the bottom. The submarine was one of 12 other U.S. Navy submarines in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender.
The "Archerfish" would remain in service in various capacities until October 19th, 1968. On that date she was sunk off San Diego as a target for the submarine, USS "Snook".
The "Archerfish" lives on as one of three submarines used in the 1959 film, OPERATION PETTICOAT, which starred Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. The three submarines in that production were, "Archerfish", "Queenfish" and "Balao".
The cast features DeForest Kelly, Robert Christopher, William Boyett and Ron Foster.
This is the 40th 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 USS "Archerfish". The "Archerfish" entered service in 1943 and started her first patrol in December of that year. The "Archerfish" completed four patrols without any success against the Japanese.
On November 11th 1944 the submarine set out on her fifth patrol after being assigned patrol duty off Tokyo Bay. Her job was to look for any B-29 bombers which might need to ditch. On November 28th she sighted a large ship she took as a large tanker. The target was being escorted by four Japanese escort vessels.
The "Archerfish" worked its way into the best possible attack position before launching 6 torpedoes. The target was hit by 4 of these torpedoes and sank in about 45 minutes. The "tanker' was actually the Japanese aircraft carrier, "Shinano". The 72,000 ton "Shinano" was the largest carrier launched in WW2. She was to be the third of the massive "Yamato" class battleships. She was converted on the slip to a carrier after the Japanese carrier losses at the Battle of Midway. The "Shinano" was the largest ship ever sank by a submarine.
The "Archerfish" only scored one more time, sending a Japanese submarine to the bottom. The submarine was one of 12 other U.S. Navy submarines in Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender.
The "Archerfish" would remain in service in various capacities until October 19th, 1968. On that date she was sunk off San Diego as a target for the submarine, USS "Snook".
The "Archerfish" lives on as one of three submarines used in the 1959 film, OPERATION PETTICOAT, which starred Cary Grant and Tony Curtis. The three submarines in that production were, "Archerfish", "Queenfish" and "Balao".
The cast features DeForest Kelly, Robert Christopher, William Boyett and Ron Foster.
