THE SILENT SERVICE "U-47 at Scapa Flow" 1958
This is the 78th 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, the last of the series, deals with a famous German U-boat, U-47. This submarine was under the command of Gunther Prien, who became one of the early U-boat aces of WW2.
Prien, played by Werner Klemperer, (Col Klink on Hogan's Heroes) receives orders to sneak into the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow on the coast of Scotland. Scapa Flow was where the German High Seas Fleet had scuttled itself after WW1. The Germans would like a spot of revenge.
On Oct 14th 1939, the U-47 managed to work its way between several block ships and enter the port. They found the Royal Navy Battleship, Royal Oak, at anchor. The U-47 put 3 torpedoes into the Royal Oak which sank inside 15 minutes taking over 800 men with her to the bottom. The U-boat then has several close calls with British patrol boats before managing to escape back to Germany.
The rest of the episode gives a brief rundown on the wartime career of the U-47. The submarine would sink 31 ships totalling over 160,000 tons during 10 patrols, before disappearing in March 1941 west of Ireland.
This is the 78th 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, the last of the series, deals with a famous German U-boat, U-47. This submarine was under the command of Gunther Prien, who became one of the early U-boat aces of WW2.
Prien, played by Werner Klemperer, (Col Klink on Hogan's Heroes) receives orders to sneak into the Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow on the coast of Scotland. Scapa Flow was where the German High Seas Fleet had scuttled itself after WW1. The Germans would like a spot of revenge.
On Oct 14th 1939, the U-47 managed to work its way between several block ships and enter the port. They found the Royal Navy Battleship, Royal Oak, at anchor. The U-47 put 3 torpedoes into the Royal Oak which sank inside 15 minutes taking over 800 men with her to the bottom. The U-boat then has several close calls with British patrol boats before managing to escape back to Germany.
The rest of the episode gives a brief rundown on the wartime career of the U-47. The submarine would sink 31 ships totalling over 160,000 tons during 10 patrols, before disappearing in March 1941 west of Ireland.
