THE SILENT SERVICE "The Growler's Captain" 1958
This is the 57th 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. "Growler". It is January 1st 1943 and the "Growler" is heading out from Brisbane Australia on her fourth patrol. She is to cover the shipping lanes between the Japanese bases of Rabaul and Truk. On January 11th she makes her first contact, spotting a Japanese convoy. The "Growler" slips inside the escorts and sinks the large transport, "Chifuku Maru".
On February 7th she makes a surface attack on a Japanese patrol craft. The Japanese vessel however spots the "Growler" and speeds in to try and ram the submarine. The submarine and the patrol boat both manoeuvre trying to ram the other. The machine guns on board the patrol boat sweeps the conning tower of the "Growler" just before the two vessels collide. The damaged submarine dives under orders of the badly wounded Captain who is still on deck.
An hour later, the "Growler" returns to the area, but the Captain and two other crew members are nowhere to be found. The submarine's bow is badly bent to port, and it takes maximum effort from the crew to get the ship back to Brisbane. It then takes three months of extensive repairs to get the "Growler" back in the war.
The submarine's commanding officer, Howard W Gilmore, would be the first man from the submarine arm to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The "Growler" would sail on 11 wartime patrols before being lost on the 20th of October 1944 with all hands. The "Growler" would be credited with10 Japanese vessels totalling 32,607 tons.
The cast includes Ross Elliott as Captain Gilmore and Bing Russell as the second in command.
This is the 57th 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. "Growler". It is January 1st 1943 and the "Growler" is heading out from Brisbane Australia on her fourth patrol. She is to cover the shipping lanes between the Japanese bases of Rabaul and Truk. On January 11th she makes her first contact, spotting a Japanese convoy. The "Growler" slips inside the escorts and sinks the large transport, "Chifuku Maru".
On February 7th she makes a surface attack on a Japanese patrol craft. The Japanese vessel however spots the "Growler" and speeds in to try and ram the submarine. The submarine and the patrol boat both manoeuvre trying to ram the other. The machine guns on board the patrol boat sweeps the conning tower of the "Growler" just before the two vessels collide. The damaged submarine dives under orders of the badly wounded Captain who is still on deck.
An hour later, the "Growler" returns to the area, but the Captain and two other crew members are nowhere to be found. The submarine's bow is badly bent to port, and it takes maximum effort from the crew to get the ship back to Brisbane. It then takes three months of extensive repairs to get the "Growler" back in the war.
The submarine's commanding officer, Howard W Gilmore, would be the first man from the submarine arm to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The "Growler" would sail on 11 wartime patrols before being lost on the 20th of October 1944 with all hands. The "Growler" would be credited with10 Japanese vessels totalling 32,607 tons.
The cast includes Ross Elliott as Captain Gilmore and Bing Russell as the second in command.