The Silent Service was a documentary style anthology TV series about the U.S. Navy’s submarine fleet and their missions during World War II and the Korean War created by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, who retired from the Navy in the late 1940s. Every episode was based on true historical events, with the realism of the show reinforced by the use of actual combat footage from the archives of the United States Navy. This particular episode titled “The Sealion Story” is episode 31 from season 1 of the show, which aired Tuesday, October 1st, 1957.
Directed by Sobey Martin and written by Malvin Wald and Jack Jacobs, “The Sealion Story” featured a cast of actors which included Phillip Pine, Arvid Nelson, Clarke Gordon, William Henry, Richard Keith, Alexander Lockwood, Sid Melton, Alan Aric, Walter Reed, Wade Cagle, Dennis Cross, Don Kennedy, and Joe Saint-Dennis. Together, this crew of actors bring to life the story of the USS Sealion (SS-315), the only US and Allied submarine responsible for the sinking of an enemy battleship (battleship Kongō) during the Second World War, and how a recording of the battle survived.
The episode opens with an introduction by the show’s creator Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers as he listens to part of a tape recorded on a submarine during a battle (0:33). Following the introduction, the episode opens to footage from September 1944 as the USS Sealion returns to Pearl Harbor where a crowd awaits to welcome Commander Eli T. Reich of New York City and his crew who had successfully sunk six cargo ships and a mine layer on the first two patrols (1:16). After three weeks, the USS Sealion is ready for its next tour. Commander Eli T. Reich and his executive officer Lieutenant Jay S. Fried of Pasadena, California talk with each other and ponder where their next mission might be (2:04). Navy captain meets with Robert McNamara who insists he sank a battle cruiser meet at Operations Office Submarine Force Pacific Fleet; Commander Reich meets with commander next and agrees to allow war correspondent onto the USS Sealion for its next mission (2:43). Days after meeting, USS Sealion made part of a wolf pack, joining the destroyer USS Key (DE-348), to patrol heavily mined area – area between China Coast and island of Kyushu (7:46). November 1st, 1944 USS Sealion and USS Key depart Pearl Harbor, not long into journey CBS correspondent Mr. Howard disembarks at Midway Island suffering from Malaria but he leaves tape recorder behind (8:20). USS Key must turn back to Midway due to engine troubles, USS Sealion patrolling by itself when it comes under torpedo fire and submarine suffers some damage (9:54). As the sub continues to patrol alone, it exchanges fire with small targets and even suffers a hit by a floating mine causing more damage and panic aboard. Crew spots a convoy of enemy battleships on the radar so the USS Sealion changes course to move in on target, commander Reich gives crew member permission to record battle on Mr. Howard’s device (14:45). Target locked in, USS Sealion begins firing torpedoes at enemy ships, at first it appears they did not inflict much damage, but as the battle continues the crew learn they have hit something (18:36). The crew continue to search waters for evidence of the ship that they sank, however, they find nothing but oil in the water (22:43). Feeling slight disappointment, the ship turns back to Pearl Harbor. Back at Pearl Harbor, the crew get confirmation that they sunk the enemy battleship Kongō (23:30). Closing segment, Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers speaks with Commander Eli T. Reich (24:10).
Motion picture films don’t last forever; many have already been lost or destroyed. For almost two decades, we’ve worked to collect, scan and preserve the world as it was captured on 35mm, 16mm and 8mm movies — including home movies, industrial films, and other non-fiction. If you have endangered films you’d like to have scanned, or wish to donate celluloid to Periscope Film so that we can share them with the world, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us via the weblink below.
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
