The Nautilus Story is one of the many episodes of the classic TV show “The Silent Service,” produced by California National Productions in Hollywood. This fascinating program was executive produced by Rear Admiral Thomas Dykers, who also hosted the show. Each episode was based on actual wartime patrols conducted by U.S. Navy submarines during WWII. In this episode from season 1, the Nautilus is assigned to observation duty at Tarawa and caught between U.S. and Japanese gunfire. The inspiration for this episode was a war patrol In November of 1943, when USS Nautilus attempted an intelligence gathering mission to gather weather and surf conditions for a landing by the Marines. On 19 November, mistaking her for a Japanese submarine, the destroyer USS Ringgold (DD-500) fired at Nautilus while she was off Maiana in the Gilbert Islands. Although the boat was hit, the shell did not explode and the submarine did not suffer any casualties. Within two hours of the incident, repairs were sufficient to allow Nautilus to continue with her primary mission: landing a 78-man scouting party, composed of 5th Amphibious Reconnaissance Company Marines and an Australian scout, on Abemama.

This episode was directed by Jean Yarbrough, written by Tony Barrett, cinematography Howard Schwartz, and starring Thomas M. Dykers as Host / Narrator, Ross Elliot as Irvin, Simon Scott as Lynch, Ray Stricklyn as Johnny, Tom Laughlin as Lou, Barry McGuire as Lenny, Val Benedict as Tully, Roy Lennert as Connors, Jack Lomas as Anderson, Dick Foote as Marine Sgt., Jimmy Hayes as Chuck, Michael Hadge as Soundman, Don Eitner as Helmsman.

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