CHALLENGE FROM BELOW is a fascinating U.S. Navy movie made during the Cold War, that presents in detail the tactics that might have been used to control the sea lanes in a non-nuclear, conventional war between the United States and the Communist bloc. As the narrator comments, in the scenario presented in the film neither side wanted to take the risk of initiating a nuclear war, and in this instance supply lines and the sea lanes are vital for the preservation of the Free World.
Interestingly, the film was made before the Russo-Sino split, so the film shows what would have been the worst case scenario: Chinese and Russians working to take over Asia and Europe respectively, and simultaneously. In this scenario, enemy submarines are extensively used to keep the USA from resupplying its forces and going on the offensive.
The film shows WWII footage of German submarines at the 3:00 mark, shown on combat patrol in the Atlantic, and sinking ships with torpedoes. The film contains multiple shots of ships being torpedoed and exploding.
Anti-submarine warfare activities are seen at the 5:00 mark, including the Douglas F4D Skyray at 5:28. At 6:52, the Soviet port of Petropavlovsk is shown, with American submarines shown in the vicinity mining the entrance to the enemy harbor. The mines are shown being released in underwater footage. At 7:52, Soviet submarine is shown operating on the surface, and then being sunk by an American submarine.
At 11:47, a Martin P5M Marlin is seen on anti-submarine warfare patrol, flying over an American Guppy class submarine.
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
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 and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
