The Silent Service was a documentary style anthology 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 real 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 Sunfish Story” is episode 24 from season 2 of the show, which aired Friday, August 15th, 1958.

Directed by Sobey Martin and written by Sidney Morse, “The Sunfish Story” features a cast of actors which includes Arthur Franz, Christopher Dark, Anthony Eisley, and Jack Farmer. Together, this crew of actors bring to life the story of a Gato-class submarine, the USS Sunfish (SS-281), when the ship endured an attack of 186 depth charges by Japanese surface craft.

Following an introduction by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers (0:38), the episode opens to footage from 22 June,1944 of USS Sunfish departing Pearl Harbor for its seventh war patrol in the Kuril Islands area (1:18). Cmdr. Edward E. Shelby briefs executive officers on next patrol of Sea of Okhotsk, Shelby in charge of 28 new crew members and works to form them into efficient submarine crew by running sporadic, unannounced drills on board (1:33). Alarm sounds for practice drill: Surfacing, gun action, target practice, diving drills, battle stations, simulated torpedo approach and firing (2:35). July 3rd, 1944 USS Sunfish enters assigned area of Okhotsk Sea ready for action; Lt. Paul Mansell and Commander Shelby patrol waters for enemy ships from submarine’s bridge; Spot enemy patrol boat but manage to go undetected by sticking close to shoreline (4:03). Commander Shelby tries to take a nap, but it interrupted as ship becomes target of enemy torpedo which it manages to evade (6:07). View through sub’s periscope, two ships patrolling close to shoreline of Kuril Islands, crew ordered to battle stations but Commander doesn’t want to fire until he gets positive ID that ships as Japanese and not Russian (7:37). View through binoculars, ship waving Japanese flag, commander Shelby orders crew to begin firing torpedoes, sinks what is likely passenger-cargo ship Shanmai Maru (9:56). Commander Shelby shaken awake from sleep by what he thinks are explosions, luckily no damage reported, USS Sunfish speeds away from area until explosions become less frequent and violent – Shelby realizes shaking was not caused by explosions but actually underwater earthquake (11:59). Commander Shelby tries to get some rest but is awoken 20 minutes later by crew member Ted Hilton who reports enemy convoy has been spotted heading in submarine’s direction (14:19). Commander Shelby patrols waters from submarine’s bridge, USS Sunfish’s antenna probes continuously through night in search of enemy convoy, target finally spotted and Sunfish speeds ahead to close in on enemy convoy (15:59). Enemy ship comes into view on USS Sunfish’s periscope, crew ordered to battle stations, USS Sunfish begins firing torpedoes (17:34). Enemy ship spots USS Sunfish and heads straight for submarine, Commander Shelby orders submarine to submerge as it endures sustained beating by depth charges for two hours (20:13). Aerial view of depth charges exploding in water (21:67). USS Sunfish manages to escape the attack unscathed, Commander Shelby finally gets his rest (23:23). Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers closing words and interview with Commander Paul Mansell, Executive Officer of USS Sunfish (23:59).

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