THE SILENT SERVICE "The Gato Story" 1958
This is the 72nd 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 the second to deal with the U.S.S. "Gato". The "Gato" is out on her 12th wartime patrol steaming through the waters off Okinawa towards the Japanese home islands. Twice the "Gato" is attacked by Japanese submarines and barely escapes the enemy torpedoes.
She reaches the waters off Kyushu and for her tour on lifeguard duty. Japanese airbases are being pounded daily by American air raids. The Navy hopes to slow the volume of Japanese kamikaze attacks at the source. It is the job of the "Gato" and other American submarines to rescue any aircrew that needs to ditch from combat damage.
The "Gato" has a week of busy days plucking pilots and aircrew out of the drink. They also are forced to make emergency dives when Japanese anti-submarine aircraft fly over. One day they slug it out with a single Japanese "Rufe" float plane before diving. After picking up a total of 10 downed aircrew, the "Gato" heads to Saipan to drop off their human cargo.
The "Gato" completed 13 war time patrols during which she sank 7 Japanese vessels. The "Gato" was also present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese signed the surrender documents. She was decommissioned in 1946 and held in reserve till 1958 before being scrapped in Dec. 1959.
Check out episode 9 of the series for another story about the "Gato".
This is the 72nd 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 the second to deal with the U.S.S. "Gato". The "Gato" is out on her 12th wartime patrol steaming through the waters off Okinawa towards the Japanese home islands. Twice the "Gato" is attacked by Japanese submarines and barely escapes the enemy torpedoes.
She reaches the waters off Kyushu and for her tour on lifeguard duty. Japanese airbases are being pounded daily by American air raids. The Navy hopes to slow the volume of Japanese kamikaze attacks at the source. It is the job of the "Gato" and other American submarines to rescue any aircrew that needs to ditch from combat damage.
The "Gato" has a week of busy days plucking pilots and aircrew out of the drink. They also are forced to make emergency dives when Japanese anti-submarine aircraft fly over. One day they slug it out with a single Japanese "Rufe" float plane before diving. After picking up a total of 10 downed aircrew, the "Gato" heads to Saipan to drop off their human cargo.
The "Gato" completed 13 war time patrols during which she sank 7 Japanese vessels. The "Gato" was also present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese signed the surrender documents. She was decommissioned in 1946 and held in reserve till 1958 before being scrapped in Dec. 1959.
Check out episode 9 of the series for another story about the "Gato".