I'm pretty still we'll call the aah underneath the sea I'm Rear Admiral Thomas M Dyck has retired bringing you another true account of the silent service this is a story and the second combat patrol of the USS swordfish and of what happened when she was ordered on a difficult and highly perilous mission which two of our submarines had previously been unable to accomplish it began in January 1942 during the darkest days of the war when the Japanese tide of conquest was sweeping irresistible Sudduth it was less than six weeks after Pearl Harbor and the blow that struck a scale is only the first of many attacks falling upon our allies and ourselves Wake Island long Hong Kong Malaya the Philippines and countless others all had fallen or warned a fearful attacks that would succeed by land sea and air the Japanese were pressing forward despite the desperate and gallant resistance of the nikah forces of our allies and ourselves of all outnumbered forces none fought back more tellingly than our submarine the USS swordfish returning to a base of Surabaya Java was doing so in the proud knowledge of having sunk the first Japanese ship of the war on December 16 1941 swordfish had sent the absolute tossin Maru 8,000 662 tons to the bottom but as refuelling Chester yes sir we've got the bugs out of a number 3 engine the swordfish is ready for sea good I've got a real tough one for you this time that's the kind we like sure well you got our first kill of the war you might pull this one off I don't mind telling you we've already sent two submarines on this mission without success what's the job well here on the north tip of Celebes island the enemy has a far advanced airfield for land-based planes the father spearhead of their attack and from it they've been hitting us hard and hurting us hurting us badly the intelligence reports from the Dutch indicate that it might be the former dutch airfield located here but we don't care about that I don't have to tell you we don't have enough planes to wipe it out even if we knew its exact location but that feels being supplied by enemy ships from somewhere sir there are too many harbors or Anchorage's here in that area looks as if the supply ships are using either well monado in the north side of the island kima in the south it looks that way Chester but two different submarines each keeping both areas under observation for several days came back from their patrols and reported absolutely nothing other Japanese planes that are doing so much damage are operating from roughly here now that means that ships are bringing am ammunition bombs fuels and supplies I'll get those ships and we've immobilized the planes sir this time of year with a prevailing northerly winds I think that kima would be the best possible Anchorage being in the leave what about the Lambuth straight here sir between between Celebes and Lambeth Island very narrow is the enemy have in mind as far as we know they haven't but then we don't know very much that'll be up to you and the swordfish to find out I'll locate those supply ships and get them well we'll do our best sir the operations officer Phil yeah I'll see him now good luck thank you on Friday 16 January the swordfish departed Surabaya on her mission what's been keeping you Mike scared to finish cuz you know I'm gonna beat ya what's that what's it look like to you dutch can cow woo since when you taken to drinking milk that isn't what you were building down at Rosie's bar last night who says it's for me come on lucky chowtime where'd you get that follow me down the street last night I was coming back to the ship he was yelling for a handout said he hadn't eaten for a week he sure looked it so I brought him along named him lucky we need a mascot right lucky a black cap aboard ship don't you know that's the worst kind of Jonah you heard the black cat sir hoodoos haven't you caddy come on relax he's got a long time to grow yet before he's I can write daddy besides I like cats he bring me good luck tyre rock around that thing's neck and throw it overboard before it does any harm anybody throws lucky overboard better be a lot bigger than me or they'll fall black cat boy you're in a real bad way bad way huh huh that's better than being superstitious like some guys I know all right I leave it up to you Gabby you got sense yeah Gabby well put a little kitten like him be bad luck wouldn't know all right all right let's get on with the game your roll bail me out come on boxcars hahaha atta boy lucky at dawn eight days later Saturday 24 January swordfish had transited Malacca Passage now she submerged as she neared keema the Celebes father that had previously been scouted without result take a look at Kemah Johnny well less than four and a half miles offshore it's as calm as a lake anything in the Anchorage sir no not even a sampan Bear is upon me a hand Jimmy down scope right 10 degrees rudder come to course zero to two right then degrees rudder I'm the cause zero to two what's our next move captain we'll take a look farther north we run parallel to the coast at least as far as the lower entrance and lumbus straight that's pretty narrowly us are less than 20 half miles wide in this fate itself if you figure on going in I know it's a long shot Johnny at least we'll get a chance to scout the lower entrance of the channel you know sir since operations briefed me I can understand the wordings on these Dutch charts okay but whoa depth estimated possible sand Bank coral reef report of 1918 confirmed since not just how much faith can we have in these things anyway since they're the only ones available Johnny we don't have much choice at least it's better than nothing I hope it's the channel entrance mindin sir captain Wilkes didn't know at last report he doubted it see I want to see if there are any boom floats in the channel that would be a tip-off in itself if they've got something to protect how about Minetta on the northern coast sir well if we don't have any luck here we'll search there of course you see the south side of the island is the more preferred anchorage this time of year being in the lead um baby let's go haha that's it boxcars well that makes 27 bucks you owe me so quit your Crone just because you're ahead for once in your life if I didn't know that these were mine dice I figured that you bought some educated ones in Surabaya where's that Joan of yours who oh you mean lucky listen who knows where a cat is half the time all right so let's get on with battle stations torpedo battle stations torpedo dots go hang it down to 90 feet and defeat us and enemy plane all right keep flying hi sir no very low he looks like he's an anti-submarine patrol well if they're flying patrol would that seem to indicate they've got something to hide around here well I hope so Jimmy because in this flat common in the clearness of these tropical waters a plane can spot us even 100 feet down at the angle on the Suns right well let's hope it's right in the pilots eyes yes captain according to the chart minimum depth and Lembit straits 120 feet and we can't go much below 90 feet without scraping bottom well hold our present course come to periscope depth for another observation in about 20 minutes sound forward reports all clear no screws no echo ranging here you are lucky is your battle station okay then who do in here I bet five bucks we don't get a shot and 5 more than if we do we miss the target probably a mine I'd take your bet and if it wasn't mine our old mascot here is right on the job I'm Scott as an enemy patrol boat is about 75 feet long looks like she's heading out to sea there's some other small boats they look like they're like they're on Patrol take a look Johnny I wish your leaving a nice periscope wakest Ernie stands out on that calm seemed like a billboard mats go take it down to ninety feet it looks like a wild goose chase captain nothing at all in those Anchorage's two other subs came back with that same report Johnny I promised captain Wilkes we'd make sure so we'll just proceed why not uh Plymouth straight for another hour even if a wasting time don't you make any mistakes in your navigation you do me a personal favor hope you put it that way captain I'll try not to there's something might just possibly be the mast of some fairly large cargo ship it's too far away to be sure it's almost on the horizon there's another set there's a lot of small stuff tugs and sampan there's some patrol playing seaplanes anchored off my ride take a look yeah hurt quick good sitting ducks for us captain sitting ducks all right Clark take a look that's golf so we can surface busan Sean not those wings off of a deck I'm like plate fights in the shooting go or we can ramen sink them without firing a shot we can get every last one of them no Johnny if those are maths further up the channel we will have found our target the cargo ships right now if we sink those planes the patrol boat and the other escorts they'll be all over us we won't get a chance to get a shot into what really counts the cargo ships because without their supplies those planes and the land-based ones on the airfield will be out of business for a long time right well yes sir if we can get in that straight and if they are the cargo ships and if we can get a shot at them but if that straight is mined or if they have booms we'll never get it not to mention getting out again well the chance are still worth taking we'll proceed right up the channel we make sure about the mast right hi Isis I scored Johnny a square in mid-channel because one of the cargo ships all right she's an anchor while up in alembert's trade range about seven miles there's the other one she's anchored to that scope take it out of 90 feet 90 feet aye aye sir what's going captain shall we find our targets now all we got to do is get him this is the captain we've spotted two enemy cargo ships that have been supplying their airfields they are anchored well up in Lambeth straight we are proceeding into position to make a torpedo attack on them estimate we will be in position in about one hour okay lucky sand bladder in your page well the next hour thought fish crept cautiously along the narrow channel unable in such shallow waters to submerge deeply enough to be hidden from enemy plain observation with the periscope being raised only for the briefest observations at intervals of 20 minutes absolute perfection and navigation was a must you we're getting set a little to the left by this car the course at five degrees to the right should hold us bring it right five degrees no course zero three five new cause zero three five Sam spit filming outward at this point reported 1926 twelve thirty let's take a look huh periscope depth periscope depth carrying supplies across the Lambuth island soldiers and sailors filling sandbags on the beach there will take the nearest freighters our first target at scope captain I hear numerous white screws various bearings confused noises very well we'll be at optimum firing position in five minutes the next look we take will be a shooting observation now here's the situation the nearest freighter I make her at 7,000 tons is anchored no more than 2,500 yards from our present position the father one is bigger should go at least 10,000 tons she's acted at a range of 4,000 yards what about the current so with the targets anchored it will have plenty of effect on our torpedoes we'll just have to guess at it Jimmy I'll make an offset on the scope to allow for the current I'll figure it at one not Heiser set definite feet set that eight feet depth set eight feet tubes ready forward two three forward up scope this is a shooting observation bearing mark zero mu zero range mark two one zero zero set by one number one fine electrically bar two number two fine electrically check fire ship target check fire shifting targets la parada look cool rota estimated time of Torpedo run one minute twenty four seconds bearing mark zero zero two range five three six double O five feet number three fire electrically by four number four fired electrically downstroke aiming point was amidships the number one to appeal quarter length off her bow and number two to allow for the current 60 seconds fifty-five seconds 15:45 the swordfish had fired at both ships in quick succession and the torpedoes went streaking off Todd said target's head take a look honey she's starting to roll over two minutes five seconds ten fifteen they're in a panic on the second fret is Dec running around all over the place now let's bring it the second targets where amidships number four hit both take it down scope take it out of 100 feet on defeat us left full rudder kind of course to 0-0 all I had full left full rudder come to close to zero zero all I had full going to get out four bells in the jingle sir no Jimmy they'll probably be expecting us to do that we run full speed for four minutes then cut down to three knots silence all auxiliaries and try to sneak out across them up I hope sounds like gunfire shore-based batteries probably you're getting anything sound nothing sir some distant confused small boat screws on various very rig for depth charge ten minutes sound forward reports no propeller sounds no echo ranging attaboy lucky real submariner now I think somebody dropped something what didn't you hear it pal sound forward still reports nothing sir primitive infamous ship probably a depth charge dropped by a plane Johnny echo ranging has begun sir took him long enough to get on the ball way off wall astern of us their aim stays that bad we'll be alright for almost three hours swordfish crept cautiously silently down LEM bay channel now that her presence had been revealed by her top petering out the cargo vessels her captain did not dare chance coming to periscope depth for an observation during all that time she moved blindly towards the open sea everything depended upon dead reckoning and luck and the question marks on the charts distant echo ranges no sound the screws at all closed mine's again what's the channel dip here Johnny varying from 170 to 180 feet sir also possible coral reef position uncertain oh we got to try to shake that plane off left fire degrees right look five degrees rudder lay it out a hundred thirty feet take it down to 130 feet aye you better change that coral reef from possible to probable John as 1600 nothing for the last 20 minutes let's go up and have ourselves a low count come to periscope depth done the pass spoke there there's only one plane in the air Johnny right over chemo Bay about five miles away there's no sign of the patrol ship I guess we shook them off all right down scope any chance of going into those sea frames at anchor Ken no it's too risky Johnny with that plane patrolling the air over kima besides we've immobilize them perfected Lee but I cannot discipline secure from battle stations left full rudder come to course zero five zero left full rudder I'm the cause zero five zero well that for devout hey you're lucky canned salmon that's the stuff to put hair on your chest here's as though you were mistaken in your judgment Dutch well a patrol ain't over yet but I will say the little fellas done a mighty good job so far Jimmy encode this message to comm sub software specific transmission layer with sank to enemy cargo vessels anchored in Lambeth straight north kima estimated tonnage 7,000 and 10,000 preceding the vowel go I'll be back in a moment with our special guest and now I have the honor and the pleasure of introducing to you Rear Admiral Chester C Smith who was a skipper of the swordfish on the patrol you've just seen just a we're very glad to have you aboard Thank You Joey I certainly enjoyed your reenactment of the beginning of sword pieces second patrol according to the records the balance of that same Patrol contains the rather memorable moments - yes it did sometime later we were ordered to Corregidor to evacuate some highly important personnel it wasn't until two hours before we picked them up that we learned the swordfish twitch to take out president manuel Kazon of the philippines his family and various other high officials of the Philippine government was it a difficult operation well it wasn't exactly simple at the time the Japanese had the docks of Corregidor under fire from artillery so the job of boarding a small boat for transfer to a submarine offshore was somewhat hazardous how did you carry it out we took president Kazon and the others aboard off Bataan at night without lights fortunately everything went off very well and after that we had no sooner delivered the Kazon party safely to San Jose pnai than we were ordered to go to the assistance of the United States High Commissioner of the Philippines Francis II Sayre his wife and staff totaling 12 people he evacuated them all so didn't you yes we got them all aboard practically under the noses of the enemy and I don't mind saying that they were rather glad to see us we landed them in Fremantle Australia sounds like a pretty gratifying Patrol yes we got a great deal of satisfaction out of it I'm sure that it's been a real pleasure to that you with us Chester thank you Thank You Tommy I hope you will be with us again when we bring you another true account of the silent service you my goobidy blue underneath deal son with the mall they are full of take the ball pass the world uh-oh our submarine uncanny ha oh don't go down big deal Shawn in the deep
