Silent Service Season 1, Episode 1: The Boats of World War II

The Captains of World War II

They were self-reliant individualists who forged a deadly team, and the initiative of individual submarine captains proved instrumental in the American victory in the Pacific. We'll see how trendsetters like Dudley Morton and Richard O'Kane brought new ideas to submarine warfare, showing that aggressive strategies, like surface running, were the best way to sink the most enemy ships. Sam Dealey, a submarine captain known as "The Destroyer Killer", is also featured.

The Torpedoes of World War II

Only a few weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy experienced a failure of critical technology--the torpedoes that armed its fleet of submarines were defective. The ensuing debacle ranks as one of the great near disasters of WWII. We'll see how the exigencies of war clashed with entrenched bureaucracies and egos of the naval ordnance establishment. After two years of frustration the submariners prevailed and with effective weapons went on to achieve remarkable results.

Attack Plans of World War II

Examines the evolution of the strategy and tactics used by U.S. submarines in the war against Japan. Conceived as scouts for the surface fleet, the fleet of boats of the "silent service" found their true calling as heirs to the commerce-raiders of the American Revolution and Civil War. By embracing the once-condemned practice of "unrestricted submarine warfare", these stealthy predators of the deep virtually swept the Pacific of Japanese maritime shipping.

Wolfpack: U-Boats of World War II

Submarines of the Atlantic

Tracking the Enemy

Submarine Special Ops

Japanese Submarines

Submarines of Russia

Deterrence from the Deep