HC Silent Service - Silent Service: Set One (2000)

They were hunters under the sea, living and operating in cramped, claustrophobic quarters. If they perished, they knew would meet a hideous death on the ocean floor. They were the men of THE SILENT SERVICE. The incredible achievements of these heroes come alive in this extraordinary set. Drawing on declassified documents, interviews with submariners and their enemies, combat footage and visits to museums where the ships are preserved, we'll get a sense of what it was like to serve beneath the waves.
The Silent Service plunges beneath the waves to tell the complete, fascinating story of one of the most critical branches of the military–submarines. From the dreamers who conceived them and the earliest designs to the men who became legend and the designs that changed underwater technology forever, each hour focuses on a different aspect of the submariners story.

Part 1: The Boats of WWII
Meet the U.S. Navy submariners of WWII–hunters who lived under the sea in cramped and claustrophobic quarters as they stalked their victims. We'll see how Navy designers struggled to achieve a submarine design that ultimately proved to be the best underwater craft to fight in the war. Included are stories of the Squalus, whose crew was the first to be rescued from a disastrous sinking, and the Argonaut, the largest submarine built until the advent of nuclear subs in the 1950s.


Part 2: The Captains of WWII
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.


Part 3: The Torpedoes of WWII
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.


Part 4: Attack Plans of WWII
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.