NOW IT CAN BE TOLD

[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] here is your ship the USS guadalcanal fresh out of the Kaiser yards equipped from stem to stern with the products of American ingenuity turned out for your hands electronic devices radar submarine detectors Wildcats and Avenger guns and shelves the thousand and one items that in the hands of American boys make a fighting American ship all under the command of Captain Dan gallery USN a pioneer of Naval Aviation on May 15 1944 a task group of the Atlantic Fleet heads out to sea with orders to operate against submarines to the west of the Cape Verde Islands the group comprises the USS guadalcanal and her five destroyer escorts the Pillsbury the shadow lane the Pope the clarity and the Jencks at the departure conference captain gallery and the destroyer skippers decide upon a daring plan of action if during this cruise they can bring a sub to bay they will not attempt to sink her as soon as she surfaces instead they will sprayer with small stuff put cruise over the side in small boats and attempt to board and capture her daring did we say fantastic is the word purporting a wounded u-boat on the high seas what the prize would be priceless Naval Intelligence could use a completely equipped enemy vessel so during the voyage prize crews were trained and rehearsed for this bold hope here's the hand-picked boarding party of the Guadalcanal let's meet some of them chief photographers mate clifford werlla his job will be to get inside the sub take pictures of all installations in case she cannot be kept afloat chief pharmacist Bremen Jackson Fredericksburg Virginia he served ten years in the Navy lieutenant JG Mitel Keck a veteran sea dog with 25 years naval experience ensign Fred middle and electrician's mate first class William Stein Stein a crack electrician will assist and submit all in the job of checking the batteries and all operating motors of the enemy vessel ensign James Griffin and machinists mate second class Walter Waller ensign Griffin will check the subs diesel engines Waller is to be engineer of the party's whale boat in command of the boarding and salvage party is commander Earl casino engineering officer of the Guadalcanal overall the USS Pillsbury a similar party is being trained by lieutenant Albert David on June 4th 1944 the task group is searching for a sub reported 150 miles off the coast of French West Africa when suddenly at 11:10 Frenchy to bluejay I have possible sound contact nothing startling for the moment possible sound contacts are made every day but a flat top has no business near them with her high freeboard and her thin-skinned she is a sitting duck for any sub which surfaces within torpedo range so the guadalcanal swings away while the two nearest destroyers break off to assist the Chatelain which has made the sound contact and the Guadalcanal patrol of two wildcat fighters is forward to the scene then commander knots of the chatelaine announces contact evaluated us up and making attack almost simultaneously both fighter planes sight the long dark shape of the submarine running 60 feet below the surface and sing out sighted stop at this point the sub reverses course temporarily shaking off a destroyer but the Wildcats can see the sub and reveal its position by firing their guns in the water at the spot where the sub is disappearing this is a remarkable example of aircraft actually directing the attack of a surface vessel on a u-boat at 11:21 the destroyer makes a depth charge attack all ships are red battle stations and all eyes are glued on the Chatelain the guns of a task group are loaded with anti-personnel rather than armor-piercing ammunition at eleven twenty two and a half the wounded u-boat surfaces right in the middle of the task group commence firing the planes open up first now the ball really began head on land [Music] these firing away or boarding parties the Nazis are scrambling overboard there are the Nazis in the water in their rubber rafts [Music] but there may be more onboard ready for business away all boarding parties [Music] the subs butter is jam and she is running in a tight circle to the right but the planes are all set to open up if she makes a false move this is it for the first time since 1815 the United States Navy boards a foreign enemy man-of-war on the high seas the first boarding party has swarmed aboard only one dead Nazi on deck there may be live ones below but our lads tumble down the hatch and find to their amazement that the u-505 is all theirs all theirs that is if she doesn't sink or blow up here comes the Pillsbury making knots and there's a second whale boat with a boarding party from the Guadalcanal the Nazis have done a hurried frantic job of scuttling a solid 8-inch stream of water is pouring through an open stream but lieutenant David and his boys find the cover slap it back in place and secure it just in time a few minutes more and it would have been too late the in rush of water is checked each man has a different job to do it has rehearsed it for months and now that the chips are down they come through the ship is thoroughly searched but she's still running wild and the Pillsbury and more boarders are chasing her finally the Pillsbury otters stopped subs engines but when the prize crew complies the subs st. so alarmingly that they throw the switches - full speed ahead and the chase begins all over again [Music] meanwhile the shadow Lane is busy rescuing some very wet members of the master race amazingly all but one are saved and brought on board the chatelain [Music] dry clothing and cigarettes are passed around the tradition of the sea is honorably and punctiliously respected these men are the cream of the German Navy they just can't believe that their ship has been captured and by members of a decadent democracy at last the Pillsbury comes alongside and passes a line to the boarding party a neat bit of seamanship but watch out that sub is still as dangerous as a wounded shark she swings into the Pillsbury and her bow flippers with a long underwater cash in the de-stem plates flooding two main compartments clear up to the water line [Applause] [Music] the destroyer has to cut loose and back clear the Pillsbury radios sub then she has to be told to stay afloat but we don't think a destroyer can do it so the Guadalcanal heads over and says on the TBS destroyer stand clear I am going to take them in tow myself now we'll see whether this aviator skipper can handle the ship it's a ticklish job hooking a flattop to a sinking sub on the high seas and in the middle of the Atlantic u-boat lanes look how far down she is they've closed the hatch to keep the swells from pouring down on the boys working inside [Music] if she goes down now they all go down with her let's get that line out there it goes the messenger line with a big tow line at the end of it this is a job to test the mettle of veteran seaman and four out of five of those boys on the subs fo'c'sle are green but there is no funding [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the tow line is made fast and the anxious skipper heaves a sigh of relief as the sub makes wave and rises in the water she is safe again for the time being and under a new play the task group forms up and on orders from the Navy department heads for Bermuda a grueling 2,500 mile falls with a riddle waterlog Bubo in tow normal flight operations are resumed and carried on day and night despite the greatly reduced speed of the Guadalcanal at times there are only 15 knots of wind across the flight deck and it's axiomatic that a flyer has to have 25 knots to land on a baby flat tire but these pilots land anyways and without an accident [Music] the prisoners are transferred from the overcrowded destroyer to the carrier the one in the stretcher is overjoyed not Jersey hair alone captain of the u-505 the first man out of the conning tower he was instantly blown overboard by a shell during the voyage they've got on deck for exercises [Music] and a thorough salt shower [Music] on the 7th of June the fleet turn have not be joined up and the tow is transferred from the Guadalcanal now comes the most anxious moment of the cruise as she loses way junior as the crew have christened sub sinks lore and lore in the water the salvage party worked desperately to take all moveable weights out of the u-boat then as the transfer is completed and the abbé knocking gets underway the clutches on the subs engines are released and her propellers recharge her batteries with power aboard their pumps worked once more and her tanks are blown out now she rides again at full service trim on June 19th the u-505 was told in to Bermuda and their remains as a prize of war one less wolf to hunt with the pack [Music]