THE SILENT SERVICE

[Music] oh [Music] uh [Music] the story we're about to bring you is one of the most unusual in the history of our navy a christmas day celebration aboard a submarine in wartime the ship was a uss triton and the story is unusual not only because of its christmas aspects but because triton took part in the first land-based bomber attack against japanese-held territory in world war ii let's go aboard payday december 1942 after four successful patrols the uss triton had been ordered to pearl harbor for alterations and overhaul with the work finished and holiday spirit in the air all hands hoped for a merry land-based christmas lieutenant commander cece kirkpatrick of san angelo texas was skipper the trident the chief of the boat was chief quartermaster marsh jones of new london connecticut lieutenant john h eichman was executive officer his accurate navigation had already taken triton from the aleutians to the equator lieutenant jghc van rosen was diving officer hi captain find out how we stand i bet john five bucks we don't leave till the first of the year you lose van what we have our orders leave the 16th [Applause] oh hi mike you got the five dollars over here sorry thanks lauren would i owe you a seven ten you hit me for three last sunday well yeah i forgot look mike bean is christmas and all how long let me give you a five now five later christmas ain't got nothing to do with it roy make sure it gets in the bank with the rest of your load what are you giving your family for christmas mike i don't give nothing and i don't look for anybody to give me nothing either you say that to him for you know he's got no family well could be he's got some relatives just because he doesn't talk about him well he never gets an email from him so why should he send them anything well that ain't the point the guy's tight in five more years and he'll be a miser you're nuts he's a good kid now stop needling him and so we figured with your approval of course sir that well it'd kind of be nice to have something to celebrate with maybe eggnog the crew's gonna need some morale boosting about that time sir approval granted provided the officers pay for the eggnog i'll see to it sir and uh i figured on a small tree and some decorations got quite a few young fellas in the crew sir probably the first christmas away from home for some of them is it your first christmas at sea van yes sir get the tree thank you sir can you remember when you were that young if i try hard how about our assignment captain did we get a hot area first job calls for aiding an air attack on wake island an air attack how do we do that we act as radio beacon the bombers home in on our signal how close to wake do we go japanese have an awful lot of planes based on that island close as we can get but we'll be okay it's coming off at night the night of the 23rd first land-based bombing of japanese-held territory of a christmas present for the folks back home huh i think the crew will be glad to be in on it make up a little for missing the fun here at pearl you know captain if the mail gets in from the states early enough we might have some presents to put under that christmas tree yeah yeah we might add that there's no more room over there what have we got left it's the last one marsh okay let's put these four under there pack them in tight and secure them with a line for c it's pretty light for emergency rations aren't they chief so we eat light food for a change remember what i said about opening them now hey lord look christmas presents christmas from the great ladies of honolulu what are you snorting about you got to be thankful you're getting something for nothing nuts weren't you men told not to open those boxes yes sir let's keep it quiet anybody else on this boat knows that's in there i'll know who told them we won't mention it to a soul captain the night before the triton was to sail keith jones asked the captain to come top side captain compliments of the postal service [Music] is all that for us five bags full this is the first class mail [Music] i'm 10 days early sir but merry christmas same to you thanks on december 16th 1942 the triton left pearl harbor for a fifth war patrol [Music] diving exercises and gun drills were held as she proceeded towards a destination [Music] december 23rd triton approached wake island submerged to avoid detection by enemy planes based there the crew had been informed of the nature of the raid and excitement ran high the electronic equipment was ready if weather prevented visual sighting of wake the planes would have passed over at eight thousand feet homing in on the triton's beam glide to four thousand and release their bombs according to specified time but accurate navigation by the submarine was mandatory if the triton sent a signal from an inaccurate position the bomb loads would fall harmlessly into the sea you're dark enough to surface in a few minutes we're 25 miles due east of wake right now heavy cloud formations will be cutting visibility plenty of time for it to clear up i sure hope it does i'd like to see that show up scope [Applause] must be ten times she's read that letter i don't get it well as many letters as he gets he's got a right to read it a hundred times it's from his sister did he tell you that no not exactly i was sitting next to him reading my mail all of a sudden he comes out hey what do you know the old man showed up his old man yeah and then he mentioned his sister and then he clammed up i figured he had relatives such a hardhead they probably don't get along what do you got against him anyhow just the way he acts he's been on this boat four months now right have you ever hear him say anything friendly i've gone out with the guys and got a beer who does he think he is anyway big man he saves his money you know roy there's an old saying and it goes like this you lend a man money and you lose a friend [Music] what time are those bombers do captain 2300 exactly three hours enough moon up there to give the bombardier some help yes sir [Music] captain with your permission i i'd like to dress up as santa claus and give out presents at christmas time where would you get the clothes i bought a costume in pearl before we left are you serious yes you get a beard too no i couldn't find one but uh i figured i could use some hemp nope well i could manage it sir you see i know how to use crepe hair when i was in school lights dead ahead moving lights off the starboard bow airplane lights [Music] you figure they picked us up on their radar captain pretty far offshore it isn't likely captain look four planes taking off a lot of them here's the bridge [Music] it doesn't make sense unless they've been warned about the attack in some way could be but why send so many planes up now look like a general alert hop scope [Music] i sure hate to see this plan fall apart you think we ought to break silence and advise headquarters putting on quite a show wait a minute there's one plane all lit up it's a target plane john i think they're having an air raid drill take a look if i'm right we're in luck all those planes will be out of gas by the time i come over [Music] it's hard to be sure but if it is a drill they certainly don't know anything about the raid [Music] two hours later the triton surfaced and watched the enemy planes return to wake the searchlights went out and the island resumed its dark and silent appearance the electronic equipment was set up and tested [Applause] and at 21 30 radar picked up the approaching bombers the first wave was unopposed [Music] the succeeding waves of bombers were met by searchlights in ant aircraft fire they tried to patrol slowly across our assigned station presenting maximum signal an alert for any plane in trouble that might be forced to ditch [Music] bridge aircraft bearing 0-1-0 [Music] being nice how do you do if it's not one of ours here's a bridge [Music] could be one in trouble [Music] there it is ours [Music] left full rudder all head flank looks like he's gonna ditch he's leveling off looks like he's okay captain he probably just want to wish us a merry christmas on december 24th the triton made a submerged reconnaissance of wake island gain information and to report on the damage done by the bombers at the moment however this was less important to the crew than their preparations for christmas ireland's control harmony control room right ward ward uh engine room mckinsey kenzie uh hey actually there's a cookies from your mother well cut out your breakum what did nothing but crumbs now in and out oh hey there's one for mike for my here i've already wasn't getting one i ain't cookies hey let's hide it to make it sweated out huh go on hi mike jones jones uh he's injured battle station's torpedo battle station's torpedo kyle we got a target she's heading for the anchorage come left at 2 8 5. she's anchored all right we'll fire two torpedoes set depth at six feet set torpedo depth at six feet angle on the bow 90 port this is a shooting observation bearing mark zero four zero range mark one three double o set go fire one fire two [Music] they're running hot straight and normal there's one thing i don't like about this job you can't see what you're shooting at [Music] two hits let her have another one fire three [Music] that does it she's going down high speed propellers bearing three one five closing fast sticker to 140 feet high sir thoughts engine room her skin that's the third one for him love a boy he must have been telling the truth about those girls huh duncan radio yeah i'll put him in with the control room try to remain under attack for two hours but the enemy never came close at midday captain kirkpatrick altered course to the southwest at 2100 on christmas eve triton's surface hey how are you going to glue that rope on your face spirit gum i got a bottle from the red cross she looks like the real thing yeah wait'll you see the suit you got mackenzie and his boys decorating the forward torpedo room yeah believe it or not most of the crew don't even know it's coming off well let's try it yeah let's see not bad what do you think you haven't got any nutmeg or cinnamon well you can't have everything in it oh the heck you can't look i'll be back in a second well everything okay jones that everything you've brought aboard mr van rusen have it finished real soon where's the mistletoe mr van rusen you get the girls i'll get the missile thank you yeah yes sir have we got any nutmeg on board not my sentimental dough i got nutmeg as your nutmeg see those turkeys look great yeah just like home all we need now is a little eggnog and some mr van rusen you wouldn't be wanting that for uh uh you got any better use for it i'd never miss it sir thanks a lot captain [Applause] great good [Music] [Applause] that's it just a tree now hey mike mike will you help lloyd out come on roy come with me [Music] mike i'm just as tired as you are how about helping me finish this off here spread that out okay mike can i give you a tip [Music] why don't you open up a little bit i notice you when we're all sitting around shooting a bull you never say anything got nothing to say the other day you mentioned your dad for the first time up to the land we we figured you were an orphan what'd your dad do he was a coal miner oh yeah well what's so funny about that my dad used to shovel coal he's a fireman on a railroad mom still alive [Music] no now she died when i was 10. [Applause] i heard you talking about your sister the other day anyone else in the family got a kid brother you live with your sister i used to but the old man's got him now yeah and you were glad to hear that it's about time he did something for one of us we ain't seen him in five years oh i must have been tough getting along that was better while he was gone my aunt took care of us when he was around he was always drinking and arguing with my sister yeah i know how that is my dad used to do that once in a while you get laid off work in prison my old man used to do it all the time [Music] you never let us have any fun even when the charity ladies would rather bring us christmas presents my old man he'd bust him up you tell him he wouldn't take charity and christmas was for babies and that kind of stuff they go off drunk two weeks and come back on his knees in the meantime we was living on charity [Music] guy doesn't like telling things like that so just keep quiet what's so terrible about that you're gonna hold it against him in the rest of his life [Music] a guy can change you know that's what my sister says did you read my letter oh mike i wouldn't do anything like that i just said the same thing because that's a right thing i don't know my sister said he asked about me he wants to make it up to me sure he does give him a break you know mike it's kind of funny here wars breaking up families all over the world just bringing you back together [Music] yeah [Music] december 25th 1942 the triton's log reads zero 900 dive to 200 feet and held appropriate christmas ceremonies neck the halls with boughs of harley from la la la la la merry christmas real good merry christmas for all right [Music] one-third of the crew at a time came forward it was a moment of peace a quiet silence in the thunder of war the sounds they made were of joy and gladness pelosky where you go boy oh merry christmas [Music] merry christmas jewels thank you merry christmas mike package for you i saved it as kind of a surprise mackenzie thank you for your help you get a great big well done from santa claus you too koleski uh by the way when santa's little helpers clean up around here be sure and save this stuff huh we'll stow it away and use it again next year thanks mr van rosen and mike get your messaging let's chow down hey kaluski sign this got any complaints nah not a one jesse message captain from all members of the crew to the commanding officer subject christmas day thanks for we the crew of the uss triton wish to thank the commanding officer and officers for one of the finest christmas days we have ever spent [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'll be back in a moment with our special guest we're admiral c.c kirkpatrick united states navy who is the captain of the uss triton is with us and is with a great deal of pleasure that i introduce him to you that christmas day must be a wonderful memory for you kirk it certainly is tommy every christmas when i'm at home with my family i can't help but think of our efforts to celebrate the day under those trying conditions i'll bet every man who is there will always remember it i hope so so they were some of the finest men i ever knew on that patrol practically everyone who has been through trying conditions in a submarine feels that way about his shipmates well that's not hard to understand tommy in a submarine everyone is dependent upon everyone else when the ship is handled successfully it makes for a feeling of mutual pride and respect yes if an outsider tries to whip one he's liable to find himself having to whip all of them was the fifth patrol as successful as you would have hoped it to be well now tommy you know no patrol is as successful as you'd want it to be but this was a good one we not only guided our bombers to wake island but we had the pleasure of sinking one of their tankers that was the nicest christmas present of all i'm sure it was thank you kirk for being with us i've enjoyed it tommy please be with us again when the silence service brings you another exciting and unusual submarine story [Music] oh [Music] underneath [Music] underneath [Music] underneath [Music] you