THE TANG'S LAST SHOT

[Music] I'm Rear Admiral Thomas M Tarkas retired this chapter of the solid service belongs to the United States submarine tank in service for only nine months a record remained second only to the very best and her fifth war patrol on which we ask you to come along remains unmatched in submarine-4 saddles right up to its unprecedented climax and four previous patrols hang and dispose of a phenomenal 72,000 tons of enemy shipping serving as extra eyes for the night tactics of the Tang was bosons bait WR Lee poll of North Hollywood California in command commander Richard H okayed hailing from Durham New Hampshire who had learned from his former skipper the simple Stern motto attack [Music] find the enemy destroy that truck cocaine had calmly waited until the last possible moment in order to get off the model shot at a tanker before diving to avoid a destroyer boy from the land of lakes Tasya shakes morenae almond breasts class Floyd M cavil a his hometown of Hill City Minnesota as a place in a far-off different existence this is what I call risk of spirit sir letting that destroyer almost run us over just so he can get a nice shot Bren and heroic achievements of this vessel read the tanks first Presidential Unit Citation reflect the highest credit upon the courage seamanship and determination of our officers and men hey kimball what do you got there a special formula mix for me at the health food store rich in vitamins minerals glucose quick source of energy Eon the level I saw vibe well I want to write you two months have been shopping for health food I'm a married man Frye yeah but strong man eight you know just once in a while try and say the right thing okay I'm sorry I forgot yeah you forgot you men with your nerve and your skill of one this ship a Presidential Unit Citation which I can't thank you enough for praise you further will let it go with that what I want to say is that comms up PAC thinks highly enough of you men in the tank who's given us the toughest assignment in the book I can't tell you what it is or where we're going but there'll be plenty of targets and lots of excitement my former skipper captain mush Morton of the woe for a sport patrol asked for and got the Japan Sea I don't have to tell you if it was rough enough for much more than it was rough and I don't think our assignments gonna be any smoother but I don't see anything looking like he wants to be transferred so good luck make preparations to get underway back [Music] on the night of October 11th Tang arrived on station in the Formosa Strait it was swarming with enemy shipping for morning Tang served notice on the enemy of her presence two ships went to the bottom some of the most eventful days and submarine annals had begun and there's some limits on how healthy a guy can get hurt try some embrasure oh thanks a lot Emily not for me can't stand the smell of it I was just thinking the girls must miss you at Muscle Beach can I keep my big mouth shut where you going with that I store them for him in the spare parts locker in the radio lot's of luck I'll go read a comic book all right so good we've lined up that Kotori cruise at five times at each time he sneaks away Soyuz now we've lost him at task force finally swiftest secure from battle stations [Music] no I'd like to have not that Cruiser mush would like that planned immortan my old skipper on the wahoo he was tool in the water right around inside of we white Harbor we were sinking tonnage I can tell you this destroyer spots our periscope I yell down periscope he has leave it up let him see us and come after us and let him have it right down the throat will blast that tin can and the kingdom come I kept the waffle right on that cans bow angle on the bow zero he's coming straight at us a bone in his teeth we had two torpedoes left forward we missed with both of them we'd all be dead 1400 yards I could see the men on that DD man and their guns and I'm sweating 1200 yards the old man yells fire 10 seconds fire second one is off I watch the first one just miss it all hung on the second torpedo now I don't think I breathed and then WHAM that destroyer blew up so close we all got shook I heard the story way I heard it someone asked commander Morton I could look down the throat of that charging tin can and keep cool the answer that he let O'Kane man the periscope was Oh keen was the nervious man in the service Oh a lot of legend gets mixed in with the facts I guess anyway that was much more now he's gone so is that cruising but W are the chances lots of them [Music] oh why should I be worried the old man wants to sink us a nice Cruiser I'm in favor the enemy hasn't laid a glove on us yet happy no they won't the old man's crazy like that but come to think of it I haven't seen you take your vitamins lately remember the girl I told you I used to go with J she used to think I was a nice little guy skinny but nice she married a big hunk of a guy lately I've been getting letters from her her husband's left her she thinks of me I can read between the lines you'll think she wants you back she's thinking of me the way I used to be the skinny guy I used to be he's good enough for her I can tell calf the years and the dough I put into building up the body it's a headache who cares Janee toe it's a nuisance I dance at your wedding I'm sick and tired of this Hercules deal you can pass out the vitamins to the boys while I relax it's gonna be different now captain radar reports land contact bearing two zero zero 14,000 yards there should be no land at two zero zero check that observation radar that isn't Lancer I've got it captain that's a solid wall of shipping we've got down here fine battle stations torpedo [Music] I'm in sight now we have three large freighters and a couple of heavy tankers I'll go in now and try to pick two of them off and one set up tank legatee an adventure of the waffle slithering to within 1500 yards of the father's target eight hundred yards of the nearest target standby for constant bearing mark the bearing set solution satisfactory mark mark mark set fire one [Applause] fire to shift the targets Martha Barry set back the very set fire three four three four five six seven [Music] number three sky I it's a terrific sight up here captain that ships coming in the Rama left full rudder all ahead flank left full rudder my aye sir collision imminent [Music] maybe maybe [Music] she missed this make ready up the tubes make ready the after tubes captain TDC he wants to set up just set the gyros on zero and shoot you can't miss outer doors open all tubes ready for firing that ship that tried to ram it yeah she's gonna Ram a transport she did it she rammed ammunition ship I have another contact looks like an escort bearing one three five range 1,300 yards range is closing it's a destroyer all ahead flank I have another contact bearing three five five they've got us boxed in left five degrees rudder left five degrees rudder my eye sir let's see if we can flip that escort out of the way let's hope we can lose that dee dee we may be in luck right that escorts turning away she's had enough [Music] and we're losing there TD probably hasn't got all their boilers lit off the escorts are firing at each other they're really rattled ten short minutes Tang had sent off Peters into every ship in the convoy and it said its escorts firing wildly at each other a crushing blow with a grand climax but 24 hours from now would come a greater climax [Music] after the grueling battle the tank pull clear the area and ran submerged to rest a crew then the round of ship routine started again this is the executive officer we've had a busy night and the ship is a mess All Hands turn to and clean her up I want this ship smart that's what the smell of the joint I've been looking all over for frigging insulation I forgot all about it it's gone rotten well get it out of here okay think of something okay all right dump it out sure i just opened the window and 150 feet under the surface that's camel baby it's in my locker Kendall's got enough lumps as it is well I gotta get it rid of that smell before inspection hey but some of that fancy shaving lotion you use oh my god left us a little oh that's what I need well we might have a little chat while there's a breather smoke thank you sir Thanks it's about your attitude onboard ship I like it I'm very happy to be attached to this ship sir I just want to say something that you may want to bear in mind for when you have a command of your own I just want you to remember that every skipper has his own method by which he gets his her selves don't be influenced by my tactics onboard this ship or anyone elses tactics for that matter what works well for me might not work so well for you we take risks but they're calculated it isn't the three musketeers it's two other things destroy the enemy where you find them and remember your responsibilities to your crew and your ship now you strike a balance between those two responsibilities and you're off to a good start your own personal reactions and skills will tell you the rest you keep that book open to the place that says every skipper must do is that most to destroy the enemy don't forget that I'll remember sir okay [Music] that's better smells like a shave in the glue factory just cleaning up a bit sir shaving lotion sir I just shaved Oh captain um radio room three for inspection sir shaving lotion sir I thought I need a little fresh up you know how it is sir kamilly hey yeah just I like get rid of the dungarees before inspection sir I'm not gonna bear down on anybody for dirty clothes just long as the general litter is cleaned up now you've done a good job terrible you want us to leave these here and turn in hey cab might be like a shot back there matter you mad at me or something no I'm not mad at anybody god all about it and the spare parts Locker well I guess it's just gone sour that's the story of my life so it's gone sour it's an omen it's a bad sign keV Oh wouldn't you just take it that way now just when I was beginning to feel pretty good about Ginny I'm going home I know me you know I'll say it's an omen you know what I'm gonna do with these jars I'm gonna throw them out and all your worry along with it it's the past well now all you have to do is look forward to the future you're right keV always the gloomy side it's not right let me throw it out here oh don't forget the next song you hear will be wedding bells [Music] tank had contacted a heavily escorted convoy of troops supplies and airplane parts steaming to the desperate lady campaign after dark she chased them on the surface [Music] once again tank 4:10 upon overwhelming superiority using her surface speed to gain surprise [Music] closing her nearest target to within nine hundred yards Tang open fire fire [Music] gun boy to cain't bonfires on the scene Tang brilliantly visible in that torchlight was boxed in by the furious enemy escorts destroyer coming around that burning transport Stern [Music] she's gone cut one of our torpedoes by mistake it all adds up all ahead flank [Music] go right out throwing it out to reload and thousand yards from the Holocaust tank check to last to talk Peters for the routine dispatch of a crippled cargo ship [Music] stand by the forward to fire one [Music] number 23 away one more and it's course zero nine zero for us [Music] that's it boys in our last fish let's go home let's head for the barn that last fish is running erratic [Music] it's a circular run all ahead flank maneuvering pour it on everything you've got so you gonna hit we're it is the ship responding to rudder mutters laughs all right sir just a hand steering read out what is the bearing and range to the nearest destroyer it catches this way we're gone wait on this can you for information repeating shirt radars out of commission last berry three one zero range 3,000 yards [Music] request permission they come open the bridge side [Music] [Music] you all right I'll check the other [Music] oh I checked you before are you still all right yes how many less is bad Jim booth simple shred the enemy another lay the glove water well they didn't they can't ever take that away from us sir never morning boss survivors from the bridge 5 who managed to escape from below were picked up by the Japanese nine men out of 89 survived from time the submarine the enemy couldn't lay a glove on in April 1946 President Harry Truman presented to commander Richard H okhane the Congressional Medal of Honor commando Kane's honor was the honor of the tank and all her men they are not forgotten they live and are remembered in their deeds I'll be back in a moment with our special guest now may I introduce to you chief warrant officer Floyd M kattiline who is a radioman first-class support tank mr. kaverley it's good to have you with us Thank You Admiral I'm very happy to be here what went through your mind at the moment the tangs own torpedo hitter funny ones seem to think of was what could be done to save the ship no panic no panic at all I guess it was lots of training making itself felt specifically what are the figures for the tanks fire patrols well officially were credited with over ninety three thousand tons of enemy shipping closer to 94 which is my relative biggest serve me makes the tank for thin tonnage sunk and second a number of ships sunk we accounted for 24 the taut dog holds top position with 26 and remember taut OGG was in the war start to finish I might add that tang is one of only three US warships to have received two Presidential Unit Citations during the war and if I know captain Richard O'Kane he wears his Medal of Honor in the name of everyone who was in the tank it was a great skipper of a great ship thanks mr. kaverley for being with us I hope you will join us again for another Atlantic story of the silent service [Music] [Music] coming [Music]