Hell Below - Episode 6: Fatal Voyage | Free Documentary History

Hell Below - Season 1, Episode 6: Fatal Voyage | History Documentary
Watch 'Hell Below - Season 1, Episode 1' here: • Hell Below - Episode 1...
In this episode:
December, 1943. Fueled by the loss of mentor and friend Dudley "Mush" Morton, Richard Hetherington O'Kane and his submarine USS Tang set out to assault Japanese shipping. In four patrols O'Kane rises to the ranks of America's top submarine commander. But in the Formosa Strait his last Mark 18 torpedo turns against him. As O'Kane's submarine meets its end, an unforgettable fight to survive begins.
Hell Below is an event-based series charting the stealth game of sub sea warfare, tracking the dramatic narrative from contact to attack of the greatest submarine patrols of World War II. From the rise of the Wolfpack to the drive for victory in the Pacific, we profile the strategic masterminds and the rapid evolution of technology and tactics, as the threat of undersea warfare brings every sailor's worst nightmare to life. Expert analysis and stock footage are woven with narrative driven re-enactments filmed on authentic Second World War era submarines to place the characters at the heart of the action.
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In this episode: December, 1943. Fueled by the loss of mentor and friend Dudley "Mush" Morton, Richard Hetherington O'Kane and his submarine USS Tang set out to assault Japanese shipping. In four patrols O'Kane rises to the ranks of America's top submarine commander. But in the Formosa Strait his last Mark 18 torpedo turns against him. As O'Kane's submarine meets its end, an unforgettable fight to survive begins.

[@briankorbelik2873]

I read that as well. Too bad he wrote another book about how the Wahoo probably also torpedoed herself. Except that a Japanese patrol plane hit Wahoo square with a bomb and sank her.

[@joserdiazalmodovar1898]

Those Were Brave Men. A League of their own! They Sailed into Harms way they were the best navigators too no gps radar technology was still beginning using charts and the stars to navigate and compass People I Tip my Hat to those Brave Ladies and Gentlemen who served and keep serving in the U.S Armed Forces

[@Ma_Deuce_338]

@@briankorbelik2873”Too bad” really? I met O’Kane and corresponded with him for quite sometime while he was writing Wahoo. He shared his experiences on that boat with Morton. He was guessing at her loss as he states. The torpedo problem is legendary. Tullibee was another circular run fish with one survivor CW Kuykendahl. While found to be incorrect by the Russian divers that found her… O’Kanes conjecture can be forgiven given the loss of his boat and crew and the loss of Tullibee. How many others may be answer that Project 52 can provide. Floyd Caverly was a friend of mine and the personal insights he shared with me regarding the loss of Tang were inspirational and terrifying.

[@Thornbush434]

I served in the Navy way back when. I was a crewman on the USS Morton DD 948. The warship had a ships flag of the raincoat girl with umbrella of the Morton Salt co. on a light blue silk cloth which said, "When it Rains, it Pours." Cool flag. I never new that Mush Morton was from the family that owned Morton Salt co. until saw this series.

[@-.Steven]

Awesome! Thank you for your service.

[@garyleibitzke4166]

I read his book, "Clear the Bridge". That man had two big brass ones.

[@Josh-hr5mc]

I wished they did more seasons or someone else make a new series about submarine warfare

[@Leviyahyah]

May ALL Souls lost at sea RIP

[@charlespeyersen1955]

Amen!!!!

[@nigellawson8610]

It’s amazing that the survivors of the USS Tang did not lose their heads at the hands of the Japanese? When it to the treatment of POWs the Japanese were notoriously brutal? All I can say, is that the Japanese must have been in a Sunday mood? Falling into Japanese hands would often lead to a painful lingering death.

[@alextownsend8624]

This was an awesome episode, and it is an even more awsome series.. keep them coming! Ive watched every episode so far!

[@Peterax788]

I remember USS Tang being mentioned when I watching the documentary on USS Batfish

[@randallcline1176]

I highly recommend reading his book Clear the Bridge. I recently finished reading it for the sixth or seventh time.

[@jonathanwallace6667]

This sub and crew were fearless, so outstanding until the only thing that could sink them were themselves. No doubt feared tremendously by the enemies.

[@kennethprice5628]

What an incredible story and man, with an awesome crew...RIP, SIRS

[@romans325kjb]

Great series. Enjoyed it. Seen every episode.

[@FreeDocumentaryHistory]

excellent!

[@Hew.Jarsol]

Hollywood should still apologise for U571 etc... Stolen valour.

[@FrankinJax]

Happy 4th of July. Thanks for the Freedom.

[@kennywaller2300]

Excellent show...

[@dalejarvis2126]

The test depth of Tang was 600 feet, and when hounded by a destroyer near Saipan, the sea pressure gauge passed 700 feet.

[@switchedon6530]

What an absolute legend and an inspiration. This guy had a true set of balls unlike men of the same age today!

[@johnmcmickle5685]

The one of thing not mentioned is that O'Kane had the option to work with a wolfpack he chose to go it alone. I lost an uncle on the USS Tang.

[@waynesworld7804]

What a story. What brave men.

[@MichaelEllison-jr4wg]

Complete Terror!!!! Figures the last torpedo malfunctions....

[@kungfuchimp5788]

Read the book. Great, but sad story.

[@alextownsend8624]

Let's goooo

[@coodudeman]

lolol "cocaine and the lookouts" sounds like a band!! thx youtube cc!

[@user-fz6vs4de9m]

Almost 1/4 of our brave submariners never came home. May they rest in peace and I hope their families came to terms with it within time'

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

The USS Tang had a brief appearance in the 2023 film Godzilla Minus One in the form of the photo of the damage, used to portray the USS Redfish (SS-395) where instead of being sunk by its own torpedo, it was sunk by Godzilla.

[@coodudeman]

OH NO!! IT'S GORZIRRA!

[@BellaZuikaku4785]

Sometimes it makes me wonder why didn’t O Kane fight this convoy at periscope depth?

[@colonelx185]

It's so if he destroyed the ship he didn't need to surface and waste electricity/compressed air in order to resume at a normal speed

[@BellaZuikaku4785]

@@colonelx185 I mean if Tang was at PD and O Kane fired the erratic torpedo, Kane can just dive her to get out of the way. Sadly Tang couldn’t get out of the way for her final fight.

[@colonelx185]

@BellaZuikaku4785 yeah but poor kane had no idea that the torpedos could do that since they were recently developed

[@BellaZuikaku4785]

@@colonelx185 didn’t they do a testing for erratic?

[@colonelx185]

@BellaZuikaku4785 it's dangerous, if a big warhead was shook up it would most likely have blown up in peoples faces. Plus torpedos were in short supply and USA needed updated torpedos quickly to replace faulty ones and to restock submarines. Also it's hard to do testing torpedos inside and submarine due to the confined space. And not every submarine has a naval engineer stationed on them. And it's also difficult to test things during wartime, perhaps the navy was too impatient and didn't bother testing them. By the time the issue was known it would've been too late to stop production.

[@coodudeman]

those sneaky bine breakers!

[@Ulani101]

How many more ships could Tang have claimed, but for a faulty torpedo? Or would a depth charge attack, or mine strike, later in the war have taken her with all hands? Ifs and buts.... who can say what might have been? Would O'Kane have been more useful to the Silent Service ashore, passing on his experience to up-and-coming sub skippers than in the field, sinking ships? Either way, kudos to the man, for doing what he did and doing it so well.

[@alextownsend8624]

So serious question please don't hang me for this l.. but while they were waiting for the worst of the typhoon in the Formosa strait to pass and were forced back inside off lookout from the winds they started to list 70° from the huge waves.. wouldn't it he safer to dive under water a couple hundred feet so the waves wouldnt toss you and it would be calmer?

[@lelandcheng9187]

I think at that very moment if they tried to dive with that much list they run the risk of rolling their boat over which is actually unrecoverable.

[@VistaThaiGuy]

How many faulty electric torpedoes were there use in WW2??? #24 was the last and most used/trained/demoed/abused one in the war load???🤔

[@TheDroppedAnchor]

It’s a tragic story but there was more than one submarine lost due to torpedoes.

[@johnpavkov2490]

I'm not going to give my dream

[@prashanshan7125]

Is there a movie made after this story..!

[@truthbtold8040]

I see a captain of great bravery but an ego that cost the lives of his crew.

[@jimjoe9945]

Never mentioned O Kane' s cribbage board.

[@brettcurtis5710]

How about something from the submarine war in the Mediterranean? British, Italian and German subs turned the Med into a graveyard of their crews!

[@milwaukeeroadjim9253]

Seems like firing that last torpedo wasn't necessary but skippers like him were motivated to use everything they had. How was he to know the last torpedo would circle back. The Navy only found out about it after the war. Mark 16 torpedoes had a known defect the caused circling but there was no history on the Mark 18 electric torpedo doing so.

[@Johnnycdrums]

I hope that grave is protected.

[@Netseer2000]

Brandy and not rum?

[@johntimlin6664]

Why didnt they spew oil and Debris to throw the enemy off

[@metalmyke1]

Should have dived or maneuver when they first seen it.

[@MikeHunt-fo3ow]

really dumb question but how did the get the torpedos down into a sub

[@jimjoe9945]

Loading hatches on the deck above the torpedo rooms.

[@MikeHunt-fo3ow]

@@jimjoe9945 are these bolted shut?

[@milwaukeeroadjim9253]

@@MikeHunt-fo3ow There is a hatch at an angle on top of the torpedo room that allowed the torpedoes to be lowered one at a time using ropes and pulleys. Once the torpedoes were loaded, the hatch was secured with dogs just like the hatches that the crew use to enter the sub.

[@MikeHunt-fo3ow]

@@milwaukeeroadjim9253 ty i looked up a video on it....the torpedos are so long it looks nuts

[@stevesutton1991]

Skip to 42 mins and miss all the recaps.

[@duniagowes]

Greedy.

[@Hateweek1984]

Great leadership enables both success and failure all the while teaching and mentoring....

[@tannermikal2]

It’s hard to really fathom of being on that sub and in that scenario but our men went through it.. 🫡