USS Dace, USS Darter 'Two Davids and Goliath'

Silent Service

[@michaelcuff3418]

Love these old stories! Thank you!

[@stevenhj3124]

No one knew then that in eleven months the two atomic bombs would end it all. ☮

[@johnrogan9420]

Dennis Weaver and Murray Hamilton...2 top actors...gunsmoke and the movie " the graduate".

[@RonaldReaganRocks1]

Man, those real life captains sure had some acting talent.

[@screechowl75]

Wow!! Dennis Weaver in his pre-Gunsmoke years!!!

[@mikebrase5161]

The other guy was the Mayor in Jaws.

[@LawtonDigital]

"...missed a couple of them by a very thin blond hair." Pretty bawdy for the 50's

[@180mph9]

Great story

[@davewitter6565]

Great this stories are documented while the men who wrote the story were still alive.

[@richardbennett1856]

Missed Hamilton, so great job there. Hammy Hollywood script... Somewhere in the Philippines?

[@johnrogan9420]

Two captains named Dave look like identical twins!

[@ronniecollum8794]

today 4/19/24 i met a 72 year old man who is the nephew of lieutenant reed from the uss dace.

[@billhuber2964]

If they ran out of coffee there hell to pay !!!

[@johnrogan9420]

There is hell to pay.

[@Bettyfan92614]

Terry Becker Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey SSRN Seaview Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1965-1968

[@BillyJ244]

When I was a little kid that show with used to scare me. It was science fiction on a submarine. As I got a little older I understood it better and wasn't scared anymore. Very cool show.

[@Artas1984]

Still, how come Darter run a ground? They had the underwater sonar which should have clearly revealed the topography on the ocean floor and prevented the ship being beached. WTF? The ending was cut short - they did not show how they failed to destroy the ship and they did not show how a Japanese plane spotted them.

[@JoeInCT418]

Artas1984 Maybe there's a file somewhere that was marked, "TOP SECRET" when the film was made. IIRC, these "Silent Service" shows were televised in the 1950's. (B&W film) Darter and Dace were the two scouting subs who spotted the Japanese "Sho-Go" fleet on its way to Leyte Gulf. The "Center Force", IIRC. They reported via radio, then got out of Dodge. IIRC, they did not fire at the Japanese to make sure that the Japanese did not know that they had been spotted. (My recollections from the TV series, "Victory At Sea.") .... My bad. They did fire at 3 cruisers by the end of the story. Darter ran aground because they hit an uncharted reef while in a big hurry to catch the Japanese fleet.

[@philipclayberg4928]

From what I've read, the Dace was trying to do a run-around and make another attack when she ran aground on a coral reef. The Dace's crew and important papers were transferred to the Darter. To keep her from being boarded or towed away by the Japanese, the Dace was shelled and torpedoed by the Darter, but -- because she was on a coral reef -- the torpedoes hit the reef instead. Finally, the Nautilus was sent to the Dace's position to fire her 6-inch guns at the Dace until the latter was badly damaged enough that she wouldn't be of any use to the Japanese. I think the Dace's crew was transferred to a new submarine (I don't remember which one).

[@bradmiller2329]

Because there sonar we're hydrophones, not what we call sonar today.

[@tagofox4603]

@@philipclayberg4928 Just switch dace and darter around darter was lost dace saved darter's crew. Dace would later go into service in the italian navy from 1950 to 1960 was scraped in 1975.

[@wirelessone2986]

A depth finder is depth under keel....not forward topography sonar....would have been nice

[@billyost1479]

Epic

[@johncox2865]

Dennis Weaver, before he became a crippled cowboy.

[@chrisyunge8569]

Jaws....😎