HC Silent Service - Silent Service: Set One (2000) Part 3 The Torpedoes of WWII

They were hunters under the sea, living and operating in cramped, claustrophobic quarters. If they perished, they knew would meet a hideous death on the ocean floor. They were the men of THE SILENT SERVICE. The incredible achievements of these heroes come alive in this extraordinary set. Drawing on declassified documents, interviews with submariners and their enemies, combat footage and visits to museums where the ships are preserved, we'll get a sense of what it was like to serve beneath the waves. The Silent Service plunges beneath the waves to tell the complete, fascinating story of one of the most critical branches of the military–submarines. From the dreamers who conceived them and the earliest designs to the men who became legend and the designs that changed underwater technology forever, each hour focuses on a different aspect of the submariners story.

Part 3: The Torpedoes of WWII

Only a few weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy experienced a failure of critical technology–the torpedoes that armed its fleet of submarines were defective. The ensuing debacle ranks as one of the great near disasters of WWII. We'll see how the exigencies of war clashed with entrenched bureaucracies and egos of the naval ordnance establishment. After two years of frustration the submariners prevailed and with effective weapons went on to achieve remarkable results.

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