Customer Reviews

Submarines: The Silent Service in World War II

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Without exception, "The Silent Service in World War II" is the absolute best depiction of the United States submarine fleet during this period. None of the footage that you'll see in this DVD is a Hollywood conception of what was. This is the real McCoy. As a veteran submariner and old smoke boat sailor, this is a DVD that you won't be able to stop watching. This is a must have for the any Naval historian, submarine sailor, school or anyone that would like to see how it really happened.

You'll see the exciting capture of an actual German U-boat and it's recovery. View the rescue and recovery of the USS Squalus and it's crew. Hear accounts from Japanese regarding the massive damage inflected by our pig boats after they attacked Pearl Harbor. I highly recommend this DVD to everyone. You're library just isn't complete until you own this one.

Bob Prater, USS Remora (SS-487)

I just recently bought the "Silent Service in WWII" DVD and spent the better part of an evening watching it. If you're a fan of books like "The Hunt for Red October" or "Run Silent, Run Deep" -- or the movies of the same name -- this DVD is for you. It has five interesting films made by the U.S. Navy and featuring real-life footage of some of the most historic submarines of the 1930-1945 era. The "Submarine War Story" film is a special treat, in that it shows how the U.S. fought Japanese surface forces throughout the war with subs. It has some amazing footage from 1945 of subs sinking sampans and junks, and rescuing pilots whose crippled planes could not make it back to Tinian and Iwo Jima. Some of the other films show how sub crews were trained, and there is a short, silent newsreel that shows rare material from the Squalus accident (profiled in "The Terrible Hours" by Peter Maas). The DVD is one of a planned set of five discs, and I look forward to getting the other four when they are available (looks like only a couple have been released so far).

This beautifully packaged DVD is a revelation because it includes several different B&W films including actual full-color footage taken on the USS SCULPIN with its, then, Cmdr. who was later killed while on deck shooting at the Japanese enemy; Submariners between War Patrols relaxing at The Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki, etc. Also, the reproduction availability of WWII Fleet Type Submarine manual and supplement, as well as other products beautifully demonstrated. All in all, a great issue/find!

My husband was pleasantly surprised by this DVD - he loved it. My 8 year old son sat and watched it too. I thought it might be a little old for him but he sat through the whole thing and shushed us if we made any noise.

We showed this at our last dive club meeting and everyone really enjoyed it. Excellent background info for the history of diving.

This dvd is made up of various U.S. Navy short films documenting service aboard World War II submarines. Some of these documentaries were shown to recruits as they began training for the Silent Service, while others were made mainly for civilians, arguably to boost morale at home and to sell war bonds. None of them show the complete picture of life aboard submarines, but that's understandable given the secrecy in which they had to operate. The dvd could have been made better if it included some more detailed post war films after they were de-classified. If you're looking for an action/adventure film, this one isn't for you. However, if you like history and want to see the kind of fare the Navy was producing during, and shortly after, the war, this dvd provides some good examples.

This is an interesting dvd, but a seriously overpriced dvd. Should be $10.00. I watched it all in one afternoon, and was extremely disappointed.