As a SeaLion crewmember in 1960’s I can add some stories to this video. At a reunion of the US Submarine Veterans (USSVI) in Kansas City in 2005, a letter from one of the Aussie survivors of the sinking of the Japanese cargo vessel. It was dictated to his daughter and she relayed that he thanked the submarine crews for the sinking. He stated that the prisoners on the ship would not have survived the POW camps in Japan, and they would have been savagely mistreated even more than the “Bridge on the River Kwai” that they were forced to build. The prisoner felt that the over 1000 lost would have all agreed with him, that death was better than what they were facing. As for the sinking of SeaLion, it was done by the beloved Skipper Robert G. Bills, probably the most loved SeaLion skipper of the postwar period. Commander Bills had been transferred to another submarine in 1964 as Commanding Officer. When it was determined that SeaLion would be sunk as part of a training exercise and made a reef in the Atlantic, Commander Bills requested that he be allowed to perform the task. He had a great reputation with the diesel submarines in the Atlantic and he was given the honor.
As an Australian, I have no issue with Allied submarines sinking enemy ships that my countrymen were imprisoned aboard. There is simply no way the sub crews could have known beforehand, and those ships were legitimate targets in any case. It should also be noted that other Japanese ships in the area duly rescued their own countrymen, but specifically did NOT rescue any of the Allied POWs. They were left to die. 'Thunder Below' written by Gene Fluckey, of the USS Barb, devotes a couple of chapters to this event, in which the Barb also rescued some of the POWs. The POWs themselves never bore ill-will towards the USN over what happened, and emphatically praised the quality of care received from their rescuers.
'The POWs themselves never bore ill-will towards the USN over what happened, and emphatically praised the quality of care received from their rescuers'. I'm sitting here weeping.
I had suspected such, but thanks for the confirmation. The prisoners were probably headed for a worse fate if not sunk. To be fair to Japan, it is gratifying to see the change in social attitude since WWII, they have come a long way.
a few years ago, I got to know a survivor of the Batan death march who told me he survived two sinkings of ships carrying him to Japan to be used as slave labor. As I remember, those ships were sunk by aircraft. I specifically asked him how he felt about the "friendly" fire, and he had no problem with it at all. He said that at the Japanese surrender, their guards had orders to kill all of the POWs but were afraid to.
Back in the 1950s there was a TV show called "the Silent Service" which was hosted by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers. It was a great show in my opinion, but it only lasted 2 seasons. They reenacted this war patrol in great detail.
My jaw is dropping in awe at her longevity in service. For a WW2 Balao class sub. To be in active US Navy service up past the Cuban Missile Crisis? Until 1970. Wow! It also makes you wonder what she was really doing during that time? Those were some rather interesting modifications. Can carry 100 troops. and when was the last time you saw a sub with a Helicopter Landing Deck? This was somebody's SpecOps ride. Probably until they finally got their hands on an old Nuclear Sub. Edit; Hmmm? Digging through some old references I notice that right around 1970 is when the old Nuclear sub USS Halibut, with some oddball features, was modified and became the main US Navy Sneaky SpecOps sub. Entering service as such in 1971.
@@Baza1964 Believe it or not some are STILL in service. Taiwan announced (2017) that the 72-year-old SS-791 Hai Shih, or Sea Lion, will receive a retrofit allowing it to continue sailing until 2026. Before she was Hai Shih, she was the U.S. Navy submarine USS Cutlass, a 1,570-ton Tench-class vessel that launched on Nov. 5, 1944 during World War II. Not sure I'd be too eager to go down in a 78 year old submarine.
@@BelloBudo007 they did this with nearly all of the submarines and warships from WWII. Kimda crazy, this wouldnt even be allowed these days, being considered an environmental problem.
I noticed some of the clips you use, are from the Great 1957/58 TV show, "The Silent Service". A great tribute to those brave men who shrugged off the fear of death and dove deep into the oceans.
Fleet boat postwar modifications & careers R a fascinating set of stories in themselves; i M especially fascinated by the Migraine radar picket/AGSS programmes, & the various support roles taken up such as Loon test vessels, AOSS tanker, amphib support, & some mighty ugly early SSK prototyping
The Japanese ship that carried the Australian POWs was not marked as “a Hospital Ship”. In fact, it was an unmarked freighter and so, the Sea lion had no idea that it was carrying POWs when it launched its torpedoes.
Correct. They also attacked Allied hospital ships that were properly marked and lighted as such, the most infamous being AHS Centaur, sunk by an IJN submarine with heavy loss of life, including all but one of the nurses serving aboard.
Some US sub captains “adjusted” their Mk-14 torpedos. It was of course totally unacceptable to make sure a mission succeeded, so they kept it quiet, Nothing went into log books.
That was an amazing video summing up the history of an amazing boat. It would be wonderful to hear some of the crew tell the story of even a handful of the missions she was on. I also enjoyed the short mention of the Growler as I served on the last Growler, SSG-577, which has a different history to be discovered. Great channel and kudos for telling the Hidden History stories that our service members have been key players in.
Thank you for your service! Greatly appreciate the kind words and you watching, have a great week :) I will also look into making a video about the WW2 Growler here!
When I was in the TA now the army reserve we hosted several events for the Burma Star Association and I got to meet and talk to survivors from the Burma railway and the sinking. They joked about being sank by the yanks amoung many other things they were all true Heroes and Gentleman.
Rarely have I heard of a submarine with a longer service history. I had thought that few of the Baleo class had survived Rickover's all nuclear submarine force. Where non nuclear submarines were Greyback, and Growler. Fair winds and following seas!
Fascinating video! Definitely a subject I wouldve never explored myself. Keep up the great content, you'll be rubbing shoulders with Mark Felton soon enough!
Wow' what an aggressive gutsy captain. The captain of the Sealion was no shrinking violet. Admiral Lockwood must have been pretty pleased with his performance.
Was on Sea Lion 1967 in Portsmouth Va navel shipyard. We were the last sub to have gunners mates, two chief CPOs and several strlkers. We reconditioned a single barrel 40mm for placement on Sea Lion,as at that time she was supposed to go be relocated to Viet Nam after Key West for duty as a river boat and special operations platform. Such a good crew, such a good boat! Sure do miss diving onboard a good ole reliable smoke boat!
@@HiddenHistoryYTof four kongos built only one survived ww2 the HIJMS haruna, the otherships were lost at various times through out the war (with HIJMS hiei and HIJMS kirishima being sunk in the guadalcanal campaign a 24-48 hours apart, speaking of the kirishima she was the only battleship sunk by an american "fast" battleship (although other us bbs did sink battleships during the war however these were all older ww1 era battleships) she was sunk by USS washington (north carolina class) on the second night of the naval battle of guadalcanal
@@soldierofwessex7616 90% of the world and some ameba on mars calls HMS Hood a battleship but she was built as a battle cruiser. Maybe I should call Yorktown and Saratoga battle cruisers as well . I am no naval history expert like Drachinifel or Dr Clarke , but I think I’m ‘ Entitled’ ( since that is a dirty word now , that means exactly the opposite of what is being used as ) to my own ‘ Opinion’ just as you are . I will continue to think of Kongo as a battle cruiser and you (and the Japanese) can continue to call her a battleship .
Not fer nuthin' but, as a Fleet Sailor between 1988 and 1992 homeported in Norfolk, my ship would regularly run operations as a part of the USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin battlegroups. You see, it's not just that our Battleships are still above the water and serving as Museums. It is that before they retired to Museum duty, they still had another 5 decades of whoop ass in them after making the introduction between the Nips and Davey Jones. Ps: it has been announced that tickets to the Yamato class Museums has been increased, due to the rising cost of SCUBA gear.
Ahh another enjoyer of early 90s Norfolk...😂 While we never UNREPd a BB group (😢), wonder if our ships crossed paths? I did a couple Meds aboard Sylvania out of Norfolk...
@@wheels-n-tires1846 I just did a quick googling of your ship. There is no doubt that you and I walked past each other on Pier 25 once or twice, brother.
Even though Sealion’s skipper wasn’t a professional mindreader, he could tell ya EXACTLY what IJN Kongo was sinking about without even having to ask her for a hint!
I've been looking for some step by step battle records of the USS Wahoo with Mush Morton and Dick O'Kane in command. The Wahoo was one of the US's most deadly submarines in our fleet.
Good chance there’s some in the various books written on the Wahoo, unfortunately I don’t have one of mine handy rn. I’ll see if I can find anything when I get the chance!
The closest I've come is sadly short of actually getting access to Navy records. Look for the history books by Capt. E.L. Beach, USN (of the fictional "Run Silent, Run Deep" fame) I'd love to know if you succeed !
@@terryrussel3369 Edward . L . Beach , also wrote a terrific novel called " Dust on the sea " . A great story of three American subs that went into the sea of Japan during WW2.
The crews of the American submarines had - "No" knowledge that Australian or any allied POW'S were on the Japanese ships when they were ordered to attack. You should have included that bit of information in your video rather than making out that the attacks were made and no one cared about the allied POW'S. Shalom
Excellent video. Subscribed. I have one humble suggestion. Your narration goes on and on without any pauses. It's like reading page after page without paragraphs. It all runs together. Adding short pauses at the appropriate moments would make it easier to digest. Thanks for the informative video. Keep up the good work.
I will adjust that in all future videos having more pauses starting with Monday’s! Appreciate the feedback! Thanks for the kind words, watching and subscribing. Hope you have a fantastic weekend :)
Many of our very successful highly decorated Ships should have become Museum Ships or Monument ships. Such a shame so many were either scrapped or sunk.
There are a few... the Iowa class battleships are all museums, and most served into the 1980's (I heard BB-62 firing it's guns off Norfolk and we were off the UK). Many highly decorated subs were made into museums, USS SIlversides and USS Cavalla are a couple. Reason Sealion was scrapped was simple.. she was like many subs in the 1950's modified for special operations and testing, and it was easier to decommission/sink it rather than declassify it. Issue with many museum ships/subs is they were never built to survive almost 80 yrs, and now time is taking their toll (ie USS The Sullivans listing at the pier and the USS New Jersey springing a leak). USS Clamagore has gone to the breakers, and if they could get USS Ling down the river, it'd be next in line.
Met the Father of wife's friend who served on Subs in W W 2. His Skipper, he said , was aggressive. He said their Boat was submerged off shore of Japan and the Skipper let the Crew look thru the Periscope. The Crew could see some of the Japanese men riding their Horse's along the Beach.
it happens quite often, whales are very curious and often sail to close to ships, it usually doesnt end well for the whale, i seem to remember somthing about one of the iowa class colliding with and ripping in half a sperm whale
If you're going to explore innovative missions, you're smart to use a lucky boat. Overcoming all those 'glitches' must have required a sharp crew, but LUCK is always a factor.
The story is very interesting. I have read something on a book titled "the silent service" but this was very interesting to know, and the narration is good, it can be easily understood.
I grew up two blocks from the main gate of the Electric Boat Co. and the pronounciation of Groton in Connecticut ryhmes with rotten. It's the Groton in the UK that sounds like groaten.
What a rich and unheralded history. We sure got our moneys worth from this vessel. Imagine the feeling of serving on this sub, knowing its history. Let's make sure history never forgets the name, 'Sealion'
The Germans had the same problem at the start of WWI. Wouldn't you know it? It was one of those torpedoes that helped sink the Lusitania, with the help of a still-unidentifed second explosion.
For future reference the city in CT. where the Nautilus, the first atomic submarine is berthed and on display to this day is pronounced GRAHT-un. Accent on the AH.
@@HiddenHistoryYT That Nautilus was a total game changer, being the first nuclear-powered sub yet it's the USS Washington, the first to carry nuclear ballistic missiles, that has led to what could be planetwide annihilation from ships hiding beneath the ocean surface. Note that Washington was commissioned in 1959 at Groton! (GRAHT-un)
The Kongo was not a purpose built battleship unlike the other two battleships with it, the Yamato and Nagato. The Kongo was built just before WWI in Great Britain as a battlecruiser. After the war the Japanese added several tons of extra armor to upgrade it to a battleship...supposedly.
People forget many submarine attacks were conducted semi-submerged, commanded from atop the conningtower, not from inside using the periscope. Tragic how many POWs were killed but worse happened, everywhere: Look at the case of MV Wilhelm Gustloff (Baltic Jan 1945) where ~9000 mostly civilians died.
They didn't know but the positions of the ships, floating high in the water would suggest that the captain not only did not pick up on that, but fired for his record as crews liked to have sunk the most enemy ships. As pilots got an emblem painted on his aircraft for every confirmed kill.
Thank you for an excellent history. BTW, you need to work on your nautical terminology. Those are the "bow" and "stern" torpedo tubes, not "front" and "rear."
A prisoner in a war zone would pray for their forces to end the capacity of their prison ship whether it killed them or not.. The Pueblo crew expected a vicious assault on that ship as it was taken into a NK port. It still floats as a wartime prize of proud military actions.
Fascinating! Did any other subs of World War II vintage serve as long! I'm curious about the sinking of the ship carrying Allied POWs. This disaster appears to have been swept under the rug by the Allies. I suppose that in wartime, the Japanese would have been unlikely to mark the ship as carrying prisoners . . . did the Americans, British and Australians truly know nothing about the ship prior to its sinking? And what was the response of those governments on hearing of the sinking?
Off some quick googling it looks like USS Razorback served almost as long, but I don’t see anything longer. I will have to see if I can find anything on the government responses. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Great story but calling the Kongo a "battleship" is a little generous. It's more commonly considered a battlecruiser, with *some* argument for classing it as an older fast battleship. Ironically, the sub Archerfish possibly has a stronger claim to this title. Shinano was a supercarrier when sunk, but was built on a Yamato-class battleship hull.
The first submarine to find the Australian POW survivors had surfaced to shoot what they believed were Japanese in the water and were just about to open fire when an Australian has called out, "You sink us and now you're gonna shoot us" and the crew of the submarine has realised they were Australians Initially they were not recognised because they were sunburnt and covered in oil
@Hidden History It was announced through the submarine, "If you want to shoot a J A P grab a rifle" or words to that affect The info above comes from a book of the history of one of the Australian battalions who's members were involved My father survived the Sandakan Death March in North Borneo and escaped from the extermination camp at Ranau with Bill Moxham who's two brothers were on these Japanese ships one brother Tom died because of the sinkings and the other brother Harry was recovered by the Japanese but was credited with drowning the captain of the ship he'd been on while they were in a small life boat
The first USS Sealion was a Sargo-class submarine. She was scuttled on Christmas Day of 1942 after suffering catastrophic damage during the bombing of the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1942. Four men were killed in the bombing. The CO of Sealion II, Eli Reich, was a junior officer at the time, and the names of those 4 men were inscribed on the four torpedoes that was targeted on the Kongo.
I believe Barb and her pack mates were sent in after this attack to pick up anybody they could find. Fluckey writes about it in Thunder Below pretty extensively.
You would have thought the japanese would have marked the ships with prisoners just to save the ship. The japanese were strange in some of the things they did or didn't do.
Ugh. I’m so sorry Sealion. You deserved a better fate than that. You deserved to be laid up near a city; where the newest generation to the oldest could crawl about you in wonder and excitement.
Just a thought... When doing a video like this, that has a lot of different geographical locations, instead of showing unrelated clips, why not show a map of where the vessel goes? That would be a huge help to those that are not keen on world geography.
The Kongo was in reality a battlecruiser not a battleship. Attempts to upgrade the Kongo failed to make it a battleship. It was still under armored. Still only a battlecruiser.
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As a SeaLion crewmember in 1960’s I can add some stories to this video. At a reunion of the US Submarine Veterans (USSVI) in Kansas City in 2005, a letter from one of the Aussie survivors of the sinking of the Japanese cargo vessel. It was dictated to his daughter and she relayed that he thanked the submarine crews for the sinking. He stated that the prisoners on the ship would not have survived the POW camps in Japan, and they would have been savagely mistreated even more than the “Bridge on the River Kwai” that they were forced to build. The prisoner felt that the over 1000 lost would have all agreed with him, that death was better than what they were facing.
As for the sinking of SeaLion, it was done by the beloved Skipper Robert G. Bills, probably the most loved SeaLion skipper of the postwar period. Commander Bills had been transferred to another submarine in 1964 as Commanding Officer. When it was determined that SeaLion would be sunk as part of a training exercise and made a reef in the Atlantic, Commander Bills requested that he be allowed to perform the task. He had a great reputation with the diesel submarines in the Atlantic and he was given the honor.
Thank you for your service and this excellent information! I found it to be very interesting. Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Perhaps you may know donald mc queen street jr?
As an Australian, I have no issue with Allied submarines sinking enemy ships that my countrymen were imprisoned aboard. There is simply no way the sub crews could have known beforehand, and those ships were legitimate targets in any case. It should also be noted that other Japanese ships in the area duly rescued their own countrymen, but specifically did NOT rescue any of the Allied POWs. They were left to die.
'Thunder Below' written by Gene Fluckey, of the USS Barb, devotes a couple of chapters to this event, in which the Barb also rescued some of the POWs. The POWs themselves never bore ill-will towards the USN over what happened, and emphatically praised the quality of care received from their rescuers.
Great info! Thanks for watching and have a fantastic weekend :)
'The POWs themselves never bore ill-will towards the USN over what happened, and emphatically praised the quality of care received from their rescuers'. I'm sitting here weeping.
I had suspected such, but thanks for the confirmation. The prisoners were probably headed for a worse fate if not sunk. To be fair to Japan, it is gratifying to see the change in social attitude since WWII, they have come a long way.
@@donscheid97 I always wonder what the average Japanese WW2 soldier would think of the average Japanese 18 year old male today lol
they were not marked as such (POW vessels), which was a violation of treaty and a war-crime
a few years ago, I got to know a survivor of the Batan death march who told me he survived two sinkings of ships carrying him to Japan to be used as slave labor. As I remember, those ships were sunk by aircraft. I specifically asked him how he felt about the "friendly" fire, and he had no problem with it at all. He said that at the Japanese surrender, their guards had orders to kill all of the POWs but were afraid to.
Incredible, love to hear these perspectives as well.
Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
That's a pretty impressive record for any submarine!
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Back in the 1950s there was a TV show called "the Silent Service" which was hosted by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers. It was a great show in my opinion, but it only lasted 2 seasons. They reenacted this war patrol in great detail.
Ya I use a lot of the footage! I still need to watch the actual show though haha
My jaw is dropping in awe at her longevity in service. For a WW2 Balao class sub. To be in active US Navy service up past the Cuban Missile Crisis? Until 1970. Wow! It also makes you wonder what she was really doing during that time? Those were some rather interesting modifications. Can carry 100 troops. and when was the last time you saw a sub with a Helicopter Landing Deck? This was somebody's SpecOps ride. Probably until they finally got their hands on an old Nuclear Sub.
Edit; Hmmm? Digging through some old references I notice that right around 1970 is when the old Nuclear sub USS Halibut, with some oddball features, was modified and became the main US Navy Sneaky SpecOps sub. Entering service as such in 1971.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Tax payers certainly got their money's worth on that boat...
Nice work investigating , such a long life for a war veteran boat.
@@Baza1964 Believe it or not some are STILL in service. Taiwan announced (2017) that the 72-year-old SS-791 Hai Shih, or Sea Lion, will receive a retrofit allowing it to continue sailing until 2026. Before she was Hai Shih, she was the U.S. Navy submarine USS Cutlass, a 1,570-ton Tench-class vessel that launched on Nov. 5, 1944 during World War II.
Not sure I'd be too eager to go down in a 78 year old submarine.
It is a pity that Sealion was not preserved as a historical vessel along side a battleship. Love the history vids.
My heart sunk when I heard she was used as target practice & sunk. It seems a poor ending for such a noble ship that served her country with honour.
Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
@@BelloBudo007 they did this with nearly all of the submarines and warships from WWII. Kimda crazy, this wouldnt even be allowed these days, being considered an environmental problem.
I noticed some of the clips you use, are from the Great 1957/58 TV show, "The Silent Service". A great tribute to those brave men who shrugged off the fear of death and dove deep into the oceans.
Great spot! I still need to watch it fully through. Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
Bro, you got me Overdosing on videos. I love it, WW2 submarine/uboat warfare is my jam.
Overdosing, but still, keep it coming 😂
Easy with the reach around. Bro
😂
Glad to hear 😂 Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Will do :)
Never thought I’d see footage of those old subs diving. The mechanical ingenuity still amazes me.
Appreciate you watching & have a great weekend :)
I have a few friends who served as submarines. Much respect.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Very interesting video. I was completely unaware of Sea Lion's postwar career - I never knew such conversions were even considered.
Fleet boat postwar modifications & careers R a fascinating set of stories in themselves; i M especially fascinated by the Migraine radar picket/AGSS programmes, & the various support roles taken up such as Loon test vessels, AOSS tanker, amphib support, & some mighty ugly early SSK prototyping
Appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
The Japanese ship that carried the Australian POWs was not marked as “a Hospital Ship”. In fact, it was an unmarked freighter and so, the Sea lion had no idea that it was carrying POWs when it launched its torpedoes.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Japan didn’t mark and illuminate Hospital ships of ships carrying POWs. Submarine captains would not know not to attack those ships
Correct! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
It's obvious the us navy got the torpedo problem fixed.
Interesting I bet the USS Sperry as 12 subtender that old ship was my first command keel was laid in 1941
Correct. They also attacked Allied hospital ships that were properly marked and lighted as such, the most infamous being AHS Centaur, sunk by an IJN submarine with heavy loss of life, including all but one of the nurses serving aboard.
Some US sub captains “adjusted” their Mk-14 torpedos. It was of course totally unacceptable to make sure a mission succeeded, so they kept it quiet, Nothing went into log books.
That was an amazing video summing up the history of an amazing boat. It would be wonderful to hear some of the crew tell the story of even a handful of the missions she was on. I also enjoyed the short mention of the Growler as I served on the last Growler, SSG-577, which has a different history to be discovered. Great channel and kudos for telling the Hidden History stories that our service members have been key players in.
Thank you for your service! Greatly appreciate the kind words and you watching, have a great week :)
I will also look into making a video about the WW2 Growler here!
When I was in the TA now the army reserve we hosted several events for the Burma Star Association and I got to meet and talk to survivors from the Burma railway and the sinking. They joked about being sank by the yanks amoung many other things they were all true Heroes and Gentleman.
Haha great info! And thank you for your service :)
Rarely have I heard of a submarine with a longer service history. I had thought that few of the Baleo class had survived Rickover's all nuclear submarine force. Where non nuclear submarines were Greyback, and Growler. Fair winds and following seas!
Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
Fascinating video! Definitely a subject I wouldve never explored myself. Keep up the great content, you'll be rubbing shoulders with Mark Felton soon enough!
Greatly appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Wow' what an aggressive gutsy captain. The captain of the Sealion was no shrinking violet. Admiral Lockwood must have been pretty pleased with his performance.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Was on Sea Lion 1967 in Portsmouth Va navel shipyard. We were the last sub to have gunners mates, two chief CPOs and several strlkers. We reconditioned a single barrel 40mm for placement on Sea Lion,as at that time she was supposed to go be relocated to Viet Nam after Key West for duty as a river boat and special operations platform. Such a good crew, such a good boat! Sure do miss diving onboard a good ole reliable smoke boat!
Thank you for your service! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
The Kongo was designed and built in Britain as a battlecruiser, and later upgraded to a battleship.
Ya that always fascinated me. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
@@HiddenHistoryYTof four kongos built only one survived ww2 the HIJMS haruna, the otherships were lost at various times through out the war (with HIJMS hiei and HIJMS kirishima being sunk in the guadalcanal campaign a 24-48 hours apart, speaking of the kirishima she was the only battleship sunk by an american "fast" battleship (although other us bbs did sink battleships during the war however these were all older ww1 era battleships) she was sunk by USS washington (north carolina class) on the second night of the naval battle of guadalcanal
I’d still call her a battle cruiser
she was re classifide by the japanese as a battleship
@@soldierofwessex7616 90% of the world and some ameba on mars calls HMS Hood a battleship but she was built as a battle cruiser. Maybe I should call Yorktown and Saratoga battle cruisers as well . I am no naval history expert like Drachinifel or Dr Clarke , but I think I’m ‘ Entitled’ ( since that is a dirty word now , that means exactly the opposite of what is being used as ) to my own ‘ Opinion’ just as you are . I will continue to think of Kongo as a battle cruiser and you (and the Japanese) can continue to call her a battleship .
Every WW2 submariners dream was 6 solid warshots into the side of a Japanese battle wagon…..and only the Sealion got it done….Bravo Zulu Sealion !
Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
Not fer nuthin' but, as a Fleet Sailor between 1988 and 1992 homeported in Norfolk, my ship would regularly run operations as a part of the USS Iowa and USS Wisconsin battlegroups.
You see, it's not just that our Battleships are still above the water and serving as Museums. It is that before they retired to Museum duty, they still had another 5 decades of whoop ass in them after making the introduction between the Nips and Davey Jones.
Ps: it has been announced that tickets to the Yamato class Museums has been increased, due to the rising cost of SCUBA gear.
Hahaha. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT Hey thanks for making another great video. Enjoy your weekend as well!
@@kennedymcgovern5413 Appreciate it, stay safe this weekend!
Ahh another enjoyer of early 90s Norfolk...😂 While we never UNREPd a BB group (😢), wonder if our ships crossed paths? I did a couple Meds aboard Sylvania out of Norfolk...
@@wheels-n-tires1846 I just did a quick googling of your ship. There is no doubt that you and I walked past each other on Pier 25 once or twice, brother.
Even though Sealion’s skipper wasn’t a professional mindreader, he could tell ya EXACTLY what IJN Kongo was sinking about without even having to ask her for a hint!
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
I've been looking for some step by step battle records of the USS Wahoo with Mush Morton and Dick O'Kane in command. The Wahoo was one of the US's most deadly submarines in our fleet.
Good chance there’s some in the various books written on the Wahoo, unfortunately I don’t have one of mine handy rn. I’ll see if I can find anything when I get the chance!
The closest I've come is sadly short of actually getting access to Navy records. Look for the history books by Capt. E.L. Beach, USN (of the fictional "Run Silent, Run Deep" fame)
I'd love to know if you succeed !
@@terryrussel3369 Edward . L . Beach , also wrote a terrific novel called " Dust on the sea " . A great story of three American subs that went into the sea of Japan during WW2.
would be interesting to see the tracked amphibious vehicle
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
She was well designed and built, and had a competent crew. That made her a successful sub.
I agree!
Should have been preserved as a museum !!!
Completely agree! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
The crews of the American submarines had - "No" knowledge that Australian or any allied POW'S were on the Japanese ships when they were ordered to attack. You should have included that bit of information in your video rather than making out that the attacks were made and no one cared about the allied POW'S. Shalom
Exactly 👏
Wow, what an amazing story.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Excellent video. Subscribed.
I have one humble suggestion. Your narration goes on and on without any pauses.
It's like reading page after page without paragraphs. It all runs together.
Adding short pauses at the appropriate moments would make it easier to digest.
Thanks for the informative video. Keep up the good work.
I will adjust that in all future videos having more pauses starting with Monday’s! Appreciate the feedback! Thanks for the kind words, watching and subscribing. Hope you have a fantastic weekend :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT Hello. I know producing historical videos is a handful. Glad I could be of assistance.
See you Monday.
Many of our very successful highly decorated Ships should have become Museum Ships or Monument ships. Such a shame so many were either scrapped or sunk.
I agree! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
There are a few... the Iowa class battleships are all museums, and most served into the 1980's (I heard BB-62 firing it's guns off Norfolk and we were off the UK). Many highly decorated subs were made into museums, USS SIlversides and USS Cavalla are a couple. Reason Sealion was scrapped was simple.. she was like many subs in the 1950's modified for special operations and testing, and it was easier to decommission/sink it rather than declassify it. Issue with many museum ships/subs is they were never built to survive almost 80 yrs, and now time is taking their toll (ie USS The Sullivans listing at the pier and the USS New Jersey springing a leak). USS Clamagore has gone to the breakers, and if they could get USS Ling down the river, it'd be next in line.
Met the Father of wife's friend who served on Subs in W W 2. His Skipper, he said , was aggressive. He said their Boat was submerged off shore of Japan and the Skipper let the Crew look thru the Periscope. The Crew could see some of the Japanese men riding their Horse's along the Beach.
Absolutely incredible! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT God Bless America and America's greatest generation.
@@jamesmurphy9346 🇺🇸🇺🇸
That Aviator that was afloat for 23 days was very fortunate.
Completely agree! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
BEST VIDEO THIS WEEEEEEK
❤️
where can we get the combat footage/ audio??? This would be a truly amazing piece of reality!
th-cam.com/video/8IRCpxAVUv8/w-d-xo.html
@@HiddenHistoryYT Thank you very much!! Perhaps someone with the ability and modern equipment could synchronize the audio and video.
@@Farmer-bh3cg Truly a remarkable unique piece of history! And that is a cool idea!
Well done. Very well researched.
Greatly appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Glanced off a whale? Wow, incredible. I had to go back twice and make sure I heard it right. Amazing. Excellent Vid.
it happens quite often, whales are very curious and often sail to close to ships, it usually doesnt end well for the whale, i seem to remember somthing about one of the iowa class colliding with and ripping in half a sperm whale
Appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
There have been cases where whales have ended up fouling a ships prop(s)
If you're going to explore innovative missions, you're smart to use a lucky boat. Overcoming all those 'glitches' must have required a sharp crew, but LUCK is always a factor.
Indeed! Greatly appreciate you watching and have a fantastic week :)
Didn’t know this submarine was built down the street from me. Very cool.
Very cool indeed! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Hidden History with another banger 🔥
❤️
Deserved a better decommissioned ending than being used as target practice
Completely agree! Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)
The story is very interesting. I have read something on a book titled "the silent service" but this was very interesting to know, and the narration is good, it can be easily understood.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT well, I wish you a great week too. Regards.
I grew up two blocks from the main gate of the Electric Boat Co. and the pronounciation of Groton in Connecticut ryhmes with rotten. It's the Groton in the UK that sounds like groaten.
Ahh thank you for the feedback, that sounds very cool as well! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Great video!
Greatly appreciate it! Have a great week :)
Great video
Greatly appreciate it! Thanks for watching and have a fantastic weekend :)
My dad was on the USS Sealion when they sank the Kongo!!❤
I think, even getting close to one battleship and sinking her, is a pretty good achievement for a submarine service
I wouldn’t argue with that! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
@@highcountrydelatite yes they are useful
What a rich and unheralded history. We sure got our moneys worth from this vessel. Imagine the feeling of serving on this sub, knowing its history.
Let's make sure history never forgets the name, 'Sealion'
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I served on the USS CARP SS 338 in 1966 as a machinist mate.
Thank you for your service! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
She was quite the boat wasn't she? Thanks man.
Completely agree! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Absolutely stunning (& heroically aggressive)
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Turns out, sinking ships requires having torpedoes that actually WORK.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
The Germans had the same problem at the start of WWI. Wouldn't you know it? It was one of those torpedoes that helped sink the Lusitania, with the help of a still-unidentifed second explosion.
Very Interesting.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
For future reference the city in CT. where the Nautilus, the first atomic submarine
is berthed and on display to this day is pronounced GRAHT-un.
Accent on the AH.
Appreciate the feedback, have corrected in future videos! Thanks for watching and have a great rest of your week :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT Thanks. Every day is summer vacation for me.
BTW, have you done a Nautilus video yet?
@@AnnieVanAuken I have not yet actually! Sounds like I may need to add it to my list here
@@HiddenHistoryYT That Nautilus was a total game changer, being the first nuclear-powered sub yet it's the USS Washington, the first to carry nuclear ballistic missiles, that has led to what could be planetwide annihilation from ships hiding beneath the ocean surface.
Note that Washington was commissioned in 1959 at Groton! (GRAHT-un)
Kongo was 1 of 4 Capital ships built as battlecruisers of British design similar to HMS Tiger
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I wish I could take some MK 48 ADCAPS back to 1942 The war could have ended a year earlier.
Great point! Thanks for watching and have a fantastic week :)
Any Working torpedo would have been a blessing in 1942
A few fast attack modern subs with nukes would do a better job
A ship with a great history and they sunk it as a target!
A damn shame! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
good work HH
thanks
Not the only American submarine to sink a battleship or ship at all
The Kongo was not a purpose built battleship unlike the other two battleships with it, the Yamato and Nagato. The Kongo was built just before WWI in Great Britain as a battlecruiser. After the war the Japanese added several tons of extra armor to upgrade it to a battleship...supposedly.
IJN Kongo, the "Indestructible Diamond", proved to be anything but indestructible.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
People forget many submarine attacks were conducted semi-submerged, commanded from atop the conningtower, not from inside using the periscope. Tragic how many POWs were killed but worse happened, everywhere: Look at the case of MV Wilhelm Gustloff (Baltic Jan 1945) where ~9000 mostly civilians died.
Truly tragic. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
They didn't know but the positions of the ships, floating high in the water would suggest that the captain not only did not pick up on that, but fired for his record as crews liked to have sunk the most enemy ships. As pilots got an emblem painted on his aircraft for every confirmed kill.
Brave boat!
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Semper Paratus is our Guide. Our Fame and Glory too. To Fight and Save or Fight and Die Aye Coast Guard we're for YOU!!
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Thank you for an excellent history. BTW, you need to work on your nautical terminology. Those are the "bow" and "stern" torpedo tubes, not "front" and "rear."
Will do, appreciate the feedback! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
That submarine did have some bad luck. Sounds like there was a couple of mischievous Spirits aboard or a Jonah.
Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Will do!
A prisoner in a war zone would pray for their forces to end the capacity of their prison ship whether it killed them or not.. The Pueblo crew expected a vicious assault on that ship as it was taken into a NK port. It still floats as a wartime prize of proud military actions.
Fascinating! Did any other subs of World War II vintage serve as long! I'm curious about the sinking of the ship carrying Allied POWs. This disaster appears to have been swept under the rug by the Allies. I suppose that in wartime, the Japanese would have been unlikely to mark the ship as carrying prisoners . . . did the Americans, British and Australians truly know nothing about the ship prior to its sinking? And what was the response of those governments on hearing of the sinking?
Off some quick googling it looks like USS Razorback served almost as long, but I don’t see anything longer. I will have to see if I can find anything on the government responses. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Great story but calling the Kongo a "battleship" is a little generous. It's more commonly considered a battlecruiser, with *some* argument for classing it as an older fast battleship. Ironically, the sub Archerfish possibly has a stronger claim to this title. Shinano was a supercarrier when sunk, but was built on a Yamato-class battleship hull.
I WAS ALWAYS FACINATED BY SUBS IN WW11 THEY REALLY PLAYED A HARD GAME OF CAT AND MOUSE WITH THE JAPANESE AND GERMAN U- BOATS U-BOATS U-BOATS
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The Japanese according to the rules of war, were supposed to mark they’re ships with P.O.W. in big letters. They did not do that.
Classic by them. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
A little fun fact: the Kongō class were the first battleships capable of going faster than 30 knts in the world
Indeed! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Yup. They were the first fast battleships and by far the most useful IJN BBs.
I work on engines like those…30 years now
Very cool! Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
Pretty well-done! ONE thing? (From a Connecticut native!) - it's pronounced "GRAHT-on" (short 'O') - not GROW-ton" (long 'O')!!
Appreciate the feedback! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
The first submarine to find the Australian POW survivors had surfaced to shoot what they believed were Japanese in the water and were just about to open fire when an Australian has called out, "You sink us and now you're gonna shoot us" and the crew of the submarine has realised they were Australians
Initially they were not recognised because they were sunburnt and covered in oil
Very interesting! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
@Hidden History
It was announced through the submarine, "If you want to shoot a J A P grab a rifle" or words to that affect
The info above comes from a book of the history of one of the Australian battalions who's members were involved
My father survived the Sandakan Death March in North Borneo and escaped from the extermination camp at Ranau with Bill Moxham who's two brothers were on these Japanese ships one brother Tom died because of the sinkings and the other brother Harry was recovered by the Japanese but was credited with drowning the captain of the ship he'd been on while they were in a small life boat
Wow, good thing he spoke up😮
A very proud record and an excellent account! Diolch yn fawr ich i.
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a long and fine career!
Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
@@HiddenHistoryYT thank you
Was the first sealion a sub as well?
What Korean archipelago?
....and later she was recommissioned into an aircraft carrier.
The first USS Sealion was a Sargo-class submarine. She was scuttled on Christmas Day of 1942 after suffering catastrophic damage during the bombing of the Cavite Navy Yard on December 10, 1942. Four men were killed in the bombing. The CO of Sealion II, Eli Reich, was a junior officer at the time, and the names of those 4 men were inscribed on the four torpedoes that was targeted on the Kongo.
@@kristoffermangila thanks.
We got our moneys worth didn't we?
Worth every single penny!
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
@@elwin38 amen.
That was a boat worthy of museum status...shame to sink her.
I Whole Heartly Agree!!! 🤠👍
I agree. Such a storied record. It's amazing that she was still in service over 30 years after the end of WW2.
Completely agree! Appreciate you watching and have a great weekend :)
Quite the life She led
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I believe Barb and her pack mates were sent in after this attack to pick up anybody they could find. Fluckey writes about it in Thunder Below pretty extensively.
Believe you are correct about that! Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)
Looks like America got its money's worth and them some from the Sea Lion. What a lion of a submarine.
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I’m be caveat: Korea is a *peninsula* while Japan is an *archipelago* Other than that, well done! 👍
Great point! Appreciate you watching and have a fantastic weekend :)
You would have thought the japanese would have marked the ships with prisoners just to save the ship. The japanese were strange in some of the things they did or didn't do.
Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Wasn't the Housatonic a battleship?
Ugh.
I’m so sorry Sealion.
You deserved a better fate than that.
You deserved to be laid up near a city; where the newest generation to the oldest could crawl about you in wonder and excitement.
Completely agree!
Just a thought...
When doing a video like this, that has a lot of different geographical locations, instead of showing unrelated clips, why not show a map of where the vessel goes?
That would be a huge help to those that are not keen on world geography.
Appreciate the suggestion, I can definitely start to add that into the videos! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)
Next time show a map of where the submarine traveled.
Will do! Thanks for watching :)
KOOL!! JJ VF-142 USN 75 79
'Groton' mispronounced.
with an experienced Capt. this sub shouldn't of had so many misses. it was like he was gun shy, only lucked out when he sank the battleship.
It was real life, not a video game.
Aren't such comments easy to make, on a laptop from a comfy chair 80 years or so after the event?
With unreliabel detonators the torpedoes bounced off the hull when the did hit😢
Why were they shooting at POWs ?
Seems more like something we would most likely do in the 2020's sink a national treasure , what a shame
Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)
When I read the title I thought it would be a blue on blue sinking an allied ship, it's what the yanks are good at
😂
The Kongo was in reality a battlecruiser not a battleship. Attempts to upgrade the Kongo failed to make it a battleship. It was still under armored. Still only a battlecruiser.
I pretty sure it identified as a Battleship. :)