The Silent Service

Dutch:
What's been keeping you, Mike? Scared to finish because you know I'm going to beat you? What's that?

Mike:
What does it look like to you, Dutch?

Dutch:
Canned cow.

Mike:
Smart!

Dutch:
Since when have you taken to drinking milk? That wasn't what you were belting down at Rosie's Bar last night.

Mike:
Who says it is for me? Come on Lucky, chow time! [Takes cat out from under his shirt]

Dutch:
[Recoils in horror] Where did you get that?

Mike:
Followed me down the street last night as I was coming back to the ship. He was yowling for a handout, said he hadn't eaten for a week, he sure looked it, so I brought him along. Named him Lucky. We need a mascot, right?

Dutch:
Lucky? A black cat aboard ship? Don't you know that's the worst kind of Jonah? You've heard that black cats are hoodoos, haven't you, Gabey?

Mike:
Come on, relax. He's got a long time to grow before he's a cat. Right, Gabey? Besides I like cats, they bring me good luck.

Dutch:
Tie a rock around that thing's neck and throw it overboard before it does any harm.

Mike:
Anybody who throws Lucky overboard better be a lot bigger than me or they'll follow him.

Dutch:
A black cat? Boy, you're in a real bad way.

Mike:
Bad way, huh? That's better than being superstitious like some guys I know.

Himself - Host:
At dawn, eight days later, Saturday 24th, January, Swordfish had transited Molucca Passage. Now she submerged as she neared Keema, Celebes Harbor that had previously been scouted without results.

Capt. Chester Smith:
Take a look at Keema, Johnny. We're less than four and a half miles off shore, and it's as calm as a lake.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
Anything in the anchorage, sir?

Capt. Chester Smith:
No, not even a sampan.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
Bare as the palm of your hand, Jimmy.

Capt. Chester Smith:
Down scope. Right 10 degrees rudder come to North Zero 2-2.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
What's our next move, captain?

Capt. Chester Smith:
We'll take a look farther north. We'll run parallel to the coast at least as far as the lower entrance to the Lembeh Strait.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
That's pretty narrow there, sir. Less than two and a half miles wide in the Strait itself, if you're figuring on going in.

Capt. Chester Smith:
I am. I know it's a long shot, Johnny, but at least we get a chance to scout the lower entrance of the channel.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
You know, sir, since Operations briefed me, I can understand the wording on these Dutch charts okay - 'Depth Estimated'? 'Possible Sandbank'? 'Reported 1908'? - just how much faith can we have in these things, anyway?

Capt. Chester Smith:
Since they're the only ones available, Johnny, we don't have much choice.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
At least it's better than nothing, I hope. Is the channel's entrance mined, sir?

Capt. Chester Smith:
Captain Wilkes didn't know. At last report he doubted it. I want to see if there are any boom floats in the channel. That'd be a tip off in itself if they got something to protect.

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
How about Monado on the northern coast, sir?

Lt. Johnny Hyde:
Well, if we don't have any luck here we'll search there, of course. You see, the south side of the island is the more preferred anchorage this time of year, being in the lee.

Himself - Host:
It starts with the Tang refitting at Midway Island in early 1944.

Capt. Richard O'Kane:
Look, I don't care what Commander Hastings says, I'm going to get two more welders on this job even if I have to buck this all the way to the Commodore's office.

Exec. Officer Murray Frazee:
Maybe you'll have better luck than I did, Captain. He turned me down cold.

Capt. Richard O'Kane:
I'm going to the Commodore Jewel's office righ-er, here comes Commander Hastings. Looks like he has blood in his eye.

Cmdr. Hastings:
What's the idea of asking for two more welders, Kane? My men are working on a dozen ships besides yours.

Capt. Richard O'Kane:
The idea is that I promised the Admiral that the Tang is going to refit and go on patrol in 13 days.

Cmdr. Hastings:
You know as well as I do that we send them out of here in a normal turn-around time of 23 or 24 days and we only manage to do that by working around the clock.

Capt. Richard O'Kane:
Now, look, Commander...

Exec. Officer Murray Frazee:
Everybody knows what a wonderful job you fellows are doing, Commander. It's just that Captain Kane wants...

Cmdr. Hastings:
I know what he wants! I was giving orders back when they built the Tang. Kane rode us until he got us to finish her a month ahead of schedule.

Exec. Officer Murray Frazee:
Dick is going to take her out in 13 days, Commander, even if she's pasted together with chewing gum.

Cmdr. Hastings:
What's the matter with him?

Exec. Officer Murray Frazee:
Remember that Dick was the XO aboard Maui and then ordered to command Tang right before the Maui and Mush Morton and all her crew were lost. He figures he has a score to settle.

Cmdr. Hastings:
Huh. Tell Kane that I'm giving him the other two welders.