The Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, maker of better things for better living through chemistry. Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont. Tonight we bring you a story based on facts of our Navy in action, with Edwin Jerome of the Cavalcade players in the role of the submarine commander in Diary on a Pig Boat, an original Saturday evening post story by Frederick C. Paynton, made into a radio play for Cavalcade by Stuart Hawkins. Ralph Bellamy, who was to have been with us tonight, will be Cavalcade star January 25th. As a special guest tonight, we will present at the close of our play, Lieutenant Commander Willard A. Saunders, who recently was awarded the Navy Cross for distinguished service. Starring Edwin Jerome in Diary on a Pig Boat, on the Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont. Music Music That's the terse prosaic way the Navy describes a calm and beautiful night in the western Pacific. And through the darkness a long low sliver of steel slides leisurely along its narrow deck awash. Only its conning tower clear of the water. Night is a respite for this ship. From dawn to dusk she must prowl below the surface, for she is on offensive patrol in enemy waters, and is the hunted as well as the hunter. On the conning tower bridge, young Ensign Waller is watch officer. What time is it, Quartermaster? Four forty seven, sir. Not long till dawn. The sky's beginning to lighten a bit in the east already. You'd better call a skipper. Yes, sir. No need about, Mr. Waller. I'm up already. Morning, sir. Morning. Didn't get much sleep, did you? Very much. Excited at anything? Nothing, sir. The ocean's been empty as a church on a Monday morning. How's she heading, Franklin? One six five on the nose, sir. Right. No trouble holding her on the mouth tonight, eh? No, sir. Easiest steering a baby buggy this weather. What do you know about baby buggies? You're not married, are you, Franklin? No, sir. But my sister's got a set of twins. I helped her wheel them when I was home last time. Oh, twins, eh? I thought I was the only man on board who'd wheel the set of twins. Well, yours are your own, sir. Franklin's only your twin's uncle. Yes. I expect mine have about outgrown that double-barreled pram by now. Well, kids can do a lot of growing in a year, I guess. They sure can. You'll see when you get one of your own. Oh, I won't worry about that till I've found out who's going to be its mother. That's still unsettled. This is well for you and her, too, until this business is over. I'm going below the control room. Keep her on the same course and speed until we submerge at sunrise, Mr. Waller. Yes, sir. Same course and speed until we submerge. Morning, Gallagher. What's that I smell? Coffee? The cook will just do with a fresh pot, sir. Hey, Warsh. Warsh, come on back with that jamoke. The captain wants some. I'll be right there in a minute. Be right here, sir. No hurry. Three enemy destroyers three points forward to the starboard beam. Five thousand yards away heading straight for us, sir. Very well, Mr. Waller. Steering transfer to control, sir. He's a stop. All ventilators closed, sir. Great secure, sir. All hatch closed, sir. All ballast vents open, sir. Pressure in the boat. Take her to sixty feet, Mr. Meade. Full dive on the bow diving plane. Full dive on the bow plane, aye, sir. Ten degrees on the stern diving plane. Ten degrees on the stern plane, aye, sir. Motors ahead, two thousand aside. Motors ahead, two thousand aside, sir. Submerged, sir. There were just three destroyers, Mr. Waller? Yes, sir. Heading right for us. But it was still too dark for them to have seen us. I mean, I think it was. Forty-five feet. All ahead, no. All ahead, normal, sir. Propeller sounds. Bearing seven, four, sir. They're coming fast. Fifty feet. Fifty-five feet. Level off. Sixty feet. Sixty feet. Sixty feet. She's heavy forward. Pump from the forward to the aft trim tanks, aye, sir. That'll do. Final trim, sir. Level at sixty. Propeller sounds. Bearing eight, one, now, sir. Closing in fast, too. I don't think they could have seen us. Bearing eight, four, now, sir. Looks like they'll go right over us. Maybe they have got better eyes than you think, Waller. No need to detect them here now. Whatever they had in their minds, it was us, Mr. Waller. I didn't think they saw us. You read? Red Franklin. Yeah. Didn't that not remind you of the Times Square subway station? On his Gallagher, more things can remind you of Times Square. Propeller sounds. Bearing two, six, six. Receding. Those destroyers are in awful hurry, Captain. Just what I was thinking. They had the advance guard for something. And something rather important, I should say. Well, whatever it is, we're inside the guard ring now. Stop all motors. Aye, aye, sir. All motors stopped, sir. Listen all round, Tom. Destroyer propellers. Still bearing two, six, six. But much fainter, sir. No. No, nothing but those destroyers, sir. Well, it's almost sunrise topside. A few minutes more. It'll be light enough up there to use the periscope, Mr. Mead. Nothing on the sound detector, sir. Not even the destroyers now. Very well. All ahead normal. Aye, aye, sir. All ahead normal, sir. Take her up to periscope depth, Mr. Mead. Full rise on the bow plane. Full rise on the bow plane, sir. Level it. Level the periscope depth, sir. Up periscope. Up periscope. Aye, aye, sir. Light enough to see anything yet, Captain? Yeah. If there's anything to see. Don't look like he's fine enough. Quiet, Kellogg. Ah. He spotted something. Quiet. Enemy cruiser bearing zero, seven, five relative. Looks like a big one. Down periscope. Silhouette book, Mr. Wath. You know, you want sir? No. Ah, this is it. Japanese heavy cruiser of the Hura Tiger class. One of their newest and biggest hot doggy. Up periscope. That's her, all right. Angle on the bow at fifteen stop it. Ten thousand yards. Mark. Mark. Bearing two, three, two, true. Course zero, forty, true. You are twenty-six hundred from the track. Enemy cruiser speed twenty. Enemy cruiser speed twenty. Down periscope. Aye, aye, sir. What do you make of this, Mr. Mead? You've got twelve minutes to approach for a bow shot. A bow shot, oh baby. I shall fire within a thousand yards, Mr. Mead. Right, sir. All ahead, three thousand to the side. Twenty degrees right, brother. To course three one zero. Aye, aye, sir. A bow shot in less than a thousand. Boy, this is going to be good. You are listening to Diary on a Pig Boat starring Edwin Jerome on the cavalcade of America sponsored by DuPont. As our play continues, ten minutes have elapsed since Commander Haas has sighted a Japanese cruiser and has ordered his men to make ready for attack. All tubes ready for firing, sir. Very well, brother. Enemy propeller sounds. Bearing zero eight. Up periscope. Aye, aye, sir. Come right to course three one five. Down periscope. Right to course three one five, sir. Hold it on it. Slow to fifteen hundred to side. Fifteen hundred to side, sir. Up periscope. Steady as she goes. Steady as she goes, sir. Stand by. Fire one. One fire, sir. Fire two. Two fire, sir. Fire three. Three fire, sir. Fire four. Four fire, sir. Down periscope. Full left rudder. Full left rudder, sir. Take her down to one hundred feet, sir. Full dive on the bow plate. All ahead three thousand to side. Full dive on the bow plate, sir. Three thousand to side, sir. Watch out. Them pencils don't slide off the chart table, Lieutenant. Yeah, I know. How'd you look, Captain? Big as a house. If I didn't miss completely, we were hearing something in fifty five seconds. Fifty seconds now. Fifty feet. Fifty five. Sixty feet. All ahead normal. All ahead normal, sir. Eighty feet. Eighty five. Ninety. Check her with bow plate. Ninety five. Ninety eight. Level off. One hundred. One hundred. One hundred. Final trim at one hundred feet, Captain. Nice dive, Mr. Meade. Stop all motors. All motors stopped, sir. Listen all around, Thompson. Cruiser propeller sounds. Speed unchanged, sir. Sure is warming up in here. Quiet. Any second now. Hot doggy. Two explosions on the starboard beam, sir. We heard him, your lad. Quiet. Only two, I guess. Two out of four isn't so bad, Skipper. Wow, what was that? That wasn't no torpedo. That must have been a magazine blowing up. Gallagher's right. You got a word, hurts, Skipper. Enemy propeller sounds of sea, sir. Yippee. Honorable Chappy, don't feel happy. Quiet down. Those destroyers will be back here looking for us in a hurry now. All ahead normal. All ahead normal. Aye, aye, sir. In the log book, the entry reads. Two explosions heard at zero five four five four hours. Another louder explosion believed to be cruiser's magazines heard at zero five five six. Believe enemy cruiser badly damaged or sunk as enemy propeller sounds ceased with last explosion. Propeller sounds approaching, sir. Baring two seven six. Stop all motors. There's more than one ship coming in fast. About 35 knots. The destroyer's all right. Rig for depth charge, Mr. Weller. Rig for depth charge. Pass the word to all compartments. Rig for depth charge. Rig for depth charge. Get them watertight doors closed. Lie me there. Franklin, pass out cotton for the men to put in their ears and see that they do it. Aye, aye, sir. All men not needed, lie down and brace yourselves. Get hold of something and hang on. We may be shaken up a bit. All watertight doors closed and down to security, sir. All right, Gallagher, stuff that cotton in your ears or you'll be minors your hearing. Aye. Franklin, board Gallagher at your stations. Aye, aye, sir. And Thompson, of course. Yes, sir. But he'll also lie down. Rig for depth charge, sir. Very well. Enemy propellers within a thousand yards, sir. Seed and bearing unchanged. Hey, Red, see what I mean about Times Square subway station? All right, hang on, boys. They started laying their eggs. Don't remind me of Times Square at all, Gallagher. There go the lights. Just made them flicker, that's all. Hang on. She'll write herself. I don't know. There go the lights again. Gallagher, switch on the battle lantern. Aye, sir. Oh, it's right, sir. He was throwing us a regular in the valve. Aye, it hurt. A little whack on the cover. They're moving away. How about those main lights? Main lighting circuit dead, sir. Main lighting circuit dead, sir. Main lighting circuit dead, sir. Main lighting circuit dead, sir. Main lighting circuit dead, sir. We're below test depth, sir. Blew us down a bit, didn't they? All ahead normal. Aye, aye, sir. What's the matter, Gallagher? No power on the starboard motor, sir. Only the port side working. No power on the steering motor, sir. Shift to hand steering. Call the motor room, Gallagher. Aye, sir. Shift to hand steering, sir. Shift to hand control of both diving planes, sir. Main motor contactor panel on the starboard motor is broken, sir. Pressure hose beginning to crumble, sir. We're well below test. We'll have to take a chance on the hearing us. Take us up away, Mr. Mead. We'll raise that on the port motor. We'll rise on the bow plane. Aye, sir. We'll rise on the bow plane, sir. Cripes, is that depth needle stuck there? Getting to rise, sir. Level off at 160 feet, Mr. Mead. A flashlight off chart table, Mr. Waller. Right here, sir. Aye, thought so. Deep water here with us about 180 feet about 12 miles west. If we can get over there, we got a chance. We'll level off at 160, Mr. Mead. Enemy propeller sounds returning, sir. What's our depth? 170, sir. 168. Stop the motor. Listen all round. Enemy propeller sounds approaching. Bearing 182 relative. Distance now about... Enemy propeller sounds stopped, sir. I thought it stopped. It listened pretty soon. Well, we'll outweigh them, that's all. We won't be able to control our depth very long without headway, sir. Long enough, I hope, Mr. Mead. How'd you cut your hand, Mr. Waller? Oh, it's nothing at all, sir. I must have scraped it against the aft elevator chain. We were being bounced around. You better have the pharmacist make look at it as soon as we're secure. Yes, sir. No propeller sounds, sir. Depth 180, sir. 182. Losing steerageway, sir. No propeller sounds, sir. Very well. 190. 193. Losing control of depth, sir. Very well. No propeller sounds, sir. Think them guys are going to start up their engines? Low test depth, sir. Settling fast. So I see. Propeller sounds, sir. Bearing 185 degrees and going away. Full rheostat on the port motor. Take her up to 100 feet, Mr. Mead. Depth bonds bearing 185. Going away, sir. Those rats seem to be on the wrong scent now. Pass the word to secure from depth charge, Mr. Waller. But in the log book it only says, Attack by two enemy destroyers at 0628 hours. Three depth charges moderately close. No casualties. Lighting and electrical control systems damaged by shock. Main motor contactor panel on starboard motor out of order. Attack ended 0652 hours. Well, we should be over the shallow bottom now. Take it down easy, Mr. Mead. Stop the motor. Half dive on the bow plane. Aye, sir. Half dive on the bow plane, sir. We should be on the bottom at 180 feet. Yes, sir. Depth 175. As soon as we're on bottom, see that the men up ahead, Mr. Waller. Yes, sir. 180. 184. 186. Looks like the charts are wrong, Skipper. Our dead reckoning may be out of it. 190. Where the heck is that bottom? 193. We're down. Load the regulator. Pass the word on the bottom. Mr. Mead, detail your repair crew. All others will lie down and stay quiet to conserve oxygen. I wish they'd get that motor panel fixed. We've been here long enough for my money. Boy, got any gum? Only what I'm chewing. Didn't feel sort of sick. So hot in the air. Thought some chewing gum might help my stomach. What's the temperature reading now, Mr. Waller? 105. Better over this. We used to get it at 120 back in Kansas, but it never felt like this. Light a match, please, Mr. Waller. Look at that. Barely glowed for a second. It went right out. Spread the CO2 absorbent powder. Bleed all oxygen bottles for 30 seconds, Mr. Waller. Yes, sir. Thank you. Good morning. Yes, sir. All right, sir. That helps a little. Four hours. Six hours. Nine hours. Still on the bottom. The air is so thick you can cut into chunks. The heat under the pressure at this depth is like an oven. Men lie inert, stirring only when one of them coughs the queer straining cough. That's the prelude to nausea. And the hours drag on. And the repair crew works doggedly, speaking in hoarse whispers that are queerly audible through the five compartments of the silent, tortured ship. And the log book merely says, Still on bottom affecting repairs. Bleed oxygen bottles at 1805 hours. 1805 hours. That's five minutes past 6 p.m. And still they're there. 6.30. Seven o'clock. The sun has set up above. Down here there's only heat and dust. And heads that ache from the closeness of the air. It's taking them so long in that motor room anyhow. Maybe Gallagher's daydreaming about Times Square as if he's forgetting to work. No. Vixen. The panel is his only chance of getting back to Times Square. He's working all right. Could be on the surface now if they'd snap out of it. Fresh air coming down that hatch. The stars are waking. Hey, hey, lights. We got them fixed anyhow. All right, skipper. Lighting, electrical control, circuit's repaired. And so is the main motor panel. Ready, huh? Stand by to surface. Stand by to surface. All hands to stations. Snap into place. Here we go, boys. Express to the roof, huh? Depth forty feet, sir. Stop. All motors. Aye, sir. Listen. All around. What the heck? It's dark topside now. What's the delay about it? Yeah? Suppose we should pop up in the middle of a Jap convoy. You want to breathe fresh air, not shell fire, don't you? No propeller sound, sir. All ahead, normal. Hole number one tank. On the surface, sir. Open the counting tower hatch, right there. Yes, sir. Amy, you can taste the air. It's fresh and cool. Transfer to the bridge, Mr. Waller. Let the men off watch go topside by threes. Smoking lamps lit for ten minutes below decks. Captain Haas, sir. Yes? What is it, Franklin? A friend of Avery on the port side, sir. A Japanese seaman's captain, a lot of junk that must be off that cruiser. The water's lousy with it. Aye, sir. Nice shooting, Skipper. It's midnight again. On the bridge, the Skipper has the watch and is starting the new day's page of the log book. He writes carefully, neatly. See, calm. Wind force two. Barometric pressure 3015. Air temperature 76. Water temperature 78. Another nice night tonight, eh, Gallagher? Yes, sir. We've sure been lucky in the weather this trip. A real nice run, I call it. Thank you, Edwin Jerome. Ladies and gentlemen, in a few moments, Mr. Jerome will return to the microphone to introduce our special guest of the evening, Lieutenant Commander Willard Saunders of the United States Navy. Before we hear from him, we have a story of chemistry in today's world. Army-Navy-E for Excellence awards have now been announced for 17 duplex plants in every part of the country for their performance in turning out many different kinds of war materials. The latest presentation made a few days ago is so extraordinary that we think you'd like to hear the story. The latest Army-Navy-E went to the DuPont Company's Nylon Research Laboratory and Pilot Plant, one of very few awards made to a research group. These DuPont men and women aren't manufacturing tanks or planes on a production line. They're working with laboratory and research equipment, using their brains, their technical know-how, exploring the complicated process known as polymerization to increase constantly the military uses of nylon, now most widely used in parachutes. What the Army and Navy think of this kind of brain work as a contribution to winning the war is revealed by the words of Brigadier General Benjamin W. Chidlaw, who presented the award. Standing in the research laboratory where nylon was born, General Chidlaw said, the production of new equipment must keep ahead of the needs of the armed forces. The weapons must be ready and waiting for the man, not the man for the weapons. Thus, in a very real sense, the research laboratory is the first line of defense, the first front, the point where victory begins. General Chidlaw went on, in presenting to the men and women of this company, the Army-Navy-E, both services are bestowing on you an official citation for distinguished service on that first line. And in concluding, the General said, here you have created and developed nylon. Here and in other DuPont plants, you manufacture it. The Army and the Navy need it. They need it quickly and in large quantities. It has been and will continue to be tremendously important to our air forces as a replacement for no longer available silk. The armed forces gratefully acknowledge this fact. Our millions of men in khaki and blue look to you for equipment to be used on the battlefronts, land, sea, and air, and they are thankful to you for your efforts. Unquote. With this nylon award, seventeen Army-Navy penants now fly over DuPont plants. These penants are symbolic of the wartime performance records of the DuPont Company, peacetime maker of better things for better living through chemistry. And now, our star of the evening, Edwin Jerome. Ladies and gentlemen, we of the Cavalcade players have great pleasure in welcoming tonight and now in presenting to you a young naval officer who has himself commanded a submarine. Lieutenant Commander Willard A. Saunders, United States Navy. Lieutenant Commander Saunders was awarded last November the coveted Navy Cross for distinguished service. Ladies and gentlemen, Lieutenant Commander Saunders. Applause Thank you. Our submarine service has long been known as the silent service. That is, we're not giving the same much about ourselves and we don't have a great deal of publicity. Tonight you have heard that silent service speak through the actors in this dramatization. Of course, they cannot really convey to you all that takes place, nor all that passes through our minds as we cruise beneath the surface. But this play has struck me as realistic and gripping. After hearing it, you will agree with me, I think, that too much credit cannot be given to the officers and enlisted men who are backing up the captain all the time. Their fighting spirit can't be beaten. Our submarines, and incidentally, because the public has clung to the name pig boat, don't think they are not clean, powerful, large, and pretty comfortable, for they are. Our submarines are carrying the war right to the enemy. They are continually on the offensive and getting results. This story tonight has shown you that our subs are sinking the rising sun. Ladies and gentlemen, before telling you of next week's program, I want to give a special message to young women between the ages of 18 and 35. Nursing is one of the critical woman power shortages of the war. Fifteen thousand nurses have been taken from our hospitals into the Army and Navy Nurse Corps since Pearl Harbor. Thousands more are needed, both at home and in the field. If you are a citizen and have graduated from high school, won't you join the fight to help people keep well and get well? Next week, ladies and gentlemen, Cavalcade of America, sponsored by DuPont, presents Soldiers of the Tide, a story of the United States Marines on Guadalcanal. Our star will be the popular screen actor, Dennis Morgan. Don't forget next week, Dennis Morgan in Soldiers of the Tide, an exciting story of the fighting Marines on an island in the Pacific. The orchestra and original score on tonight's program were under the direction of Don Burez. This is Clayton Collier sending best wishes from DuPont. The appearance on this program of Lieutenant Commander Saunders does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sponsored product by the Navy Department. The program came from New York. This is the National Broadcasting Company.
