Hell Below

It's January 1943 in the Pacific and American submarine skipper Dudley Morton is just 10 days into his first patrol aboard USS Wahoo. His mission: to sink Japanese ships and disrupt supply lines. This aggressive strategy is a radically new tactic for the U.S. Navy, and Morton is just the man to carry it out. See these water wars up close and witness Morton take on entire Japanese convoys above and below the Pacific in this thrilling exploration.

Submarine commander Dick O'Kane participated in the most successful attacks on Japanese ships during World War II, until his luck, and the last torpedo he fired, took a dramatic turn. We track O'Kane's successful career, first as a protege aboard the legendary USS Wahoo, and then as Commander of the short-lived but lethal USS Tang. Through expert testimony, we relive O'Kane's seminal triumphs, and the tragic path of his last warhead.

The USS Harder, led by Commander Sam Dealey, sank multiple Japanese destroyers, rescued Allied operatives from capture in Borneo, and outmatched many rival ships and aircraft to return home. And that was during just one patrol. Take a deep dive aboard this submarine as we relive this incredible war patrol in the spring of 1944, and witness the events that accelerated the campaign against the Japanese and earned Dealey the Medal of Honor.

USS Silversides and its swashbuckling skipper, Creed Burlingame, saw their first action in the Pacific in May 1942. More than a dozen patrols later, the sub now rests in Muskegon, Michigan as a museum, an ongoing testament to its extraordinary history. Witness one of Silversides' most dramatic missions: aiding Marines in Guadalcanal by keeping Japanese reinforcements from reaching the island. It's an assignment fraught with depth charge attacks and aerial bombardments that nearly ended the mission and its crew.

Decorated American submarine commander Eugene Fluckey, determined to go out with a bang, defies expectations and returns to USS Barb for one last patrol. On the eastern coast of Northern Japan, Fluckey and his crew push the boundaries of submarine warfare to new limits by launching rockets from their sub and landing a crew of saboteurs on Japanese land in order to destroy a coastal rail line. It's a highly aggressive and ambitious patrol that will forever change the way subs are used in battle.

German U-515 departs from France in 1944, bound for the African Gold Coast to hunt Allied ships. One thousand miles to the south, the U.S. Navy launches a new hunter-killer task force--a tactical combination of destroyers, escorts, carriers, and aircraft--to prevent German U-Boat resurgence. Witness the showdown between U-boat ace Werner Henke and U.S. Navy Bronze Star recipient Daniel Gallery and see how the unrelenting attack of hunter-killer groups changed how the Battle of the Atlantic was fought and won.

The life of German U-Boat commander Fritz Julius Lemp, who accidentally sinks the passenger liner SS Athenia, takes a series of dramatic turns when he is later forced to the surface after attacking an Allied convoy.

After a violent collision, an American submarine crew begins a desperate bid for survival.

A German U-boat commander launches a shocking attack at the heart of the Royal Navy.

April 1940. When Hitler dispatches the U-Boat arm to protect troops invading Norway, a German submarine rushes towards the deep fjords leading to Narvik, the scene of two major deadly naval battles. While multiple encounters with British Royal Navy ships provide numerous targets, including the battleship HMS Warpsite, torpedo failures threaten their mission.

The career of a bright, young U-Boat officer begins with promise when he is awarded command of his own submarine. But during their first two war patrols, clashes with the Executive Officer and Chief Engineer over Nazi ideology cause tension and outright conflict. The officers' complaints lead to Commander's court martial and the threat of execution.

A German U-Boat, desperately low on supplies and with the crew suffering from scurvy, must be re-fueled from a supply submarine to make it back to port. With Allied Hunter Killer groups tracking their every move, the U-Boat makes a desperate run for survival. When a destroyer closes in to ram, the enemy crew uses the opportunity to board and attack the American ship.