They were self-reliant individualists who forged a deadly team, and the initiative of individual submarine captains proved instrumental in the American victory in the Pacific.

Only a few weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Navy experienced a failure of critical technology--the torpedoes that armed its fleet of submarines were defective. The ensuing debacle ranks as one of the great near disasters of WWII.

Examines the evolution of the strategy and tactics used by US submarines in the war against Japan. Conceived as scouts for the surface fleet, the fleet of boats of the "silent service" found their true calling as heirs to the commerce-raiders

Top historians provide insight into the Battle of the Atlantic.                                                                                        

Trace the technical development of submarines.                                                                                                         

During WWII, the Imperial Japanese Navy maintained a fleet of submarines that included the largest and most powerful underwater weapons the world had yet seen. From giant aircraft-carrying submarines to the smallest human-driven suicide torpedoes.

The story of the Navy's ballistic missile submarines or "Boomers"--from origin in the 1950s to preeminent status in the U.S. strategic nuclear deterrent forces. Today's Ohio-class subs are the most lethal warships ever created.

An in-depth look at the incredible effectiveness of American submarines in the Pacific during World War II. Although subs comprised only 2% of the Navy, they sunk over 60% of all Japanese ships.