The Silent Service (1957)

Name: The Silent Service
Genre: Action, War
Rating: 8.5
Cast: Thomas M. Dykers

Action · War

The Silent Service was a 1957–1958 syndicated anthology television series based on actual events in the submarine section of the United States Navy. The Silent Service was narrated by Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, who retired from the Navy in 1949 after twenty-two years of service. He began each episode with this refrain: "Tonight, we bring you another thrilling episode of Silent Service stories, of warfare under the sea." Many of the episodes focused on the history of specific submarines, including: ⁕USS Sculpin ⁕USS Nautilus, the first atomic submarine ⁕USS Perch ⁕USS Tang ⁕USS S-38 ⁕USS Tirante ⁕USS Bergall ⁕USS Spearfish ⁕USS Triton ⁕USS Wahoo, and ⁕USS Gato, subject of the series finale. Actors appearing on The Silent Service included Russell Johnson, cast three times in the role of the character "Beach". DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy appeared in two episodes each as Lieutenant Commander James Dempsey and as Sonarman, respectively. Jerry Paris and Liam Sullivan each guest starred twice. Eric Morris appeared in nineteen episodes identified only as "Soldier". Other guest stars included Joe Conley, Mike Connors, Lawrence Dobkin, Ron Hagerthy, Adam Kennedy, Robert Knapp, Paul Richards, Bing Russell, Craig Stevens, Dennis Weaver and Stuart Whitman.

IMDb rating: 8.5 (182 votes)
Seasons: 2
Language: EN
Type: TV series

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Ratings refreshed Aug 19, 2026 · 2 seasons indexed

Cast

Thomas M. Dykers Host / Narrator

Seasons

Season 1 (1957)

7.99 avg 39 episodes 7.4 → 8.2 30 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Jack at Tokyo	7.4	28
2	The Trout at the Rainbow's End	8.0	17
3	The End of the Line	8.2	20
4	The U.S.S. Sculpin Story	7.9	19
5	The U.S.S. Spearfish Delivers	8.4	21
6	The U.S.S. Bergall's Dilemma	7.8	13
7	The U.S.S. Batfish Scores	7.6	14
8	The U.S.S. Tigrone Sets a Record	8.0	13
9	The Five-Ring Circus	7.6	12
10	The U.S.S. Pampanito Story	7.8	16
11	The U.S.S. Tirante Plays a Hunch	8.3	14
12	The U.S.S. Tang vs. Truk	8.4	15
13	The Wahoo Story	8.2	13
14	The Two Davids and Goliath	8.1	14
15	The Ordeal of S-38	8.1	17
16	The U.S.S. Seahorse Story	8.2	16
17	The Salmon Swims Upstream	7.6	13
18	Cargo for Crevalle	7.9	14
19	Boomerang	7.8	14
20	The Squailfish	8.0	14
21	The Grouper Story	7.9	13
22	The Eyes of the Seawolf	8.1	12
23	The Sea Dragon Story	8.0	10
24	The Narwhal's Passenger from Mindanao	8.3	13
25	The Perch's New Role	8.1	12
26	The Final War Patrol	7.8	15
27	The Last Dive	7.9	11
28	The Gar Story	8.2	16
29	The Story of the U.S.S. Flier	8.6	14
30	The Starfish Came Home	7.6	12
31	The Sealion Story	7.8	12
32	The Nautilus Story	8.1	11
33	Hit 'Em Again, Harder	8.1	12
34	The Seashark Story	7.7	10
35	The Tshushima Straits Story	7.9	11
36	The Searaven	8.1	12
37	The Tang's Last Shot	8.0	11
38	The Loss of the Perch	7.9	11
39	The Guardfish	8.2	10

Season 2 (1958)

8.05 avg 36 episodes 8.1 → 8.0 30 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	The Archerfish Spits Straight	8.1	12
2	The Sea Devil Attacks Puget Sound	7.8	10
3	The Bergall's Revenge	7.5	12
4	The Unsuccessful Patrol	8.1	12
5	The Story of the U.S.S. Aspro	8.2	10
6	The Thresher Story	7.8	13
8	Peto Plucks Some Chickens	8.6	13
9	The S-38 Story	7.7	11
10	Incident Down South	8.0	10
11	Mine for Keeps	8.4	12
12	Fish Out of Water	8.0	10
13	The U.S.S. Cod's Lost Boarding Party	7.8	10
14	The Triton's Christmas	8.1	12
15	The Hawkbill's Revenge	7.8	10
16	The Tigershark	8.1	12
17	The Cavalla Story	8.0	13
18	The Growler's Captain	8.1	12
19	The U.S.S. Tinosa Story	8.3	15
20	The Grayling Story	7.8	11
22	The Pargo's Lucky Seventh	8.0	10
23	The Crevalle's Mine Plant	8.2	10
24	The Sunfish Story	8.1	12
25	The Sunfish's Cook	8.6	11
26	The Nautilus and the Nuns	8.1	17
27	The Sandshark Story	8.5	10
28	Operation Seadragon	8.4	12
29	The Harder at Woleai	7.2	10
30	The Tautog Story	8.0	11
31	The Swordfish Story	8.0	10
32	The Gabilan Story	6.9	14
33	The Gato Story	8.2	9
34	The Silversides Story	8.0	10
35	The Bowfin Story	8.9	14
37	The Squalus Story	8.6	9
38	Seanettle vs U-Boat	7.9	11
39	U-47 in Scapa Flow	8.0	16

The Silent Service (1957)

Cast

Seasons

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