The score by Broadway composer Richard
Rogers has been widely lauded as a masterpiece; however, the orchestrations and
additional music by Robert Russell Bennett contribute more than a lion’s share
to the final work.
While firmly rooted in time as a relic
of its era, Victory at Sea
nonetheless achieves a sort of timeless quality by carefully avoiding any breakaway
to a host or comment about a then-current news item in 1952. All footage in the
series comes from combat and news footage from the war. The narrator, though
providing a booming, patriotic news anchor delivery typical of the era, nonetheless
takes surprising turns to the somber when it comes to the cost paid in human
life by both sides in the war.
It is too easy to dismiss old
documentaries like Victory at Sea as
being less than reliable in its reporting, but I found that not to be
true in this case. All the basic facts are accurate and the episodes are too
short to focus on political subtleties. This
is a primer for those who want an overall look at naval combat during World War
II, as well as for social historians looking to see how America viewed itself,
and the world, only seven years after the second war to end all wars. Let us
hope we will not see a third.
Victory at Sea: The Complete Series
Descriptions by G. Jack Urso. Click on links to view episodes.
Episode 1: Design for War | Original Airdate: October 26, 1952
At the start of World War II, the
German U-boat presents an existential threat to an unprepared England. Convoys
from the United States and Canada navigate the treacherous North Atlantic sea
lanes to resupply England, and become easy prey for the U-boats.
Episode 2: The Pacific Boils Over | Original Airdate: November 2, 1952
American economic sanctions against an
expanding Japanese empire result in a preemptive strike against Pearl Harbor,
Hawaii. Despite devastating losses, the United States gears up for war.
Episode 3: Sealing the Breach | Original Airdate: November 9, 1952
Although the United States Navy and
Merchant Marines suffer great losses to U-boat warfare in the Atlantic, the
convoys continue.
Episode 4: Midway is East | Original Airdate: November 23, 1952
Hong Kong, Singapore, and the
Philippines fall to Japanese forces while the United States draws a line at
Midway.
Episode 5: Mediterranean Mosaic | Original Airdate: November 30, 1952
While Germany and Italy blitz across
the Mediterranean, the British forces on the Rock of Gibraltar and the island of
Malta stand fast and resist the Axis tide.
Episode 6: Guadalcanal | Original Airdate: December 14, 1952
U.S. forces invade Guadalcanal with
the goal of capturing Japanese airfields. A brutal campaign ensues.
Episode 7: Rings Around Rabaul | Original Airdate: December, 21, 1952
Japanese forces in the Solomon Islands
are slowly picked off by U.S. forces leading up to siege of Rabaul.
Episode 8: Mare Nostrum | Original Airdate: December 28, 1952
The Italian Navy campaign to exert
their rule over the Mediterranean Sea and support the campaigns in North Africa
is resisted by determined British forces.
Episode 9: Sea and Sand | Original Airdate: January 4, 1953
As Algiers and Casablanca become the
Allies’ next targets, British forces from Egypt move West across North Africa
and Axis forces are caught in the middle.
Episode 10: Beneath the Southern Cross | Original Airdate: January 11, 1953
In the Battle of the South Atlantic, German
battleships, cruisers, and U-boats move to stop Allied convoys from South
America to North Africa.
Episode 11: Magnetic North | Original Airdate: January 18, 1953
Action in the brutal weather of
extreme Northern environments is featured with Allied resupply efforts to
Russia via Murmansk and Japan invades the outlying Alaskan islands.
Episode 12: The Conquest of Micronesia | Original Airdate: January 25, 1953
After defeating Japanese forces at
Midway and Guadalcanal, the United States Navy turns towards Japanese forces dug
in at the Gilbert and Marshall islands.
Episode 13: Melanesian Nightmare | Original Airdate: February 1, 1953
Japanese forces are expelled from New
Guinea while Allied forces move to protect the important base Port Moresby. A
sad coda to this episode features a touching and sympathetic tribute to
Japanese soldiers, sailors, and airmen who died in battle. In such ways, repeated
throughout the series, Victory at Sea
gives voice to the victims of war — both civilian and military — who perished
in this horrible conflict.
Episode 14: Roman Renaissance | Original Airdate: February 8, 1953
After victory in North Africa, the
Allies invade Sicily and then Italy. A brutal campaign ensures before the
fascist Italian government falls and the noose around Germany tightens.
Episode 15: D-Day | Original Airdate: February 15, 1953
Operation Overlord, the largest
invasion in history, determined the future of Europe, and history. Many young
men hit the beaches with high odds of never coming back, and many did not.
Episode 16: Killers and the Killed | Original Airdate: February 22, 1953
After D-Day, German U-boat wolf packs
continue to prey on Allied convoys, but new ships, technology, and tactics put
an eventual end to the undersea threat.
Episode 17: The Turkey Shoot | Original Airdate: March 1, 1953
In order to reclaim Guam, occupied by
the Japanese for three years, American naval forces prepare to invade. The
Japanese Navy moves to intercept the U.S. fleet and the infamous Marianas Turkey
Shoot ensues with American fighters devastating Japanese air power.
Episode 18: Two if by Sea | Original Airdate: March 8, 1953
The Japanese fortified islands of
Pelelui and Anguar in the Palau Island chain offer the last line of defense
before American forces closing in on the Philippines.
Episode 19: Battle for Leyte Gulf | Original Airdate: March 15, 1953
A last ditch effort by the Japanese
Navy to defend the Philippines from a U.S. invasion, the enemy fleets meet at
Leyte Gulf for the largest naval battle of World War II.
Episode 20: Return of the Allies | Original Airdate: March 22, 1953
General Douglas MacArthur makes good
on his promise to return to the Philippines. Following action at Luzon, American
forces work their way North and dislodge Japanese forces from the islands. The
loss of the Philippines puts the American fleet closer to striking the Japanese
mainland.
Episode 21: Full Fathom Five | Original Airdate: March 29, 1953
The American submarine fleet’s role defeating
the Japanese Empire is reviewed in this episode. Attacking convoys and
defending crucial bases, American submarines in the Pacific War were an
essential element of Allied success. The cost paid in lives on both sides,
however, is high.
Episode 22: The Fate of Europe | Original Airdate: April 5, 1953
The war with the Nazi Third Reich
comes to a bitter end as formerly occupied nations are liberated and Allied
bombing takes a heavy toll on German cities. As the Allies decide the fate of
Europe, Hitler commits suicide and the Thousand Year Reich ends after just 12
years in power.
Episode 23: Target Suribachi | Original Airdate: April 12, 1953
The small, heavily fortified island
Japanese-occupied island of Iwo Jima becomes the focus of US Navy. Once
secured, Iwo Jima will serve as a base for bombers and naval forces to strike
the Japanese mainland. The Japanese put up a brutal and determined resistance
before U.S. Marines can raise the American flag on Mount Suribachi.
Episode 24: The Road to Mandalay | Original Airdate: April 19, 1953
Allied forces in China, Burma, and India
were often out-numbered and/or ill-equipped during the war. Determined forces led by capable officers and
supported by local populations oppressed by the Japanese eventually succeed in
dislodging the Imperial Army after years of effort in this little known theater
of war.
Episode 25: Suicide for Glory | Original Airdate: April 26, 1953
As the Battle for Okinawa unfolds, the
Japanese unleash one final desperate weapon — the Kamikaze.
Episode 26: Design for Peace | Original Airdate: May 3, 1953
The final episode opens up with a somber
reflection of the aftermath of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The war comes to an end. Millions return home and millions do not. Europe and
Japan will be rebuilt.
Related Content on Aeolus 13 Umbra
World War II has been a subject on before Aeolus 13 Umbra with the
following entries:
Adolf Hitler: A Rhetorical Analysis: Hitler’s extraordinary public speaking skills are analyzed.
Audio Documentary: News from the Front: Memories of a World War II Refugee: My
mother, Maria Sartorio, grew up in Sicily during World War II. A family friend,
Frank Neutts, served as a stenographer under General Fred Walker during the
invasion of Italy. Together, they present a “ground view” perspective of World
War II in Fascist Italy.
Hitler: The Whole Story (1989): This classic biography of Adolf Hitler runs
nearly two and a half hours and gives a close look at the dictator. Hitler’s
youth, service in World War I, and the influence of Nazi ideology on German
society is explored.
Photo: Unknown Italian Army Unit Circa Early 1940s: A visit
to my mother’s childhood home in 2015, some 60 years after she lived there, results
in the discovery of a long-lost photo of my grandfather with his Italian army
unit during World War II.
The
Nazi Seizure of the German Peoples’ Community: This historical essay explores how
the Nazi party dominated a small community by using social structures, local
government, and cultural traditions to further its agenda.
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