On October 20, 1943, deep in enemy waters off Japan, USS Tarpon (SS-175) was closing in on one of the Imperial Japanese Navy's most valuable assets: an aircraft carrier.

But this was no chance encounter.

American naval intelligence had intercepted Japanese communications, providing Commander Thomas Lincoln Wogan with information that could place his submarine directly in the carrier's path. It was part of the highly classified ULTRA intelligence effort that was transforming submarine warfare in the Pacific.

Aboard Tarpon, a young Ensign William R. Anderson, destined to become the legendary commanding officer of the nuclear-powered USS Nautilus, helped turn those secret messages into operational intelligence.

Would four American torpedoes be enough to bring down a Japanese aircraft carrier?

In this episode of Patrol Reports: Stories from the History of the United States Submarine Force, discover the extraordinary intelligence operation behind Tarpon's October 20 interception, the challenges of attacking Japanese capital ships, and the determined submarine commander who transformed a hard-luck boat into an aggressive hunter.

It's a story of secret codes, missed opportunities, dangerous encounters, and the changing nature of the Pacific submarine war.

Presented by United States Submarine Veterans, Bremerton Base.

Learn more at patrolreports.org.

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