Before I discovered Cary Grant and Tony Curtis in Operation Petticoat, I knew John Astin and the pink submarine from ABC’s 1977 television remake. The original movie was better, but the sitcom had something worth remembering: a real fleet submarine beneath that improbable paint job.

In this episode of Patrol Reports, revisit the short-lived series, Jamie Lee Curtis’s connection to her father’s film, and the remarkable career of USS Roncador (SS-301). Built during World War II, she served as a training submarine before finding an unlikely role as the fictional USS Sea Tiger. Her story connects television nostalgia with a piece of American submarine history that survives at Ballast Point in San Diego.

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On October 24, 1944, USS Snook (SS-279) pressed repeated torpedo attacks against Japanese shipping in the South China Sea, then went deep as escorts answered with depth charges. Her crew survived the engagement, but identifying the ships they struck would leave questions that persisted long after the war.

In this episode of Patrol Reports, Dave Bowman follows Snook’s seventh war patrol into a convoy battle and examines the disputed sinking credit for Arisan Maru, a Japanese transport carrying more than 1,700 Allied prisoners of war. Older histories credited Snook; later research points to USS Shark (SS-314). Discover what the submariners could establish that night, what emerged afterward, and why the distinction matters.

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While the Philippines endured Japanese occupation, American submarines carried weapons, medicine, radios, and intelligence teams to guerrillas still fighting behind enemy lines. On October 25, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur publicly revealed the undersea supply campaign that had helped sustain their resistance.

In this episode of Patrol Reports, USSVI National Historian Dave Bowman explores SPYRON, the secret submarine service linking Australia with the Philippine underground. Discover how Chick Parsons helped organize the operation, why USS Narwhal and USS Nautilus became indispensable cargo carriers, and how USS Crevalle brought captured Japanese naval plans to Allied intelligence officers.

It is a story of dangerous coastal rendezvous, Filipino courage, and submarine crews whose contribution to victory extended far beyond torpedo attacks. Listen for a closer look at the undersea lifeline that helped prepare the Philippines for liberation.

#PatrolReports #SubmarineHistory #WWIIHistory #SPYRON #PhilippineResistance #USNavy #USSVI