Submarine Raider (1942)

Submarine Raider (1942)

„Submarine Raider“ is a 1942 war film directed by Lew Landers and Budd Boetticher.

On the afternoon of 6 Dec 1941, a Japanese aircraft carrier, the Hiranamu , drifts quietly in the South Pacific when a message from Tokyo suddenly brings the vessel to life. Ordering full steam ahead, Capt. Yamanada looks at his map and draws a circle around Pearl Harbor.

That afternoon, in the same waters, Grant Duncan entertains some friends on the yacht Vayu , while the American submarine, Sea Serpent, under the command of Commander Chris Warren, is taking a routine cruise. Yamanada informs his aides that there are to be no witnesses to the carrier’s presence and orders the yacht shelled. The yacht sinks and only Sue Curry and two other passengers survive.

Sue and the others are relieved to see a plane flying overhead until its Japanese pilot rakes their lifeboat with his guns. Sue escapes by jumping over the side and is later picked up by the Sea Serpent. Shortly after the Japanese pilot returns and knowing that the pilot failed, Yamanada orders him to kill himself. Then he dispatches another plane, piloted by his own son, to sink the submarine.

The radio operator aboard the carrier jams the airwaves to prevent the submarine’s messages from reaching the mainland. When the plane attacks the sub, Chris saves his craft by making a crash dive. In the return fire, the pilot is wounded, sending the plane crashing out of control to a watery death.

With night approaching, the Hiranamu steals ahead. As darkness covers Pearl Harbor, Bill Warren, Chris’s brother and a government agent, senses impending disaster. Early in the evening, an attempt is made on Bill’s life. Later, at a café, Bill notices some strange signaling being sent from a room in the café to an offshore ship. Sneaking into the office from which the signals emanate, Bill is struck from behind by a Japanese operative and left unconscious.

The next morning, Japanese planes buzz overhead, and bomb Pearl Harbor. Listening unemotionally as his brother’s death is announced, Chris hatches a plan to trap the Japanese carrier. Knowing that the Hiranamu is somewhere in the vicinity, Chris instructs a Japanese speaking sailor to impersonate the downed pilot, hoping to lure the carrier to the submarine. After the planes responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor return to the carrier, Capt. Yamanada steers the ship toward the submarine. As the carrier nears, the Sea Serpent torpedoes the ship, thus avenging Pearl Harbor.

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