SAVED FROM THE DEEP

In one of World War Two’s most extraordinary rescue operations, US submarines responsible for sinking Japanese transports crowded with British and Australian prisoners of war turned life-savers. Steve Snelling charts an epic story of survival against the odds.

A SURVIVOR MANAGES A SMILE AS HE CLIMBS ABOARD THE ‘SEALION II’ WHILE ANOTHER PRISONER CLINGS TO THE SIDE OF HIS RAFT AWAITING RESCUE.
(US NAVY)

The tension was almost tangible as the surfaced submarine glided across the sun-sparkling waters of a placid South China Sea. Three times in the past six hours aircraft had either been detected by SJ radar or actually sighted, the last one near enough to force a crash-dive.

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