JAG s05e22 Episode Script
Overdue and Presumed Lost
Williams got the shaft and you know it, chief.
Look, DiMaggio hit in 56 straight.
Now, your Teddy Boy ain't never gonna do that.
Nobody is.
Let's get up to periscope depth, chief.
Come up to periscope depth.
Aye, sir.
Scope's awash.
Now, you wanna talk hitters? You should have seen Rogers Hornsby.
Good Lord.
What do you see, skipper? What's out there? It looks like the entire Japanese fleet.
What are they doing this far east? We should take her down, sir.
Wait until they pass.
- It's too late, XO.
We're spotted.
- Crash-dive, sir? Negative.
We gotta get word to Pearl.
It's a submarine, sir.
An old submarine.
The first thing you heard was the hull collapsing.
What was that other noise? Sunken vessels make that noise when they split in half, sir.
You think that this is the USS Dolphin, huh? Yes, sir.
It departed Midway Island on November 21 st, 1941, headed for Hawaii.
It never arrived.
It's been overdue and presumed lost for 59 years.
The sound was picked up by listening stations in the Aleutians, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
The source triangulates to an area roughly 37 degrees north, The Dolphin was last heard from on December 5th, 1941.
That day They were right in the path of the Japanese fleet.
- On the way to Pearl Harbor.
- Yes, sir.
The Dolphin and its crew might have been the first American casualties of World War II.
It's big news, all right, and somebody is trying to beat us to it.
Admiral, please have a seat.
Commander.
A civilian salvage operator by the name of Jack Riggins got wind of the discovery of the Dolphin and dropped his flag on it.
Commander, we cannot have some damn ghoul disturbing the tomb of 60 brave Americans.
No, sir.
The SECNAV have asked Admiral Stanton to represent the submarine community's interest in the case.
I've served in half a dozen boats like the Dolphin.
I was at Pearl Harbor when we were attacked.
But I never expected to see the day when the bones of dead submariners would be brought up by a souvenir hunter.
Sir, what do we know about Riggins' plans? Well, his press release says that bringing up the Dolphin will help him write "the ultimate chapter on Pearl Harbor.
" He wants to sell artefacts to finance his historical undertaking.
Well, our first move, sir, would be to file a petition in federal court - for a temporary restraining order.
- That's exactly what I'm gonna do.
- You, sir? - Oh, I'll take this one, commander.
One of the privileges of rank is taking the opportunity to squash a parasite like Riggins myself.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, A.
J.
I appreciate it.
I'm sure those boys in the Dolphin will too.
Sir.
Commander.
- Sir, if there's any way I can aid in - As a matter of fact, there is.
I've got an appointment with the Armed Services Committee about my annual budget proposal.
You'll pinch hit for me.
- We need a 4.
3 percent increase.
- Admiral, I hardly distinguished myself the last time I entered into that arena, sir.
Don't be modest, commander.
You got the funds to repair the hole you shot in the courtroom ceiling.
- Excuse me, sergeant.
- That's gunnery sergeant.
That's what I meant to say, gunnery sergeant.
Could you tell me where Lt.
Col.
MacKenzie's office is? - She's over there in the corner.
- Thanks, gunnery sergeant.
- Enter.
- Colonel MacKenzie? Yeah.
Petty Officer Second Class Potts reporting as ordered, ma'am.
At ease.
You can sit next to Lieutenant Roberts.
Yes, ma'am.
I explained to the colonel that you'd be willing to accept 45 days restriction to the ship, extra duty, - and some forfeiture of pay.
- That's not gonna cut it, petty officer.
Any deal we make has to include an other-than-honourable discharge.
Discharge? But I don't wanna leave the Navy, ma'am.
I love the Navy.
Why didn't you get in shape before you were assigned mandatory P.
T? And once you got it, why didn't you attend? Most of all, why didn't you lay off the diet pills? I was trying to keep my weight down, ma'am.
Well, then next time stop eating.
The diet pills are amphetamines.
Colonel, Petty Officer Potts is not a criminal.
I'm aware of that, lieutenant.
That's why I'm offering your client the closest thing Naval Justice has to a free lunch.
Pardon the expression.
Ma'am, isn't this just an overreaction to the fact that Petty Officer Potts happens not to look like the poster boy for the SEALs? The Navy doesn't want him physically fit to put his picture on a calendar, lieutenant.
It wants him fit so he can do his job.
He's a system technician, a computer nerd.
For now, but there is no telling what crisis may come up or where the Navy might need him.
You know the standards of readiness.
So he's being made an example of.
That's not fair, ma'am.
We didn't choose him, he chose himself when he broke half a dozen articles and regulations.
So you say, ma'am.
Well, then I'd say it's fairly obvious.
I've salvaged Spanish galleons in the Caribbean, and gold-rush paddle wheelers off the California coast, but I have never discovered anything as exciting as the Dolphin.
To think of the things it saw, of the hellacious final battle that it fought.
Good morning, admiral.
I'm Stewart Grossman.
I'm Jack Riggins' attorney.
A.
J.
Chegwidden.
The astronomers study the stars.
I study the ocean floor.
When was the last time an astronomer sold a planet at an auction house? Jack gets a bit carried away, but he really is contributing to human knowledge.
Yeah, and his own pocketbook.
It's a bit unusual for the JAG to be arguing a case, isn't it? Not when the case means as much to the JAG as this one.
Well, this isn't the game you're used to playing, admiral.
The judges down here are a little different.
United States of America All 50 of them.
- v.
Castaway Salvage Incorporated and Jack Riggins, individually.
Petition for a temporary restraining order.
Who speaks for the government? Your Honour, I'm Admiral A.
J.
Chegwidden, Navy Judge Advocate General, appointed by the Justice Department Special Assistant United States Attorney for this matter.
Got the big guns, huh? Where is this court's authority to adjudicate conflicting claims over vessels sunk in international waters? Steinmetz and USS Hatteras, Your Honour.
These cases establish that warships belong to their sovereign nations in perpetuity, no matter where they were sunk.
The Dolphin was and is a U.
S.
Navy submarine.
After 59 years on the ocean floor? No wonder you people keep asking Congress for money, admiral.
Your Honour, under the law of finds, a principle dating back to the days of Roman sailing vessels, any abandoned shipwreck may be claimed by the finder.
Your Honour, abandonment is hardly the issue here.
The Navy only recently found the Dolphin.
And furthermore, the Dolphin is not mere property.
It is a tomb for 60 brave submariners that should not be desecrated by a treasure hunter.
My client is a marine archaeologist.
In that case, I'd like the opportunity to voir dire Mr.
Grossman's client as to his intentions for the Dolphin.
Mr.
Riggins, please step forward.
I'm not just after gold doubloons, admiral.
I put together lost pieces in the puzzle of history.
And I do my work with dignity and with respect for those that have passed before.
Well, then maybe you can explain why in the Florida Keys you placed lights inside of skulls of dead sailors.
Objection.
Irrelevant.
Maybe so, but it sounds interesting.
Overruled.
Your Honour, that was a very unusual circumstance.
We were working a Spanish galleon and there were recreational divers poking around.
So we put a few lights in some skulls as sort of a no-trespassing sign.
Maybe I'll try that in my chambers.
Mr.
Riggins, it may take a little while to sort through all the legal issues here.
Would a temporary restraining order cause you undue hardship? Yeah, Your Honour.
Bankruptcy, mental anguish, probably a divorce.
I have the last of my capital invested in a ship and crew parked over the wreck site.
And, Your Honour, that is what this case is all about.
Making a profit off the Dolphin, defiling the final resting place I am a little tired of having the Navy wave this desecration argument at me, admiral.
It's more than just an argument, Mr.
Riggins.
No, it's a lie.
If the Dolphin was sunk by a Japanese fleet, that means it saw the Japanese fleet.
And if it saw the fleet, it sent a warning that the fleet was on its way to Hawaii.
But the Navy didn't do anything to protect Pearl Harbor and we know why.
- Your Honour.
- Why? Because politicians and military brass in Washington wanted the attack to happen.
So American public opinion would be outraged.
So that America would get into the war.
What's in the Dolphin can prove that.
And that's why the Navy is jerking all these tears about final resting places.
It's trying to cover up its own role in the deaths of over It's ludicrous, sir, that the Navy would want to start a war with a major defeat.
I know.
I know.
But some evidence has suggested people in Washington deliberately kept Pearl Harbor in the dark about the impending attack.
Military people, sir? Well, the finger's usually pointed at President Roosevelt.
Conspiracy nuts have had a field day with it.
Warnings supposedly lost or delayed on purpose.
Warships warned away from intercepting the Japanese fleet.
But, sir, a Congressional investigation debunked those myths in 1946.
- Enter.
- Excuse me, admiral, colonel.
- Thank you, Tiner.
- Aye, sir.
It seems Judge Green never read the Congressional report.
She's denied our application for a restraining order.
Full arguments in two weeks, in the meantime: "Riggins may continue to explore the wreck.
No destruction of property.
Anything retrieved is to be held in the custody of the court.
" - Looks like I'm taking a trip.
- Sir? The Navy's allowed an observer on the salvage ship.
I think I'll visit Pearl Harbor on the way.
I have a lot of experience with budgets.
Oh, yeah? I've budgeted every commercial and documentary I've ever produced.
This is a little different, Renee.
Really? Let's see.
Personnel: Same as cast.
Equipment: Props.
Audio-visual: That's special effects.
- I don't see a contingency fund.
- Contingency for what? Contingencies.
Say I need to close a street for filming, but I don't have time to get permits.
You schmear a cop or a councilman, you know.
The Navy doesn't bribe people, Renee.
Well, then how do you win so many cases? I was joking.
Oh, you have got to relax.
- What is it? - It's nothing.
Oh, well, there's a sub in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that could solve the mystery of Pearl Harbor, and I'm stuck here calculating stationery costs.
Calculating stationery costs with me.
- What? - Well, instead of shipping off on some rust bucket and not showering for a week, you're here with me.
- Doesn't that count for something? - Of course it does.
Prove it.
Petty Officer Potts.
Potts.
Potts.
- Careful.
- No pain, no gain, lieutenant.
- And no meeting, we take a beating.
- Sir? Our meeting? The wardroom? Sixteen-hundred? Oh, man, sir.
I totally forgot about it.
I'm trying to get in shape for my court-martial, you know, get buff.
Yeah, well, you workout in a rubber suit like that, - you'll get a heart attack.
- Well, how else am I supposed to? Stop eating.
Sir, that's what Colonel MacKenzie said.
Well, I stopped eating, I lost 20 pounds.
- Wow, how did you do that, sir? - I broke my jaw.
- Did that hurt, sir? - Don't even think about it, Potts.
We've got a lot of work to do on your defence, so go take a shower.
I don't know, sir.
Maybe I should have taken that plea bargain.
No.
But, lieutenant, even with an other-than-honourable, - I think I'd do okay as a civilian.
- No.
They're trying to send a message.
And this case, it's bigger than you are.
Metaphorically.
Have you ever held a Spanish doubloon, admiral? Or touched the shackles of a slave ship? It's like you were there, in lives that ended centuries before your grandparents were even born.
Ghosts whisper their secrets to you if you know how to listen.
Save it for the press releases, Riggins.
I'm just trying to prepare you for what you're about to experience, admiral.
Yeah, well, it's a damn sacrilege.
I don't care how you sugar-coat it.
Showtime.
There she is, the USS Dolphin.
Looks like it's hung up on a seamount.
It's pretty common in this part of the Pacific.
- How far down is she? - About About 400 feet.
If she'd gone to the bottom, she'd have been crushed immediately.
And then you and I would have never met.
It's different than a modern sub.
It's got a V-shaped bow, flat deck, probably made of teak.
Valuable wood.
You make key chains out of it.
- Let's not start that again.
- There.
Torpedo? No, more likely a depth charge or a shell from a deck gun.
It's pulling you back, isn't it, admiral? - Are you ready to transmit? - Yes, sir.
Send this to COMSUB-15.
Urgent.
Highest priority.
Dolphin encountered large Japanese fleet, including flattops, battleships and heavy cruisers.
Course 135.
Speed 15.
Position 45 miles north Point Tango.
- You got that? - Yes, sir.
- "COMSUB-15.
Urgent" - Just send it.
Aye, aye, sir.
No matter how it ended, I guess it wasn't pretty.
I can guarantee you that, Mr.
Riggins.
Okay, looks like we're inside now.
Looks like the crew quarters.
There's a Here's the conn.
It looks damn good after 59 years.
Okay.
Make that ROV do its magic.
And no telling what it might find.
Behold the past, gentlemen.
Inside this safe could be the answer to the mystery of Pearl Harbor.
No property damage, Riggins.
Anything you find goes into the court's custody in one piece.
Well, you can hand deliver it as soon as we take a look.
Okay.
These seals held better than they had any right to.
It's dry as dust.
Okay.
Fourteen hundred hours, 3 May.
Contents and inventory of the USS Dolphin lock box.
One metal flask.
Containing bourbon.
Aged.
One One pinup girl.
And one USS Dolphin logbook.
Okay.
"Proceed to Area K-11.
Report on all movement of shipping.
COMSUBPAC, 23 November, 1941.
" Routine Op orders, position reports.
Let's see how this thing ends.
Here.
Here.
"5 December, 1941.
Encountered Japanese fleet.
Flattops, destroyers and heavies, Dispatched alert, Code Orange to COMSUB-15.
Message sent, 1730 hours.
" Message sent.
Excuse me, sir.
Is that it? - The logbook from the Dolphin? - No, it's a copy.
- The original's with the court.
- May I? Sure.
"24 November 1941.
Underway for Hawaiian Islands.
Minor difficulties with hydraulic system, but nothing too serious.
We should have repairs completed by tomorrow.
" It's like opening a time capsule.
"5 December, 1941.
Encountered Japanese fleet.
Dispatched alert, Code Orange to COMSUB-15.
" They surfaced in the middle of Admiral Yamamoto's war fleet, sir, and somebody had the presence of mind to put the outgoing message in a lock box.
The box was in the radio room.
Standard procedure is for the radio operator to secure all logs in a hostile situation.
- Was the message ever received, sir? - Well, we don't know.
It would have been picked up at Cardinal Point Station on Oahu at the far end of the island.
But the station was destroyed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, along with all of its records.
There's no historical record, sir, of the command at Pearl Harbor ever receiving this message.
The procedure was to forward all flash messages from Cardinal Point to Washington and Washington to decide which messages to send back to Pearl Harbor.
You buy the conspiracy theory, sir? That FDR knew about the Japanese invasion and kept quiet to get us into the war? - The Dolphin sent a message.
- Was it received, admiral? I don't know.
If you find out, admiral, you're gonna rewrite history.
It won't be me, Harm.
Be those men on the sub.
- Have we got word back? - No, sir.
It's the The atmosphere is all screwy.
It's those sunspots.
- Keep listening.
- Aye, sir.
- We've gotta take her down, skipper.
- Not till we get confirmation.
But we - Chief, ready Tubes 1 and 2.
- Aye, sir.
- Ready Tubes 1 and 2.
- Ready 1 and 2, aye.
Enter.
- Excuse me, sir.
There's a - Evening, admiral.
Holds your interest, doesn't it? - That will be all, Tiner.
- Yes, sir.
- Game's not over yet, Riggins.
- No, it's not.
That's why I was thinking we should work something out.
- Not interested.
- Really? That's a pretty hard line to take seeing as how my case is already half proved.
The contents of the log are not relevant to the ownership of the Dolphin.
Yeah, Judge Green might agree with that, or she might not.
Either way, you're gonna help me dig up the truth.
- I am? - Yeah.
You're hooked.
I know the look, admiral.
You need to know what happened to that message.
Petty Officer Roland Potts is in my 0600 P.
T.
Class.
I call it the sunrise service.
They run till they drop, puke, or pray, ma'am.
And which one did Petty Officer Potts do? I don't know, ma'am.
He never showed up.
He had a buddy sign in for him.
I caught him in his rack one morning and dragged him out onto the deck.
And when you got him there, Chief Mueller? Ma'am, he couldn't do a pull-up to save his life.
I couldn't tell if he did a pushup because his belly was bigger than his reach.
Plus he was all jittery, probably from the speed.
Move to strike.
That's an opinion.
Overruled.
The government's toxicology report is in evidence.
Thank you, Your Honour.
No further questions.
Chief, has anyone ever won a war doing pushups? Physical fitness is essential for fighting men and women.
Really? What's the Lynx? A weapons system of some kind.
In fact, it's the integrated fire control system aboard the McLaren, isn't it? - If you say so, sir.
- Can you operate the Lynx? - That's not my job, sir.
- No, but it is Petty Officer Potts' job.
Are you aware that he received a commendation for redesigning the target-acquisition software and upgrading the user interface? No, sir, I am not aware of that.
Are you aware that the main physical requirement of his job is to sit in a chair and operate a $50-million weapon system, and that his commanding officer has expressed the opinion that he doesn't care about Potts' size as long as he doesn't break the chair? Objection, counsel is presenting evidence, hearsay at best.
Sustained.
No further questions.
How much longer do you wanna look, sir? I'm not even sure we have this stuff here.
I spoke to the archivist who retired four years ago.
He said this was the place, staff sergeant.
War Department? Pacific Desk? All incoming communications, December the 5th, 1941.
Did the old guy say where it would be, sir? Probably between November and January.
Like, right about Bingo.
Here, I'll take that one.
You know, I think somebody else was asking about this, sir.
Communications log.
"Message traffic from Cardinal Point.
Midway, Wake, the Philippines.
" Boy, it did get heavy in December.
"December 4, morning.
December 4, afternoon.
December 5.
" It skips from 1600 to 2200.
No messages for six hours? Can I see that, sir? This page has been cut out.
Close along the binding.
Smooth.
Like it was sliced with a razor.
You know who could have done this, staff sergeant? Me, sir? No, sir.
But that is the book that that civilian filed a request for.
One of those Freedom of Information deals.
Oh, man, I never thought I'd find it.
I'm sure he'll appreciate your hard work.
Excuse us a minute, staff sergeant.
Sir, when Riggins sees that log He'll scream "cover-up" and "conspiracy" from the mountaintops.
That page could have been cut out last week, sir, or 50 years ago.
Yeah.
Cardinal Point Station was destroyed, but not everyone that worked there.
- Can you get me a personnel list? - December 1941, sir? Not a problem.
Thank you, staff sergeant.
Can you tell us how you came to receive your commendation? Off duty, I fooled around designing computer games, sir.
I was working on this one I call Combat Fleet, and I came up with an algorithm that I thought could help the Lynx fire control system.
You know, sir, make it a little less kludgy.
Then, why were you ordered mandatory P.
T? I failed my Physical Readiness Test, - and my BMI was too high.
- Your BMI? Body Mass Index is when you take your weight times 705, and then divide it by the square of your height in inches.
If your BMI is over 25, the Navy considers you unfit.
What's your BMI? Thirty-three, sir.
What if you were 6'2", 185 pounds? - I wish, sir.
- We all do.
What would your BMI be then? And do you need a calculator? No, I'm pretty good at math.
A hundred-and-eighty-five times 705 would be 130,425, divided by 5476, that's the square of 74, sir.
The BMI would be 23 and change, sir.
Pretty much the perfect body.
But would that perfect body be able to do the math? - Your Honour.
- Question withdrawn.
Nothing further.
If you love the Navy so much, why not just lose the weight and get in shape? I tried, ma'am.
I really did.
You didn't try hard enough to get up for P.
T.
The Chub Club, ma'am? It reminded me of the high school gym.
It brought back some bad memories.
So instead you took amphetamines? I only did it because I didn't wanna be discharged.
Has it ever occurred to you, petty officer, that your love for the Navy seems to be outweighed by an utter lack of military discipline? Commander.
Oh, the Hill must not be as rough as it used to be.
- I don't see any wounds.
- Nothing worthy of a Purple Heart, sir.
And the budget, did you get that 4.
3 percent increase? - No, sir.
- Well, what the hell happened? Well, sir, Renee made a few suggestions.
- Renee? - Yes, sir.
And I recommended that we add an inflation factor, contingency fund and a travel allowance.
And the Committee will support an 8.
1 percent increase, admiral.
Nicely done, commander.
Well, from now on, you'll handle our budget request every year.
Excuse me, admiral.
You'll wanna see this.
The Cardinal Point Station list of personnel, sir.
From the records centre in Saint Louis.
Most of those men have gotta be dead by now, sir.
Most, but not all.
You knew about the message, Matt.
You were there.
I guess I knew you'd find out, A.
J.
, you were always thorough.
You were a radioman before you were a submariner, Matt.
You were assigned to Cardinal Point Station.
It had a lovely view.
On a clear day, you could see Molokai.
On Pearl Harbor Day, we could see the Zeroes 3 miles out heading to make their turn on Kahuku Point.
Of course, I was a little surprised that our fleet was still at anchor, as I'd received the Dolphin's message and I sent it on to Washington.
- Well, why didn't you tell anybody? - Tell what? One message of thousands got lost in a government bureaucracy? And who was I gonna tell? There weren't a lot of reporters running around looking for scandal.
They had other things on their minds.
So did I.
Stay alive.
Win the war.
By the time it all ended, I wasn't even sure I'd ever seen a message.
I'd just seen so much else.
But you got involved in this case.
To protect those dead submariners because I knew what they did, not to protect anyone else.
Don't you wanna know what happened? I know what happened.
We won the war.
That not good enough for you? No, it's not.
The message was sent to the Pacific Desk of the War Department.
I've gotta ask you a question.
There is a page missing from the Washington COM log.
I don't know anything about that, A.
J.
All I know is if I sent the message, they got it.
- What did they do with it? - Well, obviously not enough.
It was Code Orange.
Should have been sent up to the Secretary of War.
Sent by whom? Who would have been the first to handle it? Well, there was a deputy undersecretary there by the name of Malory or Malone.
Maybe it was Malloy.
The evidence is undisputed.
Petty Officer Roland Potts violated a lawful order to attend mandatory physical training.
In a misguided effort to lose weight an easier way, he compounded the infraction by unlawfully taking amphetamines.
Now, it's natural to sympathise with someone who would otherwise seem to be an excellent sailor, highly competent in his duties.
But sympathy can play no role in your verdict.
On the evidence submitted, the defendant must be found guilty on all charges.
Lardass, jelly-belly, tub-o'-guts, bubble butt, butterball.
Petty Officer Potts has been called all of those names and more.
He knows what it feels like to be humiliated, rejected.
He knows what it feels like to not fit in.
But then he joined the Navy and it changed his life.
Petty Officer Potts is incredibly good at what he does.
And his only crime is that he would do anything to stay in the Navy.
I'm gonna talk to him in just a minute.
- Shouldn't they be back by now? - Just try to relax, Roland.
Why don't you try to relax, Bud? I know he's a good kid and you wanna win I know that, ma'am.
It's just It's the names.
You know, bubble butt, jelly-belly.
- When I was 14, that was me.
- It's not anymore, Bud.
Inside, ma'am, it's always who you are.
Colonel, isn't there anything I could do to stay in the Navy? Why would you want to? Josh Kaplan, executive recruiter.
Mr.
Potts, how would you like to be senior software engineer for Astrosplash.
Com? Not so fast.
Gary Jamirro, Flashpan Gaming.
We have a software designer position that I think that you I'm talking 100,000 a year plus A hundred and twenty plus stock options.
- Yeah, great.
- You want stock options? Forty percent of our employees are already millionaires.
Access to our corporate beach condo, a golf club membership I just wanna stay in the Navy.
Ma'am? Well, how about 20,000 a year and you forfeit 30 days' pay as penalty? Cramped quarters, to which you're restricted for two weeks.
Mandatory physical training, a regulated diet, bi-weekly drug tests, and you may end up in combat.
Do you mean it, colonel? Should we tell the judge that we've reached an agreement? Yes, ma'am.
Oh, you again.
You still tracking down ancient history? War Department, 5 December, 1941.
Records for Deputy Undersecretary Malloy or Malory or Malone, - maybe Murphy.
- How about Howdy Doody? We might find his stuff in here if we look around for 30 or 40 years.
Really? Then we'd better get started.
We've listened to the voices, Your Honour.
The ghosts of 60 martyred submariners call out to us.
With their last breath, they warned of the attack at Pearl Harbor.
But someone destroyed the evidence as to what happened to their message.
What is the Navy hiding? And what other secrets still lie buried? Your Honour, I resent any implication the Navy is involved in a cover-up.
We too are trying to discover the fate of the Dolphin's message.
But, Your Honour, that has absolutely nothing to do with the issue before this court.
I have read the cases cited in your brief, admiral.
And they do support the proposition that the Navy owns its warships in perpetuity, whether they're sailing the high seas or embedded in the ocean bottom.
But those cases deal with ownership of rusty cannons and barnacled hulls not historical truth.
- Your Honour, it's the law.
- I am the law.
Until the appeals court tells me I'm wrong.
I don't know what's buried with the Dolphin, but we're going to find out.
The government's request for an injunction is denied.
Mr.
Riggins' salvage claim is upheld.
Thanks.
I'll treat it with respect, admiral.
If you had any respect, you wouldn't treat it at all.
Hey, Riggins, listen to those ghosts.
What are they saying to you now? Thirty-One-Knot Burke.
Admiral, war hero.
Never let the Navy down.
Neither did you, sir.
You'll win the appeal.
Meantime, that bottom-feeding fortune hunter rummages through the skeleton of the Dolphin.
Enter.
Beg your pardon, admiral.
Commander.
I thought you'd wanna see this.
From the files of Deputy Undersecretary of War, Maxwell.
Dated 5 December, 1941.
It was found in a folder concerning the defence of the Panama Canal, sir.
"USS Dolphin.
Urgent.
Highest priority.
Flash message.
" - It was misfiled.
- By civilians, admiral.
Not the Navy.
Maybe it was misfiled on purpose, sir.
Well, how do you know? I mean, how can you prove it? Somebody did razor out a page of a communications log, sir.
What, to cover-up a crime, or to cover-up bureaucratic carelessness that conspiracy freaks would take as a crime.
May I see it, sir? "The USS Dolphin encountered large Japanese fleet, including flattops, battleships and heavy cruisers.
Course 135.
Speed 15.
Position 45" - Range? - Mark 1500.
We got through, skipper.
Pearl confirmed.
The fish in Tubes 1 and 2 are ready, sir.
Japanese destroyer, angle on the bow, zero.
- Bearing mark.
- Three-zero-zero.
- Range mark.
- Eleven hundred yards.
- Prepare to fire.
- Aye, sir.
- Fire 1.
- Fire 1.
- Fire 2.
- Fire 2, aye.
And so we pay tribute to the brave men who helped us rule the seas during the Second World War.
Those who returned home to make our nation a better place.
And those, like the silent warriors of the USS Dolphin, who remain on eternal patrol.
Submariners, I salute you.
A long way from home, admiral.
- Come to gloat? - I wanted to pay my respects.
I'm pulling my flag off the Dolphin site.
I'm turning the logbook over to the Smithsonian.
You have a heart transplant? I listened to the ghosts.
And to you, sir.
Message received.
Look, DiMaggio hit in 56 straight.
Now, your Teddy Boy ain't never gonna do that.
Nobody is.
Let's get up to periscope depth, chief.
Come up to periscope depth.
Aye, sir.
Scope's awash.
Now, you wanna talk hitters? You should have seen Rogers Hornsby.
Good Lord.
What do you see, skipper? What's out there? It looks like the entire Japanese fleet.
What are they doing this far east? We should take her down, sir.
Wait until they pass.
- It's too late, XO.
We're spotted.
- Crash-dive, sir? Negative.
We gotta get word to Pearl.
It's a submarine, sir.
An old submarine.
The first thing you heard was the hull collapsing.
What was that other noise? Sunken vessels make that noise when they split in half, sir.
You think that this is the USS Dolphin, huh? Yes, sir.
It departed Midway Island on November 21 st, 1941, headed for Hawaii.
It never arrived.
It's been overdue and presumed lost for 59 years.
The sound was picked up by listening stations in the Aleutians, the Philippines, and Hawaii.
The source triangulates to an area roughly 37 degrees north, The Dolphin was last heard from on December 5th, 1941.
That day They were right in the path of the Japanese fleet.
- On the way to Pearl Harbor.
- Yes, sir.
The Dolphin and its crew might have been the first American casualties of World War II.
It's big news, all right, and somebody is trying to beat us to it.
Admiral, please have a seat.
Commander.
A civilian salvage operator by the name of Jack Riggins got wind of the discovery of the Dolphin and dropped his flag on it.
Commander, we cannot have some damn ghoul disturbing the tomb of 60 brave Americans.
No, sir.
The SECNAV have asked Admiral Stanton to represent the submarine community's interest in the case.
I've served in half a dozen boats like the Dolphin.
I was at Pearl Harbor when we were attacked.
But I never expected to see the day when the bones of dead submariners would be brought up by a souvenir hunter.
Sir, what do we know about Riggins' plans? Well, his press release says that bringing up the Dolphin will help him write "the ultimate chapter on Pearl Harbor.
" He wants to sell artefacts to finance his historical undertaking.
Well, our first move, sir, would be to file a petition in federal court - for a temporary restraining order.
- That's exactly what I'm gonna do.
- You, sir? - Oh, I'll take this one, commander.
One of the privileges of rank is taking the opportunity to squash a parasite like Riggins myself.
Yes, sir.
Thank you, A.
J.
I appreciate it.
I'm sure those boys in the Dolphin will too.
Sir.
Commander.
- Sir, if there's any way I can aid in - As a matter of fact, there is.
I've got an appointment with the Armed Services Committee about my annual budget proposal.
You'll pinch hit for me.
- We need a 4.
3 percent increase.
- Admiral, I hardly distinguished myself the last time I entered into that arena, sir.
Don't be modest, commander.
You got the funds to repair the hole you shot in the courtroom ceiling.
- Excuse me, sergeant.
- That's gunnery sergeant.
That's what I meant to say, gunnery sergeant.
Could you tell me where Lt.
Col.
MacKenzie's office is? - She's over there in the corner.
- Thanks, gunnery sergeant.
- Enter.
- Colonel MacKenzie? Yeah.
Petty Officer Second Class Potts reporting as ordered, ma'am.
At ease.
You can sit next to Lieutenant Roberts.
Yes, ma'am.
I explained to the colonel that you'd be willing to accept 45 days restriction to the ship, extra duty, - and some forfeiture of pay.
- That's not gonna cut it, petty officer.
Any deal we make has to include an other-than-honourable discharge.
Discharge? But I don't wanna leave the Navy, ma'am.
I love the Navy.
Why didn't you get in shape before you were assigned mandatory P.
T? And once you got it, why didn't you attend? Most of all, why didn't you lay off the diet pills? I was trying to keep my weight down, ma'am.
Well, then next time stop eating.
The diet pills are amphetamines.
Colonel, Petty Officer Potts is not a criminal.
I'm aware of that, lieutenant.
That's why I'm offering your client the closest thing Naval Justice has to a free lunch.
Pardon the expression.
Ma'am, isn't this just an overreaction to the fact that Petty Officer Potts happens not to look like the poster boy for the SEALs? The Navy doesn't want him physically fit to put his picture on a calendar, lieutenant.
It wants him fit so he can do his job.
He's a system technician, a computer nerd.
For now, but there is no telling what crisis may come up or where the Navy might need him.
You know the standards of readiness.
So he's being made an example of.
That's not fair, ma'am.
We didn't choose him, he chose himself when he broke half a dozen articles and regulations.
So you say, ma'am.
Well, then I'd say it's fairly obvious.
I've salvaged Spanish galleons in the Caribbean, and gold-rush paddle wheelers off the California coast, but I have never discovered anything as exciting as the Dolphin.
To think of the things it saw, of the hellacious final battle that it fought.
Good morning, admiral.
I'm Stewart Grossman.
I'm Jack Riggins' attorney.
A.
J.
Chegwidden.
The astronomers study the stars.
I study the ocean floor.
When was the last time an astronomer sold a planet at an auction house? Jack gets a bit carried away, but he really is contributing to human knowledge.
Yeah, and his own pocketbook.
It's a bit unusual for the JAG to be arguing a case, isn't it? Not when the case means as much to the JAG as this one.
Well, this isn't the game you're used to playing, admiral.
The judges down here are a little different.
United States of America All 50 of them.
- v.
Castaway Salvage Incorporated and Jack Riggins, individually.
Petition for a temporary restraining order.
Who speaks for the government? Your Honour, I'm Admiral A.
J.
Chegwidden, Navy Judge Advocate General, appointed by the Justice Department Special Assistant United States Attorney for this matter.
Got the big guns, huh? Where is this court's authority to adjudicate conflicting claims over vessels sunk in international waters? Steinmetz and USS Hatteras, Your Honour.
These cases establish that warships belong to their sovereign nations in perpetuity, no matter where they were sunk.
The Dolphin was and is a U.
S.
Navy submarine.
After 59 years on the ocean floor? No wonder you people keep asking Congress for money, admiral.
Your Honour, under the law of finds, a principle dating back to the days of Roman sailing vessels, any abandoned shipwreck may be claimed by the finder.
Your Honour, abandonment is hardly the issue here.
The Navy only recently found the Dolphin.
And furthermore, the Dolphin is not mere property.
It is a tomb for 60 brave submariners that should not be desecrated by a treasure hunter.
My client is a marine archaeologist.
In that case, I'd like the opportunity to voir dire Mr.
Grossman's client as to his intentions for the Dolphin.
Mr.
Riggins, please step forward.
I'm not just after gold doubloons, admiral.
I put together lost pieces in the puzzle of history.
And I do my work with dignity and with respect for those that have passed before.
Well, then maybe you can explain why in the Florida Keys you placed lights inside of skulls of dead sailors.
Objection.
Irrelevant.
Maybe so, but it sounds interesting.
Overruled.
Your Honour, that was a very unusual circumstance.
We were working a Spanish galleon and there were recreational divers poking around.
So we put a few lights in some skulls as sort of a no-trespassing sign.
Maybe I'll try that in my chambers.
Mr.
Riggins, it may take a little while to sort through all the legal issues here.
Would a temporary restraining order cause you undue hardship? Yeah, Your Honour.
Bankruptcy, mental anguish, probably a divorce.
I have the last of my capital invested in a ship and crew parked over the wreck site.
And, Your Honour, that is what this case is all about.
Making a profit off the Dolphin, defiling the final resting place I am a little tired of having the Navy wave this desecration argument at me, admiral.
It's more than just an argument, Mr.
Riggins.
No, it's a lie.
If the Dolphin was sunk by a Japanese fleet, that means it saw the Japanese fleet.
And if it saw the fleet, it sent a warning that the fleet was on its way to Hawaii.
But the Navy didn't do anything to protect Pearl Harbor and we know why.
- Your Honour.
- Why? Because politicians and military brass in Washington wanted the attack to happen.
So American public opinion would be outraged.
So that America would get into the war.
What's in the Dolphin can prove that.
And that's why the Navy is jerking all these tears about final resting places.
It's trying to cover up its own role in the deaths of over It's ludicrous, sir, that the Navy would want to start a war with a major defeat.
I know.
I know.
But some evidence has suggested people in Washington deliberately kept Pearl Harbor in the dark about the impending attack.
Military people, sir? Well, the finger's usually pointed at President Roosevelt.
Conspiracy nuts have had a field day with it.
Warnings supposedly lost or delayed on purpose.
Warships warned away from intercepting the Japanese fleet.
But, sir, a Congressional investigation debunked those myths in 1946.
- Enter.
- Excuse me, admiral, colonel.
- Thank you, Tiner.
- Aye, sir.
It seems Judge Green never read the Congressional report.
She's denied our application for a restraining order.
Full arguments in two weeks, in the meantime: "Riggins may continue to explore the wreck.
No destruction of property.
Anything retrieved is to be held in the custody of the court.
" - Looks like I'm taking a trip.
- Sir? The Navy's allowed an observer on the salvage ship.
I think I'll visit Pearl Harbor on the way.
I have a lot of experience with budgets.
Oh, yeah? I've budgeted every commercial and documentary I've ever produced.
This is a little different, Renee.
Really? Let's see.
Personnel: Same as cast.
Equipment: Props.
Audio-visual: That's special effects.
- I don't see a contingency fund.
- Contingency for what? Contingencies.
Say I need to close a street for filming, but I don't have time to get permits.
You schmear a cop or a councilman, you know.
The Navy doesn't bribe people, Renee.
Well, then how do you win so many cases? I was joking.
Oh, you have got to relax.
- What is it? - It's nothing.
Oh, well, there's a sub in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that could solve the mystery of Pearl Harbor, and I'm stuck here calculating stationery costs.
Calculating stationery costs with me.
- What? - Well, instead of shipping off on some rust bucket and not showering for a week, you're here with me.
- Doesn't that count for something? - Of course it does.
Prove it.
Petty Officer Potts.
Potts.
Potts.
- Careful.
- No pain, no gain, lieutenant.
- And no meeting, we take a beating.
- Sir? Our meeting? The wardroom? Sixteen-hundred? Oh, man, sir.
I totally forgot about it.
I'm trying to get in shape for my court-martial, you know, get buff.
Yeah, well, you workout in a rubber suit like that, - you'll get a heart attack.
- Well, how else am I supposed to? Stop eating.
Sir, that's what Colonel MacKenzie said.
Well, I stopped eating, I lost 20 pounds.
- Wow, how did you do that, sir? - I broke my jaw.
- Did that hurt, sir? - Don't even think about it, Potts.
We've got a lot of work to do on your defence, so go take a shower.
I don't know, sir.
Maybe I should have taken that plea bargain.
No.
But, lieutenant, even with an other-than-honourable, - I think I'd do okay as a civilian.
- No.
They're trying to send a message.
And this case, it's bigger than you are.
Metaphorically.
Have you ever held a Spanish doubloon, admiral? Or touched the shackles of a slave ship? It's like you were there, in lives that ended centuries before your grandparents were even born.
Ghosts whisper their secrets to you if you know how to listen.
Save it for the press releases, Riggins.
I'm just trying to prepare you for what you're about to experience, admiral.
Yeah, well, it's a damn sacrilege.
I don't care how you sugar-coat it.
Showtime.
There she is, the USS Dolphin.
Looks like it's hung up on a seamount.
It's pretty common in this part of the Pacific.
- How far down is she? - About About 400 feet.
If she'd gone to the bottom, she'd have been crushed immediately.
And then you and I would have never met.
It's different than a modern sub.
It's got a V-shaped bow, flat deck, probably made of teak.
Valuable wood.
You make key chains out of it.
- Let's not start that again.
- There.
Torpedo? No, more likely a depth charge or a shell from a deck gun.
It's pulling you back, isn't it, admiral? - Are you ready to transmit? - Yes, sir.
Send this to COMSUB-15.
Urgent.
Highest priority.
Dolphin encountered large Japanese fleet, including flattops, battleships and heavy cruisers.
Course 135.
Speed 15.
Position 45 miles north Point Tango.
- You got that? - Yes, sir.
- "COMSUB-15.
Urgent" - Just send it.
Aye, aye, sir.
No matter how it ended, I guess it wasn't pretty.
I can guarantee you that, Mr.
Riggins.
Okay, looks like we're inside now.
Looks like the crew quarters.
There's a Here's the conn.
It looks damn good after 59 years.
Okay.
Make that ROV do its magic.
And no telling what it might find.
Behold the past, gentlemen.
Inside this safe could be the answer to the mystery of Pearl Harbor.
No property damage, Riggins.
Anything you find goes into the court's custody in one piece.
Well, you can hand deliver it as soon as we take a look.
Okay.
These seals held better than they had any right to.
It's dry as dust.
Okay.
Fourteen hundred hours, 3 May.
Contents and inventory of the USS Dolphin lock box.
One metal flask.
Containing bourbon.
Aged.
One One pinup girl.
And one USS Dolphin logbook.
Okay.
"Proceed to Area K-11.
Report on all movement of shipping.
COMSUBPAC, 23 November, 1941.
" Routine Op orders, position reports.
Let's see how this thing ends.
Here.
Here.
"5 December, 1941.
Encountered Japanese fleet.
Flattops, destroyers and heavies, Dispatched alert, Code Orange to COMSUB-15.
Message sent, 1730 hours.
" Message sent.
Excuse me, sir.
Is that it? - The logbook from the Dolphin? - No, it's a copy.
- The original's with the court.
- May I? Sure.
"24 November 1941.
Underway for Hawaiian Islands.
Minor difficulties with hydraulic system, but nothing too serious.
We should have repairs completed by tomorrow.
" It's like opening a time capsule.
"5 December, 1941.
Encountered Japanese fleet.
Dispatched alert, Code Orange to COMSUB-15.
" They surfaced in the middle of Admiral Yamamoto's war fleet, sir, and somebody had the presence of mind to put the outgoing message in a lock box.
The box was in the radio room.
Standard procedure is for the radio operator to secure all logs in a hostile situation.
- Was the message ever received, sir? - Well, we don't know.
It would have been picked up at Cardinal Point Station on Oahu at the far end of the island.
But the station was destroyed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, along with all of its records.
There's no historical record, sir, of the command at Pearl Harbor ever receiving this message.
The procedure was to forward all flash messages from Cardinal Point to Washington and Washington to decide which messages to send back to Pearl Harbor.
You buy the conspiracy theory, sir? That FDR knew about the Japanese invasion and kept quiet to get us into the war? - The Dolphin sent a message.
- Was it received, admiral? I don't know.
If you find out, admiral, you're gonna rewrite history.
It won't be me, Harm.
Be those men on the sub.
- Have we got word back? - No, sir.
It's the The atmosphere is all screwy.
It's those sunspots.
- Keep listening.
- Aye, sir.
- We've gotta take her down, skipper.
- Not till we get confirmation.
But we - Chief, ready Tubes 1 and 2.
- Aye, sir.
- Ready Tubes 1 and 2.
- Ready 1 and 2, aye.
Enter.
- Excuse me, sir.
There's a - Evening, admiral.
Holds your interest, doesn't it? - That will be all, Tiner.
- Yes, sir.
- Game's not over yet, Riggins.
- No, it's not.
That's why I was thinking we should work something out.
- Not interested.
- Really? That's a pretty hard line to take seeing as how my case is already half proved.
The contents of the log are not relevant to the ownership of the Dolphin.
Yeah, Judge Green might agree with that, or she might not.
Either way, you're gonna help me dig up the truth.
- I am? - Yeah.
You're hooked.
I know the look, admiral.
You need to know what happened to that message.
Petty Officer Roland Potts is in my 0600 P.
T.
Class.
I call it the sunrise service.
They run till they drop, puke, or pray, ma'am.
And which one did Petty Officer Potts do? I don't know, ma'am.
He never showed up.
He had a buddy sign in for him.
I caught him in his rack one morning and dragged him out onto the deck.
And when you got him there, Chief Mueller? Ma'am, he couldn't do a pull-up to save his life.
I couldn't tell if he did a pushup because his belly was bigger than his reach.
Plus he was all jittery, probably from the speed.
Move to strike.
That's an opinion.
Overruled.
The government's toxicology report is in evidence.
Thank you, Your Honour.
No further questions.
Chief, has anyone ever won a war doing pushups? Physical fitness is essential for fighting men and women.
Really? What's the Lynx? A weapons system of some kind.
In fact, it's the integrated fire control system aboard the McLaren, isn't it? - If you say so, sir.
- Can you operate the Lynx? - That's not my job, sir.
- No, but it is Petty Officer Potts' job.
Are you aware that he received a commendation for redesigning the target-acquisition software and upgrading the user interface? No, sir, I am not aware of that.
Are you aware that the main physical requirement of his job is to sit in a chair and operate a $50-million weapon system, and that his commanding officer has expressed the opinion that he doesn't care about Potts' size as long as he doesn't break the chair? Objection, counsel is presenting evidence, hearsay at best.
Sustained.
No further questions.
How much longer do you wanna look, sir? I'm not even sure we have this stuff here.
I spoke to the archivist who retired four years ago.
He said this was the place, staff sergeant.
War Department? Pacific Desk? All incoming communications, December the 5th, 1941.
Did the old guy say where it would be, sir? Probably between November and January.
Like, right about Bingo.
Here, I'll take that one.
You know, I think somebody else was asking about this, sir.
Communications log.
"Message traffic from Cardinal Point.
Midway, Wake, the Philippines.
" Boy, it did get heavy in December.
"December 4, morning.
December 4, afternoon.
December 5.
" It skips from 1600 to 2200.
No messages for six hours? Can I see that, sir? This page has been cut out.
Close along the binding.
Smooth.
Like it was sliced with a razor.
You know who could have done this, staff sergeant? Me, sir? No, sir.
But that is the book that that civilian filed a request for.
One of those Freedom of Information deals.
Oh, man, I never thought I'd find it.
I'm sure he'll appreciate your hard work.
Excuse us a minute, staff sergeant.
Sir, when Riggins sees that log He'll scream "cover-up" and "conspiracy" from the mountaintops.
That page could have been cut out last week, sir, or 50 years ago.
Yeah.
Cardinal Point Station was destroyed, but not everyone that worked there.
- Can you get me a personnel list? - December 1941, sir? Not a problem.
Thank you, staff sergeant.
Can you tell us how you came to receive your commendation? Off duty, I fooled around designing computer games, sir.
I was working on this one I call Combat Fleet, and I came up with an algorithm that I thought could help the Lynx fire control system.
You know, sir, make it a little less kludgy.
Then, why were you ordered mandatory P.
T? I failed my Physical Readiness Test, - and my BMI was too high.
- Your BMI? Body Mass Index is when you take your weight times 705, and then divide it by the square of your height in inches.
If your BMI is over 25, the Navy considers you unfit.
What's your BMI? Thirty-three, sir.
What if you were 6'2", 185 pounds? - I wish, sir.
- We all do.
What would your BMI be then? And do you need a calculator? No, I'm pretty good at math.
A hundred-and-eighty-five times 705 would be 130,425, divided by 5476, that's the square of 74, sir.
The BMI would be 23 and change, sir.
Pretty much the perfect body.
But would that perfect body be able to do the math? - Your Honour.
- Question withdrawn.
Nothing further.
If you love the Navy so much, why not just lose the weight and get in shape? I tried, ma'am.
I really did.
You didn't try hard enough to get up for P.
T.
The Chub Club, ma'am? It reminded me of the high school gym.
It brought back some bad memories.
So instead you took amphetamines? I only did it because I didn't wanna be discharged.
Has it ever occurred to you, petty officer, that your love for the Navy seems to be outweighed by an utter lack of military discipline? Commander.
Oh, the Hill must not be as rough as it used to be.
- I don't see any wounds.
- Nothing worthy of a Purple Heart, sir.
And the budget, did you get that 4.
3 percent increase? - No, sir.
- Well, what the hell happened? Well, sir, Renee made a few suggestions.
- Renee? - Yes, sir.
And I recommended that we add an inflation factor, contingency fund and a travel allowance.
And the Committee will support an 8.
1 percent increase, admiral.
Nicely done, commander.
Well, from now on, you'll handle our budget request every year.
Excuse me, admiral.
You'll wanna see this.
The Cardinal Point Station list of personnel, sir.
From the records centre in Saint Louis.
Most of those men have gotta be dead by now, sir.
Most, but not all.
You knew about the message, Matt.
You were there.
I guess I knew you'd find out, A.
J.
, you were always thorough.
You were a radioman before you were a submariner, Matt.
You were assigned to Cardinal Point Station.
It had a lovely view.
On a clear day, you could see Molokai.
On Pearl Harbor Day, we could see the Zeroes 3 miles out heading to make their turn on Kahuku Point.
Of course, I was a little surprised that our fleet was still at anchor, as I'd received the Dolphin's message and I sent it on to Washington.
- Well, why didn't you tell anybody? - Tell what? One message of thousands got lost in a government bureaucracy? And who was I gonna tell? There weren't a lot of reporters running around looking for scandal.
They had other things on their minds.
So did I.
Stay alive.
Win the war.
By the time it all ended, I wasn't even sure I'd ever seen a message.
I'd just seen so much else.
But you got involved in this case.
To protect those dead submariners because I knew what they did, not to protect anyone else.
Don't you wanna know what happened? I know what happened.
We won the war.
That not good enough for you? No, it's not.
The message was sent to the Pacific Desk of the War Department.
I've gotta ask you a question.
There is a page missing from the Washington COM log.
I don't know anything about that, A.
J.
All I know is if I sent the message, they got it.
- What did they do with it? - Well, obviously not enough.
It was Code Orange.
Should have been sent up to the Secretary of War.
Sent by whom? Who would have been the first to handle it? Well, there was a deputy undersecretary there by the name of Malory or Malone.
Maybe it was Malloy.
The evidence is undisputed.
Petty Officer Roland Potts violated a lawful order to attend mandatory physical training.
In a misguided effort to lose weight an easier way, he compounded the infraction by unlawfully taking amphetamines.
Now, it's natural to sympathise with someone who would otherwise seem to be an excellent sailor, highly competent in his duties.
But sympathy can play no role in your verdict.
On the evidence submitted, the defendant must be found guilty on all charges.
Lardass, jelly-belly, tub-o'-guts, bubble butt, butterball.
Petty Officer Potts has been called all of those names and more.
He knows what it feels like to be humiliated, rejected.
He knows what it feels like to not fit in.
But then he joined the Navy and it changed his life.
Petty Officer Potts is incredibly good at what he does.
And his only crime is that he would do anything to stay in the Navy.
I'm gonna talk to him in just a minute.
- Shouldn't they be back by now? - Just try to relax, Roland.
Why don't you try to relax, Bud? I know he's a good kid and you wanna win I know that, ma'am.
It's just It's the names.
You know, bubble butt, jelly-belly.
- When I was 14, that was me.
- It's not anymore, Bud.
Inside, ma'am, it's always who you are.
Colonel, isn't there anything I could do to stay in the Navy? Why would you want to? Josh Kaplan, executive recruiter.
Mr.
Potts, how would you like to be senior software engineer for Astrosplash.
Com? Not so fast.
Gary Jamirro, Flashpan Gaming.
We have a software designer position that I think that you I'm talking 100,000 a year plus A hundred and twenty plus stock options.
- Yeah, great.
- You want stock options? Forty percent of our employees are already millionaires.
Access to our corporate beach condo, a golf club membership I just wanna stay in the Navy.
Ma'am? Well, how about 20,000 a year and you forfeit 30 days' pay as penalty? Cramped quarters, to which you're restricted for two weeks.
Mandatory physical training, a regulated diet, bi-weekly drug tests, and you may end up in combat.
Do you mean it, colonel? Should we tell the judge that we've reached an agreement? Yes, ma'am.
Oh, you again.
You still tracking down ancient history? War Department, 5 December, 1941.
Records for Deputy Undersecretary Malloy or Malory or Malone, - maybe Murphy.
- How about Howdy Doody? We might find his stuff in here if we look around for 30 or 40 years.
Really? Then we'd better get started.
We've listened to the voices, Your Honour.
The ghosts of 60 martyred submariners call out to us.
With their last breath, they warned of the attack at Pearl Harbor.
But someone destroyed the evidence as to what happened to their message.
What is the Navy hiding? And what other secrets still lie buried? Your Honour, I resent any implication the Navy is involved in a cover-up.
We too are trying to discover the fate of the Dolphin's message.
But, Your Honour, that has absolutely nothing to do with the issue before this court.
I have read the cases cited in your brief, admiral.
And they do support the proposition that the Navy owns its warships in perpetuity, whether they're sailing the high seas or embedded in the ocean bottom.
But those cases deal with ownership of rusty cannons and barnacled hulls not historical truth.
- Your Honour, it's the law.
- I am the law.
Until the appeals court tells me I'm wrong.
I don't know what's buried with the Dolphin, but we're going to find out.
The government's request for an injunction is denied.
Mr.
Riggins' salvage claim is upheld.
Thanks.
I'll treat it with respect, admiral.
If you had any respect, you wouldn't treat it at all.
Hey, Riggins, listen to those ghosts.
What are they saying to you now? Thirty-One-Knot Burke.
Admiral, war hero.
Never let the Navy down.
Neither did you, sir.
You'll win the appeal.
Meantime, that bottom-feeding fortune hunter rummages through the skeleton of the Dolphin.
Enter.
Beg your pardon, admiral.
Commander.
I thought you'd wanna see this.
From the files of Deputy Undersecretary of War, Maxwell.
Dated 5 December, 1941.
It was found in a folder concerning the defence of the Panama Canal, sir.
"USS Dolphin.
Urgent.
Highest priority.
Flash message.
" - It was misfiled.
- By civilians, admiral.
Not the Navy.
Maybe it was misfiled on purpose, sir.
Well, how do you know? I mean, how can you prove it? Somebody did razor out a page of a communications log, sir.
What, to cover-up a crime, or to cover-up bureaucratic carelessness that conspiracy freaks would take as a crime.
May I see it, sir? "The USS Dolphin encountered large Japanese fleet, including flattops, battleships and heavy cruisers.
Course 135.
Speed 15.
Position 45" - Range? - Mark 1500.
We got through, skipper.
Pearl confirmed.
The fish in Tubes 1 and 2 are ready, sir.
Japanese destroyer, angle on the bow, zero.
- Bearing mark.
- Three-zero-zero.
- Range mark.
- Eleven hundred yards.
- Prepare to fire.
- Aye, sir.
- Fire 1.
- Fire 1.
- Fire 2.
- Fire 2, aye.
And so we pay tribute to the brave men who helped us rule the seas during the Second World War.
Those who returned home to make our nation a better place.
And those, like the silent warriors of the USS Dolphin, who remain on eternal patrol.
Submariners, I salute you.
A long way from home, admiral.
- Come to gloat? - I wanted to pay my respects.
I'm pulling my flag off the Dolphin site.
I'm turning the logbook over to the Smithsonian.
You have a heart transplant? I listened to the ghosts.
And to you, sir.
Message received.