The Thirty-Fathom Grave

"The Thirty-Fathom Grave"
The Twilight Zone episode
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 2
Directed by Perry Lafferty
Written by Rod Serling
Featured music Stock; most cues from "The Invaders"
Production code 4857
Original air date January 10, 1963
Guest appearance(s)
Episode chronology

"The Thirty-Fathom Grave" is episode 104 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It originally aired on January 10, 1963 on CBS.

Plot

In 1963, a U.S. Navy destroyer is on a routine patrol off Guadalcanal when sonar picks up the sound of metallic clanging beneath the waves; the crew speculates that it sounds like a hammer.

It is soon discovered that a submarine is on the ocean floor, but enquiries to naval command reveal no recent sinkings or incidents of any kind in the area. A joking suggestion from some of the crew that the sub may be haunted sends an anxious and bewildered Chief Bell, who had been feeling unwell for a couple of days before, into a frenzy of bizarre behavior, including fainting spells. The destroyer's commander, Captain Beecham, orders the ship's diver, McClure, to investigate. They find out that it is an American submarine, and there is definite hammering coming from inside. "Who could be inside that sub?" wonders a crewman. Beecham replies, "Somebody who dies damn hard!" The revelation that the submarine is American sends Chief Bell into an even greater neurosis, as he begins to see apparitions of dead sailors beckoning him to come to them. The ship's doctor unsuccessfully tries to convince Bell that he is just having nightmares, and reports to the captain that Bell is experiencing effects of psychological trauma usually caused by wartime experiences.

McClure later discovers the number of the submarine, "714", which Beecham is able to identify as belonging to a submarine that was sunk during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, almost 21 years previously. Although stunned at the idea that someone inside the submarine could still be alive, Beecham asks naval command for a submarine rescue operation. Upon returning to the ship, the diver gives Beecham a dog tag he recovered from the ship, which is revealed to have belonged to Chief Bell.

When Beecham shows the dog tag to Bell, he begins to recollect that he was indeed on that same submarine 21 years before during the battle, when it was surrounded by enemy Japanese ships. Bell recalls that he had been a signalman, and had dropped a signal light while attempting to change the infrared filter during the night, causing the filter to fall off. As a result, Japanese ships were able to see the submarine and attack it mercilessly. Bell fell off the submarine amidst the shelling, the captain took the submarine underwater, but it sank due to the Japanese attack. Bell was later rescued by an American destroyer that came into the area. Bell tells Beecham that he now understands that the clanging noise is being made by the dead crew underwater, who know he is above them right now and are demanding that he join them in death. Bell is overcome by survivor guilt and feels responsible for sinking the submarine, as well as for being the only one of the crew to escape. Despite Beecham's efforts to explain to Bell that he was not guilty of cowardice or responsible for the sinking of a submarine already surrounded by enemy ships, Bell races to the deck and jumps overboard. The ship's crew are unable to save Bell or recover his body from the water.

Later, McClure accompanies the rescue mission into the drowned submarine. Upon returning to the ship, he reports to Beecham that he had found the periscope shears cut in half, with one swinging back and forth. When Beecham asks him to confirm that this was the clanging noise they had heard, McClure agrees, but adds that he had also seen the remains of eight dead sailors, one of whom was holding a hammer in his hand.

Cast

Quotations

Opening narration

“ Incident one hundred miles off the coast of Guadalcanal. Time: the present. The United States naval destroyer on what has been a most uneventful cruise. In a moment, they're going to send a man down thirty fathoms and check on a noise maker – someone or something tapping on metal. You may or may not read the results in a naval report, because Captain Beecham and his crew have just set a course that will lead this ship and everyone on it into the Twilight Zone. ”

Closing narration

“ Small naval engagement, the month of April, 1963. Not to be found in any historical annals. Look for this one filed under 'H' for haunting in the Twilight Zone. ”

References

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