USS ODAX (SS-484) US Service 1945-1972 Tench-Class Submarine (1945), Converted to Guppy (1947), Converted Guppy II-Class Submarine (1951)
This site is dedicated to the USS ODAX (SS-484), the officers, and enlisted men who served on board during her career in the silent service.
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During the 1969 Mediterranean deployment, Odax was
diverted from it's scheduled operations in order to track
and conduct surveillance of a specific "cold war"
adversary's vessel. During that surveillance (with the
exception of a few hours to offload a torpedo to a sub
tender) she remained submerged and undetected for
28 consecutive days, snorkeling at night to recharge
batteries and replenish air.
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Windjammer by Richard Hughes & Thomas Hauerslev
The USS ODAX SS-484 took part in a revolutionary film project
released in 1958. The resulting film was called Windjammer, it
was the first film of its kind.
From Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windjammer_(1958_film)
“Windjammer is a 1958 documentary film that recorded a
17,500-nautical-mile (32,400 km) voyage of the Norwegian sail
training ship Christian Radich. Windjammer was produced by
Louis de Rochemont and directed by Louis de Rochemont III. It
was the only film to be shot in the widescreen Cinemiracle
process, which came with a seven-track stereophonic soundtrack.
The Christian Radich and its Norwegian crew were filmed while
sailing from Oslo, via the island of Madeira, across the Atlantic to
the Caribbean, to New York City, Portsmouth, New Hampshire,
and then back home to Oslo in Norway. (*Some underwater
scenes were shot in a tank in New York, hard to tell which.)
The movie featured a score by Morton Gould, with additional
musical performances by cellist Pablo Casals and Arthur Fiedler
conducting the Boston Pops Orchestra.
A musical highlight through the film is the Piano Concerto of
Edvard Grieg. This ties in with the narrative of the voyage
because one of the sea-cadets is a piano-student who is
preparing to play the concerto in Boston.
The film also features a meeting with the German ship Pamir,
which sank in a hurricane in September 1957.
The world premiere was at Grauman's Chinese Theatre,
Hollywood on April 8, 1958 where the movie ran for 36 weeks.
The East Coast premiere took place at New York's Roxy Theatre
on April 9 where it was shown for 24 weeks on a special curved
screen 100 by 40 feet (12 m) in size. The film was also exhibited
at specially equipped cinemas in America, Canada, and Europe.
Later it was shown in wide release in Cinerama theaters
worldwide. It was particularly popular in the Scandinavian
nations.
The film begins in non-widescreen format (1.33: 1 aspect ratio) as
the crew prepares for the voyage. When the ship finally sets out
(about fifteen minutes into the picture), the screen expands to
Cinemiracle dimensions, virtually the same as those of
Cinerama.”
Photo:
Courtesy of
Thomas Hauerslev
Thomas belives the Odax segment was filmed around the
waters of the US Virgin Islands sometime in March 1957.
More information can be seen on his website:
http://www.in70mm.com/cinemiracle/index.htm
Photo From IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052397/
Purchase Link:
https://www.amazon.com/Windjammer-Voyage-Christian-
Radich-Blu-ray/dp/B008N3E034
About 1:52 into the film for about 9 minutes, the ODAX is
featured during torpedo training exercise and torpedo
recovery. This should be considered rare color video footage
of the ODAX. Here are some screen grabs of the ODAX.
Picture Credit: Cinerama Inc.
Cold War Surveillance by Bob Pierro