Chinmoku No Kantai (The Silent Service) English Dub

The Silent Service (Japanese: 沈黙の艦隊, Hepburn: Chinmoku no Kantai) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kaiji Kawaguchi. It was published in Kodansha's Weekly Morning manga magazine from 1988 to 1996 and collected in 32 tankōbon volumes.

The series was adapted into an anime television special and original video animation (OVA) series by Sunrise. The special was released in North America by Central Park Media.

In 1990, The Silent Service won the 14th Kodansha Manga Award for the general manga category. It has over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series.

A live-action film adaptation premiered in Japanese theaters in September 2023.

Following the Cold War, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force jointly and secretly developed a nuclear submarine, the Seabat, with the United States Navy. Chosen as co-captain is Shiro Kaieda (the other co-captain is an American), while the Seabat's crew is composed entirely of Kaieda's crew from his previous command. On the Seabat's maiden voyage, Kaieda abruptly takes control of the submarine, re-names it the Yamato and declares it to be an independent state. Kaieda and his crew intend sailing to Tokyo to form a formal alliance with Japan, and the United States Navy musters its entire Pacific fleet (including its most modern warships) to stop him. The United States is determined to recover the Yamato by any means, even if it risks another war with Japan, while the Japanese government is divided as to how the events surrounding the Yamato will determine Japan's fate, and both governments remain unsure as to whether or not the Yamato is actually armed with nuclear missiles.

Shiro Kaieda (海江田四郎, Kaieda Shiro)
Portrayed by: Masane Tsukayama (Japanese); B.H. O'Neill (English)
Former captain of the diesel submarine Yamanami; later, selected as captain of the first Japanese nuclear submarine, Seabat. During the Seabat's test voyage with the U.S. Navy, he orders his crews to fire a sonar torpedo against the U.S. Navy submarines, disabling their sonar systems, and escapes from the area. Later, Kaieda declares that his submarine is an independent state and re-names it Yamato. His crew trust him implicitly, and he trusts them equally.

Hiroshi Fukamachi (深町洋, Fukamachi Hiroshi)
Portrayed by: Akio Otsuka (Japanese); Maurizio Peppicelli (English)
CO of the Japanese Diesel submarine Tatsunami; friend and rival of Kaieda. Kaieda and Fukamachi graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in the same year, and both were candidates for command of the new nuclear submarine Seabat. Considered reckless while Kaieda is considered careful and methodical and far more emotional, he tries to figure out what Kaieda is up to and what his ultimate goal is.

Eiji Yamanaka (山中栄治, Yamanaka Eiji)
Portrayed by: Mugihito (Japanese); Frank Frankson (English)
Executive Officer of the Yamato; he has worked with Kaieda for 10 years. The two trust each other's abilities.

Utsumi (内海)
Navigation Officer of the submarine Yamato.

Takuo Migoguchi (溝口拓男, Migoguchi Takuo)
Portrayed by: Hiroshi Naka (Japanese); Nick Sullivan (English)
Sonar Specialist of the Yamato.

Captain David Ryan
Portrayed by: Kan Tokumaru (Japanese); Robert L. Gorman (English)
U.S. Navy representative aboard the Seabat. When Kaieda seizes control, he is taken prisoner and held aboard the Yamato, although Kaieda allows him to move about the sub unrestrained.

Admiral Steiger
Portrayed by: Chikao Ohtsuka (Japanese); Raul Bayone (English)
Commander of the United States Navy's Pacific Forces

President Nicholas J. Bennett
Portrayed by: Toshiya Ueda (Japanese); Robert Jones (English)
Current President of the United States; he is determined that the United States remain the dominant world power.

The manga was first adapted as an anime television special by Sunrise, first released on video on December 18, 1995 and later broadcast on TBS on March 3, 1996. A two-episode original video animation (OVA) produced by Sunrise was released from September 25, 1997 to January 25, 1998.

In North America, Central Park Media's US Manga Corps dubbed the special, and released it on VHS on July 7, 1998. It was later released on DVD on January 9, 2001.