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Overdue and Presumed Lost is the 107th overall episode of JAG and the 22nd episode of Season 5.

Synopsis[]

The wreck of the submarine Dolphin, sunk on the eve of the attack on Pearl Harbor, is discovered near Hawaii by salvager Jack Riggins. With a reputation for desecrating wreck sites to make money off their contents, Riggins contends that he is searching for evidence that the Dolphin alerted Pacific Fleet command to the approach of the Japanese attack force, and the warning was ignored to assure the United States entry into World War II. To prevent Riggins from disturbing the war grave of the Dolphin's crew, Admiral Chegwidden squares off with him in court; he is allowed to join Riggins's salvage team as a legal observer. They recover the safe from the submarine's control room and find a written record of the warning message sent to the Pacific Fleet. Since there is no record of any receipt of the message, Chegwidden and Gunny Galindez search the National Archives until they find the message misfiled in a Panama Canal folder.

Meanwhile, Mac and Bud oppose each other on the case of a morbidly obese sailor who disobeyed orders to undergo physical training; Harm is relegated to handling the JAG budget request in Chegwidden's absence.

Notes[]

  • This episode was produced for the 100th anniversary of the United States submarine service; "overdue and presumed lost" was the epitaph of the nearly fifty submarines lost to enemy action during World War II. At the end of the episode, a dedication to U.S. Navy submarine sailors runs over a newsreel of a WWII-era fleet submarine running on the surface.
  • The actual U.S.S. Dolphin (SS-169) was moored at Pearl Harbor on the morning of the Japanese attack and returned fire to the enemy aircraft. She thereafter served with the Pacific submarine force through most of World War II until returning to the East Coast to become a training submarine.
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