Crash Dive

I thought I had seen every submarine movie there is, but the other day, as I was in the library, I came across an oldie that I not only had not seen but I had not even heard of it. That was 1943's “Crash Dive,” starring Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, and Dana Andrews. It has been reissued in DVD format, which is what I saw. The back cover of the box presented a blurb that piqued my interest, so I checked it out.

The movie was made with the cooperation of the US Navy and the Submarine Base in New London, CT. Cdr. M. K. Kirkpatrick, USN, was assigned to the movie as the technical advisor. Seeing that splashed on the screen during the opening moments of the film gave me the assurance that the movie would be good and true-to life. That assurance, however, was short-lived.

The first disappointment came in the opening scene of the movie in which Tyrone Power's character is the skipper of a PT boat, with the rank of Lieutenant. For those not familiar with Naval rank, that is the equivalent to a captain in the other services. In all the services it is the officer rank third from the bottom. A squadron of PT boats is somewhere when they discover a lifeboat filled with people. Lt. Ward Stewart (Power) peels off and as he begins boarding the survivors, a periscope is spotted off the starboard bow. The PT boat crew loads everybody back into the lifeboat and takes out after the submarine, which by now is diving. When they get to the approximate location of the dived submarine they drop some ashcans (depth charges) and Lt. Power returns to the lifeboat with a stupid grin on his face. There is no substantiating evidence to support the sub's sinking and in real life this just would not have happened. The movie then breaks to a newspaper headline proclaiming: “Torpedo Boat Sinks Enemy Sub!!” At least they didn't give any chest candy for that.

A few minutes later the movie moves to the Submarine Base in New London. There, one sees a company of recruits in formation, complete with guidon and two CPO drill instructors, marching along at right shoulder arms. As far as I know, New London never trained recruits.

Lt. Ward has received orders to report to New London and there finds his uncle, Rear Admiral Stewart. The Admiral congratulates Ward on the swell job of sinking the sub, to which Ward replies, “That U-boat never had a chance.” The upshot of all this is that the uncle has ordered Ward to submarine duty. Ward remonstrates that he doesn't like subs and much prefers PT boat duty. “They're the best,” he says. Uncle Admiral reminded him that's what he said about battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, all of which the young Lieutenant has served on. With that much experience in such a short career, he must have really been a loser — I mean, it's hard to pack a career into such a short life.

Lt. Ward's submarine, running submerged under wartime conditions, comes to periscope depth for a look-see at the surface ocean. The captain, played by Dana Andrews, brings the periscope up just enough to break the surface. Battle procedure would be to take a quick 360-degree sweep to ensure no enemy ships are nearby. Our illustrious skipper makes a 10-degree scan and raises the scope all the way. Then, paying half-attention, Captain Dewey Connors takes a leisurely rotation and 33 seconds later spots a ship. In the meantime, his periscope is cutting a wake large enough to surf on. He then looks, somewhat stunned, for another 12 seconds. It's another 30 seconds before the scope is lowered. Had the ship been a man-of-war (it was a Q-boat) the sub would have been under attack and fighting for its life.

The movie only gets worse as the sub, in another scene, sends two boat-loads of sailors to make a commando raid on a Nazi base. That's a real laugh. Sub sailors are good at sailing submarines, but most of them, especially of diesel boat days, wouldn't know how to spell commando let alone be one. Worse yet, there was no planning and no maps of the base or charts of the harbor. It would have been a suicide mission in real life, but in this flick only one man is killed — and he was going to die of a heart attack anyway. After the commandos are back on board, the sub attempts to escape the harbor. In making its exit, the sub is fired on by a shore battery, but only once. One has to wonder why.

The final infamy of this movie is the blatant propaganda typical of World War II government influence. The final litany given by Ward Stewart is a paean to the Navy, brilliant and truthful, but propaganda nonetheless.

If you are looking for an evening's amusement (which means “no thinking) this movie fits the bill. Submarine buffs will relish it only for the fact that it is a submarine movie. If you can, borrow a copy or check it out from the library: it certainly isn't worth spending a dollar on.