MovieChat Forums > Operation Pacific (1951) Discussion > Anyone know what submarine(s) are/were s...

Anyone know what submarine(s) are/were shown?

posted 12 years ago by muvphreek
10 replies | jump to latest

I've always wondered where the action and external shots of Thunderfish came from.
Is it just one sub or many? Sure would like to know.

Muvphreek

[–] syncopatedrhythm 12 years ago

You can't really tell which sub it was, but it was a Gato/Balao class sub. Most all US WW2 subs were Gato class. A bunch of Balaos were made near the end of the war, but they are almost externally identical to a Gato just beefed up for deeper diving and such. I know one thing for sure though, Thunder is an impossible name, all US boats were named after kinds of fish.

[–] Eric-1226 12 years ago

Thunder is an impossible name, all US boats were named after kinds of fish.

Actually, the sub in this film was not named Thunder but "Thunderfish" which, though it is a fictitious name, actually adheres to the U.S. Navy's naming convention of that time period, which was to name U.S. submarines after fish species.

So while "Thunderfish" is a fictitious name (i.e. there was no actual sub with such a name, nor is there an actual species of fish named "thunderfish"), the sub's name in the film did at least honor the fish-species naming convention then in place for U.S. Navy submarines. It's just that they did it in a sort of *fictional* sort of way, if that makes any sense. lol

[–] pt100 12 years ago

Probably more than one, but they were likely just scale models. The bow got pretty messed up when they rammed the armed Japanese merchant ship, and there were also a lot of machine-gun bullet holes, so that was probably a second boat in addition to the undamaged one--but probably just a model that was just a piece of boat for the close-up shot.

Everything except the really long shot was probably just a model/set. And in the long shot, you couldn't really make out any individuals, so that was probably just stock footage of a real submarine cruising along.

Btw, this film was loosely based on the true stories of the USS Angler (SS-240) and Growler (SS-215). Both were Gato-class boats.

[–] muvphreek 11 years ago

Would you be OK with me posting that last bit of data on the Operation Pacific file under TRIVIA? If not, could you post it?

[–] pt100 11 years ago

Sure, use it however you wish.

[–] pt100 11 years ago

I've been away for a while, but I just posted a couple of links in a new thread titled "Based on a true story". The links detail the actions of Growler's captain, Lt. Commander Howard Gilmore, on its fourth patrol. Gilmore received the Congressional Medal of Honor (posthumously) for his selfless actions that saved the boat and crew.

[–] MuVePhreek 10 years ago

Hi pt100. I've been out of it for a while as well.

I just wanted to say that the theme of a commander or other officer making the ultimate sacrifice to save his boat and crew mates is not new in submarine pictures. The way Hollywood would have you see it, they were all "supermen" because the submarine fleet was practically winning the war in the Pacific single handed.

But, Hollywood being Hollywood, the US Army, the rest of the US Navy and especially the USMC were also winning the war with little or no help, according to them. There's also all lot of "supermen" in those pictures, too.

I have a keen interest in the movies depicting WWII action in all TO's as the real events occurred in the years preceding my birth in 1946. So those events shaped the world I was born into. I hardly knew what war was as I started Kindergarten in 1952 before age 6. My father was too old (37) in December, 1941, and he was also working in a defense job; he was a shop foreman at the Crane Company in San Francisco, which made plumbing parts for Liberty Ships. My brother, 11 years my senior, enlisted in the Navy in 1952 and had several deployments aboard the USS Oriskany (Big O) during Korea. Funny thing... there's a scene in the Bridges at Toko-Ri where a couple of sailors are fighting on the dock. In the background, is the Big O and my brother leaning on the rail watching the filming with a couple dozen of his shipmates. (BTW: Big O is now an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida panhandle.)

Anyway, hope you are well and keep up the correspondence!

Muvphreek, Original Baby Boomer

[–] pt100 10 years ago

Hi Muvphreek/Ted Parker,

Welcome back, and thanks for the additional anecdotal info. You predate me by four years (I was born in 1950). The submarine crews surely weren't superhuman, but they were responsible for 55% of all the Japanese merchant shipping losses in WWII. Here's an interesting link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allied_submarines_in_the_Pacific_War

It is better to be kind than to be clever or good looking. -- Derek

[–] MuVePhreek 10 years ago

Thanks, pt100, for the welcome.

I am familiar with this link and most of the others on that site. I've spent many hours poring through the fascinating information.

Be good; and if you can't be good, at least be CAREFUL!

[–] muvphreek 11 years ago

I checked out Growler and Angler on Wikipedia. I was happy to see that durng her 10th War Patrol (August-September 1944), she saw service as leader of a wolf pack which included Sealion (SS-315) and Pampanito (SS-383).

I was fortunate enough to be able to actually board and tour Pampanito as she lay at anchor at the San Francisco Maritime Museum. I'm not sure of the year, but I know it was before she was towed to Norfolk, VA, to become the USS Stingray for the movie Down Periscope with Kelsey Grammer and Lauren Holley. It sure was tight quarters, especially for me at 6'3" & just under 300#!

So thanks again for putting me onto this tidbit.