Down Periscope

Lieutenant Martin Pascal (Rob Schneider) and Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer)

Plot

Lt. Cmdr Tom Dodge (Kelsey Grammer) is one of the Navy's best, even if he is a bit unconventional. But to take command of his own ship, he must first prove himself in simulated combat. Dodge is shocked when he's put in command of the rusty and outdated USS Stingray. His crew consists of the Navy's worst misfits and troublemakers. And to add salt to an open wound, Dodge's old rival, Adml. Graham (Bruce Dern), will be supervising the opposing team, the crew of the more-up-to-code USS Orlando. Dodge must now prove that he and his crew are up to the challenge... Written by jwhale9382

Errors and Explanations - Internet Movie Database

Continuity

1. When Cmdr. Dodge sends Jackson up the periscope to mount the drop light, the roll of duct tape is in Dodge's hand when Jackson is climbing, yet in the next view Jackson has the tape. Jackson must have caught it when Dodge threw it up.
2. The hatch through which the admiral enters the Orlando isn't closed before they submerge. It was probably fully closed by the time they dived.
3. When the Stingray is taken for its dive test, the tube ready board shows tubes 1 and 2 ready to fire. The tubes are not loaded until the end of the movie. Probably done to ensure they were operational and ready for use.
4. In the opening scene when Captain Knox gets up out of his chair to congratulate Dodge on his promotion, Dodge is clearly seen folding up his orders to shake Knox's hand. As he turns to walk out of the Captain's cabin, the orders are unfolded in his hand again. He probably wants to read them again, just to make sure they are genuine.

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers)

1. Throughout the movie enlisted personnel are addressed as "Mister". This form of address is only used for commissioned officers of the rank of Lieutenant and below, and warrant officers. Enlisted persons are addressed by their last name. As stated throughout the movie, Dodge is not one for sticking to the rules. Indeed, Admiral Winslow specifically told Dodge 'Damn it to hell! Don't go by the book. Think like a pirate.' during the initial briefing.
2. In one of the scenes, the Executive Officer calls LCDR Dodge "Commander". This would probably not have been, as LCDR Dodge was the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Boat, his correct title would have been "Skipper" or "Captain". In fact, not addressing the CO by "Skipper" or "Captain" can be found insulting or disrespectful by the CO. Dodge is probably willing to let that pass because of his euphoria at getting a command, at least to begin with.
3. When Knox rejects the possibility that a Diesel-powered contact could be a submarine, he ignores the fact that the US Navy is the only navy in the world with an all-nuclear submarine fleet and frequently exercises with allied navies. Presumably Knox would be aware if any such vessels were due to be in the area during the exercise.

Factual errors

1. During the chase leading to the Stingray firing its torpedoes, the Orlando follows the Stingray to the surface. An LA class submarine would not surface in those conditions. The sub is faster and its sonar detection gear works much better submerged. Surfacing would actually make the Orlando's job more difficult. Knox presumably believes he will still retain enough of an advantage over the Stingray.
2. Both the SS-number and the name are inaccurate for this design of submarine. The true SS-161 was a 4th-group 'S'-class boat (originally numbered as the 'S-50') built in 1920-21, and had been scrapped by 1932. The true 'USS Stingray' was a 'Salmon'-class submarine with the number SS-186. It was constructed in 1937-38, served and survived WWII, and was scrapped in 1946. Both the name and number could have been specially reassigned.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs

1. The helicopter used to transport Admiral Grant around has an emblem on it that some misinterpreted as an Air Force emblem, when in fact it is used by all services.
2. RAdm. Yancy Graham says, "He's gone AWOL with U.S. government property". AWOL, Absent With Out Leave is Army terminology. The Naval term is UA, which is Unauthorized Absence. (IMDB) The producers felt the audience would recognize the meaning of "AWOL" but not "UA".

Plot holes

• Lt. Cmdr. Dodge has had a bizarre career, as rank is concerned, in the Navy. He is clearly a mustang (non commissioned officer who, after an OCS course, receives a commission), as after 20 years (according to his conversation with Cmdr. Knox) he is only a Lieutenant Commander (equivalent to a Major in ground/air forces). Despite this, he appears to be approximately the same age as Cmdr. Knox - who perhaps is another mustang. On top of that, although "the Murmansk brushing incident" is stated to be both three years ago and while he was an ensign as well as an (understandable) obstacle to promotion, he has been promoted three times in as many years since - clearly somewhat faster than the average officer should expect promotion. As stated in the Corrections subsection for this film's entry on www.moviemistakes.com, Dodge gained 'A' tattoo after the Murmansk incident - possibly in addition to the one he got as an ensign.

Movie Mistakes

Corrections

1. When the Admirals are going over Dodge's FitRep, Admiral Graham states that Dodge received his tattoo as an ensign. However it is also stated in other scenes that it happened after the Murmansk incident three years ago. One does not go from ensign to Lt. Commander in only three years. Commander Dodge only says that after the Mermansk brushing incident he got "a" tattoo. He could easily have more than one. Corrected by LorgSkyegon
2. Near the end of the movie, the Stingray surfaces to run on top as it approaches the target ship. At some point afterwards, Dodge decides to take a shot at the ship with two torpedoes. Dodge is using the periscope to get the range, etc. to the target, and then fires the torpedoes. First, wouldn't they be on the bridge (outside) if they were running on the surface? And second, wouldn't the torpedoes be running near the surface of the water if they had been fired from a sub that was on the surface, instead of what appears to be deep water? In both cases it appears as if the Stingray were submerged when they fired the torpedoes, not running on top as it showed prior to firing the torpedoes. No order was given to "dive" before this series of events. First, it is a character choice on Dodge's part not to go topside. The time and confusion created by the move would probably not be worth the advantages (if any) of changing locations. Second, even though the Stingray is running on the surface, at least four of her six forward torpedo tubes are still submerged. Therefore, torpedoes fired underwater make perfect sense. In addition, if they were fired in "deep water" the torpedoes would pass under the target ship. Corrected by Guy
3. In the scene when Pascal is being made to walk the plank, Lake seems surprised that he fell onto a fishing boat. Given her position on deck, she should have seen that the boat saw moored along side. When we see the shot from on the deck, we as an audience cannot see the tiny ship, so it would stand to reason that she couldn't either from her position. Also, she may have just arrived on deck, as she might not have necessarily been out there the whole time. Corrected by Jazetopher
4. When they're at the bottom of the ocean running silent, look behind Jackson. The gauge reads 17ft salt water depth to keel. That can't be if they're at the bottom. On a Balao class submarine the planes station has two depth indicators. The "shallow" goes to 160 feet and is used for fine control near the surface. The "deep" goes much deeper. When the boat is deeper than 150 feet, the "shallow" gauge is isolated and vented to prevent damage. Image at: http://www.maritime.org/fleetsub/img/fig14-1.jpg The shallow gauge could be reading 17 feet with the boat much deeper.
5. Stan Sylvesterson is talking to Jackson about Jackson playing in a basketball game against the Army. If Jackson played basketball for the Navy, he would have been at the Academy thus making him an officer by now and not enlisted. Being at the Academy doesn't mean he passed. There is a 30% failure and dropout rate, after all.
6. The Stingray, the diesel sub in the movie, is supposed to be the SS-161 Stingray and is even painted as such. The real Stingray was SS-186 Decommissioned, 17 October 1945, at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA.; Struck from the Naval Register, 3 July 1946; Final Disposition, sold for scrapping in 1947. Source: http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08186.htm Nice piece of Trivia but since the actual Stingray no longer exists, they had to use the closest thing available. If they tried to say they used the actual Stingray, then it would be a mistake. But since they didn't, this is only historical trivia.
7. When Stapanak gets to the engine room you can see that the rocker arms are not moving, But yet they are moving fast up to the tanker. When underwater Diesel/Electric Subs secure the diesel engines and run on their batteries and electric motors. Since the diesel engines are shut down, one would not expect the rocker arms to be moving.
8. Captain Dodge, rather than talk to Admiral Graham over the radio, won a radio call-in contest. However, a ship's radio operates on a different set of frequencies than cellular phones, which was presumably the mistake made. Besides, the radio was manufactured, presumably, for the 1958 refit - it would not have had the electronics to be carried as a cell phone conversation. The 'radio call-in' contest is not really taking place, as shown by Dodge's statement just after the "We just won free tickets ..." was said, which is, "Nitro, you want to get me Admiral Graham now?" He is just messing with Nitro's head.
9. In the shot where Marty Pascal gets blown off the deck by the hose: when he falls into the water you can see two heads bobbing next to the hull. The first mission of the crew of the Stingray was to get her back into shape. They had to to clean and repair the whole submarine. It is entirely likely the two crew members were in the water working on the hull.
10. The salute that Stepanek gives his father is incorrect. A proper U.S. military salute does not show the back of the hand; it shows it palm-down, angled slightly to the temple. Stepanek spends most of the movie deliberately flouting regulations and customs trying to get thrown out of the Navy. Thus, he hasn't had enough practice to get the salute right. He is doing his best. (I was in the Army for eight years. It does take quite a bit of practice to give a perfect salute without thinking about it.) Corrected by Grumpy Scot
11. During the beginning of the movie, Dodge is referred to as Captain by both of the admirals. When 'Captain' Dodge is meeting his crew for the first time, he introduces himself to his XO as 'Lt. Commander Dodge'. At the end of the movie, the 3-star Admiral addresses Dodge as 'Commander Dodge'. To the best of my knowledge, Lt. Commander, Commander and Captain are three different ranks. The Admirals are addressing Dodge as the captain of a ship, not a Captain in rank (in the US Navy, all ship commanders are referred to as captain, no matter what their rank). And while it is true that Lt. Commander and Commander are different ranks, the title "commander" is interchangeable (as is the practice of calling a Lt. Colonel "colonel"). Corrected by Bruce
12. When Capt. Dodge enters the Vice Admiral's office at the beginning of the movie, he salutes. Navy sailors do not salute indoors or uncovered. When first reporting to a duty station or when summoned to a superior's office, a salute indoors is appropriate. Corrected by Grumpy Scot
13. This movie appears to take place in 1996. The first production Seawolf-class submarine was launched in 1998. COs are usually assigned as part of a pre-comissioning crew, so it not unlikely that Dodge would have found himself being posted to a vessel still in build.