Every now and then some producer elects to honor the fallen by presenting a faithful representation of the event. God bless them for this honesty.

At 1:41 one may see that USS Keeling's hull number is 548. This is clever work by the movie continuity staff; DD-548 was one of a handful of Fletcher-class destroyer ordered but whose construction was cancelled (in 1940). Clearly in this alternate universe she has been completed.

11:25 - WOW!!! - I think I know a lot, didn't realize Merchant Marines had the worst casualties. THANK YOU SO MUCH - Your Presentation was MOST EXCELLENT.

This was a fantastic film, especially from the standpoint of a person who spent some time on a ship. The goodbyes, manning of the stations, communications (internal and between ships), and the efforts made to maintain ships routine; all true to. form. But then there were the things (for much of the film) that made your stomach knot. Like watching people executing their training as the world explodes; fighting their fears, responding like a machine to existential threats, then secure ... and quickly, methodically, prepare for the next jarring confrontation with the enemy. These are situations not often faced by most naval or merchant vessels on a sustained basis in peacetime. I am thankful for the sacrifices these forces made to protect the foundations of the world we enjoy today.

Fellow at work survived the North Atlantic convoys and up into the Russian ones as well. He said that the cargo you carried dictated how you slept. If you carried iron ore or were loaded with armoured vehicles below decks and on deck, you wedged your door to the cabin open, slept on the bunk with your lifejacket on and fully clothed prepared to abandon the ship. If you were hit, you would sink like a stone. If you had ammunition or other high explosives, you closed your door, climbed into your bunk and made peace with your Maker. If you were hit, you probably wouldn't know much about it. He said that many ships were refugees from the breaker's yards and so over loaded. He told of a heavy swell and watched the ship ahead climb the swell and go over. They climbed the swell and when they went over, there was not a sign of the other ship to be seen. It went over and just went straight to the bottom with the entire crew. On the Russian convoys, everyone off watch was breaking the ice off otherwise you would capsize. Didn't matter your cargo, you went to bed. If you got off the ship, you would freeze in the sea before they could rescue you. Brave men who brought the supplies over the seas to England.

Saw it; awesome film! I have had the privilege of touring the U-505 at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, which helps bring this home to me. I was not aware that many engagements between U-boats and DD’s were so up close and personal! This was practically hand-to-hand combat at sea-incredible!!

I believe the image on the radar screen with all the ships at around 13:50 was the convoy. Bottom part of radar shows the 2 to 3 U-Boats

Great review, what you’ve talked about matched what my Grandfather told me he went through during the war while being on destroyers escorting convoys across the North Atlantic. Thank you for your review!

In early 1942 convoys would have wished they’d have had air cover on the US coast. There wasn’t any. Which is why the U-boats were having a ball.

Watched it today, it was a great film and one of the best wartime Naval films ever. Good acting and lots of suspenseful action. It was a no BS film in the way of Hollywood casting, exaggeration and insulting moments of cheesy acting and dialogue. Tom Hanks did it again.

Totally just subbed and shared. I hope your channel blows up man. I'm so glad I found this. I'm a huge history geek but not nearly as knowledgeable as you. I just watched the movie and was curious as to what they got right. You should do a video on the whole movie! Maybe other movies like Fury. Thanks again for the good content!

Taking a risk sailing with Tom any time he gets near an ocean trouble looms large.

A convoy in early 1942 could only wish for an escort force as strong as depicted in this movie. The escorts were largely composed of British and Canadian ships with a smattering of Sims Class destroyers and Treasury-class cutters from the coast guard. The Treasury-class cutters were among the most effective US Escorts due to size range, sea keeping and decent speed.

My mates uncle was a merchant seaman sunk TWICE in the Atlantic convoys. He said the biggest worry was the huge timbers that were used to cover the holds. They were strapped down and when the ship descended deep enough the pressure would make the straps burst and these timbers would come to the surface like missiles and take anything with them. Just another thing to worry about other than the oil, the fire, the cold, the...............

Fun fact: ORP Piorun you mentioned was also involved in hunt for Bismarck, even briefly engaged it. By engaged i mean three salvos for a scare and taunting Germans by sending them a message "I am Polish" on open channels. Given the firepower differences it was suicidal, but to Poles, every opportunity to even show a middle finger to nazi oppressors is good.

The trailer was extremely misleading in the way it was edited together. The multiple blips on the radar screen towards the end is actually the convoy, with a single blip )cut out) to represent the U-Boat attacking. The PBY Catalina (?) does not broadcast to the Keeling at the beginning of the movie, but communicates using Morse code by blinking light. It also does not ask Hanks' captain Krausse how many passages he has under his belt. He does not say 'It's my first one' and doesn't get those looks from all his officers and bridge personnel. It's all overdone in the Trailer to sell the drama. The movie is much better and understated than the Trailer.

When I saw the trailer, I was pissed that they wrote it in as a boxed hull Fletcher i to 1942, but then I found out that they actually filmed on the Kidd.

Ahh, the USS Kidd! Im from the Baton Rouge area and was fortunate enough to work on a history channel documentary called 'Heavy Metal: Destroyers' in like 2003/4! Edit: We even got to reenact the potato incident! haha

The corvette in the movie was actually HMCS Sackville. My dad was on convoy duty in the Atlantic in the Canadian Navy. He was a radar tech on loan from the Royal Navy and spent his war years on corvettes, destroyers and destroyer escorts. Also took part in D Day escorting the battlewagons across the channel in the first wave.

It's the first time I see a good analysis of a movie. Thank you.

Troop ships, usually converted liners, sailed in separate, much higher speed convoys. They did not travel in slow merchant convoys.

My now deceased father-in-law served in the US Merchant Marine and racked up a rather large number of crossings during WWII. Had 5 boats shot out from under him - the last one on D-Day in the English Channel! I remember he told me he hated the slow convoys - through you were paid more than regular troops, you still had to sit like a duck out there with no real way to fight back. He said tankers were the worst because of the oil hazards after they went down. It sounds from Flashback's observations that Hanks tried to be somewhat true to those who supplied the front lines, and England during it's darkest hour. The crazy part about the US Merchant Marine was that it wasn't considered a regular service branch, and the guys had to fight to be recognized as real veterans. That happened just a week before he passed away.

Based on what I've heard and read, ultra close combat between destroyers and U-boats did not happen as often as the reviewer stated. "Multiple, multiple times", sounds like it happened often. I'm highly skeptical of this claim.

I hope this comes out on DVD soon

The Royal Navy prevented the naming of Pansy to any of their flower class corvettes

Of the U-boats, 519 were sunk by British, Canadian, or other allied forces, while 175 were destroyed by American forces; 15 were destroyed by the Soviets and 73 were scuttled by their crews before the end of the war for various reasons. The Battle of the Atlantic has been called the "longest, largest, and most complex" naval battle in history.

Congrats on your review, excellent! let me add that on those very heavy seas and rolling waves breaking on surface, visually spotting the tip of a periscope or getting the wake of an approaching torpedo, it is extremely difficult. Also, "active sonars detection ranges" from those old destroyers, and again, on that very rough sea condition, were really less than some few hundred yards...I wouldn't tell you about "passive detection", almost impossible on german subs at less than 6 kts. Great movie!!! (a submariner myself)

Man! This is gonna be an AWESOME movie! My family and friends are looking forward to it.

I see that the u.s. Navy uniforms were era specific

There is also a flower class corvette, the HMAS Diamantina preserved in Brisbane. :)

From the documentary I just watched, the O'Bannon crews did throw potatoes. The Japanese sub crew thought they were grenades and scrambled to throw them off. The time wasted kept them from prepping their guns, giving the O'Bannon a chance to peel off and bring their guns to bear.

1st comment: No U Boat Commander would send a signal taunting the escorts. They were highly disciplined and would not have risked revealing their position necessarily EVER. That part would be a Hollywood "context" device. 2nd: After Pearl Harbour, the US Navy almost completely withdrew from the North Atlantic and the lion's share of American escorts were US Coast Guard. This was primarily a Royal Navy battle, secondarily a Royal Canadian Navy battle and a tertiary USN battle. The USAAF likely made the greatest contribution to that victory, although the later USN Escort Carriers (and RN ones) sure made a big difference. 3rd: Battles sort of like this one really did happen, such as the one between HMCS Assiniboine (Some off-duty Stokers threw a case of empty Coca Cola bottles down the U Boat's hatch during that one).and U-210 and HMCS Oakville vs.U-94 where they literally fought it out on the deck of the U Boat with small arms. 4th: Any merchantmen faster than the escorts (REALLY fast convoy speed of 16 Knots in the Video) sailed alone, unescorted and booting it at full speed ... and that wasn't many of them. My father crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth in just over 3-1/2 days. Destroyers could make 30 knots plus but their fuel bunkers couldn't so the "slow" speed of a Corvette war largely irrelevant. They were a bit faster than a surfaced Type 7 U Boat. 5th. As the battle progressed, oil slicks were no longer considered to be confirmation of a kill. Neither was a bit of floating scrap, like wood. The U Boats jettisoned oil and things like life jackets, wooden cupboard doors etc. out torpedo tubes as a countermeasure feint. Even if your escort slowed down to take a look, the feint had succeeded. The real proof were floating human remains.

Excellent analysis! Nails every inaccuration on the movie. Congrats

Looking forward to this movie. I hope they do justice to the real workhorses of the convoy protection, the little Canadian Corvettes. I hope they follow this movie up with one about Captain Erwin and the USS Johnston in the Pacific, true courage.

I never knew the cost in terms of numbers and %s. I'd I'd no that it was extremely high and that there life in the boats was extremely short. In the early days of the war the U-boats were very humane in dealing with allied seamen in the water . By 1942 headquarters at Kiel had ordered no prisoners so they were killed in the water. Any notion of naval chivalry was gone, unlike the Lifts wafer which tried to continue to be like Knights of old. I think this was because Goering had been a pilot with the red baron and remembered the allies treatment of the Red Baron after his death. It is great to see a movie that tries to tone done the exaggeration that takes place in so many historical movies. Making historical movies as factually correct as possible can be rewarding in itself as we move away from the events in time. It depicts events as they were and can provide a great adjunct in bringing the events alive to students of history and the the military students who wish to learn from in field tactics and strategies used.

The book has the Polish destroyer being one of the ships that escaped from Gdynia in Sept 1939. ORP Piroun wasn't completed until a year later. More likely it was ORP Burza or one of the other pre-war Polish ships. (see Friday-mid-watch.)

Interesting that U-boats didn't use short-range radio to coordinate their attacks. The coordination worked quite well with tanks, as you can see in the movie, "Fury."

No mention of the US Navy Armed Guard sailors who were the gun crews assigned to the Liberty Ships and other Merchant Vessels. They also suffered high casualties . My dad was in the Armed Guard and did several crossings. His ship, the William D. Pender is mentioned in the book “Shadows on the Horizon” which is a true story about Convoy HX-233. Watched this movie and enjoyed it overall.

Nice video man

I seen the real footage and they copied some move for move so yea it’s dead on! Makes you feel like you there but without the danger! You get a great shot of Pilots perspective when they fly over the clouds that was amazing shot!

IIRC destroyers if faced with a U-boat close like that would make a hard turn in the other direction, which caused their ship to tilt and depress the side facing the U-boat and allow them to fire on it. The scene was also poorly filmed. The U-boat seems to teleport from the starboard stern (approx. the 5 o'clock position) to just off the starboard bow (1 o'clock). Even if the Keeling had turned so tightly and quickly, they would have had a firing angle on the U-boat

The film depicts a North Atlantic convoy heading east in February 1942 with a US Navy Destroyer in charge of the escorts. Firstly, in February 1942 were US Navy personnel wearing the helmets depicted? I would have thought that at this stage of WW11 they would have still been wearing WW1 style helmets. The helmets depicted I believe were not issued until later in 1942. The PBY Catalina flying boat insignia is also incorrect for February 1942. The star insignia would have had a white circle with a smaller red circle in the centre of the star. This insignia was also changed to the star depicted on the film's Catalina later in the war. While historical accuracy in films is important, the actions depicted in this film and the interaction between Tom Hanks as Greyhounds captain and the ship's crew are great.

Another point about the bunched submarines appearing on the radar screen: A Radar cannot see a ship behind a ship... but the screen shows some u-boots that are one behind the others...

Great info. Thanks. Needless to say, I am looking forward to your review of the movie itself.

To to hear that a mention of the losses of Merchant Marine Sailors (both American and British) where the largest in the war.

for some reason when the Catalina provides air cover in that one scene the roundels change from US to British halfway through the scene

Well the German torpedoes are WW1 type run on compressed air leaving a bubble trail. In WW2 they were all battery powered and later a few hydrogen peroxide in the type 21 & 24 U boats. These 7-C U boats were all battery powered, hence no bubble trail.

Awesome video thanks but how's does that cannon still work on a submarine when its been in salt water and such cold temperatures

Excellent quality commentary-- well-analyzed. Usually, we cringe a bit when a movie is scrupulously authentic but detectably animated, but Greyhound presents some really effective scenes. Year after year, latest digital rendering technology opens new areas for dramatic cinematic narrative. Massive battles become less the task of paying thousands of actor extras, and realistic uniforms and weapons are no longer difficult. Eventually, digital rendering will become too "realistic" to find any fault.

i want a pic of that X.O with a Thompson fire on the u-bout now

Very knowledgeable great work. I have seen the movie its great!

Corvettes only had to keep up the with the convoy, not destroyers moving at flank speed. Typically convoy speeds were as follows: Fast (HX) convoys 9-13 knots, Slow (SC) convoys, 4-7 knots.

it's sad that apple plus got their dirty little hands on it,,,,,now most of us can't enjoy this great movie...

The movie shows the wrong radar scope- it’s showing a positive trace Plan Position Indicator (PPIs). The first PPIs were not around until 44-45 and they were negative trace, a glowing green background and dark blips.

12:08 The German sub taunting Greyhound. FH discusses that the German radios couldn't talk to the escorts, but the real gaffe is even worse - the sub is submerged, presumedly talking on underwater telephone (Gertrude, WQC1) which was a postwar invention. There was no capability to talk between subs and surface ships during the war.

3 out of every 4, U Boot crew members were lost. Giving them the highest attrition rate of the war even higher than bomber crews.

The fact that the battle of the Atlantic was WW2’s most important fight,the most scientific fight & the longest fight should have been indicated by the show. As broadcasting radio signals could give away your location via triangulation,it would have been silly to do so so as to taunt & it was never done by German submariners. To be fair the show should have featured more on the Axis side of the fight.If you’ve seen the The Enemy Below movie,you should know why.

Dads convoy on Christmas 1943 had all British destroyers. No American warships at all. About 2 to 3 U boats shadowed or attacked the convoy most of the way across. Royal Navy got them on the western approaches. Most attacks were at dusk or evening.

to me this is U.S REPLAY of ' THE CRUEL SEA " -- but it is a good movie nonetheless !

A minor point I noticed during the movie - though not obvious during the trailer is that the Fletcher class destroyers had a very large operational range - 5500 miles at 15 knots. They were built for the Pacific war, where crossing large oceans was routine. The Greyhound having fuel problems crossing to England, even at higher speeds, I just don't buy. My father served on a Fletcher class, the USS Robinson, in the late 1950s. Another is that most convoy escorts would be Destroyer Escorts (or corvettes as the British called them.) Not as speedy, but there were a lot more of them. The movie has every defender of the convoy being a destroyer, though as pointed out in this review they did use a corvette for filming. All things considered, though, this is a great film.

German U boat crews had a 75% attrition rate that might be too low. Of course during the 1st happy time as the Germans called it they were briefly nearly untouchable of unfindable .

Congratulations tom Hanks, I've been watching the trailers. Wow exciting and a Great movie.

1942 was “Happy Times” for the U Boat fleet. This film is intended to present the life and death struggle of the Battle of the Atlanta in 2 hours. See the 19-20 year olds serving; how they look up to the captain and officers. Ships sinking in the night ? It’s not bone spurs to avoid serving.

The USS Buckley DE ( Destroyer Escort ) Also rammed into a U Boat . Her story became both book and movie " The Enemy Below " . The movie stars Robert Mitchum and Alan Hedison * . * later on changed his first name to David aka. David Hedison Captain Crain on the TV show " Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea " .

Really good video to match a really good move

Google Bedford Basin to see pictures of the convoys forming in Halifax Harbour before heading out into the Atlantic...

It is now 6/7/2021. When can we buy the dvd or blueray ?

i still haven't watched the full movie yet!

American PBY shown flying inbound to engage the sub. British roundels on the fuselage of the PBY that drops the depth charges on the sub. Anybody else catch this?

I didn't know the wolfpacks did not coordinate their attacks. Its probably the term "wolfpack" that brings to mind how an actual pack of wolves would coordinate an assault on their prey. You kind of just assume the U boats did the same.

Tbh, the major problem I really have with the movie is Tom Hanks himself, the man is 64 years old which is way to old for a LtCmdr and to command a Destroyer. Admiral Halsey was around 58 or 59 years old when the USA were attacked in Pearl Harbor. Also strange is that in his scene with Elizabeth Shue, where she gives him the tiny ship model, he isn't wearing any Medals on his Uniform. At his age and portraying a USN officer he would have been a WW1 veteran and at least should have had the ribbons of that conflict on his uniform.

When is the real movie going to be released in Canada

If you look closer that looks like a Battle Class destroyer.

I rather enjoyed the movie. However I found the anachronisms a bit annoying. That's just me though. I'll disagree that surface actions between escorts and U-boats were common. If a U-boat got caught on the surface they would dive immediately. They wouldn't risk a gun fight. Even against a corvette. Still, as a Canadian, it was nice to see our contribution acknowledged at least. We had the third largest navy in WWII, by ship count. Much of the convoy escorts were Canadian. Also nice to see the Battle of The Atlantic get a movie. Not nearly enough of those considering it was one of the most important battles of the war, and the most interesting.

Very good film.

I knew Hollywood was gonna start making naval warfare movies. You can thank battle 360 and w.o.w for that.

Didn’t the U boat captain taunt by using the U boat’s loud speaker and 👂 through the Ship’s sonar gear? (Not a radio)

No eagle sunk that ship in the middle at is HMS James code named Harry

Potatoes not apocryphal, the Germans thought they were hand grenades.

The piorun polish destroyer attacked the Bismarck firing all guns and torpedoes. Disengaged cause running out of fuel

Luckily that radar scene with the hoard of U-Boats was made for the trailer alone. It was not in the final film. Final film it was 6 boats from different directions descended upon the convoy at night, whilst they tracked them on the surface during the day.

Why are Class A uniforms being worn? Wouldn't the officers be wearing Class B uniforms at sea?

At 1:50 you rightly observe "this looks like an N-class destroyer". The photo in fact depicts HMS Nerissa, indeed an N-class destroyer which in fact became the Polish ORP Pieron - so this image is particularly appropriate.

This is just my opinion , the trailer said based on actual events !! At one point or another all that u see here actually happened in the Battle of the Atlantic , it doesn't say that this is based on the true event of a Destroyer , for all those out there critiquing this movie i hav to say the most haunting scene it's been the convoys being attacked and ship being torpedo and fairs going up as the camera pans back , this showed what they were up against !! 25 , 30 plus ship convoys in which 12 or more did not make it . i dont see any criticism of John Wayne movies , wit him as a Marine , marine pilot , a seabee , a navy capt , etc the war would hav been over in 2yrs . you wanna know bout the battle of the Atlantic , look at TV documentary The World at War the episode battle of the Atlantic . this is a action war movie

Audio of the film's bad..can't hear what they're saying.

correction, they did talk to home base and coradnate their attacks togather several u- boats working togather

I was disapointed. So many things I saw in the Movie that I was telling myself, "That never happened"....

The main problem is having a US Navy Captain in command of a transatlantic convoy in '42. At that time the US anti submarine capabilities were pitifully bad - to the point that the Royal Navy were sending ASDIC equipped Trawlers over to protect the Eastern seaboard. Add in the idiotic actions and attitude of Admiral King and. basically, the USN was unfit for anti-submarine escort in the North Atlantic. There is no way that the RN and the RCN would have allowed an untried USN captain to take charge of a convoy.

I enjoyed this movie. It was really "entertaining." That's what Hollywood (and the like) is about. If I wanted to see "accurate historical details," then I go watch "documentaries." So should you, perhaps.

you dont have to watch the whole 15min. the answer is: no, so the movie does.

great movie

A propos your comments (0:24 to 0:36) on the call signs: originally, actual codewords mattered less than clarity - "Eagle to George, and Harry to George, and Dicky to George. Those code names were an excellent choice. Four distinct vowel sounds, impossible to confuse even with serious distortion." Generally C.S. Forester's book uses a TBS (Talk Between Ships) code very similar to a smorgasbord of Naval Codes in use from the end of the nineteenth century, except that where the "HMCS Dodge" escort's call sign would be Duff, it became Dicky. Presumably at the time of writing Forester was mindful that "Duff" was a Bad Word in certain circles. As to the movie's usage, as you observe, by long tradition destroyers are commonly the "Greyhounds of the sea" (a phrase originally applied to sailing 'Clipper' ships). But my money would be on a different origin. The screenplay author surely had in mind the glorious anti-submarine exploits of HMS Greyhound in 1941, and G-class destroyers were very like the Mahan-class in specification. Similarly, when Alastair MacLean wrote of the ramming attack of HMS Ulysses upon the Admiral Hipper, he was thinking of the real-life HMS Glowworm's last moments. Regardless, while other escorts - Keeling, James, and Viktor - became George, Harry, and Eagle respectively, all of which were commonly used for clarity, the word "Greyhound" appears nowhere in 'The Good Shepherd', nor did it figure in any radiotelephony letter codes then in use. Neither did "Dicky". But it might have: the relief convoy escort leader is "Diamond", which also does not appear in conventional signal codes.

Totally brilliant movie, a must watch. One of the best action movies I have seen in over 40 years.

Nobody cares about technical details except war geeks and model ship geeks. It is about the characters and their struggle.

When the u-boat getting nearby to the ship Royal Navy : Shoot with rifle/gun US Navy : i'm gonna end this whole u-boat crews with potato

Artists ✈ Allah bless you Tom 🌹🌹🌹 BLM from Algeria

i appreciate the losses of the convoy crews. but the American bomber crews that attacked Germany from Britain also suffered staggering losses.

Very good movie. Some of the sighting reports from the lookouts were frustratingly wrong and the depth charge explosions are larger than normal but I loved the movie anyway.

11:11 Ironically and contrary to popular belief pretty much the safest place you could be in the US Armed forces was inside an M4 Sherman tank. US Amour had a 3% casualty rate.

Are you gonna watch it