keithhallam Reviews

Ghostboat (2006 TV Movie)

First episode of Ghost Boat on Sunday 9 April 2006 at 2100 hrs.

[8/10 · 9 April 2006]

This is not really a spoiler but it is a negative comment. I enjoyed the first episode of this TV movie. However, as a submariner of some 17 years it annoyed me that such a simple goof could be committed and not picked up by the Naval Adviser, surely not a submariner! As the character Cassidy enters he hears a comment about increasing the battery charging rate and advises against it as this will cause chlorine gas to be generated and kill the crew by poisoning. This is entirely untrue. Hydrogen gas will be generated. It would only kill the crew if it ignited and blew up. Every submariner knows that chlorine gas will only be generated if salt water gets into the battery and reacts with the battery acid. This was always the fear of submariners when the boat was damaged and sea water was coming in. Keith Hallam, Blackpool.

Das Boot (1981)

Reality

[10/10 · 16 September 2005]

I spent 17 years of my life in Royal Navy submarines. 'T' class, 'A' class and 'R' class. Das Boot is the only submarine movie that shows exactly how it was. It could be a documentary. Bouncing around in the Bay of Biscay with the sea too rough to be able to dive safely and get away from it. 'Goffers' pouring down the conning tower and the control room deck ankle deep in the green stuff. Going down backwards at 500ft and you know there is 10,000ft below you, with seawater pouring in through a burst cooling pipe and one main motor out of action. Existing for two weeks on kai or oxo because your stomach is rebelling against the elements. Laying in your bunk in ultra quiet routine with the sweat just dribbling down. When the sweat starts to dribble upwards you know it's a cockroach crawling up your body. And that Klaxon. 'Hunt for Red October', 'Crimson Tide'. They are just adventure films.