Goofs

(at around 1h 17 mins) When Cmdr. Dodge looks through the periscope before surfacing for the final attack, he says that the low clouds will hide them from aircraft. But once they surface, all the action takes place under clear blue skies.

In the promotion board meeting, Dodge's tattoo was said to be acquired when he was an ensign. In two later conversations with Lt. Lake, Dodge said it was after the Murmansk Brushing Incident.

(at around 36 mins) 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.

(at around 25 mins) 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.

(at around 1h 5 mins) The hatch through which the admiral enters the Orlando isn't closed before they submerge.

Throughout the movie, the team members erroneously refer to enemy targets as "bogeys". A bogey is an unidentified target; once it has been identified as hostile, then it is referred to as a "bandit."

(at around 1h 17 mins) Near the end, when the Stingray is making the run on Norfolk, Dodge surfaces to run faster. This is correct for a diesel submarine. Admiral Graham surfaces the USS Orlando, presumably for the same reason. However, a Los Angeles class submarine, like all nuclear submarines, can actually run faster submerged. When comparing the specs, the Balao class USS Stingray's top speed would be 20.25 knots on the surface, but the Los Angeles class USS Orlando's top speed is quoted as 20 knots on the surface. If the Orlando could close on the Stingray at all, it wouldn't be nearly as quickly as shown.

As an officer, and actually acting executive officer, Lt. Lake would not march with the men in the final formation. She would march alone, behind and to the right of the Captain.

The Navy wouldn't dare fire live torpedoes within Norfolk Harbor, an active base. If any live ordnance was to be used it would be done far out at sea.

(at around 1h 19 mins) The Diesels on the Balao class boats did not connect directly, or through a transmission, to the screws. Rather, they powered generators, which charged batteries, ran the electric motors (which did power the screws) or both. Therefore, thinning the fuel-air mix, as CPO Howard does by adding whiskey in the final chase sequence, would not affect the RPMs available to the screws, even if it did slightly increase the power being generated by the engines.

(at around 1h 4 mins) 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. However the producers felt the audience would recognize the meaning of "AWOL" but not "UA".

(at around 1h 5 mins) The helicopter used to transport Admiral Graham around has an emblem on it that some misinterpreted as an Air Force emblem, when in fact it is used by all services.

When they first learn of the approach of the nuclear sub, Dodge orders the diesel engines shut off and then orders them to surface. Diesel subs run on battery power while submerged. There is not enough air to run a diesel engine underwater ... unless the submarine is fitted with a snorkel (which the Balao class didn't have), and even then they could only run at periscope depth.

(at around 26 mins) During the initial dive of the SS-161 Stingray, the sub is tilted due to an air pocket. When viewing cast during this scene, some are angled the same as the ship, indication that the only thing tilted was the camera.

During the surface chase at the end of the run, water spray from the helicopter being used as camera platform can be seen blowing over both submarines.

(at around 1h 21 mins) During the final chase, the Stingray is moving very quickly to try and stay ahead of the Orlando. In the view through the periscope, the Stingray is obviously not moving.

The captain's name is Tom Dodge, as heard in the movie and in the final credits. On the cover for the VHS and DVD, however, he is referred to as John Dodge.

When Officer Pascal is forced to walk plank, Lieutenant Lake is -as the audience- surprised and relieved when Pascal falls on the fishermen's net. However, the fishing trawler should be clearly visible for her, as she is standing right next to the conning tower and meters from with the boat is, so her reaction doesn't make sense.

At the end, Captain Dodge puts his arms around Lt. Lake, which would be highly discouraged while in uniform and on base.

The film was partially shot at the mothball fleet in Benicia, California. The closing credits misspells the town's name as "Benecia".

Through out the movie, name tags, ribbons and awards are incorrectly applied to the uniforms, randomly.

(at around 37 mins) When Capt. Dodge says "That's the Army song" his mouth stays closed.

When attacking Norfolk, Virginia, mountains can clearly be seen in the background. This region of Virginia has no visible mountains. As seen in the Filming Locations these hills are in the San Francisco Bay Area.

(at around 2 mins) The golf course at the Naval Submarine Base of Groton, CT is north, or past, the sub base when coming in from Long Island Sound. The USS Orlando would have to have gone past the base and turned around in the narrow Thames River in order for the boat to be facing south and Lt. Cmdr. to take his golf shot aft of the sail.

Lt. Cmdr. Dodge has had a bizarre career, as rank is concerned, in the Navy. He is clearly a mustang (noncommissioned 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, "the Murmansk brushing incident" is stated to be both three years ago and while he was an ensign. It is also mentioned as an (understandable) obstacle to promotion, but Dodge has been promoted three grades in as many years since - clearly somewhat faster than the average officer should expect promotion.

Though it was a condition of the exercise, the Stingray could have still won the battle had it been targeted (with a shooting solution). In real life, all the Stingray would have to do is to get it's torpedoes out of its tubes BEFORE it is completely destroyed by an incoming torpedo from the Orlando. It would still take time for the Orlando to destroy the Stingray once it was acquired with a shooting solution, as the Stingray could have counter measures to delay its destruction.

Although played for laughs, when Officer Pascal is made to walk the plank he is seen genuinely terrified about Dodge really throwing him overboard. Mock executions are serious criminal offenses in the military and considered a form of psychological torture. Once word had spread about Dodge's walk the plank stunt, he would have been, at the very least, denied a promotion and be criminally charged upon return to port, if not dishonorably discharged from the Navy. Even considering that Pascal is disliked and Dodge isn't, there is at least one superior officer (Admiral Graham) who despises him and knows about the incident, and would very easily destroy Dodge's career.

At the end during the chase, there is absolutely no reason for either submarine to surface, as surfacing causes the sub to lose speed, having to contend with wind resistance and water drag. If the Stingray surfaced, the Orlando should have remained submerged in order to catch up with them.

(at around 55 mins) When Capt. Dodge returns to his cabin and says, "Live to fight another day," after the sub has bottomed, a microphone is visible moving near his knee.

Just after the scene where Admiral Graham gets in the helicopter to join the hunt, there is a scene between Capt. Dodge and Lt. Emily Lake where the boom microphone can be seen by Lt. Lake's leg.

(at around 6 mins) When LCDR Dodge initially meets VADM Winslow, he salutes. Naval personnel do not salute when indoors and uncovered.

(at around 19 mins) In one of the scenes, the Executive Officer calls LCDR Dodge "Commander". While the "Lieutenant" modifier is often omitted from lieutenant commander (or lieutenant colonel, for that matter), this is considered insulting in context, as LCDR Dodge was the Commanding Officer (CO) of the Boat, his correct title would have been "Skipper" or "Captain".

(at around 34 mins) 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 that DO run diesel electric subs (Like Australia, for example, who has NO nuclear powered vessels at all). Something else to remember is that nuclear reactors must have pumps to constantly supply coolant, and run a steam turbine to create power, and these all generate noise that, while it can be minimized, can't be eliminated. Diesel electrics on the other hand, while submerged and stationary, are COMPLETELY silent, and without active sonar are almost impossible to detect by another sub (unless the crew make some detectable noise).

For the majority of the film, Lake is seen wearing an Officer's Surface Warfare Insignia. At the end, she has an Officer's Submarine Warfare Insignia. Both of those insignia can (and should) be worn on the uniform. The one for your primary warfare area (in this case submarines) above the ribbons, and the secondary warfare area below the ribbons on the pocket flap.

At the end of the movie when the crew come out from the submarine in their dress uniforms, Lieutenant Lake is wearing white platform Mary Janes, but Naval dress shoes are white pumps.