Crimson Tide

Factual error: Throughout the combat sequences with the Russian submarine, both the enemy sub and the missiles exchanged between the USS Alabama and the Russian sub are shown as blips on a radar scope. In real life, sonar displays look much different and resemble a "waterfall" pattern that trained sonar specialists can read.

Continuity mistake: In the scene where the "Alabama" dives, what we see isn't a ballistic missile-carrying submarine (SSBN), but an attack sub (SSN); actually more than just one, since the masts and periscopes keep going up and down in different shots. It seems that the navy wasn't too willing to cooperate in the production of a film depicting a mutiny onboard a nuclear sub, so the shots were "stolen" from a helicopter in the vicinity of some navy base.

Jack the Rigger

Revealing mistake: After the XO orders all stop, we see a close-up of the ship's yoke being pulled back. The next wide shot shows the interior as the bow of the sub is rising, and just before this shot ends, note the console that the man with headphones is working at. A pair of crewmembers cross paths in the foreground, then the entire console wobbles, proving it isn't attached to the floor at all. (01:09:00)

johnrosa

Hunter: Chief of the Boat.
Chief of the Boat: Sir?
Hunter: Thank you, COB.
Chief of the Boat: Thank you? Fuck you! Get it straight Mr Hunter, I'm not on your side. Now you could be wrong! But wrong or right, the Captain can't just replace you at will. That was completely improper! And that's why I did what I did. By the book.
Hunter: I thank you anyway.

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Question: The disagreement between Hunter and Ramsey centers on the interpretation of the message that got cut off - Hunter says it might be a recall order so it has to be verified before they launch missiles; Ramsey says it is meaningless because it got cut off, so they should proceed with their original orders. I do understand that the captain was working within a scary time limit (one hour till the Russians could fire their missiles), but I don't understand how anyone could justify not spending part of that hour trying to confirm the cut-off message. Naval command would hardly have radioed them again to say "Yes, we really want you to fire your missiles, we're just telling you again for emphasis," so that means it was not just possible but extremely likely that the cut-off message was a recall order. Given that, how could anyone in their right mind want to cause a nuclear holocaust without first trying to find out what the cut-off message really said?

Answer: In a war situation, the Captain is absolutely NOT allowed to try and contact anyone, lest it gives their position away, which is why he was unable to question or confirm the order.

GalahadFairlight

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