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At 46:18, the captain says to make torpedo tubes 1 and 4 fully ready. When they're fired, they use torpedo tubes 2 and 4. See more...

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Quentin Tarantino did uncredited script work on this film. See more...

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Crimson Tide (1995) - 15 corrections

Directed by Tony Scott, starring Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Viggo Mortensen (add more)

Genres: Action, Drama, Thriller

Comments made in brackets are corrections from other visitors. To submit your own corrections for mistakes, just click "edit" under an entry, then choose "correct entry". You can also submit corrections for corrections, if you think a mistake has been unfairly removed.

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The cook who was killed is well beyond the Navy's weight standards. He should never have been on the boat to begin with. [Because he was a chief, he can get away with being over weight. I served with plenty of fat chiefs on the boat.]
Edit Corrected by d_chaney80
I have been in some stressful situations on board, but I don't believe I ever heard "holy shit sir" on the 21 MC like the sonar sup does here. [In times of extreme stress, people can and do say things that are not appropriate or required, even without realizing they said it. That you've never heard it personally doesn't mean it could never happen.]
Edit Corrected by GalahadFairlight
In one scene Denzel Washington says that the last time American went to DEFCON three was during the Cuban Missile Crisis (which occurred in 1962). They apparently didn't look far enough forward in the history books. In October 1973 when Egyptian and Syrian forces launched a surprise attack on Israel, America upgraded to DEFCON three because of fears that the Soviets may also intervene. [Character mistake by Commander Hunter, one that was not caught (or at least, not corrected publically) by the Captain.]
Edit Corrected by Twotall
Dougherty and Weps argue on the bus about who starred in the submarine warfare movie 'The Enemy Below.' Dougherty was correct, in was Curt Jurgens. Dougherty was wrong, though, about the star of the movie 'Run Silent Run Deep.' It was Clark Gable, not Cary Grant. [Not really trivia. More of a character mistake.]
Edit Corrected by Mister Ed
In submarine movies the interior set is normally larger than life, to allow the movement of crew and equipment. But in Crimson Tide, the Alabama is WAY to big on the inside. In real life, the captain can stand by the periscope and tap the diving officer on the shoulder without moving his feet, whereas Gene Hackman had to walk a great distance to talk to George Dzundza. [On the Ohio class submarines the periscope platform is about 10 feet from the Diving Officers chair, so the Captian can not "tap the Diving Officer with out moving his feet". The movie is correct in that case.]
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In one scene, Captain Ramsey threatens to shoot Weaps if he doesn't open the safe that contains the tactical firing trigger. Then he says it does him no good to kill Weaps, as he's the only one who knows the combination to the safe. It is unlikely that only one person knows the combination: what if that person had died in the galley fire or drowned in the bilge bay? The crew is left with a safe that can't be opened. [Saying something is unlikely does not constitute a mistake, besides your mistake is more opinion than fact. Whether or not someone in the crew should know the combination or not doesn't seem too important. At the time Ramsey was intent on firing the missile and this might have been the quickest and only route that was available to him. Besides, it was the firing trigger, not the oxygen supplies. I think if something happened to him they would at least be able to go on.]
Edit Corrected by Lummie
In the scene where Gene Hackman regains command of the Alabama, he tells his loyal officers to inform their men personally that he is again in command of the ship. As soon as they turn around to go back to their stations, Gene Hackman picks up the intercom and tells the entire ship that he is again in command. So why did he want his men to do it, if he was going to do it himself? [He makes an intercom announcement which he then wants his officers to *personally* communicate otherwise it may not be believed.]
Edit Corrected by Joshua Skains
When Gene Hackman does the drill right after the fire, his crew gets the codes out of a container marked "training" or "drill" or something of that nature. When the real EAM comes through and they get the codes out of the safe, they grab the training codes instead of the real ones. [They grab the "launch" authenticator during the real EAM. It's the one on the right. The "drill" authenticators are on the left. They definitely grab the right codes for each occasion.]
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SSBN's (boomers) are too valuable to go out on patrol alone. They are ALWAYS accompanied by an attack sub whose job it is to "sanitize" the boomer's area of operation of unfriendly subs. [US boomers (especially the Trident/Ohios) are way quieter than the Russian SSNs. In fact the Ohios have only been tracked a few times by the Russian subs. The Ohios are also known as the Black Holes of the ocean because their noise is even lower than the natural backgound noise. So the Ohios doesn't need escorts.]
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U.S. Submariners do not salute underway because military protocol stipulates that saluting does not occur indoors. [However, a ship, either above decks or below, is considered outdoors, and you will salute regardless.]
Edit
When the men are attempting to repair the radio, one of the men is talking on a Navy phone set which requires you to push in a button on the handset. He is pushing in the button in most scenes but in one particular scene he is holding handset between his shoulder and ear while working with both hands. [In the scene where he is holding the handset with his shoulder, he talks with Hunter who is downstairs somewhere. This is not the same radio he talks to the bridge with.]
Edit
There is no way a dog would ever be allowed on a US nuclear sub and would definitely not be allowed to relieve itself in one of the main areas. I know quite a few men in the Navy who are not very fond of that. [This was addressed early in the movie. We are told that Gene Hackman's character is one of the few contemporary sub captains with combat experience. For that reason, the Navy "looked the other way" when it came to the dog.]
Edit
Using 10 nukes (at least) to destroy a base seems a tremendous overkill. A couple of standard missiles or bombs would do the job perfectly. [It would take alot more then a couple of "standard" missiles or bombs to destroy an entire nuclear missile base. This would require a intense air raid against the base, and given that the Russian renegades were already fueling the missiles, there would not have been time for such a raid.]
Edit
the Alabama is shown diving underwater with a long cable attached in two scenes, long before the scene of the launch of radio beacon happens (when winch cable gets cut and cable remains dangling...) [That would be the towed array sonar cable.]
Edit Corrected by Grumpy Scot
Why is it that all Submarine movies have the obligatory flooding scene, yet no one ever does the math on how much force it takes to close a hatch after the compartment is flooded. In the scene in question there is flooding in what is known as the "Snake Pit" on submarines. The sailor tries to save his buddy but finally has to close the hatch when his shipmate cannot get out in time. Unfortunately, everyone should die because of this error. Mathematically the hatch, which on my sub was 28" is too big to be able to close against sea pressure, Area of a circle is: pi times r squared so; 28/2 = 14, 14 squared = 196, 196 times 3.1416 (pi) = 615 sq.in. Sea pressure at 100 feet is 44 pounds per square inch so 44 times 615 inches is 27,060 pounds of force on the underside of that hatch. Divided by 2000 pounds per ton means that that sailor, who successfully closed that hatch in the movie, must have weighed over 13.5 tons. [The pressure calculation should be done on the opening of the hole in the hull, not the opening of the hatch. The pressure at the hatch can only be as high as the pressure at the hole in the hull. There would still have been air in the compartment he was in, and that would absorb some of the pressure.]
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