The initial premise of the movie, that the nearly-new U.S.S. Sea Tiger was sunk pierside at Cavite on 10 December 1941, then hastily repaired, is based on fact. A nearly-new American submarine was indeed sunk pierside at Cavite on 10 December 1941. Unfortunately, the real-life submarine could not be repaired in time, and had to be blown up. Her name was U.S.S. Sea Lion (SS-195).

Operation Petticoat was filmed at the US Naval Base in Key West Fla. They actually did paint a submarine pink. I was attending the Fleet Sonar School on the base at the time and watched with great interest. The submarine used was the U.S.S. Balao (SS-285), which was still in commission at the time.