Other mistake: After the sub attack, Mac informs Rock that he graduated from the Naval Academy in 1939. That would make him around 25 in 1941. The actor playing Mac was nearly 40. No competent officer would still be a Lt. JG at that age.
Factual error: When Commander Eddington is being released from the brig into Captain Torrey's custody, the person manning the desk has an armband that says MP, and the captain calls him "sergeant" but the sign on the front of the desk says "US Navy" and the sign on the front of the building says "Shore Patrol." The man at the desk should have been wearing an SP armband, and Captain Torrey should have addressed him by a Naval enlisted rank. (00:36:14)
Suggested correction: The "Sargent" at the desk is a Marine. Marines ran the Navy brigs.
In 1967, I was a Navy seaman assigned to what was known as HASP (Hawaiian Armed Service Police). We had all services assigned. I believe the commander at that time was an Army Colonel. Not sure if Shore Patrol was later called HASP. I actually was the person to take and remove people from the cells: turn key.
Continuity mistake: After USS Cassidy joins Torrey's group, Mac is on the bridge conversing with another officer, and the "Swayback" is visible on the port quarter. A submarine contact is made at 020/2000 yards which would be even further to starboard, and the Cassidy prosecutes the contact. Then the "Swayback" gets hit with two torpedoes on the PORT side.
Factual error: Not one Navy uniform has the placement of Officer's rank insignia on the collar correct, especially the single bar for Ensigns and JGs. They are all too far up. Insignia are not centered in the collar point, but placed about a thumb's width distance from the point.
Revealing mistake: During the attack on Pearl Harbor, we see a sailor cut the stern line so the destroyer can get underway. But the bow line is still attached as the ship is supposedly moving off.
Factual error: During the attack on Pearl Harbor, the destroyer Cassidy's aft 5-inch guns are moving, but they never fire.
Factual error: When Kirk Douglas is at the morgue to identify his wife's body, he asks the attendant about the man she was brought in with. The attendant replies, "The Army Air Force claimed the body this morning." Unlike Britain, the United States had no Air Force until 1947. A correct reply would have been "The Army..." or "The Army Air Corps..."
