mdwalker

Character mistake: Early in the movie, a flight deck officer tells Mickey Rooney to hurry up, and Rooney replies, "Very well, sir," which is major breach of Naval etiquette. (Officers say "very well" to enlisted personnel, but an enlisted man NEVER says "very well" to an officer.).

mdwalker

Factual error: At the end of the movie, when the astronauts debark from the helicopter and are surrounded by the crew of the U.S.S. Iwo Jima, there are a number of junior enlisted men wearing combination caps. (The type worn by Chief Petty Officers and commissioned officers.) That they are junior enlisted men is obvious by the rank insignia on their left sleeves and by the silver USN and Eagle emblem on their caps. (Chief's caps have a large gold and silver anchor insignia, and officer's caps have a large gold officer's crest.) The U.S. Navy did, for a few years, replace the junior enlisted men's traditional white hat with the combination cap, but the change was not announced until 1972, two years after the Apollo 13 mission, and the Navy reverted to white hats in 1983, twelve years before the movie was made.

mdwalker