The Last Ship

The Last Ship (2014)

10 factual errors in season 2 - chronological order

(2 votes)

Unreal City - S2-E1

Factual error: In the scene where the crew is taking back the ship, a crewman sticks his head out of a door and right in the middle of the shot is some piping. It looks cool until you realize it is a PVC ball valve. Plastic piping is not used on US warships.

Solace - S2-E4

Factual error: The depth gauge on the Royal Navy submarine shows depths in American English 'meters' instead of British English 'metres'. Since British submarines are British-built and use British equipment, this would never happen.

Necrothesp

Solace - S2-E4

Factual error: The dead Royal Navy submarine captain wears a beret. British submarine captains still wear the traditional submarine captain's white-topped peaked cap if they wear headgear at all. His cap badge also features the king's crown, which has not been worn since George VI's death in 1952, instead of the current queen's crown.

Necrothesp

Solace - S2-E4

Factual error: The Royal Australian Navy special forces operator Wolf Taylor is a 'senior chief'. There is no such rank as senior chief petty officer in the RAN. The two most senior non-commissioned ranks are chief petty officer and warrant officer (the latter a non-commissioned rank and not the same as an American WO).

Necrothesp

Achilles - S2-E5

Factual error: 1. Why wasn't Prairie/Masker operating all the time they knew a sub was out there? That's SOP for the US Navy. 2. Spearfish torpedoes are homing torpedoes. They wouldn't just shoot by on each side of the ship, but if they did, they'd turn around and pursue their target until they ran out of fuel. 3. Why didn't the ship employ countermeasures when the sub launched torpedoes? A noisemaker, a nixie - Navy ships don't just cross their fingers and hope the torpedoes miss.

Achilles - S2-E5

Factual error: Sean, a member of the Royal Navy, refers to one of his own officers as a "Lootenant"; no British serviceman would ever use this American pronunciation, we pronounce it "Leftenant".

Necrothesp

Achilles - S2-E5

Factual error: Sean says he was the coxswain on HMS Achilles. However, in the previous episode's flashback to the beginning of the red flu outbreak when Achilles was still in operation he was shown wearing lieutenant's rank insignia. The coxswain is the senior rating aboard a Royal Navy submarine and holds the rank of chief petty officer or warrant officer; he is certainly not a commissioned officer.

Necrothesp

Achilles - S2-E5

Factual error: Astute class submarines do not carry ballistic missiles, much less 26 of them. (An Ohio-class, by comparison, carries 24).

Valkyrie - S2-E11

Factual error: In scenes from the oil rig there are shots that show the shore line. This oil rig is supposed to be offshore of Louisiana. However, mountains can be seen in the shots of the shoreline. There are no mountains in Louisiana.

A More Perfect Union - S2-E13

Factual error: The ship sails up the Mississippi river to St Louis. It needs a minimum water depth of 31ft of water. The water depth at St Louis is approx 20ft, so it would run aground. The ship needs 55 meters to clear the mast. Interstate 255 bridge south of St Louis is a fixed bridge with only 27 meters of clearance above the river, so the ship could not pass. Note that New Orleans is the port for Ocean going ships with depths to 200 ft.

Dave Henk

Achilles - S2-E5

Factual error: 1. Why wasn't Prairie/Masker operating all the time they knew a sub was out there? That's SOP for the US Navy. 2. Spearfish torpedoes are homing torpedoes. They wouldn't just shoot by on each side of the ship, but if they did, they'd turn around and pursue their target until they ran out of fuel. 3. Why didn't the ship employ countermeasures when the sub launched torpedoes? A noisemaker, a nixie - Navy ships don't just cross their fingers and hope the torpedoes miss.

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