History Film / Greyhound

The film recounts the story of Commander Ernest Krause (Hanks), commanding officer of the destroyer USS ''Keeling'' DD-548 (radio callsign GREYHOUND) on the first escort mission of his career, in charge of convoy HX 25. As the ships enter the dread Mid-Atlantic gap (aka "The Black Pit") that Allied air forces don't have the range to cover, a U-boat wolfpack finds them. Krause's destroyers are now the only protection available until the convoy can reach safety within Britain's air range. An arduous three days sailing while under constant attack lies ahead.

* AdaptationalNationality: In the original novel, escort ship EAGLE was a Polish destroyer, manned by an entirely Polish crew, that had a single British liaison officer onboard for ease of communication.[[note]] Which is actually TruthInTelevision, a handful of Polish Destroyers did manage to escape the German Invasion and reach Britain, where they were pressed into service by the Royal Navy.[[/note]] In the film however, EAGLE is an entirely British ship as seen by the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of other ships]]. EAGLE's caption, which is shown twice over the course of the film, has the title of British destroyer above her name.

** GREYHOUND is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher-class_destroyer Fletcher-class destroyer]] [[note]] Production used the museum ship USS ''Kidd'', one of the few surviving ships of the class and the only one still in her WWII configuration.[[/note]], the first of which was still under construction at the time the film takes place and wouldn’t enter service until June 1942. She also has the squared bridge of later ''Fletcher''s, which wouldn’t be seen until well into 1943.

*** Another similar engagement took place on April 22, 1944 when the destroyer escort USS ''Buckley'' and U-66. The two vessels rammed eachother, after which the Germans boarded the American ship. The Americans held them with bare fists, wrenches, coffee cups, and whatever else was handy (one German was knocked overboard with a thrown 3-inch shell casing) while weapons were brought up from the small arms locker. The fistfight turned to a firefight in the Americans' favor, and grenades were thrown into the conning tower of the U-boat from the deck of the DE. U-66 sank shortly afterwards, while ''Buckley'' limped home with dents in her hull, a bent prop shaft, and 36 prisoners.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: There are four escort ships in the convoy but, on screen GREYHOUND is the only one to sink any of the attacking German subs and does so on multiple occasions. However, [[HeroOfAnotherStory background radio chatter in some scenes states that the other escorts do engage U-boats when in range.].

** GREYHOUND is a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletcher-class_destroyer Fletcher-class destroyer]] [[note]] Production used the museum ship USS ''Kidd'', one of the few surviving ships of the class and the only still in her WWII configuration.[[/note]], the first of which was still under construction at the time the film takes place and wouldn’t enter service until June 1942. She also has the squared bridge of later ''Fletcher''s, which wouldn’t be seen until well into 1943.

* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: There are four escort ships in the convoy but, on screen GREYHOUND is the only one to sink any of the attacking German subs, and does so on multiple occasions. However, [[HeroOfAnotherStory the three other escorts are occasionally seen engaging U-boats in the distance and report hits and kills over the radio, and are confirmed at the end to have racked up three more]].
* MoreDakka: The sheer amount of fire that GREYHOUND can put down on a single target is pretty impressive for a Destroyer. Fletcher Class Destroyers had five rapid-firing 5-inch (127mm) guns, up to six 40mm Bofors mounts (totaling anywhere from six to twenty guns), multiple 20mm and .50 caliber mounts, in addition to torpedoes and dedicated ASW weapons. When focused onto a single surfaced U-Boat, this amount of firepower easily overpowers said submarine, and they don't tend to last very long.

* DarknessEqualsDeath: Although they do attack during the day, the Wolfpack prefer to strike at night when they're less likely to be spotted on the surface.

* NoseArt: The Wolfpack all have sigils painted on the conning tower, specifically a wolf for ''Grey Wolf''. The Coastal Command Catalina has artwork on its depth bombs.

* RidingIntoTheSunset: The escorts [[spoiler:minus Eagle]] end up doing a nautical version of this at the end when they are relieved by fresh escort squadron of the northern Irish coast and ordered to rest and refit at HMNB Londonderry.

* TheVoice: The captains of the other escort ships (and the head U-boat captain) are often heard over the radio, and their ships are seen, but they never appear in person.

* WarIsHell: The convoy has a tough time enduring U-boat wolf pack attacks that could strike from any angle at any time in the Black Pit, and there are casualties.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: In the original novel, escort ship HARRY was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette Flower-class Corvette]] JUST like DICKY. In the film, HARRY was changed into a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal-class_destroyer_(1936) Tribal-class Destroyer]] and is even referred to as a British Destroyer in the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of the other ships]].

* AdaptationalNationality: In the original novel, escort ship ''Eagle'' was a Polish destroyer, manned by an entirely Polish crew, that had a single British liaison officer onboard for ease of communication.[[note]] Which is actually TruthInTelevision, a handful of Polish Destroyers did manage to escape the German Invasion and reach Britain, where they were pressed into service by the Royal Navy.[[/note]] In the film however, ''Eagle'' is an entirely British ship as seen by the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of other ships]]. ''Eagle'''s caption, which is shown twice over the course of the film, has the title of British destroyer above her name.

** Krause's ship is a ''Fletcher''-class destroyer (production used the museum ship USS ''Kidd'', a decorated WWII destroyer), the first of which had only just begun construction at the time the film takes place and wouldn’t join the fleet until the fall of 1942. She also has the squared bridge of later ''Fletcher''s, which wouldn’t be seen until well into 1943.

* YouDontLookLikeYou: In the original novel, escort ship ''Harry'' was a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower-class_corvette Flower-class Corvette]] like ''Dicky''. In the film, ''Harry'' was changed into a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribal-class_destroyer_(1936) Tribal-class Destroyer]] and is even referred to as a British Destroyer in the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of the other ships]].

** Also applies to the Air support that arrives in the end. In the book, the PBY is stated to be American when they notice that the flying boat has stars on its wings.[[note]] Although the book never specifies which US service branch it belongs to.[[/note]] Whereas the markings of the PBY model used in the film, clearly shows that it belongs to British RAF Coastal Command.

** Also applies to the Air support that arrives in the end. In the book, the PBY is stated to be American when they notice that the flying boat has the stars and stripes on its side. Whereas the markings of the PBY model used in the film, clearly shows that it belongs to British RAF Coastal Command.

* AdaptationalNationality: In the original novel, escort ship ''Eagle'' was a Polish destroyer, manned by an entirely Polish crew, that had a single British liaison officer onboard for ease of communication.[[note]] Which is actually TruthInTelevision, a handful of Polish Destroyers did manage to escape the German Invasion and reach Britain, where they were pressed into service by the Royal Navy.[[/note]] In the film however, ''Eagle'' is an entirely British ship as seen by the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of other ships]]. ''Eagle'''s caption, which is shown twice over the course of the film, has the title of British destroyer underneath her name.

* AdaptationalNationality: In the original novel, escort ship ''Eagle'' was a Polish destroyer, manned by an entirely Polish crew, that had a single British liaison officer onboard for ease of communication.[[note]] Which is actually TruthInTelevision, a handful of Polish Destroyers did manage to escape the German Invasion and reach Britain, where they were pressed into service by the Royal Navy.[[/note]] In the film however, ''Eagle'' is an entirely British ship as seen by the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of other ships]], ''Eagle'''s caption, which is shown twice over the course of the film, has the title of British destroyer underneath her name.

* AdaptationalNationality: The escort ship ''Eagle'' is referred to as a British Destroyer in the [[BossSubtitles captions showing the names of other ships]] twice during the film. Whereas in the original novel, ''Eagle'' was a Polish destroyer, manned by an entirely Polish crew, that had a single British liaison officer onboard for ease of communication.

* AmericaSavesTheDay: Averted despite the film being set on an American Destroyer. The film features destroyers, corvettes, and subchasers of multiple nationalities, including British and Canadian. The Flying Boats used for Convoy Escort Duty are marked appropriately, including an RAF PBY towards the end. Although GREYHOUND [[spoiler: manages to sink two U-boats unassisted, a third sunk with the help of DICKIE[[note]] which forced the U-Boat up with depth charges[[/note]], and the final U-Boat was sunk by an RAF PBY which GREYHOUND marked by shooting at its position.]]

* MultinationalTeam: As expected from the Western Allies, the escorts consist of an American destroyer (GREYHOUND), a Canadian corvette (DICKIE), a British destroyer (HARRY) and a Polish destroyer (EAGLE). The convoy itself is even more diverse, including one Greek ship.

* MultinationalTeam: As expected from the Western Allies, the escorts consist of an American destroyer (GREYHOUND), a Canadian corvette (DICKIE), and two British destroyers (HARRY) and (EAGLE). The convoy itself is even more diverse, including one Greek ship.

** Krause frequently gives the "Meet Her" command, which is rarely heard in works set on ships. The command is for the helm to use the rudder to check the swing of the ship without steadying onto a specfic course (in that case, the order would be the often-heard "Steady as she goes").

** Morse light are frequently used to communicate between ships, and merchant ships that take torpedo hits fire off distress rocket signals.
** The U-boats operate in a fairly realistic manner. They run on the surface (where they can run their Diesel engines for greater speed) at night as well as in heavy seas where they are less likely to show up on radar. They not only attack on the surface at night, but also try to do so from inside the convoy, so that any return fire from the escorts or armed merchant ships risks hitting friendly ships downrange. The U-boat that DICKIE forces to surface not only employs this tactic against the Canadian ship and GREYHOUND, but also is close enough that neither escort is able to depress their guns low enough to hit, while the Germans are able to essentially take free shots at both with their own deck gun.

** The U-Boat/destroyer duel. Even though this seems unrealistic due to that a destroyer would outgun a submarine, destroyer-vs-submarine duels actually did occur on one or two real-life occasions. The movie's duel, while based on an event in the book, seems to have been inspired by a real-life clash on November 1st, 1943 between the ''USS Borie'' and ''U-405'', in which the ''Borie'' tried to ram the U-Boat when a wave caused it's bow to come down on top of the U-boat, which trapped both ships. The U-boat was too close for the destroyer's guns, so the crew members had to use rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns to return fire, resulting in the sinking of ''U-405'', while the ''Borie'' was badly damaged and scuttled the following day.
*** And there was also a similar duel between ''HMCS Assiniboine'' (escorting Convoy SC 94) and ''U-210'' on the 6th August, 1942.

*** NO U-Boat in the Kriegsmarine would have been caught dead taunting an enemy destroyer even if they HAD such radios. That was TemptingFate in a massive way even in the framework of the movie, and any ''Alte'' that was stupid enough to do it probably would have been launched out of one of his own torpedo tubes.

* DueToTheDead: During an engagement with a U-boat, GREYHOUND takes a hit from the sub's deck gun. Later, Commander Krause is informed three of his crew were killed. Since they don't have room to carry bodies for any length of time, he orders an immediate burial at sea. The three bodies are draped in American flags as the crew gathers on deck, the ship slows to a stop, the bell is rung and one by one the names are read and the bodies are dropped overboard accompanied by a [[TwentyOneGunSalute rifle volley salute]]. The event is marred slightly when the body of Mess Mate George Cleveland, Krause's personal steward, gets caught on the flag, and has to be shaken loose.

* DueToTheDead: During an engagement with a U-boat, GREYHOUND takes a hit from the sub's deck gun. Later, Commander Krause is informed three of his crew were killed. Since they don't have room to carry bodies for any length of time, he orders an immediate burial at sea. The three bodies are draped in American flags as the crew gathers on deck, the ship slows to a stop, the bell is rung and one by one the names are read and the bodies are dropped overboard accompanied by a TwentyOneGunSalute. The event is marred slightly when the body of Mess Mate George Cleveland, Krause's personal steward, gets caught on the flag, and has to be shaken loose.

* ArtisticLicenseShips: Krause's ship is a ''Fletcher''-class destroyer (production used the museum ship USS ''Kidd'', a decorated WWII destroyer), the first of which had only just begun construction at the time the film takes place and wouldn’t join the fleet until the fall of 1942. She also has the squared bridge of later ''Fletcher''s, which wouldn’t be seen until well into 1943.

The film recounts the story of Commander Ernest Krause (Hanks), commanding officer of the destroyer USS ''Keeling'' (radio callsign GREYHOUND) on the first escort mission of his career, in charge of convoy HX 25. As the ships enter the dread Mid-Atlantic gap (aka "The Black Pit") that Allied air forces don't have the range to cover, a U-boat wolfpack finds them. Krause's destroyers are now the only protection available until the convoy can reach safety within Britain's air range. An arduous three days sailing while under constant attack lies ahead.