# Crash Dive

Crash Dive is a World War II film in Technicolor released in 1943. It was directed by Archie Mayo, written by Jo Swerling (from a story by W.R. Burnett), and starred Tyrone Power, Dana Andrews, and Anne Baxter. The film was the last for Power before assignment to recruit training, as he had already enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.

## Plot

Lieutenant Ward Stewart, commanding a PT boat, sinks a U-boat, saving a lifeboat full of survivors. But upon his return to port, he is transferred to the submarine USS Corsair. For Ward, this is a letdown, but there is a shortage of trained submarine officers that must be filled. So for now, Ward Stewart is an underwater warrior. At the submarine base in New London, Connecticut, he meets his new captain, Dewey Connors. It is a tense, uneasy encounter, as Stewart's lack of enthusiasm is undisguised. Before the Corsair sails on a mission, Ward takes a weekend train, bound for Washington D.C., where he encounters New London school teacher Jean Hewlett and her students. Despite her initial resistance, he charms her and they fall in love.
Stewart's infatuation with PT boats continues to irritate Connors, but the two become friends after they engage a Nazi Q-ship. When Connors is wounded, Stewart takes command and sinks the ship. After their return to base, Stewart quietly discovers that Connors is also in love with Jean. He has delayed marrying her until his promotion to commander comes through. This will allow him to support her financially. Thus, tension between Stewart and Connors re-emerges after the latter returns from a briefing in Washington with that coveted promotion, only to discover that Stewart and Jean are engaged. But the two submariners' personal animosity must take a back seat to the war. The DC briefing, it turns out, had involved a secret island supply base for German raiders like the Q-ship sunk earlier. Connors has now been tasked with locating and destroying it. Thus, the Corsair soon sails, as Jean sadly observes from just offshore.
The search for the secret base results in the sighting of a German coastal tanker. Rather than sinking it, however, Connors and crew follow the tanker through a harbor's anti-submarine net. Having found their quarry, a landing party of 8, commanded by Stewart, is put ashore. They are to destroy as many German munitions as possible in 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the Corsair will sink every ship it can in the harbor. Among the members of Stewart's landing party are Chief Mac MacDonnell and Messman Oliver Jones. The Chief has concealed a heart condition from the Navy and Jones has quietly assisted him. Both know the Chief's ruse will be exposed at his next physical. And though the raid is a great success, MacDonnell makes the ultimate sacrifice while covering the escape of Stewart and Jones from a squad of German riflemen. As soon as the two complete their swim to the boat, Connors submerges and puts out to sea, despite being wounded by enemy fire. In the end, Connors and Stewart make peace. And after the Corsair returns to New London, Stewart and Jean are married.

## Cast

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):
| Actor | Role |
| Tyrone Power | Lt. Ward Stewart |
| Anne Baxter | Jean Hewlett |
| Dana Andrews | Lt. Cdr. Dewey Connors |
| James Gleason | Chief Mike "Mac" McDonnell |
| Dame May Whitty | Grandmother |
| Harry Morgan | Lt. J.G. "Brownie" Brown |
| Ben Carter | Oliver Cromwell Jones |

## Background

Part of the film was shot at Submarine Base New London, Connecticut. A few naval combatants rarely seen in Technicolor are visible in the early part of the film. The PT boats seen near the beginning are the 77-foot Elco type. The submarine primarily featured as Corsair was the experimental USS Marlin, with a conning tower modified to resemble her sister USS Mackerel. A few O-class and R-class submarines, built in World War I and used for training in World War II, are visible in the background of some shots. For wartime security reasons, no submarine classes used in combat in World War II appear in the film. USS Semmes is seen in one shot; there are probably not many good Technicolor views of a four-stack destroyer available today. Semmes was being used as a sonar testbed at the time.
One of the scenes in the film was similar to that in Destination Tokyo (1943) starring Cary Grant, where the submarines follow an enemy tanker into their naval base through a minefield. Another similar plot device was in the 1954 film Hell and High Water about an island base to be used to launch a Tupolev Tu-4, a copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, in U.S. markings for an sneak atomic bomb attack.
One interesting feature of the film is the significant role of African-American actor Ben Carter as messman Oliver Cromwell Jones. While most World War II films (particularly those made during the war) feature few, if any, African-American characters, Crash Dive is a notable exception. Although Carter plays a stereotypical role as a low ranking sailor (at that time, Blacks could only serve as cooks and messmen), his character is more developed than most African-American characters of the time by being shown to be a confidant to a higher ranking crew member. Jones (Ben Carter) also participates in a commando raid late in the film.
It is possible portions of the film were inspired by the actions of the Greenland Patrol, a U.S. Coast Guard unit which patrolled the waters off Greenland, looking for Nazi weather stations and submarines. One such weather station was captured in June, 1941, which among other things impeded accurate German weather forecasting. Its personnel were taken to Boston and interned. The incident was classified at the time because the United States was not at war with Germany. But after Pearl Harbor, this information was released to the American public.

## Awards

Fred Sersen and Roger Heman Sr. won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 16th Academy Awards.