Tom Hanks may star as WW2 CO of destroyer in "Greyhound" movie

[FSTO]

Just watched it. HMCS SACKVILLE in her Western Approaches paint scheme has a cameo.

 

[garb811]

Trailer is out.  Movie comes out on June 12.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyzxu26-Wqk&fbclid=IwAR3NpV_w1XtiHnTCumldGCxGSjwmj7_S6JnCxC3lkq6XMyYTWxZTOR9-iP0

Watched the trailer, hard no.

 

[Dale Denton]

I know USN had Flower-class Corvettes, but did they have blue camo paintjobs too?

 

[dimsum]

Just watched it. HMCS SACKVILLE in her Western Approaches paint scheme has a cameo.

I know that Hollywood can play fast and loose with history, but did the USN, RN, and RCN ever escort convoys together?

 

[OldSolduer]

I know that Hollywood can play fast and loose with history, but did the USN, RN, and RCN ever escort convoys together?

I seem to remember from books I read many years ago about convoy duties on the Atlantic that the RCN would escort part way then hand off to the RN.
But I have been known to be wrong - not often mind you - but it has happened. ;D

 

[kkwd]

The movie is based on the CS Forester novel "The Good Shepherd". Hanks wrote the screenplay.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

I know that Hollywood can play fast and loose with history, but did the USN, RN, and RCN ever escort convoys together?

My understanding is yes they did, but I don't think on the cross Atlantic runs, but certainly the ones from the Caribbean to Halifax

 

[Oldgateboatdriver]

OK. I would qualify all that as pure American drivel (and from the quality of the trailer, I am staying miles away from that movie - puko-rama, if you know what I mean).

There were twelve escort groups (at a time) in the Atlantic to fight the Battle of the Atlantic. they were referred to by the identity of the country commanding the group. They were, respectively, B1 to B8, British groups; C1 to C5, Canadian groups; and, A3, American group (why it bore number 3, I have no idea, but there never were groups A1 or A2).

However, the American group was never full of American warships, so it had RCN and RN ships making up about 30% of its composition at all time, and no British or Canadian group ever had more than 10% of American units within them. Moreover, the Americans did NOT send destroyers to the escort groups.  The American contribution to escorts was made up, for the largest part, of US Coast Guard cutters, which were not much better than corvettes even if somewhat larger, and of destroyer escorts, which were in reality  British River class frigates built under license in the US.

In 1942, American warships fighting U-boats would not have known their port from their starboard yet, so fresh to the fight were they. It changed about a year later, but in 1942, they were worse than the Canadians.

By early 1944, the American group (A3) had been disbanded and replaced by the Canadian C5 group (The Barber pole squadron), while the remaining British groups (B2 to B8) were made up of about 65% of  Canadian warships, while the Canadian groups were basically filed with about 85% Canadian warships. The Escort work had become Canadian, while the British and the few American warships concentrated on providing the Support groups (four of them), which were not assigned to nay convoys but roamed the Atlantic and either supported escort groups under sustained attacks or freely attacked and prosecuted to the maximum extent any concentration of U-boat they found.

The Atlantic U-boat war on the water was always a purely British/Canadian undertaking. The American greatest contribution was in providing air cover and escort carriers, not surface escort ships.

And BTW, the USN never had any  Flower class corvettes, but the British and the Canadians did use a white/powder blue camo scheme on the North Atlantic escort ships, but not the Americans to my knowledge.

 

[mariomike]

Dad was an Engine Room Artificer Apprentice. ART - APP in the RCN during the war.

He was on HMCS Fundy, Ungava, Lockport and Fort Erie. He said sometimes the survivors they picked up outnumbered the crew.
They went in to New York and Boston on escort duty.

Not sure if the Triangle Run is mentioned in the movie?

 

[Jarnhamar]

Trailer seems to do a good job making the wolf packs look spooky.

Did some reading about them, I had no idea some wolf packs were 20+ subs at a time.

 

[Lumber]

Tom hanks is 63 years old...

Even the saltiest old sea-dog commanders pulled out from retirement to meet the emerging demand for command positions on a rapidly expanding navy would still have probably been only.... what? 35 years old?

 

[mariomike]

Tom hanks is 63 years old...

They have cameras can fix that now. Reference: "The Irishman".

 

[Blackadder1916]

Tom hanks is 63 years old...

Even the saltiest old sea-dog commanders pulled out from retirement to meet the emerging demand for command positions on a rapidly expanding navy would still have probably been only.... what? 35 years old?

Such is Hollywood.

But to put it into some perspective.  It is a work of fiction.  The screenplay (written by Tom Hanks) is based on the 1955 novel "The Good Shepherd" by C.S. Forester (author of Horatio Hornblower books, The African Queen, etc).  A description of the book -

https://www.fadedpage.com/showbook.php?pid=20181187

Forester’s novel is on a par with Nicholas Monsarrat’s “The Cruel Sea”and D. A. Rayner’s “The Long Haul.” It follows the course of a convoy of freighters and tankers as it encounters a u-boat wolf pack in the western approaches to Great Britain. Forester’s central character is George Krause, an American destroyer commander in his mid-40s who is in command of the convoy’s four-ship escort. Krause is a professional sailor who has been at sea for thirteen years in a twenty-year career, and who is encountering naval combat for the first time. Krause is a religious man, and his thinking is studded with biblical references, but the references are all highly descriptive of his situation. They are integral to his character. He is a very competent leader without much charisma, but his stern commitment to duty, a feature also reflected in the biblical allusions, is compelling.

Forester's book is in the public domain in Canada and is available for download in various formats at the link above.


The first paragraph of Chapter II

Wednesday. Forenoon Watch: 0800-1200

THERE were nearly two thousand men in the convoy; there were over eight
hundred in the four destroyers and escort vessels that guarded it. Expressing
uselessly values quite immeasurable, three thousand lives and property worth
fifty million dollars were in the charge of Commander George Krause of the
United States Navy, age forty-two, height five feet nine, weight one hundred
and fifty-five pounds, complexion medium, color of eyes gray; and he was not
only escort commander but captain of the destroyer Keeling of the Mahan class
of fifteen hundred tons displacement, commissioned in 1938.

And a later passage that indicates the mixed composition of (Forester's) escort group.  (I did a word find on the pdf and "Canadian" is used 14 times).

There was a further consideration that might have influenced Krause; it
might have influenced him but it did not. He was handling his ship, so to
speak, under the eyes of the battle-hardened crews of the Polish destroyer and
the British and Canadian corvettes. They had fought a dozen actions and he
had never fought one. They would be keenly interested in the standard of the
performance the Yank would put up, especially as mere chance had put them
under his command, especially as he had called them off one pursuit already.
They might be amused, they might be contemptuous, they might be spiteful.
Some temperaments might have given some consideration to this side of the
matter. It is a fact that Krause gave it none.

 

[OceanBonfire]

Tom Hanks WWII Film 'Greyhound' Alters Course In Apple Deal: Film Will Premiere On Apple TV +

EXCLUSIVE: In a real shocker, the WWII battleship drama Greyhound that Tom Hanks wrote and stars in has abruptly changed course and will berth at Apple. Originally on the Sony Pictures theatrical calendar for Father's Day weekend, the film instead will become the biggest feature film commitment made by Apple to premiere on Apple TV+. It is the latest in a growing indication that Apple is making its move, and becoming as aggressive as any streamer or studio in auctions for the acquisition of films and TV projects.

...


https://deadline.com/2020/05/tom-hanks-greyhound-apple-tv-wwii-action-film-apple-wins-auction-1202938467/

 

[Kilted]

It's surprising the amount of time he spends out at sea, I would think that he wouldn't want to end up on an island again.

 

[OceanBonfire]

July 10:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Byeq_hyh2U

 

[dapaterson]

It's surprising the amount of time he spends out at sea, I would think that he wouldn't want to end up on an island again.

Or as the captain of a vessel.

Who's the captain now?

 

[dimsum]

The movie is great.  It isn't US-centric (definitely not "US saves the day") and gives credit to the British and Canadians who were involved in the Battle of the Atlantic.  Some early articles said that HMCS Sackville, shown in the movie as HMCS Shawinigan, has a "cameo" but it's practically a supporting character - it has more screen time than pretty much anything else.

 

[daftandbarmy]

The movie is great.  It isn't US-centric (definitely not "US saves the day") and gives credit to the British and Canadians who were involved in the Battle of the Atlantic.  Some early articles said that HMCS Sackville, shown in the movie as HMCS Shawinigan, has a "cameo" but it's practically a supporting character - it has more screen time than pretty much anything else.

I know a naval war movie is good when it makes me think ‘Thank f@ck I’m in the Infantry.’

 

[CBH99]

What did you guys watch it on?  Might check it out later