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Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:15 pm
by dunmunro
marcelo_malara wrote:
An RN sub sank a u-boat while both were submerged.
Dunmunro, can you provide details on this?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Venturer_%28P68%29

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:19 pm
by Bgile
Wow, pretty amazing story. Be sure to add the closed paren at the end or the link won't work.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:29 pm
by dunmunro
Bgile wrote:Wow, pretty amazing story. Be sure to add the closed paren at the end or the link won't work.
Yes, it is one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" stories. IIRC, there was a documentary made about the sinking as well.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:41 pm
by marcelo_malara
What was the depth setting of the torpedoes? What was the max setting for a WWII torpedo?

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 4:53 pm
by marcelo_malara
I found this:

" THROUGHOUT THE ATTACK, THE TARGET WAS TRACKED BY SONAR, BUT THE PERISCOPE SIGHTINGS WERE EXTREMELY VALUABLE AS THEY GAVE A CHECK ON BEARING ACCURACY, AND ALLOWED A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF RANGE, AND CONFIRMED THAT THE TARGET WAS AT PERISCOPE DEPTH AND THEREFORE AT A DEPTH TO WHICH THE TORPEDOES CARRIED COULD BE SET TO RUN TO ACHIEVE A ‘HIT’ THE THIRD PERISCOPE SIGHTING WAS MADE (U’864) AT 1151, AT AN ESTIMATED 2000YDS. THIS LONG TRACKING HAD ALLOWED A CONFIDENT ASSESMENT OF THE TARGET’S MOVEMENT. THE COURSE 135, SPEED 3 1/2 KNOTS, AND ZIG ZAGGING 15 DEGREES EITHER SIDE OF A MEAN COURSE OF 120, ALTERING EVERY TEN MINS.
AT THIS TIME VENTURER WAS ON TARGET’S STARBOARD 1/4. GAINING. AT 1210 TARGET BELIEVED ALTERING TO 135, STB’D.LEG OF ZIG ZAG. VENTURER ALTERED TO PORT UNDER FULL HELM STEADIED ON 097 FOR A 140 ATTACK (TORPEDOES FROMGREEN 140) USING BEARING A FULL SALVO OF BOW TORPEDOES WAS FIRED 30 & 36 FEET ALTERNATELY AIM FOR NO ONE U. BOATS STEM, THE OTHERS AT A SPREAD OF HALF A LENGTH APART, MIDSHIPS, STERN & LENGTH ASTERN. THIS ALLOWED FOR THE EVASIVE ACTION IF TORPEDOES SEEN. THIS COULD BE AS FIRING BETWEEN WAS 19 1/2 SECS..."

The German sub was at periscope depth, what however amazing it seems, is not what one may call a submerged craft comparable to the movie.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2009 5:04 pm
by dunmunro
According to Campbell the RN Mk VIII** torpedo could be set to 75ft, which was an improvement over the 44 ft of earlier torpedoes.

I haven't seen Run Silent, Run Deep, for a while but IIRC, the IJN sub was torpedoing surfaced USN subs, or subs that were running at periscope depth and the USN sub finally finished the IJN boat by getting her to surface.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 1:53 pm
by RF
From my recollection the captain of the Venturer was reluctant to use too much of the periscope for fear of it being seen by the U-boat. However the U-boat wasn't apparently using its scope.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:52 am
by jsk1969
Saving Pvt. Ryan! Saw it 3 times at the theatre, the surrond sound mixed with the realistic camera shooting made me feel like I was in the middle of the battle`s.
a Bridge Too Far is a close 2nd.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 1:10 pm
by lwd
How would your rate The Light Horse Men?

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:11 am
by noworkinternational
They Were Expendable

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:37 am
by noworkinternational
"Liberation" 1968-1970(?) USSR. Spectacle galore! Schmaltzy at times, clumsy at others, but still incredible and eye-popping in scope. (Live bullets fired in many scenes)

"Come and See" (1985) USSR - note similarities to "Schindler's List". A war movie that defies description as a war movie. If you're as dumb as I am, it must be watched multiple times to be understood. (Also live bullets fired.)

"They Fought for the Motherland" (1975 - At least that's the translation I know.) USSR - Thematically akin to "They Were Expendable". Massive battle scenes only augment the genuine humanity. Very funny as it is serious.

"Stalingrad" - (1993???) German. Not a happy movie. Appropriately somber.

"The Winter War" ("Talvisota") (1988) Finnish. One of the all-time greats with unbelievable battle scenes playing second fiddle to the plight of the Finnish soldiers in the winter of 1939-1940. Completely matter of fact. Funny, sad, devastating, and rewarding.

All are worth consideration as greatest war flicks ever - in my book, and worth peeking at. Beats the crap out of Hollywood, unless "They Were Expendable" - the best American war movie ever - is on TV.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:18 pm
by tommy303
How would your rate The Light Horse Men?
I very much enjoyed that film and rate it quite highly both in recreation of combat and story line. It also held fairly close to the actual events surrounding the attack on Beersheba (Birüssebi).

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2011 2:22 am
by 19kilo
I thoughrt "Gallipolli" was good.

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:19 am
by davidchatman
Black Hawk Down

Re: Best war movie ever?

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2012 11:44 am
by Djoser
Wow I am sure I have looked at this thread a few times in my 8 or more years membership--but why is it that no one has brought up one of the greatest war movies of all time, 'Zulu!'?
Despite a number of gross inaccuracies, it remains an excellent depiction of one of the most glorious 'Last Stands' in history.