MovieChat Forums > Down Periscope (1996) Discussion > From what port are they really getting u...

From what port are they really getting underway?

posted 15 years ago by cgostel
3 replies | jump to latest

I really enjoy the scene where the Stingray gets underway for the first time. There's a good fanfare and rendition of Anchors Aweigh as the boat pulls out of what is supposed to be Norfolk. The filmmakers did a good job making the port look like Norfolk, especially as pass a moored LHA that at just a glance could be a CVN on the carrier piers in Norfolk.

Just wondering if any sailors out there recognize the actual port they're actually getting underway from.

[–] eheatherdale 15 years ago

Well in the opening credits, the stock shots appear to be from Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California. I was stationed there in the 80's and the shot of the causeway draw bridge being open was a dead give away. When the Stringray is getting underway it appears that all those ships are of the Mothball Fleet out near San Francisco. The hills in the background definately appear to be those of the northern California area.

[–] cgostel 15 years ago

Yeah the hills made me think California, and the aging destroyers they pass while being gigged out to STINGRAY made me think mothball fleet.

[–] CGSailor 15 years ago

Not sure about the other port scenes but the shots of the Stingray at the Mothball fleet is correct. That is the Suisan Bay Mothball fleet at Benicia California. My First Ship, USS Halsey CG-23, is one of the vessels moored in the background behind the Stingray. Those are all the ships of the Leahy and Belknap class Guided Missile Cruisers.

I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!