History Film / RunSilentRunDeep

If not the TropeMaker for HotSubOnSubAction and other submarine warfare tropes in film, definitely a TropeCodifier. Loosely based on a novel by RealLife submarine commander Edward Beach. Other than the DawsonCasting of Gable and Lancaster--both decades too old to play sub officers--considered one of the more realistic depictions of submarine warfare, with effects that were cutting-edge for 1958.

* TimeToStepUpCommander: Lt. Bledsoe objects to Cmdr. Richardson's obsessive hunt for the ''Akikaze'', as do his officers, who want Bledsoe to take command. After Richardson cracks his skull during combat, Bledsoe finally does take command, and he orders the ''Nerka'' back home. Gable, who was concerned with his [[RatedMForManly super-macho]] screen image, insisted that Richardson be injured prior to being relieved of command.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: Almost all the incidents in the film actually happened on American submarines in WW2, but not all on the same mission, nor all to the same ship.

* TokyoRose: The crew sometimes listens to her. A transmission from Tokyo Rose in which she identifies several of the crew by name tips off Bledsoe as to how the ''Nerka'' was tracked--the Japanese recovered their trash dumps.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Exactly one part for a woman--Richardson's wife, who appears in one scene at Richardson's home before the ''Nerka'' sets sail. {{Justified}} as women serving on subs wasn't exactly a thing back in WWII.

* TapOnTheHead: Averted. Richardson falls and hits his head during battle and hits his head. This causes him to suffer recurring and prolonged blackouts that cause him to be relieved of command and he later dies of lingering internal injuries.

* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Exactly one part for a woman--Richardson's wife, who appears in one scene at Richardson's home before the ''Nerka'' sets sail.

* HotSubOnSubAction: Pretty realistically done. The Japanese sub twice fires torpedoes at the ''Nerka'' while underwater, and twice misses. When the ''Nerka'' finally sinks the Japanese sub, it does so while the Japanese sub is on the surface. Furthermore, the men of the ''Nerka'' are surprised that there's a sub attacking subs; its completely unexpected.
* TheMutiny: Bledsoe relieves Richardson of command and orders a course back to Pearl Harbor.
* PetTheDog: Commander Richardson, obsessed as he is, does have one nice moment. Namely, when a man is caught outside as the sub is diving and frantically pounding on the hatch loud enough for the crew to realize the situation, Commander Richardson instantly orders an emergency surface to save the day.

* JustATapOnTheHead: Averted. Richardson hits his head during a fall in the middle of a fight and it causes him severe blackouts which eventually kill him.

* RealityHasNoSubtitles: None for any of the scenes aboard the ''Akikaze'' or the Japanese submarine.

'''''Run Silent, Run Deep''''' is a 1958 film directed by Creator/RobertWise, starring Creator/ClarkGable and Creator/BurtLancaster.

* HotSubOnSubAction: Pretty realistically done. The Japanese sub twice fires torpedoes at the ''Nerka'' while underwater, and twice misses. When the ''Nerka'' finally sinks the Japanese sub, it does so while the Japanese sub is on the surface.

Commander P.J. Richardson (Gable) had his submarine sunk in the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bungo_Channel Bungo Straits]] by the Japanese destroyer ''Akikaze'' in 1942. Richardson, who survived the sinking but was reassigned to desk duty, is obsessed with the sinking of his ship, continually running war games to try and figure out what went wrong. Eventually he wrangles a posting as captain of the submarine USS ''Nerva''. The ''Nerva'''s executive officer, Lt. Bledsoe (Lancaster) is none too happy about missing out on the chance to be CO of the ''Nerva'' himself. Tensions between Richardson and Bledsoe increase even further when Richardson tells his men that he's taking the ''Nerva'' back to the Bungo Straits, in search of the ''Akikaze'', in direct defiance of Navy orders telling him to stay out of that area.

* ClosedCircle: Everybody is confined to the ''Nerva'' while the plot plays out.

** When Bledsoe realized that the Japanese found the ''Nerva'''s trash, which allowed them to set up an ambush. This piece of information leads him to change his mind and execute Richardson's attack plan.

* HotSubOnSubAction: Pretty realistically done. The Japanese sub twice fires torpedoes at the ''Nerva'' while underwater, and twice misses. When the ''Nerva'' finally sinks the Japanese sub, it does so while the Japanese sub is on the surface.

* SilentRunningMode: Done by both the crew of the USS ''Nerva'' and, later, by the Japanese submarine that was hunting them. This sets up a suspenseful sequence in which both the ''Nerva'' and the Japanese sub go quiet and even cut their engines, eventually drifting just past each other underwater.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Exactly one part for a woman--Richardson's wife, who appears in one scene at Richardson's home before the ''Nerva'' sets sail.

* TimeToStepUpCommander: Lt. Bledsoe objects to Cmdr. Richardson's obsessive hunt for the ''Akikaze'', as do his officers, who want Bledsoe to take command. After Richardson cracks his skull during combat, Bledsoe finally does take command, and he orders the ''Nerva'' back home. Gable, who was concerned with his [[RatedMForManly super-macho]] screen image, insisted that Richardson be injured prior to being relieved of command.
* TokyoRose: The crew sometimes listens to her. A transmission from Tokyo Rose in which she identifies several of the crew by name tips off Bledsoe as to how the ''Nerva'' was tracked--the Japanese recovered their trash dumps.

''Run Silent, Run Deep'' is a 1958 film directed by Creator/RobertWise, starring Creator/ClarkGable and Creator/BurtLancaster.