GREYHOUND
*CUT TO THE CHASE*NOTE: This spoiler was submitted by Jeremy
February 1942 – Long into World War II, a convoy of 37 ships with troops and supplies make their way through the North Atlantic to Great Britain. They face the threat of German U-boats in an area called the “Black Pit” when far from range of air cover. The convoy is escorted by four warships led by USS Keeling, codenamed Greyhound.
Two months earlier, Greyhound’s Commander Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks) was in San Francisco meeting his girlfriend Evelyn (Elisabeth Shue) to exchange gifts. He is set to depart on his first command with the convoy, but he wants to find time to propose to Evelyn. She prefers to wait until things have calmed down in the world.
Moving ahead to the voyage, Greyhound guides the other three destroyer ships – Eagle, Dickie, and Harry – with just under three days left before they return to air cover. Krause deals with two sailors, Shannon (Jeff Burkes) and Flusser (Matthew Zuk), who got into a fistfight. The men apologize to him for their actions and he dismisses them.
Krause is then called to the bridge where they are receiving a high-frequency direction finding (“Huff Duff”) of a German transmission. Krause leads his men to get ready while he maintains contact with the captains on the other ships. He maintains his watch on the radar as they prepare for a possible attack. They spot a U-boat that soon dives underwater after realizing it has been spotted and that Greyhound has directed their five-inch guns in their direction. The men continue to keep watch for any contact with the U-boat via sonar readings. As they get closer, the U-boat is within sonar range and they realize it is trying to slip under them to launch a torpedo attack. Greyhound fires depth charges to destroy the U-boat and succeed in striking it. Krause announces their victory to the crew and thanks them all for their effort and reports it to the other destroyer captains.
The crew is alerted to distress rockets sent by the Greek merchant ship Despotiko, which has come under fire and is now sinking. Krause has Greyhound go to assist and orders USN ship Cadena to mount a rescue of the survivors. Soon, the Germans launch a torpedo in their direction, which just misses Greyhound as they maneuver around it. Cadena reports the rescue is completed, so Greyhound prepares to resume with the convoy. Soon, the other escorts deliver multiple messages of six subs heading in their direction detected via sonar contact just outside of firing range. Krause figures that they are waiting for nightfall to attack.
At 36 hours left to air cover overnight, Krause and his men attack the subs as they begin to launch against tankers and freighters, causing one tanker to explode. They find that they were firing at a decoy (“pillenwerfer”). Cadena requests immediate assistance just as they are also told of survivors 500 yards away. Krause opts to help the survivors despite the targets being on sonar lock. They see another distress rocket fire just before the subs destroy a supply ship. The men from that ship are rescued, but the destroyers are then sent a message by the captain of the U-boats (Thomas Kretschmann), calling himself “Grey Wolf” and taunting the convoy and threatening to sink them all. The U-boats launch torpedoes at the convoy, with Greyhound just barely managing to avoid impact as they continue to fire upon the subs.
By morning, five ships have gone down, with 210 confirmed dead. Krause looks out somberly as he fears he may not return to Evelyn. The crew attempts to reach air cover faster. The U-boats return to attack, targeting Greyhound and Dickie. Greyhound fires depth charges and their guns at the subs. As Dickie tries to get clear, the U-boat fires a shot at Greyhound, killing three men. They manage to return fire and sink the sub. Afterwards, the crew manages time for a service in honor of their fallen crew mates. Moving forward, Krause sees that Eagle has been hit and is sinking, so they try to lead a rescue toward Eagle and Cadena. Krause dismisses the surviving Eagle crew.
Krause decides to break radio silence by calling upon the Admiralty for help, hoping that the Germans would miss a short message. Soon, the convoy makes their way near the end of the Black Pit. The remaining subs launch a last chance attack against the convoy. They fire a torpedo at Greyhound which just grazes past the side. Greyhound manages to shoot down and destroy one of the subs. They soon spot a British Royal Air Force cover plane, which helps Greyhound by deploying depth charges that finally destroy the last sub.
After assessing damage, Krause gets in touch with the commander of the relief escorts, Diamond, who welcomes them to their destination and relieves them to Derry as their ships are sent for repairs. The crew on the other ships cheer on the convoy for their victory. Krause goes to pray and rest up.
Ending text states that over 3500 cargo ships were sunk during The Battle of the Atlantic, and 72,200 souls were lost.
During World War II, a convoy of troop and supply ships bound for Liverpool, led by USS Keeling ("Greyhound"), sails across the Atlantic into a region known as the Black Pit, where they are out of range from air cover. A pack of German U-boats attack the convoy, forcing them to fight back. The Germans sink thousands of ships and kill countless men.
Greyhound and the companion vessels succeed in sinking several subs but have taken on severe damage. After Greyhound's Commander Ernest Krause breaks radio silence and calls for help from the Admiralty, they sink one sub before finally reaching air cover and having one of the RAF planes sink the remaining sub.
The crew is relieved of duty as they enter Liverpool so that their ships may be repaired, and they are welcomed as heroes.