Another movie thread, The Sullivans

[jimmyj]

Just watched an old war movie called "The Fighting Sullivans". If you have not seen it, you should. It's really sad at the end, tore my heart out.

Sullivan brothers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[jinman]

Down into that Wikipedia article, it mentions the destroyer USS The Sullivans DD-537. That Fletcher class tin can was one of our inactive ships at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, PA in the early '70s. I was part of the group there that transferred her as a museum to Buffalo, NY. While in our keep, many sailors reported wierd sounds and even screaming aboard. It was generally assumed that while the brothers had never served there, their spirits haunted that ol' ship. I also believe that the name of a ship having "The" as a first word was first used for USS The Sullivans.

Also, many of the Fletcher class destroyers saw little actual use before they were decommissioned. One that comes to mind is the USS Dashiel. It's keel was layed down in October 1942 and launched in early February 1943. That's only 120 days or so for the build and not close to the record time as some of these were built in less than 80 days. We sold the Dashiel for scrap from Phila. and what I remember most about it was that the decks in the engine and boiler rooms were so clean you could eat off of them. The bilges were a beautiful terracotta red. With little service, the ship never lost its new shine. The US Navy put the whole ship on dehumidifiers and the polished brass inside the ship never even tarnished. It was like walking around in a new ship, but nobody was there.

 

[valley]

I remember when it happened, and the stamp with the ship and their pictures over it. I don't remember if the folks took me to see the movie.

 

[ToadHill]

One of the ships in the Navel Park in Buffalo is the USS Sullivan, it was named in honor of the brothers. This past summer a granddaughter of one of the brothers was at a memorial service held in the Navel park.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Someone mentioned this movie today, apparently was just on this weekend. I have not seen it.