48 Films about the United States Navy in World War II

Away All Boats is a 1956 American war film directed by Joseph Pevney and starring Jeff Chandler, George Nader, Lex Barker, and Julie Adams. It was produced by Howard Christie from a screenplay by Ted Sherdeman based on the 1953 novel by Kenneth M. Dodson (1907–1999), who served on the USS Pierce (APA-50) in World War II and used his experiences there as a guide for his novel. He was encouraged in his writing by Carl Sandburg, who had read some of Dodson’s letters, written in the Pacific. The book is about the crew of the Belinda (APA-22), an amphibious attack transport. The book became a best seller. The film was produced by Universal Pictures.

The Caine Mutiny is an American film released by Columbia Pictures in 1954. A fictional Navy drama set in the Pacific during World War II, it was directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Stanley Kramer, and starred Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, and Robert Francis. The film is based on The Caine Mutiny, the 1951 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Herman Wouk. It depicts the events on board a fictitious World War II U.S. Navy destroyer-minesweeper and the subsequent court-martial of its executive officer for making a mutiny.

The Deep Six is a 1958 Warner Bros. World War II drama film directed by Rudolph Maté, loosely based on a novel of the same name by Martin Dibner. The story depicts the conflicts of a naval officer in combat with his shipmates and conscience over values instilled in him by his Quaker upbringing. The film stars Alan Ladd, who co-produced it, William Bendix, Dianne Foster, Keenan Wynn, James Whitmore, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr.. It also marked the film debut of Joey Bishop.

Destination Gobi is a 1953 American Technicolor World War II film from 20th Century Fox, produced by Stanley Rubin, directed by Robert Wise, that stars Richard Widmark and Don Taylor.

Destroyer is a 1943 American war film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Edward G. Robinson.

Dive Bomber is a 1941 American aviation film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray. The film is notable for both its Technicolor photography of pre-World War II United States Navy aircraft and as a historical document of the U.S. in 1941, including the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, one of the best known World War II U.S. warships.

Don't Go Near the Water is a 1957 comedy film about a U.S. Navy public relations unit stationed on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II. It is an adaptation of the 1956 novel of the same name by William Brinkley. Glenn Ford and Gia Scala star. This is the first of several service comedies that Ford appeared in after the huge success of Teahouse of the August Moon. The movie was very successful and further solidified Ford's reputation as an adept comedic actor.

The Enemy Below is a 1957 DeLuxe Color war film in CinemaScope, which tells the story of the battle between an American destroyer escort and a German U-boat during World War II. The movie stars Robert Mitchum and Curt Jürgens as the American and German commanding officers, respectively, and was directed and produced by Dick Powell. The film was based on a novel by Denys Rayner, a British naval officer involved in anti-submarine warfare throughout the Battle of the Atlantic.

Ensign Pulver is a 1964 American Technicolor film in Panavision and a sequel to the 1955 film Mister Roberts. The movie stars Robert Walker Jr., Burl Ives, Walter Matthau and Tommy Sands and features Millie Perkins, Larry Hagman, Kay Medford, Peter Marshall, Jack Nicholson, Richard Gautier, George Lindsey, James Farentino and James Coco.

The Eternal Sea is a 1955 American war film directed by John H. Auer and starring Sterling Hayden, Alexis Smith and Ben Cooper. After an American naval officer loses his leg at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, he resists attempts to retire him and continues in the service after learning to cope with his disability. He goes on to be promoted to admiral and commands an aircraft carrier during the Korean War.

The Fighting Lady is a 1944 documentary film produced by the U.S. Navy and narrated by Lt. Robert Taylor USNR.

The Final Countdown is a 1980 American alternate-history science-fiction war film about a modern nuclear-powered super-aircraft carrier that travels through time to the day before the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Produced by Peter Vincent Douglas and Lloyd Kaufman and directed by Don Taylor, the film contains an ensemble cast starring Kirk Douglas, Martin Sheen, James Farentino, Katharine Ross and Charles Durning.

The Frogmen is a 1951 American black-and-white World War II drama film from Twentieth Century Fox, produced by Samuel G. Engel, directed by Lloyd Bacon, that stars Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews, and Gary Merrill. The film's storyline is based on operations by United States Navy Underwater Demolition Teams, popularly known as "frogmen", against the Japanese Army and naval forces. It was the first such film about scuba diving and became a popular cultural hit.

The Gallant Hours is an American docudrama from 1960 about William F. Halsey, Jr. and his efforts in fighting against Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Guadalcanal campaign of World War II.

Greyhound is a 2020 American war film directed by Aaron Schneider and starring Tom Hanks, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester, and also stars Stephen Graham, Rob Morgan, and Elisabeth Shue. The plot follows a commander of the US Navy on his first war-time assignment in command of a multi-national escort group defending a merchant ship convoy under attack by submarines in early-1942 during the Battle of the Atlantic, only months after the U.S. officially entered World War II.

In Enemy Hands is a 2004 American submarine film directed by Tony Giglio and starring William H. Macy, Til Schweiger, Thomas Kretschmann, Scott Caan and Lauren Holly. The film follows an American submarine crew getting captured by a German submarine crew and taken prisoner aboard their U-boat.

In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic Panavision war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon deWilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, Franchot Tone, and Henry Fonda. It was one of the last black-and-white World War II epics, and the last black-and-white John Wayne film. The screenplay was written by Wendell Mayes, based on the 1962 novel Harm's Way, by James Bassett.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 American live-action/animated comedy film produced by Warner Bros. and based on the 1942 novel Mr. Limpet by Theodore Pratt. It is about a man named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish resembling a tilefish and helps the U.S. Navy locate and destroy Nazi submarines. Don Knotts plays the title character. The live action was directed by Arthur Lubin, while the animation was directed by Bill Tytla, Robert McKimson, Hawley Pratt, and Gerry Chiniquy. Music includes songs by Sammy Fain, in collaboration with Harold Adamson, including "I Wish I Were a Fish," "Be Careful How You Wish," and "Deep Rapture."

Kiss Them for Me is a 1957 American romantic comedy film directed by Stanley Donen in CinemaScope, starring Cary Grant, Jayne Mansfield and model-turned-actress Suzy Parker in her first film role. The film is an adaptation of the 1945 Broadway play of the same name, itself based on Frederic Wakeman Sr.'s 1944 novel Shore Leave. The supporting cast features Ray Walston, Werner Klemperer, Leif Erickson, and Larry Blyden.

McHale's Navy is a 1964 technicolor comedy film based on the 1962–1966 black and white television sitcom McHale's Navy starring Ernest Borgnine, Tim Conway and Joe Flynn, which had in turn originated with a one-hour anthology drama starring Borgnine entitled Seven Against the Sea. The film version was directed by series producer Edward J. Montagne and its supporting cast includes Carl Ballantine, Gavin MacLeod, Jean Willes, Claudine Longet, and George Kennedy. The film was followed by a sequel entitled McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force which did not feature Borgnine or Carl Ballantine. Another film, also called McHale's Navy, was released in 1997 with a completely different plot and an entirely different cast except for Borgnine playing a 75-year old McHale.

Midway is a 2019 American epic war film about the Battle of Midway, a turning point in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Directed by Roland Emmerich, who produced the film with Harald Kloser, it is written by Wes Tooke. The film features an ensemble cast, including Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, and Woody Harrelson.

Midway, released in the United Kingdom as Battle of Midway, is a 1976 American Technicolor war film that chronicles the Battle of Midway, a turning point in World War II in the Pacific, directed by Jack Smight and produced by Walter Mirisch from a screenplay by Donald S. Sanford. The film features an international cast of stars including Charlton Heston, Henry Fonda, James Coburn, Glenn Ford, Ed Nelson, Hal Holbrook, Toshiro Mifune, Robert Mitchum, Cliff Robertson, Robert Wagner, James Shigeta, Pat Morita, John Fujioka, Robert Ito and Christina Kokubo.

Minesweeper is a 1943 American black-and-white World War II film, produced by William H. Pine and William C. Thomas, directed by William A. Berke, that stars Richard Arlen, Jean Parker, and Russell Hayden. The film was distributed by Paramount Pictures. A former navy deserter returns to duty after the attack on Pearl Harbor under an assumed name as a sailor aboard a minesweeper.

Mister Roberts is a 1955 American Warnercolor in CinemaScope comedy-drama film directed by John Ford and Mervyn LeRoy, and featuring an all-star cast including Henry Fonda as Mister Roberts, James Cagney as Captain Morton, William Powell as Doc, and Jack Lemmon as Ensign Pulver. Based on the 1946 novel and 1948 Broadway play, the film was nominated for the three Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Sound, Recording, with Jack Lemmon winning the award for Best Supporting Actor.

The Navy Comes Through is a 1942 American World War II film directed by A. Edward Sutherland. It stars Pat O'Brien, George Murphy and Jane Wyatt. Vernon L. Walker and James G. Stewart were nominated for an Oscar for Best Special Effects. The film was based on Borden Chase's 1939 short story Pay to Learn. The working titles of the film were Pay to Learn and Battle Stations. The film was the first RKO Pictures use of a new radio signal trademark that spelled out the word "victory." Prior to this, the studio's radio signal trademark spelled out "RKO."

Operation Bikini, also titled The Seafighter, is a war film released in 1963 by American International Pictures. It was directed by Anthony Carras and starred Tab Hunter, Frankie Avalon and Scott Brady.

Operation Pacific is a 1951 black-and-white World War II submarine war drama from Warner Bros. Pictures, produced by Louis Edelman, and written as well as directed by George Waggner. John Wayne and Patricia Neal star and Ward Bond and Philip Carey play supporting roles.

Operation Petticoat is a 1959 American World War II submarine comedy film in Eastmancolor from Universal-International, produced by Robert Arthur, directed by Blake Edwards, that stars Cary Grant and Tony Curtis.

Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American romantic war drama film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Randall Wallace. It stars Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Colm Feore, and Alec Baldwin. The film presented a heavily fictionalized version of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, focusing on a love story set amid the lead up to the attack, its aftermath, and the Doolittle Raid.

PT 109 is a 1963 American Technicolor Panavision biographical war film depicting the actions of John F. Kennedy as an officer of the United States Navy in command of Motor Torpedo Boat PT-109 in the Pacific theater of World War II. The film was adapted by Vincent Flaherty and Howard Sheehan from the book PT 109: John F. Kennedy in World War II by Robert J. Donovan, and the screenplay was written by Richard L. Breen. Cliff Robertson stars as Kennedy, and the film features performances by Ty Hardin, James Gregory, Robert Culp and Grant Williams.

Run Silent, Run Deep is a 1958 American black-and-white war film from United Artists, based on the 1955 novel of the same name by Commander Edward L. Beach Jr.. It was directed by Robert Wise, produced by Harold Hecht, and starred Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. The title refers to "silent running", a submarine stealth tactic. The story describes World War II submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean, and deals with themes of vengeance, endurance, courage, loyalty, and honor and how these can be tested during wartime.

The Saga of the Franklin (1945) is a 16-mm Kodachrome color documentary film produced about the aircraft carrier USS Franklin, nicknamed "Big Ben", one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II. The aircraft carrier was hit by a Japanese dive bomber on March 19, 1945. The USS Franklin was the most heavily damaged carrier in World War II to survive an attack.

The Sharkfighters is a 1956 American adventure film about U.S. Navy scientists working to invent a shark repellent to protect military personnel down at sea. Directed by Jerry Hopper, it stars Victor Mature, James Olson, and Claude Akins. The fictional storyline is based on the invention of "Shark Chaser", an historical shark repellent developed by researchers during World War II.

South Pacific is a 1958 American romantic musical film based on the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, which in turn is loosely based on James A. Michener's 1947 short-story collection Tales of the South Pacific. The film, directed by Joshua Logan, stars Rossano Brazzi, Mitzi Gaynor, John Kerr and Ray Walston in the leading roles with Juanita Hall as Bloody Mary, the part that she had played in the original stage production. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning the Academy Award for Best Sound for Fred Hynes.

Stand By for Action is a 1942 American war film directed by Robert Z. Leonard, starring Robert Taylor, Brian Donlevy, Charles Laughton, Walter Brennan, and, in her film debut, Marilyn Maxwell. Suggested by a story by Laurence Kirk, and with an original story by Captain Harvey Haislip and R. C. Sherriff, the film's screenplay was written by George Bruce, John L. Balderston, and Herman J. Mankiewicz.

Storm Over the Pacific is a 1960 color (Eastmancolor) Japanese film directed by Shūe Matsubayashi. The story is an account of a young Japanese bombardier, Lt. Koji Kitami stationed aboard the Japanese aircraft carrier Hiryu and his participation in two battles in the Pacific during World War II, the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway.

Task Force is a 1949 war film filmed in black-and-white with some Technicolor sequences about the development of U.S. aircraft carriers from USS Langley (CV-1) to USS Franklin (CV-13). Although Robert Montgomery was originally considered for the leading role, the film stars Gary Cooper, Jane Wyatt, Walter Brennan, Wayne Morris, Julie London and Jack Holt. Task Force was the only film Gary Cooper and Jane Wyatt made together, and was the last of the eight films Cooper and Walter Brennan made together. The U.S. Navy provided complete support in not only loaning naval vessels and facilities, but also allowed the use of archival footage of the development of naval air power.

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo is a 1944 American war film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The screenplay by Dalton Trumbo is based on the 1943 book of the same name by Captain Ted W. Lawson. Lawson was a pilot on the historic Doolittle Raid, America's first retaliatory air strike against Japan, four months after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid was planned, led by, and named after United States Army Air Forces Lieutenant Colonel James Doolittle, who was promoted two ranks, to Brigadier General, the day after the raid.

This Man's Navy is a 1945 World War II film about U.S. Navy airships directed by William A. Wellman and starring Wallace Beery, Tom Drake, Jan Clayton and James Gleason. It is one of the very few films, other than training films, to depict navy airships.

Too Young the Hero is a 1988 American made-for-television historical drama war film directed by Buzz Kulik and starring Rick Schroder. It premiered on CBS on March 27, 1988. The film tells the true story of a 12-year-old boy who forges his mother's signature to join the United States Navy during World War II. It is based on the real life of Calvin Graham, who was the youngest American serviceman of the war. The film was produced by Trucon Productions in Virginia Beach, Virginia and in Wilmington, North Carolina for CBS.

Tora! Tora! Tora! is a 1970 epic war film that dramatizes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The film was produced by Elmo Williams and directed by Richard Fleischer, Toshio Masuda and Kinji Fukasaku, and stars an ensemble cast including Martin Balsam, Joseph Cotten, Sō Yamamura, E. G. Marshall, James Whitmore, Tatsuya Mihashi, Takahiro Tamura, Wesley Addy, and Jason Robards. It was Masuda and Fukasaku's first English-language film, and first non-Japanese film.

Up Periscope is a 1959 World War II submarine film drama directed by Gordon Douglas and starring James Garner, Edmond O'Brien, Andra Martin and Alan Hale, Jr. The film was made in WarnerScope and Technicolor, distributed by Warner Bros., and produced by Aubrey Schenck. The film's screenplay was written by Richard H. Landau and Robb White, having been adapted from White's novel of the same name.

USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage is a 2016 American war disaster film directed by Mario Van Peebles and written by Cam Cannon and Richard Rionda Del Castro, based largely on the true story of the loss of the ship of the same name in the closing stages of the Second World War. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane, Matt Lanter, Brian Presley, and Cody Walker. Principal photography began on June 19, 2015 in Mobile, Alabama. The film premiered in the Philippines on August 24, 2016. It was released as a digital rental on iTunes and Amazon in the United States on October 14, 2016 and in limited theaters during the Veterans Day weekend.

The Wackiest Ship in the Army is an American 1960 Eastmancolor CinemaScope comedy-drama war film directed by Richard Murphy and starring Jack Lemmon, Ricky Nelson, and Chips Rafferty. It was filmed at Pearl Harbor and Kauai.

Wake Island is a 1942 American action drama war film directed by John Farrow, written by W. R. Burnett and Frank Butler, and starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Preston, Macdonald Carey, Albert Dekker, Barbara Britton, and William Bendix. The film tells the story of the United States military garrison on Wake Island and the onslaught by the Japanese following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Wing and a Prayer, The Story of Carrier X is a black-and-white 1944 war film about the heroic crew of an American carrier in the desperate early days of World War II in the Pacific theater, directed by Henry Hathaway and starring Don Ameche, Dana Andrews and William Eythe. Although arguably a classic propaganda movie, it was appreciated for its realistic portrayal and was nominated for the 1944 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

You're in the Navy Now is a 1951 comedy film about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. It is directed by Henry Hathaway and stars Gary Cooper as a new officer wanting duty at sea but who is instead assigned to an experimental project without much hope of success. It was released by 20th Century Fox and its initial release was titled U.S.S. Teakettle. When the film failed to gain an audience, it was re-titled to the present title.

Zero Hour is a 22-minute 1944 Canadian documentary film, made by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as part of both the wartime Canada Carries On and The World in Action series. The film was produced by Stuart Legg. Zero Hour describes the Axis and Allied invasions that have taken place during the Second World War.