An American destroyer Captain is determined to confront a Soviet submarine caught violating territorial waters. Perhaps too determined.
Richard Widmark plays a hardened cold-warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. Sidney Poitier is a reporter given permission to interview the captain during a routine patrol. Poitier gets more than he bargained for when the Bedford discovers a Soviet sub in the depths and the captain begins a relentless pursuit, pushing his crew to the breaking point. This one's grim tension to the end.—KC Hunt <[email protected]>
Tension is high aboard the destroyer USS Bedford as it tracks a Soviet submarine in the North Atlantic. Capt. Eric Finlander runs a taut, disciplined ship and his stern approach isn't appreciated or understood by the lone civilian on board, journalist Ben Munceford. The sub they are tracking can only stay under for a maximum of 24 hours and Finlander has every intention of being right there when it has to surface. With the ship on what is essentially a constant war footing, the officers and men are always on edge. Mistakes are inevitable.—garykmcd
An American news writer assigned to interview the captain of the destroyer USS Bedford bears witness to a stunning game of cat and mouse in the frigid waters of the northern Atlantic. A Soviet submarine has been tailing the Bedford and the captain of the Bedford turns tail to confront the Soviet sub. As the cat-and-mouse pursuit continues, the Bedford's captain becomes more obsessed with the Soviet sub, until an accident involving one of his increasingly shaken crewmen leads to a confrontation no one wants, and that no one can win.—Michael Daly
Captain Eric Finlander (Richard Widmark) is a hardened cold-warrior and captain of the American destroyer USS Bedford. Ben Munceford (Sidney Poitier) is a reporter given permission to interview the captain during a routine patrol. Munceford is delivered to the Bedford via a helicopter sortie, along with the ship's new MD, Potter.
The Bedford is positioned in the Denmark strait, midway between Greenland and Iceland. Bedford can cause more damage in 10 minutes than the entire US Navy in WW II. Eric says that waters are frequently visited by Russian submarines who are looking for the right spots to launch their ballistic missiles at the US and NATO.Munceford knows that Eric is very results oriented and forced a Russian submarine to surface off the coast of Cuba. He and his crew got commendations for the achievement.Munceford is on board in order to write an article of life on a navy destroyer, but his real interest is Captain Finlander who was recently passed over for promotion to rear admiral. Munceford is curious as to why. Eric was one of only a few military officials to publicly state that the United States should have used greater force during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Potter's staff on the ship includes Chief Hospitalman McKinley (Sick Bay) (Phil Brown) and Hospitalman Nerney (Sick Bay) (Donald Sutherland). Finlander uses the ship's medical staff to sift through garbage possibly dumped by a Russian submarine. The medical staff detects the presence of Hydrogenated oils in seaweed, indicating kitchen waste from a ship or submarine dumped into the ocean. Analysis of the thickness of the potato peels indicate that the submarine has been in the water for around 36 hours.In his first meeting Eric tells Potter that he did not want a doctor to be assigned to the ship. Potter is bemused to learn that on a ship of 300 men, nobody ever reports sick.
The American destroyer USS Bedford (DLG-113) detects the mother ship through its peculiar radio transmissions. Following the mother ship, Eric detects a Soviet submarine in the GIUK gap near the Greenland coast. Eric designates the contact Big Red and believes that any of the 5 Russian trawlers in the area might be acting as its mother ship.
Though they are not at war, Captain Eric Finlander harries his prey mercilessly, while civilian reporter Ben Munceford and NATO naval technical advisor, Commodore (and ex-World War II U-boat captain) Wolfgang Schrepke (Eric Portman), look on with mounting alarm. Wolfgang was an ace U-boat commander in his day and sank over 200,000 tons of allied shipping and supplies.
Other staff on the ship include Commander Allison, Executive Officer (Bridge) (Michael Kane), Lieutenant Bascombe (C.I.C.) (Gary Cockrell), Lieutenant Beckman (Communications) (Brian Davies), Lieutenant Hacker (Communications) (Edward Bishop), Lieutenant Berger (C.I.C.) (George Roubicek) and others.
Because the submarine is not powered by a nuclear reactor, its submerged endurance is limited. Eric plays a waiting game after losing sonar contact in a field of icebergs, knowing the diesel-powered sub will have to surface within 24 hours to replenish its air and recharge its batteries. The crew never complains, but Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, M.D. (Martin Balsam) is concerned that maintaining this level of vigilance is dangerous and suggests modifications, all of which Finlander dismisses out of hand.
The Russian submarine's situation gives Finlander an advantage, but also means the Russians will be more desperate. Also joining the ship are Ensign Ralston (James MacArthur), an inexperienced young officer constantly being criticized by his captain for small errors, and Lieutenant Commander Chester Potter, USNR (Martin Balsam), the ship's new doctor who is a reservist recently recalled to active duty.When Eric orders a coastal patrol, Ralston suggests not going too close to the coast. Eric chews him out publicly as Ralston knew that a submarine commander would hide under the ice caps close to the coast and to detect it, the Bedford would need to be within a 1000 meters of the coast, and running unpredictable sonar patterns.
Munceford is treated with mounting hostility by the captain because he is seen as a civilian putting his nose where it does not belong and because he disagrees with Finlander's decision to continue with an unnecessary and dangerous confrontation. Finlander treats as unwanted anyone who isn't involved in the hunt for the Russian submarine - including the doctor. He says he would go "all the way" to save his country, but, after calming down, insists his current action is just a deterrent.
The Soviet submarine is spotted by the Bedford's radar when it finally pokes its snorkel above the surface. It was not seen first by the sonar-man because he is having exhaustion-induced delusions. Schrepke reminds Finlander that his orders are just to escort the sub out of Greenland's waters, but Finlander sends a message ordering the sub to fully surface and identify itself. When the order is ignored, Finlander runs over the snorkel.
Captain Finlander orders Bedford to withdraw to a safe distance. Munceford and Schrepke protest that Finlander is forcing the sub to fight, and Finlander orders Ralston to arm an anti-submarine rocket.He reassures Munceford and Schrepke that he is in command of the situation and that he won't fire first, but that "If he fires one, I'll fire one." Ensign Ralston, clearly on edge due to the ordeal, mistakes Finlander's boast as an order to fire, and launches one of Bedford's anti-submarine rockets (ASROC) at the sub. The crew can only watch helplessly as the ASROC destroys the Russian submarine.
The crew of Bedford have little opportunity for regret before their sonar detects a salvo of four torpedoes coming at the destroyer, apparently fired by the Russian when he detected the ASROC. Finlander orders evasive maneuvering and the use of countermeasures but realization has already dawned on everyone, except Munceford, that the approaching torpedoes will be nuclear.
Finlander, in shock, leaves the bridge, trailed by a panicking Munceford. The battle ends with still shots of various crewmen "melting" as Bedford and her crew are vaporized. The last image is an iconic, towering mushroom cloud from the torpedo detonations.
