Wayne Morris who portrayed Lt.McKinney was the only actor in the cast who had actual combat experience as a carrier pilot in WWII . As a fighter pilot, Morris shot down seven enemy planes and contributed to the sinking of five enemy ships. He was awarded four Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals. He was the only combat "ace" of all the Hollywood actors who went to war.
At the Washington party, Colonel Billy Mitchell is mentioned by name. Cooper played Mitchell in "The Court-martial of Billy Mitchell." Cooper's character also gets into trouble for mentioning the Japanese as a potential threat to the United States, one of the things Mitchell got into trouble for.
From the hull number on the bow during Scott's retirement and another shot later on, it would appear that much of the shipboard filming was done aboard USS Antietam (CV-36).
In the film, Gary Cooper is offered a copy of the book "A Farewell To Arms" by a fellow officer. Cooper starred in the 1932 film adaptation of Hemingway's novel.
The entire film is in black and white except for the last 18 minutes which were shot in color.
The technical advisor, Capt. S.G. Mitchell, was commanding officer of the fighter squadron aboard USS Hornet (CV-8) at the Battle of Midway, which is portrayed in the movie. He ran his planes out of fuel, resulting in all ten aircraft lost and two pilots drowned. The Hornet does not appear in this film because the point of view is largely from the Yorktown (CV-5), which was sunk in the battle. However, one of the senior aviators, McCluskey, (played by Bruce Bennett), is a clear reference to the Enterprise (CV-6) air group commander, Clarence Wade McClusky.