The Wackiest Ship In the Army Overview:

The Wackiest Ship In the Army (1960) was a Comedy - War Film directed by Richard Murphy and produced by Fred Kohlmar.

OVERVIEW:

During World War II, the Army recruits Navy Officer Rip Crandall (Jack Lemmon) to command a battered old Schooner for a top secret mission. Masquerading as a Japanese fishing boat, this nautical nightmare must smuggle a spy through the mine-infested waters of the South Pacific. Unfortunately for Crandall, he has inherited a wild crew of butterfingered landlubbers, including First Officer Tommy Hanson (Ricky Nelson). Can the dedicated Lieutenant whip these comically inexperienced gobs into shape in time to carry out their perilous mission?

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Quotes from

Lt. Rip Crandall: This hulk is commissioned? As what?
Ens. Tommy J. Hanson: It's unclassified, sir.
Lt. Rip Crandall: Uncla-? I can believe that!


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Facts about

The movie is loosely based upon an actual commissioned Navy ship, the USS Echo (IX-95). As in the movie, the Echo was a scow loaned to the Navy from New Zealand in 1942, but was used for carrying cargo and supplies to Army bases in the South Pacific, earning her an Army commendation. She was decommissioned in 1944 and can be seen in Picton New Zealand as a museum.
As Lemmon and Nelson are training the crew in how to unfurl the mainsail, you can see the stern of the USS Fletcher in the background. The Fletcher earned 15 battle stars in WWII and Korea. She was one of the most decorated destroyers to serve in the South Pacific. She was scrapped in 1972.
The original name of the boat in the movie was the "Fiesta". She was built in Hong Kong in 1932 entirely of teakwood. She was a 72 foot gaff-rigged schooner and came with a 165hp auxiliary diesel engine, weighed 28 net tons, drew 8 feet of water and could make 7.5 knots under power. She was also equipped with 3 tiled heads (bathrooms), two of them with showers, 1400 gallon fresh water tank, a 19 cubic foot deep freezer, and a 24 cubic foot refrigerator. Prior to the movie the Fiesta was owned by Martin J. Vitousek and his wife the former Beatrice Leiseder. (Source: The San Francisco Chronicle Sept. 14, 1952).
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Also directed by Richard Murphy


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Also produced by Fred Kohlmar




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Also released in 1960




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