David T. Leighton Lecture with Dr. Craig Symonds - "Hollywood and History"

From the 2020 Naval Historical Foundation Annual Meeting, we present an exceptional lecture by noted Battle of Midway author Dr. Craig Symonds. Symonds served as an advisor for the feature film, GREYHOUND, starring Tom Hanks. In this lecture, Symonds shares his expertise on the historical context of Hanks' movie in the Battle of the Atlantic.

[@dennisweidner288]

For accuracy, the 'Greyhound' should have been a Royal Navy vessel. The escorts during 1941-43 were mostly British or Canadian. The Canadians played a huge role in escorting the convoys. The U-boats were eventually defeated in mid-1943 by British and Canadian escorts. The American role in the North Atlantic (1942-43) was mostly in the air cover. There were American escorts (1940-41), but after Pearl Harbor, the available Fletchers and DEs went almost entirely to the Pacific. The HX229 escorts for example were led by Lieutenant Commander Gordon John Luther of 'HMS Volunteer' and the destroyers 'HMS Beverley, Mansfield, and Witherington' and the corvette HMC Anemone. Two of the destroyers were former American ships, but they were all operated by Riyal Navy crews.

[@firmitas68]

Great presentation and questions, thank you.

[@samuelculper4231]

14:55 Hanks was probably saying “Earn This” Like he did to Matt Damon on the bridge in Saving Private Ryan 😂 I still think he said Ernest

[@samuelculper4231]

The Good Shepherd would have been a way better name for the film than Greyhound 💁🏻‍♂️ I’m 31 years old. Hanks and Hollywood made a fine film. But it could have been bigger and better