USS Drum is being featured in a WW II thriller
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MOVIE PROJECT? VISIT www.seaviper.netAs Leslie Waters turns this hand crank, something happens that hasn't happened in more than four decades.
A small hatch slowly swings open, revealing Mobile Bay. That hatch is the attached to the aft torpedo tube of the submarine USS Drum, on display at Mobile's Battleship Park.
"We had to open the other door, get it functioning," she says, proudly. "It hasn't been opened for 40 years, I guess. That was fun!"
For decades, the USS Drum has lived in the shadow of its bigger sister... the USS Alabama, next door! ut very soon the Drum will have it's own spot light. Because a motion picture will be filmed aboard the Drum!
"There are only two kinds of ships. Submarines and targets!"
Now THAT sounds like something an old Navy sub veteran would say... which is exactly what Tom Bowser is. But now he's a volunteer tour guide aboard the USS Drum. He and Leslie, a 14 year employee of the park, are sprucing up the old sub for her motion picture debut... but not as the USS Drum... but as the USS Seaviper!
"And I'm kind of the technical adviser to make sure they say and do the technical stuff right," says Tom.
The plot of the movie is a hypothetical confrontation with both japanese and German war vessels during WWII. The movie company, Villani Rockhill Productions, is a new company, with a small budget but big ambitions. And Tom and Leslie want to make sure the Drum is the star of the show.
"We did a lot of inside work," says Leslie. "A lot of painting, trying to make things work..."
"So, these lights... were they working before?" I ask, pointing at a row of green and red lights.
No, they didn't before, I'm told.... but they light up now. And so do Tommy and Leslie.
"So, the Drum has never looked better than it does right now... inside?" I ask.
"Probably in 1942!" says Tom with a big grin!
Aboard the USS Drum at Battleship park, Here's Darwin, NBC 15 News.
