Mister Roberts (1955 Film) - USS Reluctant

USS Reluctant

The Navy vessel that played the role of USS Reluctant (AK-601), "the Bucket," in the movie's exterior shots was a former U.S.Army Freight and Passenger/Freight and Supply (FP/FS) vessel, some of which were commissioned in the Navy following World War II. The USS Hewell (AG-145) is credited by the Navy as the ship assigned to the filming. The official Navy history for the ship notes:

In late August 1954 Hewell departed Hawaii for Midway Island, mooring at the Naval Base there on 28 August to help film the Warner Brothers movie Mister Roberts. The film, starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell and Jack Lemmon, was partially shot on board Hewell, with underway footage filmed off Midway harbor between 1 and 16 September. The light cargo ship then sailed back to Hawaii between 24 and 29 September and additional film was shot off Kaneohe Bay between 30 September and 7 October.

A 1994 article which appeared in the newsletter of the Keyport, Washington Naval Undersea Warfare Center, contending that IX-308 (another Army FS vessel converted to a Navy AKL and assigned torpedo recovery duties at Keyport) was used in filming of Mister Roberts and not Hewell, created a controversy . That ship had been named USNS New Bedford for its service out of that port serving the USAF Texas Towers.

All but one of the Navy's AKLs were built as U.S. Army FP/FS type cargo vessels transferred to the Navy. As it was, an AKL carried a much smaller crew than the USS Virgo (AKA-20) and USS Rotanin (AK-108), both of which Thomas Heggen served on during the war. In the movie, Mr. Roberts says to Doc that there are "65 men" aboard which would have been far too many for an AKL.

A number of modifications to the AKL exterior appearance were made for the film. The "palm tree" was located on a "deck" built for the movie by extending the small deckhouse of the AKL and building movie set ladders to the bridge and main deck. The crew, when going below to their berthing compartment, are shown in the movie to be descending into the cargo hold.