Down Periscope

Down Periscope is a 1996 20th Century Fox comedy film, produced by Robert Lawrence and directed by David S. Ward, starring Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Holly and Rob Schneider and co-starring Bruce Dern, Harry Dean Stanton, William H. Macy, and Rip Torn.

Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge fights to save his naval career while also being saddled with a group of misfit seamen brought together as the crew of his first command, a rusted but recommissioned WWII-era diesel submarine, the USS Stingray, set to participate in a special naval war-game.

Plot

Lt. Commander Thomas Dodge (Kelsey Grammer), a capable yet unconventional US Navy submariner, is about to be passed over a third time for command of his own nuclear submarine because of his unorthodox methods and because of a notorious genital tattoo ("Welcome Aboard!") received after getting drunk and passing out while on shore-leave. Failure to secure a command will result in Dodge being dropped from the Navy's command program and an assignment to a desk job, and that means he will resign from the Navy. During his career, Dodge has made an enemy of Rear Admiral Yancy Graham (Bruce Dern), who strongly speaks out against Dodge's command promotion.