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This is an entirely watchable World War II film. I say this with surprise, because I avoided the movie for years. I was aware of it as a kid growing up in the '60s - it showed up on "Saturday Night at the Movies" on NBC but I steered clear of it - I was probably turned off by the not-very-good TV series with the same title.

Jack Lemmon is excellent here in a sort of Ensign Pulver sequel. Ricky Nelson, 20 years old (strongly resembling the young Mel Gibson) is pretty good. Nelson was at the height of his fame in 1960, with a multimedia thing going on, consisting of his daddy's TV show, movies, and, most prominently, hit records. (The man had 17 Top Ten hits in his career!)

There's a gritty authenticity to the picture - for example, the sailors sweat a LOT just like they did in the South Pacific during the war. The grit combines with some laughs; this combination works well. (See "Father Goose" and "Mr. Roberts" for additional examples of this genre, drama/comedy-during-WWII.) Mike Kellin is very effective as the chief petty officer. Tom Tully is solid and subtle as the port captain - Tully suffered a tragic fate a few years later, see his listing here at IMDb for the sad details.

"Wackiest Ship" kind of falls apart toward the end when Jack Lemmon isn't around as much; it might have benefited from a few more minutes of Tom Tully. But on the whole it's 99 minutes well spent (it seems a little too short).