The Ash Can Fleet

Frank Whitbeck narrates this MGM short subject about David Bushnell, the Connecticut farmboy-turned-inventor who came up with the idea of the depth charge, about the same time that Robert Fulton was trying to build a submarine.

The movie is told in the context of the aftermath of the German defeat in the First World War, with Robert Warwick in heavy make up telling reporters that Bushnell was the single man most responsible for the Entente's victory, and that the 'Ash Can Fleet' of what would become patrol boats in the Second World War, responsible for the failure of the German U-Boat campaign.

The Second World War was declared nine days before this was released. Although production had begun and likely closed before the War had started in Europe, most people realized it had become inevitable. Although there was a strong Isolationist movement in the United States, Hollywood had gradually begun moving towards supporting Great Britain and France for several years.