This was the first film to be granted the production seal of approval under new guidelines set forth by the Production Code Administration Office and the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America. (MPPDA Certificate No. 1). The modern US ratings system continued its numbering system, which has granted certificates to over 54,000 titles by 2023.
According to Ford, he didn't like the script and was told by the producer to film it exactly as written with no changes to the script. Ford turned the lengthy and unwieldy finished product over to the producer and told him to edit it.
Following the attack on a luxury liner by a German submarine, two Allied war ships are seen steaming to the datum. One is HMS Relentless (H85) , the other is USS Preble (DD 345).
The film had its world premier on 28 June 1934 at the Criterion Theatre in New York City.
(New York Sun, 27 June 1934)
While the film had the first Production Code approval of the Breen office, it was released 3 days prior to a Code certificate being required for all Hollywood films.