In spite of the persistent rumor that special effects artist Russell Shearman was attacked and killed by a shark while filming underwater in the Caribbean Sea off Cuba, his May 8, 1956 obituary in the Los Angeles Times states that he and was "electrocuted while repairing equipment" for the film. He was taken to the nearest hospital but was dead on arrival. Serving as the picture's "chief technician", he was renowned for the "development of many machines and gadgets used in motion-picture production", said the Times, and was not an underwater cameraman or working as one when electrocuted.
After Lt. Cmdr. Staves' first trip out on the boat, a radio broadcast announces the capture of Munda on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands. That date would be August 6, 1943.
This film was adapted for Dell Comic's "Four Color" series, #762 in January 1957.
By the ribbon on his uniform, Lt. Cmdr. Staves was awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest military decoration only to the Medal of Honor.
Based on real events in the development of a shark repellent by the U.S. Navy in World War 2. First used in 1943, it was granted a patent in 1949 and was used by the Navy until 1973. However, its effectiveness is now judged dubious (as is the shark threat inspiring its development) by the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. The scientific work consisted of observations of shark behavior in 1942 off Mayport, Florida; Woods Hole, Massachusetts; and the harbor of Guayaquil, Ecuador by civilian scientists of the Marine Studios oceanarium.