The "USS Rodman," a "Gleaves"-class destroyer-minesweeper, was one of the ships chosen to represent the "USS Caine" in the film. The "Rodman" had one less smokestack than the actual "Clemson"-class destroyers on which Wouk served, and had more anti-aircraft guns. Completed in 1941, she was a much more modern ship than the 1918-manufactured "Clemson"-class destroyer-minesweepers on which Wouk had served had been. True to the theme of the novel, the actual minesweepers of Wouk's service, the "Zane" and the "Southard," were both outdated ships by the time the film was made. The "Zane" was retired shortly after the war, and the "Southard" was scuttled in October 1945 after running aground in Okinawa with Wouk serving as Executive Officer. One of the primary inspirations for the book and the movie came from Wouk's experience as second in command of the "Southard" when she ran aground in Okinawa as a result of Typhoon Ida in September 1945.