Editing Down Periscope (section)

==Plot==
[[Lieutenant commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] Thomas Dodge, currently the executive officer of the {{Sclass|Los Angeles|submarine|0}} attack submarine USS ''Orlando'' under its commanding officer [[Commander (United States)#Naval|Commander]] Carl Knox, is being considered for a third time to captain a submarine. Although an excellent leader, he has been previously passed over because of his unorthodox command methods that included a "brushing" incident against a [[Russian Navy|Russian]] missile submarine three years earlier near the port of Murmansk, Russia, and a penile tattoo reading "Welcome Aboard" that he acquired as an ensign while intoxicated. [[Up or out|If denied again]], he will be dismissed from the Navy's submarine command program.

[[Rear admiral (United States)#Rear admiral|Rear Admiral]] Yancy Graham, who dislikes Dodge, opposes his promotion, but [[Vice admiral (United States)|Vice Admiral]] Dean Winslow, [[COMSUBLANT|Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic]], selects him for a [[Military exercise|war game]] to test the Navy's defenses against [[diesel engine|diesel]]-powered submarines. As Russia has been donating their diesel fleet to the United States's adversaries, Winslow orders him to restore the rusty World War II-era {{Sclass|Balao|submarine|0}} diesel-powered submarine USS ''Stingray'', assigned to him by Graham, and use it to "invade" [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]] Harbor undetected, and if successful, to sink a dummy warship in [[Norfolk, Virginia|Norfolk]] Harbor with two live torpedoes. Though initially reluctant, Dodge offers Winslow a wager: if he successfully completes both tasks, Winslow will give him a nuclear submarine to command. Winslow agrees to consider it, instructing Dodge to "think like a pirate" rather than follow conventional war-game rules.

Graham, desiring a third star should he win, handpicks "the crew from hell" for ''Stingray'': hot-tempered, uptight [[Lieutenant (navy)|Lieutenant]] Martin G. Pascal as the [[executive officer]]; crusty civilian naval contractor Howard as the Chief Engineer; rebellious [[Engineman]] 1st Class Brad Stepanak; ultra-sharp-eared [[Sonar technician#Sonar technician submarines (STS)|Sonar Technician]] 2nd Class E.T. "Sonar" Lovacelli; compulsive gambler Seaman Stanley "Spots" Sylvesterson; former losing college basketball player Seaman Jefferson "Stoneball" Jackson; shock-prone (and shock-addled) [[Electrician's mate|Electrician's Mate]] Michael Nitro; and not-so-[[Culinary Specialist (United States Navy)|Culinary Specialist]] Second Class Buckman as ''Stingray''{{'}}s cook. Additionally, Graham assigns a female [[Surface Warfare Officer|Surface-qualified officer]], Lieutenant Emily Lake, as ''Stingray''{{'}}s Diving Officer to see if women can successfully serve aboard submarines.

Using a storm off the Carolina coast as a diversion, Dodge and his crew offset their technological disadvantage by disguising the ''Stingray'' as a [[fishing trawler]] to infiltrate Charleston Harbor and set off signal flares. Upset at losing the first part of the war game and desperate to defeat Dodge, Graham halves the game's containment area without Winslow's authorization. Running into trouble on their first attempt at Norfolk Harbor and narrowly escaping the ''Orlando'', Dodge leaves the containment area and heads out to sea, breaking all contact with the Navy. Irate at this lapse in protocol, Pascal chastises him for hijacking his own boat and attempts to usurp him. ''Stingray''{{'}}s crew, weary of Pascal's berating and harassment, turn against him, and Dodge charges him with attempted [[mutiny]]. On deck, Lake witnesses Dodge and the crew, dressed up as and [[International Talk Like a Pirate Day|speaking like pirates]], commit a [[mock execution]] by making a blindfolded Pascal [[Walking the plank|walk the plank]] into the raised net of a waiting fishing trawler that will take him ashore.

During the ''Stingray''{{'}}s second attempt at Norfolk, Graham, hellbent on stopping Dodge, assumes command of the ''Orlando'' from Knox. Dodge employs an incredibly dangerous maneuver: passing ''Stingray'' between the huge propellers of a commercial supertanker to avoid sonar detection by the naval ships and aircraft protecting the approach to Norfolk. By the time the ''Orlando'' eventually locates, pursues, and targets the ''Stingray'', Dodge has fired two live torpedoes at {{convert|900|yd|m}} into a target ship anchored in Norfolk Harbor, thereby winning the war game.

After Dodge's crew returns to port, Winslow chastises a humiliated Graham and denies him his promotion for attempting to sabotage Dodge. He then congratulates Dodge on his success, informing him that he will now be given command of a new {{Sclass|Seawolf|submarine|1}}, along with a "proper crew" to man her. Dodge respectfully requests that his entire ''Stingray'' crew be transferred with him; Winslow agrees, noting that Stepanak is his son but has his mother's surname, and informs Dodge that he will be promptly promoted to Commander. After Dodge dismisses his crew to begin a well-earned shore leave, Lake casually asks him as both of them leave the dock, "What exactly is this tattoo I keep hearing about?".