All hands on deck ‘The Last Ship’

supportive and excited,” executive

Aside from cameos, “The Last Ship” also does a lot of its filming on actual ships, including a hospital ship that was featured in an episode last month. This kind of support has been crucial to the success of the show, according to Dane in the “Today” interview.

helping me out with all of the different moves and the strategies and all the different formations. It was a lot of fun, and it’s still fun because we’re learning every day that we’re on set. I refine a lot of my skill sets every day.”

Episode Where They Find

“We get a lot of support from the Navy,” he said. “We are forever indebted to them; they have been absolute sports about this. Shooting on a naval destroyer is interesting because you’re on a $3 billion ship — you better take care of it — and once you put on the uniform and sit in the captain’s chair, it really helps [give you a feel for things].”

It’s not only on screen that the Navy features prominently, either. The cast undergoes a lot of intensive physical training to give them an idea of what it’s like in the Navy and how the personnel behave, and that was something Travis Van Winkle (“Transformers,” 2007), who stars as Lt. Danny Green, told a panel at SDCC 2015 he couldn’t wait to get started on.

“I threw myself in,” he said. “I was just so excited to have a gun in my hand and then someone

Van Winkle adds that while it’s a fun time all around doing this sort of gig, he’s trying to pay homage to the men and women who dutifully serve their country in real life.

“I just hope that I can emulate them in a way where they would go, ‘Oh yeah, he could be in the Navy,’” he said. “There’s no way I could ever do what they really do, and we have to tip our hats to them for being in service the way that they are. But to be able to play them on TV, I want to represent them in a positive light. I usually listen to everything the Navy SEALS on set say and I usually have them repeat themselves because I really want to get it right.”

Batten down the hatches and charge full steam ahead as a new episode of “The Last Ship” airs Sunday, Aug. 9, on TNT.

ACROSS

1 “Gomer Pyle, _._._._.”

5 Prefix with ‘globin’

9 Pen’s point

12 Q. “Is ‘__’ _ letter of the Greek alphabet?” A. “Yes, it’s the 19th letter and follows ‘Sigma’.”

13 At any point

14 U2 song

15 Neil Sedaka ballad Clay Aiken performed when the singer/songwriter was a guest judge on “American Idol” in 2003

17 TV brand

18 Hit in ‘61 for “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” star

Ricky Nelson: 2 wds.

20 Singer nicknamed ‘Mother of the Blues’, Ma __

(b.1886 - d.1939)

22 Jack of “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968)

23 Rugged off-road transport, commonly 24 Capital of Tibet

27 “What’s __ On” by Marvin Gaye

30 Posh boat

31 Up to

32 Faint

33 Wings: Latin

35 “I Put a Spell on You” singer Nina

38 Host of Bravo’s “Inside the Actors Studio”: 2 wds.

41 William Tell’s canton

42 USA Network series about undercover federal agents, a title Elvis might have liked

45 Grayish-brown

46 Ms. O’Neill, dramatist Eugene’s daughter

47 552 in ancient Rome

48 First aid team [acronym]

49 Johann __ (The Swiss Family Robinson author)

50 _. __. (Sioux Falls state)

DOWN

1 Actress who famously danced with John Travolta in “Pulp Fiction”

(1994) ...her initialssharers

2 City of Brazil, with Paulo

3 Supplements like Flintstones Complete Chewables, for example

4 Scottish terrier dog

5 __ Metal (Music genre)

6 Songstress Ms. Sands

7 Mr. Haggard of country

8 “The __ Factor” on FOX News

9 “Saturday Night Live” alum who is a judge on the current season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing”: 2 wds.

10 Empire of Peru

11 Kidney or Lima

16 Fitness system, __ Bo

20 Brand of spaghetti sauce

21 Like _ __ of bricks

25 Leg part

26 “Misty” bit: “Look __ __ / I’m as helpless as a kitten up a tree.”

28 Egypt’s long river

29 Scottish city

34 Son on “The Jetsons”

35 Pet shelters, e.g. 36 Suffix to ‘Meteor’

37 Shapes

38 British actor Mr. Law

39 Kind of lily

40 Fleming and Somerhalder

43 Ms. Peeples of “Fame”

44 Hagar the Horrible creator Mr. Browne Solution on page 10