I’m excited for the upcoming Tom Hanks movie, Greyhound, the first trailer for which was released on Thursday, because it will speak to a moment in history that almost perfectly encapsulates American exceptionalism: the service of Americans to save strangers far away.

Based on the novel The Good Shepherd by the master of maritime fiction C.S. Forester, Greyhound follows a U.S. Navy convoy task force commander as he seeks to deliver aid to Britain and the fight against the Axis powers. It’s a topic worthy of Hanks’s attention. While convoy escorts in the Pacific theater also faced daunting threats, the tenacious skill of Kriegsmarine U-boat commanders made the Atlantic especially precarious. The Kriegsmarine’s use of “Graue Wölfe” or “Grey Wolf” pack tactics often meant that convoys would face multiple submarines at the moment of attack. Just imagine being in the middle of a stormy ocean, surprised by multiple torpedoes incoming from multiple directions.