"[5] In August 1957, then-Senator John F. Kennedy was technical adviser for the "P. T. 109" episode of the program, which related the story of the sinking of the patrol torpedo boat that he commanded.
Executive producer Leslie Harris contrasted it with Victory at Sea, which NBC presented as a documentary.
Harris said the documentary treatment created too large a scope and failed to let viewers feel "close to any of the participants" or view action as those on hand saw it.
The crew of the PC-565, only patrol craft that sank a German submarine during World War II, saw their presidential-citation-winning efforts turned into what a newspaper columnist described as "a comedy of errors".
[12] A review in The New York Times of the first ABC episode said, "Action shots in the later part of the half hour were exciting and graphic, but the acting and dialogue in general were rather routine.
"[13] An unsigned review in the trade publication Broadcasting noted that the program needed "a firmer hand at editing" to avoid elements that appeared amateurish.[2]: 18 .
CBS Television Film Sales released episodes of Navy Log in two 52-episode packages that local stations could run over two years.