Special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya won his fifth technical achievement award from the Japan Movie Association for his combined work on this film and Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965) that year.
The Japanese evacuated Kiska on July 28th, 1943. Unaware of this, on August 15th nearly 35,000 American and Canadian troops carried out an amphibious invasion of the island. Due to weather, friendly fire, and Japanese booby-traps, this force suffered at least 313 casualties, including 32 killed. Three days later the US Navy destroyer USS Abner Reed hit a mine off Kiska and lost 71 men killed or missing and another 47 wounded.
Admiral Ernest King reported to Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox that the only things found on Kiska when it was recovered were dogs and freshly brewed coffee. When Knox asked for an explanation, King is said to have responded, "The Japanese are very clever. Their dogs can brew coffee."
The scene where the ships travel around Kiska island through the thick fog was original planned to be shot outdoors in Toho's giant pool. However, the fog proved too difficult to control and so special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya spent two months in an indoor stage to achieve the scene.