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''The Cruel Sea'' is a 1953 British war film starring Jack Hawkins, Donald Sinden, Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Liam Redmond, Virginia McKenna and Moira Lister. The film, which was made by Ealing Studios seven years after the end of the Second World War, was directed by Charles Frend and produced by Leslie Norman. It is based on the best selling novel ''The Cruel Sea'' by former naval officer Nicholas Monsarrat, though the screenplay by Eric Ambler omits some of Monsarrat's grimmest moments. ==Plot== The film portrays the conditions in which the Battle of the Atlantic was fought between the Royal Navy and Germany's U-boats. It is seen from the viewpoint of the British naval officers and seamen who served in convoy escorts. The film begins with a voice-over by Ericson (Jack Hawkins); ''This is a story of the Battle of the Atlantic, the story of an ocean, two ships, and a handful of men. The men are the heroes; the heroines are the ships. The only villain is the sea, the cruel sea, that man has made more cruel...'' Opening in the autumn of 1939, just as war breaks out, Lieutenant-Commander George Ericson, a British Merchant Navy officer in the Royal Naval Reserve, is recalled to the Royal Navy and given command of HMS ''Compass Rose'', a newly built Flower class corvette intended for convoy escort duties. His sub-lieutenants, Lockhart and Ferraby, are both newly commissioned and without experience at sea. The new first lieutenant, James Bennett (Stanley Baker), is an abusive martinet. Despite these initial disadvantages, the ship's company gains hard experience and becomes an effective fighting unit. At first their worst enemy is the weather, since German submarines lack the range to attack shipping far into the Atlantic. With the Fall of France, French ports become available to the Germans and U-boats can attack convoys anywhere in the Atlantic – ironically making bad weather the convoys' greatest advantage. The first lieutenant is put ashore, the junior officers mature and the ship crosses the Atlantic many times escorting convoys, often in brutal weather. They witness the sinking of many merchant vessels they are charged with protecting and the tragic deaths of merchant navy crewmen. A key scene involves Ericson's decision to carry out a depth charge attack even though the blast will kill merchant seamen floating in the water. After close to three years of service, including one U-boat sunk, the ''Compass Rose'' is herself torpedoed and her crew forced to abandon ship. Most of the crew are lost. Taking to a couple of liferafts, Ericson survives this ordeal along with his first lieutenant, Lockhart (Donald Sinden), and with the few crew left are picked up the next day. Ericson is promoted commander, and together with Lockhart, his now-promoted "Number One", takes command of a new frigate, HMS ''Saltash Castle'' (portrayed by Castle-class corvette ). With Ericson leading an anti-submarine escort group they continue the monotonous but vital duty of convoy escort. Late in the war, while serving with the Arctic convoys, they doggedly pursue and sink another U-boat, marked as U-53 (in reality, sunk by in February 1940 with the loss of all hands), ''Saltash Castles only 'kill'. As the war ends the ship is shown returning to port, as guard to a number of German submarines that have surrendered. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Cruel Sea (1953 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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