70 CRUEL SEA, THE
the Royal Hellenic Navy—in Malta, where it was awaiting breaking. After undergo-
ing repairs, K32 steamed back to England under its own power in June 1952, where
it was refurbished and transformed into the Compass Rose, with the majority of
filming taking place on board (the ship was scrapped a year later). HMS Saltash
Castle, the other ship featured in Monsarrat’s novel, was portrayed in the film by
Castle- class corvette HMS Portchester Castle (F362, scrapped in 1958). Both ships
used for filming were based at Devonport, near Plymouth (southeast of London),
with the River Tamar and Plymouth Sound standing in for the River Mersey in
Liverpool. The scenes of the ships at sea were filmed in the En glish Channel just
out of sight of land in summer waters generally too calm to effectively portray con-
ditions on the Atlantic Ocean in winter, so, for those scenes, the ships were taken
to a tidal race off the tip of the Island of Portland. Though close to shore, a sand
bar and a number of converging tidal streams provided the roiling seas needed for
proper verisimilitude. En glishman Donald Sinden was initially cast as the cow-
ardly James Bennett (an Australian in the book), and Welshman Stanley Baker was
cast as Keith Lockhart (based on Monsarrat) but the actors eventually swapped
roles. The dramatic handling of the film’s key sequence was also a source of some
consternation. When the Compass Rose’s ASDIC (sonar) detects what is suspected
to be a U- boat lurking directly beneath a group of British sailors treading water
after their ship has been sunk, Ericson must decide instantly whether to sacrifice
those sailors by dropping depth charges. He does so, but in a night scene that imme-
diately follows, a drunken and inconsolable Ericson shares his emotional trauma
with Lockhart. After viewing the rushes of the scene, Michael Balcon asked Charles
Frend to reshoot it with Jack Hawkins directed to play his part with the usual Brit-
ish stoicism and emotional reserve. Balcon liked the results but two days later, after
another viewing, the scene was reshot again, with a bit more feeling. Ironically, and
to Hawkins’ amusement, the original take was the one that ended up in the film’s
final version.Plot Summary
Set in the fall of 1939, as the Battle of the Atlantic begins, Lt.- Commander George
Ericson ( Jack Hawkins), a British Merchant Navy and Royal Naval Reserve officer,
is called to active duty and given command of HMS Compass Rose, a newly built
Flower- class corvette intended for convoy escort duties. His newly commissioned
sublieutenants, Lockhart (Donald Sinden) and Ferraby ( John Stratton), are inex-
perienced. Ericson’s first lieutenant (“No. 1”) is James Bennett (Stanley Baker), a
cowardly, hectoring martinet. Drawbacks notwithstanding, the Compass Rose makes
numerous escort runs in the North Atlantic, often in terrible weather, and its men
soon coalesce into a tough and competent fighting force. With the fall of France in
May 1940, French ports become available to the U- boats, enabling them to attack
convoys anywhere in the Atlantic Ocean. Now the bad weather works to Allied
advantage; the U- boats cannot attack convoys in rough seas. After Bennett is put
ashore with a duodenal ulcer, Lockhart is promoted to No. 1, and the Compass Rose
continues to cross the Atlantic escorting convoys, but despite the best efforts of
the escorts, many merchant vessels are sunk and scores of sailors lost. After nearly