San Demetrio London

Just amazed this film has never been remade. It's true story, certainly as seen in this low budget British wartime production, seems a perfect fit to get the 21st century, much bigger budget treatment. In the right hands, it could be a terrific cinematic spectacle as the story behind the film has really got it all. Merchant naval convoys and battles, heroism demonstrated not just on the part of the crew of the San Demetrio, but that of other ships too, especially the Jervis Bay, North Atlantic tempests, humour, pathos and in general a wonderfully marine-based, collective survival story.

In the interim, I guess we'll have to be satisfied with this low key instalment featuring a very young Gordon Jackson (as the mess boy would you believe) and regular Welsh mainstay character actor of British 40's and 50's films, Mervyn Johns (father of Glynis), playing the stoic, ill-fated, but delightfully named Greaser Boyle, who demonstrates on more than one occasion, that he was always prepared to take one for his fellow crew mates without complaint.

The captain of the Jervis Bay, Captain E. S. F. Fegen Royal Navy, was the escort commander for convoy HX84 traveling between Halifax and Great Britain.

The Jervis Bay was an armed merchant cruiser only equipped with four inch guns but quite adequate to deal with any German U boats which might happen to ' chance their arm. '

It was therefore quite a shock when he encountered the German pocket battleship, Admiral Scheer in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Certainly not where he would have expected a German surface raider to be.

Taking a gamble Captain Fegen engaged the raider, itself equipped with radar controlled eleven inch guns, and thus allowed the convoy a further twenty minutes to escape into the darkness which by that time was beginning to fall.

Several of the merchant ships were still badly damaged subsequently by the Admiral Scheer. San Demetrio was abandoned by her captain and crew, but later rejoined by part of her crew without the captain. This latter point together with the refusal to accept assistance once in home waters allowed the insurers to make salvage payments to all who embarked on the perilous voyage.

A member of the party interviewed after the war said that the men would have made every effort to save the ship and cargo in any event. Great Britain being upon its knees and fighting alone for her very existence against Germany, Italy and Japan with a neutral USSR and USA observing with a casual interest.

The King later awarded Captain Fegen the Victoria Cross in recognition of the courageous sacrifice of himself and his crew.

The film renders an entertaining account of this annal of the sea.

San Demetrio, London gives an interesting account of a British Oil Tanker which was attacked and abandoned by her crew, only to find the ship stayed afloat. Good performances and an interesting perspective, as the film was released during WW2.

The San Demetrio is a tanker that is apart of an trans-Atlantic convoy travelling to England from the States. When the convoy is attacked by an U-boat their destroyer is sunk and the San Demetrio is damaged very badly and the crew abandon ship. All the life boats are picked up but one boat drifts and is lost. Weeks later the crew in the lifeboat come across a ship, only to find that the San Demetrio has survived despite burning badly. The crew re-board the ship but find that getting the fire out is only the first of the dangers they must overcome.

I must have read the wrong synopsis when I thought of watching this film – I thought it was a standard action packed film where the crew of a tanker battle against the u-boat. Regardless of this, I was glad I watched it as it was different from the usual wartime propaganda in some ways and was quite enjoyable, if not thrilling. The plot shows the men battle through difficult conditions and being heroes without realy thinking of it – they were just doing their duty and being themselves. This message is still important today and is told in a low-key way with the need for action etc.

However, being low-key means that not all the tension of them being on a burning ship (that could explode) comes through. Likewise the majority of the danger they face remains with them and I never felt gripped or on the edge of my seat – the most I could say is that it was interesting rather than involving. The cast do well despite the irritating addition of an American to the cast (yes, the studios have been doing it that long!), but this is a minor annoyance. The rest are all good British stiff upper lips regardless of class or rank.

Overall this is an enjoyable little film but I wanted it to be as exciting on the screen as it could have been. Sadly the low-key nature of the film makes the tension turn into more interest than edge-of-seat tension.

The tale of tanker on a return trip to Galviston, Texas. It has a bit of a run in with a "Jerry" boat and the remainder of the film depicts the courage of the crew trying to keep things afloat. As the film was made during World War II the sentiments are entirely predictable/understandable.

Gordon Jackson looks worryingly young and the Britishness of the movie is summed up when the Captain risks blowing up the boat for the sake of giving the crew a hot cup of tea.

Don't expect anything too spectacular but enjoy a feelgood movie 1943 style.