"Single-Handed"/"Sailor of the King" (1953) - Naval Battle

H.M.S. Amesbury engages in battle with the Essen in Roy Boulting's "Sailor of the King" (British title: "Single-Handed"), the second movie based on C.S. Forester's "Brown on Resolution" (1929). In this clip: Jeffrey Hunter, Patrick Barr, Robin Bailey, Bernard Lee, Victor Maddern, Michael Rennie, John Horsley et al.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Single-Handed
• Sailor of the King
• Brown on Resolution
• Jeffrey Hunter
• Patrick Barr
• Robin Bailey
• Bernard Lee
• Victor Maddern
• Michael Rennie
• John Horsley
• Roy Boulting

[Marafox2]

Thanks for the upload! Where did you get the pictures from? Is there a DVD buyable? I would like to get the hole film, because I love the book of C.S. Forester really a lot. Thanks for a repy.

[S250385]

@Marafox2 You can order the DVD from Amazon.com or Ebay (probably from other sites too, that I'm not aware of). The only problem is that it is a region 1 DVD and since you live in a region 2 area you need a region-free DVD player to watch it. Good luck!

[kingbleah]

yes thanks for uploading such a good film clip well done

[Norrington516]

Thanks for uploading! It's the closest I guess to seeing Alistair McLean's HMS Ulysses as a movie...

[Factnotfictionpeople]

What for she staionery in the water! lol

[zsqpwxxeh]

@mig25pd Yes, but I think the Royal Navy can be proud of its fighting record. If I'm not mistaken, that incident was the first outright surrender since the Napoleonic era. Captains could always strike if the only alternative was destruction. They faced a naval court afterward, though.

The U.S. lost a naval ship (not a warship), the Pueblo, to the North Koreans in 1968. The Captain was eventually exonerated for striking. The ship is moored at Pyongyang and most visitors are forced to see it.

[mig25pd]

@zsqpwxxeh The Iranian business is a source of intense embarassment - let's hope that next time the RN put up a somewhat better performance than that of the younger staff members at a children's nursery school.

[tedjinla]

"In the Royal Navy, we never strike an ensign, see?"

Best line in the movie...by "M' of James Bond fame.

[zsqpwxxeh]

Great scene of naval combat, better than the Graf Spee movie where they had a U.S. heavy cruiser as the German (looked nothing like it!). Incidentally, when was the last time a Royal Navy warship struck its colors? I'm inclined to think during the War of 1812 vs. the Americans...though a RN boarding party in a small boat surrendered without a fight to the Iranians not too long ago.

Thanks for the upload. Well done indeed.

[tedjinla]

This movie was filmed in the Mediterranean using HMS Cleopatra as Amesbury, Cambridge and Stratford, and the fast minelayer HMS Manxman as Essen. They fitted fake turrets and funnels to try and make a convincing German light cruiser out of her.

The lagoon where most of the "shooting" took place (yuk yuk) was Gozo the northern-most island of the Maltese archipelago to stand in for Resolution Island in the Galapagos.

Thanks for uploading this wonderful sequence.

TEDJ in LA