Above Us the Waves
6.8 /10 1 Votes6.8
Duration Language English | 6.6/10 IMDb Genre Drama, War Country United Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Release date 29 March 1955 (1955-03-29) (UK) Based on Above Us the Waves by C. E. T. Warren& James Benson Writer Charles Esme Thornton Warren (book), James D. Benson (book), Robin Estridge (screenplay) Initial release March 29, 1955 (United Kingdom) Cast (Commandant Fraser), (Lieutenant Alec Duffy), (Lieutenant Tom Corbett), (Admiral Ryder), (Smart), (German Officer) Similar movies Submarine X-1 (1969) Tagline Their Orders...Sink the Tirpitz! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Above Us the Waves is a 1955 British war film directed by Ralph Thomas, about human torpedo and midget submarine attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. It is based on two true-life attacks on the Tirpitz by British commando frogmen, first using Chariot manned torpedoes in Operation Title in 1942, and then X-Craft midget submarines in Operation Source in 1943. Some of the original equipment was used in the film.
Contents
Plot
The Royal Navy is concerned about constant attacks on convoys by German submarines and having to keep "half the fleet" watching for the German battleship Tirpitz. The Tirpitz is 60 miles from the sea inside a Norwegian fjord and attempts by the Royal Air Force to sink her have failed. Commander Fraser (Mills) is determined to prove that an attack by human torpedoes is practical, despite scepticism from the higher echelons that such an operation would be feasible.
Fraser assembles and trains a force of British commando frogmen officers and ratings to use the Mk I Human Torpedo manned torpedoes (Chariots) at their Scottish base. After receiving a refusal to allow the operation to go ahead from an admiral, the team use dummy mines to attack the admiral's own ship using the Chariots.
An attack is authorised on the Tirpitz with the initial operation using the Chariots. The attack fails and the crew are forced to abandon ship and land in Norway. They walk to neutral Sweden from where they are returned to Scotland.
For the next operation the crews are trained to use three small X-Craft submarines: X1, X2 and X3. They are initially towed by conventional submarines and are then left to penetrate the area where the Tirpitz is anchored.
They manage to approach the ship under their own power to lay their "side-cargoes", each containing 2 tons of amatol, under the ship's hull undetected. Two crews then scuttle the submarines and are picked up by the crew of Tirpitz, to be taken away as prisoners of war. The third (X2) is too badly damaged to re-surface and the crew decide to stay on board to prevent "giving the game away".
The mines explode as planned, badly damaging the Tirpitz. Meanwhile, X2's side cargoes have flooded. The flooding causes them to spontaneously explode, destroying X2 and killing her crew.
Box Office
The film was the sixth most popular film at the British box office that year, after The Dam Busters, White Christmas, Doctor at Sea, The Colditz Story and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It helped John Mills be voted the fifth most popular star in the country.
According to the National Film Finance Corporation, the film made a comfortable profit.
References
Above Us the Waves WikipediaAbove Us the Waves IMDb Above Us the Waves themoviedb.org