Action in the North Atlantic | (1943) Wartime Movie

This 1943 wartime propaganda movie was an effort to emphasise the sacrifice - and significance - of the United States' Merchant Marine. This Hollywood production featured an all-star cast, led by Humphrey Bogart, and an extravagant (for the time) special effects budget. It tells the story of the crew of an American tanker sunk by a U-boat during the "Happy Times" of 1942. After struggling to survive the cruel sea on a raft, the crew is assigned to a new - and armed - Liberty Ship and given the mission of running urgent supplies via the Arctic Convoy route to Russia's Murmansk. The heavily defended convoy comes under sustained attack, and the crew must again fight to survive the best Nazi Germany can throw at them. Like Britain's "Western Approaches" (which featured actual ships' crews instead of performers), this movie does little to gloss over the terrible conditions, overwhelming odds, and desperate struggle these civilian crews faced in the service of their countries.