Historical Naval actions that would make good movies?

[lwd]

About the Battle of Tsushima Clip: just beautifull. Is it there a way to buy the DVD?

Really late reply to this but check over on the IJN board. There are quite a few people there that are familiar with buying things from Japan. Some of their advertisers/supporters may even have copies of it. Here's a link: http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php ... &board=5.0

[Jellicoe]

Hello,
Great to be aboard. I love naval war movies, and here are a few that I would love to see made:

Flight of the Goeben -- This could be an incredibly suspenseful story, with British and French naval forces pursuing the German battlecruiser Goeben through the Mediterranean. The political story is as commanding as the nautical one, and later actions such as at the Dardanelles, etc, could be worked into the plot.

Von Spee's Squadron -- An epic journey of Admiral Von Spee's squadron of the German East Asian Squadron, including the victory over the British at Colonel, and its subsequent destruction at the later Battle of the Falklands. A lot of high drama in this.

A remake of Under Ten Flags, about the German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis and her remarkable feat of having the longest career of any commerce raider of either world war. Christmas at the Kerguelen islands, the capturing of the Automedon and her secret cargo, and her inevitable sinking at the hands of HMS Devonshire would all be great highlights.

Jutland (in the works, I hope.)
Trafalgar (this would be epic)
Konigsberg (scenery, drama...Shout at the Devil as it really happened.)

[paul.mercer]

Gentlemen,
How about a film on the entrapment and sinking of the Scharnhorst by Duke of York and all the associated British cruisers starting right from the day the RN intelligence realised that Scharnhorst was preparing to go to sea?

[Karl Heidenreich]

I think Paul's suggestion is not that bad if it's done in Europe, for obvious reasons. It will be an incredible "spying thriller" on one side and with nautical action. Will do fine!

[Byron Angel]

About the Battle of Tsushima Clip: just beautifull. Is it there a way to buy the DVD?

Really late reply to this but check over on the IJN board. There are quite a few people there that are familiar with buying things from Japan. Some of their advertisers/supporters may even have copies of it. Here's a link: http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php ... &board=5.0

..... Try "Belle & Blade" on the web. They sell a large range of militarily oriented films fromaround the world on DVD.

BTW, the inestimable Toshiro Mifune (shook his hand once, I'm proud to say) played the role of Admiral Togo in the "Tsushima" film.


B

[Byron Angel]

I think a very interesting film could be made of the story of the mutiny of the British frigate HERMIONE.

B

[19kilo]

Wouldnt mind a well done movie about the cruiser Houston. Battle of Mobile Bay would be nice also.

[RF]

I think Paul's suggestion is not that bad if it's done in Europe, for obvious reasons. It will be an incredible "spying thriller" on one side and with nautical action. Will do fine!

I agree.

[Foggy]

To make a movie nowadays, it seems one must include "human interest" stories as well. And for good naval action, good, HISTORIC plot twists-and-turns are, I think, necessary. For the latter, the Bismarck saga stands up well, as would the Battle off Samar. As we've seen in "Sink the Bismarck!", if a human interest angle doesn't exist (or is, in some sense, insufficient), one is added.

I'd like to add one action into consideration: The Battle of the Komandorskis. Specifically, the saga of the USS Salt Lake City. Look at this: the ship has a crew of many new sailors (picture the new recruits arriving at Pearl Harbor for their assignment--and pick a back story for a few of them); all are looking for a real "fighting" ship, and all want to go where the action is, read: the south pacific. They are assigned to the SLC, a "fightin'" ship, but where do they go? The backwaters of the war, the Aleutians! Nobody ever even sees an enemy ship there. So this barely trained crew sets off to the cold north not expecting much. But someone convinces the command to set out on an aggressive mission: they set off and find themselves, the oldest heavy and light cruisers in the Navy, with not a carrier in sight, up against the battle-hardened IJN with twice its own strength! Salvoes are flying and they try to escape the jaws of defeat...then the boiler incident and they're dead in the water! Is it curtains for our gallant crew? Etc.

Really, along with the other two battles I'd mentioned (and many, many more), you truly cannot write fiction to match this for drama! (Unfortunately, REAL drama usually isn't the right kind for Hollywood.)

[RF]

I was thinking of a modern remake of Under Ten Flags, the story of merchant raider Atlantis.

I did suggest this one some time ago. However note that this film, based on Atlantis, is a fictional account and not factual, and in parts is more Kormoran than Atlantis. One example in particular was the night time torpedoing of a British cruiser using the below waterline torpedo tubes, which of course Atlantis never did.

And if the film were re-made it can now include the role of enigma decripts in betraying Atlantis' poisition at a U-boat refuelling rendevous.

A film of Thor's first cruise, with the battles with the British AMC's would also be a good idea - however the Thor got clean away so the ending would be an anti-climax.

[tommy303]

I always thought von Mueller's cruise in the SMS Emden would have made a fine movie.

[Jellicoe]

I have been reading The Great War in Africa by Byron Farwell, and have become re-familiarized with the Konigsberg scenario. More and more I am thinking that this would make a very good war film. It has a lot of action and suspense with ship to ship action (Konigsberg sinking the Pelican, Konigsberg vs Severn and Mersey, etc,) the hiding of the Konigsberg, the failure of the British to destroy the cargo of the Kronborg (which had been intended for Konigsberg, but following the Kronborg's grounding close to shore, was snatched up and used to support the ground campaign of the phenomenal Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck), air action, etc. Riverine/coastal combat in the Jungle, with Askaris, monitors, decisions great and terrible. I would pay to see it. Heck, give me a hundred million and I'll make it.

[RF]

Several films alluding to the Konigsberg have been made, mostly American and almost completely fictional. I cannot recall the titles, though I'm sure other members of the forum can.

[RF]

I always thought von Mueller's cruise in the SMS Emden would have made a fine movie.

There was one film made in the early 1960's that related loosely to Emden, though the German ship was called Essen. It was set in the Pacific.

[lwd]

There could be a whole series of films that could lead up to an include Lepanto as well as the potential for some afterwards.