Clip from "Single-Handed" 1953

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paulcadogan
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Clip from "Single-Handed" 1953

Post by paulcadogan »

Fiction, but still a very well done (IMHO) battle scene between HMS "Amesbury" - played by a Dido-class light cruiser and the German raider "Essen" which has the silhouette of a County-class cruiser in this scene, but later in the movie, they use an Abdiel-class minelayer with dressed-up gun turrets.

The movie (which I saw MANY years ago in part so this is based on vague recall) is about a sailor who survives the destruction of the Amesbury and is picked up by the Essen. When Essen seeks a remote safe inlet to hide and repair her battle damage, he escapes and becomes a sniper, preventing the repairs from proceeding, keeping Essen there until superior British forces arrive.

The clip is of the Essen/Amesbury battle seen from the British side, and is pretty good quality.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7VABMphTQU
Qui invidet minor est - He who envies is the lesser man
dunmunro
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Re: Clip from "Single-Handed" 1953

Post by dunmunro »

paulcadogan wrote:Fiction, but still a very well done (IMHO) battle scene between HMS "Amesbury" - played by a Dido-class light cruiser and the German raider "Essen" which has the silhouette of a County-class cruiser in this scene, but later in the movie, they use an Abdiel-class minelayer with dressed-up gun turrets.

The movie (which I saw MANY years ago in part so this is based on vague recall) is about a sailor who survives the destruction of the Amesbury and is picked up by the Essen. When Essen seeks a remote safe inlet to hide and repair her battle damage, he escapes and becomes a sniper, preventing the repairs from proceeding, keeping Essen there until superior British forces arrive.

The clip is of the Essen/Amesbury battle seen from the British side, and is pretty good quality.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7VABMphTQU
Single-Handed was released in North America as "Sailor of the King". It was a remake of an earlier 1930s film and both films were based upon CS Forester's book "Brown on Resolution".
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paulcadogan
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Re: Clip from "Single-Handed" 1953

Post by paulcadogan »

Here's another clip from later in the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN7lWnXCDk4

I must say that no matter how they try to dress up her guns into triple turrets, the little Abdiel-class ship (actually HMS Manxman) playing the "Essen" looks positively small and inadequate when compared to the Dido-class cruiser which she "sank" - the "Amesbury" (played by HMS Cleopatra). On top of that, Cleopatra also plays the "Stratford", which along with another cruiser "Cambridge", eventually destroys Essen.

Plus...looks like they had a dolphin torpedo! It must have leapt out of the water to hit the "Essen" so high above the waterline!! :shock:

Movies..... :whistle:
Qui invidet minor est - He who envies is the lesser man
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