| Above Us the Waves | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Ralph Thomas |
| Starring | John Mills John Gregson Donald Sinden |
| Release date(s) | 1955 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English German |
Above Us the Waves is a 1955 war film directed by Ralph Thomas. It tells the story of human torpedo and midget submarine attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz. It is based on true-life attacks on the Tirpitz, first using manned torpedoes (Chariots), and then the Royal Navy's midget X-Craft submarines in Operation Source. Some of the original equipment was used in the film.
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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 km 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 skepticism from the higher echelons that such an operation would be feasible,.
Fraser assembles and trains a force of officers and ratings to use the MkI 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", 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 POWs. The third (X2) is too badly damaged to re-surface and the crew decide to stay onboard 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.
The screenplay was based on the book Above Us the Waves by C.E.T Warren and James Benson. Events in the film had minor differences, for example, the boat Arthur that carried the chariot human torpedoes was named Ingebord in the film, and the X class submarines used in Operation Source in 1943 were numbered X-6 and X-7, while X-5 was the craft that was lost.
The score was by Arthur Benjamin and performed under the direction of Muir Mathieson.
Commander Donald Cameron VC, who commanded X-6 as a Lieutenant and won the Victoria Cross during the operation, was an adviser to the film.
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