When the frigate HMS Amethyst set off up the Yangtse river to resupply the British embassy in Nanking nobody on board thought they would end up national heroes after the People's Liberation Army shell the ship killing several crew members, driving it onto a sandbar and demanding an apology from the crew before they can make a dramatic escape through what is now unfriendly territory.
As the film opens the Amethyst is steaming up river with little to worry about, they know there is a civil war in China but don't know just how close the PLA are to taking the capital. When they come under heavy fire from communist artillery they are damaged and driven onto a sand bar. It appears they will be rescued when the destroyer HMS Consort arrives, unfortunately even with its superior fire power Consort can't silence the Chinese guns and after taking casualties is forced to retreat. The wounded personnel are evacuated to the river bank still in Nationalist hands and taken overland to Shanghai. The wounded include the captain who dies of his wounds. Lieutenant-Commander Kerans is sent to take over the command. As the Communists make further advances they are totally cut off from friendly forces and have to try to negotiate their safe passage unfortunately the Chinese demand that the crew confess that they were the aggressors. Refusing to do this Kerans decides they will make a run for the sea on night. To do this they must run the gauntlet of Chinese batteries and avoid a boom that has been placed across part of the river.
This film is an exciting retelling of those events with a solid cast portraying the ships crew, the only weakness in the cast is having Akim Tamiroff, a Russian playing a Chinese officer, he just didn't look or sound Chinese. The fact that it was filmed aboard the real HMS Amethyst added authenticity; when they come under fire it looks like a real ship is coming under fire not just a model.
As the film opens the Amethyst is steaming up river with little to worry about, they know there is a civil war in China but don't know just how close the PLA are to taking the capital. When they come under heavy fire from communist artillery they are damaged and driven onto a sand bar. It appears they will be rescued when the destroyer HMS Consort arrives, unfortunately even with its superior fire power Consort can't silence the Chinese guns and after taking casualties is forced to retreat. The wounded personnel are evacuated to the river bank still in Nationalist hands and taken overland to Shanghai. The wounded include the captain who dies of his wounds. Lieutenant-Commander Kerans is sent to take over the command. As the Communists make further advances they are totally cut off from friendly forces and have to try to negotiate their safe passage unfortunately the Chinese demand that the crew confess that they were the aggressors. Refusing to do this Kerans decides they will make a run for the sea on night. To do this they must run the gauntlet of Chinese batteries and avoid a boom that has been placed across part of the river.
This film is an exciting retelling of those events with a solid cast portraying the ships crew, the only weakness in the cast is having Akim Tamiroff, a Russian playing a Chinese officer, he just didn't look or sound Chinese. The fact that it was filmed aboard the real HMS Amethyst added authenticity; when they come under fire it looks like a real ship is coming under fire not just a model.