Movie · 1943
San Demetrio London
Released 7 December 1943 97 min Action / Drama / War More from 1943 → IMDb ↗ · Letterboxd ↗ · TMDB ↗
Based on the true story of the 1940 rescue of the tanker MV San Demetrio by parts of her own crew after she had been set afire in the middle of the Atlantic by the German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer and then had been abandoned. When one of the lifeboats drifted back to the burning tanker the day after, and found that she still hadn't exploded, they decided to board her and put out the fires. Eventually, they managed to start the engine again and decided to try to reach Britain against all odds.
FR·01
How old were they?
Herbert Cameron
as Pumpman Davies
Walter Fitzgerald
as Chief Engineer Charles Pollard - M.V. San Demetrio
Charles Victor
as Deckhand
Arthur Young
as Captain George Waite - M.V. San Demetrio
Mervyn Johns
as Greaser John Boyle - M.V. San Demetrio
Frederick Piper
as Boatswain W.E. Fletcher - M.V. San Demetrio
Ralph Michael
as 2nd. Officer Hawkins - M.V. San Demetrio
Robert Beatty
as 'Yank' Preston - M.V. San Demetrio
James McKechnie
as Deckhand
James Donald
as Gunnery Officer - H.M.S. Jervis Bay
Gordon Jackson
as Messboy John Jamieson - M.V. San Demetrio
Barry Letts
as Apprentice John Jones - M.V. San Demetrio
Neville Mapp
as 3rd. Engineer Willey - M.V. San Demetrio
Nigel Clarke
as R.J.E Dodds - Shipping Manager
Michael Allen
as Cadet Roy Housden - M.V. San Demetrio
FR·02
The numbers
45years between the oldest and youngest billed
63Herbert Cameron — oldest on the call sheet
18Barry Letts — youngest billed
38average age of the credited cast