Summaries

Synopsis

In World War II, the escort destroyer U.S.S. Haynes is patrolling the South Atlantic from its home base in Trinidad with a new commanding officer, Captain Murrell [Robert Mitchum]. Several of the veteran sailors are unenthused about Murrell's command, since he is a former Merchant Marine officer who joined the Naval Reserve after his freighter was torpedoed and sunk. The ship's doctor [Russell Collins] expresses to some of the senior officers, including executive officer Lt. Ware [Al Hedison] and plotting officer Lt. Mackeson [Alan Dexter], that Murrell should have been given more time to recuperate from a more recent sinking before taking command of the Haynes. It is mentioned that since the Haynes is an "easy ship" that has seen little action, Murrell could do worse.

During the night, the Haynes reduces speed in the middle of a rain squall, whereupon its radar makes a contact ahead. Excitement runs wild through the crew as Ware orders pursuit, and Murrell comes to the radar room for a firsthand report, ordering the radar operator to keep the contact under careful observation. The senior officers agree that the contact is most likely a surfaced German U-boat.

The crew of the U-boat - for U-boat it is - have detected the radar signal from the Haynes, so the captain, von Stolberg [Curd Jürgens], orders evasive maneuvers. Mackeson plots the target's course changes meticulously, and Murrell cons the Haynes to keep its position steady behind the contact so that it will appear to be a false reflection in the bad weather. Satisfied that the signal is nothing but a radar ghost, von Stolberg invites his executive officer, Heini Schwaffer [Theodore Bikel], to a private conversation in his cabin. He decides that their mission - the acquisition of a captured British code book and its return to Germany - takes precedence over positively identifying the mysterious signal. But he also confides to Schwaffer that he is tired of the war, and what it has done to Germany and to him personally.

After the squall subsides, Murrell and the Haynes's doctor have a philosophical discussion about the wide range of effects the war has had on themselves and their men. Murrell recounts the sinking of his freighter and the death of his bride, but insists that he isn't seeking a vendetta against the U-boat they are shadowing. At first light, he calls battle stations and orders a full-on pursuit of the U-boat.

The two vessels' lookouts sight each other at almost the same time; Schwaffer gives the order to dive. Noting the time, Murrell orders a change in course and reduction in speed, much to the consternation of his crew. Ordering periscope depth, von Stolberg sights the Haynes and decides to fire upon it with his aft torpedo tubes. At the last moment, Murrell orders a sharp turn to avoid the incoming torpedoes, which cleanly miss. Von Stolberg recognizes that he has an adversary whose experience and tenacity are equal to his own, and takes his boat deep.

Using active sonar to locate the U-boat, the Haynes commences depth-charging. Von Stolberg has the engine-room bilges pumped overboard to confuse the Haynes's sonar and allow an evasive course. With contact lost, Murrell has Mackeson plot an interception course based on dead reckoning, believing that the U-boat will eventually return to its original course. An encrypted radio transmission from fleet headquarters confirms his belief, informing him that the U-boat is seeking a rendezvous with a German surface raider and that three more American destroyers have been sent to assist.

The U-boat resumes its original heading, but a periscope search reveals that the Haynes is still on its tail. Another depth charge attack convinces von Stolberg that the only chance for escape is to take the boat to the ocean bottom - in hopes that the hull can withstand the pressure at more than 300 meters - and wait it out. When the Haynes loses contact again, Murrell also brings his ship to an easy stop and gives orders for absolute silence. Thus he and von Stolberg each wait for the other to make the next move. Finally von Stolberg decides to continue on, even though he instinctively knows Murrell is waiting for him.

Rather than make another depth charge run, Murrell convenes all officers to explain his plan of attack: they will hold a sonar contact on the U-boat and make one depth charge run every hour until backup can reach them. For the next four hours, he forces von Stolberg to change course and depth to evade the repeated attacks, delaying his rendezvous with the surface raider. Von Stolberg, however, identifies the pattern to the attacks, but before he can devise a plan of counterattack, a torpedoman loses his nerve and assaults his shipmates with a crescent wrench. Von Stolberg is able to defuse him, and tells Schwaffer to play a record of the "Dessauer Marsch" to boost the crew's morale and defy the men on the Haynes. The next depth charge run severely damages the U-boat, but a disadvantageous weather forecast prompts Murrell to finish it off while he still can.

Von Stolberg plots a torpedo attack on the Haynes, which turns in just the direction he has been waiting for. Firing a spread from all four bow tubes, the U-boat scores one hit, enough to cripple the Haynes. Hoping to draw his enemy to the surface, Murrell orders his men to make the damage look worse than it is, and to abandon ship except for a few critical personnel, including a gun crew. The U-boat surfaces and prepares a coup de grace on the Haynes, but in an exchange of deck gun fire, the destroyer disables the U-boat and proceeds to ram it with all its remaining engine power. Von Stolberg also orders his crew to abandon ship after setting scuttling charges, but belowdecks, he finds Schwaffer mortally wounded. After bringing him topside, he sees Murrell on the bridge of the Haynes; seeing each other in person for the first time, the two captains exchange solemn salutes.

At the last second before jumping overboard, Murrell turns back, recognizing von Stolberg as no longer an enemy, but a fellow sea captain about to lose his ship. He throws von Stolberg and Schwaffer a lifeline, which both captains use to heave Schwaffer on board the Haynes; von Stolberg then climbs the lifeline and meets Murrell face to face. Though Schwaffer is dying, he insists on bringing his friend along. American and German sailors climb aboard side by side from a lifeboat to rescue their captains. Seconds after the lifeboat hauls away, the U-boat's scuttling charges detonate, and Murrell and von Stolberg watch as they both lose their ships and their death struggle against each other.

One of the American destroyers rescues the survivors, and the men from the Haynes attend as the crew of the U-boat buries the deceased Schwaffer at sea. Von Stolberg remarks to Murrell that he should be long since dead, but he (Murrell) is the one responsible for preserving his life, and he expects him to repeat the act next time.