Convoy Page #2

- Make doubles now the anchor's down.

- Very good, sir.

- Here you are, sir.

- Thank you. Come in.

No, sir, not in here.

- Come on, have a drink.

- Thank you, sir.

- My name's Cranford, I've just joined.

- I'm glad to know you, Cranford.

- I'm Sandeman.

- How do you do?

- This is guns.

- How do you do?

Torps, surgeon commander...

- How do you do?

And Dot and Cary,

our heroes of the sky.

I'm happy to meet you all,

and to forestall the inevitable,

I haven't the slightest idea

when you'll get leave.

I suppose everybody on the ship's

been asking you that.

Do you know what I'd like to do?

Hop in my little bus, fly her to town,

Take her on top of the Ritz,

and make a parachute drop

into the American bar.

With rows and rows of gleaming bottles

and fairy lights twinkling though them.

Instead of Peacock's ugly mug

leering at you over pink gins,

there'd be a wonderful popsie.

With a full set of everything.

Bottoms up.

Here we go.

Hello, sir, you're just in time

to meet the new arrival.

We know each other.

Well, you seem to have

made yourself at home very quickly.

Yes, sir,

you can't keep a good man down.

Pity. Get me a drink.

Beer, please.

Well, I've got a spot of work to do,

if you'll forgive me.

Oh, I'll give you a hand.

The glass must be falling,

deep depression.

Your luggage has been

put in your cabin, sir.

Thank you.

I'm afraid I've come to stay.

Thanks for the drink.

Oh, ha-ha, not at all.

What on earth's the matter,

Commander?

It's an awkward thing to talk about.

I thought he seemed a nice bloke, sir.

That's a matter of opinion.

I've served with Tom Armitage for a long

time, he's one of my oldest friends.

Oh, what's the skipper

got to do with it?

Well, five years ago, we were out on

the China Station, his wife was there.

- So was young Cranford.

- Oh, well, that was it.

Yes, there was a divorce.

- Tough luck on the skipper.

- These sort of things do happen, sir.

Just what I felt, till we learned

a year later at Singapore,

that Cranford had let her down.

- Didn't marry her, you mean?

- Exactly.

I'm one of those rare birds,

a happily married man.

I don't set out to be a moralist,

still, you know what it is.

- You must draw the line somewhere.

- Exactly.

Yes, we seem to be well-off

for balaclavas, Jenkins.

Two navy, three beige,

one in your hand, that's six.

Your lady friends

like to keep you warm, sir.

Nonsense, Jenkins, all knitted by elderly

relatives on the front at Bournemouth.

- Keep that one for yourself.

- Thank you, sir.

- I say, sir?

- Yes?

About wangling my leave, sir,

I've come to ask you not to bother.

I see. All right, my lad,

makes no difference to me.

- Thanks all the same.

- Don't mention it. Have a helmet.

No, thank you, sir.

- Another one for you, Jenkins.

- Thank you, sir.

(Bugle blares)

Lower deck clear,

ship's company mustered aft, sir.

Thank you, master-at-arms.

Lower deck clear, sir.

Everybody aft.

Ship's company, stand at ease.

I want to thank you all for the way

you've acquitted yourselves

during the patrol we've just finished.

You've given the enemy

a taste of your quality.

I know there are people

you're fond of ashore...

He means you, Shorty,

someone must've split.

Oh, pack it up!

I know you're expecting leave

and you deserve it...

- This looks good to me.

- Sounds like a week at least.

...but I don't have to remind you that

we're at war and have to make sacrifices.

The orders I have just received

from the Admiralty

put general leave out of the question.

Hard luck, Shorty.

Our flotilla has been selected

for special duty,

and I hope this news will make up

for the disappointment you've suffered,

because I don't mind telling you,

it may give us the chance of action

- against enemy surface craft.

- That'll be great.

Swimming in the North Sea

with a leg off.

Never mind, you'll get a medal.

The operation we have been detailed

to carry out

is one of the utmost importance,

and I know I can rely on all of you

to do your very best.

That is all.

Carry on, Commander.

Ship's company, shun.

Turn for'ard, right and left.

Turn! Double march.

The destroyer captains are aboard, sir.

- They're in your cabin.

- Thanks, Brandon.

I understand, that's the trouble,

I do understand!

Now, you listen to me,

of course you won't get any leave,

and I'll tell you why, you're a lot of mugs

that won't stand up for yourselves.

- I've been in the service 30 years...

- Shut up! Now, listen to me...

- Oh, put a sock in it!

- I'll tell you why there's no leave.

Cos first, we sunk

a blooming German submarine...

- Grub up, grub...

- Secondly, we're due for boiler cleaning.

And thirdly, we ain't had any leave

for a long time, and...

(All laugh)

Grub up - come on, lads!

The merchantmen we are to convoy are

assembling outside Norwegian waters.

We'll steam across and pick them up

and convoy them to Position X -

that's the entrance to our minefields,

where they'll be safe.

You'll find all further details in your

sailing orders. Pass them round.

Usual precautions,

no wireless messages,

we can receive

but we mustn't send.

Absolute secrecy,

absolute concentration on the one job,

to get the convoy home,

nothing must interfere with that.

Well, before you go back to your ships,

everything quite clear?

- Very clear.

- Absolutely clear.

I've been reading the list of ships

we're escorting, sir.

- The Seaflower's among them.

- Yes.

She was running the blockade

on the Spanish war.

Yes, and she had that old blaggard

of a skipper, always in trouble.

He's in the thick of it again,

she's lying off Poland.

Well, good luck.

I hope you'll be able to

wangle us some leave after this, sir.

So do I, they've had to postpone

a christening for me.

(Laughs)

Just a minute, Cranford.

There's a question

you might be able to answer.

Official or personal, sir?

Purely personal.

- Would you care to smoke?

- No, thank you, sir.

Have you heard anything of Lucy

since she went abroad?

Well, now and then.

Usual motoring tour postcards.

Nuremberg by moonlight,

Hitler by daylight.

- When was the last?

- Day before war was declared.

And you haven't bothered to find out

if she got away from Germany?

Lucy always preferred

looking after herself.

That's why you left her, I suppose.

I thought this was a personal talk.

I suggest we keep off dangerous ground.

You won't understand my point of view

and yours went out with wooden ships.

- You're being insulting.

- I have reason to be.

What is this, a ship

or a Sunday school?

I've been treated like a leper since I

came aboard, thanks to your influence,

You're wrong, Cranford.

The wardroom's opinion is entirely

its own affair, I don't control it.

As long as you do your job, you'll be

treated like any officer on the ship.

Please take these charts to the bridge,

we're sailing at six tonight.

(Bell chimes)

Signal received from the Admiralty, sir.

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