Best Naval War Films

During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America.

A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.

The World War II adventures of a British convoy escort ship and its officers.

Allied soldiers from Belgium, the British Commonwealth and Empire, and France are surrounded by the German Army and evacuated during a fierce battle in World War II.

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.

In the first major naval battle of World War II, the British Navy must find and destroy a powerful German warship.

The World War II story of the Royal Navy's effort to defeat Nazi Germany's most powerful warship.

The story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.

A tale of the highs and lows of life protecting the vital convoys between America & England during WWII.

Several months after the U.S. entry into World War II, an inexperienced U.S. Navy commander must lead an Allied convoy being stalked by a German submarine wolf pack.

In 1940, the Captain of an old Royal Navy destroyer struggles with his crew, as well as the Nazis.

The story of the Battle of Midway, told by the leaders and the sailors who fought it.

Dramatic reconstruction of two 1914 naval battles off Coronel and the Falkland Islands.The first a defeat of the British by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, the second a retaliation by the British under vice Admiral Sturdee.

On the H.M.S. Defiant, during the French Revolutionary War, fair Captain Crawford is locked in a battle of wills against his cruel second-in-command Lieutenant Scott-Padget, whose heavy-handed command style pushes the crew to mutiny.

All leave is cancelled so that a British submarine can be sent after a new German warship. They chase it so far that they have no fuel to get home.

This "story of a ship", the British destroyer H.M.S. Torrin, is told in flashbacks by survivors as they cling to a life raft.

Horatio Hornblower begins his naval career, but a deadly feud with a despicable mate is causing complications.

In November 1984, the Soviet Union's best submarine captain violates orders and heads for the U.S. in a new undetectable sub. The American CIA and military must quickly determine: Is he trying to defect or to start a war?

A wartime film, made under the auspices of the Crown Film Unit, serving as a tribute to the Merchant Navy. During WWII, they kept the lifeline to America and the Commonwealth open so that this little island could fight on. Even as late as 1943/4 when this was made, the convoys still provided vital essential supplies as well as the materiel necessary to take the fight into Europe. This film dramatizes the experiences of many merchant seamen.

When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.

The story of the HMS Coventry, which was bombed during the Falklands conflict and sunk in a mere 20 minutes. On 2nd April 1982 Argentinean troops invaded the Falkland Islands. The HMS Coventry, a key warship in the British fleet was sent to join the conflict. Despite knowing the odds were against them, they were a successful and confident crew under a trusted leader - Captain Hart Dyke. As other ships were targeted around them, the Coventry felt invincible. But their luck was about to run out. At the height of the conflict, Coventry was sent on a suicide mission to deliberately act as bait for enemy bomber-fighters. Obligingly, on May 25th the Argentineans sent waves of Skyhawks armed with British made bombs to take out the British destroyer. At first Coventry had the upper hand, claiming three kills with her Sea Dart missiles, but just as Captain Hart-Dyke thought he had weathered the storm, the Argentineans launched one last attack... Three bombs hit the Coventry, killing 19 men and leaving many of the crew injured. Within 20 minutes the ship had capsized. The survivors evacuated in darkness, through choking black smoke and buckled ladders and finally had to jump overboard into the freezing South Atlantic. This film uses his testimony, together with some of his ship's company in a combination of interviews, dramatic reconstructions and archive, allowing us to witness the unfolding war through their eyes.

On a U.S. nuclear missile sub, a young First Officer stages a mutiny to prevent his trigger-happy Captain from launching his missiles before confirming his orders to do so.

An inexperienced U-boat crew has to survive a secret mission and a young German woman is torn between loyalty for her home country and the French resistance in this WWII drama.

In 1949, during the Chinese Civil War, British warship H.M.S. Amethyst sails up the Yangtse river but on the return trip, finds its way blocked by a barrage of fire from the Communist Chinese shore batteries.

The attack by British submarines on the German battleship "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord during World War II.