Sailor of the King

In 1916, Lt. Richard Saville of the British Navy receives a five-day leave and boards a train bound from Portsmouth to London. On the train, Saville meets the shy, sheltered Lucinda Bentley, with whom he shares an immediate attraction. Lucy, who has a keen interest in the Navy, agrees to dine with Saville during their stop in Longmire, where they wait for the London train, and the couple spends so much time talking that they miss their train. After checking into a local hotel as man and wife, Lucy and Saville spend the next five days together, and Saville offers to marry Lucy. She turns him down, however, stating that marriage cannot rectify their illicit affair, especially as the cautious Saville does not love her enough to risk endangering his burgeoning career by marrying while still a junior officer. Years later, in 1940, Great Britain is at war with Germany, and Saville, now a captain, is on convoy duty in the Pacific Ocean. Saville's ship, the Stratford is accompanied by smaller cruisers Cambridge and Amesbury . Unknown to Saville, Andrew Brown, a signalman aboard the Amesbury , is his illegitimate son by Lucy. Brown, who was told by Lucy that his father died before he was born, grew up in Canada, and enlisted in the British Navy because of Lucy's great love for it. Brown is also an expert marksman and has won numerous prizes in competition, much to the bemusement of his friends, who feel that he should be a gunner rather than a signalman. Saville receives news that a British cargo ship has been attacked, presumably by the German's most notorious war ship, the Essen , and, due to the Stratford 's fuel shortage, he decides that she should stay with the convoy while Amesbury and Cambridge pick up the British survivors. After sending the two ships on their mission, Saville frets over his decision, and his best friend, Commander John Willis, admits that he would not have played it so safe. In the morning, the Amesbury spots the enemy vessel, which easily outguns the English ship. Realizing that the Cambridge , which was delayed by picking up the British survivors, will not arrive in time to save them, Capt. Tom Ashley, commander of the Amesbury , decides he cannot let the Essen escape undamaged and so charges ahead to launch torpedoes at it. The Essen is badly damaged, and Brown is able to signal a report to the Cambridge before the Amesbury sinks. Brown is then picked up by the Essen and is questioned by her commander, Kapitan Ludvic Von Falk. Brown refuses to supply information about the convoy and is then taken to the infirmary, where he learns that the only other survivor from the Amesbury , boiler stoker Wheatley, has had one of his legs amputated. Back on the Stratford , Saville is apprised of the situation and deduces that the Essen will probably put into a safe cove for repairs and can therefore be attacked if found in time. Despite the fuel shortage, Saville decides to take a chance and pursue the enemy ship, and so sets a course for the nearby Galapagos Islands, which contain several small islands that would be ideal for the Essen 's purposes. Meanwhile, Saville's intuitions prove correct, as Wheatley, who learned German while serving on a German ocean liner before the war, translates Von Falk's speech to his crew and tells Brown that the Essen is putting into a cove for repairs. The Essen sails into the narrow channel of Resolution Island, and Brown realizes that if he can forestall her repairs long enough, the Essen would be unable to manuever in the cove and defend herself if the Stratford arrives in time. Brown discusses his plan with Wheatley, who encourages him even though it will probably result in death for both of them. That night, Brown sneaks out of the infirmary, steals a rifle and ammunition and slips off the ship. Despite being cut up by the rough terrain, the shoeless Brown finds a protected cave in the overlooking cliffs, and when daybreak arrives, begins shooting at the crewmen repairing the ship. Brown succeeds in killing a number of the sailors and terrifying the rest, and after his absence is discovered, Von Falk uses the public address system to urge him to surrender. Although he is suffering terribly from thirst and heat, Brown continues to shoot at the ship, and is able to stall the repairs. Early the following morning, as Brown dozes, a rowboat carrying German sailors reaches the shore, and when Brown resumes shooting, they pinpoint his position and come after him. Brown is wounded during the ensuing gun battle, but before the German sailors kill him, they are summoned back to the ship by a signal that the repairs have been completed. As Brown lays on the ground, afraid that he has failed, he suddenly hears shelling and realizes that the Stratford arrived in time. The Essen is sunk, and after the German survivors are picked up, officer Hesse tells the English sailors about Brown's success in keeping the Essen trapped at Resolution for an extra eighteen hours. Brown is rescued, and several months later, waits with Saville at Buckingham Palace to receive commendations from the king. Saville mentions that he has requested Brown's transfer to the Stratford , and as they ponder their upcoming convoy to North America, Saville states that he would like to meet Brown's mother if they dock in Montreal.