Q-Ships

Q-ships were used in both World Wars by the Special Service branch of the Royal Navy. These were anti-submarine vessels disguised as merchant vessels, with the dangerous job of serving as decoys to attract German U-boats and to draw torpedo fire. Various civilian vessels (including cargo steamers, trawlers, schooners and convoy sloops) were refitted with heavy artillery and crewed by able seamen and naval officers disguised as merchant mariners.

"Q Ships" is an exciting film, made more exciting because it is not a straightforward documentary. It uses the framework of a fictional plot to give a dramatic but bracingly accurate depiction of the routine (and the dangers routinely faced) by a fictional crew aboard a fictional Q-ship. Many of the fictional seamen and naval officers in this film are portrayed by actual Q-ship crewmen and officers.

We see the Q-crew and officers aboard their ship in the North Sea, attending to shipboard routine while pretending the ship is a merchant vessel. The film intercuts to scenes aboard a German submarine: these scenes are more obviously a staged enactment. The German U-boat stalks the "civilian" ship, then attacks it. We see the Q-ship throw off its disguise as the men defend themselves and their vessel. The ship is damaged by a torpedo attack, and we see the crew and officers evacuate to the lifeboats in an orderly fashion... as orderly as the rules of war permit.

There is some plausible comic relief here. The ship's mascot is a black cat, brought aboard by a Cornish crewman. (In Cornwall, black cats are considered **good** luck.) A black seaman is shown, without the usual "cowardly Negro" stereotypes, although there is an unpleasant attempt to compare the black man and the black cat. (Contrast this with the very popular British war film "The Dam Busters", which includes among its (real-life) characters a black dog whose name was a racial epithet.) During the torpedo attack, the black crewman's face is splattered with white paint: I think this was meant to be a joke.

John Gielgud's brother Val gives a good performance in this movie. In real life, Val Gielgud was a very successful theatre impresario. I'll rate "Q Ships" 8 points out of 10. Good show, lads!

With their eyes squarely on the international market, the producers of this film made sure to mention as many nationalities as possible and to make the German U-Boat commander an aristocrat who, as a title notes "Would prefer to fight men than to starve women and children." It's a far cry from war films during the First World War, in which Eric von Stroheim would throw babies out of upper windows. Still, if you wanted your movie to play in Germany....

This movie, about the program to send out armed Navy boats disguised as fishing boats and single merchantmen, and so lure out German U-boats, is pretty title heavy in between the lively scenes of fighting, explosions and the bits where the submarine crew "endure agony in their steel prison", just like every other submarine movie. Still, this one has the advantage of being a fairly early example of the now too-familiar drama.

There isn't much talent in this movie that I recognize. John Gielgud's big brother Val has a credited role, but I don't recognize him at this age, and he would shortly become a big wheel at the BBC and stop performing. You also get to see clips of Admiral Jellicoe and it is claimed that some of the cast were actual Q-Ship crew during the Great War. Could be.