Morning Departure (released as Operation Disaster in the United States) is a 1950 British naval drama film about life aboard a sunken submarine, directed by Roy Ward Baker, and starring John Mills and Richard Attenborough. It is based on a stage play of the same name by Kenneth Woollard, which had also been shown as a live TV play by the BBC both in 1946 and 1948. It was the feature film debut of Michael Caine.
Plot
The British submarine HMS Trojan is out on a routine exercise to test its new snorkel mast. She encounters an unrecovered Second World War magnetic mine. When she dives, the mine is set off and blows off the bow of the submarine. The after section floods from the displaced snorkel mast, killing the 53 crewmen in the bow and stern sections. She settles to the bottom leaving twelve crew members alive amidships, saved by the watertight doors which were closed by order of the captain when he realised the imminent danger.
When the shore base becomes aware that Trojan is overdue, surface rescue vessels are sent out to investigate. The captain of the submarine, Lieutenant Commander Peter Armstrong, expels a quantity of oil, which rises to the surface and shows their position. Following standard escape procedure, a diver is sent down with an air line, while everyone prepares for the rescue. Armstrong selects the first four for release; they escape through the gun hatch and are picked up on the surface. The eight remaining crew assume there are plenty of breathing sets for them all to escape. However, the captain discovers that all but four have been destroyed in the blast. This means four will be trapped until a full salvage operation can be carried out, which may take a week or more.
Armstrong deals from a pack of cards to decide who goes and who remains. The cook, A/B Higgins, and the first lieutenant, Lieutenant Manson, get low cards. Three get high cards, there is a tie between Stoker Snipe and E.R.A. Marks. On losing a re-deal, young Snipe goes berserk with fear and has to be physically restrained. Armstrong volunteers to stay. Marks agrees.
Then Snipe hangs back, falsely claiming he has hurt his arm in the scuffle. He insists that Marks go. Marks and the other three exit through the conning tower and are picked up by the salvage vessels. Below, Manson has a fainting fit, which he says is a result of having previously suffered from malaria, but Snipe catches him using both arms without difficulty. Cheerfully at first, the four wait for the salvage operation.
Above, all goes well to begin with, in fine weather. Divers manage to secure cables under the submarine, which is slowly winched up fifteen feet per day. However, as the days go by, the weather turns, and soon there is a full storm at sea. As a result, the submarine shifts on the cables, and sinks again to the sea floor. Manson has remained in ill-health below, nursed by Snipe. However, chlorine begins to leak from a site next to his bunk; Manson is overcome by the gas and dies.
The storm is so bad that the captain of the salvage ship decides his own men are at risk and abandons the salvage operation altogether. The three left in the submarine sense that there is no hope for them. The film ends with Armstrong reading from a naval prayer book.
From early scenes in the film, and from dialogue throughout, the viewer is given insights into the personal lives of the crew, their hopes and ambitions. For example, Snipe is married to a wayward wife, whom he idolises, whilst Armstrong has been offered a lucrative shore job by his wealthy father-in-law and had been planning to leave the Navy to take it up as soon as this patrol was over.
Cast
John Mills as the captain, Lieutenant Commander Peter Armstrong
Nigel Patrick as the first lieutenant, Lieutenant Manson
Peter Hammond as Sub-Lieutenant Oakley
Andrew Crawford as Sub-Lieutenant J. McFee
Michael Brennan as Chief Petty Officer Barlow
George Cole as Engine Room Artificer Marks
Victor Maddern as Leading Telegraphist Hillbrook
Roddy McMillan as Leading Seaman Andrews
Frank Coburn as Leading Seaman Brough
Jack Stewart as Leading Seaman Kelly
James Hayter as Able Seaman Higgins
Wylie Watson as Able Seaman Nobby Clark
Richard Attenborough as Stoker Snipe
George Thorpe as Captain Fenton
Bernard Lee as Commander Gates
Kenneth More as Lieutenant Commander James
Alastair Hunter as Captain Jenner
Helen Cherry as Helen Armstrong
Lana Morris as Rose Snipe
Zena Marshall as Wren
Michael Caine as Teaboy (uncredited)