In the early years of the World War II, the Royal Navy is fighting a desperate battle to keep the Atlantic convoy routes open to supply the British Isles, facing the great danger posed by the many German warships, such as the Admiral Graf Spee, which are scouring the ocean for cargo ships to sink.
Captain Bell - H.M.S. Exeter
John Gregson
Commodore Harwood - H.M.S. Ajax
Anthony Quayle
Captain Woodhouse - H.M.S. Ajax
Ian Hunter
Captain Parry - H.M.N. Z. S. Achilles
Jack Gwillim
Captain Dove - M.S. Africa Shell
Bernard Lee
Mike Fowler
Lionel Murton
Sir Millington Drake, British Minister, Montevideo
Anthony Bushell
Dr. Guani, Foreign Minister, Uruguay
Peter Illing
Captain McCall, R.N., British Naval Attache, Buenos Aires
Michael Goodliffe
Lieutenant Commander Medley, R.N.
Patrick Macnee
Dr. Langmann, German Minister, Montevideo
John Chandos
M. Desmoulins, French Minister, Montevideo
Douglas Wilmer
Ray Martin
William Squire
Captain Varela, Uruguayan Navy
Roger Delgado
Captain Stubbs, 'Doric Star'
Andrew Cruickshank
Manolo
Christopher Lee
Pop
Edward Atienza
Dolores
April Olrich
Captain Langsdorff, "Admiral Graf Spee"
Peter Finch
Narrator
David Farrar
Gunner, H.M.S. Achilles (uncredited)
Jeremy Kemp
Reverend George Groves - Padre, HMS Exeter
John Le Mesurier
Lieutenant Jasper Abbot, H.M.S. Achilles
Cyril Luckham
Swanston, Lookout, H.M.S. Ajax (uncredited)
Donald Moffat
Chief Officer, Newton Beach
George Murcell
Radio Operator, Tairoa, Prisoner on Admiral Graf Spee
Anthony Newley
Chief Officer, Tairoa, Prisoner on Admiral Graf Spee
Nigel Stock
Bill Roper - Capt. Bell's Messenger, HMS Exeter
Barry Foster
Mrs. Millington-Drake, Montevideo
Ambrosine Phillpotts
Lookout, HMS Ajax
Tony Wager
Radio Operator, Doric Star, Prisoner on Graf Spee
Brian Worth
Archer, HMS Ajax
Patrick Westwood
British Seaman (Prisoner on Graf Spee) (uncredited)
Chris Adcock
Chief Yeoman, HMS Ajax (uncredited)
Michael Collins
Signalman, Aft-Conning, HMS Exeter (uncredited)
Patrick Jordan
Gunner, HMS Achilles (uncredited)
Jeremy Kemp
Swanston - Lookout, HMS Ajax (uncredited)
Donald Moffat
Lieutenant, Graf Spee (uncredited)
John Schlesinger
Capt. Pottinger (uncredited)
Richard Beale
Lt. McBarnett, HMS Exeter (uncredited)
John Forbes-Robertson