Naval Operations | Wartime documentary (1941)
Channel: Armoured Archivist
Date: 2023-05-21

This December 1941 newsreel documentary issued by the British Ministry of Information and narrated by Edmund Willard provides an overview of the early war sea battles of the Atlantic and Mediterranean. It also describes the roles and characteristics of the different classes of warships employed by the Royal Navy.
An opening sequence (including 'News' excerpts and part of Churchill's description of his 'Atlantic Charter' ) indicates the worldwide distribution and activities of the Royal Navy.
"These are some of the tools with which we shall finish the job" - Representative film of battleships, aircraft carriers, carrier-based and Coastal Command aircraft, cruisers and destroyers, with descriptions of their characteristics, 
"All naval success depends on these units working together as one team" - Animated diagrams of the Bismarck, Admiral Graf Spee and Cape Mataplan battles indicating the tactical and strategic ideas governing their deployment.