The Silver Fleet

Overview

The Silver Fleet was inspired by a true story from World War II. Holland now under German occupation, a Shipyard owner and Chief engineer Jaap van Leyden is summoned to build ships for the German war effort. The commission would allow Leyden to build sophisticated submarines whilst safeguarding jobs for the local Dutch workforce. A newly built U-boat, named U107 goes out on her first sea trial and is hijacked by a Dutch crew and they re-route the vessel to England. As such it provided an opportunity to refuel patriotism in the face of a seemingly interminable war and almost unbearable civilian hardship.

Keywords

Cast

Ralph Richardson

Jaap van Leyden

Googie Withers

Helène van Leyden

Esmond Knight

Von Schiffer

Beresford Egan

Krampf

Frederick Burtwell

Captain Müller

Kathleen Byron

Schoolmistress

Willem Akkerman

Willem van Leyden

Dorothy Gordon

Janni Peters

Charles Victor

Bastiaan Peters

John Longden

Jost Meertens