Enjoyable but disjointed?

I like all the war films made in the 1940s, but as usual the dialogue is hard to understand, maybe it's just me. Several times I had to pause and rewind and play the same part over a few times but still can't make out what they're saying, and Noel Coward just plain talks too fast.
Had a hard time figuring out where they were in the story, it jumps back and forth too much. I assume there was only one ship which was sunk? Seems like there could've been two ships with the same name, but I don't know if the Brits re-name a ship after its sunk, christening a new one with the same one.
The action is just too fast, and it says on IMDB that Coward wrote the original screenplay to be 4 hours long. That's way too long, so maybe that's the reason that it seems like too much is being packed in to a shorter time frame.
Couldn't remember Richard Attenborough's name, I had to come here to verify that he was in it, and indeed he is, looking a lot younger (21 years) than when he was in The Great Escape (1963). One of my favorite actors.
Anyhoozle I gave it a 6 rating, perhaps I'll raise it higher the next time it comes around and I'm used to the fast pace.