After they take their prisoners aboard it shows them rendezvousing with another ship to refuel under power. I don't believe it's real because the two ships are so still but the water rushing between them makes it look real.
In fact, it looks so real I'm still not certain it isn't. I don't know how they could pump so much water between the two ships to pull it off. Shows the care was put into the production.
They are real
The production team had the Royal Navy at their beck and call
Actually, they were allowed on board Royal Navy ships while they carried out their normal manoeuvres, including refuelling at sea.
BTW back in real life, the ship refuelling and restocking the Graf Spee was the Altmark, a notorious prison ship whose captain was a dedicated Nazi. The prisoners held on the Altmark, crews of the merchant ships sunk by the Graf Spee, were treated very badly. The skipper of the Altmark tried to get back to Germany but was captured in a Norwegian fjord by the Royal Navy.
The British then boarded the Altmark, and — after some hand-to-hand fighting with bayonets and the last recorded Royal Naval action with cutlass — overwhelmed the ship's crew and then went down to the hold. One of the released prisoners stated that the first they knew of the operation was when they heard the shout "Any Englishmen here?" from the boarding party. When the prisoners shouted back, the response was "Well, the Navy's here!" which brought cheers.
Steve
Steve, the RAS (replenishment at sea)scene is spot on and genuine. The US term is UNREP (underway replenishment). The Altmark was 'played' by RFA Olna. When the Altmark was captured in Norway later in the war we discovered the German use of rubber hose which were streets ahead of the bronze flexibles which had been in use by the British before then.
The film makers were lucky to have such benign weather although I am sure rougher seas would have made for more exciting screenplay. However, the light jackstay transfer of personnel would not have been attempted in higher sea states.
It is likly that another RFA (Royal Fleet Auxiliary) vessel also featured in the film as the German vessel Tacoma to which the Graf Spee's crew was transferred at the end, although I am struggling to identify which one.
Thanks Clankie,
The scenes set in Montevideo showing ships were really filmed in and around the Grand Harbour in Malta. So any other RFA ship would have been based in the Mediterranean at the time
Steve