A dramatised documentary showing the work of the frigate HMS Loch Lomond on patrol in the Persian Gulf.

Flag officer comes onboard to welcome the men of HMS Loch Lomond to the Persian Gulf. The crew feel differently about a station so oppressively hot and so destitute of entertainment: "Flippin' horrible, mate." Loch Lomond receives orders to proceed to 'Ghaz', and the ship unmoors. Once underway, the men slip into their normal shipboard routines. Officers and men relax off-duty in their different fashions - the embarked local servants are merely seen to go to sleep. Loch Lomond conducts a practice shoot for the 4-inch and 40mm Bofors guns. Sealed orders and mail are dropped from a Sea Prince T1. The frigate passes an offshore oil rig. At Ghaz the Captain visits the local sheik, while the ship is thrown open to the local population. At night there is a barbecue for the ship's company, where officers and men - "Jack and his master" - rub shoulders in a self-consciously democratic company. The frigate is then ordered to 'Abu Nair' to intercept a dhow believed to be carrying arms. The interception is successful but the boarding party reports that the dhow is an innocent trader. Nonetheless, the crew are not depressed - the rating who earlier characterised the Gulf as "flippin' horrible", declares that their work is "Ruddy important, that's what it is."

Notes

Technical: very scratched print

Remarks: burdened by a wordy and rather pretentious commentary. In theory the film represents an admirable attempt to eschew false dramatics and stress the importance of the ordinary, and rather hum-drum side of the Navy's patrol work. In practice, boredom afflicts the crew and the audience in about equal measure