The Sea Wolves is a 1980 film based on the true story of a group of aging ex-soldiers from the Calcutta Light Horse (a reserve Cavalry unit of the British Indian Army - disbanded in 1947), enlisted by the British in March 1943 for a final mission (Operation Creek) to destroy a German ship, the Ehrenfels, in Portuguese India during World War II. The Ehrenfels was moored in the nearby Portuguese port of Goa, where it was able to observe British shipping and radio the information to German U-boats off shore. Portugal was neutral so the Ehrenfels was safe from direct British military action.The British had to go with a covert operation to sink the German ships. The Calcutta Light Horse, Scottish Calcutta and several SOE agents attacked the Ehrenfels and several other German ships on March 9, 1943. The operation was a success. The full details of the mission were not declassified until 1977. The film, entertaining and well-acted by veteran stars such as Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Roger Moore (during the peak of his James Bond heyday), follows in the spirit of earlier films such as The Dirty Dozen and The Wild Geese.
Capt. Gavin Stewart (Roger Moore) carries a Smith & Wesson Model 19 as his main sidearm while working in India for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a covert unit developed by the English during World War II. The Model 19 is anachronistic for the time period.
Ram Das Gupta (Marc Zuber), the Indian spy working for the Germans in Goa, aims a suppressed Browning Hi-Power at Gavin and Mrs. Cromwell inside Gavin's Goa hotel room. Gavin (Roger Moore) later takes it from him. Lewis (Gregory Peck) uses a suppressed Hi-Power during the Ehrenfels raid.
During the initial theft of the Phoebe from Calcutta harbor, retired Col. W.H. "Bill" Grice (David Niven) carries a blued Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket with wooden grips.
The MP40 submachine gun is the star of the latter portion of the film, used by almost all of the Calcutta Light Brigade during the storming of the Ehrenfels. They are seen used by Lewis (Gregory Peck), Dickie Melborne (Allan Cuthbertson), Williamson (Victor Langley), Maj. Yogi Crossley (Patrick Macnee), "Patch" Lovecroft (William Morgan Sheppard), Radcliffe (Michael Medwin), Robin Breene (Moray Watson), and Sandy Lumsdaine (Edward Dentith), as well as some of the German sailors who steal them from their captors.
Several of the Calcutta Light Horse saboteurs, including Col. Bill Grice (David Niven), Maj. Yogi Crossley (Patrick Macnee), Lovecroft (William Morgan Sheppard), Radcliffe, and Barker (Patrick Holt), carry Walther P38 pistols as secondary weapons during the Ehrenfels raid. Some of the German sailors also fire at the men with P38s.
Another of the Calcutta Light Horse saboteurs, Williamson (Victor Langley), carries a Luger P08, as do the German captain, Rofer (George Mikell), and his first officer.
