Best movies like Down to the Sea in Ships

A trustworthy captain is reduced in rank so that the owner's daughter's fiancé may take charge.

Dramatic retelling of the fateful last voyage of the Nantucket whaleship Essex. When the Essex is attacked and sunk by a sperm whale in November 1820, her crew take to three fragile whalers. Alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the men must decide whether to head for the nearest islands - a thousand miles downwind to the west - or set out on an epic journey of almost three thousand miles to reach the South American mainland. Fear of cannibals forces them to choose South America. Almost three months later, the first whaler is rescued by another whaleship. Only three men are still alive. A week later the captain's whaler is also rescued, with just two men aboard. The third whaler is never found. This is a story of human endurance and what men in extremis will do to survive.

Based on the amazing true story of a marine biologist (Robert Lansing) who befriends a six-ton Orcawhale, this "honest, fascinating and vigorously wholesome film" (Citizen-News) is heartwarming fun for the whole family. Like all close pals, Hank (Lansing) and Namu love spending time together. Whether sharing a morning swim or soaking up the afternoon sun, these two are virtually inseparable. Trouble is, the local fishermen mistakenly think that Namu is a threat. Racing against time, Hank must enlist the help of a young widow and her daughter to save Namu and prove that he's a gentle giant!

After witnessing the killing of his mate and offspring at the hands of a reckless Irish captain, a vengeful killer whale rampages through the fisherman's Newfoundland harbor. Under pressure from the villagers, the captain, a female marine biologist and an Indigenous tribalist venture after the great beast, who will meet them on its own turf.

An oceanic observation station is in desperate trouble after a sudden shark attack wrecked the oxygen supply. The accompanying ship, a coast guard cruiser, and other ships in and around the Bermuda triangle are attacked as well. The US Navy sends a submarine to investigate, but soon they too are under attack.

During a solo voyage in the Indian Ocean, a veteran mariner awakes to find his vessel taking on water after a collision with a stray shipping container. With his radio and navigation equipment disabled, he sails unknowingly into a violent storm and barely escapes with his life. With any luck, the ocean currents may carry him into a shipping lane -- but, with supplies dwindling and the sharks circling, the sailor is forced to face his own mortality.

The familiar story of Lieutenant Bligh, whose cruelty leads to a mutiny on his ship. This version follows both the efforts of Fletcher Christian to get his men beyond the reach of British retribution, and the epic voyage of Lieutenant Bligh to get his loyalists safely to East Timor in a tiny lifeboat.

In the winter of 1820, the New England whaling ship Essex is assaulted by something no one could believe—a whale of mammoth size and will, and an almost human sense of vengeance.

Twelve people are aboard Coast Air Line's flagship the Silver Queen enroute to South America when the airplane encounters a storm and is blown off course. Crashing into jungles known to be inhabited by head hunters, pilots Bill and Joe race against time to fix the engines and attempt a take off. The situation brings out the best and worst in the stranded dozen as they create a makeshift runway and prepare to escape before the natives attack. But damage to the plane and low fuel reserves means that only 5 people can be carried to safety.

Pacific pearl diver Duke Slade escapes angry natives by joining a whaler whose dying captain persuades him to marry his daughter who is already being wooed by the first mate.

Jonathan Pride is a mild-mannered dance instructor in 1820 Boston. En route to visit relatives, Jonathan is shanghaied by a band of zany pirates and forced to work as a galley boy. When the pirate vessel arrives at the port of Las Palomas, Jonathan, clad in buccaneer's garb, makes his escape. Everyone in Las Palomas, including Governor Alcalde (Frank Morgan) and fetching senorita Serafina (Steffi Duna), assumes that Jonathan is the pirate chieftain, leading to a series of typical comic-opera complications.

A pair of young vacationers are involved in a dangerous conflict with treasure hunters when they discover a way into a deadly wreck in Bermuda waters.

In October 1991, a confluence of weather conditions combined to form a killer storm in the North Atlantic. Caught in the storm was the sword-fishing boat Andrea Gail.

In 1841, young Ishmael signs up for service abroad the Pequod, a whaler sailing out of New Bedford. The ship is under the command of Captain Ahab, a strict disciplinarian who exhorts his men to find Moby Dick, the great white whale. Ahab lost his his leg to that creature and is desperate for revenge. As the crew soon learns, he will stop at nothing to gain satisfaction.

Fletcher Christian successfully leads a revolt against the ruthless Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty. However, Bligh returns one year later, hell bent on revenge.

During a whaling expedition in the late 1800's, the aging Captain Bering Joy (Lionel Barrymore) and his new first mate, Dan Lunceford (Richard Widmark) engage in a battle of wills concerning the education of the captain's struggling grandson.

Willy the whale is back, this time threatened by illegal whalers making money off sushi. Jesse, now 16, has taken a job on an orca-researching ship, along with old friend Randolph and a sarcastic scientist, Drew. On the whaler's ship is captain John Wesley and his son, Max, who isn't really pleased about his father's job, but doesn't have the gut to say so. Along the way, Willy reunites with Jesse

The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a strict discipline. When they arrive at Tahiti, it is like a paradise for the crew, something completely different than the living hell aboard the ship. On the way back to England, officer Fletcher Christian becomes the leader of a mutiny.

Two British officers are assigned to collect information to convict Captain Kidd of piracy.

Herman Melville's mad Capt. Ahab (John Barrymore) spends years hunting the white whale that got his leg.

Irwin Allen explores the mysteries of the deep blue sea in this Technicolor documentary. Based on Rachel L. Carson's famous study, this Oscar winning project investigates everything under the sea, from sharks, whales and octopuses to microscopical creatures and their coexistence in this vast underwater world.

Jack London's brutal Wolf Larson brings a shipwrecked aristocrat and a con woman aboard his doomed ship, the Ghost.

Eccentric charter skipper Jim Carnahan and his team of hard-luck dreamers battle sharks, bandits and their own greed to recover sunken treasure

Tommy Tyler, a lazy Caribbean sailor, and his tom-boy daughter, Spring, are out to search for a buried treasure. Tommy brings aboard William Ashton, a young lawyer, to help with the search. Ashton turns out to be handy when they encounter dangerous rivals. Tommy also tries to play match maker between Ashton and Spring – a difficult task indeed.

A Newfoundland fishingboat comes to the aid of a wrecked Danish sailing ship and tows it to a small village, but eventually the captain of the fishingboat realises that it's a U-boat supply ship in disguise, loaded with torpedoes. So, together with his crew and a group of villagers he sets about a plan to blow the ship as well as any U-boats that approach it. Based on the novel "The Gaunt Woman" by Edmund Gilligan.

In 1896, three survivors of a whaling ship-wreck in the Canadian Arctic are saved and adopted by an Eskimo tribe but frictions arise when the three start misbehaving.

A man and a woman and 3 children start to sail around the world. They are shipwrecked near an uninhabited isle. This island is full of wild animals and it is very dangerous for them in the begining. They live through a lot of wonderful adventure together and they become a big family.

John Moore, a young sea captain has a romance with Kay Wheeler, daughter of a trusted trader, "Pop" Wheeler, on a Pacific island. He also acquire the enmity of "Shanghai" Morgan, a notorious sea captain who shanghais his crew and his women.

While Joel and his older ship's captain brother Mark are at sea, the latter is abandoned in Singapore by devious ship's mate Finch who, upon their return, convinces the townspeople that Joel abandoned his brother. Joel, determined to not only find Mark but to see justice done, returns the ship to Singapore.

Early in the War of 1812, Captain James Marshall is commissioned to run the British blockade and fetch an unofficial war loan from France. As first mate, Marshall recruits Ben Waldridge, a cashiered former British Navy captain. Waldridge brings his former gun crew...who begin plotting mutiny as soon as they learn there'll be gold aboard. The gold duly arrives, and with it Waldridge's former sweetheart Leslie, who's fond of a bit of gold herself. Which side is Waldridge really on?

In this high-seas adventure, a woman creates a great rift between old friends: an experienced older diver, and his younger protege. They become enemies when a gold-digger marries the latter. She soon leaves him in favor of a wealthy yachtsman. She is aboard his boat when an accident occurs. The two divers must salvage the costly boat before it sinks.

The true story about legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his epic crossing of the Pacific on a balsa wood raft in 1947, in an effort to prove it was possible for South Americans to settle in Polynesia in pre-Columbian times.

In the South Pacific islands, two brothers, one good and one bad, fight over the same girl and over a bag of pearls.

A band of dishonest seamen plans a murderous mutiny aboard the S.S. Berwind.

In 1834, Charles Stewart (Alan Ladd), the spoiled, dissolute son of a shipping magnate, is shanghaied aboard the Pilgrim, one of his father's own ships. He embarks upon a long, hellish sea voyage under the tyrannical rule of Captain Francis Thompson (Howard Da Silva), assisted by his first mate, Amazeen (William Bendix). One of his crewmates is Richard Henry Dana Jr. (Brian Donlevy).

Captain Black and his motley crew of pirates are shipwrecked on a South Sea island, where they hold several shanghaied sailors captive. Black observes the ship commanded by Hurricane Martin approaching and conspires to get his men aboard the vessel and seize the cargo.

An original story based on Jules Verne's 19th-century novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Two 19th-century sailors jump ship only to discover their tropical paradise is a cannibal stronghold.

Author writes about his experiences sailing at sea, struggles to get his work published.

Duncan Craig signs on a whaling ship, partly because his own business deal has fallen through, partly to help Judie Nordhall find her father. Rumor has it that her father may have been murdered by Erik Bland, son of her father's partner and her one-time lover. Duncan and Erik find themselves on rival whaleboats and, ultimately, on an ice floe.

Mobster Thomas Nagle and his gang take over a ship to use running guns and counterfeit money into Lisbon.

Hornblower and his comrades come under the command of a revered but mentally unstable captain and are forced to mutiny in order to save their ship, the HMS Renown.

After World War II the crew of a motor gunboat join together to buy their old vessel and go into business for themselves. This may sound like a laudable scheme, but the business they choose to go into is smuggling.

After a lengthy voyage, Capt. Bart docks his ship in a London harbor and is given a new mission by British Admiralty: capture the notorious Henry Morgan, a pirate who has been wreaking havoc throughout the Caribbean. After recruiting some former shipmates for his crew, Capt. Bart sets sail in search of the infamous buccaneer, and is joined by a beautiful female stowaway in the process.

Three seafaring fur traders fall in love with a female stowaway they discover aboard their ship. Many adventures follow.

Old Grandpa mouse tells to his grandchildren the "real" story of the Titanic disaster, including evil sharks, a giant octopus, and an evil whaling scheme.

A woman in London unexpectedly inherits a Texas ranching fortune, and takes a transatlantic voyage to collect her fortune, not suspecting two men aboard both plan on winning her hand before she reaches America. One is a gambler interested in her money, and the other, a rich man looking for a wife. The rich man's friend, meanwhile, believes the heiress is actually a gold-digger.

A fishing boat captain searches for romance in hopes of improving his financial picture.

Great white sharks attack a fishing charter, ramming a hole in the ship’s hull. With the shoreline miles away, those aboard are forced to fight for their lives before they are either drowned or eaten alive.

A fishing-boat captain's bride eyes his first mate at sea.