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Richard Attenborough stars as a former crew member of a British gunboat, which was distinguished by a heroic wartime record. Attenborough and several fellow ex-crewmen buy the vessel in peacetime. They clean, paint and renovate the ship, then proceed to launch a smuggling operation. The film gradually veers towards fantasy as the ship itself assumes a "conscience" and starts to rebel against the crew's criminal activity. The Ship That Died of Shame tempers its moralizing with some first-rate comedy vignettes during the renovation sequences. The film was shorn of nearly 15 minutes and retitled PT Raiders for its first American run, but both original title and full running time were restored for television.