Trama

It's 1942, and a man finds himself on a ship in the Atlantic, not knowing who he is, nor how he got there. He does know the ship will soon be attacked by a German U-boat.

During World War II, a confused Carl Lancer finds himself as one of only a few passengers on a freighter, the S.S. Queen of Glasgow, traveling from London to New York. As he sits with other passengers, he begins to realize that he is the captain of a U-Boat that is at that very moment tracking the freighter with a view to sinking it. He also knows that in just over an hour the freighter will be attacked.—garykmcd

1942. The S.S. Queen of Glasgow is one day into its journey from Liverpool to New York City, the ship facing possible peril as it is caught in fog and has been separated from its convoy which is to ensure their safety during wartime. One of the passengers, Carl Lanser, seems to be suffering from some sort of amnesia: he knows his name, he knows he was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but he doesn't know how he got on the ship or why he is sailing on it, that despite his name being on the passenger manifest. He has a look of confusion and fear on his face, not only because of not knowing his situation but because he has a sense of impending doom, especially as he seems to have intimate knowledge of tactics used in marine battles. Before the end of his voyage, he will come to a realization of who he is, flashbacks which will provide the context of why he's on the ship tonight and every night.—Huggo

Opening narration:

"Her name is the S.S. Queen of Glasgow. Her registry: British. Gross tonnage: five thousand. Age: indeterminate. At this moment she's one day out of Liverpool, her destination New York. Duly recorded on this ship's log is the sailing time, course to destination, weather conditions, temperature, longitude and latitude. But what is never recorded in a log is the fear that washes over a deck like fog and ocean spray. Fear like the throbbing strokes of engine pistons, each like a heartbeat, parceling out every hour into breathless minutes of watching, waiting, and dreading. For the year is 1942, and this particular ship has lost its convoy. It travels alone like an aged blind thing groping through the unfriendly dark, stalked by unseen periscopes of steel killers. Yes, the Queen of Glasgow is a frightened ship, and she carries with her a premonition of death."

On board the Glasgow is a German named Carl Lanser (Nehemiah Persoff), with no memory of how he got there, yet with the feeling that he's met all the passengers somewhere before. Things are made even more mysterious by Lanser's certainty that an enemy sub is stalking the ship, and by his premonition that something is going to happen at 1:15 a.m. His fear provides correct: at one-fifteen a U-boat surfaces. Peering through binoculars, Lanser sees that its captain is...himself! The U-boat sinks the helpless freighter, then crew members machine-gun the survivors. Lanser sinks beneath the waters. Later on board the sub, a lieutenant suggests they might all face damnation for their action. Kapitan Lanser discounts this theory--not realizing that he is, in fact, doomed to relive the sinking of that ship for eternity.

Closing narration:

"The S.S. Queen of Glasgow, heading for New York, and the time is 1942. For one man, it is always 1942--and this man will ride the ghost of that ship every night for eternity. This is what is meant by paying the fiddler. This is the comeuppance awaiting every man when the ledger of his life is opened and examined, the tally made, and then the reward or the penalty paid. And in the case of Carl Lanser, former Kapitan Lieutenant, Navy of the Third Reich, this is the penalty. This is the justice meted out. This is judgment night in the Twilight Zone."