The entire story of the Sea Wolves is based on truth, though the film with David Niven, Gregory Peck and Roger Moore had some slight inaccuracies.

The book the film is based on was called 'The Boarding Party' by James Leasor. The entire incident remained secret for 25 years after 1943 under the Official Secrets Act. Four ships (3 German and 1 Italian) including the notorious Ehrenfels (home of the illegal transmitter) were sunk by their own crews at the time of the boarding (to prevent capture).

The main inaccuracy in the film concerns the theft of the 'Phoebe' - it was actually hired by the Calcutta Light Horse for the purpose. The Light Horse team were also supported by a number of specialist commandoes on their mission. It was a success - German U-boat hit rates dropped amrkedly in the months following the attack. No medals were ever awarded to the Calcutta Light Horse given the mission's occurance in Goa, a then Portuguese, and therefore neutral, terrority.