"Le Crabe Tambour" ("Drummer Crab") is the nickname for the mysterious central character, Willsdorff (Jacques Perrin), an Alsatian, whose doomed, out-of-date career is recalled through the tales of three naval officers currently serving aboard a French supply ship in the North Atlantic.
Captain, commander of the escort ship
Pierre, medical officer
Lieutenant Willsdorff, 'Le Crabe-Tambour'
Aurore, nurse in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
The wife at the bistro of the former gendarme
Babourg, former sailor
Chief mechanic
Former gendarme, boss of the bistro
Admiral Dönitz's admirer at the bistro
Rector
Bongo-Ba
Ensign
Bugler Bochau
Fishing officer
Adjutant Willsdorf (uncredited)
Breton kid (uncredited)
