I found this result for Sea Chase story. It is loosely based on true story but character played by John Wayne is more likely to be fictional than any real person.
Mike
Greer, Andrew
The Sea Chase, 1948 (The German freighter ERGENSTRASSE escapes from
Australia before the outbreak of WW II. Unarmed, she is faced with the
task of returning to Nazi Germany in the face of the Royal Navy's
blockade. Made into a movie with John Wayne playing the part of the
anti-Nazi German master, Karl Erlich. Loosely based on the story of the
ERLANGEN, a German ship which left Dunedin at the outbreak of the war.
She sailed to the Auckland Islands where they cut 500 tons of firewood
(rata - well known as iron wood)! They finally made it to South
America. Good movie, great book.)
