29 March 2016 Last updated at 15:44 BST
Peter Brown watched the footage on his computer at home in Cumbria after it was put online by the University of Manchester to show the Dunkirk evacuation - and lighter moments on HMS Whitehall.
North West Tonight reporter Stuart Flinders spoke to Mr Brown.
A man spotted his father performing cartwheels and tightrope walking on a Royal Navy destroyer in a World War Two archive film.