After the Navy destroyer the S. S. John Paul Jones is torpedoed in the South Pacific during World War II, the Navy commissions a new destroyer to carry on her name and tradition. Two of the workers building the ship are middle-aged perfectionist Steve “Boley” Boleslavski (Edward G. Robinson) and his pal Kansas Jackson (Edgar Buchanan), both veterans of WW I who served on the Jones. Boley learns that his former shipmate Clark (Regis Toomey) is the commander of the new Jones and requests permission to serve during his re-enlistment on the Jones. The brass denies this request and instead he’s assigned to train recruits in San Diego. Boley asks Clark to appoint him chief bosun’s mate of the ship. Although Clark has already assigned Mickey Donohue (Glenn Ford) to the position, he agrees to honor Boley’s request. Boley’s appointment transforms him into a martinet, and he soon earns the animosity of the entire crew including Donohue, who has been re-assigned as gunner’s mate. Boley is considered a dinosaur who is unfamiliar with how the newer destroyer functions and angers the crew with his rigidity and despotic attitude.