Torpedoed in battle, the British cruiser Torrin miraculously survives, and is brought back to English shores to be repaired. The paint is barely dry and the nuts and bolts barely in place before the Torrin is pressed into duty during the Dunkirk evacuation. The noble vessel is finally sunk after being dive-bombed in Crete, but many of the crew members survive. As they cling to the wreckage awaiting rescue, Cap. Kinross and his men flash back to their homes and loved ones, and in so doing recall anew just why they're fighting and whom they're fighting for.