Naval gunnery officer Alec Austin, a Quaker, is torn between his sincere pacifist sentiments and his wartime duty.
When he refuses to fire upon an unidentified approaching aircraft, his crew gets the feeling that Austin cannot be relied upon in battle. Fortunately for him the plane turns out to be a friendly one, and for a moment he is considered a hero. The more the other men learn about his Quaker views the more he is shunned. Finally he is removed from gunnery duty and assigned to damage control. Again he proves his worth by ridding the ship of an unexploded Japanese bomb.
When a group of US pilots needs to be rescued from a Japanese-held island Austin volunteers for the mission. As the Japanese closes in and his comrades is mortally wounded, Austin eventually takes over the maschine gun.