A World War II United States Navy submarine officer, Commander (United States) P.J. Richardson (Clark Gable), is determined to get revenge on an ace Japanese destroyer captain, nicknamed "Bungo Pete", who has sunk four US submarines in the Bungo Channel, including his previous command. He persuades the Navy Board to give him a new submarine command with the provision that his executive officer be someone who has just returned from active sea patrol. He single-mindedly trains the crew of his new boat, the USS Nerka, to return to the Bungo Straits and sink Bungo Pete, in spite of the Navy's expressly forbidding him from approaching the Bungo Straits on this mission. Richardson's executive officer, Lieutenant Commander Jim Bledsoe (Burt Lancaster), is worried about the safety of his boat and his crew. He also resents Richardson and the Navy leadership for denying him command of the ''Nerka'', which he believes should have been his.