USS Daniels, a crowded destroyer tender is anchored in New Guinea when the main characters, Ensigns Renton and York, report for duty. Captain Ball, was a submarine officer. The executive officer, Commander Riley, was recalled for his second war. Lieutenant Commander Cass, the remarkably able Repair Officer, supervises artisans working three shifts every day -- assisted by civilian technicians -- repairing destroyers and other vessels.
Chief Quartermaster Thornhill, an Asiatic Fleet "retread", often spins lusty stories of the Asiatic Fleet and tells of a storm in 1933 when USS Rampo measured and reported a wave 112 feet high.
Liberty is rare. Morale is low. The captain delays the nightly movies while entertaining a nurse. Junior officers search for a still. Mail is censored. Christmas mail is torpedoed. Ensign York finds a floating body. New Year's Eve is observed by shooting at unidentified planes and wounding the gunnery officer; a destroyer drops an enemy plane.
Daniels convoys Army ships to the Philippines where Captain Ball and Chieft Steward Tomales go ashore. The crew's anticipated liberty is denied. Chief Tomales tells of his families suffering under Japanese occupation. Daniels rescues downed fliers while sheparding a convoy to Subic Bay where damaged ships await repair. Supervised recreation parties are allowed on a deserted island. For a few hours Ens. Renton is the happy owner of a monkey.
Aboard a PT Boat, Ensigns York and Renton dart among 80 torpedoed Japanese ships and roam recently liberated Manila. A Japanese vessel, disguised as a hospital ship, but filled with able troops is brought into port, and the ensigns go board. The assistant gunnery officer plays cowboy with his .45.
An all-girl orchestra entertains Daniels and her nest of destroyers. Commander Riley orders Ensign York to escort the ladies and chaplain ashore and "shoot the chaplain if he starts any funny business."
Victory in Europe, and we learn of the death camps. Lieut. (jg) Salter reveals to Ens. York that he is a Jew and that nearly all of his relatives were exterminated.
Daniels fights a typhoon while at anchor with powerless destroyers alongside. Captain Balll is crushed. At sea, a destroyer founders with all hands. An AWOL seaman disappears.
Daniels's workload increases as ships prepare for the voyage home. A torpedo is dropped and Lieut. (jg) Salter is maimed. The experienced reserves head home and Ensign Renton becomes the first lieutenant, and Ens. York the navigator. The AWOL sailor is brutally murdered.
As part of the Magic Carpet, Daniels prepares to steam for San Francisco, returning servicemen home for Christmas. While homeward bound Commander Riley notifies the ensigns of their promotion to lieutenant (junior grade) and warns of typhoons ahead.
