Captain Timothy Phillips, back from America has returned to his home for some much needed rest. While there, a young woman he meets at a dance, develops an unwanted attraction for him. Spurned, she incites a young officer to challenge him to a duel. Surviving the duel, he returns to his ship and is ordered to return to American waters, where he is to locate sources of shipbuilding materials and naval stores to send home, where they will be utilized in refurbishing old ships and building new ones. Succeeding in his mission, he returns home in command of a new ship. He is sent to join Admiral Pellew's fleet in the Mediterranean, where he assists in the blockade of France and assists in the suppression of piracy. Later, he is tasked with bringing a cargo of specie from Brazil back to Britain, where it will become part of the funds used to prosecute the war against Napoleon Bonaparte's forces. During these activities, he becomes involved in a relationship with the woman that incited the duel he was compelled to fight earlier.