The lieutenant believes that Crawford is too soft on his crew, and also disagrees with the captain's decision to follow his orders to sail to Corsica despite word that Napoleon's army has overrun much of Italy.

Meanwhile, some of the crew, led by seaman Vizard, are preparing a written petition for better conditions, in conjunction with similar efforts throughout the British fleet.

Crawford dispatches his son as part of the prize crew tasked to sail the captured merchantman to a British port, thereby placing him out of Scott-Padget's reach.

His humiliation is compounded by the requirement that he appear on deck every two hours in full dress uniform, a punishment usually reserved for young midshipmen.

Discovered among the prisoners is a key aide to Napoleon, from whom the British learn important information about a planned invasion of Britain.

Appealing to their patriotism, Crawford convinces Vizard and the other mutineers to sail for the main British fleet blockading Rochefort to warn them of the impending invasion.

In a contemporary review for The New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther wrote: "The perennially popular topic of wooden ships and iron men, of eighteenth-century square-riggers, naval martinets and mutineers is handled with the kind of graphic splendor that should set a million boyish hearts aflame ... [Y]ou will know that you've sat through a picture that does not make much psychological sense but has the rich and rosy luster of a blood-drenched seafaring romance.