Lord Anthony Huntington, the country's foremost shipbuilder, is tasked with preventing the United States from breaking England's grip on the tea trade.

In America, the U.S. president meets with a Boston shipbuilder, Thomas Winslow, who vows that his new vessel will challenge England's vaunted speed.

The builder introduces his son, Hal Winslow (William Boyd), who will command the new Yankee Clipper on its maiden voyage to China.

Several days into the journey, a stowaway, a young boy named Mickey Murphy (Junior Coughlan) is found hiding in a burlap sack.

While in China, Winslow attends a dinner hosted by a wealthy Chinese merchant and rescues an English woman Lady Jocelyn Huntington (Elinor Fair) from rioting beggars.