 After getting in a fight in a waterfront cafe over a girl, Captain Ira "Hell-Ship" Morgan (George Bancroft) hires Jim Allen (Victor Jory) and they become good friends. Morgan befriends a desperate girl, Mary Taylor (Ann Sothern), and, out of gratitude, she agrees to marry him. Morgan gives her the magnificient Callao pearl as a wedding present. But Mary and Jim fall in love and are found together one night by a sailor, and Mary is forced to give him the pearl to keep him quiet. Morgan finds out about it. A terrific storm comes up and Morgan taunts Allen into going over the side to make repairs. Allen is injured but Morgan saves his life but breaks his own back.