They were expendable: In the early days of World War II, the Japanese navy pressed relentlessly into the Philippines. Two American skippers are determined to prove that their small PT boats can be shaped into an effective battle fleet against the larger Japanese cruisers.

Flying leathernecks: It's World War II. Major Dan Kirby (John Wayne) is hard on his marines. His subordinate Captain Carl Griffin thinks the Major is overdoing it, but Kirby proves that there is a method to his madness after all.