It`s 1794, and England has been at war with Revolutionary France for almost two years. Richard Bolitho sets sail in the Hyperion with his untrained crew for blockade duty off France. But Commodore Mathias Pelham-Martin is an egotistical and incompetent superior, whose petty hostilities jeopardize the operation of an entire fleet. As the enemy moves in and out of sight the Hyperion gives chase, until finally, the long awaited rendezvous takes place....