After his girlfriend Jo refuses to make a commitment to their relationship, Al Woods decides to enlist and finds himself in the US Coast Guard. He makes it through basic training but a run-in with one of his instructor’s lands him as a junior cook on a ship based in Boston. At a bar, he meets the pretty Stella Papparonis and while they see each other regularly, she refuses to stay with him when he rents a hotel room for the night. On board ship, he finds that his direct superior, ‘Red’ Wildoe, isn’t very helpful as far as the galley goes but Al proves to be quite adept at cooking. Al learns a lot about doing the right thing, especially when Stella, now married to Red, starts throwing herself at every man in sight. When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, life becomes far more serious as well.