| Director | Delmer Daves |
|---|---|
| Budget | $1.9 million |
| Box office | $4.1 million |
As a 1917 graduate of the Naval Academy, Naval Aviator Jonathan L. "Scotty" Scott (Gary Cooper) spends 28 years, from 1921 to 1949, promoting U.S. naval aviation and the power of the aircraft carrier. During that period, he antagonizes powerful people in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Congress, and marries Mary Morgan (Jane Wyatt), the widow of a fellow flier who died in a crash during a carrier takeoff aboard . Throughout, Scott has the help and friendship of his mentor and superior officer, Pete Richard (Walter Brennan).
The Scotts spend two years in Hawaii and then move to Annapolis, where Scott, now a lieutenant commander, is to teach naval aviation but his outspoken stand in favor of aircraft carriers in combat causes him to lose a promotion. After Japan invades Manchuria, Scott is offered a civilian sales position selling aircraft in Europe, but remains in the Navy.
After Pearl Harbor is attacked by the Japanese, Scott's ship, , is heavily involved in action at the Battle of Midway. Scott later travels to Washington D.C. to plead for more carriers and eventually a carrier fleet is produced. During the Battle of Okinawa, the fleet, with Scott as the captain of the carrier , proves its worth. When his carrier flight deck is badly damaged by Japanese torpedo aircraft, the ship is forced to withdraw to the U.S. for repairs and the war ends when they arrive in at the Navy Yard in New York City. Four years after the end of the war, Scott, as a rear admiral, retires and joins Mary, who is waiting for him on the dock.
While much of the archive footage used for the ship commanded by Scott was of the USS Franklin, the actual situation more closely resembles the attacks on USS Bunker Hill. Especially as in real life, Franklin had already been knocked out of the war before the invasion of Okinawa began.