| Director | David S. Ward |
|---|---|
| Budget | $31 million |
| Box office | $37.5 million |
Lieutenant Commander Thomas Dodge, executive officer of the attack submarine USS Orlando, is being considered for a third time to captain a submarine. Although an excellent leader, he has been previously passed over because of his unorthodox command methods that included a "brushing" incident against a Russian missile submarine three years earlier near the port of Murmansk, Russia, and a penile tattoo reading "Welcome Aboard" that he acquired as an ensign while intoxicated. If denied again, Dodge will be dismissed from the Navy's submarine command program and reassigned to a desk job.
Rear Admiral Yancy Graham, who dislikes Dodge, opposes his promotion, but Vice Admiral Dean Winslow, Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic, selects him for a war game to test the Navy's defenses against diesel-powered submarines. As Russia has been donating their diesel fleet to the United States's adversaries, Winslow orders him to restore the rusty World War II-era diesel-powered submarine USS Stingray (SS-161) assigned to him by Graham and use it to "invade" Charleston Harbor undetected, and if successful, to sink a dummy warship in Norfolk Harbor with two live torpedoes. Initially reluctant, Dodge offers Winslow a wager: if he completes both tasks, Winslow will give him a nuclear submarine to command. Winslow agrees to consider it, instructing Dodge to "think like a pirate" rather than follow conventional war-game rules.
Graham, desiring a third star should he win, handpicks "the crew from hell" for Stingray: Lieutenant Martin G. Pascal as the executive officer; civilian naval contractor Howard as the chief engineer; Engineman First Class Brad Stepanak; Sonar Technician Second Class E.T. "Sonar" Lovacelli; Seaman Stanley "Spots" Sylvesterson as helmsman; Seaman Jefferson "Stoneball" Jackson as planesman; Electrician's Mate Michael Nitro; and Culinary Specialist Second Class Buckman as Stingrays cook. Additionally, Graham assigns a female Surface-qualified officer, Lieutenant Emily Lake, as Stingrays diving officer to see if women can successfully serve aboard submarines.
Using a storm off the Carolina coast as a diversion, Dodge and his crew offset their technological disadvantage by disguising the Stingray as a fishing trawler to infiltrate Charleston Harbor and ignite signal flares. Desperate to defeat Dodge, Graham halves the game's containment area without Winslow's authorization. Encountering trouble on their first attempt at Norfolk Harbor and narrowly escaping the Orlando, Dodge leaves the containment area and heads out to sea, breaking all contact with the Navy. Irate at this lapse in protocol, Pascal chastises him for hijacking his own boat and attempts to usurp him. The other crew members, weary of Pascal's berating and harassment, turn against him, and Dodge charges him with attempted mutiny. On deck, Lake witnesses Dodge and the crew, dressed up as and speaking like pirates, commit a mock execution by making a blindfolded Pascal walk the plank into the net of a waiting fishing trawler that will take him ashore.
During the Stingrays second attempt at Norfolk, Graham, hellbent on stopping Dodge, assumes command of the Orlando from its commanding officer Commander Carl Knox. Dodge employs a dangerous maneuver - passing Stingray between the propellers of a commercial supertanker to avoid sonar detection by the naval ships and aircraft protecting the approach to Norfolk. By the time the Orlando eventually locates and targets the Stingray, Dodge has already fired two live torpedoes at into a target ship anchored in Norfolk Harbor, thereby winning the war game.
After Dodge's crew returns to port, Winslow chastises a humiliated Graham and denies him his promotion. He congratulates Dodge, informing him that he will be given command of a new , along with a "proper crew" to man her. Dodge requests that his entire Stingray crew be transferred with him; Winslow agrees, noting that Stepanak is his son, using his mother's surname to avoid favoritism, and informs Dodge that he will be promoted to Commander. After Dodge dismisses his crew to begin a well-earned shore leave, Lake asks him about his tattoo; he begins telling her the story as the two leave the dock together.