A disgraced merchant marine officer elects to stay aboard his sinking cargo ship in order to prove the vessel was deliberately scuttled and, as a result, vindicate his good name.

Gary Cooper
as Gideon Patch

Charlton Heston
as John Sands

Michael Redgrave
as Mr. Nyland

Virginia McKenna
as Janet Taggart

Richard Harris
as Higgins

Emlyn Williams
as Sir Wilfred Falcett

Alexander Knox
as Petrie

Cecil Parker
as Inquiry Chairman

Ben Wright
as Mike Duncan

Peter Illing
as Gunderson