Slate begins film reading: Sante Fe alongside to take off wounded. (Refers to the light cruiser USS Sante Fe (CL-60) evacuating survivors from the aircraft carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) after it was bombed by Japanese aircraft during World War 2.) View of the Sante Fe starboard of the Franklin. Survivors are watching from the forward section of the Franklin as wounded are transported to from the Franklin to the Sante Fe by bos'n chair and similar means for transporting wounded on cots. Aboard the Franklin, sailors help an ambulatory wounded to a place where medics are giving first aid. They help him to a bed, of sorts that a medic quickly prepares on deck. Sailors passing a wounded to others who prepare him for evacuation. Back on deck, medics are tending to some wounded, bandaging injuries and preparing bed-ridden for evacuation. Intervening slate reads: Most terrific blast of morning.(Note; all explosions are made from ships distant from CV-13. Impossible to shoot film aboard during detonations.) (Indicates that subsequent scenes are filmed from other ships.) Distant views of huge fire ball and dense smoke coming from the USS Franklin. Slate reads: Sante Fe returns. Had been forced by explosions to shear off The Sante Fe seen starboard of the Franklin and closing with her fire hoses directing streams of water on the Franklin. Water running off the Franklin's deck. Small fire seen below decks. The Sante Fe inundating the Franklin with water from her hoses. View of aft deck of Franklin in pieces. Slate intervenes stating: Until dark Father O'Callahan, paying no heed to explosions and his own great peril attends the dying. Glimpse of sailors hauling lines on the Franklin flight deck. Then, Navy Chaplain, Father Joseph Timothy O'Callahan, is seen administering last rites to a dying sailor on the deck.
A U.S. New Orleans class cruiser underway with a task force in the Pacific, during World War 2. Upper of two 3x8 gun turrets seen (lower out of sight). Both the bow and the stern of ship are awash periodically. Three Navy TBF Avenger aircraft are seen in formation, flying slowly at low altitude overhead, all with landing gear extended.
Smoke rises from bombed aircraft carrier USS Princeton (CVL-23) off Luzon in World War 2. Time code 00:29,shows F6F-5 #7 "Paper Doll," of VF-27, (mount of Ensign Bob Burnell who painted most of the famous "cat mouths" on the cowls of VF-27 Hellcats).Pilots walk across flight deck of USS Essex (CV-9). TC:01:04, F6F-5 #47 (VF-15) is seen with Horizontal stripe near rudder tip identifying it as an Air Group 15 aircraft. Further along is F6F-3 #8 (VF-15) Late production -3 with superseded tri-color paint scheme and 7 Japanese victory flag emblems under cockpit. F6F-3 #F-11 (VF-27) Late production -3, "F-11" lettered prefix to aircraft number (unusual on an operational fighter probably indicating a recent replacement). Plane captain is cleaning windshield on the "Minzi III" when Captain David S. McCampbell, the top U.S. Navy ace, approaches and climbs aboard the aircraft. Thirty Japanese flags are painted on the fuselage below the cockpit. McCampbell straps in and starts his engine. He gives a "thumbs up" sign. "Airedales" push empty Hellcat belly tanks across Essex flight deck. A Destroyer fires antiaircraft guns. Japanese aircraft seen in flight over water. Fire from 40 mm guns. (Note: Some planes of Squadron VF-27 on the Princeton, were recovered on the Essex.)
U.S. carrier-based aircraft attack Japanese targets in Philippines. U.S. Navy F6F Hellcat taking off from the flight deck. Men remove chocks from aircraft. U.S. Navy SB2C Helldiver taking off from the carrier. Men on deck underneath an aircraft. Plane director on the deck. The U.S. Navy TBM Avenger taking off. Gun camera scenes from U.S. Navy fighter aircraft attacking formation of Japanese Mitsubishi G4M ("Betty") bombers. They shoot down a number of them, including one that loses its wing during the encounter.
A convoy to resupply allied troops at Mindoro, Philippines, seen underway, as it comes under attack by Japanese Kamikaze planes, during World War 2. Opening scene shows a burning Japanese warplane trailing smoke as it falls and breaks up before crashing into the sea. Flak clouds seen in the sky from the antiaircraft fire of the U.S. battleship, USS South Dakota (BB-57) seen low on the horizon in the background. Several ships are seen in the convoy. Suddenly a huge explosion occurs as a Japanese kamikaze (unseen) strikes the 14 thousand ton Liberty ship, SS John Burke. She is carrying a cargo of ammunition that explodes, raising a wall of water around the ship and creating a mushroom cloud of smoke that billows high into the sky.
A film on U.S. Army air-sea rescue operations. A U.S. Army Air Forces B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft in flight over water. Crew at controls of the aircraft. Number 1 engine is feathered. Then, number 4 engine fails and is feathered. View from behind shows the B-17 descending with all four engines feathered. (Some of these scenes probably employed models.) Crew members in the aircraft. A wireless operator sets a key at automatic SOS. Crew preparing for ditching. The aircraft ditching in the water.Crew evacuates from the ditched aircraft in 6-man life rafts. They employ their various survival gear, including Gibson Girl radio with balloon-mounted antenna, signal mirrors, fishing gear, dye marker, and smoke flares. They are spotted by an Army Air-Sea rescue Douglas A-24 aircraft. The aircraft reports their position and a rescue boat is dispatched to their location. They are reached by U.S. Army air sea rescue boat, number P-249 (An 85 foot, wooden, gas- powered boat, built by Eddy Ship Building, Bay City, Michigan). Crewmen are taken aboard and given refreshments.