In the fall of 1946, Petty Officer Daniel Myers is assigned to helm the largest ship in the world, the recently commissioned USS Midway aircraft carrier - a floating city of 4500 souls on post-war cold-weather operations in the North Atlantic. His commanding officer - a decorated hero of the Pacific War - Captain Giovanni Bove, is his one guide point in a stormy sea of doubts and hopeless desires. As a young man untested by war, Daniel struggles to earn his place at his captain's side before circumstance drifts them apart.