I 1789 er Bligh kaptajn på krigsskibet H.M.S. Bounty. Bligh er benhård og sætter disciplin højere end noget andet om bord. Men mændene vil hellere slappe af med de indfødte piger på Tahiti, og inden længe trækker det op til konfrontation mellem Blich og officererne på den ene side og skibets øvrige besætning på den anden.
Parallel stories: 18th century Harrison builds the marine chronometer for safe navigation at sea; 20th century Gould is obsessed with restoring it.
Sir Philip Ashlow (Stewart Granger), his neglected wife, Lady Ashlow (Ava Gardner) and his best friend Henry Brittingham-Brett (David Niven) are shipwrecked on a desert island. This potential ménage à trois where the two men compete for the lady's attention is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a fourth inhabitant of the island.
This film shows the duties of a young British sailor, Lieutenant Ellison, as his submarine H.M. Artemis sails the pack ice north of Iceland to gather data to complete a scientific survey for the Hydrographic Department.