1805. Napoleon prevladuje v Evropi. Le Anglija se mu upira. To so časi Napoleonovih vojn, zdaj pa so morja in oceani postali ključno in strateško bojišče. V Atlantskem oceanu angleško vojaško ladjo Presenečenje, ki jo je vodil "Lucky" Jack Aubrey (Crowe), nenadoma napade sovražna bojna ladja, ki je nad njo veliko boljše. Nato Aubrey sprejme spominsko odločitev: kljub resni škodi, ki sta jo utrpeli Surprise in njena zvesta posadka, vključno s kirurgom Stephenom Maturinom (Bettany), se odloči, da bosta, resno tvegana, odplula čez dve morji, da bi prestregla in ujela svojega sovražnika. To je poslanstvo, ki lahko določi usodo naroda ali uniči kapitana in njegovo posadko, s katerimi se sooča veliko bolje oborožen in neusmiljen zasebnik, v preganjanju po morjih, ki ga odpelje na drugo stran sveta.

Defiant's crew is part of a fleet-wide movement to present a petition of grievances to the Admiralty. Violence must be no part of it. The continual sadism of Defiant's first officer makes this difficult, and when the captain is disabled, the chance for violence increases.

"Under Ten Flags" is a WWII movie loosely based on the true story of the German navy commerce raider Atlantis, a converted Auxilliary Cruiser, and her Captain Bernhard Rogge. Atlantis, camouflaged as a merchant ship, cruised the South Seas ( Atlantic, Indian & Pacific) and sank or captured 22 merchant ships from May 1940 through November 22, 1941 when she was sunk by the British Cruiser HMS Devonshire. Rogge was one of the few German officers of flag rank who were not arrested by the Allies after the war ended. This was due to the very proper and ethical way he exercised his command of Atlantis. After the war he advanced to Rear Admiral in the West German Navy and became a high-ranking NATO commander.