A Maritime Board of Inquiry investigates the loss of the merchant ship, the Black Rover . Its captain, Jim Parker, offers the following testimony on his own behalf: Jim is recommended by Fred Winthrop to his father, owner of the Winthrop Shipping Line, to command the Black Rover after its captain and crew refuse to make the voyage. Jim, who has just received his captain's papers, agrees, unaware that Winthrop is illegally running a cargo of contraband weapons. Fred becomes the ship's first mate and selects a crew of a mostly criminal element not likely to investigate the ship's cargo or submit to Jim's authority. Jim is also unaware that his fiance Helen has disguised herself as a galley boy and sneaked aboard with the assistance of Gimpy, the cook. As the ship sets sail for Santino, by way of Sea Turtle Island, Jim becomes uneasy about his sullen crew. Jim quickly sees through Helen's disguise and orders her to disembark at the next port, but she sneaks back on-board by hiding in a ca