In Harm's Way begins on the morning of December 7, 1941, when a heavy cruiser, commanded by Captain Rockwell Torrey (John Wayne), and the destroyer Cassidy are two of a handful of ships that escape the destruction of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Under Torrey's command, the tiny fleet of a dozen ships carries out its orders to seek out and engage the enemy fleet. But lack of fuel and a daring maneuver causes his ship to be seriously damaged. He's relieved of command and assigned to a desk job routing convoys in the shakeup following the attack, and his exec and oldest friend, Commander Paul Eddington (Kirk Douglas), is reassigned after a brawl, the result of his anger after identifying the body of his wife (Barbara Bouchet) who was killed during the attack while cavorting with an Marine Corps officer. Torrey's begins a romantic relationship with Lt. Maggie Haines (Patricia Neal), a navy nurse. Torrey learns of a top-secret offensive called Sky Hook — he figures out enough of it to impress Powell, and when Sky Hook gets bogged down by the indecisiveness of its commander, Powell convinces the commander of the Pacific Fleet (Adm. Chester Nimitz) that Torrey is the man to salvage the operation.