Charlie Boatswain Silver is doomed from the start. Conceived in a hammock on the gun deck of a warship, his father a sailor, Charlie is a son-of-a-gun, and makes his first entrance to a Navy ship when he's twelve years old. By the time he turns eighteen he's feeling the restrictions of navy life, and deserts. From then on the press gang is after him, and his life is spent trying to avoid them. To add to his troubles he attracts women like a moth to a flame, and being young and hormonal takes full advantage of his opportunities. He is yet to learn that they will only bring him trouble, but he finds out when pursued by the father of a girl who believes he's made his daughter pregnant. This brings about a terrible tragedy, made worse because Charlie wasn't the guilty party in the first place. After many more mishaps and adventures in his life the press gang finally catch up with him, and he finds himself on board the Victory, Nelson's flagship, just in time for the Battle of Trafalgar.