Spurred on by the death of his drug-addicted sister at the hands of ruthless narcotics kingpin Frank McNally, U.S. drug enforcement agent Charles Sturgis embarks on an investigation that takes him from New York to London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and finally Athens in pursuit of McNally's shapely associate, Gina Broger.

During the autumn of 1944, RAF Hudson, carrying a VIP passenger in possession of highly secret information, is shot down and ditches in the North Sea. Fighting the elements and trying to keep up morale, the occupants of the aircraft's dinghy talk about their lives awaiting the rescue they hope will come. The film's title reflects the motto of the RAF's Air Sea Rescue Service, one of whose high speed launches battles against its own mechanical problems, enemy action, time and the weather to locate and rescue the downed crew and the vital secret papers they carry.