To Matt, being signed into the navy was like a prison sentence… Matt, age fourteen, is a spoiled rich kid. His father, a former navy officer, decides a stint in the navy might square him away. Matt knows resisting his father’s wishes is futile, so he reports aboard the USS United States. He quickly learns the harsh realities of serving on a warship circa 1812. Coming from a life of wealth and comfort, he struggles to cope with the grossly unsanitary and uncomfortable conditions. His nemesis, Boatswain’s Mate Dan McElroy, seems to enjoy making Matt’s life miserable. The quartermaster, Hunter Pickett, becomes his mentor. Matt befriends Bobby, a frail and fatherless eight-year-old powder monkey. Together they face the wrath of McElroy, illnesses, storms at sea, and finally a climactic sea battle. During the battle and in its aftermath, Matt overcomes some of life’s most difficult challenges. Through all of this, Matt’s character is remolded as he makes his passage from boyhood to manhood.
