Suicide Fleet
Three friends who work on the Coney Island boardwalk, Skeets O'Reilly, Baltimore Clark, and Dutch Herman are all in love with the same woman, Sally. At the outbreak of World War I, the three men enlist in the US Navy. Before they leave for active duty, both Skeets and Baltimore meet with Sally, with the intention of letting her know how they feel about her. Baltimore can't bear the thought of Sally rejecting him, so he never discloses the depths of his feelings towards her. Skeets does propose to her, which she gently declines, being secretly in love with Baltimore.
The three are assigned to a US Naval destroyer, Dutch and Skeets subordinate to Baltimore, who is promoted to a chief petty officer, because he has served in the navy before. A German U-boat intercepts a sailing ship flying Norwegian colors, and when the German officer boards the ship, the Norwegian captain shares information with him regarding the movements of allied shipping, thus showing us that the Norwegian ship is an undercover "message ship" for the Germans. Shortly after this encounter, the destroyer carrying the three friends also intercepts the sailing ship. In an attempt to destroy incriminating evidence, the Norwegian captain sets the ship afire. The three sailors are part of the boarding party, and Baltimore manages to take possession of coded dispatches prior to the ship's sinking.
After the messages are decoded, it enables the US Navy to equip a fake "message ship", and O'Reilly, Clark and Herman are part of the crew assigned to man the vessel. The message ship cruises the Atlantic, hoping to be approached by a German submarine. Eventually they are, and during the encounter, they learn of the German plans to ambush and sink a fleet of American destroyers. As the Germans are about to leave, one of their officers becomes suspicious of the crew of the phony message ship. He exposes the American subterfuge, and the Germans return to their submarine and ready to sink the sailing ship. Before they can, Dutch manages to get a warning off to the American fleet. The US destroyers arrive, and the three German U-boats are sunk, two by American destroyers, and the third by the sailing ship. The three men return as heroes to the United States, and Baltimore marries Sally.
romantic