A shipwrecked British sailor unwittingly helps his estranged father, a naval commander, sink a German cruiser. He has never met this father and neither knows of the others existance.

Jeffrey Hunter plays a young British sailor, the out-of-wedlock son of a high-ranking naval officer (Michael Rennie). Hunter's ship is torpedoed and he is picked up by the German heavy cruser that torpedoed his ship.

He eventually escapes when the cruiser pulls into a small inlet of a deserted island, leaving him stranded on a island. Armed with only a rifle, Hunter is able to shoot at the German cruiser that is anchored in the inlet for repairs, and to extend its departure time. He delays the departure of the cruiser for over10 extra hours, allowing the British Navy to find the Germans.

The British Navy then moves in and sinks the ship, as it is leaving the inlet. Hunter is awarded the Victoria Cross by King George VI while his father is knighted.

Though set during World War II, Sailor of the King was adapted from C. S. Forester's World War I novel Brown on Resolution. This 1953 20th Century-Fox production was released in Britain as Single Handed.

Fox couldn't seem to decide how to end the picture, so they showed it in New York with the original books ending and asked the audience to vote. This was for the test audience only. Since I've only heard of the death ending once, the audience must have voted for him to survive. In the book the hero is killed at the end by the German snipper, while in this version the snipper is about to pull the trigger and stops when he hears the ships recall whistle. That god for German dedication.