Alan Ladd stars as a pacifist on a fighting ship whose business is killing in The Deep Six, a gripping WWII adventure based on the novel by Martin Dibner and directed by Oscar - nominated cinematographer Rudolph Mate (D.O.A.). As war rages in the Pacific, artist Alec Austin (Ladd) is ordered to duty and stationed as a gunnery lieutenant on the U.S.S. Poe. But when he hesitates to fire on an unidentified plane, the men believe it's because of his Quaker beliefs, and they no longer feel they can trust him. So when the Poe is ordered on a dangerous mission to rescue American soldiers stranded on a Japanese-held island, Austin risks the lives of his crew as he takes command to prove there's a fighting man deep inside him.