The Sand Pebbles

In 1926, Jake Holman transfers to the Yangtze River Patrol aboard the USS San Pablo and immediately takes charge of the engine room. He rejects the crew's traditional reliance on coolies and asserts personal responsibility for the machinery. He befriends the seasoned sailor Frenchy.

An engine malfunction flagged by Holman leads to the death of the chief Chinese engine-room worker. Lop-eye Shing blames Holman for the tragedy, increasing tension aboard. The captain orders a Chinese replacement, Po-han, to fill the vacancy.

Sailors visit a shore bar and brothel run by a former sailor. A high-priced virgin named Maily captivates the crew, and Frenchy learns that her freedom carries a debt she must repay. The club becomes a focal point of rising tensions.

Shing schemes to remove Po-han while Holman offers a boxing match to decide his fate. If Stawski wins, the prize goes to Maily; if Holman wins, Po-han keeps his job. The fight is interrupted by an alarm as a Chinese mob grows angry over Western influence.

As the Chinese Civil War begins, the San Pablo is ordered to stay neutral while rescuing Americans upriver. Po-han is sent ashore by Shing, and Holman joins Jameson and Shirley Eckert. When a mob closes in, Holman shoots Po-han to end his brutal death on the shore, violating orders.

Back in port, locals openly hate the sailors. Jameson and Eckert prepare for a new mission, while Frenchy tries to buy Maily's freedom and she is put up for auction. Holman helps fund the bid, a fight ensues, and the trio escapes; Frenchy and Maily wed unofficially in an empty church.

Holman and Eckert begin to fall in love, though Holman doubts the relationship will last given his likely departure from China. Their bond develops as the crew wrestles with mounting danger and isolation.

Winter comes and the river level falls, trapping the San Pablo. The ship is surrounded as a flotilla blocks the river and shore leave is canceled. Frenchy bravely swims to visit Maily but catches pneumonia and dies.

Antiforeign Chinese forces kill Maily and frame Holman for her murder. They surround the ship and demand surrender. The captain fires a Lewis gun to end the threat, leaving Holman morally and politically isolated.

Captain Collins orders a rescue of Jameson and Eckert from a mission, and the San Pablo must push through a line of tethered junks. Holman chops through the rope, killing a militiaman who is revealed to be one of Jameson and Shirley's students.

The gunboat reaches the mission; Jameson and Eckert refuse to leave. Nationalist soldiers attack and Jameson is killed, followed by Captain Collins. Holman takes command, and he and Shirley confess their love as they fight to escape, with Holman fatally shot just before rejoining them.

With Holman dead, Shirley and the remaining sailors reach the San Pablo. The ship slowly steams away, carrying the memory of Holman and the sacrifices made during the voyage.