The movie is a historical drama that revolves around the naval Battle of Iquique between the Peruvian ironclad monitor 'Huáscar' and the Chilean wooden corvette 'Esmeralda'.

The main plot centers on Wenceslao Vargas Rojas, a Chilean marine, who in 1941 is to deliver a speech at the Naval Academy as he is the last survivor of the battle. Via Wenceslao's flashback we see the preparations of the corvette and the battle itself, partially from his point of view and partially from the command's point of view on both sides. The movie also depicts the tactics, relationships between and courage of the commanding officers involved in the battle, as two of the most famous naval officers of the Pacific fought head-to-head: the Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau Seminario and the Chilean Captain Arturo Prat Chacón.—Simon Iversen