Wallace Beery and director William A. "Wild Bill" Wellman had more in common besides long and celebrated film careers: They were flyboys who loved piloting their own planes. This Man`s Navy returns both - in feisty, fighting form - to the skies in a thrilling and sentimental World War II tale that salutes the lighter-than-air airships of the US Naval and Marine Corps. Ned "Old Gasbag" Trumpet (Beery) skippers a dirigible training unit and, per his nickname, spins tall tales, including one about a fictitious son, rankling fellow corpsman Jimmy Shannon (James Gleason, a perfect partner in bluster to Beery). Ned "adopts" young Jess Weaver (Tom Drake) as his "son," securing an operation to fix jess` disabled legs and enabling Jess to earn his Navy wings as a combat pilot. Their bond is tested on a submarine patrol mission when miscommunicated bombing orders cost lives, ending in disgrace for Ned. But another combat mission affords a second chance for "father" and "son" to fly their true heroic colors - and steer This Man's Navy home to glory.