Thomas Kydd was promoted to acting lieutenant in October 1797, but having attained the lofty heights of the quarterdeck as an officer, he must also overcome his humble origins and become a gentleman. Kydd and his friend Nicholas Renzi set sail in HMS Tenacious for the North American station, where the frontier town of Halifax provides a welcome diversion, and Kydd finds himself in the USS Constellation in the heady days of the birth of the American Navy.