At the outbreak of World War II, the ocean liner Normandie was brought into New York City harbor where it was to be converted into a carrier for US troops to the battlefields of Europe. After a mysterious fire broke out, the huge vessel capsized leaving American authorities suspecting the act to be the work of Nazi spies. But some feel that Lucky Luciano, American mafia kingpin, may have a hand in it. As events unfolded, Luciano and the US Government entered into a deal which helped the war effort, but left the Mafia as a powerhouse in the States thereafter, despite Luciano's eventual deportation to Italy.