:01:37
[Narrator] 1840.
America's lifeline is the sea.
:01:42
Railroads are almost unknown.
:01:44
Only the great sailing ships
link the busy states of New England...
:01:49
with the rich
Mississippi Valley.
:01:51
The sea, and the sea alone,
makes America one nation.
:01:56
But along this lane
of commerce...
:01:59
lie the shark-like teeth
of the Florida Keys...
:02:02
where savage hurricanes
come screaming out of the Caribbean...
:02:06
to drive tall ships
onto the destroying shoals.
:02:10
Here, storm-riding men
and frail schooners,
:02:13
the salvage masters
of Key West,
:02:15
stand guard beside
America's lifeline.
:02:19
They reap the harvest
of the wild wind,
:02:22
fighting the hurricanes to save lives
and cargo from the wrecked vessels.
:02:28
But tales of
great salvage profits...
:02:31
have drawn reckless men
to this dangerous harvest,
:02:34
spawn of the seven seas.
:02:37
So among Florida's
heroic salvage masters...
:02:40
appear lawless captains...
:02:43
who plot to destroy
for their own profit...
:02:45
the great ships
they are pledged to save.
:02:49
America's very future on
the sea is being fought for...
:02:53
beside the roaring reefs
of Key West.
:02:57
[Wind Howling]