Captain Harmsen has an unusual job to do: he and his chief Carl Seifert have to accompany marine archeologist Beate Wollitz and her Italian partner Roberto Gallo, a professional diver, on an expedition to salvage the cargo of a German plane that sunk off the coast of Sicily during World War II. The population of a small fishing village nearby, especially Sandro, are less than delighted by the arrival of the treasure-hunters # they fear the dangerous warfare agents hidden on board of the wreck. Beate is extremely nervous, because she wants to salvage several crates containing the long-lost "Rommel gold" from the campaigns of the Afrika Korps, and present the treasure to the public before her professor can claim the find for himself. Little does she know that Roberto is firmly determined to keep the valuable gold all to himself. Harmsen feels strongly attracted to Beate # but is simultaneously faced with an encounter with his wife Elke who lives apart and who is now on vacation in Sicily with her new boyfriend. Things soon come to head: during an attempt by the villagers to hijack the salvage ship, one of them loses his life fighting with the divers # and amid the general confusion, Roberto hijacks the ship. Harmsen and Beate try to overpower him, but are forced to escape overboard and look on helplessly as the ship # together with Harmsen's wife and crew # sails away into the distance. Back on land, the next surprise awaits them: Harmsen is arrested on suspicion of murdering the fisherman. However, he and Beate manage to escape. They reach Naples harbor, where Roberto is in the process of loading the treasure onto a truck. Harmsen and Beate only just manage to overpower him before he has a chance to escape with the gold. Finally Harmsen tells the press all about Beate's magnificent discovery # much to the annoyance of her professor, who wanted to claim the glory all to himself...