The Atomic Submarine

[Man Narrating]

It cost Commander Robert Reary...

20 years of unremitting

hardship and misery...

to reach the North Role

finally in 1909.

It would have astounded Reary to learn

that by the late 1 950s and early '60s...

the vast, frozen

top of the world he pioneered...

had become a vital highway

for world travel and commerce.

Not just in the skies...

but also deep under the ice...

in the frigid five-million-square-mile

depths of the Arctic Ocean.

Here, great passenger-and cargo-carrying

atomic submarines...

glided by the dozens

back and forth across the Role...

until a series of

mysterious undersea disasters...

threatened to close

the Arctic route forever.

The decisive moment came

May 3 at 13 15 hours...

when the undersea atomic liner,

Sturgeon, largest of them all...

reached 87 degrees, 10 minutes

north latitude...

only a few miles

from the North Role itself.

[Electricity Crackling]

[Narrator]

According to the official reports...

the next phase

of the life-and-death drama...

occurred May 1 0 in Washington...

at a hush-hush supersecret meeting...

of the Arctic theater war room.

Gentlemen, this is the man

we've been waiting for.

The skipper of

the atom killer sub, Tiger Shark.

Commander Dan Wendover.

This is Justin Murdock,

secretary of defense.

- Mr. Murdock.

- Commander.

And I know you've heard a lot

of Dr. Clifford Kent, Dan.

- Doctor.

- Commander.

Dr. Kent had a lot to do

with the development and design of your boat.

Sir Ian Hunt just flew in from London.

The Dr. Hunt, winner of

the Nobel Prize for oceanography?

Oh, let's just say I took the bow

for a team of very brilliant associates.

Uh, sit down.

Gentlemen, to begin,

let me read you just one line...

from a detailed staff study

prepared for theJoint Chiefs.

''In our judgment,

these Arctic disasters...

may prove the gravest emergency

in all history.''

Any comments on that statement?

A bit fanciful, isn't it, sir?

Possibly.

Let me read you, uh,

a partial list of observed phenomena.

''Destruction of four surface vessels.

Largest, 1 0,000 tons.

''Radioactivity in Arctic waters,

flow ice and bergs.

''Reculiar television images

preceding each distress call.

''Seven polar atom subs...

vanished without a trace. ''

''Fanciful,'' did you say, uh, Sir Ian?

[Chuckles]

And now, Dan,

we come to you.

You skipper the Tiger Shark...

the most advanced,

the deadliest killer sub in the fleet.

Right now she's undergoing emergency

around-the-clock modification...

in the Bremerton Navy Yard.

The orders call for special observation

and testing instruments here...

removal of all but two atomic torpedoes...

special launching equipment

for water-to-air ballistic missiles...

and a special escape hatch

in the keel for the Lungfish.

The Lungfish?

Yes. Uh, a deep exploration device,

sort of an animated diving bell.

The mission of the Tiger Shark...

is to hunt down and identify the cause

of these Arctic disasters.

If humanly possible...

you will remove it.

[Man] Not that I don't think

Lieutenant Commander Holloway...

is the finest exec

in the entire sub fleet,Julie...

and not that he isn't

the best friend that I have -

Come on, Dave.

You talk too much.

Now be quiet, little mother.

I - I feel behooved to warn you...

our friend Reef is no less than the number one

howl in the entire sub wolf pack.

Nuclear powered.

And when it comes to women- Well...

he has got a built-in sonar detector that -

Dave, you know you're exaggerating,

old buddy-buddy. You know it. Yes, you are.

You know, on most boats,

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