USOS Seaview
From Free net encyclopedia
| Image:USOS Seaview.jpg USOS Seaview was a fictitious privately-owned nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine. | |
| Nelson Institute of Marine Research (NIMR) | Career |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 1973 |
| In Service: | |
| Decommissioned: | |
| Fate: | |
| Homeport: | Santa Barbara, California |
| Stricken: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 8500 tons (estimated) |
| Length: | 120.75 m (396 feet 2 inches) (from scale model) |
| Beam: | 23.1 m (75 feet 9 inches) (from scale model) |
| Height, keel to sail: | 18.9 m (62 feet) (from scale model) |
| Propulsion: | one nuclear reactor, two pump-jet propulsors |
| Speed: | 45 knots (estimated) |
| Complement: | 90–100 civilian sailors and technicians (estimated) |
| Armament: | 16 Polaris missiles, torpedoes, bow laser |
| Aircraft: | one FS-1 flying sub |
| Motto: | |
| Image:SeaviewUN.jpg The USOS Seaview arrives in New York Harbor, so Admiral Nelson can present his plan at a United Nations emergency conference, to extinguish the fire & global warming of the burning Van Allen belt overhead. | |
Seaview, a fictitious privately-owned nuclear submarine, was the setting for the 1961 movie, starring Walter Pidgeon, and 1964-to-1968 ABC television series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. In the context of the series, she was one of two experimental submarines designed by retired Admiral Harriman Nelson (Richard Basehart), Director of the Nelson Institute of Marine Research, a top-secret government complex located in Santa Barbara, California, in the then-future years between 1973 and 1981. Seaview had a sister ship, the Polidor, which was destroyed in the second episode of the series.
At times, she is referred to as "SSRN" or "SSNR" Seaview, neither of which identifiers is ever explained. (In the United States Navy, "SSRN" would indicate a nuclear-powered radar picket submarine, but while Seaview was nuclear, no indication was ever given that she was equipped for radar picket missions.) The prefix "USOS," also never unexplained, is spoken in a news report during the first minutes of the 1961 movie. However, later writings explained that "SSRN" stood for Nuclear Submarine (SSN), Research (R) or SSRN and "USOS" stood for United States Oceanographic Survey.
Seaview’s commanding officer was Commander Lee Crane (David Hedison) and her executive officer was Lieutenant Commander Chip Morton (Robert Dowdell); her crew included Chief Curley Jones (Henry Kulky) and Chief Sharkey (Terry Becker).
Seaview’s hull was designed to withstand a depth of 3600 feet (1 km), and in one episode survived a depth excursion approaching 5000 feet (1.5 km). The transparent-hull "window-section" bow of Seaview was not rounded like a traditional submarine but was faired into a pair of wing-like, stationary bow planes (in addition to her more conventional sail planes). In emergencies, a pair of sliding metal collision doors shut across the face of the bow's observation deck to protect the four-window transparent surface (TV series, second season). Theodore Sturgeon, the author of the novelization of the movie, explained the incredible strength of the boat's enormous hullplate/windows (eight in the movie, TV series first season) by revealing that they were formed from "X-tempered Herculite, a top secret process developed by Admiral Nelson."
Seaview’s interior was considerably more spacious and comfortable than any military submarine, even the 18,000-ton Ohio-class "Trident" submarines, including among other facilities a "shark pool" that could hold large marine animals. (The pool was only seen in the movie, and was never referred to in the television series.) Her volume did not hinder her maneuverability; Seaview routinely broached in a manner referred to as "emergency surfacing" by military submariners, and at a more nearly vertical angle — as high as 60° — than any military submarine has achieved and survived (except perhaps USS Chopper (SS-342)). In one episode, Admiral Nelson expressly stated that the Seaview did not use propellorsTemplate:Fact. Although her actual mode of propulsion was never stated, it was implied several times that Seaview used some kind of aquatic jet engine, which might possibly explain her speed (very fast for a sub) and her penchant for dramatic emergency surfacings.
 Seaview routinely attained 60° up-bubbles when surfacing. |
 Her up-bubble decreased to 45° by the time half her length was above the water. |
Starting in the show's second season, Seaview was revealed to have a hangar bay for a minisub called "The Flying Sub" or "FS-1," implying that there were several more back at the base, which would have to be the case since several Flying Subs were lost to mishaps or combat during the run of the show. (Promotional materials published between the first and second seasons referred to it as the Flying Fish, but the name was evidently dropped prior to the start of filming and was never used in the show.) It was deployed through bomb-bay like doors. As it neared the ocean's surface, its engines could generate enough thrust for the vehicle to take off and fly at supersonic speeds. Ironically, the US Navy was so impressed with the idea of a flying submarine that they actually conducted wind tunnel tests on a miniature identical to the one from Voyage, but obviously the project didn't go much further than thatTemplate:Fact.
Three models of Seaview — four, eight, and 18 feet (1.2, 2.4 and 5.5 m) long — were built (8-window nose in the motion picture, & first tv season - 4-window version thereafter). The eight foot (2.4 m) model housed a one foot (305 mm) flying sub, while a more detailed two foot (610 mm) Flying Fish was held within the larger Seaview. All three models were built for a total price of US$200,000 by L. B. "Bill" Abbott, who won two Emmy Awards for special effects in the series. Later for the TV series a very cheap one-foot model was built.