Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)

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Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Genre	Science fiction
Running time	Approx. 60 minutes
Creator(s)	Irwin Allen
Starring	Richard Basehart David Hedison Bob Dowdell Henry Kulky Terry Becker Del Monroe Arch Whiting Paul Trinka Alan Hunt Richard Bull Paul Carr
Country of origin	United States
Original channel	ABC
Original run	September 14, 1964–March 31, 1968
No. of episodes	110
IMDb profile

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is the television series based on the 1961 film, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

The success of the film spawned a television series, which used sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, from the movie. The series ran on ABC from September 14, 1964 to March 31, 1968 for 110 episodes; 32 in black and white (1964-65) and 78 in color (1965-68). It was the longest running 1960's science fiction series.

The first season was an action adventure series that was gritty, atmospheric and intense with story lines devoted to Cold War themes. Many episodes involved espionage and Spy-Fi elements. While fantastic, there was a semblance of reality in the scripts. Most fans and many critics argue that the majority of the series' best episodes aired during this season, and that the more adult tone that the series took during this year stands up far better than the next three seasons' episodes have.

Due to ABC's demands for a somewhat "lighter" tone to the series, the second season saw an increase in monster-of-the-week type plots, yet there were still some episodes that harkened back to the tone of the first season. The most important change in the series occurred during this season when a slightly redesigned Seaview was introduced, along with the Flying Sub. A shuttlecraft type of vehicle, the Flying Sub was launched in a bay under the Seaview. The Flying Sub would wind up being the most recognized element of the series, even more so than the Seaview itself. Unlike the Seaview, the model kit for the Flying Sub - originally issued by Aurora, and later by Monogram/Revell - has remained in periodic production and is still a significantly in-demand kit for hobbyists. The Seaview model kit is currently available from Polar Lights. Also die-cast versions of both vehicles are coming soon from another manufacturer.

The final two seasons cemented the shift towards camp storylines that were popular in the late 1960s. Mummies, werewolves, talking puppets and an evil leprechaun all walked the corridors of the Seaview. There were also fossil men, flame men, frost men and lobster men.

Ratings for the fourth season took a significant drop as the season progressed, but were not drastic enough for ABC to immediately cancel a fifth season for the series. During renewal discussions between Irwin Allen, 20th Century Fox and ABC, Allen instead proposed replacing "Voyage" with Land of the Giants. Based on a proposal consisting of only a reported two dozen pre-production concept paintings, ABC accepted Allen's proposed new series, and "Voyage" was cancelled.

Until the fifth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was the longest running American science fiction television series in broadcasting history.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Episode list 2.1 Season One: 1964-1965 2.2 Season Two: 1965-1966 2.3 Season Three: 1966-1967 2.4 Season Four: 1967-1968 3 Chronology 4 Other media 5 Popular culture 6 External links

[edit] Cast

• Richard Basehart as Admiral Harriman Nelson
• David Hedison as Captain Lee Crane
• Bob Dowdell as Lt. Commander "Chip" Morton
• Henry Kulky as Chief Curly Jones (1st Season)
• Terry Becker as Chief Sharkey (2nd-4th Seasons)
• Del Monroe as Kowalski
• Arch Whiting as Sparks
• Paul Trinka as Patterson
• Alan Hunt as Riley (2nd Season)
• Richard Bull as the Doctor
• Paul Carr as Casey Clark (1st-3rd Seasons, Recurring)

[edit] Episode list

Episode titles and dates of first airing, from tv.com

[edit] Season One: 1964-1965

[edit] Season Two: 1965-1966

[edit] Season Three: 1966-1967

[edit] Season Four: 1967-1968

[edit] Chronology

Based on "facts" provided in each episode, a chronology of the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea universe can be compiled.

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Chronology The Voyages of the SNSS Seaview 1972-1982

Four point six billion years ago – the Earth was formed. (Geological fact.)

Four Billion years ago – A cellular form of life evolves near the location of what will later become the Vemus seamount. (The Cradle of the Deep)

Several hundred million years ago – The Earth’s oceans formed. (Geological fact.)

320 to 258 million years ago – Edaphosaurus roamed the earth. (Edaphosaurus appeared in Turn Back the Clock. Dr. Ernst Zeigler estimated that the creature lived 150 million years ago and claimed that it was a dinosaur from the Mesozoic era. In actuality, Edaphosaurus preceded the dinosaurs and lived in the Permian period of the Paleozoic era. What’s a few hundred million years between friends?)

Twenty Million years ago - Zar’s people, The products of a previous evolutionary cycle build an advanced civilization beneath the sea. They place themselves into suspended animation because the Earth’s temperature became too hot for them to survive. The Earth became a boiling sea. (The Invader.)

One Million Years Ago – The Seaview appears in a prehistoric ocean. (Mr. Pem sent them one million years into the past in A Time to Die.)

Two Thousand Years Ago – The ancient Egyptians entomb a mummy, which will be discovered in the 20th century. (In The Mummy, the mummy is referred to as being three thousand years old. In reality, the Egyptians stopped mummifying their dead two thousand years ago. Nelson and Sharky are experts in many fields but Egyptology is not one of them.)

1323 – A party of South American Amerind speaking peoples journey south into Antarctic regions in a canoe and are drawn into a giant tropical underwater cavern. In isolation, they build a civilization that lasts 600 years. (Turn back the Clock. Nelson postulates that “Amerinds” from nearby South America made their way south in a “primitive canoe” and became drawn into the cavern “centuries ago.” Based on the level of technology (stone tipped spears) possessed by the aborigines in this lost world, it is reasonable to put forth the date of 650 years from 1973 as the date of this remarkable journey.)

1506 – Leonardo Da Vinci creates the Mona Lisa. (In The Buccaneer, Logan tries to steal the masterpiece.)

1524 – A pirate’s ship is attacked. As the ship, laden with gold, sinks into the depths, The pirate captain vows that no one will touch his treasure for a thousand years. (Dead Man’s Doubloons)

1680 – Strange sounds are heard by a British fleet before being destroyed. Survivors of the fleet swear to the truth of the story. (The Fossil Men. Set in 1980, Nelson tells Crane that the fleet was lost 300 years ago.)

November 22, 1718 – Blackbeard the pirate dies in a fierce battle with the British Royal Navy off the Carolina coast. (The Return of Blackbeard. Historical fact. The pirate states he wants to plunder again as he did 120 years ago. The episode is set in 1982. This would set his reign of terror on the high seas in 1862. Clearly Edward Teach AKA Blackbeard did not realize how far in the future he really was. He should have said 264 years ago.)

1779- The Seaview appears off the coast of Colonial America and meets Benedict Arnold and John Andre. (Mr. Pem transports them there in the No Way Back.)

1832 – Captain Shaemus O’Hara Nelson, a rich merchant seaman, dies at sea. (The Haunted Submarine. Historical Note: The United States Congress passed a law prohibiting the importation of slaves after January 1, 1808. O’Hara Nelson truly deserved to be a restless soul for trading in Human flesh in addition to doing it illegally.)

October 1871 – The first sighting of Loch Ness monster is reported. (McDougal remarks in The Secret of the Loch, that there have been reports for 50 years or more. Clearly, McDougal didn’t do his homework. The first reported sighting was 103 years before 1974. The first historically recorded sighting of Nessie was by a D. Mackenzie in October of 1871.

1891 – James Barclay, an English sailor, is swallowed by a Sperm Whale. The whale expels him 24 hours later “bleached white as a bone and quite mad.” (Nelson relates the incident to Dr. Markhova in Jonah and the Whale.)

July 1916 - The Imperial German Submarine U-444 is first commissioned and enters service.

September 1918 - The Imperial German Submarine U-444 commanded by Captain Gerhardt Krueger is sunk in the North Atlantic while attempting an attack on an allied convoy. (The Phantom Strikes.)

1920 – “Curley” Jones is born. (This is an extrapolation based on actor Henry Kulky’s actual age during the first season of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Kulky was born in 1911 making him 53 in 1965. If Kulky was 53, so was, by extension, Curley Jones. So, 1973 (The year Curly is first introduced) subtract 53 equals 1920, Curley’s year of birth. This conceit is used to determine the birth years of all the main characters.)

1923 – Harriman Nelson is born.

1933 – “Doc” is born.

1936 – Lee Crane is born.

1938 – Francis Ethilbert Sharkey is born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, U.S.A.

1941 -Harriman Nelson attends Naval Academy in Annapolis. Jiggs Stark is one of his classmates. (Mutiny establishes that both Nelson and Crane attended Annapolis. Assuming Nelson entered the Naval Academy at age 18, he would have entered 18 years after his birth year of 1923.)

1941- Patterson is born.

December 7, 1941- American naval and air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii are sneak-attacked by the armed forces of the Empire of Japan. The attack hurls the United States into World War II. (Historical fact)

1942 – Chip Morton is born.

1944 – Admiral Gustave Von Neuberg, A top Nazi research scientist, disappears from British Intelligence observation. (Death from the Past.)

1945 – Kowalski is born.

1945 – A British Destroyer closes in on a German U-boat containing Admiral Gustave Von Neuberg and Lieutenant Froelich. They are on a mission to deliver secret weapons to a special site where they will be launched to destroy Allied capitals. The sub is sunk with depth charges. (Death from the Past.)

April 1945 – As the Third Reich crumbles, Colonel Alfred Schroder accompanied by Colonel Carl Deiner, escapes Germany and plan to build a Fourth Reich. (The Last Battle.)

Dr. Karl Reisner immigrates to the United States from the ruins of Nazi Germany. (The Price of Doom. Reisner says that he came to the U.S. after the Nazi surrender.)

July 20, 1945 – In the Pacific, Lt. Ryan, commanding the U.S. Navy submarine, U.S.S. Tetra, rescues Lt. Nakamura of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Japanese surface ships spot the Tetra and attempt to sink it with depth charges. The sub disappears beneath the waves and is presumed lost. The only known survivor is a sonar man named Hills who claims the ship was lost because Ryan panicked. (Nelson notes the date of the sub’s destruction in …and the five of us are left.)

The Tetra is drawn into a vast underwater cavern by a strong current. The few survivors struggle to preserve their lives until they are rescued.

Late August, 1945. Frank Werden is born. (Werden tells Lt. Ryan that he was born one month after the Tetra was lost.)

1945 – Harriman Nelson Graduates From Annapolis Naval Academy commissioned as an Ensign. His classmate, Jiggs Stark also graduates. (Annapolis is a four-year institution. On graduation, all cadets are commissioned as Ensigns. In Mutiny, Admiral Jiggs Stark mentions that he and Nelson went through the academy together.)

1948 - Lee Crane, age 12, reads Bently Falk Sr’s book about deep-sea bathysphere diving. The book inspires young Crane and sparks his interest in the sea. (Crane remarks that he read Falk’s book as a youth in The Condemned. Age twelve allows Crane to be old enough to comprehend the book and be inspired by it’s content.)

1950 – The submarine commanded by Captain Wren is lost. (The Fossil Men. Set in 1980, Wren was lost 30 years ago.)

July 1951 – Congress authorizes the construction of the World’s first nuclear powered submarine the U.S.S. Nautilus SSN 571. (Historic fact.)

June 14, 1952 The Nautilus’s keel is laid in Groton, Connecticut. (Historic fact.)

1953- Sharkey attends Lincoln High School and gets an “A” in home economics class.

1953 – Stu Riley is born.

1953- Nelson meets Dr. Reisner for the first time. (In The Price of Doom, an episode set in 1973, Reisner states that Nelson has known him for 20 years.)

1954 – Lee Crane enters Annapolis Naval Academy.

September 30, 1954 - The U.S.S. Nautilus is commissioned. (Historic fact.)

Crane earns the title of intercollegiate middleweight boxing champion. (In Eleven Days to Zero, Curley says that Crane earned this title.)

1956 – The United States and Admiral Halder’s nation begin an alliance. (In The Machines Strike Back, set in 1976, Nelson states that Halder’s people have been allies for twenty years. Halder’s nation is loosly based on Turkey, which joined NATO in 1952.)

1958 – Lee Crane graduates from Annapolis commissioned as an Ensign.

August 3, 1958 - The Nautilus is the first vessel ever to navigate to the North Pole. (Historic fact.)

1958 – Dr. Reisner begins his work on converting sea plankton into a mass-quantity food source for the hungry people of the World. (In The Price of Doom, an episode set in 1973, Reisner states that he has given 15 years of his life to the project.)

At a date as yet unspecified, Crane, “On his first submarine duty in the Navy,” serves with Nelson on the U.S.S. Nautilus. (Crane informs Kowalski of this fact in Eleven Days to Zero.) During his time in the Navy, Crane becomes familiar with Rear Admiral Walter “Trigger Happy” Tobin. (Crane tells Nelson that he knows Tobin in “The Sky is Falling.)

1960 - Chip Morton enters Annapolis Naval Academy. (The date is speculative based on the assumption that he was 18 when he entered the academy. Nelson establishes in The Saboteur, that Morton attended the academy and that he knew Morton when he entered the school.)

1962 – Chip Morton, a member of the Annapolis football team, plays against Weymouth College. (Chip in The Deadliest Game states he used to play against them in college.)

Prior to 1963, Nelson takes a sabbatical from the Navy to teach marine biology at co-educational universities. His students include Helen Bryce and Bill Corbett. (Nelson informs Crane that Helen Bryce was a former student of his in the Ghost of Moby Dick. Nelson indicates that Corbett was his student for marine biology and chemistry in Doomsday.)

1963 – Helen Bryce, a former marine biology student of Nelson’s, earns her doctorate. (In Ghost of Moby Dick, she tells Nelson that it has been ten years since she earned the degree.)

1963 – Kowalski joins the U.S. Navy. (Hail to the Chief establishes that Kowalski was in the Navy. Assuming he was 18 when he joined, he signed up in 1963.)

1964 – Chip Morton graduates from the academy as an Ensign. (Annapolis is a four-year institution and Morton entered in 1960.)

1964 – Leopold Zeraff begins secret construction of his city beneath the sea in Aegean waters. (The City beneath the Sea. Clearly, it would have taken Zeraff years to design, finance, organize and construct the installation. Nine years seems like a fair estimate of the time necessary. In addition, a nice bit of serendipity is that the episode aired 1964.)

1964 – Oscar Dalgren, a member of the Norwegian Royal Science Academy, becomes a recluse. He was working on a method of increasing the world’s food supply from the sea. (In Village of Guilt, Nelson states that Dalgren disappeared nearly 10 years ago.)

1964 – One of the survivors of the U.S.S. Tetra, Smith, goes mad and raves about hearing voices of rescuers. ( The incident is described in … and the five of us are left. It is stated that it happened “10 years ago.”)

1965 – Navy sub U.S.S. Sealion is lost in the region of the Vemus Sea mount. 120 men are lost. (The Sealion tragedy was referred to in Cradle of the Deep. Clark says he had an older brother who was Exec officer on the ship. There is no indication that the sub’s loss occurred recently.)

1966 – An escape tunnel dug by the survivors of the U.S.S. Tetra collapses and kills Sims and York. (A survivor remarks that a tunnel collaped “8 years ago.” In the 1974 adventure, …and the five of us are left.)

1967 – U.S. Air Force Colonel Tom Washburn, a friend of Lee Crane, dies. (Crane states in The Price of Doom, a voyage set in 1973, that Washburn has been dead for 6 years.)

1967- Benjamin Brewster, the World’s top authority on electronics, is assumed killed while skiing by an avalanche. (The Last Battle, set in 1973, establishes that Brewster disappeared 6 years ago.)

November 1968 – Henry Talbot McNeil is elected President of the United States. (In Hail to the Chief, it is indicated that President McNeil preserved the peace at summit meetings in 1971 and 1972. The episode is set in 1973 and 1972 was an election year. If he was President in 1971 he had to be elected in 1968. So, President McNeil is in his second term of office.)

1968- Miss Julie Lyle, working for the Agricultural Information Department, begins her work in deep-sea plankton research. (Lyle says she has been working on the project for 5 years in the 1973 episode The Price of Doom.)

1969 – Everett Lang, a promising theoretical physicist, defects and disappears behind the Bamboo Curtain. (It is stated that Lang crossed sides “about ten years ago” in the 1978 adventure The Peacemaker.)

At a date as yet unspecified, Admiral Nelson retires from the Navy and founds the Nelson Institute of Marine Research (N.I.M.R.). Nelson designs Seaview and early concepts for the U.S.S. Polidor. He also designs and lobbies for the defense drone system. (Nelson retired at some point prior to the construction of Seaview in 1972.)

1970 – Dr. Gustav Reinhardt, the World’s foremost psychologist, is supposedly killed when the airliner he is on crashes. (The Last Battle, set in 1973, establishes that Reinhardt was presumed killed three years ago.)

1971 – Five million pounds are stolen from the Bank of England. Scotland Yard and Interpol begin an international search for the mastermind behind the theft. (Nelson speculates that Mr. Logan was behind the robbery in The Buccaneer.)

1971 - The channel is cleared on the south side of Colonel Schroder’s island. (Nelson is informed that the channel was cleared two years ago in The Last Battle.)

1971 - Kowalski leaves the U.S. Navy with an Honorable Discharge. (Assuming he entered in 1963 and served 2 four years enlistments, he would get out in 1971. Kowalski, the dependable and worthy crewman that he is, must have had an Honorable Discharge.)

1971 – Dr. Anthony Sterling and his assistant Cara Stone, friends of Admiral Nelson and members of the N.I.M.R. research team, leave the institute to pursue private research. (It is inferred that Dr. Sterling and Ms. Stone left Nelson’s employ some time prior to Leviathan.)

August 1972 – An expedition composed of Doctor Denning, Harridan, Younger and Jason Kemp go to the Antarctic. The diving bell the four used to explore the Antarctic depths is lost and the party is presumed lost. (Turn Back the Clock. The expedition has been lost for nine months.)

September 15, 1972 – The keel for the SNSS Seaview is laid at the Philadelphia Shipyards. (The date is from Seaview ship’s plaque seen in Deadly Waters. The location is from a Seaview schematic seen in The Secret of the Loch.)

November 1972 – President Henry Talbot McNeil is elected for a second term of office.

1973 – Nelson’s Defense Drone System is deployed. (It is mentioned that the system has been deployed for three years in the Machines Strike Back, an episode set in 1976.)

Mid February 1973 – Dr. Walter Bryce, his Wife Dr. Helen Bryce and their teenage son Jimmy embark on a whale tagging expedition to the South Atlantic. A giant whale rams the ship killing Jimmy and maiming Dr. Walter Bryce. (Dr. Bryce in The Ghost of Moby Dick, mentions that the tragedy occurred six months ago.)

Early April 1973 – Construction of the Seaview is completed. A private ship’s christening ceremony is held and then the Seaview slides from her berth at the Philadelphis shipyards and enters the water for the first time. (This is based on several clues from the series. The first hard date presented in the series was in the episode Hot line. It was made clear that the date was May 27, 1973. Allowing three episodes per month, Seaview’s maiden voyage most likely occurred in early April 1973. Later in the series, a close-up of Seaview’s ship’s plaque indicates that the ship was commissioned on July 26, 1973. This is an honorary commission bestowed on Seaview in recognition of the personnel of N.I.M.R.’s service to Humanity. That Seaview was constructed in a mere 8 months can be accounted for by recognizing Admiral Nelson’s advanced submarine construction techniques.)

The SNSS Seaview goes on her maiden voyage, a shakedown cruise to test her systems under the command of Captain John Phillips. Seaview returns to N.I.M.R. during late April 1973. Admiral Nelson detects seismic activity that may lead to a world disaster. He calls for a high level meeting to address the problem. (It is reasonable to assume that the Seaview’s sea trials took place shortly after the end of construction and would take a week. In Eleven Days to Zero, Seaview is underway and returns to dock C-24 at N.I.M.R. I propose that this was Seaview’s sea trial.)

1973- Eleven Days to Zero. Enemy agents kill the first Captain of the SNSS Seaview, Captain John Phillips. The Seaview has “exactly eleven days” to avert the disaster. This mission, is titled “Operation Counter-force. They leave Santa Barbara and set sail for the arctic ice cap “near the North Pole”. Admiral Nelson appoints Captain Lee Crane as captain of the Seaview and arranges to have him transferred from the U.S. Navy to the Nelson Institute for Marine Research. The Seaview returns to N.I.M.R. during March 11, 1973. (The return date is based on the fact that it took Seaview eleven days to get back to Santa Barbara from the arctic. Interestingly, It took the U.S.S. Nautilus eleven days to first reach the North Pole from Hawaii in 1958.)

1973 – The City Beneath the Sea. At the request of Washington, Nelson is asked to investigate the explosive destruction of two oceanographic vessels, one of which is the Dayna. The Seaview leaves N.I.M.R. and heads for the Aegean Sea. (I postulate that this mission took place in mid March. This would allow Seaview to travel from Santa Barbara to the Aegean Sea.)

On returning to port, 9 members of the crew go on leave. 85 of Seaview’s crew are temporarily transferred to Polidor.

1973 –The Fear-Makers - The Polidor, a new U.S. Navy Submarine designed by Admiral Nelson, is destroyed during sea trials. Seaview sails to the wreckage site to investigate. It is located in a trench “nearly eight miles down.” (The deepest trench in the sea is the Mariana Trench near Guam. It is 37,800 feet deep. It would take at least a week and a half to travel from N.I.M.R to Guam and then return. The trench in this voyage is 48,000 feet deep (Nine miles down!). At the end of this voyage, Seaview heads back to Santa Barbara.

Admiral Nelson is called to Washington.

1973 – The Mist of Silence. Early April. Seaview is unofficially assigned to transport President Fuente to the United States. Seaview journeys to Latin America (Central or South?) Once on scene, Nelson states that the mission will take 48 hours to complete.

1973 – The Price of Doom. Mid April. Ice Station Tick Tock, a polar sea research installation, is destroyed. Seaview heads towards the Arctic location near Baffin Island to investigate why.

CPO Curley Jones is on leave and another NIMR CPO fills his place temporarily. ( Henry Kulky did not appear in the following episode. It is reasonable to believe Curley was on leave.)

An alien spacecraft collides with a large meteor and heads to Earth to repair the damage. (The alien informs Nelson of the cause of the accident.)

1973 – The Sky is Falling. Late April. The Seaview is under weigh on a scientific mission involving the collection of water samples. A UFO enters the Earth’s atmosphere and crashes into the sea off the coast of California. The Seaview is temporarily assigned to the U.S. Navy to investigate the destruction of submarine U.S.S Madison by the UFO. (Seaview does not need to travel far in this episode. A map shows that the crash site is a few hundred miles off the southern coast if California. This voyage probably took only a few days to complete.)

Jason Kemp, a survivor of the August 1972 Antarctic expedition is rescued by an icebreaker and transported to Bethesda Naval Hospital for treatment. (This occurs at the beginning of Turn Back the Clock.)

1973 – Turn Back the Clock Early May. Nelson and Carol Denning, the daughter of the leader of the ill-fated Antarctic expedition, go to Washington D.C. to meet with the convalescing Kemp. Nelson, Denning and Kemp return to N.I.M.R. to take Seaview to the location where the expedition was lost to find answers. (It would have taken Seaview at least a week to travel to the Antarctic peninsula from N.I.M.R. Since Nelson and the others did not spend much time in the prehistoric world, It is safe to say that this voyage took a total of two weeks.)

1973 – May. Benjamin Brewster, a prisoner on Colonel Schroder’s island installed special wiring at the south side channel of the island. (Brewster relates this information to Nelson in The Last Battle. He said he did it four months ago.)

1973 – The Village of Guilt. Mid May. Seaview takes a short journey to Norway to investigate reports of a “sea monster.”

May 27, 1973 – Hot Line. This is the first time the year is indicated in the series.

1973 June. Submarine nets are delivered to Colonel Schroder’s island. (In The Last Battle, Nelson is informed that the nets were delivered months ago.)

1973 – Submarine Sunk Here. Early June. The Seaview hits a mine 12 miles off the coast of New London, Connecticut. The ship is severely damaged and sinks to the bottom of Long Island Sound. A mini-sub is destroyed.

The Seaview is raised and repaired.

July 1973 – Seaview transports Dr. Winslow and Dr. Jenkins to Underwater Experimental Post 1. The facility is set up to develop the ability of Humans to live beneath the sea for extended periods of time. (The Amphibians, set in January of 1974, establishes that Seaview brought the men to the post six months ago.)

1973 - The Magnus Beam - Mid July. The Seaview travels to the Red Sea to investigate the destruction of three U-2 spy planes.

Nelson is directed to Djakarta, Indonesia to pick up a Soviet defector and transport him to the United States.

1973 – No Way Out - Late July

July 26, 1973 – The SNSS Seaview receives an honorary commission from the U.S. Navy. (Date from Seaview ship’s plaque seen in Deadly Waters. The commissioning date on the plaque is well after the time period established in Hot Line. Crane states that “today is May 27, 1973.” This would mean that Seaview was active well before she was commissioned. It has been made clear on several occasions that N.I.M.R. personnel and Seaview are not part of the Navy. It is reasonable to propose that the commissioning date noted on the plaque is an honorary commission granted by the Navy to recognize the achievements of Admiral Nelson and the crew of the Seaview.)

1973 – The Blizzard Makers Early August. (A headline is “Summer Snow Startles the World.”)

1973 – The Ghost of Moby Dick. Mid August. From N.I.M.R., the Seaview voyages to the South Atlantic to search for Dr. Walter Bryce’s giant whale.

1973 – The Last Battle. Late August. Nelson flies to Washington. Seaview heads for Norfolk Virginia. Nelson is abducted and is missing for two weeks.

President McNeil sustains a serious head injury while on a goodwill tour of South America.

1973 – Hail to the Chief Mid September. The Seaview is assigned the secret transport of the President. The President attends a NATO summit meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. (Hail to the Chief makes clear that the President’s attendance is vital to the success of the summit.)

October 1973 – Dr. Windslow surgically alters Dr. Jenkins with artificial gills that allow him to breathe both air and water. (The teaser of The Amphibians takes place three month before the rest of the episode.)

1973 – Mutiny. Early October. Admiral Nelson is onboard the Neptune, a new U.S. Navy Sub as an observer. The Neptune is on her trial run, and while Nelson is diving for some core samples, Neptune is destroyed. Seaview is given a temporary commission from the Secretary of Defense to investigate. Admiral Jiggs Stark is placed in command for the mission.

1973 – Doomsday Late September. The Seaview crosses the Equator. (The 1973 initiation ceremony is held for “polliwogs” in the ship’s complement. A Mini-sub is lost.)

Nelson receives an honorary promotion to 4 star admiral. (Before The Invaders, Nelson wears three stars. Starting with The Invaders, he wears four. The events of The Exile occurred before The Invaders but the episode was produced after it.)

Premier Alexis Brynov of The People’s Republic is secretly arrested and sentenced to death.

October 3,1973 – The Exile. Seaview travels to the territorial waters of the People’s Republic to rendezvous with Premier Alexis Brynov. (At the beginning of the episode, the date is given as October 3, 1974. However, this would date this episode as occurring after Seaview’s refit. Clearly, Brynov’s co-conspirator was anxious and slipped up on the year.)

1973 – The Invaders. Mid October. Zar is awakened from twenty million years of suspended animation.

1973 – The Indestructible Man. Late October. The Man in Space Probe –1 returns to Earth after the first round trip probe into deep space. Seaview retrieved the capsule.

October 1973-Dr. Carl Reisner dies of radiation poisoning. (In The Price of Doom, Reisner indicates he has six months to live due to an accident with radiation.)

November 1973 – Over the course of the next few months, scuba divers are mysteriously lost in the vicinity of Underwater Experimental Post 1. (It is stated in The Amphibians that divers have been missing in this area over the course of the last few months.)

November 1973 - Dr. Shinera begins testing his hate inducing process on animals. (General Tau complains that Shinera has been testing his process “for months” In The Enemies. Three months before The Enemies would be a good lenth of thime to try the General’s patience.)

1973 – The Buccaneer. Early November. The Mona Lisa is being transported to Australia for the World’s Fair. Mr. Logan and his mercenary crew hijack Seaview.

November 16, 1973 - …And the five of us are left. This date is apocryphal. While a newscaster states this date and Nelson says that the Tetra, lost on July 20, 1945, sank “28 years ago.” However, placing this adventure in 1973 contradicts everything that has been established up to this point. Since this is a season two episode, it is clear that it occurred after the refit of Seaview. Placing the story in November of 1973 would make it precede Long Live The King which occurred during the 1973 Christmas before the refit. Clearly this is an anomaly that contradicts the established timeline. An explanation may be that the newscaster misstated the date (It was really 1974.) and Nelson, eager to stress the urgency of the rescue attempt, rounded off the years to an even number (29 to 28 years.)

Seaview travels to the Washington D.C. area to participate in test maneuvers.

1973 - The Human Computer Mid November.

The President attends an international conference in Paris. On a Friday night, Lee Crane is abducted my agents of The People’s Republic and is brainwashed to follow their instructions.

1973 – The Saboteur. Late November. The Seaview gets underweigh on a Tuesday to deploy Dr. Ullman’s self-contained underwater missile silos in the pacific. An enemy agent breaches the Seaview’s transparent bow plate. (Crane was abducted on a Friday. He was missing for three days. The Seaview got underweigh on Tuesday morning.)

Late November 1973 Due to ultrasonic interference, a U.S. missile test ends in disaster. 20 men are killed in a tracking station bunker on a pacific island. Captain Wayne Adams, the project director for the program is nearly court-martialed for faulty judgement. (It is inferred in The Creature that the missile explosion occurred within the past few months.)

1973 – Bill Clark passes his officer qualifications.

1973 – Cradle of the Deep Early December. Seaview journeys to the Vemus Sea mount to collect specimens of a 4 billion-year-old life form.

Prince Ang’s Father, the King, is assassinated.

December 18-25 1973. Long Live the King. Seaview leaves Santa Barbara and heads for Prince Ang’s nation (This takes place the week of Christmas.)

Seaview visits Underwater Experimental Post 1

1974 – The Amphibians Mid January. Seaview returns ten days later to drop off supplies at the Underwater Experimental Post 1.

1974 - The Creature Late January Seaview investigates the source of ultrasonic interference hampering the progress of the United State’s missile program.

1974 – The Enemies – Early February. The U.S. Navy sub Angler, commanded by Captain Jim Williams is lost with all hands. Seaview is on a routine scientific mission to measure salinity at different depths. COMSUBPAC wants Seaview to investigate the loss of Angler.

1974 - Secret of the Loch Mid February The Seaview journeys to Scotland to meet with Austin Cruthers. The meeting day is on a Tuesday.

February 20, 1974 – The Condemned. Seaview serves as a test platform for Admiral Bently Falk Jr’s atmosphere equalization process. (Nelson states that it will be the 27th of the month in one week.)

1974 – The Traitor. Early March. Seaview heads for the Mediterranean coast of France. They are to meet with two Western Alliance security men to receive the detection navigator device. Seaview then goes on a underwater missile site inspection tour.

Seaview heads back to Santa Barbara.

The Seaview is dry-docked and over the course of the next eight months, undergoes extensive redesign and upgrades to the ship’s systems. The control room is lowered one deck to be aft of the observation bay. The “flying sub” FS-1 is added to the ship and a docking bay is installed under the ship’s bow. Because of the vulnerability demonstrated by the saboteur’s bomb, the bow observation plates are reduced from six to three. This reduction of the number of plates strengthens the ship’s structural integrity. Retractable collision screens are installed for addittional protection. N.I.M.R. uniforms for a non-commissioned personnel are altered from Navy-issue work uniforms to red or blue jump suits.

CPO Curley Jones dies of natural causes. (The actor who played Curley, Henry Kulky, passed on between the first and second seasons of the show. If Kulky lived for another few years, it is safe to conclude that Curley would have been on the Seaview instead of Sharky.)

CPO Sharky and Stu Riley join the ship’s complement.

April 30, 1974 – Lt. Ryan sends out a message in a bottle telling the World that only five survivors of the Tetra’s destruction are left alive. (… And the five of us are left. Nelson states that the note was dated 140 days ago. The episode occurred on November 16, 1974.)

A Soviet deep-sea lab is endangered by migrating Sperm Whales. The U.S. and Russia form a joint rescure team.

1974 Jonah and the Whale. Late October. Nelson and Dr. Markhova attempt a rescue in the diving bell.

An official visit to San Christobal by Seaview is scheduled. Seaview goes on a scientific core sampling mission.

1974 – Time Bomb. Early November Nelson goes to Washington DC to receive secret mission orders. He then takes the seaview to the Black Sea. (The year is identified as 1974.)

November 16, 1974 –…And the five of us are left. This takes place 28 years after World War II. The first flying sub is destroyed.

The destroyed Flying Sub is replaced.

1975 – Admiral Nelson at the request of the government, begins designing an underwater bomb shelter for the President. In the event of nuclear attack, the President can be protected in this completely invulnerable bomb shelter. The facility is constructed by Grosvenor Dynamics, a firm who’s CEO is retired U.S. Army General Hobson. Dr. Lydia Parrish, a physicist, assists in the facility’s construction. (The complexity of the facility would require a number of years prior to the 1978 date of The Deadliest Game. Since there are no, as yet, recorded adventures in 1975, it seems reasonable that Nelson would have the time to design the facility.)

Two months prior to Cyborg, The mind of the designer of the nuclear strike fail-safe device is assimilated into Dr. Ulrich’s computor. (Ulrich boasts of this in Cyborg.)

1976 – The Cyborg. Admiral Harriman Nelson wins a Nobel Prize in biology. Nelson then visits Dr. Taybor Ulrich in Falkonmat, Switzerland. A peace conference is held in Zurich Switzerland. (The year is mentioned.)

Dr. Leonetti sends Nelson coded information about the defence against the Russian’s ultimate weapon. Seaview heads for Venice, Italy. Crane goes ashore undercover to make contact with Dr. Leonetti. (Before Escape Frome Venice.)

1976 – Escape from Venice. Nelson’s secretary is Lola Hale.

The President McNeil nominates George W. Penfield for Secretary of Defense. Senate hearings begin on the nomination. (Before the Left handed Man.)

A giant plane is found and all aboard are safe. (This is on the front page of the newspaper declaring Penfield’s nomination.)

1976 - The Left-Handed Man. George W. Penfield boards Seaview for an inspection tour. Nelson Stays at N.I.M.R. whild Crane takes Penfield on a short cruise. Seaview returns to base and all of the crew stays on base except for the standby watch.

1976 – Leviathan Seaview gets underway on a Pacific voyage to help research the deep-sea fissure discovered by Dr. Anthony Sterling.

1976 – The Silent Saboteurs Seaview travels to South East Asia to discover the cause of Venus probe Arcturus IV destruction. (The year is specified.)

1976 – The X Factor-On the way back from South East Asia to N.I.M.R., Nelson takes FS-1 to Pearl Harbor. He later rendezvous with Seaview and goes on to Santa Barbara.

1976 – The Machines Strike Back. On the way to N.I.M.R., the Defense Drone System incident occurs. (The year 1976 is mentioned)

1976 – Terror on Dinosaur Island The Second Flying Sub is destroyed.

1976 – Killers of the Deep The Third Flying Sub is destroyed.

1976 – Deadly Creature Below

November, 1976 - A new President is elected.

1977 – The Phantom Strikes (The U-444 was sunk in September of 1918. Crane states that was “…nearly 60 years ago.”)

1977 - The events of The Return of the Phantom take place.

1977 – Graveyard of Fear

1977 – The Shape of Doom

Seaview transports the President and his top advisors to Deep Center. This facility, designed by Admiral Nelson and constructed by General Hobson, is the World’s only invulnerable bomb shelter.

July 14, 1978 – The Deadliest Game – Seaview travels from Deep Center to the coast of Wymouth, Virginia. (Crane mentions the date)

Seaview sails to the arctic to secretly observe the test detonation of the first Photon bomb.

1978 – The Peacemaker The Seaview crew observes the test and sets a course to Santa Barbara to report. Seaview then heads for Chougi, a coastal city in Communist China. (The year is specified as 1978 at the beginning of the episode.)

1978 – The Sky’s on Fire (The year is specified. Nelson states that the missile must be fired on the “29th of this month” so it cannot be February. At the beginning of this adventure, the Seaview has been under the Arctic ice for four days.)

1978 – “Dead Man’s Doubloons” A mini-sub is destroyed. (Anchor’s dates this episode 1978)

1978 – The events of “ The Monster from Outer Space” takes place. (The year is mentioned.)

1978- “The Death Ship” A mini-sub is destroyed.

Seaview monitors Captain Gantt’s underwater speed test experiments.

1978 – The Monster’s Web

1978 – “The Menfish”. Admiral Nelson attends a scientific conference. Admiral Roy Park A friend of Nelson, oversees the ships operations during this voyage.

1978 – The Mechanical Man. (The year is mentioned as 1978.)

1978 – Stu Riley leaves the Seaview’s crew.

1979 – Monster from the inferno.

1979 – Werewolf

May 26, 1979- The Nautilus is decommissioned. (Historic fact.)

1979 – Night of Terror

1979 – The Terrible Toys

1980 – The Day the World Ended (The year is noted.)

1980 – Day of Evil. (The date is mentioned as 1980.)

1980 – Deadly Waters

1980 – Thing From Inner Space.

1980 – The Death Watch

1980 – Deadly Invasion

1980- The Haunted Submarine. Admiral Nelson discovers the bitter truth that his ancestor, Captain Shaemus O’Hara Nelson, made his fortune selling slaves.

1980 – The Plant Man.

1980 – The Lost Bomb.

1980 – Brand of the Beast

1980 – The Creature.

October 3, 1980 - Death from the Past. The post 1945 events of this adventure take place.

1980 – The Heat Monster

1980 – The Fossil Men

1980 – The Mermaid

1980 – The Mummy

1980 – The Seaview is issued newly developed laser sidearms. The Shadowmen is the first voyage to feature these weapons.

1980 – The Shadowmen

1980 – No escape from death

1980 – Doomsday Island

1980 – the wax men.

1980 – Deadly cloud

1980 - Destroy Seaview!

- Fires Of Death

1981– The Deadly Dolls

1981 – Cave of the Dead

1981 – “Journey with fear” (the date is mentioned as 1981)

1981 – “Sealed Orders”

1981 – The Man of Many Faces

1981 – Fatal Cargo

1981 – Time Lock. Nelson is transported 900 years into the future via Alpha’s Time Bridge.

1981 – Rescue

1981 – Terror

1981 – A Time to Die. Nelson encounters Mr. Pem for the first time.

1981 – Blow Up.

1981 – The Deadly Amphibians

–The Return of Blackbeard

1982– The Terrible Leprechaun.

1982– The Lobster Man

1982–Nightmare

1982– The Abominable Snowman

– Secrets of the Deep

– Man-beast

1982 – Savage Jungle

– Flaming Ice

1982-Attack!

– The Edge of Doom

1982–The Death Clock

1982 - No way Back. Mr. Pem encounters the crew of the Seaview a second time.

2881 – Alpha transports Military figures from the past to 2881 via his Time Bridge. (Alpha states that Nelson has been transported 900 years into the future. Time Lock is set in 1981.)

100,1524 – The Pirate Captain’s curse wears off. (In Dead Man’s Doubloons, set in 1524, the captain curses his treasure for a thousand times a thousand years.)

[edit] Other media

In June 1961, Pyramid Books published a novelization of the feature film by Theodore Sturgeon. The book was reprinted several times during the 1960s.

Another paperback novel, "City Beneath the Sea", was also published to tie into the series. It had a different storyline than the episode of the same name.

Western Publishing published a comic book based on the TV series. The first issue appeared as Four Color Comics #1230, put out by Dell Comics. Then Western's comic company, Gold Key Comics put out a series that ran 16 issues from 1964-1970. Most covers were painted, and most had a photo of either Richard Basehart or David Hedison on them.

Aurora released a plastic model kit of the Seaview as well as the Flying Sub during the original run of the searies. Both kits were recently re-released by Polar Lights.

On February 21, 2006, the first 16 episodes of season one was released in the United States and Canada by 20th Century Fox Home Video. The second half of season one was released on July 11, 2006.

[edit] Popular culture

The popularity of the TV show inspired Mad magazine to spoof the show, their version being called Voyage to See What's on the Bottom, featuring a submarine called the Seapew.

T.V Show Fast Forward sent-up the show as "Voyage to the Bottom of the Harbour"

Stock footage of the Seaview was used in the Wonder Woman episode "The Bermuda Triangle Crisis."

[edit] External links

• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at the Internet Movie Database
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
• Mike's Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Zone
• The Irwin Allen News Network: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea