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Guest Cast:

Fred Wilson.................Eddie Albert
Dr. Selby...................John Zaremba
Chairman....................Booth Colman
Dr. Gamma...................Theodore Marcuse
Malone......................Mark Slade
O'Brien.....................Gordon Gilbert

You've got a lot to learn about your crew, commander. They're not regular navy but at the same time don't think of them as some rag-tag civilian outfit. They're highly skilled experts, every one of them, and they can function equally well in many fields.--Harriman Nelson

"This is the Seaview, the most extraordinary submarine in all the Seven Seas. Its public image is that of an instrument of marine research. In actuality, it is the mightiest weapon afloat, and is secretly assigned to the most dangerous missions against the ememies of mankind."

"In command of the Seaview, Captain John Phillips. And in overall charge of scientific projects, the creator and builder of the fabulous ship, Admiral Harriman Nelson."

On the bridge of the Seaview, Admiral Nelson takes a call from Washington, requesting an urgent meeting of the full council.

"This is the Seaview's top-secret submarine base. It is carved out of solid rock, and is located on the southern California coast, five hundred feet beneath the famed Nelson Institute of Marine Research. Few men know of its existence, and fewer men even suspect its purpose."

Nelson and Phillips exit the Seaview, enter a car and are driven to the surface. Leaving NIMR, the car passes under a painter's scaffolding; as they pass, the painter reaches down and spray-paints a white "X" on the car's roof.

Nelson's car, with motorcycle escort, drives along a coastal highway. A helicopter appears and starts firing on them; Phillips and Nelson draw guns and return fire. First one motorcycle and then the other is run off the road by the gunfire. Phillips is shot, and Nelson jumps out the car door just as the vehicle goes off the road in flames. The gunman attempts to shoot Nelson but is shot himself instead and falls into the sea.

We see scenes of flooding, dams bursting and so forth--Nelson is showing a film to the members of the council. This, he says, is a small example of what will happen all over the planet in eleven days. Seismologist Claude Selby confirms this--two earthquakes will occur in the Arctic, the second of which will set off tidal waves on many of the Earth's coasts. Selby's associate, Dr. Fred Wilson, describes the path of the waves, which will strike both United States coasts as well as those of Great Britain and western Europe. Evacuation of coastal regions is suggested; however, not only would this be nearly impossible, public knowledge of the danger would surely cause a worldwide panic. However, Nelson has a plan: to detonate a nuclear bomb near the North Pole at the instant the second quake occurs, which would set up opposing lines of force and cut the tidal waves off before they have a chance to grow. When the council seems unconvinced, Nelson reminds them that he was attacked, and the Seaview's captain killed, by foreign agents who do feel that this plan is a threat to their hopes of world domination, made easier by the chaos the disaster would create among the governments of affected countries. The council agrees to recommend Nelson's plan to the president.

Nelson wonders what he will do for a captain for the Seaview with Phillips dead, but the chairman of the council has solved this problem--he has acquired "the Navy's best submarine officer," Commander Lee Crane. Nelson is pleased, having served with Crane in the past; Wilson is not, being familiar with Crane as well and thinking him an "unimaginative, by-the-book officer." The chairman reminds Nelson that the agents who killed Phillips were really after him, and tells him to be careful; he takes a cigarette from the box on the table.

In the next scene, we see the same cigarette box, but in a room full of enemy agents who are listening to the tape recording inside it. Their leader says that the disaster is a great opportunity for them, and that Nelson's plan must fail.

At the Seaview's dock at NIMR, a figure in black sneaks past the dock and boards the sub; he starts down the ladder and is immediately caught by the crew--but not before giving Kowalski a good shot to the jaw. Chief Jones takes his papers and identifies him as "Commander Crane, on loan from the Navy." Crane chews out the crew, telling them that their security is lax, that he should never have been able to get on board.

The crew is talking as they work; Kowalski says that Crane must have had on brass knuckles to be able to deck him. The Chief, passing by, says that he has read Crane's service record and that he was the intercollegiate middleweight boxing champion! Kowalski is still unimpressed.

Crane and Chip Morton (the Seaview's executive officer) greet Nelson and Wilson; Wilson makes apparent the low opinion he has of Crane's abilities. Nelson says that they will leave as soon as their "special cargo" is aboard, and directs Crane to set the course.

At sea, Crane is adjusting his tie in his cabin. Kowalski knocks and enters with Crane's gear. Crane asks about Kowalski's jaw and apologizes. Kowalski tells Crane that the Admiral thinks the Seaview's crew is pretty special, and that the Admiral wants to see him in the observation lounge. In the lounge, Nelson tells Crane not to underestimate the crew--they may be civilians, but they are highly-trained experts in their fields. He also says that Crane's method of boarding the sub shows that he is not, as someone had recently told him, lacking in imagination.

When the Seaview is twelve miles out, Crane opens his sealed orders, which describe the mission and say that the Seaview is to be considered expendable. He wants to announce the mission to the crew, but Nelson says not to--the knowledge of danger to their loved ones might be too much for the crew. Nelson also warns Crane about the enemies who are intent on stopping them.

Later, while Nelson, Wilson and Crane are discussing the particulars of the mission (getting the bomb onto the ice), Crane comments that getting the sub that close to the ice will be tricky. Wilson says off-handedly that the ship is expendable; Crane says not until the bomb is planted; Nelson, ruffled, says that even after then, the ship's computers are needed to complete the mission. Just them, the Seaview is hit by a depth charge from a plane above. They dive until the plane's radar can no longer detect them. The sub's missiles and torpedoes are unusable until repairs can be made, and the sonar is acting strangely, they hear a strange noise on the ship's surface--and then the sonar goes out altogether. Apparently the strange noise was the sonar mast coming off. Navigating under the ice without sonar would be dangerous, and the mission appears to be over, until Crane suggest going out to look for the sonar mast.

Crane, the Chief and another crewmember go out in diving gear to look for the mast, accompanied by Wilson, the self-described "best diver aboard." While out they are attacked by various sea creatures, and return to the Seaview having failed-- and then Wilson returns with the mast. They surface to make the repairs, and are soon underway.

As they near the pole, they are attacked by an enemy submarine. Because they can't fire back, they run, diving deeper and deeper, past the crush depth of the enemy sub, whose leader orders it to follow anyway, and which subsequently explodes.

The Seaview surfaces at the pole, and Wilson prepares the bomb; he and Malone (a crewmember) use a snow-cat to haul it to the proper location.

The first quake hits, and the Seaview's computers calculate the time of the next quake. They see a drone plane coming, and radio Wilson to take cover, which he and Malone do. The bomb is undamaged but the snow-cat is buried in snow, and since Malone has a broken leg and Wilson has an injured arm, they cannot dig it out and return. The next quake will occur in 3 hours, 44 minutes, and the Seaview needs three hours to get to a safe distance from the concurrent explosion. Crane volunteers to go after the two, and takes the Chief with him. Meanwhile, the enemy prepares another drone plane attack. However, by this time the submarine's missiles have been repaired, and they shoot the drone out of the sky.

Crane and the Chief have some difficulty finding Wilson and Malone, but finally manage with the aid of flares, and take them back to the Seaview--just before it is ready to dive, having already waited longer than they should have. The submarine does a crash dive and gets away; although they are half and hour closer to the point of impact than is safe, they do survive. The enemy admits defeat, and its leader vows never again to underestimate its opponents.

Nelson asks if Crane is anxious to get back to the Navy; Crane says yes, now that Seaview's work is done. Nelson says that Seaview's work is never done. Just then, a message comes in for Crane, telling him that he is out of the Navy; Nelson says of course, how else can he become the Seaview's permanent captain--if he wants the job!