The cold opening of this November 18, 1956 black-and-white episode of Edward R. Murrow’s “See It Now” CBS television documentary series shows the viewer the wheel of the USS Constitution — “Old Ironsides” — the wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate launched in 1797 and the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, with the narrator then launching into a discussion of the revered vessel’s history. From there, the viewer is shown the wheel of the USS Forrestal (CV-59), a supercarrier, and her sister ship, USS Saratoga (CV-3). “Built of steel and tungsten, she can carry over 100 jet aircraft and atomic and hydrogen bombs,” Murrow explains at mark 00:45. “She was built for use all over the world, so that this nation and this planet might survive.”

“Currently there is a revolution in the navy. A revolution in ships and in weapons and in men. A revolution that really began in 1939 when Professor (Albert) Einstein wrote a letter to the President of the United States about a new kind of bomb which he predicted would be carried by boats and be capable of enormous destruction,” Murrow continues.

At mark 01:42, the viewer is finally introduced to the film’s title card: “See It Now Presents Revolution in the Navy.” Much of the film takes place onboard the Forrestal as well as onboard the USS Nautilus (SSN-571), the first nuclear-powered submarine. Murrow is shown at mark 02:25 on the bridge of the Nautilus while the submarine is at sea. The purpose of the episode, he explains, is to show the view “the new navy” — one fueled by nuclear power and armed with nuclear weapons. He introduces the viewer Capain Eugene Parks “Dennis” Wilkinson, the first commander of the Nautilus, and interviews him about the vessel’s operations.

At mark 03:30, Wilkinson gives the order to dive, and Nautilus sinks beneath the surface of the water. Murrow is shown at mark 04:15, narrating what is happening as sailors and officers take their positions. At mark 5:45, he moves outside “Door BHD 45” … the door leading to the sub’s reactor room. “The Nautilus dives as much as 15 to 20 times a day and is constantly undergoing manuevers — all of them too classified and too complicated to explain or even understand,” Murrow tells his audience. Even so, the audience sees the crew participate in a battle stations drill and loading torpedo tubes and firing on command.

Near mark 09:00, the order is given to surface, with cameras capturing the precision movement of the crew. “It’s like going uphill on a tobaggon,” Murrow remarks, as we then see the submarine break the surface.

Murrow introduces his audience to Admiral Arleigh Burke, Chief of Naval Operations, at mark 10:20, along with Admiral Hyman G. Rickover (the “Father of the Nuclear Navy”), who directed the original development of naval nuclear propulsion and controlled its operations for three decades as director of Naval Reactors, before turning his attention to the “future” of the Navy.

“As revolutionary as is the Nautilus, the atomic submarine of the future will probalby resemble it only in its nuclear power plant. The shape of the present submarine, designed to operate a good deal of the time on the surface, is on the way out. Submarines of the future will be true submersibles designed to operate underwater 99-percent of the time, and will shaped like a streamlined whale,” Murrow predicts starting at mark 10:42.

As evidence, he references the USS Albacore (AGSS-569), a unique research submarine that pioneered the American version of the “teardrop hull” form of modern submarines. (This design resulted in optimum submerged performance.) Although its exact speed was “classified” in the episode, it was shown with its above the waterline at mark 12:05, easily overtaking a Navy picket boat. Lieutenant Commander Jon L. Boyes, Albacore’s commanding officer, addresses the camera starting at mark 12:38 to explain how the vessel “has been a dream of man for more than 400 years, because she flies under water. She is a true submersible. When the Nautilus nuclear heart goes into the Albacore form, man will never worry about coming to the surface to breathe and to look about. He will dive at the port and go into the deep blue. He will strike at the enemy and then he shall return and surface once again at the entrance to the harbor from whence he came.”

The viewer is shown the USS Barbero (SS-317), equipped to launch a Regulus I nuclear cruise missile, starting at mark 13:43. “The Regulus can have an atomic or hydrogen warhead on it,” Murrow tells his viewers, as one of the missiles is shown being prepared for launch. (The Regulus, we are told, is similar to the US Air Force’s MGM-1 Matador missile.) In less than two minutes, a Regulus missile is on a launching platform and aimed toward its practice target, launching at 225 miles per hour, as the Barbero sinks beneath the waves. “A fleet of 300 or 400 atomic submarines equipped with missiles armed with atomic or hydrogen warheads, and strategically located all over the world, could provide a series of invisible airfields capable of striking anywhere on Earth. A sobering thought for any enemy of the United States,” Murrow says in a voiceover.

There is also a glimpse of a Martin P6M SeaMaster, a strategic bomber flying boat, shown at mark 17:33. The first bomber crashed 10 days before the filming of the episode. (The program was cancelled in August 1959 as the Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile became more well-received by the military.) We also see the Navy’s second atomic submarine, the USS Seawolf (SSN-21) at mark 18:00, and the RIM-2 Terrier missile-launching heavy cruiser USS Boston (CAG-1), before coming back to the Forrestal, where Murrow tells the viewer of some of the ship’s features, including its ability to house and launch the F3H Demon jet fighter, A3D Skywarrior jet bomber, and the F8U Crusader — a single-engine, supersonic fighter, capable of flying as fast at 1,000 miles per hour. We also watch as pilots use the “meatball” — an optical landing system designed to aid pilots in carrier landings.

Admiral Burke is interviewed beginning at mark 22:14, as he explains the offensive and defensive goals of such ships, describing them as the “backbone of Naval power.” He notes later that “the United States Navy is the only navy in the whole world that has the ability to control the high seas now.”

With another look at the Boston and a display of how the ship readies missiles for launch, the film nears its conclusion. “There are other radical new concepts in this new navy,” Murrow says at mark 29:18. “It has already been announced that an atomic depth charge is almost ready for anti-submarine work. It is also likely there will soon be an announcement about atomic warheads on torpedoes. The satellite is soon to be tested. The missile horizon is constantly being extended.”