“MN 9907”, “Seapower”, Eastman Color? Pink fade,

With a blast of dramatic music to gain a viewer’s attention, waves crash over rocks as the narrator remarks in the opening seconds of this circa 1964 US Department of the Navy color film, “This world of ours is largely water … since earliest explorers first dispelled the darkness out across the ocean seas, mankind has sought the sea as an avenue of communication and commerce. A lifeline so vital that its preservation means also the preservation of a way of life.” There is only one way to protect this way of life: “Seapower” — with that, the film’s title, emblazoned across the screen at mark 1:03. The film takes an in-depth look at the capabilities of the 1960s Navy and US Marines Corps team, and also offers a fanciful look at “future” technologies imaged in the 1960s. (The picture’s story concept was developed by Undersecretary of the Navy Paul B. Fay, Jr. and Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Jr. — the father of United States Senator John McCain. It was written and produced by Marine Colonel William Hendricks, who developed the charitable “Toys for Tots” program).

In the present, however, scenes of aircraft carriers fill the screen as the narrator remarks how the power of the United States Navy is unlimited, and naval forces are spread out across the globe. “It’s purpose — is peace,” we are told.

At mark 01:24, Hollywood actor Glenn Ford appears to explain to the viewer that much of the world is free because US Navy ships stand at the ready with sailors and marines. (In 1942, Ford enlisted in the US Marine Corps Reserves. In 1958, he joined the US Naval Reserves, serving for a decade and rising to the rank of captain.)

“While we are looking toward the unfolding mystery of outer space the free world must still look to the promise of liquid space to survive. No global aggressor can ever be permitted to seize control of this planet’s seas; to deny the ocean’s free use across its service lane or across its floor. The sea can be kept free. Predators in the world’s family of nations can be controlled and contained … only through the readiness of a free world ready to confront any aggressor to defend our way of life,” Ford says as he casts a steely gaze toward the camera.

We cut to fishing vessels at mark 02:45, as they cast nets into the waters in search of food to feed an ever-growing world population. A few seconds later, we are reminded how vast deposits of oil are being tapped beneath the ocean floor with wells and pumping stations. And then, there is exploration of the sea, as the film shows us Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard at mark 03:16, along with US Navy Lt. Don Walsh and the bathyscaphe Trieste. (In January 1960, Piccard and Walsh achieved the goal of Project Nexton by reaching a record maximum depth of about 35,800 feet in the deepest part of Earth’s oceans — the Challenger Deep — in the Mariana Trench near Guam in the Pacific Ocean.) We also see a “flip ship” at mark 03:38, a unique oceanographic research vessel that can be transitioned from a horizontal to a vertical position. “The secrets of sea space — ocean scientists seek them out,” Ford says. At mark 03:55, the viewer is reminded of how submarines are also used to answer secrets about what lies beneath the waves, “charting the strange geography of the ocean deep” and uncovering supplies of mineral wealth for future generations.

“This then is the mission of the United States Navy,” Ford remarks at mark 04:50. “To safeguard the inherent right of the free world to utilize the surface of the seas and their depths. To safeguard today and tomorrow.”

Sailors in dress white uniforms stand at attention at mark 05:20 as Ford praises the officers and men who count themselves as members of the US Navy and US Marine Corps, “standing watch in all the far corners of the world.” From the days of such Revolutionary War heroes as John Paul Jones to the men who served in World War I and World War II, the navy found itself “fighting the free world’s battles on the high seas,” Ford says, adding that the future may include such vessels as hydrofoil sea crafts or ships that float on cushions of air, as the screen fills with conceptual artwork. Underwater research facilities, satellite-controlled plastic cargo vessels controlled by a pilotless tug, and missiles launched from underwater platforms, may also become a reality in the “future,” he remarks.

“And in a time of tomorrow, the Marines land in the medium of tomorrow, arriving by rocket in a matter of minutes in any trouble point in all the world,” explains Ford, as we continue to see artistic renderings of the scene. Returning to the “present day,” the film takes its viewers through scenes of the Navy in foreign ports, where sailors, marines, and officers serve as “goodwill ambassadors” or lending assistance in natural disasters worldwide.

By mark 08:30, the viewer sees the USS Enterprise (CVN-65), the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, with 100 sea-based bombers and fighters, the ship is a “powerful and flexible naval fortress” as aircraft are shown taking off from and returning to her flight deck. Then, beneath the waves at mark 09:40, “silent and unseen,” we catch a glimpse of a submarine at it works its way through the water — armed with more firepower than was used in all of WWII — “the awesome persuasion for peace called Polaris.” (Polaris is a submarine-launched ballistic missile.)

From here, we see shots of shore-based patrol planes, supply ships, destroyers, hunter-killer submarines, and missile cruisers with surface-to-air missiles such as the RIM-8 Talos and RIM-24 Tartar. “Only the aggressive attacks of a predator nation might activate the navy’s devastating brand of lightning,” Ford says ominously at mark 12:38. “But if our security demanded it. If world freedom required it. If the president called for it, this is how that lighting might strike.”

What follows, beginning near mark 13:00, are several minutes of demonstration of that might as warship head toward a target. Battle stations are manned as General Quarters is sounded, and underwater demolition experts prepare the way for invasion. Photo planes conduct aerial reconnaissance before fighter planes take to the sky. If enemy submarines are detected, RUR-5 ASROC anti-submarine rockets, UUM-44 SUBROC submarine-launched rockets, and Mark 44 torpedoes are deployed. “Bombardment begins as the great rifles of Navy ships begin to talk,” Ford states, as rockets and missiles scream across the sky and explosions and fireballs fill the frame. Come mark 18:00, it’s “time for the Marines. Time to take the ground and hold it.” Strains of the “Marines’ Hymn” are heard as scenes of Marines running across a flight deck to awaiting helicopters are shown.

The Navy and all armed forces remain ever vigilant, near and far … even with nearby countries like Cuba. “There might have gone world peace,” says Ford at mark 20:00, referencing the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. “There in the Caribbean, except for the grace of God and aerial photograph, and the courage of the American people, as voiced by this American.” We then hear the voice of President John F. Kennedy, explaining how the American government had conducted surveillance of the Soviet Union’s military build-up in Cuba and discovered evidence of offensive missile sites (only 90 miles from American shores) being established. “The purpose of these bases could be none other than to provide nuclear strike capability against Western Hemisphere,” JFK says. It was through Naval and Marine surveillance operations that the missiles were discovered, and thanks in part to the presence of the Navy’s Second Fleet, that the weapons were eventually removed from the island. And as scenes of the harrowing few days are shown, “Anchors Away” plays in the background.

“This classic display of sea power had accomplished its purpose,” we are are told at mark 24:40. “The US Navy, as part of our defense team, had met and matched the demands of crisis.” While in the background, “America the Beautiful” plays on.