This film presented by the US Navy shows highlights from the early 1960’s including footage of the opening of the Northwest Passage by the submarine USS Seadragon, the christening of Polaris submarine USS Robert E Lee, as well as aspects of the People to People Program with the USS Canberra and the USS Epping Forest. The USS Seadragon, a nuclear submarine, headed from Portsmouth (1:02) as it was to open the Northwest Passage. Motion picture film was able to record images sent up by television cameras on the Seadragon as it went under large icebergs (1:27). A pit stop on the North Pole (1:59). Navy scuba divers take a dive for exploration (2:05) and camera footage shows vegetation and plankton under the ice (2:10). Navy men take a respite and play an icy game of baseball in heavy cold weather gear (2:24). A cooking competition follows between the Chief Steward of the USS Catfish (3:09) against 99 top flight women cooks (3:20) which had a prize of $25,000. Roman C Cabalona (3:24) whips up an orange peach cream pie (3:24) which wins him first prize and $1,000 in the dessert division. The crew of the USS Catfish enjoys his concoction named Submarine Delight (3:39). Rear Admiral William Rayburn (3:56) received honors for his work as Project Officer in charge of the Polaris program. He was congratulated by Secretary of the Navy William Franklin Knox and received a Distinguished Service medal (4:10) as well as three-star shoulder boards of a Vice Admiral (4:18). The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise was powered by eight nuclear reactors. (4:36). A crowd of 15,000 is seen at Newport News, Virginia (4:43). Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke (4:52) described the vessel as the largest ever built. Individual letters of ‘Enterprise’ light up (5:02). The ship weighs 85,000 tons (5:06). The christening (5:13). Ship number 601 (5:27), named USS Robert E Lee, was the first nuclear powered submarine to have been built in the south. Ceremonies were conducted at Newport as it joined the fleet (5:36). The Navy’s second nuclear submarine, the USS Seawolf was first commissioned in 1957 (5:56). It is recommissioned at Groton, Connecticut. Commanding Officer Alfred J. Whittle reads his boat’s orders in the indoor ceremonies (6:15). A Navy C-121 Constellation / R7V-1 is seen taking off to conduct a search for the Discoverer 8 capsule (part of the Corona spy satellite program) (6:37) as it returned from space after 17 polar orbits. The Air Force had attempted to catch it midair and failed (6:54) though the nose cone sent out a signal so it could be located (6:58). Helicopters are seen lifting off (7:08) and the nose cone was located and retrieved three hours after its ejection.(7:31). In Lock Haven, Pennsylvania at the Piper Air Craft Corporation plant (7:37), the Piper PA-23, also known as the Aztec is seen taking to the skies (7:56). The craft had 500 horsepower twin engines (8:18). The Phantom 2 is then seen preparing to break an aviation speed record at Edwards Air Force base (8:37). It was to reach 45,000 feet into the atmosphere and it required radar to keep the F4H-1 to hold it on it’s course (8:58). It hit speeds of 1,390 mph and completed it’s 62-mile circle course in under forty-one seconds (9:04). Commander John F. Davis piloted (9:19) (9:23). He was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross (9:37). The USS Epping Forest (9:53) delivered over 50 tons of goods to Korea including clothing, food and medical supplies (9:58). It delivered goods to the Children’s Korean Hospital (10:28) as children run out and swarm sailors and tear open boxes of new clothing (10:38). The USS Canberra held an open house in Karachi, Pakistan as part of the People to People Program (11:17). It was taking a cruise around the world and welcoming a crowd of over 60,000 visitors (11:24). Kids are shown around the vessel (11:35) and served ice cream (11:39). The USS George Washington prepared for its first firing of a ballistic missile (12:05). Captain Osborne and Admiral Rayburn await the launching (12:31). The Polaris missile was a two-stage missile and its separation of stages was a critical step (13:21). The second stage ignition (13:44) just prior to the film’s conclusion. U.S. Naval Photographic Center (13:58).

The Corona program was a series of American strategic reconnaissance satellites produced and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Science & Technology with substantial assistance from the U.S. Air Force.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com