“The Men of Polaris” is a circa 1963 United States Navy film that informs the viewer of the nuclear-powered fleet ballistic missile submarines. The USS Daniel Boone (SSBN-629) breaks the waves in the color film’s opening seconds while the narrator explains how it is the duty of sailors — and especially submariners — to “sustain the position of the United States and her allies in an unsettled world.” Visiting the Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut (mark 01:!5) we learn how submarine crews undergo specialized training designed to teach them about submarine operation, with instruction including science and engineering. Such instruction is especially important to sailors assigned to Polaris submarines that have “more technological and scientific advancements and a higher concentration of mechanical and electronic equipment per cubic inch of space than any other ship in the fleet.” Crews are shown aboard the USS Henry Clay (SSBN-625) at mark 02:38 while the narrator provides a brief history of the Polaris weapon system with scenes of Navy personnel undergoing weapons training. A missile streaks into the sky at mark 04:00 as part of one exercise and the narrator explains who such firepower has taken up stations beneath all the world’s oceans — over 40 submarines and more than 600 missiles total. “The men of Polaris hold in their hands one of the most convincing statements for peace that has every existing,” says the narrator at mark 04:30. There glimpses of the ships and floating dry docks stationed around the world that supply and sport Polaris submarines in their missions, including those in Scotland, Spain, and Guam, as well as on both coasts of the United States. “Wherever the highly trained men of Polaris serve, men and missile stand together to keep their submarines on station,” the narrator states at mark 05:00.

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