This U.S. Navy film focuses on the ocean and its floor. The ocean floor’s main features and their characteristics are a major focus of the Navy’s oceanographic research program. It opens with images of a submarine in the ocean (:39) and a US Navy F-4 Phantom taking off from an aircraft carrier (:45) USS Forrestal. Images from a closed-circuit television are retrieved from a deep-sea camera (1:13). As the population was expected to increase, scientists are seen studying marine biology for future potential food sources (1:24). Images follow of the ocean floor (1:26). Waterways are pictured which eventually lead out to sea (2:43) as well as glaciers which drag sediment to the sea as icebergs (2:45). A stream of molten lava pours from an active volcano (3:41) which forms hills, mountains and peaks (3:41). Another active volcano erupts in the sea (3:49) which leads to the formation of islands. Contents from a deep-sea corer including sediment and a star fish (4:20) are dumped onto a ship’s deck. A man is seen working with a precision depth recorder (4:25). The deep-sea camera is pulled up to retrieve photographs of the ocean floor (4:31). Deep submersibles — possibly DSV-2 Alvin is shown — carry scientists and researchers to the deepest parts of the ocean (4:47). Within the coastal waters and beaches, sail boats are seen lazily riding across the water (5:06), sunbathers enjoy the sand (5:15) and a lighthouse is pointed to (5:37) which is used as a beaker for traveling vessels. Commercial fishermen pull up a large fishing catch with a drag net (5:50). Oil rigs and drills are pointed to (6:16) as in 1948 the US claimed oil reserves and mineral rights from the US coast to a water depth of about 600 feet (6:21). A diagram is presented to show the break in the slope several miles out from the shoreline (6:43). Another shows the ancient river beds cutting across the continental shelves (6:57). Deltas are pointed to which lay at the location where rivers meet the ocean (7:39). The rise at George’s bank is depicted (8:06). The USS Esteem (AM-438) (8:24) is pictured as part one of the two major operations of Naval warfare taking place along the coastal areas which is mine warfare (8:28). A mine is lowered to the sea floor (8:34). The second major component are amphibious operations (8:38) as troops are seen unloading from an LCVP. A tank is unloaded onto the beach (8:51). As the coastline is subject to change through erosion, deep sea divers collect up to date information of beaches and sea approaches (9:31). Naval planners go over bottom sediment charts (11:02). A diagram points to the walls of the ocean basins (11:15) and Blake Plateau; located east of Cape Kennedy, Florida (11:53). Footage provided of the ocean floor had been taken under 8,000 feet of water along the Atlantic slope east of Massachusetts (12:58). On April 10th, 1963, the USS Thresher sank and was lost along with all men aboard the vessel and these images had been collected during the search for the submarines remains (13:10). The mid-Atlantic ridge is shown in diagram to be nearly halfway between South American and Africa (13:48). Azores (14:27), Ascension (14:30) and Tristan Da Cunha (14:31) are shown as pinnacles rising above sea level. Earthquakes frequent in the area where the Atlantic ridge bends towards the Indian Ocean (14:43). Bissell hills are shown (15:01) near abyssal plains (15:05). Islands such as the Hawaiian Islands have been formed by volcanic eruptions (16:51). The Aleutian Islands (17:03) extend from the Alaskan mainland. Guyots are pointed to south of the Kamchatka (18:18), west of Hawaii (18:20), and between the Mariana and Marshall Islands (18:28). Images follow from the Mariana’s trench (19:29) taken in 1960 by Dr. Jacques Piccard and Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh aboard the bathyscaphe Trieste. Fish are seen swimming through coral reefs (19:56) as well as the Enewetak Atoll (20:38). A Navy geologist is seen working with charts depicting the entire ocean bottom (22:32). The film concludes. “Sea Power for Security” (23:19).

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