# Voyage to the bottom of the Sea: question about the "SEAVIEW" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443 "2007-01-25T18:30:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/1 "2007-01-25T18:30:20Z")
I caught a few episodes of this ancient TV show, and always wondered about: -the USS “SEAVIEW” (submarine): how did those panoramic viewing windows (at the front of the sub) resiste the water pressure at 200 ft. depths? -in the command center, there was a huge board-covered with flashing lights-what did this thing do? -why were the venti;lation ducts so big? Adults could hide in them easily! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/2 "2007-01-25T18:33:47Z")
And does David Hedison eat his heart out at William Shatner’s success while playing third leads in “Left Behind” straight-to-videos? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/3 "2007-01-25T18:34:13Z")
1. The window weren’t made of glass. They were made of Resistium™, which is much stronger. 2. The Big Board was a key part of the sub’s operational system. If any of the little lights ever went out, they would have to return to base to get the bulb replaced. 3. You answered your own question, didn’t you? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/4 "2007-01-25T18:40:48Z")
The flashing lights was supposedly a computer. Of the pre-chip era. It ran on Steam, created by burning Yak Dung. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/5 "2007-01-25T18:42:02Z")
Hey, at least they left out the Nuclear Hand Grenades from the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/6 "2007-01-25T18:42:46Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I caught a few episodes of this ancient TV show, and always wondered about: -the USS “SEAVIEW” (submarine): how did those panoramic viewing windows (at the front of the sub) resiste the water pressure at 200 ft. depths? -in the command center, there was a huge board-covered with flashing lights-what did this thing do? -why were the venti;lation ducts so big? Adults could hide in them easily! [/QUOTE] A) That’s obvious. B) They didn’t do anything. That was the beauty of them. C) That’s obvious, too. My contribution: Kulky died before the second season and another chief was cast: Terry Becker as Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey. For four seasons, Robert Dowdell, playing the XO, did little more than say “Aye, aye, captain.” Becker joins and plays a much bigger role than Dowdell, and considerably more than Kulky, but that’s understandable. I just wonder if Dowdell ever got the thought, “I never get to do anything fun.” ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/7 "2007-01-26T00:04:04Z")
[QUOTE=silenus] 1. The window weren’t made of glass. They were made of Resistium™, which is much stronger. 2. The Big Board was a key part of the sub’s operational system. If any of the little lights ever went out, they would have to return to base to get the bulb replaced. 3. You answered your own question, didn’t you? 😃 [/QUOTE] resistium? where did THAT come from? everybody knows they were made of herculite! 😃 i’ll have you know that seaview’s computer has impecable references: it played EMERAC, ‘emmie’ in desk set, co-starring with hepburn and tracy, no less! ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/8 "2007-01-26T00:18:46Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] A) That’s obvious. B) They didn’t do anything. That was the beauty of them. C) That’s obvious, too. My contribution: Kulky died before the second season and another chief was cast: Terry Becker as Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey. For four seasons, Robert Dowdell, playing the XO, did little more than say “Aye, aye, captain.” Becker joins and plays a much bigger role than Dowdell, and considerably more than Kulky, but that’s understandable. I just wonder if Dowdell ever got the thought, “I never get to do anything fun.” [/QUOTE] ah, there’s the question: we at [seaviewgroups.com](http://seaviewgroups.com) have wondered the exact same thing for years. why the hell DID the man take the job and then keep it for all four years? he had a heck of a lot more to do on ‘stoney burke’ and was way more talented than he had an opportunity to show on voyage. he had to have been bored out of his mind. was the money that good - or was he trapped in a contract??? fyi: according to hedison himself, his good pal roger moore pretty much told him to don’t be stupid and do the show. while usually dumber than a bag of hair, an irwin allen show, guaranteed for at least a few years on the air to ensure syndication, would give him financial security. it did. basehart (admiral nelson), too. actually, the first year of voyage is excellent dramatic television and very much worth seeing. the rest is childhood nostalga, but still fun in a strange, 60s sort of way. 😃 we seaview folk are gradually getting the entire series on dvd - and damn tickled that fox and the irwin estate has agreed to remaster and release the show for us. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/9 "2007-01-26T00:41:03Z")
[QUOTE=Scubaqueen] i’ll have you know that seaview’s computer has impecable references: it played EMERAC, ‘emmie’ in desk set, co-starring with hepburn and tracy, no less! [/QUOTE] It also turns up as part of the lab equipment in “The Fly” (1958), starring David Hedison (as Al Hedison). Twentieth Century Fox got its money’s worth out of that thing. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/10 "2007-01-26T20:33:40Z")
So that prop has as many roles in it’s resume as Robbie the Robot? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/11 "2007-01-26T22:41:45Z")
I don’t remember much about it but I do remember having a huge crush on David Hedison. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/12 "2007-01-26T23:28:37Z")
Fun fact: Theodore Sturgeon wrote the novelization for the movie. Making the novelization of far better quality than the movie itself. _bubble bubble beep beep_ - my recollection of the sound effects during the theme song. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/13 "2007-01-26T23:29:42Z")
I remember that, at least once every episode, the sub would be come into peril by some agent of man, beast or nature and the lights would flash, water would spray and everything culminated in the violent rocking of the entire sub, throwing the crew back and forth. And once, much to my amusement, the crew and camera got mixed up and the crew kept throwing themselves in the upward direction as the sub rocked left and right. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/14 "2007-01-26T23:50:30Z")
I always wanted my own Flying Sub. Still do, in fact. Never mind the problem of jet engines running underwater. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/15 "2007-01-27T03:57:16Z")
[QUOTE=randwill] It also turns up as part of the lab equipment in “The Fly” (1958), starring David Hedison (as Al Hedison). Twentieth Century Fox got its money’s worth out of that thing. [/QUOTE] I saw THE DESK SET last night on TCM-there it was!! ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/16 "2007-01-27T03:59:27Z")
All of the officers seemed to wear Naval uniforms-so was the SEAVIEW the USS SEAVIEW? Yeah, the special effects were pretty cheap-especially those foam rubber monsters that were always sneaking aboard! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/17 "2007-01-27T09:20:35Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] I saw THE DESK SET last night on TCM-there it was!! [/QUOTE] You mean the movie where Spencer Tracy is a systems consultant installing a computer at a broadcasting company? I love that movie! Anything to do with the “giant electronic brains” era of computing fascinates me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/18 "2007-01-27T16:17:39Z")
[QUOTE=Earl Snake-Hips Tucker] Kulky died before the second season and another chief was cast: Terry Becker as Chief Francis Ethelbert Sharkey. [/QUOTE] I thought Don Rickles was [Chief Sharkey](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073969/). 😃 Has everyone heard this story about how Harlan Ellison breaking a guy’s pelvis with a model of _Seaview_? > [@](#): > > Noted science fiction author Harlan Ellison was on the writing staff for a short time, but left after attacking an ABC censor during a heated story conference. “He said, “Writers are toadies, you’ll do as your told.” And I went bananas.” Ellison said in 1980, “…I saw blood red and I just wanted him then! I didn’t want to have to go around anything, so I just took the straightest route, which was right down the middle of the fuckin’ table. …I tagged him a good one right in the pudding trough and zappo! over he went, ass over teakettle, windmilling backwards, and fell down, hit the wall and Irwin had this big, six-foot long model of the Seaview, which I guess they had used as a miniature on the series, and it came off its brackets and dropped on top of him and just busted this dude’s pelvis.” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/19 "2007-01-27T16:43:10Z")
Ho did the Flying Sub get lowered from the hangar deck into water, when the Seaview was itself under water? Was the atmospheric pressure in the Seaview greater than the hydraulic pressure outside? How would that impact on the Resistium windshield? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443/20 "2007-01-27T17:15:40Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] All of the officers seemed to wear Naval uniforms-so was the SEAVIEW the USS SEAVIEW? [/QUOTE] It had Navy people on board but [it was a civilian vessel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyage_to_the_Bottom_of_the_Sea). > [@](#): > > In the film, the USOS Seaview (United States Oceanographic Survey) is under the authority of Nelson and the Bureau of Marine Exploration. The novel mentions the Bureau as being part of the US Department of Science. The windows were “X-tempered herculite”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voyage-to-the-bottom-of-the-sea-question-about-the-seaview/389443.md?page=2)