seaQuest DSV 4600

seaQuest DSV is an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032.

Set in "the near future", seaQuest mixes high drama with realistic scientific fiction. It stars Roy Scheider as Nathan Bridger, captain of the eponymous high-tech submarine seaQuest DSV 4600, Jonathan Brandis as Lucas Wolenczak, a teenaged computer genius, and Stephanie Beacham as Kristin Westphalen, the chief medical officer and head of the seaQuest science department. Steven Spielberg expressed interest in the project and served as one of the show's executive producers during the first two seasons.

Filming of the first season was marked by producer disputes, changes at the helm (off-screen, as well as on-screen), and even an earthquake. The second season contained changes in the cast, as well as disputes between cast members and producers, while the third season introduced a new lead actor and title. While initially popular, the series began to decline in ratings throughout its run; however, it remained sufficiently popular to last two and a half seasons—being abruptly canceled in the middle of the third—and, despite its cancellation, has achieved something of a cult following in the years since its demise.[1]

Roy Scheider narrated the voiceover during the opening credits of each first-season episode:

The 21st century: mankind has colonized the last unexplored region on Earth; the ocean. As captain of the seaQuest and its crew, we are its guardians. For beneath the surface lies the future.

The UEO seaQuest DSV 4600 and the UEO seaQuest DSV 4600-II are the two titular submarines featured in the science fiction television series "seaQuest DSV", which ran for three seasons on NBC from 1993-1996. The original seaQuest was featured in the show's first season, while the second boat was featured in the second and third seasons. The seaQuest appeared in every episode of the series.

Design Specs

seaQuest is the brain child of Captain Nathan Bridger who designed the boat in the early 21st century, however, Bridger left the navy 3 years before construction on the ship was completed. Upon its completion, seaQuest was the largest submarine and deep submergence vehicle ever constructed, measuring 307.1 m from stem to stern with a crew of 88 military and 124 science personnel. The ship could travel at speeds up to 160 knots (295 km/h) and was propelled by twin fusion reactors. The seaQuest was coated in a genetically engineered bio-skin that remained completely inert against (most) marine bacteria and organisms with a crush depth of more than 9 km of water. The ship is equipped with a complement of standard torpedoes, as well as nuclear tipped SLBMs (believed to be named the Triton II), intercepts, sea to air missiles, state-of-the art laser banks, as well as a specialized "grapnel torpedo" which, when fired, would impact a target and allow the seaQuest to tow or retract.

The ship was also equipped with a series of WSKRS (pronounced "whiskers"; Wireless Sea Knowledge Retrieval Satellites); small sensor probes that were remotely controlled by the ship's sensor chief. The WSKRS codenamed "Mother", "Junior", and "Loner", served as the "eyes and ears of seaQuest" and could relay telemetry data back to the ship miles away. In a pinch, the WSKRS could also be used as an emergency power supply and could be reconfigured for communication purposes. A special "Hyper-Reality Probe" was also part of the seaQuest's arsenal which allowed the operator to manually control the probe and conduct delicate repair operations or investigate various anomalies. The ship's communications buoy could also be detached to enable contact with surface bound vessels.

The ship was also equipped with a series of sea launch shuttles, as well as a series of speeder shuttles, a series of sea crab-class vehicles and eventually, a specialized, high-speed, one-man submersible named The Stinger by one of the designers, Lucas Wolenczak. In 2032, the boat was equipped with two high-speed spector-class sub-fighters; high speed submersibles capable of engagements up to speeds approaching 300 knots (554 km/h), comparable to (but not equal to) the Lysander-class sub-fighter engineered by Deon International.
See image description for details

seaQuest featured an emergency override called the "Dead Man's Codes"; in the event that the ship's crew was incapacitated or dead, the codes could be used to bring the ship to any location on the globe by remote. The helm control has the final authority over the boat's course (Episode: "And Everything Nice"). The UEO Secretary General kept one set of the codes while another set was flash-fed into the computer banks and scrambled at random intervals.

Originally designed as a purely military vessel, the seaQuest underwent a refit in 2017 following the Livingston Trench Incident and the signing of the United Earth Oceans Organization charter.

[edit] Command History

[edit] seaQuest DSV 4600

Captain Marilyn Stark: 2015-2017
Captain Nathan Bridger: 2018-2019

[edit] seaQuest DSV 4600-II

Captain Nathan Bridger: 2021-2022 (presumed destroyed)
Captain Oliver Hudson: 2032-onward

[edit] Bridge Crew

[edit] seaQuest DSV 4600

First Officer: Commander Jonathan Ford
Chief Engineer: Lt. Commander Katherine Hitchcock
Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Kristin Westphalen
Chief Security Officer: Chief Manilow Crocker
Communications Officer: Lieutenant J.G. Tim O'Neill
Weapons Officer: Lieutenant Dalton Phillips (2018), Lieutenant Obatu (2019)
Sensor Chief: Chief Miguel Ortiz
Supply and Morale Officer: Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg
Senior Helmsmen: Helmsman Carleton (2018), Chief William Shan (2019)

[edit] seaQuest DSV 4600-II

First Officer: Commander Jonathan Ford
Chief Engineer: Lieutenant Lonnie Henderson (2032)
Chief Medical Officer: Dr. Wendy Smith (2021-2022), Dr. Perry (2032)
Chief Security Officer: Lieutenant James Brody (2021-2032)
Chief Computer Analyst: Lucas Wolenczak
Chief Science Officer: Ensign Lucas Wolenczak (2032)
Communications Officer: Lieutenant J.G. Tim O'Neill
Weapons Officer: Lieutenant James Brody (2021-2032), Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks (2032)
Sensor Chief: Chief Miguel Ortiz (2021-2022)
Senior Helmsmen: Seaman Lonnie Henderson, Seaman Anthony Piccolo, Petty Officer Tyler, Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks (2032)
Sub-Fighter Pilots: Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks (2032), Lieutenant James Brody (2032), Warrant Officer Anthony Piccolo (2032), Lt. Commander Heiko Kimura (2032)

[edit] History

[edit] seaQuest DSV 4600
The seaQuest mission patch, introduced in 2018.

Under the command of Captain Marilyn Stark, the seaQuest converged on the Livingston Trench where a showdown between various undersea confederations could have erupted in nuclear war. The seaQuest almost instigated hostilities when Stark planned to fire first in violation of NORPAC orders. Commander Ford instantly relieved her of command and the situation was defused.

Thirteen months later, after an extensive scientific refit, the new UEO lured retired Captain Nathan Bridger aboard the ship as part of a VIP tour, however, once aboard, the seaQuest shoved off, effectively trapping Bridger aboard. Ford, under the orders of Admiral William Noyce, behaved in a very cowardly manner in an attempt to lull Bridger to take command. The ploy worked and Bridger signed aboard as captain. ("To Be or Not to Be")

The seaQuest unwittingly brought aboard biochemist and war criminal Dr. Rubin Zellar several weeks later after Zellar had assumed the identity of his ice prison's warden. With free rein on the seaQuest, Zellar held the crew hostage with a toxin frozen in ice and gained access to the missile control room where he coerced Bridger and Ford to activate the ship's missiles and fire them towards UEO Headquarters in Pearl Harbor. However, Bridger had wisely disabled all the missiles once the crew learned of Zellar's true identity and disaster was averted. ("Games")

The ship suffered significant damage when the communications buoy was struck by lightning several weeks later. With all power knocked offline, an away team stranded in a hurricane on the surface of the water, and a downed French sight-seeing submarine to search for, Bridger suggested that one of the WSKRS could be used to power the bridge stations enough to locate the French ship, save the away team and return to the ship to drydock for repairs. ("Bad Water")

Several months later, seaQuest was hijacked by a group of ecologic extremists led by Colonel Steven Shrader, who planned to the use the ship's computer to obtain "shut-down codes" for various global pollutants. Shrader's plans were foiled when Commander Ford flooded the boat, causing Shrader and his men to panic and attempt to escape. However, Shrader failed to realize that because the seaQuest was sinking, the increased water pressure would crush his ship. He ultimately died in the attempt, while Lucas and Krieg were able to activate Captain Bridger's prototype "hull siphons" which pumped the flooding water out of the boat and refloated the ship. ("Nothing But the Truth")

The seaQuest was also involved with several space-related incidents, such as the recovery of the Wayfarer, the first manned space vessel to reach Mars as well as uncovering an ancient derelict alien starship which had been entombed in an underwater ridge for over a million years. The crew discovered that there were still active holographic projections aboard the ship that boarded the seaQuest and expressed their desire to have formal introductions with the human race. The bridge crew elected to send a message to the alien homeworld themselves and not tell the military about what had truly happened. ("Such Great Patience")

Unfortunately, the seaQuest met her ultimate demise at the end of its tour of duty when Captain Bridger ordered all hands to abandon ship and locked the ship's autopilot into a direct course with a lava well that threatened to raise ocean temperatures and melt the polar ice caps. Detonating the ship's nuclear weapons. the massive explosion of the seaQuest was enough to seal the rupture and avert ecologic catastrophe. ("Higher Power")

[edit] seaQuest DSV 4600-II
The seaQuest DSV 4600-II docked at New Cape Quest, FL.

With the UEO so impressed with the original seaQuest's performance, they quickly provided the funds to commission a new boat, which shoved off in 2021 with some new bridge crewmembers. The new ship's first task was to stop the G.E.L.F. (Genetically Engineered Life Forms) terrorists from destroying the world's oxygen production facilities. Bridger was able to convince the G.E.L.F. leader that destroying the human race would also result in their annihilation as well. ("Daggers")

Months later, the seaQuest was propelled into the future 250 years where the crew discovered that mankind had annihilated itself due to its dependence on computers for entertainment. Lucas was able to deactivate the remaining computer system, allowing the only two humans left on Earth to rely on each other to survive and repopulate the species. While Lucas believed that what they've seen will be the way the future will play out, Captain Bridger believed that they still had the power to change it. ("Playtime")

The seaQuest became the first ship to uncover evidence of the lost continent of Atlantis when Commander Ford discovered a warrior's helmet and sword at the bottom of the ocean. However, the helmet contained a curse of the previous owner, one that consumed Captain Bridger and Chief Ortiz. Fortunately, they were saved by a descendant of the lost continent through the employ of Dr. Smith's telepathic abilities. ("Lostland")

However, another tragedy befell the seaQuest DSV as it was lost with all hands on May 14, 2022 with no debris, no trace. In actuality, the ship had been forcibly drawn from the water by a powerful alien tractor beam and swept over a million light years away to the far distant planet named Hyperion, where the ship was (apparently) destroyed by a devastating impact from a barrier mine. The only survivors of the crew were Lucas and Dagwood, who appeared destined to spend the rest of their lives on the alien world. ("Splashdown")

After ten years of searching, Captain Oliver Hudson eventually found the seaQuest in a cornfield with no idea of how it ended it up there or how long it had been there. The crewmembers also reappeared on Earth with no memory of what had happened to them or their ship. Nevertheless, in the ten years following their disappearance, the world had become a much more unstable place following the rise to power of President Alexander Bourne and his nation of Macronesia (formerly New Australia). With the world on the apparent brink of war, Captain Bridger decided to retire from the navy, leaving Captain Hudson in command of the seaQuest. ("Brave New World")

seaQuest was nearly the catalyst for a nuclear holocaust again when environmental radical, and newly appointed UEO ambassador Max Scully, seized control of the ship's computer, deactivated the life-support systems incapacitating the crew. In control of the boat, Scully fired the ship's laser banks at an underwater nuclear waste stockpile called "Freedom Point." The explosion would have wiped out the entire human race, save for the select few living in his underwater colony called Ecotopia, had Captain Hudson and Lucas not been able to commandeer a supply hauler and drive it into the nuclear waste, effectively cooling down the uranium deposit. ("Resurrection")

The ship would soon travel in time again on October 28, 2032 due to a freak imbalance in one the ship's reactor cores; this time back seventy years to 1962, right in the middle of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Due to seaQuest's encroachment in the timeline, they inadvertently were the trigger of a nuclear war that wiped out mankind. Using the discontinuity in their reactor core, they traveled back two days further in time and were able to avert the holocaust. ("Second Chance")

[edit] Future

Since "seaQuest DSV" was cancelled in 1996, the future of the ship remains uncertain. However, numerous fan-based Internet series based on "seaQuest DSV" have cropped up over the years chronicling the fate of the seaQuest, however, their status in the "seaQuest canon" remains apocryphal.