She was the most beautiful submarine I have ever seen. Well, calling it a submarine would be an insult, allow me to correct myself, she was a Deep Submergence Vehicle (DSV). Her name was SeaQuest. Govern by the United Earth Organization (UEO), SeaQuest’s duties were to be a symbol of peace and to explore the oceans.
Over one thousand feet in length and 32,000 tons, SeaQuest was the biggest and baddest underwater vehicle to roam the waters. SeaQuest was a scientific vessel, however was built for war. The hull was able to heal itself, as it was partly biological; their weapons included that of two lasers, nine torpedo tubes that were armed with plasma torpedoes, and one hundred megatons an overall of sixteen extended range nuclear missiles.
With a speed of 160 knots and the ability to dive up to 25,000 feet, SeaQuest was able to escape and prevail over most of its situations. If there was ever a threat to the crew, SeaQuest was equip with a total of ten mini-subs. SeaQuest was so massive that she even had her own wireless sea knowledge retrieval satellites (WSKRS).
So who was the mastermind that created this amazing undersea vessel? The answer is Captain Nathan Hale Bridger (played by the amazingly talented Roy Scheider), Nathan Bridger designed the SeaQuest in the early 21st century, but wasn’t set a sail until 2013. First Officer to SeaQuest was the light-hearted yet strong willed Commander Jonathan Ford (played by Don Franklin) who had the pleasure serving on the SeaQuest throughout it’s entire life.
SeaQuest wouldn’t be SeaQuest without the assistance of kid genius Lucas Wolenczak (played by the loved and belated Jonathan Brandis). A kid at heart, but a brain the size of the SeaQuest itself, Lucas brought the power of science and artificial intelligence to the ship. Lucas’s father had some pull at the UEO and was able to have Lucas join the crew. At first Captain Bridger was not too pleased to have a child on board, however when Lucas surprised the Captain with Darwin’s ability to speak, the Captain thought to give Lucas a chance.
Darwin was a dolphin that Bridger nursed back to health and became friends with before resuming command of the SeaQuest, and was unaware that his friend was brought onboard until the surprise of Lucas’s was presented. SeaQuest was fully accommodated to make Darwin feel right at home. Darwin had his own pool that linked to several flooded swim tubes around the ship so Darwin could see everything that was going on. If Darwin wanted too, he could take a swim outside of the SeaQuest and return whenever he wanted too.
Darwin was hardly ever left out in scientific explorations. He always seemed to voice his opinions and want to join in on the action. I always thought it was incredible to have a talking dolphin on board a science exploration vessel because it would help to get a very different insight on the situation, and as well as a dolphin’s point of view.
Even though the SeaQuest was bound for peaceful explorations, unfortunately it fell into the hands of a war with an alien race on their alien world of Hyperion. The large war ended with Dagwood (a Dagger race custodian and friend of the crew aboard SeaQuest) and Lucas drifting aimlessly on a raft with a “To Be Continued…” script at the bottom of the screen.
The second part of the episode started a new era of SeaQuest called SeaQuest 2032 which defined that it was ten years later and there was a new Captain of the SeaQuest after it was found sitting in the middle of a cornfield. Captain Oliver Hudson (played by the respectable Michael Ironside) and brought a new era of exploration to the SeaQuest as well as a partial new crew.
There was a different feel to SeaQuest after the alien war and the change of crew. It seemed as though the show was going downhill and lost its connection with science. I personally believe it was the change of Captain’s that caused this downfall.
But even though the show was cancelled in 1996, the show still lives on in my home and my heart as well as all the fans out there that loved and cherished the stars that made SeaQuest real.
In conclusion, I believe the science of building a deep submergence vehicle as grand as SeaQuest is not far away in our future. The creators of this famous television science fiction show probably didn’t realize that they have made a path and have created an idea for our future Naval ships. Who knows, there may be a real SeaQuest DSV in the making right now.
