A British doctor, Carpenter, arrives at the dock in Scotland where a
nuclear submarine, the USS Dolphin, is preparing to sail. He has orders
from the US Fleet commander that he is to be conveyed to Ice Station
Zebra, a British research base in the Arctic.
The station has sent an SOS: an accident has left many of the
scientists dead or injured. Without food or heat the survivors will die
within days. Dolphin can travel under the icecap, look for a patch of
ice near the base thin enough to break through and rescue the
scientists.
Dolphin travels to the Arctic and breaks through the ice, first a
hundred miles from the base, and second only five miles away. Carpenter
and four of the submarine’s crew walk through the blizzard to the base.
When they arrive at Ice Station Zebra it has been destroyed by fire. There are eleven injured survivors in one hut.
Carpenter returns to Dolphin, and tells the Captain there’s thin ice
near the base. Dolphin prepares to blow a hole in the ice with a
torpedo, but, someone has sabotaged the torpedo tube doors and seawater
pours in. The submarine plummets into the ocean depths. The Captain
manages to halt the dive by pumping air into the fresh water and diesel
tanks.
Dolphin breaks through the ice and rescues the scientists. Carpenter
inspects the base. He discovers the fire was deliberate, and that three
of the men were murdered before it started. He explains to the Captain
that Soviet agents had infiltrated the base because it had clandestine
missile warning equipment. They must be responsible for the murders and
the fire and are likely to be amongst the survivors.
As the survivors are brought aboard Dolphin, the ship’s doctor falls
and is knocked unconscious. An insecure hatch crushes Carpenter’s hand.
The Soviet agents are on board the submarine and trying to cover their
tracks…
Dolphin [blackout]sets off under the ice, back to Britain but during
the night the engine room is set on fire and the submarine fills with
smoke. The crew start running out of oxygen but finally manage to stop
the fire and restart the engines.
Carpenter[blackout] gets the scientists together and reveals he is an MI6 agent and knows who the murderer is.
The reason for the murders and the sabotage was that vital
spy satellite film had landed near Ice Station Zebra. The Soviet agents
were ordered to retrieve the film and killed the three scientists when
they became suspicious. They sabotaged Dolphin to try and give the
Soviets time to retrieve them and the film.
Carpenter tricks the Soviet agents into confessing and then arrests them.
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