The cover of the 1965 UK paperback edition of: Ice Station Zebra

Ice Station Zebra is a 1963 novel written by Alistair MacLean and a 1968 film made from that novel. ImageMetadata File history File links Alistair_Maclean_-_Ice_Station_Zebra_book_cover. ... ImageMetadata File history File links Alistair_Maclean_-_Ice_Station_Zebra_book_cover. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ... Alistair Stuart MacLean (April 28, 1922 - February 2, 1987) was a Scottish novelist, writer of successful thrillers or adventures, the best known of which is perhaps The Guns of Navarone. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

Novel

Drift Ice Station Zebra, a British meteorological station built on an ice floe in the Arctic Sea, is in trouble. The station has had a fire, and men have died. The rest are holed up in one hut with no food or heat, and little liquid water. If help does not reach them soon, they will die. Drift ice consists of slabs of ice that float on the surface of the water in cold regions. ... An icebreaker navigates some through young (1 year) sea ice Sea ice is formed from ocean water that freezes. ... The Arctic Ocean, located entirely in the north polar region, is the smallest of the worlds five oceans (after the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Southern Ocean), and the shallowest. ...

The (fictional) nuclear-powered submarine USS Dolphin is dispatched on a rescue mission. Just before it departs, the mysterious Dr. Carpenter, an apparent expert in dealing with frostbite and other deep-cold medical conditions (and the narrator of the story), asks to accompany them. A nuclear power station. ... German UC-1 class World War I submarine A model of Gunter Priens Unterseeboot 47 (U-47), German WWII Type VII diesel-electric hunter-killer (SSK) submarine Typhoon class ballistic-missile carrying (SSBN) submarine, compared to a man USS Virginia, a Virginia-class nuclear attack (SSN) submarine A submarine... Seven ships of the United States Navy have borne the name USS Dolphin, commemorating the dolphin, a gregarious aquatic mammal having a pointed muzzle, and found in most oceans; also, a swift, spiny-finned fish having a long dorsal fin and iridescent body, and found throughout warm seas. ... Frostbite (congelatio in medical terminology) is the medical condition where damage is caused to skin and other tissues due to extreme cold. ...

At first, Captain Swanson is suspicious of Carpenter; even though he receives an order from the Admiralty instructing him to obey Carpenter's every command, except where crew safety is at stake. Swanson tells Carpenter he is still inclined to refuse. Carpenter reveals that this is not simply a rescue mission - the station is actually a highly equipped listening post, keeping watch for nuclear missile launches from the Soviet Union. Swanson then allows Carpenter to come along. Captain is both a nautical term and a rank in various uniformed organizations. ... Old Admiralty House, Whitehall, London, Thomas Ripley, architect, 1723-26, was not admired by his contemporaries and earned him some scathing couplets from Alexander Pope The Admiralty was historically the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. ...

Soon the Dolphin is under the Arctic ice pack, searching for a place to surface and attempt to contact Zebra, whose radio signals are becoming weaker by the hour. Eventually finding a place where the ice is thin enough to break through, the Dolphin establishes radio contact, and gets a bearing on their position. But Zebra is too far away to attempt to reach on foot, so the submarine re-submerges, hoping to get closer. Carpenter confides to the Captain that one of the men at the station is his brother.

With time running out, the Dolphin finds open water, and surfaces just 5 miles from the station. Carpenter and three crewmen make the perilous journey into an arctic storm on foot, taking with them as many supplies as they can. After a harrowing trek they reach Zebra. Devastation awaits them. Three of the eight huts and almost all supplies have been destroyed by a widespread oil fire. Eight men are dead - burnt to a crisp. Eleven men are alive, but barely. While the victims are being tended to, Carpenter does some investigating.

Unable to make radio contact, Carpenter and one of the crew return to the sub. They are able to take news of the location of thin ice near Zebra. The Dolphin submerges, and heads for Zebra. The ice there is still too thick to punch through with the sub's "sail" (i.e., conning tower) - but maybe it can be opened with a torpedo. Disaster strikes. The crew attempts to load a torpedo into one of the tubes, but when the inner door is opened, a torrent of water rushes in, killing a crewman and sending the Dolphin into a nearly catastrophic dive. Only by heroic measures is the Dolphin able to save itself. After successfully cracking the ice, the sub finally emerges just two hundred feet from Zebra. The sick men are treated, but some of them are still too ill to be carried to the sub. Carpenter does some more investigating. What he finds is that the fire was no accident - it was a cover to hide the fact that three of the burnt men were murdered, one of whom was his brother. Carpenter already knows why - the only question is who? Swanson also has a look around, and finds no trace of the sophisticated listening equipment - Carpenter lied to him.

Finally, the survivors are aboard, Zebra is abandoned, and the Dolphin heads back, but not without several further incidents. The ship's doctor is knocked into a coma. Carpenter himself is severely hurt in another apparent accident. Then, a fire breaks out in the engine room and the sub is forced to shut down its nuclear power plant. Without power for heating or air purification, the Dolphin looks set to become a frozen tomb trapped under the ice pack. Only the ingenuity of the captain and dedication of the crew saves the ship.

Carpenter announces that the fire was no accident. He reveals to the Captain that he is an MI6 officer. Carpenter's real mission is to retrieve photographic film- film from a reconnaissance satellite (see Corona) that has photographed every nuclear weapons installation in the U.S. The film, ejected from the satellite, had landed near Zebra. Carpenter's brother had been meant to retrieve it, but Russian agents killed him. The two Russian agents are amongst the survivors from Zebra. Carpenter finally reveals their motives, methods, and the men. The film is now in American hands, and the agents on their way to the gallows. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence Section 6), or the Secret Service, is the United Kingdom external security agency. ... Lens and mounting of a large format camera Photography is the technique of recording and generating permanent images, by the capturing and preservation of physical stimulus-patterns on a layer of photosensitive material. ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... A spy satellite (officially referred to as a reconnaissance satellite or recon sat) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. ... KH-4B Corona satellite Recovery of Discoverer 14 return capsule (typical for the Corona series Diagram of J-1 type stereo / panoramic reciprocating Corona reconnaissance satellite camera system used on KH-4A missions from 1963 to 1969. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ...

Film

Ice Station Zebra
DVD cover for Ice Station Zebra
Directed by	John Sturges
Produced by	James C. Pratt Martin Ransohoff John Calley
Written by	Alistair MacLean Douglas Heyes Harry Julian Fink W.R. Burnett
Starring	Rock Hudson Ernest Borgnine Patrick McGoohan Jim Brown
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Released	October 23, 1968
Running time	148 min
Language	English
Budget	unknown
IMDb profile

Ice Station Zebra was adapted into a movie in 1968 by John Sturges, starring Rock Hudson as Cmdr James Ferraday, Ernest Borgnine as Vaslov, Jim Brown as Capt Anders, and Patrick McGoohan as David Jones. The character names are changed, and the plot makes considerable departures from the novel, including the resolution. A spy satellite malfunctions and drops its film cassette over Zebra. The photos taken are indeed of both soviet and western facilities. A soviet task force is also sent and the cover-up international humanitarian rescue mission is actually a race for strategic military top secrets. The nuclear-powered Dolphin (renamed the Tigerfish) was portrayed in the movie by the diesel-electric submarine USS Ronquil. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, in the special effects category (2001: A Space Odyssey won instead) and Best Cinematography (won by Romeo and Juliet). The film also appeared as a roadshow widescreen Cinerama engagement, with intermission. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (498x700, 66 KB) Licensing This image is of a DVD cover, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the DVD or the studio which produced the DVD in question. ... John Eliot Sturges (3 January 1911 – 18 August 1982) Known as The dean of big_budget action movies made during the 1950s and 1960. Sturges movies include The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Ice Station Zebra and Marooned (movie). ... Martin Ransohoff (born 1927 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a cinema and television producer. ... Alistair Stuart MacLean (April 28, 1922 - February 2, 1987) was a Scottish novelist, writer of successful thrillers or adventures, the best known of which is perhaps The Guns of Navarone. ... Douglas Heyes (May 22, 1919 – February 8, 1993) was an American film and television writer, director, producer, actor, and composer with a long list of accomplishments. ... Harry Julian Fink, television and film writer, wrote for Have Gun — Will Travel and was one of the writers who created Dirty Harry. ... William Ripley Burnett (November 25, 1899 - April 25, 1982), often credited as W.R. Burnett, is a novelist and screenwriter. ... Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor, famous for his rugged good looks. ... Ernest Borgnine shows off his new Chief Petty Officer cover at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C on October 15, 2004 Ernest Borgnine (born January 24, 1917) is an American actor. ... Patrick McGoohan as Number Six in The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan (born March 19, 1928 in Astoria, Queens, New York) is an American-born Irish actor who starred in the 1960s television series Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent when exported to the US) and cult classic The Prisoner. ... James Nathaniel Jim Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a retired American professional football player who also made his mark as an actor and social activist. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... October 23 is the 296th day of the year (297th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 69 days remaining. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Film refers to the celluloid media on which movies are printed. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... John Eliot Sturges (3 January 1911 – 18 August 1982) Known as The dean of big_budget action movies made during the 1950s and 1960. Sturges movies include The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Ice Station Zebra and Marooned (movie). ... Rock Hudson (November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor, famous for his rugged good looks. ... Ernest Borgnine shows off his new Chief Petty Officer cover at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C on October 15, 2004 Ernest Borgnine (born January 24, 1917) is an American actor. ... James Nathaniel Jim Brown (born February 17, 1936) is a retired American professional football player who also made his mark as an actor and social activist. ... Patrick McGoohan as Number Six in The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan (born March 19, 1928 in Astoria, Queens, New York) is an American-born Irish actor who starred in the 1960s television series Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent when exported to the US) and cult classic The Prisoner. ... A number of vehicles use a diesel-electric powerplant for providing locomotion. ... USS Ronquil (SS-396), a Balao-class submarine, was a ship of the United States Navy named for the ronquil, a spiny-finned fish found along the northwest coast of North America. ... Academy Awards The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent film awards in the United States and most watched awards ceremony in the world. ... Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 film adaptation of the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet. ...

Trivia

• Billionaire Howard Hughes, who had experience both as a movie producer and a defense contractor for the United States Government, is said to have watched this movie at least dozens of times in his private hotel suite during the years prior to his death. VCRs and Laserdiscs weren't yet available: The film was shown in the form of a spooled print running through a film projector onto a traditional screen.

• In an interview with Dinah Shore not long before his death, Rock Hudson stated this was his favorite film.

• Patrick McGoohan was in the midst of filming his television series The Prisoner at the time, and to allow him to leave the show's set to appear in Ice Station Zebra, McGoohan devised a "mind-swap" storyline called "Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling" that allowed another actor to play his character, Number Six, for an episode.

• In the original 1999 edition of Unreal Tournament, one of the deathmatch levels is named Ice Station Zeto, in honor of the movie Ice Station Zebra.

For other people named Howard Hughes, see Howard Hughes (disambiguation). ... The government of the United States, established by the United States Constitution, is a federal republic of 50 states, a few territories and some protectorates. ... The video cassette recorder (or VCR, less popularly video tape recorder) is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be played back later. ... Pioneers LaserDisc Logo Laserdisc certification mark The laserdisc (LD) was the first commercial optical disc storage medium, and was used primarily for the presentation of movies. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore, February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress and talk show host. ... Patrick McGoohan as Number Six in The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan (born March 19, 1928 in Astoria, Queens, New York) is an American-born Irish actor who starred in the 1960s television series Danger Man (renamed Secret Agent when exported to the US) and cult classic The Prisoner. ... The Prisoner was a controversial 1967 UK television series, starring Patrick McGoohan, created by him and George Markstein. ... Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling is the thirteenth episode of the television series The Prisoner. ... Number Six Number Six is the central fictional character in the 1960s television series The Prisoner, played by Patrick McGoohan. ... Unreal Tournament, UT, or UT99 is a popular first-person shooter video game. ...

External links

• Ice Station Zebra ISBN 0002433389
• Ice Station Zebra at The Internet Movie Database
• Alistair MacLean at The Internet Movie Database
• Movie review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)
• Book review at Alistairmaclean.de (German)