Ice covers the beard of a civilian member of the naval scientific research team at Ice Camp Opal, one of three research stations established on the polar ice cap during the Arctic Research and Environmental Acoustic (AREA) program. AREA '85 is a Navy-sponsored expedition to study oceanography, acoustics, geophysics, communications and submarine warfare in the polar environment

Beginning in ancient times, humans sought to operate under the water. The legendary origins of the submarine stretch back to 332 BC with a tale about Alexander the Great being lowered into the sea in a glass barrel to study fish. The submarine concept was thereafter consigned to the backwaters of history for some 1,800 years. This collection presents various submarines: from small and simple to nuclear-powered underwater behemoths.