Its flagship, Stingray, is a combat submarine crewed by Captain Troy Tempest, Lieutenant "Phones" and Marina, a mute young woman from under the sea.
In the first episode, while investigating the unexplained destruction of a submarine, Troy and Phones discover that there is intelligent life on the ocean floor when they are captured by the forces of King Titan, tyrannical ruler of the underwater city of Titanica.
At Marineville, the WASP's headquarters on the West Coast of North America, Commander Shore assigns Captain Troy Tempest and navigator Lieutenant "Phones" to the mission.
Troy, who has long suspected the existence of intelligent undersea life, believes a hostile force is responsible for the loss of Sea Probe and other vessels.
Escorted by Marina, Titan's mute slave-girl, Troy and Phones are transferred to a Mechanical Fish for the journey to their execution site, the prison of Aquatraz.
[3] However, it was not devised as a true pilot because Lew Grade, APF's chairman and investor, had approved the series format before filming began.
[6] The Andersons' script stated that Sea Probe's destruction was to be followed by a montage of shots showing a telecommunications tower and a telephone switchboard, accompanied by voiceovers representing various callers attempting to contact Washington, D.C. about the loss of the submarine.
In 1965, its story was combined with those of "Deep Heat" and "Subterranean Sea" to create "Into Action with Troy Tempest", one of three Stingray EP audio plays released by APF's sister company Century 21 Records.
At some point in 1963, APF combined it with the episodes "An Echo of Danger", "Raptures of the Deep" and "Emergency Marineville" to create a 99-minute Stingray feature presentation.
Combining the first episode with "Plant of Doom", "Countdown" and "The Master Plan", this was one of 13 compilations from various Anderson series to be shown on US syndicated and cable TV during the 1980s.
[16] In a contemporary review, Tony Gruner of Kinematograph Weekly wrote that the episode had the "bounce and push of some of the old Hollywood movies", with an "American brashness [...] on par with" both its writing and the puppet cast's "transatlantic accents".
It praises the "gripping" story – "pure comic-book fiction, with its quasi-Atlantean civilisation and sci-fi trappings" – as well as the "economy" of the writing: "In a few short scenes, we're introduced to all the heroes and villains, and the fascinating character of Marina."