context: The movie opens with title and credits shown over an Antarctic landscape. A narrator informs us, "Antarctica: the frozen continent at the bottom of the world. A continent as mysterious and unknown as the other planets of our solar system or a world in deep space a million light years away. For untold millennia the secrets of the glacial wasteland were held frozen from the rest of the world, buried beneath a treacherous icy canopy. Then came the early Antarctic explorers: Wilkes, Scott, Shackleton, Amundsen, Byrd. Intrepid men of great purpose and endurance, searching for the ice bound secrets of the unknown, unearthly, frozen continent. And following them, modern day explorers. Mechanized task forces of scientists and engineers from many nations working together to uncover the secrets of Antarctica: Operation High Jump, the International Geophysical Year, Operation Deep Freeze, and now after more than a year of exploration and research a team of these scientists are leaving Little America. Their destination: the United States. Their cargo: specimens of animal and plant life from the bottom of the world."A U.S. Navy R4D (a variant of the Douglas DC-3) is flying to Gow Island, in the South Pacific, for fuel. While the co-pilot, Stevens, sleeps, the pilot, Miller, flies. The crew chief, Sandy, brings sandwiches. A sharp bump sends the chief back to check on the cargo. Miller explains to Stevens that the cargo is plant specimens from the Warm Lake area of Antarctica. We see various parts of Gow Island, a U.S. Navy installation. A civilian meteorologist, Bob Spaulding (Edward Faulkner) supervises a sailor, Phillips, filling a balloon, unsuccessfully. Dr. Arthur Beecham (Walter Sande) engages Bob in conversation. Bob tells Dr. Beecham that his contract is up and he is anxious to get back to the mainland. His one regret is leaving Nora. Ensign Rutherford Chandler (Bobby Van) feeds his dog, but is unsuccessful in teaching it any tricks. He is hung over from the party the night before. Diane (Kay Elhardt), a Navy Nurse, and Marie (Pamela Mason), a middle-aged civilian scientist tease the Ensign about his behavior the night before. He got so drunk, apparently, he forgot everything. Chandler drives over to the base control tower. The radar operator, CPO Fred Twining (Billy Gray) reports to the tower that he has an aircraft on radar. The pilot of Navy 3255 contacts Gow Island for landing instructions. Chandler checks with Fred before he climbs the stairs to the tower. Chandler gets a briefing, then calls the acting commanding officer, Lt. Charles "Charlie" Brown (Anthony Eisley). Chandler informs Brown that the plane from the Antarctic is inbound and will be landing shortly. Brown calls Warrant Officer Holly Hollister (Taggart Casey). He tells Holly that with bad weather approaching, he wants the Navy aircraft to be refueled quickly and sent on its way. Holly tells the Chief Warrant Officer, McBride (Russ Bender) that Brown seems to be getting nervous that they can't do their jobs.Bob has packed and is ready to leave when he spots Nora Hall (Mamie Van Doren). He approaches the nurse and informs her he will be leaving shortly. He asks for a goodbye kiss, but she refuses, "You can catch up on your kissing at the weather station in Miami. There are plenty of pretty girls to help you forget Gow Island." He tells Nora he loves her and wants to marry her. Dr. Beecham and Marie stop in the Mess Hall for coffee. Beecham stops by to see Lt. Brown to give him promised reports. Brown asks for a briefing on "Hot Lakes". Beecham pulls a chart out and explains, "About a year and a half ago, helicopter survey teams discovered, right in the heart of the ice pack, three hundred square miles of ground. Heated by underwater lakes and containing a unique type of vegetation that must have been there since before the first ice age."Stevens briefs Miller on the aircraft status upon his return to the pilot's seat. Miller sends Stevens back to check on the chief. A penguin squawks as Stevens discovers Chief Sandy and calls for help. The scientists aboard run back to assist. The chief has gone crazy and no one is able to restrain the man. His face is burned and he manages to pop open the cargo door and jump out. Miller reports the situation, but his transmission is garbled. He mentions the cargo door and then we hear shots fired. The pilot continues his approach and emergency vehicles are dispatched to the runway. Two sailors get into fire protection suits (Del "Sonny" West, and an uncredited Red West). The pilot lands the airplane, but fails to drop his landing gear and slides to a stop. Brown and Chandler enter the aircraft and only find the pilot aboard and he is in a state of shock. Miller is treated in the Infirmary by the base doctor (Phillip Terry), who reports to Brown, "I'm afraid it will be quite a while before he can tell us anything. He's in a state of shock." The doctor recommends immediate transfer to the mainland. Bob Spaulding asks Brown about his transport off the island. Brown tells him the airplane is blocking the only runway. Spaulding and Brown dislike each other.McBride and Beecham supervise the unloading of the crippled aircraft. Holly tells Brown they should be able to move and fix the airplane. Dr. Beecham notices a trail of corrosive material on the cabin floor. He takes a sample for analysis. They take the cargo over to the warehouse. At a Navy base on the mainland, an urgent message is received from Gow Island. It is brought to Cmdr. Arthur Simpson (Biff Elliot) who briefs Admiral Knight and other officers on the proposed modifications to the island needed for satellite tracking equipment. Dr. Beecham examines some of the plant specimens in the warehouse. Beecham tells Brown he's concerned about the trees. He proposes to plant them near the hot springs to hold them. Brown orders a 24-hour guard on the airplane. Diane is spooked by Miller in the Infirmary. Nora suggests a cup of coffee. Bob enters to talk to Nora and again tries to get intimate, but again she brushes him off. He is jealous of Brown's interest in the nurse.The guard (Del "Sonny" West) on the airplane paces as Diane watches her patient. She goes to the door and when she turns around, Miller is out of bed and attacks her. Nora and Brown talk in his office. He holds her briefly. Nora returns to the Infirmary and finds Diane on the floor and calls Brown. The guard is attacked by the wandering Miller. He manages to knock Miller out with a well-placed punch to the jaw. The doctor tends to Diane, and Nora briefs Brown. McBride rushes in to report something moving in the warehouse. Brown and Chandler enter the warehouse while McBride and Dr. Beecham remain outside. The warehouse is a shambles and they find the same substance they found on the airplane: so corrosive it is eating through the concrete floor. They notice the penguins are missing. The doctor administers a strong sedative to the pilot. Bob waltzes in to the Infirmary and demands, Brown, "I demand you lock up this maniac before he attacks somebody else!" He claims Miller is faking, and to prove it he grabs the pilot and shakes him. He is prevented from hitting Miller by Brown, who pulls him back. The two get into a fight, with Bob getting the worst of it. Nora follows Brown into his office and they kiss passionately.Chandler's dog barks then runs into the jungle. Dr. Beecham continues his analysis on the corrosive substance. Marie observes that it acts like an enzyme. Diane finds Chandler out on a walk. She brushes up against the building and gets burned by the corrosive substance. He rushes her into the Mess Hall and washed it off in the sink. The airplane guard hears a strange noise and investigates. He approaches, and the unseen menace attacks him. Later we learn he was killed and his name was West.The next day they take the plant specimens to the hot springs to plant them. Marie tells Brown, "These plants are most extraordinary. They're a living fossil, based on a structure that is unknown in present vegetation." Marie wanders off and screams. She has found the badly burned body of a man wearing a blue flannel shirt. In the hospital, the doctor and nurse Nora try to communicate with Miller. The autopsy on the body indicates it was badly damaged by a corrosive substance, and the clothes suggest it was one of the scientists returning from the Antarctic. Bob takes the time to make up some fire bombs. He thinks some creature is responsible and that fire is the answer.A tree bobs around and expels a seed with a root structure. The dog chases the moving seed. Marie hears the dog and goes looking for it. She walks straight into the tree which attacks her. Her screams attract base personnel. Bob grabs a couple of his Molotov cocktails, and heads out towards the screams. Brown orders Spaulding to throw one. Brown heads into the jungle followed by Hollister, but they are unable to find the scientist. Fred reports that something has disturbed the birds in their nesting area. Chandler goes searching for his dog. He hears a strange noise and is ensnared by the tree monster and killed. Brown and Hollister find Chandler's flashlight and rifle. Dr. Beecham finds something on the ground. He picks up the seed and takes it back to the lab. On the way, he notices the lights flickering. McBride reports to Brown that something got into the generator shack and destroyed it.The next day, Dr. Beecham shows Brown the seed he found. It twitches in the jar through a layer of sand. Spaulding and Twining go to the nesting site to investigate. Dr. Beecham speculates that the plant is a new problem. At the nesting site, Spaulding and Twining find many dead birds. That night Spaulding tells Brown that there are at least a dozen things on the island. In the Mess Hall, a man screams. McBride's hand is severely burned by the seed. Spaulding and Twining capture it between two plates, while Nora dresses the wound. When Spaulding goes into the Infirmary to get some blankets for McBride, he is attacked by Miller.Commander Simpson briefs the Admiral. He tells him the suspect in the killings on Gow Island is an animal-like plant that secretes a deadly fluid. Admiral Knight orders a quarantine on Gow Island. He intends to evacuate the personnel. Dr. Beecham speculates that shortly a few hundred creatures could swarm the island, but they will not cross fuel, so he proposes that they build a line of defense.Twining is returning with some shark he caught. He is attacked by one of the tree creatures. It manages to rip the sailors arm off at the shoulder. Twining escapes, but collapses from shock and loss of blood. Spaulding, Brown, and Hollister find him. Miller escapes from the hospital area of the warehouse. He heads for the nesting area. Brown and Dr. Beecham find a large stump of a tree. Miller runs right into it and is killed. He is dissolved and consumed. A well thrown gasoline bomb by Spaulding engulfs the tree in fire. It flops over and burns. Dr. Beecham explains that it walked to where they found it and that is will consume anything, "even other trees." He speculates that when light it reacts like any tree, but in the dark it uproots itself and hunts for food. Three more trees appear and firebombs dispatch them. Commander Simpson proposes that napalm be used on the tree creatures on Gow Island. Admiral Knight orders him back to the island to take charge. Once there, Simpson coordinates the attack. Dr. Beecham joins him at the control tower. We close with scenes of napalm ignited fire plumes and the narrator informs us, "Gow Island, in the past virtually unknown to the rest of the world. Today, a famous landmark in man's struggle with the unknown. Another step forward in the march of science."
question: Where is the Navy base stationed?
answer: Gow Island