A diving experiment's 50th anniversary

[SEALAB Author Ben H.]

Over Thanksgiving 50 years ago, three U.S. Navy volunteers spent their holiday (plus a few additional days) locked inside a steel test chamber like this one (at the Experimental Diving Unit, then in Washington, D.C.), which I hope shows up in the attached picture - vintage equipment, for sure, and the first in a series of simulated dives designed to figure out whether living in an undersea base would be physiologically feasible . . . or dangerous. . . or both. So happy anniversary to the Genesis experiments, which would lead to the first SEALAB . . .

 

[The Chairman]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Luis H]

Thanks
I really enjoyed your book.

I also enjoyed reading Bob Barth: "Sea Dwellers, The Humor, Drama and Tragedy of the US Navy SEALAB Programs".
I am almost finished with "Papa Topside", The SEALAB Chronicles of Capt. George F. Bond, USN.
SEALAB is also mentioned in a number of other books, like "Living and Working in the Sea", by James W. Miller and Ian G. Koblick.

It has been very interested reading about it from different perspective.

I was in Panama City back in June and it was a real shame to see the condition of SEALAB I.

 

[SEALAB Author Ben H.]

Thanks NetDoc and yes, Luis H, those good books you mention are among the written sources I used for my book, along with quite a few others and of course the many interviews I did, as you can see in the endnotes and acknowledgments. It was a great opportunity to be able to fill in the gaps in SEALAB history, flesh out the story and give credit where it was due. Doesn't look like that "anniversary" photo I tried to post actually posted, so will try again here. . .

 

[SEALAB Author Ben H.]

By the way, as for SEALAB I, I recently wrote an article about it for the newsletter of the Man-in-the-Sea Museum, which is renewing the effort to turn the old hull into a bona fide exhibit.

 

[Luis H]

Nice article. I like the pictures.

I am very glad to see some interest on the different aspects of diving history. Dr Bond's work on saturation diving and the history of SEALAB are very significant part of diving history.

Thanks again.

 

[John C. Ratliff]

Ben, 'great story about the Sealab projects. Thanks also for mentioning Edwin Link. I had dreamed as a teen of becoming an aquanaut, but between Vietnam and the USAF, and a try at breaking into zoology (got the degree, and was told by an advisor to get out of the field), I ended up in professional safety. Now, in retirement, I'm re-looking at things and admiring people such as yourself and the contributions to marine science/human physiology of programs such as Sealab. Any ideas about what will happen to NOAA's Aquarius?

Home | NOAA’s Aquarius Reef Base

SeaRat

 

[SEALAB Author Ben H.]

Thanks, John. Really glad you enjoyed the story, and, yes, the American inventor and aviator Ed Link figures quite prominently in it, right alongside the U.S. Navy and Jacques Cousteau. It sounds like you've done plenty of good work yourself, in the spirit of George Bond, Link, and everyone else mentioned in my book. Speaking of which, Bond's right-hand man, Capt. Walter Mazzone, turned 95 yesterday, so kudos to "Uncle Walter," without whom SEALAB and some related deep-diving breakthroughs probably would not have happened.

As for Aquarius, last I checked it wasn't looking too good, as I described in a piece for The Huffington Post and another for Pacific Standard (plus there's some further background in my article for Gizmodo, some of which you may recognize from my book). Suffice to say that rather complex bureaucratic maneuvering has been going on since I wrote about the efforts to save the underwater lab, a descendant of SEALAB. I'm actually awaiting a response from a principal in the Aquarius negotiations to find out what's happening and hope to be able to update these stories soon.