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'''SEALAB I, II''', and '''III''' were experimental [[underwater habitat]]s developed by the [[United States Navy]] |
'''SEALAB I, II''', and '''III''' were experimental [[underwater habitat]]s developed and deployed by the [[United States Navy]] during the 1960s to prove the viability of [[saturation diving]] and humans living in isolation for extended periods of time. The knowledge gained from the SEALAB expeditions helped advance the science of [[underwater diving|deep sea diving]] and rescue, and contributed to the understanding of the psychological and physiological strains humans can endure.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Squire |first=Rachael |title=Undersea geopolitics : Sealab, science, and the Cold War |year=2021 |isbn=978-1-78660-730-0 |oclc=1236090910 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |edition=Hardback}}</ref> |
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==United States Navy Genesis Project== |
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[[File: |
[[File:"Scientists in the Sea" program (cropped to Capt George Bond).jpg|thumb|left|upright|Dr. (Captain) George F. Bond, senior medical officer and principal investigator for the SEALAB I and II experiments.]] |
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Preliminary research work was undertaken by [[George F. Bond]], who named the project after the [[Book of Genesis]], which prophesised humans would gain dominion over the oceans. Bond began investigations in 1957 to develop theories about [[saturation diving]]. Bond's team exposed [[rat]]s, [[goat]]s, [[monkey]]s, and human beings to various gas mixtures at different pressures. By 1963 they had collected enough data to test the first SEALAB habitat.<ref name=sul>{{cite journal |last=Chamberland |first=Dennis |author-link=Dennis Chamberland |year=1986 |title=Sealab: Unfinished Legacy |journal=Proceedings |volume=112 |issue=1 |pages=72–82 |publisher=[[United States Naval Institute]] |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1986/january/sealab-unfinished-legacy |url-access=limited}}</ref> |
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At the time, [[Jacques Cousteau]] and [[Edwin A. Link]] were pursuing privately funded saturation diving projects to study long-term underwater living. Link's efforts resulted in the first underwater habitat, occupied by [[aquanaut]] [[Robert Sténuit]] in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of {{cvt|61|m}} for one day on September 6, 1962. Cousteau's habitats included [[Conshelf I]], with a 2-person crew at a depth of {{cvt|10|m}} near Marseilles, placed on September 14, 1962, and [[Conshelf II]], placed in the Red Sea at depths of {{cvt|11|and|27|m}} on June 15, 1963. Later that year, the Kennedy administration decided to open a new "race" frontier, directing the navy to begin the SEALAB program.<ref name=sul/> |
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SEALAB I was lowered off the coast of [[Bermuda]] on July 20, 1964 to a depth of {{convert|192|ft}} |
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{{citation needed span|Before the SEALAB habitat could be emplaced, a number of [[rifle grenade]]s had to be found and removed from the bottom around [[Argus Island]]. The [[grenade]]s had been fired up into the air with the object of targeting their explosions when they returned to the water. With enough impacts the position of Argus Island could be determined to within a few feet. Unfortunately, many grenades did not detonate upon impact with the sea surface, and divers had to locate and remove them. This was a job for divers from the Navy SOFAR Station (Columbia University Geophysical Field Station), and both U.S. Navy and [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] civilians and enlisted [[Scuba diving|SCUBA]] divers. A platform that had been built to lower the Remote Underwater Manipulator (RUM) from a garage on Argus Island to the sea floor was also removed. SEALAB I was then placed on the nearly flat bottom on a layer of algal balls and some [[coral]]s.|date=June 2011}} |
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[[File:SEALAB I is lowered near Argus Island Tower in 1964.jpg|thumb|upright|SEALAB I being lowered off Bermuda in 1964]] |
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SEALAB I was commanded by Captain |
SEALAB I was commanded by Captain Bond,<ref name=":0">{{cite web| url=https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/where-have-all-aquanauts-gone-story-sealab.htm| title=Where Have All the Aquanauts Gone? The Story of Sealab| date=2019-03-06| website=HowStuffWorks| language=en| access-date=2019-03-20}}</ref> who became known as "Papa Topside". SEALAB I proved that saturation diving in the open ocean was viable for extended periods. The experiment also offered information about habitat placement, habitat umbilicals, humidity, and helium speech descrambling.<ref name=FaceplateMurray/> |
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| ⚫ | SEALAB I was lowered off the coast of [[Bermuda]] on July 20, 1964 to a depth of {{convert|192|ft}} below the ocean surface. It was constructed from two converted floats and held in place with [[axle]]s from [[railroad car]]s. The experiment involved four divers (LCDR [[Robert Thompson (aquanaut)|Robert Thompson]], MC; Gunners Mate First Class [[Lester Anderson]], Chief Quartermaster [[Robert A. Barth]], and Chief Hospital Corpsman [[Sanders Manning]]), who were to stay submerged for three weeks. The experiment was halted after 11 days due to an approaching [[tropical storm]].<ref name=FaceplateMurray>{{cite magazine |first=John |last=Murray |title='Papa Topside', Captain George F. Bond, MC, USN |magazine =Faceplate |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=8–9 |year=2005 |url=http://www.supsalv.org/pdf/faceplatefebruary2005.pdf |access-date=January 15, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207231048/http://www.supsalv.org/pdf/faceplatefebruary2005.pdf |archive-date=February 7, 2012}}</ref> SEALAB I demonstrated the same issues as Conshelf: high humidity, temperature control, and verbal communication in the helium atmosphere.<ref name=sul/> |
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SEALAB I is on display at the [[Museum of Man in the Sea]], in [[Panama City Beach, Florida]], near where it was initially tested offshore before being deployed. It is on outdoor display. Its metal hull is largely intact, though the paint faded to a brick red over the years.<ref>{{cite book| author=Tim Ecott| title=Neutral Buoyancy: Adventures in a Liquid World| publisher=[[Atlantic Monthly Press]]| location=New York City| year=2001| isbn=0-87113-794-1| lccn=2001018840| url=https://archive.org/details/neutralbuoyancy00time_0}}</ref> The habitat's exterior was restored as part of its 50th year anniversary, and now sports its original colors.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.wjhg.com/content/news/Man-in-the-Sea-Bash-promotes-local-museum-412061643.html| title=Man in the Sea Bash promotes and supports local museum| publisher=WJHG| accessdate=November 23, 2018| language=en}}</ref> |
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The [[astronaut]] and second American to orbit the Earth, [[Scott Carpenter]], was scheduled to be the fifth aquanaut in the habitat. Carpenter was trained by Robert A. Barth. Shortly before the experiment took place, Carpenter had a scooter accident on Bermuda and broke a few bones. The crash ruined his chances of making the dive.<ref name="SeaDwellers">{{cite book |last=Barth |first=Bob |author-link=Robert A. Barth |year=2000 |title=Sea Dwellers – The Humor, Drama and Tragedy of the U.S. Navy SEALAB Programs |location=[[Houston, Texas]] |publisher=Doyle Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=0-9653359-3-3}}</ref> |
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[[File:"Scientists in the Sea" program.jpg|thumb|Anne Rudloe third from left in United States Naval base in Panama City in underwater research and diving techniques 1960s. In the back row, fourth from the right, is Dr. (Captain) George F. Bond, senior medical officer and principal investigator for the Sealab I and Sealab II experiments in the mid-1960s.]] |
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SEALAB I is on display at the [[Man in the Sea Museum]], in [[Panama City Beach, Florida]], near where it was initially tested offshore before being deployed. It is on outdoor display.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Florida |first=Man in the Sea Museum of Panama City Beach |title=Tour Exhibits |url=https://maninthesea.org/tour-exhibits/ |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=Man in the Sea Museum of Panama City Beach, Florida |language=en-US}}</ref> Its metal hull is largely intact, though the paint faded to a brick red over the years.<ref name=":2" /> The habitat's exterior was restored as part of its 50th anniversary, and now sports its original colors.<ref name=":3" /> |
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==SEALAB II== |
==SEALAB II== |
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[[File:SEALAB II.jpg|right|thumb|SEALAB II above surface]] |
[[File:SEALAB II.jpg|right|thumb|SEALAB II above surface]] |
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[[File:Tuffy.jpg|right|thumb|Tuffy the dolphin delivered supplies to SEALAB II<ref name=":2">{{cite web |title=Marine Mammals: The Navy's Super Searchers |url=https://navalunderseamuseum.org/marinemammals/ |website=U. S. Naval Undersea Museum |access-date=29 June 2023 |quote=In 1964, Tuffy starred in the documentary 'The Dolphins That Joined the Navy'. The following year, he participated in the Sealab II project, an experiment where divers lived underwater. Tuffy carried messages and tools to the undersea habitat and practiced rescuing lost or injured divers.}}</ref>]] |
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[[File:Tuffy.jpg|right|thumb|Tuffy the dolphin delivered supplies to SEALAB II]] |
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SEALAB II was launched in 1965 |
SEALAB II was launched in 1965.<ref name=":0" /> It was nearly twice as large as SEALAB I with heating coils installed in the deck to ward off the constant helium-induced chill, and air conditioning to reduce the oppressive humidity. Facilities included hot showers, a built-in toilet, laboratory equipment, eleven viewing ports, two exits, and [[refrigeration]]. It was placed in the [[San Diego-La Jolla Underwater Park|La Jolla Canyon]] off the coast of [[Scripps Institution of Oceanography]]/UCSD, in [[La Jolla|La Jolla, California]], at a depth of {{convert|205|ft}}. On August 28, 1965, the first of three teams of divers moved into what became known as the "Tilton Hilton" (Tiltin' Hilton, because of the slope of the landing site). The support ship ''Berkone'' hovered on the surface above, within sight of the Scripps pier. The helium atmosphere conducted heat away from the divers’ bodies so quickly temperatures were raised to {{cvt|30|C}} to ward off chill.<ref name=sul/> |
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Each team spent 15 days in the habitat, but aquanaut/former [[astronaut]] [[Scott Carpenter]] remained below for a record 30 days. In addition to physiological testing, the divers tested new tools, methods of salvage, and an electrically heated drysuit.<ref>{{cite book| author1=Roland Radloff| author2=Robert Helmreich| |
Each team spent 15 days in the habitat, but aquanaut/former [[astronaut]] [[Scott Carpenter]] remained below for a record 30 days. In addition to physiological testing, the28 divers tested new tools, methods of salvage, and an electrically heated drysuit.<ref name=":3">{{cite book| author1=Roland Radloff| author2=Robert Helmreich| name-list-style=amp| title=Groups Under Stress: Psychological Research in Sealab II| publisher=Appleton-Century-Crofts| year=1968| isbn=0-89197-191-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal| author1=T. A. Clarke| author2=A. O. Flechsig| author3=R. W. Grigg| title=Ecological studies during Project Sealab II. A sand-bottom community at depth of 61 meters and the fauna attracted to "Sealab II" are investigated| journal=Science| volume=157| issue=3795| pages=1381–9| date=September 1967| pmid=4382569| doi= 10.1126/science.157.3795.1381| bibcode=1967Sci...157.1381C}}</ref> They were aided by a [[bottlenose dolphin]] named Tuffy from the [[United States Navy Marine Mammal Program]]. Aquanauts and Navy trainers attempted, with mixed results, to teach Tuffy to ferry supplies from the surface to SEALAB or from one diver to another, and to come to the rescue of an aquanaut in distress.<ref>{{cite book| author1=James W. Miller| author2=Ian G. Koblick| author-link2=Underwater habitat#La Chalupa Research Laboratory| title=Living and Working in the Sea| publisher=[[Van Nostrand Reinhold|Van Nostrand Reinhold Company]]| year=1984| location=New York City| pages=60–61| isbn=0-442-26084-9}}</ref><ref name="Navy History">{{cite web| url=http://www.history.navy.mil/branches/teach/ends/aquanauts.htm|title=Aquanauts and Sealab| publisher=[[National Museum of the United States Navy|U.S. Navy Museum]], [[Naval History & Heritage Command]], [[United States Navy]]| access-date=February 21, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Hellwarth">{{cite book| author=Ben Hellwarth| title=Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor| location=New York City| publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]| year=2012| pages=[https://archive.org/details/sealabamericasfo0000hell/page/147 147]–148, 327| isbn=978-0-7432-4745-0| lccn=2011015725| url=https://archive.org/details/sealabamericasfo0000hell| url-access=registration}}</ref> When the SEALAB II mission ended on 10 October 1965, there were plans for Tuffy also to take part in SEALAB III.<ref>{{cite news| magazine=[[Popular Mechanics]]| date=July 1967| volume=128| issue=1| publisher=[[The Hearst Corporation]]| location=New York City| title=TUFFY—The Navy's Deep Sea Lifeguard| author=Tom Stimson| pages=66–69, 178| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9MDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA66| access-date=February 9, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Hellwarth2">[https://books.google.com/books?id=V4sbNMwQJI4C&pg=PT173 Hellwarth], p. 173.</ref> |
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A sidenote from SEALAB II was a congratulatory [[telephone]] call that was arranged for Carpenter and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Carpenter was calling from a [[Diving chamber#Hyperbaric chamber|decompression chamber]] with [[helium]] gas replacing [[nitrogen]], so Carpenter sounded unintelligible to operators.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web| url=https://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/991015.stories.html| title=Lost and Found Sound: The Stories - LBJ & the Helium Filled Astronaut| year=1999| publisher=The Kitchen Sisters| |
A sidenote from SEALAB II was a congratulatory [[telephone]] call that was arranged for Carpenter and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]. Carpenter was calling from a [[Diving chamber#Hyperbaric chamber|decompression chamber]] with [[helium]] gas replacing [[nitrogen]], so Carpenter sounded unintelligible to operators.<ref name="NPR">{{cite web| url=https://www.npr.org/programs/lnfsound/stories/991015.stories.html| title=Lost and Found Sound: The Stories - LBJ & the Helium Filled Astronaut| year=1999| publisher=The Kitchen Sisters| access-date=February 9, 2012}}</ref> The tape of the call circulated for years{{when|date=February 2020}} among Navy divers{{who|date=February 2020}} before it was aired on [[National Public Radio]] in 1999.<ref>[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3378056 LBJ & the Helium-Filled Astronaut - Lost and Found Sound: A Bizarre Phone Conversation], [[All Things Considered]], October 15, 1999</ref><ref>{{YouTube | id=Gg0pMbc7Opk | title=Astronaut Scott Carpenter Speaks to President Johnson from a Helium-Atmosphere Decompression Chamber}}</ref> |
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In 2002, a group of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's [[High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network]] boarded the {{MV|Kellie Chouest}} and used a [[Scorpio ROV]] to find the site of the SEALAB habitat.<ref name=HPWREN2002/> This expedition was the first return to the site since the habitat was moved.<ref name=HPWREN2002>{{cite web| title=Wireless tests aboard US Navy ship include exploration of USN/SIO Sea Lab II| publisher=[[High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network]]| date=February 13, 2002 | url=http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/news/020213.html| |
In 2002, a group of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's [[High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network]] boarded the {{MV|Kellie Chouest}} and used a [[Scorpio ROV]] to find the site of the SEALAB habitat.<ref name=HPWREN2002/> This expedition was the first return to the site since the habitat was moved.<ref name=HPWREN2002>{{cite web| title=Wireless tests aboard US Navy ship include exploration of USN/SIO Sea Lab II| publisher=[[High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network]]| date=February 13, 2002 | url=http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/news/020213.html| access-date=February 18, 2011}}</ref> |
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==SEALAB III== |
==SEALAB III== |
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With naval research funding constrained by [[Vietnam War]] combat requirements,<ref name=sul/> it was four years later before SEALAB III used the refurbished SEALAB II habitat placed in water three times deeper. Five teams of nine [[underwater diving|divers]] were scheduled to spend 12 days each in the habitat, testing new salvage techniques and conducting [[oceanography|oceanographic]] and [[fishery]] studies.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=J. W. |last1=Kuling |first2=J. K. |last2=Summitt |title=Saturation Dives, with Excursions, for the Development of a Decompression Schedule for Use during SEALAB III |journal=US Navy Experimental Diving Unit Technical Report |volume=NEDU-RR-9-70 |year=1970 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3444 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701133623/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3444 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=July 1, 2012 |access-date=July 8, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=R. W. |last1=Crowley |first2=J. K. |last2=Summitt |title=Report of Experimental Dives for SEALAB III Surface Support Decompression Schedules |journal=US Navy Experimental Diving Unit Technical Report |volume=NEDU-RR-15-70 |year=1970 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3441 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306165208/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/3441 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 6, 2010 |access-date=July 8, 2008}}</ref> Preparations for such a deep dive were extensive. In addition to many [[Biomedicine|biomedical]] studies, work-up dives were conducted at the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit at the [[Washington, D.C.]], Navy Yard. These “dives” were not done in the open sea, but in a special [[Diving chamber#Hyperbaric chamber|hyperbaric chamber]] that could recreate the pressures at depths as great as {{convert|1025|ft}} of sea water. |
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[[File:SEALAB III.jpg|right|thumb|SEALAB III, artist's impression]] |
[[File:SEALAB III.jpg|right|thumb|SEALAB III, artist's impression]] |
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According to [[John P. Craven|John Piña Craven]], the U.S. Navy's head of the [[Deep Submergence Systems Project]] of which SEALAB was a part, SEALAB III "was plagued with strange failures at the very start of operations".<ref name="Craven"> |
According to [[John P. Craven|John Piña Craven]], the U.S. Navy's head of the [[Deep Submergence Systems Project]] of which SEALAB was a part, SEALAB III "was plagued with strange failures at the very start of operations".<ref name="Craven">{{cite book |author-link=John P. Craven |last=Craven |first=John Piña |year=2001 |title=The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea |location=[[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]] |isbn=0-684-87213-7}}</ref> USS ''Elk River'' (IX-509) was specially fitted as a SEALAB operations support ship to replace ''Berkone''; but the project was 18 months late and three million dollars over budget when SEALAB III was lowered to {{convert|610|feet}} off [[San Clemente Island]], California, on 15 February 1969. SEALAB team members were tense and frustrated by these delays, and began taking risks to make things work. When a poorly sized neoprene seal caused helium to leak from the habitat at an unacceptable rate, four divers volunteered to repair the leak in place rather than lifting the habitat to the surface. Their first attempt was unsuccessful, and the divers had been awake for twenty hours using [[amphetamine]]s to stay alert for a second attempt,<ref name=sul/> during which [[aquanaut]] [[Berry L. Cannon]] died.<ref name=Time1969>{{cite magazine |title=Oceanography: Death in the Depths |date=February 28, 1969 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900698,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214154058/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,900698,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 14, 2008 |access-date=February 18, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=John |title=Robert Barth, a Pioneer of Deep-Sea Diving, Dies at 89 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/science/robert-barth-dead.html |access-date=1 June 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=7 April 2020}}</ref> It was found that his [[rebreather]] was missing [[baralyme]], the chemical necessary to remove [[carbon dioxide]].<ref name=Time1969/> Surgeon commander [[John Rawlins (Royal Navy officer)|John Rawlins]], a Royal Navy medical officer assigned to the project, also suggested that [[hypothermia]] during the dive was a contributing factor to the problem not being recognized by the diver.<ref name=RRR6248>{{cite journal |first=Michael |last=Davis |title=Immersion hypothermia in scuba diving |journal=South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society Journal |volume=9 |issue=2 |year=1979 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6248 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130113112650/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6248 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=January 13, 2013 |access-date=July 29, 2011}}</ref> |
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According to Craven, while the other divers were undergoing the week-long [[decompression (diving)|decompression]], repeated attempts were made to sabotage their air supply by someone aboard the command barge. Eventually, a guard was posted on the decompression chamber and the men were recovered safely. A potentially unstable suspect was identified by the staff psychiatrist, but the culprit was never prosecuted. Craven suggests this may have been done to spare the Navy bad press so soon after the [[USS Pueblo (AGER-2)|USS ''Pueblo'']] incident.<ref name="Craven"/> |
According to Craven, while the other divers were undergoing the week-long [[decompression (diving)|decompression]], repeated attempts were made to sabotage their air supply by someone aboard the command barge. Eventually, a guard was posted on the decompression chamber and the men were recovered safely. A potentially unstable suspect was identified by the staff psychiatrist, but the culprit was never prosecuted. Craven suggests this may have been done to spare the Navy bad press so soon after the [[USS Pueblo (AGER-2)|USS ''Pueblo'']] incident.<ref name="Craven"/> |
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The SEALAB program came to a halt, and although the SEALAB III habitat was retrieved,<ref name="Craven"/> it was eventually scrapped. Aspects of the research continued,<ref name=sealab3>{{cite journal |
The SEALAB program came to a halt, and although the SEALAB III habitat was retrieved,<ref name="Craven"/> it was eventually scrapped. Aspects of the research continued,<ref name=sealab3>{{cite journal |title=Test procedures for supervisor of salvage sponsored work projects for Sealab III |first=Willard Franklyn |last=Searle |publisher=Deep Submergence Systems, Office of Naval Research |year=1969 |author-link=Willard Franklyn Searle}}</ref> but no new habitats were built. |
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NCEL (now a part of [[Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center]]) of [[Port Hueneme, California]], was responsible for the handling of several contracts involving life support systems used on SEALAB III.<ref>{{cite journal |
NCEL (now a part of [[Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center]]) of [[Port Hueneme, California]], was responsible for the handling of several contracts involving life support systems used on SEALAB III.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=John J. |last1=Bayles |first2=Douglas |last2=Taylor |name-list-style=amp |title=Aquanauts Composite Life Support Umbilicals - SEALAB III. (2005) l |url=http://en.scientificcommons.org/19855357 |access-date=August 27, 2008}}</ref> |
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A model of SEALAB III can be found at the [[Man in the Sea Museum]] in [[Panama City Beach, Florida]].<ref name=":1" /> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} |
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*This page incorporates text in the [[public domain]] from the [http://www.onr.navy.mil/ Office of Naval Research]. |
*This page incorporates text in the [[public domain]] from the [http://www.onr.navy.mil/ Office of Naval Research]. |
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==Bibliography== |
==Bibliography== |
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*{{cite book|title=Sea Dwellers: The Humor, Drama and Tragedy of the U.S. Navy SEALAB Programs|last=Barth|first=Bob|publisher=Doyle Publishing Company|location=[[Houston, Texas]]|year=2000|isbn=0-9653359-3-3|lccn=99-32021}} |
*{{cite book|title=Sea Dwellers: The Humor, Drama and Tragedy of the U.S. Navy SEALAB Programs|last=Barth|first=Bob|author-link=Robert A. Barth|publisher=Doyle Publishing Company|location=[[Houston, Texas]]|year=2000|isbn=0-9653359-3-3|lccn=99-32021}} |
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*{{cite book|title=Papa Topside: The Sealab Chronicles of Capt. George F. Bond, USN|last1=Bond|first1=George F.| |
*{{cite book|title=Papa Topside: The Sealab Chronicles of Capt. George F. Bond, USN|last1=Bond|first1=George F.|author-link=George F. Bond|first2=Helen A.|last2=Siiteri|location=[[Annapolis, MD]]|publisher=US Naval Institute Press|year=1993|isbn=1-55750-795-3}} |
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*{{cite book|title=Death of an Aquanaut|last=Bunton|first=William J.|location=[[Flagstaff, Arizona]]|publisher=Best Publishing Company|year=2000|isbn=0-941332-81-0|lccn=99-66260}} |
*{{cite book|title=Death of an Aquanaut|last=Bunton|first=William J.|location=[[Flagstaff, Arizona]]|publisher=Best Publishing Company|year=2000|isbn=0-941332-81-0|lccn=99-66260 |url=https://archive.org/details/deathofaquanaut0000bunt |url-access=registration}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Hellwarth|first=Ben|title=Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor|location=[[New York City|New York]]|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7432-4745-0|lccn=2011015725|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sealabamericasfo0000hell}} |
*{{cite book|last=Hellwarth|first=Ben|title=Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor|location=[[New York City|New York]]|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=2012|isbn=978-0-7432-4745-0|lccn=2011015725|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sealabamericasfo0000hell}} |
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*{{cite book|last=Rawlinson|first=Jonathan|title=From Space to the Seabed|location=[[Vero Beach, Florida]]|publisher=Rourke Enterprises, Inc|year=1988|isbn=0-86592-872-X|lccn=88-15815|url=https://archive.org/details/fromspacetoseabe0000rawl}} (For children.) |
*{{cite book|last=Rawlinson|first=Jonathan|title=From Space to the Seabed|location=[[Vero Beach, Florida]]|publisher=Rourke Enterprises, Inc|year=1988|isbn=0-86592-872-X|lccn=88-15815|url=https://archive.org/details/fromspacetoseabe0000rawl |url-access=registration}} (For children.) |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-cJMQRG96s The Story of SeaLab - US Navy] |
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*US Naval Undersea Museum [https://web.archive.org/web/20041215012237/http://keyportmuseum.cnrnw.navy.mil/html/sealab_ii.htm SEALAB II Display] |
*US Naval Undersea Museum [https://web.archive.org/web/20041215012237/http://keyportmuseum.cnrnw.navy.mil/html/sealab_ii.htm SEALAB II Display] |
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*[http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/Photos/20020204/ Photos from the 2002 High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network expedition to the SEALAB II/III habitat.] (One screen shot of [http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/Photos/20020204/3-screendump.JPG current habitat]) |
*[http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/Photos/20020204/ Photos from the 2002 High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network expedition to the SEALAB II/III habitat.] (One screen shot of [http://hpwren.ucsd.edu/Photos/20020204/3-screendump.JPG current habitat]) |
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* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.25026|name="Story of Sealab II (1965)"}} |
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.dod.dimoc.25026|name="Story of Sealab II (1965)"}} |
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* {{Internet Archive short film|id=cus_00007|name="100 Fathoms Deep - 1968 Oceanographic Research Educational Documentary"}} |
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=cus_00007|name="100 Fathoms Deep - 1968 Oceanographic Research Educational Documentary"}} |
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{{Underwater diving}} |
{{Underwater diving|divsup}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:United States Navy in the 20th century]] |
[[Category:United States Navy in the 20th century]] |
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| SEALAB | |
|---|---|
SEALAB I
| |
| General information | |
| Type | Research Station |
SEALAB I, II, and III were experimental underwater habitats developed and deployed by the United States Navy during the 1960s to prove the viability of saturation diving and humans living in isolation for extended periods of time. The knowledge gained from the SEALAB expeditions helped advance the science of deep sea diving and rescue, and contributed to the understanding of the psychological and physiological strains humans can endure.[1]
Preliminary research work was undertaken by George F. Bond, who named the project after the Book of Genesis, which prophesised humans would gain dominion over the oceans. Bond began investigations in 1957 to develop theories about saturation diving. Bond's team exposed rats, goats, monkeys, and human beings to various gas mixtures at different pressures. By 1963 they had collected enough data to test the first SEALAB habitat.[2]
At the time, Jacques Cousteau and Edwin A. Link were pursuing privately funded saturation diving projects to study long-term underwater living. Link's efforts resulted in the first underwater habitat, occupied by aquanaut Robert Sténuit in the Mediterranean Sea at a depth of 61 m (200 ft) for one day on September 6, 1962. Cousteau's habitats included Conshelf I, with a 2-person crew at a depth of 10 m (33 ft) near Marseilles, placed on September 14, 1962, and Conshelf II, placed in the Red Sea at depths of 11 and 27 m (36 and 89 ft) on June 15, 1963. Later that year, the Kennedy administration decided to open a new "race" frontier, directing the navy to begin the SEALAB program.[2]
SEALAB I was commanded by Captain Bond,[3] who became known as "Papa Topside". SEALAB I proved that saturation diving in the open ocean was viable for extended periods. The experiment also offered information about habitat placement, habitat umbilicals, humidity, and helium speech descrambling.[4]
SEALAB I was lowered off the coast of Bermuda on July 20, 1964 to a depth of 192 feet (59 m) below the ocean surface. It was constructed from two converted floats and held in place with axles from railroad cars. The experiment involved four divers (LCDR Robert Thompson, MC; Gunners Mate First Class Lester Anderson, Chief Quartermaster Robert A. Barth, and Chief Hospital Corpsman Sanders Manning), who were to stay submerged for three weeks. The experiment was halted after 11 days due to an approaching tropical storm.[4] SEALAB I demonstrated the same issues as Conshelf: high humidity, temperature control, and verbal communication in the helium atmosphere.[2]
The astronaut and second American to orbit the Earth, Scott Carpenter, was scheduled to be the fifth aquanaut in the habitat. Carpenter was trained by Robert A. Barth. Shortly before the experiment took place, Carpenter had a scooter accident on Bermuda and broke a few bones. The crash ruined his chances of making the dive.[5]
SEALAB I is on display at the Man in the Sea Museum, in Panama City Beach, Florida, near where it was initially tested offshore before being deployed. It is on outdoor display.[6] Its metal hull is largely intact, though the paint faded to a brick red over the years.[7] The habitat's exterior was restored as part of its 50th anniversary, and now sports its original colors.[8]
SEALAB II was launched in 1965.[3] It was nearly twice as large as SEALAB I with heating coils installed in the deck to ward off the constant helium-induced chill, and air conditioning to reduce the oppressive humidity. Facilities included hot showers, a built-in toilet, laboratory equipment, eleven viewing ports, two exits, and refrigeration. It was placed in the La Jolla Canyon off the coast of Scripps Institution of Oceanography/UCSD, in La Jolla, California, at a depth of 205 feet (62 m). On August 28, 1965, the first of three teams of divers moved into what became known as the "Tilton Hilton" (Tiltin' Hilton, because of the slope of the landing site). The support ship Berkone hovered on the surface above, within sight of the Scripps pier. The helium atmosphere conducted heat away from the divers’ bodies so quickly temperatures were raised to 30 °C (86 °F) to ward off chill.[2]
Each team spent 15 days in the habitat, but aquanaut/former astronaut Scott Carpenter remained below for a record 30 days. In addition to physiological testing, the 28 divers tested new tools, methods of salvage, and an electrically heated drysuit.[8][9] They were aided by a bottlenose dolphin named Tuffy from the United States Navy Marine Mammal Program. Aquanauts and Navy trainers attempted, with mixed results, to teach Tuffy to ferry supplies from the surface to SEALAB or from one diver to another, and to come to the rescue of an aquanaut in distress.[10][11][12] When the SEALAB II mission ended on 10 October 1965, there were plans for Tuffy also to take part in SEALAB III.[13][14]
A sidenote from SEALAB II was a congratulatory telephone call that was arranged for Carpenter and President Lyndon B. Johnson. Carpenter was calling from a decompression chamber with helium gas replacing nitrogen, so Carpenter sounded unintelligible to operators.[15] The tape of the call circulated for years[when?] among Navy divers[who?] before it was aired on National Public Radio in 1999.[16][17]
In 2002, a group of researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography's High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network boarded the MV Kellie Chouest and used a Scorpio ROV to find the site of the SEALAB habitat.[18] This expedition was the first return to the site since the habitat was moved.[18]
With naval research funding constrained by Vietnam War combat requirements,[2] it was four years later before SEALAB III used the refurbished SEALAB II habitat placed in water three times deeper. Five teams of nine divers were scheduled to spend 12 days each in the habitat, testing new salvage techniques and conducting oceanographic and fishery studies.[19][20] Preparations for such a deep dive were extensive. In addition to many biomedical studies, work-up dives were conducted at the U.S. Navy Experimental Diving Unit at the Washington, D.C., Navy Yard. These “dives” were not done in the open sea, but in a special hyperbaric chamber that could recreate the pressures at depths as great as 1,025 feet (312 m) of sea water.
According to John Piña Craven, the U.S. Navy's head of the Deep Submergence Systems Project of which SEALAB was a part, SEALAB III "was plagued with strange failures at the very start of operations".[21] USS Elk River (IX-509) was specially fitted as a SEALAB operations support ship to replace Berkone; but the project was 18 months late and three million dollars over budget when SEALAB III was lowered to 610 feet (190 m) off San Clemente Island, California, on 15 February 1969. SEALAB team members were tense and frustrated by these delays, and began taking risks to make things work. When a poorly sized neoprene seal caused helium to leak from the habitat at an unacceptable rate, four divers volunteered to repair the leak in place rather than lifting the habitat to the surface. Their first attempt was unsuccessful, and the divers had been awake for twenty hours using amphetamines to stay alert for a second attempt,[2] during which aquanaut Berry L. Cannon died.[22][23] It was found that his rebreather was missing baralyme, the chemical necessary to remove carbon dioxide.[22] Surgeon commander John Rawlins, a Royal Navy medical officer assigned to the project, also suggested that hypothermia during the dive was a contributing factor to the problem not being recognized by the diver.[24]
According to Craven, while the other divers were undergoing the week-long decompression, repeated attempts were made to sabotage their air supply by someone aboard the command barge. Eventually, a guard was posted on the decompression chamber and the men were recovered safely. A potentially unstable suspect was identified by the staff psychiatrist, but the culprit was never prosecuted. Craven suggests this may have been done to spare the Navy bad press so soon after the USS Pueblo incident.[21]
The SEALAB program came to a halt, and although the SEALAB III habitat was retrieved,[21] it was eventually scrapped. Aspects of the research continued,[25] but no new habitats were built.
NCEL (now a part of Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center) of Port Hueneme, California, was responsible for the handling of several contracts involving life support systems used on SEALAB III.[26]
A model of SEALAB III can be found at the Man in the Sea MuseuminPanama City Beach, Florida.[6]
In 1964, Tuffy starred in the documentary 'The Dolphins That Joined the Navy'. The following year, he participated in the Sealab II project, an experiment where divers lived underwater. Tuffy carried messages and tools to the undersea habitat and practiced rescuing lost or injured divers.
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