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The History of American Deep Submersible Operations

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The History of American Deep Submersible Operations The History of American Deep wlctp (from Forman's preface, "a deep sub- Submersible Operations : shall refer to a manned vehicle which ble of sustained operations to a depth Will Forman f.Jf I meters"). In anticipation of govern- funding, the concept of a "wet NASA" 312 pages. Best Publishing Company \ ISBN: 0-941332-72-1 kly became a buzz-word throughout U.S. oceanographic community. \ Review by Hal Palmer \ For a variety of reasons, the U.S. \ Veridian MRJ Technology Solutions \ abmersible fleet dwindled rapidly, and Fairfax, Virginia USA \ Loday only a few remain active in industry and marine research. Will Dr. Don Walsh of Trieste and Marianas Forman's book provides an engag- Trench fame opens his Foreword to Will ing, first-hand account of the trials, Forman's book stating... "I cannot think of a tribulations and lessons learned in more qualified person to write this book." This taking man to the ocean's depths. It reviewer certainly concurs in Don's endorse- stimulating account of American ment. I had the privilege of a casual but enlight- marine engineering and science in the fast-paced ening association with Will when I too worked at world of underwater exploration. Companion books the U.S. Naval Ordnance Test Station (NOTS). I was at such as Frank Busby's exhaustive and thorough the Pasadena Annex and on San Clemente Island while compendium of manned submersibles (Busby, 1976) Will was toiling to build the "Deep Jeep" in the middle and Richard Geyer's analysis of applications to science of the Mojave desert! One of his colleagues, a renowned and engineering (Geyer, 1977) can augment Forman's marine geologist then at NOTS, constantly referred to account of U.S. involvement in deep submergence. A submersibles as "those backyard death-traps" although recent paper by Peter Rona (2000) will bring interested he did bump me from a dive in the Cousteau readers current with the world-wide status of deep- "Soucoupe" when Westinghouse and the Navy con- diving manned submersibles. tracted it for dives off San Clemente in the early 60s. Numerous photographs, drawings and tables Many of us whose careers have spanned the heyday enhance this narrative of the evolution of American of manned submersibles (1960s and 70s) will be familiar undersea activities. The inclusion of a bibliography with the people and craft Will presents in his well- citing sources, both published materials and personal researched book. He begins with a fascinating account interviews, provides a valuable resource in itself. A of the "turtle," a Revolutionary War vintage one-man thorough index, sometimes an afterthought in many submarine built to deliver ordnance designed to sink publications, permits direct access to information on British ships in Boston Harbor. Forman takes the reader people, events and vehicles. Will has done a masterful on an historic tour of subsequent "submarine" develop- job in summarizing an enormous amount of informa- ments, all related to military operations until the initia- tion in a readable, informative and sometimes tion of deep diving for science launched by William humorous dialog--often in the first person. He was Beebe and Otis Barton employing their tethered diving there, and thank goodness he took the time to capture spheres, the "Bathysphere" and "Benthoscope". history that could easily have slipped away. U.S. Navy interest in deep submergence prompted the purchase of the Swiss-designed, Italian-built REFERENCES "Trieste" in 1958. The Office of Naval Research paid Busby, R.E, 1976: Manned Submersibles. Office of the $200,000 for Trieste and had her shipped to the Naval Oceanographer of the Navy. Washington, D.C., 764 pp. Electronics Lab in San Diego. From the success and Geyer, R.A. (ed.), 1977: Submersibles and their use in scientific excitement generated by Trieste's exploits U.S. Oceanography and Ocean Engineering. Elsevier industry, primarily aerospace firms, Westinghouse Oceanography Series, 17 Amsterdam, 383 pp. Electric and several private companies, foresaw enor- Rona, P.A., 2000: Deep-diving Manned Research mous promise in deep submergence vehicles and liter- Submersibles. MTS Journal, 33 (4), 13-25. ally plunged into fabrication, testing and research Treadwell, T.K., 1977: The Rationale for Submersibles. programs employing scores of manned submersibles. In: Submersibles and their use in Oceanography and According to "Tex" Treadwell (1977), at the beginning Ocean Engineering. R.A. Geyer, ed., Elsevier of the 1960s there were only 4 deep-sea research vehi- Oceanography series, 17, Amsterdam, 14-21. cles in operation. By 1970 there were 43 and from Don Walsh's count, by the end of 1970 there were 200 world- 122 Oceanography • Vol. 13 • No. 3/2000 .
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