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Sealab

Page 39

by Ben Hellwarth


  48 little interest in money: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 181.

  48 battered Volkswagen Bug: Link to Mr. and Mrs. William Link, Aug. 31, 1962, from aboard Sea Diver, Monaco, Folder 236, LC.

  48 put up $500,000: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 181.

  48 Sea Diver: Ibid., pp. 160–64, 172, 182; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 20.

  48 Link met with Jacques Cousteau: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 255.

  48 office at the Oceanographic Museum: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 300.

  49 a short walk past: Author’s visit to the museum, Nov. 3, 2004.

  49 home to JYC’s friends: Madsen, Cousteau, p. 113.

  49 Link kept Sea Diver berthed: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 254.

  49 craft moored nearby: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 34.

  49 always dreamed of flying: Jean-Michel Cousteau, Mon père le commandant, p. 21.

  49 training to become a Navy pilot: Madsen, Cousteau, p. 13.

  49 a late-night car crash: Ibid., p. 18; Jean-Michel Cousteau, Mon père le commandant, p. 22.

  49 took up swimming: Madsen, Cousteau, p. 21; Jean-Michel Cousteau, Mon père le commandant, p. 29.

  49 Bobby, a pilot, who was killed: Ellen and Lynn Moorehead (Bond relatives, as cited in notes to Chapter 1), e-mail to author, April 6, 2005.

  49 lunch with Cousteau: Link to Cousteau at Oceanographic Institute, Dec. 14, 1961, Folder 227, LC.

  49 possibility of teaming up: Ibid.

  49 met again several times: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 255.

  49 Navy was in no hurry: Link to Aquadro, July 9, 1962, Folder 236; Link to M. M. Payne, Feb. 11, 1962, Folder 229, LC.

  49 a “house” big enough: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 255.

  50 an aluminum cylinder: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 45; Lord Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” National Geographic, May 1963, p. 719.

  50 backing from the Smithsonian: Link, “Our Man-in-Sea Project,” p. 715; Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 257.

  50 diving bell: Davis, Deep Diving and Submarine Operations, pp. 197, 602.

  50 siege of Tyre: Ibid., p. 603.

  50 Submersible Decompression Chamber: Ibid., pp. 19, 137; this citation uses the term “submerged,” but this may be a typographical error, as such chambers were commonly known as “submersible,” according to Peter Bennett, coeditor of The Physiology and Medicine of Diving and Compressed Air Work, interview, May 15, 2008.

  50 gave Link some ideas: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 15.

  50 tedious and exhausting: Ibid., p. 136.

  50 pressurized elevator to shuttle divers: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 2.

  50 new cylinder on board: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, pp. 257, 259.

  50 tons of Byzantine artifacts: Robert Sténuit, The Deepest Days, translated by Morris Kemp (New York: Coward-McCann, 1966), p. 50.

  51 near the Lipari Islands: Memorandum from Link to Our friends and relatives interested in our underwater archeological and diving activities, “Report No. 2,” Oct. 5, 1962, p. 2, Folder 237, LC.

  51 a convenient excuse: Ibid.

  51 John T. Hayward: Link to Captain Jacques Cousteau, Jan. 8, 1962; Link to Vice Admiral John T. Hayward, Jan. 26, 1962, Folder 228, LC.

  51 money to be made in selling: Link to Mendel Peterson, Aug. 31, 1962, from aboard Sea Diver, Monaco, Folder 236, LC.

  51 “this double-crossing by Cousteau”: Ibid.

  51 Mendel Peterson: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, pp. 79, 85, 91.

  51 Bond sent a letter: Bond to Lt. Robert Bornmann, MC, U.S. Navy, Aug. 31, 1962, from U.S. Naval Medical Research Laboratory, New London, Folder 358, LC.

  52 Navy approval to proceed: Ibid.

  52 selfish interest on Bond’s part: Link to Aquadro, Sept. 19, 1962, Folder 237, LC.

  52 his concept: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 32; Bond, “Man in the Sea” (1967), p. 3; Bond, “Tomorrow the Seas,” p. 6.

  52 nor even the cautious U.S. Navy brass: Bornmann to Link, Nov. 15, 1962, Folder 360, LC.

  52 steal Bond’s thunder: Link to Dr. Charles Aquadro, July 9, 1962, Folder 236, LC.

  52 Bond deserved all due credit: Ibid.; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 41.

  52 prod the Navy into action: Link to Aquadro, July 9, 1962.

  52 gladly drop his own: Ibid.

  52 any serious mishap: Bornmann to Link, Nov. 15, 1962, Folder 360, LC.

  52 would have heeded Bond’s warning: Link to Aquadro, Sept. 19, 1962, Folder 237, LC.

  53 just thirty-three feet: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 315; Link to Mendel Peterson, from aboard Sea Diver, Monaco, Folder 236, LC.

  53 great publicity value: Link to Our Friends, “Report No. 2,” p. 3.

  53 live in a swimming pool: Ibid.; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 39.

  53 a variety of possible depths: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 38.

  53 Navy’s Sixth Fleet: Ibid.

  53 delivering Link’s cylinder: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 262.

  53 provide him with the costly helium: Ibid.; Link to Cmdr. Robert J. Alexander, Office of Chief of Naval Operations, Nov. 17, 1962, Folder 238; John Ellis, Smithsonian Institution, to Link, July 13, 1962, Folder 357, LC.

  53 have a submarine rescue ship: Robert Bornmann, interview, June 22, 2003; Link to Vice Adm. D. L. MacDonald, Oct. 3, 1962, Folder 237, LC; Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 4.

  53 requested that Charlie Aquadro: Link to Adm. George C. Anderson, Chief of Naval Operations, Feb. 11, 1962, Folder 229; Link to Aquadro, July 9, 1962, Folder 236, LC.

  53 befriended Link while stationed: Aquadro, interview, July 12, 2003.

  53 underwater archaeological expeditions: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, pp. 165, 213; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 197.

  53 Aquadro would have been happy: Aquadro to Link, Oct. 20, 1962, from Arlington, Va., Folder 359, LC.

  53 Link’s request for medical assistance: Ibid.; Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 220.

  53 Dr. Robert Bornmann: Bornmann, interviews, Feb. 13, 2003, and June 22, 2003.

  54 rarely had direct exchanges: Bob Barth, interview, Dec. 15, 2003; Walt Mazzone, e-mails to author, June 28, 2003, and Jan. 25, 2005; also confirmed by a lack of correspondence between Link and Bond in the Link Collections.

  54 Among the items Bornmann packed: Ibid.; Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 1.

  54 a bit of a temper: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. xviii.

  54 little time to diversions: Ibid.

  54 At fifty-eight: Bornmann, interview, June 22, 2003; Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” pp. 718, 731; Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 48.

  54 a series of test dives: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. 260.

  54 anything he wouldn’t do himself: Ibid., p. 262.

  54 up to his neck: Robert Bornmann, interview, Aug. 7, 2003.

  54 weight of more than two tons: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 36.

  55 shot out of the water: Bornmann, interview, Aug. 7, 2003.

  55 they had done enough: Ibid.

  55 On August 28, Link attempted: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 725; Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 4; Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 72.

  55 mostly by caisson workers: Behnke, “Early Studies of Decompression,” in The Physiology and Medicine of Diving and Compressed Air Work, 1st ed., pp. 248–49.

  55 diving tables maxed out: U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Part I, pp. 98, 110.

  55 donned scuba gear: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 41.

  55 spent much of the afternoon: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 725.

  55 twenty-one-year-old Clayton: Ibid., pp. 723, 725.

  55 find time for a nap: Ibid.

  5
5 hunched over: Ibid., p. 726.

  55 hauled the sealed-up cylinder onto the deck: Ibid.

  56 crunched some decompression figures: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 4; Bornmann, interview, June 22, 2003.

  56 “exceptional exposures”: U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Part I, p. 102.

  56 Bornmann opened the hatches: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 726; Bornmann, interview.

  56 nearly fifteen hours, including: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 726.

  56 Edmund Halley: Davis, Deep Diving and Submarine Operations, pp. 608–9; Dugan, Man Under the Sea, p. 309.

  56 narrowly averted getting bent: U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Part I, p. 98; James T. Joiner, “Diving Bells; Diver Lockout Systems,” in A Pictorial History of Diving, Arthur J. Bachrach, Ph.D., Barbara Mowery Desiderati, and Mary Margaret Matzen, eds. (San Pedro, Calif.: Best Publishing, 1988), p. 5.

  56 considered a renaissance man: Van Hoek with M. C. Link, From Sky to Sea, p. xi.

  56 getting a little old for this: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 726; Bornmann, interview, Aug. 7, 2003.

  57 met Sténuit at Vigo Bay: Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 33.

  57 impressed Link as skillful: Edwin A. Link, “Introduction,” in The Deepest Days, p. 12.

  57 received Link’s invitation: Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 66; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 40.

  57 first man on the moon: Robert Sténuit, taped interview, Nov. 26, 2004.

  CHAPTER 5: DEPTH AND DURATION

  Page

  58 On September 5: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 727; Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 85; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 47; Sténuit, interview, Nov. 26, 2004. For another account of the Sténuit dive, see Marion Link to Bill and Clayton Link, Sept. 11, 1962, Folder 237, LC.

  58 fantastic conductor of heat: U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Part I, p. 14.

  58 almost pure helium: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 727.

  58 a good night’s rest: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 48.

  58 installing an additional heater: Ibid., p. 47.

  59 itself a recent innovation: E. R. Cross and D. J. Styer Sr., “The History of the Diving Suit,” in A Pictorial History of Diving, p. 42.

  59 Life and National Geographic: Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 89.

  59 some simple tasks: Ibid.

  59 broiled Sténuit’s head: Ibid., p. 88.

  59 nearly froze: Ibid., pp. 91, 93; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 50.

  59 collect detailed physiological data: Bornmann to CNO, “Link Diving Expedition,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 3.

  59 to sleep by nine: Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 92.

  59 Céline’s D’un château l’autre: Ibid., p. 90.

  59 two ten-minute dives: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 5.

  59 called off the experiment: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 51.

  59 Sténuit protested: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 730.

  59 leak in the homemade ventilation: Ibid.; Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 5.

  59 couldn’t risk running out: M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 53.

  59 return of rough weather: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 5; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 51.

  59 a real breakthrough: Edwin A. Link, “Modern Equipment for Locating Wrecks,” in The Undersea Challenge: A Report of the Proceedings of the Second World Congress of Underwater Activities, Bernard Eaton, ed. (London: British Sub-Aqua Club, 1963), p. 128.

  59 believed they had proved: Link to Our friends, “Report No. 2,” p. 4.

  59 Mazzone were much less impressed: Mazzone, e-mail to author, June 28, 2003.

  60 Sunbird came to the rescue: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” Oct. 31, 1962, p. 5; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 55.

  60 Bornmann factored in both: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” pp. 5–7; M. C. Link, Windows in the Sea, p. 55.

  60 tables for helium and the Genesis results: Link, “Modern Equipment for Locating Wrecks,” in The Undersea Challenge, p. 131.

  60 felt a groaning ache: Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 100.

  60 equivalent of seventy feet: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” p. 5.

  60 rough weather to pass: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 730.

  60 ten feet every few hours: Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” pp. 6–7.

  60 twenty minutes past six o’clock: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” p. 730.

  60 For almost twenty-six of those: Ibid.; Bornmann to CNO, “Summary of Dives,” pp. 6–7.

  61 admirer John Godley: John Kilbracken to Link, July 26, 1961, from London, Folder 349, LC.

  61 spread across fourteen pages: Kilbracken, “The Long, Deep Dive,” pp. 718–31.

  61 noncommittal paragraphs: “Diver Up After 34 Hours,” New York Times, Sept. 9, 1962, p. 15.

  61 catchy headline: “Two Frenchmen to Spend Week Living in House on Floor of Sea,” New York Times, Sept. 9, 1962, p. 15.

  61 dubbed it Diogenes: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 315.

  62 ungainly clumps: James W. Miller and Ian G. Koblick, Living and Working in the Sea, 2nd ed. (Plymouth, Vt.: Five Corners, 1995), photograph, p. 31.

  62 “no-decompression” dives: U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Part I, pp. 96–99; Jean Alinat, a top Cousteau associate from 1947 to 1989, taped interview, Nice, France, Oct. 26, 2004.

  62 breathe ordinary compressed air: Dr. X. Fructus, “Operation Pre-Continent No. 1,” in The Undersea Challenge, pp. 79, 81.

  62 Conshelf One: Ibid., pp. 76–86; Cousteau, The Living Sea, pp. 314–25; Maurice Dessemond and Claude Wesly, Les hommes de Cousteau (France: Le Pré aux Clercs, 1997), pp. 95–106; Claude Wesly, interview, Marseille, France, Nov. 2, 2004.

  63 standard dive principles: Fructus, “Operation Pre-Continent No. 1,” p. 77.

  63 bouts of gastritis: Ibid., p. 83.

  63 Doctors came down: Ibid., p. 81.

  63 wanted to be left alone: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 321; Wesly, interview, Nov. 2, 2004.

  63 On the seventh day: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 324.

  64 Cousteau’s “exhibition”: Marion C. Link to Lord Kilbracken, Oct. 1, 1962, Sea Diver, Port of Monaco, Folder 237, LC.

  64 Cousteau would acknowledge: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 315.

  64 timid: Jacques-Yves Cousteau, “The Era of ‘Homo Aquaticus,’” in The Undersea Challenge, p. 10.

  64 “the first men to occupy”: Cousteau, The Living Sea, p. 315; see also p. 317.

  64 Falco and Wesly, too, took pride: Dessemond and Wesly, Les hommes de Cousteau, pp. 97–98; Jean-Michel Cousteau, Mon père le commandant, p. 120; Wesly, interview, Nov. 2, 2004.

  64 Second World Congress: “Preface,” in The Undersea Challenge, p. 2.

  64 Sténuit’s record dive: Link, “Modern Equipment for Locating Wrecks,” in The Undersea Challenge, p. 128.

  64 “a healthy specimen”: Ibid., p. 129.

  64 flamboyant keynote speech: Cousteau, “Era of ‘Homo Aquaticus,’” in The Undersea Challenge, p. 8.

  65 “Homo aquaticus”: Ibid.

  65 earnestly reported: “Cousteau Envisions a ‘Water Man,’” New York Times, Oct. 10, 1962, p. 6; “Aquanauts,” Newsweek, Oct. 29, 1962, p. 59.

  65 Dugan breathed further life: James Dugan, “Portrait of Homo Aquaticus,” New York Times Magazine, April 21, 1963, p. 20.

  CHAPTER 6: EXPERIMENTAL DIVERS

  Page

  66 necessary seals of approval: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 49; Secretary of the Navy to Officer in Charge, U.S. Naval Medical Research Laboratory, U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut; Subject: Permission to use naval personnel as subjects in prolonged exposure to pressure; request for; Permission is granted…, Aug. 17, 1962. This is the fifth and final endorsement attached to Bond’s memo of May 15, 1962, requesting permission (full cit
ation below; copy in author’s possession).

  66 Dr. James Wakelin: J. Y. Smith, “James Wakelin, Pioneer in Oceanography, Dies,” Washington Post, Dec. 23, 1990, p. B6.

  66 among Ed Link’s friends: James H. Wakelin Jr., “Thresher: Lesson and Challenge,” National Geographic, June 1964, p. 763; Link to Wakelin, Aug. 1, 1964; Link to D. W. Smith, president, General Precision Inc., Aug. 1, 1964, Folder 256, LC.

  66 recalled getting a visit: Bond, undated handwritten manuscript, for a section of the book in progress “Tomorrow the Seas,” pp. 8–10, probably circa 1970, as previously noted.

  66 visitor at the secretary’s Pentagon office: Capt. Steve Anastasion, aide to Assistant Navy Secretary James Wakelin from 1960 to 1963, interview, Nov. 21, 2003.

  67 “Gentleman Jim”: Rear Adm. J. Edward Snyder Jr., assistant to Wakelin from 1963 to 1968, interview, Oct. 27, 2003.

  67 test called Genesis C: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 33.

  67 the president was moved: “Pride of Place, National Naval Medical Center History,” www.bethesda.med.navy.mil/visitor/pride_of_place/pop_committee/history.html.

  67 looked neglected and unworthy: Bond, “Tomorrow the Seas,” pp. 13–14.

  67 Bond and Mazzone intended: Officer in Charge (Bond), U.S. Naval Medical Research Laboratory, U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut to the Secretary of the Navy via Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London; Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery; Chief of Naval Personnel; Subject: Permission to use naval personnel as subjects in prolonged exposure to pressure; request for (four “volunteer subjects” listed include Bond and Mazzone), May 15, 1962 (copy in author’s possession).

  67 supervisors doubling as test subjects: Commanding Officer, U.S. Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut to the Secretary of the Navy; this is the first of five endorsements attached to Bond’s memo seeking permission to use human subjects, June 18, 1962 (copy in author’s possession).

  67 trust and admire Commander Bond: Barth, Sea Dwellers, pp. 10, 40.

  67 played growing up in Manila: Ibid., pp. 49, 50.

  67 son of an Army officer: Bob Barth, interview, Sept. 30, 2002.

  68 Pan Am Clipper flying boats: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 50.

 

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