108 “ballast bins”: Ibid., p. 61; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 25; Sealab I film.
108 axles were another product: Melson, “Remarks,” p. 8.
108 Although somewhat unwieldy: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 56; Cyril Tuckfield, interview, March 24, 2003; Sealab I film.
108 like steel pellets: Culpepper, interview, March 11, 2003; Link, “Outpost Under the Ocean,” p. 533.
108 wrangled them into the ballast: Tuckfield, interview, March 24, 2004.
108 Barth and Dr. Thompson made: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 21.
109 the “air space”: Ibid.; Bill Culpepper, interview, Dec. 12, 2003.
109 Shortly before two o’clock: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 48.
109 SDC was another hand-me-down: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 32; Sealab I film.
109 Mazzone had to pick up: Mazzone, interview, Aug. 7, 2002.
109 he gave it a trial run: Walter Mazzone, taped interview, San Diego, Calif., Dec. 28, 2003.
109 Bond and Mazzone each took: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 57.
109 They swam the distance: Ibid.
109 deepest breath-holding dive: Ibid.
109 similar swim from Link’s cylinder: Sténuit, The Deepest Days, p. 169.
109 coral sand on the sea floor: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 50; James Atwater and Roger Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” Saturday Evening Post, Sept. 5, 1964, pp. 20, 21, 23.
109 the shark cage: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 57; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 77.
110 maintained at nearly seven times: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 29, 34, 39.
110 potentially great chapter: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 62.
110 the interior was a cross between: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 4, 14, 15, 25, 26; Sealab I film.
110 exhaled purposefully: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 57.
110 SDC was cramped: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 81.
111 teemed with marine life: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” pp. 21, 22; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 68.
111 version of “O Sole Mio”: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 39.
111 “Sealab I, this is”: Tape recording of Sealab I aquanauts upon arrival in the habitat (in author’s possession).
111 a favorite of Andy’s: Sherry Anderson, e-mail to author, Dec. 13, 2003.
111 “Well, Lester Anderson”: Tape recording of Sealab I aquanauts.
111 muttering over the intercom: Ibid.
111 “As I take it now”: Ibid.
111 about seventy-four Fahrenheit: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 19, 39.
111 set up the cameras: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 22.
111 “Smile!”: Tape recording of Sealab I aquanauts.
111 Anderson tried again: Ibid.
112 “Well, I guess that’s okay”: Ibid.
112 “Papa Topside”: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 62.
112 “my aquanauts”: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 54; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 43.
112 variety of setup procedures: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 39; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 68.
112 sparkling Mateus rosé: Ibid., p. 63; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 24.
112 wrong with the thermoelectric: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 39, 50.
112 had the use of their electrowriter: Ibid., p. 32.
112 “HELP!”: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 51.
112 just a lungful of air: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 79.
112 they’d go out on their own: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” makes this clear, as does a handwritten Sealab I logbook kept by the aquanauts, with extemporaneous notes on their daily activities (in author’s possession).
112 crystalline conditions: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 40, 41; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 67; Sealab I film.
112 crisscrossed the sandy sea floor: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 66; Sealab I film.
112 water was about seventy degrees: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 44; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 29.
113 “hookah”: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 21, 30.
113 killing conversation: Barth, interview, Jan. 16, 2004.
113 the new Mark VI: “Service Manual for Mark VI Underwater Breathing Apparatus,” U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Section D-E, Department of the Navy, Bureau of Ships, NAVSHIPS 393-0653, pp. 594–631; interviews with numerous Navy divers who used the rig, including Barth, interview, Jan. 11, 2002, and Richard Blackburn, a Sealab III aquanaut and team member for the Mark VI field evaluation conducted by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit Two, U.S. Atlantic Fleet Mine Force, Charleston, S.C., December 1962 to March 1963, several interviews, including Jan. 27, 2005; another helpful source was Kent Rockwell, scuba historian and former editor of Historical Diver, including his e-mails to author of May 17, 2004, and June 13, 2005.
113 less likely to kill a man: Blackburn, interview, Jan. 27, 2005; “Mark VI Semi-Closed Circuit Breathing Apparatus—Field Evaluation, December 1962–March 1963,” Evaluation Report 1–63, conducted by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit Two, submitted by J. C. Bladh, project officer, p. 1; Jim Bladh, interview during Sealab reunion, Panama City, Fla., March 12, 2005.
114 allowed to rise about one atmosphere: Walter Mazzone, interview, Jan. 19, 2005; Reynold T. Larsen and Walter F. Mazzone, “Excursion Diving from Saturation Exposures at Depth,” in Underwater Physiology—Proceedings of the Third Symposium on Underwater Physiology, sponsored by the Committee on Undersea Warfare of the National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council and the Office of Naval Research, in Washington, D.C., March 23–25, 1966, C. J. Lambertsen, ed. (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1967), p. 251; Charles Hillinger, “Aquanauts Under Sea Talk to Press Above,” Los Angeles Times, Sept. 10, 1965, p. A8.
114 “explosive decompression”: Peter Bennett, coeditor of The Physiology and Medicine of Diving and Compressed Air Work, taped interview, April 5, 2006.
114 a few technical difficulties: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 39.
114 their canned sardines: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 74; Sealab I film.
114 George and Wally: Command Information Bureau, Project Sealab I press releases, July 22 and July 27, 1964 (in author’s possession).
114 two sharks that appeared: Command Information Bureau, Project Sealab I press release, July 23, 1964.
115 behavior that irritated: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 56; Mazzone, interview, Jan. 2, 2002; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 38.
115 upset some topside sensibilities: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 27; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 79.
115 “aquanaut breakaway phenomenon”: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 35, with further elaboration in an undated, typed paper by Bond, titled “Sealab I,” p. 5; this paper appears to be a later version of his “Sealab I Chronicle” (copy in author’s possession); Mazzone, interview, Jan. 2, 2002.
115 studied marine biology: Thompson, interview, Dec. 29, 2003.
115 informal demonstration: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” pp. 1, 26, 32.
115 fishy aroma: Barth, interview; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 43.
115 divers shuttled supplies: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 79.
115 kept in the mid-eighties: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 39–40, 42, 49.
115 variety of physical discomforts: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 23; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 42.
115 everyone’s joints ached: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documenta
ry Account,” p. 23.
115 pain in Barth’s left shoulder: Ibid., p. 24.
115 Thompson and Manning had headaches: Ibid., p. 23.
115 spiked fevers and remained feverish: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 47, 49.
116 didn’t write or think clearly: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 24.
116 complained about rapid breathing: Ibid., p. 31; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 47.
116 nearly burned his lips: Thompson, interview, Dec. 29, 2003; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 30.
116 with a thermometer: Robert Thompson, interview, Sept. 20, 2002.
116 a nude blonde: Aquadro, interview, May 16–18, 2003 (he had kept the original as a Sealab I souvenir); Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 21.
116 books were propped up: Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 22 (photo); Sealab I film.
116 recited prose and poetry: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 57; George Bond Jr., e-mail to author, Feb. 24, 2003.
116 On the first Sunday: Handwritten Sealab I logbook, entry for July 26, 1964; Command Information Bureau, Project Sealab I press release, July 27, 1964.
116 “Sealab Prayer”: Retirement ceremony program for Capt. George F. Bond, Dec. 1, 1975 (in author’s possession); recited from memory by Walt Mazzone at Sealab reunions.
117 reached several ham operators: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 73; tape recording of Sealab I activity, dated July 28, 1964 (in author’s possession); Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 33.
117 like undersea summer camp: Barth, Sea Dwellers, pp. 73–74, 79; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 41.
117 work Melson found lacking: Melson, “Remarks,” p. 10; Melson, interview, Jan. 28, 2003.
117 end of the first week: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 31.
117 arrival of Star I: Ibid.; Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 62.
117 Albert “Smoky” Stover: Barth, interview, Jan. 16, 2004; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 75.
117 also set up a TV camera: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 73.
117 asked Manning to take: “Inside Log Sealab I, L. Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 1 (in author’s possession).
117 sub wasn’t much bigger than: Navy photograph No. XAB-18077, U.S. Naval Station, Bermuda, July 1964 (in author’s possession); Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 152.
117 Barth had grabbed on to a piece: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 76.
118 Manning ran out of film: “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 1; Manning was said to be quite ill when research for this book began, could not be reached for interviews, and is said to have died in late March 2004 (Bob Barth, e-mail to author and others, April 9, 2004).
118 gave the camera to Anderson: “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 1.
118 swam the twenty yards or so: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 55.
118 bubbles had ceased to burp: Ibid.; Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 63.
118 Bond could see him scurry: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 63.
118 activate the bypass: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 55.
118 heard a clang: Ibid.; “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 2; Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 76; Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 24.
118 figured it must be Manning: “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 2.
118 Anderson looked down and: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 56.
118 managing to get: “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 2.
118 stuck his index finger: Ibid.
118 a hundred pounds of diving gear: Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 24.
118 shouted for help and rapped: Ibid.; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 56.
118 “Breathe!”: “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 2.
118 when he heard the SOS: Thompson, interview, Feb. 19, 2004; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 32.
119 not making much sense: “Anderson, GM1, Diary,” p. 2.
119 insisted nothing was wrong: Thompson, interview, Sept. 20, 2002.
119 Dr. Thompson’s checkup: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 56; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 32.
119 beat Anderson at cribbage: Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 24.
119 Manning’s eyes: Ibid.; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 32.
119 “face mask squeeze”: U.S. Navy Diving Manual, Part I, p. 150; Thompson, interview, Dec. 29, 2003.
119 “I’ve seen eyes like”: Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 24.
119 received a special supper: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 32.
119 talking-to from Captain Mazzone: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 48.
119 hurricane conditions: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” pp. 55, 68; Sealab I film.
119 could tear the support barge: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 58.
119 temporarily self-sufficient: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 26, 46.
119 hunker down and take their chances: Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 24; Thompson, interview, Sept. 20, 2002; Sealab I film.
119 Bond was satisfied: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 62; Melson, “Remarks,” p. 10.
120 settled on a plan: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” pp. 70–72, 74.
120 crashing to the bottom: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 80.
120 began its slow ascent: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 19; Sealab I film.
120 three-quarter moon: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 69.
120 The ascent rate: Ibid., pp. 72–73.
120 air space for a smoke: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 35.
120 first of many holds: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 53.
120 up to ninety feet: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 74.
120 hardly brush his teeth: Ibid.
120 slow-motion roller coaster: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 80.
120 Bond had to concede: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 74.
121 took a last breath: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 80; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 53.
121 Anderson avoided looking: Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 36.
121 did not like the sensation: Ibid.
121 cable caught on an: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 76.
121 heard a pop: Thompson, interview, Dec. 29, 2003.
121 stuck his thumb over: Ibid.; Frank Hogan, “Thumb in Leak Saves 4 Aquanauts,” (San Diego) Evening Tribune, Feb. 6, 1965.
121 fitted with a box-shaped frame: Barth, Sea Dwellers, pp. 66, 150–51; Sealab I film.
121 sloshed in several inches: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 81.
121 makeshift urinals: Ibid., p. 82.
121 reporters were due to arrive: Ibid., p. 83; O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” p. 54.
121 wouldn’t let his aquanauts out: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 83.
122 more than just frustration: Ibid.; Barth, interview, June 9, 2003.
122 almost fifty-five hours: O’Neal et al., “Project Sealab Summary Report,” pp. 53–54.
122 informal press conference: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 83; Thompson, “Sealab I: A Personal Documentary Account,” p. 36.
122 wore sunglasses: Navy photograph No. XAB-18102, U.S. Naval Station, Bermuda, July 1964 (in author’s possession); Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 155.
122 jock itch and air embolism: Barth, Sea Dwellers, p. 83.
122 formal press conference: Bond, Papa Topside, pp. 64–65; Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” pp. 78–80.
12
2 “Double Eagle”: Bond, “Sealab I Chronicle,” p. 79.
122 sat on a temporary stage: Navy photograph No. N24627.203, U.S. Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory, July 1964 (in author’s possession).
122 Manning again wore: Ibid.; Sealab I film.
122 which his wife detested: Rose Anderson, interview, April 13, 2004.
122 longest printable statement: Bond, Papa Topside, p. 65.
122 triple-decker banner headlines: Richard Witkin, “Ranger Takes Close-Up Moon Photos,” New York Times, Aug. 1, 1964, p. 1.
122 ran sixteen paragraphs by: Hanson W. Baldwin, “Navy Men Set Up ‘House’ Under Atlantic and Find Biggest Problem Is Communication,” New York Times, Aug. 11, 1964, p. 35.
123 fired off a letter the next day: Link to Turner Catledge, managing editor, New York Times, Aug. 12, 1964; see also Link to Dr. C. J. Lambertsen, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Aug. 24, 1964, Folder 256, LC.
123 A few of Link’s friends: H. G. Place, former chairman and president, General Precision Equipment Corp., to Hanson W. Baldwin, Aug. 28, 1964, Folder 381, LC; L. F. Weidman, president, Royal Tours, to Catledge, Aug. 24, 1964, Folder 381, LC.
123 Baldwin responded: Baldwin to Capt. Paul Hammond, USNR (ret.), 230 Park Ave., New York, Aug. 13, 1964, Folder 381, LC.
123 “Simply because everyone”: George Palmer, assistant to the managing editor, New York Times, to Link, Aug. 18, 1964, Folder 381, LC.
123 failed completely to recognize: C. H. Hedgepeth, Officer in Charge, Navy Experimental Diving Unit, to Link, July 9, 1964, Folder 380, LC.
123 smattering of magazine articles: Atwater and Vaughan, “Room at the Bottom of the Sea,” p. 18; “A Home Under the Sea,” Life, Sept. 4, 1964, p. 74; “Men Beneath the Sea,” Newsweek, July 20, 1964, p. 56; “Men Under Pressure,” Newsweek, Aug. 24, 1964, p. 56; Coles Phinzy, “Settlers at the Bottom of the Sea,” Sports Illustrated, June 29, 1964, p. 22; Bill Barada, “U.S. Navy Aquanauts; The Men of Sealab I,” Skin Diver, August 1964, p. 12.
123 on To Tell the Truth: Barth, interview, June 9, 2003.
CHAPTER 10: THE TILTIN’ HILTON
Page
124 planning began in earnest: D. C. Pauli and G. P. Clapper, Office of Naval Research, eds., “Project Sealab Report: An Experimental 45-Day Undersea Saturation Dive at 205 Feet,” Sealab II Project Group, ONR Report ACR-124, Department of the Navy, Washington, D.C., March 8, 1967, p. 2. Two Navy-sanctioned documentary films provided a valuable visual record of Sealab II activities and added corroborating information in their voice-over narrations. To Sink a House, produced by the Naval Undersea Research and Development Center, Motion Picture Productions Technical Information Staff, gives an overview of the project but with emphasis on the engineering involved with lowering the habitat; Man in the Sea—The Story of Sealab II, produced by John J. Hennessy and W. A. Palmer Films, contains some of the same material but covers the project more broadly (video copies in author’s possession, but also available in libraries). A valuable audio record came from hours of assorted tape recordings made during the Sealab II project, including two press conferences (in author’s possession). Also helpful was the Navy’s informally produced “Navy compilation of Sealab II press coverage” (in author’s possession). It contains many copies of a wide variety of articles published during the project, which complemented those that the author researched and obtained individually, from key publications such as the two daily San Diego, Calif., newspapers of the time, the San Diego Union and the Evening Tribune, and also the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and assorted magazines. Along with the available documentation, interviews with Sealab II participants were indispensable, including those cited below.
Sealab Page 42