sageGrouse
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Deepstar 4000 was a rather well-known submersible that operated between 1965 and 1972, mostly under lease by the navy. It was designed by Jacques Cousteau, and built by Westinghouse. Having an association with Cousteau lent Deepstar a certain amount of cachet, which resulted in more new coverage than it might otherwise have garnered. The submersible carried a 3-man crew - one pilot and two observers. It was built to withstand an operating depth of 4,000 feet.
In October, and again in early November 1968, my dad snapped a number of photographs and some 8mm film footage of Deepstar aboard the supply ship "Search Tide". His company produced much of the film and lighting equipment on Deepstar. He was accompanied by his business associate Robert O. Briggs, president of the company, who had worked previously with Carl Shipek, one of the oceanographers from the Navy Electronics Laboratory doing sea bottom analysis using Deepstar. Shipek and Briggs had presented a paper together on the topic the year before.
There were three pilots for Deepstar in this time period: Ron Church, Robert Bradley, and Curt Adams. Ron Church was the well-known underwater and surf photographer. He was also an avid diver. Robert Bradley was an aviator and diver. The book "Manned Submersibles" by R. Frank Busby was dedicated to Bradley, who passed away in 1973 in a diving accident.
The photographs and film clips below show some scenes from the October outing. After arriving back in San Diego that day, Church, Briggs, and Hatchett went sailing, and there is some footage of that. On November 7, 1968, Hatchett and Briggs went out with the Search Tide and Deepstar. The second group of photos are from that day. By comparing the Deepstar logs with the film evidence of who the crew was, I'm confident that the footage depicts the 499th dive of Deepstar. The next day, Ron Church was the pilot for the celebrated 500th dive. Later that month, there was an event held to celebrate the dive, during which Bradley, and probably the other two pilots as well, were presented a Single Red Sea-Dweller watch (this link is to an excellent post about Bradley and this watch) by Rolex and Westinghouse. Many years later, Bradley's watch from that event fetched over $700,000 at auction.
I have additional photos of the October dive, and the November dive in a more lengthy format. With a couple exceptions, the photos below are not duplicates of the photos on those blog posts.
October 1968
Above: Carl Shipek, left and Bob Briggs, right in front of the equipment rack attached to Deepstar's bow. They are aboard the support ship "Search Tide".
Above: Carl Shipek, left, and Bob Briggs, right, discuss equipment attached to Deepstar's equipment rack.
Above: Briggs and Shipek under the equipment rack.
Above: Bob Briggs, left, and Ron Church, right, stand by Deepstar 4000. On the equipment rack are syntactic foam blocks to provide buoyancy to balance the added weight of the rack and gear.
Above: Ron Church atop Deepstar, about to enter through the hatch.
Above: Ron Church (head turned), Bob Briggs (seated), and George Hatchett (behind the camera) sailing in San Diego Bay after returning from their day with Deepstar. The people involved in the oceanographic activity buzzing in San Diego at this time developed friendships that extended to their off-work hours, including sailing and diving. Briggs' 14 year old son was taught scuba diving by Church.
November 7, 1968
Above: Deepstar ready to be launched for its 499th dive on Nov. 7, 1968. The diver at right will assist in the launch, including detaching the hoist's hook.
Above: The dive completed, a diver is in the water to attach the hoist hook so Deepstar can be taken aboard.
Above: Deepstar is secured after its dive.
Above: Carl Ship in the left foreground was the first to exit Deepstar. O'Mara, the other observer is exiting through the hatch. The pilot, Curt Adams, will be the last to exit. At the far right, with his back to the camera, is the person I believe to be Robert Bradley, one of the other Deepstar pilots.
In October, and again in early November 1968, my dad snapped a number of photographs and some 8mm film footage of Deepstar aboard the supply ship "Search Tide". His company produced much of the film and lighting equipment on Deepstar. He was accompanied by his business associate Robert O. Briggs, president of the company, who had worked previously with Carl Shipek, one of the oceanographers from the Navy Electronics Laboratory doing sea bottom analysis using Deepstar. Shipek and Briggs had presented a paper together on the topic the year before.
There were three pilots for Deepstar in this time period: Ron Church, Robert Bradley, and Curt Adams. Ron Church was the well-known underwater and surf photographer. He was also an avid diver. Robert Bradley was an aviator and diver. The book "Manned Submersibles" by R. Frank Busby was dedicated to Bradley, who passed away in 1973 in a diving accident.
The photographs and film clips below show some scenes from the October outing. After arriving back in San Diego that day, Church, Briggs, and Hatchett went sailing, and there is some footage of that. On November 7, 1968, Hatchett and Briggs went out with the Search Tide and Deepstar. The second group of photos are from that day. By comparing the Deepstar logs with the film evidence of who the crew was, I'm confident that the footage depicts the 499th dive of Deepstar. The next day, Ron Church was the pilot for the celebrated 500th dive. Later that month, there was an event held to celebrate the dive, during which Bradley, and probably the other two pilots as well, were presented a Single Red Sea-Dweller watch (this link is to an excellent post about Bradley and this watch) by Rolex and Westinghouse. Many years later, Bradley's watch from that event fetched over $700,000 at auction.
I have additional photos of the October dive, and the November dive in a more lengthy format. With a couple exceptions, the photos below are not duplicates of the photos on those blog posts.
October 1968
Above: Carl Shipek, left and Bob Briggs, right in front of the equipment rack attached to Deepstar's bow. They are aboard the support ship "Search Tide".
Above: Carl Shipek, left, and Bob Briggs, right, discuss equipment attached to Deepstar's equipment rack.
Above: Briggs and Shipek under the equipment rack.
Above: Bob Briggs, left, and Ron Church, right, stand by Deepstar 4000. On the equipment rack are syntactic foam blocks to provide buoyancy to balance the added weight of the rack and gear.
Above: Ron Church atop Deepstar, about to enter through the hatch.
Above: Ron Church (head turned), Bob Briggs (seated), and George Hatchett (behind the camera) sailing in San Diego Bay after returning from their day with Deepstar. The people involved in the oceanographic activity buzzing in San Diego at this time developed friendships that extended to their off-work hours, including sailing and diving. Briggs' 14 year old son was taught scuba diving by Church.
November 7, 1968
Above: Deepstar ready to be launched for its 499th dive on Nov. 7, 1968. The diver at right will assist in the launch, including detaching the hoist's hook.
Above: The dive completed, a diver is in the water to attach the hoist hook so Deepstar can be taken aboard.
Above: Deepstar is secured after its dive.
Above: Carl Ship in the left foreground was the first to exit Deepstar. O'Mara, the other observer is exiting through the hatch. The pilot, Curt Adams, will be the last to exit. At the far right, with his back to the camera, is the person I believe to be Robert Bradley, one of the other Deepstar pilots.
