Sealab II

[Akimbo]

A couple of us on the Mark II DDS wanted to dive the Sea Lab II site in 1971, but after talking to the support divers who raised the habitat and open-bottom bells we decided not to. They said they didn't leave much behind since Scripps was hosting them on the pier and they were pretty insistent that it be cleaned up. The bottom is pretty soft mud, like most of the canyon off La Jolla Shores. Any artifacts would require an air lift or waterjet to get by now, if they aren't at the bottom of the canyon. It would not have been that easy to find the exact spot in the pre-GPS days, even with directions from support divers.

We scrubbed the idea after finding a cache of Sea Lab II coffee mugs in a store room, which was the main objective of the dive. In hindsight, it would have been cool though. There is an interesting account of searching for the site to place the Habitat in Papa Topside, Chapter 9.

Amazon.com: Papa Topside: The Sealab Chronicles of Capt. George F. Bond, Usn (9781557507952): George F. Bond, Helen A. Siiteri: Books

 

[Thalassamania]

I've never heard anything about murder, I'd be interested in the story.

John Craven, who oversaw classified work at SeaLab, is an old friend never said anbything to me about a muyrder, As John tells it, the idea that SeaLab had failed, "turned out to be a perfect cover to establish a major program of submarine intelligence using that technology. To do that, we couldn't announce to people that SeaLab was successful.''

That success was put to work with a specially-designed submarine, the USS Halibut, on the floor of the Soviet Sea of Okhotsk. Saturation Divers, using work pioneered at SeaLab, did a number of things, they locked out of a mock DSR that was actually a saturation habitat and was mounted on the sub's back, they retrieved Soviet test missiles and tapped on a phone cable that carried Soviet Navy communications in the clear. All this is laid out in two books, "Blind Man's Bluff,'' and "The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea."

 

[Akimbo]

I've never heard anything about murder, I'd be interested in the story...

I must have missed something. Murder???

 

[Thalassamania]

Was reading the posts and noticed the one about diving on the old Sea Lab site and why the project was terminated. My dad was the USN Diving Officer on the project. After he passed away we found his journals and the death of the diver apparently had been classified. The diver was murdered. It was not an accident. It acctually happened on Sea Lab III off San Clemente Island. No mention of why the project terminated. The last journal entry mentioned it being moved to a better location as there is a deep water trench where they were working. I was suprised by the journal entry because as a teenager I was actively involved with the project (as much as I could be as a dependent) and I was told it was an accident. J. Warren Killion

That's what the man said!

 

[Akimbo]

That's what the man said!

Totally missed that part, thanks. I suppose anything is possible, but hard to believe.

From everything I saw and heard, continuing the project would have bordered on murder. Sea Lab III was an enormously more complex operation than Sea Lab II. I never understood why they made such an aggressive increase in depth.

I suspect that the main reason Sea Lab was cancelled was the realization that habitat based operations made no sense to the Navy's objective. The "mobile" Mark I DDS (Deep Dive System) was almost ready for trials and the Mark II on the Elk River was there, but took two more years to get sort of operational.

Outside of limited and shallow scientific applications, habitats are way too hard to support industrial or military work, lack mobility, are too susceptible to weather, difficult to maintain, and manage problems/emergencies. I understand the motivation in those early days though. Habitats are emotionally enticing to me even today.

Thalassamania, are any habitats still operating?

 

[Thalassamania]

Three down in the Keys, Aquarius, Jules (the old PRINUL/La Chalupa) Undersea Lodge and Marinelab (ne MEDUSA), Scott Carpenter Space Analog Station, Lloyd Godson's Biosub, the one I miss is Aiger.

 

[Jkillion@aol.com]

Mr. Killion,

Those notes are historically significant and should be presereved and if possible copies made avaliable to future serious dive historians. ( coukd you father have been Jack Tragasser aka "Black Jack."

Sea Lab was terminated after the death of Barry Cannon --which was viewed on TV 6M news by the American public-- and the rest of the world.

His death was offically listed as an accident...The barolime scrubbers had not been changed between dives.

"Man in the Sea" program AKA "Wet NASA" which "Sea Lab" was a componet was placed on hold and never recovered and soon became "Man on the dock program."

There is a lot more to it than this thumb nail response - but this gives the general idea..

SDM

My dad was the Senior Diving Officer, Lt. R.R. Warren, Naval Ordinance Test Station. In his journal he says the murder was committed by a "disgruntled" diver. No mention is made of the name of the "disgruntled diver."