THE BIRTH OF THE BATHYSPHERE 95 



By the spring of 1930 the sphere was nearing comple- 

 tion. In April I took my staflF to the field laboratory on 

 Nonsuch Island, which had been given by the Bermuda 

 government for oceanographic work. For two years we had 

 been studying the life of the deep sea off Bermuda, carry- 

 ing on the work as the chief function of my Department 

 of Tropical Research, under the auspices of the New York 

 Zoological Society. This field, and the methods of our deep- 

 sea trawling, seemed well adapted to dovetail with at- 

 tempts at penetrating "in person," as the movies say, to 

 depths far beneath the surface. 



By the time my sea-going tug Gladisfen was in full 

 operation the bathysphere was ready. Mr. Barton and I 

 then joined forces and found that our various contribu- 

 tions to the attempt synchronized perfectly. Barton 

 brought with him to Bermuda the great sphere, thirty- 

 five hundred feet of steel cable, a full half mile of the 

 solid rubber electric cable, and the multitude of necessary 

 extras. I was able to provide the seven-ton Arcturus winch 

 and sheaves, the Gladisfen for towing out to sea, and my 

 staff for cooperation in the actual operation. 



A huge, open-decked barge, the Ready, was chartered, 

 furnished with a mast and derrick and two boilers, gen- 

 erating one hundred and ten pounds of steam pressure, 

 to drive the winches. Finally the bathysphere itself was 

 hoisted on board. One of the winches was used in operat- 

 ing the lift which raised or lowered the boom, while the 

 other carried the main cable which supported the bathy- 



