80 OCEAN SCIENCES AND NATIONAL SECURITY 



In recognition ofj these unique characteristics, the U.S. Navy spon- 

 sored a series of 26 dives with the craft in the Mediterranean Sea m the 

 sumrner of 1957 and a vnde variety of useful observations were made 

 including underwater sound intensity, behavior of fish, eels and marine 

 worms, temperature and salinity of the sea, and the general geological 

 terrain of the ocean bottom." & s 



Subsequently, in 1958, the Trieste was purchased by the U S Navy 

 and delivered to the Naval Electronics Laboratory at San Dieo-o for 

 operation. It was then prepared for Project Nekton— a reS^arch 

 operation involving modification of the Trieste, particularly through 

 .^ H,^® ?/ ^ stronger sphere, for descent to the deepest known area— 

 the Challenger Deep near Guam. 



Although earlier descents had been made in manned vehicles par- 

 ticularly the sphere of Beebe-Barton,^« and the French FRNS-3 the 

 near sister ship to the Trieste, the U.S. bathyscaph represents the only 

 currently operating vehicle that permits unlimited descent for purposes 

 ot scientmc observation. 



The epic-making dive on January 23, 1960, has been described to 

 tlie Mouse Committee on Science and Astronautics by Dr Andreas B 

 Kechnitzer, who was chief scientist for the Project Nekton : 



The U.S. Navy bathyscaph Trieste successfully penetrated to the deepest known 

 location ,n the oceans on January 23, 1960. Carrying two men 7 milerbelow t^ 

 ocean s surface this scientific breakthrough has opened all of the ocean wSs to 

 exploration and exploitation. In the execution of this feat and the prdfiSnar? 

 dives leading up to achieving the ultimate in deep dives (70 in total for tE^rSS 



fi,nn/l^^''?P^. P/^^'^"" ^^' /^^^^^^ scientific and technical information of malr 

 importance to future manned exploration of the oceans. •" 



ihe Honorable George P. Miller, member of this committee, recognized the 



mportance of this dive and acknowledged the feat by an entry in thrAppendix of 

 the Congressional Record pubhshed February 3, 1960. The item wS eSt tied 



'Oceanography: Jules Verne 1960." Herein he acknowledged thIreStivdv 

 unheralded accomplishment of the U.S. Project Nekton thft included in its 



ffirg:?^Dter(?5,'807f:e^r '""^' ^' "^^^' ^'^^ ^^' ^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^" ^^^ 



me^tal^;onH7f-'^^'''''!!^P^'.'"w^'^¥^^"^^^*i™^^o^ observations of the environ- 

 ?f 900 P° 'i*'"*"^ characteristic of the 7-mile column of water. On the sea floor 

 fwZnrf ^^'^^ '^ ^^" Challenger Deep, the occupants of the sphere viewed 

 veyel to^^hefuk^^'V^ '^' physical characteristics of the sea fl^oor and con- 

 Sv ^iihfull '''' ^IJ'^'J"' ^'? ^" electronic acoustic device that they were 

 safely at the bottom The deep dive stands by itself as a significant achievement 

 L^te mnr " ^fV^''"^"^",^ ^"'"'P^ ^« ^^P^"^ his capabilities to occupy and inv^sti- 

 ua,ouu leet -^4,UUU and 35,800 feet) are in reality only a byproduct of a scientifip 

 program seeking information of diverse types. Technologically it does represent a 

 ^ nl^ '^-K, "^^le^^o^e which will undoubtedly incite future development [ndeen 

 submersib les and equipment for manned and unmanned explorS Jnd exploi 

 Tr^ T""' 'P^'^- Th^ development of a vehicle with the capabimfesTthe 

 Taesie makes a greater part of the oceans' 1,370 million cubic kilometers of water 

 available as an operating medium for national security. It also renders much of 

 the 361 million square kilometers of sea floor accessible for the search Sn^nerals 



Jeol'raXc?r<^ti.rtV""'-''''°"''^-^- ^""J *° ^"'^ significant utilfzatio?^ of th s 

 IbovP^hi ;/°"^^<^^ ^^^e^^e.^s a requirement for the development of basic knowledge 

 Scoim ?red Th?f hTh''^^"''^,"* ^"^ *^" operational problems that are to be 

 now n effect bT,? ?t nf ^''t^^ P'?^'^"' ^'^ ^^'^J'"" °^ undersea operation is 

 Ser^onnol Ti?o K .1?^ '°"^'^^ involves only a modest nucleus of equipment and 

 modeM'T- ^he bathyscaph, as purchased by the United States, is iL reality a 

 model i of the deep submersibles. It has, however, conquered the denth 

 barrier and p oints the way to more advanced vehicles. Nevertheless, ^s far as 



" 4,488 feet, in Ocfober 1948. 



""The Bathyscaph," by Dietz, Lewis, and Rechnitzer, Scientific American. AprU 1958, pp. 27-33. 



