Fig 3.17 PISCES I. II and III (L to R) Workhorses of the Arctic and North Sea (Inlernalional Hydrodynamics) 



PISCES-class vehicles. PISCES I (Fig. 3.17), 

 a 1,200-ft, 3-man submersible, was con- 

 structed by International Hydrodynamics 

 Ltd. (HYCO) ". . . to provide a quantum 

 jump in man's ability to work undersea." 

 Reasoning that a submersible offered 

 greater depth, duration and exploration 

 ranges, the partners of HYCO also saw the 

 opportunity to allow the non-diving special- 

 ist of any discipline to visit subsurface work- 

 sites under "shirt sleeve" conditions. A total 

 of seven submersibles and hundreds of dives 

 would come out of this small, vigorous Cana- 

 dian firm in the next 8 years. 



1966 



The role of manned submersibles in under- 

 sea search efforts was given a strong boost 

 in February 1966 when an American bomber 



collided with its tanker during mid-air re- 

 fueling off the southern coast of Spain. Four 

 of the aircraft's H-bombs fell harmlessly on 

 land and were recovered; one fell into the sea 

 and initiated another Tf/iJESWEi? -type oper- 

 ation to find and retrieve the errant, 1.1- 

 megaton bomb. The bottom of the ocean at 

 2,200 to 3,000 feet off Spain is characterized 

 by deep gullies running downslope at a steep 

 gradient; shoreward of 2,250 feet it is more 

 level and gentle. The precise location of the 

 bomb was unknown, and it could be any- 

 where from a few feet deep adjacent to the 

 coast, to several thousand feet some miles off 

 the coast. Virtually every applicable search/ 

 identification device the Navy owned or in- 

 dustry could offer was brought into play: 

 Mine hunting sonar, side scan sonar, under- 

 water television, divers and manned sub- 



52 



