Underwater Habitats and Subriersibies 
The Stratton Commission made a number of 
recommendations for deep ocean exploration and the 
establishment of seafloor laboratories and facilities. 
It recommended sponsorship of a program “to de- 
velop and construct exploration submersibles with 
ocean transit capabilities for civil missions to 20,000- 
foot depths.” *” The Commission also proposed a 
Navy/NOAA study “of the feasibility of mobile 
undersea laboratories and large stable ocean plat- 
forms which would be used in conjunction with fixed 
ocean stations.” *° 
The Commission Panel on Marine Engineering 
and Technology recommended the development of 
three types of undersea laboratories: one, fixed; one 
portable; and the third, mobile. The mobile under- 
sea support laboratory would provide services to the 
fixed and portable laboratories and would supple- 
ment their functions. It would consist of a nuclear- 
powered submersible, operating to 1,000-foot water 
depths and transporting submersible modules to the 
laboratories for docking.*’ Preliminary planning for 
the International Decade of Ocean Exploration 
(IDOE) similarly called for the development of a 
shallow (1,000 ft) support submarine with its own 
laboratories and diving systems.”® 
Although the Stratton Commission’s ambitious 
proposals for continental shelf laboratories and sub- 
mersible development were not implemented, NOAA 
has purchased a habitat and is studying specifica- 
tions for a mobile underwater laboratory. 
In 1971 NOAA’s Manned Undersea Science and 
Technology Office (MUS&T) was established to sup- 
port NOAA’s activities in manned underwater oper- 
ations. Since that time, the MUS&T office, which 
was incorporated into the Office of Ocean Engineer- 
ing in 1976, has been responsible for the adminis- 
tration of NOAA’s undersea habitat program. 
Habitat and Diving Activities 
The most active habitat project has been the 
Bahama bank research program performed in HyY- 
DROLAB by the Perry Foundation under a MUS&T 
contract. The HYDROLAB facility is capable of ac- 
commodating three to four divers in 100 feet of 
water through an umbilical life support system con- 
nected to an unmanned surface support vessel.”? 
HYDROLAB Operated at a depth of 45 feet moored 
1 mile offshore at Freeport, Grand Bahama Isiand, 
25 Our Nation and The Sea, op.cit. note 6, p. 32. 
26 Ibid., p. 178. 
27 Panel Reports of the Commission on Marine Science, Engi- 
neering, and Resources. Volume 2, Industry and Technology— 
Keys to Oceanic Development, Part VI, Report of the Pane! on 
Marine Engineering and Technology. Washington, D.C., Govern- 
ment Printing Office, 1969, pp. VI-224-229. 
2% National Research Council. An Oceanic Quest. Washington, 
D.C., National Academy of Sciences, 1969, p. 94. ; 
29 U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 
Manned Undersea Science and Technology Fiscal Year [974 
Report. Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office, 1975. 
Bahamas, from 1972 through April 1975. It per- 
formed almost 20 missions during that period and 
logged 1,602 man-days of saturated diving, almost 
all under MUS&T sponsorship. These missions have 
included diverse studies in the ecology and environ- 
mental characteristics of coral reefs. In late 1977, 
NOAA bought HYDROLAB. The MUS&T office is 
soliciting scientific proposals for its use. 
The MUS&T office has also used the PRINUL 
(Puerto Rico International Undersea Laboratory) 
facility, ‘‘La Chalupa,” for underwater research in 
Puerto Rico. PRINUL is designed to operate in up to 
100 feet and accommodate four divers, supported, 
as in the HYDROLAB, by a self-contained utility buoy. 
PRINUL performed nine missions between Novem- 
ber 1972 and May 1974 in water depths ranging 
from 60 to 100 feet and logged 700 man-day satu- 
rated dives of which 504 were sponsored by MUS&T. 
Projects included ecological and environmental stud- 
ies, including assessments of fish food resources, fish 
behavior, engineering investigations on water jet 
insertion of seafloor anchors and testing of vertical 
excursion tables, and physiological studies of divers. 
In 1975, the German habitat HELGOLAND, was 
transported to the United States and used by 
German, Polish and U.S. divers at a depth of about 
105 feet off the coast of Massachusetts. None of the 
three operational U.S. habitats—AEGIR, HYDROLAB, 
PRINUL—was considered capable of operating in 
the harsh underwater environment off New England. 
In late 1975, in response to a Congressional re- 
quest, the MUS&T office prepared a concept paper 
for the development and use of an American mobile, 
underwater laboratory called OCEANLAB. Funds were 
appropriated for the project in fiscal year 1977 and 
a systems program definition contract was awarded 
to the General Electric Company to develop system 
configuration requirements and specifications. 
The OCEANLAB concept conforms closely to the 
recommendations of the Stratton Commission for 
a mobile underwater facility that can function as a 
manned engineering and science laboratory at vari- 
ous depths and locations. 
To develop the specifications for OCEANLAB 
MUS&T is seeking input from the scientific diving 
community. An operational diving program is being 
planned by MUS&T to ensure that the proposed 
facility will be used for productive marine science 
and technology in an experimental science program. 
Submersible Technology *° 
The experimental development of submersibles, 
mobile undersea vehicles, began in the 1950s and 
continued through the early 1960s. Interest in deep 
30 Excerpted in part from, U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee 
on Commerce. Congress and the Oceans: Marine Affairs in the 
94th Congress, 95th Congress, Ist Session. Washington, D.C., 
Government Printing Office, 1977, p. 263 at seq. 
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