THE PROBLEM 



Evaluate the potentialities of a bathyscaph as an oceanographic research vehicle. 



RESULTS 



1. A diving program employing the bathyscaph TRIESTE and involving dives to depths 

 of nearly 2 miles was conducted in the Mediterranean in the summer of 1957. Repre- 

 senting the first use of a bathyscaph by Americans, the program provided scientific 

 investigators with new information about the deep sea, and showed the bathyscaph 

 to be an extremely useful tool for in situ investigations of deep ocean waters. 



2. Observations and measurements were made of the distribution of ambient noise, 

 distribution of marine organisms, occurrence of weak water currents, gravity, and ex- 

 tinction of sunlight; in siiu observations were made of sea-floor sediments and of the 

 biological factors that tend to alter the sea-floor topography. 



RECOMMENDA TIONS 



1. Continue deep-sea research using a bathyscaph. 



2. Encourage modification and further development of the bathyscaph and/or bathy- 

 scaph-type craft. 



3. Promote the development of more versatile deep-submersible research craft. 



4. Evaluate the usefulness of bathyscaphs and deep-submersible craft for military 

 purposes. 



5. Develop acoustic and oceanographic instrumentation for use on the bathyscaph. 



ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION 



Contract N62558-1342, Office of Naval Research, provided financial assistance to 

 Jacques Piccard for a series of scientific dives using the bathyscaph TRIESTE to be made 

 during the summer of 1957 in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Scientific personnel from the U. S. 

 Navy Electronics Laboratory, U. S. Navy Underwater Sound Laboratory, Hudson Lab- 

 oratories, Columbia University, and the Office of Naval Research, Washington and 

 London were the American participants in the diving program. NEL participation was 

 carried on under lO 15401, NE 120221-847.13 (NEL L4-1). The report was approved 

 for publication 28 December 1959. 



The author wishes to thank Dr. E. C. LaFond, Dr. G. H. Curl, and Dr. R. S. Dietz for 

 their critical review of this manuscript. 



WIBL/WHOI 



D3D1 0040555 1 



