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Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor
Sealab is the underwater Right Stuff : the compelling story of how a US Navy program sought to develop the marine equivalent of the space station—and forever changed man’s relationship to the sea.
While NASA was trying to put a man on the moon, the US Navy launched a series of daring experiments to prove that divers could live and work from a sea-floor base. When the first underwater “habitat” called Sealab was tested in the early 1960s, conventional dives had strict depth limits and lasted for only minutes, not the hours and even days that the visionaries behind Sealab wanted to achieve—for purposes of exploration, scientific research, and to recover submarines and aircraft that had sunk along the continental shelf. The unlikely father of Sealab, George Bond, was a colorful former country doctor who joined the Navy later in life and became obsessed with these unanswered How long can a diver stay underwater? How deep can a diver go?
Sealab never received the attention it deserved, yet the program inspired explorers like Jacques Cousteau, broke age-old depth barriers, and revolutionized deep-sea diving by demonstrating that living on the seabed was not science fiction. Today divers on commercial oil rigs and Navy divers engaged in classified missions rely on methods pioneered during Sealab.
Sealab is a true story of heroism and men unafraid to test the limits of physical endurance to conquer a hostile undersea frontier. It is also a story of frustration and a government unwilling to take the same risks underwater that it did in space.
Ben Hellwarth, a veteran journalist, interviewed many surviving participants from the three Sealab experiments and conducted extensive documentary research to write the first comprehensive account of one of the most important and least known experiments in US history.
While NASA was trying to put a man on the moon, the US Navy launched a series of daring experiments to prove that divers could live and work from a sea-floor base. When the first underwater “habitat” called Sealab was tested in the early 1960s, conventional dives had strict depth limits and lasted for only minutes, not the hours and even days that the visionaries behind Sealab wanted to achieve—for purposes of exploration, scientific research, and to recover submarines and aircraft that had sunk along the continental shelf. The unlikely father of Sealab, George Bond, was a colorful former country doctor who joined the Navy later in life and became obsessed with these unanswered How long can a diver stay underwater? How deep can a diver go?
Sealab never received the attention it deserved, yet the program inspired explorers like Jacques Cousteau, broke age-old depth barriers, and revolutionized deep-sea diving by demonstrating that living on the seabed was not science fiction. Today divers on commercial oil rigs and Navy divers engaged in classified missions rely on methods pioneered during Sealab.
Sealab is a true story of heroism and men unafraid to test the limits of physical endurance to conquer a hostile undersea frontier. It is also a story of frustration and a government unwilling to take the same risks underwater that it did in space.
Ben Hellwarth, a veteran journalist, interviewed many surviving participants from the three Sealab experiments and conducted extensive documentary research to write the first comprehensive account of one of the most important and least known experiments in US history.
- GenresNonfictionScienceHistory
388 pages, Hardcover
First published December 14, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
February 12, 2025
There was a time, when I was a kid, when I thought that Jacques Cousteau was probably the coolest guy in the world. So, when I learned that this book existed it immediately went on the TBR list (though it took a long while to get to it).
That out of the way, this is a broader book than the title suggests. Yes, much of the book deals with the ultimately ill-fated "Sealab" program of the 1960s, but the real thrust of the story is about the development of deep free-diving using exotic concoctions of gases to reach unprecedented depths and duration, until the practical limit of 2000 feet was reached.
Having said all that this book, as one would expect about a popular account, is about people, with the lead character being one George F. Bond, an American medical doctor who took up a commission in the United States Navy. Bond developed a fascination with diving, and became a prophet for ocean exploration, often running covert experiments until he could sufficiently lobby the relevant authorities to run a higher-profile program (though funds were always tight).
At the time of the writing of this book, it would appear that a certain golden age of human free diving was well over. The aforementioned practical limit of about 2000 feet down has been reached and, with exceptions, it's now easier to send a drone then a man (or a man in a "hard suit"), though Hellwarth finishes by mulling on the point that the gospel of human underwater exploration could use a shot in the arm.
That out of the way, this is a broader book than the title suggests. Yes, much of the book deals with the ultimately ill-fated "Sealab" program of the 1960s, but the real thrust of the story is about the development of deep free-diving using exotic concoctions of gases to reach unprecedented depths and duration, until the practical limit of 2000 feet was reached.
Having said all that this book, as one would expect about a popular account, is about people, with the lead character being one George F. Bond, an American medical doctor who took up a commission in the United States Navy. Bond developed a fascination with diving, and became a prophet for ocean exploration, often running covert experiments until he could sufficiently lobby the relevant authorities to run a higher-profile program (though funds were always tight).
At the time of the writing of this book, it would appear that a certain golden age of human free diving was well over. The aforementioned practical limit of about 2000 feet down has been reached and, with exceptions, it's now easier to send a drone then a man (or a man in a "hard suit"), though Hellwarth finishes by mulling on the point that the gospel of human underwater exploration could use a shot in the arm.
December 23, 2022
Ok, I'm not going to lie, my initial interest in this book had something (fine, a lot) to do with the fact that I was a fan of the TV show, Seaquest DSV. I'm a huge dork, let's move on. ;) This book focuses mainly on one man's belief that people could break the barriers of "inner space" to live and work at incredible depths and how he set out to prove it with an ever growing roster of brave volunteers. There are no talking dolphins or thrilling discoveries of lost treasure, but it was still fascinating and I really enjoyed it. Some parts do tend to lag a bit, mostly some of the more technical descriptions of the structures and support equipment, but I saw them as necessary to understand what the divers experienced. This book may not be for everyone, it's not a thrill-a-minute, had-to-stay-up-all-night-to-finish page turner but it is an interesting look into a world that most of us have never thought too much about. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in diving, oceanic sciences and/or exploration, but it should really be read by everyone, because the men whose stories are told through these pages deserve to remembered as the heroic pioneers that they are. Thank you Goodreads and Simon & Schuster for this first read opportunity!
November 17, 2020
I can recommend Sealab to anyone looking for a true-life adventure, but if you spend any time breathing compressed air underwater, I think you will especially appreciate this story.
Sealab chronicles the quest of US Navy doctor George Bond to create a human habitat deep in the sea – far beyond depths and endurance levels considered possible in the mid 20th Century. Author Ben Hellwarth weaves Bond’s largely-forgotten adventure into an era of exploration that recalls names like Jacques Cousteau, Alan Shephard, and Neil Armstrong. This historical perspective provides a backdrop for the conflicts, jealousies and collaborations of bold showmen with huge egos, but the heart of the story is about some very smart and brave visionaries with single-minded determination.
Hellwarth’s Sealab has been called the underwater “Right Stuff.” It’s not. Tom Wolf writes with an energy and panache that unabashedly capture the zeitgeist of the Mercury program – and he unabashedly editorializes without so much as a footnote. Hellwarth writes with more careful accuracy that may not be so lapel-grabbing as Wolf, but still delivers the dramatic facts that speak for themselves within a well-thought-out storyline.
Ultimately, I was awed by the explorers - people who took their bodies to the edge (and sometimes beyond) for another datapoint of knowledge, a great deal of excitement, and the recognition of only the few who could appreciate it.
Sealab chronicles the quest of US Navy doctor George Bond to create a human habitat deep in the sea – far beyond depths and endurance levels considered possible in the mid 20th Century. Author Ben Hellwarth weaves Bond’s largely-forgotten adventure into an era of exploration that recalls names like Jacques Cousteau, Alan Shephard, and Neil Armstrong. This historical perspective provides a backdrop for the conflicts, jealousies and collaborations of bold showmen with huge egos, but the heart of the story is about some very smart and brave visionaries with single-minded determination.
Hellwarth’s Sealab has been called the underwater “Right Stuff.” It’s not. Tom Wolf writes with an energy and panache that unabashedly capture the zeitgeist of the Mercury program – and he unabashedly editorializes without so much as a footnote. Hellwarth writes with more careful accuracy that may not be so lapel-grabbing as Wolf, but still delivers the dramatic facts that speak for themselves within a well-thought-out storyline.
Ultimately, I was awed by the explorers - people who took their bodies to the edge (and sometimes beyond) for another datapoint of knowledge, a great deal of excitement, and the recognition of only the few who could appreciate it.
February 22, 2012
I won a copy on Goodreads Firstreads.
The true account of man's attempt to move into the sea.Starting with the dream of a country doctor through the premature and tragic ending of Sealab 3, the book tells the story of this Navy project.From its unofficial and unfunded beginnings to its end, there were men willing to press the limits of deep sea diving and living in the oceans.The program was often overshadowed by the space race that was occurring at the same time.As challenging as going into space, undersea living unfortunately never captured the public's attention as space did.
George Bond, the father of saturation diving, worked within the Navy to achieve his dream of man's dominion of the seas.Often he had to work on his own time and with no funding with volunteers to conduct his experiments and promote his cause.Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the celebrated French diver, also joined in the attempt to establish undersea dwellings/research stations.Finally Ed Link, the creator of the first flight simulation trainer and businessman, shared the vision of working and living under the sea.These three men were friendly rivals, who worked together at times and at other timespushed each other to be the first to reach new milestones.
Each step forward provided new challenges.With their limited budgets, solutions often had to worked out on the fly.The hostile environment presented harrowing experiences for the brave men pushing themselves to their limits.Never far from having their program cancelled, they had to watch their every step and remember their first mission was to survive.
The author also includes brief summaries of how deep sea oil drilling helped push the limits of diving,how private interests promoted scientific research, and how the Navy used saturation diving in espionage.
This is a good book for anyone interested in the history of diving,the sea, or science geeks.
The true account of man's attempt to move into the sea.Starting with the dream of a country doctor through the premature and tragic ending of Sealab 3, the book tells the story of this Navy project.From its unofficial and unfunded beginnings to its end, there were men willing to press the limits of deep sea diving and living in the oceans.The program was often overshadowed by the space race that was occurring at the same time.As challenging as going into space, undersea living unfortunately never captured the public's attention as space did.
George Bond, the father of saturation diving, worked within the Navy to achieve his dream of man's dominion of the seas.Often he had to work on his own time and with no funding with volunteers to conduct his experiments and promote his cause.Jacques-Yves Cousteau, the celebrated French diver, also joined in the attempt to establish undersea dwellings/research stations.Finally Ed Link, the creator of the first flight simulation trainer and businessman, shared the vision of working and living under the sea.These three men were friendly rivals, who worked together at times and at other timespushed each other to be the first to reach new milestones.
Each step forward provided new challenges.With their limited budgets, solutions often had to worked out on the fly.The hostile environment presented harrowing experiences for the brave men pushing themselves to their limits.Never far from having their program cancelled, they had to watch their every step and remember their first mission was to survive.
The author also includes brief summaries of how deep sea oil drilling helped push the limits of diving,how private interests promoted scientific research, and how the Navy used saturation diving in espionage.
This is a good book for anyone interested in the history of diving,the sea, or science geeks.
October 30, 2012
I received Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor by Ben Hellwarth through goodreads first read giveaways. I had a very hard time getting into this book, it would capture my attention for a short period of time and then lose it again. It was hard to get my attention and hard too keep it. Though this book is very informative on many different topics that have to deal with diving and water. It doesn't just describe the diving but goes into the human physiology as too why the human body acts a certain way under different gases and pressures. I found this book was mostly focused on the one man who started the whole quest to "live and work on the Ocean floor". If you like biography type books that look at a certain topic in detail you would enjoy this book. It is very informative on the topic it is explaining.
March 20, 2012
The title is deceiving. More than just the story of the Sealab project, this book provides a great overview of the struggle to exceed the limits of compressed air diving by employing saturation diving with mixed gases and rewriting the decompression tables. It not only provides insight into the science of deep diving, it also explores the colorful personalities of the men who risked their lives to make it happen. It details the challenges of conducting scientific research while adhering to military protocols and even has a touch of international intrigue. Since most of the events described in the book were overshadowed at the time by the race to the moon, this is a story that few people were aware of. I truly enjoyed this book.
April 15, 2018
Good historical overview of an amazing underwater endeavor ultimately overshadowed by the space race.
July 24, 2025
Three and a half stars. I find the idea of Sealab fascinating, although until I read this I didn't really know anything about it. Now that I'm a little more informed, I have to say the reality seems significantly less exciting. If I had to live in an underwater habitat, Hellwarth briefly describes a starfish-shaped thing organised by Cousteau which came complete with chef, and that seems so much more civilised. I didn't even think of the problems of trying to fend off scorpion fish!
It really is an interesting story of how dreams and science came together and worked off each other, and the successes and failures of the various Sealabs is compelling stuff. And, all credit to Hellwarth, it is exhaustively researched. (There are a hundred pages of notes here. A hundred!) All that detail, however, can make the book fairly dry in places. Sometimes it felt as if information was taking over story. And yes, this is a nonfiction book; its purpose is to be informative. I admit, though, there were times I just wanted the book to get on with it already, and pick up the pace a little.
It really is an interesting story of how dreams and science came together and worked off each other, and the successes and failures of the various Sealabs is compelling stuff. And, all credit to Hellwarth, it is exhaustively researched. (There are a hundred pages of notes here. A hundred!) All that detail, however, can make the book fairly dry in places. Sometimes it felt as if information was taking over story. And yes, this is a nonfiction book; its purpose is to be informative. I admit, though, there were times I just wanted the book to get on with it already, and pick up the pace a little.
March 24, 2021
This book is about the personalities, politics, religion, and death of people working on this project. That's not what I wanted to read. At all.
It's very light on science, engineering, and technology. It talks a little bit about medical stuff like the bends. It talks a little bit about breathable gas mixtures. But mostly its about strife and death.
It's very light on science, engineering, and technology. It talks a little bit about medical stuff like the bends. It talks a little bit about breathable gas mixtures. But mostly its about strife and death.
December 10, 2023
A bit hard to get into but had a lot of interesting stories and pointers to future books to read. Definitely did the job of helping me with my interest in learning more about diving in scientific and military contexts.
June 3, 2020
Educational, informative but not very entertaining. I found the book pretty boring.
Perhaps, there wasn't enough content for the book-length.
Perhaps, there wasn't enough content for the book-length.
September 13, 2017
This review also appears on Joe Follansbee's blog.
The names of astronaut Neil Armstrong and rocket engineer Werner von Braun are etched forever on the popular mind as pioneers of outer space exploration. But they have eclipsed equally daring and dangerous exploits under the sea that happened at almost exactly the same time Americans were reaching for the moon. Author Ben Hellwarth in Sealab: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor attempts to correct this imbalance by examining the history of a particular type of underwater exploration called “saturation diving,” which put free swimming human beings at depths approaching a half-mile. And like the country’s space program, the quest to live in the deep ocean has come to a virtual halt.
Much of Hellwarth’s story focuses on George Bond, a country doctor who joined the Navy just after World War II and quickly developed an interest in diving. The technology for diving had barely budged since the invention of the classic hard-hat and rubberized canvas suits in the late 19th century. Men could go down to a depth of 100 feet or so, and the bends—painful bubbles of nitrogen that formed as divers rose to the surface—could be deadly. Bond determined to push the boundaries of diving, and with a team of Navy divers and technicians, research ways to go deeper and return without death or serious injury. Bond started on a shoestring, but after painstaking trial-and-error, found ways to put divers down as far as a thousand feet in relative safety. He “saturated” the divers’ tissues with breathing gases, notably helium, which made decompression easier and safer, and allowed them to live in undersea habitats for as long as a month.
Navy diversIt’s likely Bond’s story would’ve been completely forgotten if it weren’t for what Hellwarth calls a “celebrity diver” by the name of Jacques Yves Cousteau. Anyone who grew up in the sixties and seventies remembers watching the amazing adventures of the exploration ship Calypso and hearing Cousteau narrate in his unmistakable French accent. But for true followers of the dream of living for long periods on the continental shelf, Cousteau was mostly a showman who rarely went down more than a few fathoms. Real pioneers, including Bond, Navy diver Bob Barth, inventor Ed Link, Frenchman Henri Delauze, and a host of commercial divers, pushed the boundaries of deep water work, sometimes sacrificing their lives in the process.
Although overshadowed by the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States in space, Sealab and the quest to live below the sea in habitats wasn’t quite as invisible as Hellwarth suggests. I remember as a nerdy child reading about Sealab and the divers who made it their home in the late 1960s. TV shows such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Sea Hunt, and Primus brought these ideas to the general public. But it’s true that the lack of an international competitor on the sea bottom probably contributed to the occasional “mail-order catalog” feel of the projects, as one of Hellwarth’s sources puts it; saturation diving never got the kinds of budget support enjoyed by the space program.
The sad codicil to the story of saturation diving is its similarity to the apparent abandonment of manned space exploration by the United States. Most of the research and experimentation by the Navy ended in the 1990s; both government and business turned to remotely operated vehicles, which can go far deeper than any free-swimming human, and special hard suits, which look very much like space suits, only made of steel. Like the nation’s space program, which is stuck in the doldrums today with no way to put people in orbit, the diving program has reached a stopping point. Although the technical barriers are daunting, we should hope that we’re only in a pause until our quest to go into inner space, as well as outer space, can begin another chapter.
The names of astronaut Neil Armstrong and rocket engineer Werner von Braun are etched forever on the popular mind as pioneers of outer space exploration. But they have eclipsed equally daring and dangerous exploits under the sea that happened at almost exactly the same time Americans were reaching for the moon. Author Ben Hellwarth in Sealab: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor attempts to correct this imbalance by examining the history of a particular type of underwater exploration called “saturation diving,” which put free swimming human beings at depths approaching a half-mile. And like the country’s space program, the quest to live in the deep ocean has come to a virtual halt.
Much of Hellwarth’s story focuses on George Bond, a country doctor who joined the Navy just after World War II and quickly developed an interest in diving. The technology for diving had barely budged since the invention of the classic hard-hat and rubberized canvas suits in the late 19th century. Men could go down to a depth of 100 feet or so, and the bends—painful bubbles of nitrogen that formed as divers rose to the surface—could be deadly. Bond determined to push the boundaries of diving, and with a team of Navy divers and technicians, research ways to go deeper and return without death or serious injury. Bond started on a shoestring, but after painstaking trial-and-error, found ways to put divers down as far as a thousand feet in relative safety. He “saturated” the divers’ tissues with breathing gases, notably helium, which made decompression easier and safer, and allowed them to live in undersea habitats for as long as a month.
Navy diversIt’s likely Bond’s story would’ve been completely forgotten if it weren’t for what Hellwarth calls a “celebrity diver” by the name of Jacques Yves Cousteau. Anyone who grew up in the sixties and seventies remembers watching the amazing adventures of the exploration ship Calypso and hearing Cousteau narrate in his unmistakable French accent. But for true followers of the dream of living for long periods on the continental shelf, Cousteau was mostly a showman who rarely went down more than a few fathoms. Real pioneers, including Bond, Navy diver Bob Barth, inventor Ed Link, Frenchman Henri Delauze, and a host of commercial divers, pushed the boundaries of deep water work, sometimes sacrificing their lives in the process.
Although overshadowed by the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States in space, Sealab and the quest to live below the sea in habitats wasn’t quite as invisible as Hellwarth suggests. I remember as a nerdy child reading about Sealab and the divers who made it their home in the late 1960s. TV shows such as Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Sea Hunt, and Primus brought these ideas to the general public. But it’s true that the lack of an international competitor on the sea bottom probably contributed to the occasional “mail-order catalog” feel of the projects, as one of Hellwarth’s sources puts it; saturation diving never got the kinds of budget support enjoyed by the space program.
The sad codicil to the story of saturation diving is its similarity to the apparent abandonment of manned space exploration by the United States. Most of the research and experimentation by the Navy ended in the 1990s; both government and business turned to remotely operated vehicles, which can go far deeper than any free-swimming human, and special hard suits, which look very much like space suits, only made of steel. Like the nation’s space program, which is stuck in the doldrums today with no way to put people in orbit, the diving program has reached a stopping point. Although the technical barriers are daunting, we should hope that we’re only in a pause until our quest to go into inner space, as well as outer space, can begin another chapter.
October 20, 2015
I chanced to find this book in a Half Moon Bay bookstore (used). For guys of a certain age (during the Apollo era and kidded about in The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou movie), this is an important book. OK, so I'm also biased that the reporter-author grew up in Southern California where Sealabs II and III were tried, and he was a reporter in Santa Barbara where I lived a decade before him.
Undersea lodging never took off, and for people not current on SCUBA diving technology or saturation diving, this is a quick update of some of the technology and a summary of the people such as Capt George Bond, MD (ret.) (aka Papa Topside) and Capt. Walter Mazzone (Ret.) and an SJSC grad. Jacques Cousteau is also a well know rival character. They had good old boys as a common problem.
Sealab started as a convenient cover for a number of black programs. I've witnessed this in other cases. The Navy ratings are also a problem explained. So some of the work went black (classified), some replaced by subs (this book is an adjunct to Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag), but also a far amount went industrial (oil companies) and robotic (ROVs). Various aero-space race comparisons were made (sound barrier and depth "barriers" (600 ft., 1000 ft., 3000 ft.)) and Apollo events.
NOAA was mentioned but not her Deepness, Sylva Earle. Hard suits like she used were mentioned. Small minisubs were mentioned, but this was a book about diving and living (Jules Undersea lodge was mentioned by not indexed like a number of topics). I had enough questions to feel the need to email the author (he has a web site).
Undersea lodging never took off, and for people not current on SCUBA diving technology or saturation diving, this is a quick update of some of the technology and a summary of the people such as Capt George Bond, MD (ret.) (aka Papa Topside) and Capt. Walter Mazzone (Ret.) and an SJSC grad. Jacques Cousteau is also a well know rival character. They had good old boys as a common problem.
Sealab started as a convenient cover for a number of black programs. I've witnessed this in other cases. The Navy ratings are also a problem explained. So some of the work went black (classified), some replaced by subs (this book is an adjunct to Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage by Sherry Sontag), but also a far amount went industrial (oil companies) and robotic (ROVs). Various aero-space race comparisons were made (sound barrier and depth "barriers" (600 ft., 1000 ft., 3000 ft.)) and Apollo events.
NOAA was mentioned but not her Deepness, Sylva Earle. Hard suits like she used were mentioned. Small minisubs were mentioned, but this was a book about diving and living (Jules Undersea lodge was mentioned by not indexed like a number of topics). I had enough questions to feel the need to email the author (he has a web site).
June 11, 2014
Well, I got to page 68 of this book.....and that's as far as I got b/4 I concluded that the jacket really made this book sound much more exciting than it actually was. I wanted to like this book, I had every intention of "embracing" the adventure and quest.....to live and work on the Ocean Floor - Can you imagine? For anyone who loves the ocean and all things ~ ocean-related it sounds deliriously delicious! But the writing reminded me more of a college/school text book; and I couldn't be more discouraged, frustrated, let down and disappointed!
Every chapter introduced far too many new people; nothing seemed to really be developing and in a way ultimately helps the reader understand why this dream has remained an unattained goal......
Clearly there was and would be multiple tests.....obviously the United States Navy & Government are not going to go crazy and cause a multitude of people to die!!
However, I want to know how the people who risked their lives to achieve the fathoms those were once so "unobtainable"! I want to know how the brave men felt when they reached the dream depth! I want to know how their time living on the ocean floor affected their relationships and changed their lives. I want more "meat" and there is nothing but broth and vegetables......
Sure what person doesn't know that fruits and vegetables are good for you - but when you want "comfort food" you want substance....and sadly this book fell fathoms short for me! :-(
Every chapter introduced far too many new people; nothing seemed to really be developing and in a way ultimately helps the reader understand why this dream has remained an unattained goal......
Clearly there was and would be multiple tests.....obviously the United States Navy & Government are not going to go crazy and cause a multitude of people to die!!
However, I want to know how the people who risked their lives to achieve the fathoms those were once so "unobtainable"! I want to know how the brave men felt when they reached the dream depth! I want to know how their time living on the ocean floor affected their relationships and changed their lives. I want more "meat" and there is nothing but broth and vegetables......
Sure what person doesn't know that fruits and vegetables are good for you - but when you want "comfort food" you want substance....and sadly this book fell fathoms short for me! :-(
March 27, 2012
This review is based on a free book received from the publishers through the First Reads Program at Goodreads.
The narrative part of the book ends at page 261 after which there are acknowledgments and notes so it is not too onerous a read.
It's a story fundamentally of the 1960's and man's quest to work deeper and deeper in the oceans of the world. Sealab I II and III were the Navies approach to this challenge. Jacques Cousteau is a competitor and the story goes into a lot of details of the struggle for the Navy to continue funding deeper and deeper saturation dives.
The early oil industry came to rely on the research that George Bond pioneered as he continued to push the Navy to support his investigations. It's definately a story of exploration, high danger, and the men who faced that danger.
An interesting book that would appeal to anyone interested in Navy adventures, or the deep sea. THE FINAL FRONTIER
The narrative part of the book ends at page 261 after which there are acknowledgments and notes so it is not too onerous a read.
It's a story fundamentally of the 1960's and man's quest to work deeper and deeper in the oceans of the world. Sealab I II and III were the Navies approach to this challenge. Jacques Cousteau is a competitor and the story goes into a lot of details of the struggle for the Navy to continue funding deeper and deeper saturation dives.
The early oil industry came to rely on the research that George Bond pioneered as he continued to push the Navy to support his investigations. It's definately a story of exploration, high danger, and the men who faced that danger.
An interesting book that would appeal to anyone interested in Navy adventures, or the deep sea. THE FINAL FRONTIER
October 28, 2012
I am the program director for a scuba club in New York, and became interested in this subject when one of our presenters happened to be one of the divers on the original Sea Lab project. Hearing him speak, I came to the realization that most Americans are not truly aware of the work of these brave mend and divers. This book helps to rectify this, by detailing how the US has in the past led in undersea exploration, and hopefully will do so in the future. We learn about the struggles to overcome the limits of deep diving with air as well as rewrite the decompression tables that all divers use this day. The book also introduces the larger than life personalities of the men who devoted their lives to undersea exploration. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in exploration, both above and below the waves.
October 19, 2015
**I received my copy from Goodreads First Reads.**
The ocean floor is a terrifying place to me, mostly because I have a thing about open water. Our oceans are still just as fascinating and alien to us as the surface of the Moon. So yes, I was sooo excited to find out the American Navy tried to be like NASA and put humans on the ocean floor, with mixed success.
It is a fascinating. However, I think this is a "high interest" tale bogged down by form. My main complaint is that this book is dense. For a microhistory, and one with such a fascinating story, this could have used a lot more editing. I think readers would also be more interested in pictures! The cover made me want pictures!!
The ocean floor is a terrifying place to me, mostly because I have a thing about open water. Our oceans are still just as fascinating and alien to us as the surface of the Moon. So yes, I was sooo excited to find out the American Navy tried to be like NASA and put humans on the ocean floor, with mixed success.
It is a fascinating. However, I think this is a "high interest" tale bogged down by form. My main complaint is that this book is dense. For a microhistory, and one with such a fascinating story, this could have used a lot more editing. I think readers would also be more interested in pictures! The cover made me want pictures!!
March 11, 2016
Ben Hellwarth write's about the quest to develop technologies that would enable humans to live underwater for weeks and months at a time. The technology and science is much more daunting in the underwater environment than living in space. Hellwarth details the dangers and excitement of being able to live underwater from the 1960's as both the USA and France had a friendly competition to see how men would live and work. As that era drew to a close there is the private sector enabling of further deep sea exploration through the development of deep water oil extraction.
I found this book to be fascinating and well written about the lives of the men who developed the science and subsequent technologies for humans to live underwater at crushing atmospheres of pressure.
I found this book to be fascinating and well written about the lives of the men who developed the science and subsequent technologies for humans to live underwater at crushing atmospheres of pressure.
February 16, 2012
This book tells about the attempts of diving, working, and living underwater, primarily by the US after World War II. It also gives the biographies of the persons involved in exhaustive detail, much of which is unnecessary and should be presented in appendices. Finally, near the end, the basic reasons for abandoning the US program are explained. At that time, the US was much more concerned with the space program, and proper funding is always an issue for all government programs. Anyone interested in diving or ocean exploration will certainly find this book informative. The table of contents and index are valuable tools for this book.
January 26, 2013
Good summary of the three Sealabs and the diving teams that worked in them. Lots of good information about these under-reported efforts at living in the sea. The diving accidents and deaths that are related are described matter-of-factly and, especially in the case of the death that ended the Sealab III effort, more details from the exhaustive investigation would have been helpful. After relating the Sealab III experience, the book veers into the saturation diving done for petroleum companies and does a quick gloss on classified saturation diving done by the Navy during the Cold War. Much of that is covered better elsewhere in books like "Blind Man's Bluff".
February 28, 2016
This historical recounting is interesting, maybe because underwater human habitats have always captured my imagination, but the delivery is very dry and that makes it hard to become immersed in the lives of the subjects. There is some pressure from the author to lament the drift of some diving technologies out of favour, but the appeal feels disingenuous. Underwater exploration and work is flowing in new directions that the author conveniently ignores in order to support the presupposition that the recession or stagnation of one approach marks an end to the tide of all exploration and innovation.
March 14, 2012
I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. This nonfiction account of the Navy trying to further their work and exploration on the ocean floor was extremely comprehensive. It was a little too comprehensive for me. It is an excellent book for American history and military buffs, and anyone who wants to know about the Navy trying to explore a brave new world. In conclusion, the book was well written and somewhat enjoyable. I recommend it to individuals with a passion for sea exploration, but if you just feel like reading a nonfiction book for fun I recommend you look elsewhere.
February 22, 2012
I had never before of this before, and I think it's a great pity that while our pioneers of the space race are remember, the pioneer who risked their lives in these endeavors are largely forgotten. It's a worth while and interesting topic. It was a bit slow for my tastes. I like quick reads, but it's certainly worth while. I won this book through a good reads giveaway and I'm glad I did.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 5, 2012
One of the jacket blurbs compared this book to The Right Stuff...wrong! Mr. Hellwarth did his research and knows his subject well, but Tom Wolfe he's not. This is a highly-detailed examination of deep-sea research that at times is guilty of TMI. It's also pretty dated, with much of the narrative referencing events in the 1960s and 1970s.
March 23, 2012
I wanted this book because I've had a dream of living in the ocean since I was a little kid. I really enjoyed learning about the US attempt to make the ocean more useable. Not really a fun book, but worth a read if your interested in oceanic history from the 1960's and 1970's.
March 6, 2012
I received this book as a giveaway and I could not finish it - it's just not my thing. The subject is fascinating, but the writing is somewhat technical and it's definitely not a "The Right Stuff" for the sea (it will appeal to a much narrower audience).
April 20, 2012
I remembered hearing about sealab, in the same way that I heard about skylab. The book did a good job going through the history of the labs, and their offspring. It also tried to convey why dominion over the seas is significantly harder than the conquest of space.
June 13, 2012
A pretty decent history book. Interesting enough stories and development. Some scientific discussion of the challenges. Started strong and finished weak. Decent and enjoyable, but not anything I'd get really excited about.
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November 11, 2012I'm saying that this is a good book if you want to become a marine biologist. i say this because this talks about how far professional scuba divers can really go. This information can be used for the military so that they can breach plces with more efficiency.
January 3, 2013
This was an interesting and informative book.
I enjoyed learning more about the origins of saturation diving and the sealabs.
I am with them in wishing that we could establish undersea life.
the telling of the people's experience was compelling and easy to read.
I enjoyed learning more about the origins of saturation diving and the sealabs.
I am with them in wishing that we could establish undersea life.
the telling of the people's experience was compelling and easy to read.
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