100 Fathoms Deep (1971) - full transcript

(dramatic orchestral music)

- [Narrator] Here at the
San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard,

workers prepare Sealab III,

a special habitat for
ocean floor dwelling,

to be used by the aquanauts of the Navy's

most ambitious undersea
experiment to date.

Already used in Sealab II,

major modifications to the cylindrical

habitat were the addition of

two rooms to the ends of
the central section,

and an anchor ballast tank
which would allow



the habitat to remain level
on the sloping ocean floor.

(water rushing and roaring)

Once all systems had
been successfully tested

in the dry environment,

a drydock is flooded for the
evaluation of submerged tests

of safety, reliability,

and performance needed for the
life support of the men

who would live and work
in and out of Sealab

during the deep ocean
experiment in the Pacific.

By nightfall, Sealab was
almost completely submerged,

enabling an aquanaut to exit from

the diving station and check out his

semi-closed breathing apparatus,

for if man is to effectively
explore his new frontier,



he must have ample mobility.

Primary objective of
the Sealab III program

is to evaluate techniques and
equipment being developed

and to extend man's capabilities

to the limits of the continental shelf.

Essential to this capability
is a deep diving system for

eventual use by the fleet.

(steady, labored breathing)

The prototype of such a
deep diving system was built

into the support ship Elk River.

A vital part of this system is the PTC,

or personnel transfer capsule,

a pressurized elevator
needed to transport divers

to and from the ocean floor.

(tense music)

Dress rehearsal site for the evaluation

of special tools and equipment used by

the salvage and construction teams

in their parts of the ocean floor program

is held near Anacapa Island, California.

Like a couple of ocean astronauts,

the divers don special headgear
that provides protection,

two-way communications and a
breathing system for life support.

- [Crewman #1] Give him a
round of tape there!

- [Narrator] At six hundred feet,

his breathing gas of helium and oxygen,

in correct mixture,

is supplied by an umbilical
from the habitat.

Fully dressed, the aquanaut must carry

one hundred and forty pounds of equipment.

- [Crewman #2] Okay, getting ready
to go in now!

- [Crewman #3] Go, go!

- [Narrator] Their first task
on entering the water

is to check out each other's
life support system.

(unintelligible)

- [Narrator] The sixty-day
ocean floor program

will consist of experiments in physiology,

oceanography,

construction,

search recovery,

use of marine mammals and salvage.

In this experiment

aquanauts use a zipper to adjust the

amount of lift desired

in a variable buoyancy lift system.

Since salvage work demands
heavy heaving and hauling,

this portable crane can
lessen their burden.

Because the cold water is numbing
and saps his energy,

special tools such as this
must be designed for the diver

and are evaluated in the
actual ocean environment.

A diver tool test stand

serves as a workbench
where the performance

of tools is actually tested.

One of these is an explosive stud driver,

using gunpowder as a
source of energy to drive

studs through one-inch armor plate.

A human factors expert notes

the time needed to complete each task,

comparing their reactions
to other environments,

like outer space.

(stud is driven in)

(slow, steady breathing)

A restraining belt is
worn by the aquanaut,

since buoyed weightlessness
complicates his work.

He tends to turn along with the drill,

and if he hammers something,

the reaction pushes him away.

- [Crewman #4] ...Gonna put 'em
in the water when he got here.

- [Crewman #5] Who's going in first?

- [Narrator] At the same time,

members of the construction
team were about to practice

their part in the ocean floor program,

to build a fifteen-foot tall
house on the sea bottom.

Using special lift devices and equipment,

they will assemble three
large concentric iron rings

into a dry storage and repair facility.

- [Diver #1] Alright, I'm at
the control console.

- [Diver #2] Okay.

Alright, get ready to operate the winch.

Okay, down on the winch.

- [Diver #1] Down on the winch, aye!

- [Diver #1] Topside, the lower
ring is lifting off the bottom.

The ring is lifting off the bottom.

- [Diver #2] Lower ring,
coming off the bottom.

Hey Larry?

Hey topside, this is Blue Diver,

can you turn the volume up
between diver-to-diver?

- [Topside Crewman] Alright,
giving you some more volume, Blue.

- Thank you.

Looking good, Larry.

(indistinct)

Now Larry, is the...

Trawling line slack?
Is the trawling line slack?

- [Narrator] Techniques learned
in this experiment

can lead to construction
of other larger structures

and will eventually be the forerunner

of major industrial and research complexes

on the continental shelves of the world.

At Point Mugu, California,

another part of the ocean floor
program is in progress.

Pre-aquanauts are introduced
to a sea lion named Gimpy.

She is one of five marine mammals

trained to assist man in his
research in the depths.

Each underwater mammal
has its own talents.

The sea lion can streak from
the surface to six hundred feet

in less than thirty seconds.

Homing on a portable buzzer,

Gimpy is rewarded and patiently waits

for the Aquanaut to transfer a buoy

from one part of her harness to another.

This training helps
the mammal accept tools,

mail and geological samples

when she eventually acts as a messenger

from the surface to the aquanauts below.

(porpoise breaks water)

Also in training is a
porpoise named Tuffy.

Porpoises are the brightest
of the marine mammals,

and Tuffy proved during the
previous Sealab II experiment

that he could act like a
seagoing Saint Bernard,

taking a life-saving line from a

rescue team to a lost aquanaut.

With all modifications completed,

the habitat is placed on a
barge and towed from the

naval shipyard at San Francisco

to its next stop, Long Beach, California.

(ship's horn blares)

(indistinct chatter)

During its brief stay at the shipyard

the underwater capsule is loaded with all

the special equipment needed
to make a habitat a home.

Personal items.

Consumables,

towels,

and dry provisions.

(ship's horn blares)

Meanwhile, the surface
support vessel Elk River

was departing from the
San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard

and heading to the experiment site,

an ocean engineering range

on the leeward side of
San Clemente Island.

Once positioned in a five-point moor,

the Elk River begins final testing

of the deep diving system

installed during its conversion.

A large gantry crane lifts
the pressurized elevator

and moves it forward for
lowering through the center well.

The PTC must be closely
controlled and monitored,

for during the upcoming experiment,

if the capsule loses its pressure

the aquanauts inside could suffer

fatal explosive decompression.

Use of these capsules allows quick,

safe transfer of aquanauts

to and from the ocean floor.

Helium and oxygen flasks,
mounted on the outside,

contain the proper mixture of gases

the diver breathes during transit

and while making excursions from the PTC.

Once saturated with this inert gas,

the aquanaut cannot return to the surface.

To do so would mean certain death.

He moves from his dry capsule

to the wet ocean surrounding it,

able to come and go freely

through an invisible curtain.

No intermediate lock is required

because the pressure within the PTC

is the same as the surrounding water.

(tense music)

(tense music continues)

(ship's horn blares)

The salvage ship USNS Gear

tows the fully-loaded
habitat on the last leg of

its journey from the
shipyard at Long Beach.

Arriving at the experiment site,

it awaits offloading by
the large floating crane,

the Marine Boss.

As the habitat is pushed
to the offloading site,

aquanauts make final preparations.

Diver umbilicals are tied together,

and then wrapped securely around

special storage racks
near the diving station.

Heavy wire slings are prepared

for the Marine Boss lifting bridle.

Now the large crane must lift more than

three hundred tons
of ocean floor dwelling.

The Sealab, resembling
a railroad tank car,

is almost seventy feet long

and is painted a bright yellow
for underwater visibility.

The conning tower gives
access while on the surface.

When submerged,

Sealab measures fifty feet from
the top of the conning tower

to the bottom of its central anchor clump.

The special support
barge has been pulled away

and Sealab is lowered into the ocean.

Marine Boss has done its job

and the final countdown begins.

The habitat is gently towed
to its lowering position

near the support ship Elk River.

There it is moored for installation of the

habitat umbilical and support equipment.

Divers inspect the habitat
as it rests in its Moore.

Cables and fittings are carefully checked.

(serene music)

With Down Day approaching,

aquanauts and support
personnel complete final

inspection of all deep diving
system components.

Inside a personnel transfer capsule,

mated to its accompanying deck
decompression chamber,

an aquanaut checks the
gas monitoring panel

and communications with other
elements of the system.

- Monitor control, this is capsule two

for communications check.
Over.

- [Narrator] Below him,
similar tests are being made

between the deck decompression chamber

and the main control console,

which is the nerve center for the exacting

process of careful decompression

needed to bring men back
to surface pressure

from their saturated dive.

(control room chatter)

(unintelligible)

(tense music)

- Monitor control.

- [Aquanaut #1] This is PTC-2,
we check out okay on internal lights.

- [Narrator] The next morning
everything is in readiness

for the lowering procedure.

The helium barge is alongside

and the YSD-60 is hooked up
and ready to lower.

Flooding of a ballast tank
beneath the conning tower

is the first step
for lowering the habitat.

Now almost awash,

divers secure the hatch
of the conning tower,

second of three ballast tanks.

The upper two tanks provide

nine thousand pounds of negative weight,

allowing the unmanned
Sealab to begin its descent.

The third ballast tank

is in the anchor clump,

and will be flooded as part of

the habitat opening procedure

once it is safely on the ocean floor.

Divers enter the water while

Sealab is held at twenty-five feet

for a final visual check

before the lowering continues.

Pressure of the gas within
the habitat is kept

slightly greater than that
of the surrounding ocean

to prevent flooding.

(underwater bubbling)

As the habitat is slowly lowered,

personnel on the Westinghouse support ship

Surge Tide ready their dry
submersible Deepstar for its first

observation dive.

Once in the water she will
descend to six hundred feet,

permitting her Sealab
passengers to observe

the final stages of the
lowering and actual touchdown.

- [Diver #3] Bottom's in sight.

- [Aquanaut #2] This is Deepstar.

The lab, it appears

that she's gonna make a beautiful landing.

- [Technician] Command van,
this is control, go ahead and pan the

panning pan and tilt
one time to a final position.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] During the night,
a remote-controlled camera system

monitored the habitat

while closed-circuit television cameras

provided a close watch on the

pressure balance within Sealab.

(various crew chatter)

Early the next morning,
pressure begins to drop.

Gas is somehow leaking from the habitat.

Immediately a conference is held.

The only way to stop
a leak is from inside.

The decision is made to compress

four of the nine men
more rapidly than planned

so the unbuttoning crew can get into

the habitat ahead of schedule.

The aquanauts are given the go-ahead.

- [Captain Mazzone] Okay, I'd like
to get all members

of team one over here.

(various crew chatter)

- [Narrator] Arriving at the
deck decompression station,

the four aquanauts discussed
the unbuttoning procedure

and received their final instructions

from the diving officer.

- Okay guys...

(various crew chatter)

- [Narrator] They enter the
chamber for compression

to six hundred feet

at the rate of four feet per minute.

It will take two and a half hours

for their bodies to be equal to the same

pressure they will experience
on the ocean floor.

- [Crewman] Alright, diving officer!

Make your depth fourteen feet on air.

- Alright.

- [Crewman] Hatch sealed!

- [Narrator] The remaining
five members of team one

enter the other chamber for
the planned fifteen hour

saturation to depth

and to undergo physiological
baseline studies.

(various crew chatter)

In the interim,

Deepstar is requested to make

another descent to the seafloor

to try and accurately locate

the leak and report back.

This information is given
to the four aquanauts

preparing to descend.

Personnel in the main control console area

ensure mixes of gas during
saturation are correct

and keep track of the pressure

within the leaking habitat.

(tense music)

(crew chatter)

The five men undergoing
standard pressurization

busy themselves reviewing
their assigned tasks

and discussing the problem facing

their teammates in the other chamber.

By late afternoon, pressure is equalized

between the decompression chamber

and its mated personnel transfer capsule.

The last-minute details for
the dive are completed,

the four aquanauts check their

pressurized elevator before entering

for the long ride to the ocean floor.

(tense music)

(ringing alarm bell)

On the main deck of the support vessel,

the Gantry prepares to separate the

capsule from the deck
decompression chamber,

for this is no practice dive.

(metallic clanging)

The seal on the hatch of
the capsule must hold,

as the aquanauts are living
at the same ambient pressure

as that of the ocean floor,

almost two hundred and eighty
pounds per square inch,

nineteen times greater than at sea level.

(ringing alarm bell)

Carefully, the capsule is swung

over the center well for
the strenuous job of

attaching the downhaul winch,

which also serves as a
platform for the aquanauts

when they exit at six hundred feet.

Man's maximum working depth
in the sea, until recently,

was considered to be three
hundred and eighty feet

for thirty minutes

with hardhat diving equipment.

The Mark II system is designed

to more than double that depth.

(alarm bell ringing)

The capsule end transfers
to handling davits

used with the main strength
power communications cable,

which is the aquanaut's
lifeline to the surface.

(splashing water)

(underwater bubbling)

(tense music)

As they descend slowly toward the habitat,

the aquanauts report on their progress.

Because of changes in resonance

brought about by the helium

in their synthetic atmosphere,

their voices sound garbled and unearthly.

- [Technician] Every fifty feet,
do you read?

- [Aquanaut #3] Two hundred!

(tense music)

Four hundred!

Four-fifty!

(unintelligible helium voice)

- [Narrator] The leaks in the habitat are

visible to the aquanauts

as they approach the ocean floor.

Gas is escaping through penetration

fittings in Sealab's hull

and more gas must be pumped down

from the surface to keep

the habitat from flooding.

With their elevator on the ocean floor,

aquanauts Barth and Cannon
hook up their umbilicals

and head for the habitat.

They must flood the
anchor clump ballast tank,

ensure the habitat is level,

and release gas to blow out the skirt,

or area beneath the entrance
to the diving station,

before opening the hatch.

Ballast tank number three
has been flooded,

and the skirt has been blown.

Topside personnel watch Bob Barth
through closed-circuit TV.

He should now be able to open the hatch,

but is having trouble with his breathing

and must hit a bypass on
his rig to increase gas flow.

Tired, cold and breathing heavily,

Barth decides to head back to the capsule.

Barry Cannon had already returned.

The capsule is hauled to the surface

and the aquanauts gratefully entered

the warm decompression chamber.

But the problem has not been solved.

In the pre-dawn darkness
of the following morning,

the decision is made to send the men down

on a second dive.

The leakage is worse

and must either be stopped
or the experiment aborted.

The aquanauts return to
the personnel transfer capsule

for a second journey to
the hundred fathom depth.

(tense music)

(alarm bell ringing)

Barth and Cannon again head
for the troubled habitat.

The problem is apparent to
them as they approach.

The light helium oxygen
atmosphere of Sealab

is bubbling out into the sea.

For a second time,
Barth's attempt to enter

the door of his underwater home is foiled.

Water has seeped back

under the diving station skirt,

and the hatch won't budge.

Cold and frustrated,

Barth swims for a crowbar,
positioned nearby,

which can assist him
in forcing open the hatch.

(tense music)

Returning, he sees
his partner Barry Cannon

in trouble on the ocean floor.

Dropping the crowbar,
he rushes to Barry's aid.

Cannon is shaking.

His mouthpiece has come loose,

allowing his vital breathing
gas to escape.

Struggling with the now-unconscious body

of his friend,

Barth carries Barry to
the diving station ladder.

Propping Barry up,

Barth tries desperately
to give him breathing gas

through the buddy breather regulator,

carried for just such an emergency.

Again he tries.

Still again he tries to
force the mouthpiece

with vital gas into Barry's mouth.

Suddenly Barth himself
begins having trouble breathing.

His ears ringing,

he feels as though
he is going to pass out.

Clasping Barry, he heads
for the capsule and help.

But he and his teammates' heroic
efforts were to prove futile.

Barry Cannon was pronounced
dead on arrival

at the deck decompression chamber.

(somber music)

(somber music continues)

Diving operations have been suspended,

and the on-scene commander

is faced with a real dilemma.

How is he to get the
habitat back to the surface?

It is still leaking badly

and has the added weight of seventeen tons

of seawater in ballast tank number three.

Aboard the YSD-60,

engineers prepared to make modifications

to the counterweight system

in order to handle the additional

seventeen tons of weight.

To do this, twenty thousand
pounds of additional weight

is added to the counterweight,

bringing its total to about
thirty-five thousand pounds,

and the weaker points in
the raising system

are either bypassed or strengthened

by on-the-spot bracing

to prevent buckling.

The crane boom and the
midship pully were bypassed

by cutting the aft I-beam

to permit the actual lift
from this corner of the ship.

With the lifting problem solved,

the helium barge was running out of gas.

The air compressors on the support vessel

couldn't keep ahead of the leak.

An urgent call for help
was sent to a submarine

with powerful air compressors.

The question was, could she
arrive in time to help?

(underwater bubbling)

By nightfall, the lift had begun

and the submarine Dyodon had arrived

to handle the pressure problem.

When the habitat was at a hundred feet,

divers entered the
water to blow the ballast

from number three tank

and to attach nylon lines

to guide Sealab into a
clear area for surfacing.

(tranquil music)

Crews took up slack on the guide line,

while support divers manned small boats.

Then, suddenly, gurgling and gushing,

the habitat surged to the surface,

safe after engineers gave her
a thousand to one chance

of ever getting off the bottom.

- Recovery of the habitat
under emergency conditions

was a truly outstanding performance.

It will in due time enable us to complete

all of the goals of Sealab III program.

While the unfortunate accident

stopped the experiment
far short of the goal,

we were able to learn a great deal

from this initial major step.

In particular we identified several areas

which require detailed investigation

before we can consider

the first hundred fathoms
to have been mastered.

We plan to go ahead with a series of

special dives using this system,

the Mark II diving system,

without the habitat in order to solve

these problems and get some exact data.

We will do this while the
habitat is being modified

and repaired from its short
excursion into the depths.

While it's being refurbished
with a particular aim

of making it resistant to the high

pressure helium and the low temperatures

to which it's exposed.

Actually the Sealab III experiment

will mark a major milestone

in our progress into the deep ocean.

It must be recognized, however,
that this is not the end.

Both industry and the Navy

must continue to seek the means

of diving deeper and longer

and in safety.

These are goals to which Barry Cannon

devoted his life.

It's up to us to make them reality.

(tranquil music)