Deep, Dark and Dangerous

British Columbia’s World-Class Undersea Technology Industry

Vickie Jensen

• Publisher: Harbour Publishing
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781550179200
• eBook ISBN: 9781550179217
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Science & Technology Biographies
• Index: Technology & Engineering

How British Columbia became an international hotspot for submarines, submersibles, Newt Suits, underwater robotics and a host of other cutting-edge undersea technologies.

In Deep, Dark and Dangerous, maritime historian Vickie Jensen explores the fascinating story of British Columbia's rise to become a world leader in the underwater tech industry, tracing BC's colourful history and bright future as a front runner in the world of subsea technology innovation.

This little-known saga began with the remarkable story of Pisces I. In the early 1960s, two commercial hard-hat divers from the Vancouver area, Don Sorte and Al Trice, and engineer Mack Thompson realized that they needed a small manned submersible with robot arms for deep-sea work. They couldn't find one to buy, so they decided to build their own. Experts told them such things could only be built in specialized facilities and it would be suicidal to try a home-made version. Just over two years and $100,000 later their Pisces I was successfully making two-thousand-foot dives. The three innovators formed a company called International Hydrodynamics (HYCO) as orders started to arrive from around the world. In the process of building some fourteen submersibles, HYCO would serve as an incubator for a generation of experts that would launch an entire industry of subsea companies in BC.

Drawing on her background in documenting both history and industry, Vickie Jensen uncovers stories, both historical and current, detailing the submarines, submersibles, robots, torpedo recovery technology and inventions that are responsible for BC's remarkable and continuing subsea reputation. Written with colour and flair, this is a fascinating and exciting story that anyone can enjoy.

Index

Note: Page numbers in bold refer to photographs.

1845 Franklin Expedition, 20

The Abyss, 107–8

Abyss dive mask, 112

Agon, Teddy, 76

Akademik Keldysh (research ship), 76

Alabama, 208–9

Alan, Ron, 61, 61

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), 73 195

American Oilfield Divers (AOD), 89, 106, 119–21, 125

Ametek Straza, 136

AML Oceanographic, 263

Amoco, 86

Antarctica, 153–55

Antarctic waters, 153

Apache (reel ship), 103

Aqua Electronics, 166–67

Aquarius submersible, 55, 72, 72, 101, 101, 107

Aquatica Submarines, 254

Aquitaine Petroleum, 45, 46, 47

Arctic, 23, 88, 98, 149, 151–52, 154, 158, 161, 166, 168, 170, 172, 174, 175, 179, 241

Arctic ice, 20, 21

Arnott, Mark, 113

Ashdown, Les, 54–55, 70, 195, 195–96, 201

Asplin, Bob, 168–69, 169, 180–82

Atherton, Mark, 91, 91, 96, 104, 161–62, 165, 173–74, 178–79, 179, 181–82, 182, 269–70

Atlantic Canada, 86. See also East Coast

Atlantis I (submarine), 189, 189, 190, 190, 199

Atlantis II (submarine), 191

Atlantis Submarines, 54–55, 70, 186–202, 187, 199, 253, 266

Atlantis XIV (submarine), 192

Atmospheric diving suit (ADS), 21, 83, 89, 92, 101, 105–6, 111, 120–21, 129

Atmospheric Roving Manipulator Systems (ARMS), 94

Auguste Piccard (submarine), 56, 133, 203–14, 208, 209, 213, 215, 216–21, 220, 221

Aurora (towfish), 146–47

Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), 153–54

Australian Maritime College (AMC), 153, 155

Autonomous and Remote Controlled Submersible (ARCS), 151–52, 157–58

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), 2, 147–55, 158, 158–59, 259, 260–262

Axial Seamount, 237, 240–41

Balch, John, 91, 91

Ballard, Geoff, 204

Ballard Power (formerly Ballard Research), 203–4

Barbara, Peter, 88

Bamford, Bill, 16

Barbados, 191–92, 194, 198

Barge 10 salvage, 11, 13

Baylis, Derek, 99, 143

BC Hydro, 207

BC Interior, 6, 111

Beaufort Sea, 86, 98, 170–71, 211

Beaver submersible, 64

“the bends” (diving injury), 13–14, 23

Ben Franklin (submarine), 56, 203, 205–6

Bennett Dam, 22

Bentley, Scott, 230

Bergman, Erika, 254–58, 258

Bird, John, 245–48, 246

Black, Al, 10–11

Blithe Spirit (power boat), 29

BP (British Petroleum), 86

Bohm, Harry, 1–2, 159, 177, 248

Borrow, Mike, 89

bounce dive, 9

Brazzaville Congo, 76

Breadalbane (merchant ship), 20, 21

Bridges, Lloyd, 1

British Columbia Oceans Coordinating Committee, 81

British Oceanics (successor to Vickers Oceanics), 68, 69

Broughton, Rick, 215

Browning machine gun, 8

Build Your Own Underwater Robot and Other Wet Projects (book), 2

Burrard Drydock (clinker boat), 10, 55

Burrard Inlet, 16

Cab subs, 107

Cagna, Ray, 61, 61

Cal Dive International, 105

California, 14, 21, 37, 38

California Divers (Cal Dive), 85, 87–88, 95, 106, 159

California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB), 2

Cameron, James, 107–8

Campbell, Gordon, 156

Canadian Geographic magazine, 21

Canadarm, 139–40

Canadian Armed Forces, 54, 64, 65. See also Canadian Navy

Canadian ...

Table of contents

• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Al Trice: The challenge of working underwater
• Phil Nuytten: Pushing the limits
• HYCO: “Where we all started”
• HYCO: Chronicle of a subsea legend
• Phil Nuytten: Can-Dive, Oceaneering and Nuytco
• T. Thompson Ltd.: The importance of connections
• OceanWorks: Synthesis of innovation
• International Submarine Engineering (ISE) and James McFarlane
• Sonar: The magic of seeing underwater
• Atlantis Submarines and underwater tourism
• John Horton’s elusive dream: The Auguste Piccard
• Inuktun: Smaller is better
• Subsea science
• Getting into the subsea business today
• Acknowledgements
• Index