ConShelf I project - an underwater house at the bottom of the ocean

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

He was definitely a genius. First he gave the world scuba gear, then he devoted his life to the sea and raised the study of the world's oceans to a new level. But it was not enough for Jacques-Yves Cousteau to simply swim in the seas and shoot marine life on camera. He wanted to change the whole world and influence the history of human civilization. In 1962, Cousteau launched an absolutely fantastic project: his team lived in houses at the bottom of the ocean for a total of 3 months.

It was akin to a flight into space - the whole adventure turned out to be so amazing and strange.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau dreams of moving humanity under water

Jacques-Yves Cousteau is an inventor, ocean explorer and author of many excellent documentaries. During World War II, Cousteau participated in the French Resistance, conducted subversive activities and received the highest award in France, the Order of the Legion of Honor.

So his most important invention, scuba diving, he created in 1943 together with Emil Ganyan specifically for sea sabotage. When the war ended, the discovery brought him quite a lot of money, so that he got the opportunity not only to live comfortably, but also to invest it in something completely extravagant.

In 1950, Jacques-Yves buys the decommissioned ship Calypso and rebuilds it as a marine laboratory. From that moment until his death in 1997, Cousteau's life turns into one great pilgrimage across the waters of the ocean. Glory, honor and three Oscars for great (no kidding) documentaries will await him. But we want to tell you not exactly about that. There was an episode in the life of Jacques-Yves and his team when they were so ambitious that they embarked on an unthinkable and fantastic undertaking at that time.

Three times they descended to the bottom of the sea, placed houses there and lived in them, along the way exploring the life of the ocean. Fleeing from decompression sickness, sharks and boredom, they became world heroes. Cousteau and his comrades really believed that they were destined to begin the turn of the entire civilization and help it populate the world's oceans. To our great regret, all this coincided in time with the same high-profile project, which turned out to be the undoubted favorite of the public and the authorities.

ConShelf I project - the first underwater home in history

The first time to settle down and survive at the bottom of the sea was in 1962, that is, shortly after Gagarin's flight. It is not hard to guess that against the background of a flight into space, the idea did not receive even half of the attention it deserved. And, nevertheless, it was an unexpected success for everyone.

Not far from the French Marseille in the Mediterranean Sea, the first real "underwater house" in history was placed. Its dimensions were not that great: in fact, it was a metal barrel 5 meters long and 2.5 meters in diameter. The design received the unspoken nickname "Diogenes" and became a refuge for Cousteau's friends - Albert Falco (remember this name!) And Claude Wesley.

The oceanauts lived for a week at a depth of 10 meters, and if you thought that the pioneers suffered all this time in underwater hell, then you were damn wrong. Claude and Albert had a radio, a television, comfortable bunks, regular breakfast lunch and dinner, their own library, and constant chatting on the walkie-talkie with their comrades on the Calypso. In addition, both of them swam for 5 hours a day near the new home, studying the seabed and the inhabitants of the ocean, after which they were engaged in research work in "Diogenes".

A week at the ocean base was enough to understand: it is possible to live under water and it is not as difficult as it seemed at first. The experiment demanded immediate continuation.

ConShelf II - the first underwater village

Already in 1963, a new project was launched, which was head and shoulders above the previous one. If ConShelf I can be called the "first underwater home", then ConShelf 2 was already a real underwater village. 6 people and a parrot constantly lived here, and many more members of the Calypso crew came to visit. In general, the situation was like in a normal, cheerful hostel, only barracudas, jellyfish and divers floated outside the window, and for a walk "in the fresh air" one had to put on a scuba diver's equipment.

For the new experiment, the Red Sea shelf was chosen, off the coast of Sudan. ConShelf II was not a single structure, but a whole complex of four structures. Surprisingly, in order to assemble and install everything, it took not so much manpower and resources: only 2 ships, 20 sailors and 5 divers.

Initially, it was assumed that it would really be a full-fledged oceanic village with incredible (at that time) locks, corridors, underwater boats and oceanic observatories. As a result, I had to do everything much more modestly, but even in this form, the results are simply amazing.

The main building was made in the form of a starfish with four "beams" and a large room in the center. It was placed at a depth of 10 meters, where the oceanauts could simultaneously enjoy the sunlight and calmly swim for several hours a day without experiencing problems with decompression.

One of the main goals of the experiment was just to find out whether scuba divers would be able to descend to great depths without any problems and calmly return to an underwater dwelling. As expected, it was quite real. On the surface of deep divers, death would have been expected from a sudden ascent and decompression sickness, but underwater houses solved this problem.

Submarine hangar and tough experiment

In addition to the "Starfish", there was also an air hangar for a "diving saucer" - a submarine used by Cousteau's team. Waking up in the morning at a depth of 10 meters below sea level, you could drink coffee, go on a journey to a depth of 300 meters, discover a dozen unknown species of animals, and return by lunchtime to eat tuna sandwiches and tell your comrades about your adventures. And all this without leaving the ocean! For the 60s, such stories sounded like science fiction on the verge of insanity.

In addition, there was another important building. Despite its asceticism, "Raketa" was in some ways even more interesting from the point of view of the entire project. This turret was located at a depth of 30 meters and was made in order to find out how exactly scuba divers will cope with the extremely difficult conditions of underwater work and life.

Unlike the "Starfish", there was more likely not a house, but a punishment cell: extremely little space, constant stuffiness and high pressure, an experimental mixture of helium, nitrogen and oxygen instead of air, darkness and sharks around. In general, everything to test yourself in a real stressful situation. The only thing that pleased the two volunteers who lived here for a week was that the helium in the mixture made their voices squeaky and funny, and the team members often called Raketa just to chat and laugh heartily all together.

This experiment also turned out to be successful, and everyone in it proved to be excellent: the "Raketa", and the scuba divers, and the mixture for breathing. The first thing both subjects did when they sailed back after a horrendous week and the dangers of decompression was to smoke a pipe full of tobacco and finally get enough sleep.

The simple life of ordinary guys at the bottom of the ocean

Unlike the first astronauts, the first aquanauts did not experience any particular difficulties in their work. That is, of course, living at the bottom of the ocean for a month and working several hours a day in scuba gear is not the most trivial task. But even the composition of the team suggests that it was easier to cope with this mission than with the duties of an astronaut. The permanent residents of the underwater houses were: a biologist, a teacher, a cook, a sports trainer, a customs officer and an engineer.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his team tried to create not only bearable, but also very comfortable conditions for the discoverers. The daily diet of the underwater settlers consisted of fresh seafood and vegetables, as well as canned goods and baked goods. And even more: they chose their menu by calling the chef via video link at Calypso!

Ventilation with pipes made it possible to maintain such a comfortable microclimate that the inhabitants of the "Starfish" did nothing but smoke pipes and cigarettes, not forgetting to drink wine sometimes. The oceanauts were regularly visited by a hairdresser and they used artificial sunbathing every day so as not to lose their tan and not suffer from a deficiency of ultraviolet radiation.

The aquanauts entertained themselves with conversations, reading books, chess and observing the ocean. In order to warn residents about problems with the breathing mixture, a parrot was settled in the "Starfish", which also survived the adventure well, although sometimes he coughed heavily. However, it is possible that this is due to tobacco smoke. Within a month, the inhabitants of the underwater village even had their favorites among the fish. So, for example, they gladly met and fed the affectionate barracuda, which was constantly hanging around the house. The fish was given the nickname "Jules" and began to recognize her "by sight."

In addition, thanks to living in such conditions, some unexpected details have emerged. It turned out that due to increased pressure (and, possibly, artificial breathing mixture), wounds on the body heal literally overnight, and beards and mustaches practically stop growing. In addition, tobacco burned many times faster, and therefore smokers had to ask for many more cigarettes than expected.

"World without the Sun" - a triumph that Jacques-Yves Cousteau deserves

The ConShelf II project was a real triumph for Cousteau and his team. They not only drew the world's attention to a new perspective for human development, but also received an Oscar for Best Documentary in 1965. "A World Without Sun" - an hour and a half picture, which Cousteau filmed during the experiment, and it produced an amazing effect.

Much of the information about ConShelf II and life at the bottom of the Red Sea is easiest to get from this movie. So it's worth watching even for those who don't like documentaries. Moreover, it was filmed simply amazing: the atmosphere of life under water is mesmerizing, each frame is a ready-made screenshot for the desktop, and you want to review many moments precisely because of how aesthetically attractive they are.

The climax of the film is the journey of Cousteau and that same Albert Falco on the "Saucer" - their small UFO-shaped submarine. They descend 300 meters into the depths of the Red Sea and, to the surprise of the viewer, find landscapes and life forms at the bottom of the sea that look alien. Here aquanauts encounter a giant six-meter fish, schools of crustaceans running like antelopes and an orgy of crabs for several thousand people.

The emergence of Cousteau and Falco concludes the entire film, and it has a stunning effect: it seems that you are the one who just rose from the seabed after an incredible month of living in an underwater house.

ConShelf III - the frustration of hopes

Following the success of the ConShelf II project, Jacques-Yves Cousteau was given the opportunity to continue development and experimentation. So in 1965, ConShelf III was launched, the third and, unfortunately, the last major experiment of the team in this area. It was even more ambitious, even more perfect, even more exciting, but still the last one.

A large dome was placed at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea between Nice and Monaco at a depth of 100 meters. Six people (including Cousteau's son Philippe) for three weeks survived in an underwater house, which was much more autonomous than the previous ones. Along the way, the oceanauts of the third project were engaged in many experiments of a purely practical nature, which were supposed to provide a lot of information for oil companies.

But the time for underwater houses is gone. The governments of both the western and eastern blocs have already made a final bet on space, and the ocean has become of no interest to them. In the same way, the attention of the windy public shifted. Another blow was dealt by the original sponsors of the projects - petrochemical corporations. After observing all three Conchelfs, they concluded that it would be easier to use divers and robots than full-fledged and innovative underwater worker villages.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau himself and his team finally worsened relations with industry sponsors. Instead of pointing out how best to extract oil from the sea shelves, researchers began to raise public awareness of environmental issues and the fragility of the balance of life in the ocean. More about grants for the development of underwater settlements could not have dreamed of.

Underwater houses after Cousteau

Of course, in addition to the Cousteau team, other researchers were also engaged in the resettlement of humanity into the ocean. In total, more than a dozen such projects have been launched in the world. But all of them were far from being so lucky with world fame, although many did not have problems with funding.

For example, in the USSR, the so-called "Ichthyander 66" was launched - an amateur project, during which enthusiastic divers managed to build an underwater housing, which became their home for three days. The "Ichthyander 67" that followed was much more serious - two weeks of living, a construction reminiscent of ConShelf II and experiments with various animals.

Another famous example is the three experiments of the SEALAB project, which was launched in Bermuda in 1964 and relaunched in 1965 and 1969. The history of the SEALAB base is in itself worthy of a separate article. Interest in underwater houses has already begun to fade, but the authors of the project were able to convince the US government that it would be extremely useful for space research. For example, it was here that the future astronaut Scott Carpenter trained, who experienced the effects of isolation and pressure drops.

SEALAB III has provided scientists with a wealth of thought and experience for aquanauts. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out the way the organizers would like. From the very beginning, the project was haunted by problems, accidents happened, and fatal failures followed one after another. It all ended with the death of one of the oceanauts, Berry Cannon, who died during an emergency repair of a submarine base for reasons not fully understood.

In addition to research projects for the settlement of the seabed, there is at least one more hedonistic one. The Jules Undersea Lodge, converted from an old undersea base, is the only underwater hotel currently in operation. For 30 years of work, about 10 thousand people managed to visit it, many of whom are newlyweds who decided to diversify their honeymoon.

So we can say with confidence that one of the first things people did, barely finding themselves in an underwater home, was having sex and the issue of reproduction. It looks promising: at least, humanity will not have any problems with populating the underwater cities of the future.

And here is what remains of the ConShelf II project looks like now. The ruins of the first ever underwater community have become a pilgrimage site for divers.

We can say that the construction of hydropolises failed and did not begin, Jacques-Yves Cousteau is just an old man out of his mind, and dreams of living at the bottom of the ocean are better left for science fiction and video games. But if you look at everything from the point of view of an optimist, projects like ConShelf and SEALAB are the first, albeit too neat steps. On the same moon, no human has set foot since 1969, but we still dream of space and are convinced that in a couple of decades we will colonize Mars. The only difference between Cousteau's utopia is that we believe in it less, although it looks, in general, even more realistic.