The new "Oceans" column will appear bimonthly in Proceedings. It is written bv Dr. Don Walsh, who has been involved with all aspects of national and international uses of the sea for the past 40 years. "Oceans" is intended to provide the naval and maritime professional with information about significant scientific technical and operational activities relating to uses of the world ocean. Dr. Walsh served as a career naval officer from 1954 to 1975 and was a member the Naval Institute's Board of Control from 1971-73. He has operated his marine consulting practice, International Maritime Inc., since 1975.
"JYC" (Zheek) was 87 when he died in June. "Renaissance man" is overused these days, but it truly defined Jacques Yves Cousteau. Consider that he:
- Entered the French Naval Academy in 1930 and served in the French Navy until retirement in 1950.
- Was one of the first recreational divers, beginning in the mid1930s.
- Developed the first practical self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) in 1943 with Emil Gagnan.
- Was a member of the French Resistance during the German occupation in World War II.
- Founded the French Navy's Underwater Studies and Research Group (GERS) in 1945 with Capitaine de Corvette Philippe Tailliez.
- Was first commanding officer of Elie Monnier, the first vessel to support GERS' operations.
- Founded Calypso Oceanographic Expeditions in 1950.
- Acquired and converted a World War II wooden minesweeper into the world-famous Calypso expedition ship. She served in this role until sunk dockside in Singapore two years ago after being rammed by another vessel.
- Began a 40-year series of film, writing, and television projects in the mid-1950s that led to numerous international awards, including two Academy Awards for best documentary films.
- Pioneered the development of early manned submersibles. As a navy lieutenant he was with Professor Auguste Piccard in 1949 when he tested the first bathyscaph off Dakar, Senegal. He worked with the French Navy to help develop the first operational bathyscaph, FNRS-3, launched in 1953. After retirement, JYC developed several manned submersibles for his Calypso group.
- Was the founder and head of the private French Office for Underwater Research (OFRS) at Marseilles in the mid-1960s. OFRS did pioneering work on undersea vehicles and diving physiology
- Founded the Cousteau Society in 1972 to help promote global ocean awareness and conservation.
- Became a confidant to heads of state and senior officials on ocean conservation issues.
JYC and I first met in 1959 at San Diego at a small party given by some people from Scripps. I had just been assigned to the Navy laboratory in San Diego as officer-in-charge of the newly-acquired bathyscaph Trieste. Knowing he had participated in tests of the first Piccard bathyscaph, I was eager to get his ideas about this new field.
His advice was rather blunt. "Leave the Navy. Eventually the bureaucracy will kill any real progress." He believed that on the "outside" one could travel further and faster by organizing one's own enterprise and making one's own rules.
Meetings with JYC were always a pleasure; never boring. In the early 1970s we shared a splendid meal, drinks, and cigars at his Monaco apartment above the harbor. I had to literally speak for my supper. He had called Radio Monaco and proposed we do a live interview from his apartment. To say the least, my college-level French was strained beyond the breaking point. Fortunately, JYC was more amused than horrified.
On a later occasion I had gone to Marseilles to see Agryronette at his Center for Advanced Marine Studies (CEMA was the new version of his old OFRS), After looking at the nearly completed pressure hull and drawings of the concept, Cousteau invited me for coffee on board Calypso, moored nearby. Shortly after we sat down, a group of school children trooped aboard for a televised meeting with "the captain," and I was enlisted as co-host for the impromptu production. My linguistic abilities were no better this time, but the kids didn't seem to mind.
During the 1980s I served six years with the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere in Washington, D.C. There I would occasionally intersect with Cousteau's trajectory as he swept through the Capitol to advise the President, members of Congress, or anyone else of influence who would listen to his increasing concerns about the health of the world ocean. He always was a refreshing voice.
Regrettably, in the 1990s, my meetings with JYC were much less frequent. In his later years it seemed that his crusade for the oceans forced him to travel much more than he wished. Staring at the airplane seatback in front of him must have been an extremely poor substitute for being at sea on board his beloved Calypso. But he was a man with a message, and a message that only he could deliver.
Jacques Yves Cousteau was a man who brought ocean awareness to more than two generations and tens of millions of children and adults worldwide. Because of him, "everyman" could now know something about the word ocean. Future generations will continue to enjoy and be educated by the massive body of film, television, and printed work that he created in his four score and seven years as the world ocean's principal spokesman. The Cousteau Society continues his work. It is this body of work that is his real epitaph, and testament to a seaman's life well lived. I was glad to have known him.