George F . Bond Capt . George Foote Bond USN ( ret . ) ( November 14 , 1915 – January 3 , 1983 ) was an American physician who was known as a leader in the field of undersea and hyperbaric medicine and the " Father of Saturation Diving " . Early life . George Foote Bond was born November 14 , 1915 in Willoughby , Ohio to Robert and Louise Foot Bond . Bond received a Bachelor and Master of Arts from the University of Florida in 1939 . While a student at UF , he became a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity . He then attended medical school at McGill University where he completed his medical training in surgery in 1945 . Bond performed his internship at the Memorial Hospital in Charlotte , North Carolina . In 1946 , Bond established a rural medicine practice in Bat Cave , North Carolina . Seeing a need in the community , Bond established the Valley Clinic and Hospital in 1948 . Bond was recognized by the community as " Doctor of the Year " in 1953 . The people of the area showed their affection towards Bond when he appeared on the national television show " This Is Your Life " on June 22 , 1955 . Navy career . Bond entered active Navy service in 1953 . Soon after he qualified as a Diving and Submarine Medical Officer and served as Squadron Medical Officer from 1954 to 1958 . Later that year , Bond transferred to the Naval Medical Research Laboratory in Groton , Connecticut where he served as the Officer - in - Charge until 1964 . It was during this time that Bond conducted his earliest experiments into saturation diving techniques . On October 2 , 1959 , approximately 15 miles southwest of Key West , Commander Bond and Chief Engineman Cyril Tuckfield safely completed a 52 - second , 302 - foot buoyant ascent from the forward escape trunk of the U . S . Navy submarine USS " Archerfish " . Both men received the Legion of Merit in 1960 for establishing the feasibility of deep submarine escape by locking out . Project Genesis . Albert R . Behnke proposed the idea of exposing humans to increased ambient pressures long enough for the blood and tissues to become saturated with inert gases in 1942 . In 1957 , Bond began the Genesis project proving that humans could in fact withstand prolonged exposure to different breathing gases and increased environmental pressures . Once saturation is achieved , the amount of time needed for decompression depends on the depth and gases breathed . This was the beginning of saturation diving and the US Navy ' s Man - in - the - Sea Program . Genesis was conducted in phases . In 1957 and 1958 , the first two phases ( A and B ) involved exposing animals to saturation in various breathing gases . The experiments are summarized in the table below : Once the animal work was completed , Bond proposed offering " the opportunity for development of ecological systems which would permit man , as a free agent , to live and work to depths at 600 feet , and for periods in excess of 30 days . " This proposal was rejected but in 1962 , interest in helium - oxygen atmospheres for manned space flights made Phase C possible . Fred Korth was the Secretary of the Navy in 1962 and authorized Phase C involving saturation of three subjects at one atmosphere ( surface ) in a 21 . 6 % oxygen , 4 % nitrogen , and 74 . 4 % helium environment for six days . The divers for this trial were Lieutenants John C . Bull , Jr . , Albert P . Fisher , Jr . , and Chief Quartermaster Robert A . Barth . Physiologically , the subjects showed no changes though difficulty controlling their body temperature as well as changes in their speech from the helium were noted . Phase D experiments were conducted at the United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit in 1963 . The subjects for these trials were Robert A . Barth , Sanders W . Manning , and Raymond R . Lavois . The subjects performed the world ' s first saturation dive at a depth of 100 feet of seawater ( fsw ) in a 7 % oxygen , 7 % nitrogen , and 86 % helium environment for 6 days . Light exercise and underwater swimming was performed periodically in the " wet pot " ( a water - filled hyperbaric chamber ) . Again the difficulty controlling their body temperature was a concern and the helium speech became worse at the greater environmental pressure . Bond returned the team to the Naval Medical Research Laboratory for the Phase E trials in 1963 . The divers were John C . Bull , Jr . , Robert A . Barth , and Sanders W . Manning . They were saturated for 12 days at 198 fsw breathing 3 . 9 % oxygen , 6 . 5 % nitrogen and 89 . 6 % helium . The temperature and voice communications problems continued with communications with the surface being virtually impossible . A 27 hour linear ascent was made from saturation . The Genesis chamber is still in use as a research facility today at the Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory . SEALAB . Following the success of the Genesis Project , Edwin Link initiated his Man - in - the - Sea dives followed shortly thereafter by Cousteau and his Conshelf experiments . " Papa Topside " Bond initiated and served as the Senior Medical Officer and principal investigator of the US Navy SEALAB program . SEALAB I was lowered off the coast of Bermuda in 1964 to a depth of 192 fsw below the sea ' s surface . It was constructed from two converted floats and held in place with axles from railroad car s . Bond and Captain Walter Mazzone inspected the habitat prior to the beginning of the project . The experiment involved four divers ( LCDR Robert Thompson , MC ; Gunners Mate First Class Lester Anderson , Chief Quartermaster Robert A . Barth , and Chief Hospital Corpsman Sanders Manning ) , who were to stay submerged for three weeks . The experiment was halted after 11 days due to an approaching tropical storm . SEALAB I proved that saturation diving in the open ocean was a viable means for expanding our ability to live and work in the sea . The experiment also provided engineering solutions to habitat placement , habitat umbilicals , humidity , and helium speech descrambling . SEALAB II was launched in 1965 to assess the feasibility of utilizing saturation techniques and tools " to remain deep beneath the ocean surface indefinitely and accomplish a variety of tasks that would be difficult or impossible to accomplish by repeated dives from the surface . " It was placed in the La Jolla Canyon off the coast of California , at a depth of 205 fsw . On August 28 , 1965 , the first of three teams of divers moved into what became known as the “ Tilton Hilton ” ( Tiltin ' Hilton , because of the slope of the landing site ) . Unlike SEALAB I , it also included hot showers and refrigeration . Each team spent 15 days in the habitat , but aquanaut / astronaut Scott Carpenter remained below for a record 30 days . In addition to physiological testing , the divers tested new tools , methods of salvage , and an electrically heated drysuit . One case of decompression sickness was treated by Dr . Bond . SEALAB III used a refurbished SEALAB II habitat , but was placed in water three times as deep . Five teams of nine divers were scheduled to spend 12 days each in the habitat , testing new salvage techniques and conducting oceanographic and fishery studies . According to John Piña Craven , the U . S . Navy ' s head of the Deep Submergence Systems Project of which SEALAB was a part , SEALAB III " was plagued with strange failures at the very start of operations " . On February 15 , 1969 , SEALAB III was lowered to 610 fsw ( 185 m ) , off San Clemente Island , California . The habitat soon began to leak and six divers were sent to repair it , but they were unsuccessful . Tragically , during the second attempt , aquanaut Berry L . Cannon died . The SEALAB program came to a halt , and although the habitat was retrieved , it was eventually scrapped . Aspects of the research continued but no new habitats were built . Memberships , awards , and recognition . Bond was decorated with a Navy Commendation Medal for " heroic , professional , and scientific achievement " while he was the Medical Officer for Submarine Squadron One from 1954 to 1956 . The Legion of Merit was awarded in 1960 for establishing the feasibility of deep submarine escape by locking out of a submarine at a depth of 302 fsw with two additional gold stars being earned for his work with SEALAB I ( 1964 ) and SEALAB II ( 1965 ) . The US Navy dedicated the new Ocean Simulation Facility at the United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit in honor of Dr . Bond in 1974 . Bond served on the first Board of Advisors for the National Association of Underwater Instructors . Bond ' s leadership helped establish the Man - In - The - Sea Museum in 1977 with a goal to preserve the history of undersea exploration . Death . Bond died on January 3 , 1983 in North Carolina .