Johnson Sea Link accident

Johnson Sea Link accident
DateJune 17, 1973 (1973-06-17)
LocationOff Key West
CauseEntangled submersible
ParticipantsArchibald Menzies, Robert Meek, Edwin Clayton Link, Albert Dennison Stover
OutcomeSuccessful rescue of Menzies and Meek; recovery of bodies of Link and Stover

The Johnson Sea Link accident was a June 1973 incident that claimed the lives of two divers. During a seemingly routine dive off Key West, the submersible Johnson Sea Link was trapped for over 24 hours in the wreckage of the destroyer USS Fred T. Berry, which had been sunk to create an artificial reef. Although the submersible was eventually recovered by the rescue vessel A.B. Wood II, two of the four occupants died of carbon dioxide poisoning: 31-year-old Edwin Clayton Link (son of Edwin Albert Link, the submersible's designer) and 51-year-old diver Albert Dennison Stover. The submersible's pilot, Archibald "Jock" Menzies, and ichthyologist Robert Meek survived.[1][2][3] Over the next two years, Edwin Link designed an unmanned Cabled Observation and Rescue Device (CORD) that could free a trapped submersible.[4][5]

  1. ^ "Science: Tragedy Under the Sea". Time. July 2, 1973. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008. Retrieved February 6, 2013.
  2. ^ "Department of Transportation / Coast Guard Marine Casualty Report" (PDF). United States Coast Guard. March 12, 1975. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  3. ^ Ellis, Richard (1998). Deep Atlantic: Life, Death, and Exploration in the Abyss. New York: The Lyons Press. pp. 76–77. ISBN 1-55821-663-4.
  4. ^ Clark, Martha; Eichelberger, Jeanne. "Edwin A. Link 1904-1981". Binghamton University Libraries. Archived from the original on March 17, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2013.
  5. ^ Hellwarth, Ben (2012). Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 229–233. ISBN 978-0-7432-4745-0. LCCN 2011015725.