the Stack Died: CJ Lambertsen
| Died: CJ Lambertsen |
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| Tuesday, 22 February 2011 09:48 | |||
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Christian J. Lambertsen, a scientist and doctor who invented an underwater breathing system used by the military in World War II and later coined the "scuba" acronym by which such systems are widely known, has died at 93 on February 11th, 2011. You're familiar with the Lambertsen deco tables we've all got in the back of our ops manuals? This was the guy.
He served in industrial technologic development functions in diving and aerospace fields as Life Science and Medical Advisor to McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft Corporation’s Mercury-Gemini Programs (1960 to 1967), Union Carbide Corp. (1960 to 1968), Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (1973 to 1987), and Undersea Medical Advisor to Solus Ocean Systems, Inc. (1975 to 1983) and Sub-Sea International, Inc. (1983 to 1998).
As a result of his pioneering work with the Office of Strategic Services and U.S. Navy Underwater Demolition Teams throughout the 1940’s and 1950’s, Dr. Lambertsen is recognized by the Naval Special Warfare community as “The Father of U.S. Combat Swimming.”
His hand has touched every aspect of military and commercial diving.
University and National Civilian Awards and Honors
New York Times Obituary Febuary 22nd, 2011
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (AP) — Christian J. Lambertsen, a scientist and doctor who invented an underwater breathing system used by the military in World War II and later coined the "scuba" acronym by which such systems are widely known, has died at 93.
He died Feb. 11 at his home in Newtown Square, Pa., outside Philadelphia, Stuard Funeral Directors Inc. said Monday.
Lambertsen, born May 15, 1917, earned a bachelor's degree from Rutgers University. He began working on his breathing apparatus, using parts of anesthesia machines, even before he enrolled as a medical student at the University of Pennsylvania, according to medical school dean Arthur Rubenstein, who called him "one of our institution's most honored professors."
Lambertsen's background as a doctor, inventor and diver made him "the right man in the right place at the right time" for the development of an early version of the device later known as scuba or "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, according to a July biography in "The Year In Special Operations."
In 1941, Lambertsen worked with the Army's Office of Strategic Services to establish special underwater forces deployed in Burma, and later worked with the Navy to train surface frogmen to become divers. During this service, Rubenstein said, Lambertsen made the first exit from and re-entry into a submerged submarine, marking the beginning of modern underwater demolition teams.
Back at the University of Pennsylvania, he converted an abandoned altitude chamber into a laboratory for the study of undersea and aerospace environmental physiology. In 1968, he established the Institute for Environmental Medicine, which has studied oxygen toxicity, diving-related diseases and the effects of hypoxic response in humans, exploring how humans can live in hostile environments from the oceans to space and in extreme temperatures.
Lambertsen retired as institute director in 1987 but continued his research as a professor emeritus, where he studied how high-pressure oxygen therapy can help in treatment of diseases. In 1992, he patented inergen, a fire-suppression product now used in commercial buildings, developed initially to extinguish fires in submarines and spacecraft, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Among his many honors are the highest civilian awards from the Department of Defense and Coast Guard. In 2000, Navy SEALS proclaimed him "the Father of U.S. Combat Swimming."
Lambertsen is survived by sons Christian, David, Richard, Bradley and six grandchildren. A memorial service is planned at the University of Pennsylvania in the spring.
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