It was a loneliness more akin to a first venture upon the moon or Venus." Beebe and Barton's record dive stood for 15 years. Beebe retired in 1952 and died, at age 84, 10 years later.

In a 1926 article in The New York Times, Beebe, a noted American ornithologist-turned-marine ... the 5,400-pound sphere made of inch-and-a-half-thick steel was ready for its inaugural dive. The first ...