One of the greats in diving and ocean technology recently left us. Joe Thompson had a long career in diving, underwater photography and cinematography, and deep submersibles spanning more than 40 years. He was considered an outstanding underwater still photographer and cinematographer.

Joseph A. Thompson was born in 1930 and raised in the Philadelphia area of Pennsylvania. Thompson began diving while in the U.S. Air Force. In 1955, Thompson repeatedly dove 175 feet under ice in a Northern Pennsylvania lake to make the first ice-diving procedure film for Fenjohn Underwater Photo Company.

Fenjohn washeaded by Fennimore Johnson, one of the pioneers of underwater photography and equipment design, going back to the early 1930s. During World War II, Fennimore Johnson was a Lt.Cdr. in the U.S. Navy. After the war, he worked with Cdr. Doug Fane in documenting with underwater still photography and cinema skills, recording coverage of many of the early UDT operations. So producing a film for Fenjohn was an honor for Thompson. This attested to the quality of Thompson's filming work.

In 1956 he became a diving instructor and was heavily involved in spearfishing in the dive club Abington Submariners, in Abington, Pennsylvania. During his early diving years, he braved the very cold waters in Long Johns off Pennsylvania.

Thompson shot and edited his first film, Northeast Atlantic Marine Life, in 1960. He produced the first Westinghouse funded underwater film. This film featured the Cousteau Diving Saucer (also known as Denise , named after the wife of the Chief Engineer on the Diving Saucer project). The film won the Gold Medal Award at the International Underwater Film Festival in Santa Monica, CA.

Thompson was hired by the Westinghouse Undersea Division in 1964. He did considerable diving and underwater photography for the company. Westinghouse had a consulting agreement with Jacques Cousteau. Through this relationship, Thompson was trained and certified as Pilot of the Diving Saucer. _ The Cousteau team had a strong influence on the design of the two Westinghouse deep submersibles, _Deepstar 4000 and Deepstar 2000 .

Thompson became Pilot of both the Deepstar 4000 and Deepstar 2000. His diving and submersible activities continued in the Gulf of Mexico, off the west coast of Mexico and Southern California. font-family:="">He moved with his young family to San Diego, California, when Westinghouse transferred the two deep submersibles to this center of ocean research and military activities at sea. Another Pilot on the Deepstar 4000 was Ron Church.

Because Thompson and Church were both very experienced divers and underwater photographers, they rotated doing underwater photography from outside the deep submersible, when the other was on the inside as Pilot. They also joined forces in filming from inside the deep submersible during dives down to 4,000 feet. Much of their still and cinema camera equipment had to be modified to operate in the confined spaces of Deepstar 4000 and Deepstar 2000.

In 1967 Thompson was hired by Rockwell International to become Pilot of the company's new deep submersible, Beaver IV. In early 1966 Ed Cargile had been selected as the first Beaver IV Pilot. He was away from Rockwell International on assignment with the U.S. Navy SEAL Team when Thompson was hired. Thompson brought considerable practical experience in deep submersibles and was named Chief Pilot. Combining Thompson's submersible experience with Cargile's engineering, project management, diving and underwater photography experience produced a powerful team.

The Crew Chief on Beaver IV was Ed Krueger. He was responsible for all the maintenance on the advanced submersible. Ed Krueger was trained as the third Pilot on Beaver IV. When Cargile was the Lockout Diver or Transfer Engineer on Beaver IV, Thompson and Krueger were the Pilots.

Before Beaver IV was completed, Thompson, Cargile and Krueger were involved in another undersea project. Rockwell designed and built a large Swimmer Delivery Vehicle called the Swimmer Sled. The 21-foot SDV was designed for the U.S. Navy UDT and SEAL Teams, and scientific research. Thompson was Test Diver on the SDV. Cargile was Project Engineer and Chief Test Diver . And Krueger was Crew Chief.

They also made a four-month trip with the Rockwell SDV to the east coast of the U.S. for operations with the U.S. Navy UDT and SEAL Teams, NOAA, Duke University, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and other groups.

Beaver IV_was launched in September 1968, christened by Nancy Reagan (while Ronald Reagan was governor of California). The tear-shaped _Beaver IV had a 2,000-foot diving capability, with a separate diver lockout compartment in the aft end that allowed divers to lockout down to 1,000 feet.

The mixed-gas supply of helium and oxygen for the two Lockout Divers was rather complicated and added to the sophistication of the diver lockout deep submersible. font-family:="">In addition to lockout out divers, Beaver IV could also mate with underwater structures, such as special mating capsules, undersea habitats and stranded military submarines.

Rockwell International and Mobil Oil had a joint-venture partnership where the Beaver IV would mate with an ocean floor oil completion system designed and built by Mobil Oil to depths of 2,000 feet.Then the Transfer Engineer would move from the diver lockout compartment of Beaver IV into the Mobil Oil Subsea Completion System to conduct tests and perform maintenance routines.During these operations, Thompson and Krueger were the submersible Pilots, and Cargile was the Transfer Engineer that went down into the Mobil System.

In 1969, one of the most memorable events in ocean technology was orchestrated by Jacques Cousteau. He brought together the first and only assemblage of seven deep submersibles at one time, at one location. The Rockwell marine facility at Catalina Island was the host facility. The Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber now occupies this facility.

The deep submersible jamboree included Beaver IV (Rockwell International), Deepstar 4000 (Westinghouse), Deep Quest (Lockheed), Star III (General Dynamics), DOWB (General Motors), Nekton (General Oceanographics) and Sea Flea (Cousteau).There was plenty of activity during the day, with the diving and underwater filming operations. The main benefits came from the bull sessions at night between all of the submersible pilots, support crews, and the underwater film team.

In addition to the Beaver IV team, other notables that were a part of this project included Albert Falco, Andre Laban, Philippe Cousteau, Ron Church, Larry Shumaker, Lou Fead and others.Philippe Cousteau led the Cousteau film team in the gathering of deep submersibles, including a diver lockout from Beaver IV. This unique congregation of submersibles was the subject of one of the episodes in The Underwater World of Jacques Cousteau (Man And Machines).

Supporting the SDV, Beaver IV and all other Rockwell ocean technology programs was a gifted group of underwater photographers. This team included Don Crowell (still photography), Bob Dingman (cinematography) and Ralph White (cinematography). They documented everything during both surface and underwater operations. Their interface with Thompson resulted in a lot of respect for his capabilities as a submersible pilot, underwater photographer and as a natural leader.

Thompson and Cargile worked for a well-known early diving pioneer at Rockwell International, Dr. Andreas B. Rechnitzer. font-family:="">After earning his Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Dr. Rechnitzer was Scientist-in-Charge and Program Manager of the bathyscaph Trieste during the time leading up to and including the world's deepest dive to 35,800 feet on January 23, 1960.

Dr. Rechnitzer was one of the key founders of the Ocean Systems Operations Division of Rockwell International. He was Director of Ocean Sciences and the guiding force behind all of the ocean projects at Rockwell. He also provided strong mentorship to both Thompson and Cargile.

Other members of the Ocean Sciences team under Dr. Rechnitzer were Robert Ballard (before he earned his Ph.D., and discovered the Titanic, Bismarck and other deep historical wrecks) and Tony Christianson (before he earned his Ph.D. and designed some of the early Scubapro regulators).

Beaver IV_completed many scientific, commercial and military missions. When Rockwell International decided to close the Ocean Systems Operations Division in the early 1970s, the entire ocean technology team put out feelers for other jobs. Cousteau hired Thompson as an underwater and topside photographer for 15 television specials. Thompson followed another American in his services with Cousteau, Ron Church. Throughout the 14 years that Thompson worked with Cousteau, he did most of his filming from the famous research ship, _Calypso.

In addition to these remarkable films, Thompson produced six major ocean related films under contract to commercial companies. He was the cameraman and director of photography for the John Denver TV Variety Special, Man From Atlantis, In Search Of, ABC 20/20, several PBS Nova Specials, and others. He also filmed a Sea World penguin research expedition to Cape Horn on the tip of South America for a documentary film.

For many years Thompson headed his own film and video production company, Seavision Productions, in San Diego, California. He produced several film productions for the National Geographic Society, Public Television, The Discovery Channel and other television specials. Thompson also did considerable contract filming for several prominent organizations and companies. He shot some excellent footage of penguin eggs at Sea World of San Diego. Thompson also provided underwater film he shot for a television network special that Ron and Valerie Taylorfrom Australia produced.

In 1980, Thompson filmed and produced Gossamer Albatross: Flight of Imagination . This one-hour film was a CBS special and won two Emmys for editing and production.Thompson won Regional Emmys for a film on DuPont's sun-powered aircraft Solar Challenger. In 1984 he was selected by DuPont to produce a film for the opening of the chemical company's $85 million Life Sciences Building in Wilmington, Delaware.

His still photos were published in National Geographic, Life, Newsweek, Jacques Cousteau's Undersea Encyclopedia, Skin Diver, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, Pacific Discovery and numerous other magazines and books.

Thompson was an active member of several professional organizations: the Underwater Photographic Society, the Deep Submersible Pilots Association, the Explorers Club, the Marine Technology Society, the Royal Geographical Society of London (Life Member) and others. Thompson was included in Who's Who In America. He was Master of Ceremonies for the Marine Technology Society Film Festivals in 1986 and 1987.

Joe Thompson received many awards and honors during his long distinguished career: The Skin Diver of the Year from the Middle Atlantic Underwater Council; The Emile Gagnan Outstanding Skin Diver trophy; six Regional Emmy Awards and twoNational Emmy Awards for his filming, editing and production work; Grand Award at the New York International Film & Television Festival; Silver Screen Award from the U.S. Industrial Film Festival; and many others. In 1990 Thompson moved back to Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, Joe Thompson passed away on December 30, 2002, from heart failure. He was 73 years old and living in Columbus, Pennsylvania at the time of his death. font-family:="">Many of us will miss Joe. Somewhere in the deep oceans, he is now making King Neptune laugh and feel good.

This article is from the recently published book, Pioneers In Diving by Edward C. Cargile. For more information about Pioneers In Diving contact [email protected]