Father of the Frogmen

Christian James Lambertsen (May 15, 1917 - February 11, 2011) was an American environmental medicine and diving medicine specialist who was principally responsible for developing the U.S. Navy frogmen's rebreathers in the early 1940s for underwater warfare. Lambertsen designed a series of rebreathers in 1940 (patent issued 2 May 1944) and first called his invention Laru (Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit). In 1952 Lambertsen changed his invention's name to SCUBA. In spite of that diving regulator technology was invented by Emile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1943 and wasn't originally related to rebreathers, nowadays' use of the word SCUBA is largely attributed to Gagnan's and Cousteau's invention. The U.S. Navy considers Lambertsen to be "The Father of the Frogmen."