http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_J._Lambertsen
Wikipedia
Christian J. Lambertsen
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 United States Navy frogmen's rebreathers in the early 1940s for underwater warfare. Lambertsen designed a series of rebreathers in 1940 (patent filing date: 16 Dec 1940) and in 1944 (patent issue date: 2 May 1944) and first called his invention breathing apparatus. Later, after the war, he called it Laru (portmanteau for Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit) and finally, in 1952, he changed again his invention's name to SCUBA (Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus). In spite of that diving regulator technology was invented by Émile 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 US Navy considers Lambertsen to be "the father of the Frogmen".
Lambertsen was born in Westfield, New Jersey
