Barth's mother had remarried to Sam Knowles, an area manager for International Harvester, and they remained in the Philippines with their jobs.

Upon their return, Barth moved to his mother and stepfather in Chicago before setting off with them to Durban, South Africa, where Sam Knowles had been assigned by International Harvester.

When he turned seventeen and could legally leave, he returned to the United States on a cargo ship named Westward Ho where he worked as an ordinary seaman to pay for the trip.

In January 1960, Barth was assigned to the Escape Training Tank at the Naval Submarine Base New London to become an instructor.

On April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher (SSN-593), a state-of-the-art nuclear submarine, sank in deep Atlantic waters, killing all 129 men on board.

The tragic loss of the Thresher led to more funding for Bond's ideas as the Navy wanted to further their diving and salvage capabilities.

In mid-August 1963, Barth, John Bull and Sanders W. Manning conducted the final Genesis test.

[4][5] Following the success of Genesis, the Navy greenlighted Bond's idea of an underwater habitat to prove that saturation diving in the open ocean was viable for extended periods.

Besides Bob Barth, the experiment involved three other divers: Robert Thompson, Lester Anderson, and Sanders W. Manning.

SEALAB I proved that saturation diving in the open ocean was a viable means for expanding humans' ability to live and work in the sea.

Five teams of nine divers were scheduled to spend 12 days each in the habitat, testing new salvage techniques and conducting oceanographic and fishery studies.

During their two-hour-long descent to the habitat, the four aquanauts had to endure chilling temperatures in the unheated personnel transport capsule.

Upon arrival at the bottom, John Reaves and Richard Blackburn remained in the diving bell as a back-up while Bob Barth and Berry L. Cannon left to try and open the habitat's hatch, a task which proved impossible.

He was preparing for an archaeological excavation off the coast of Bodrum, Turkey led by underwater archeologist Dr. George Bass.

Once saturation divers started the process of decompression, the helium inside the watches could not escape fast enough and became trapped.

[3][2] Barth retired from active duty on May 1, 1970, but soon went back to work for the Navy as a civil servant in Panama City, Florida during the construction of the "Ocean Simulation Facility", whose 55,000-gallon centerpiece was one of the largest hyperbaric chambers ever built.

In the meantime, Panama City had become the new home of the Experimental Diving Unit and Barth returned to work for the Navy in several civilian roles until his retirement in 2005.