In 1941, Dr. Waldo K. Lyon started work at the Navy Radio and Sound Lab, as their first Ph.D. physicist. He was charged with forming and directing initial efforts of the Sound Division. The lab was used during World War II for testing, repairing and modifying submarine equipment and harbor defense systems in the Pacific Ocean. Lyon recalls the creation of the Arctic Submarine Laboratory after the war: His recommendation initiated an effort that would last over four decades.