John Piña Craven (October 30, 1924 – February 12, 2015) was an American scientist who was known for his involvement with Bayesian search theory and the recovery of lost objects at sea. He was Chief Scientist of the Special Projects Office of the United States Navy. Biography John Piña Craven was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924. He held a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, a Master of Science degree from the California Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa, and a law degree from the National Law Center of the George Washington University. He met his wife, Dorothy Drakesmith, while attending the University of Iowa. Craven had 40 years of experience in the innovation, development, design, construction, and operational deployment of major oceanic systems. As a boy, John Piña Craven studied ocean technology at the Brooklyn Technical High School, and he became familiar with the ocean on the beaches of Long Island and the waterfront of New York City. During World War II, Craven served as an enlisted man on the . In 1944, Craven was selected for the Navy's V-12 program for officer trainees. From this, he earned his commission as an ensign in the Navy. After earning his Ph.D., Craven worked at the David Taylor Model Basin of the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Carderock, Maryland, working on nuclear submarine hull designs. He received two civilian service awards in connection with these developments. He was later appointed as the Project Manager for the Navy's Polaris submarine program and the Navy's Special Projects Office. He later became its Chief Scientist. Craven was awarded two Distinguished Civilian Service Awards (the Department of Defense's highest honor for civilians) among other commendations. While working for the Navy, Craven helped pioneer the use of Bayesian search techniques to locate objects lost at sea (Bayesian search theory). Craven's work was instrumental in the Navy's search for the missing hydrogen bomb that had been lost in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Spain in 1966. Craven's next large accomplishment was in the search for and locating of the submarine , which had disappeared in deep water in the Atlantic Ocean west of Portugal and Spain. As Chief Scientist of the Special Projects Office, Craven was in charge of the Deep Submergence Systems Project, which included the SEALAB program. In February 1969, when aquanaut Berry L. Cannon died