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Hydrogen in the Mix

In the early part of the 20th century, American physicist and chemist, Professor Elihu Thomson—the person credited with putting the eventual use of helium on the diving menu—had originally proposed the use of hydrogen as a suitable replacement for nitrogen in the breathing mix used by divers. David Strike has the story.

Words:
David Strike
Images:
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Historical Diving

(Top photo source: Nationaal Archief / Wikimedia Commons / public domain)

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History: Deep Diving—100 Fathoms Down!

Up until the ‘60s, the major advances in diving technology were driven by big-budget military programmes. Extending the depth limits to which divers might safely go—and still be capable of performing meaningful work when they got there—had a practical purpose. David Strike has the story, as told by George Wookey.

Words:
David Strike
Images:
George Wookey being dressed for a deep dive
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Historical Diving

Submarine rescue and recovery was the incentive behind the series of deep-diving trials conducted by the British Admiralty during the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. Setting out to extend the deep-diving limits, the Royal Navy programme established a world depth record in 1948, of 540ft. Wearing a Siebe-Gorman six-bolt helmet incorporating the Davis Injector system, flexible dress, and using the fast-dwindling supplies of American Lend-Lease helium, Petty Officer Wilfred Bollard set a depth record that was to last eight years. Not until 1956 would the baton pass to another.

Dates Announced for 26th Historical Diving Conference

One of the joyous things about this sport is that if you are curious, you never stop learning.

HDS, John Bevan, Historical Diving Society, Rosemary E Lunn, Roz Lunn, The Underwater Marketing Company
Historical Diving

Be it equipment, technique, physiology, photography or biology, divers have the ability to study to their personal level and interest. One aspect that is often overlooked by most divers is the history of diving.

The UK has a rich resource when it comes to this subject. Indeed the Historical Diving Society (HDS) was formed in the UK in 1990, and has subsequently grown into an international organisation with members and offshoot societies around the world.

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First Frogmen

During the first years of World War II Italian frogmen demonstrated to the world how effective a weapon a frogman could be. Hidden by the water, these frogmen mined the Allies’ ships as they were moored ‘safely’ in their own waters.

Words:
Sven Erik Jørgensen
The Danish Society of Diving History
Images:
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Wrecks & Archaeology
Historical Diving

The idea of such a weapon arose in World War I, when experiments were carried out using different vessels to carry mines into the Austro-Hungarian naval base in Pola. The weapon was developed during the inter-war years

1915

While the war was raging on the battlefields of Europe, and submarines were terrorising the ships on the high seas, the Austro-Hungarian fleet and Italian fleet lay mostly well protected in their harbours, surrounded by mine-fields and anti-submarine nets. This passivity was, in the main, due to the ongoing submarine war.  

Part two of the story is found here:  First Frogmen - part 2

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First Frogmen - part 2

In the years prior to World War II, the Italian fleet had developed a new underwater weapon, the SLC, a slow torpedo which was manned by two divers. Submerged, and thereby unseen, the frogmen on the SLC could get close in to the enemy ships and mine them. The frogmen trained in attacking their own ships, and after many excercises developed a procedure for approach and placing mines under the ships.

Words:
Sven Erik Jørgensen
Images:
Download the full article as pdf ⬇︎
Historical Diving

As soon as the submarine was in position, and the frogmen were out, the containers were opened and the SLC drawn out. The frogmen then tested all the functions of the SLC before setting out for the target. The first part of the trip took place on the surface, when only the heads of the frogmen were above the surface. The frogmen had full face masks on but breathed through a valve in the mouthpiece out to the air in order not to deplete the oxygen stores.

 

10th flottila

No more attempts were made with the SLC that year, and on the 15th March 1941 the 1st Light flotilla, to which the frogmen belonged, was reorganised and given the cover-name Decima Flottiglia MAS (10th Light Flotilla).

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The Girl in the Bubble

Time travel becomes reality, as I descend beneath the waterline in a 1944 Mark V Hard Helmet, the standard U.S. Navy dive equipment used for undersea salvage operations in World War II.

Words:
Cindy Ross
Images:
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Historical Diving

“So, what’s under the water?” I asked Maurice, the aged Greek instructor from a local training facility for commercial divers. I was 19 years old, and my only experience with the underwater realm was a five minute dive in a college swimming pool.

He told of the brilliant sea life inhabiting the chilly waters of the Puget Sound in the northwestern corner of the U.S. He explained what the guys were doing underwater, welding and cutting, and how they would eventually use it to work in the offshore oil fields.

“I want to learn how to dive!”

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