The International Journal

of Diving History

Volume 6
Number 1
December 2013
 The International Journal of Diving History
published by the Historical Diving Society
Dedicated to promoting and preserving our diving heritage The International Journal of Diving History
President: Vice Admiral Sir Richard Jeffrey Ibbotson KBE CB DSC
Volume 6 No. 1. February 2013
Editor: Peter Dick
Assistant Editors: Richard Walsby, Reg Vallintine, Mike Fardell, Peter Jackson.
Associate Editors: Francesca Giacche, HDS Italia; Lars Gustavsson, HDS Sweden;
Sven Erik Jørgensen, Dykkehistorisk Selskab (HDS Denmark); Contents
Michal Jung, Hans Hass Institute fur Submarine Forschung und Tauchtechnik;
Bjørn W. Kahrs, Norsk Dykkehistorisk Forening (HDS Norway); Oldrich Lukš, HDS Czechoslovakia ; Page No.
Jouko Moisala, HDS Finland; Phil Nuytten, HDS Canada; Franz Rothbrust, HDS Germany;
Robert Sténuit HDS; David Strike, HDS AusPac; Christopher Swann, HDS USA;
Wieslas Wachowski, HDS Poland; Karina Wokalska, HDS Poland. The Oscar Gugen Memorial Lecture, delivered by Dr. Hans Hass at the
We invite articles, book reviews, correspondence, and Points of style
British Sub-Aqua Club Diving Officers’ Conference, 1993. 3
queries on any aspect of the history of diving. Manuscripts, Articles should be fully referenced. Footnotes should be Dr. Hans Hass.
other contributions, and all correspondence should be in the main body of the text and preceded by the word
sent to: “Footnote”. Notes and references will be printed at the
end of the article. Books should be referred to by the British Military Diving: A Short Historical Overview from 1838 to 2012 7
Peter Dick author’s surname, followed by the author’s forename or
Ardmore House, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 4PH, UK. initials, book title, place and date of publication, and Dr. Michael Burchett, HDS and Robert Burchett, HDS
UK email: hdtimes@talk21.com. relevant page numbers (in that order). The publisher’s
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8560 1907 name is not required unless relevant for a particular
reason, or unless the book is still in print. Australia’s Rich Diving Heritage Expored 49
or to the Secretary of the HDS:
Michael Fardell
References to journal articles should contain the Des Williams, HDS AusPac
author’s surname, forename/intitials, the title of the
Little Gatton Lodge, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 0HB. article in single inverted commas, the title of the journal
UK email: secretary@thehds.com in italics, the volume number, the issue number, the Early 18th Century French Diving Equipment 59
Telephone: +44 (0)1737 249961 inclusive page numbers and the place and exact date of Florence Prudhomme (from a translation by Peter Willson)
publication. Please italicise (or underline) the titles of
Information for Contributors books and journals and the names of vessels. Please also
It is preferred that contributors submit papers spell out numbers up to and including twenty, unless Jacob, The Diver 66
electronically. Text should be in plain text, Microsoft rtf, preceding units of measurement.
or as a Microsoft Word document and should not be The editors reserve the right to make stylistic Alan Roddie
formatted. Footnotes and references should be numbered changes to conform with the format of this Journal.
and listed at the end and their position in the text indicated
by the same number in brackets or in superscript. The Closed-Circuit Apparatus of Theodor Schwann 79
Illustrations are not limited in number but will be Richard Walsby, HDS.
reproduced in black and white only. Ideally the images Copyright of the contents will remain with the
should be submitted electronically as jpegs or tiffs and at individual authors who will be asked to agree that futher
300dpi resolution. Otherwise they may be submitted as publication will acknowledge the Journal. Every issue Letters to the Editor 85
drawings, photographs (up to A4 size) or transparencies. of the Journal will be copyrighted to protect authors Bill Braithwaite, FRCS, HDS.
The position of all images should be indicated in the and the HDS against unauthorised use of the contents.
text (eg. “picture 4 here”) and captions should be Ivor Howitt, HDS
provided in a separate document. Original illustrations Jouko Moisala, HDS Finland
will be returned but their safety cannot be guaranteed,
so contributors are urged to supply duplicates where At present the Journal is issued once a year. Single issues Dr. James Vorosmarti, MD, HDS USA
possible and to retain the originals. Articles may be may be purchased at £9.50 (including UK postage)
submitted to suitable referees for scrutiny. from our website: www.thehds.com.

The photograph on the front cover is of ‘The Old Gentleman of Raahe’

prepared for publication by photographer, Jean Finnberg. Journal layout: Ann Bevan.
2 The International Journal of Diving History
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
prior permission in writing from the publishers.
© 2014 Bill Braithwaite, Dr Michael Burchett, Robert Burchett, Dr. Hans Hass, Ivor Howitt,
Dr. Finn Linnemann, Jouko Moisala, Florence Prudhomme, Alan Roddie, Dr. James Vorosmarti,
Richard Walsby, Des Williams.
The International Journal of Diving History 3
The Oscar Gugen Memorial Lecture
delivered by Dr. Hans Hass at the
British Sub-Aqua Club Diving Officers’ Conference, 1993.
Dr. Hans Hass.
As an appreciation of Prof. Hans Hass’s life and his influence on sport’s diving, the IJDH here reproduces
a lecture that Hass gave some years ago to a relatively young audience.
Dear friends from the sea, I am very happy to be back here in England and to give you a few glimpses
of the old days, when all of this started. I apologise if my English is not perfect but I have been away
from England for quite a while and occasionally I might miss out a word or two.
I want to take you back quite a long way – 55 years! Many of you were not even born then, in 1937.
In the south of France was where it all started. In those days we did not have much equipment - we
had goggles, masks did not yet exist – and we had the spear, a 9 foot long pole. The sport started as
underwater spearfishing and was created by an American, Guy Gilpatric who had observed the activity
amongst natives in the South Seas,
I want to stress that the sport was a very fair one. It was very difficult, there were no fins or breathing
equipment. To approach and spear a fish with a 9 foot hand spear needed much skill. Later, harpoon
guns were invented and we all know the results. In 1971, I started a movement to forbid the use
of mechanical devices in spearfishing. We were quite successful, all over the world. If you have the
opportunity, please help to stop spearfishing as a sport. I am sorry to say that the Italians, Spanish and
French love underwater hunting. There are too many wanting to do so and the result is bad.
(Dr. Hass then showed several slides dating back to 1938 and showing the development of
underwater photography and sport)
I took my very first underwater photographs in 1938, off the Dalmatian coast. Spearfishing taught
me that fish differ very much in their reactions and intelligence than if you observe them in an
aquarium. Observing fish underwater and photographing them gave me an idea that this might be the
basis for a new technique for marine research. To transform yourself into a fish, be with them and watch
them in their natural environment.
In 1939, before the war started, three of us had the opportunity to go to Bonaire in the West Indies.
Here we began our entry into an unknown world. It is hard to believe today that, in those days, there
was still half of the world unexplored, especially tropical seas – everyone was afraid of sharks! We were
very careful but we did dive amongst sharks. We found out that they were rather shy! I swam towards
large sharks to get close-up photographs and they swam away. Maybe they swam away because of this
new, strange creature, complete with spear or camera, that they had not come across before?
Today, I will not try to tell you much about sharks because many of you will already have dived in
waters where sharks are common. Nevertheless, it can still be quite difficult to get close enough to get
a close photograph, sharks still tend to be quite shy.
4 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 5

We came back and in 1941 I constructed a breathing set using pure oxygen and it worked very well.
Even though it was wartime, in 1942 we had the chance to dive in Greek waters and, by this time, I
was studying biology. We entered submarine caves and photographed fish down to about 20 metres.
In 1942 we also produced a film entitled Men and Sharks. It is in German but I will now show
two parts of it to you. The first part is where I use the breathing equipment for the very first time and
the second part deals only with sharks and in an area where dynamite fishermen were in action. I will
translate where I can.
(Dr. Hass then showed “classic” archive film)
It was a fantastic feeling to be alone under the water, supported by this new apparatus with no need
to return to the surface to breathe. The new equipment allowed us to stay underwater for an hour and
allowed us to move about very freely.
We came across some dynamite fishermen, even though the use of dynamite was banned – as today.
We found that seconds after the “bomb” had exploded, the first sharks would appear. They were used
to the explosions and knew that, after an explosion, there would be lots of dead fish. We were able
to photograph sharks in numbers and up to 2.5m in length. We were also very keen to take shots of
divers and sharks together since many people believed that it was not possible to do so except by trick
photography. In those days they believed that a shark would attack any man that came near enough.
Whilst we were filming we saw a big tuna fish being hit by one of the dynamite bombs and then
being bitten in half by one of the sharks. It was not unusual for there to be 10 to 15 sharks around us
at any time. They have a sort of territorial behaviour which makes them protect an area and drive away
anyone who enters their “space”. However not once did they really attack us but I was able to film one
of their “phoney attacks”, where a shark drove a diver away. You must never show fear!
The end of the film has my main message. The seas are free and to explore them I intended to get a
dedicated support vessel. On this expedition a new type of marine research had been started based on
the concept of the researchers themselves being as fish. The idea was to take other scientists down onto
the reefs not just sport divers. We showed that, even though there were sharks all around, it was possible
to carry out specific tasks and research.
All of my plans came to fruition. I still wonder how this was so under such difficult conditions.
After the war, it was almost impossible for me to get money. Cousteau was much better off, he had
three different ministries and the navy and a ship for his research. I had to buy my own vessel and I still
wonder how I managed to do so.
First I went to the Red Sea, where no one had yet dived. That was in 1949. 1 was the first to take
underwater photographs of manta rays. My photographs were published all over the world. I also made
a film about our expedition. We hired an Arab dhow from Port Sudan. My idea was to make a good
film that would make money and with that money I might be able to buy my own vessel. This was
where Lotte, my wife, first appeared in an underwater film and she showed great courage in diving
underwater and approaching sharks. At the start of the expedition I had to tell her to regard herself as
a man! I think that she understood what I meant and she did extremely well. We had lots of difficulties
but we also had much luck.
We were able to photograph a whale-shark for the first time ever and were able to get a shot of me
photographing the eye of the shark. My problem was that when the shark appeared, the only camera
that I had ready was one with a telephoto lens fitted.
Our Red Sea film won the first prize in Venice and proved to be very successful. It was shown all
over the world and got me part of the money to buy my ship – a 135 foot long, three- masted schooner.
Professor Hans Hass 1919-2013 It had a crew of twelve and accommodation for ten scientists and technicians. For several years we
Photograph courtesy of Michael Jung/Hans Hass Institute explored the tropical seas. We filmed in the Galapagos Islands – this included shooting film with sea-
6 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 7

lions. The female sea-lions actually flirted with us. However, the big bull seal was not impressed and
chased them away.
There was hardly a place in the world where the diving was good that we did not visit. We particularly
visited those places where people said that we would be attacked by sharks within minutes of entering British Military Diving
the water. We were the first divers in the Maldives, in the Indian Ocean. My greatest moment was to
film a sperm-whale for the first time ever. I was able to do this off the Azores using just mask and fins.
A Short Historical Overview from 1838 to 2013
When I entered the water, this tremendous animal, 16m long, came in my direction, moving very fast Dr. Michael Burchett (HDS) and Robert Burchett (HDS)
and I was able to get a close shot which was published in Life Magazine. Believe it or not, the slight
clicking of my camera actually scared this enormous animal away!
Over the next days we photographed how the whales were harpooned. I was also able to get a shot
of Lotte holding onto the tail of a sperm-whale.
Introduction
There are now millions of divers throughout the world and I would urge you all to use your influence
There is a vast body of literature on the subject of the British Armed Forces. Literary works covering
to work against pollution and divers who plunder the underwater environment. Diving should be
British military diving often concentrate on individual exploits and underwater operations, especially
restricted to those who recognise the wonders of the seas.
those carried out during wartime operations. It can be argued that Great Britain was the first nation to
It started for me in 1937, with the very minimum of equipment. The amount and type of equipment
undertake proper military diving using the reliable ‘closed’ dress diving apparatus. Despite this, there
now available is colossal.
are few in-depth literary sources that are solely dedicated to historical military diving within the British
I thank you for your interest, I will ask Lotte to join me here and I will say good-bye!
Armed Services. By contrast to commercial and civilian diver training programmes, military diver
training is quite different due to the specialized roles and tasks military divers are required to perform.
Editor’s Note (Original ). The narrative above cannot, and does not, do justice to the presentation by
Dr. Hass. So much of the presentation was on slides and film that were, themselves, classic and part of
diving history. When Hans was joined on the platform by his wife Lotte, the entire audience gave them
a long, enthusiastic standing ovation – the first ever at a Diving Officers’ Conference!

Fig. 1 Some Royal Navy badges of ‘HM’ establishments that have various links to military diver training.
8 The International Journal of Diving History
Due to the wide nature of the subject, only a broad historical overview of ‘British Military Diving’
from its early conception around 1839 to the present day (2013) is included here. It is not a detailed
historical account, but instead, attempts to link key areas of British military diving within a loose
chronological framework. Much of the military terminology has been simplified for the reader.
ARMY DIVING
Royal Engineer Divers
British military diving was initially established by the Royal Engineers. The Royal Engineers (not
the Royal Navy) carried out the first recorded military diving operations under the leadership of
Colonel Charles Pasley (1780-1860), who later became Major General Sir Charles William Pasley
FRS KGB. In 1838 the School of Military Engineering (Chatham) undertook to demolish the wrecks
of the brigs William and Glenmorgan which were obstructing the navigation of the river Thames
near Gravesend. However the Engineers first attempts to place explosive charges from a diving bell
were unsuccessful. Pasley decided that clearance may be better achieved using the relatively new
‘open’ dress diving helmet apparatus. Various types of ‘open’ dress diving apparatus were available
at the time including the Fraser, Bush, Bethell and Deane patterns. Before allowing his men to use
the ‘open’ diving dress Paisley initially evaluated the Fraser apparatus for himself. Therefore on the
28th April 1838, he unwittingly became the first British military diver while testing the apparatus.
Unfortunately a few weeks later (21st May 1838) the Royal Engineers suffered their first diver
fatality when the inexperienced Corporal Henry Mitchell became entangled while working on the
brig, William and probably died from hypothermia while trapped underwater. Following this tragic
accident, Pasley reluctantly employed two commercial divers, William Downs and Joseph Beal to
complete the clearance of the wrecks.
By now, Pasley understood the value of using diving apparatus for underwater work and he
recognised the potential use of diving for future military purposes. Paisley next turned his attention to
the navigational hazard caused by the wreck of the Royal George which was lying in about 85 feet (26m)
Fig. 2 Left: Major General Sir Charles Pasley KGB (Royal Engineers)1.
Right: Pasley’s clearance operations of the Royal George. 2
The International Journal of Diving History 9
of water in the Solent, off Portsmouth. This time he employed the professional diving services of George
Hall and Hirram London (commercial divers from Whitstable) who were also joined by John Fullager
(a civilian diver from Chatham). In 1839 Pasley commenced diving operations using two borrowed
dockyard diving dresses (a Deane pattern ‘open’ helmet dress and a modified Bethell dress). Paisley
soon recognised the diving talents of George Hall and in 1840 arranged for him to instruct several of
his men in the proper use of the new diving dress. Private Andrew Duncan, Corporal David Harris
(of the Sappers and Miners) and Captain Harris (Royal Engineers) were the first three men to receive
diver training. During that year the civilian divers undertook most of the underwater work, assisted
by the newly trained mix of military divers. However, by the following year (1841) there were enough
competent military divers to complete underwater operations, therefore the services of the civilian
divers were dispensed with. It took the next few years for Pasley and his team of military divers to clear
the wreck of the Royal George, but this was successfully completed by 1843. During clearance operations
the RE divers became familiar in the use of underwater explosives and the team further developed the
use of voltaic batteries for the underwater galvanic detonation of gunpowder.
Much of the military’s underwater operational success was due to the use of the new ‘closed’ diving
dress which was developed from the Deane brothers ‘open’ dress diving helmet and was manufactured
by Augustus Siebe. Lowestoft harbour engineer George Edwards suggested clamping the diving dress
to the helmet using a loose flange arrangement; therefore the ‘open’ diving dress could be converted
into a flexible ‘closed’ diving dress. Colonel Pasley also suggested a further improvement of allowing the
helmet and breastplate to be separated using an ‘interrupted thread’. Thus the basic standard ‘closed’
diving dress apparatus with a 12-bolt helmet had been realised by Augustus Siebe with major suggestions
and design inputs from the Deane brothers, George Edwards and Charles Pasley. Small modifications
and improvements were subsequently made to the corselet shape, valves and communication systems,
but the basic ‘closed’ standard diving dress with the 12-bolt helmet arrangement remained relatively
unchanged from 1870 until its slow decline in use from the mid-1950s onwards. A. Siebe’s rival
manufacturer, C.E. Heinke & Co. also produced some diving apparatus for the British military.
Left top and bottom: Augustus
Siebe’s first ‘closed’ dress diving
apparatus with 12 equally spaced
thumb-screws and a wide corselet,
c.18403.
Middle top and bottom: The
improved ‘standard’ 12-bolt diving
dress apparatus with modified seals,
valves, fittings separate helmet and
narrow corselet (after about 1870
this basic design remains relatively
unchanged4.
Right: Diver William Walker
(... “the diver who saved Winchester
Cathedral”) dressed in full Siebe,
Gorman & Co. ‘standard’ dress
diving apparatus, c.19105.
Fig. 3 Development of the ‘standard’ dress diving apparatus.
10 The International Journal of Diving History
As a consequence of the Royal George operations, the Royal Engineers established the first diver
training facility at their base at Gillingham in Kent. In 1843, towards the end of the clearance of
the Royal George and the subsequent clearance of the wreck of HMS Edgar, the now Major General
Pasley was directing the training of the first Royal Navy divers from HMS Excellent which was based
in Portsmouth Harbour. In 1862 the Royal Engineers trained divers at Chatham and their diving
school was formerly established as part of the RE ‘Submarine Mining Operations’. RE divers were
instructed in the Medway estuary, but were then sent to Sheerness for deep water training. In 1883
the Royal Engineers also established a diving team in Malta. In 1868, Augustus Siebe produced a new
diving pump that could supply two divers with air at the same time. This was a much improved safety
advantage as it enabled a stand-by diver to be ready for emergencies and to be supplied with air from the
same pump (this became the adopted practice later on). Trials were so successful with the new improved
air pump that it was first adopted by the Royal Engineers divers and then by the Royal Navy in 1872.
By 1868 the Royal Engineers were also using the newly invented gun-cotton which was five times more
powerful than gunpowder, and simultaneous multiple detonations had also been perfected. At this time
so many RE divers were defecting to civilian diving companies for better pay that the army found it
necessary to withhold diving certificates until they had completed their service with colours.
Fig. 4 Early Royal Engineers (RE) divers1.
Left: RE diver wearing C.E. Heinke diving apparatus, c.1860.
Right: The last 1904 class of RE divers from Gillingham, Kent.
By 1894 the Royal Engineers diving school was running a two month diver training course at
Chatham and produced 16 divers each year who were qualified to dive to 50 ft (15m). Every naval port
was soon provided with two trained RE divers and a complete set of diving apparatus.
In 1905 the governmental ‘Committee of Imperial Defence’ decided that all diving was to be
abolished in the army service which included the Royal Engineers. Their ‘Submarine Mining’ and
land-launched ‘Brennan Torpedo’ responsibilities were transferred to the Royal Navy at HMS Vernon
(Portsmouth). Thus the Royal Engineers (who were instrumental for the introduction and training of
military divers) has to pass these responsibilities to the Royal Navy.
Since WW2 the Royal Engineers have been closely affiliated with the Marchwood Military Army
Port which is situated near the head of Southampton Water (see Appendix 4) During the early 1940s
this port was a barrage balloon defence site, then in preparation for the build up to the Normandy
The International Journal of Diving History 11
Landings, the site became the Royal Engineers Inland Water Transport (IWT) Depot and No. 3
Transportation Stores Depot. Road, rail and wharf facilities were completed around April 1944 by
the No. 6 Port and Repair Group (RE). The newly constructed 160 metre long jetty was capable of
accepting coastal vessels of up to 1500 tons. After WW2, Marchwood became the long-term base of the
17 Port Training Regiment RE, then in 1965 by the 17 Port Regiment RCT. At this time the 17 Port
and Maritime Workshop REME was formed and the ‘Royal Engineers Diving Establishment’ (REDE)
became a separate lodger unit within the Marchwood base. During the 1960s a ‘Roll-On, Roll-Off ’
facility finally allowed the site to operate as a fully functional military port.
Fig. 5 Royal Engineers (RE) divers.
Left: RE diver Tony Liddicoat wearing Siebe, Gorman 6-bolt ‘standard’ dress diving apparatus, 19686.
Middle: Pre-dive checks of RE diver using Aquarius compressed air apparatus, Marchwood c.1970s7.
Right: RE diver with surface demand equipment and underwater mine detector, c.1970s8.
Since 1995, military divers have been trained at the ‘Defence Diving School’ which is situated
at Horsea Island in Portsmouth Harbour (see later section). The army diver training programme
(including Royal Engineers and Royal Marines) is progressively structured along RN lines, but it is
specifically tailored for the role of the Army Diver. RE divers are trained using the same equipment and
compressed air system as RN divers and may also use surface demand and modern masks for prolonged
diving operations in shallow waters. RE divers also train for fast flowing water situations as this may
often be encountered in European rivers. RE divers may also find themselves advancing with frontline
troops, therefore their skills would be used for tasks such as underwater surveys of river crossings, vehicle
and equipment recovery, clearance of underwater obstructions, removal of underwater mines from
bridges and the laying of underwater demolition charges.
RE divers may also volunteer to become a paratrooper or commando ‘combat diver’. The commando
and parachute engineers diving teams are predominantly trained in Explosives Ordnance Disposal
(EOD) and demolition practices. RE divers do not usually take part in covert operations unless they
12 The International Journal of Diving History
have been selected for service in an ‘SAS Boat Troop’. Volunteer RE combat divers undertake their diver
training courses alongside the Special Air Service (SAS) diver trainees.
In today’s modern British Army, the ‘Royal Engineers Diver’ is part of an Amphibious Engineer Unit
(AEU) and every RE Field Squadron has a diving team which could be called upon at any time to go
anywhere in the world. However the RE diver is still a sapper and engineer first, and a diver second.
Currently there are three levels of Army Diver qualification (Army Diver Class 1; Army Diver Class
2; Army Diving Supervisor levels) and once qualified, the diver may volunteer to further specialise for
other underwater tasks and roles (see Appendix 1).
ROYAL MARINES
Royal Marine Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD)
During 1940 Royal Marines Captain, Herbert G. “Blondie” Hasler (1914–1987) was serving with the
‘Mobile Naval Base Defence Organization’ (MNBDO). He proposed the use of canoes (e.g. Cockle
Mk.II’s) to transport men and infiltrate enemy harbours, and then place limpet mines on the undersides
of unsuspecting enemy ships. At first his idea was rejected, but finally a special unit was given the
go ahead. The first group was formed in July 1942 and was named the ‘Royal Marine Boom Patrol
Detachment’ (RMBPD). The first unit consisted of 25 commando-trained Royal Marines who were
also ‘swimmer-canoeists’. The men could either wear the normal canoeist clothing or the new flexible,
rubber dry suit, cuff seals and integral rubber boots which had been developed by Siebe Gorman with
the help of the Dunlop Rubber Company. New breathing apparatus (Underwater Swimming Breathing
Apparatus, or U.W.S.B.A.) was also developed for use with the rubber suit and Horsea Island Lake
(Portsmouth) was used for training purposes. Initial RMBPD raids were successful (e.g. operation
Frankton, Dec. 1942) but the mortality rate was high as these Special Forces saboteurs were classified
as spies and were often shot when captured by the enemy. After WW2 the remainder of the RMBPD
was absorbed into the ‘Combined Operations Beach and Boat Section’ (COBBS).
Fig. 6 Special Forces divers8.
Above left: WW2 canoeists from the
‘Royal Marine Boom Patrol Detachment’
(RMBPD) dressed in the new flexible
rubber diving suit.
Below left: Klepper collapsible canoe
which can be stowed in bags for
transportation or parachute drops.
Above right: Special Boat Squadron
‘swimmer-canoeists’ practising covert
infiltration and mining tasks, c.1950s.
Below right: Two’ Special Boat Service’
(SBS) swimmers in the lock-out chamber
of a submarine, c.1970s.
The International Journal of Diving History 13
Special Boat Section (SBS) of WW2
The ‘Special Boat Section’ (SBS) was established in July 1940 by Lt. Roger Courtney (King’s Royal
Rifle Corp). By July 1940 Lt. Courtney was serving with No. 8 Commando and he was sent to the
Combined Training Centre in Scotland. He was unsuccessful in his initial attempts to form a special
unit that would use canoes as a means of infiltration transport. However after a series of demonstrations
he was promoted to captain, given command of eleven men and the first SBS unit was formed.
The unit was initially named the ‘101 Folbot Troop’, after the type of folding canoe employed
in raiding operations. Early in 1941 the unit was renamed ‘No1 Special Boat Section’. This section
(consisting of No.8, 7 and 11 Commando) was attached to ‘Operation Layforce’ and the section was
deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean. ‘No.1 SBS’ later worked with the ‘1st Submarine Flotilla’
based at Alexandria and the unit undertook beach reconnaissance tasks around the island of Rhodes,
helped evacuate troops left behind on the island of Crete and took part in various small-scale raiding
operations. In March 1942, Lt. Courtney returned to England to form the ‘No.2 SBS’. ‘No.1 SBS’
then became attached to the Special Air Service (SAS) as their ‘Folbot Section’. By this time their
official strength was 160 ‘swimmer-canoeists’ and the specialist training course took 17 weeks. In
June 1942 the SBS took part in the Crete airfield raids, and then in September 1942 they carried out
‘Operation Anglo’, a raid on two airfields on the island of Rhodes, from which only two men returned.
Destroying three aircraft, a fuel dump and numerous buildings, the surviving SBS men had to hide in
the countryside for four days before being extracted by an awaiting submarine. After the Rhodes raid
the SBS was absorbed into the SAS due to the high operational losses suffered. In 1943 a newly formed
‘No.1 Special Boat Squadron’ came under the command of Major the Earl Jellicoe. The squadron was
deployed to Haifa in Greece and trained with the Greek Sacred Regiment for various operations in the
Aegean Sea. Throughout the War, the ‘No.2 SBS’ did not use the ‘Special Boat Squadron’ name but
instead retained the name ‘No.2 Special Boat Section’.
SBS (Post War)
By late 1945 the SBS (whether of army Commando or SAS parentage) were disbanded, but the
functional ‘SBS’ title was adopted into the Royal Marines. Remnants of the ‘Special Operations Group’
(SOG) organisations then came under the command of the Royal Marines. They included men from
RM Detachment ‘385’; Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPPs), Sea Reconnaissance Unit
(SRU) and the Special Boat Section (SBS).
In early 1946, the Admiralty approved the opening of the ‘School of Combined Operations, Beach
and Boat Section’ (SCOBBS) based at Fremington, Devon. It was under the command of “Blondie”
Hasler (RM), but there were less than 40 men. Within a year it was placed under the command of
the Royal Marines and merged with the one remaining party of the ‘RM Boom Patrol Detachment’
(RMBPD) that had previously joined the Royal Marines after the war. The new section was named
the ‘Combined Operations Beach and Boat Section’ (COBBS) and in 1948 the unit moved to the RM
base at Eastney, Portsmouth. In the summer of 1948 the section was renamed the ‘Small Raids Wing’
(SRW) of the ‘RM Amphibious School’, Eastney. At this time, guidelines for the SAS and SBS were
introduced and the Royal Marines were allowed to keep the functional SBS title. At this point the SBS
were regular serving members, while the SAS remained part of the Territorial Army. Although there is
an overlap in the roles of Special Forces and in operational zones, the SBS are primarily dedicated to
amphibious specializations, and are constantly training and experimenting to this end. The SBS will
often use their ‘swimmer-canoeists’ as coastal attack swimmers. By contrast, the SAS may use their
amphibious capability as part of the overall methods available to deliver its troops to a target area, but
then proceed inland to carry out various operations.
14 The International Journal of Diving History
Around 1950 the ‘RM Demolition Unit’ detachment that was serving in Germany during the ‘Cold
War’ was reformed as ‘No.2 Special Boat Section’ (2 SBS). This was shortly followed in 1951 by the
formation of ‘3 SBS’, and the ‘Small Raid Wing’ (SRW) based at Portsmouth was renamed the ‘Special
Boat Wing’ (SBW). Soon there were five Special Boat Sections, and ‘5 SBS’ was formed from the ‘RM
Force Volunteer Reserve’. Some of the early post war SBS missions took place in Palestine (ordnance
removal) and in Haifa (limpet mine removal from ships). The SBS went on to serve in the Korean War
and were deployed on operations along the North Korean coast. Tasks included operating behind enemy
lines to destroy installations, sabotaging lines of communications and gathering intelligence. During
the Korean War the SBS started to operate from submerged submarines for the first time. In 1957 the
‘Special Boat Section’ was renamed the ‘Special Boat Squadron’.
By 1977 the regular Royal Marines ‘Special Boat Squadron’ included about 150 men, sub-divided into
Headquarters (HQ), three operational sections and an additional section of 150 men named the ‘Royal
Marine Reserve’ (RMR). The SBS sections were further sub-divided into 4-man teams and their main tasks
were intelligence gathering, observation, underwater attack, beach reconnaissance/survey and sabotage.
Since the late 1950s the Royal Marines SBS home base has traditionally been Hamworthy Barracks, Poole
(Dorset) and their motto is “Not by Strength but by Guile”. The word ‘honesty’ is paramount in the SBS.
Volunteers for the SBS are already qualified Marine Commandos and once trained and qualified they
become a ‘swimmer-canoeist’. In 1982 the SBS were deployed to South Georgia during the Falklands War
to help recapture the island from the Argentinean garrison at Grytviken Harbour.
In 1987, the SBS were renamed the ‘Special Boat Service’ and became part of the ‘United Kingdom
Special Forces’ (UKSF) group under the Operational Command of ‘Director Special Forces’. The SBS
were reformed along SAS lines with 16-man troops, instead of the traditional sections. Troops are often
broken down into 4-man patrols, 2-man swimmer-canoeist teams or 8-man teams (a typical boat load).
However larger teams or even full squadron strength may operate under certain circumstances. The
SBS comprise about 200 to 250 men at any one time and today’s qualified SBS swimmer-canoeists
are experts in swimming, diving, parachuting, navigation, demolition and reconnaissance. Since 1995,
initial SBS diver training has taken place at the ‘Defence Diving School’ (Horsea Island, Portsmouth
Harbour). The SBS still use the folding Klepper canoe, but the Rigid Raider craft, inflatable boats
and larger ‘Long Range Insertion Craft’ (LRIC) are also used. In the first Gulf War the SBS carried
out various high profile operations and in 1999 they were also involved with operations in East
Timor. During September 2000 the SBS were involved with hostage rescue operations in Sierra Leone
(Operation Barras) as well as other clandestine operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today (2012) there
are four active squadrons and a reserve unit (see Appendix 1) that comprise:
C Squadron: Responsible for ‘swimmer-canoeist’ activities and other small boat operations for stealth
insertion and extraction; reconnaissance and sabotage missions along coastlines, river networks and up
to 40 miles (64 km) inland.
M Squadron: Responsible for maritime counter-terrorism and ship boarding operations.
Z (S) Squadron: Specialises in small water-born craft and mini-sub insertion operations.
X Squadron: A joint Army SAS and Naval SBS unit made up of proven operators tasked with fighting
terrorism which is on 24-hour worldwide alert. The X-Squadron rotates along with C-Squadron.
SBS Reserve or SBS(R): Provides individual reservists to serve with the regular SBS rather than
forming independent teams.
NB. The Special Forces element of ‘3 Commando Brigade’ is usually provided by the SBS, tasked
from the director of ‘Special Forces’.
The International Journal of Diving History 15
Special Air Service (SAS)
During WW2 the SAS had their own ‘Special Boat Squadron’ operating in the Aegean, but this role
was handed over to the Royal Marines in 1946 when overall responsibility for all amphibious operations
was transferred to them. SAS diver recruits were originally trained through the Army Diving School
at Marchwood (Hampshire) but the SAS now use the ‘Defence Diving School’ at Horsea Island
(Portsmouth) for their diver training programme. Each SAS Squadron has a ‘Boat Troop’ of about
sixteen men, trained to use the water as a means to an end for infiltration of enemy-held territory using
boats and underwater swimmers.
Special Forces Recruitment
Until recently, the SBS held its own independent selection program and volunteer recruits were mostly
selected from within the Royal Marines and occasionally from the Royal Navy. In 1987 the United
Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) was established and the selection programme now allows recruitment
into the Special Forces (both SBS and SAS) from all sections of the British Armed Services. However
the majority of selected candidates still tend to have a Royal Marines or airborne forces background.
Candidates wishing to serve with the SBS must have completed two years regular service (usually with
three years left to serve) and will only be accepted into the SBS after completion of the selection process.
Today, UKSF is constantly changing and evolving as operational demands dictate. Recent additions
include the ‘Special Reconnaissance Regiment’ (SRR) which was formed to gather intelligence and
undertake surveillance operations in the war on terrorism. Others include the ‘Special Forces Support
Group’ (SFSG) which gives combat support to SAS and SBS operations; the ‘18 (UKSF) Signals
Regiment’ that provides communications and SIGNIT support for other UKSF regiments and the
‘Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines’ (FPGRM).
ROYAL NAVY DIVING
The Early Years (1844 – 1913)
Diving in the Royal Navy was initially established by the Royal Engineers who had been responsible for
the training of navy divers for nearly 60 years. By 1843 and towards the end of the clearance operation
of the wreck of the Royal George and the subsequent clearance of the wreck of HMS Edgar, the now
Major General Pasley was directing training of the first Royal Navy divers from HMS Excellent (based
in Portsmouth Harbour). This was carried out under the tutorage and leadership of his best diver,
Corporal Richard Pillman Jones (of the Royal Sappers and Miners). A party of 13 seamen and petty
officers were the first to be trained. Soon each HM Flagship had a set of onboard diving apparatus, even
though there were initially insufficient seamen regularly trained in the use of the apparatus. In 1844
the Royal Navy formerly commenced diver training from HMS Excellent. In 1846, H.W. Moore was
appointed Diving Instructor at the Royal Navy’s first diving school to instruct in the use of the A. Siebe
‘closed’ dress diving apparatus. By this time Augustus Siebe was manufacturing much of the diving
apparatus for the military and he soon became known as “Submarine Engineer to the Royal Navy”.
Thus a close collaborative relationship began between the company and the Admiralty which was to last
nearly 100 years, until the end of WW2.
By 1880, the Royal Navy had 217 ‘Seaman Divers’ (...“could be held by any man of good steady
character”), 111 ‘Artificer Divers’ (men with specific trades) and two diving Instructors based at the
two RN diving schools. ‘Chief Gunners Mate’ George Blake was appointed diving instructor at HMS
Cambridge at Devonport (Plymouth) and ‘Chief Gunners Mate’ Stephen Cowey instructed at HMS
Excellent (Portsmouth). By 1882 the two diving schools were training 80 to 90 newly qualified divers
between them each year. Diving accidents and fatalities were not uncommon in the early days of
16 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 17

HMS Cambridge, Devonport, before 190710.
1891 HMS Excellent was relocated ashore at Whale Island in Portsmouth Harbour and so became
the first shore-based establishment (or ‘Stone Frigate’; see Appendix 3). By now the Royal Navy was
actively promoting diving and diving displays were included in the Naval and Submarine Engineering
Exhibition (1882) and the Royal Naval Exhibition at Chelsea (1891) which was attended by Queen
Victoria. Diving displays took place inside a circular tank with viewing windows. By 1895 the Royal
Navy could place eight fully qualified divers on each flagship and four divers on each cruiser. By 1898
most RN ships carried a complete set of diving apparatus, while flagships carried two sets of diving
apparatus. Diving courses now lasted 32 working days with 25 trainees on each course. At this time, the
instructor at Sheerness was a Mr. Deighton and at Portsmouth, Mr. H. Stevens RN. In 1898 the RN
training course required divers to spend one hour at 72 ft. (22m), half hour at 90 ft. (27m) and a quarter
hour at 120 ft. (36.5m). Lieutenants who qualified for gunnery and torpedo work were given a 10 to
20-day, short diver’s course to 60 ft. (18m) as they were the officers in charge of diving apparatus and
operations onboard the fleet ships. The RN diver training schools also trained the Trinity House divers.

Fig. 8
Queen Victoria
HMS Excellent Portsmouth, c.18979. views the diving
HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, c.192310. tank while
attending the
1891 Royal Naval
Exhibition in
Chelsea.11

HMS Raven: diving tender to HMS Excellent,

c.1904-191210.

HMS Wildfire, Sheerness, 190110. HMS Defiance: Diving School tender, Devonport,
Plymouth, c.195310.
Fig. 7 Early floating establishments associated with diver training.
military diving and most deaths were caused through a lack of experience or understanding regarding
decompression and Decompression Illness (Caisson Disease or “the bends”).
Around 1890 the Royal Navy opened a third diving school at Sheerness Barracks in the Thames
Estuary which was based onboard HMS Wildfire (ex-Hiawatha: a 162 ft., 453 tons steam yacht). In
Navy divers were paid according to their diver rating which at this time, was about half the going
rate of a civilian diver’s pay. The ‘Queen’s Regulations and Admiralty Instructions’ of 1862 states that
qualified navy divers earned ... “an extra one penny a-day”. However divers’ pay did increase steadily over
the years and by 1899 there was a set pay scale according to depth and duration of the dive undertaken.
In 1899 diving regulations helped to improve diver safety by stating that “no diver could descend unless
there was a second diver kitted on the surface and ready to go the assistance of the first diver at any time”.
There has always been a close connection between HMS Excellent and HMS Vernon. In 1872 HMS
Vernon was the hulk tender to HMS Excellent and was anchored in ‘Fountain Lake’ (Portsmouth
Harbour). It was used as the ‘Torpedo and Mining’ training school. However on 26th April 1876, HMS
Vernon became an independent command and home to the Royal Navy’s ‘Torpedo Branch’. On 23rd
April 1895, the various hulks comprising HMS Vernon were moved to Porchester Creek and connected
in a line via gangways (see Appendix 3). During its years as the Navy’s independent floating ‘Torpedo
School’ (from 1876-1923), the hulks of HMS Vernon were occasionally re-arranged and sometimes
18 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 19

replaced as requirements changed. From 1904 to 1912 the RN diving school at HMS Excellent was
using HMS Raven as its diving instruction tender, while some of the theoretical diver training was
taking place aboard the neighbouring hulks of HMS Vernon. On 1st October 1923, HMS Vernon (or
‘The Vernon’ as it became known) was eventually established ashore at Portsmouth on the site of the
old Gunwharf (the development now known as Gunwharf Quays (see Appendix 3). Mining, Torpedo
(Whitehead) and Electrical departments were established ashore and some of the new shore based
buildings were named after the original Vernon hulks.
In 1905 the ‘Committee of Imperial Defences’ decided to abolish army diving altogether and
diving responsibilities (training and diving operations) were transferred to the Admiralty. Around 1905
the ‘Admiralty Pattern’ 6-bolt diving helmet was introduced into service. Apart from changes to the
telephone system and a few other minor modifications along the way, this helmet pattern remained
virtually unchanged until ‘standard’ dress diving apparatus was withdrawn completely from the military
services on 1st January 1964.
In 1906 the Admiralty appointed the first ‘Admiralty Committee on Deep-Water Diving’. This was
initiated in response to an increasing number of serious decompression accidents. Around this time an
RN diver was generally restricted to no more than one hour at 15 fathoms (90 ft. / 27.5m) and half
an hour at 20 fathoms (120 ft. / 36.5m). The committee therefore appointed Prof. J.S. Haldane FRS
to investigate safe methods of diving to 30 fathoms (180 ft. / 55m). Human experimental diving trials
Fig. 9 Some other HM shore-based establishments.
were carried out in deep Scottish waters by commissioned gunner A.Y. Catto RN and Lt. Guybon
C.C. Damant RN. Experimental dives to a depth of 35 fathoms (210 ft. / 64m) were so successful
that the results were adopted by the Royal Navy in 1907 in the form of Haldane’s newly formulated
‘Staged Decompression Tables’. This was another significant step forward in diving safety standards. In
the same year, the Admiralty created a new post of ‘Inspector of Diving’ who was responsible for all
dive training. Lt. G.C.C. Damant RN was the first appointee and his headquarters were within HMS
Excellent at Portsmouth.
In 1908 the qualifying course for an Artificer Diver was extended from 40 to 50 days to include a
special course in patching holes, trimming plates and fitting coffer-dams underwater. The course for a
‘Seaman Diver’ remained unchanged at this time. By 1909 nearly all fleet ships now carried qualified
Fig. 10 Some famous faces associated with British military diving.
Left to right::
Christian ‘Augustus’ Siebe (1788-1872) ... company
founder of A. Siebe, diving apparatus manufacturers. 13
Sir Robert Henry Davis (1870-1965) ... managing
Director of Siebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd.14
Professor John Scott Haldane (1860-1936) ...
diving physiologist who produced the first RN
‘Decompression dive tables’.15

Left to right:
Major General Sir Charles Pasley KGB (1780-1861),
Royal Engineers ... established British military diving and
cleared the wreck of the Royal George using RE divers.
Captain G.C.C. Damant RN (c.1881-1963), who
helped J.S. Haldane with deep diving experiments
and became the first RN Inspector of Diving.15
Warrant Shipwright Ernest Charles ‘Dusty’ Miller
RN, c.1924 ... Admiralty Salvage Section (ASS) diver
HMS Vernon main gate, 1977 HMS Nelson main gate, 2006. and covert diving operations diver with the Special
Salvage Section (SSS) during WW1.16

Aerial view of HMS Vernon, July 1955.12
Left to right:
Lt. Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb (1909-1956; ‘missing
presumed dead’) ... WW2 clearance diver and post
war covert diving operations diver.17
Lt. Ian Fraser RNR (1920-2008) ... XE-3 Craft
commander, awarded the Victoria Cross for actions
against the Japanese cruiser Takao.18
Steaming out bomb contents at the ‘Mine Investigation Boatswain George Wookey RN (1922-2007) ... deep
Range’, Buriton (nick-named HMS Mirtle), c.1942.12 diving record holder for ‘standard’ diving apparatus.
20 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 21

divers and diving apparatus. Between 1917 and 1924, Lt. Damant’s team of RN divers successfully Fig. 11 HMS Excellent, Portsmouth.
recovered 99 percent of the gold from the wreck of the SS Laurentic without accident or loss of limb
to the divers. This was final proof that Haldane’s ‘Staged Decompression Tables’ worked in practice.
Following on from Lt. Damant, Mr A.Y. Catto RN was appointed the next Inspector of Diving in 1911.

WW1 and the Inter-War Period (1914 – 1938)

Royal Navy divers were kept busy from the outbreak of WW1. Soon the growing number of ships
casualties stretched RN salvage operations to the extent that many of the civilian salvage companies
(such as the Liverpool & Glasgow Salvage Association, or L&SGA) were commissioned to help with the
workload. By 1915 the salvage crisis had deepened, therefore the ‘Admiralty Salvage Section’ (ASS) was
established in response to this growing problem. The ASS had its own dedicated railway wagons loaded
with diving and salvages equipment (Admiralty Salvage Plant wagons) and were placed at strategic ports
around the country. Ten naval dockyards and depots were authorised as ‘Salvage Bases’ and included
Aerial view of HMS Excellent, Whale Island, Portsmouth Harbour, mid-1970s.
Portsmouth, Chatham, Devonport, Sheerness, Pembroke, Portland, Dover, Invergordon, Rosyth and
Scapa Flow in the Orkneys (see Appendix 2).
The work of the Admiralty Salvage Section was intense throughout its short lifespan, but few divers
gained much recognition for their invaluable contributions to wartime salvage operations. However,
two distinguished RN salvage divers include Charles Lambert (Admiralty Chief Diver on board HMS
Ranger) and Warrant Shipwright Ernest Charles ‘Dusty’ Miller DSC (from HMS Racer). In 1920,
salvage officer Commodore Frederick Young CBE RNR (Head of the Admiralty Salvage Section) was
knighted, mostly in connection with the raising of HMS Vindictive and clearance of the block-ships at
Zeebrugge. The Admiralty Salvage Section was dispersed at the end of the War, but naval salvage work
continued into the 1920s.
By 1930 the Royal Navy introduced an ‘Injector’ Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus’ which operated
on the semi-closed circuit principle. Training in the new equipment was undertaken at HMS Excellent
and the apparatus proved especially useful for deep diving when using mixtures of helium and oxygen.
Shore-based diver training continued in the above-ground, outdoor tank with viewing windows. Diver
training also took place at the Diving School aboard HMS Defiance at Devonport, Plymouth (Fig. 11).
In 1930 the Admiralty set up the second ‘Deep Diving Committee’ to investigate deep diving
possibilities using the ‘Davis Submersible Decompression Chamber’ (D.S.D.C.). In 1929, both systems
were trialled by the Royal Navy and subsequently adopted. The D.S.D.C. was instrumental in leading HMS Excellent diving tank used for shore- Harbour training near HMS Excellent, c.1938.19
the way for future advances in deep diving operations. In 1931, Robert H. Davis (of Siebe, Gorman & based diver training
Co. Ltd.) also patented a deck mounted decompression chamber with a small lock-out bell that could
be raised under pressure and attached to the main chamber. It was the first ‘transfer under pressure’ GC’ mine while underwater. However the mine exploded as it was being towed inshore. For his major
system, and pre-empted the modern saturation systems by a generation (Fig. 12). role in this task, Able Seaman Diver R.G. Tawn was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM).
Robert H. Davis was included in the new committee and he altruistically appointed Captain G.C.C. In another incident on 6th August 1940, a booby-trapped mine exploded during examination in the
Damant RN to improve upon Haldane’s 1907 Staged Decompression Tables. The aim was to produce mining shed at HMS Vernon, killing five seamen and injuring four others. Following this tragedy,
safe Dive Tables to a diving depth of 50 fathoms (300 ft. - 92m). By 1932 RN divers were able to reach future mines examinations were carried out in a disused quarry at nearby Buriton (10 miles north of
344 ft. (105m) using compressed air. Therefore the new RN Dive Tables were set at a maximum safe Portsmouth) and was named the ‘Mine Investigation Range’ (nick-named HMS Mirtle). Following
limit of 300 ft. (92m) for normal diving operations. increasingly heavy bombing raids during 1941, it was decided to evacuate HMS Vernon to various
sites around the country. Vernon (Portsmouth) became known as Vernon (P). Evacuation sites included
WW2 and Onwards (1939 - 2011) Havant, Purbrook, West Leigh, Stokes Bay, Hove, Dartmouth/Brixham, Helensburgh, Edinburgh,
During the Second World War HMS Vernon (Portsmouth) became responsible for ‘Mine Disposal Port Edgar and Brighton (Sussex). Roedean Girl’s School (Brighton) was requisitioned as the Vernon
and Mine Countermeasures’. In June 1940 the first attempt to render safe a ground mine using divers headquarters and came under the command of Brian Egerton RN. The site was officially commissioned
was undertaken in Poole Harbour (Dorset). A diving unit from HMS Excellent, supported by Vernon on 3rd May 1941 and became known as ‘Vernon (R)’... the ‘(R)’ referring to Roedean. During WW2,
divers who were trained in ‘Rendering Mines Safe’ (RMS), successfully removed the fuse from a ‘Type many naval divers of the Mine Recovery Section were trained at HMS Vernon in procedures for
22 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 12 The Davis Submersible Decompression Chamber (D.S.D.C.).15
The chamber in use with The chamber is brought onboard The chamber could also be used as part
a diver emerging from while the diver decompresses. of a ‘transfer under pressure’ system which
decompression was trialled by the RN during the 1930s.
‘Rendering Mines Safe’ (RMS). However it was not until 1st October 1944 that responsibilities for
naval diving officially transferred from the ‘Gunnery Branch’ (based at HMS Excellent on Whale Island)
to the ‘Torpedo Branch’ of HMS Vernon. For the first time, this brought Minewarfare (both Mining and
Mine Countermeasures) and diving responsibilities under the same organisation.
 Due to wartime evacuation measures, a new diving school and experimental station known as ‘Vernon
(D)’ was established on 27th October 1944 at Brixham in Devon. The ‘(D)’ referred to Dartmouth
where nearby administrative support was stationed. Vernon (D) was immediately used for the training
and support of the ‘P’-Parties (Port Clearance Parties) and ‘Naval Parties’ 1571-1575 and 3006. In 1945
the RN Superintendent of Diving (who since 1942 had been responsible for diver training and the
‘Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit’, or AEDU) briefly moved to Brixham along with the RN Deep
Diving Tender HMS Tedworth. Soon after WW2 ended, the scattered Vernon organisations moved back
to their home base at HMS Vernon (Portsmouth) during October 1945 (see Appendix 1).
On 10th October 1946, the ‘Torpedo’ Branch transferred its electrical responsibilities to the
recently formed ‘Electrical’ Branch and merged with the ‘Anti-Submarine’ Branch (formerly based at
HMS Osprey at Portland) to form the ‘Torpedo and Anti-Submarine’ (TAS) Branch at HMS Vernon.
Therefore from October 1946, ‘TAS’ Branch assumed responsibility for all naval diving. Twenty years
on (in February 1966) the combined ‘Minewarfare & Clearance Diving’ (MCD) Branch was established
at HMS Vernon. With the approval of the ‘Director for Undersea Warfare’, the responsibility of ‘Mine
Warfare’ was handed over from the ‘TAS’ Branch to the ‘Clearance Diving’ (CD) Branch. HMS Vernon
remained the home of the ‘TAS’ Branch until this was in turn, devolved to HMS Dryad (at nearby
Southwick) in summer 1974, prior to the formation of the new ‘Operations’ Branch in early 1975.
HMS Vernon ceased to be an independent command on 31st March 1986 but training in diving,
demolitions and minewarfare continued on the site which was renamed HMS Nelson (Vernon Site).
In 1987, the establishment was renamed HMS Nelson (‘Gunwharf ’) and briefly became headquarters
for the Commandant General Royal Marines, before moving to permanent accommodation at HMS
Excellent on Whale Island.
The International Journal of Diving History 23
Fig. 13 Various diving apparatus produced by Siebe Gorman & Co. for underwater mines clearance tasks, c.194515.
Left: RN Port Clearance ‘P-Party’ diver whose task was to locate underwater mines.
Right: RN diver in Mine Recovery Suit (M.R.S.) who rendered the mines safe.
Horsea Island History
Historically, the site at Horsea Island dates back to the 1880s when it was chosen as a non-tidal testing
range for the newly developed torpedo. Chalk and marl was brought in from the nearby Paulsgrove Chalk-
Pit on Portsdown Hill. Convict labour from nearby Kingston Prison was used to fill the gaps between
Great Horsea and Little Horsea islands and the end of the channel was blocked off by lock gates to create
an 850 yard (777m) long, narrow lake. The Horsea Lake has a width of about 80 yards (73m), tapering to
20 yards (18m) at the far northwest end and has an average depth of about 23 ft. (7m).
Horsea Island lake was known as the “Whitehead (Torpedo) Adjusting and Experimental Range”
and officially opened in March 1889 under the command of HMS Vernon. The lake was extended in
1905 to about 1,115 yards (1,020m) in length, but by 1918 the range was still too short for the new
torpedo trials. In March 1909 Horsea Island also became the site of the Admiralty’s first high-powered
shore ‘Wireless Telegraphy (W/T) Station’ which remained in operation until 1960. From 1922 to
1932, model submarine experiments were conducted in the lake. In 1942 the lake was briefly used for
the two-man ‘Human Torpedo’ trials (Chariots), but this soon moved to Scotland. In 1944 the lake was
then used for landing craft repairs and preparations for the ‘D-Day’ Normandy Landings. Since WW2,
Horsea Lake has primarily been used to train and re-qualify many thousands of Royal Navy Shallow
Water Divers, Ships’ Divers and Clearance Divers.
In 1995, Horsea Island was chosen as the location for the new ‘Joint Services’ diver training
facility and named the ‘Defence Diving School’ (DDS – see later section). ‘Minewarfare’ training was
transferred to the ‘School of Maritime Operations’ (SMOPS) at HMS Dryad (Southwick). Once the
new Defence Diving School had been established and the move to the new site was completed, the old
‘Vernon’ establishment finally closed on 1st April 1996.
24 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 14 Horsea Island (Portsmouth) and the Defence Diving School.
Harbour North map (1830) showing
Horse Island and Whale Island.
Horsea Island during the early 1920s
(note the wireless/telegraphy (W/T)
establishment at the far end).
Aerial view of Horse South-eastern end of Horsea Lake, c.2007.
Island Lake looking
north-west
The 1932 Harbour North map showing Whale Island
(HMS Excellent), Tipnor Rifle Range and the ‘Whitehead
(Torpedo) Adjusting and Experimental Range’.
Torpedo firing building during the early 1900s.28
Diver training jump
from high board during
the 1970s.
The International Journal of Diving History 25
Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit (A.E.D.U.)
The ‘Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit’ (or AEDU) was established in 1943 on the recommendation
of the ‘Admiralty Diving Committee’ in order to meet the problems posed by port clearance, submarines
and other naval activities which required divers. It was staffed by naval personnel, volunteer RN divers
and scientists. For most of the War period (1942-1944) the AEDU took over the diving department at the
works of Siebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd. (diving apparatus manufacturers) at Tolworth in Surrey. The Siebe,
Gorman facilities included 12 ft. (3.7m) and 25 ft. (7.6m) deep diving tanks for experimental trials and
an experimental dry/wet pressure chamber called “the pot”. The AEDU was commanded by the first RN
Superintendant of Diving, Lt. Cdr. W.O. ‘Bill’ Shelford RN (formerly of HMS Dolphin). The AEDU’s
remit was to develop new types of diving equipment for underwater operations. Under the advisory
capacity of Professor J.S.B. Haldane (son of the late J.S. Haldane) the AEDU also conducted physiological
research programmes, including the effects of pure oxygen on divers. The Siebe, Gorman facilities and its
historical collaborative relationship with the Admiralty enabled swift development of new diving apparatus
for the War effort. This eventually included the Human Torpedo crews (Charioteers); Submersible Canoe
(‘Sleeping Beauty’); Midget Submarines (X-Craft), Mine Recovery Parties and the later ‘P’-Parties that
carried out post War mine clearance tasks.
During the War period Siebe, Gorman& Co. Ltd. worked full time for the Admiralty producing
the ‘Admiralty 6-bolt helmet’ diving dress apparatus and many other items of equipment for military,
commercial, and civilian uses. The company was also ideally placed to manufacture any newly
developed equipment for the Admiralty. Examples included the ‘Sladen’ suit (an idea of Commander
Geoffrey Sladen RN) with rebreather system and the “Frogman” equipment. After hostilities ended in
1945, the AEDU briefly moved to Brixham (Devon) before relocating to HMS Vernon (Portsmouth)
where it found a permanent home under the direction of the navy’s ‘Superintendent of Diving’.
Fig. 15 Motorized Submersible Canoe (‘Sleeping Beauty’).
‘Sleeping Beauty’ being prepared during the late 1950s;20 Internal layout of a Submersible Canoe.21
Approaching ship’s hull to Diving using ballast and Motorized Submersible Canoe
attach limpet mines.8 hydroplanes. underway on surface.22
26 The International Journal of Diving History
Siebe, Gorman
‘Self-Contained Life-Saving
Apparatus’ used for escaping
from a disabled submarine,
c.WW1.
Aerial view of HMS Dolphin, c.1971 (note SETT in the background).24
Fig. 16 HMS Dolphin (1904-1998).
HMS Dolphin Submarine Base, Gosport during WW1.23
Davis Submerged Escape
Apparatus (D.S.E.A.).15
The International Journal of Diving History 27
Within Vernon the AEDU continued to research diving Fig. 17 X-Craft Midget Submarine.
techniques and trial newly developed diving equipment.
This arrangement lasted until 1967 when organisational
re-alignment brought the AEDU under the control of the
‘Director of Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment’
(AUWE), Portland. It remained at HMS Vernon and later
became part of the ‘Human Factors Group’ (HFG) of the
‘Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment’ (AMTE).
In 1987, further establishment re-structuring lead to the
merger of the AEDU with the ‘Royal Naval Physiological
Laboratory’ (or RNPL).
Midget Submarines (X-Craft)
The ‘Submarine’ Branch of HMS Dolphin (Gosport) was XE-Craft crew ... Acting Leading Seaman
responsible for ‘X-Craft’ Midget Submarine operations ABJ Magennis VC, Lt. Ian Fraser VC,
Lt. B. Carey and ERA R. Maughan.27
during WW2. As part of their training, X-Craft crews
needed to be proficient in submarine escape and some
members were also required to train as divers.
An X-Craft diver was tasked with cutting through
defensive nets and sometimes to guide the positioning of
charges underneath enemy ships. An X-Craft’s size is 51 ft.
(15.6m) in length, 5.75 ft. (1.75m) in diameter, weighs 27
tons and has a maximum diving depth of 300ft. (91.5 m).
An X-Craft is divided into four compartments including the
Escaping from a submarine gun tower using ‘No. 2 wet and dry’ compartment for diver exit and re-entry.
the D.S.E.A. (early 1950s).15 With a 4-man crew, the X-craft could remain submerged for
up to 36 hours on battery power alone and had an excellent
surface range of around 500 nautical miles (926 km). The
X-Craft carried large, half-round saddle charges along each
side on the pressure hull which could be jettisoned under a XT1-Craft in Holy Loch, Scotland in
ship’s hull. February 1944.28
X-Crafts were often towed by ship or submarine near to a
location before being released to carry out their operation. In
September 1943, midget submarines carried out a successful
raid on the German Battleship Tirpitz, which was anchored
in Kaafjord in northern Norway. The battleship was heavily
defended and surrounded by anti-submarine nets and
although the ship was not sunk, it suffered sufficient attack
damage to keep it out of action for a considerable time. Later
in the War, improved XE-Craft were successfully deployed in
The 100 ft (30m) tall Far Eastern operations against Japanese shipping. For their
Submarine Escape successful midget submarine attack on the Japanese Heavy
Training Tank (SETT)
which was opened in
Cruiser Takaeo, Lt. Cdr. Ian Fraser, DSC, RNVR and Acting
1954 and is still Leading Seaman Magennis (of XE3) were each awarded the X-Craft diver cutting through underwater
in use today. Victoria Cross for their daring exploits. steel netting.25
28 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 18 ‘Human Torpedo’ crews of WW2.
Left: Chariot Mk1 complete with war-head is being off-loaded.13 Top right: Chariot crew underway.13
Bottom right: Charioteer being dressed in the Sladen suit (nick-named the ‘Clammy Death’)15. chariot crew
attaching the warhead to a ship’s hull using magnetic clamps.15
‘Human Torpedo’ Chariot Crews (Charioteers)
In June 1942, ‘Human Torpedoes’ were developed under the wing of the Special Operations Executive
(SOE), but the AEDU was responsible for the development of the diving equipment used by the crews.
The new unit was lead by Commander Fell RN and ‘Charioteers’ were ‘special-duties’ volunteers with
officers and ranks training together. Initial training took place at Horsea Island Lake (Portsmouth)
but the unit was soon moved to Loch Corries in Scotland. British Charioteers mostly operated in the
Mediterranean and the Far East during the War.
Combined Operations Pilotage Parties (COPPs)
The COPPs was formed in December 1942 by Commander Nigel Clogtoun-Willmott RN with the
express purpose of beach reconnaissance. The units were highly successful and surveyed beaches using
specially trained swimmer-canoeists prior to the allied landings on Sicily and Normandy. From the
information gathered on Normandy beaches, mock-ups of underwater defences were made for clearance
training purposes in preparation for the allied ‘D-Day’ landings. The SBS were also involved with
COPPs, including 4-COPP which was the Royal Marine assault unit known as ‘Detachment 385’ and
also the ‘Sea Reconnaissance Unit’. These units carried out operations in the Far East. ‘COPPists’ could
be deployed using a variety of craft including submarines, X-Craft, boats and aircraft (e.g. the Catalina
The International Journal of Diving History 29
flying boat). COPPs was disbanded in 1946, but one all-naval party (‘S’ COPP) was transferred to the
Royal Marine Boom Patrol Detachment (RMBPD).
Landing Craft Obstruction Clearance Units (LCOCUs)
Also known as ‘Boom Commandos’, the LCOCU teams were a vital part of the ‘D-Day’ landing
operations which took place on Normandy beaches on the 6th June 1944. Four Royal Navy and
six Royal Marines units comprising 120 divers wore newly developed rubber suits with helmets,
breathing apparatus and fins.  A blast-resistant kapok jacket was worn underneath the diver’s suit to
protect the body from the shock of pressure waves caused by underwater detonations. The kapok
jackets saved many of the divers’ lives. By the end of ‘D-Day’ the 120 frogmen had removed around
2,500 underwater obstructions at a cost of two frogmen lives and ten wounded. Clearance techniques
developed during the later War years established the foundations for the ‘Very Shallow Water’ (or VSW)
and beach clearance methods used by modern clearance teams. After the War, the LCOCU divers were
eventually incorporated into the ‘Clearance Diving’ branch.
Naval Bomb Disposal Teams of WW2
By 1939, bomb disposal organisations had been set up by the Royal Engineers (Royal Engineer Bomb
Parties), the Admiralty and the Air Ministry to deal with above-water ordnance. Each separate Bomb
Disposal (BD) organisation had exclusive responsibility within its own service. In August 1940 the ‘UK
Joint Service Bomb Disposal Charter’ was raised to outline and establish inter-Service responsibilities
for ‘UK Explosive Ordnance Disposal’.  Naval Bomb Disposal teams were set up under the ‘Directorate
of Naval Ordnance’ and came under the Director of the ‘Naval Unexploded Bomb Department’
(DUBD). The RN Bomb Disposal teams were to undertake the Royal Navy’s responsibilities for dealing
with unexploded bombs on its own property.  By September 1940 there were Navy Bomb Disposal
teams at 27 shore-based establishments. Each team was led by a ‘Bomb Safety Officer’ (BSO) who was
normally a Sub-Lieutenant RNVR or Commonwealth equivalent of the RNVR.
In September 1944, duties performed by DUBD passed to the ‘Director of Torpedoes and Mining’
(DTM) at HMS Vernon (Portsmouth). A new establishment was formed and was known as the DTM
(‘Bombs and Mine Disposal’ Branch). This new branch controlled the BSOs (Bomb Safety Officers);
the RMS (‘Rendering Mines Safe’ section that included specialist RMS Divers); personnel who were
already an integral part of DTM and the Land Incident Section (LIS).
RN Clearance Diving during WW2
During 1941, attacks by Italian underwater saboteurs in Gibraltar Harbour caused the Admiralty to
respond by forming an ‘Underwater Working Party’ (UWP), comprising Lt. Bill Bailey and Leading
Seaman Bell. They were tasked with searching hulls of ships entering the harbour and rendering-safe
anything they discovered. During the early stages they were equipped with little more than the ‘Davis
Submerged Escape Apparatus’ (D.S. E.A.), a pair of goggles, plimsolls and swimming costume. In 1942
the two men were joined by the well known Lt. Lionel Philip Kenneth ‘Buster’ Crabb RNVR who soon
took over command of the UWP.
As the War continued better diving equipment was introduced. The Dunlop Rubber Company developed
the “Frogman” suit with collaboration from Siebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd. and this suit allowed a diver to swim
freely in a horizontal position with the aid of fins. Initially the suit was used with the D.S.E.A. but later on
the ‘Underwater Swimming Breathing Apparatus’ (U.W.S.B.A.) was introduced into service.
‘Clearance Diving’ takes its name from operations undertaken towards the end of WW2 when divers
were required to clear ports and harbours of unexploded ordnance. This work was initially carried out
30 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 19 The ‘Underwater Working
Party’ (UWP) and “Frogman”
diving equipment.
Top: Three members of the Gibraltar
UWP wearing Davis Submerged
Escape Apparatus (D.S.E.A.), c.1942.17
(from left to right: Petty Officer Amey,
Lt. Lionel ‘Buster’ Crabb and
Able Seaman Thomas).
Bottom left: Early British “Frogman”
diving apparatus incorporating
D.S.E.A. which used pure oxygen,
c.1943.
Bottom right: Diver wearing the
Dunlop “Frogman” diving suit with
‘Underwater Swimming Breathing
Apparatus’ (U.W.S.B.A) which used
compressed air, c.1945.15
by RN ‘Rendering Mines Safe’ (RMS) and Bomb Disposal Units, then later by the Port Clearance
Parties (‘P’-Parties). The RMS and Bomb Disposal Units suffered many casualties, but not a single
‘P’-Party diver was ever lost. Most ‘P’-Parties were disbanded after the War, however ‘P’-Party 2443
was kept operational to deal with residual unexploded ordnance. On 1st October 1945, the Brixham
Clearance Diving Unit was moved to HMS Vernon (Portsmouth) after the closure of Vernon (D).
It was also decided to integrate some of the ‘P’-Party Clearance Divers more fully within the ‘Mine
Countermeasures Establishment’ at HMS Lochinvar in Port Edgar (Firth of Forth, Scotland). Therefore,
following the clearance of Dunkirk in March 1946, ‘P’-Party 2444 was sent to HMS Lochinvar.
Friendly rivalry developed between some ‘CD/Deep Divers’ at HMS Vernon who still used ‘standard’
dress diving apparatus (nick-named “steamers”) and the ‘Clearance Divers’ at HMS Lochinvar who used
‘Frogman” type equipment (nick-named “corkheads”).
The International Journal of Diving History 31
The ‘Standard’ Dress Diver
Before WW2, professional ‘standard’ dress (hard hat) divers were trained at the Gunnery School of
HMS Excellent (Portsmouth). Many officers and sailors from the Gunnery Branch became ‘Qualified
Deep Divers’ (Qualified in Deep Diving, or QDD) but they were gradually phased out after the War, or
transferred to The Vernon CD Branch. ‘Standard’ dress divers were also used for deep diving operations
conducted from HMS Reclaim during the 1950s.
RN Deep Diving Operations (Post War)
Much of the early naval diving was driven by the need to be able to reach sunken submarines and to
remove useful items and information from inside. However over time, the diving depths for divers needed
to be increased with the operational depths of submarines. In June 1948 HMS Reclaim replaced HMS
Deepwater as the navy’s Deep Diving tender and the ship remained in service for the next 25 years.
The first notable deep diving record was achieved by
Petty Officer Wilfred Bollard RN who reached a depth of
535 ft. (163m) using Siebe, Gorman ‘standard’ dress diving
apparatus. Then on the 12th October 1956, Boatswain
George Wookey RN set a new depth record of 600 ft. (183m)
while diving from HMS Reclaim in Sorfjord, Norway. This
achievement still remains the deep diving record using
‘standard’ dress diving apparatus.
After the retirement of HMS Reclaim in October 1979,
the CD Branch retained a deep diving capability using the
chartered diving support vessel MV Seaforth Clansman, then
briefly afterwards with the Seabed Operations Vessel HMS
Challenger. However by the early 1990s naval deep diving
was abandoned in favour of the more cost-effective method
of hiring commercial diving resources when required.
Royal Naval Physiological Laboratory (R.N.P.L.)
In 1943, the ‘Royal Naval Physiological Laboratory’ (or
RNPL) was established by the Royal Navy Scientific
Service within HMS Dolphin (the Royal Navy’s Submarine
base at Gosport) but the organisation was soon transferred
to Peel Cottage near Alverstoke in the same year. The remit
of the RNPL was to study hyperbaric science (including
later deep saturation diving experiments) and to trial
Fig. 20 HM fleet diving ships.
From top to bottom:
HMS Tedworth (RN deep diving tender during WW2).
HMS Deepwater, c.1947.
HMS Reclaim (RN deep diving tender, 1948-1979).
MV Seaforth Clansman (seabed vessel, c.1980-1983).
HMS Challenger (seabed operations vessel, c.1984-1993).
32 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 21
Boatswain George Wookey
RN being prepared aboard
HMS Reclaim (below)
before making his record-
breaking dive to 600 feet
(183m) on 12th October
1956 in Sorfjord, Norway.
Siebe, Gorman & Co.
‘standard’ diving apparatus
incorporating the
‘Admiralty Pattern’ 6-bolt
diving helmet was used
for the dive.15
new diving equipment. The RNPL employed a mix of civilian scientists and military staff. During
the 1950s an important area of research was conducted into submarine escape using a ‘free ascent’
method. By 1963 the site facilities were not fit for purpose, therefore the organisation moved to a new
home at nearby No.5 Battery, Alverstoke. By 1965 new compression chambers enabled the in-house
‘Deep Diving Unit’ (DDU) to extend their deep diving capacity to 2,250 ft. (686m). During the
late 1960s scientific findings from the DDU and the ‘Pressure Physiological Unit’ (PPU) contributed
towards technological advances in the commercial North Sea diving industry. However, as part of
re-structuring in 1967, the Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit (AEDU) was incorporated into the
RNPL organization, having transferred from nearby HMS Vernon. During the 1970s and 1980s,
joint RN/USN experiments produced invaluable information which enabled the depth of deep diving
operations to be safely extended. Unfortunately, gales during October 1987 severely damaged the
AEDU building and as a consequence the RNPL and AEDU sections were amalgamated on the site.
Over the years the RNPL has undergone numerous organizational changes including the Admiralty
Marine Technology Establishment (1977); Admiralty Research Establishment (1984); Defence
Research Agency/Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and finally QinetiQ. The work undertaken
by the RNPL/AEDU established an important body of knowledge on the physiology and medicine of
diving. In addition, systems and procedures were developed which have contributed immensely to the
safety and performance of modern diving and submarine operations. At the present time, the RN ‘Deep
The International Journal of Diving History 33
Trials Unit’ (DTU) is still based at Alverstoke with a remit to test new diving equipment before it is
introduced into military service.
A new unit, the ‘Hyperbaric Medicine Unit’ (HMU) became established at the Royal Hospital,
Haslar (Gosport) and was founded on many years of work carried out by ‘Naval Life Support’ at nearby
Alverstoke. In 2009 the HMU moved to St. Richard’s Hospital (Chichester) where QinetiQ owns
and runs the hyperbaric chamber. The Institute of Naval Medicine provides the medical officers with
hyperbaric expertise while QinetiQ provides the civilian support staff. The Ministry of Defence (Defence
Equipment and Support) funds QinetiQ to provide the HMU service for the support of military diving.
West Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust provides support services including the Intensive Care Unit and other
medical specialties required to look after patients between hyperbaric treatments. (see Appendix 1).
Clearance Diving (Post War)
The Clearance Diving (CD) Branch was officially formed under Admiralty Fleet Order (AFO) 857/52,
but a training nucleus had been set up two years earlier in 1950 to take advantage of the few remaining
men with wartime diving experiences. These officers and ratings had mostly qualified as ‘Shallow Water
Divers’ (SWD) and were trained in the use of the Sladen (“Clammy Death”) diving dress and oxygen
breathing apparatus. They were joined by other diving officers and ratings who were ‘Qualified in Deep
Diving’ (QDD).
In 1950 a ‘Home Station Clearance Diving Team’ was set up and other Clearance Diving teams were
soon established to support the Mediterranean Fleet and the Far East Fleet. In 1951, Clearance Diving
training moved from HMS Lochinvar in Scotland to HMS Vernon (Portsmouth) and a new ‘Clearance
Diving School’ was established to combine the training of Clearance Divers with that of the Deep
Divers. This school was also tasked with the training of ‘Ships Divers’. This enabled every HM ship to
have a properly equipped air diving team under the control of its own Diving Officer to conduct ship’s
bottom searches and to undertake simple underwater engineering tasks.
In 1952, Admiralty Fleet Orders (AFO) *857 (N2/T.A.S.W. 103/51.-28 Mar. 1952.) stated that:
“Clearance Diver (CD) ratings will be employed mainly in CD teams both at home and abroad, in
mine hunting ships and in the TAS Schools. Clearance Diving duties would include mine hunting, dock and
harbour surveys, bomb and mine disposal, the clearance of underwater obstacles from beach approaches and
the location and disposal of the infernal machines that may be attached by the enemy to ships, docks, etc.”
On 25th February 1966 the combined ‘Minewarfare & Clearance Diving’ (MCD) Branch was
formed at HMS Vernon. With the approval of the Director for Undersea Warfare, the responsibility for
‘Mine Warfare’ (MW) was handed over from the TAS Branch to the Clearance Diving (CD) Branch.
Defence Council Instructions (U) 278 (N/NII/302/2/65/A–25 Feb 1966) concentrated responsibility for
Minewarfare and Clearance Diving to a single Seaman Officer sub-specialisation called ‘Mine Warfare and
Clearance Diving’ (MCD) officer. Officers already trained in CD/TAS automatically became an MCD
(Minewarfare & Clearance Diving) Officer (MCDO) and member of the new MCD Branch.
TAS (UW & UC) navy ratings continued to perform Minewarfare duties until 1975 when the
Minewarfare (MW) sub-branch was formed together with the ‘Diver’ sub-branch under the ‘Operations
Branch’ (which became the ‘Warfare’ Branch). In 1981, the MCD Branch took over responsibility for
demolitions training from the Sonar (ex-TAS UC) sub-branch of the Operations Branch.
The CD Branch has been kept active throughout its existence. Operations include ordnance
clearance in Grand Harbour (Malta); ordnance and debris clearance from the Suez Canal following the
Arab-Israeli Six-Day War; WW2 ordnance clearance around the Ellis Islands; disposal operations during
the 1982 Falklands War and clearance work following many of the more recent conflicts in the Persian
Gulf, Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo. Today’s CD units still remain busy clearing old war ordnance from
34 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 35

Fig. 23 Some post-war Royal Navy diving equipment.

Fig. 22 Royal Navy specialist

‘Search and Rescue’ (SAR) diver
being deployed from a Wessex
rescue helicopter, c.1970s.

around the UK coast, undertake underwater engineering tasks on HM vessels, Mine Countermeasures
Bill Filer RN (right) and the 50th MSF diving
(MCM), and diver Search and Recovery (SAR) operations. team at HMS Lochinvar, Firth of Forth, Scotland
The primary role of the ‘Fleet Clearance Diving Team’ (FCDT) is as an immediate-response, worldwide (c.1956) wearing older style rebreather apparatus
clearance facility to the Commander-in-Chief, Fleet. The FCDT responsibilities and capabilities named ‘Diving Set Self Contained Clearance
include the recovery of nuclear weapons; emergency tasks; propeller changing; underwater demolition; Diving’ or DSSCCD (note the older style, round
RN Diver wearing the up-dated face mask with
underwater ship attack exercises; NATO National Mine Warfare exercises and to provide backup face masks).12
DSSCCD, c.1970s.26
to other CD teams.  Other roles include ‘Military Assistance to the Civil Powers’ (MACP) for tasks
including ‘Improvised Explosive Device Disposal’ (IEDD) and ‘Maritime Counter Terrorism’ (MCT).
Defence Diving School (Horsea Island, Portsmouth) and Diver Training
Since 1995, ‘Horsea Island’ has been home to the Joint Services ‘Defence Diving School’ (DDS); the
‘Superintendent of Diving’ (SoD); the ‘Fleet Diving Headquarters’; the ‘Fleet Clearance Diving Team’;
the ‘Portsmouth Area Clearance Diving Team’ and is also the home of the ‘Sea Survival Training’
unit. The establishment trains divers for service in both the Fleet and Field Army (including Army,
Royal Engineers and Special Forces units). School facilities include jetties, recompression chambers,
an underwater engineering facility, dive stores, workshops, conference and classroom facilities, catering
service, shower and laundry facilities. The Defence Diving School is an independent command in the
‘Naval Recruiting and Training Agency’ (NRTA). Command of the School alternates between the RN
Commander and the RE Lieutenant Colonel, and the command is accountable to the Commodore of
HMS Excellent. This is because the Diving School is a lodger unit of HMS Excellent (Whale Island) and
Horsea Island is part of the establishment’s real estate under HMNB Portsmouth. The HMS Excellent
Commodore also provides further support to the DDS which includes boat transport facilities for
diving in the naval dockyard and in the Solent. Training for diving in deeper water is carried out at
Portland, Wyke Regis, Plymouth, and from a fleet diving tender in the Western Isles. First female RN diver to qualify Underwater clearance diver training
Royal Navy ‘Clearance Diving Breathing Apparatus’ (CDBA) has evolved and undergone many as a MCDO, c.2006.12 for mine disposal.12
changes when compared to earlier apparatus that developed during WW2 for clearance operations.
Diving apparatus is either a rebreather system which ‘tops-up’ the oxygen supply (e.g. Diving Set
Self-Contained Clearance Diving, DSSCCD) or a breathing system that only uses the compressed of a diver. The older style CDBA has now been replaced by the new ‘Clearance Divers Life Support
gas once (e.g. Diving Set Self-Contained Compressed Air, DSSCCA). Both systems can be set-up for Equipment’ (CDLSE) which was introduced into diving service in 2008. This electronically controlled
mixed gas use (e.g. nitrox) to give extended diving capabilities or to reduce decompression times. A mix-rebreather equipment is produced under contract by Divex Ltd. UK. The apparatus also restores
rebreather system is operationally more covert as there is little gas released to announce the presence the Royal Navy’s 60 metre deep diving capability.
36 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 37

Fig. 24 Royal Navy ‘Clearance Divers Life Support Equipment’ (CDLSE). To conclude: historically, British military diving has continually gone through changes in response
to national and international requirements, alterations in diving practices, political reviews, financial
considerations and new developments in diving equipment. Today, military diver training in the
British Armed Services is more coordinated than ever before and will continue to change and evolve as
circumstances dictate.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would especially like to thank Lt. Cdr. Rob Hoole (of MCDOA) and Dr. John Bevan for their
encouragement, expertise, helpful suggestions and positive comments while writing this article. We
would also like to thank Phil Thurtle and David Dekker for their help with some requested information.

Dr. Michael Burchett is a marine biologist and retired teacher. He worked as a fisheries biologist and
scientific diver for the British Antarctic Survey (Cambridge) UK. He has dived on expeditions to remote
parts of the world and co-authored the standard scientific work, Sealife: A Complete Guide to the Marine
Environment. His current interest is British diving history and diving apparatus and he is writing an
Following the establishment of the Defence Diving School, diver training has undergone identification guide on ‘British Divers Knives’.
restructuring and modernisation over the past 16 years. Previous RN diver training (leading to ‘Ship’s Robert Burchett is studying Computer Animation at Ravensbourne (London). He has a keen
Diver’ or ‘Clearance Diver’) has been replaced with a progressive Clearance Diver (CD) training interest in British diving history and diving apparatus. He is currently involved with the research and
programme to qualify divers as: Able Seaman Diver 2, Able Seaman Diver 1, Leading Seaman Diver compilation of the identification guide on ‘British Divers Knives’.
and Petty Officer Diver. Royal Navy Officers may still qualify as a Minewarfare Clearance Diver Officer
(MCDO). Once qualified, divers may join the ‘Fleet Diving Squadron’ and go on to progress and
qualify in further specialisations.
(2012): The Royal Navy’s ‘Clearance Diving Branch’ now consists of a small squadron within the ‘Mine
Warefare Branch’. The Fleet Diving Squadron team comprises about 150 divers with a varied range of REFERENCES AND APPENDICES
skills that can be applied to a wide range of tasks, both at home and abroad. Divers are trained to operation
diving depths of 50m for compressed air and to 60m on mixed gas. The squadron’s HQ is located within
the Defence Diving School at Horsea. There are also links with Plymouth (Devon) and Faslane (Scotland). FIGURE SOURCE REFERENCES
The ‘Northern Diving Group’ covers the north of UK, while the ‘Southern Diving Group’ the southern 1 Royal Engineers Museum (Chatham) archive. Gorman & Co. Ltd. London. The Saint Catherine
half of the country. Both teams provide bomb disposal clearance (Explosives Ordnance Disposal or EOD) 2 Lithograph commissioned by A. Siebe, 1844. Press, London.
and underwater engineering capabilities that may be called upon at home or abroad. 3 (Top) Science Museum, London; 16 Photo Nick Baker archive.
(Bottom) 1846 illustration by Capt. G.R. Hutchinson. 17 (IWM A23268) Imperial War Museum
Within the Fleet Diving Squadron is the ‘Fleet Diving Group’ which consists of three highly
4 (Top) Christies, London; 18 Fraser, Ian. 1957. Frogman V.C. Angus &
specialised, mobile diving units. They provide a worldwide capability in support of ‘Mine (Botttom) Siebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd., 1905, Robertson, London.
Countermeasure’ (MCM) and amphibious operations. Specialist skills include mine investigation, Catalogue of Diving Apparatus. 19 John Bevan collection.
parachuting, long range diver insertions, ‘very shallow water mine countermeasures’ (VSW MCM), 5 Photo postcard, c.1910. 20 Underwater Heritage Trust.
conventional ordnance disposal, chemical ordnance disposal, recovery of nuclear weapons ‘deep diving 6 Photo by Tony Liddicoat 21 Popular Science, 1947.
mine countermeasure’ (DD MCM) to a depth of 80 metres and underwater search and recovery (SAR) 7 Alan Wilkinson archive. 22 Royal Navy Submarine Museum archive.
tasks. There are three Fleet Diving Units (FDUs) with roles that are separated into FDU1: covers 8 Welham, Michael G. 1989. Combat Frogmen. 23 Photo by Vice Admiral Sir Cyril Ponsonby RN.
parachute insertion, submarine search & rescue, and fleet training operations; FDU2: covers VSW Thorsons Publishing Group, England. 24 Royal Navy Memories.
MCM and beach surveys; FDU3: mostly covers deep diving MCM. 9 The Graphic, May 1873. 25 Warren, C.E.T. & Benson, and J. 1953. Above Us
10 Imperial War Museum (IWM) the Waves. Harrap, London.
Wherever possible, the Royal Navy now seeks to be an Equal Opportunities organization. A jointly
11 Illustrated London News. 26 British Admiralty, 1964. ROYAL NAVY DIVING
commissioned study with the Institute of Naval Medicine (INM) concluded that females are at no 12 Royal Navy MCDOA archive. MANUAL. Manual for Divers: ‘B.R. 155’ (1964).
greater risk from decompression illnesses than males.  Following the Galaxy announcement, the ban 13 Science Museum, London. 27 (IWM A26940) Imperial War Museum
preventing females entering specialist RN CD and MCDO Branches was lifted in August 2010. Any 14 Photo by Dr. P. Johnson. 28 (IWM A21692) Imperial War Museum
member of the naval service of either gender may now apply for and qualify as a Clearance Diver (CD), 15 Davis, Robert H. 1955. Deep Diving and
or Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Officer (MCDO).  Submarine Operations. 6th ed. Parts I & II. Siebe
 APPENDIX 1 38
Flow diagram showing the historical links for British military diver training in UK.
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39

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APPENDIX 2 APPENDIX 3
Outline map of the British Isles showing some key coastal locations Outline map of Portsmouth Harbour showing some key historical locations.
associated with British military diving.
46 The International Journal of Diving History
APPENDIX 4
Outline map of the Solent area showing some key historical locations.
APPENDIX 5
British military acronyms associated with diving
AEDU: Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit COBBS: Combined Operations, Beach and Boat
(‘Vernon’, Portsmouth) Section (1947, of Royal Marines)
AEU: Amphibious Engineering Unit (Royal COPPs: Combined Operations Pilotage Parties
Engineers) DDMCM: Deep Diving Mine Countermeasures
AMTE: Admiralty Marine Technology DDS: Defence Diving School (based at Horsea
Establishment (Portsmouth) Island Lake, Portsmouth)
ASS: Admiralty Salvage Section (of WW1) DDT: Deep Diving Team (specialist RN diving
AUWE: Admiralty Underwater Weapons unit)
Establishment (Portland) DDU: Deep Diving Unit (part of the RNPL)
BMD: Bombs and Mine Disposal DEODS: Defence Explosive Ordinance Disposal
BSO: Bomb Safety Officer School
CD: Clearance Diver (or Clearance Diving) DSDC: Davis Submersible Decompression
Chamber
CDLSE: Clearance Divers’ Life Support Equipment
(type of diver breathing apparatus) DSEA: Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus
CDBA: Clearance Diving Breathing Apparatus DSSCCD: Diving Set Self Contained Clearance
Diving (type of diver breathing apparatus)
continued on next page
The International Journal of Diving History 47
DTM: Director of Torpedoes and Mining
DTU: Deep Trials Unit (was part of the RNPL at
Alverstoke, Gosport)
DUBD: Director of the Unexploded Bomb
Department
EDU: Experimental Diving Unit (was part of the
old RNPL at Alverstoke, Gosport)
EOD: Explosive Ordnance Disposal
FCDT: leet Clearance Diving Team
FDG: Fleet Diving Group
FDS: Fleet Diving Squadron
FDU: Fleet Diving Unit
FPGRM: Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines
HBU: Hyperbaric Medical Unit
HFG: Human Factors Group
HMNB: Her (or His) Majesty’s Naval Base
HMS: Her (or His) Majesty’s Ship
HMU: Hyperbaric Medicine Unit
IED: Improvised Explosive Device
IEDD: Improvised Explosive Device Disposal
INM: Institute of Naval Medicine (at Gosport)
IWT: Inland Water Transport (of Royal
Engineers)
LCOCU: Landing Craft Obstruction Clearance Unit
(of WW2)
LIS: Land Incident Section
LRIC: Long Range Insertion Craft
MACP: Military Assistance to the Civil Powers
MCD: Minewarfare & Clearance Diving (branch)
MCDO: Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving
Officer
MCM: Mine Counter Measures
MCT: Maritime Counter Terrorism
MNBDO: Mobile Naval Base Defence Organization
(of WW2)
MOD (MoD): Ministry of Defence
MV: Motor Vessel
MW: Mine Warfare (RN sub-branch)
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NBDT: Naval Bomb Disposal Team
NRTA: Naval Recruiting and Training Agency
‘P’-Party: Port Clearance Party (of WW2)
PPU: Pressure Physiological Unit (part of the old
RNPL at Alverstoke, Gosport)
QDD: Qualified in Deep Diving (diver)
RE: Royal Engineers
REDE: Royal Engineers Diving Establishment
(ADS: ‘Army Diving School’ which was
based at Marchwood)
REME: Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
(branch of the Royal Engineers)
RMBPD: Royal Marine Boom Patrol Detachment
(of WW2)
RMR: Royal Marines Reserve
RMS: Rendering Mines Safe
RN: Royal Navy
RNPL: Royal Naval Physiological Laboratory
RNVR: Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve
SAR: Search and Rescue
SAS: Special Air Service
SBS: Special Boat Section, Special Boat Squadron,
Special Boat Service
SBW: Special Boat Wing (1951 of Royal Marines:
previously SRW)
SCOBBS: School of Combined Operations, Beach
and Boat Section (of 1946)
SCUBA: Self Contained Underwater Breathing
Apparatus
SD: Ship’s Diver
SFSG: Special Forces Support Group
SRR: Special Reconnaissance Regiment
SRU: Sea Reconnaissance Unit (of WW2)
SMO: Submarine Mining Operations (branch of
the Royal Engineers)
SMOPS: School of Maritime Operations
SOD: Superintendant of Diving
SOE: Special Operations Executive (of WW2)
SOG: Special Operations Group (of WW2)
SRR: Special Reconnaissance Regiment
SRW: Small Raid Wing (1948, of Royal Marines)
SWD: Shallow Water Diver
TAS: Torpedo and Anti-Submarine
(an RN branch)
UC: Underwater Control (rating)
UDT: Underwater Demolition Team
UKSF: United Kingdom Special Forces
UW: Underwater Weapons (rating)
UWP: Underwater Working Party
UWSBA: Underwater Swimming Breathing Apparatus
VSW: Very Shallow Water
VSWMCM: Very Shallow Water Mine Counter
Measures
W/T: Wireless Telegraphy (station)
48 The International Journal of Diving History
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOME FURTHER READING
Bevan, John. 1996. The Infernal Diver. Submex Ltd., London. 314 pages.
Bevan, John. 2009. Another Whitstable Trade. Submex Ltd., England. 436 pages.
Breakell, Bernard. 1992. In At The Deep End. United Writers Publications Ltd. UK.
British Admiralty, 1904. MANUAL FOR DIVERS (with Information and Instruction in the use of Siebe,
Gorman & Co.’s Diving Apparatus as used in H.M. Service). Royal Navy Manual ‘G. 14063/04’. HMSO.
32 printed pages (5 chapters and 9 plates).
British Admiralty, 1964. ROYAL NAVY DIVING MANUAL. Manual for Divers: ‘B.R. 155’ (1964).
595 pages.
British Admiralty. Late 1970s. Admiralty Experimental Diving Unit (A.E.D.U.). HMSO. 34 printed pages.
British Admiralty. 1972 (March). DIVING MANUAL. Royal Navy Diving Manual for Divers: ‘BR
2806’ (Army Code No. 61231). Published by HMSO MoD ‘Navy Weapons Dept.’ Reprinted 1976
(Incorporating Changes 1 and 2). HMSO. 225+ pages.
Davis, Robert H. 1955. Deep Diving and Submarine Operations. 6th ed. Parts I & II. Siebe Gorman &
Co. Ltd. London. The Saint Catherine Press, London. 693 pages.
Fraser, Ian. 1957. Frogman V.C. Angus & Robertson, London. 216 pages.
Groom, Tony. 2007. Diver. A Royal Navy and commercial diver’s journey through life, and around the
world. Published by Seafarer Books, Suffolk, England. 333 pages.
Historical Diving Times (UK) ‘back issues’. Newsletter of the Historical Diving Society (UK).
Hobson, Robert W. 2004. Chariots of War. Ulric Publishing, UK. 162 pages.
Kemp, Paul. 1999. Underwater Warriors. Published by Brockhampton Press, Hodder Headline PLC
Group, London. 256 pages.
Ladd, James D. 1983. SBS ‘The Invisible Raiders’. Published by Arms and Armour Press, Lionel
Leventhal Ltd. London. 283 pages.
Liddicoat, Tony. 2007. “Five Bells” Job Done. A Diver’s Story. Published by AuthorHouse UK Ltd. 289 pages.
Lott, David J. A Corkhead’s Chronicle ‘Experiences of a Royal Navy Clearance Diver 1955-1976’.
Ripley, Basil. 1982. Horsea Island and The Royal Navy. The Portsmouth Papers No. 36. Published by
Portsmouth City Council. 18 pages.
Royal Navy. 2002-2011. Archive of the ‘Minewarfare & Clearance Diving Officers Association’
(MCDOA).
Siebe Gorman & Co., Ltd. Circa 1957 - 1960. ‘Chessington’ Catalogue ‘D5’. ‘Diving Apparatus and other
Submarine Appliances’. Siebe Gorman & Co. Ltd. 94 pages.
Wardle, Harry. 2002. Dive Navy. CPW Books, Hayling Island, Hants. UK. 255 pages.
Warren, C.E.T. & Benson, J. 1953. ‘Above Us the Waves’. Harrap, London.
Welham, Michael G. 1989. Combat Frogmen. ‘Military diving from the nineteenth century to the present
day’. Published by Patrick Stephens Ltd., Wellingborough, England. 218 pages.
The International Journal of Diving History 49
Australia’s Rich Diving Heritage Explored
Des Williams (HDS AusPac)
Introduction
In recent years researches by members of the HDS AusPac, have gradually uncovered a rich and
interesting Australian diving heritage involving g not only diving practice but manufacturing during the
early 19th century. In particular the author has recently uncovered a very early reference to importation
of the Deane helmet diving system from England. This, together with physical proof of very early
helmet manufacturing, has now pushed back the Australian timeline of historical diving development
by decades.
An Australian Diving Timeline
To date it has been accepted that Australia first adopted the Deane helmet diving apparatus in 18531.
There is, however, now proof that the practical use of that apparatus was undertaken in the colony of
New South Wales as early as 1837, the same year that it was adopted in the United States of America.
This date should be viewed in line with New South Wales having only been first settled as a colony
from the beginning of 1788, the Deane brothers first introducing their apparatus in England in the
early 1830s and only making their first continuous working dives in 1834–35.
The Appearance of the Deane gear
Any evidence in the early nineteenth century has to be viewed in the light of a young colonial country
struggling to establish itself. In its favour were new technologies and manufacturing capabilities
made possible by the Industrial Revolution in England (1790–1830), against it was that it was many
thousands miles and many weeks at sea from the motherland. By comparison, in the same time period,
news from England was being reprinted in American papers in a little over a week2.
Against this general background, in 1833, Captain Fotheringham, a Sydney Town businessman,
imported a patent slipway and installed it at Cockle Bay in Sydney Harbour.
“Captain Fotheringhame’s [sic] patent slip in Cockle Bay is now completed and it is said that at eleven o’clock
this morning, the barque Tamar will be hauled upon it, to show its efficacy. On which occasion, His Excellency
has intimated his intention of being present to witness the experiment”. Sydney Herald, 27 May 1833.
As Fotheringham’s ship-building, repair and maintenance enterprise grew, he expanded his workforce
and installed new equipment at every opportunity. Inspired by a great deal of local press coverage of
the success of Mr. Deane’s diving exploits in England during 1836, Fotheringham imported a complete
set of Deane’s diving apparatus to compliment the marine services he was offering ship-owners within
Sydney Harbour. He may very well have attended the Charles Deane “Submarine Exhibition” held in
London in 1836, in which Deane showcased his apparatus to the world.
1. Another Whitstable Trade by John Bevan, Submex Ltd, 2009
2. Personal correspondence with Peter Dick, HDS
50 The International Journal of Diving History
Arrival of the new diving apparatus in Sydney Harbour was duly announced in the Sydney Morning
Herald on the 31st July 1837
“Captain Fotheringhame [sic] has imported by the Achilles, a diving apparatus of the same description
as that in which the Patentee, Mr Dean [sic] remained under water for five hours and forty minutes and
recovered from the wrecks of the Royal George the Mary Rose (the latter sunk in 1544) and other vessels,
property to a considerable amount”.
One month later, in August 1837, the diving apparatus was used to recover a box of silver from the
bottom of Sydney harbour and an excellent account of that dive has survived as recorded in The Sydney
Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW:1803-1842) on Saturday 19 August 1837.
“On Thursday afternoon we went on board the Giraffe to see Capt. Fotheringham’s diving apparatus, and
Capt. Barney’s diver, named Gilchrist, descend in eight fathom water to search for the box containing five
hundred pounds in silver, which had accidentally been dropped overboard a few days since, The apparatus
consists of a large tin helmet which completely covers the head, and is secured to the diver by a canvas jacket
tied round the waist. There are three bull’s eyes for the admission of light; to the back of the helmet is affixed a
long tube of about twenty fathoms length, which is connected with the air pump. The air pump is worked by
two men in the ship’s long boat moored directly over the spot where the treasure was presumed to be. The diver
having clothed himself in flannel stockings, drawers and jacket, jumped into an india rubber dress made for
the occasion, which is water-tight and having tied two 5lbs. weights to his body for the purpose of sinking him,
descended to the bottom by means of a ladder, the men all the time keeping the pump going which supplied
him with the “breath of life” sufficient for his purpose. He remained underwater just twenty-five minutes,
without being able to find the treasure. When he came up from below he said he did not feel exhausted, but
was shivering with cold. He expressed a wish to be lowered down on the other side of the vessel, which was
accordingly done, he being secured and after a laborious search of upwards of half an hour he succeeded in
finding the box, a rope was fastened to it and it was hauled up to the great satisfaction of all parties concerned.
The diver, we hope, will not be forgotten.”
Until further deep research reveals otherwise, details of the next thirty years or so of diving in
Australia appears to have fallen back mainly on a thriving pearl and pearl shell nacre industry, out
of Broome and Thursday Island. Such luxuries were to become increasingly popular due to the
world-wide influence of the Victorians. Initially, pearl diving was undertaken by employing the long
established breath-hold method, and, although it is difficult to know exactly when diving helmets from
manufacturers such as Heinke and Siebe were first imported for use in that industry, we do know that
they were very expensive items.
From that humble helmet dive beginning in 1837, Australian use of the helmet diving system
grew rapidly after the 1850s gold-rushes, as the new colonies engaged in massive programmes of
infrastructure expansion and development, completing railways, reservoirs, bridges and ship-building
and maintenance facilities. Research has certainly confirmed that C. E. Heinke & Co of London
appointed Australian agents for their diving apparatus right across the country during the 1850s,
dominating the supply of diving apparatus to the Australian pearling industry. From the introduction
of that first imported Deane diving system in 1837, we now move to the development of helmet
manufacturing within Australia, some thirty years later.
Serious helmet collectors around the world are aware of two Australian made diving helmets from
the 20th century. The famous Melbourne firm of Robison Bros. engineers and copper-smiths, who
produced a limited number of diving helmets based on the Heinke pattern during the latter part of
World War Two, and the experimental Clifford Double Helmet and Dress produced in Australia during
the 1930s. The Clifford technology was based on a flawed principle of diving physics, which cost the
The International Journal of Diving History 51
life of at least one professional diver, who dared to test the promises of safe very deep diving; namely
the inventor himself. Today, there is only one example extant of the Clifford double helmet and sadly,
for Australian diving heritage, it was sold off to an American collector some years ago.
So, it was quite a surprise for the author to recently come across an example, which takes helmet
manufacturing history in Australia back into the Victorian era of the 19th century; a diving helmet
manufactured in Melbourne, stamped with the manufacturer’s name “Henry Dykes Coppersmith
113 Flinders St W1”. Who would have thought it possible? Diving helmet manufacturing in tiny
Melbourne, in a little British colony on the other side of the world in relation to the diving equipment
manufacturing goliaths, located in both Britain and Europe at the time.
How old is the Dykes helmet, was it a ‘one off ’ and what do we know about its history? It has
been the author’s great privilege to research the origins of this rare helmet and its history, but there
are still many unanswered questions which will take a great deal more deep research to answer. Most
surprising of all, is the link discovered by the writer, between Robison Bros and Henry Dykes, both
Australian diving helmet manufacturers but in different centuries. The tiny township of Melbourne was
established in 1834, but it was the fabulous wealth and opportunities brought on by the 1851 Victorian
gold rushes which really developed the Colony.
While the city of Melbourne grew during the gold-rush years, wealth on the goldfields was
overshadowed by the fantastic business and wealth opportunities available in Melbourne for those who
were willing to invest in manufacturing of goods of all types, to supply the needs of the growing Colony.
Importers simply could not keep up with the demand.
To follow the Robison Bros timeline, appropriately overlaid with the amount of information so far
gleaned on Henry Dykes Esq. Both were involved in copper-smithing, whilst the more affluent and
astute Robison Bros, grew their business at a faster rate and diversified into foundry and engineering
work. They produced everything from lightning conductors to steam locomotives under Government
contract for the growing Victorian railway network.
In 1854, James McFarland Robison and his brothers Thomas and William set up Robison Bros.
engineers & manufacturing at “99 & 103 Wharf, Melbourne”3 which was at the time, the west end of
Flinders Street Melbourne, an area which fronted directly onto the wharves on the northern bank of
the Yarra River. The present day street numbers in that area appear to match the original wharf berth
numbers and it was also an area where other coppersmith and plumbing works congregated. Robisons
were not the only coppersmiths in that location in early Melbourne.
By 1856, Robison Bros had expanded their premises to include the property at No.113 Wharf
(Flinders St. West). Then, in 1858, the brothers split their business in what was almost certainly
some sort of family dispute, or disagreement. William went his own way, advertising his stand-alone
coppersmith business thus: “William Robison, 113 Flinders St. West – Principal of the late firm
of Robison Brothers!”4 The emphasising exclamation mark was included in the advertisement text.
In subsequent advertisements, William also inserted another emphasising line “caution – only one
place”5 when advertising his business address at 113 Flinders St, W in 1859, to make it quite clear
his was a separate copperworks to that operated by his brothers. He used the trading company name
of “Melbourne Copper Works” at 113 Flinders St. W, which was situated on the corner of King and
Flinders Streets, diagonally opposite today’s modern Melbourne Aquarium premises.
3. Melbourne Argus 4th August 1855
4. Melbourne Argus 13th July 1858
5. Melbourne Argus 12th October 1859
52 The International Journal of Diving History
Correspondingly, James and Thomas Robison took a new partner,
H. Dodds and were advertising under a new name at a new address,
viz, “Robison Bros & Co, Bond Street, Flinders Lane West”6 which
was just one block north of 113 Flinders Street. The three Robison
brothers appear to have divided their real estate between them when
they split. In September of 1863, Robison Bros & Co were advertising
“diving apparatus”7 as part of their range of products, acting as import
agents for C.E Heinke & Co of London. Two months later (November
1863) Wm. Robison, not to be outdone, was also advertising Melbourne
copperworks as suppliers of “diving dresses, pumps and helmets at sale
prices, preparatory to selling off stock and business in January 1864”8. So,
the two companies were competing for diving apparatus sales business.
Melbourne Copper Works was without a diving apparatus import
agency and had tooled up to produce
diving equipment, styled on the famous
C. E Heinke & Co equipment pattern
of the 1860s (Fig. 2).
Wm. Robison’s November 1863
advertisement (above) indicated his
intention to sell off the business, but
in his January 1864 advertisements he
was still offering: “For Sale–Melbourne
Copper Works, goodwill and stock”9.
Fig 1 A Melbourne salvage diver at work in the 1860s.
No buyers came forward,
so over the next few years
William sub-let the business
to Henry Dykes, a talented
employee and groomed him
for the sale of the business.
Henry Dykes was described
as a “native” of the Colony,
born in Melbourne and must
have been a reasonably young
man in the mid-1860s. We
do know he married Elizabeth
Mary McKewen on 30th June
186210 and on the 31st July
1865 their first child, a son
John William, was born11, but
Fig. 2 Views of an 1860s style Heinke helmet contemporary tragically the child died just
with the Dykes helmet 16 months later12.
6. Melbourne Argus 12th October 1859 10. Melbourne Argus 30th June 1862
7. Melbourne Argus 11th September 1863 11. Melbourne Argus 1st August 1865
8. Melbourne Argus 19th November 1863 12. Melbourne Argus 17th December 1866
9. Melbourne Argus 16th & 22nd January 1864
The International Journal of Diving History 53
On the 6th February 1867 the Government moved to protect local manufacturing, by introducing
robust new Tariffs on imported goods which could otherwise be manufactured within the Colony13.
This included imported diving apparatus. The following year, 1868, William Robison moved to Sydney,
setting up a copper-works there whilst leasing the property at 113 Flinders St. Melbourne, to Henry
Dykes who was by then operating the business for himself.
Dykes quickly established an excellent reputation as a coppersmith and plumber and his new business
grew rapidly due to the phenomenal amount of work available servicing the mining, manufacturing
and shipping industries, not to mention the massive domestic market. Under the umbrella protection
of new tariffs, business looked very promising and Dykes entered into a short partnership arrangement,
between January and August of 1867, with Thomas Edwards and David Scott, changing the business
trading name to Scott & Co14. When Scott dropped out suddenly in August 186715, the business
was re-named Dykes & Edwards and they were advertising as the “Oldest established copperworks
in Victoria”16 manufacturing and repairing all manner of copper, brass and lead work. In 1869 they
produced a 1,900 gallon (8,640 litres) copper still for a Collingwood brewery. At that time, it was
the largest copper still ever made in the Colony and its commissioning received quite a write-up in
contemporary newspapers of the time17. It can therefore be assumed that Dykes & Edwards was a very
capable and skilful company.
Two interesting facts now emerge in the year 1877: Firstly, Melbourne-based Robison Bros & Co.
Engineers & Boiler-makers, were by then a very large concern having moved back into Flinders Street
on property between No’s. 31 to 81. They were advertising a huge range of products including steam
gauges, pumps, water meters, castings, bench vices, hop mills, wrenches, windmills, leather belting, etc,
etc AND “diving apparatus”18 as they were still acting as agents for C. E. Heinke & Co. of London,
but not manufacturing diving equipment themselves. By 1879 Robison Bros & Co. had opened a
second factory on the south bank of the Yarra River and retained their impressive Flinders Street Head
Office premises for their administration staff. The company installed the first commercial telephone in
Australia in 1879, which linked their two premises, they were issued with telephone ‘No.1’. That was
just two years after Alexander Graham Bell had patented his telephone apparatus, so Robison’s were
certainly at the cutting edge of modern technology.
In 1877, a newspaper report under the heading of ‘Protectionism’ records an interview on the subject
of protective taxes with William Robison in Sydney, thus: “Mr. William Robison, who built the shop
known as 113 Flinders Street, Melbourne, has been nine years in this city and is not a protectionist. He
is in the manufacture of brass and copper work of all descriptions and employment to 14 hands. He
is now enlarging his premises and about erecting a building which will cost £10,000”19, (equivalent
to Aust$1.1Million in 2013). It seems William Robison was doing very well in Sydney and the direct
reference made to his current ownership of premises, at 113 Flinders Street Melbourne, is of special
interest to our research.
Just four years later in 1881, Henry Dykes “coppersmith”20 was before the Melbourne Courts
on 2nd February for insolvency. Another report on the 29th July 1881 reveals that “Henry Dykes -
coppersmith & plumber of Carlton”21 was discharged of his insolvency debts, by His Honour Judge
Noel. Today, we can only speculate on what happened to the financial integrity of the thriving Dykes
13. Melbourne Argus 12th February 1867 18. Melbourne Argus 19th October 1877
14. Melbourne Argus 19th January 1867 19. Melbourne Argus 4th July 1877
15. Melbourne Argus 23rd August 1867 20. Melbourne Argus 2nd February 1881
16. Melbourne Argus 1st December 1868 21. Melbourne Argus 6th August 1881
17. South Australian Register 5th April 1869
54 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 55

& Edwards partnership. Maybe it was due to a collapsed debtor taking them down, or there could
have been a partnership disagreement, or it may have been the result of fierce competition from the
likes of Robisons. Whatever the cause, the early 1880’s ushered in a fifteen year recession in Victorian
manufacturing and land values. The gold-mining wealth bubble had burst! Dykes continued to trade on
alone for a little longer, in a Carlton premises, after his brush with the Insolvency Court. Robison Bros
themselves, collapsed during the peak of the recession between 1888 and 1894 although the company
was eventually restructured on a smaller scale, trading into the 20th century. The late 19th century in
Victoria ushered in tough times, “Marvellous Melbourne” had become a shadow of its former wealthy
self and poverty was everywhere, most businesses struggled, whilst many more went broke. The trail
for Henry Dykes goes cold at this point in time and it is not until 1907, that another clue emerges. Fig. 4 (Above) Henry Dyke’s brand
On the 13th of April 1907, Ada Dykes “second daughter of the Late Henry Dykes of Albert stamp in brails.
Park”22married Percival Love in Fiji. So, we now know that by 1907, Henry Dykes was dead. There is
still much more to uncover, regarding this talented coppersmith. Clearly he was talented, because the Fig. 5 (Right) Flinders Sreet,
Melbourne close to Henry Dykes’
Dykes diving helmet is a fine piece of workmanship. It’s design and features were certainly inspired
premises – 1875
by the existing Heinke helmet pattern of the
day, which was being distributed by Robison
Bros & Co. Tooling up to produce only one Edwards or Melbourne Copperworks, so that may indicate manufacture between 1864 and 1867, when
helmet for an order would have been expensive Dykes was operating the business alone (see Fig. 4). Dykes moved to another premises in Carlton after
for Dykes, so it is most likely that a number his 1881 brush with insolvency, so it is doubtful the helmet was made at those premises and stamped
of Dykes helmets were made from the existing with his old address. The introduction of the Customs tariff on imported diving gear in 1867 coincides
dies and patterns, prepared previously when perfectly with Dykes years in business, so we
Wm. Robison owned the company and traded can reasonably deduce that the helmet was
as Melbourne Copperworks. Imported helmets manufactured in 1867 or 1868, as Dykes was
were amongst the many manufactured goods NOT an importer. The helmet does show
which were instantly made more expensive the skills and resourcefulness of ‘colonial’
with the introduction of the January 1867 manufacturers of the period, who found
Tariff Duty. So, Dykes was simply offering themselves so far from the ‘Mother Country’
a cheaper Australian-made alternative to the and who by necessity had to be innovative in
Robison Bros/Heinke imported product. For their businesses.
Robison Bros, there would also have been the The Dykes 12-bolt helmet (see Fig. 6) is
added cost of international shipping and, as the in surprisingly good condition for its age, but
Heinke helmets were already quite expensive in it is not without some shortcomings due to
England, Dykes would have had an advantage the ravages of time. The helmet originally
on retail pricing. Even so, Robisons were to had a breastplate-mounted air exhaust valve,
enjoy a very long association with Heinke & Co. so typical of mid 19th century helmets, but
which is evident when the classic Heinke ‘Pearler’ it was removed at some stage later. Protective
helmet pattern is compared to the design shape wire grills have been added to the ports, by a
and style of the World War Two production of quite amateurish hand. Most disappointingly
Robison helmets, they are mirror images of each of all, the lower half of the corselet neck
other (see Fig. 3). ring is missing, which would have been
So, how can we use the above knowledge to positioned on the top of the corselet to
make an estimate of the possible production date mate with the bonnet neck ring joint (see
for the Dykes helmet? The helmet is stamped Fig. 7) The corselet is of very heavy copper
Fig 3 A Robison Bros helmet produced in Melbourne
Henry Dykes 113 Flinders St not Dykes & during World War Two. and is a little crudely hand formed, the
very cap of the bonnet was fitted with the
22. Sydney Morning Herald 13th April 1907 traditional castellated joint, a beautiful piece Fig. 6 Front view of Dyke’s helmet
56 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 7 Missing lower half of neck ring on corselet. Fig. 8 Threaded bolts through corselet, to seal
collar of diving dress.
of workmanship. Twelve slotted-head bolts fitted from inside the corselet and soldered over to lock
them in place form the diving dress attachment studs (see Fig. 8). A “pepper-pot” type air exhaust valve
is positioned up on the right side of the bonnet (see Fig. 9). Henry Dyke’s brand is stamped in two
positions on the front brail, either side on the centre wing-nut. The brails consist of four components,
front and back and two shoulders straps, which was typical of the 1860s Heinke helmets. Four of the
original twelve wing-nuts are missing.
Three other similarities with contemporary 1860s Heinke helmets include: (a) A crude bonnet
locking device situated just below the left port, which accommodated a threaded thumbscrew to tighten
Fig. 9 The ‘pepper-pot’ style exhaust on the Fig. 10 Threaded thumbscrew fitting, for
right side of the helmet. the bonnet locking device.
The International Journal of Diving History 57
Fig. 12 Wide, old style neck ring on bonnet –
dates the helmet pre 1870.
up onto the edge of the corselet neck ring (see Fig.
10), (b) A “pepper-pot” style exhaust valve on the
bonnet shows no manufacturers marks and is a
very basic device. It was designed to screw down
Fig. 11 Rear view shows the curved air inlet
fitting, threaded to take non-return valve. to increase tension on an internal spring (now
missing) which in turn pressurised a small exhaust
valve seat, (c) A rear view of the helmet reveals a
large, curved air inlet pipe fitting, which does not contain a non-return valve, but is recessed and turned
with a fine thread to accommodate one. The Dykes helmet displays a rich, undisturbed chocolate-
brown patina (see Fig. 11).
Inside the helmet the air distribution ducts feed over each of the three ports and a fourth duct
shields the exhaust valve exit. The high quality, large diameter brass neck ring has an interrupted
thread locking system (see Fig. 12). At this point, it is important to acknowledge the expert advice
given to the author by Dr. John Bevan, of the HDS UK. John made some interesting observations
on photographs emailed to him.
John confirmed that the Dyke’s helmet appeared to be based on the Heinke pattern and when
Heinke helmet developments were considered, it was possible to date the Dyke’s helmet around the
1860s. C. E. Heinke died in 1869, after which the lower neck ring on the corselet became ‘recessed’ to
accommodate a leather gasket. The Dyke’s helmet has what is known as a ‘non-recessed’ gasket, which
was flush with the neck ring and much wider than the recessed version. The spit-cock did not appear
on the Heinke helmets until sometime after 1865 and the Dyke’s helmet exhibits many similarities with
the Heinke pattern, including: ‘square’ corselet, inlet elbow, ‘pepper-pot’ exhaust and side windows.
Therefore, the era of manufacture seems to be fairly accurately confirmed by both historical research
into Henry Dyke’s business and what is known about the developments of the Heinke diving helmet.
When we compare the Dyke’s helmet with a contemporary Heinke helmet (see Fig. 2) the similarities
are astonishing. Henry Dykes surely used a Heinke helmet as the model for his work, even including
the unusual thumbscrew helmet locking device depicted on both the 1860s Heinke and Dyke’s helmets.
58 The International Journal of Diving History
The author’s personal thanks for assistance go to Geoff & Annette Sparkes (Melbourne), Greg
Langley (Tasmania) and Dr. John Bevan (HDS UK) for his expert advice and comment on early helmet
developments of the 1860s.
FURTHER READING
Sydney Herald (1831–1842) 27th May 1833 page 3
Sydney Morning Herald 31st July 1837 page 2
The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW: 1803–1842) Saturday 19 August 1837 page 2
Victoria & Its Metropolis – Past & Present, by Sutherland, Ellery, et al, McCarron Bird, 1888
Another Whitstable Trade by John Bevan, Submex Ltd, 2009
Des Williams is a retired businessman who merged his interest in Australian maritime history with
scuba diving in 1968. He holds both commercial and recreational diving qualifications and is an active
vocational underwater archaeologist, historical diving enthusiast, researcher and author.
Des is currently Hon. Treasurer of the Historical Diving Society AusPac. He is a team leader with the
Maritime Archaeology Association of Victoria who are currently researching and surveying the remains
of a sunken, mid-19th century salvage vessel close to Melbourne.
The International Journal of Diving History 59
Early 18th Century French Diving Equipment
Florence Prudhomme (HDS France)
Translated by Peter Willson. Edited by Peter Dick.
Introduction
My on-going researches into maritime history in the Archives Nationales in Paris, often uncover
references to diving activities and to equipment produced by inventors in the early 18th century.
De Beauve, 1713
It appears that the diving equipment proposed by the Chevalier de Beauve, had possibly been brought
to the notice of King Louis XIV of France (reigned 1643-1715) prior to it being tested. The only
evidence of that connection however, is a letter sent by the King to de Beauve.
‘Monsieur de Beauve, Verseille, 12th June 1715
I have received the letter you wrote to me on the 3rd of this month. I am vexed that the machine you
invented for going under the water was not successful in the trial that you put it to. I am convinced that in
continuing to work on it you will succeed in perfecting it, but the present circumstances do not allow the King
to undertake the expense that would be necessary.’
From drawings that have also survived, it appears that the equipment consisted of a metal helmet
and breastplate or cuirass, covered from the neck down by a front entry leather diving dress that was
Fig. 1 Detail from the
letter sent by King Louis
XIV to de Beauve, dated
12th June 1715.
60 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 61

Fig. 2
De Beauve’s
diving
equipment,
comprising a
metal helmet
and breastplate/
cuirass covering
the upper chest.

held shut by clips. The front of the helmet was moulded in a facial shape, including eyes, which were
presumably made of glass. It also had two breathing tubes; the contemporary arrangement being one
tube to supply air, the other to allow exhalations to escape.
It is not known if any further tests were carried out.

Sieur de Mainville, 1719

A letter from Sieur de Mainville, dated February 16, 1719 addressed to Marshal Destré, Vice-Admiral of
France, presented a Mémoire et autres desseins de plongeurs (A memoire on ways of diving) while asking
for his protection of equipment proposed by de Mainville. With it were drawings representing what de
Mainville saw as two different methods of diving, namely a ‘Free Man’ (l’homme libre) who could move
around freely underwater using a self-contained apparatus that enclosed the upper part of the diver’s
body, while the ‘Un-Free Man’(l’homme non libre) was to be lowered from a boat on the surface inside
a wooden box, much like a coffin with a single porthole.
Operationally, the two systems complemented one another, as the ‘Un-Free Man’ had a purely
observational role of assessing the situation on the bottom, followed by the ‘Free Man’ who could both
move around and carry out whatever work was required as his arms and legs were free; much freer it was
felt than other divers when it came to moving around the bottom. As such, the proposals represented
a rapid response system that could be carried on board a ship for use in recovering goods following a
shipwreck or, Mainville maintained, to mount an underwater attack on an enemy and scuttle their fleet.
Drawings accompanied de Mainville’s letter, as did a list of what he considered necessary to construct
the diving system, together with estimated costs1.

1. The list did not give any monetary denominations, perhaps due to this being a period when the French
monetary system was in a state of flux but (apparently) not devaluation. Those reading the list would
therefore have known that he was talking about, a unit that became known as the sous. Fig. 3 De Mainville’s list of estimated costs, from his mémoire to Marshall Destré.
62 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 63

Estimate of costs for equipping the ‘free man’ diver

For the carpenter to make the wooden structure and for the (wood) turner to make the
handles for the pumps, 40#
Further, for the boilermaker to make the pumps, both suction and expulsion, entirely of copper, 200#
Further, for the locksmith to make the ‘turnstiles’ (ballast release and recovery bobbin), the pins,
attachments and belts, 200#
Further, for the glass panels, 50#
Further, for five or six prepared goatskins, 60#
Further, for the lead weights, 40#
Further, for about 20lbs. of mastic made with new wax, 20#
Further, for incidental costs, namely to pay two sailors to arrange four boatsin a square and to
cover them with a canvas (toile), that 6 trials might be conducted without being seen by anyone, 40#
Total 650#

Mainville also requested permission to test his equipment in the river Seine near ‘la Samaritain’ (the
present-day department store) because, he said, this was the deepest part of the river. Here two sailors
had to be paid to position four boats in a square, so that the test-dive site could be surrounded by
canvas and not visible to anyone. Unfortunately, history does not record if these trials ever took place. Fig. 5 Internal view of the box for the ‘un-free’ man.
Note the six shower-head type arrangements intended to supply air.

Fig. 6 The ‘un-free’ diver face down looking out of the porthole with his hands above his head,
from where he could work the two signal ropes.

Fig. 4 A twin derrick arrangement for lowering the ‘un-free’ man in his box. Note the signal bell (G).
With the ‘Un-Free Man’ system the diver lay face down in the box looking out of the window, with
his hands above his head holding two thin signal ropes. This box was raised and lowered by ropes, pulleys
and a twin support derrick system; the recommendation being that there should be three men in the boat.
Two of these were to be rowers, while the third attended to diver signals, a bell which gave the signal to
raise the diver, while the second signal rope was used to request air. This was presumably pumped down
from the surface and distributed inside the box by six curved tubes with ends much like shower-heads.
64 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 65

While the ‘Un-Free Man’ had a purely observational role, the ‘Free Man’ could then follow up and
recover what had been sighted. There was a porthole in the wooden box covering the diver’s head, which
left the rest of his body free. Four lead ballast weights, shown attached to his legs, could be removed
and then raised or lowered using (four) spools attached to his belt to provide the correct weight when
making a descent. The breathing system appears to have been intended to work independent of the
surface and consisted of four copper pumps, two on the chest for exhaling and two on the back for
inhaling, with a reservoir (pouch) between the two sets containing the air supply2.
In his memoire, de Mainville also specified that the diver could descend to a depth of 18 feet, for
reasons of visibility. It seems that his purpose in designing this second system was to demonstrate what
had become a priority – that of a diver being able to move around independently underwater, this making
his apparatus a major technological advance at the time. He went on to write that an advance of this
magnitude was no trivial thing, as an order of (King) Louis XIV, made at Versailles on 18th July 1703,
demanded that young carpenters and caulkers be selected and taught to dive and work underwater.
The request for protection for his invention included a further paragraph:
‘Should permission be granted me to retrieve what has been lost in the sea through shipwrecks and other
accidents, I should consider myself most ungrateful were I not to present myself to my Lord that you do me the
honour of protecting me. The enterprise I propose has to this time been unknown but I beg Monseigneur that
if such a discovery has not to be made, the fault lies with men who have always seen it as an impossibility
which is far removed from the truth for I can give assurance that it is the simplest thing to be seen.’

Florence Prudhomme, is a maritime researcher and trilingual (French, English & German) postgraduate
in international relations at the University of La Sorbonne in Paris. She completed a 3-year course in
conservation, restoration and preservation of works of art.
She is a qualified 3-star CMAS diver with the French equivalent of HSE Scuba (certificat d’aptitude
à l’hyperbarie, classe I, mention B) and an advanced Nitrox Diver, qualified at the level of ‘Inspiration
Rebreather’.
She is presently Secrétaire Générale of ADMAT-FRANCE and a main contact with the French
National museums. She also holds the ADMAT (Anglo-Danish Maritime Archaeological Team)
Underwater Survey Diver certificate. As well as taking part in a number of ADMAT underwater
excavations worldwide, her researches into diving history are mainly a by-product of her maritime
archaeological researches in the Archives Nationales, during which she has covered the story of Le
Casimir (The Perfume Wreck) and uncovered the epic story of Le Dragon, the last French warship to
be lost in the American Revolutionary War in 1783.

Fig. 7 De Mainville’s ‘free’ diver, his head in a wooden box with a porthole, spools 2. Although an air supply is mentioned in the description of the ‘un-free’ man, no air pipes are shown in any of
around his waist allowing him to lower the weights that were strapped around his the drawings. Part of de Mainville’s secret was perhaps the way he supplied air, which it must be assumed was
legs. His hand appears to be on one of the four pumps, intended to circulate air using a pump or bellows. The mention of an air reservoir (pouch) on the ‘free’ man’s equipment implies that
contained in a reservoir (pouch) around the equipment. this contained compressed air.
66 The International Journal of Diving History
Jacob, The Diver
Alan Roddie
from The Mariner’s Mirror Vol.62 1976 No.3
The State Papers belonging to the early decades of the seventeenth century contain numerous applications
to the authorities for licences to salve wrecks and other valuables lost at sea. Commissions were usually
granted because this helped increase the Crown’s revenue and also kept ports and harbours relatively free
of obstructions to shipping. Salvors were customarily given either a fee or a share in the salvaged goods.
For example, in 1609, Robert Hudson and George Rands undertook the task of clearing the Narrow Seas
of the lost anchors responsible for cutting ships’ cables for which they were granted a pension of £30 per
annum. Seven years later the same men were authorized to ‘exercise and practise their said mystery’ in
clearing the Cinque Ports of obstructions. This time they were given permission to sell any goods they
found, but on condition that they reserved a third of the money for the Warden of the Cinque Ports.
Hudson and Rands had been engaged in salvage work since 1593.The word ‘mystery’ is not a
misnomer: to them it meant craft, to us it describes the darkness we are in about the methods and
apparatus they used in their work. Nevertheless, it is doubtful if their ‘invention to recover those
anchors lost’ consisted of much more than sophisticated sweeping and grappling techniques.
During this period, however, one man, a Dutchman, revolutionized salvage work in the British Isles.
His name was John Jacop Janson-in England, Jacob Johnson. To quote his own words he did
‘relinquish his imployment in ye Lowe Countries in Anna 1620 to doe service in recovering sunck
ordnance; wrackt goods, and moneys, upon his Ma jesty’s Coastes of England, and Ireland; where he hath
out of his industry and at his owne costes, and charges, in his owne person, by a playne and manifest way of
dyving deepe under water, brought upp out of ye bottom of ye sea at sundry tymes, much goods and of good
benefitt to the Admiralty, whence he had commission for his practice.’
This article is intended to offer a very cursory view of Jacob’s travels in England and Ireland: lack
of information makes a detailed study impossible. Obviously it was only the more important cases of
salvage work that reached the cognizance of the government or of the Admiralty Court, and it is on
these few cases we must rely to help us follow Jacob’s career in these islands.
In April 1620, the Dutch ship Santa Giuslina, on hire to the Venetians, was wrecked on the
south coast of Ireland, near Waterford, with the loss of about thirty men. Under the terms of hire
the Venetians were bound to pay for or replace any cannon lost with the ship. Girolamo Lando, the
Venetian Ambassador in England, was given details of the cannon by his superiors in Venice, and was
told to buy replicas, making sure that he first obtained leave from James I to export them to Holland.
The Venetian Ambassador in Holland, Christofforo Surian, proposed that efforts could and should
be made to salvage the guns from the wreck, and with this in mind made contact with a diver in
Enkhuizen, Jacob Johnson, whom he sent to London to negotiate with Lando.
Jacob arrived in London in August1620, and went to see Lando. He asked that he should have
three-quarters of the cannon salvaged for himself, and produced documents showing that such terms
had been granted to him several times by the Dutch authorities. However, he was persuaded to accept
The International Journal of Diving History 67
one-half. He was to bear all expenses himself, but would receive a gratuity of twenty crowns every time
a gun was recovered. Further, he would receive a bonus at the end according to how satisfactorily the
work was carried out.
Jacob had not only to ‘fish’ for the cannon, he had also to transport and deliver them to Enkhuizen.
This, of course, was assuming that permission would be given by the King. Lando explained to Venice
that for some months past the King had noted the large number of cannon being exported from
England and being used against his own ships. Consequently he had laid a proposal before the Privy
Council that no more licences for exportation should be granted. Lando suggested that he should wait
for a more opportune moment to make his request.
An opportunity did arise when Lando’s secretary was speaking to the Marquis of Buckingham,
the Lord High Admiral, in October 1620. Buckingham promised him permission, but pointed out
that owing to the large number of ships wrecked on the coast of Ireland it would be necessary for
the Ambassador to supply not only the number and weight of the cannon but also their marks. This
information was supplied to him, and in March 1621, a licence to export the guns was given to Lando.
On 17 November,1620, Lando reported to Venice that ‘a merchant of Ireland’ had recovered one of
the two bronze guns belonging to the Santa Giustina,‘out of the sands of the shore where it was buried’.
The gun was put on board a ship en route to Enkhuizen but had been seized at Dieppe, on some
obscure pretext, when the captain had called there to discharge cargo. It had taken the intervention of
the ambassadors in France and Holland to have it released.
Jacob had begun work on the Santa Giustina before the end of August 1620, and was still at the site
a year later. He had salvaged some cannon but had ‘kept procrastinating under various pretexts’. Lando
complained to Venice about this and also told his government that ‘some people of the country’ had ‘fished’
at his request and had recovered two guns. He explained at a later date, on 25 February,1622, that the
two cannon were bronze and iron, weighing 3,210 lb. and 3,090 lb., respectively, and were salvaged by
one Signor Labarre.
When Lando was making arrangements to have the second cannon sent to Enkhuizen, he earned
that the Dutch owners had already been paid in cash instead of waiting any longer for the guns. He
suggested to Venice that, although he could not get as good a price for them in England, he should sell
the cannon there because of the danger from pirates during their transportation elsewhere. The Venetian
Government, replied, however, that the guns should be sent to the Islands of Zante and Cephalonia
(Venetian possessions near Greece) at the earliest opportunity. He set about arranging transport for
the cannon as soon as he received these orders. He finally found a ship, the Fedelta of London, whose
captain, William Driver, agreed to call to Ireland on his way to those islands. He took the bronze
cannon on board at Bantry at the end of December 1621.
On 24 June,1622, Lando was relieved of his duties by Alvise Valeresso. In the September following,
Valeresso reported to Venice that his predecessor had not quite completed the affair of the recovered
guns. Besides the bronze, six iron cannon had been salvaged – five by Jacob.
On 16 September,1622, Valeresso wrote to Venice to say that he had been to see Buckingham once
more and had laboured the point about the cannon so much that, before he left, the Duke gave the
necessary orders for the removal of all difficulties and the completion of the business1 .
When Jacob completed his work in Waterford he went back to England to work for Lord Zouche,
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. He returned to Enkhuizen in 1624, possibly at the time when Lord
1. For information on the Santa Giustina and the transactions between Lando and Jacob see Calendar of State
Papers, Venetian, vols. XVI-XVII.
68 The International Journal of Diving History
Zouche resigned his office due to ill health and the persuasions of Lord Buckingham – on whom the
office was then bestowed.
Throughout the summer of 1624, four Dunkirk-based Spanish ships lay anchored in the safety of
the Downs besieged by twelve Dutch men-of-war. On the morning of Saturday, 2 October, the Vice-
Admiral’s ship of the Dunkirkers got under sail on the pretence of drying her sails; and with the help of
oars put out of her ports, made a break for the open sea. With over a mile start, she was able to outpace
the three Dutch ships responsible for guarding her. That night a great storm blew. There were more
than 120 ships anchored in the Downs and after the storm over twenty were found wrecked -including
one of the Dunkirkers.
When the calm seas returned after the storm, attempts were made to salvage as much of the wreckage
as possible. One Lewis, from Deal, along with some other men, was able to raise six big anchors and
cables; each anchor weighing more than 1,000lb. He reported that the stern of the Dunkirk Admiral’s
ship could be seen at low water and that he and his men had been aboard her.
Another large ship, from Hamburg, had run aground near Ramsgate three barrels of copper and two
bales of buckram and baize had been salvaged from her and had been handed to Thomas Fulnetby,
sergeant of the Admiralty for the Cinque Ports. It was with the intention of saving more of this cargo
and the guns from the Dunkirk Admiral, that Thomas Fulnetby sent for Jacob, at home in Enkhuizen2.
Jacob arrived back in England before the end of October. Fulnetby appealed to Edward Nicholas,
Secretary to Lord Buckingham, for a warrant so that Jacob could begin diving immediately because,
he said, if bad weather returned it would probably carry the Dunkirk ship and cannon further out to
sea where they would be lost. Presumably, Jacob received his warrant, because on 13 January, 1625,
Fulnetby reported that he had salvaged a gun weighing twenty-three hundredweight along with some
other goods. Jacob was allowed to keep for himself half of that he recovered. This did not suit him at
all, however; he was used to more. On 29 January, he issued a detailed statement of his demands:
‘Jacob Johnson the diver doth affirm that he hath been allowed in the States Countries and hath likewise
had heretofore of the Lord Zouch late Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports these allowances following:
Two thirds part of all brass ordnance which (being perished at Sea) he hath heretofore taken up.Three
fourth parts of iron ordnance, cables, anchors and whatsoever else” he hath taken up out of the Sea by diving.
The said diver and the party (whom his Grace shall appoint to look to this business) will presently on
the taking up of any ordnance or other wrecked goods send to his Grace as they shall be directed, a true and
perfect Inventory of all such ordnance and other goods as shall be by this means taken up and therein express
the true quantity and quality of the same.
He desired to have license (without paying custom or without impeachment or hinderance) transport or
import in or out of this kingdom all such goods and ordnance as he shall take up: without which warrant he
will not undertake to work.
That he will put in good security to my Lord to deliver in ready money unto his Lordship or to such as
his Lordship shall appoint, his Lordship’s part (according to the provisions above said) of all such ordnance
or other goods as he shall take up according to the usual rates that are paid for in England for such ordnance
and goods, before he will send or transport any part of the same out of this kingdom.
That he will be bound not to transport nor sell any ordnance or other goods in any other place beyond the
Seas, than in some of the Territories or Countries belonging to the States of the Low Countries.
He desireth also that he may have a Certificate under my Lord’s hand that such ordnance or other goods (as
shall be certified by his Grace’s officer who superintends over his profit in this) were taken up by the said Jacob
2. Historical Manuscripts Commission: Cowper, (Coke MSS.), vol. I, p. 173.
The International Journal of Diving History 69
Johnson as wrecked goods lost and perished in the Sea: to the end that if any of the same shall be at any time
challenged in the Low Countries or elsewhere, such Certificate from my Lord may justify his right to the same.
And as soon as they shall receive his Grace’s answer and pleasure, the said Jacob Johnson will cause to be
paid such money as shall be due for his Lordship’s part thereof for the true performance he will put in for
sureties one Lucas Jacob merchant of London, and, one John Clant Factor here in London’.
This statement was accompanied by another note in which he suggested that ‘to prevent all suspicion
and controversy. . . he would pay for his Grace’s part of all iron ordnance twelve pounds per Ton.’
Buckingham, obviously annoyed at Jacob’s demands, asked Nicholas to make inquiries about other
divers. Nicholas’s brother, Richard Dike, wrote to him on 4 February, saying that he had asked Matthew
de Quester, Postmaster for foreign parts, if he knew of any diver. But, Dike said, he ‘knoweth but one
which is your man’. However, the Postmaster promised to write to Holland to find out if divers were
available and, if so, at what rates.
In reply to de Quester’s query, an answer came in a letter to Dike from a friend of his, Peter Allen,
on 10 March. As he understood it, he was to find for the Duke a ‘draykor’ or diver who could recover
cannon out of five or six fathoms of water. His inquiries had led him to believe that
‘by Enkhuizen hath been an expert diver who hath in Ireland or England been in former years employed,
and as some report gave for his pains and charges a third part of such goods as he recovered and this expert
man, this last harvest being to sail out of Holland for England in his Skuytte; was in foul weather overset in
the sea, and himself and all that were by him drowned, now whether any more such as he was to be found in
these parts, I yet cannot understand, but shall enquire thereafter.’
This ‘expert diver’ and Jacob are obviously one and the same and it can be assumed, first of all, that
he was not drowned and, secondly, that no other diver was found in Holland to replace him as he
continued to work in the British Isles for many more years.
His next big salvage contract came later in 1625. Sir John Hippesley, Lieutenant of Dover Castle,
in a letter to the Duke on 16 September,1625, reported that five ships had arrived in Dover from the
East Indies but that one of them, the Moon of 800 tons, was cast away near the Castle and that little
could be saved from the wreck. The arrival in England from the East Indies of five ships at once was
noted as a circumstance that had not happened before, and the chief accountant’s extraordinary labour
in consequence was duly rewarded by the East India Company. The cargo of the ships, Moon, Discovery
and Ruby from Jakarta and the Blessing and the William from Surat consisted of ‘pepper, cinnamon, silk
stuffs, bezaar stones, gumlac, indigo, cotton wool, calicoes and aloes’. However, the Moon, the largest ship,
contained chiefly pepper, valued at £55,000. Sir Morris Abbot, Governor of the East India Company,
in a letter to the Secretary of State, Sir John Coke, said he was in no doubt who was to blame for the
disaster. The ship, he said, was ‘miserably cast away near Dover through the negligence of the Commanders’.
Small quantities of the cargo were soon saved but the local inhabitants’ ‘came down in multitudes’ and
gathered up the pepper for themselves. The Moon was not sunk in deep water; fifty-nine cannon could
be seen at low water. Jacob was sent for and a contract was drawn up with him by Mr Chauncey, the
warehouse keeper of the East India Company, to salvage all the guns off the ship.
On 24 July, 1626, Mr Chauncey informed the Company that Jacob had recovered forty-three of the
cannon and was now looking for his money. Mr Chauncey pointed out that Jacob had, in fact, received a
good part of his money and recommended that he should not get any more until they were all recovered:
‘The Court wondered that in so long tyme no more were recovered especially all that were seene and
conceived that he had wronged the Company either by neglecting to take them up or by taking them up and
selling them away.’
70 The International Journal of Diving History
The Court resolved not to pay him any more until the contract was completed; if it wasn’t completed
he was to be fined.
Jacob finished the work to his own satisfaction some months later and he went to the Company
Court on 6 November to demand the money still due to him. They still were not convinced, however,
that he had recovered all the cannon and asked him to return to the next Court when Mr Chauncey
would be present to hear his case.
Meanwhile, the Jonas, another ship belonging to the East India Company, had let slip her two
anchors and cables in rough weather in the Downs. Jacob agreed to salvage them for £20. Bad weather
prevented him salvaging them immediately, as he told the Company on 6 December, when he also
asked for the £13 still owed to him for the Moon’s cannon.
He was given £10 and promised the remaining £3 when the anchors and cables were brought ashore3.
On 21 January, 1628, Jacob petitioned the Duke for money4.
Petition of Jacob Johnson to the high and mighty Prince George, Duke of Buckingham [dated 21
January 1628]
‘Humbly shewcth. That whereas you said petitioner in June last was commanded by your
Grace to attend his Majesty’s fleet to the Isle of Rhé with his Hoy called the Charity of Sandwich, and in
her besides himself, 5 mariners, the whole charge thereof during that service, being 7 Months and 7 days,
hath been borne by your said petitioner.
And whereas your said petitioner’s Hoy according to her Tonns and Tonnage hath been rated by his
Majesty’s officer for the Navy, after the rate of .2s per diem. besides his servants wages. As by a certificate under
the hands of Sir John Watte and Capt. Mason appeareth.
May it please your Grace so it is, that your petitioner conceiveth that the said Hoy with the wages of himself
and his Mariners have been much undervalued, for that he is allowed by his Majesty’s officers after the rate
of 20s. a man a month, and he giveth unto them yearly 28s. a man a month, and for that his Hoy being of
so small burthen is not to be rated after the Tonn and Tonnage, as other vessels are, but with great loss and
hinderence to your said petitioner.
The promise considered your petitioner humbly prayeth. That your Grace will be pleased to give order that
your said petitioner may forthwith receive satisfaction in respect that he hath been enforced to take up money
by exchange at extraordinary rates and to his great prejudice, to pay for victualls, wages and tackle (which
shortly come due) and that your said petitioner hath been always and will be ready to do his Majesty or your
Grace any service. And your said petitioner shall be ever bound to pray.’
Jacob obviously obtained little satisfaction from the Duke because on 3 April he had to petition again.
While Jacob was on the expedition to the Isle of Rhé two events occurred, one of which affected him
directly, the other only indirectly.
On the night of 26 November,1627, there
‘arose so great a storm, that in Hamoaze, which is held for one of the most secure harbours in the kingdom,
and where never ship was heard to have been lost, fifteen or sixteen of the fleet were driven on the rocks.’
In Cattewater, five ships were bilged. During the weeks after the storm, most of the ships were
successfully salvaged. Capt.John Weddell, reporting from Plymouth, described in great detail how one
3. For details of Jacob’s work for the East India Company see C.S.P., Colonial, East Indies, 1625-I629, and the
Company’s Court Minute Books in the India Office Library.
4. A letter from Sir John Hippisley (Lieutenant of Dover Castle) to Nicholas, on 17th June, 1627, says that
‘According to my lord’s [Buckingham] command I have sent to you Jacob the diver to see if he can get my lord’s plate
again. I pray that he be satisfied for his pains’.
The International Journal of Diving History 71
of the ships, the Rainbow, was refloated. In one of his reports to Buckingham, he remarks that twenty-
six pieces of ordnance were recovered but that there were
‘ten pieces which lie in [the] hold in the Hatchway for the getting whereof we desire the help of Jacob the
Diver as soon as time-a’nd season will permit for before the ordnance and lumber be out of her we cannot
go in hand with slinging of her….’
A fortnight later, however, the Rainbow had been refloated and emptied of water, so obviously they
were able to take out the cannon themselves or else found it unnecessary to remove them.
The second event affected Jacob directly. Attempts had been made to intimidate Dutch ships ever
since news had reached England of the massacre of an English settlement on the Island of Amboina by
forces of the Dutch East India Company in 1623. The King demanded satisfaction from the Dutch for
their inhuman act and, in an effort to speed up justice, ordered the arrest of three Dutch ships on their
way home from the East Indies. These he had brought into Portsmouth. Meanwhile, another fleet of East
Indiamen had sailed from Holland with many women and children on board, bound for a plantation in
the East Indies. When news of this reached England it was feared that these ships would try to free those
held in Portsmouth. These fears, however, were groundless5. The Dutch ships hugged the French coast
– contrary to custom – in an effort to avoid any dispute. But disaster struck. They encountered a severe
storm which blew two of them towards the Isle of Wight and then wrecked them on the Needles6.
Some days later, on 18 October,1627, Nicholas was informed of the disaster and told that there
were many chests of silver and other things of value on board the ships, and that much of this could
be recovered.
On 5 February, 1628, Buckingham wrote to Sir Fulke Greville and to Edward Read, Deputy Vice-
Admirals of the Isle of Wight, and to Robert Newland, a merchant resident in Newport, ordering them
to hand over to the Dutch East India Company any goods salvaged.
On 11August, Buckingham told Jacob to bring to Portsmouth and deliver to Capt. John Mason,
Treasurer of the Army, all of those goods salvaged by virtue of his former warrant (presumably issued
after Jacob’s Isle of Rhé petition in April). These amounted to 9 broken and whole anchors, 101 sows
of lead, 2,360 pieces of eight and 5 pieces of ordnance.
Less than a fortnight later, on 22 August – the morning of his assassination – the Duke wrote to
Robert Newland, the Isle of Wight merchant, telling him of information he had received. This was
to the effect that Newland still had in his possession three cannon and other goods, which had been
handed over for safekeeping by Jacob. These were to be handed back to Jacob who would bring them
to Portsmouth. Robert Newland had already been in trouble with the authorities for trying to incite
the men on board the Dutch East Indiamen to fight and to resist arrest. He had gone on board, ‘giving
forth speeches that they would be hanged, so that next morning they . . . were resolved to fight’. The Privy
Council had him arrested and tried but they finally released him because of lack of evidence7.
An undated petition from Mauritius Van Ommeren, deputy for the East India Company, to the
Privy Council, stated that he had been sent by the Company to look after their affairs, and, in particular
to effect the recovery of the goods contained in the two ships lost on the Needles. He had negotiated
with Jacob, with the knowledge of the Dutch ambassador, for the salvaging of goods from the ship. As
a result of this, Jacob had managed to save 39 pieces of lead, 3 pieces of ordnance and 8 or 9 anchors,
5. C.S.P., Venetian, vol. XX, p. 448.
6. The ship’s names were Green Dragon and Campen according to SP 16/92/;6, and Drake and Campen
according to C.S.P., Domestic, x.625-1649, p. 250.
7. Acts of the Privy Council, September 1627-June 1628, pp. 77, 92, 103.
72 The International Journal of Diving History
now in the possession of Robert Newland. There were also, he said, 2,365 reals of eight, 72 pieces of
lead and 2 cannon in the hands of Jacob,
‘in obedience to an order, as is pretended of the Duke of Buckingham, whose warrant directed the same
to be delivered into the hands of Capt. Mason for the Duke’s use. Petitioner conceives that this warrant was
procured by misinformation the goods and reals belonging to the company as is publicly known.’
On 4 May, 1629, probably in answer to a query, Capt. Mason gave details to Nicholas – now
Secretary to the Commissioners of the Admiralty – of the articles in Jacob’s possession. Jacob, he said,
‘desires to have his part set out of the whole’.
Two days later another letter from Mason to Nicholas stated that Jacob, ‘our supposed lost diver, is returned’.
No other reference is made to the circumstances of Jacob’s supposed loss. Capt. Mason went on to say how
Jacob hoped that the case pending in the Admiralty Court would be quickly settled as he needed the
money urgently. He also intended to continue diving at the Isle of Wight for the remaining silver.
There is no reference to the Court’s decision, only an acknowledgement and invoice of goods
received. But a petition from Jacob for a warrant, and the warrant subsequently issued, seem to imply
that the outcome was in his favour. Jacob had no intention of staying for long at the Needles. He had
his sights set elsewhere – to the Lizard in Cornwall and to Castlehaven in Ireland.
A warrant was issued to him on 8 June, 1629, and it read as follows:
‘Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty to Jacob Johnson, the diver.
Whereas we arc informed by reason of shipwreck and other casualties there have been lost in the sea and
divers roads harbours and creeks and places in the coast of England and also at Castlehaven and other parts
on the coast of Ireland within the jurisdiction of the Admiralty of England divers pieces of ordnance as
well brass as iron much money and bullion anchors cables and other commodities of good value for recovery
whereof we do hereby constitute appoint :require and authorize you Jacob Johnson diver to employ your best
art and industry in diving in all and every road port harbour and creek either on the coast of England or
Ireland and especially in the Lizard in Cornwall and at the Isle of Wight where you know or shall understand
any bullion ordnance or other goods or commodities whatsoever have been wrecked sunk or lost rendering
unto us from time to time for his Majesty’s use a true and perfect account on oath in the Admiralty Court
according to the bond you have entered into for that purpose of all such money bullion ordnance murderers
either brass or iron anchors cables or other commodities which by virtue hereof you shall take up together with
notice of the quality and quantity thereof and where and when you took up the same willing and requiring
all vice Admirals Marshalls and other officers of the Admiralty Mayors Sheriffs and Justices of the peace Baliffs
Captains of Castles and forts Captains and Masters of Ships Portreeves and Constables water bailiffs and other
his Majesty’s officers and subjects whatsoever whom it may concern to permit and suffer you the said Jacob
Johnson not only freely and quietly to work and use your art in diving within the limit afore said without any
let hinderence or interruption. But also to aid and assist you as need shall require in the quiet and peaceable
execution thereof. And not at any time to take out of your custody any such commodities or goods as shall be
by you so recovered and taken up or to meddle there with otherwise then to certify us the particulars thereof as
they and every of them will answer the contrary and for your faithful performance of this his Majesty’s service
this shall be your sufficient warrant from Whitehall the eight day of June – Anno dom 1629
Lindsey Pembrook
Dorsett Dorchester
Sir John Cooke
To our very loving friend Jacob Johnson diver’
The International Journal of Diving History 73
Jacob’s interest in the Lizard had been aroused when he had received reports of silver being recovered
from the sea in that area. The silver was being salvaged from a ship of Flushing which was wrecked there
in 1619, when en route from San Lucar with a cargo of silver bars and teals of eight.
At the time of the disaster, Sir John Killigrew of Arnewack was in process of building a lighthouse
on the Lizard, his avowed motive being to prevent the shipwrecks that frequently occurred there. Dutch
merchants alone had lost over £100,000 during the previous ten years and it was said that ‘most of the
houses near the Lizard are built with the ruins of ships’. By way of financial support Sir John asked only
for voluntary contributions. In fact his real intentions were far from humanitarian. He hoped to receive
a grant of a fixed levy on shipping when certificates of this utility were obtained8.
On 15 September, 1619, Sir John reported his progress to Sir Dudley Carleton, Ambassador to
Holland. It was, he said, going to be far more costly and troublesome to build the lighthouse than he
had anticipated, the inhabitants living nearby being convinced that
‘they suffer in the erection. They affirm I take away God’s Grace from them. Their English meaning is that
they now shall receive no more benefit from shipwreck, for this will prevent it. They have been so long used to
reap purchase by the calamity of the ruin of shipping as they claim it hereditary.’
He went on to say that within the last thirty days, more than £3,300 worth of silver bars had been
recovered for the Prince from the Dutch ship, lost near the place where he was going to build the
lighthouse, and the salvors hoped to recover much more soon.
Some years later, Sir John himself had men work on the shipwreck site. They were able to raise about
thirty-five bars of silver that were in shallow water but found it impossible to get at, let alone salvage,
the major part of the silver. This lay between rocks in five or six fathoms of water. Though they were
unable to recover this silver themselves, other would-be salvors were kept at bay ‘with muskets, they
threatening death to such as shall attempt it’.
It was on this wreck that Jacob and his twelve servants began work on 27 July, 1629. Jacob himself
takes up the story:
He ‘... went to the Lizard in Cornwall, and there… did attempt to dive for certain bullion and coin,
which as he hath understood was sunk and lost there… and one William Robinson of Helson [sic] in
Cornwall and one Degory Priske accompanied with twelve or thirteen men more, came to [him], and
(notwithstanding), [he] showed them his warrant ... forbade [him] to dive there, saying that Sir George
Douglas had a Patent from his Majesty for what should be recovered there9; and would not suffer [him] to
dive there unless he would accept a third of what he should recover and let Sir George Douglas have the rest,
which [he] refused to accept, and so was put off from thence; and then made his course for Dartmouth, and
there in the sea without the Castle, dived and weighed five pieces of ordnance which had (as he was told) been
there sunk fifteen or sixteen years, and then the Mayor [Pascho Jago], of that town sent for [him] and asked
[him] why he came within their Liberties to whom [he] showed his warrant; and he took a copy of it, and
then the Mayor called a Council which held four days, and in the meantime, would not suffer him to go on
with his work; and in the conclusion the Mayor and Town Clerk forbade [him] to work anymore there unless
he would compound with the Town; which [he] refused to do. because he entered bond to his Majesty to be
accountable to him for that which he should recover, and the Town Clerk called John Crewkearne wished the
said five pieces of ordnance in the sea again rather than they should have been taken up by [him] and said
that he came to steal them away…’
8. Howard Fox, ‘The Lizard Lighthouses’, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall, VI, (1878-188I), pp.
319-336.
9. C.S.P., Domestic, 1627-1628, p.5;6.
74 The International Journal of Diving History
Jacob complained to the Commissioners of the Admiralty of his ill-treatment in Dartmouth and
requested that he should be allowed keep the cannon.
When the Commissioners of the Admiralty received Jacob’s petition, they referred the case to Sir
Henry Marten, Judge of the High Court of Admiralty and to the Attorney General, Sir Robert Heath.
Having considered the claim, these gentlemen expressed themselves of the opinion that, as
Dartmouth had always enjoyed the privilege of gathering wrecked goods, this should continue.
Regarding the matter of taking up goods sunk in the sea, however, they felt themselves unable to
determine that point as yet,
‘because we are persuaded that the Invention of getting such things out of the sea is but of few years
continuance, far short to ground a prescription upon.’
Summing up they said that before a decision one way or the other could be made, the Commissioners
for the Duchy of Cornwall should present their case for the rights of the Duke of Cornwall.
The Duchy’s Commissioners duly presented their case pointing out that his Majesty, when Prince,
demised wrecks happening within the haven of Dartmouth to the Corporation of that town, for which
they paid £180 for a fine, and a yearly rent of £14.13s.4d.
Sir Henry Marten and Sir Robert Heath were asked to reconsider the case in the light of these
claims. Finally they gave judgment. As farmers to the King in right of the Duchy of Cornwall, they
said, the town of Dartmouth had no right to the droits belonging to the Admiralty. They had a right
to wrecked goods, but not to goods sunk in the sea. It was, they said, just that those whom his Majesty
had appointed, or whom the Commissioners had or should appoint in the future to that purpose on
his Majesty’s behalf, might quietly and without interruption proceed in the gaining of such ordnance
or other things as are specified in the Commission shown to them directed to Jacob Johnson the diver.
When Jacob learned that the verdict given on 25 May, 1630, was in his favour, he petitioned the
Admiralty for satisfaction from Dartmouth town. He explained that he had twice been put from his
work there during the last summer season and had spent at least £150 as well as other money he had
earned. He asked that payment would be made to him, in return for his ‘loss, disgrace, and charge’.
In May 1628, Piet Heyn, an Admiral with the Dutch West India Company, sailed for the West Indies
with thirty-one ships hoping to intercept the Spanish galleons which would later that summer sail back
to Spain loaded with silver. While cruising off Cuba he learnt from prisoners that the fleet from Vera
Cruz, Mexico, was expected soon. Furthermore, the Spaniards were quite unaware of the presence of
the Dutch. By a combination of good luck and good seamanship, the entire Spanish fleet was captured
in Matanzas Bay in Cuba, the Spaniards offering virtually no resistance.
Piet Heyn transferred the silver from the thirty merchant vessels to his own ships. He also decided to
bring the four Spanish Escort warships which he had taken back to Holland to be converted for his own
use. Only one ship, the Santa Lucia, reached her destination. The other three ships were wrecked: first
the San Juan, then the Santa Gertrude and lastly the Santa Ana Maria; she was wrecked in Castlehaven
Harbour on the south coast of Ireland10.
While approaching the Irish coast, the Santa Ana Maria, under the command of Lieutenant Peter
Fransey, was met by an English man-of-war, from Bristol, and
‘upon composition brought into Castlehaven….where she sunk with thirty-six pieces of ordnance mounted
in her and some other in her hold, but all the men by God’s mercy saved…’ 11
10. S.P. l’Honore Naber and Irene A. Wright, Pitt Heyn en de Zilvervloot, Utrecht, 1928, p.*xiii.
11. A.P.C., July 1628-April 1629, p. 292.
The International Journal of Diving History 75
James Salmon, a merchant residing in Castlehaven, had made himself responsible for salvaging ships
sunk in the harbour. Thus he was soon at the scene of the wrecked ship and during the weeks following
the disaster, he and his servants salvaged all they could from the ship. On 17 January, 1629, he presented
an inventory of salvaged goods to Sir William St Leger, the Lord President of Munster12.
Meanwhile, the Dutch West India Company had petitioned the Privy Council in London for
permission to salvage the cannon and other goods off the Santa Ana Maria. The Council informed
St Leger, on 4 January, that he was to assist the Company, or anyone whom they might employ in
their attempt to recover valuables from the wreck. Anything that had already been salvaged was to
be delivered to John Whitson, Alderman of Bristol, who would keep it for the Company13. St Leger
replied to this order a month later, on 5 February, and said that in his opinion – obviously influenced
by Salmon’s inventory – the goods recovered out of her ‘were of no such estimation as report made them’.
He also remarked that Peter Fransey had no authority to sell the wreck to Salmon. His information
concerning the number of cannon on board was that there ‘were about two or three and forty pieces of
ordnance, ten or twelve only iron the rest brass’ 14.
Throughout the summer of 1629, unauthorized salvage work continued on the wreck. Consequently, it
became necessary for the King, probably on the prompting of the West India Company, to order Sir Thomas
Crooke of Baltimore, to search for and have arrested all those people who had taken goods off the ship. This
order was issued on 7 November,1629, and was reinforced by another warrant issued on 9 December15.
The scene almost set for Jacob’s arrival in Castlehaven, mention should be made of another wreck
in the harbour with which he was to become involved.
On 28 October, 1628, the Leopard, of Weymouth, 240 tons, was being prepared for a voyage to the
‘Straights’. A storm arose and drove her on to the rocks. Her crew, numbering more than forty men,
leaped from the bows on to the shore, but her Captain, Nicholas Strangways, and three others were
killed. Afterwards the men worked to save as much as they could from the wreck for the owner, Sir
Thomas Freke. The ship was broken into four parts and could be entered at low water. Twelve cannon
could be seen, of which seven were brought ashore, and
‘had they not been put from their labour by one Mr James Salmon of Castlehaven their merchant (who
had freighted their ship with pilchards and fish for the Straights), they had saved the rest in sight, whereof
two of them lay in their ship’s forecastle, and the other three by their broken anchor plain to be seen, about a
yard deep at low water in the Spring tide …’
James Salmon told both-St Leger (from whom he obtained a warrant) and the men that he would
keep the salvaged cannon in his custody for the owners. When they were in his possession, however, he
claimed that Captain Strangways had owed him money and because the Captain had been a part owner
of the ship, he, James Salmon, was perfectly within his rights in keeping the guns in lieu of payment.
Nevertheless, it was subsequently pointed out that Capt. Strangways had, a long time before, sold
his share in the ship. Salmon was promptly told by the Privy Council to hand over the cannon to Sir
Thomas Freke’s agent in Castlehaven16.
It was not until the summer of 1630 that serious salvage work began on the Santa Ana Maria and the
Leopard, this was also the summer that Jacob arrived in Castlehaven. St Leger knew he was coming as
12. S.P. 63/248, f.72.
13. A.P.C., July 1628-April 1629, p. 292.
14. S.P. 63/248, f.70.
I5. A.P.C., May I629-May 1630, p. 200.
16. A.P.C., July 1628-April 1629,p. 329.
76 The International Journal of Diving History
a result of a letter from the Privy Council, dated 15 May, 1630. This ordered him to help Jacob in the
‘due and full execution’ of the Commission granted to him by the Lords of the Admiralty on 8 June, 1629.
Backed by his warrant from the Commissioners, Jacob began working on the two shipwrecks,
completely ignoring the protests of the agents representing the West India Company and Sir Thomas
Freke. The Company appealed to St Leger to stop Jacob salvaging the cannon which, they said, by right
of war belonged to them. William Bond, agent for the Company, said that they had recovered some
of the cannon and intended to recover the rest if they were not prevented by Jacob ‘who is now upon
weighing the remainder, also as some other ordnance… out of a ship belonging to Sir Thomas Freke’ 17.
St Leger wrote to the Privy Council on 12 July, 1630. He told them of his predicament and asked
for their advice. He also told them that most of the cannon were brass and of great value,
‘part whereof were formerly taken up by one James Salmon of Castlehaven and sent by him out of the
Kingdom, without my privity, which I tender to your Lordships grave considerations 18...’
Some weeks later, on 1 August, the West India Company also wrote to the Privy Council. In their
petition they pointed out that, by an Order of Council on 5 September,1628, free passage had been
granted to all ships of the petitioners with right and access to all wreck of such vessels throughout His
Majesty’s Dominions. They had worked for the recovery of their wrecked goods, managing to salvage
some cannon and other commodities. Other goods had been got ready for lifting but Jacob
‘hath lately come thither and not only hindered those whom your petitioners employ for recovery of their
said goods, but taketh up from them such ordnance and goods as the petitioners workmen have found out and
made ready to take up …’
They asked the Council to order Jacob to deliver to them all that he had taken from the wreck; he
would be paid for the work that he had done. They also asked that Jacob would be restrained from
diving at the site, or if he continued, that he would do so in the Company’s employment.
The petitioners’ requests were granted and the Commissioners of the Admiralty were ordered to see
that these requests were carried out19.
Not long after the Commissioners had written to Jacob ordering him to co-operate with the West
India Company, they wrote to him again, telling him of the representations that had been made to them
by Sir Thomas Freke concerning his ship. They had been led to believe, they said, that he had salvaged
three or more of the cannon and was keeping them for his Majesty’s use. However, they continued, the
Leopard was used as a man-of-war and was in the King’s service; therefore, he was to deliver the cannon
to Sir Thomas, ‘he first giving you reasonable content for your pains and care therein’.
The State Papers give no hint of how Jacob reacted to these orders, nor do they say how long he
stayed at Castlehaven; but his name does appear once more, some years later, in connection with a
Spanish ship or Spanish ships lost off County Mayo during the Armada of 1588.
The locations of Spanish Armada shipwrecks were well known. Some had been worked extensively -
both legally and illegally - before Jacob became interested in them. For example, an order from the King
dated 4 February,1611, commanded Sir Roger Dallison, Lieutenant of His Majesty’s Ordnance, to pay
the sum of £635 19s 3d to James Steward and Maximilian Vandeleur for certain pieces of Spanish brass
17. S.P. 6;j25 t, ff. 24-25d.
18. Ibid.
19. An interesting sequel to the Castlehaven affair occurred in I970 when some bronze and iron cannon were
discovered on the site of the Santa Ana Maria. It was initially believed that these guns belonged to a Spanish
ship, supposedly lost there in 1601, but a crest, writing and date (1614) on one of the bronze demi-culverines
revealed that it belonged to Don Pacheco, Sargento Mayor of the Spanish Silver Fleet captured by Piet Heyn.
The International Journal of Diving History 77
ordnance ‘cast away by shipwreck upon the coast of Ireland, in the year 1588’, and now lately recovered
by the industry of the said Maximilian, and delivered into the office of the Ordnance, in this month of
February 1611, as metal, at the rate of £4 4s the hundred weight20.
The partnership of Steward and Vandeleur did not last very long. On 18 March the same year, the
King ordered the Lord Deputy of Ireland to give a warrant to Steward for the recovery of more cannon
but warned the Deputy not to hire the ‘Dutchman’21.
Meeting with considerable success in Ireland, Steward appealed to the Scottish Privy Council in July
1612, for a licence to export the cannon that he had salvaged22.
The actual licence specified that he should be allowed export ‘ellevin peice of brasyne ordinance [sic]’23.
It did not escape the notice of the authorities that unauthorized salvage was also carried out on these
Armada shipwrecks. It became so serious that the Privy Council included it in a list of grievances which
they sent to the Lord Deputy and Council of Ireland in August 1625:
‘that whereas in anno 88 divers ships of Spain were wrecked on the coast of Connaught and other parts of
Ireland and much of their great ordnance recovered and brought on shore, that you enquire diligently of the
number and quality of the pieces, unto whose hand they came and what is now become of them with other
circumstances needful on this behalf 24…’
Contemporary opinion of Mayo’s inhabitants was that they were ‘the most barbarous and dangerous
people in all Ireland’. Nevertheless, the area lay within Admiralty jurisdiction and thus of Jacob’s warrant.
When he and a fellow mariner, William Broderick, arrived at Broadhaven, no one would give
them information on where the ships were wrecked. A powerful and influential man there, Michael
Cormick, had through his wife Ellen, ordered the other inhabitants of that county, on pain of death or
banishment, to stay silent. Jacob showed his Commission to Cormick’s steward, who read it and said
that he did ‘not much care for the Commission’. Jacob also showed it to Ellen Cormick who said that ‘for
ought she knew it might be made under a hedge’.
Having no success at Broadhaven, Jacob sailed to some nearby islands hoping to get some clue as to
the whereabouts of the shipwrecks. But by the time he got there the people had been warned to keep
silent – again by Ellen Cormick.
Returning to Broadhaven he confronted Mrs Cormick. Initially she refused to have any dealings with
him or give rum any information but eventually she relented and told him what he wanted to know on
condition that he would give £20 to her husband for every brass cannon located and salvaged. Later,
she denied this, saying that she had asked for £20 for the first cannon only. Jacob had no choice but to
agree to these conditions.
Sometime later, having been brought to a wreck site, he was able to salvage a brass Basse (or Bastard)
weighing 300 lbs. No sooner was this done, than two well-manned boats from Cormick’s Castle arrived
at the scene. They boarded Jacob’s boat which they towed to shore. There they unloaded the Basse and
carried it into the Castle.
The next day Jacob again showed the warrant to Ellen Cormick and demanded that she should obey
the instructions given there. She made a copy of it and sent it to her husband saying that, as soon as she
got a reply, Jacob could have his Basse back.
20. Frederick Devon, Issues of the Exchequer, Pell Records, (London, I936), p. 146.
21. C.S.P., Ireland, 1611-1614, p. 21.
22. Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, vol. IX, 1610-1613;, p. 409.
23. Ibid., p. 413.
24. A.P.C., March 1625-May 1626, p.154.
78 The International Journal of Diving History
When no reply came, Jacob knew very well that he was being deceived. He had learned from
Ellen Cormick’s servants that Michael Cormick was living less than thirty miles away and that letters
frequently passed between him and his wife25.
On 1 June, 1633, the Commissioners informed the Lord Deputy of Ireland that they had been
petitioned by Jacob. He had been
‘opposed and our Commission and directions on that behalf condemned and slighted by one Mr Michael
Cormick of or near Broadhaven.... This affront to authority and His Majesty’s service, we conceive to be of so
ill consequence, as if it be not timely and exemplarily punished may bring in contempt the jurisdiction and
power of the Admiralty in these parts.’
They wanted the guilty persons publicly punished so that they and others might ‘learn to carry
themselves with more respect and obedience to his Majesty’s service for the future’.
The Lord Deputy told Justice Cressy to examine all the facts and to find the truth in the matter.
Having examined all the witnesses, the Justice concluded that there was a conspiracy to conceal the
truth and that he would be unable to elicit it either from the English or Irish in those parts, ‘the said
Cormick and his wife being so potent among their Irish, and having already laid so strong a foundation to
prevent all discoveries’. He was not sure what to recommend, saying ‘surely if you put it to a legal trial
they will swear down the Dutchman and all his party’. Nevertheless, it probably did go to trial. A letter
from Jacob to Secretary Nicholas in September 1634 seems to imply that he won his case, but at great
financial loss26.
The State Papers do not reveal whether or not Jacob received satisfaction from the Lord Deputy,
nor do they reveal whether he stayed in England or returned to Holland or elsewhere, or even if he
continued diving. Hopefully, further research particularly in Holland, will throw some light on these
questions and on the host of other questions that remain on Jacob, the diver, and also on the techniques
employed by him.
Acknowledgement
The writer wishes to express his thanks to Dr John de Courcy Ireland who was kind enough to read a
draft of this article and gave valuable help and encouragement.
Alan Roddie, a retired maths teacher, first developed an interest in diving while a student at Trinity
College, Dublin, when he was asked to do research off the south west coast of Ireland on a wreck,
SS The Crescent City. By coincidence at the time the US Navy diver John Light was attempting to dive
on the RMS Lusitania off Kinsale and invited Alan to join his team so that he had the opportunity to
work on Light’s salvage ship for some years, on and off, while he completed his degree.
His research later expanded to researching and diving on other wrecks on the south coast, including
the site of the St. Anna Maria, where Jacob the diver spent some time nearly 400 years ago.
This article is re-published from The Mariner’s Mirror, 62(3), 1976, by kind permission of the Society
for Nautical Research. For membership and details of The Mariner’s Mirror please visit www.snr.org.uk.
25. S.P. 63/276, no.149.
26. S.P. 63/254, no.160.
The International Journal of Diving History 79
The Closed-Circuit Apparatus of Theodor Schwann
Richard Walsby (HDS)
We sometimes think that we know the usual course of the main strands of invention in the history
of diving equipment. In the case of closed-circuit apparatus (using the term in its widest sense), the
accepted narrative usually gave the credit for the invention of a practical apparatus (according to
modern theories of respiration discovered by Lavoisier in the 1780s) to Henry Fleuss1 who developed
his diving apparatus in 1878–9. He later modified his diving suit into one suitable for mine rescue and
worked on improvements over the years, forming several companies to promote it. In spite of publicity
gained by its use in the flooding of the Severn Tunnel, however, the suit was nor successful until Fleuss
was approached by Robert H Davis who invited him to collaborate with the Siebe Gorman company
to develop a product which eventually became the company’s famous Proto mine rescue apparatus; the
Salvus which could be used for both mine rescue and light diving work and a host of similar devices,
not least the DSEA submarine rescue apparatus.
More recently, however, we have learned of the work of Pierre-Aimable de Saint Simon Sicard
who demonstrated his closed-circuit apparatus in 18532. There had been earlier proposals, notably by
Sandala in 1842 for a closed circuit breathing apparatus, but this seems to have been only a theoretical
description and does not appear to have been built. In 1808 Touboulic patented his Ichtioandre
apparatus which appears to have all the elements for a functioning device. Daniel David, who reported
on the St Simon Sicard apparatus also refers to the Ichtioandre and says that the oxygen was supplied
by an ‘oxygen generator similar to Oxylithe’ (Oxylithe is a patented mixture of peroxides of light metals
such as potassium and sodium). More recently, however, Philippe Damon3 has reported:
‘In the description of the patent, one can read an overview of the composition of the air determined by
Lavoisier, namely, 27 parts of oxygen gas and 73 parts of nitrogen gas. Allowing that only oxygen is necessary,
Touboulic adopts the principle of replacing the oxygen consumed by a new dose of the gas from a bottle acting as
reserve and placed inside the machine. This mode of operation may prove very dangerous because it is controlled
manually by the diver. The dosage of oxygen required by the human body is precise; too large amount of this
gas causes hyperoxia and conversely, a very small amount can cause anoxia. The carbon dioxide is absorbed by
sponges soaked in lime water and also placed inside the unit.
Touboulic says he used his apparatus, and especially to have developed it in the course of twenty
dives in the harbour and the bay of Brest. In October 1807, he made experiments before a commission
appointed by the Prefect of the Navy ...’
Thus there appears some clarification is needed here whether the oxygen was supplied in bottles with
1. “The Independent Diver” by Peter Jackson, in HDS; Proceedings of 12th Annual Conference, Chatham 2002,
p11-20. Also see “O2 under H2O; The Fleuss Apparatus”…by Peter Jackson in Historical Diver, Vol 10,
Issue 2, Spring 2002, p26-31
2. “Saint Simon-Sicard’s Rebreather, 1849-1853. The World’s First Diving Rebreather?” By Daniel David in
Historical Diver, Vol 8, Issue 2, Spring 2000, p23-26
3. Les Plongeurs de L’Histoire, By Philippe Damon, Published by the Author, 2003, p 30-33
80 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 81

a CO2 absorber, or whether the oxygen was supplied chemically (the oxylithe generator) in which case original sealed document which revealed ‘the fact that his design was not of a compressed oxygen and CO2
the chemicals of the generator would also absorb the CO2. However, the claim of St Simon Sicard for absorption apparatus, but of an apparatus in which barium peroxide was employed’ (original emphasis).
priority of invention of a functioning and effective breathing apparatus seems pretty uncontentious, Davis goes on to quote a few more extracts from Schwann’s document commenting that ‘Schwann at first
especially as he is reported to have used it salvaging many shipwrecks in the Bay of Seine as well as thought of using potassium or sodium peroxide, but owing to their cost discarded them in favour of barium peroxide’
working on the sunken galleons in Vigo Bay in Spain. He goes on to note that since barium peroxide is not as reactive as the sodium or potassium peroxides it
Besides these inventors there is another early closed-circuit apparatus whose merits have been somewhat would require treatment with acetic or hydrochloric acids to release the oxygen (rather than relying on
neglected. Theodor (or Theodore) Schwann is mentioned by Robert H Davis in his book Breathing in just the moist, warm breath of the user to promote the reaction). Davis continues with the opinion that
Irrespirable Atmospheres under the heading “The First Practicable Closed-Circuit Breathing Apparatus”4 ‘Schwann’s work at this period was hurried and unfinished. Schwann did, however, about twenty five years
but Davis mentions this claim only to discard it in favour of that of Fleuss (and neglecting St Simon Sicard later, exhibit, at the Brussels exhibition of 1878 (sic) an apparatus in which oxygen and CO2 absorbent were
altogether). I would like to take this opportunity to bring him to a wider audience. used, but since there is no record of his apparatus later than that, it is presumed that the apparatus was not
First, a bit of biography: Theodor Schwann was an considered a practicable one; at any rate it was never put on the market and there is no evidence that it was
eminent German physiologist. He was born on the 7th ever used for serious work.’
of December 1810 at Neuss in Prussia. His father was a He continues:
goldsmith and later a printer. Schwann inherited his
‘There is no doubt that Fleuss, Siebe Gorman & Co. and Schwann were engaged contemporaneously on the
father’s mechanical skills, and the leisure of his boyhood
same problems; but it is equally true that the Englishmen were quite unaware of the Belgian’s work - indeed
was largely spent in constructing little machines
Fleuss informed the present writer [ie Davis] that he knew nothing whatever of Schwann’s activities…’
of all kinds. He studied at the Jesuits’ college in
Cologne and afterwards at Bonn, where he became More recent research derived from studies of Schwann’s laboratory notebooks has revealed5 that
interested in physiology. He next went to Würzburg Schwann engaged in an extensive programme of work beginning in 1853. As a physiologist he was
to continue his medical studies, and from there to influenced in his design by the work of Regnault and Reiset who studied animal metabolism and who
Berlin to graduate in 1834. Here he was persuaded ‘…introduced in to science the method of always breathing the same air by absorbing the carbonic acid
to enter on a scientific career and became assistant and replacing the oxygen disappearing in respiration.’
at the anatomical museum. While he was at Berlin Like many others, he first experimented with the use of peroxides of alkali metals which have the
he discovered the cells in the envelope of the property of liberating oxygen and simultaneously absorbing carbon dioxide. He foresaw the use of his
nerve-fibres which are now known as Schwann apparatus in diving as he titled the notes ‘Experiments on the means of living underwater or in irrespirable
cells. He formed and verified the cell theory of atmosphere’ and initially he worked with mixed peroxides of barium and manganese. The quantity of
tissue structure as well as discovering and naming oxygen evolved was too low, however and they had to be activated by the action of acids such as muriatic
the digestive enzyme pepsin. He also invented the (hydrochloric) or acetic acid, (which would present obvious practical difficulties in real use). In 1855
term “metabolism”. In 1838 Schwann was called to he resumed work, this time using a mixture of potassium and manganese peroxides but appears to have
the chair of anatomy at the Roman Catholic university abandoned these (Davis suggests it was because of cost) in favour of using compressed oxygen.
of Louvain, in Belgium, where he remained nine years. In At the same time he experimented on the absorption of gases by porous material, especially charcoal,
1847 he went as professor to Liége, where he remained until to increase the quantity of gas he could hold in a reservoir. He also developed the mechanical elements
his death. He died in 1882 aged 71. of a practical breathing apparatus including a flow regulator for compressed gas which at first was a
In March 1852, whilst he was at Liége, (which, at the Fig. 1 Theodor Schwann simple needle valve, but later was developed into a more complex apparatus with flexible sides subject
time, was an important centre for the coal mining industry) there was an explosion of fire damp in the to atmospheric pressure and resembling the semi-evacuated chamber of an aneroid barometer. In 1856
mine of Long-Terne-Ferrand at Elouges which killed sixty miners. In reaction to the public distress, Schwann experimented with the absorption of CO2 with lime. He used hydrated lime placed in muslin
the Minister of Public Works, in April, asked the Belgian Royal Academy to create an award for a sacks separated by sheets of cardboard to produce a circuitous flow pattern. In June of that year Schwann
process to allow persons to survive in noxious gases underground in a mine. In June, the Academy conducted a complete experiment: he was able to breathe for 1.5 hours using a cylinder of oxygen
complied, declaring the contest open and the closing date as December 31 the following year. Theodor compressed to 4.5 atmospheres, an absorption canister of hydrated lime and his primitive regulator.
Schwann was inspired by the humanitarian aspect of the problem. He did not take part in the contest
(perhaps believing it inconsistent with his academic position) but deposited a sealed note containing a 5. “Respiratory Apparatus of Theodore Schwann” by Richard Foregger, Anesthesiology, Vol 27, No 2, March-
description of his apparatus. April 1966, p187-194. Also see “La premiere construction, par Theodore Schwann, d’un appareil a circuit
Davis says in his book that Schwann was too late to enter for the competition, but sent his description to ferme permettant de vivre dans un milieu irrespirable” by Marcel Florkin in Revue Medicale de Liege, Vol
the Academy to deposit in its archives. Davis goes on to write that he was able to obtain a copy of Schwann’s XIV, No 12, 15 Juin 1959, pp 405-414.Also see “Theodore Schwann and the Invention of Closed Circuit
Breathing” by H Reinhold published in Anaesthesia; essays on its history; edited by J. Rupreht et al, 1985,
4. Breathing In Irrespirable Atmospheres by Robert H Davis, published by the Saint Catherine Press 1947?, p 191-193 p 169-175, Springer-Verlag
82 The International Journal of Diving History
Fig. 2 Schwann’s apparatus of 1877
In 1858 a new design was evolved with two cylinders of compressed oxygen separated by an absorption
canister. In 1868 an improved absorption canister was designed and the complete apparatus was exhibited
in 1876 at the Brussels Exposition d’Hygiene et de Sauvetage and an improved, lighter model at the
Exposition Universelle or World’s Fair in Paris in1878 (Davis seems to confuse the two exhibitions in his
account). This model came in two versions: one where the oxygen was carried compressed in cylinders, the
other where the oxygen was carried in a 30 litre rubber sac which was sufficient for one hour of breathing.
The sac could be easily replaced if required, or more oxygen added from a cylinder. This apparatus could
be used either by miners or for the medical needs of patients.
The apparatus, in its final version, worked as follows. The main components were a supply of breathing
gas, usually two cylinders of compressed oxygen, or a large rubberised sac. The cylinders were carried
horizontally in the small of the back and were fitted with the reducing valve, a manometer or pressure
gauge and necessary valves and tubing. Between the two gas cylinders was another cylinder containing
the CO2 absorbent in eight cylindrical chambers. The gas was forced to circulate through these chambers
so as to spend the longest possible time in contact with the absorbent. This absorbent was a mixture of
calcium and sodium hydroxides. Attached to the absorbent cylinder was another CO2 absorbent canister
with three chambers filled with lime. This canister was designed for frequent renewal of the absorbent, ie
after about two hours of use. The main cylinder could then be used for an extended period. There was also
a flexible sac or breathing bag carried on the abdomen from where the gas went to a breathing mask which
covered the mouth and was held in place by straps, the nose was closed by a clip. (Schwann had found
that his original ori-nasal mask, as used on the 1877 apparatus, leaked and could let in noxious gases).
The International Journal of Diving History 83
Fig. 3 Variations of Schwann’s
apparatus of 1878
In use, the regulator valve was opened and adjusted to give a flow of approximately half a litre of
oxygen per minute. This oxygen was led by a short tube into the canister of lime where it was mixed
with expired gas and sent through the three compartments before passing into the central absorbent
cylinder and traversing the eight compartments of mixed hydroxides which removed the CO2. The gas
was led to the sac on the abdomen via a flexible tube, and from there to the mask. The mask was fitted
with valves which sent expired gas through another tube back to the absorption canister where it was
mixed with a supply of fresh oxygen.
It is worth including Foregger’s opinion, writing as an anaesthesiologist, that Schwann’s apparatus
was influential much further than its priority. He states that Schwann’s regulator allowed for the
variability of the flow of oxygen arising from the work done by the wearer, the variability of the external
pressure of the atmosphere and the reduction of pressure in the cylinders as the supply is used up. He
goes on to say that it was on seeing Schwann’s apparatus at the Paris Exposition that the physiologist
Leon Fredericq had the idea of the oxygenographe used to measure basal metabolism. This apparatus in
turn inspired the portable instrument for measuring metabolism developed by Francis Benedict at the
Nutrition Laboratory in Boston. Draeger knew of Schwann’s apparatus when they manufactured the
anaesthetic apparatus designed by Franz Kuehn of Kassel in 1906.
There are a few specimens reported on display in museums5,6; a model of the 1877 apparatus
is displayed by the Blegny Mine Museum in Belgium and one was reported in the Museum of the
6. <http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/German/theodore_schwann.htm>
84 The International Journal of Diving History
Laboratory of Physiology at the University of Liege. The German Museum in Munich had an example
of Model II that bore the manufacturer’s label of ‘Mulkay Freres, Liege, Belgium’ which suggests it may
have been offered for sale.
So, what are we to make of Schwann’s apparatus? To a modern eye some of the circuit details seem
unnecessarily complex; the two CO2 absorption canisters, surely could have been reduced to one, and
the regulator valve does not seem to be responsive to large changes in external pressure, thus reducing
its value for diving. Nevertheless, in the absence of any reports to the contrary, we may assume it would
have functioned adequately as a mine rescue device. Certainly it was mentioned in mining text books of
the period around the turn of the nineteenth century, where its possible utility was considered alongside
that of the Fleuss, the Shamrock, the Mayer-Pilar and other similar mine rescue devices. It was just the
misfortune of Schwann, as it was for St Simon Sicard, Lemaire d’Augerville and even Fleuss (for his
early apparatus), to have invented a perfectly workable device and demonstrated its practical use, only
for it to be ignored by the world at large and thus to slip into obscurity.
I would like to acknowledge the help of Peter Jackson for his advice and Michael Jung who gave his
permission to quote from his paper stored on the Rebreather site (see footnote 6).
APPENDIX 1
THE REGULATOR
The regulator works as follows: the conical valve (D in the diagram)
is connected to the feed from the oxygen cylinders. When the valve is
opened by means of the large knurled wheel on the right, gas flows into
the flexible chambers with their corrugated walls which then expand,
drawing the shaft of the valve stem down into its seating and closing off
the supply of oxygen.
When the apparatus is required for use, the small valve (i in the
diagram) is opened to give a finely adjusted flow of gas of about half a
litre a minute which is then directed into the breathing circuit where it
is mixed with expired gas from the CO2 canister.
Richard Walsby has spent his working life in the Plastics industry, initially in the Research Department
of a big manufacturer in Welwyn Garden City where he worked in the Physics Laboratories examining
plastics samples by Spectroscopy. After 12 years of this he transferred to the Library and Information
department where he was tasked with finding published scientific and business information in support
of the research community at his company. It was here that he developed an interest in patents. Eight
years later he was transferred to the North East, near Middlesbrough, where he has lived ever since.
He is still working, although part-time now and uses some of his leisure to researching old diving
patents. He is deputy Editor of the Historical Diving Times and an Assistant Editor of the International
Journal of Diving History.
The International Journal of Diving History 85
Letters to the Editor
Bill Braithwaite, FRSA (HDS)
The Braithwaite family and the Royal Society of Arts
With reference to Diving and the Royal Society of Arts. Vol.5, No.1, October 2012
It is a pity that no mention was made of the Braithwaite family in this connection, as they have had a
long and mostly happy association with the Society from shortly after it was formed until the present day.
It began in 1769 with a letter from one William Braithwaite, whitesmith (an early term for an engine
maker who unlike a blacksmith worked in non-ferrous metals such as copper and brass). William
lived with his family in St. Alban’s, Hertfordshire, about 20 miles north of London, and he asked for
the opportunity to demonstrate his newly invented pumping system for emptying ships prior to their
salvage. A trial in the river Thames resulted in a total failure for William and, in spite of a further letter
asking for a second chance, he had to retreat back to St. Albans to lick his wounds.
Some fifteen years later (1785) William’s son John (born 1760) received a gold medal from the
Society for his invention of a crane for ripping up the decks from sunken ships, which had probably
been stimulated by the famous wreck of the Royal George in 1782 in the approaches to Portsmouth
harbour. This was about the same time as John and his brother William assisted their father (who was,
of course, also called William) diving on the Royal George. This, the first contract of the families’ long
diving career, followed William Tracy’s unsuccessful attempt to raise the vessel the previous year. The
Braithwaites enjoyed limited success in their efforts, raising the main anchor, the massive ship’s bell, now
in the entrance to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, and several guns.
Although having little experience in diving prior to this work, William and his sons had invented
a new diving machine which this time did impress the Navy Board, enough to win the contract and a
subsequent job in Gibraltar. This was to raise the guns from the floating batteries that had been sunk by
the defenders during a three year siege by the combined forces of the French and the Spanish.
The contract was a very profitable one for the family and offers of work soon followed. Amongst
these was salvage from the East India Company Hartwell wreck in the Portuguese colony of Cape Verde
Islands, where the ‘secret’ diving machine again brought rich rewards. John and William made four
salvage voyages in all and, in 1791, John finally came home with his last bullion cargo and a young
wife Lizzie Doile, who was aged 16 and he 34 when they married in St. Pancras Old Church in 1794.
The same year he was invited to become a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, thereafter being much
consulted in maritime and diving matters. John also went on to dive on other East India company
shipwrecks and eventually retired in 1813 aged 53 years. In 1808 he had bought The Old Manor House
in Westbourne Green near Paddington, a pretty rural spot in those days. Mrs. Braithwaite gave him
seven sons and, in 1818, on his death shared thirty thousand pounds; several millions in today’s money.
Almost certainly the brothers were the late eighteenth century’s most successful divers. It is a pity
that they did not publish or leave details of the nature of their ‘secret’ diving machine. As it was, several
of John’s sons also became Fellows of the Royal Society of Arts, like myself in the modern age, I am
proud to say.
86 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 87

Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor

Ivor Howitt (HDS) Jouko Moisala, (Chairman, HDS Finland)

Thinking in reverse to convention The Old Gentleman of Raahe:

The article on underwater photography in the last issue The oldest diving suit in the world
of the IJDH (Vol.5, No.1,Oct. 2012) reminded me Located on the Gulf of Bothnia in mid-Finland, Raahe is a
that, prior to WW2, quality underwater photography small but attractive coastal town. It is also old, having been
had been attempted by only a few such as John Ernest established by Earl Per Brahe in 1649, when what we now call
Williamson, Charles William Beebe, Roy Waldo Miner, Finland was a part of Sweden. Subsequently, in 1809, Sweden
as well as Hans Hass. There may be others that I am not was to hand over this part of the kingdom to Russia after the
aware of. war between the two countries. Over the centuries the town
The reports of wartime ‘frogmen’ further stimulated has been razed several times. At the beginning of the 1800s
my interest and after three years of experimenting with the town burnt down then 54 years later, during the Crimean
home-made breathing systems I formed the Aberdeen war, the English fleet destroyed almost the entire newly-built
Amphibian’s Club in 1948. We experimented in town. Even given its turbulent history, ship-owners have still
underwater photography using a 35mm Leica encased sailed from Raahe to all parts of the world, including Australia.
in a tin box which allowed only one shot before surfacing
to wind on the film. The refraction of light between The Museum of Raahe
water and air through the box window suggested some Established in 1862, as is befitting, the Museum of Raahe is
distortion but I concluded that this would be similar to located alongside the sea. It is quite small, but an idyllic and
that viewed through the diver’s facemask glass. Ivor Howitt’s reverse viewfinder (top) and a very interesting museum. Founded by the (medical) doctor
Relocating with my model 1948 Siebe-Gorman standard viewfinder (bottom). These pictures Carl Ehrström in his home, it was moved to its present location
air-scuba to Australia late in 1950 I continued my first appeared in Ivor Howitt’s Viewfinder by Syd at the beginning of the 20th century, ownership having been
experiments with a conventional viewfinder, a bulky Macken, in The Journal of Diving History, vol.19, passed to the town of Raahe in 1897.
issue 2, no.67, Spring 2011, pp.38-39.
affair universally used by professional underwater Dating from the 1800s, most of the museum’s maritime
photographers. My training in engineering design caused collection is made up of objects donated by captains, sailors
me to seek a more compact system and I hit on the idea of reversing the arrangement from a peep sight and their families. In this sense, the collection reflects the
at the rear with an ungainly large frame at the front, to a rear sight 24mm square located directly above heyday of Raahe’s seafaring heritage involving the seven seas,
the 24mm square image on the Robot camera film, to fit with my idea that I ‘saw’ the same view as the with each item telling a particular story to visitors.
camera. The front sight I replaced with a small centring ring. This arrangement gave excellent results,
perhaps not as technically justified but perfectly adequate for ‘amateur’ photography. The Old Gentleman of Raahe
The Museum of Raahe also has a diving collection, although a
lack of space only allows part of it to be on display at any one time.
During his early years in engineering design, and study at Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen, Ivor Howitt searched Hopefully the new, larger, building planned for completion
out tales of tropic seas. William Beebe inspired him to go diving, and with home-made equipment in 1948 he before the summer of 2014, will help remedy this situation.
formed the ‘Amphibian’s Club’, the first post WW2 dive club in the U.K. Also at this time he was the first amateur Undoubtedly the most important and valuable diving object
to buy Siebe Gorman’s new air-scuba. Ivor emigrated to Australia in 1950 with his S.G. air-scuba, diving off is ‘The Old Gentleman of Raahe’, the oldest surviving diving
Victoria and on the Great Barrier Reef. His book Fathomeering earned him the HDS UK ‘Reg Vallintine Award suit in the world. The Old Gentleman dates from the 1700s
for Historical Diving Achievement’ in 2010. and was donated to the museum when it was first founded by The Old Gentleman of Raahe.
one of three men named Leufstadius. Photographer Jean Finnberg
88 The International Journal of Diving History The International Journal of Diving History 89

There is no knowledge of where it originated, assistants closed the hole tightly enough to make it water proof. Originally, air was pumped down to the
only that specialists say that it had to be somewhere suit using bellows, through a number of wooden pipe lengths linked together by leather and connected
locally in Finland, because the gloves and boots are to the top of the suit’s attached helmet. For safety reasons this method was changed to air supplied from
typical of the area. 300 bar tanks via a modern flexible hose.
In the past the Old Gentleman has travelled the The exhaust is a short open ended pipe hanging down from the middle of the back, the idea being
world on exhibition, as far as Philadelphia, USA. that if the suit leaked it could not fill above the pipe’s outlet depth. However, for this to happen,
Being almost 300 years old and made of calf given that there is no one-way inlet valve on the helmet, they must have originally had considerable
skin, the original now permanently resides in the confidence that their bellows could maintain the pressure at the diver’s depth.
museum in a temperature and humidity controlled In use, the upright diver experienced water tightly squeezing the flexible legs of the suit, although
atmosphere. the upper part is resistant as it is reinforced internally by wood. What the Young Gentleman did do,
was allow modern divers to experience what it must have been like to dive the suit 300 years ago; the
What was the suit used for? general opinion being that it was ‘labour intensive’ for all concerned.
Being a very lively seafaring town, sailing ships
came to and sailed from Raahe. Wooden sailing
ships often leaked and it was not unusual for them Jouko Moisala is a retired special needs teacher, who took up diving as a hobby in 1972 when it was becoming very
to require being reparied while in port. To repair popular in Finland. Having taken a diving course advertised in a newspaper he ended up running the same course
leakages the usual method was for a ship to ‘keel’; the following year, then went on to teach diving and run courses for the next forty years at Ursuk Ltd.
that is, expose an area of keel below the water line He first took and interest in diving history some twenty years ago and is now Chairman of the HDS Finland
by shifting deck weight so that the ship tilted. with a very busy schedule. In 1995 he was approached by a publisher and, having been in from the beginning, has
This, however, was only possible when the ship was been chief editor of Sukeltajan Maailma (Diver’s World) since 1997.
fully unloaded. The diving suit allowed repairs to Nowadays Jouko dives whenever he can, writes articles on diving and spends time with his stamp collection.
be carried out, without interruption to loading or At the moment he is at the point of publishing his book of postage stamps with a diving theme; some 500 pages,
unloading and without the need to ‘keel’. with 1500 pictures of stamps, with a few postcards and photographs.

The Young Gentleman of Raahe

Known as the Young Gentleman of Raahe, some
20 years ago a copy was made by the museum
conservator Jouko Turunen using original leather
working and waterproofing methods. The original
suit was only 160cms in length, as people in those
days were relatively short in build. By comparison, The Young Gentleman of Raahe
the copy is slightly longer as Turunen intended it
to be, and was both put on exhibition and dived. In fact, it still proved quite difficult to find a modern
diver who could fit in the suit.
To make the suit has been very difficult and it has taken much time, but working with the suit in
the harbour has been very valuable.

Diving with the Young Gentleman

Fortunately Jouko Turunen is a member of the Walrus diving club in Raahe, a club who are familiar
with the suit and have learned how to use it.
At the beginning of June 2013, a Day of Diving, organized by The Historical Diving Society of
Finland, took place in Turku. While the Old Gentleman of Raahe took pride of place, the Young
Gentleman made an exhibition dive.
For the public it was very exciting to see how the diver had to crawl into the front-entry suit through
a hole in the stomach; first the legs, then the torso and hands. When the diver was in the suit, the
90 The International Journal of Diving History
Letters to the Editor
Dr. James Vorosmarti, MD (HDS USA)
More of Early American Divers and Operations
At the Annual Conference in 2011 I gave a presentation on Early American Patents and Divers and
covered those subjects up to about 1855. Since then I have done further research and discovered
numerous divers that have never appeared in any history of diving of the period. Most of the
information was found in old newspapers or other periodicals. Many of these articles are no more than
mere announcements with little information and sometimes not even names of the people involved,
but from these we can get a much better picture of diving activity in the United States up to the start
of the Civil War in that country.
The following divers and operations are covered in a chronological order, which sometimes makes
this communication like a shopping list, but I do not know how to present the information in any other
way. I have tried to keep stories of operations together regardless of date to provide more continuity.
I have also tried to find additional information on persons or operations which were not found in my
newspaper sources, sometimes with success, but more often, not. Not included are the divers or patents
which were covered in my presentation unless new information was found.
In my presentation in 2011, I began by stating that William Phipps was the first diver in what
was then the American Colonies. I now have to retract that statement. After the conference Michael
Fardell sent me information on Edward Bendall of Boston, of whom I had never heard. He was living
in Boston in the 1630s, when it was hardly anything more than a small port and village. He was the
owner of a small dock and had a house on Town Cove. A seaman, he had made his living by lighterage,
ferry operations, a sometimes fence captain (worked for the town making certain that fences were kept
in good repair) and a constable. He must have done very well, as in 1637 he built another dock (still
called Bendall’s dock in 1890). He was most well known, however, because of his salvage of the Mary
Rose. This ship caught fire in the harbor and, as she was carrying large supplies of gunpowder, blew up,
and sank in the channel in 1640.
Contemporary records copied in The New England Magazine1 give a good history of that and
following events. According to these, she was carrying about 15 tons of lead, 300 pounds sterling and
ten pieces of ordnance and was valued at 2000 pounds. Bendall was requested to clear the wreckage
and salvage what he could. If he managed to get the wreck to the shore, he would get the full value of
everything. If he could not, the town got half of the salvage and he got half. He was given until May
1642 to complete the job which he did. He had constructed two large bells, bigger than butts (a butt
was a common container holding about 126 gals American, or 177 litres). These were ballasted with
660 pounds of weights. No details of the actual salvage operation are given, but one can assume that
more than two divers were used. Nets were used to raise the salvaged material to the surface. There is
no information about the bell construction but it was probably wood with metal strapping as many of
them were. An interesting piece of the story is that one of the cannons was found to have a large wad of
1. Hale, EE Jr., Edward Bendall and the Mary Rose, New England Magazine, vol. 7, June 1890.
The International Journal of Diving History 91
rope yarn stuffed in the front of the barrel. This was removed and tossed aside to dry. Bendall decided
to try the cannons to make certain that they were usable. The now dry rope-yarn was used as wadding
in one of the cannons fired. It had been suspected that someone had secreted 30 pounds aboard the
ship but not that it was concealed in this wadding. When the cannon was fired, the coins were scattered
unknowingly into the channel and as far as the beach on the far shore where some of them were found
the next day by passers-by. They were ordered to return what was found to Bendall but he received only
15 pounds. It was assumed the rest were in the water. Bendall applied to the General Court for a patent
on his bell but this was refused in 1649 for unknown reasons.
In a letter published in 1810 an underwater excursion in Boston was described, relating that a man
in a diving bell submerged at India Wharfs in 30-40 feet of water and proceeded to the farthest end
of Long Wharf, a distance of 105 rods. He was submerged for an hour and thirty minutes. When he
surfaced he was described as “not in the least exhausted”2. In another article this unnamed person was
soliciting funds to make another excursion from Hancock’s Wharf to Fort Independence where he will
“arise and take nourishment” and return the same way to Boston. The name of this person is not given
and there is no description of his bell3.
We now return to the wreck of the Hussar. We know that a Mr. Palmer was diving on the wreck
in 1811. In 18174 a letter was published by a Bostonian, who noted, on sailing past the site, diving
bell operations at Hell-gate. Whether this was still Mr. Palmer is unknown. In 18185 it was reported
that a “company of adventurers” was operating a diving bell on the wreck. In 18196 Mr. Samuel Davis
proposed starting a company to raise the hulls of the Hussar and the sloop Mercury which was in the
same area. He was still trying the raise funds in 18237 for this project. He was known as a successful
salvor and had raised two large schooners in Baltimore harbour and, with his “machine”, had raised
boulders weighing thirty tons as certified by his supervisor Robert Taylor. He was trying to sell 450
shares at $30.00 per share. Part of his sales pitch was the exhibition in Merchant’s Coffee House of a
diagram of the machinery to be used. In July of 1823 in Rhode Island an article was published stating
that he “has had a glass globe cast for his diving machine”, but no details of this unusual globe were
provided, nor what the purpose was. He was also exhibiting a working model of a “mud machine for
clearing obstructions invented by him8. Later that year it was reported9 that the hull of the Hussar had
broken in two and that only a few cannons had been salvaged.
In 1819 a Gettysburg newspaper10 reported that a Mr. Johnson of Philadelphia on 15
September demonstrated his diving machine called a “Diving Drum”. It is described as “a partial
covering of plates of sheet iron, attached to a suit, forming a kind of armor, designed to prevent the
water pressing him too closely.” Over this he wore a “leathern suit ‘cap-a-pie’, leaving the headpiece
very large”. Air was delivered and exhausted through two tubes from the head piece to the surface.
Circulation of the air was managed by having lamps placed around the nozzle of one pipe thereby
heating it in order to draw air into the other pipe. He was said to have made a dive to 25–30 feet and
remained for 40 minutes. No other details were given. I doubt that things occurred as recorded. The
air flow produced by the lamps may have been sufficient to provide the oxygen required, but there is
no way that he could have breathed at 25–30 feet of water pressure. He was breathing through a very
long snorkel and physiologically it is impossible to inhale because of the positive pressure on the chest
2. Gazette, Charleston, SC, 2 November 1810 7. New York Evening Post, 25 April, 1823
3. New-England Palladium, 2 October 1810 8. New York Evening Post, 22 August 1823.
4. New York Museum, vol 5. 1817 9. Rhode Island America, 25 July 1823
5. Long Island Star, 22 July, 1818. 10. Gettysburg Republican Compiler, 29 September 1819.
6. Commercial Advertiser, 2 December, 1819.
92 The International Journal of Diving History
at those depths. There is definitely something not believable about this report. However, his alleged
feat generated a lot of interest and a poem about his exploits was published, entitled The Yankee and the
Diving Drum11.
I previously reported that William Brookfield in 1820 had patented a diving apparatus, but that the
patent was one of those destroyed in the Patent Office fire. He is again mentioned12 as an inventor of
a diving suit but there is no description of the apparatus given, except that in this article a lamp for
underwater use was included as part of the rig.
We come to 1830 and John Blair who used his diving bell to examine the wreck of the sloop Detroit
which had sunk the previous year in the channel of the Hudson River at a depth of 180 feet13. The
bell was constructed of black walnut about 6 inches thick, 2.5 feet in diameter at the tip and 7 feet
in diameter at the bottom. It was banded by iron hoops and loaded with pig iron at the bottom. It
was not provided with an air supply. It is reported that he dove several times to the river bottom and
stayed on one occasion, for 45 minutes. After this last dive he surfaced and “it was found necessary to
place him in a warm bed before he was sufficiently recovered enough to converse.” At that depth and
time he probably suffered from decompression sickness and perhaps hypothermia. This is certainly an
extraordinary dive for the time and he should be remembered for that, as it was not equaled for many
years. He succeeded in raising the wreck which was towed to New York City in 1831.
In September 183014 John Downing in Newport, RI raised with his bell, a 66 hundred-weight
anchor believed to have been dropped when HMS Victory slipped it when trying to escape being
trapped in the harbor by DeGrasse’s fleet during the Revolutionary War.
In September 183116 Captain Jonathon Blanchard of Plympton, Massachusetts was presumed
drowned in his diving bell while trying to raise a wreck near the Hen and Chickens off Cape Cod.
Efforts to find his body were unsuccessful.
Mr. Almoran Holmes lost his life in Boston when a diving bell he was inspecting fell on him and
the stage he was on when the guys supporting the derrick from which the bell was suspended parted16.
In 1833 The Washington Daily National Intelligencer17 reported that Mr. McCollum of Tennessee had
demonstrated his bell designed to collect gold from river bottoms, and Col. D.C. Gibson exhibited a
9-pound rock clearly flecked with gold from the bed of the Chestatee River in Georgia. There is no
description of the bell to indicate how it may have been adapted for river diving.
We meet William Norcross, the inventor of the first closed diving dress again. A single sentence18
referred to him as the “India Rubber Man” presumably because of the material of the suit.
The Milwaukee Sentinel19 in1842 reported the invention of novel diving bell, but neglected to name
the inventor. What made this design different from others was the air supply and exhaust. Two hoses led
from the surface to the interior of the bell where they were joined together into one. Just before joining
each had a one-way valve inserted, one to inhale from and one to exhale through. The diver breathed
through the single hose by holding it in his mouth and was said to thereby be able to reach depths of
25–30 feet and work on the sea floor. As with the “Diving Drum” discussed above this would have
been an impossible depth to breathe at with this system. This was never patented but it did presage the
double hose breathing system.
11. Gazette, Salem, MA, 19 November 1819. 16. Sandusky Clarion (Ohio), 17 October, 1832.
12. Gettysburg Republican Compiler, 2 August, 1820. 17. Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 23 April 1833.
13. Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 18 August, 1830. 18. Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 13 October 1834.
14. Washington, Daily National Intelligencer, 8 September, 1830. 19. Milwaukee Sentinel, 17 August, 1842.
15. Washington Daily National Intelligencer, 30 September, 1831.
The International Journal of Diving History 93
Mark W. Davis of Newark recovered part of the wreck of the Lexington using his diving bell20,21.The
Lexington caught fire and sank off the north coast of Long Island in 1840 with the loss of life of 139 of 143
crew and passengers. The hull was being raised and was just at the surface when one of the chains broke
and the hull disappeared in 140 feet of water. Only 30 pounds of previously melted silver was recovered.
In 1844, A Mr. Chapin was working with a bell on the wreck of the Erie which had sunk off
Cataraugus Creek near Buffalo, NY. The bell was of iron, cast in Fredonia, N.Y., weighed 4.5 tons and
cost $180022. At the time of the report he had raised the bow anchor and 45 feet of chain. The plan
was to clear the side paddles and then raise the hull. Chapin had located the wreck and several others
by using a very sensitive compass (magnetometer) which he had devised. The Erie was in the news again
in 184523 with a report that Chapin’s crew was still trying to raise the hull but that parts of the hull
and machinery had been salvaged. However, on another lift a support vessel collided with the hoisting
rig when the hull was only 6-8 feet from the surface and it sank back to 63 feet. In 185429, Gowan
and Wells of Boston engaged J.B. Green and an English diver, Mr. Tope, to attempt again to salvage
the wreck. Mr. Tope was testing a new diving apparatus (not described) which he had constructed. He
complained on several trial runs that the circulation was poor and he removed the spring in his exhaust
valve. On descent his tenders thought he was very heavy and immediately hauled him to the surface,
opened the suit and found him dead. Green then described a classic helmet squeeze26. Eventually the
remainder of the wreck was brought up and taken to Buffalo.
In 1845 Capt. George W. Taylor demonstrated his new and improved copper diving bell in the
Boston Navy Yard to a depth of thirty feet for 28 minutes26. It was referred to as the “submarine
marauder”. He was desirous of having the bell accepted for use in the U.S. Navy and he gave another
demonstration in the Potomac River taking several Congressmen with him26,27. I have found no
information that the bell was ever accepted by the Navy. In the meantime the USS Missouri sank after
a fire and explosion in Gibraltar harbor28. Henry Abbinett, an English diver was hired to clear and raise
the wreck. He was successful in clearing large amounts of machinery, guns and other equipment but was
unsuccessful in raising the hull. William Marshall then bought the wreck, but was also unsuccessful in
raising it. That is when Taylor was given a contract to raise the wreck. He was also unsuccessful but was
planning to return for another attempt. He became ill on his way back to the United States and died
several months later. He never applied for a patent on his bell. Finally John E. Gowen was awarded a
contract and he was able to complete the demolition of the hulk in 1852. An excellent detailed report
on the entire multi-year project was published by Chuck Veit in the HDT29.
A consortium of Baltimore gentlemen equipped with a diving bell, submarine armor and other
equipment was reported30 to have recently left port for Venezuela to recover stores, treasure and military
equipment from the wreck of the Spanish 80 gun ship San Pedro de Alcantara sunk off the coast of
Margarita Island in 1815. It lay in 10.5 fathoms. They had a permit from the Venezuelan government
and were to pay the government 5% on all material salvaged. In April of 1845 the wreck had been
found and using the bell they had recovered the great sum of $53 and several brass cannons. In 1850
there was another report that the schooner Eliza Ann left Boston for the same wreck31. I have found
20. Sun (Baltimore), 24 September 1842 28. Gettysburg Star and Republican Banner,
21. Alton Telegraph (Illinois), 10 June 1843. 26 December 1845.
22. Racine Advocate (Wisconsin), 16 July 1844. 29. Gettysburg Republican Compiler, 27 April 1846.
23. Clarion (Sandusky, Ohio), 5 September 1845 30. Veit, C, “The Difficulty is Knowing How - The
24. Plain Dealer (Cleveland), 1 July 1854 Rise of John Gowen and the Salvage of the First
25. Washington Reporter, 26 July 1854 USS Missouri”, HDT, Issue 56 Winter 2013.
26. Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio), 17 Dec, 1844. 31. Times and People’s Press (Fort Wayne, Indiana),
27. Daily Whig and Courier, (Bangor, Maine), 10 Sept, 1845 19 April 1845.
94 The International Journal of Diving History
nothing further about these two expeditions or the persons involved. The next news of the San Pedro de
Alcantara is in185232. Another expedition had left Boston with “a diving machine of ingenious design
newly invented by James A. Whipple”. This article states that the previous expedition had cleared the
wreck, but only recovered $35,000 of a reported $9 million aboard. This latest group felt that they
would be more successful. There is no record of Whipple’s diving machine and I have found no other
reference to this expedition.
In October of 1844 a gale swept over Lake Erie resulting in flooding of warehouses in Dunkirk,
N.Y. with loss of a great deal of merchandise swept into the lake. In September 184533 three divers,
Luther G. and George Alton, and Alonzo Palmer recovered crates and a hogshead of crockery and a
considerable amount of hardware and other goods. The report states that they made one thousand dives
in 9–14 feet of water over a 24-hour period by, according to the article “converting themselves into
diving bells”. Whether the diving was by breath-holding from a bell or from the surface is not stated.
This is an extraordinary number of dives in the time period stated and I wonder how much of the story
was inflated.
In 184634, we find that “The diving bell has been very successfully used at New Orleans to recover
the cargo and machinery of the steamer Franklin, the cargo of which was valued at $170,000. The divers
are to receive fifty per cent of the salvage value. They have already recovered $35,000 worth of property.”
Captain Kidd’s treasure makes an appearance in 184736 with more detail of the operation than I had
available for my presentation. Mr. J. Breaddy (also Bradley or Breadly) at Caldwell’s Landing on the
Hudson River, had found, using a bell, the wreck of Captain Kidd’s vessel. Over two days, a cup, 14
bars of silver and a box of antique jewels with diamonds and other precious stones were recovered and
valued at $100,000.
In September 1848 we meet J.A. Richards again who appeared in my previous presentation. An
announcement was made37 that he had made a dive to 90 feet during an experiment with his bell which
was not patented until a year later.
An accidental diver appears to be Mr. Smith of Charleston, SC, who recovered a cask of cutlery
worth about $50 which fell off a ship in harbor. He did so by improvising a bell by cutting a small oil
cask in two, putting weights on the bottom of one part and going to the bottom for about 15 minutes,
presumably breathing only the air in the cask38.
The wreck of the Atlantic was partially covered in my previous presentation. In 1852 Maillefert and
Green reported that they had found the wreck again. There is a description by Green of having his
lines entangled three times on one dive but being able to free himself. He had reached 144 feet, a new
diving record for him, but complained of the poor air supply even with four men working his pump39.
In November of 1852 Green was having a new apparatus built to allow him to dive to 160 feet and
stay for two hours40. Another report stated that this new apparatus would be able to take him to 200
feet because of his “secret” which sounds like some newspaper hyperbole as he was not quoted as saying
this41. In July 1853 the suit was described as a full India rubber suit with a copper helmet with one light,
which certainly does not sound as though was any secret involved. Air was to be supplied by 4-6 men42.
32. Weekly Wisconsin, 13 November, 1850. 39. Times and People’s Press, (Fort Wayne, Indiana),
33. Weekly Wisconsin,18 November, 1852 12 October, 1852.
34. Independent American and General Advertiser 40. Daily Commercial Register, (Sandusky, Ohio),
(Plattesville, Wisconsin), 5 September 1845. 2 September 1852.
35. Gazette, Janesville, Wisconsin, 9 May 1846. 41. The Tribune, (Mineral Point, Wisconsin),
36. Gettysburg Republican Compiler, 24 May 1847. 4 November 1852
37. The British Banner, 6 September, 1848. 42. The Star and Banner, Gettysburg, 1 July 1852
38. Oshkosh Democrat, 18 October 1850.
The International Journal of Diving History 95
In September 1852 it was reported that Foreman and Sears made a proposal to the owner of the
Atlantic wreck to raise her using Foreman’s bell which was not patented until the following year43.
However, as stated above, Maillefert and Green were already engaged in a salvage attempt on this wreck.
A Mr. J. P. Gray purchased the wreck of the City of Oswego and on 10 August 1852 he was en route
to her with diving apparatus, camels and air pump. The diving apparatus was said to be that used to
dive on the Missouri at Gibraltar. The wreck was found to be resting on a sandy bottom and was in
suitable condition to raise44.
Another expedition left Boston on the Lamartine for the wreck of the San Pedro de Alcantara45.
Several accounts of the expedition appeared in 1853. The most informational of these46 stated that the
wreck was spread over a wide area and most of it was covered in 6 inches of sand. The salvers dug and
sieved over about one acre of the bottom. This was done with the bell with two men at a time for two
hour shifts at 60 feet of water. Eighty heavy cases were recovered but there was no disclosure of the value
of the contents. The operation ceased because of threats that the Venezuelan government was going to
renege on their permission for the job and confiscate whatever had been found.
As the next item is so strange and I am unable to explain it in any way I am quoting the entire report47:
‘A gentleman of Henry County Ala., has published a description of a new invention of a diving bell. It is to
examine the bottom of the ocean. Take a piece of iron of any size or length, say seven feet square, with a wheel
at each end and in the centre, so that if the boat or machine should turn over, it will keep running. The wheels
must be larger than the boat to effect the purpose. I want it, says he, to be drawn by a steamer with a chain at
each end of sufficient strength to stop the steamer in case it should hang: and in case one chain should break,
the steamer could tack back and haul up the machine. I want glass windows in each end and side, bottom,
and top, of thick glass, and so protected as to keep them from harm, and in case one should break, the hole
may be stopped. I want two tubes of any length sufficient to navigate the depth of the ocean, made of India
rubber, and so protected as to keep them from harm by sharks or otherwise.’ I make no further comment.
In August 1853 Green and another diver named Martin Quigley went to the wreck of the Erie to
recover the body of Max McConnell who became entrapped the day before and died on only the second
dive of his career48. Green and Quigley were successful in recovering the body and getting chains around
the wreck and were soon to move her.
The Washington Sentinel in April 1854 carried an article stating that a diving bell was being sent for use in
examining the bed of the Susquehanna River for a new railway bridge49. A similar bell was being constructed
by Hollingsworth and Harvey Co. of Wilmington to be used in the actual bridge construction.
It was reported50 that another attempt would be made to raise the Atlantic by the newly invented
Phillips Patent Diving Boat. Whether this refers to the L. D. Phillips bell described below is not known
to me and no other reference to this bell has been found.
An item in 1854 states that “A new diving bell has been constructed in Wilmington, Delaware for
laying the submerged foundation of the new suspension bridge. It is 10 feet in diameter and competent
to carry safely about a dozen workmen to the bottom of the river”51.
The steamship City of Philadelphia ran aground of Newfoundland but all the crews and passengers
were brought ashore and housed in tents, some being taken to St.John by the Victoria. The Victoria’s
engineer dived on the wreck and judged she could not be refloated52.
43. Commercial Register, 2 September, 1852 48. Weekly Wisconsin, 3 August 1853.
44. Huron Reflector, (Norwalk, Ohio), 10 August 1852. 49. Weekly Wisconsin, 26 October 1853.
45. Weekly Wisconsin, 17 November 1852. 50. Washington Sentinel, 13 April, 1854
46. Gazette, (Davenport, Iowa), 1 September 1853. 51. Weekly Wisconsin, August 9 1854.
47. New York Times, 12 May 1853.
96 The International Journal of Diving History
In January 185553 the barque Emily Banning of Wilmington was being loaded with three of the new
Nautilus Submarine Company’s diving apparatus and is scheduled to leave for the Pacific on a pearl
fishing expedition. Whether the company refers to George Williamson’s bell (not patented until 1857)
or some other company is not known.
The Atlantic wreck was still not raised by March 1855 as there is a report that a Mr. Cabot of Buffalo,
N.Y. had invented a new salvage method of using submersible buoys to do the job54. No details are given.
Unknown divers using a bell had succeeded in salvaging about 20 tons of railway steel from a brig
which had sunk off the coast of Maine55.
On 22 December 1855 a diver named Stephen Crowly was suffocated in a bell while attempting
to salvage a ship’s anchor and chain in San Francisco Harbor. He was a member of the crew on the
wrecking steamer Ada56.
In March of 1856 we find a group of Americans led by Capt. Clarke diving off Trinidad for sunken
Spanish ships. They were “furnished with every kind of appliances which science and art can bestow”.
The first day of diving recovered enough copper sheathing to provide a profit for the day. No details
are provided57. In an article one month later(58) it was revealed that the expedition was an operation
of the Submarine Wrecking Company of Boston. It was also reported that a ship had arrived in New
York harbour from Trinidad, loaded with thirty iron cannons and an anchor from the wrecks, and that
further operations were continuing.
L. D. Phillips received a patent for his one atmosphere suit (# 15,898) in 1856. This was essentially
a closed diving bell with ball and socket articulated arms and legs, along with through the hull
penetrations for tools. Details were published in the Journal of Diving History59.
Two divers using a diving bell brought up from an unnamed river bed in Milwaukee several articles
including a purse containing $100 in gold60.
In July 1856 we find that a Mr. E.F. Harrington has salvaged the American Express safe from the
wreck of the Atlantic after 18 dives over three days. It contained $27,000 in bills and $6,000 in specie,
accomplishing what J. B. Green and others had spent years trying to find61. Harrington was assisted by
Martin Quigley, Charles O. Gardner, and William Newton62.
That is the last time the Atlantic appears in the news.
We come upon the Foreman-Sears bell Nautilus again in November 185663 when it was reported
that several dives with it were conducted at Glen Cove, a few miles from New York City. The dives were
to only about 30 feet and each dive carried important personages who (or their organization) might
contract for the use of these bells.
In March 185764 appeared the announcement that John Gowen and the Boston Submarine
Company were about to begin the salvage or destruction of the ships sunk by the Russians in Sebastopol
harbor as part of the defenses of that city during the Crimean war. Many newspaper articles followed
through 1860s and will not be included in this review as the story of the ship salvage and clearing of
the wrecks is well known. In addition to the Boston Company the Philadelphia Submarine Mining
Company was involved along with, later, Russian divers and salvers.
52. The Globe, (Washington, D.C.), 2 October 1854. 58. New York Daily Times, 21 April 1856
53. Logansport Journal, (Logansport, Indiana), 59. Vorosmarti, J., “Phillips Diving Armor”, Journal
27 January 1855. Diving History, vol 17, #61, 2009
54. Weekly Wisconsin, 21 March 1855. 60. Milwaukee Daily Sentinel, 30 April 1856.
55. Transcript, Prescott, WI, 21 March 1855 61. Coshocton Democrat (Ohio), 16 July, 1856.
56. Weekly Argus and Democrat (Madison, Wisconsin) 62. Cleveland Herald, 8 July, 1856
8 January 1856. 63. Weekly Wisconsin, 26 November 1856.
57. The Morning Chronicle (London), 27 March 1856. 64. New York Herald, 3 March 1857
The International Journal of Diving History 97
The J. W. Brooks sank in Lake Ontario in 1857 with a large load of copper. H.B. Cowles, an
Eastern wrecker took over the salvage operation. He had three divers working on the wreck which was
discovered by one of them, William Pike, who on his first dive sent up the gear winch. The water was
so deep and cold that it was decided to put chains on the wreck and pull it to water only 20 feet deep,
about 2.5 miles away. There is no further information66. George Williamson was granted patent 18,260
in September 1857 for his Nautilus. This was a design for a diving bell to be used in either the open or
closed manner. It contained certain features designed to prevent accidents and make the bell easier to
handle. However, in my opinion, it was overly designed and provided no advantages over other bells65.
Patent number 19,786 was issued in March 1858 to Maillefert for his bell design. This was essentially
a long rigid sectional tube with a conical structure at the bottom. Sections of the tube could be added
or taken off to accommodate various working depths. The bell section was surrounded by a large air
reservoir which when air-filled allowed the structure to float, and anchored it to the bottom when
flooded. This apparatus was more of a caisson than a diving bell as the divers entered the top of the
tube and descended by ladder to the bell portion. The tube top and the top of the bell could be sealed
by hatches. I have found no record this was ever built67.
Extremely deep dives were made by an unnamed diver in October 185868. This diver made seven
dives to the depth of 175 feet (presumably all the same day) and when surfaced from the last dive was
found to be severely paralyzed.
A new diving bell was described in October 185862, in operation in New York City, for removing
Diamond Rock, a navigational hazard. It was built of boiler plate 5/16 inches thick, with a height 12 feet,
and a diameter of 11 feet. It is surmounted by a neck and dome through which the operators enter. It
was reported to have a carbonic acid spray making a pure atmosphere by releasing oxygen sufficient to
maintain life for long periods of time. This bell was the invention of Buren Reyerson for which he was
issued patent 21,852 in October 185870.
J.B. green was back in the news in 1859. It was announced71 that an exhibition of “Green’s Diving
Panorama” was to be held on Saturday, April 23 showing the “modus operandi of diving bells with
illustrations of the incidents connected with the perilous enterprise of diving”. It states that Mr. Green
has been almost helpless physically by diving too much and gives an interesting account of his career.
People were urged to attend the exhibition to financially aid Mr. Green.
The Indian Hunter was wrecked on French Reef, near Key Largo while carrying 3752 bales of cotton, all
of which were saved except for about 50 bales. The divers were reported to have problwems with “poisonous
water” in the ship, blinding them. This was presumably when the ship was aground but not totally flooded.
The problem was solved by scuttling the ship to clear out whatever it was that was causing the problem. The
work getting the bales out was very difficult because the divers had to dive through and under large masses
of loose cotton on the water surface in the ship. At the time of the newspaper report $40,000 worth
of cotton had been sold and the salvers expected to get $25,000 after completion of the operation72.
Mr. M.F. Maillefert proposed building a “mammoth bell” to work the oysters beds recently
discovered in Long Island Sound. The Submarine Oyster Saloon would take customers to the sea bed
where they could harvest and eat oysters at the depth of six fathoms73.
65. New York Herald Tribune, 24 July, 1857 69. Daily Tribune (New Albany, Indiana), 14 Oct 1858.
66. Vorosmarti, J., “Williamson’s Nautilus”, J. Diving 70. Vorosmarti, J., “Ryerson’s Submarine Explorer”, J.
History, vol. 18, #64, 2010 Diving History, vol 19, # 65, 2011
67. Vorosmarti, J., “Maillefert’s Bell”, J. Diving History, 71. The Register (Crown Point, Indiana), 21 April 1859.
vol18, #64, 2010 72. Mercury, Charleston, SC, 3 August, 1859.
68. Daily Morning Gazette (Janesville, Ohio), 27 July 1858. 73. Janesville Weekly Times (Wisconsin) 2 Nov 1859.
98 The International Journal of Diving History

DIP into DIVING HISTORY

In December 185974 it was reported that divers working on a sunken steamer off Port Royal,
Jamaica, had discovered a city under several fathoms of water. The ruins found were undoubtedly the
remains of the old Port Royal which had disappeared into the sea after an earthquake and tsunami in
1692. The New York World75 in December 1860 reported that a party had left the city with complete
diving apparatus with the purpose of exploring this sunken city. This appears to have been one of the
first serious underwater archeology expeditions. I have not yet tried to find further details of it.
C. W. Martin was issued a patent (29,296) in July 1860 for his Submarine Operator76. The design is
very similar to that of Maillefert’s above, except that it was to be used through a well in a ship. It appears
to be more for caisson work than for use as a bell. There is no evidence that it was constructed.
There are no further newspaper references before the start of the Civil War in April 1861 and I
decided that this was an opportune time to end this account. From the newspaper coverage it is safe
to say that diving was common in the United States over this period of time. Given that the searches
for information were probably incomplete and that many stories of diving and diving operations were
probably never reported leads me to believe that there was much more activity than reported.
Andrew J Morse and Son began manufacturing diving apparatus in 1837, followed in 1844 by A.
Schrader and Son. I think it safe to say that the few divers and diving companies listed above would
not have kept these manufacturers in business through the first part half of the19th century. We also
note that over the same time period the physical infrastructure (port facilities, shipping facilities on
major rivers, bridge building, etc) was growing rapidly and required more diving. In addition, maritime
and riverine traffic had increased greatly with more wrecks that required removal or salvage. More and
more diving and salvage companies appeared and the individual diver operating on his own became less
common and less mentioned by name.
Finally, I apologize to J.B. Green. In my presentation I stated that our only knowledge of his career
was that found in his diving autobiography which I suggested that we take with a grain of salt. The
information found during the writing of this article supports all his self-reporting and it may even be
said that he was modest in reporting his exploits. Not all divers grossly exaggerate!


Dr. James Vorosmarti received his medical degree in 1961 and served for 26 years in the U.S. Navy, retiring
as a Captain. During his Navy service he had various postings, most of which were in diving, submarines, and
medical research He was a physician/aquanaut on the SEALAB III program, was an Exchange Officer with the
Royal Navy for three years at IOM and RNPL doing research in deep diving. He also served as the Commanding
Officer of the Navy Medical Research Institute in Bethesda. His last position was as Special Assistant for Medical
and Life Sciences in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Since his retirement he has worked as a consultant
to the Office of Naval Research, Smithsonian Institution, University of Alabama Medical School, international
diving companies, and navies. He has been a frequent lecturer in diving medicine and diving history. He is now
retired and publishes on the history of diving.

THE DIVING MUSEUM

of The Historical Diving Society
74. The Waterloo Courier (Iowa), 6 December 1859. No. 2 Battery, Stokes Bay Road, Gosport, PO12 2QU
75. The New York World, 26 December 1860.
76. Martin, C.W., U.S. Patent, 29,296, 24 July 1860 Open on Bank Holidays and Weekends from April–October, 11am–4 pm 
100 The International Journal of Diving History

Also published by the Historical Diving Society:

Jacob ROWE. A Demonstration of the Diving Engine.

An eighteenth century illustrated manuscript,
reproduced in facsimile, with a transcription of the text
and a biography of the author by Michael Fardell and Nigel Phillips.
Crown quarto, 39 pages including 15 duotone plates, case bound with dust jacket.
£18. ISBN 0 948O65 39 7

C.A. DEANE. Submarine Researches (1836).

The first book on the diving helmet and dress.
A facsimile of the original edition, with an introduction by John Bevan.
Large crown quarto, 86 pages including 18 plates, case bound with dust jacket.
£18. ISBN 1 900496 14 3

K.H. KLINGERT. Description of a Diving Machine (1797)

and A Brief Supplement to the History and Description of a Diving Machine (1822)
Translated into English. With an Introduction by Michael Jung. London: 2002.
Crown quarto, 51 pages, 8 illustrations, case bound with full colour dust jacket.
£18. ISBN 0 9543834 0 0

Mårten TRIEWALD. The Art of Living Under Water (1734).

Originally written in Swedish in 1734 ... and now translated into English,
together with the Use of the Art of Living under Water (1741), by C. J. L. Croft,
Lars Gustafsson and Michael Kahan. With a life of the author, based on an essay
by the late Captain Bo Cassel (Royal Swedish Navy) and an introduction and
commentary by Michael Fardell and Nigel Phillips. London: 2004.
Crown quarto, 96 pages. 21 illustrations, case bound with dust jacket.
£24. ISBN 0 9543834 1 9

John LETHBRIDGE. Michael Fardell.

The most successful treasure diver of the eighteenth century.
Crown quarto, 101 pages, 26 illustration, case bound with dust jacket.
£24. ISBN 9543834 4 3

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