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Robert Sténuit Fulfilling a Quest for Treasure Turned a Salver Into an Archeologist

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Robert Sténuit Fulfilling a Quest for Treasure Turned a Salver Into an Archeologist Robert Sténuit Fulfilling a quest for treasure turned a salver into an archeologist. ILLUSTRATION: LINDA HESLOP SALVDR, ARCHEOLQGiST Robert Sténuit By Sean Holland Robert Sténuit was well on his way to becoming a lawyer ENGLAND when he stumbled upon Harry Rieseberg's 600 Milliards BELGIUM Sous les Mers. The fictional account of diving for treasure so captured thé fancy of thé then 20-year-old student that FRANCE ITALY he abandoned his studies at thé Université Libre in Brussels to pursue a diving career. More than 10,000 underwater hours changed. I do not dive with a BC, yet hère after leaving thé university, Robert bas yet I am. I use only one regulator and, yes, I to regret his décision. Asked to name his hâve only one steering wheel in my car." favorite dive, thé 65-year-old treasure Those who wanted to dive invented salvor and underwater archeologist says their own gear when Robert began ex- coyly, "The next one, of course." The man ploring caves and sumps in Han sur Lesse who helped pioneer deep-diving mixed- in thé Ardennes région of his native Bel- gas tables in thé U.S. Man in thé Sea pro- gium in 1952, a year before he found grarn and advanced knowledge of science Rieseberg's book. "Time and again, you and history with record-breaking dives is would find your gallery ending in thé unimpressed with many of today's div- water. The only way to continue was to ing trends. dive." To push beyond thèse dead ends, PHOTO: MARC JASINSKI "Today's divers look like Christmas Robert and his buddies borrowed wetsuits Belgium's virgin territory trees with their buoyancy compensators, and crafted homemade gear. No training Improvised gear and training allowed Robert octopus regulators and buzzing instru- was available then, so they learned thé Sténuit and Marc Jasinski ments. Change is not always progress. The challenges of exploring overhcad envi- to explore sumps in their native Belgium. aqualung hasn't significantly changed in ronments as they went along. Somehow thé last 30 years, except now you can they survived thé foolhardy risks and choose thé color of thé tanks and your lived to tell of newfound passages. "The fins are fluorescent. Only thé price has walls were completely white — like vir- CdNTINUED ON PAGE 1 4- *- IMMERSED, SPRING 1999 THE INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL DIVINE MAGAZINE ! Diving History John Lethbridge In thé years fol- lowing thé sink- ing of thé Slot ter Hooge. Lethbridge made successful sal- vage efforts working in his "diving barrel." In this illustration he is being low- ered at thé site. Not ail research takes place in dusty library stacks. A fascination with diving history has led Robert to build and dive working replica's of historical diving gear such as John Lethbridge's "diving barrel." "l'm a very keen diver with a passion for history. Some golfers like to collect old clubs and balls. Build- ing this seemed iike thé obvious thing to do," says Robert. The wooden cylinder allowed dives to 60 feet / 18 meters for 34 minutes before it was pulled to thé surface. It was fitted with a glass porthole; two arm- holes with leather cuffs allowed Lethbridge to gather thé treasure. On another occasion, he rebuilt and dived with thé only remaining original demand regulator aqualung, Robert takes a dip in his invented in thé 1860s in France by Benoît Rouquay- replica of thé "diving machine" John rol and Auguste Denayrouze. The first users of thé Lethbridge invented in "Réservoir-Régulateur" wore no mask. Other such ap- thé early 1 7OOs and used to satvage silver paratuses in thé late 1860s, featured a larger air tank from thé wreck of thé and no surface-supply hose. Their pressure was lim- Slot ter Hooge. ited to 30 or 40 bars / 441 or 558 pounds per square inch. Thèse were in fact thé first scubas. Over 5,000 such units were built and sold from 1867 to well after World War I and used primarily by navies and public wreck divers. • After rebuilding an original 1 867 Rouquayrol-Denayrouze aqualung, Robert goes for a test dive. The first users wore no mask. PHOTOS OOURTESY OF ROBERT STÉNUIT THE INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL DIVING MAGAZINE IMMERSED, SPRING 1999 ^- CdNTINUED FRDM PAGE 1 O gin white marble. I felt and work at depth until tissues are fully workday by heading straight to thé British proud to be an explorer saturated with nitrogen was just a theo- Muséum. There he researched thé Girona, in my native Belgium. ry then. Robert left thé French commer- part of Spain 's seemingly invincible, 130- Belgium is such a small and crowded cial diving firm SOGETRAM to became ship armada that sailed on July 22, 1588, country that to discover virgin territory thé chief diver for Ed's Man in thé Sea to attackEngland, (Immersed, Fall 1996). in Belgium is quite a feat." program. The Girona was a galleass, a small ma- neuverable oar-driven warship, that had obert continues to cave dive, but it's "The treasure hunter gathered survivors, treasure and supplies taken aback seat to thé allure of thé spends his own money or from four other Spanish vessels that were R open sea since he found Riesberg's either sunk by thé English or went down book in a small shop in thé Galerie de la in deadly gales off Ireland. On Oct. 26, Reine in Brussels. "I knew it was total thé money of his private 1588, thé Girona met her démise in a nonsense and didn't believe a word but hackers instead of thé tierce storm off Giant's Causeway on it hooked me. I should hâve waited two northern Ireland's rocky coast. Only five more years to finish my degree. But then, money of thé taxpayers. of thé 130 men aboard survived. "I con- I thought I was wasting my time since centrated on thé Girona because she con- someone else might get to 'my wrecks.' This is thé only practical tained ail that was valuable from five dif- It was a silly thing." Robert's parents férent ships," says Robert. were displeased. "My father dutifully way to tell them apart" warned me of thé pitfalls and tried to 600 hours of research finally persuade me out of it. But like any good And in 1962, Robert completed thé , paid off on June 27, 1967, when father, he said, 'If this is what you really world's first saturation dive at sea, spend- t, joined by fellow Belgian want to do, how can I help?'" ing 25 hours in a Link cylinder habitat at Marc Jasinski, slipped into a small cove Armed with youthful optimism, an an- 200 feet / 62 meters breathing a helium- called Port na Spaniagh ("Port of thé cient magnometer and a reluctant bless- oxygen mix off Villefranche-sur-Mer, Spaniards") by thé local Irish. Despite ing from his parents, Robert set out on France. "We showed that man can actu- thé promising name, serious historians his first treasure hunt in summer 1953 in ally live and work in thé sea," says Robert. placed thé Girona wreck site miles away. Vigo Bay in northwest Spain. On June The success of thé project led to support They were wrong. Amid boulders below 12, 1702, a formation of English and from thé U.S. Navy. "It wanted thé capa- 30 feet / 10 meters of icy, turbulent water Dutch warships attacked a Spanish fleet bility of working in deep water in a mili- were cannonballs, brass guns, silver laden with New World treasure. So many tary context as well as rescuing lost subs." coins and even links of a gold chain. Spanish vessels sank that finding trea- Robert and Ed were partners in more After 15 years of searching Robert final- sure seemed like a sure bel to Robert. than advancing hyperbaric science. A lust ly found his treasure and discovered thé But, he says, "we dragged thé mag- for treasure forged another bond between first Armada shipwreck, too. "It felt nometer underwater and found only thé two men. In 1963, they set out to find gréât!" he says. "I asked Océan Systems modem wrecks." The iron wire télé- a legendary treasure of World War II: six for a six-month leave of absence, and Fm graphie cable to Portugal was another iron ammunition boxes filled with gold still on it." "wreck" he found that summer. "Often I and jewels "gathered" in North Africa by The pair could hâve made a fortune would dive in pitch-black water, occa- Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler's spécial selling their finds to thé highest bidder, sionally down to 280 feet [85 meters], on troops. Incorrectly named RommeFs trea- but thé expérience raised Robert's aware- air, of course, to investigate something sure (after Field Marshall Erwin Rommel), ness of thé value of preserving artifacts only to find thé cable." thé boxes were reportedly sunk off Corsi- for thé historical value. "It was unique Vigo Bay did not yield so much as a sin- ca at thé war's end. Despite Ed's vast array and spécial. It didn't make sensé to gle doubloon, but a chance meeting with of electronic détection equipment, trea- spread it ail over thé world," says Robert. a visiting American, Edwin A. Link, fur- sure again eluded Robert. "If it is in private hands, where will it be thered his quest for treasure. The inven- Océan Systems Inc.'s purchase of thé after thé person dies? Sold off without its tor of thé Link Traîner, thé flight simula- Man in thé Sea program in 1965 brought hackground or history or thrown away? tor that was used to train pilots during an end to thé team.
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