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Home , Augustus Siebe, Diving suit, History of scuba diving, HMS Royal George (1756), John Deane (inventor), John Scott Haldane

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1828 – and his brother use the A History of SCUBA : helmet in combination with a diving . 1837 – The German inventor , who lives in the UK, connects Deane’s with an air filled, rubber suit. This fully closed connected to an air pump at Past and Future the surface, is the first reliable diving suit and is FEATURE and photography Patrick Van Hoeserlande the prototype of the contemporary models. In his eulogy, Siebe is called the father of diving. head. That was the start of helmet diving The Belgian Daveral private collection (‘scaphandre’) or diving with an air hose. The 1839 – Seibe’s diving suit is used in the salvaging next step was to get rid of the air hose, the of the British warship HMS Royal George diver’s lifeline from the surface. Some people at a depth of 20 meters. During this salvage found helmets and to not be enough operation, the divers complain of ‘cold and and decided to close the bell and by doing so rheumatism’. This is one of the first reports on invented the . symptoms of sickness during diving operations. Another first, is the use of This evolution shows the 4 ways invented to the buddy system. immerse and explore the underwater world in a more or less comfortable way: apnea, 1843 – After the experiences gained during with an air supply from the surface, with an the salvaging of the HMS Royal George, the independent air supply and in a submarine. opens the first diving school. Although the development of these four methods occurred independently of each 1865 – The French mining engineer Benoit other, they do influence each other. Apnea Rouquayrol and the Naval Lieutenant Auguste diving, followed by diving with a hose laid the Denayrouse, patent the ‘Aerophore’. This foundations for our of today. It is device consists of a horizontally placed steel not surprising that these two disciplines play tank (pressurized to15 to 25 bar) on the back an important role at the very beginning of the of which is connected through a scuba diving timeline. To produce a complete system to a mouth piece. The diver only gets list of important data is nearly impossible, so I air when he breathes. A membrane controls propose a quick, short dip into history: the as a function of the . In normal situations, the 1535 – Guglielmo de Loreno develops the low pressure tank is connected with a hose Is it because we feel freed from gravity in planning to attack the Greek fleet. He grabbed first real . to an air pump at the surface, but the diver water? Or is it because we return to the 9 a knife and jumped overboard. Despite their can disconnect the hose to dive ‘unconnected’ 1650 months we had felt so secure? Or are we efforts, the Persians could not find him. After – Guericke invents the first, effective air for a few minutes. The ‘Aerophore’ is the first bitten by a drive to discover other worlds? Or a while they considered him drowned. Under pump. ‘on demand’ underwater breathing apparatus do we want to push our limits? Who will tell? the cover of night however, he came back. and is the forerunner of our modern scuba 1667 One thing is for sure, from the evolutionary Using a hollow reed as a , he swam – , English physicist and equipment. It is also the first application of phase we came crawling out of water to from ship to ship and cut all the anchor lines. ‘father’ of the law of Boyle, detects a gas the ‘bail out’ safety feature. For years, it’s the develop further on land; we have as human This made the entire fleet drift away and bubble in the eye of a viper after putting it standard equipment in various navies. In his beings, kept an adventurous outlook when thwarted the Persian victory. under pressure, followed by a decompression. ‘‘20,000 miles Under the ’, Jules Vernes it comes to water. Throughout the history The scientist observed the very strange equips his heroes with the ‘Aerophore’. of humanity, we find evidence of continuous You could snorkel with a hollow reed, but it behavior of the snake, making this the first desires to get closer to the world we know so was soon clear to forefathers that a hollow written report of a decompression bubble and 1876 – The English merchant Henry A. Fleuss well as divers. tube longer than 50cm did not work well. At disease (‘bends’). develops the first workable, independent a certain depth our cannot overcome based on the use of . Who invented diving? 1691 the water pressure and ventilation becomes – Edmund Halley claims a patent on a This device is a closed system in which the Somewhere in a distant past, a bearded ineffective. Breathing using a bag did not meet weighted diving bell with an air hose to the exhaled is absorbed by a rope ancestor dressed in deer skins was scraping expectations, the bag was emptied too soon surface. soaked in caustic potash and is the basic design mussels off a rock when his knife fell into the and the inhalation of the same air created for our modern . Although limited water. The knife whirled to the bottom. Only problems with too much CO . How could one 1715 – builds an oak diving 2 in workable depth (the toxicity of oxygen at with caisson workers. He also suggests 1911 – The German Draeger introduces a by jumping in the water could he recuperate it. go deeper and stay underwater longer? cylinder placed under pressure through a pipe. great depth had to still be determined by trial recompression as a cure. reliable oxygen . And so he chose to dive in. At that moment, he The operator is able to work with his arms th and error) this bubbleless device allowed an opened up a whole new era, that of the ‘homo In the 16 Century, some enthusiasts began to free through holes in the cylinder. autonomy of almost 3 hours. 1893 – invents the first 1912 – The US Navy tests tables published by aquatica’. Whether it’s for salvaging valuable experiment with dive bells. These were infact underwater camera. Haldane. This to the first US Navy dive 1825 objects or for , from that moment on nothing more than a large, reversed bucket – The race for the first workable piece 1878 – The Frenchman (the Paul tables which will protect many divers from the the genie was out and the desire to dive was that contained an air bubble. The bell served as of scuba equipment is won by the English Bert effect!) publishes his book ‘La Pression 1906 – The British government asks the bends. no longer oppressed. The diver wanted to go an air pocket for a free diver to refresh the air inventor, William James. His system consists of Barométrique’, a 1,000 pages long description leading scientist, to deeper and stay down longer, but unless he in his lungs after every short stay outside the a cylindrical air tank with a pressure of 30 bar. of his studies of the effect of changes in research the prevention of decompression 1920 – In the USA, research starts on the use could find a way to breathe underwater, his bell. He could repeat this procedure until the There is no trace of a successful dive. pressure on the body. He demonstrates that sickness. 2 years later, he and two others of -oxygen mixtures for . explorations were short. supply was no longer usable. is caused by the publish the fundamental work ‘The Prevention 1826 Later, the air was refreshed or replenished via – Charles Anthony and John Deane formation of bubbles and suggests or Compressed-Air Illness’. Thanks to their 1923 – W. H. Longley becomes famous for the The most famous diver from antiquity is the a pump system on the surface making longer introduce a patent for a firefighter’s helmet. a gradual ascent as a preventive measure. studies on goats, the scientists argument to first underwater colour photographs. Greek, Scyllis. 2,500 years ago, he was taken dive times possible. After a while, the divers Connected with belts to the body and Bert explains the relationship between the use decompression stages. The dive tables prisoner aboard the ship of the Persian King got a suit to sustain the cold and the bell equipped with a hose, this helmet is also used observation of Boyle and the symptoms based on this fundamental work, are very 1924 – The US Navy and the Office of Mines Xerxes I. There he learned that Xerxes was was getting smaller until it fit over the diver’s for diving. of decompression sickness diagnosed quickly adopted by the British Navy. the first experimental helium-oxygen

64 DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, MARCH 2014 MARCH 2014, DIVERS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 65 FEATURES FEATURES dives. Until the start of World War II, the USA 1983 – The first commercial , unthinkable situation something goes wrong, retains the monopoly of helium. the ‘Orca Edge’, is put on the market. Several all biomedical functions are carefully and manufacturers follow and a few years later, the permanently monitored, the backpack activates 1930 – The American ex-pilot and author, Guy dive computer becomes part of the standard the . As a perfect buddy, Gilpatric residing in , experiments during diving equipment. it brings you safely to where help is available with rubber pilot goggles. The (even in a closed environment). Once there, modern version of the dive mask that covers 1990 until now – Each year, hundreds of it warns the emergency services and keeps nose and eyes is the result of a combination of thousands of people start to dive. Encouraged them informed. ideas from the Russian, Alec Kramarenko and by a growing market, new developments that French, and Maxime Forjot. make diving easier and safer, find their way The system is not only our buddy, but it also to the public. To distinct themselves from the takes care of the other divers in the group. 1933 – The Frenchman Louis the Corlieu recreational diver groups, specialized divers are The computer follows our buddies and tells patents the first dive fins, the ‘ formed. An example is the ‘Technical Divers’, (yes, you not only get visual, but also auditory Propellers’. The snorkel completes the basic non-professional divers who use advanced information) you where they are. The equipment. technology such as oxygen, helium, ‘full face’ line together with the buddy concept was masks, propulsion, etc. deserted years ago as it was no longer needed. 1933 – The French captain at sea, Yves Le We dive with two because we like it, not Prieur, fits the ‘Aerophore’ (see the year 1865) And the future? because it is a rule (an attempt to send robots with a specially developed valve in combination After running through the history, let us now as buddies was too expensive, cumbersome with a high pressure tank (100 bar). This gives focus on the future. It is not without risks to and unnecessary for the modal diver). the diver a certain degree of autonomy while predict how diving will look over a number of he is not hindered by all kinds hoses and lines. 500 dives with the ‘Aqua ’. Hereby they decades. I will nevertheless make an attempt. Our diving equipment is capable of doing so However, the device has no regulator. The go deeper with every dive. In October in the much more, but I find those so normal that I diver gets air by manually opening a valve. Mediterranean Sea, according to the plan Unless space travel will be within everyone’s have forgotten them. The expired air escapes along the edge of the Dumas dove to 70 meters and experiences reach, diving will still be the only way to submersibles makes it possible that somebody pressure. Despite their limited size, they give mask. Three years later, this device is in the ‘l’ivresse des grandes profondeurs’, better discover a completely different world. The can, without theoretical or pool training, enjoy us a very large autonomy. In addition, our If you think this vision is exaggerated? Let’s talk inventory of the . known as depth narcosis. In 1947, he reached human desire to explore unknown things will the marine fauna and flora. rebreathers are equipped with a membrane again 15 years from now. Or better, let’s meet 94 meters. further increase the popularity of diving; the that filters oxygen out of the water. This and dive then. 1936 – Le Prieur starts the world’s first scuba market is not saturated yet and will stay so However, we are interested in the contact gives us an almost unlimited bottom time. A diving club, called the ‘Club des Sous-l’Eau’. 1946 – Cousteau’s ‘Aqua Lung’ is sold on the for long. This, of course provided that humanity with the water and prefer classic diving to all network of four small supercomputers control French market. is in time aware that the oceans need our that touristic high-tech stuff. Although we like this system meticulously and projects useful 1938 – After years of successful writing for The protection and that we will actually need to to call it ‘classic’, our equipment is not what information on our full face mask. Saturday Evening Post about his adventures 1951 – The reserve valve, later known under do something about it. It gives little satisfaction it was 15 years ago. Our suit is made from in the Mediterranean, Gilpatric publishes the the name “J” valve, has been developed. to dive below the water’s surface to go to see a substance that despite its thin layer, quasi By a network of sonic beacons in the vicinity first book on amateur diving, ‘The Complete some bleached reefs and fields of fish completely isolates us from the water. This of the , we can perfectly orient ourselves. Goggler’. One of the readers is the French 1953 – Cousteau, Dumas and Dugan publish bones filled with mud. In that kind of future, suit keeps our skin and our whole body at a Direction and distance are continuously Naval Lieutenant, Jacques-Yves Cousteau. their book, ‘The Silent World’. This book tells we will admire the few rescued marine species constant, comfortable . The very projected on our full face mask. If we go outside about the development and the first tests of that will be protected only behind glass in an smooth outer coating lets us glide frictionless this sonic zone, our integrated compass and 1938 – Edgar End and Max Nohl make the first the Cousteau-Gagnan ‘Aqua Lung’. as part of our natural history. We through the water and dries immediately once inertial platform provide us with the necessary scheduled saturation dive. Together they stay 27 must work together to ensure that in the we get out of the water. No wet suits to stow navigational data. This system is so refined that hours at a depth of 30 meters in a hyperbaric 1955 – Al Tillman and Bev Morgan create the future, fish are not something strange to anymore. Through an ingenious system, it is wreck and cave divers abolished the reel long chamber. Although the decompression lasted first formal certification program for diving discover in a place called Aquatopia. very easy to put it on and move around, but as ago. five hours, Nohl suffered from the bends. instructors. soon as we go in the water, the suit becomes Let us leave this pessimistic idea of the ‘glued’ to our body. Through an underwater communication 1941-1944 – During World War II, uses 1956 – Scientists at the University of future behind. I’ll take you on a diving holiday system, we cannot only talk to each other, scuba divers with midget and design the first . Ted Nixon uses the somewhere in a brighter future. For this diving Our fins look like those of the old models, but also with our computer and in the case closed systems to sink British warships and ‘red-white’ flag for ‘divers in the water’. trip, we are in 2030 where we have booked because despite all efforts, no significant of an emergency, with an emergency station merchant ships. Later in the war, the British use a hotel. No, not the type that we know improvements were introduced. Although we for divers. a similar tactic to sink the German , 1958 – Sherwood Manufacturing announces nowadays, but a hotel underwater (you can still wear them, we use them only for small Tirpitz. the invention of the piston regulator. find them near all the beautiful dive sites). movements and for our own convenience. In addition to our mask there is a mini camera An under sea or a hyperbaric elevator Miniature propellers provide us now with allowing instantaneous identification of fauna 1942-43 – Jacques-Yves Cousteau and an 1959 – On January 11th in , Cousteau brings us as hotel guests, down to 30 meters the necessary propulsion for covering long and flora. The computer detects marine life engineer from the Parisian firm, ‘’ founded the ‘Confédération Mondiale Des from which our daily dive trips will begin. If distances (other propulsion systems were faster than us; projecting all information on – Emile Gagnan, work together on an Activités Subaquatiques’ (CMAS). we open the shutter of our window, the either too expensive or too noisy). Scuba the species, lifestyle, …This camera expansion valve that provides the diver with miraculous colours of the house lighten diving in a strong is no longer a runs continuously to record our dive and to air on demand. Until then a diver received 1962 – In September, the first underwater up our room. Looking around, we discover problem and the limitation of 0.5 knots is adjust our dive torches in relation to visibility air continuously, or after manually opening a experiment, Conshelf One some lovely spots for our next dives and in something of the past. and the surrounding light. The light intensity of valve. Why the 19th Century invention of the (‘Continental Shelf’) starts. Under the the distance we perceive the shape of a whale. the latter is minimal because our masks are ‘Aerophore’ was forgotten, we do not know. leadership of Cousteau, and Magnificent. But you should see the scenery The biggest changes are found in the equipped with night vision technology. The But in January 1943, they connect this regulator Claude Wesley live for seven days at a depth at night. Stimulated by exterior lighting, there pack that we carry on our backs. The very camera has landscape recognition software with a double air tank and a mouthpiece and of 10 meters. They use their underwater house is marine life everywhere. The visual spectacle compact and light backpack is a wonder of that makes it possible to find our way back in Sources: Barlow Rich, ‘Future Gear’, www.scubadiving.com test the configuration in the Marne. After ‘Diogenes’ as a base for their dive explorations. is simply inconceivable. Fortunately, they turn high technology. Some fifteen years ago, the the rare event we get lost. Hanauer Eric, ‘Diving Pioneers: An Oral History of Diving placing the intake and the exhaust at the the lights off around midnight; otherwise we two stages were replaced by an electronically in America’ same height, they patent the ‘Aqua Lung’. This 1970 – The system of certification as an would never go to sleep. controlled rebreather. It’s only in the pool And there are more perks in our backpack: the History of Diving Museum, www.divingmuseum.org Marine Bio, http://marinebio.org system represents a milestone in the history indication of the level of training and experience that we sometimes train with the old, system ensures that we always have neutral O’Brien Brendan, ‘Future Shock’, www.divernet.com of diving. wins popularity in the world of divers. Thanks to new materials and product mechanical regulators to show them to the . Although the button still exists, ‘Scuba Diving History Time Line – A Letter History or developments, almost everyone can enter the new generation divers or out of pure nostalgia manually inflating or deflating is rarely done. Scuba Diving’, http://scuba.about.com ‘Scuba History’, www.about-scuba-diving.com 1943 – Cousteau and two friends, Frederic 1971 – The firm ScubaPro introduces the first underwater world. The combination of micro- for the old days. The composite tanks contain Sensors detect our intention to go up or The Historical Diving Society, www.hds.org and www. Dumas and , make more than BCD on the market. electronics, atmospheric diving suits and mini oxygen and helium under extremely high down and manage the BCD accordingly. In the thehds.com

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